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I ordered Deep Space Nine seasons 1, 3, and 4. 1 and 4 fell through, so I kept searching for good prices on the others and the ones that fell through. Thinking I had ordered 1, 2, and 4, guess what happened? I ordered another one of season 3 on eBay through a Buy It Now. Stupid! I realized my mistake shortly after hitting the button (of course) and e-mailed the seller asking for a reprieve (I've done this for people who were buying from me as I know we make mistakes). The guy wrote back (his caps key must have been stuck since he only used upper case letters) and wasn't very customer service friendly. He wasn't awful, but he could've responded nicer as I did say I would not welsh on the bid.
To heck with it, I paid him and turned around to sell it on eBay. Whew. That, unfortunately, is not the end of my Deep Space Nine adventures. I thought I had not purchased season 2 since it was going for higher than most of the earlier seasons. I found a good deal, I thought. Dang it. I double-ordered season 2, also! This time, it was from half.com and I e-mailed the seller LONG before he confirmed it. In fact, he confirmed it AFTER the deadline. He didn't remove it from the lineup (I bought two others from him and saved on shipping). ARGH! So this will go up on eBay. I feel like the dunce of winter 2003.
No more buying any until all of them come in and I can assess what the heck I have. But I do know I haven't ordered seasons 6 and 7 as I wanted to get the earlier ones first. Here's an interesting fact - Paul was born the year when the original Star Trek debuted. Could that be why he is a fan? STNG (Star Trek Next Generation) debuted while we were dating and he introduced me to it. I enjoyed it as well as Deep Space Nine and Voyager. As much as I like Scott Bakula from his years as a musical theater actor and Quantum Leap, though, I just can't get into Enterprise. Paul watches it, of course.
Got all my shopping done except I need to find a couple more things for my four-year-old who will be five next month. He loves Hot Wheels, but his uncle is getting him a new track. I also have to come up with a birthday present for him and Paul. The three of us have birthdays in January while my dad and daughter's are in early February and the baby's is late April (thank goodness! I am SOOOOO sick of birthdays and cake by the time my daughter's birthday arrives).
Ah, and before I forget, here's a follow up to the tech gadget wish list! Derek from the UK writes, "Jan W would like a PC to PC program that works well? I recommend Paltalk, I've used it for about 5 years now without any major problems, it's voice, text, and video."
Thanks, Derek!
Best,
Meryl K. Evans
Ken Colburn of Data Doctors helps Beefchamp, who writes:
Q: How do avoid becoming a victim of identity theft from the Internet?
A: Identity theft is a problem that has been around much longer than the Internet and is more of a problem offline than on. While the Internet can help criminals acquire the information they need to steal your identity, it is more often used to take advantage of victims once the critical information has been acquired.
A much more common method of getting information such as Social Security number, credit card numbers, or banking information is from your snail-mailbox, personal or business trash, and lost or stolen wallets. The classic dumpster diving (going through your trash) method of getting critical information is one of the most common, since it's easy and relatively safe for the criminal.
If you've ever thrown out a pre-approved credit card offer, old bank statement, old tax return, or any official form that contained personal information without first destroying it (ripping it in half won't cut it), then you are ripe for the taking.
A paper shredder is an absolute must in today's information age for both the office and home and should be used religiously. With a price tag of only $20 to $50 for a basic unit, it is the single most cost effective tool you can buy to fight identity theft.
Your physical mailbox is another easy target for thieves; if possible, make it difficult to get mail that has been deposited in your mailbox with a lock or some other security device.
If you suddenly notice that mail has stopped coming to you, it could be a sign that someone put in a change of address for you and is collecting all of your mail in order to carry out an identity theft.
When it comes to the Internet, there are a few simple rules that can help minimize your chances of identity theft:
The ActiveWords gift to Gnomies is good until January 10, 2004, which ain't far off. The deal is you can get ActiveWords SE for free, and sign up to get a license emailed to you by going to this link. This is a $19.95 product and there's no trial garbage involved. If you like it, you're welcome to try ActiveWords Plus. If you like it and wish to purchase it, you can get a 20% discount, which would be $39.95 - $10 off the original price. [Meryl]
The kind folks at the Unladylike Evildoers Club have pointed out Chris (in a tie with Fred Langa) as Person of the Year!
According to their site, nominations are submitted by club members for "the person they believe personifies what the Internet is all about. This person will have had a positive impact as an individual and as a member of the World Wide Web."
Here's what they have to say about Chris:
"Chris Pirillo is known throughout the Web as the owner of Lockergnome. His newsletters have been circulating for years and have become an invaluable resource for countless Web users. Chris's expertise and knowledge have helped so many and his down-to-earth sense of humour continues to be a delight."
To visit these very nice people, stop by their site. Heck, join their club if you're unladylike and evildoing enough!
Recently, we asked you about your favorite holiday sites - now we're sharing them over the week. For political correctness, folks, if you're concerned about the oversight of a holiday, it's because we didn't get submissions for it!
