April 2000
News Letter
A message from the President:
The March meeting was attended by 22 members and 6 guests. 1 guest joined and three left their addresses and will receive two free issues of our newsletter.
Another guest was Clare Saul, the poet who wrote "ODE TO WINDOWS 95".
He recited it for us and for those of you who missed it, we reprint it here with permission:
ODE TO WINDOWS 95
How do you get out, it doesn’t help to shout.
Do you click on Quit? No! No! You twit.Do you click on Exit? Do not expect it!
Do you click on Stop? There is nothing to pop!
t should be obvious to any old fart;
To get out of Windows, you click on Start.
Our speaker for March was Jack Bodem of Reboot Computers who taught us all we need to know about CD WRITERS and CD REWRITERS. Jack has decided to join our group and I think he will be an important asset.
We also decided to change the name of our Group. After convincing me that PC did not stand for Photo Cell, Politically Correct, Pepsi Cola or Pina Colada, we changed our name by dropping the IBM. In spite of the brick at the AUTOMOTIVE HERITAGE MUSEUM and our Website address, we will henceforth be known as THE KOKOMO PC USERS GROUP.
Our website is http://kokoibmpcug.homestead.com We thank Rodney Malkoff for all the work he put in, getting the site up and running.
We have a new Vice-President. He is Jack Konold, and he is responsible for getting speakers for our meetings. For the meeting on April 13th, he has Scott Cox of Cox Computers to speak to us on repairing and upgrading computers. It should be a lively session with many questions and answers.
Check your Mailing Label, the first line is the expiration date of your membership and if it is highlighted in blue, your dues are either due or overdue. Mail them to Richard Coop at 2645 North Apperson Way or bring them to the next meeting.
Your guess is as good as mine as to which room we will be meeting in but if you’ll check the sign in the lobby on meeting day, it will show you which way to go. I hope to see all of you at the April 13th meeting.
President Kokomo PC Users Group
Larry L. Thompson
NEWS GROUP KEYBOARD SHORTCUTSIf you're reading each message in a news group in turn, you don't need to click each message. Double-click the first one to start the ball rolling. When you're done reading it and wish to move on to the next message, just press N on your keyboard. This saves a few clicks. Bear in mind that you'll go to the next unread message in the list, skipping over previously read messages. To go to the next message--read or unread--press Shift-N.
Jerry Henry
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HOMEPAGE.COM
It seems that nowadays, every ISP offers free server space along with your Internet access. The problem is you usually end up with a long, confusing address. And it isn't easy to build your own site from scratch. Let's face it: plenty of folks still think FTP is a flower delivery service. Homepage.com solves both of these problems. Your
address is easy to remember–your name homepage.com. Second, Homepage.com automates the Web site building process, allowing you to choose from several templates (including Personal Home Page, Wedding Photo Album, Baby Announcement, Resume, Fan Page, and Small Business Page) then customize it using any easy interface. Change the colors,
then add your own text and photos. You don't even have to know what HTML and FTP stand for. Now all you need is a reason to build one!
Jerry Henry
BOOKMARK AN UNVISITED LINK You don't have to be on a page to bookmark it. If a page you are visiting contains a link you'd like to bookmark for later browsing, simply right-click the link and select Add Bookmark. This files the new bookmark in your default New Bookmark folder; it remains marked as unvisited until you click it. Furthermore, it will appear with a question mark icon in the Edit Bookmarks window, indicating that you haven't visited it yet.
Jerry Henry
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FILE TYPES AND HELPER APPLICATIONS Certain downloadable files require applications other than Netscape to view them. The Navigator browser can view several widely accepted file standards for the Web, such as JPEG and GIF images, as well as HTML files and regular text. Every once in a while, you may encounter a file type you wish to view or edit that Netscape Communicator doesn't directly support. You may need to set up a Helper Application for it in your user preferences. Netscape has most commonly found file types already set up for use; the settings come from your Windows-associated files settings. You can view the settings in Netscape by clicking Edit, Preferences, expanding the Navigator options--click the plus sign (+) next to Navigator--and selecting Applications. To change the settings for a given file type, locate the type in the list and click it. Click the Edit button. If Netscape can view the file on its own, you see the option to do so in the Handled By area. Otherwise, you can specify that Netscape always download the file and save it to disk (without prompting you), or you can specify an application for viewing it immediately after the download. The last option sets whether or not you want Netscape to prompt you every time it encounters a file of that type. Click OK to save your changes and restart Netscape to make the changes take effect.
