From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE60921ECACF87072E21B6@reply.whatcounts.com Thu Jun 17 01:24:54 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5H5OrOS015180 for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:24:53 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway2.nettally.com [199.44.114.220] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id AB238D4E0134; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:24:51 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway2.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:24:45 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hq4kn2054e45; Wed, 16 Jun 2004 21:54:31 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ Why You Should Dump IE Date: 16 Jun 2004 22:01:47 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406170124834.SM03668@gateway2.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 16, 2004
Lockergnome
Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 16, 2004   

GNOMEREPORT: Why You Should Dump IE
DOWNLOAD: ArtRage
DOWNLOAD: SaveIt! v2.1
FAVORITE: Free Hearing Test
BABBLE: Dedicated Server Hosting
GNEWBIE GNOOK: Buyers, Beware!
SYSTEM: Finding Your Way Using Outlook Express
TCB: Super-Fast, Super-Cool Business Card Printing
FAMILY FIRST: The Kim Kommando Show
TALK: Tech
NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

Permalink  |  Feedback  |  Archives  |  Send to a Friend
 
PentaSuite WinZip 9.0

GNOMEREPORT: Why You Should Dump IE

FILEhand Search is a fast Google-like desktop search engine for your PC!

New version, 1.4, indexes 100,000 files and searches in most languages.

Instantly search your PDF, Word, WordPerfect, PowerPoint, Excel, HTML/MHT, and MP3 files by content. Results sorted by relevance. Scrollable extracts. Search by word, phrase, and booleans." Dirt-simple user interface." Once you start using it, you'll wonder how you managed without it." But don't take our word for it, read this review.

Gnomies: Take 15% off (coupon code GNOMIE). Download the 30-day eval. (Requires Windows XP or 2000, and .NET)

The time has come to dump Internet Explorer. I know, I know - you may have heard the same thing before from those that think it's cool to hate Microsoft; but I'm not one of those guys. I'm actually an MCSE and I happen to like quite a few of Microsoft's products. Rather than lump me into the Microsoft-basher category, consider for a moment why you use the browser you use, and humor me by entertaining the notion - if even for a second - that switching to another might be worth your while.

My argument is simple: the benefits of using IE are too few - and the faults too great - to put off the adoption of an alternative any longer.

Security
Since information security is my hobby/job/obsession, this particular topic is near and dear to my heart. Just about everyone reading this has seen computers that have been beaten down with spyware - the evil junk that hijacks IE and renders a system virtually useless. How many times have you been called to a family member's house to clean up their system? Or had to call your techie friend to come clean yours? It's often quite awkward - the system slows to a crawl and every other mouse click conjures up some species of perverse, obscene image. What most people don't realize, however, is that there is a very simple and powerful way to defend your system (and/or the systems of your loved ones) in one fell swoop.

Don't use Internet Explorer.

[Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer, continued]

In better security we trust,
Daniel Miessler

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: ArtRage [1.36M] Win2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/400

It's no secret that I'm not an artist. People who have the ability to create a masterpiece out of a blank piece of canvas never cease to amaze me. On the other hand, I'm still learning how to draw a stickman. The "art" that I created in first grade is about the quality of my work today. My creations are a disgrace to refrigerator art everywhere. Because of my horribly deformed artistic ability, it's nice to be able to pretend that I know what I'm doing. A free program called ArtRage helps me to do that.

The program gives you a blank piece of canvas and a variety of drawing tools to use. I know you're probably thinking that this is just another Microsoft Paint clone, but it's not. The tools in ArtRage are a lot more precise than the tools available in Paint. You can directly customize the size of the stroke for the implement that you are using. This program gives you a much better representation of painting on canvas than most of the other programs do. If you'd like, you can even load an image as tracing paper. If you have a drawing tablet, you'll be able to paint with even more precision. Wannabe artists should have a good time with ArtRage. [Brandon]

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: SaveIt! v2.1 [2593k] Win98/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/398

SaveIt! allows you to password protect any program or document. You can also restrict access based on the Windows user account and disable password protection temporarily. When a user attempts to open a password protected application or document, he is automatically prompted for the password (protected files are marked with a special icon in Windows Explorer). SaveIt! is also available from the Windows Explorer SendTo menu, allowing you to quickly protect a file with just a few clicks. [SnapFiles]

^TOP^

FAVORITE: Free Hearing Test

Click here to enlarge!

http://www.freehearingtest.com/

What did you say? I'm sorry - I can't understand what you're saying. You see, I was the lead guitar player in a band for a few years. After we would complete a twenty-minute-long jam, all of us would be stuck with a ringing in our ears. Yeah... that's definitely not good, folks. Thankfully I was kidding at the beginning of this review, because I can still hear extremely well. However, there's no doubt that this type of thing does great damage to your hearing. Despite this, we kept playing for our fans, even though that group only consisted of two small dogs. If you're concerned about your hearing and would like some resources to check out, visit FreeHearingTest.com.

The focus of the site seems to be (you guessed it) the free hearing test. While this isn't a replacement for a clinical evaluation, it is a place to start. Is the fact that I didn't hear anything OK? I had to laugh when I saw the environmental sounds test. Listening to elk bugling and wild sheep seemed rather odd. All kidding aside, there are some very important resources here. There's some very nice documentation on how the ear works. You'll find graphics and even animation to help you understand the complexity of our hearing. Links to hearing products and providers in your area are also present. Anyone interested in how our hearing works would enjoy visiting this site. By the way, stop yelling! I can hear you! [Brandon]

^TOP^

BABBLE: Dedicated Server Hosting

Does your Web site demand a dedicated server?

^TOP^

GNEWBIE GNOOK: Buyers, Beware!

By Brandon Watts

Q: Can you provide me with some links to a few good technology review sites on the Internet? I'd like to read some comprehensive reviews before I give out my hard earned money for tech toys.

A: Purchasing hardware or software on an impulse can be very dangerous - you just never know what you could end up with. While the specs may appear to be impressive, the actual product could yield a very different result. The best way to find out about a product (besides using it yourself) is to read opinions and reviews from people who have experience with it. Here are a few links that will provide you with some good information.

Look through these sites and see if you can find any information on the product. If you don't come up with anything, search around the Internet for information corresponding to the product, or ask for user opinions in forums such as ours. The value of getting an objective opinion cannot be overemphasized. Hopefully your tech purchase will be a "happily ever after" story instead of a "where's the receipt I need to return this thing?" story.

Have a question or subject that you would like to see covered? Drop Brandon a line and maybe he can include it in a future edition of the Gnewbie Gnook! Also, don't forget our forums (or, if you're a Latin freak, "fora") where Gnomies from all around the world congregate to help, be helped, and discuss issues that may or may not have anything to do with technology!

^TOP^

SYSTEM: Finding Your Way Using Outlook Express

Boost your System Speed without adding new hardware! PC Booster lets you easily improve their system performance and stability with just a few clicks. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on new hardware, PC Booster can improve your PC speed, stability and productivity by getting the most out of your PC's existing hardware and system, in as little as 2 minutes. Gnomies get a 25% discount! Unlike other similar memory optimization products which may be too technical for novices, PC Booster makes optimizing the system performance easy for all users, and even offers advanced options for the more tech-savvy. CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR PC A 2 MINUTE TUNE UP

By Diana Huggins

Here is a great little tip for those of you who use Outlook Express as your e-mail client. Outlook Express allows you to maintain an address book of contacts. For each contact, you can store information about them such as their name, number, home and business addresses, and much more.

Now let's say you are meeting one of your contacts at their office or home. Assuming you have the office address for the contact stored in the address book, you can use Outlook Express to get directions to the location. Here's how you can do it.

  1. Within Outlook Express, click Tools and the Address Book.
  2. Highlight the appropriate contact from the list and click Properties.
  3. Click either the Home or Business tab, depending which address you want to locate.
  4. Click the View Map button as shown in the figure.
  5. This launches the expedia.com Web page and provides you with directions to the location.

Nifty, eh? Just keep in mind that this works in Outlook Express 6, which is included with Windows XP and Internet Explorer 6.x.

^TOP^

TCB: Super-Fast, Super-Cool Business Card Printing

By Daniel Gray

Need to get some business cards printed? When you mix the magic of the Internet with your favorite Windows desktop publishing and design applications, you have a world of possibilities at your fingertips! In the old days, business card printing was primarily the realm of graphic designers, local print shops, and specialty printers. (And the worst part was the wait.) Nowadays, anyone with a Web browser and a credit card can design and order up a stack of business cards that will be quickly printed and delivered just days after you push the send button.

I've used the Internet to have two sets of business cards printed over the years. The first set was a super-fast set of black-and-white cards that I designed for myself. The second set was a full-color design that I created for a member of my family. With both projects, I received the cards in record time and at a reasonable cost...

[Super-Fast, Super-Cool Business Card Printing, continued]

^TOP^

FAMILY FIRST: The Kim Kommando Show

From Family First

The newspapers have Dear Abby, radio has Rush Limbaugh, and television has Dr. Phil. But who do cyber surfers have? Today's Family First Site answers the question everyone has been asking.

The site is the Kim Kommando Show, and is the online presence of one of the most knowledgeable computer users around today. Her syndicated radio show is heard weekly by millions (check your local listings, or the Web site), and her free e-mail newsletter is just full of wonderful articles, tips, links, and deals. Her shareware picks are second to none, and are timely and well described. There is quite a bit of information here, so plan on spending some time exploring and learning.

[The Kim Kommando Show, continued]

^TOP^

TALK: Tech

Tybarv24 at Lockergnome.net blog Breezie's Core Dump writes:

I am an user of technology. My co-workers make fun of me because of all the stuff that I carry with me. My iPod, PDA, and cell phone. Sometimes, I carry my laptop with me to sit at Starbucks for lunch.

I guess after all, I am a geek.

We're proud to have hundreds of bloggers signed up through the Lockergnome Blogging Network! Maybe you'd like to join us? We're keeping an eye out for other interesting entries to feature in this channel. Perhaps you'll write one of 'em?

^TOP^

NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

^TOP^

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE6092B096C7CD5BD8AF90@reply.whatcounts.com Thu Jun 17 01:41:22 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5H5fMWI015613 for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:41:22 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway3.nettally.com [199.44.114.226] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id AF00C0190118; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:41:20 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway3.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id <950866129EFA8227.815CF67789BA82FE@gateway3.nettally.com> for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 01:41:13 -0500 Received: from hudson.whatcounts.com (192.168.0.51) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hq4mks054e4q; Wed, 16 Jun 2004 22:33:53 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ Ctenocephalides Felis Phooey Date: 16 Jun 2004 22:27:09 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406170141803.SM03668@gateway3.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 16, 2004
Lockergnome
Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 16, 2004   

GNOMEREPORT: Ctenocephalides Felis Phooey
STORAGE: Not So Network Attached
MOBILE: Ultra Personal Computer Roundup - Tiqit
NETWORK: Virtual Server 2005 RC Available
OPEN SOURCE: Linux Flaw Comes Crashing Down
NET: Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer
TECH: AMD Parrots Intel's 2005 Promise
DRIVE: Capacity Cranked Up

Permalink  |  Feedback  |  Archives  |  Send to a Friend
 
PentaSuite WinZip 9.0

GNOMEREPORT: Ctenocephalides Felis Phooey

Boost your System Speed without adding new hardware! PC Booster lets you easily improve their system performance and stability with just a few clicks. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on new hardware, PC Booster can improve your PC speed, stability and productivity by getting the most out of your PC's existing hardware and system, in as little as 2 minutes. Gnomies get a 25% discount! Unlike other similar memory optimization products which may be too technical for novices, PC Booster makes optimizing the system performance easy for all users, and even offers advanced options for the more tech-savvy. CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR PC A 2 MINUTE TUNE UP

I guess it has to happen to every pet owner eventually. With all of the warm weather and abundance of moisture, it seems that the flea population has reached our felines by way of our lawn, which I haven't yet treated for bugs this year. The cats are naturally quite miserable, given that it took a week or two to catch on that something was amiss. Upon inspection, my suspicions were confirmed. Cats are easy enough to treat, though. The wealth of topical products make controlling them indoors far easier than it used to be.

