SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW IT ALL? Can you get rid of spyware? Can you turn Windows 95 into Windows Me? Can you exchange data with your PDA? Can you encrypt files with PGP? Discover what Smart Computing knows; get your FREE TRIAL issue today!

Hot on the heels of the claim that Windows is more secure than Linux, our own Tech Specialist weighs in: "Has the Linux community ever said that there weren't security issues with Linux? No. Have they ever tried to cover up a problem or blame it on someone else? Not that I'm aware of. Linux had a brand new kernel (2.4) and it took some tweaking to get right. To say that Linux is less secure is a mistake. You have to consider the gravity of the flaws, and Windows fails miserably in that context. I'm just interested in accuracy, not emotion and closed-minded articles. Microsoft is the one making a mint off of consumers, so you'd better believe I'm going to hold an inferno of a torch under their feet when it comes to this stuff. If they want to be the market leader, then they need to be a leader, period." For the entire response, here's the permalink.

And on the lighter side of the Net, I received a nice message from Mike Virgilio earlier this morning: "I just wanted to say thanks for putting Youth Tech over on the sidebar this week! Our site's been running a little low on visitors lately, and we're hoping that thanks to your including it in the sidebar, we'll be able to get a few more regulars to the site. Also, it is perfect timing, as we just started a graphics contest where our grand prize is a copy of Paint Shop Pro 10th Anniversary Edition. In fact, I might bring that up to Jake as something he could mention in the Digital Media newsletter." Look at the GnomePEEPS section if you don't know what Mike's talking about. I post a different movie and Gnomie link there every week. To be considered for this section, you have to download and implement our latest HTML code. All the cool kids are doing it.

United We Stand,              
Chris Pirillo       

GnomeDOWNLOADS

Little Fighter II v1.6 [7.8M] W9x/2k/XP FREE
Unearthed by Brett Taylor

http://ihome.cuhk.edu.hk/~s000182/v16/lf2_v16.exe
http://www.littlefighter.com/
http://screenshot.lockergnome.com/littlefighterii.png

{You want to fight?} This game is tons of fun. I don't even know why you're still reading this review when you should be downloading it and kicking some booty (martial arts style). Ah, it takes me back to the days of Street Fighter and Double Dragon. Kick, thrust, dodge, block! Each character has its own special attack, too. You can play in the arcade mode or set up a random game that cycles through all the players and automatically picks a winner. Yeah, the first option is much more exciting. "LF2 is not finished yet. New special moves is being added in the new version." It reminds me a lot of the ol' schoolyard. Don't go picking on the spiky-haired kid, though. He's got a mean streak a mile wide.

PrintDeskTop v1.02 [377k] W9x/2k/XP FREE

http://www.geocities.com/printdesktop/PrintDeskTopSetup.zip
http://www.geocities.com/printdesktop/
http://screenshot.lockergnome.com/printdesktop.png

{True screen capture} Do you want to print whatever's sitting on your screen right now? Okay, then press the key. There, you're finished. Now who wants pie? Oh wait, first you have to download this program and set a hotkey. Okay, now you can print your desktop without having to first paste it into an image editor. Dude, how easy is that? If you're not into the whole "hotkey," thing you can always just run this client by clicking its icon. Now why in the world would you want to print your desktop? Because recreating it on a canvas with a charcoal pencil takes too long. Oh, and sometimes stuff goes wrong and this gives you a way to print out a visual to show someone.

Recommend Link

BIG EVENT In YOUR Living Room! Featuring LIFE sized action in EPIC proportions. ENTER TO WIN a 50" HDTV PLASMA FLAT SCREEN TELEVISION - $15,999 USD value! or XEROX PHASER(R) 860 NETWORK COLOR PRINTER - ENTER NOW!

GnomeSYSTEM

Disable SuperCookie Tracking for all Windows PCs

http://home.kscable.com/wecoyote/NoSuperCookies.inf
http://home.kscable.com/wecoyote/

"If you haven't heard, there is a unique identifier that Windows Media Player assigns to every user that you can optionally disable within Windows Media's settings. However, even with the Media Player not reporting this ID, IE leaves this ID open to the world via the wonderful world of ActiveX, creating an ID that is just custom for you! This new privacy hole is called a SuperCookie. So, I wrote a simple install file called NoSuperCookies.inf that can be installed on all versions of Windows to Zero out this value to make you non-identifiable. Maybe someday, Microsoft will fix this privacy problem. But at this point, they have known about it for about a year and have not addressed it via ActiveX."

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GnomeSOAPBOX

See How It Works
Scribbled by Uncle Joe

Chris, as a former CompUSA salesperson (just went on mental disability because of stress caused by certain sales practices), I've had several people relate the same story to me, but from another computer manufacturer. What's going on with Dell and Gateway? Simple explanation. Dell and Gateway (and others) are using your payment, and the payments of many others, to keep their companies afloat. Gateway, in particular, is just holding on. It has rather quietly closed some sixty stores, cancelled creation of some 100 other stores, and laid off thousands of employees. Dell is in much better shape, but it's not doing all that hot.

Computer manufacturers are still businesses that must be run like businesses. They must build plants, buy parts, and staff up based on forecasts. When the execs at Dell and Gateway built their 3-5 year forecasts, they never dreamt that PC prices would be approximately half of what they were only 14 months ago. Nor did they factor in the loss of consumer confidence following Greenspan and the Fed's tinkering with the economy (it's overheating so we'll raise prime rate). The single worst thing, however, is that consumers lost almost all interest in computers following September 11th.

