Neat Net Tricks Issue #95
February 1, 2001

http://www.NeatNetTricks.com
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IN THIS ISSUE:

01.  Stripper
02.  Disk Copy Fast
03.  Free Email services
04.  AOL mail status
05.  TVEyes
06.  Errors explained
07.  Phonetic phones
08.  Time & Chaos
09.  Flight information
10.  Boolean shorthand
11.  Win 95 extras
12.  Comedy audio
13.  Neat Net Nifty
14.  Readers write

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01.  STRIPPER.  Well, we'll bet that got your attention.  Actually, what
we are referring to is something to rid us of those little symbols such
as ">" that appear in quoted email.  After a few quotes they get out of
hand.  If you'd like an easy way to clean them up, the utility at
http://www.geocities.com/cj1alt/tools/unix-bracket-stripper.html
is Web-based (requiring no download), or you can opt to download a 4.7
kb html file that will reside on your desktop.  With a simple copy-and-
paste, it cleans up all those stray marks for you.

02.  DISK COPY FAST.  Described as a "1-pass diskette duplication
utility",  Disk Copy Fast at 
http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/dcf_hdcp/dcf.htm promises to
copy your diskettes 42%+ faster than DOS and 33%+ faster than competing
programs. This is a Shareware application.  Judging by the help file,
it hasn't been upgraded since 1997, but it's still worth a look.

03.  FREE EMAIL SERVICES.  One way to combat spam is to have multiple
email addresses.  When one mailbox gets inundated with junk mail,
simply close it down.  You can choose from a database of at least
1,400 free services in 85 countries at the Free Email Providers Guide
at http://www.fepg.net . Of course, multiple addresses may confuse your
legitimate correspondents as well as spammers.

04.  AOL MAIL STATUS.  If you use AOL for your email needs, you may be
unaware of a feature not otherwise available with other providers.
That is the ability to inform you whether the addressee has, in fact,
received your message and is simply ignoring you.  It only works if the
recipient is also an AOL member.  Click Mail Center, select Sent Mail,
choose the email and click Status.  Well, OK, it won't exactly tell 
you that the recipient is ignoring you, only whether or not the message
was received.

05.  TVEYES.  At http://www.TVEyes.com/ enter a word or phrase and 
TVEyes software monitors TV shows 24 hours daily.  When your chosen 
word or phrase is spoken on TV, you'll get an email alert with a brief
transcript and a link to an expanded transcript and the show's Website.

06.  ERRORS EXPLAINED.  Don't you just hate it when your computer 
shames you with a message that you've committed a fatal-illegal-and-
potentially-immoral-error?  Or, worse yet, your machine gives you a 
number such as 403, 404, or 503, as if you know what all these numbers
mean.  Well, now you can.  For an explanation, just click over to
http://coverage.cnet.com/Resources/Tech/Advisers/Error/index.html .
Don't lose this URL so next time you'll at least know more about the
error even if you may not be able to do anythng about it.

07.  PHONETIC PHONES.  If you would rather associate words or catch-
phrases with your phone numbers instead of digits, you might try
PhoNETic at http://www.phonetic.com/ . PhoNETic finds words within
telephone numbers and also converts words into numbers. All words 
found within the given telephone number will be listed. If you click
on a word, every combination in which that word is included will be
displayed. Now you'll never again forget a number. Yeah, right.

08.  TIME & CHAOS.  On the surface, it's just another (ho hum) personal
information manager.  But the power in Time & Chaos lies in its ability
to keep you very well organized without requiring all your time in
maintaining it.  There are the usual features you'd expect in a PIM 
such as the telephone book, appointment book, to-do lists, calendar,
and so on.  The drag-and-drop and linking capabilities all on one 
screen give Time & Chaos an edge over the others.  A simple click calls
up a map to your client's address. Another click goes to his Web site
or dials up his home, business, cell, or fax number, or sends an email.
There are many print options for telephone or address book, calendars,
envelopes, mailing labels, and others.  Spell check is there, as well as
mail merging, connectivity and networking with workgroups, data import,
and the list goes on. Time & Chaos sells for $45.00 but the iSBiSTER 
folks at http://www.isbister.com wanted me to tell you you can try it
before you buy it.

09.  FLIGHT INFORMATION.  If you're expecting some guests, the site at
http://www.flightarrivals.com can track their flight so you'll know when
to leave for the airport.  Information includes departure time, type of
aircraft, expected arrival time, distance in miles from the destination,
speed and altitude, and any expected general arrival delays at the
destination airport.  About the only missing data is whether they were
served peanuts or pretzels.

10.  BOOLEAN SHORTHAND.  As we've pointed out in the past, Boolean
conventions help narrow the search.  You can substitute symbols as well.
Try these:  Instead of quotations separating your search terms, s
substitute parentheses ( ).  The ampersand (&) or plus sign (+) can be
used instead of "AND".  The | symbol substitutes for "OR" and the ~ 
symbol is the same as "NEAR".  Use the symbol ! or - instead of "NOT".
The real trick is in trying to remember all these.

11.  WIN95 EXTRAS.  If you are still using Windows 95 and don't have
accessories such as Character Map, Mouse Pointers, and Clip Book, you
can find these added components at                        
http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q135/3/15.asp .

12.  COMEDY AUDIO.  We've used PageTalk technology for some time in
providing a one-minute audio Neat Net Tricks on the NNT Web site.  If
you have a good joke and can tell it in one minute or less, PageTalk
now provides a Comedy Zone, and you may share your humor with others
at http://jokes.pagetalk.com .
 
13.  NEAT NET NIFTY. Explore the raw beauty of Serengeti, Ngorongoro,
Kilimanjaro, and Zanzibar, as the site at 
http://www.hipnotika.com/intro.html proclaims "Discovery consists in
seeing what everyone else has seen."  With Flash technology, you'll 
understand why "I yearned for Africa long before I laid eyes on her."

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.

14.  READERS WRITE.  Several readers complained that some links didn't 
work in the last issue, and some information was erroneous.  One reader
suggested that lack of perfection destroys NNT's credibility.  We regret
any error or "link rot" and carefully check content right up to "press"
time.  But the Internet is a fickle thing and NNT is at its mercy.  When
there is a late-breaking development (as, for example, a URL change
after NNT is distributed) we'll try to update you at the "What's New" 
page of the NNT Web site, http://www.NeatNetTricks.com .  Please always
check that out before registering your complaint.

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NNT makes no endorsement or warranty, expressed or implied, with regard 
to featured products or services.  Results may vary based on operating 
systems and other variables beyond our control.

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Copyright 2001 by Jack Teems, all rights reserved. Neat Net Tricks is
registered with the U.S. Library of Congress ISSN: 1533-4619.
