KC News 2002

KC News by Kahl Consultants.
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands.
Visit http://www.kahl.net

CONTENTS
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MOVING AROUND THE SCREEN
JOKEFLASH
KC OFFERS HOSTING
TOP 10 TOOLS
BUG OF THE DAY
EMAIL Q&A
MARIN COUNTY RECYCLING
WINDOWS XP PROS AND CONS
SAO & DAO
THE LATEST BALONEY
WEB DESIGN RULES
NETSCAPE MESSENGER WITH NO ADS

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Keyboard Shortcut Du Jour
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MOVING AROUND THE SCREEN
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stop fondling that mouse!

Use your UP, DOWN, LEFT, and RIGHT Arrows to move around any application. Try it!

Also use the HOME, END, PAGE UP and PAGE DOWN keys to move backwards and forwards quickly.

The TAB key can be used to move around a DIALOG BOX, an OPTIONS window or BETWEEN CELLS in a table or within a database.

JANUARY DEAL:
Canon Home Office Printer/Scanner/Software Bundle Only: $99.99
720 x 360 dpi print, 600 x 1200 dpi scan, USB, Parallel

* MONEY-SAVING RANKINGS
Best sites for comparison shopping and reviews.
* "SWEET SPOT" SHOPPING LISTS
DESKTOPs and LAPTOPs. Best price-to-quality!
* GREEN PC Section

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HOUSEHOLD ITEM
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JOKEFLASH
~~~~~~~~~~
In the increasingly complex world it's important to have a good laugh. Our contribution is called JokeFlash. It's a funny monthly ezine with the best recycled jokes for all ages.

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WORD OF THE MONTH
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KC OFFERS HOSTING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We want our small business clients to trust us for ALL their internet needs. And that includes website HOSTING!

That is why KC now offers
Our Virtual Private Server (VPS) offers you world class hosting at our special rate:
Only $60 per quarter or $220 per year (get one month free).

By consolidating all our small business clients onto one VPS account we get to pass on the savings to you.

It's the same quality of hosting that NTT/Verio offers but at a reduced rate. And with Kahl Consultants providing that personal touch.

TALK IS CHEAP
-------------------
KAHL CONSULTANTS recommends products that we personally use.
We found an incredible prepaid long distance service!

* Works worldwide (via web enabled CALLBACK)!
* No Monthly Fees! No Hidden Fees!

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SITES FOR SORE EYES
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TOP 10 TOOLS
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our NETTOOLS site always has the creme de la creme of search engines and directories. The TOP 10 are all on one page!

Our user comments:
"...nice clean look!"
"...using it as my internet explorer home page"
"I like the choice of either searching directly from the NetTools page or using the provided link"
"Great to have a page with all search engines in one place"

If you only bookmark one page today, this is the page! It WILL make searching easier - guaranteed!!

Want a taste of a recent bug? How about this: "MSN Explorer 7 can corrupt Registry"

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KC TIPS
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EMAIL Q&A
~~~~~~~~~~
Q:
How do you send email to a number of people, but it looks as though you are sending it individually?

A:
First create the necessary GROUPS of email addresses in your email software address book.

Then use the BCC (blind carbon copy) function in your email message. This sends out email to many WITHOUT showing everyone's email address.

MARIN COUNTY RECYCLING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here's some good news for our neighbors in Marin that don't want to clog up their landfills.

They take anything from old computer items to VCRs, TVs, CD players, phones AND they give a tax write-off whether it works or not!

They do NOT accept large appliances (refrigerators, microwaves, copy machines, typewriters).

The center takes most donations for free. BUT it charges from $10 to $35 for TVs and computer monitors (for the removal and disposal of cathode-ray tubes).

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WinTips
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WINDOWS XP PROS AND CONS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Last month we recommended:
1) Don't bother with XP unless you have a new computer
2) ONLY install XP on NEW machines

Our readers respond:
- Forget it completely, install Windows 98SE2 or Windows 2000
- Even a completely NEW machine will be faster with one of the older Windows systems installed.
- Without installing hacks XP can't even play audio CDs
- The first product in a product line from Microsoft always sucks. Remember Win 3.0? Remember Win95? At least wait for XPSE or XPv2 or whatever they will call it this time!

