Neat Net Tricks Issue #67
December 1, 1999
Sender: owner-neatnettricks@neatnettricks.com

IN THIS ISSUE

01.  The Inside Scoop
02.  Troubleshooter
03.  Taskbar toolbar
04.  In the driver's seat
05.  This bloodhound sniffs out the DLLs
06.  Work around the history file
07.  Modem madness
08.  TalkWorks PRO 3.0
09.  Earth Tuner
10.  A sure thing
11.  CNotePad
12.  Quick route to the hard drive
13.  One final word on Y2K
14.  Neat Net Nifty
15.  C-Pen 200
16.  Your perplexing questions answered

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01.  THE INSIDE SCOOP.  Thats what T.J. Lee, Lee Hudspeth, and Dan
Butler call their joint collaboration, formally titled The Unofficial
Guide to PCs, or, For when you want more than the official line.
This is only the second book Ive mentioned in the history of Neat Net
Tricks; but, its compilation of computer snippets, tweaks, tips, and
all-around-useful information and the low cost of $12.59 at
http://www.amazon.com make it worth the exception.  Of course, the
fact that Neat Net Tricks is mentioned in the book as a useful
resource made the book all the more complete!

02  TROUBLESHOOTER.  Microsoft has an answer to every question you
have at its Troubleshooters site at
http://support.microsoft.com/support/tshoot/ .  And if you believe
that, I have some tremendous investment opportunities for you.  Still,
your question may be one of those that can be easily answered from its
database, so you might check that site out before you resort to other
measures.

03.  TASKBAR TOOLBAR.  Win98 allows placing your favorite site on your
taskbar.  Right click a blank area of your taskbar and from the drop-
down menu, select Toolbars|New Toolbar.  In the New Toolbar box, enter
the complete URL for the site you wish placed there.

04.  IN THE DRIVER'S SEAT.  In the last issue of Neat Net Tricks, we
emphasized that drivers should be kept up-to-date to keep your system
working at peak efficiency.  Frank Condron's World of Windows at
http://www.worldowindows.com/ci.htm allows searching from 800
different companies for the latest drivers and software versions.  View
by company name or everything updated in the last 10 to 30 days.

05.  THIS BLOODHOUND SNIFFS OUT THE DLLs.  A DLL file is short for 
Dynamic Link Library, assorted functions or bits of data that are often
used in Windows applications.  A single DLL can be shared by several 
applications at the same time.  The DLL Show for Windows 95 at 
http://www.execpc.com/~sbd/DLLShow.html displays DLL relationships 
(dependencies) along with all tasks and processes currently running on 
your system.  It provides a listing of all error codes defined for your
operating system, and that could be useful in decrypting error code 
warnings.  Try free, buy for $20.  By the way, don't let the name fool
you, it also works on Win98.

06.  WORK AROUND THE HISTORY FILE.  As you probably know, both MS 
Internet Explorer and Netscape Communicator develop a trail of sites 
you've visited in the drop-down "Location" box for Netscape, or 
"Address" box for MSIE.  That's a convenient way to navigate, but if 
privacy is of concern, we've devoted past Neat Net Tricks items to 
removing that pesky trail.  What if you just don't want the entry to 
appear in the first place?  Then navigate to the desired link by using 
CTRL+O (that's a letter, not a number) and enter the URL in the space
provided.

07.  MODEM MADNESS.  If you're plagued, as I am, with frequent 
disconnects, this might be worth a try.  Click on 
Start|Settings|Control Panel|Properties|Connection Tab|Advanced and in 
the Extra Settings box, enter S10=50.  This supposedly holds the modem
connection without a carrier for a period of 5 seconds, allowing 
compensation for slight gaps of connect time.  But then again, maybe
not.

08.  TALKWORKS PRO 3.0 by Symantec is designed to "give your small 
business a professional voice."  In one package it provides fax, 
telephone and voicemail, a caller-ID compatible tracking system, call
forwarding, and other messaging capabilities, all in one package at 
$129.95.  Details are at http://www.symantec.com/talkworks/ .

09.  EARTH TUNER.  What can I say but "Wow."  If you're a RealAudio and
RealVideo fan, as I am, then you'll love what Earth Tuner at 
http://www.earthtuner.com/ does to that great software after a 5MB 
download.  To say it has a 1400-station database, is called an "Internet
Media Receiver," and saves your favorite sites in bookmarks and presets 
makes this one sound stuffy, and it's not.  Wait until you see the 
revolving globe that you click on to hear wherever in the world you want
to hear and ... well, see it for yourself, free for the try, $22.95 for 
the buy.

