VBOK Issue #15 - Results
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TOC
1. The VBOK Survey Results
2. Software Review
3. Cool Sites
4. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's
If the columns in the below articles appear misaligned, it's because
you are using a non-fixed width font. If you would like to see them
nice and straight, change your E-mail font to Times New Roman.
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1. The VBOK Survey Results
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I was very happy with the response to the survey. Out of 672
subscribers, 428 of you responded. So, without further ado, here are
the results.
1. Is the writing level:
Almost everybody responded "Just Fine" A couple of hardcore geeks
thought it was not technical enough, and about five thought it was
too technical.
Response: I'm going to keep the same level of technicality.
2. Do you feel that I am over-explaining issues in my attempt to make
things clearer? (i.e. do you feel sometimes like "Ok, ok, I got it
already.", or "Wow, that was a huge tangent!")
Everyone said that I explain things fine, and do not over-explain
or go off on tangents.
Response: I was surprised by this. I was pretty sure that I would
get knocked on the tangent thing.
3. Are the articles interesting?
Believe it or not, nobody said "No"
Response: What a relief. It's good to know you're not boring.
4. Do you feel that the articles help you to better understand
computers and the internet?
Everyone responded "Yes"
Response: It's also good to know that I'm just not venting hot air.
5. Do you wish there was an HTML version of the newsletter?
This was a mixed response. A little less than half wanted an HTML
version.
Response: For now I think that I will continue the newsletter in
the text form, with the HTML versions (with screenshots) available
on the VBOK website at:
6. Does the newsletter come to you properly formatted? (i.e. no abrupt
line endings, breaks in paragraphs where there shouldn't be.)
Everyone responded "Yes"
Response: This is very good. I was using Eudora 4.0 to do this
newsletter in the beginning, and received way too many complaints
about the formatting. Qualcomm has done some really retarded things
with the plaintext formatting. This is one of the major reasons
that I have changed over to The Bat! Speaking of which, In this
newsletter in the Software Review section, I have reviewed The Bat!
If you're interested in learning more about it, I also host a The
Bat! discussion mailing list. It's still in it's infancy, and now
that we have the majority of the bugs worked out, we are ready to
announce it publicly. You can subscribe to it by clicking here (It
is of course FREE!):
7. Would you prefer a shorter newsletter every two weeks, or keep the
current length and publish it once a month? Personally, I would
like to do the monthly edition, but I'll do whichever most people
prefer.
Almost a resounding "Monthly/Longer" newsletter. There were two for
the "Bi-monthly/Shorter" version.
Response: I'm happy with this decision, because it's a little
easier on me (These newsletters eat up a huge amount of time and
energy.)
8. Please rate the sections in order of which you like the most (1) to
least (6).
This one was a hard one to quantify, but the way they are listed
below, is a pretty accurate rating (in order) of what people liked
best about the newsletter.
Tips/Tricks
Main article
Software Review
Security Article
Cool Sites
Nickel Knowledge
Response: I was very surprised that Tips/Tricks was rated number
one almost by all. The Main article and Software review were both a
close second. Security article most likely took a big hit, because
there wasn't one in newsletter #14 which the survey was sent with.
It looks like Nickel Knowledge will probably get dumped (See
question #12), because it was rated dead last almost by all.
9. Would you recommend this newsletter to a friend?
The majority said "Yes", but for some reason, only a few people
answered the second part (Well, did you?). Probably because it
looked more like a comment than a real question.
Response: I would have to say word of mouth definitely works.
10. Would you be upset about a *small* advertisement within the
newsletter from a business selling services or products related to
computers and the internet?
The majority said that it wouldn't be a bother, as long as it was
small. Eleven said absolutely "No".
Response: I still haven't made any firm decisions, but if I do,
they will be small and they will be relevant.
11. What sections would you like to see added to the newsletter?
I got quite a few good responses to this question.
Programming, UNIX, Games, A user's mailbag/feedback, HTML/Java,
Software updates and to reinforce the Tips/Tricks section.
Response: I'm not opposed to any of these ideas, but I'm not sure
how much time I'll have to include many more sections. I have been
considering adding a software updates section, because it would be
easy for me. Everyday, I'm out looking for new versions of
software and drivers. It would help immensely if you all would
send me e-mail when you find a new release or update to software.
You can send it to:
I am planning on beefing up the Tips/Tricks section not only
because of this question, but of question #8.
