Australian PC World articles from May 2002

Australian PC World archives from May 2002

The race for Oscar: Tinseltown's coveted golden statue may not currently adorn your mantle and you probably have to wait a few years to rub shoulders with Hollywood's A-list but with PC World's guide to DV movie making, it won't be long before you sashay down the red carpet. (Editorial).
May 1, 2002... Hollywood's recent Academy Awards held many Australians enthralled in the lead up to its night of nights. With Nicole and Russ (sorry guys, better luck next time) just some of the local talent in the running for the golden gongs, it was enough...

Dingo blue bites the dust. (News).
May 1, 2002... A second high-profile Australian service provider in less than a year has bitten the dust. dingo blue expects to wind up its operations by the end of June, leaving its 68,000 customers to look elsewhere for service. dingo blue was a...

Telstra, Foxtel join hands.
May 1, 2002... Telstra and Foxtel have announced new agreement, which will enable customers to bundle Foxtel's subscription pay TV service with telephone and Internet services on a single Telstra bill. Under the new agreement, Telstra will be able to...

HP, Canon head printer sales.
May 1, 2002... Hewlett-Packard and Canon were the "undisputed" leaders in the laser and ink Jet printer markets, respectively, according to analyst firm Inform. Canon finished 2001 with a 36 per cent unit share of the Inkjet segment, up 4 per cent on...

Researcher sees risk in CRT's glow.
May 1, 2002... A German research student says that under the right conditions, hackers could steal information from cathode-ray tube (CRT) computer screens by measuring the light reflected from a user's face. Markus Kuhn, a doctoral student at the...

Windows XP SP in view. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... The first major pack of fixes and updates for Microsoft's Windows XP operating system is set to be released during the second half of the year. Such a release, known as a service pack, is often considered the turning point when major enterprise...

Fujitsu's got the Loox. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... Fujitsu has taken the wraps off a PDA -- the company's first -- which will be sold worldwide from the second quarter of this year, the company has announced. Fujitsu is planning to sell its Pocket Loox PDA in Europe, North America, Japan...

Linux startup's plea for help.
May 1, 2002... In an attempt to reverse a financial crisis, MandrakeSoft will rely on two programs it launched recently to bring in enough cash to keep the company alive. The company, maker of Mandrake Linux, posted an appeal to users on its Web site,...

Casio develops fuel cell for mobile devices.
May 1, 2002... Casio has developed a fuel-cell technology that can allow a notebook to run for 20 hours, compared to five hours using a rechargeable lithium ion battery, said Akira Watanabe, a spokesman for the company. Casio plans to include the fuel...

Xbox gets scratchy start. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... After a costly advertising campaign on TV, in daily newspapers and even on inner city pavements, Microsoft Australia gave the green light to its Xbox console, launching it on 14 March. Regional director of Xbox, Alan Bowman, described the...

What price StarOffice? (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... After giving away free downloads of its StarOffice office productivity suite for more than two years, Sun Microsystems will now begin charging for the software. Sun said that its next version of the suite, StarOffice 6.0, will be released in...

Be is not to be.
May 1, 2002... Unsuccessful computer operating system vendor Be dissolved its business on 15 March. The company sold its operating system to handheld computer maker Palm for $US11 million last November. The company said It will continue to exist for at...

PGP will go on, says its inventor.
May 1, 2002... Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) will go on, despite a move by Network Associates (NAI) to shelve the encryption product after it couldn't find a buyer, according to PGP inventor Phil Zimmermann. Although Zimmermann sold PGP to NAI in 1997, the...

First 3G call made in southern hemisphere.
May 1, 2002... A live video call using Third Generation (3G) wireless technology was made for the first time in the southern hemisphere, at the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) held recently in Adelaide. The video call was made to Tokyo,...

Sun sues Microsoft over Java.
May 1, 2002... In the US, Sun Microsystems has filed a private federal antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft, accusing the company of harming competition by using its monopoly in the market for PC operating systems to undermine the success of Sun's Java...

Intel cools on Rambus. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... Intel was once the leading advocate of RDRAM (Rambus Dynamic RAM), but recently its executives declined to confirm whether its future chipsets would support the high-speed memory interface technology, saying Rambus is not the current first...

Alliance pushes DVD+ RW/+R. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... Products based on specifications from the DVD+RW Alliance have begun to emerge, meaning consumers will not have to wait long before getting a taste of the latest in DVD (digital versatile disc) recording technology. The alliance promotes...

