Neat Net Tricks Issue #78
May 20, 2000 
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
Reply-To: NNT@silver.lyris.net

IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  Quick bookmark
02.  Customize Windows screens
03.  Phone spell
04.  Thanks, Hotmail!
05.  IdiotLight98
06.  Readers write
07.  On the road with email
08.  Verifying email service with Telnet
09.  Big brother bother
10.  Here on the Web
11.  Your Mac destination
12.  Printing Netscape bookmarks
13.  Harvest rather than bookmark


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01.  QUICK BOOKMARK.  You don't need to actually visit a Web page to
bookmark it.  You can just right click on a link and select Add
Bookmark if you are using Netscape Communicator or Add to Favorites
if you're using Microsoft Internet Explorer.  This will add the site
to your bookmarks or favorites list to visit later at your
convenience.

02.  CUSTOMIZE WINDOWS SCREENS.  Admittedly, this one is for a slow 
rainy day when you have nothing better to do.  You are tired of the 
typical Windows start screen, the "waiting" screen, and the "safe to 
shut down" message, right?  You'll find those in your Windows 
directory, as LOGO.SYS, LOGOW.SYS, and LOGOS.SYS.  Rename them to 
something with a different extension such as .OLD or .BAK; or, copy 
them to another folder or floppy for safekeeping if you miss them 
later.  Then, use Paint (you'll likely find it in the Accessories 
folder) to redesign your own screens, and save it with those file 
names in BMP format.

03.  PHONE SPELL.  Want to add a touch of class and associate your 
telephone number with words (you know, such as 1-WHY-NOT-SURF)? Head
over to Phone Spell at http://www.phonespell.org and enter your number
for some possible combinations.

04.  THANKS, HOTMAIL! I have always found the Web-based mail servers 
useful in checking email from remote locations. Their usefulness is 
hampered by the tons of spam one must sift through to get any mail 
of interest.  Hotmail has taken a giant leap forward by allowing the 
user to configure all such mail to a bulk mail box, leaving only 
specific senders' mail for easy retrieval.  All such services should 
sit up and take notice!  And while on the subject of spam and what's 
being done about it, a "thumbs-down" is in order to AOL for its latest 
seeming indifference to spam reports.  They have apparently even a
abolished their autoresponders and we can only assume that any 
complaints regarding the incessant spam over AOL lines are falling on 
deaf ears.

05.  IDIOTLIGHT98.  This short download places an application in your
system tray and checks your email at intervals you specify  When mail
is received, IdiotLight98 flashes the NumLock, CapsLock, or ScrollLock
light as desired.  I wish this utility was available to the 23% of 
our readers who still use Windows 95, but alas, it's for Windows 98 
only.  Download for a trial at http://www.elfsystems.com and buy for 
$10 if you like. 

06.  READERS WRITE.  In responding to some tips on using the Auto- 
correct feature in Microsoft Word (NNT Issue #74), James Button asked
that users of Word and Excel be warned that the MS Office family 
manages those Autocorrect entries as a single set for both 
applications.  Thus, a date entry such as 1/8/2000 converts to a 
fraction 1/8 followed by a not-so-usable /2000.  If this happens, use 
the CTRL+Z to undo the autocorrect.  That is, unless you've assigned 
that key combination as a hotkey for other uses, as I have.  Another 
lesson learned here is to watch when assigning hotkeys.  Make sure you
use combinations that are very uncommon.

07.  ON THE ROAD WITH EMAIL.  You can check your email, of course, by 
dialing up your server from remote locations. That likely incurs some 
toll charges.  Instead, enter your username, POP3 account, and password
at http://www.mailstart.com and this handy application accesses and 
displays the contents of your mailbox from afar.  It doesn't work to 
retrieve email from some web-based servers such as Hotmail.

08.  VERIFYING EMAIL SERVICE WITH TELNET.  Sam Fields passed along some
nice hints to verify SMTP and POP3 ports and tell if your mail server
is having problems.  It works via your telnet and you get there at 
Start|Run and typing "telnet" (without quotes) in the box.  Click OK.
Click the Connect menu, then Remote System, and type in your mail 
server as Host Name and 25 as Port.  An error message indicates that 
sending mail is not functioning properly.  If instead you see 
something like "220  yourmailserver.yourdomain> ESMTP Server ... etc 
... ready" then your mail service is operational and your mail client
is having the problem.  Repeat that procedure to check on receipt of 
mail but enter 110 as the Port.  An error message indicates you're 
having problems in receiving mail from the server, but a message 
indicating something like "+OK ... etc ... POP3 server version ... 
ready" signifies that your mail client has the problem.  Another 
approach is to enter "user yourusername" and Enter to get a "+OK," 
then "pass yourpassword" and Enter to get "+OK User Logged In."  Then
enter "stat" and Enter to get something like "+OK 3 12311." This 
signifies the number of messages awaiting you and the size of your 
mailbox.  If you don't see what you're typing, turn your local echo 
on at Terminal|Preferences.  And, finally, Sam reminds us to type in
"quit" and Enter to close the mail server and end the session without
the necessity of a timeout.

.......
We can't dig up old issues or research past topics, but you can keep
your collection of Neat Net Tricks current with a subscription to the
ArchivesExpress.  It comes to you four times per year on disk with
every working Neat Net Tricks tip concisely displayed.  The $20 per
year (slightly higher outside the U.S.) barely covers the mail and 
disk costs.  The current volume has nearly 800 tips. Read more about 
the ArchivesExpress at the Web site, http://www.NeatNetTricks.com and
click on ArchivesExpress when you get there.
.......

09.  BIG BROTHER BOTHER.  The super snoops will be foiled if you sweep
out your drive regularly with Evidence Eliminator.  It claims that 
there is "no service available commercially that can successfully
recover any data eliminated with this program."  That should be enough
to pique your interest, so if you're concerned with privacy, try it 
free for 30 days at http://www.evidence-eliminator.com/ and buy it for
$29.00 if you'd like to stay ahead of big brother.

10.  HERE ON THE WEB.  Joe West gives out some sage advice on a number
of topics: computer, consumer items, Internet, personal interests, 
science, and travel.  Give a listen by tuning to  
http://www.broadcast.com/personalinterests/hereontheweb/ .

11.  YOUR MAC DESTINATION.  That's how the site at http://www.go2mac.com
is described and if you favor the Apple, then you'll surely favor this 
site as well.

12.  PRINTING NETSCAPE BOOKMARKS.  There's no really quick way to simply
touch a button and print bookmarks in Netscape Communicator 4.x, but 
there is an easy work-around.  Click on Bookmarks|Edit bookmarks|File|
Save As, and save the bookmark file to the folder of your choice.  You
have two options here.  Save it as .html if you want a nice clean
document.  As a .txt file, you'll be able to retrieve more information
such as html tagging, add and visit dates, etc.; but this is cluttered.
Once you've saved this file, open it as you would other documents from
Communicator with File|Open Page|Choose file.  Print it with File|Print.

13.  HARVEST RATHER THAN BOOKMARK.  A system for organizing and 
retrieving Web sites rather than simply bookmarking them, iHarvest One 
at http://www.iharvest.com allows saving Web sites and other digital 
information with a simple drag and drop, then access the pages easily or
email them to others.  This one's not without a few downsides, to 
include a rather hefty download of nearly 5 mb, and use limited only to 
MS Internet Explorer 4 or 5.

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Copyright 2000 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved.