12. What sections would you like to see removed?
The only one that showed up here was the Nickel Knowledge, and
that was by four subscribers.
Response: This section is history.
13. What are some topics you'd like to see articles on?
Got quite a few responses here too.
DVD, CD-R, CD-RW, Cyberculture, Graphic Design , Net/Comp Tips,
More Advanced Issues, Tricks and shortcuts, My vision of the
computer future, More "How it works" stuff.
Response: All of these are good ideas, it will give me plenty of
stuff to work with. Also, look forward to article submissions from
subscribers like yourselves. See question #14.
14. Would you be interested in writing an article for the newsletter?
I got quite a few "Yes" responses.
Look for articles on emerging technologies such as DVD vs DVX,
Telephone switching systems, V.90 modem specs, networking,
software reviews, game reviews and Eddie's waffle iron (joke :)
Response: Great!! I would love to see them. Just please talk with
me first, so I can give you some guidelines. ie Technicality,
formatting, spectrum etc. Please note that you will not receive any
money from your submission. I don't make any money from this
newsletter, so I have none to give you. Not that I would turn down
any donations from kind-hearted, loving subscribers ;)
15. Any comments:
A huge amount of support for this newsletter. I even got misty
eyed.. Thanks to all of you who support this newsletter, and think
I'm a nice guy... :)
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2. Software Review
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The Bat! by RIT Labs
E-mail client;PC;Shareware
Size: 1.39MB
Homepage:
Download Software:
I have tried just about every major e-mail client software package out
there, and I can say without a doubt that The Bat! is awesome.
Nowadays, it is difficult to find a software company that really
listens to it's users as well as working diligently to provide a
superior product.
If you're interested in learning more about it, I host a The Bat!
discussion mailing list. It's still in it's infancy, and now that we
have the majority of the bugs worked out, we are ready to announce it
publicly. You can subscribe to it by clicking here (It is of course
FREE!):
The interface isn't as pretty as some I've seen, but it's
functionality far exceeds the majority. It pretty much does it all.
- Realtime automatic spellchecker. As you type, it underlines
questionable spellings, and a single right click will let you choose
the correct spelling.
- Mail Ticker. This is a neat feature seen nowhere else. It looks like
a wallstreet stock ticker, but it shows you the header info from
your new messages. From, To, Subject etc..
- Filtering system. An unbelievably awesome, power-packed suite of
filtering tools. Pass data to external programs, auto-responders,
macro enhanced templates for autoresponders, kill filters etc..
- Manage your mail directly on the POP3 server.
- IMAP, APOP, PGP
- Very powerful message editor. This is great, how many times have you
wanted to cut out a certain little block of text, but as you drag
your mouse down it highlights the entire line. In this editor, you
can just select the text you want...
- Multiple accounts that can be changed on the fly. There's more,
each folder you create to save messages in can have it's own
identity (To, From, Reply-to), macro enhanced templates etc.. This
is my most favorite aspect of The Bat! You can make it do just about
anything.
- Automatic mail retrieval w/auto log-off
- Can import your messages with the built in import wizard from:
Microsoft Outlook Express v4.xx
Netscape Communicator v4.xx
Netscape Mail v2.xx/3.xx
Eudora Lite/Pro
Pegasus Mail v2.xx
- Can import addressbooks from any client that can export to an:
.INI
Comma Separated File
Tab Separated File
- Support for ten (count 'em 10) different languages, with the
capability to switch between them on the fly.
- A park function, where you can make a message stay where it is at.
No accidental deletions or moving it to the wrong folder.
- Under construction function, where you can work on your messages,
and leave them in your outbox until you're finished and want to
send it.
- A very cool addressbook function that let's you choose e-mail
addresses very similar to the way you run programs from the Windows
Start button or choose favorites from the favorites dropdown menu.
- You can run mailing lists (Like this one), as well as full fledged
discussion lists like MajorDomo and listserv. I'm running one right
now called "The Bat! User's Discussion List". All I have to do is
check the POP3 account, and it filters, modifies, corrects the To:
From: and Reply To: headers, then mails it out to everyone on the
list. No fuss, no muss.
- An excellent built in search engine that is very quick, and displays
your results in a very logical, easy to use format.
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MicroAngelo 98 by Impact Software
Icon/desktop tweaks;PC;Shareware
Size: 1.29MB
Homepage:
Download Software:
This is one of the best software packages I've seen for managing your
icons in every way, shape, fashion and form.
