What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Volume 4 Number 3Click here to return to the back issues page.Click here to return to the main newsletter page.
The Naked PC - http://www.TheNakedPC.com What You Need to Know about All Things PC Publisher: Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee Editor in Chief: Dan Butler Contributing Editor: Al Gordon This issue is for Thursday, February 8, 2001 - Vol. 4 No. 3 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Coming Soon - Our First TNPC e-Book on CD-ROM ** 03. Visor Moves to the Head of Its Class (by Al Gordon) ** 04. Battling the Click of Death Syndrome (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 05. More on Rolling Blackouts and Computers (by T.J. Lee) ** 06. Featured Product - Easy Hang Up (reviewed by T.J. Lee) ** 07. Featured Book - "Words That Change Minds" by Shelle Rose Charvet (reviewed by Dan Butler) ** 08. Featured Office Tip - Excel's "Always create backup" (by PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.) ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 10. We Get Mail ** 01. Letter from the Publisher Things at TNPC Central have been keeping us jumping! Reviews on Lee and Jim's latest book "Absolute Beginner's Guide to PC Upgrades" have been stellar. We're announcing our first e-book in this issue: "The Book That Should Have Come with Your Computer." Work on the TNPC Company Store progresses nicely (Jim has enough Micro-Lights in his office to light it up like high noon should the lights go off in California), and we have a new product in stock to help you fight the good fight against telemarketers: Easy Hang Up. Handhelds guru Al Gordon checks in this issue with the latest and greatest happenings with Handspring's new handheld models. Lee has an update on the dreaded Click of Death syndrome that plagues Iomega Zip and Jaz drives. Jim unwinds some of the confusion over power protection devices in a follow-up to last issue's article on surviving spikes, brownouts, and the dreaded California rolling blackouts. Dan will be part of a panel discussion at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Dallas, Texas. Anyone attending that event please look us up - we'd love to meet you! The talk will be at 2:30 PM Tuesday 13 February. It will be on uses of the Internet in a cost-saving manner. Between all that and our normal crush of consulting deadlines we're all taking time out to sample the flu bug that's going around here in North America. As always, reader support is what keeps TNPC free, so PLEASE help us and pass a copy of TNPC on to co-workers and friends (no spam please!) and remember to always say "I saw it in TNPC!" http://www.TheNakedPC.com/refer/ So now you know. +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ PHOTON MICRO-LIGHTS! Our Photon Micro-Lights continue to be a best seller beyond our wildest expectations! Reader comments pour in: "I bought 3 [and] am now ordering 4 more and the Accessory Kit to give away as gifts" "Liked the first 2, and decided to get 6 more" "very bright - they're GREAT!" Micro-Lights are the BRIGHTEST flashlights for their size in the WORLD. Reliable, incredibly bright light for any situation. These LED marvels produce light in your choice of Red, Orange, or Yellow; superbrights: Green, Turquoise, Blue, or White. Shipping is FREE in the USA! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?sponsor1 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Coming Soon - Our First TNPC e-Book on CD-ROM A couple of issues back we discussed how our 400+ page book "The Unofficial Guide to PCs" (by T.J. Lee, Lee Hudspeth, and Dan Butler) found itself a book without a series title and was therefore allowed to go out of print by the publisher. We were quite put out over this, but not put off. Taking matters into our own hands we have resurrected what we feel is a really good book. It's jam-packed with information that every computer user should have at their elbow, and we are now close to publishing it ourselves. The book's new title is "TheNakedPC.com presents: The Book That Should Have Come with Your Computer," which we think is a better title in any event. Its links have been updated and the entire shooting match will shortly be burned on a CD-ROM for distribution. That's right, we're going to publish it ourselves as an e-book on a CD-ROM disc. The book will be in PDF format, which enables us to make the entire text of the book searchable. It can be read on-screen or you can print out what you want as hard copy to your printer. I'm sure you're asking yourself where can you order this CD? Well, wait, there's more! Not only do you get "The Book That Should Have Come with Your Computer" you get the Official Naked PC Screen Saver (mesmerize your friends, dismay your enemies, be the envy of everyone!). We'll even toss in demo copies of our award-winning PRIME for Office utilities. These include the indispensable PRIME DocLauncher utility that works with *all* Office 2000 and 2002 applications, plus productivity add-ins for Word and Excel 2000 and Word and Excel 97. The regular price for our first e-book is $29.95 when we ship the discs in just a few weeks. But if you order now, "TheNakedPC.com presents: The Book That Should Have Come with Your Computer" is yours for only $19.95, a whopping $10 savings. You can find out more about this book and/or order your early bird copy on CD-ROM here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?e-book1 ** 03. Visor Moves to the