Smart CEOs responded by delaying building and shipping ordered computers so that they could live off your money - and the interest payments it brings - for as long as possible (a technique that won't work with brick & mortar stores). Then they'll make and ship your nice laptop and you'll be happy. To you, Dell may seem bungling and clueless. Make no mistake: Michael Dell is a very bright guy. His executive staff is bright. They know exactly what they're doing with your money. They're trusting that their specs/ pricing / support will hook you hard enough allow them to squeeze every dime out of your payment before they ship.

Look at what they're doing from another angle: banks. This happened to me. IBM transferred me from Atlanta to Miami for a year. Opened up a new checking account with a Miami-based bank known as Flagship Bank. Transferred most of my funds from the Atlanta bank into Flagship. When my new Flagship checks arrived, I started writing them (long before ATMs). They bounced all over town. "What the heck is going on?" I angrily confronted Flagship's execs. "I have over $3k in your stupid bank. Why are my checks bouncing?" They pointed to the fine print I overlooked. It turns out that I was not entitled to write checks against my own deposits for 15 days following a deposit. In other words, Flagship got to float my funds for 15 days, and draw interest on same, for 15 days - and I couldn't do anything about it. Had to borrow money from my credit union to get by and then I took $3k in cash across the street to a bank which allowed me to draw against my deposits the same darn day. You see how it works? Dell is floating your payment funds and drawing interest.

The sad part? Dell offers the best mix of PC quality, pricing, and excellent support. You won't find a better combo out there. You will eventually get your Dell if you wait long enough. Many people won't wait, so they buy other brands. HP's desktops are nothing to write home about, but their laptops suck (IMHO). I sold four laptops that were [all] dead on arrival. HP is so focused on bottom line and saving bucks to buy Compaq, its major competitor, that it has virtually lost control of its quality control. Compaq's latest laptop offerings are pretty decent and look great. Stay away from extended warranties from any brick & mortar stores.

Lots of people think that if they buy an extended warranty for a laptop from CompUSA or Circuit City or Best Buy, that all they'll need do is take the malfunctioning unit into the store and get it repaired quickly. They think the store will take care of the problem in its own tech shop. Not so. Every laptop is shipped to its manufacturer during the first year. If you thinking you can get your broken laptop back in a couple of days because you have a major presentation at the White House, think again. You're looking at a minimum of five days turnaround. I once had a Sony that stayed in Sony's shop for seventeen weeks (Sony misplaced it and its records)!

If your laptop needs service, Dell will ask IBM technicians to drop by your loft or office to take a look. IBMers can call in requests for parts the same hour. Perhaps things won't always be that perfect, but it's much better than having your system worked on in a tech shop after the manufacturer's warranty runs out. You wouldn't believe what tech shops in brick & mortar stores do when a hard drives or CD drives fail. Ugh.

One female Gateway customer showed her entire paperwork on her Gateway purchase, and it was almost word-for-word what you related. She had documentation showing that her order would be shipped in four days. Thirty days later, Gateway told her that they had no record of her order... and she was standing in my store with the "paid" receipt (and credit card company bill) in her hand! She cancelled the Gateway order and bought a desktop from me. Truth be told, if you can hang on, your new Dell will actually make you a fine excellent laptop. I'd personally rather have a Dell than any of the brands / models sold at brick & mortar stores.

Hope you don't tire of my little "Ahem, Chris, did you know..." inputs. Your columns are great, but when people gripe, they have no background of what's happening to them. I do know computer sales and service. Someday, if you're interested - and will protect my identity - I'll tell you how a certain computer brick & mortar chain rips off consumers to the tune of millions per year. Consumers grow livid at the pricing, but don't understand how the scam works. It's easy to understand how things are being done by bundling prices once one knows what to look for. It eats at me to know that so many trusting people are getting screwed when they think they're getting a deal. They aren't. They're paying for every cent of the "deal."

Discuss This Topic | Recommend Link

GnomeFAVORITE

Wild ID

http://www.wildid.com/

{Encrypt your messages} Anyone can read your e-mail (unless their eyes are closed). No, I mean anyone can intercept and read your most private e-blasts. It's true, but what can you do about it? The super sleuths at this site have come up with an answer: a digital ID that allows you to encrypt any e-mail you send. It can still be intercepted, but no one will be able to read it. That sounds good to me; I wouldn't want my secret cookie recipe to get out. Just follow four easy steps to get set up with one of these helpful IDs. "Can I have multiple IDs to support my multi-faceted online persona? Certainly! Because you control what information is contained in your WildID, you can have multiple WildIDs to give varying amounts of information to different people. For instance, a WildID used to communicate with your family and close friends could include your complete personal information. A second WildID with less info - maybe just your e-mail address, name and company - would be for communicating with business associates."

Recommend Link

GnomeTIP

Don't go breaking my heart. Don't go breaking my words, either. You're working in your favorite word processor, typing up your dissertation. Suddenly, the line wraps in an inappropriate spot. You need to put a space between two words, but you need them to be on the same line. It's time to use a non-breaking space. In Microsoft Word, this can be done by holding down CTRL + SHIFT when you tap the space bar. No matter what formatting is applied in the future, these words will never be split apart (lest you replace the non-breaking spaces with regular ones). Now, let's say someone sent you a list of items in need of alphabetizing. Word can do that, too! I'd suggest pasting them into a new document before invoking the command, however. Click Table | Sort | Paragraphs | Text | Ascending (or Descending, depending on the desired result). If there are secondary conditions to be met, then you'll need to select "Field 1" in the first Sort by option. See, there are features in this thing that you need every so often (though you may not realize they're already there).

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And now, after reading more about Youth Tech, watch this award-winning video short. Junk blowing down the street reminds me of how fragile life really is. It's quite beautiful, actually. I just want to sit at my kitchen table and...

American Non-Beauty

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