The ferrets are a different matter, however. Because their tiny little bodies contain much less blood, anemia can hit them quickly... and may have already hit one of my two boys. Also, many of the treatment products are far too strong for them, so care must be taken so as not to cause a nasty chemical reaction. Fortunately, we have one of the best ferret vets I've met, so things should be well on their way to flea-free by the time this hits your inbox. I wouldn't subject the ferrets to public view during their itch-a-thon, but perhaps once they are able to nap in comfort again, I'll finally get a ferretcam going.

In the meantime, enjoy the view of a black-footed ferret (mustela nigripes), the wild cousin of the domesticated ferret (mustela putorious furo). We're lucky to have black-footed ferrets around today, as they were nearly wiped out - only 18 individuals remained of the last Wyoming population in 1985.

Following a little prodding from a friend, I hunted down my handheld "police scanner," purchased over a decade ago. Though still perfectly functional, someday I hope to upgrade to a unit like the Bearcat BC780XLT. I figured my 1994 edition of Police Call would be just a tad outdated, so I shuffled off to http://www.iascanner.com/ to find the applicable frequencies for my area of the state. Within a half hour, I was eavesdropping on local law enforcement activities. A few ambulance requests, couple of suspected drunk drivers, and a vehicle alarm in a high school parking lot highlighted the first hour. I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed keeping my ear to the ground, so to speak, and the wealth of online resources out there today really feed the hobby.

Perhaps I'll finally get back to that amateur radio operator license soon as well, though I have a big goose egg budget to work with as far as equipment goes. An e-mail from a subscriber planted that bug, while bringing attention to the potential issues caused by Broadband over Power Lines (BPL). While I don't claim to be an expert on the subject at this point, it doesn't take a rocket surgeon to figure out that signals sent through the power grid just might interfere with amateur radio equipment that obviously requires electricity. BPL sounds like a great concept, and perhaps they'll eventually work something out to satisfy everyone, but given the frequencies involved, that seems rather unlikely.

Yours digitally,
Furo

^TOP^

STORAGE: Not So Network Attached

http://go.lockergnome.com/401

Network Attached Storage (NAS) is a convenience that many companies employ to alleviate the need for dedicated servers just to manage data storage. By having a semi-intelligent box, stuffed with hard drives, wired directly to the network and containing just enough software to provide sharing and security, users get the benefits of storage, without adding to the administrative burden required by a full server operating system.

A logical step forward might be to make this puppy wireless. Linksys and Maxtor agree, and the Linksys Network Storage Link is born. Once the device is released, US$99 will turn an external hard disk unit into network-unattached storage, available to various network clients without the need to setup sharing and security at a workstation or server. Expect that it will have far fewer features than a formal NAS solution, though small businesses rarely need that level of complexity or cost. [Furo]

^TOP^

MOBILE: Ultra Personal Computer Roundup - Tiqit

By William Hungerford

Recently in our UPC roundup, we've talked about the OQO and the Flipstart PC. This week we're talking about the Tiqit UPC. Tiqit is the brainchild of Vaughan Pratt, the creator of the the Matchbox PC, the world's smallest web server. Starting with the Matchbox PC, Tiqit has been in the business of shrinking computers longer than anyone else. Just like the OQO and the Fipstart PC, the Tiqit runs a full version of Windows XP.

Processor and Memory
300 MHz Pentium-class National Geode
256 MB of SDRAM

Storage
5, 10 or 20 GB hard disk drive

Display
4.0" 640 x 480 TFT (18-bit color) VGA LCD with touch screen and backlight

Expansion and Connectivity
USB port
PCMCIA / PC Card Type II slot
Secure Digital / MMC slot
Infrared Port
High-density docking connector

Audio
Stereo headphone jack
Mono earbud with microphone jack
Internal speaker

User Interface
56-key QWERTY keyboard
Touch screen
Thumb-operated joystick with left and right mouse buttons
Two user-definable action keys

Battery and Power
Internal lithium-ion rechargeable battery; 4 hours under normal usage
Power adapter port

Dock
Hi-res VGA port for external monitors or projectors
Serial / RS232 port
Additional USB port
Audio line in jack
Audio line out jack
Battery charging

Dimensions and Weight
5.9" x 4.0" x 1.2" (150mm x 102mm x 30mm)
20 oz (567g) including battery

The main difference between Tiqit and the others is that it goes with a traditional design much like a large PDA. While the Tiqit's design is pleasing to the eye, in comparison to other UPCs there's a lot less under the hood. The current prototype only has a 300MHz processor and no built-in wireless like its counterparts OQO and Flipstart. Since Tiqit has focused on marketing to the enterprise market, don't be surprised to see those specs improve to keep up. While no firm release date has been announced, it's believed that Tiqit will hit the market before the year's end, around the same time that OQO and Flipstart PC are released. Next week we will finish our roundup with a look at the Antelope Modular Computing Core.

Read William's Lockergnome article archives here. Got an article suggestion or comment? Be sure to drop us a line. We love hearing from you!

^TOP^

NETWORK: Virtual Server 2005 RC Available

http://go.lockergnome.com/402

After registering, which entails the usual Passport drill, a fresh copy of Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 Release Candidate can be obtained. Valid through the end of the year, the server version of Virtual PC is geared for multiple processor systems and server operating systems. Windows Server 2003 flavors and even Windows XP are named as appropriate host operating systems, but not Windows 2000. In order to save you some time, I even gave it a whirl on Win2K and was admonished for doing something so foolish. I think this is rather lame, since Windows 2000 Server makes a much better platform than Windows XP for a virtualized environment. Silly me. Anyway, there ya go... have at it! [Furo]

^TOP^

OPEN SOURCE: Linux Flaw Comes Crashing Down

Free Guide to Effective Online Learning! Ellis College offers more than 20 accredited online degree programs designed for the unique learning styles of working adults. At Ellis, students complete their degrees online by using customized tools and services, rather than a one-size-fits-all academic approach. A division of the New York Institute of Technology, Ellis College offers bachelor degrees in popular areas of study such as business, finance, marketing, technology, information systems and more. New classes begin every three weeks. At Ellis College, you get it faster.

http://go.lockergnome.com/403

Proving that every operating system has a chance to show off security issues, Linux stepped up to the plate and launched a high hard one out of the park. A simple bit of C code can crash the kernel, essentially hanging the box until a finger can find the reset button. Patches have been used for 2.4.2x and 2.6.x kernels, and specific information pertaining to Fedora Core 2 and Gentoo Linux are linked at LinuxReviews.org.

This came about totally by accident, it seems, following a few code experiments that resulted in the kernel slipping into a coma. The good news is that it's not exploitable via network connectivity. It requires shell access or some other means of uploading and running the code on the box in order to take hold. [Furo]

^TOP^

NET: Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer

By Daniel Miessler

The time has come to dump Internet Explorer. I know, I know - you may have heard the same thing before from those that think it's cool to hate Microsoft; but I'm not one of those guys. I'm actually an MCSE and I happen to like quite a few of Microsoft's products. Rather than lump me into the Microsoft-basher category, consider for a moment why you use the browser you use, and humor me by entertaining the notion - if even for a second - that switching to another might be worth your while.

My argument is simple: the benefits of using IE are too few - and the faults too great - to put off the adoption of an alternative any longer.

Security
Since information security is my hobby/job/obsession, this particular topic is near and dear to my heart. Just about everyone reading this has seen computers that have been beaten down with spyware - the evil junk that hijacks IE and renders a system virtually useless. How many times have you been called to a family member's house to clean up their system? Or had to call your techie friend to come clean yours? It's often quite awkward - the system slows to a crawl and every other mouse click conjures up some species of perverse, obscene image. What most people don't realize, however, is that there is a very simple and powerful way to defend your system (and/or the systems of your loved ones) in one fell swoop.

Don't use Internet Explorer.

[Why You Should Dump Internet Explorer, continued]

^TOP^

TECH: AMD Parrots Intel's 2005 Promise

http://go.lockergnome.com/404

Not long after Intel proclaimed a late 2005 release of dual-core Prescott processors, AMD pipes up stating that they will have dual-core 64-bit Opteron CPUs around the middle of 2005. This is roughly the same time period stated for Intel's dual-core 64-bit Itanium line, but AMD's version will still be compatible with 32-bit code. Such a tangled web being weaved, but a subject well worth attention as things develop. As I mentioned many lunar cycles ago, I think Opteron is AMD's best shot to date at winning over corporate IT shops, and I still believe this today. Their Athlon desktop stuff still hasn't picked up a major OEM worth talking about, and issues such as heat and stability continue to loom in the minds of administrators responsible for potentially thousands of desktops, even though AMD is getting better. Getting into server rooms is their best bet, and the OEMs tend to agree. [Furo]

^TOP^

DRIVE: Capacity Cranked Up

http://go.lockergnome.com/405

Starting with Seagate, we find 400GB disks coming to market around Fall 2004, in both internal and external formats. Dubbed the Barracuda 7200.8, you can probably guess that the rotational speed is 7,200 rpm, but now would be up to 16MB of cache and the first true SATA implementation - more on that in a second. The external variety will feature a push-button backup function and drive management software and efficient cooling so the disk inside doesn't cook itself.

Back to the SATA thing, Seagate has demonstrated Native Command Queuing (NCQ) at WinHEC, showing just how poor typical parallel ATA really performs in comparison. Native SATA interfaces employing NCQ can deal with multiple outstanding I/O requests, whereas parallel ATA limits the entire ATA channel to only one outstanding I/O request. In contrast, SCSI has long held a huge advantage in that the controller manages I/O, and allows for one outstanding I/O request per drive. Native SATA and NCQ will, at very long last, bring 5 year old SCSI performance to the desktop. Perhaps I'm being a bit dramatic, but consider that SATA is rated at a max of 150MB/sec, and Ultra160 SCSI has been capable of 160MB/sec for years, only to be surpassed by the current Ultra320, and the future holds Serial Attached SCSI and/or Ultra640. Just some storage trivia to ponder while waiting for Seagate's NCQ drives to hit shelves, something I've been anticipating since the day SATA was announced. Every SATA drive out there today is a typical parallel ATA drive with a different connector. None of the juiciest SATA goodies are included.

Okay, on to other things. Notebook users, such as myself, will welcome the latest in 100GB fashion accessories. Seagate is sharing the runway with Toshiba and Fujitsu on this one, but the spotlight does shine just a bit brighter on Seagate. Toshiba and Fujitsu will issue 4,200 rpm 2.5-inch disks, while Seagate will start with 5,400 rpm and move to 7,200 rpm by the end of the year. Having moved to a 7,200 rpm disk in my own notebook, I can firmly state that the rotational speed makes a world of difference in performance, but also in the amount of heat that must be moved. Let the prices and cooling capability of your notebook dictate which is right for you. [Furo]

^TOP^

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE6092BFEC68AA678ADCB1@reply.whatcounts.com Thu Jun 17 22:14:18 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5I2EHIh021123 for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 22:14:17 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway3.nettally.com [199.44.114.226] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id AFF7DE11012A; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 22:14:15 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway3.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id <9F9C6758FB97E47E.89BA9761BD03C13B@gateway3.nettally.com> for ; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 22:14:02 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hq973m054e4r; Thu, 17 Jun 2004 18:46:29 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ Little Bird, Little Bird Date: 17 Jun 2004 18:53:46 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406172214550.SM03668@gateway3.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 17, 2004
Lockergnome
Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 17, 2004   

GNOMEREPORT: Little Bird, Little Bird
DOWNLOAD: Cacheboost Professional v4.02.3
DOWNLOAD: Ant Movie Catalog v3.4.3
FAVORITE: Fresh Goo
BABBLE: Cheap Domain Registration
GNEWBIE GNOOK: IncrediMail To Outlook
SYSTEM: Opening the System Properties
TCB: Better Living Through Spam Filtering
FAMILY FIRST: 1 Source
TALK: Our Most Limited Resource - Time
NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

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PentaSuite WinZip 9.0

GNOMEREPORT: Little Bird, Little Bird

Boost your System Speed without adding new hardware! PC Booster lets you easily improve their system performance and stability with just a few clicks. Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on new hardware, PC Booster can improve your PC speed, stability and productivity by getting the most out of your PC's existing hardware and system, in as little as 2 minutes. Gnomies get a 25% discount! Unlike other similar memory optimization products which may be too technical for novices, PC Booster makes optimizing the system performance easy for all users, and even offers advanced options for the more tech-savvy. CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR PC A 2 MINUTE TUNE UP

There's a bird inside my computer case! At least, that's what I thought the other day when one of my system fans started to brush against a heatsink at random intervals. My system kept getting louder, and louder, and louder - and then, according to the activity log, finally shut itself down at five in the morning (when I was still shut down in bed). I could only assume it was due to overheating, and a few reboots proved me right. The fan was sputtering as if it was running on empty, yet other system components were humming nicely. Ah, the joy of moving parts! Mondays, for me, are quite hectic. I had yet to return several phone calls, and there were several weekend tasks left unfinished due to an overdose of two puppies (one with severe chassis leakage problems). I could either blow the entire day by trying to get my primary system up again, or just phone in a doorstep-techie and get it taken care of in a couple of hours. Since time is money, I opted for the latter - and don't regret doing so. First, Getty Lee's evil twin and I called around to find the best price and schedule. After about five calls, we had found our "winner." Didn't know much about 'em except for their name: SpeedyTech. "Let's hope it isn't false advertising."

