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Dave's Diggins
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Just a few "Golden Nuggets" of info that I've mined from the internet.
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This newsletter is sponsored by the 37211 PC Users Group. All comments,
suggestions or submissions should be sent to david.donoho@pcusers.org. DO
NOT reply directly to this newsletter at the davesdiggins address
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Jack's Soapbox: jack.walleigh@home.com
For those of you who missed the meeting this month, you certainly
missed a lively discussion with our @Home guest speaker; some of it pretty,
some of it not so pretty. I think the recent articles in the newspaper
helped fuel the fires of frustration concerning the gradual downward slide
in the performance of the @Home internet service experienced by some of the
member/subscribers in attendance. (myself included). Seems the main @Home
speaker decided that instead of speaking about the technical updates, and
performance fixes to their service, as planned, he would try to "whip up"
the crowds enthusiasm by telling us how excited he was by the new
"proprietary" browser they are planning to roll out next month, along with
their "all new" Excite.Com portal. For me and some others, this went over
like a lead balloon. After about 10 minutes, I felt I needed to pull the
pin on his "sales rap" and steer the subject matter back to the planned
technical agenda and more of a "What the He** is going on with @Home
lately", direction. Once we shifted gears and had everybody on the same
page, we had a pretty good discussion and lots of people got involved. One
rather unexpected (and possibly bordering on crazy) piece of news discussed
at this presentation was the revelation concerning the new @Home browser.
Not a "branded" version of Netscape or IE mind you, but their own design;
supposedly based on the IE5 browser engine. Mark H. asked him if this was
going to be like a "High Speed AOL" !! That got a few chuckles. The speaker
did admit that "if they really wanted to" subscribers could still use their
own browser of choice after the early April changeover to Version 2.0 of the
@Home software.
According to the speaker the "personalized" Excite.Com portal, which is
going to replace the current proprietary @Home "cover page", will be
maintained and distributed on their high speed fiber network, so that could
be the silver lining to the "Black Cloud" @Home browser decision. Stay
Tuned for more info!
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Free software and services:
http://www.forty.com/download_wonder_benefits.htm
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
Download Wonder has 29 features that help you to manage your file downloads.
It supports more browsers, protocols, operating systems and a wider range of
automatic functions than any of its competitors.
http://www.forty.com/note_wonder_benefits.htm
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
Note Wonder™ is the first "sticky note" type program designed not to clutter
your valuable Windows desktop space. It works as a note browser, providing
quick forward and backward scanning through your notes and offers a List
View of all your notes.
http://www.service911.com/
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
Service911.com is a free online service that includes:
* Watching step-by-step video tutorials on the latest tech tips & tricks!
* Free one-on-one chat with a technician.
* Solving PC problems with an easy to use knowledge library.
* Over 2,000 free tutorials on the latest software applications
and hardware devices.
* Discuss technical topics with other online users.
* Easy to find support information for hardware and
software vendors. .
http://www.esafe.com/products22/detailed_desktop.html
http://pcusers.org/pcfree.html
E-Safe for the desktop is a free suite of internet security tools that has
the following features:
* Detects, traps and isolates hostile vandals such as malicious
ActiveX and Java.
* Communication ports are filtered to prevent vandals such as Trojans,
hacker tools, and malicious ActiveX and Java from remotely hijacking
your computer.
* Inbound/outbound filtering for blocking content, IP address, ports and
protocols
* Restrict access to web sites, FTP downloads, Newsgroups, chat rooms, etc.
* Resource protection prevents tampering, modifying or removing
desktop protection or modifying of configuration by unauthorized users.
* Customizable system alerts.
* ICSA and Checkmark-certified for complete anti-virus protection.
* Automatically detects and removes known and unknown viruses
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Not-so-free software and services:
http://www.clariondeveloper.com/clearice.htm
http://pcusers.org/pcnotsofree.html
ClearIce is an add-on reporting utility that enhances BlackIce Defender by
adding the following features:
* Export contents of Attack Browse.
* Report on all backtrace information provided by BlackICE Defender.
* Pre-formatted ISP message with attack and backtrace details.
* Tracking of attacks that have been emailed to the ISP.
Plus numerous other bells and whistles.
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Articles:
http://www.winmag.com/columns/explorer/2000/05.htm
Fred Langa's article on personal firewalls for your computer.
http://www.jello.net/report/Issues/2000/03/03/20000303.asp
How graphics work. Information you need to know when using a scanner or
using graphics in desktop publishing.
http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/0,3,0-3842,00.html?st.gc.gn.lgn
AMD Releases 1-GHz Athlon. But can they deliver?
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle Sprint's wireless service transmits users phone number to each web site that is visited.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/screensavers/answerstips/story/0,3656,2455474,00.html
Port probes.
http://www.zdnet.com/zdtv/callforhelp/answerstips/story/0,3650,2457088,00.html
Calibrating your monitor.
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Web Sites:
http://x44.deja.com/usenet/
Deja. com has put their usenet database access service on a seperate site
away from its portal.
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Software review:
In the April 2000 issue of Smart Computing is a feature article about
Sun Microsystems' StarOffice Deluxe. In August 1999, Sun Microsystems made
its StarOffice suite a free download. OR, you can buy it on CD for $39.95!
The competition is Microsoft Office 2000, list price $799, and Wordperfect
2000, list price $499. Minimum feature download is 65MB, and with a
standard 56Kbps modem, it will take a few hours. A full installation needs
160 MB of hard drive space, 32MB of RAM, and at least a 90 MHz Pentium. Sun
recommends a minimum of 233MHZ Pentium processor.
The StarDesktop window is a shell where all other StarOfficeapplications run. The Windows Desktop will be hidden. However, StarDesktopcan be reduced so the Windows Desktop is accessible again. To me, this is a MUCH better deal than MS Works 2000, which costs more!
This review was submitted by Ken Davis, mailto:kdavis@nashville.com
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This newsletter provided as a service by the 37211 PC Users Group http://www.pcusers.org
Any comments, suggestions or items of interest can be sent to me at david.donoho@pcusers.org
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