PC NEWS DIGEST: December 12, 2000 PC computing, hardware, software, searching, news, books, websites, web design, humor. The PC News Digest is published by SERVENET.COM PLEASE NOTE:
AND THANKS TO READERS LIKE YOUAt the end of each broadcast, the local public television station thanks its sponsors and "viewers like you." I'm glad for the thanking, but I always wonder what a viewer like me is like. If you're like me, you probably wonder if you're like the other readers of this newsletter. That's why we added a new feature to the PC News Digest -- a quick poll. Last week's poll, which appeared only in the web version of the newsletter, asked whether you shop online for the holidays. (57% do, 28% don't, 14% were still deciding). This week's poll: Do you have a website? It's in both the email and website versions. We'll let you know! This week's edition of the newsletter inaugurates another feature -- short URLs. Long URLs aren't a big problem in the web version, but they create havoc for the 4600 plus readers of the email version. To change URLs of two and sometimes three lines into one short URL, we gave our server a lesson in pseudonyms (thanks Don!) and installed a PERL script called LnkinLite by Ron F. Woolley. LnkinLite performs fast link redirection and has the secondary benefit of tracking link activity. Yup, more information about readers like you! LnkinLite 0.0 Save $20-30 A Month With A Free ISP! 0.0 SAVE $20-30 A MONTH WITH A FREE ISP!Whoever said "You get what you pay for" wasn't clued in to Internet economics. Free email accounts (Excite.com, Hotmail.com, Yahoo.com) and free websites (Lycos' Angelfire.com and Tripod.com, Yahoo!'s Geocities.com) abound. Free Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are out there too, but they're not as plentiful or well- known. If you're tired of paying $20-30 a month for Internet access, maybe it's time to look for a free ISP. Our domestic readers should start at 100% Free USA ISPs, which has a comprehensive list, comparison chart, and selected reviews. International as well as domestic readers will appreciate FreeIspSearch.com's annotated lists, organized by country. Like free email and webspace, free ISPs are advertiser-supported, so be prepared to submit to banner ads, surveys, and promotional email in varying degrees. Before signing up, check your obligations, the ISP's service area, setup fees, connection speeds, time limits, and services. Full-service free ISPs offer web access, free email (often using proprietary software like Juno.com), newsgroups, and chat or instant messaging. Most are limited to web access and email. Even if you keep your fee-paid service, you might want to add a free one for backup, access when you travel, or a private college or small business account. Just don't get too attached to a free ISP. Like other dotcom startups, providers emerge, merge, and disappear at a dizzying pace. 100% Free USA ISPs FreeIspSearch.com THE LOOK-UP CENTER AT INSTALLATIONS PLUS+Scouring the web for basic information? Find what you need in one place for FREE! The Look-Up Center has telephone numbers by name, by address and reverse. Weather, stock quotes, dictionaries, quotations, package tracking, calories, currency conversion, maps, metric conversions, books, music, and more. The FREE Look-Up Center at Installations Plus+ 1.0 WEBSHOP 105: AM I READY FOR A WEBSITE? PART 1 OF 2With the personal computer almost as ubiquitous as the television, and Internet access available to over sixty percent of the U.S. population, you've probably wondered if you're ready for a website.
PERSONAL WEBSITE All the major online content providers (AOL, CompuServe, MSN, Prodigy) and most Internet service providers offer no-cost or extremely low- cost webspace. And if yours doesn't, you can get free webspace at Lycos or Yahoo!, among others, as long as you don't mind the pop-up advertising that supports them. Most providers offer free webpage creation software as part of the service package. With a little time and effort, you can have your own personal webpage to brag about your dog, publish your poetry, maintain a diary, or showcase your photographic efforts. If you prefer not to go it alone, reliable web designers -- like the WebShop at SERVENET.COM -- provide moderately priced training and/or professional graphics and navigational templates. BUSINESS WEBSITE Business websites are not like the proverbial ballpark. Build a website and there's no guarantee anyone will come. And worse still, there's no guarantee anyone will buy. If your business is going down the tubes, you need a business planner, not a website. There is no AAA- rated real estate fronting on the information super-highway. Or to put it differently, the type of business that needs direct mail or telemarketing campaigns to prosper, shouldn't expect to generate new clients from a website. If your ad in the Yellow Pages was a bust, we pretty much guarantee your website will not make a bad thing better. All those folks who didn't think to look for you in the Yellow Pages, or didn't know where to look, won't find you on the World Wide Web either. Trust us on this one! So when does it make sense to invest in a business website? We'll deal with that and other issues in the next edition of the PC News Digest. The WebShop at SERVENET.COM 2.0 WEBSITES FOR REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALSFor websites that work -- the WebShop at SERVENET.COM Ready to join the Internet explosion? Let our experts build a website for your real estate related business. Want to see a sample of our work? Check out the sites we built for appraiser Ronald