I explained the problem over the phone, and they quoted me a rate (under $100 for an hour's work, minimum). If a simple fan / heatsink combo replacement didn't do the trick, this wouldn't be a simple house call. Minutes before the technician arrived, I installed my new DRU-700A. I know it wouldn't have done much good in a system without a properly-protected processor, but I figured I'd have to swap disc drives sooner or later (might as well do it now, with everything already unplugged and open). Ponzi gets the DRU-500A - her first burner ever! Before I could say "dual-layer," the repair dude showed up on our doorstep, toolkit and parts in hand. We had a brief, friendly conversation, and after illustrating the problem to our visitor, he went straight to work with a new component. I hopped downstairs to get a fresh cup of coffee, and by the time I returned, he had finished and was taking Storm Shadow for a spin. I had no idea just how noisy my old fan was until I heard the new one. I almost wish it that sucker had died a few months ago! Not that I'm welcoming disaster into my PC any sooner than it's set to arrive. That'd be silly! Anyway, I suppose the "moral" of the story is that you should consider phoning a professional geek before lugging your wares into a local shop to be fixed (or, from there, sent elsewhere to be fixed). Obviously, this isn't ideal for every situation - but it's a valid option I'll definitely keep close to my cord.

Yours digitally,
Chris Pirillo

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: Cacheboost Professional v4.02.3 [899K] Win2k/XP Shareware

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/408

Do You Need Cacheboost Professional Intellisense Performance Boost For Windows? The more the file cache grows, the less memory is available to running applications. The result is a significant performance decrease, as requests for memory can lead to file swapping. This slow hard disk access is responsible for the loss of performance. With Cacheboost Professional, there is optimum use of your system memory and swap file so you get the best performance.

[Buy directly | Free trial]

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: Ant Movie Catalog v3.4.3 [2.28M] Win9x/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/409

I used to know a guy who literally had thousands of movies. His collection was unparalleled. This man was so into movies that he probably bathed in them. Not only was his collection humongous, but he also had the incredible home theatre system to back it up, so you know where we went when we wanted to see a flick. In order to keep track of his movies, he used a very simple document that he printed out. This method worked, but it was by no means complete. What he needed was the Ant Movie Catalog software.

If you have a nice collection of movies (whether they are on DVD, VHS, CD, etc.), this software will be very helpful to you. It allows you to keep a running database of your entire set of movies. You can fill in many of the things that will help you identify the movie, such as the producer, director, actors, your very own comments, and even a rating. The software also enables you to import a picture to go along with the movie record - very nice. Once you've catalogued all of your movies, you can then export the list in a variety of formats, such as HTML. The resulting output looks really good. Along with all of this, complete statistics are displayed to help you to see what your movie collection is made up of. If you've been using an old handmade catalog system to organize this data, it's time to take the plunge into the Ant Movie Catalog software. [Brandon]

^TOP^

FAVORITE: Fresh Goo

Click here to enlarge!

http://www.freshgoo.com

When you think of Google, you probably think about search utopia. The amount of specific information that you can track down with this search engine is rather impressive. Can't remember what you had for breakfast yesterday? Search for it on Google - it's probably there. Due to the overwhelming amount of pages that are indexed, it may be difficult for you to track down what pages were added within a certain time period. Perhaps you want to find information on a subject that developed within the last week? Fresh Goo will aid you in tracking down this information. Don't go grab the Play-Doh, we're talking about the Fresh Goo Web site.

The page might look a little familiar to the Google that we know and love, but this service will let you search for sites that were added from today to last year, and everything in between. This can be very helpful, and it's a cool thing to take advantage of. They also have a collection of various Google logos that have been created by both Google and users themselves. It's interesting to see some of the designs that have been made. Some of them are actually pretty funny. If you have your own version of the now famous logo, submit it to them so they can place it on their home page. [Brandon]

^TOP^

BABBLE: Cheap Domain Registration

Don't let that killer domain name get away!

^TOP^

GNEWBIE GNOOK: IncrediMail To Outlook

Brandon Watts

By Brandon Watts

Q: I have been using IncrediMail as my e-mail client for some time now, and am completely sick of it. I would like to switch to Outlook Express, but the problem is that I don't want to lose all of the messages that are stored in the program. I can't find any proper way to export them and was wondering if you knew how to do it.

A: IncrediMail is a rather popular e-mail client. It allows you to use all different types of graphics, animations, and sounds in your e-mail. I have found that this program is a big hit with mothers. It's true - when I work on other people's computers, it's almost a sure thing that I'll find IncrediMail installed on momma's computer. To be honest, I don't like IncrediMail at all. I simply want to get my message across when I send e-mail. I don't want things flashing and sounds playing when I send and receive e-mail. It's way too cheesy for my tastes.

Your decision to move to Outlook Express is definitely reasonable. The problem that you bring up is that you can't export your e-mail in a format that can be imported into another e-mail client. This is definitely a cause for annoyance. There are so many different standards and file formats out there, and it can be difficult to get all of your applications to play together nicely. Thankfully, this article will tell you how to accomplish this task. A program called IncrediConvert is suggested, and a detailed walkthrough on how to use it is available.

I applaud your decision to try other software. If what you have doesn't satisfy you, look elsewhere. There are a lot more fish in the sea.

^TOP^

SYSTEM: Opening the System Properties

Download SpyBlocs v2.0Without your knowledge or permission, spyware has the ability to send information about you to any computer in the world silently. With hundreds of thousands of copies of commercially available spy software and keystroke loggers in use worldwide, there's a good chance your computer may be bugged right now, or if it isn't, it could be at any time. What can you do about Spyware? Download SpyBlocs v2.0.

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Some of you may spend a lot of time in the System Properties dialog box since this is where you can configure options such as the computer name, automatic update settings, start up and recovery options, and so on. The most common way of opening the System Properties dialog box is to right click the My Computer icon on the desktop and click Properties. Or, you can go into the Control Panel and double click the System applet.

So here is an even faster way of opening your System Properties dialog box using simple keystrokes. Simply hold down the Windows key and the Pause/Break key at the same time. Your System Properties dialog box will appear within a second or two!

^TOP^

TCB: Better Living Through Spam Filtering

Daniel Gray

By Daniel Gray

My personal spam filtering efforts have jumped up a notch since the first time I wrote about the topic of spam filtering, back in April. The latest change came about just this week, when my trusty (yet spam filter free) version of Eudora croaked. I'm not exactly sure what stuck the fork in my copy of Eudora, all I know is that I was unable to open any of my mail folders. Of course, this made my day quite difficult. Rather than panic (okay, so maybe I did panic a bit), I set off to find a program to take the reigns - at least for a while. I had been using the free ad-supported version of Eudora for quite some time. But I was a bit bummed to learn that I needed to upgrade to a paid version of Eudora to take advantage of its spam filtering capabilities.

Like a zombie that returns to the shopping mall, I gravitated back to the Mozilla mothership. It had been a while since I last visited (to pick up a copy of the most excellent Firefox browser). I thought that perhaps I would load the latest copy of Mozilla to take advantage of its e-mail client. But what I found was even better... an e-mail client that I'd never seen before: Mozilla Thunderbird. To my great pleasure, I discovered that Thunderbird comes with a spam filter built into the program...

Previously, I filtered my spam load by half. I did this with three key moves...

[Better Living Through Spam Filtering, continued]

^TOP^

FAMILY FIRST: 1 Source

From Family First

There was a bombshell in the PDA world last week when Sony announced that it was withdrawing its Clie line of PDAs from the US market. They gave several reasons, but it all comes down to not making enough money. But there are dedicated Clie users out there (your editor among them) who will keep using them until they can't be used anymore. Today's Family First Site is one that is run by Clie users, among others.

The site is called 1 Source, and is the recent combination of two Palm-based PDA sites, ClieSource and Palm One. With the withdrawal of Sony from the market, they combined the sites into one. Here you can find a veritable clearinghouse of information on current and past models of PDAs, programs, ads, and best of all, a wide range of forums for discussions of all issues relating to these PDAs. This site is still going through growing pains, and is undergoing some cosmetic changes. But the core site is solid and reliable, and definitely worth a bookmark.

[1 Source, continued]

^TOP^

TALK: Our Most Limited Resource - Time

Brandon Watts

By Brandon Watts

The Internet has made the barrage of information more widespread than it has ever been before. If television, radio, and newspapers were not enough, now we have billions of pages available on the Internet that are overflowing with content. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but the effects of trying to consume too much can be damaging. You've probably heard of information overload before, but the Web has put a whole new spin on it. Things like checking your e-mail every nanosecond, constantly refreshing the Carrot Top Web site in order to see if there is any new content available, etc., are all warning signs that you are trying to take in too much. This can lead to Internet addiction, which can be damaging to you, your friends and family, and turtles. Come on, you don't want to hurt a turtle, do you?

To help you try to combat information overload, here are three helpful tips that you may want to put into practice.

Prioritize: By just setting the priority level of the content that you want to go through, you can save loads of time. Chances are that everything that you look at within the course of a day is not "mission critical." Things relating to work and Lockergnome (sorry, I had to) should be placed higher up in the food chain, while content such as blogs, mindless e-mail, and unconscious Web surfing should be placed farther down the line. Don't fool yourself into placing the Corey Feldman fan club high on the list. By observing your priorities, you can see what needs to be accomplished first, and what can be taken care of later in the day. This way you won't have important projects interwoven between your casual Internet usage. Before you know it, you'll realize that you never sent off that document that was needed three hours ago.

Set Time Limit: This may sound simple, but it's hard to put into practice once you have jumped off of the information deep end. You need to set aside a specific amount of time for your normal Internet tasks. These are the things that are not really important, but are enjoyable. It's extremely easy to get caught up in searching for that one other page, downloading that one other program, etc. It's always that "one other thing" that you have to look at. When you notice that your allotted time is expired, just get up and walk away from the computer. Go and spend some time with your family and friends. This will help you to clear your head.

Use RSS: Don't roll your eyes - it's true. RSS allows you to control the content that is fed to you. Instead of mindlessly surfing to all of your Internet stops, you can get this information in one application. The fact that this information is centralized will automatically save you time. You can easily scan the headlines of your favorite sites, and read only what you want too. Try it: you just might be surprised.

This new brand of Internet time can cause a lot of vexation, but knowing how to deal with it can do wonders.

^TOP^

NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

^TOP^

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE60929955C29F5F696855@reply.whatcounts.com Fri Jun 18 22:06:18 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5J26HGp028443 for ; Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:06:18 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway1.nettally.com [199.44.114.221] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id AF984A9C0104; Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:06:16 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway1.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id for ; Fri, 18 Jun 2004 22:06:11 -0500 Received: from monch (192.168.0.37) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hqeetu054e43; Fri, 18 Jun 2004 18:58:07 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ Buckaroo Ponzi Date: 18 Jun 2004 19:05:30 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406182206178.SM03668@gateway1.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 18, 2004
Lockergnome
Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 18, 2004   

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GNOMEREPORT: Buckaroo Ponzi
DOWNLOAD: Registry First Aid v3.3
DOWNLOAD: ShortKeys Lite v1.7
FAVORITE: Jilly's Drive In
VIDEO TIPS: Selecting A Different Image Viewer
GNEWBIE GNOOK: Help For Gnewbies Leading Gnewbies
SYSTEM: Run Faster
MATT'S RANT: Gmail Swapping Weirdness Ensues
TCB: Saving Energy $ With Compact Fluorescent Bulbs
FAMILY FIRST: KidsNet
NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

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PentaSuite WinZip 9.0

GNOMEREPORT: Buckaroo Ponzi

What do Instant Messaging to Basement Waterproofing have in common? They're a part of Lockergnome's Technobabble channel. We're talking about all sorts of topics, and the Internet resources that will help you figure out what's going on inside of them. Dedicated Server Hosting, Prepaid Cell Phones, Overseas Outsourcing... we've already covered 'em! Next week, we'll cover even more. What would you like to read about today?

