Computer Info – August 15, 2001

This Week’s Meeting

    Email – attaching files and pictures – BBC – templates – lists – address books, etc.

Email

Attachments
        In both Netscape and Outlook Express – when you are writing your email (New Msg or New Message) – you will find a button on the toolbar labeled ATTACH. By clicking on that button, you will be taken to the screen where you must locate the file or picture that you wish to attach. What can you attach? Any file you wish. Does that mean that the person you send it to will know what to do with it? ONLY SEND FILES THAT YOU KNOW THE RECIPIENT CAN USE. What files are these? ALL email programs will automatically view JPG and GIF pictures. If you attach a TXT file, it also will be viewable immediately by all email programs.
        It is a good idea to have VIEW ALL FILE EXTENSIONS turned on. The default is to have them turned off. This setting is a part of Windows (the operating system) – not your email program – but it does affect your email program by the way that it will view the name of an attachment.
Sending to <Undisclosed Recipients>
        How do you send to <Undisclosed Recipients> ?? By placing nothing in the TO field when sending an email and placing the addresses of those you wish to send the message to in the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field. But what if the BCC field is not listed? In Netscape – enter your own e-mail address in the TO field and other addresses in the BCC field. In Outlook Express – choose VIEW – ALL HEADERS. And this will display the BCC field – when an address is not placed in the TO field, then it will be addresses to <Undisclosed Recipients>.
        But, do you like receiving mail that is not addressed to you??? That is the way that you receive a message when you are listed in the BCC field. And, in our case, we send messages that do not contain our address in the TO or CC (Carbon Copy) field directly to the TRASH – before we even see it. Some people like the feature of using the BCC because it doesn’t show how many people are receiving the same message – it doesn’t list your address for others to see – these are all benefits. So, as you can see, there are good and bad features about using the BCC.
Lists or groups of addresses
        If you repeated send to groups of people in your address book – you can create a list so you do not have to select them individually. In Netscape, when you are in your address book – choose NEW LIST. Type in a name for your list (like Neighbors – School, etc). Move the window so that you can see your address book and then drag the names into the list that you want. In Outlook Express, when you are in your address book – choose NEW – NEW GROUP. Type in a name for your list. Since this window shows your entries in your address book, highlight one and press SELECT. To send a message to the people in the list – when you address your email, just type in the name of your list or group.
Using a Template
        In Netscape, to create a template – start with NEW MSG – do not address it – but type the Subject line and the body of the email message. Then from the FILE menu, choose SAVE AS – TEMPLATE. This will save it in the TEMPLATE folder.
        In Outlook Express – start with NEW MAIL – do not address it – but type the Subject line and the body of the mail message. Then from the FILE menu, chose COPY TO FOLDER – choose TEMPLATES.
        How do you see the Template folder? You have numerous folders such as INBOX – SENT – TRASH – TEMPLATES. Click on the Templates folder or choose it from the drop down list. To edit this message (in order to address it or add information to the body of the message) – double-click on it.
        This is a good way to send the same message to numerous people but avoid sending an email with so many addresses and avoid using the BCC field.

Interesting Web Sites

Page by Page Books – read online.
                    http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/title.html
How To Clean Anything
                    http://www.howtocleananything.com

Great Article by Tony Briggs
on Copyright Security
(News Journal – Monday, August 13, 2001)

         I never cease to be amazed by what gets people riled.
        A case in point: The new copyright protection scheme Microsoft plans to deploy with its new Windows XP operating system, which is scheduled to go on sale Oct. 25.
        Microsoft calls the new feature Windows Product Activation. It was added to prevent people from buying one copy of the new operating system and then allowing everyone from family to friends install it on their computers. This has always been illegal -- it's called software piracy -- but a lot of folks didn't seem to care and did it anyway.
        Now Microsoft has erected a fairly substantial roadblock to the practice, some people are incensed, accusing the software giant of everything from unbridled arrogance to violating their privacy rights. In fact, they are doing nothing more than protecting their product from theft. And this is how they do it: When you install Windows XP, the program takes a look at all the components you have installed -- the CPU, the type of video card, the amount of memory, whether you have a DVD drive or not. It uses that information, along with the product key you also must input to install XP, to create a unique 50-character ID for the computer. Users are then required to send this ID to Microsoft -- either electronically via the Internet or by phone -- to "activate" the operating system. Buyers will have 30 days to comply, and are reminded each time they boot up how much time remains before the grace period runs out. Users who fail to activate within 30 days will no longer have a working computer. It will not do anything but boot to the activation screen.
        Once Microsoft has received the unique ID, the Windows XP disk you bought and installed (or which came with your computer) cannot be used on any other computer.
        Think of it as the electronic equivalent to those security tags they put on expensive clothes in the department stores, which sound an alarm if you try to walk out without paying.
        No one complains about those, but there are plenty of people complaining about Windows Product Activation. Perhaps their only valid beef concerns what will happen if you have to reinstall XP at some later date because your hard drive crashed or your computer's profile has changed -- perhaps because you have upgraded the hard drive or the video card. Won't the copyright protection scheme stop you from installing a program you bought and paid for? Microsoft is being deliberately vague about how many changes you can make without running afoul of Windows Product Activation. But the company maintains if that happens, all you have to do is call and get a new key to unlock the system.
        For those who have genuine philosophical differences with Microsoft, there is another choice: Don't buy XP. While the new operating system has garnered overwhelmingly positive reviews from those who have used pre-release versions, no one has to have it. Keep using Windows 95, 98 or Me. Or use Linux or buy a computer made by Apple.
        By the way, Windows Product Activation is a separate process from registration, where you provide you name, address and the like. That's still voluntary in XP.