Neat Net Tricks Issue #91
December 1, 2000 
http://www.NeatNetTricks.com 
Reply-To: NNT@silver.lyris.net

IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  Password Pro
02.  AOL spell check
03.  Handy keys
04.  Reverse the turn off
05.  Munge those spammers
06.  Shortcut to Device Manager
07.  Defrag problems
08.  Talk to your search engine
09.  Tutorials
10.  Neat Net Nifty
11.  How far to the bathroom?
12.  Quickbrowse
13.  Forwarding multiple messages
14.  Enhanced email

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01.  PASSWORD PRO.  If you have room for one more utility to save in 
one centralized place all those pesky passwords, usernames, etc., try 
ZD Net's Password Pro 32.  This one, at 
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000U0V,.html , even 
generates random passwords to replace passwords if you forget the 
password this application is supposed to be saving for you.  Say what?

02.  AOL SPELL CHECK.  Very convenient if you're composing mail in AOL:
CTRL+ = starts a spell check.

03.  HANDY KEYS.  There must be hundreds of keyboard combos for those
who would like to break the mouse habit, and NNT has featured a lot of
them in past issues.  Add these to your collection:  quit your Netscape
browser with CTRL+Q, close just one browser window with CTRL+W, cycle
through the windows with F6, use CTRL+U to view a page source, and
CTRL+I views the page information.

04.  REVERSE THE TURN OFF.  Windows 95 isn't as neat with its shut down
as Windows 98.  It leaves that glaring message that it's OK to turn off
the computer.  But if you've changed your mind and don't want to shut
everything down, a simple Ctrl+Alt+Del gets your system running again.

05.  MUNGE THOSE SPAMMERS.  It's interesting that some dictionaries 
have not yet picked up the word "munge".  One source says it was in use
in Scotland in the 1940s and in Yorkshire in the 1950s to denote 
munching something up in a masticated mass. These days the word has
evolved into altering one's email address as a defense against spam. 
Give it a try, particularly if you post a lot on newsgroups (Usenet)
where your email address can be easily harvested.  Simply change the
last part of your address in your email program so that it becomes
worthless to the spam harvesters.  For example, if you are 
JoeJones@mindspring.com, post your messages as 
JoeJones@_NO_SPAM_mindspring.com.  A bonafide correspondent will note
the need to remove _NO_SPAM_ from the address; a bot will not.  You
should take care to munge the portion of the address after the @; 
otherwise, your service provider would still get the spam.

06.  SHORTCUT TO DEVICE MANAGER.  In response to a rather cumbersome
method of constructing a shortcut to Device Manager (Item 06, NNT Issue
#87) many of you correctly pointed out that the Windows logo key in
combination with the Pause key will open Systems Properties which
includes the Device Manager tab.  Another handy way to shortcut any-
thing from the Control Panel, which includes System Properties, is to
simply right click on the item of choice and select "Create Shortcut."
Life can be simpler, for sure.

07.  DEFRAG PROBLEMS.  If your PC seems to stall when you are trying to
defragment the hard drive, chances are good that there's something 
running in the background preventing it from completing its chores.  A
good sign of this is when the message displays "drive contents changed"
and the process begins anew.  Before attempting a defrag process, you
should close all tasks except Explorer and Systray. You can do this with
CTRL+ALT+DEL and end each of the tasks you see displayed there.

08.  TALK TO YOUR SEARCH ENGINE.  If this Boolean stuff is far too
tekkie for your tastes when searching out the Net, give this dialogue-
based search engine at http://www.subjex.com a try.  At least it makes
you feel as if you have a friend.

09.  TUTORIALS.   The site at http://techtutorials.com offers free 
computer and networking tutorials for the I.T. professional. There are
more than 1,350 such freebies awaiting you.  Don't forget to give the
teacher an apple.

10.  NEAT NET NIFTY.  When we hear the name Dr. Seuss, we think of all
those wonderful children's books.  But beyond green eggs and ham, 
Theodor Seuss Geisel, AKA Dr. Seuss, served during World War II as 
chief editorial cartoonist for a New York newspaper.  Some 200 of his 
wartime cartoons, from historian Richard H. Minear's collection, "Dr.
Seuss Goes to War,"  is brought to the Internet at
http://orpheus.ucsd.edu/speccoll/dspolitic/ .

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

11.  HOW FAR TO THE BATHROOM?  If you're a frequent flier, you'll
likely appreciate the information you can glean from
http://www.businesstravel.about.com/travel/businesstravel/msubseat.htm .
Just find your airline and type of plane and you'll see the seat layout
along with the width and pitch of the seat.  You might even find one you
can fit into. 

12.  QUICKBROWSE.  At http://www.quickbrowse.com combine favorite sites
into a single Quickbrowse page with preselected content according to 
your interests, have the pages delivered to you by email, and build a 
customized newspaper, claims the site, in less than 30 seconds.

13.  FORWARDING MULTIPLE MESSAGES.  Netscape Communicator makes it easy
to forward several email messages all at one time.  Just highlight them
in the usual manner, right click on the highlighted group, select
Forward as Attachment, and add the recipient's address.  Netscape 
creates a new message and adds the selected email as attachments to 
that message.

14.  ENHANCED EMAIL. To put a little zing in your email, download
animated gifs, page dividers, background textures, and midi files at
http://www.wizardstationery.com/main.shtml .  The site provides some
ideas on how to incorporate graphics and sounds into enhanced email.

Closing notes:  

Someone recently described the Neat Net Tricks Bulletin Board as "a 
miraculous oasis of help in the abyss of computer despair." OK, that 
may be a bit overstated, and if you've never had a problem or question 
about your computer or the Internet, consider yourself very fortunate 
indeed.  The rest of us can use a little help from time to time and 
that's why the Bulletin Board exists.  Feel free to use it at:
             http://www.neatnettricks.com/advert.htm

And it's still not too late to toss your hat in the ring and perhaps
walk away with $300 worth of software, free and no strings attached!
Go check it out at "The Contest" on the Neat Net Tricks Web site:
                   http://www.NeatNetTricks.com



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Copyright 2000 by Jack Teems.  All rights reserved.
