Friday, May 09, 2008
RULES OF THUMB (Mar. E-News from 2SS.Com)
[[Contact:26]]
[[Company:25]]
Dear [[Salutation:40]],
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‘ E – N E W S from ‘
‘ 2SS.Com ‘
‘ Compiled and Edited by ‘
‘ Mailed on: 03/01/1999 8:14 PM Number 7 ‘
‘ Int’l Standard Serial No. - ISSN: 1523-3537‘
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' Thanks for requesting this copy of E-News. ‘
‘ the first-of-the-month, fast read, update on the ‘
‘ technology that will make a difference for your ‘
‘ organization.
‘ In this issue (4 Items): ‘
‘ ================ ‘
‘ 1--RULES OF THUMB ‘
‘ 2--QUESTIONS (Win95 and Y2K? WFWG? ‘
‘ Portals?) ‘
‘ 3--PRODUCT WATCH (Lightening & More…) ‘
‘ 4--FOUR STRATEGIC / USEFUL LINKS ‘
‘ 5--WHY SUBSCRIBE?, 2SS.Com and YOUR ‘
‘ SUBSCRIPTION. ‘
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‘ --------------Item One----------- ‘
‘ ‘RULES-OF-THUMB ‘
‘ What are your ‘rules of thumb’? E-News would ‘
‘ like to hear. In compiling this issue we’ve ‘
‘ assembled a number of ours together here as a ‘
‘ resource you may find useful in dealing with ‘
‘ technology issues. If you have some you use, ‘
‘ or you can improve upon ours please let us know ‘
‘ at [email protected].
‘ SET-UP OF A NEW PC ‘
‘ When setting-up a new system, try to install the ‘
‘ software according to the date of issue with the ‘
‘ oldest first. This ‘MAY’ (note the lack of a ‘
‘ guarantee) let the latest software lay-down its’ ‘
‘ files on top of older versions.
‘ INSTALLING SOFTWARE ANYTIME ‘
‘ It’s absolutely necessary to close down programs ‘
and use the [Ctrl] [Alt] [Delete] screen titled ‘
‘ ‘Close Program’, to end every task you can ‘
‘ except Explorer’ BEFORE installing new ‘
‘ software. Failing to do so has rendered more ‘
‘ than one PC unusable. ‘
‘ SHUTDOWN IF ASKED? ‘
‘ YES! every time an installation asks if it’s OK ‘
‘ to reboot now, say YES! It may seem longer but ‘
‘ experience proves it’s probably not! ‘
CAN I JUST DELETE THE FILES? NO! ‘
‘ When using an existing system, consider ‘
‘ buying and religiously using an UNINSTALL ‘
‘ program for each new piece of software. The ‘
‘ facilities inside Windows 95 or 98 are not nearly ‘
‘ as good at ‘UN-DOING’ the installation as is ‘
‘ popular software like Symantec’s Norton Uninstall ‘
’ Deluxe or CyberMedia’s UnInstaller. And, in any ‘
‘ case don’t just delete. With registry entries and ‘
‘ the like you can do much more damage than the ‘
‘ extra space will merit. ‘
‘ RESIST OFF-BRAND SOFTWARE ‘
‘ Practice ‘SAFE’ on-line computing. Stay away ‘
‘ from exotic sites, software and relationships that ‘
‘ might encourage someone to ‘hack’ or infect you. ‘
‘ Don’t use foreign diskettes or programs without a ‘
‘ virus check. Know about business-related and ‘
‘ other sites before you land on their WWW pages. ‘
‘ RESIST THE BLEADING EDGE ‘
‘ Finally, resist the new stuff. 2SS.Com is not ‘
‘ encouraging its’ clients to upgrade to Windows 98 ‘
‘ and won’t for some time. Consider holding off on ‘
‘ adding a neat, but not directly relevant, new utility ‘
‘ or screen saver or, better yet, get the new PC you ‘
‘ know you need and keep the old one for ‘
‘ experimenting with new stuff. ‘
‘ BUYING A NEW NETWORK SERVER? ‘
‘ Consider making network server purchases that ‘
‘ can utilize multiple processors and hard disks. ‘
‘ We already know with certainty that you’ll need ‘
‘ more of both in the future. ‘
‘ BUYING A NEW PC ‘
‘ Set a reasonable price limit. At 2SS.Com we ‘
‘ currently like to stay in the $1,200 to ‘
‘ $1,400 range to get close to a state-of-the-art ‘
‘ PC without paying EXTRA for the privilege. ‘
‘ INSTALLING A NEW PHONE SYSTEM? ‘
‘ Make integration with your current E-Mail and ‘
‘ Fax Server systems or plans a top priority. ‘
‘ Phone systems are the ‘BIG’ variable in this ‘
‘ equation and if you can get one that works with ‘
‘ these other important tools it will be worth a ‘
‘ premium to implement a unified messaging ‘
‘ capability for your organization. (What to know ‘
‘ more? Ask for a copy of our 1-99 E-News.) ‘
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‘ --------------Item Two----------- ‘
‘ QUESTIONS ‘
‘ 1. I use Windows 95 which is Y2K safe right? ‘
-------------------------------------------------------- ‘
‘ WRONG! Even Windows 95 (any version) has ‘
‘ some Y2K concerns to deal with including: ‘
‘ * Problems with WinFile.Exe (the old Windows ‘