Hi, Gnomies! My name is Ponzi, and Chris thought it was time I introduced myself to everybody. I'm The proud Mommy of the two adorable fluffball cutie-patooties he's been writing about lately: Pixie Darling and Wicket Dear. Anyway, I wanted to share this awesome site I found that I can't seem to stop going to daily: Overstock.com To all my girls out there, you will die over the selection (and to all my boys, you will be thrilled about the prices). I just bought these awesome sterling silver three circle earrings for less than $15. When have you purchased Italian sterling silver beautiful earrings for fifteen buckaroos?! I just knew when I got them in the mail, I'd be sending them back. NOT! I think I've worn them for three days in a row! I'm like a kid that way - when I get something new and I love it, I just want to wear it or play with it every day. Do any of you still do that?

So, I was thoroughly impressed with the quality. I've also had several girlfriends buy "real" jewelry. One picked up diamond hoop "huggie" earrings - and they were a fabulous steal at $199. If any of you decide to check it out, let me know what you think! Maybe you'll see something that I didn't catch? Now... I'm off to check out the sheet collection; I'm dying to try the 500 count sheets. I have 350 on the bed right now and it made a huge difference over my mom's standard "whatevers" from Wally World.

By the way? I was thinking about writing a 'Ponzi's Picks' for you every week - mainly targeted to the guys FOR the gals in their lives. This way, you guys could check it out whenever you felt like spoiling your girl (or if you need a quick fix make-up gift). Hee-hee! I'll do my best to keep the prices within reason, and always show you really cool (potential) gifts. Girls, you know I'll throw in the occasional Coach accessory in there! I think I'll also let y'all in on what I buy for Chris, because I'm sure you'll like to know what gear he's wearing and sporting. If you think it's a good idea, drop me a line!

Yours digitally,
Ponzi

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: Registry First Aid v3.3 [1387K] Win98/2k/XP Shareware

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/412

The latest version of Registry First Aid is even easier to use and safely fixes more Registry errors than ever before. Helps eliminate system crashes, software lockups, and slow loading programs caused by incorrect Registry entries left over from software installations and uninstallations that went awry. Registry First Aid fixes these problems by removing these references that are no longer needed. Hundreds of these files bog down the registry, slow down your computer, and cause software to lock up. RFA v3.3 offers added features that check the registry for unused software entries and "Run" registry entry errors. Also supports adding multiple entries into an excluded list and a new safe invalid path detection algorithm. [Wugnet]

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: ShortKeys Lite v1.7 [601K] Win98/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/413

ShortKeys Lite is an easy to use macro tool that allows you to instantly replace custom text commands with text macros of your choice. The macros can insert single words, URLs, multi-line text blocks, or any other text-based information. You can design custom macro keywords that have a prefix or suffix to distinguish them from regular words. As soon as you type one of these commands, it will be replaced with the designated text. For example, you could configure the following: when you type the word "snapfiles," nothing happens, however, if you set up a macro and then use "=snapfiles" (prefix is customizable), it could be replaced with "http://www.snapfiles.com." In the same way, you could simply type "=mysig" and it would be replaced by your complete e-mail signature. The Lite version can handle up to 35 of these macro commands for free. [SnapFiles]

^TOP^

FAVORITE: Jilly's Drive In

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/411

There are times when you'll encounter a problem that requires you to search through Microsoft's Knowledge Base for help. It really is a tremendous resource. I personally have been able to get assistance from this collection of articles time and time again. If a Microsoft product is causing you to cry and yell for your mommy, the Knowledge Base will try to get you out of your conundrum. While there is some great information contained in this database, a few humorous articles can also be found. Our site for today will lead you to these amusing articles.

As soon as you visit the page you will notice the large amount of links that are posted. Some of them are better than others, so scroll through and see what you can find. Sometimes the funny part is the title of the article, and sometimes it's the text that is contained within. I found these two to be rather comical. I'm sure you'll find something that tickles your sense of humor. I sure hope Julia Child gets that memory problem fixed. [Brandon]

^TOP^

VIDEO TIPS: Selecting A Different Image Viewer

By Leo A. Notenboom

Don't like the default image viewer for Windows? Would you be surprised to learn that you're not alone? Leo will show you how to take charge and change it to something that'll better suit your needs!

Click to watch our Video Tip of the Week

^TOP^

GNEWBIE GNOOK: Help For Gnewbies Leading Gnewbies

Brandon Watts

By Brandon Watts

Q: I'd like to see some guides that have good information for beginners. I teach seniors about computers, and they have no idea how computers work, or what certain important terms mean. Can you help?

A: While most people these days seem to understand the basics of computing, we can't forget about those who are still curious about this tech babble. Those of us who understand technology may feel empowered because of it, and rightly so. This knowledge is becoming more and more vital for our everyday lives, and the onlookers feel alienated because they just don't understand it yet.

I dug up a few sites that will lead you to some helpful information for beginners. This site mainly focuses on beginning information about the Internet. You'll also find content for people that don't understand basic functions, such as how the mouse works. If you need information about computer terms and basics, go here. A nice amount of content has been organized for you to sift through. Finally, this site combines computer basics, programs, and Internet tutorials all on one page.

Hopefully these new technology students will get joy and satisfaction out of their computing experience. That is, until they get infected with a virus.

Have a question or subject that you would like to see covered? Drop Brandon a line and maybe he can include it in a future edition of the Gnewbie Gnook! Also, don't forget our forums (or, if you're a Latin freak, "fora") where Gnomies from all around the world congregate to help, be helped, and discuss issues that may or may not have anything to do with technology!

^TOP^

SYSTEM: Run Faster

WinBackup + WinTasks 4 Pro + SpeedUpMyPC 2.0 - Before June 11, for one low price, you can finally get the security, stability, and speed you need. Three must-have utilities that make you more productive than ever before - for one low price of $69.95, Gnomies can save $70! WinBackup: Get complete and easy backups in a snap - with built-in compression, encryption, and CD burning. WinTasks 4 Professional: Pump up the speed of your PC - and stomp attacks on your precious privacy and security. SpeedUpMyPC: Turbocharge your PC and monitor CPU, memory, and Internet usage in real-time.

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Normally when you want to launch the Run command, you have to do so from the Start Menu. This obviously is not difficult or time consuming. It only takes a few clicks. However, you can speed up the process and reduce the number of clicks required to open the command by one or two.

So why not place a shortcut to the command on your desktop or even in the quick launch toolbar? To do so, click the Start Menu, click the Run command, and while holding down your mouse button, drag it onto your desktop or onto the Quick Launch toolbar. I prefer to place the shortcut on the Quick Launch toolbar to avoid a cluttered desktop. In any case, a shortcut will now be available for the command.

^TOP^

MATT'S RANT: Gmail Swapping Weirdness Ensues

Matt Hartley

By Matt Hartley

Gmail. Everyone seems to want it. Those who have it have no quarrels with flaunting it to those who don't. Well, as if this wasn't annoying enough by itself, there is a site out there that allows you to "barter" with your goods or services in hopes of landing a Gmail account for your very own. The name of the site is Gmail Swap and it is becoming a runaway hit. Now on the surface, this is perfectly fine. See, while I may have not been offering a swapping service for folks, I have been holding Gmail contests at my blog. So as you can clearly see, the contest thing and even the barter thing is totally fine in my book. What had me cheesed off was that people were trying to swap/barter such silly things as "name yelling" along with other useless offers that I came across while browsing the Gmail Swap Web site.

Why does this bother me so? I mean after all, it's not my problem, right? While this is certainly true, you simply cannot ignore the worthwhile swap offers that now have to compete with the silly ones that are really, in reality, just "asking" for an account. People, the name of the Web site is Gmail SWAP. Not "please hook me up with a Gmail account, but I am not going to offer you anything tangible back.com." I know that I will most likely be spending the weekend sifting through hate mail, so I am going to conclude this on a positive beat rather than continuing to drone on about the freeloaders using an otherwise killer Web site idea.

Below are some of the items that were or are being swapped at the Gmail Swap Web site.

  • Acting out any STNG (Star Trek The Next Generation) episode. While this is arguably not a tangible swap, the young lady offering to do this acting bit is technically providing a service. Therefore, I'd consider this a legit swap.
  • A high resolution photo of a cat in a wet suit. Okay, this is weird. Still, you have to give it up for being original.
  • A handmade purse. This is by far, the most tangible of the swap offers mentioned yet. This swapper is offering something that they actually have to take time and put their heart and soul into. If I still had an extra invite, I would give it to them just because I respect the offer. Ya know what I mean?

Well, folks, there are literally hundreds of fun swap offers just like the ones I shared above at the Gmail Swap Web site. It is apparent to me that this Gmail thing is turning into much more than just a snazzy new Web based e-mail service. It is quickly becoming an obsession for a number of folks. Just read some of the major blogs where Gmail invite contests are being held. In the comment areas you will see folks talking about how they spend hours waiting for account invites to be posted because of promises made by bloggers. It is crazy, if you ask me. I might check in once in awhile, but forget waiting at a blog for hours and hours.

So are the contests really worth your time? Depends on what you are willing to do with your time, I suppose. Maybe you can avoid having to barter off your most prized possessions by participating in some of these contests. Kevin Rose of G4-TechTV holds them on a regular basis and as I mentioned earlier I do as well. So it should be clear that you need to subscribe to our RSS feeds today so you are aware the second a new contest is being posted. Otherwise, you can always barter off some of your handy work or swap your skills for a coveted Gmail account. Any way you look at it, the ability to get an account is there. You just have to be relentless. Good luck! :o)

^TOP^

TCB: Saving Energy $ With Compact Fluorescent Bulbs

Daniel Gray

By Daniel Gray

Want to cut your electric bill? Check into compact fluorescent bulbs! They can save a dramatic amount of energy in the long run. After procrastinating for years, I've bitten the bullet and installed compact fluorescent bulbs in almost every light fixture here at Ranchero Indebto. And I'm reaping the benefits in more ways than one. Not only are compact fluorescent bulbs more energy-efficient, they last for years. That's right... years. We're talking five years or more, depending on the bulb. Think about not having to change a home full of burned out light bulbs... especially in those pesky, hard-to-reach places... now that's brilliant!

Compact fluorescent bulbs put out considerably more light per watt when compared to conventional incandescent bulbs. This allows you to use a lower watt bulb, which requires less electricity. A 13 watt compact fluorescent bulb, for example, might put out a roughly equivalent amount of light as a 60 watt incandescent. This saving adds up pretty quickly. If you have a master bathroom that uses half a dozen 60 watt conventional bulbs, you'll end up saving some serious wattage... at a 47 watt per bulb savings, it adds up to a whopping 285 watts. And not only are they more energy-efficient, they produce less heat, to boot.

But there are some places where you can't use compact fluorescent bulbs...

[Saving Energy $ With Compact Fluorescent Bulbs, continued]

^TOP^

FAMILY FIRST: KidsNet

From Family First

With the growth of multimedia devices and satellite dishes becoming as common as television itself was 30 years ago, the amount of material our children are exposed to is overwhelming. How does one tell what is good, and what is bad, how much is too much, and how much is too little? Today's FamSite helps provide some of those answers.

Called KidsNet, it is a site that helps children, families and educators intelligently access the educational opportunities available from television, radio, and multimedia sources. By combining the talents and resources of professional educators across the country, they produce several guides that help accomplish this goal. There are program ratings, media guides for preschool to high school, study guides to help students build on what they have watched, and a quarterly media news resource. The amount of material here can take some time to go through, but once a visitor understands how the site is structured, it becomes an invaluable tool and aid.