Head of Its Class (by Al Gordon) What a difference a year makes. At this time last year (TNPC #3.01), I was griping loudly about the technical problems, quality control issues, and distribution woes associated with the Handspring Visor. The product of the team that launched the original Palm Pilot, the Visor was long on hype and short on product. It is a considerable achievement for Handspring that it was able to survive the Christmas '99 fiascoes and move on into second place in market share among handhelds during 2000. Quality control, production, and distribution improved. Two new models have joined the product lineup that take the Visor line into technical superiority over Palm, Inc.'s own products. The promise of the Visors' proprietary "Springboard" expansion modules finally is being realized and the Palm line is stagnating. All of which makes the new Handspring Visor Platinum (monochrome) and Prism (color) my favored choices for the Palm OS platform. Both the Platinum and Prism are powered by Motorola's DragonBall VZ 33 MHz processor, for a claimed 50% speed advantage over previous generation Visors and double the speed of Palm IIIs. I ran the Quartus Benchmark application for Palm OS on the Prism, and my test unit actually ran a little faster than the claimed performance level. The Prism and Platinum have the latest Palm OS 3.5 and a few more standard applications than Palm provides. The two new units, like the old workhorse Visor Deluxe, have 8 MB of RAM. The enhanced speed pays dividends with the Prism. The color unit has lead the legion of Palm developers to build color into their apps, which of course, makes the apps bigger and in need of more horsepower to run. Don't expect to see it run like a Pentium IV, but you will see much better performance than Palm's IIIc color unit. Moreover, unlike the 256-color IIIc, Prism has 16-bit (65,000 colors) color. The display is sharp and entirely more readable than the monochrome Palm OS LCD screens. Color-enabled apps look exceedingly cool. It is a welcome plus for my middle-aged eyes. As with all Visors, true native USB connections are standard and Sync times are noticeably shortened compared to serial port links. But there is no free lunch. At $449, the Prism is no cheaper than the IIIc, and color is an energy hog. Handspring, like Palm, compensated by making rechargeable batteries standard in the color unit. Still, you won't be running for a couple of weeks on a single charge like monochrome units. I also found the color screen (and also the one on the IIIc) to be less responsive to stylus input than monochrome screens. If color is not an issue for you, the $299 Visor Platinum is a cost-effective choice. Same high performance (actually real world performance is higher because it doesn't have to support the overhead of color), same 8 MB RAM, and same USB sync cradle. There are still things that under whelm me with Handspring. At the price point of the new units, I would like to have seen sturdier construction, with maybe some metal in addition to the plastic. Also I would have liked to see rechargeable cells in the Platinum as well as the Prism. Nevertheless, the new Visors have moved to the head of the Palm OS class. Next I'll be looking at the major accessories available for these handhelds. Visor Platinum http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?visor1 Visor Prism http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?visor2 You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ BUY OUR LATEST BOOK! "T.J. Lee and Lee Hudspeth's Absolute Beginner's Guide to PC Upgrades" has garnered five-star reviews across the board. Here's what folks are saying. "If you only have time to read one book on PCs, read this." "The authors... have managed to crack that difficult problem of writing in a style that makes a potentially complex subject seem easy. They actually make you feel that they have written the book specifically with you in mind, and if things do get tough, there are lots of sidebars and an excellent glossary and index to fall back on." "Whether you're a novice or semi-literate PC user with the desire to either figure out how your system works or desire to upgrade, this book is perfectly simple to read and understand." http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?sponsor2 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 04. Battling the Click of Death Syndrome (by Lee Hudspeth) If you've got an Iomega Zip or Jaz disk drive you've probably heard about the "Click of Death" (COD) syndrome. The COD syndrome has been widely reported on, but nowhere so precisely, clinically, and objectively as at Steve Gibson's site: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?grc1 When the syndrome strikes, it does so without warning. The affected drive emits a series of clicking sounds. The sounds can occur either when you first insert the cartridge or when reading/writing data on a cartridge that has already been inserted. Some random time after those first dreaded clicks are heard, the drive and one or more cartridges fail completely and catastrophically. Oddly, Iomega has taken an "if we don't acknowledge the problem it will go away" approach that has led to the filing of class action suits. Can you prevent COD? Steve says no, that the nature of the problem is a hardware failure that software cannot correct. However, his advice is two-fold. First, run his free "Trouble in Paradise" tool that diagnoses all Iomega Zip and Jaz drives and cartridges. As with all of Steve's marvelous tools, this one is small (52K), fast, and comes with extensive documentation and instructions. