From The DealsGuy
Bob Click
Greater Orlando Computer User Group
From the June 2001 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Not surprisingly, in response to my "junk e-mail" soap-box last month, I
heard from people explaining what an important service they are doing by
forwarding all those warnings, even though some did admit they had also
forwarded hoaxes to recipients not happy about it. I also had e-mail
saying, "Thanks for the soap box, but you can't win that one." I know that.
I have a couple of filters setup now in Eudora because of people who won't
honor my request to stop. Here is a Web site made for those do-gooders:
[http://www.cao.com/hoax] There, you can pick your favorite hoax and
personalize it, then send it to all those people that also still believe
Elvis is alive, but don't include me.
Fun Among Friends
My wife and I attended the Florida Association of Computer User Groups
(FACUG) conference and had a great time. There were about 148 attendees
from 27 user groups. The vendor participation was better this year with 17
vendors. Two vendors also did roundtables that were combination
presentation and Q & A. If you don't attend your regional conference, I
heartily recommend it. It was great to see friends that I only see those
times of year.
That Much!!!
Many aren't aware that some people learn a great deal about your computer,
browser and other things when you "hit" a URL on the Web (unless your
firewall restricts disbursing data). My ISP (Earthlink) offers limited
"free" statistics about the hits on a member's Web site, and there are
other free services that will also give you even more stats than I get free
from Earthlink. For a monthly fee, I could have a lot more info concerning
the hits on my Web site through Urchin, who provides the Earthlink stats
taken right from Earthlink servers. Perhaps I'll write more about all that
in a future column.
Regarding those Web site statistics, I read the latest APCUG Reports
and this issue had a report by Don Singleton listing just
one month's statistics for the APCUG Web site. I strongly urge you to
read it and you'll be fascinated with what you see. For example, I never
realized there were so many different screen resolutions and it was
interesting where many of the hits came from. You'll find "Quarterly
Reports" listed on the left side of the APCUG Home Page. Take a look.
Still Good
The TechSmith items, SnagIt and Camtasia, are still good this month. Order
these great programs by calling the sales department at 1-800-517-3001, or
fax to 1-517-333-1888. Mention your user group's name. For a better
discount, order the "SnagIt/Camtasia Bundle" for just $152.95.
Some editors have been asking for a shorter column lately, so I am
reducing the length by a couple hundred words. Now for some deals:
A "Mouse Bungee" Is Not What You Think, And It Works Great
At Space Coast PC Users Group meetings, members are sometimes treated to a
demonstration by David Nottingham [dnottingham@cfl.rr.com] of favorite
gadgets he finds (you should see his "gadget vest"). A couple months ago he
showed them a "Mouse Bungee." It's a device that holds your mouse cord in
the air allowing unencumbered mouse motion. It sounded great, so I inquired
about it for the column. They sent me one to try and I LOVE it. No
resistance now when rolling my mouse around. No, "Mouse Bungee" doesn't
suspend your mouse, just the mouse "cord." It has a stand with dual springs
on a slant to hold your mouse cord in the air. Saves me setting something
on my cord to keep it slack. Point your browser to
[http://www.mousebungee.com] for pictures, colors and other information.
You must order it on their Web site's order page and I have a limited time
discount for you. MSRP is normally $14.95 + $3.95 S&H, but user group
members will get 15% off the entire order by typing the special ordering
code "EFXL2" into the "promotion code" space. Choose from a nice assortment
of colors. For a group order, they will increase the discount. E-mail
[webmaster@mousebungee.com] for that info. What great people to do business
with! Mouse Bungee won an award at Comdex.
How's The 'Ol Ticker Again?
Last month I told you about WinStock, a nice program that puts a ticker on
your screen and can be personalized with just the symbols you want to
follow. That one cost money, but this month I have another one for you.
Several people told me about it, and in fact, I already knew about it but
couldn't find the URL to download it. Sounds like many already know about
it, so maybe this is a waste, but here it is. It is called TICKER.EXE and
you can download it at [http://www.cooltick.com]. It is so simple to use
and will certainly serve your purpose. It also can be personalized. Best of
all, it is FREE.
How About Backing Up With Throw-Away Parts
Last year I read a review by Carl Petzold of PC Users Group of South Jersey
concerning a product called "Quick Drive" by H45 Technologies. Quick Drive
is a kit containing a molded plastic case (shock mounted), an AC adapter
and a data cord (USB or PC Card). It is designed to use a hard drive (could
be an old one you have upgraded from). The object is to use this for a
backup that you can unplug and put away.
Carl said the installation wasn't bad and it was just the berries. You
cannot use Drive Image or Partition Magic from Power Quest, but he didn't
say why. He is using the Microsoft backup in Windows 98 that he said does
the job.
Quick Drive Kit sells for $29.95 and the cable you choose is $49.00.
DealsGuy readers get a 10% discount. Call 1-800-373-8181 and tell them you
read about this in the DealsGuy's column. Considering the price of a tape
backup or Zip drive, and its media, perhaps this approach is better. See
their products at [http://www.h45.com]. It was a bit confusing to me on
their Web site, but if you call, they will answer your questions.
How About A Better Clipboard
I've written about two popular replacements for the old "one-at-a-time"
Windows Clipboard including the ever-popular "Clipmate," but those cost
money. How about a FREE clipboard capable of storing a library of items!
Its called ClipBook, and from Microsoft. I looked it up on PC World's Web
site and here's where I saw it, although it may be available at other
sites: [http://www.pcworld.com/hereshow/article/0,aid,15608,00.asp]. If you
have a problem finding it, I did a search for [clipbk.exe] at the download
area.
If you have Windows 98, I'm told it's on some versions of the installation
disk, but I didn't see it on mine. Read the instructions because you must
remove ClipBook Viewer first. I have not tried it, but hooray for good free
stuff.
Unzip Files With a Freebie
In the Space Coast PC UG's Journal, Ron Ingraham imparted this tidbit he
received from Barbara Czenthe. Many of us use the popular WinZip for
decompressing zip files. However, if you continue using WinZip, you are
asked to pay a registration fee. WinZip is well worth the price, but here
is an alternative. It's "Power Archiver 2000" which is said to be almost
identical to WinZip. It is available absolutely FREE, and according to the
description does everything WinZip does.
You can download it at [http://www.pcnineoneone.com/pokpok/arcpok.html] and
click on Productivity Utilities, (which doesn't look like hypertext). You
should find it on the resulting list. I haven't had time to try it yet, but
you certainly can.
That's it for this month. Meet me here again next month if your editor
permits. This column is written to make user group members aware of special
offers I have found or arranged, and my comments should not be interpreted
to encourage, or discourage, the purchase of products, no matter how
enthused I might sound. Bob (The Cheapskate) Click
[dealsguy@mindspring.com]. Visit my Web site at [http://www.dealsguy.com]
for past columns. Also, I keep adding interesting articles (taken from user
group newsletters) to my "Articles of Interest" page for viewing or
downloading.
For more information on the Tulsa Computer Society click here
This page has been accessed
times.
Tulsa Computer Society 5/06/2001
Don Singleton, President