‘ 3.1 file manager in Windows 95) and ‘
‘ Command.Com. Fix both with one download ‘
‘ at ftp://ftp.microsoft.com/softlib/msfiles/Win95Y2K.Exe ‘
‘ 2. How about Windows 3.1, 3.11 and WFWG? ‘
-------------------------------------------------------- ‘
‘ There are some problems here too. Fix a ‘
‘ problem with file manager by going to ‘
http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/w31filup.exe
‘ Windows for WorkGroups (WFWG) users ‘
‘ should change the last file name by going to ‘
http://support.microsoft.com/download/support/mslfiles/wfwfilup.exe
‘ (There are issues with many other products too, ‘
‘ including Windows NT 3.51 and 4.0. Let us know ‘
‘ if you’d like a referral for more details.) ‘
‘ 3. What’s a Portal? ‘
-------------------------- ‘
‘ Search engines and other forces have created ‘
‘ an interesting development ‘The Web Portal’. ‘
‘ Increasingly these are places not just to go but ‘
‘ to stay and come back to because of the ‘
‘ services (e.g. Search, Web-based E-Mail, ‘
‘ Package Tracking, Software downloads, music ‘
‘ downloads, (soon TV & movies too!), company ‘
‘ data, mapping capabilities, and more. ‘
‘ Recently the ‘portal-focus’ has changed to ‘
‘ ‘Corporate Portals’ which if it takes hold could ‘
‘ give you an idea of what the future looks like. ‘
‘ Imagine starting your work day and constantly ‘
‘ returning to a customized version of ‘
‘ www.Yahoo.Com because that’s were ‘
‘ everything you need for your job, is! ‘
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‘ -----------Item Three---------- ‘
‘ PRODUCT WATCH ‘
‘ 1. LIGHTENING ($30) from Catalyst ‘
‘ Innovations www.catalystinnovations.com ‘
‘ pops up quickly and makes sense out of simple ‘
‘ sentences. In a test case the sentence “call Mat ‘
‘ next Monday” was able to find the only Mat in the ‘
‘ Contacts list and schedule a ‘to-do’ on the ‘
‘ appropriate date. ‘
‘ 2. DRAGON NATURALLY SPEAKING MOBIL ‘
‘ (about $250) is a neat little device that permits ‘
‘ you to dictate anywhere and playback your ‘
‘ verbalizations to your computer’s speech ‘
‘ recognition engine. ‘
‘ 3. A related product from Dragon Systems is ‘
‘ NATURALLY ORGANIZED which takes your ‘
‘ spoken commands and in ‘contact manager’ style ‘
‘ allows those commands to be executed. (e.g. ‘
‘ “Remember to call Joe Thomas next Tuesday ‘
‘ morning” becomes a reminder you see on ‘
‘ screen next Tuesday morning.) ‘
‘ 4. Learnout & Hauspe’s, NOW YOUR TALKING, ‘
‘ allows you to dictate into a variety of common ‘
‘ applications and comes with voice-enabled ‘
‘ search engine, clock, calculator, address book ‘
‘ and more. ‘
‘ 5. Motorola’s Lexicus division has released a ‘
‘ ($150) product called MESSAGE CONNECT that ‘
‘ runs on your PC and let’s you call into it to hear ‘
‘ your E-Mail read and delete it or forward it via fax. ‘
‘ It will also play voice messages. ‘
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‘ ------------Item Four----------- ‘
‘ FOUR STRATEGIC / USEFUL LINKS ‘
‘ 1. PC Mechanic at www.pcmech.com a ‘
‘ FREE answer-back service that uses forums you ‘
‘ can post to and generates a response in 3 days ‘
‘ to a week. ‘
‘ 2. Tech Support Guy at ‘
‘ www.cermak.com/techguy where there are ‘
‘ forums to ask questions but no answerback. ‘
‘ 3. Indiana University Knowledge Base at ‘
‘ www.kb.indiana.edu has a FREE answer- ‘
‘ back service that gives priority to students. ‘
‘ 4. In the ‘Rules-of-Thumb’ spirit you might want ‘
‘ to visit http://www.users.dircon.co.uk/~tbr/miscellaneous.htm ‘
‘ This site is full of ‘Rule-of-Thumb’ entries like: ‘
‘ estimating the DISTANCE TO THE HORIZON ‘
‘ - 1. Take the height of where you are standing ‘
‘ in feet
‘ - 2. Add 50%. ‘
‘ - 3. Take the square root. ‘
‘ - 4. Equals the distance in miles. ‘
‘ EXAMPLE: Standing on Scafell Pike in the English ‘
‘ Lake District, one is 978 meters or 3208.6 feet ‘
‘ above sea level. Add 50%, giving 4812.9. Then ‘
‘ take the square root to indicate that the horizon ‘
‘ is 69.4 miles away. (Reported accuracy: 99.96% ‘
‘ which isn’t too bad.) ‘
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‘ ------------Item Five------------ ‘
‘ 2SS.Com and YOUR SUBSCRIPTION ‘
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‘ Contact: [[Contact:26]] ‘
‘ Company: [[Company:25]] ‘
‘ Title: [[Title:46]] ‘
‘ Address: [[Address 1:27]] [[Address 2:28]] ‘
‘ City: [[City:30]], State: [[State:31]] Zip: [[Zip:32]] ‘
‘ Phone: [[Phone:35]] Fax: [[Fax:36]] ‘