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?grc2 Note: I initially had trouble getting Trouble in Paradise to finish analyzing my Zip drive. I wrote Steve's technical support staff and they suggested I disable Norton Anti-Virus. When I did that the utility ran to completion. Second, treat your Jaz or Zip drive, and cartridges, gingerly. To read the fascinating history of this syndrome, and Iomega's stance (or better, lack thereof), check out the variety of COD articles and FAQs on Steve's site. You can reach Lee Hudspeth at: mailto:leehudspeth@TheNakedPC.com ** 05. More on Rolling Blackouts and Computers (by T.J. Lee) I received quite a response to last issue's (TNPC #4.02) article on power spikes, sags, and blackouts and their effect on your computer. A number of TNPCers wrote in with questions and requests for additional information and I heard from several who work for power utilities that shed some light (no pun intended) on what really goes on when power is restored after a blackout. Last issue I talked about surge protectors and the inherent weaknesses of the MOV technology that provides the surge suppressor its ability to suppress surges. I concluded that the best protection from the three main types of power problems-- surges, sags, and line noise--is provided by connecting your computer to an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). However, there is some confusion about what constitutes a true uninterruptible power supply as opposed to a "standby" power supply and as TNPCer Sol S. pointed out, I added to the confusion by not spelling out the differences. I have been known to use the terms interchangeably when they really are not the same thing. A true UPS provides constant power from the battery to the connected equipment. There is no switching from incoming AC current coming from the wall outlet (line power) to the battery when the power fails because the battery is always the power source. The AC power is used by the UPS to keep the battery charged. A standby power supply (SPS) feeds line power to your equipment and it may or may not condition the line power against line noise depending on the model. When there's a sag or power failure the SPS "switches" from line power to battery power. The rule of thumb is that a UPS provides better protection than an SPS. During that split second when the SPS switches from line power to battery power, things could go wrong. At best if the switch doesn't happen fast enough your equipment could reboot as though you turned the power off, then back on. Worse case would be not switching and letting a power surge hit your equipment. The good news is that in the past few years SPS devices have gotten a lot better at switching when the line power is interrupted. It's good news because a lot, if not most, of the devices that are advertised as being UPSs are in reality SPSs. It used to be that you could look at the specs and if you found a "switching time" rating the device was a SPS. A true UPS doesn't switch between line power and battery so there is no switching time to measure. But manufacturers just stopped quoting the switching time in the specs. If your device has indicators as to when it's providing line power as opposed to battery power it's probably a SPS. Ditto if one of the features is that the battery can be swapped while the device is running and equipment is plugged in. An SPS is not a bad thing if it also provides line conditioning. Don't panic if your "UPS" labeled device is really an SPS. I use an APC BackUPS Pro 500 and it's really an SPS. The price was right and APC offers a guarantee against equipment failure, although I'll confess I've never had the occasion to try to collect on it. The main thing is to be sure that your device provides enough power for the equipment you want to protect. Each piece of equipment you are subject to plug into the UPS/SPS draws a finite number of watts. You need a device capable of feeding all the watts necessary. American Power Conversion (APC) has a Web form for calculating what size UPS (most of which are really SPS devices) you need depending on what you plan on hooking up. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?ups1 Keep in mind that APC has a vested interest in selling you as big a unit as you'll spring for so use their form as a guideline not gospel. Another common question was how can a computer run off a battery, which provides direct current (DC) when it requires alternating current (AC) to run. Yes, the computer plugs into an AC source for power, but the AC current is then converted to DC before it hits the internal components. Therefore, when battery power is provided by a UPS/SPS the power device converts the DC power from the battery into AC power to the outlet where the computer is plugged in, which then goes into the computer where it is converted back into DC power for actual usage. A number of readers wanted to know what "line noise" is all about. Line noise results from static, and electrical interference caused by electromagnetic interference (EMI), radio- frequency interference (RFI), or inductive loads caused by machinery (usually electrical motors) and not just your machinery. The guy with a woodworking shop in his garage next door can cause you to experience line noise. Electrical wire acts just like an antenna and can pick up interference from fluorescent