Neat Net Tricks Issue #114
November 15, 2001 

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IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  StartStop
02.  Off line pages
03.  Email Via Phone
04.  Ithaki
05.  Password Keeper
06.  More directory printing
07.  TrayIt
08.  Hunting for a host
09.  Dir2Text
10.  BigFix
11.  FlipAlbum CD Maker
12.  Dr. Watson

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01.  STARTSTOP  at http://www.tfi-technology.com/startstop.htm 
is a short and free download to provide more control over 
programs that start up each time you boot your system.  With 
each boot you get the option to change your current settings or 
go with the default preferences.  As you know, fewer active 
programs make better use of limited resources, and StartStop 
will help you keep these to the desired minimum.

02.  OFF LINE PAGES.  Microsoft Internet Explorer allows you to 
store your favorites off line.  This is a nice feature when 
you'd like to show someone some Web sites without being 
connected to the Internet.  Too, accessing a saved page on 
one's hard drive is generally a lot faster than waiting for a 
site to load.  To store these pages off line, simply click on 
Favorites and Add to Favorites as usual, and make sure to select
"Make Available Off Line."  Anytime thereafter while you're on 
line, you can update these pages by clicking on Tools 
and Synchronize.

03.  EMAIL VIA PHONE lets you listen to incoming email messages 
from any touch tone phone; or, it will dial you at a designated 
telephone number at selected time intervals and read your 
messages to you. It can be configured to answer calls only from 
a specific phone.  It works with any email POP3 program but 
does not work with AOL or Web-based mail, other than the Yahoo 
service that provides POP access.  Setup was easy after a 
rather hefty download at http://www.softrunner.com . There's a 
free limited trial or purchase for $29.95.  The robotized 
voice was a little difficult to understand, and of course this 
application would be useful for short absences only because 
you'd need to leave your home computer running for EMail Via 
Phone to work, but it's an interesting concept.

04.  ITHAKI.  Under the premise that one cannot have too many 
search engines, may we suggest still another at 
http://www.ithaki.net .  Ithaki, similar to Ixquick mentioned 
in an earlier issue, is available in 14 languages.  There's 
another similarity.  They both maintain that they are "the 
world's most powerful metasearch engine."

05.  PASSWORD KEEPER.  Still another password maintenance 
application, Password Keeper at 
http://www.gregorybraun.com/PassKeep.html encrypts the master 
password entry and each password file can contain up to 1,000 
account entries.  It's a free trial or $25 to keep.

06.  MORE DIRECTORY PRINTING.  Because Windows offers no easy 
way to print a directory, we've mentioned several applications 
to do that for you.  Karen Kenworthy's free Director Printer 
2.10 is worth checking out at 
http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptdirprn.html .

07.  TRAYIT claims to be particularly useful for background 
tasks that are running on your PC all day, such as your email 
program, Real Player, etc.  It creates a small icon in the 
System Tray and saves taskbar space for minimized windows.  
Read about this free application at 
http://www.xmlsp.com/trayit/trayit.htm .

08. HUNTING FOR A HOST.  If you're looking for someone to host 
your Web site, a good starting place is 
http://www.FindWebspace.com .  You can enter how much you're 
willing to pay, how much space you need, and other criteria 
important to you.  When we looked in on the site, it had 5,412 
Web hosting packages from 1,793 hosting companies and featured 
1,094 user reviews.  It's a good way to narrow your search and 
stay within your budget.

09.  DIR2TEXT is a free utility that reads a folder and prints 
it to a text file.  Download it at 
http://mooresoft.bizland.com/download.htm

10.  BIGFIX. This free application at 
http://www.bigfix.com/website/consumers/overview.html
offers a way to learn about the latest bugs, conflicts, and 
outdated software on your computer, and to fix them with a 
single mouse click. BigFix works by checking the Internet daily 
for newly discovered bug and conflict reports, and then 
verifying whether your computer is affected. If BigFix 
determines that you have a problem, it offers to fix it for 
you. The company assures privacy, indicating that it doesn't 
share information without your consent.

11.  FLIPALBUM CD MAKER.  With the digital cameras and scanners 
found in a lot of households today, FlipAlbum allows PC users 
to finally and easily do something with all those images 
haphazardly stored on our hard drives. Although keeping up with 
new photo technologies was a delightful experience, we all 
began to miss our old photo albums where we systematically 
organized our favorite pictures. FlipAlbum allows us to do just 
that by placing our photographs (in BMP, GIF, JPG, PCX, WMF, 
ICO, PNG, PSD or TIF format) with a simple click and drag into 
a virtual album on our hard drive, complete with index, table 
of contents, customized cover and album pages.  FlipAlbum 
supports midis, wavs and mp3s for the addition of background 
music to set the mood for your images. Sound effects as well 
(for example, hear the page turning) and you can create 
captions for individual photos. The virtual 3-D album can then 
be placed on a CD and sent to friends and family.  Prices range 
from $49.95 to $149.95 and there's a free trial at 
http://www.flipalbum.com/

12.  DR. WATSON.  Windows98 and ME users have a diagnostic tool 
at their fingertips in Dr. Watson.  This utility takes a 
snapshot to aid in identifying the cause of system problems.  
You can locate it by clicking on 
Start|Programs|Accessories|System Information|Tools.  Or, set 
the good doctor up for a housecall by placing a shortcut in the 
StartUp group.  To do this, right-click on the taskbar, click 
Properties and the Start Menu Programs tab.  Click on Add and 
enter "c:\windows\drwatson.exe" (without quotes) in the Create 
Shortcut dialog window command line.  Click Next and select the 
StartUp folder from the list presented.  Another click on Next 
and Finish will install Dr. Watson when you restart Windows.

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NNT makes no endorsement or warranty, expressed or implied, with 
regard to featured products or services. Results may vary based 
on operating systems and other variables beyond our control.

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Copyright 2001 by Jack Teems. All rights reserved. Neat Net 
Tricks is registered with the U.S. Library of Congress 
ISSN: 1533-4619.