Sanyo develops blue laser for optical discs.
May 1, 2002... Sanyo has developed a new type of blue laser for use in future optical disc recorders that is easier and cheaper to produce than existing types, the company said. Unlike existing blue lasers, which are produced on a substrate of sapphire, Sanyo...

IDC: PC sales rebounding more quickly than expected.
May 1, 2002... Worldwide PC shipments will grow 3 per cent in 2002 to 125.5 million units, faster than previous estimates of 1.8 per cent growth, according to market researcher IDC. All regions except Asia Pacific sew faster sales growth than expected in the...

Hackers trick IM users. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... Tens of thousands of people the world over have reportedly been tricked into downloading malicious software onto their computers from Internet Relay Chat (IRC) and instant messaging (IM). Popular IM programs include AOL Instant Messenger, Yahoo...

Creative's graphics play. (News Analysis).
May 1, 2002... Fans of high-end PC graphics could soon gain new options following Creative Technology's announcement it will buy graphics vendor 3Dlabs and, in doing so, re-enter the desktop graphics market. Creative -- known for its desktop PC audio products...

Telstra funds broadband push. (broadband).
May 1, 2002... Having faced industry backlash for anti-competitive conduct over wholesale ADSL pricing and its problematic ADSL network, Telstra has unleashed a range of new campaigns, funding packages and price cuts to drive Australia's broadband take-up....

Broadband take-up stimulus. (broadband briefs).
May 1, 2002... The government has announced the establishment of a Broadband Advisory Group that will involve consultation with industry and will be used as a basis for future government policy. However, IT Minister Senator Richard Alston has rejected...

Pacific cans contracts. (broadband briefs).
May 1, 2002... Pacific Interest has decided to offer customers contract-free broadband with its newly launched HomeDSL service. Customers can choose from three monthly packages: 256Kbps downloads for $59.95; 512Kbps for $69,95; and 1.5Mbps at $99.95, All...

The Internet cemeteries. (alt.net).
May 1, 2002... The Internet has given new meaning to the term gravedigging. Instead of hunting down material wealth and riches, people are visiting virtual graves to find out about living as well as long lost relatives. These online grave sites provide...

StreamCast Networks ditches Fasttrack for Gnutella. (online news).
May 1, 2002... StreamCast Networks has released a new version of its Morpheus application, based on the open source Gnutella technology. The Morpheus service was originally based on FastTrack, a closed proprietary technology created by Dutch software...

Amazon settles one-click patent dispute with B&N. (online news).
May 1, 2002... After more than two years, Amazon.com has settled its patent-infringement suit against rival Barnesandnoble.com over the use of its one-click system. The US District Court in Seattle officially ended the court case in March. Amazon.com's...

Court nabs register shifter. (online news).
May 1, 2002... A Queensland firm, COM. AU. REGISTER, has been busted by the Federal Court in Brisbane for sending businesses and organizations last year a fax that the court claims was likely to mislead recipients into believing the COM. AU. REGISTER "did not...

Intel desktop boards will carry RealOne Player. (online news).
May 1, 2002... In a deal aimed at snagging more subscribers for RealNetworks' RealOne digital content subscription service, the media delivery company has signed a deal with Intel to have its RealOne Player distributed with Intel's newest PC motherboards. ...

New chips off old blocks. (tech.files).
May 1, 2002... This month's we look at two new desktop PC processors on the market -- the AMD Athlon XP 2100+ and the Intel Pentium 4 2.4GHz. Neither processor represents a great technological leap from its predecessor, being just an upgrade in megahertz over...

Chip makers jointly develop 0.09-micron process. (tech.news).
May 1, 2002... Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC), Philips and STMicroelectronics (ST) have successfully produced chips using a 0.09-micron (90-nanometre) process that is expected to result in faster chips that consume less power than chips...

Samsung ships samples of DDR400 memory. (tech.news).
May 1, 2002... Samsung has begun shipping sample DDR SDRAM memory chips that are two steps faster than those used in personal computers today. The DDR400 chips use a 200MHz memory bus, the connection between the processor and memory, and can handle data...

AMD launches three new Athlon chips. (tech.news).
May 1, 2002... AMD has announced three new microprocessors designed to boost performance in mobile, desktop, workstation, and server computers. The new chips include AMD's Athlon XP 2100+ for desktop PCs, Mobile Athlon 4 1600+ for notebooks, and Athlon MP...

