KC News 12/99
Millenium Special
Vol.1, No.12 |
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And
so the 20th century comes to an end! With many of us suffering from too
much work, too much information, and too little time to enjoy the simple
things. Maybe we should take a short break from celebrating and ask ourselves:
are we better off than we were 100 years ago? 1000 years ago? In what ways?
Thanks for reading KC News in our very first year! Stick around, we
have lots of great things in store for the new millenium.
KC News by Kahl Consultants.
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands.
Visit http://www.kahl.net
To continue receiving; do nothing, you are on our list.
To add someone or to stop receiving; send email.
Y2K
NOW
OR NEVER
Check your computer hardware and software to see what will work come January
1, 2000. Install your Y2K update NOW! Or go get a Mac.
Our Y2K ALERT site has all the latest advice:
http://www.kahl.net/y2k
More about emergency response in case of disaster? You want the
Emergency Action site:
http://www.kahl.net/action
And if you want to play ostrich and really don't believe in computer
bugs, look here:
http://sos.wustl.edu/mil_bug.gif
WORD OF THE MONTH
PORT
OF ENTRY
You probably all know the terms PARALLEL PORT and SERIAL PORT. Some
of you may even know how to tell them apart. Who cares, they are both headed
the way of the dodo. Whats hot? Not one but TWO NEW STANDARDS for connecting
peripherals to computers.
USB - The Universal Serial Bus port is becoming a standard on
new hardware. Some products ONLY come with USB port plugs. The speed is
12 Megabits per second (Mbps). Naturally comes with Plug and Play capability
and you can even plug and unplug stuff while the machine is running!
Firewire / IEEE 1394 - The speed is an incredible 400 Mbps. It
comes standard on new Macs. Great for transferring massive amounts of data
fast (like video and audio files)!
TECHNOTIPS
LIKE
A SPARE SET OF CAR KEYS
Do you know what to do if you cannot start your PC running Windows?
Give up? Easy, just insert your STARTUP DISK and reboot. OK, now some of
you are laughing, saying "everyone knows that", while others are going
"what's he talking about?". Many of our customers seem to forget this simple
step when they get a new machine. And it's like making a spare set of keys
for your car! Should you ever have trouble starting Windows, a STARTUP
DISK boots your system and provides utilities to help diagnose
the problem.
OK, lets do it. Get a floppy and create a startup disk. Click START
then SETTINGS and open the Control Panel. Now double-click Add/Remove Programs
and select the Startup Disk tab. Still with me? Now click the Create Disk
button, and follow the simple instructions.
And did you know that the Windows 98 startup disk includes real-mode
CD-ROM drivers (so that you can access your CD-ROM drive from a command
prompt)? Windows 95 didn't do that! So if you determine that reinstalling
Windows 98 (via CD) is your best chance at recovery, you can do that--right
from the command prompt.
CALIFORNIANS GO GREEN!
Some of you in California still watching TV with nuclear energy? C'mon,
dump your dirty habits! Switch to green energy for your home. No gimmicks
here, and no hassles. Just cheaper, cleaner, better. This really is the
best deal, and everybody wins! Get clean electricity online:
http://www.kahl.net/energy
Or just CALL toll-free 1-877-GO-CLEEN (462-5336) or 1-888-425-3361
Mention Alex Kahl as your agent and I get a referral
buck.
Come clean, Go green!
SITES FOR SORE EYES
CHRISTMAS
SHOPPING!
Although we prefer not to get too caught up in the commercial aspect of
the Christmas holiday, we do offer you the chance to order books and music
online at a great price. So if you want to go Christmas shopping without
the long lines, please support KC News and use this link:
ttp://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect-home/kahlconsultants
We offer you discounted books
and music in association with amazon.com.
More Really Great Deals
Here's a neat guide to save you time and money. Over 60 retailers &
clubs are compared here for prices, selection, shipping, delivery time,
and more. Here's THE COOLEST PART: store SALES and current COUPONS are
posted. My favorite deal is with BUY.com - newcomers get $20 off their
first purchase!