light fixtures, telephone lines, etc. By filtering out line noise you get what is called conditioned power. Be careful though, not all the outlets on a UPS/SPS may provide conditioned power. Two TNPCers have enlightened me about what really happens when the power company shuts down the power and then switches it back on. TNPCer Mike S. who works at a power company admonished me for thinking that power companies boost the power when trying to restore power. He says, "...often the initial demand exceeds the settings of the protective relays at the power station" and this can require the power utility to try several times to get the power to stay on. The problem is exacerbated by everyone turning on every switch and appliance in their house to see if the power is out throughout the home. They leave these turned on and this increases demand on the returning current. So it would appear that my claim that the utilities upped the amperage when restoring power is incorrect. The most they do in this regards according to Mike is push the voltage "as much as load, voltage maximum limits, and generator capabilities allow." Mea culpa. TNPCer Oscar Desmonteix at Macrotel International Corporation put it this way, "The power grid is full of inductive loads (wiring, transformers, electric motors, relays, etc.) and inductive loads have a very nasty reaction when power is applied to them, they do not only resist the current flow but also return a voltage peak to the power line. This returned voltage may easily duplicate the voltage applied to the load and sometimes it goes even above that. This voltage peak is what really damages appliances and equipment connected to the same power circuit if they are not protected." Oscar has provided a most detailed and technical explanation of the problems involved with protecting an entire building against power problems. You can find this illuminating discourse here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?ups2 A final word on MOVs (metal-oxide varistors). TNPCer Lou B. points out that "it takes three MOV's to properly protect a circuit. One from the Load to Ground, one from the Neutral to Ground and the third between the Load and Neutral. Another consideration is that after one 'blast' they should really be replaced." The trick is to know when you've had a "blast" or surge because as Lou correctly points out the second time around chances are that you might not be protected. This is why I don't like to have critical/expensive equipment reliant on MOVs for power protection. You can reach T.J. Lee at: mailto:tj_lee@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ Get UCmore Today - It's FREE Cut through Web clutter with UCmore, the FREE "anti-search" tool! Want to find more of what you're looking for and have it be hassle-free? Download UCmore and watch it make your life simpler by categorizing related site information into easy-to-understand, clickable links, right in your browser window! Slaughterhouse's Pick of the Day and what TNPC users have described as "Absolutely fantastic, where has this helper been hidden for so long?" Download the LATEST UCmore version for Internet Explorer today! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?sponsor3 +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 06. Featured Product - Easy Hang Up (reviewed by T.J. Lee) I don't know about you but without fail I get three or four telemarketing calls a week. Occasionally I'll get a marketing call on the house line during business hours, but most telemarketers seem to call just as soon as I take my first bite of dinner. Yes, we do have a telephone answering machine and I could just let it ring but my wife is a substitute schoolteacher and the way jobs are doled out is via an automated computer program that calls each name on a list. If you don't answer and take the job it dials the next name on the list, so we answer the phone. I don't mind interrupting my dinner to engage my wife in gainful employment but neither of us appreciates a telemarketing call especially as the family is gathered to break bread. You have to wait till the telemarketer takes a breath during their canned spiel to get a word in edgewise, explain that we are not interested, then try to get them to remove us from their call list before they start over at the beginning of their script (which is what they all seem to do if you interrupt them). Sheesh! Even having an unlisted phone number doesn't help because telemarketers now use computer-dialing programs that ferret through an entire area code searching out valid numbers. Well, I was complaining to Dan Butler about this the other day and he laughed and told me he has a button on his phone that ends telemarketer calls as soon as they start. Hey, I wanted one of those buttons! It's a device called Easy Hang Up, roughly the size of half a deck of playing cards. It plugs into your phone line on one end and then into your phone into the other. It has one button on it and it comes with a short phone cord so it sits right next to your phone. When you get a telemarketing call you press the button and hang up the phone. A voice chip plays the following recording in a nice professional manner: "I'm sorry, this number does not accept this type of call. Please regard this message as your notification to remove this number from your list. Thank you." It then disconnects, meaning it hangs up. No hard sells while you're trying politely to convince the salesman on the other end of the line