M. Gold, past president of ASA's New York City chapter, and for Property Watchers, a cutting edge realtor helping buyers, sellers, and owners manage their Westchester and Putnam County real estate. Ronald M. Gold, ASA Property Watchers The WebShop at SERVENET.COM 3.0 GLOBAL SHIPPING FOR SHOPPERS, MERCHANTSYou're shopping online, ordering music here and electronics there. Then your shopping gets snagged on a shipping snafu. The Danish craft site selling fine leather knapsacks is willing to take your charge card but only ships to Common Market countries. Post2Post to the rescue! Post2Post solves the shipping dilemma with a unique system of Postboxes spanning 35 countries worldwide. Here's how it works. You register at Post2Post for FREE, get your global ID number, and tell the Danish craftsman to ship to a Postbox in Denmark. Post2Post receives the shipment for you, consolidates it (including packages from other merchants), and ships it to you via DHL, FedEx, TNT, UPS, or USPS. Click! You've gone global! E-businesses, too, can use Post2Post to arrange for global shipping. Small businesses can link their existing websites to Post2Post's site for FREE. Larger concerns can arrange for seamless integration of Post2Post's services into new or existing pages. A word of caution: Post2Post has recently overhauled its own website. The new version is attractive, but slow and "talky". It spends pages telling you about the Post2Post concept and mission, instead of guiding you quickly into registering and shipping. Don't let a weak design turn you off to a great service. Post2Post THE PC CLINIC AT INSTALLATIONS PLUS+PC PROBLEMS? Help is just a mouse-click away! PC News Digest subscribers get priority treatment at the FREE personal computer clinic at Installations Plus+. The FREE PC Clinic at Installations Plus+ 4.0 FREESKILLS: STAMP OUT COMPUTER ILLITERACY!Computers haven't taken over the world yet, but people who know how to use computers have. If you've decided to join the movers and shakers, but not how to bootstrap your skills, take a look at the FREE online courses offered at FreeSkills. FreeSkills' courses cover web development, desktop publishing, networking, databases, programming, graphics, the Internet, contact management, office suites, accounting, and personal development. Additional courses in other fields are anticipated. Most of the current courses revolve around software packages (Lotus 1-2-3, PhotoShop 5.5, Office 2000, Ventura 8), and look like fleshed-out instruction manuals. To use FreeSkills' courses, you'll need the latest Microsoft or Netscape browser and Adobe's Acrobat Reader. The courses are available for use online but not for download. They're supported by unobtrusive advertising and the sale of recommended books. FreeSkills 5.0 HELP KEEP US FREE: VISIT OUR SPONSORSAmerica Online -- Up to 700 hours FREE! Amazon.com -- A lot more than books and music! Dell Computer -- Let Dell build a PC for you. eBay -- Auctioning everything imaginable! McAfee -- PC system protection. MemTurbo -- For the just booted feeling! StoreRunner -- Shop your favorite stores. 6.0 EHOW.COM: HOW TO DO JUST ABOUT EVERYTHINGWant to know how to trim a tree, write a business plan, ask for a raise, or throw a knuckleball? Look it up on eHow. A powerful natural language search engine and topical directories make it easy to find concise step-by-step instructions. Each topic includes helpful tips and warnings, and useful lists of everything you'll need to do the job right. This is an actively managed site that uses seasonal highlights and trends to peak your interest. Click on Sports/Fitness and you'll get a page organized to help you "Get Ready for Snow Sports," which also includes an index to other sports and fitness categories. If you prefer to get your how-to's in book form, eHow guru Courtney Rosen offers "How To Do Just About Everything," published by Simon & Schuster, 2000. It's on sale for $20 at Amazon.com. eHow.com How To Do Just About Everything 7.0 BOCA 56K v.90 EXTERNAL DATA/FAX MODEM -- $79No need to "pop the hood" to replace your slow or worn out modem. This brand-new Boca external modem connects in seconds to an available COM port on the back of your PC. The Boca Model MA56WWE Tidalwave voice/fax/data modem also functions as a speakerphone with v.80 compliant conferencing. Designed for Windows 95/98, this modem features automatic line quality retraining and a Rockwell (CONEXANT) chipset. Includes serial cable. The price for the Boca Model MA56WWE modem is $79, plus shipping, and tax where applicable. PayPal, M/C, Visa. Limited time offer. U.S. orders only please. One year manufacturer's warranty. Call 1-212-567-3705 mailto:specials@servenet.com 8.0 ECARDS: DO-IT-YOURSELF GREETINGS THAT SINGThe holidays are almost upon us, and that means scads of greeting cards. This year, many of them will be electronic cards (ecards) delivered by email. The top websites for making and sending ecards are Blue Mountain (an Excite.com affiliate) and American Greetings (associated with Lycos.com). Both offer a variety of attractive graphics, many animated; musical accompaniments; and various ways to personalize your e-missive. (A site to avoid for its bad programming: www.ecards.com) For really special ecards, you'll want to download the Greeting Card Creator by e-motional.com Software. This shareware goodie (FREE to try; $20 to buy) works with Windows 95 or later systems having 16mB of RAM and 6mB of disk space. It makes cards that won't expire and don't have tacky advertisements. And using it won't add your email address (and your recipient's) to yet another promotional database.