Compact Disc Shopper's Guide
http://www.cdshopper.cjb.net
Hardware Shopping Begins Here
-------------------------------------
Always remember - if you shop for hardware or software, get the best
deals here:
http://www.kahl.net/shopping
KC TIPS
AOL
User Warning: Get Ready for Spam!
The huge online service wants to start sending you lots of marketing come-ons
-- even if you've told AOL in the past that you're
not interested in receiving such 'information.' Seems that AOL
sent out a mass mailing to a number of its users telling them that their
'marketing preferences' are due to expire in December. This may come as
a bit of a surprise to people who believed that once they told AOL 'don't
send us that junk,' they wouldn't have to tell them again.
But AOL says that it instituted the policy of marketing preferences
expiring each year when it instituted its Terms of Service agreement
18 months ago. This is known as 'opt-out marketing,'
and it's a very controversial practice. For instance, imagine
if your cable TV company sent you a letter telling you that you were going
to start receiving new channels next month unless you called them and cancelled
this service.
Services should be something that you order, not that you decline. And
once you decline it, it shouldn't be something
that you have to decline again and again.
If you're an AOL user, and
you want to make sure that you won't start to receive offers from AOL via
e-mail, snail mail or phone, type in keyword "Marketing Preferences" and
turn it all off. You'll just have to get use to doing it every year.
FIND THAT FLOPPY
How do you access a floppy?
-
(A) My Computer window
-
(B) Explorer window
-
(C) None of the above.
The easiest way is (C): double-click the FLOPPY DRIVE SHORTCUT you should
place on your desktop.
OK wise guy, how do I place this shortcut on my desktop? Easy! Open
a My Computer or Explorer window, click and drag your floppy drive icon
out to the desktop, and release the mouse button. Click Yes to confirm
that you want to CREATE A SHORTCUT. Done!
Next time you want to read a floppy, double-click your new shortcut,
and you're in.
WinTips
Update
Windows NOW
Microsoft has Y2K updates for Windows 95 and 98 and all their other software
like Office and such.
Look here for details and check out the Product Guide:
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/year2k
Windows 95 users:
http://www.pcworld.com/r/tw/1%2C2061%2Ctw-wi1025a%2C00.html
Windows 98 users: you'll need to go through the whole Windows
Update mess to get your Year 2000 Update. Select Start, Windows Update,
click the Product Updates link, and so on...
Bookmark our FAQ Tips site! WinTips,
WebTips, ImageTips, Shopping Tips and more:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/tips.html
Keyboard Shortcut Du Jour
You need to rename a file, folder, or shortcut?
Don't waste all that energy right-clicking the file and selecting Rename.
If the item is selected, simply press F2
on your keyboard. Same thing, but easier on the
wrist.
Bookmark the entire list of shortcuts at:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/wintips.html
AOTM (Acronym of the Month)
ASCII
What does ASCII stand for? "American Standard
Code for Information Interchange." ASCII is a code for representing
ENGLISH characters as NUMBERS, with each letter assigned a number from
0 to 127. Most computers use ASCII codes to represent text. This makes
it possible to transfer data from one machine to another.
Text files stored in ASCII format are sometimes called ASCII files.
Text editors and word processors are usually capable of storing data in
ASCII format.
The DOS operating system uses a superset of ASCII called extended ASCII
or high ASCII. A more universal standard is the
ISO Latin 1 set of characters, which is used by many operating
systems, as well as Web browsers.
Handy Acronym Links (or HAL):
BABEL : A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms
http://www.access.digex.net:80/~ikind/babel.html
Acronym Finder: Look up 119,400+ acronyms/abbreviations &
their meanings
http://www.AcronymFinder.com
!!Hoax & Virus Alert!!
"Pretty Park"
is Wicked!
'PrettyPark' aka 'Trojan.PSW.CHV' is an Internet worm, a password stealing
trojan and a backdoor at the same time. Whoever
wrote this is also a worm!
PrettyPark spreads itself via the net by ATTACHING its body to e-mails
as 'Pretty Park.Exe' file. Do NOT execute it!! This would install it onto
you system. Then it can send e-mail messages with
its copy attached to addresses listed in you Address Book. And
it can inform someone (probably the worm author) about your system settings
and passwords. And it also can be used as a remote access tool. Ugh!