Audri Lanford's Wow Christmas Gifts and Gift Ideas helps people find gifts without the stress by providing tips, ideas, and suggestions. Even if you don't celebrate Christmas, you should get plenty of ideas for those hard-to-find people like my parents.
Everything About Kwanzaa is an excellent resource for those who would like to learn more about this uniquely African-American holiday that was founded by Dr. Maulana Karenga in 1966.
Review by Meryl K. Evans
I believe if everyone had one of those " beat up your computer" dolls for taking out your computer problem aggravation on the doll instead of your computer, then they'd all look like they were hit by a truck. After calming down and finding your center, "PC Annoyances" is the nice tech support technician that s ready and willing to help resolve those @#*$ problems without giving you backtalk or the runaround.
Before getting this book, I had wondered if it was going to focus on Microsoft products such as Outlook for e-mail, Word, and Windows. It does, but not as much as I originally thought. The e-mail section starts with a chapter of general e-mail annoyances for different e-mail clients followed by Outlook, AOL, Eudora, and Hotmail with their own chapters. Section two is Windows and it refers to Windows XP more than anything else, but there is help for other versions.
The Internet earns its own section with Internet Explorer appearing often along with references to a couple of other browsers, Google, and Instant Messaging. The Microsoft Office section helps squash Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Outlook Express annoyances. No Access or FrontPage annoyances are included, but that's OK. I find most of my problems are not with the latter two. Get faster and more effective with Bass' Windows Explorer tips including how to delete a file it refuses to delete and speeding up file search.
I benefit the most from the Music, Videos, and CDs section since it's an area I barely touch. Not only does it advise on dealing with multimedia, but also it discusses CD and DVD questions and concerns. I've thought about the CD nudging issue, which is when you gently push the CD tray to close it, but I never researched it. Bass answers the big question on whether to nudge or not to nudge.
"PC Annoyances" is not only about the problems you cross, but also things you may have never even considered. Those with a notebook computer who wish it came with a docking station can still make it dockable even if it's a standalone notebook.
A couple of issues with the otherwise fine book; it has a ton of links (with most pages having more than two links). This is risky because URLs change faster than military personnel mailing addresses. It also provides links to " for the fun of it" sites, a common source of complaints based on my writing experience. These resources take up a tiny space on the side of the page.
Some references are to paid products, which to some is annoying. However, I've never been one to knock recommendations for non-free products because I believe if we like something, it's good to let others know about it. If it's in print, it durn well better be a good recommendation.
You're a geek asking if you can find the answers on your own. Probably. But do you have the time it takes to find it? Probably not. Between the spouse and me (hardware and software geeks), we are learning a few good tricks from the book.
The book's format lends itself to quick and easy scanning with side notes in the light red shaded area on the sides of the pages, useful screen shots, and boxes with tidbits. The book is just 177 pages, enough for you to find the tips you need without the needle in the haystack problem.
http://www.riponce.com/products/icctool
{Check ICC Profiles} See how ICC profile combinations perform for particular sets of input values. It won't work without downloading ICC files (printer, monitor, and match), from the site. Start by choosing an RGB or CMYK profile for the input to transfer the input value. Next, pick a profile that matches your display device to receive an accurate preview of the output color based on the values you set on the sliders. Select the profile of the device in which to send the output. The input value is translated from the Lab into the output device's color space. It's a bare bones program that won't be useful to everyone from what I can tell. It's also available for Mac OS X and Linux. [Meryl]
{Devices} This site has jumper settings for almost 19,000 devices, a useful source especially for those working with older equipment or don't have the documentation that accompanied the device. The devices include hard drives, I/O memory cards, modems, motherboards, graphic cards, network cards, and much more. If you have or are considering another hard drive, look up the hard drive to get its settings as odds are you'll need it if you want the new hard drive on the same controller card as the current hard drive. Those who have old 386s or other old computers for toying with will appreciate the resource. [Meryl]
http://www.mywebattack.com/gnomeapp.php?id=107455
{Search tool} PractiSearch is a unique Web search helper that simplifies the way you access your favorite online search engines and information resources. It allows you to start a Web search with a selected word or term by simply using a hotkey or a mouse click. The program works from within any application - not only your Web browser - so you can use it to look up text from e-mail messages, Word documents, etc. It supports many popular Internet search engines by default, including Google, News sites, Dictionaries, Translations and much more, and you can also add your own entries to the list. Additional features include a handy search basket, a quick list to select from resources, other than the user defined default and support for custom browsers. It's a nice tool that makes it a lot easier to find things without having to use an additional search interface. [Webattack]
http://manufacturing.stanford.edu/
{Learn how things are made} This is a great site for kids and adults. Once in a while when I think about inventions, I'm amazed at the process it takes to make an item. I can't imagine what it takes for one person to come up with a concept and make it real. It's not like we have materials around the house to make machines. The site uses audio and video with a little interaction to show how jelly beans, cars, glass bottles, and denim come to be. To see how much you learned, click on "Apply it" to answer a question based on one of the videos or "Test your knowledge." There's future potential to show kids how to do stuff they would never learn in a classroom. [Meryl]