DatabaseID=[[DatabaseID]]|ContactID=[[ContactID]]|Friday, May 09, 2008

 

RULES OF THUMB  (Mar. E-News from 2SS.Com)

 

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Dear [[Salutation:40]],

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     E – N E W S from    ‘

‘     2SS.Com     ‘

‘      Compiled and Edited by      ‘

‘                                             [email protected]     ‘

‘      Mailed on: 03/01/1999 8:14 PM                   Number 7   ‘

‘     Int’l Standard Serial No. - ISSN: 1523-3537‘

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

 

'     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.     ‘

 

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     --------------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.)     ‘

 

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     --------------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!    ‘

 

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     -----------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.      ‘

 

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     ------------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.)       ‘

 

 

‘     [][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][]     ‘

‘     ------------Item Five------------      ‘

‘     2SS.Com and YOUR SUBSCRIPTION     ‘

 

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‘     suggestions and interests to direct the informa-     ‘

‘     tion we choose to share. Already on our      ‘

     ‘watch-list’ are:    ‘

‘     *  Artificial Intelligence     ‘

‘     *  Speech Recognition     ‘

‘     *  Small network Internet connectivity     ‘

‘     *  Computer Telephony Integration.      ‘

 

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