you're not interested. Just push the button and hang up. Really neat. Works with phones here in the USA but we've not heard if it's compatible with other countries' phone systems (and the notification is only available in English). The Easy Hang Up device is available through the TNPC Company Store: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?easy1 ** 07. Featured Book - "Words That Change Minds" by Shelle Rose Charvet (reviewed by Dan Butler) Looking through my current book stack I find "Words That Change Minds" sitting on top. The title may lead you to believe it is a book on manipulation or sales. But its focus is to teach you to talk to people in a language they'll understand. This is a book to read and share with others. Rather than bog you down in lots of technical jargon and theories, you'll experience a practical discussion of 14 motivation and working traits we all exhibit from time to time. Each is detailed along with how to *easily* notice them in yourself and others. I stress easily. This isn't something that requires taking a test, tallying the scores, and graphing your progress only to be given some generic description that applies to 75% of people anyway. Instead you'll learn easy-to-spot styles of processing information and how to work with the different styles. In technical jargon these are called "Meta-Programs" and the book is a practical application of Roger Bailey's LAB (Language and Behavior) profile. Each style is discussed from various standpoints; how to recognize it and its application to education, hiring, marketing, and people management. The last category, people management, is covered from both the management and employee perspective, which is nice. You'll find all of the discussion easy to apply to relationships with spouses, friends, and family as well. I recommend this book for anyone who interacts with other people on a regular basis or just wants to improve their communication and understanding skills. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?fbook You can reach Dan Butler at: mailto:danbutler@TheNakedPC.com ** 08. Featured Office Tip - Excel's "Always create backup" (by PRIME Consulting Group, Inc.) When you save an Excel workbook (either for the first time or from the Save As command), you can access a number of powerful settings in the Save Options dialog. Starting with an unsaved workbook, to see this dialog in Excel 2000 select File and choose Save. Now click the "Save As" dialog's Tools menu, choose "General Options" and there's the dialog. In Excel 97, the "Save As" dialog has no Tools menu, instead click on the dialog's Options button to display the "Save Options" dialog. The "Always create backup" check box does not really have anything to do with passwords but is worthy of consideration-- especially when developing a model. Check this box and then save your workbook as usual (for discussion purposes we'll assume you have saved the workbook as "Protection1.xls"). You make additional changes and save the workbook again. Here's what happens. 1. The file on disk (as was originally saved, not containing the subsequent changes you've made) is renamed as "Backup of Protection1.xlk" and stored in the same directory as the original version of "Protection1.xls". 2. The current file in memory is written to disk as "Protection1.xls". You now have your workbook, "Protection1.xls", and a one- generation-old backup copy, "Backup of Protection1.xlk". The .xlk extension identifies this file as a backup file. This backup option can be used alone or in conjunction with the other Save Option settings. Note: If you have a Microsoft Office consulting project, development idea, macro quandary, or are just plain stuck trying to get something--easy or hard--done with Microsoft Office, WE CAN HELP YOU! This is what we do for a living: handle Office projects of all shapes and sizes. You can reach our consultants by email 24x7 at: mailto:code@PRIMEConsulting.com or you can call us in the U.S. at 310-318-5212 (someone's usually on hand Monday through Friday, 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Pacific time). +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ WANT TO GET YOUR WORD OUT? Classified ads in The Naked PC can be yours for ridiculously low prices. Get your message out to over 62,000 TNPC subscribers. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html?v4i3 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* Representative Gene Green, D-Texas, has introduced "The Consumer Online Privacy and Disclosure Act" to the US Congress. The bill would require Web sites to ask permission before placing cookies on a surfer's hard drive. Sure. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?news1 *-* Paul Thurrott has details on the new Windows XP (Whistler) and Office XP (Office 10) copy protection scheme. The new versions of Microsoft's mainstay applications will be restricted in how many times you can install them. Further, it seems that MS is taking the position that software is licensed to the machine not the user so once you install it on a particular computer that's all there is and you can't legally move it to another PC. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?news2 *-* Big Brother is watching! Police tested a new technology using photo imaging and high speed computers at the recent Super Bowl here in the USA. As each patron filed into the stadium, their picture was surreptitiously snapped, fed into a computer, and compared to a database of known criminals and terrorists. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?news3 *-* There may a quantum leap coming in the storage capacity of DVDs. InPhase Technologies has a new technology called holographic data storage that allows recording through the entire thickness of the disc medium. This could mean storing 50 movies on a single disc instead of just one. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?news4 Get more Newsworthy bits on the TNPC Web site: http://www.thenakedpc.com/newsworthy/ Have you come across something newsworthy? Drop us a line: mailto:hottips@TheNakedPC.com ** 10. We Get Mail TNPCer Robert S. liked last issue's "Featured FAQ - Almost Every file format in the world" and wanted to contribute this site that covers a plethora of graphic file formats. CICA Graphics List Image File Formats: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?letters1 Be sure to stop by the Letters to the Editor page for more: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/letters/index.html **PLEASE SUPPORT TNPC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS** +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ YES! YOU *CAN* HIRE THE GUYS WHO PUBLISH THIS NEWSLETTER PRIME Consulting Group, Inc., owned by the publishers of "The Naked PC" newsletter provides computer consulting, custom VB and VBA development, WordBasic-to-VBA conversion, and installation scripting services. From macros to utilities to complete application development, we can solve your problem. The principles, Lee Hudspeth and T.J. Lee, are also available for speaking engagements. Email us at: mailto:info@PRIMEConsulting.com +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ **NEED INK? SAVE 40-70% OVER RETAIL!** High Quality Inkjet Printer Cartridges, JetPaks, Refill Kits. Super Prices! Your Satisfaction IS Guaranteed. NEW! We now offer High Quality Remanufactured Toner Cartridges Save 30-40% * FREE Printer Utilities! * MaxPatch Ink Supplies http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?class1 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ pcReminder is FREE! NEVER FORGET AGAIN! Let FREE pcReminder send you a reminder via email. Birthdays, anniversaries, appointments, you name it! One-time events, recurring items, let you computer do the remind you automatically and for FREE. Send reminders to yourself or family, friends, business Associates - to any email address. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?class2 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ >> "Find out THE TRUTH about ANYONE" Background Investigations, Criminal Records, Vehicle Ownership, Military Records, Business Directories, Adoption Resources If you're looking to find them or find out about them this is the tool you can't do without! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/403/tr.cgi?class3 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ DISCLAIMER Personal computers are individual machines with performance that can vary with components, software, and operator ability. The Naked PC is not responsible for the manner in which the information presented is used or interpreted. Also, although we work hard to provide you with accurate Internet links in The Naked PC, we are not responsible for Internet links herein that represent sites owned and operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the content, accuracy, performance, or availability of any such third-party sites. No laboratory rats were harmed in producing this newsletter. In fact, we couldn't even get the rats to read it. Hopefully, this is more because of the high illiteracy rate found in laboratory rats and not because of any critical assessment of the material on the part of the rats. REDISTRIBUTION POLICY We encourage you to forward this newsletter to your friends, associates, and colleagues for their review and enjoyment. However, please do so only by sending it in full, thereby keeping the copyright and subscription information intact. We do request that, once they've reviewed an issue or two, they subscribe independently rather than continue to receive issues from you. This helps TNPC grow and prosper, thereby funding its continued publication. Also, if you wish to post this newsletter to a newsgroup or electronic discussion group, you may do so if you preserve the copyright and subscription information. Thanks. SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES To subscribe or unsubscribe, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/subscribe.html To make comments or suggestions, surf on over to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpfeedback.html or send email directly to: mailto:tnpc@TheNakedPC.com Get back issues from our Mailbot by sending email to: mailto:mailbot@TheNakedPC.com WEB BULLETIN BOARD Check out our 24x7 Web bulletin board. If you've got a technical question about PC issues, or suggestions of your own, this is the place to hang out: http://www.PRIMEConsulting.com/annoyanceboard/ ADVERTISING To advertise in TNPC go to: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/tnpcadvertising.html Mail services provided by Blue Horizon Enterprises, one of the very few "Mom and Pop" operations left on the Web: http://www.bhorizon.com Copyright (c) 2001, PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. and Dan Butler. All Rights Reserved. The Naked PC is a trademark of PRIME Consulting Group, Inc. ISSN: 1522-4422 TNPC Hot Tips:
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