What You Need to Know about All Things PC
Volume 5 Number 20Click 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, October 3, 2002 - Vol. 5 No. 20 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Table of Contents ** 01. Letter from the Publisher ** 02. Assorted Noteworthy TheNakedPCStore.com Items (by Dan Butler) ** 03. Thinking Inside the Box, Part III: What You Get Is What You See (by Al Gordon) ** 04. Online Salary Guides and Resources (by Lee Hudspeth) ** 05. Upgrade Season, Part II: Striving to Excel (by Al Gordon) ** 06. Featured Web Site - Slipstick Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) ** 07. Featured Product - WinSCP (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) ** 08. Featured Drawing ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff ** 01. Letter from the Publisher If you own a Photon Micro-Light pocket flashlight and find yourself, as we all do from time to time, needing replacement batteries, here's a tip. Lee recently was low on batteries on the two Micro-Lights he carries on his key chain (one red and one green). He decided to compare prices at his local haunts, relative to ordering them direct from TheNakedPCStore.com. Here's what he found. His local Sav-On Drug sells the CR-2016 and CR- 2032 for $2.99/battery. His local Target had them at the same price. In our e-store you can buy these batteries for $2.50 each, that's over a 15% savings, plus there's no charge for shipping and handling in the domestic U.S. We conveniently sell the CR- 2016 batteries two to a pack. Quick refresher on Micro-Light battery specs: one CR-2032 powers the Red, Yellow, and Orange lights for 120 hours of continuous use. Two CR-2016 batteries power the White, Blue, Green, Turquoise lights for 12 hours continuously. Click here for more info or to order a set (scroll to the bottom of the page): http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?publet1 In this issue Dan talks about the history and highly personal operating style of our e-store, Al reports on the video card and monitor discoveries he's made with his new do-it-yourself PC, plus some Visio and FileMaker Pro tips. Lee covers where you can go to get free salary survey and related resources to compare your salary to others in your field. Congratulations to TNPCer Mary S. who won our previous issue's drawing. In this issue's survey we're giving away a $25 TheNakedPCStore.com credit. It's fun and easy to enter, see this issue's Featured Drawing article. Reader support is what keeps The Naked PC free. You can help us by passing a copy on to co-workers and friends (no spam please). We make it easy for you to refer people to The Naked PC... check out our Refer page: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/refer/ +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ >> "How Many Ways Will You Use These Amazing Devices?" They're incredibly handy. When we first saw these amazing little devices we thought, "these will look cool hanging on my key ring." Then we started using them. WOW - every day we find more uses. How many will you find? http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?swisstech +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 02. Assorted Noteworthy TheNakedPCStore.com Items (by Dan Butler) Your response to the Fisher pens we now carry in our store has been tremendous. You can read some of the comments we've received from satisfied users here: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?dan1 It's been a while since we talked about how The Naked PC is run. Both The Naked PC newsletter and its e-store TheNakedPCStore.com are staffed and run entirely by the three principals here: T.J. "Jim" Lee, Lee Hudspeth, and myself. We each have family and other commitments but strive to give you a helpful newsletter and good customer service. Together will Al Gordon we've written and worked on projects together since 1995. Surprisingly we've done all this without meeting face to face. Using email, phone, and postal mail we've become quite efficient at handling things in this digital age. Saying we haven't met face to face isn't quite true. I have met Lee during a very short layover he had a local airport. My attempts to visit T.J. ended with my oldest son and I getting detoured and out of contact with T.J. in the mountains of California. At least we tried! Why bring this up? So you will know that your communications with us - from placing your order to customer service - are handled personally. We do not have additional staff. So when you leave a message on an order, a voice mail, or email us with a question, one of us will get back to you personally. That's the way we like it - personal treatment - personal service. Do we miss the mark occasionally? Of course. But we strive to make things right. We started our store to share products that we personally use and find nifty. Your purchases help us keep this newsletter coming to you free of charge. And it helps us feed our families. So thank you for supporting us and letting us share a part of our lives with you. You can reach Dan Butler at: mailto:danbutler@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ "You Can Laugh At Money Worries - If You Follow This Simple Plan" Do you sometimes have more month than money? Ever wonder how to dig out of the hole of debt? Maybe someone you know is struggling. In today's uncertain times with tens of thousands being laid off, this is one step you can take now to make your future more certain. This proven multimedia course will show you everything you need. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?financial +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 03. Thinking Inside the Box, Part III: What You Get Is What You See (by Al Gordon) The current generation of PC video systems is definitely eye- opening. My test PC incorporates an ATI Technologies "All-in-Wonder" Radeon 8500 AGP 128MB video card, which has a street price in the $260 range. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al1 I have it outputting to a $720 ViewSonic VX700 17" flat panel LCD monitor. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al2 ViewSonic's VX series is aimed at multimedia users rather than graphics professionals. It supports both digital (DVI) and analog (VGA) signals, making it a good fit with the ATI's digital output. The resulting displays look sharp, with high legibility text and excellent graphic presentation. Much of this is no doubt attributable to the components' inherent capabilities as well as to DVI, but the digital connections should reduce signal deterioration. The point is: the video display looks good. The components make it easier to read documents and make watching movies more enjoyable. They enhance the ability of a PC to handle a wider range of content. When ATI first unveiled the "All-in-Wonder" in 1996, the idea of building a video card that included a TV tuner and supporting seemed a little bit Out There. What, after all, would you do with it? Nowadays, of course, hot and cold running cable/satellite and Ethernet connections are a routine part of home construction, and digital media are commonplace. It has occurred to many users that if they have a high-caliber monitor in a room, why do they need a separate TV? And if you can record video on your PC's mega-sized hard drive, why bother with the skimpy hard drive on a digital video recorder? The All-in-Wonder will display TV as a window on your desktop, or full-screen. It comes with guide software to track and record programs, will make video screenshots, and will do the usual DVD and PC movie player things. What it does unique to itself is that it can take captured video and make it part of a business document. It very much expands the concept of what a "document" is. So now we do know what to do with an All-in-Wonder. In fact, the concept now has the Official Seal of Approval: Microsoft is building a version of Windows around this kind of capability -- Windows XP Media Center Edition, scheduled for release at the end of the year. The latest generation of flat-screen LCD screens complements these capabilities. In addition to the VX700, I also tested a ViewSonic VE500 15" flat panel monitor which is available for a more modest $370 and is the company's "entry level" flat screen monitor. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al3 "Entry level" definitely needs to be in quotes here. When I last looked at flat panels, in a 1999 magazine piece, I focused on ViewSonic's VP150 -- a 15" LCD that was then a high-end "professional" model that was substantially more expensive. The VE500's capabilities are superior, both in terms of video quality and esthetics. In fact, the striking thing about today's flat screens is how, well, flat, they are. The VE500's case has half the depth of the VP150, and is designed so that you can fold up its stand and use it as a wall mount. The VX700 and VE500 feature nifty silver-and-black styling, all the better to match today's no-longer-beige PC boxes. The VE series units have lower resolution than the VX and also lack the DVI digital input. In addition, the VX series has a 170 degrees horizontal, 170 degrees vertical viewing angle (50 degrees more in each dimension than the VEs) thereby allowing movie watching by multiple users. As Bogie would say, "here's looking at you, kid." (c) 2002, Al Gordon You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ MICRO-LIGHTS the Super POCKET FLASHLIGHT! Micro-Lights are the BRIGHTEST flashlights for their size in the WORLD. Reliable, incredibly bright light for any situation. A Micro-Light is small enough to clip to your key chain, carry it in your pocket or purse and you won't even know it's there. But you'll never, ever be caught in the dark! Instant light in emergencies, or just when you have to find something under your desk or the sofa. The Red, Orange, or Yellow lights run for 120 hours on a single lithium battery! Carry a Micro-Light for a week and you'll never go anywhere without one again. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?pocketflashlight +++------------------------- sponsor -------------------------+++ ** 04. Online Salary Guides and Resources (by Lee Hudspeth) I suspect that you, like me, are often still amazed at what you can find out on the Internet, for free. The kicker, of course, is that you have to be careful to evaluate the source(s) of this free data, and how it was prepared/packaged, or you may find yourself drawing some erroneous conclusions. As you peruse any Web site, it's always helpful--as a preliminary first step to understanding the source behind the site--to follow the "About Us" link and study the resulting material. A discussion of additional ways to validate a Web site's content is beyond the scope of this article. In my opinion, the sites listed here meet a standard of reasonability, e.g., JobStar's affiliation with The Wall Street Journal, but your mileage may vary and you may even want to correspond with a given salary site's Webmaster to find out more about their statistical data gathering and reporting techniques. Many of these sites have easy-to-find and follow links like InformationWeek's "How this is calculated." Not all of this article's sites are specific to the IT (Information Technology) industry, although some are. I encourage you to branch out into sites that are portals for your specific area of expertise. When it comes to the age-old question, "How much money am I making, and is it a fair wage?" it's well worth your time to check out a variety of online salary resources. There are plenty of sites dedicated to career issues; in this article I'm focused specifically on salary guides, surveys, and similar resources. JobStar offers over 300 salary surveys, general and job-specific. General categories include information regarding cost of living, guides to printed surveys, salary issues, benefits, new graduates, and negotiation strategies. Job-specific categories are numerous, ranging from Accounting to Warehousing and all in between. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?lee1 InformationWeek's IT Salary Advisor will show you how your pay compares to the data in its 2002 national salary survey, based on responses from over 10,000 IT professionals in the domestic U.S. (from a target population of 300,000). http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?lee2 Dice.com Salary Survey Results data is based on 60,000 completed surveys. The page includes links to some charts showing key trends in the IT industry. You can take the survey yourself, study the survey results, and search by full-time, contractor salary, and contractor hourly. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?lee3 The Wall Street Journal's career portal site CareerJournal includes Salary Data and Hiring Trends (look for the tall list box displayed roughly in the center of the screen). You can search their salary database (by job title) or review salary and hiring trends (by either industry or job title). The portal's other features include negotiation tips, career indicators, hot issues, compensation, regional news, a salary calculator, and employment statistics. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?lee4 If you are interested in purchasing details about a specific position, Baker, Thomsen Associates may have the answer for you. They are a "privately-held compensation and benefits consulting firm providing fee-for-service compensation consulting and commission-based group benefit services for corporate clients." You can buy a position-specific "wage & salary" report (select from one of 4,000 positions across 5,800 U.S. and Canada locations) for $19.00. (An example report is available for free.) http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?lee5 You can reach Lee Hudspeth at: mailto:LeeHudspeth@TheNakedPC.com ** 05. Upgrade Season, Part II: Striving to Excel (by Al Gordon) What do two disparate programs such as the business drawing software Visio 2002 and the FileMaker Pro 6 database have in common? Microsoft Excel is what. I hadn't worked with Visio since Microsoft acquired it and made it part of the Office family. Its hallmark is that allows non- artists to draw. Visio presents you with an assortment of standard shapes for typical business charts (organization, flow, network, office-space planning, etc.), which you can drag and drop into place. Think of it as the drawing tools in Office on steroids. For organizational charts, Visio also automates the process of creating hierarchies and putting in the connector lines. Drag a subordinate position shape onto the chart and drop it into the boss. Visio then automatically creates the requisite levels of relationship, along with the connecting lines. Further -- here's the Excel connection -- you can export the chart data to an Excel file (or, via a wizard, use an Excel file to create the chart in the first place). As a result your chart can also form the basis for a company database or directory. It is a handy time-saver. Microsoft Visio 2002 Standard is the product aimed at most business users. A full copy is $173. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al4 The upgrade version is $90: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al5 If you do a lot of charting, stop messing with the Office drawing tools and take advantage of Visio. -------------- FileMaker Pro is best known in the Mac world, but has made inroads into the Windows market as an alternative to Access. I obtained review copies of the previous two releases of FileMaker (5.0 and 5.5) but never saw any particular advantage to them over using Excel. But I am not exactly a database wizard. I am locked into the list-keeping mindset, and thus basically dense about FileMaker's capabilities. Full version is $270: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al6 The upgrade is $147: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?al7 So for 6.0, it was time to use the "Cindy Test." The person in my wife's office who is responsible for creating and managing the firm's databases, who I will call "Cindy" because it's her name, has been unhappy with Access. As are we all, generally for one basic reason: In a small office or workgroup setting, the amount of time it takes to do something in Access (assuming you can figure out how to do it) usually is longer than it would have taken you to do it manually. A database program's edge over Excel would include: -- Relational capabilities (the ability to make one database out of separate data sources) -- Programming tools to automate functions -- The ability to create forms, reports, and other presentation layouts While Access is not bad at layout tasks, and wizards can guide you through a lot of things, the fact is that most of us wind up quickly stumped at some point in the Access process. Not so with FileMaker. You want to put a button on a form that does a particular function? That's a tedious multi-step process in Access involving setting "control properties" and the like. In FileMaker, you basically just drag a button into place on your form, and the layout process also walks you through setting up the button's function. Cindy had a database to slice and dice a mailing/contact list up and running in a couple of hours, and gave FileMaker her seal of approval. As for the database dopes like me, FileMaker has thought of us, also. Version 6 incorporates a high level of Excel support, allowing you to quickly convert an Excel database to FileMaker (essentially, you just open it up in FileMaker and the program does the rest). The process also works in reverse: FileMaker will easily export data to Excel, allowing financial information, for example, to quickly be incorporated into a spreadsheet. Put that together with new XML capabilities and extensive support for Web/Internet use and FileMaker is a nice package for managing your data. (c) 2002, Al Gordon You can reach Al Gordon at: mailto:al@TheNakedPC.com ** 06. Featured Web Site - Slipstick Outlook & Exchange Solutions Center (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) This is a premier site for anyone interested in Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. You'll be amazed at how much information is available here. Starting with the site's interface, you'll notice you can select to view from the point of view of a user, an administrator, or a developer. Each perspective has its own set of navigational links. Site-wide there's What's New, Issues, Outlook, Exchange Server, Utilities, Bookstore, Events Calendar, Versions, a free biweekly e-newsletter entitled "Exchange Messaging Outlook," and a Feedback form. Speaking of utilities, there are dozens cataloged at this site; they're broken down by new vs. updated. I'll bet you can find one or more that you can use. There are several articles targeted to folks new to Outlook, a handy listing of the site's hot topics, and collections of quality links to: the very latest Outlook and Exchange patches, all previous versions of Outlook, a variety of Outlook/Exchange newsgroups and mailing lists, books, and other resources. