Neat Net Tricks Issue #61
September 1, 1999
Sender: owner-neatnettricks@neatnettricks.com

IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  Make room
02.  Search by ZIP
03.  Take aim on AIM
04.  Big brother or necessary?
05.  Update with Update
06.  Home network without the work
07.  Neat Net Nifty
08.  Troubleshoot Netscape
09.  Every file in the world
10.  Startup Cop
11.  Pamela's demise
12.  Nothing short about ShortKey
13.  Maneuvering DOS
14.  Lost & Found
15.  One-minute tip

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As of this issue Neat Net Tricks is read by more than 50,000 
in at least 133 countries, not bad for a little publication 
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Come visit often!

01.  MAKE ROOM.  They don't seem to make monitors big enough 
and as they enlarge them, we fill them up.  You can reclaim a 
tiny bit of real estate when using Netscape Communicator with a 
CTRL+ALT+S to hide the task bar.  This combination toggles so a 
second time restores it.

02.  SEARCH BY ZIP.  In the location box of Netscape, enter ZIP 
followed by the zip code of a desired location.  If it's a 
major city, the news, weather, sports, entertainment, and other 
such information will be displayed in your browser.  Even if 
not a major city, a number of links will likely be returned for 
that locale.

03.  TAKE AIM ON AIM.  Some 35 issues ago we heard complaints 
about that insidious little AOL Instant Messenger that pops up 
when you didn't invite it.  Back then, it was suggested simply 
to right click on the AIM icon in the taskbar, choose 
preferences, miscellaneous tab, and uncheck the box labeled 
"Start AIM when Windows Starts."  That works, of course, but 
for those purists who resent providing disk space for this 
uninvited guest, do a file search on your hard drive for "aim" 
and delete both the AIM folder and the file LAUNCH.AIM and that 
gives a permanent fix.  Permanent, that is, until you reinstall 
or upgrade Netscape.

04.  BIG BROTHER OR NECESSARY?  I have a problem with snooping 
but at the same time read a lot about parental responsibility 
and employee time waste on the Internet.  Winguardian at 
http://www.webroot.com/chap1.htm is described as an Employee 
and Child Monitoring Utility and indeed it does that as a 
passworded hidden device that logs all programs the user runs, 
all text typed, and all web sites visited.  It will display 
screenshots at designated intervals, deny access to specified 
applications, Email the log file to a designated address, 
and/or save the log to a specified file. The part I like that 
might separate Winguardian from other snoop devices: You can 
set a customized warning to users that the system is being 
monitored and even require them to acknowledge the warning. At 
least they cant say they werent aware that youre looking 
over their shoulder.  Try it free or buy it for $39.95.

05.  UPDATE WITH UPDATE.  Updates.com is a free update service 
at http://www.updates.com .  To use their service, you must 
have cookies enabled and download a 1.2 meg Netscape plug-in 
(caution here, make sure to close your browser before 
installing the plug-in.) After the preliminaries, Updates will 
analyze your entire system and tell you what software should be 
updated, even providing the link for downloading updates.  It 
will also analyze hardware and gives tips for 
improving performance.

06.  HOME NETWORK WITHOUT THE WORK.  Best guesti-mates hold 
that some 15 million U.S. homes have two more more computers.  
With AnyPoint, you can hook those extra computers together with 
no new wiring.  With a simple hookup using your existing 
parallel port (or PCI card if you like to open the tower) and 
your existing telephone lines, and a quick installation of the 
software provided in the package, you're just a couple minutes 
away from a neat network installation that allows accessing 
files between computers, Net surfing on one shared modem, 
printing using a shared printer, and multi-user games between 
two or more computers wherever they are in your house.  I'm 
looking forward to data transfer (supposedly at speeds up to 1 
Mbps) when I decide to network my new computer to the old relic 
(when I get a new computer, that is.)  At about $190 to wire 
two computers together and $80 for each added setup, this may 
just be the bargain you're looking for. Get more info at 
http://www.intel.com .