Apple iMac: desktop computer. (first looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Apple IMac **** The new IMac is unlikely to fulfill Apple's dream of doubling the market share, for the same reasons that no other Mac ever has -- It runs the Mac OS rather than Windows, and it's far from the cheapest...

Imation RipGo, Waitec Clipp and Waitec HipHop: MP3 players. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Imation RipGo ***1/2 This portable MP3 player and mini-CD burner in one produces best results when movement is kept to a minimum. It has a one-year warranty. Price: $599 Phone: 1800 225 013 URL:...

Logitech Z-560, Aego2 and Creative Inspire 5.1 Digital 5700: speakers. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Logitech Z-560 ***** The Z-560 is a well-styled, loud and clear 4.1 surround speaker system -- perfect for all types of PC audio endeavours. Price: $499 Phone: (02) 9972 3711 URL: www.logitech.com Aego2...

Cyberbank PC-EPhone: multifunction communication device. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Cyberbank PC-EPhone **1/2 A personal communication device comprised of an Internet-enabled PDA using a touch screen colour display running at 640x480, together with a CDMA mobile phone with SMS support. Price: $2299...

Panasonic DMC-LC5: digital camera. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Panasonic DMC-LC5 ****1/2 The DMC-LC5 features solid constructions with an extremely useful rapid shot Mega Burst feature, although most users destined to lose the detachable LCD monitor hood. Price: $1979 ...

Adobe LiveMotion 2.0 and Macromedia Flash MX beta: web and multimedia design software. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Adobe LiveMotion 2.0 *** LiveMotion 2.0 is the creative-friendly alternative -- featuring ActionScript but lacking the full-on MX approach, it is offered at a bargain price. Price: LiveMotion 2.0 (bundled with GoLive...

Creative PC-Cam 600: webcam. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Creative PC-Cam 600 ****1/2 The sharp image quality and excellent software bundle plus the comprehensive features set and Innovative design that sealed our high opinion of It. Price: $399 Phone: (02) 9666 6100...

Macromedia HomeSite 5.0: HTML authoring tool. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Macromedia HomeSite 5.0 **** Although the changes to 5.0 aren't spectacular, if you're after a simple and intuitive HTML editor, HomeSite is an excellent choice. It doesn't do much automatically, but that isn't...

VCommunications System Commander 7: utility software. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief VCommunications Systems Commander 7 ***1/2 The easiest way to upgrade to Windows XP without losing your existing operating system. Price: $139.95 Distributor: Marketing Results Phone: (02) 9899 5888 ...

Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD: graphics card. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Leadtek WinFast A250 Ultra TD **** Based on the GeForce 4 Ti 4600 with 128MB of DDR memory, this card provides wide connectivity and is the most desirable premium 3D performer in the market place -- with a premium price...

CyberLink PowerDirector: video-editing software. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief CyberLink PowerDirector *** PowerDirector's low-end feature set won't woo the more serious amateur video editor. Unfortunately, its high-end processing demands could put off entry-level user as well. Price: $249 ...

Ontrack SystemSuite 4.0: utility software. (First Looks).
May 1, 2002... in brief Ontrack SystemSuite 4.0 ***** Protection for your PC is a vital investment and SystemSuite 4.0 is certainly an impressive utilities package. With the recent addition of a personal firewall, SystemSuite has almost every...

Bring back the service packs. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... I must admit that I missed the item about service packs distribution in the Forum column of your March 2002 issue. However, I did not miss it in your April editorial. I find Microsoft's attitude heavy-handed and extremely annoying. I...

Telstra needs to do more. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... So the news is that Telstra will spend $50 million over the next five years in promoting and stimulating broadband [see this month's broadband news on page 20]. Wow. How big of Telstra. This expenditure over five years represents less than...

The way the cookie crumbles. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... I thought that all PC magazine editors were nerds, so I was pleased to see that you can rabbit on about something else entirely. For PC World fans that read your February editorial, I hope it drags them part of the way out of any internalised...

Unhappy wading in the BigPond. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... I hope you can help other prospective BigPond Cable users by relaying my current experience with this `service'. Since connecting to cable on March 1, I have been unable to connect to the mail account in order to use e-mail. I have...

Dead as a Dodo.com. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... Three days after the connection to my ISP Dodo.com failed to work, I rang the company. It turns out that the fine folks at the ISP said my account had been suspended because I had been spamming and, according to their terms and conditions, that...