- Control what icons are used for anything. Want to change your
default folders into race cars? Disk drive icons, default
application icons etc.. You can change them all.
- A very nice icon drawing/editor with the ability to import .BMP
files into icons. Edit multiple size icons:
16x16 16 bit color
16x16 256 bit color
32x32 16 bit color
32x32 256 bit color
- An Icon animator for building those animated icons.
- A librarian, that will search every file on your hard drive for
icons, and then place them into a single, easily accessed library
file.
If you've ever wanted to tweak your computer to a more personalized
level, this is the software to do it.
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3. Cool Sites
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International Lyrics Server
Ever have a song that you really liked, but just couldn't quite make
out all of the words? This place has thousands of songs indexed by
artist, album, song title for you to search across. Also, if you've
finally figured out all of the words to a song, you can even submit
them here and they'll put your name on it.
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Help Desk Funnies
If you've ever made an idiot out of yourself with some type of service
provider, don't feel bad, stop in here to see what the rest of the
idiots in the world are doing. ;)
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Review Finder
Don't go buy the magazines, don't waste time looking for computer
product reviews, go here because they've already done it. Thousands of
links to reviews on the latest in hardware and software.
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4. Tips, Tricks, Do's and Don't Do's
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Everyone knows by now that you can move your taskbar to any side of
the screen, but with IE4's desktop enhancements, you can also detach
any of the toolbars you may also have down there and place them
anywhere on the screen.
Speaking of taskbars, here's the way I like to have mine set up.
First, close out all the apps that show up on the taskbar. Next double
click the "My Computer" icon. In this window, select all of your
drives. A: B: C: etc.. Once they are selected, drag and drop them to
the desktop. It will tell you that it can't move them, and ask if you
want to create shortcuts. Say "yes". Now right click the A: shortcut
you just made, select rename, and give it a shorter name. Something
like "A Drive" (remember, don't use any illegal characters like : / \
etc..) Do the same thing for each of the other drive shortcuts. I
named my H: (my CDROM) "CDROM" and my I: "DVD". Now once you're all
done with this, select all these shortcuts (drag a box around them or
while holding down the CTRL key, click on each one.) Drag all of them
onto your taskbar. If they are out of order i.e. A C F B etc, just
click and hold the one you want to move, now slide it over to where it
should be and drop it.
Now onto the rest of my taskbar. Right click on a blank area of the
taskbar, go up to "Toolbars" select "Address". You should now have an
address line like you do in your web browser and directory folders.
Now, while the mouse cursor is over your taskbar, move it up just till
it turns into and up/down arrow. Click and hold while dragging up just
a little, and the taskbar should double in height. Once this is done,
look at the taskbar. Hopefully you will have your drive icons in the
left side top half, the address bar to the right of your drive icons,
and the bottom half should be blank. If it isn't, you can fix this by
clicking and holding on the word address next to the addressbar, and
moving it up. Slide it to the right so that all of your drive
shortcuts are visible. Now, when you open an application, they should
appear on the taskbar in the bottom half.
I like my drive buttons on the toolbar, because it's a quick single
click access, and I like the address toolbar, because I can just type
in a URL in there instead of opening my web browser first.
If you would like to see a screenshot of my toolbar, just go to
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For those computer graphics artists out there, if you're like me,
sometimes you have a problem using the mouse to get the exact pixel
you need. Here's a way to move your mouse cursor with pixel precision.
Go to the control panel and open the Accessibility Options. Click the
Mouse tab, and check "Use MouseKeys". This will put a little app on
your tasktray, and will turn your numeric pad into a mouse control
with pixel level precision. You can still move your cursor around with
a mouse, and if you're in a text environment, you can move the text
cursor via the four arrow keys to the left of the numeric pad.
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If you are trying to find information about a certain state in the
U.S., such as government offices, tourist info, local airports etc.
Instead of trying search engines and using the name of the state and
the info you are looking for, just go straight to the state's website.
It's much easier to get what you want that way. Just enter this URL:
Of course, change the ny (for New York) to whatever the initials of
the state you want. i.e. nm for New Mexico, ca for California etc...
So to go to Colorado's website, type:
Well, that concludes this issue. Have fun.
Leif Gregory
Copyright (c) 1998 by Leif Gregory. All rights reserved.
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