Blue Mountain American Greetings Greeting Card Creator 9.0 WANT TO TALK? WE'VE GOT A FORUM FOR YOU!As a public service, SERVENET.COM hosts and moderates four online forums. You are welcome to participate in any or all of them. • The PC FORUM for help with computer problems. • The REAL ESTATE FORUM for buyers, sellers. • The OYSTER BAY HISTORICAL SOCIETY FORUM. • The SHOP-TALK FORUM for things automotive. 10.0 AOL VERSION 6.0: MORE PAIN THAN GAINAmerica Online (AOL) didn't get to be the most popular Internet service and content provider by chance. It provides beginning and intermediate users with real value they can't get anywhere else. That's why we're proud to count AOL among our sponsors. But... When AOL released version 6.0 of their software for Windows a few weeks ago, we headlined "Wait for the CD-ROM." "The time to go for it is when 6.0 arrives shrink-wrapped in your mailbox," we explained. We hate to say "we told you so," but field reports from Installations Plus+ -- a SERVENET.COM company -- indicate AOL 6.0 is not yet ready for prime time. Performance with Windows 95 and especially with Windows ME is slow, sometimes impossible, and often plagued with error messages and lockups. High speed cable modem and DSL connections give AOL 6.0 the hiccups. Performance is best with dial-up service under Windows 98 Second Edition. Performance problems aside, AOL 6.0 introduces a serious security issue for many users. Fred Langa examined the AOL hole in a recent WinMag Explorer column, "Do AOL6 and MSN Explorer Destabilize Your System?" The long and short of it is that AOL 6.0 installs insecure network adapters that shouldn't be necessary, but without which 6.0 doesn't run. In short, we encourage you to stay with or sign up for AOL 4.0 for Windows 3.1, AOL 5.0 for Windows 95/98/ME, and refrain from 6.0 until you see it on a marketing CD in your mailbox. AOL Releases Version 6.0: Wait For The CD-ROM Do AOL6 and MSN Explorer Destabilize Your System? 11.0 JIGSAW PUZZLE: ROUSSEAU'S SLEEPING GYPSYThis week's puzzle is based on Henri Rousseau's 1897 painting, Sleeping Gypsy. Tibo Software's Jigs@w Puzzle program was used to make the puzzle, which downloads in 42 seconds at 56.6 kbs and plays in 3-4 minutes on Windows 95 or later PCs. P.S. Previous puzzles are still available. Lion is Lou Bruno's Bronx Lion in Winter. Dunderberg is Joseph Brennan's photo of upstate New York woods in autumn. Trains is Gregory V. Swisher's photo of a pair of locomotives passing historic Union Depot in Durand, Michigan. Maypole is a black and white cityscape by Edward Steichen. Gypsy Puzzle Jigs@w Puzzle Lion Puzzle Dunderberg Puzzle Trains Puzzle Maypole Puzzle 12.0 HUMOR: IF A PACKET HITS A POCKET...The recent upsurge in Dr. Seuss activity (Jim Carrey's movie, The Grinch; the Broadway musical, The Seussical) reminded us of the following fragment from "What if Dr. Seuss wrote technical manuals?" by Gene Ziegler. You can find that parody and others on the Dr. Seuss Parody Page. WHAT IF DR. SEUSS WROTE TECHNICAL MANUALS? If a packet hits a pocket on a socket on a port, And the bus is interrupted as a very last resort, And the address of the memory makes your floppy disk abort, If your cursor finds a menu item followed by a dash, If the label on your cable on the gable at your house, And your screen is all distorted by the side effects of gauss, When the copy of your floppy's getting sloppy on the disk, The Dr. Seuss Parody Page 13.0 SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE/SUGGEST/ETC.PAST ISSUES.09/19/2000 09/26/2000 10/03/2000 10/10/2000 10/17/2000 10/24/2000 10/31/2000 11/07/2000 11/14/2000 11/21/2000 11/28/2000 12/05/2000 SUGGESTIONS. Your thoughts about our newsletter and our website are always welcome. Tell us. We're listening! RECOMMEND US. Tell a friend about our website and newsletter. LINK TO US. Written by Louis J. Bruno Edited by Judith Reinfeld |
Greeting Card Creator wins our Best Choice Award for a well-written program that is easy enough for apprentice craftsmen, great fun, and produces an ecard that is sure to be appreciated. Your cards can be personalized with sound effects, your photos (which can be extracted by the recipient), and your text and voice. The cards are actually small standalone programs that can be saved to a floppy disk, as well as sent by email.