Jerry Henry
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TODAY'S TIP: Harvest SooniHarvest offers a free Internet utility called iHarvest One. This lets you highlight information in any Web page your browser displays, and then drag that information--both text and graphics--into an iHarvest page. It requires Windows and Internet Explorer 4.0 or later.http://www.iharvest.com
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NEW NAVIGATOR WINDOW BUG
There is a minor bug in Netscape Communicator. If you have two Navigator windows already open and try to click the mini toolbar button to open a third window, Netscape just switches back and forth between the two existing windows (much like Windows' Alt-Tab switch). The workaround is to use the File, New, Navigator Window menu option to open more than two windows. We can only hope Netscape 5.0 will fix this problem.
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GET YOUR FRESH BOOKMARKS HERE!
You haven't been online for a while and you haven't visited your favorite Web sites for a couple of weeks. Instead of checking each one in turn to see if anything has changed, just have Navigator do all the inquiries for you. Click Bookmarks, Edit Bookmarks. In the Bookmarks window, click View, Update Bookmarks. Navigator asks if you wish to update all your Bookmarks or just selected ones. Make a choice and click Start Checking. Netscape will begin visiting each Bookmark (faster than you could do manually), and when it's done, it will notify you of how many it visited, how many still exist, and how many have changed. In your Bookmarks list, you'll see different icons for the Bookmarks that have changed. It's just another modern, timesaving convenience.
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IMPORTING ADDRESS BOOKS
If you use MS Outlook 97/98/Express or Eudora as your e-mail client, you have the option of switching to Netscape Messenger while retaining all your folders and address book information. Start Netscape Messenger and go to File, Import. Select the program you wish to import from, then click Next. Locate your mail client on your computer by clicking Browse. (If it is in the default location, just click Next.) Netscape imports the program's folder information. Now you can choose to import the address book as well. Once again, locate your mail client and select the address book you wish to import, then click Finish. (If you don't have any address books to import, click Cancel.) Netscape now has all the messages you've received with the other client, as well as a properly formatted address book for use with Messenger. Let's just hope the other client doesn't get jealous.
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USING INTERNET KEYWORDS
Have you ever wanted to visit a Web site or get general information from the Web, but couldn't remember the exact address? Communicator offers an Internet Keywords feature that guesses what you want to see
based on whatever word you type into the Location. First make sure you have this option enabled; go to Edit, Preferences and click Smart Browsing in the left side of the Preferences window. Make sure Enable Internet Keywords is checked.ClickOK.Now type a word such as "sci-fi" or a company name like "Microsoft"--your browser will either take you directly to a site, or direct you to Netscape's home page, where it will list sites related to what you typed. It's like doing a Web search minus a couple of steps
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THE COOKIE MONSTER
In computer terms, a cookie is a small file a Web page creates to identify you on subsequent visits. Since cookies are small, your computer can store virtually any number of them. Many frequently visited pages set various cookies based on your connection speed, browser type, and screen size (yes, they can find out all that stuff).
They are generally harmless and a matter of convenience. By default, Netscape notifies you the site is about to set a cookie. Sites with multiple cookies can get annoying, especially if Netscape has to ask you if it's OK to set each one.
To change the way Navigator handles cookies, click Edit, Preferences. Select Advanced to check out your cookie settings. You can instruct Netscape to accept all cookies regardless of origin or type, accept only cookies that return to the originating server (meaning that only the site that created the cookie can read its information), or disable cookies altogether. You can also toggle the notification/warning on and off. Generally, accepting all cookies and turning notification off is fine for the casual Web surfer. However, many users choose another option for security reasons.