07.  NEAT NET NIFTY.  For the next best thing to being there, 
take a ride to the top of the Space Needle for a breathtaking 
360-degree panoramic view of Seattle at 
http://spaceneedle.com/view/default.html .

Neat Net Tricks often pauses to recognize a Web site and 
recommend your visit.  Set aside some time to explore and enjoy 
the site. Predominately non-commercial sites are identified as 
"nifty" when their all-around content, originality, interest, 
variety, and graphical presentation have earned the award.  If 
you would like to nominate a Nifty site, send the URL to 
mailto:jteems@NeatNetTricks.com with a brief note telling why 
you think the site deserves the award.

08.  TROUBLESHOOT NETSCAPE.  The next time you get one of those 
cryptic error messages in Netscape, have no idea what caused 
it, and even less idea how to correct it, jump over to 
http://w3.one.net/~alward/netscape.html where you'll find a 
very handy chart (worth printing out and sticking on your wall.)

09.  EVERY FILE IN THE WORLD.  A site that says it lists every 
file format in the world is at http://www.whatis.com/ff.htm .  
This may be good reference material next time you run into a 
strange file extension.

10.  STARTUP COP.  When Windows opens, it launches several 
programs which may come from the Startup folder or other 
locations.  A free utility at http://hotfiles.zdnet.com/cgi-bin/texis/swlib/hotfiles/
info.html?fcode=000YKL&b= allows you to better manage these 
start-ups by disabling, enabling, or enabling them, and a text 
can be displayed summarizing each of the programs.

11.  PAMELA'S DEMISE.  Just as the mice get better at avoiding 
the mouse trap, spammers get better at evading filters and 
Pamela will inevitably reach our EMail box to entice us with 
her valuable service (ahem!)  I like SpamKiller at 
http://www.spamkiller.com because not only does it come with 
literally hundreds of filters to weed out Pamela and the other 
spammers, it can automatically update with new filters as the 
Pamelas of cyberspace think of new ways to slip unobtrusively 
into our EMail.  Another nice feature is the automatic 
generation (if you wish) of complaint letters to Pamela's ISP; 
not that it will help, but it gives one a sense of doing 
SOMETHING at least about spam.  Does SpamKiller eliminate all 
spam?  Of course not, but it's a good start. It's a free try 
or buy for $29.95.

12.  NOTHING SHORT ABOUT SHORTKEY.  Here I go again, writing 
about macro utilities, but there's one big distinction in 
ShortKeys at http://shortkeys.com .  With the others I've 
tried, a keyboard combination calls up predefined text.  
That's well and good but then it's necessary to memorize or 
refer to a long list of the macro combinations.  With 
ShortKeys, you define the macro with a few easily remembered 
characters.  For example, I use "sbscr" to replace a lengthy 
piece of text reminding some how they can go about subscribing 
to Neat Net Tricks.  There's lots of other features, but you 
can read them for yourself on the ShortKeys Web site where you 
can try this little utility free or buy it for $19.95.

13.  MANEUVERING DOS.  Although few venture into DOS 
(START|Programs and click on the MS-DOS prompt,) if you do you 
may not like the little window it presents. If you click on 
that icon with 4 arrows, the one that's third from the right at 
the top of the DOS screen, you'll find yourself out of windows 
and fully in DOS.  Don't panic, just toggle back and forth 
between DOS and Windows with ALT + Enter.

14.  LOST & FOUND.  When I review a product for Neat Net 
Tricks, I like to try it out.  Lost & Found at 
http://www.powerquest.com is different. I didn't try it, and I 
hope I never do.  If I do, it means my computer has crashed and 
data has been lost.  PowerQuest says Lost & Found will recover 
data even if the partition has been reformatted or if the FAT 
tables have been destroyed.  It's software ($ 69.95) you hope 
you don't ever need but it's comforting to have it nearby ... 
just in case.

15.  ONE-MINUTE TIP.  Navigate to the home page of the Neat 
Net Tricks Web site at http://www.NeatNetTricks.com and you 
can now hear a quick one-minute tip.  It will be changed every 
week, more or less, so come back often

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Copyright 1999 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved.
