Neat Net Tricks Issue #76
April 15, 2000
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
Reply-To: NNT@silver.lyris.net

IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  MetaPad
02.  HTTP Viewer
03.  Readers Write
04.  Business Card Designer Plus
05.  Music mania
06.  Mash it
07.  More MP3 madness
08.  ExpertCity
09.  Customized weather
10.  Privacy patrol
11.  A sure shot
12.  Declutter the taskbar
13.  Neat Net Nifty

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01.  METAPAD.  A good replacement for Microsoft NotePad with
many extras, yet a small and free download of 21kb, is MetaPad
at http://welcome.to/metapad/ .  This is no substitute for the
more powerful word processors such as WordPerfect or Word, but
for a simple little text editor, it does a lot.

02.  HTTP VIEWER.  Rex Swain writes to suggest that his viewer
at http://www.rexswain.com/httpview.html is a pretty cool tool.
We would agree.  You provide the URL of a site, and this viewer
shows what is received by the browser, including the HTTP header,
whether cookies are being set, URL forwarding, and other
information.

03.  READERS WRITE.  Remember the earlier item suggesting that
ezine subscribers would do well to retain instructions on how to
get off a list if it goes amok and floods your email box?  Frank
Christensen offers a handy tip.  He sets up a separate mail
folder he calls subscriptions.  When he subscribes to any ezine
or Web site, he files the introductory welcoming letter in that
folder for future reference.  Frank also suggests keeping track
of unsubscribe information in a program such as Password Tracker
at http://www.clrpc.com/ptd/ .

04.  BUSINESS CARD DESIGNER PLUS.  I'll admit it.  I'm inherently
lazy when it comes to users manuals and when I see nearly 50 pages of
instructions I get squeamish.  The test of nice software, I think, is
how easily it performs when some of us don't read the manual. So, 
Business Card Designer Plus got high marks from me as I
cranked out a set of spiffy business cards in less than five minutes
just from the screen prompts.  It's hard to imagine what I could do if
I took the time to RTM.  Try it free at http://www.camdevelopment.com/
or buy it for $24.95.

05.  MUSIC MANIA.  Streambox at 
http://www.streambox.com/Products/products.asp provides several nice 
utilities for the music buffs.  The Streambox Ripper converts CD and 
Real Audio files to WAP, MP4, or Windows Media Audio formats.  
Streambox Magic Spell adds voice to instant message software such as 
ICQ, AOL, MSN, and Yahoo Instant Messengers, using Microsoft Agent and
a built-in text-to-speech engine.  Streambox Rio Explorer manages, 
moves, and copies MP3 files from PC to Diamond Rio MP3 Player.

06.  MASH IT.  To add pizazz to your Web site, check out the MASH, 
also known as the Microsoft Agent Scripting Helper.  It adds some 30 
3D-animated characters and the text-to-speech synthesizer and voice-
activated commands let you do some fun stuff at 
http://www.bellcraft.com/mash/ .

07.  MORE MP3 MADNESS.  MyPlay at http://www.myplay.com lets you 
organize, play, share, and store your MP3 music collection in your 
own free 250 mb "locker."

08.  EXPERTCITY.  At http://www.expertcity.com you can turn your
computer problems over to any one of 40 on-line experts.  After you
indicate your problem, those with specific expertise will bid on what
they would charge to cure your dilemma, and you then decide which one
to hire.  You're aided in your selection with a rating of each from
previous customers.  The expert you select, using a plug-in, will
access your computer, with your permission, and talk you through the 
fix, or do the repair while you watch.  If you like the work, you pay
his or her price; if not, it's on the house.

09.  CUSTOMIZED WEATHER.  Enter the desired zip code where the XXXXX is
shown in this URL and you'll get the weather in whatever U.S. location
you desire:  http://www.weather.com/weather/us/zips/XXXXX.html .  My
apologies to our friends in other countries who probably aren't
particularly interested in the U.S. weather.

10.  PRIVACY PATROL.  With a 1.2 meg download from 
http://www.enonymous.com , this utility will pop up a window as you
surf to inform you of the site's privacy policy.  It will give a rating
of one to four stars based on evaluations of 25,000 Web sites, and it
will auto-fill online forms with a click.  Enonymous works on MSIE or
Netscape versions 4.0 or above and on Windows 95b, 98, and NT.

11.  A SURE SHOT.  In the not-so-good old days, a screen-saver was a
necessity to avoid monitor burn-in.  Not so anymore, and screen
savers are purely decorative.  If you like them, and wallpaper, to
spruce up your screen, then there's likely no more complete source
than Webshots, where you can download free software and daily images
from a selection of more than 100,000 at http://www.webshots.com .

12.  DECLUTTER THE TASK BAR.  For those fastidious folks with Windows
98, F10 will remove the clutter in your taskbar, and another touch will
restore it when you get an empty feeling.

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13.  NEAT NET NIFTY.  A strange thingie, Constructor at 
http://www.soda.co.uk/soda/constructor/ has been getting a lot of 
attention lately on the Net. It "animates and edits two-dimensional
models made out of masses and springs, can be controlled by a wave to 
make pulsing muscles, and models can be constructed that bounce, roll,
walk, etc. " Now, if none of that makes much sense, then go over to 
the site and check it out for yourself. And while you're there, back
up to see the whole site at http://www.soda.co.uk and look over Soda's
other designs and toys.

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'd 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.

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Copyright 2000 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved.