[KidsNet, continued]

^TOP^

NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

^TOP^

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE6092828C97BA334F14B7@reply.whatcounts.com Tue Jun 22 01:44:35 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5M5iXdM018400 for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:34 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway2.nettally.com [199.44.114.220] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id A7405E5B011E; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:32 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway2.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id <964DAC4A0BD5B9B8.BDEFB660F96F1D3F@gateway2.nettally.com> for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:26 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hqv2nm054e4s; Mon, 21 Jun 2004 21:02:26 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ Geeks Gone Mild? No Chance! Date: 21 Jun 2004 21:10:00 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406220144169.SM03668@gateway2.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 21, 2004
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Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 21, 2004   

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GNOMEREPORT: Geeks Gone Mild? No Chance!
DOWNLOAD: ObjectDock v1.02
DOWNLOAD: termBlaster v0.25
FAVORITE: getcrafty
GNEWBIE GNOOK: Am I Doing Something Wrong?
PRESS RELEASE: Web Page Maker v1.51
SYSTEM: Sort All Your Programs
PC WORLD PICKS: Best Diagnostic Utilities
TCB: Student Loan Consolidation?
FAMILY FIRST: Family Tree Magazine
AUNTY SPAM: Gmail for GIs - Please Help Make a Difference
NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

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WinZip 9.0 PentaSuite

GNOMEREPORT: Geeks Gone Mild? No Chance!

Download ShareOutlook ShareOutlook lets you share and sync any Microsoft Outlook personal folder with your other PCs, or friends' and colleagues'. A powerful tool for sharing personal or business workspaces including: Calendars, Contact lists, Project tasks, Customers e-mail, and etc. with any folder hierarchy, without a server and with just a few clicks. Download a copy and start sharing today.

Hey gang - mind if I have a virtual heart-to-heart with you? As you probably know, life has been very busy for me down here in Southern California. I'm four years removed from Iowa, and eight years into producing Lockergnome. We announced our fourth-annual conference a few months ago, and I've watched it blossom into something completely different than what it was in the beginning. I hope you don't mind my decision to bring Gnomedex back to its roots: the people.

No open bar, no Comedy Central - just a whole bunch of geeks gone wild on their own volition. Since ~50 people had signed up when we were still promoting the "liqueur" angle, we'll be honoring that offer with drink tickets. It's Gnomedex 4, plain and simple. Yes, we'll have parties. Yes, we'll have speakers. Yes, we'll have panels. Yes, we'll have fun. Yes, we'll have sponsors. Yes, we'll have Wi-Fi. With these two adjustments, we'll also keep the original spirit that made our convention so successful in years past. That's what I really want (more than anything else).

So, there you have it. Gnomedex 2: Attack of the Gnomes. Gnomedex 3: Fellowship of the Geeks. Gnomedex 4: Geeks Gone Wild.

Yours digitally,
Chris Pirillo

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: ObjectDock v1.02 [7M] Win9x/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/416

ObjectDock is a program that allows you to have a nice animated launchbar/taskbar on your screen that reacts to your mouse when you mouse over it. In short, it's a task bar and program launcher that does it with style. [MajorGeeks]

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: termBlaster v0.25 [359K] Win98/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/414

termBlaster is a plain and simple - but highly efficient - search tool that allows you to quickly look up the search engine results for various keywords. It uses a customizable list of search engines and a list of keywords. You can quickly switch results between search engines and/or the terms that you are searching for. The interface is far from pretty or user friendly, but offers good flexibility for more advanced users, as search engines can be added/edited using the proper query string. It comes with a built-in browser display; you can save/load a list of terms and more. Great for online research that requires looking up a wide range of search terms. [SnapFiles]

^TOP^

FAVORITE: getcrafty

Click here to enlarge!

http://www.getcrafty.com

Some people in this world of ours just have the innate ability to excel at crafting. I, however, do not. While many people could create something inventive with construction paper, ribbon, and glue, I would end up gluing myself to the table that I was working on. Most other guys would probably end up in the same predicament. If crafting is a skill that you possess, getcrafty will supply you with new project ideas and other information.

There's no doubt that this site is intended for women, but men may still want to take a look just to see how these things are done. You'll find various projects to embark on that are accompanied by helpful instructions. Take the quiz on the site to see which craft is right for you. Apparently I'm beyond help. The forum is one of the most important parts of the site. This is where recipes, ideas, suggestions, etc. are passed back and forth. If you really want to improve your crafting ability, sip a raspberry iced tea and hang out in the forum. A book is also on its way, so stay tuned for that. You know, I'm still glued to this table. Can anybody help? Superman? [Brandon]

^TOP^

GNEWBIE GNOOK: Am I Doing Something Wrong?

Ken Colburn of Data Doctors answers Bob, who writes:

Q: I get many notifications (sometimes 5 or more a day) of viruses found in e-mail addressed to me. The notification does not tell what I should be doing with the notification information to help nip the viruses at their source. None of the sources brought to my attention by (my ISP) are addresses that I have knowingly ever been in contact with. What should I be doing to improve this situation?

A: Navigating through one's Inbox these days has become about as tumultuous as trying to get around on the Los Angeles freeways as a tourist.

You aren't sure what to read, what to believe, and most important, what to do and when to do it.

Between all the spam, 'phishing' attempts, viruses, and worms that we get sent on a daily basis, it isn't uncommon to receive twice as much junk as the good stuff.

One of the more recent onslaughts to our collective Inboxes is the bevy of warning messages about an infected message either from our ISP (Internet Service Provider) or from our anti-virus programs.

Many uninitiated e-mail users become concerned that they are doing something wrong and must do something or, even worse, think that these messages mean that they have contracted a virus or worm.

The good news is that none of the above applies and the better news is that your protection system(s) are working as intended.

The majority of today's e-mail borne viruses and worms randomly send themselves from infected systems to virtually everyone in the infected computer's address book with a 'spoofed' return address so as to confuse the recipient (as it is doing to you, Bob).

The 'source' of these messages is the hundreds of millions of other computers that are connected to the Internet, so nipping the viruses at their source is not likely.

As long as your e-mail address exists in other user's address books, you will be receiving these types of messages. AND, the more people that have your e-mail address in their address book, the more likely it is that these types of messages will increase over time.

Your ISP is providing a service to you by scanning and removing any (known) malicious code from the infected messages and notifying you every time it does so, on your behalf.

If they were not doing this, you would be on your own to detect and remove these messages before you inadvertently opened one of the infected attachments that generally accompany them.

In other words, you should be giving your ISP an "atta boy!" for providing you this very desirable additional layer of protection from all the malicious messages that are being sent your way.

If you don't want them to do any detection on your behalf, you can contact them and have them turn it off on your account, but I don't recommend this unless you have your own mail-server based virus detection (like most businesses do) to provide the same service.

Relying solely on a desktop level anti-virus program as your one and only protection against malicious code in today's environment is a little risky unless you are very technical in nature.

If you just don't want to see these warning messages, you may be able to have your ISP continue to remove malicious messages and turn off the notification to your account.

^TOP^

PRESS RELEASE: Web Page Maker v1.51

http://www.Webpage-maker.com

Make your own Web page easily! Web Page Maker Software, Inc. has released Web Page Maker 1.51 for Windows 95 / 98 / Me / NT4 / 2000 / XP, an easy-to-use Web page design tool that allows you to create and upload a professional Web page in minutes without having to know HTML.

The interface allows you to simply drag and drop objects (pictures, text, etc.) onto the page and position them freely in the layout. The program comes with several pre-designed templates that allow you to get started with a professional design you can further customize to your preference. The built-in FTP function helps you publish your Web page with just one click. Additional features include built-in color picker, Java script library, and image library.

It takes you only one minute to create and upload your own Web site!

^TOP^

SYSTEM: Sort All Your Programs

What do you want to say? We've instituted a new system for Lockergnome sponsorship. Through this mechanism, you can keep an eye on statistics in real-time! Now you can track views, clicks, and overall rates (broken down by time-of-day). We can now deliver based on a specified number of clicks and/or impressions. Plus, we can filter through a combination of the following parameters: Weekday, Time, Date, Client IP, Domain, Language, Browser, OS, Useragent, Referring page, or Source (specific pages or channels). Give us a chance to deliver your message to our audience today!

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Windows XP comes with default programs installed that are accessible by clicking Start and pointing to All Programs. Additional programs you install are also added to this list. Well after a few additional software components, you may find that this list grows from short list to a lengthy one.

This is a problem that has plagued me. Sometimes when I go to open a program, I have to look two or three times until I find it. I know it's there because I just saw it, but my list of All Programs is just a little cluttered. One of the things you can do to make things a little easier is to sort the programs alphabetically. At least then if I need to open up Excel, I can find it after the "Ds." It's simple to do. Click the Start Menu, point to All Programs, and right click one of the programs on the list. Select the option to Sort by Name and you are done. All your programs should now be listed alphabetically.

^TOP^

PC WORLD PICKS: Best Diagnostic Utilities

Fix Problems Before They Get Out of Hand!
These tools let you benchmark your OS and speed up your PC.

^TOP^

TCB: Student Loan Consolidation?

Daniel Gray

By Daniel Gray

Just now, a student loan consolidation pop-up appeared on my computer. I happen to think that student loan consolidation is an important subject. But I'm just not sure why this appeared in front of my face at this very moment. I've been fastidious about running my new favorite programs to avoid seeing things like this. So when an advertisement for student loan consolidation hit my screen, I figured I'd go and check it out.

The pop-up, with a blazing reversed headline that read "Student Loan Refinancing" with a promise to reduce my payments by $100 to $500 per month," took me directly to a form that sought to procure information. The student loan consolidation eligibility form boasted that "The Next 2 Minutes Could Save You Hundreds of Dollars" and promised a whole bunch of things.

It all smelled bad, but I was taken aback by one key field...

[Student Loan Consolidation?, Continued]

^TOP^

FAMILY FIRST: Family Tree Magazine

From Family First

Researching one's family history and tree can be a fun project. Discovering a family's roots lets a person find relatives that they never knew of, and find links to historical events that their family participated in. Today's FamSite offers some tools and help with genealogical research that can prove helpful.

Called Family Tree Magazine, it is the online version of a new monthly publication. There is quite a bit of information available on this site that can compliment anyone who is doing family research. There is a free e-mail service, search facilities, forms that can be downloaded, a bookstore, correspondence course, and online resource guide. There is information on family reunions, speakers, organizations, and conferences as well as a weekly newsletter.

[Family Tree Magazine, continued]

^TOP^

AUNTY SPAM: Gmail for GIs - Please Help Make a Difference

Aunty Spam

By Anne P. Mitchell

Dear Gentle Readers, here is a cause you can really back, and it just doesn't matter what your politics are. And if it does, well, shame on you.

Aunty calls it "Gmail for GIs," but the good folks over at Gmail 4 Troops call it a way to help troops who are stationed overseas and their families stay in touch. The brainchild of Wil Wheaton (yes, that Wil Wheaton) and his friend Drew Olanoff, Gmail 4 Troops is now being supported and and sponsored by the good folks over at Crewtags, Whizardries, and ISIPP, along with Mr. Wheaton and Mr. Olanoff.

[Gmail for GIs, continued]

^TOP^

NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

^TOP^

The perfect complement to firewalls and anti-virus software, WinTasks gives you complete control over all processes running on your personal computer. Based on years of research, this award-winning product gathers detailed information on all running processes. WinTasks then gives you simple explanations for thousands of programs - allowing you to remove useless resource hogs and security threats - in just a few clicks! Today, we give you the opportunity to own WinTasks 4 Pro for only $39.95 ($10 off the regular price). This special is for Gnomies only!!!

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE609283230D8EBF460467@reply.whatcounts.com Tue Jun 22 01:44:40 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5M5icsT018405 for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:39 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway2.nettally.com [199.44.114.220] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id A745B41600E6; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:37 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway2.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id <8FBC1DEBC45B9568.B61D7507506C9EBF@gateway2.nettally.com> for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 01:44:29 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hqv2ns054e4m; Mon, 21 Jun 2004 21:25:40 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ The Firefox Jumped Over The Family Tree Date: 21 Jun 2004 21:33:15 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406220144357.SM03668@gateway2.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 21, 2004
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Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 21, 2004   

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GNOMEREPORT: The Firefox Jumped Over The Family Tree
UPDATING: WinXP SP2 RC2 Available
MOBILE: Ultra Personal Computer Roundup - Antelope
AUNTY SPAM: Gmail for GIs - Please Help Make a Difference
OFFICE: XML Tinkering with Word
DOWNLOAD: GFI WebMonitor Freeware
RETRO: In The Year 1991...
MAC: Expanded G5 Storage

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PentaSuite WinZip 9.0

GNOMEREPORT: The Firefox Jumped Over The Family Tree

NEW Step-by-Step SSL Guide for Apache from Thawte! Thawte's new guide will show you how to test, purchase, install and use a Thawte Digital Certificate on your Apache web server. Throughout, best practices for set-up are highlighted to help you ensure efficient ongoing management of your encryption keys and digital certificates.

