Neat Net Tricks Issue #83
August 1, 2000   
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
Reply-To: NNT@silver.lyris.net

IN THIS ISSUE: 

01.  Another Task Manager 
02.  Change "My Computer" to a toolbar 
03.  Talk to your search engine 
04.  Ixquick 
05.  ePrompter 
06.  Speech recognition technology 
07.  Time Capsule 
08.  Quick search 
09.  Middle wheel lock 
10.  Hotlinks 
11.  Web-based email access 
12.  An apple a day 
13.  Neat Net Nifty 

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01.  ANOTHER TASK MANAGER.  This freeware at 
http://atm.idic.caos.it/loweng.html provides a real-time capability to 
monitor and manage system processes and threads, used memory, their CPU 
usage, execution time, etc. 

02.  CHANGE "MY COMPUTER" TO A TOOLBAR.  Drag the "My Computer" icon to 
any edge of your desktop to create a toolbar. If you don't like this 
arrangement, right click on it and select Close to cancel it. 

03.  TALK TO YOUR SEARCH ENGINE.  At http://www.subjex.com you simply 
ask questions or make statements in this dialogue-based search engine. 
Tip: if you get a window asking for a password, just cancel it. 

04.  IXQUICK.  Add another search engine to your arsenal.  Ixquick at 
http://www.ixquick.com displays and ranks results from 14 major search 
engines, or, if you wish, focuses on 7 news, 5 MP3, or 6 picture 
sources.

05.  EPROMPTER.  With a short (and free) 460kb download, ePrompter at 
http://www.eprompter.com will automatically check on up to 8 POP3 email 
accounts as well as AOL, Hotmail, and Yahoo. You can require passwords 
and read only headers if you wish. ePrompter displays the number of 
messages in each mailbox, deletes messages as desired, and has autodial 
capability. 

06.  SPEECH RECOGNITION TECHNOLOGY. I've looked at a lot of products in 
an attempt to get away from heavy reliance on the keyboard.  The idea 
has real merit:  speak into a microphone and your words are transposed 
to screen text, or, verbal commands open various applications without 
the necessity for keyboard access.  The value in this technology is 
obvious for those who have an impairment or whose keyboarding is slow. 
Sometimes, too, it's nice to have the hands free for other pursuits.  
Unfortunately, most voice-to-text software has great difficulty in 
recognizing the user's speech and results are unintelligible.  Not so 
with L&H Voice Xpress at http://www.lhsl.com . The new Professional 
Version 5 supports WordPerfect, Office 97/2000, Quicken, Microsoft 
Money, Palm applications, and all popular email programs, reads back 
your dictated text, and is remarkably accurate and responsive.  My 
favorite feature is the ability to teach Voice Xpress to decipher my 
Southern drawl (something even my human friends have difficulty with). 
It even ignores the aah's and umm's when you're speechless.  This one's 
a real keeper. 

07.  TIME CAPSULE.  Enter your birthdate at http://dmarie.com/timecap/ 
and see what was going on then:  news headlines, who was in office, what 
celebrities you share your day with, retail prices, average income for 
the year, Academy Award winners, and sports headlines. 

08.  QUICK SEARCH.  In Netscape Communicator's URL location bar, enter 
"search" (without the quotes) followed by what you're looking for, and a 
search ensues without the necessity of first opening a search engine.

09.  MIDDLE WHEEL LOCK.  Sometimes I just accidentally discover things 
that I might have uncovered earlier by reading the manual.  Such as, 
with the middle wheel on the Microsoft mouse.  Of course you can scroll 
by moving the wheel in either direction.  Did you know by pressing the 
middle wheel the cursor turns into a double arrow and then you can 
move either direction by simply moving the mouse?  Another click of the 
middle wheel toggles to the original state. 

10.  HOTLINKS.  Store your bookmarks at http://www.hotlinks.com.  Share 
them with others if you wish, and search other members' links if they've 
made them public. 

11.  WEB-BASED EMAIL ACCESS.  We've mentioned http://www.mailstart.com 
as a good way to get your email on the road without dialing up your 
provider, usually at long-distance rates.  There are at least two 
others and likely more:  http://www.thatweb.com and 
http://www.popchecker.com . You won't normally need more than one, but 
it's nice to have a couple in reserve in the event there are server 
problems.  With these, you simply enter your user name, password, and 
server name (where your email is stored.)  Some readers have expressed 
concern about divulging passwords, but these services all advise that 
the password is only used for retrieval of email and is not stored.  By 
the way, only conventional POP3 accounts normally work.  Other web-based 
email such as Hotmail cannot likely be retrieved with these services. 

12.  AN APPLE A DAY.  Well, not that often, but we try to include a tip 
every now and then for Mac readers, even though they represent only a 
small percentage of the readership.  So, Apple fans, head over to 
http://www.macfixit.pair.com and http://www.macfonts.com .  There you 
can find lots of Mac-related topics, utilities, fonts, etc.

13.  NEAT NET NIFTY.  Take an interactive romp in the Lands of Nabisco 
World at http://www.nabiscoworld.com .  There's something for all ages 
in Adventure Land, Boardwalk, Imagination Factory, FunZone, SnackWells 
Resort, Sports Land, and Promotions Pavilion . 

Neat Net Tricks often pauses to recognize a Web site and recommend your 
visit.  Set aside some time to expore 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. 