10.  A SURE THING.  On the surface, it looked just like another package 
to print stuff, and I read that it does its thing on CD, jewel cases, 
disks, etc.  Ho hum, I said.  So will just about any decent graphics 
editor and a bunch of blank labels.  But with an open mind (often
accused of being empty rather than open), I quickly installed the 
Sure Thing CD Labeler and put it through its paces without opening the
book (and I know THAT already appeals to many of you who have an 
aversion toward reading the manual).  With a couple of clicks I told 
SureThing what labels I wanted to use and the formatting was perfect.
It provides hundreds of colorful backgrounds, a wide range of fonts 
and effects, over 10,000 clipart images, even a CD label applicator. 
And the results were very professional.  Try it free at 
http://www.surething.com or buy a nice package for $39.95.

11.  CNOTEPAD.  WordPad and NotePad are very handy when you need a
quick-and-dirty little text editor.  But, as a better alternative,
you might try Cetus CNotePad at http://www.cetussoft.com/cnotepad.htm .
It's an enhanced replacement for NotePad and gives a nice toolbar,
search and replace, spell checker, and, best of all, the 1.1 MB
download is free.

12.  QUICK ROUTE TO THE HARD DRIVE.  We've surely mentioned this
before, but it bears repeating.  Start|Run and the backslash (\)
gets you to your hard drive in rapid order.

13.  ONE FINAL WORD ON Y2K.  As you read this, the dreaded Y2K
phenomenon (or not) is just one month away.  I've purposely stayed
out of the fray as much as possible, preferring to believe its not
the end of the world and on January 1, 2000, we'll all be doing 
just fine, thank you.  But, if you have Windows 95 on any of your
machines, you might seriously consider installing the Year 2000
Update at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows95/downloads/contents/wurecommended/s_wufeatured/win95y2k/default.asp?site=95
If this link comes to you distorted with word-wrapping, just
negotiate to the Microsoft site and look for the links to the Windows
95 Year 2000 Update.  You will need at least 10 mb free disk space and
if necessary to install the Internet Explorer Service Pack 2, your 
computer will require a whopping 80 MB free disk space.  Now, is it
necessary?  Maybe.  If you opt against it, let me know how things are
on January 1.  The greatest thing about the New Year and new millenium
is, perhaps we can put this Y2K thing to rest.

14.  NEAT NET NIFTY.  This one is not for the timid.  You must first 
equip your system with a late-generation browser, Java, DHTML, 
Macromedia Flash, and Shockwave; then, set your resolution to at least 
1024 x 768 and 16-bit or greater color depth.  But then, reward 
yourself with a real visual treat as Ethnographica at 
http://www.ethnographica.com shares "some of the rare and extraordinary
objects held in major museums as well as many fine pieces  from private
collections" with 1,200 images displayed in a way that you will feel 
you just walked through an art gallery without ever leaving the comfort
of your computer room.

Neat Net Tricks often pauses to recognize a Web site and recommend your
visit.  Set aside some time to explore the site and enjoy it.  Sites
that are predominantly non-commercial in focus are identified as "nifty"
when their all-around content, originality, interest, variety, and
graphical presentation have earned this 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.

15.  C PEN 200.  I just tried out a little 5-ounce device described as 
a "handheld data collector".  It's just a bit larger than a typical 
highlighter, and in fact it's used much the same way.  Run it over text,
it stores up to 100 pages of text or 250 addresses, then transfers that 
data via infrared technology to your PC where you can handle it in your
favorite word processor.  C Pen 200's OCR technology even allows use as
a normal writing instrument and translates movement into letters or 
numerals.  It will directly transfer text copy from paper to your PC 
screen and, well see for yourself at http://www.cpen.com .  Anything I 
didn't like about this little electronic nifty?  Well, the controls 
took some getting used to because they pack a lot into one switch. But
I'll do better after I master the learning curve.  Too, my PC wasn't 
equipped with an infrared adapter, thus requiring an additional 
purchase. However, installation of the hardware was simple with plug-
and-play, and the adaptor can be used for other cordless applications 
as well.  C-Pen can be a blessing if you're on the road away from your
PC or laptop.

16.  YOUR PERPLEXING QUESTIONS ANSWERED.  If you're ready to throw that
computer out the window in disgust, perhaps you aren't aware that Neat 
Net Tricks has its own Bulletin Board.  Many questions are answered 
within an hour or two. Of course, your results may vary; after all, the
Bulletin Board "experts" must sleep, though rarely.  And, they 
occasionally get time off for good behavior.  Visit the Board at 
http://www.escribe.com/bb/nettricks/ or you can get there directly from
the Web site at http://www.NeatNetTricks.com

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Copyright 1999 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved.