Fire IE and hire the Fox! The Firefox browser has hit v0.9 and may actually compete with Safari for face time on my Mac, given that it runs noticeably better. Import features are also new, bringing bookmarks, cookies, passwords and other stuff over from other browsers. You owe it to your ancestors to make the most of the future... that just might include one without IE.

And while I'm on the subject, I pulled up the family tree yesterday to check on something, and one click led to another. Before I knew it, six hours had passed, and another hundred or two names were added to the forest. I managed to get in contact with someone via e-mail and arrange to obtain some awesome documents that I don't yet have in my own archive. I still can't believe I actually enjoy this so much. I could never get myself to look up even a fraction of the data for school projects.

Ben Franske sent over a link relevant to another hobby activity. I knew that amateur radio operators used the Internet for various things, but I had no clue that there are many repeaters directly connected to the Internet, and capable of Voice over IP (VoIP). Licensed Hams are able to jump online and communicate with radio-toting counterparts through the IP-linked systems. Just my style...

Yours digitally,
Furo

^TOP^

UPDATING: WinXP SP2 RC2 Available

http://go.lockergnome.com/417

A fresh update of this whopper of a service pack has been unleashed upon brave XP souls willing to take up the challenge. I've been running RC1 since shortly after release, and overall, it appears to be fairly stable. If I have one major gripe with SP2, it has to be the absolute "you will do what we say" forcing of Automatic Updates down my gullet, now that the new Windows Update services are being implemented.

You cannot use Windows Update without having Automatic Updates enabled, something that most security/performance conscious users have explicitly disabled. You must also enable the Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) in order to comply with Microsoft's Windows Update v5 demands. These are two services I have gotten along just fine without, and don't see the need for additional memory load. I know what you're thinking... just set them to manual and Windows will dutifully start them when needed. Wrong. They must be set to start Automatically, and be running in order for the new Windows Update to function. Even if the services are running, but set to Manual start, you'll be scolded like a puppy with a loose bladder for wetting all over Microsoft's carpet. Of course you can change the settings by hand every time you want to update, but someone tell me how this is making my life easier? I don't want to use Automatic Updates, as I have instructed the operating system, but if I want to manually update, I have to have the Automatic Updates service running. It must be the new math.

Is this a big deal? Sure is. Think about the scads of small environments that don't have the resources for Software Update Services, but also don't want the phone-home aspects and useless services of Windows clogging things up unnecessarily. Either live with it Microsoft's way or go through the manual configuration for each and every workstation every time you need to do the seemingly daily updates. Once again, these changes make Microsoft's life easier, not those of the customers.

Ok, on to other things. I still hate IE with a passion, but in SP2, it is far more usable than it has ever been. Pop-up blocking is at the top of the new features list, followed closely by security measures aimed at helping to stem the barrage of spyware hostility. The easy answer is not to use IE, but you and I both know that convincing any significant portion of the Windows population of that is about as productive as single-handedly bathing one 7 pound cat with fleas. Did you know that the majority of spam now comes from infested Windows PCs?

The firewall functions of SP2 are also a key area of vast improvement, providing protection for outgoing requests to some degree. I used to use ZoneAlarm for that purpose, but a few things have convinced me to leave it behind once again. I actually haven't been using the XP SP2 firewall services much to date either because I have a domain environment setup, and by default, SP2 disables the firewall functions for computers serving in a domain, leaving administrators the option of controlling them via Group Policy. After reengineering my domain recently, I haven't gotten around to putting that into effect just yet, but likely will soon after the release of SP2. [Furo]

^TOP^

MOBILE: Ultra Personal Computer Roundup - Antelope

William Hungerford

By William Hungerford

Over the last few weeks, we've been covering Ultra Personal Computers like OQO, Flipstart PC, and Tiqit. The main characteristic of these computers is that they are close to the size of a PDA and contain a full operating system like Windows XP. In this final article, we will cover the Antelope, which is a slightly different breed of a mobile computer.

Before we talk about the Antelope, I did want to mention the recent release of the Sony Vaio U50/70. The Vaio is a UPC and appears to be the smallest Windows XP computer now available to consumers. We didn't include it in our roundup, mainly because it's only been released in Japan and we're unsure if it will be released elsewhere. Currently you can get the U50/70 from exporters, Dynamism.com, but it'll cost you up to US$2799. I did want to show you the specs and a screenshot of this extremely small and sleek computer. You can also read a great hands-on review of the U50 at PDA Buyer's Guide.com.

Model: VGN-U50 VGN-U70

Motherboard Features
CPU: Intel Celeron M 900 MHz
Intel Pentium M 1 GHz
System Bus: 400 MHz
Chipset: Intel 855GM
L1 / L2 Cache: 64K / 512K 64K/1MB
RAM (std/max): 256/512MB 512MB
Memory Bus: 266MHz
Storage
HDD: 20GB

Graphic / Video Features
Chip: Intel 855GM
VRAM: 64MB (Max - shared with Main Memory)
Display: 5 " SVGA TFT
Resolution: 800 x 600
External: 1600x1200, 1280x1024, 1280x768, 1024x768, 800x600

Sound System
Sound Card: PCM 16bit audio, integrated speaker

Interface
Integrated I/O: USB 2.0 x1; 802.11b/g Wireless LAN; Speaker; CF Card Slot; Memory Stick slot
External I/O: USB 2.0 x4; i.Link; VGA Out; LAN

Input / Output Devices
Keyboard: QWERTY 87 Key, 17mm pitch, 2mm keystroke
Pointing Device: Pointing Stick
Battery Life: Standard Battery: 2.5 hours
Enhanced Battery: 5.5 hours

Physical Features
Size: 6.57(W) x 4.25 (L) x 1.03 (H) [inch]
167mm x height 108mm x depth 26.4mm
Weight: 1.21 lbs / 550g

Operating System
Windows XP

Okay, let's talk about the Antelope by Antelope Technologies. The Antelope MCC (Mobile Computing Core) is basically components that make the Antelope either a mobile or a desktop computer. The main piece of hardware is the MCC, which is basically a small computer that looks like a computer hard drive.

The MCC contains the following:

  • Highly power efficient Transmeta Crusoe Processor at 1 GHz using the LongRun advanced power management technology
  • 256 MB of DDR-SDRAM Main Memory
  • 10 GB (or optional 15 GB) Hard Drive with a shock rating of 200g operational and 1,000g non-operational
  • 2D/3D Graphics supporting analog and LVDS displays at 1280x1024 maximum resolution
  • Sound Blaster Compatible Stereo Audio supporting microphone in, stereo out and line out
  • Dense 160 pin Modular Computing Docking connector
  • Windows XPTM Pro, or other optional standard operating systems
  • Plug and play compatibility

To make the MMC portable, you'll then want to pop the MCC into the Rugged Handheld:

  • Resistive touch screen with 6.3 1024x768 TFT
  • 2 USB ports
  • Stereo Out, Microphone In
  • VGA out
  • PC Card (PCMCIA) slot, Type II
  • Switching power supply, 100 240v AC input
  • 10.8V 2100 mAh (approximately 3 hours) batteries
  • Weight: 360 g (12.7 oz), varies by specific configuration
  • Buttons: CTRL-ALT-DEL, Left/Right mouse, On/Off

If you want to use the MCC as a desktop computer, you simply insert it into the Desktop Cradle:

  • PC Card (PCMCIA) slot for any variety of Windows XP certified expansion cards
  • 3x USB 1.1 ports
  • 3.5mm Stereo Out, 3.5mm Microphone In
  • VGA out, standard 15 pin
  • PC Card (PCMCIA) slot, Type II
  • Included switching power supply, 100 240v AC input (supplied with handheld)

The core also has possibilities as a wearable computer with a few optional accessories. Although the MCC is a little different than the typical UPCs we talked about, I see computing cores becoming more popular, especially if some standards are set. Still, the Antelope will probably be a harder sell, because of all of the components needed. The Antelope has been out since November 2003, but I have yet to see a hands-on review, probably meaning that Antelope isn't getting the exposure they were expecting. The Antelope is being marketed for the enterprise environment and is currently available on the web with the base core price at US$1599, but add all of the other parts to be mobile and use as a desktop, you're looking at close to a US$4000 investment. It's an expensive but viable concept in the future of computing, now if they can only make the Rugged Handheld Component a little less bulky and, um... unattractive.

Read William's Lockergnome article archives here. Got an article suggestion or comment? Be sure to drop us a line. We love hearing from you!

^TOP^

AUNTY SPAM: Gmail for GIs - Please Help Make a Difference

Aunty Spam

By Anne P. Mitchell

Dear Gentle Readers, here is a cause you can really back, and it just doesn't matter what your politics are. And if it does, well, shame on you.

Aunty calls it "Gmail for GIs," but the good folks over at Gmail 4 Troops call it a way to help troops who are stationed overseas and their families stay in touch. The brainchild of Wil Wheaton (yes, that Wil Wheaton) and his friend Drew Olanoff, Gmail 4 Troops is now being supported and and sponsored by the good folks over at Crewtags, Whizardries, and ISIPP, along with Mr. Wheaton and Mr. Olanoff.

[Gmail for GIs, continued]

^TOP^

OFFICE: XML Tinkering with Word

What do you want to say? We've instituted a new system for Lockergnome sponsorship. Through this mechanism, you can keep an eye on statistics in real-time! Now you can track views, clicks, and overall rates (broken down by time-of-day). We can now deliver based on a specified number of clicks and/or impressions. Plus, we can filter through a combination of the following parameters: Weekday, Time, Date, Client IP, Domain, Language, Browser, OS, Useragent, Referring page, or Source (specific pages or channels). Give us a chance to deliver your message to our audience today!

http://go.lockergnome.com/418

Microsoft just released a set of companion files for a supposed online training course titled Introduction to XML in Word. The course itself appears to be missing, even several days following the release of the companion files. The closest thing I could come up with is a bit of a 101 course in XML itself, and a page in the Assistance area dealing specifically with XML and Microsoft Word. There are some nice resources there if you are interested in the topic, though you might want to keep an eye on the Training area of the Office Web site for the appearance of the material that goes along with the practice file set. [Furo]

^TOP^

DOWNLOAD: GFI WebMonitor Freeware

http://www.gfi.com/webmon/

Angelica is at it again! She is the person responsible for keeping geeks like me stocked with GFI's latest work. Companies using ISA Server will want to perk up the ears a bit for this one. GFI WebMonitor is an integrated Web filter that, as you might suspect, monitors traffic. You can block sites and downloads on-the-fly, check out Internet usage data, and pretend like you're doing something useful when the pointy-haired guy passes behind you. The software does all the work, so all you have to do is mess with your friends by interrupting their ESPN box score updates. Oh... that reminds me... the U.S. Open is on TV. Gotta go... [Furo]

^TOP^

RETRO: In The Year 1991...

http://journals.tuxreports.com/lch/archives/001750.html

"Most people are running DOS on a 386 machine. In the year 1991, 20 million DOS/Windows systems were sold, 2 million Apple systems, and 250,000 Sun computers. The 486 was still a high-end system, and as Gates mentions in his keynote, "1-Gb logical address space should prove adequate for personal computer applications for the rest of the decade."

If you got a chuckle out of this, you'll probably enjoy Gates' comments on pen computing...

Editor's Note: Loren, of Incremental Blogger, posted the transcript, and I couldn't help but think back to those days when I was in the Marine Corps, just starting to really learn something about computers. Gates notes that PCs were just beginning to come out with sound capability, and I recall longing for my own computer... with a sound card. I got that first personal computer in 1991. It was a Gateway 2000 486 DX/33, with 4MB of RAM, 210MB hard disk, sound card and a programmable keyboard named, of all things, AnyKey. That machine was worlds faster than the 386 CNS Banyan VINES servers I was responsible for and the dozen or so 286 PCs, complete with their EGA monitors. My, how far we've come. [Furo]

^TOP^

MAC: Expanded G5 Storage

http://www.transintl.com/store/category.cfm?Category=2490

One of the only two drawbacks I can name about Apple's PowerMac G5 is the limitation of only two internal hard disks for a machine of its size and horsepower. The systems come equipped with Firewire 400 and 800, so external storage is certainly an option, as is server-based data accessed via the Gigabit Ethernet. External drives cost more and consume more physical space, as if the G5 weren't large enough on its own. Not many home or small business users have the option of vast server resources, and leading to the other negative point about the G5, the lack of jumbo packet support in the Gigabit Ethernet interface. This significantly reduces the potential network performance of the machine.

