Computer Info – August 11, 1999

Empty Trash Folder in Outlook Express

    The trash folder in Outlook Express is called DELETED ITEMS. To empty this folder every time you leave the program, choose TOOLS from the main menu, then OPTIONS. On the GENERAL tab, place a checkmark next to EMPTY MESSAGES FROM "DELETED ITEMS" FOLDER ON EXIT. To empty it when you wish to empty it, right click on the DELTED ITEMS folder and choose EMPTY FOLDER from the menu.

Mail Filters in Outlook Express

    It looks like Outlook Express allows files to be deleted from the server as one way of filtering your spam (or unwanted) mail so that they never come into your computer.

The ABCs of RGB and CMYK
(from HP PhotoSmart Newsletter, September 1999)

    Ever notice a discrepancy between what you see on screen and your final print? A primary cause is that your monitor and printer handle color differently. Monitors use the RGB color model, and printers rely on the CMYK color model. This week, we'll explain the basic differences between these two models.
* Light and pigment: The difference between the two color models boils down to the difference between light, which is projected to form color, and pigment, which reflects color. Monitors project light to form colors, while printers mix pigment (inks) to form colors.
* RGB: The cones in our eyes are sensitive to the three primary colors of light--red, green, and blue--which combine to produce approximately 16 million colors. Computer monitors and TV screens duplicate the way our eyes interpret color, though the range of colors a monitor can display is much smaller than what our eyes can interpret.
* Add it up: The RGB model is an additive model in which the three colors (red, green, blue) combine on screen to make white. For example, when working with web-safe images, you can adjust each color in a range from zero to 255. If all three are set to 255, the color is white. If all are set to zero, the color is black. Different combinations in between account for all other colors.
* CMYK: If you mix RGB ink on paper, you'll get a muddy brown instead of white. That's because now you're dealing with inks (pigment), which reflect light, not a monitor that projects light. The colors in the CMYK model--cyan, magenta, and yellow--combine to produce black.
* Take it away: The CMYK model is known as subtractive, as the inks subtract other colors in the spectrum, leaving their own hue to be seen. When you mix all the subtractive colors, you take away all color to leave black. However, inks are imperfect, so they don't quite make true black. Black (K) ink is included in the system to adjust for these imperfections.
* Color-matching: When you print an image from your computer, the colors must be converted from RGB (what you see on-screen) to CMYK (the system most color printers rely on). The problem is that RGB monitors can display more colors than what's possible in print. Some CMYK colors also cannot be matched on-screen. The trick of digital imaging and printing is to match up the colors in the RGB and CMYK color models as closely as possible.
* Conversion: Fortunately, most photo-editing programs work with your printer to make the necessary conversions automatically. In programs like PhotoShop, you can convert images back and forth between RGB and CMYK to see the differences and account for them as necessary. Though your imaging programs and color printer often convert the images with no surprises, sometimes things don't turn out as you expected. In these cases, you will have to experiment with your images until you find the ideal print. Keeping notes on what you did to correct the images and prints will help you prevent similar problems in the future. You can also adjust your monitor to reflect more accurately how prints will appear.

Uninstall Options

    All preparations aside, the day is likely to come when you’ll need to uninstall some piece of software from your PC. And when that day comes, you’ll have to use the best of the four uninstall options available to you. Those options, in the order in which they should be used, are
                    Windows’ Add/Remove Programs function
                    The application’s built-in uninstall utility
                    An uninstall program
                    The DELETE key.

Importing Mail Messages In Outlook Express

        To import messages from other mail programs such as Netscape Communicator, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Outlook or Eudora, go to the FILE menu and choose IMPORT. Then click on MESSAGES. Select the e-mail program you want to import messages from, and then click Next. Verify the location of your messages and then click Next. Choose All folders to import all the messages and click Next. You can also choose Selected Folders to import messages from one or more folders. Click Finish.

Make your attachment into your Wallpaper

        Click on the photo attached to your email with your right mouse button – if the choice is there to SET AS WALLPAPER – then click on it. The file that is saved as your Windows wallpaper is placed in your WINDOWS directory and named NETSCAPE WALLPAPER.BMP fi you are using Netscape. The next wallpaper that you save like this, will write over the top of it. So you never have more than the one file.

CD-R
    (from frequently asked questions in Smart Computing – October, 1999)

        A CD-R (Cd recordable) has a layer of translucent material that covers the disc’s aluminum layer. Light from the laser passes through the translucent layer and is reflected back by the aluminum layer.
        When a drive records data to a CD-R, the laser increases its frequency and literally burns a peg in the translucent layer of the CD-R. When the drive reads this peg, it diffuses the light, just as a pit on a normal CD does. Therefore, the drive interprets the peg as a pit. Light can still pass through the translucent layer of material that has not been burned and, therefore, acts like the land on a regular CD. A peg burned into a CD-R cannot be removed.

CD-RW
(from frequently asked questions in Smart Computing – October, 1999)

        CD-RW drives record data to their media in much the same way as a CD-R drive records to its discs, although CD-RW’s use different materials to make the media rewriteable. This is still a translucent layer of material on a CD-RW, but behind this layer is the rewriteable layer, which consists of a few different metals.
        When a CD-RW drive writes data to disc, it uses a very, short, very hot blast of laser light to darken a spot on the rewriteable layer of the disc. When the laser passes over this dark spot, it interprets it as a pit. The CD-RW drive can "clean up" this dark spot by using slightly less heart for a slightly longer period of time. The longer, lower heat restores that spot, which will then be interpreted as a land when the read/write head passes over it.