E-MAIL SUBFOLDERS
Just as you can categorize your bookmarks, you can create folders for e-mail you've received. When you check your e-mail using Netscape Messenger, each new message downloads to the Inbox folder. You can create subfolders to organize and store messages you want to keep. In the Messenger window, click Local Mail and go to File, New Folder. Give the folder a name (Family, Work, TipWorld, and so forth). The folder appears at the bottom of the list. Now you can drag messages from your Inbox to this folder for storage and/or later perusal. Create as many folders as you need and watch your friends and coworkers marvel at your organizational skills.
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WE WONDER IF THE ADS ARE COMPRESSED
Nature abhors a vacuum. Commerce abhors an ad vacuum. And now e-commerce is working to put ads everywhere. The latest place is on your screen during downloads. A great example is the Download Demon program from Netzip, used by a number of popular web sites that offer downloadable programs. McAfee.com, for instance, the maker of anti-virus and other utility programs, now lets you use Download Demon for faster grabbing of their software. The Demon also offers pause, resume and reconnect features for easier downloads. And as the software pours onto your hard drive, a window displays advertisements. Atleast you can close the window at any time.
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CACHE SIZE Netscape's Web cache is where most of the recent pages you've visited are stored on your hard drive. The theory is that if you've visited a site once, chances are you'll want to visit it again in the future, so Netscape stores a lot of the site's information in a cache folder to make the page load faster the next time you view it. If you're concerned about hard drive space, you may want to specify a maximum cache size (especially in a multiuser situation, where each user profile has its own cache folder, adding up to hundreds of megabytes). Go to Edit, Preferences. Click once on the plus sign (+) next to Advanced to make the rest of the options visible. Select Cache and you'll see your cache maximum next to Disk Cache. You can specify any number of kilobytes in this box. I have mine at 8000, which I find to be neither too big nor too small. Type in your amount and click OK. The changes will take effect the next time you start Navigator.
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START WITH MY FAVORITE SITE If there is a site you visit regularly or one that is often the first site you click on when you start Netscape, you can specify that it be your Home page. By default, the Home page is set to Netscape Home on its Web site. To change it, go to your favorite site, and click Edit, Preferences. Make sure Navigator is highlighted on the left of the Preferences window. Now click Use Current Page under Home Page. This sets your favorite site to be loaded automatically when you start Netscape. Furthermore, when you click on the Home Page button on your toolbar, Netscape will immediately go to this page. You don't have to type a thing!
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MAXIMIZE IT A Tipworld subscriber recently asked: "When I start Netscape Communicator, it always starts up in a small window. How can I get Netscape to start up in a maximized window?" The answer to your question depends on how you are starting Netscape. Generally speaking, Netscape should save any changes when you close it. Therefore, if you maximize Netscape immediately after opening it and then close the program, that should save its window state as maximized. If this doesn't work, try modifying the shortcut you use to start Netscape. Click Start, Settings, Taskbar, Start Menu. Select the Start Menu Programs tab and click Advanced. Locate the Netscape Navigator shortcut in the list of Start Menu programs and right-click it. Select Properties. In the Properties dialog box, select the Shortcut tab and make sure the word Maximized appears in the Run box. Click OK to save your changes. If the shortcut you are using is in a location other than the toolbar, locate the shortcut and right-click it; select Properties and take it from there. If necessary, follow the same steps for each icon in the Netscape program group to ensure that ALL components of Communicator open in a maximized window.
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Larry Thompson, 457-5622
Treasurer Richard Coop Sr., 459-8731
Member Services Rodney Malkoff, 453-1159
Newsletter Editor Jerry Henry 453-4144
Newsletter Distribution Marcy Young
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Newsletter editor Jerry Henry
jhenry@netusa1.net 453-4144
Keep those articles coming in WordPerfect, plain text, or Word
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