So, what to do? The Swift Data 200 is an add-on hard disk mounting kit, able to squeeze three additional hard disks in the lower front section of the tower. The disks sit directly in front of the processor fans, which will provide adequate cooling, to be sure. As heat is drawn over the disks and subsequently over the CPUs, it may bump up the CPU temps artificially, thereby causing the fan speeds to increase as well. Effective, though perhaps a bit more noise than you may desire. I also wonder about the warranty implications.

The two-disk mounting kit will set you back a stiff $368, and does not include the SATA hard disks, but does contain a PCI SATA controller card. The three-disk version gets you two controller cards and costs $437. What you do gain through the internal solution is RAID capability, so do consider that before writing it off and going with external drives, given that Firewire RAID solutions aren't really any cheaper. [Furo]

^TOP^

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE6092CFD1E5632C0AD162@reply.whatcounts.com Tue Jun 22 21:08:12 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5N18ALU020556 for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:11 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway2.nettally.com [199.44.114.220] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id A7F8DE100DE; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:08 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway2.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:08 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hr3b3a054e40; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 16:49:53 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ Help Matt Migrate Date: 22 Jun 2004 16:57:28 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406222108912.SM00408@gateway2.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 22, 2004
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Lockergnome's IT Professionals ~ June 22, 2004   

Gnomedex 4.0! ~ September 30 - October 3 ~ Lake Tahoe, NV

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GNOMEREPORT: Help Matt Migrate
JUST ASK MATT!: Resetting Default Browser
SYSTEM: RSoP, not RSVP
WI-FI: Don't Lose Sanity With Signal
BACKUP: Recovery Console
TALK: Missed TechEd 2004?

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GNOMEREPORT: Help Matt Migrate

Get insight that helps you optimize your website. Urchin, the industry leading web analytics software, is used on sites worldwide, by large corporations, government institutions, and small and medium sized companies. Urchin software analyzes your website log files and delivers fast, interactive reports and graphics on every aspect of your website's traffic and visitors. Urchin is easy to install and allows you to view reports in seven languages, with clear explanations of what you are viewing on each report. Download a copy today!

So I was cruising the download sites, making my daily rounds, when I came across something that totally caught me off guard. A John Kerry RSS reader. Now politics aside, I thought this deserved further investigation. The RSS reader not only keeps its readers hip to what is happening in the Kerry camp, it also displays the current weather for your specified ZIP code. This is great to see RSS take hold in the political arena. As an independent, it is not important to me which party decided to get on board with RSS. I am just thrilled to see it make its debut within mainstream politics and look forward to seeing where it will appear next.

In unrelated news...

I need a favor from you folks out there. For the past week or so, I have been looking long and hard for an open source solution to a software program like ACT!. I have looked and looked but keep coming up empty handed. After thinking about it for a few minutes, I decided that the best approach would be to call upon the Gnomies for some advice in this area. Basically I am needing a database program to keep track if my PC repair clients. While ACT! has been effective in this area, I would like to migrate to something new. If any of you folks have any shareware / freeware / Open Source ideas, please send them over this way. Thanks, folks!

Let's get digital,
Matt Hartley

^TOP^

JUST ASK MATT!: Resetting Default Browser

Matt Hartley

By Matt Hartley

Welcome to "Just Ask Matt!" - The IT industry's answer to the help column, only slightly more medicated. Today, Tony writes:

I am currently using IE6, but I want to try out other browsers. Say I try out something and don't like it; how do i reset the Default Browser back to what it was? Actually, I tried out MyIE2, but was having conflicts with Sygate Personal Firewall. I removed MyIE2, but the default browser was still set to MyIE2. I ended up having to use System Restore.

Hi, Tony! To reset the browser defaults back to IE6, follow these instructions:

  1. Open up IE6, go to Tools, and then Internet Options.
  2. Go to the Programs tab and place a check mark in the "Internet Explorer should check to see if it is the default browser" box.
  3. Close IE, then restart IE and you will receive a prompt asking if you want to make IE your default browser. Choose Yes, and you are finished. If you find that does not work, just choose "reset Web settings". :o)

Do you have an IT-related question? Perhaps you are just burnt out on writing on the walls with crayons? Whatever the comments may be, drop me a line and you, too, can "Just Ask Matt!"

^TOP^

SYSTEM: RSoP, not RSVP

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Resultant Set of Policy - Those administrators familiar with group policies know how difficult they can be to troubleshoot. The Resultant Set of Policy (RSoP) tool helps administrators troubleshoot, plan, and monitor group policy settings. It allows administrators to see the effective policy settings and determine the effect of policy setting changes.

Using RSoP, administrators can easily gauge the cumulative settings that apply to a specific user and computer. Since group policy settings can be applied at the site, domain, and OU level, the resultant setting for a user or computer can be difficult to understand. So group policies can exist at three different levels. To further complicate things, multiple policies may exist at each level. And to throw another wrench into this, features such as filtering and block inheritance may be used. Good luck in figuring out the actual settings that are applied to a specific user. It will definitely be difficult, if not altogether impossible. Thankfully, to circumvent this situation, Microsoft has included RSoP with Windows Server 2003. Although you can still use the command line utility called gpresult.exe, the text based results are often difficult to understand.

The general steps for launching RSoP are outlined below:

  1. Click Start and click Run. Type mmc and press Enter.
  2. On the File menu within the management console, click Add/Remove Snap-in.
  3. Click Add. Scroll through the list of available snap-ins and click Resultant Set of Policy. Click Add. Click close and click OK to close the Add/Remove Snap-in window.
  4. Right click Resultant Set of Policy and click Generate RSoP Data. This launches the Resultant Set of Policy wizard. Click Next.
  5. The wizard will walk you through the process of selecting various configuration options. Click Finish to close the wizard.
  6. From the console window, you can now expand the options under Computer Configuration and User Configuration to view the policy settings currently in effect. The results will show you the precise settings that are applied to the user or computer specified.

^TOP^

WI-FI: Don't Lose Sanity With Signal

What do Instant Messaging to Basement Waterproofing have in common? They're a part of Lockergnome's Technobabble channel. We're talking about all sorts of topics, and the Internet resources that will help you figure out what's going on inside of them. Dedicated Server Hosting, Prepaid Cell Phones, Overseas Outsourcing... we've already covered 'em! Next week, we'll cover even more. What would you like to read about today?

Matt Hartley

By Matt Hartley

Lately I have received a number of e-mails asking what can be done about losing Wi-Fi connectivity for what seems like no reason at all. If everything is being used as it should, this should not even be an issue, right? Well it actually depends. Microsoft's Wireless Zero Configuration has an annoying habit of dropping connections to to non-broadcasting SSID networks in favor of the broadcasting SSID network for someone nearby.

Confused, yet? Let me give you an example. Let's say that you are surfing the Internet wirelessly without a care in the world when out of left field you lose your wireless connection. You know that you could not have possibly lost signal strength because the connection was very strong just a couple of minutes ago and you have not changed location. So you check your wireless settings and notice that there is another network nearby that was not there before. Thinking little of it, you reconnect to your network without any problems. About 10 minutes later it happens again - no connection. By this time, you are getting fed up with this and want a solution NOW. Well, there are a few different methods that can be used to handle this wireless crisis.

First you need to understand that it is quite likely that your wireless network is not set to broadcast your SSID. The SSID allows computers looking for a wireless connection to see a network that is available for wireless connection. Now right off the bat you must be thinking that having the SSID broadcast like this is a security risk. It can be, no question of that, but sometimes it is also a necessary evil that cannot always be avoided. I like to keep it off whenever possible. However, there are occasions that having it turned on can prevent a number of headaches. So once you turn on SSID broadcasting from your router settings, your wireless card will see this network and give you the option of connecting to it. If you have SSID broadcasting turned on and are finding that you are still being disconnected from time to time, check the wireless connection settings to make sure that Enable IEEE 802.11x authentication is disabled. Home networks do not need this and it should remain off. You can find this setting in the Wireless Network Properties under "Authentication."

If you decide that enabling SSID is just out of the question for you, there are a couple of other options that may be available to you depending on circumstance and your wireless hardware. The first is to simply use the wireless cclient that comes with your wireless card. While personally have not tried this with anything other than Win 98, I have heard of some folks having success with it on other OSes. Just be sure to disable the Wireless Zero Configuration first before installing the other client.

Some quick security reminders:

  1. Make sure that either WEP or WPA are being used in any of the circumstances above. You should only be running with it off for troubleshooting purposes only. When any network issues have been resolved, get that encryption turned back on ASAP.
  2. Change your SSID and your password. Nothing is easier to compromise than a router with the defaults still in place.
  3. Whenever possible, restrict access to a select mac address. Your router's user guide will explain how to do this if you are not familiar with this concept. Basically, it prevents users from connecting to your network unless their wireless card's mac address is on the allowed list.
  4. Use strong passwords. Do not use the name of your pet or the street that live on. Passwords should use a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols like #$%&*.
  5. As always, use a firewall. This is an important part of keeping a network buttoned up nice and tight.
  6. If they want in badly enough, they will get in. Understand that these security measures are just that - measures. They do not guarantee anything. If a pro wants in badly enough, they'll find a way. I simply believe that it is a good idea NOT to leave the virtual windows open to invite potential attacks.

^TOP^

BACKUP: Recovery Console

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Let's say you have a backup copy of the registry located somewhere on the hard disk. The best way to put it back intact is to use the Recovery Console, which can also be used to attempt fixing the boot files and the master boot record on the hard disk. The Recovery Console was introduced in Windows 2000 and is included with Windows Server 2003. It's a great tool to use when your Windows system is having problems starting.

The Recovery Console can be accessed in two different ways. One way is booting to the installation CD. However, you can also place it in the Advanced Boot options (F8 during boot, which gives you options like safe mode, last known good, boot logging, etc.) by running \i386\winnt32.exe\cmdcons from the installation CD. I would recommend the latter. I like having it as an option on the Advanced Boot menu. You can boot to it quickly as well at any time to become familiar with it.

Either way, the Recovery Console is a fancy-yet-restricted command prompt which requires an administrative login for access. There are a limited number of commands available from the Recovery Console: BATCH, BOOTCFG, CD, CHKDSK, CLS, COPY, DEL, DIR, DISABLE, DISKPART, ENABLE, EXIT, EXPAND, FDISK, FIXBOOT, FIXMBR, FORMAT, HELP, LISTSVC, LOGON, MAP, MD, MORE, RENAME, and RD. You should be familiar with most if not all of these commands. You can use Fixboot and Fixmbr as additional last-ditch attempts at going home on time, but more often, the recovery console is used to reconfigure services using the Disable and Enable commands which may have been the source of the problem. Unfortunately, many commands like XCOPY will not work with the Recovery Console.

^TOP^

TALK: Missed TechEd 2004?

Tim at Lockergnome.net blog /tim/bin writes:

The recordings of sessions from TechEd 2004 are starting to appear here, which is very useful to me as I didnt attend nor will I be at the Euro edition. There's some really good stuff about VS 2005 and some of the new features like threading a doddle.

We're proud to have hundreds of bloggers signed up through the Lockergnome Blogging Network! Maybe you'd like to join us? We're keeping an eye out for other interesting entries to feature in this channel. Perhaps you'll write one of 'em?

^TOP^

The latest version of Registry First Aid is even easier to use and safely fixes more Registry errors than ever before. Helps eliminate system crashes, software lockups, and slow loading programs caused by incorrect Registry entries left over from software installations and uninstallations that went awry. Registry First Aid fixes these problems by removing these references that are no longer needed. Hundreds of these files bog down the registry, slow down your computer, and cause software to lock up. Fix Windows now!