When executed for the first time, Prety Park registers itself as a
hidden application. It is not visible to you!
The worm can be used as a backdoor (remote access tool) by its author.
It can send out system configuration details, drives list, directories
info as well as confidential information: Internet access passwords and
telephone numbers, login names and passwords, etc. And it can create/remove
directories, send/receive files, delete and execute them.
Ouch!
Then it gets really ugly. It opens you Address Book file, reads
e-mail addresses from there, and sends messages to these addresses! The
message subject field contains the text:
C:\CoolProgs\Pretty Park.exe
The message has an attached copy of the worm as Pretty Park.EXE file.
If someone receives this message and runs the attached file his system
becomes infected. So remember to use your Virus Checker!
More about Pretty Park:
http://www.datafellows.com/v-descs/prettyp.htm
Remember, all the latest info on viruses and hoax emails are here:
http://www.kahl.net/hoax
The Gift of Gab
What's a great Christmas gift that
everyone likes? A phone call from far away! Let GlobalCom find you the
best long distance rates! For your family and friends out of state and
abroad.
Examples:
Voicenet calling cards for 13.9 cents/min calls from/to anywhere in
the USA. Interstate 4.9 cents/min. Intrastate 7.9 cents/min.
Support KC News and check out the GREAT NEW offers that your communications
agent Alex Kahl provides you via GlobalCom. Give the gift of gab:
http://www.kahl.net/global
NetTips
NETSCAPE
BROWSER MAKES LIFE EASY
Forget "http://"! Forget "www.whatever.com"!
Instant access to info anywhere on the web! Just
enter what you're looking for - IN PLAIN ENGLISH! With your
Netscape browser. No need to visit a search engine or remember a web address.
How does it work? Just type a company name
or a common term in the location box at the top of your Netscape
browser and press enter.
Examples:
- [Your city] restaurants or [Your city] dining
(to pick a restaurant)
- Shop [product] (to shop for a product)
- [product name] or [company name] (to get product info or look
up a company)
Details are here:
http://home.netscape.com/escapes/keywords/
PRIVATE PARTS
If you own a website then you should also to know the legal aspects involved
in maintaining a site. Your website should have a page with legal information
and it should have a privacy statement. If you need help developing a PRIVACY
POLICY you can develop one automatically and for FREE at the TRUSTe website:
http://www.truste.org
STICKY STUFF
OK, one more site that really defines what a good website should be: simple,
focused, and useful! A site with a very simple
mission: help people glue things to other things! If you too
need to find the right glue then go here:
http://www.thistothat.com
Seasons greetings to all! We'll be back in the NEXT MILLENIUM with more
straight computer and technology talk.
Cheers,
Alex
Kahl Consultants
http://www.kahl.net
THE PLUG
How has your small business or organization been performing lately?
Do you have enough clients? Do you want enhance your presence on the net?
Some of our latest clients include:
GRussian River Realty - serving Sonoma and Marin counties in California
http://www.rusrivrealty.com
Country Homes Campers - Buy and Sell VW and Ford Camping Vans &
Minivans
http://www.kahl.net/campers
*
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands. Kahl Consultants
are always at your service at http://www.kahl.net
If you got this far you obviously enjoyed KC News. Pass it on!
Please forward it to a handful of your friends.
Remember, the best things in life are free.
THE PUNCH LINE
About
50 demonstrators bared it all near San Francisco City Hall on Oct. 3 to
draw attention to the potential dangers of nuclear catastrophes that might
occur because of the year 2000 computer bug. The demonstration, which included
chants of "disrobe for disarmament," was led by Patch Adams, "the doctor
who inspired the movie based on his life." Adams: "Non-violent people like
us really have few tools to face a capitalist system"
(SF
Examiner, Oct. 4).
The Fine Print
* CTRL: Control Key (there are 2 of these on your pretty
little keyboard)
* ESC: Escape key (top left of your keyboard)
* Home & End Keys: found next to the Page Up and
Page Down keys, to the
right of the alphanumeric portion of your keyboard (even
on laptops)
* Keyboard combinations: hold down the first key, then
press second key shortly
MORE TIPS????
NetTools has the entire collection:
http://www.kahl.net/tools/tips.html
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