Editors note. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... Editors note: as ISPs try to block spam for the greater good of netizens everywhere, it seems they sometimes catch some legitimate users in the filter nets. Turn to this month's HelpScreen Internet column on page 142 for some ways to protect...

missive of the month. (Readers' forum).
May 1, 2002... Congratulations Fritz Lang! You are this month's winner of a year's subscription to PC World worth $66. We are pleased to receive your letters, but please keep them to less than 300 words. We reserve the right to edit letters for...

Dilbert.
May 1, 2002... WELCOME TO WORKPLACE VIOLENCE PREVENTION TRAINING. HOW CAN WE IDENTIFY POTENTIALLY VIOLENT EMPLOYEES? OOH! OOH! WALLY? DO THEY HAVE BEARDS? UM... NO THAT WAS A STUPID ANSWER. VIOLENT EMPLOYEES ARE USUALLY CREEPY,...

Fiscal fitness: turn your PC into a sleek money-management machine with these sites. (Feature Web and You).
May 1, 2002... What's your million-dollar dream? Early retirement to a house by the sea? An open-ended world tour? The kids' education? You could trust your dreams to good fortune, but most of us prefer to take our financial fate into our own hands. That's...

Great upgrades under $500: can you teach an old PC new tricks? Absolutely. And with the 27 add-ons here, it's never been cheaper or easier. (Feature Upgrades Under $500).
May 1, 2002... NOW MORE THAN EVER, EVERYONE'S TRYING TO SPEND MONEY INTELLIGENTLY. WE'VE ROUNDED UP PLENTY OF WAYS TO EXTEND YOUR COMPUTER'S CAPABILITIES -- WHETHER IT'S INTO THE AREAS OF DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY, WEB CONFERENCING, AUDIO, OR NETWORKING -- WHILE...

Digital photography: cheap shots. (Feature Upgrades Under $500).
May 1, 2002... Are you the type of shutterbug who loves disposable cameras and gets excited by the local pharmacist's free double-print offers? If so, the idea of spending $800 or more on a fancy digital camera may not provide quite the same rush....

Web: talking heads. (Feature Upgrades Under $500).
May 1, 2002... I have several upbeat ways to describe myself -- thrifty, economical, prudent. My family and friends on the other side of the country prefer less pleasant terms: cheapskate, skinflint, miser. All because I won't jump on a plane to visit or pay...

Audio: pump up the volume. (Feature Upgrades Under $500).
May 1, 2002... Hey, music fans: want to turn your boring beige box into a concert hall, a home theatre system, or a music studio? You can, simply by adding a few reasonably priced components and installing some new software. Here's how I turned my PC into a...

Networking: for next to nothing. (Feature Upgrades Under $500).
May 1, 2002... Talk is cheap -- even if it involves a bunch of computers communicating over a network. I looked at three inexpensive ways to link two or more PCs for sharing files, a printer, and a Web connection. Which setup is right for you? That depends...

Lights, camera, action! The fast processors, cheap memory and large hard drives in today's PCs make video editing simpler than ever before. Jason Whittaker and Denis Gallagher take a look at the cutting-edge cutting room software you need to create your cinematic masterpiece. (Feature Video Editing).
May 1, 2002... With processors topping the 2GHz mark, 100GB hard drives available at the same price as a 100MB drive a decade ago, and enough RAM in most contemporary machines to run a space station, it appears as though computer hardware will be able to...

Movie making 101: want to get started making movies on your PC? With this workshop and PC World's cover CD, you can! We walk you through the stages of editing a movie using Pinnacle's Studio 7.0 to illustrate the techniques involved. (Feature Video Editing).
May 1, 2002... No more than half a decade ago, video editing on the average computer was a frustrating affair. However, while other applications may not necessarily have benefited from the recent advances in hardware, incredibly powerful processors and the...

Keeping account: finance software for small businesses. (Feature Accounting Software).
May 1, 2002... Many small businesses see financial software as a necessary evil. With careful selection, however, the right software can boost the performance of your company as well as taking care of the nitty gritty tasks like BAS reporting. PC World rounds...