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From lockergnome2_452FC4980AFE6092162529C880133779@reply.whatcounts.com Tue Jun 22 21:08:17 2004 Return-Path: Received: from mxfs.nettally.com (mxfs.nettally.com [199.44.114.227]) by nexus.polaris.net (8.12.11/8.12.11) with ESMTP id i5N18FkO020561 for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:16 -0400 (EDT) Received: from gateway2.nettally.com [199.44.114.220] by mxfs.nettally.com with ESMTP (SMTPD32-8.03) id A7FE52400E6; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:14 -0400 Received: from lockergnome.wc09.net (63.214.0.205) by gateway2.nettally.com (Alligate(TM) SMTP Gateway v1.4.612.2) with ESMPT id <8D40FFAD18A61B02.AB01836CA08E5654@gateway2.nettally.com> for ; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 21:08:09 -0500 Received: from jungfrau (192.168.0.38) by lockergnome.wc09.net (PowerMTA(TM) v2.0r1) id hr3b3e054e44; Tue, 22 Jun 2004 17:11:38 -0700 (envelope-from ) From: "Lockergnome" To: kermit@polaris.net Subject: Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ Taking ID10T To A Whole New Level Date: 22 Jun 2004 17:19:14 PDT Reply-To: "Lockergnome" X-Habeas-SWE-1: winter into spring X-Habeas-SWE-2: brightly anticipated X-Habeas-SWE-3: like Habeas SWE (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-4: Copyright 2002 Habeas (tm) X-Habeas-SWE-5: Sender Warranted Email (SWE) (tm). The sender of this X-Habeas-SWE-6: email in exchange for a license for this Habeas X-Habeas-SWE-7: warrant mark warrants that this is a Habeas Compliant X-Habeas-SWE-8: Message (HCM) and not spam. Please report use of this X-Habeas-SWE-9: mark in spam to . MIME-version: 1.0 Content-type: text/html X-Mailer: WhatCounts X-Alligate: Not subscribed Message-Id: <200406222108162.SM00408@gateway2.nettally.com> X-Declude-Status: Waiting for activation code Status: RO Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 22, 2004
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Lockergnome's Windows Fanatics ~ June 22, 2004   

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GNOMEREPORT: Taking ID10T To A Whole New Level

WinBackup + WinTasks 4 Pro + SpeedUpMyPC 2.0 - Today, for one low price, you can finally get the security, stability, and speed you need. Three must-have utilities that make you more productive than ever before - for one low price of $69.95, Gnomies can save $70! WinBackup: Get complete and easy backups in a snap - with built-in compression, encryption, and CD burning. WinTasks 4 Professional: Pump up the speed of your PC - and stomp attacks on your precious privacy and security. SpeedUpMyPC: Turbocharge your PC and monitor CPU, memory, and Internet usage in real-time.

Chris is off to New Orleans to speak at the eBay Developer Conference, so we're relying on longtime Gnomie Greg Hughes to lead us in today's Gnomereport. Take 'er away, Greg!

Nick Bradbury, author of TopStyle, FeedDemon, and HomeSite, wrote the other day about stupid software thieves. It never fails to amaze how stupid people can be.

He received an e-mail this morning and comments on it:

"Fix your piece of s--- program! I upgraded to FeedDemon 1.10 and it crashes with 'Win32 device error.' Did you even test this s---?"

I've actually received a number of e-mails (and one forum post) about this bug, but I have no plans to fix it. Why? Because the error message only appears if you upgrade a cracked version of FeedDemon 1.0. This is a deliberate error message that FeedDemon 1.10 displays when it detects that you upgraded from a specific cracked version of FeedDemon 1.0.

That's right, people who use a pirated version of FeedDemon are e-mailing me for support.

Once again we see the sizable overlap between stupid and dishonest. In my years as a police officer - a previous career path - I saw this over and over. Not only are thieves and cheaters not very smart, they'll often make it all-too-easy to catch them.

Read Nick's blog entry - it's worth the time and the resulting laugh. And good for Nick, taking action to protect his intellectual property. I buy his software, not only because it's great, but also simply because I use it. Not to mention because it's the honest, good and right thing to do. This is an important conversation to have.

Yours digitally,
Greg Hughes

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DOWNLOAD: Abakt v0.8.11 [656K] Win98/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/420

Abakt is an easy to use but quite flexible backup tool that can create normal or compressed backups in ZIP format. You can create multiple backup profiles, select files and folders to be included, and apply several advanced filters based on file type, attributes, size, and date. The backup can be saved to a folder named after the current date (allows you to keep multiple copies), or in a compressed archive that can be updated or split into fixed-size parts. The program does not come with a built-in scheduler, however, it supports command line arguments, allowing you to use your own batch scripts via Windows Task Scheduler. Additional features include support for 7-Zip (if installed), detailed logging, zip backup restore, and more. [SnapFiles]

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DOWNLOAD: SmartFix v3.3 [1.3M] Win9x/2k/XP FREE

Click here to enlarge!

http://go.lockergnome.com/421

To provide the best computer experience available, SmartFix is an all-in-one system and security repair tool that allows you to fix and eliminate the pesky bugs and problems that might slow down your computer through easy one-click menu options. Furthermore, SmartFix adds an extra layer of protection against the security attacks and hazards of the Internet by repairing the security flaws on your system. To make your computer experience even smoother, an intelligent pop-up ad blocker is included to block those annoying spam pop-up and pop-under ads, as well as an easy-to-use system monitor taskbar that allows you to keep track of your computer's health. [MajorGeeks]

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FAVORITE: GIMPguru

Click here to enlarge!

http://gimpguru.org/

The image editing software market is rather crowded. Each program says it can do stuff that the others can't. While there are some differences among the software out there, a lot of the features are pretty much the same. The problem is that the big boy programs out there can cost you hundreds of dollars and your left kidney. Since I'm not willing to give up my left kidney at this time, it makes more sense to go with something much cheaper. Many of our fellow geeks opt to go with a free, open source, and cross-platform tool called The Gimp (GNU Image Manipulation Program). GIMPguru will give you some helpful resources for this editor.

Don't have The GIMP yet? No problem - the site directs you to where you can download it for your particular OS. Tutorials are listed for the beginner, intermediate, and advanced user. Guides dealing with everything from simulating fog to selective colorization are available. Each tutorial has an easy-to-follow walkthrough, and helpful screenshots accompany each step. A Q&A column called Ask the Guru is present to help you with your particular problems. If you have a question, feel free to send it on over to the site's creator. A few scripts are up for download, and a forum can also be found at the site. If you just can't seem to figure The GIMP out, GIMPguru should be of some assistance. [Brandon]

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GNEWBIE GNOOK: What Do You Do With An Old Computer?

Brandon Watts

By Brandon Watts

Q: I have an old computer that I never use, and I was wondering what I could do with it. Is it safe to throw it out?

A: You've probably noticed that things change blazingly fast in the computer world. That computer of yours that was the fastest thing to ever hit a computer desk has likely been outdated as of four minutes ago. When you buy a new computer, you're then stuck with the older one. Before you decide to trash it, think of the possible uses for the computer. For example, you could network it with your new computer. You could also retire it (drop it off of the second story of your house and hope for the best), but that's a little messy.

Throwing your computer away is the worst thing that you can do. Computers contain harmful elements that can harm the environment. Besides, there are probably multitudes of local schools or senior groups that would jump all over the opportunity to get their hands on a "new" computer. Even if your computer is in disrepair, it's still worth donating. It may be a simple thing that can be fixed in order for the computer to get up and running again. If you can't find any local schools or charity groups to donate Old Betsy to, look into a recycling company. They can dispose of your computer in an environmentally safe way. This page on Earth 911 will help you to find a center near your house that will accept a donation. That site doesn't cater to the entire world (mainly the US), but if you're in another country, visit the World Computer Exchange for information on how you can ship your working computer to them.

Hopefully you'll think twice about immediately trashing your old computer. As you can see, there are many less fortunate people that can benefit from it. At the end of the day, you'll be happy that you opened up a whole new world to someone.

Have a question or subject that you would like to see covered? Drop Brandon a line and maybe he can include it in a future edition of the Gnewbie Gnook! Also, don't forget our forums (or, if you're a Latin freak, "fora") where Gnomies from all around the world congregate to help, be helped, and discuss issues that may or may not have anything to do with technology!

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SYSTEM: Favorite Links on Your Start Menu

Free Guide to Effective Online Learning! Ellis College offers more than 20 accredited online degree programs designed for the unique learning styles of working adults. At Ellis, students complete their degrees online by using customized tools and services, rather than a one-size-fits-all academic approach. A division of the New York Institute of Technology, Ellis College offers bachelor degrees in popular areas of study such as business, finance, marketing, technology, information systems and more. New classes begin every three weeks. At Ellis College, you get it faster.

Diana Huggins

By Diana Huggins

Internet Explorer allows you to keep a list of your favorite Web sites. This makes it faster for you to access these sites. All you have to do is click the Favorites button, and click the URL you want to go to from the list that appears in the right pane.

Although I personally wouldn't use this tip too often - only for a Web site that I access several times throughout the day (such as Lockergnome.com), for instance. You can add one of your favorite links directly to the Start Menu. Opening the Web site is as simple as clicking on the Start button and selecting the link. You no longer need to open Internet Explorer first. To do so, open Internet Explorer, and click the Favorites button. Select one of the links and while holding down the mouse button, drag the link onto your Start button.

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TCB: Plasma Television for the Masses?

Daniel Gray

By Daniel Gray

Plasma screen televisions are the coolest. They might not run the coolest, but man, plasmas sure look the coolest. I've wanted a plasma screen television since the very first time I saw one. I'm not positive what it was that first attracted me, but I'd reckon that it was the flatness of it all. I've dreamed of a television that I could hang on the wall ever since I was a little kid. Of course it was mere science fiction, back then. I remember watching Star Trek for the very first time - amazed at the huge television screen at the front of the the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Now if that huge screen wasn't a premonition of a plasma TV, I don't know what was.

And I remember walking into a Gateway store and seeing an (almost) affordable flat screen plasma television for the very first time. It was at that moment when I realized it was only a matter of time until plasma TVs would be truly affordable to the masses...

[Plasma Television for the Masses?, Continued]

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HELP: Program To Move Programs

Mohammad Yousef

By Mohammad Yousef

Q: Do you know of a program that will allow me to move installed software from one location to another? I'm running out of room on one of my drives and would like to move a few programs to a different drive without having to uninstall them first.

A: Software installed on a computer is much different from normal files. Normal files can be copied, cut and pasted as you like but you cannot do the same to software. Actually, you can copy software from one place to another but no one can tell in advance whether it will run properly because key files and settings can be located in many places on the hard drive.

Before receiving this question, it never crossed my mind that a program to move programs might exist. So I searched the Internet and asked others if they had heard of such a program. Just when I was about to give up searching, I read about Application Mover in an Internet forum. This program can move software from one path on your hard disk to another and apparently, it deals with the Windows registry, configuration settings (.ini files), program shortcuts... so it's less likely for the software to malfunction after being moved. Application Mover is probably nowhere near perfect. So in my opinion, the best thing to do is reinstall your software to make sure everything runs as it's supposed to.

If you have any comments (good, bad or ugly) about this article or if you would like to suggest a topic for me to write about, please don't hesitate to let me know.

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FAMILY FIRST: InformationPlease

From Family First

When I was growing up, we had one newspaper in the town I live in, and it was published weekly. Television (of which we had one channel) did not have breaking news, unless it was a very major story, such as the assasination of President Kennedy. Today, everywhere you turn, there is access to news, weather, sports, anything, and most of it is available on the Internet. Today's Family First Site is one that has a wide range of subject matter, and is very timely.

The site is called InformationPlease. It is a Web site that contains a wide ranging collection of links on a wide range of current events. Would you like to know about vitamin D, and how teenagers should be taking more? How about stories of major automotive manufacturers (Mercedes and Volkswagon) investing billions of dollars in China? They are all here, along with topics ranging from business, sports, entertainment, society, and government. You could spend hours here.

[InformationPlease, continued]

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NEWS: As Reported By ActiveWin.com

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Free Guide to Effective Online Learning! Ellis College offers more than 20 accredited online degree programs designed for the unique learning styles of working adults. At Ellis, students complete their degrees online by using customized tools and services, rather than a one-size-fits-all academic approach. A division of the New York Institute of Technology, Ellis College offers bachelor degrees in popular areas of study such as business, finance, marketing, technology, information systems and more. New classes begin every three weeks. At Ellis College, you get it faster.

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