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?fsite ** 07. Featured Product - WinSCP (reviewed by Lee Hudspeth) Dan referred this product to me, written by Martin Prikryl. It's a freeware FTP client for file transfers, with an important bonus: the transfers are encrypted. This means that your user id and access password can't be sniffed as you access the remote system, and of course the contents of any file are protected via encryption while being transferred. The utility supports Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, and XP. You can choose among the following encryption algorithms: DES, 3DES, and Blowfish. WinSCP has two user interface styles, Norton Commander-like or Explorer-like, and they're easy to use. There is support for a session list and logging (performance will be slower with logging activated). There is a version 2.0 out in beta, or you can choose version 1.0. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?fprod ** 08. Featured Drawing If you haven't entered one of our The Naked PC survey drawings before, here's how it works. You go to a Web page on our site, answer one survey question, and type in your email address. To encourage folks to participate, we conduct a drawing from the email addresses of each survey's participants and we give away something really useful. Now, obviously we already have your email address or you wouldn't be reading this, but this drawing for prizes will only include those folks who answer this issue's question (entering a prior drawing doesn't count for this one). We'll only use the email addresses we collect for the purpose of notifying who won the prize, nothing else. Before our next issue is published, we'll pick one entered name at random. The winner gets a $25 store credit at TheNakedPCStore.com. But you have to enter to win. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?fdrawing ** 09. Newsworthy - a potpourri of current events and interesting stuff *-* Interesting story about an international railroad executive who runs his operation, stretching along four continents, from Pittsburgh with just three full-time and one half-time employees and lots of electronic communications. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?news1 *-* USB On-the-Go is an offshoot of the USB 2.0 spec, and offers to support plugging a device like a PDA or a digital camera directly into another peripheral, like, say, a printer. No hosting PC is required. Philips sells a standalone chip that provides USB On-The-Go to a device at a cost of around $3. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?news2 Have you come across something newsworthy? Drop us a line: mailto:hottips@TheNakedPC.com **PLEASE SUPPORT THE NAKED PC BY VISITING OUR ADVERTISERS** +++----------------------- classifieds -----------------------+++ Have Your PC Read Documents to You! TextAloud MP3 handles any text source and speaks it to you. Take your eyes off the screen and let your PC read to you from documents, reports, email, Web pages, you name it. Converts to MP3 files so you can hear any text on your portable player. Walk around, stretch, exercise... all while staying productive. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/520/tr.cgi?textaloud +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ PUT MICROSOFT OFFICE TO WORK FOR YOU If you use Microsoft Office 97, 2000 or XP, you need a PRIME for Office Utilities CD. From the Publishers of The Naked PC newsletter, on one CD you get PRIME for Word, PRIME for Excel, and the amazingly useful PRIME DocLauncher for Office utilities. 100s of features, plus a free ebook! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?pcgcd3 +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ >> "Get Control of the Choices in Your Life..." It's amazing. Simple things bring the biggest results. Find out how this book can change your life. I use three of the ideas everyday -- you can too. Click here for more info: http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?being +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ THE HOT TIP FOR PC USERS Computer Tips Compendium contains over 460 computer tips packaged as an electronic book-on-CD-ROM. Get the best tips, tricks, and techniques in a fully searchable format all on a single CD. Includes access to our Web site's customers-only online tips section. http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?comptips +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ Tweaki...for Power Users Designed for all Windows operating systems, Tweaki is your Swiss army knife of utilities. Implement security, lock down your Desktop, tweak Microsoft Office, optimize Windows--roughly 500 tweaks in all! Tweaki also comes with a built-in undo function that restores any tweaked setting the utility tracks, no matter how long ago you tweaked it! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?tweaki +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ >> "Find out What THEY KNOW ABOUT YOU!" Background Investigations, Criminal Records, Vehicle Ownership, Military Records, Business Directories, Adoption Resources. Find out about that other person or just find out what's out there about you. This is the tool you can't do without! http://www.TheNakedPC.com/t/a/tr.cgi?netdetect +++-----------------------------------------------------------+++ 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. 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 The Naked PC 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 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 The Naked PC 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) 2002, 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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