Neat Net Tricks Issue #84
August 15, 2000
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
Reply-To: NNT@silver.lyris.net

IN THIS ISSUE: 

01.  Learn the Net 
02.  Reorganize the Control Panel 
03.  WeatherBug 
04.  Privacy analysis 
05.  Setting up shop 
06.  Privacy tool 
07.  eTour 
08.  Tech Tales 
09.  Search tutorial 
10.  Email by phone 
11.  MediaRing 
12.  Fast way home 
13.  Readers write 

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01.  LEARN THE NET.  I've mentioned Michael Lerner's very educational 
site before, but it deserves repetition.  He launched it in 1996 and 
says that http://www.learnthenet.com has helped over 5 million people 
in 110 countries.  Now he's written a book, "The Portable Learn the 
Net." It seems best geared toward the beginning computer and Internet 
enthusiast, and I'd recommend it for that cousin of yours who is just 
starting his or her jaunt into cyberspace.  Michael is providing NNT 
readers with a special price, too.  I don't often plug books but this 
little volume and the low price is too good to keep quiet about.  See 
the details just after item 08 below. 

02.  REORGANIZE THE CONTROL PANEL.  The Control Panel is very useful 
indeed in configuring Windows 98, but there may be only certain features 
of it that you most often use.  You can place these on your start menu 
by clicking on Start|Settings|Control Panel and selecting the most-used 
icons (holding CTRL down while selecting them).  Then drag the selected 
group to the Start button. The Start menu will open and you can arrange 
them wherever you want. 

03.  WEATHERBUG.  Particularly during periods of potentially disastrous 
weather, a weather alert radio is a handy thing to have. You can have 
the computer version in WeatherBug at http://www.weatherbug.com .  
There's no version for Mac or locations outside the U.S., but otherwise, 
it places a dynamic icon in your tray to display the current 
temperature. If a weather watch warning is issued, WeatherBug will 
"chirp" for 5 seconds and blink to advise of an alert, then display the 
alert message. A nice display shows temperature, wind direction and 
speed, other current readings, forecast, etc., to include the inevitable 
banner ads that keep the service free. The only problem I noted is in 
this program's persistence to restore an Internet connection.  You'd 
have to disable it if you wish to work offline, certainly not a 
consideration if you use other than a dial-up connection. 

04.  PRIVACY ANALYSIS.  At the risk of making you a bit paranoid, the 
site at http://www.privacy.net/analyze provides some information 
that is collected about you when visiting a web site.  Would you like 
milk with your "cookies"? 

05.  SETTING UP SHOP.  You may remember that I like to try new software 
without reading the manual.  I like to do this simply because, if a 
product is user-friendly enough not to require copious reading, that in 
itself speaks volumes.  I just finished setting up a store front with 
eComm Pro without reading any of the documentation.  It's complete with 
images, product descriptions, shopping cart, shipping and tax 
calculations, and a secure site for safe credit card transactions.  The 
design process was very simple. It effortlessly uploaded to my Web site. 
If you're thinking of selling products or services on the Internet, the 
$195 one-time package price for eComm Pro is worth looking into at 
http://www.trellian.com/ecomm/index.html . 

06.  PRIVACY TOOL.  That's what this application is called and it's 
free at http://www.privaseek.com.  With a small download, a Persona is 
placed on your browser that stores personal, address, and credit 
card info to be used at various "Persona-empowered" sites.  You can 
choose various levels of security. (Sharing with other sites? Sorry, I'd 
rather not.)  I didn't much care for the rather obtrusive 
"PersonaAgent" it placed on my browser, complete with the inevitable 
advertisements.  This one's available within the U.S. only and for 
MSIE 4.0+ and Netscape 4.5+ browsers. 

07.  ETOUR.  Select from over 130 interests and eTour at 
http://www.etour.com will browse to selected sites meeting the criteria 
you specify. 

08.  TECH TALES.  Billing itself as the funniest tech tales on the 
Internet, http://www.techtales.com/ is good for laughs.  We've all 
been there and done that, and it probably wasn't nearly as funny when 
our computers were on the sick list. 

09.  SEARCH TUTORIAL.  It goes without saying that there's likely more 
stuff out there on the Internet than we could ever hope (or want) to 
find.  It also goes without saying that correct search techniques will 
enhance the Internet's value to you by some exponential value.  Can we 
also say you owe it to yourself to invest 30 minutes and take the search 
tutorial at http://pandia.com/goalgetter/index.html ? 

10.  EMAIL BY PHONE.  At http://www.coolemail.com you can set up a free 
account to turn your email into voicemail by sending or receiving it at 
the coolemail account or consolidating other accounts as well.  This 
may be another useful tool for the frequent traveler. 

11.  MEDIARING.  Send voice mail messages or greeting cards free at 
http://voizmail.mediaring.com . 

12.  FAST WAY HOME.  Strictly for users of MS Internet Explorer 4.0 or 
higher, one way to set your home page is with View|Internet Options. 
But there's an even quicker way.  While at the site you desire to set 
as your starting page, simply drag the icon at the address bar and drop 
it on the navigation bar.  You'll be asked to confirm the change before 
it is set as your home page. 

13.  READERS WRITE.  Last issue's remark that Mac readers "represent 
only a small percentage of the readership" stirred up the proverbial 
hornet's nest.  Many Apple fans retorted that NNT has "more Mac readers 
than you think." My statement was based on past surveys and Website 
counters that reflect Mac users constitute about 2% of the NNT audience. 
That fact is not intended to make a judgment as to which is the better 
system, Mac or PC; it simply reflects that we have fewer readers of the 
Mac genre. To the comments "you'd have more Mac readers if you had more 
Mac tips" I respond, as I have on many occasions, "send those Mac tips 
in and we'll sure consider them."  Hopefully, our loyal Mac readers will 
continue to find value in NNT, because many of the tips are related to 
the Internet rather than operating-system-specific. 

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Copyright 2000 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved. 