=======================
AOTM (Acronym of the Month)
=======================
SAO & DAO
~~~~~~~~~
Regular readers know how STRONGLY we encourage every computer to have a BACKUP SYSTEM.

Our most preferred method is the CD BURNER. This is the technology that is cheap and effective. And with the introduction of burn-proof technology in the last year it is finally fool-proof (well, almost!).

SAO is a method of burning a CD-R. It is similar to DAO in that the data is burned as a single entity (without switching off the write laser). But the SAO method does NOT automatically finalize the CD as the DAO method does. SAO leaves the disc open for more data sessions as space allows.

Handy Acronym Links (or HAL):
BABEL : A Glossary of Computer Oriented Abbreviations and Acronyms
http://online.dossnet.com/babel.htm

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!!Virus & Hoax Alert!!
================
THE LATEST BALONEY
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ahem... kindly stop hoping that you'll get something for nothing just for forwarding an e-mail -- no way Jose!

Any email from Nigeria or other African nation offering you millions to help transfer money is bollocks. That scam has been around since before the internet existed.

If you get a message telling you that the windows file SULFNBK.EXE should be deleted please ignore this cruel practical joke. SULFNBK.EXE is a standard component of Windows.

And last but not least, that outdated petition to help the Afghan women is not worth signing. We'll have more on internet petitions next month.

Remember kids, play it safe on the net. Don't trust internet fairy tales. Scan for virii and verify your emails here:
http://www.kahl.net/hoax

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NetTips
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WEB DESIGN RULES
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Overwhelmed by the amount of text in this newsletter? Are your senses overloaded? Are your eyes hurting?

- USE WHITE SPACE
Even if you have a beautiful design, don't forget about white space. Web designers using tables should always use cell padding for text tables.

- WRITE FOR SCANNERS
People who surf the web are in a hurry. If your text can be scanned, you stand a better chance of getting your message across. Break up text into small paragraphs. Don't overwhelm your visitor. See also "BULLETS".

- USE OF BOLD AND ITALICS
"Less is more!" applies here. Only use bold text to draw attention to something of importance.
Try not to use italics, because most italicized fonts looking pixilated.

- BULLETS
Bullets break up text content quite well. Limiting bullets to a maximum of 6 and never surpassing 10.

- SHORT SENTENCES
Say it in less words. Keep it to the point. After 7 words break up the sentence. Use a period, comma or anything else that allows the reader to breathe.

- TEXT SIZE
Small text forces those of who use high resolution monitors to get within inches of the screen. Who wants to do that?

- HEADERS
Let a visitor know what the text below is about. Write attention grabbing headers. Try to make them descriptive. Differentiate headers from text with size and weight.

NETSCAPE MESSENGER WITH NO ADS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Netscape users! You know those ads and news blurbs that appear whenever you open Messenger? The ones that became part of Netscape when it was bought by AOL?

If you're like me, then you're happier without them. I have a way to tell Netscape to turn off those ads that pop up every time you check your inbox.

Here's how: you'll need basic file editing skills to edit the prefs.js file that resides in your profile directory.

Remember to close Netscape first! And if you're not comfortable doing this sort of thing please DO NOT ATTEMPT it!

Alex
Kahl Consultants
http://www.kahl.net
Technology. Use it appropriately. Put it in our hands.

THE PLUG
========
Is your small business or organization performing? Have enough clients? Want to enhance your net presence? Our latest clients include:

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
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STATISTICS NEVER LIE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Recent statistics show that over 60 percent of Web users can't find the information they're looking for, even though they're
viewing a site where the information exists.
[Source: Sanjay Koyani, Web usability engineer, National Cancer Institute]

Kahl Consultants
P.O.Box 4284
San Rafael, CA 94903-4284
USA
Tel: +1-415-499 0838
Fax: +1-415-499 0833
www.kahl.net
Contact us

The award-winning Kahl Consultants. Helping small business in San Francisco Bay, Marin, Sonoma and globally.
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Technology
Use it appropriately
Put it in our hands

KC News

KC News JANUARY 2002 | NEW YEAR SPECIAL | Vol.4, No.1