Lained: to demystify DVD, and explain how the standard has evolved since its introduction in the late 1990s, PC World explores just what DVD has to offer, and how you can make the most of it. (Feature DVD Buying Guide).
May 1, 2002... DVD has come a long way since its launch in 1997. It's now a fast-selling consumer electronics format, gaining acceptance much more quickly than CD or VHS ever did. The shops are slowly stocking more and more DVD movies, and the official DVD...

Best buys: over $4000, $2001-$4000, sub-$2000 PCs. (Best Buys PCs).
May 1, 2002... OVER $4000 HOME 1 Xenon Metro 855 Multimedia PC This PC features one of the latest processors from the Intel camp, the 0.13-micron manufactured 2.2GHz Pentium 4. This processor resides in an Intel motherboard that features DDR SDRAM...

Best buys: over $6000, $3001-$6000, sub-$3000 notebooks. (Best Buys Notebooks).
May 1, 2002... OVER $6000 1 Toshiba Satellite 5100 NEW While large in size and ideally a desktop replacement, the multimedia powerhouse that is the 5100 features the most elegant design of all the notebooks in this month's charts. The curved...

Best buys: DVD drives.
May 1, 2002... best buys Each of these has appealing proprietary feature to get the job done, and all are efficient and easy to use. What these products all lack is a common standard for rewriting data as evidenced In the CD burner market. As the battle...

Personal finance management. (using Linux).
May 1, 2002... Managing finances is a fairly common use of the modern desktop computer. In this month's column we will investigate the state of personal finance management tools under Linux. For Linux to be widely adopted on the desktop, tools such as...

Master the Windows XP upgrade process. (here's how).
May 1, 2002... Microsoft hype to the contrary, deciding whether to upgrade your current version of Windows to Windows XP isn't exactly a no-brainer. Certainly, XP has some neat new features and is more stable than its predecessors, but it requires you to have...

Let the games begin. (Windows Xp home).
May 1, 2002... Even though Windows XP ships with DirectX 8.1, you may have experienced problems getting an older game (or any application, for that matter) to work after installing and running Windows XP. Don't immediately reach for your old operating system...

Disaster and dynamic disks. (Windows Xp Pro).
May 1, 2002... From this month this column will feature advice, tips and tricks on getting the most from Windows XP Professional. Of course, in order to migrate my Windows 2000 column to a Windows XP Professional one, I naturally needed to upgrade my...

Instant messengers for Mac OS X. (Mac OS).
May 1, 2002... For years, Mac users have been second rate Net citizens when it comes to instant messengers, as even the Mac version of ICQ (pronounced I-seek-you) -- the IM that most Mac users (and PC users for that matter) began with -- didn't perform at the...

Sharing an Internet connection. (Linux).
May 1, 2002... Do you have more than one computer but only a single Internet connection? With Internet Connection Sharing it is possible to use one Internet connection on all of your computers at once, seamlessly. Internet Connection Sharing under Linux...

Using a MIDI keyboard with your PC. (audio).
May 1, 2002... Before MP3 files became widely popular, MIDI files (.mid) were one of the most common ways to add sound to Web pages. These files are incredibly small in size because they contain no actual audio, only information about which note and type of...

Restoring photographs: part 3. (graphics).
May 1, 2002... This final instalment will show you how to finish off photo restoration and bring more life to an image. By now, your photo should have been scanned and rotated, with its colour balance restored and all obvious markings removed. Warning:...

Introduction to frames. (HTML).
May 1, 2002... Frames are a combination of HTML pages that display on a browser simultaneously, giving the impression that they are one page. An example of a framed page is when a Web site has a menubar that stays in the same position within the browser...

PHP and PostgreSQL. (PHP).
May 1, 2002... Over the preceding months, this column has looked at ways to simplify the development of a database-driven Web-based address book. This month we look at a complete solution: the PostgreSQL Object Relational Database Management System (ORDBMS)....

Operating systems. (help screen).
May 1, 2002... WINDOWS XP XP doesn't read Me backups Q I recently upgraded from Windows Me to XP, so imagine my frustration when I found I could no longer read my backup disks produced using MS Backup. Microsoft NT Backup cannot read the backup CDs...

Office applications. (help screen).
May 1, 2002... OFFICE XP Managing long Word documents Word 2002 has a couple of handy features that help you navigate through long documents: the scroll-bar ScreenTip and the Document Map. The ScreenTip is a pop-up message that appears when you drag...

Hardware. (help screen).
May 1, 2002... How fast is your processor?. Q I recently finished building a new computer. The system works well, however, when I run the Windows XP system information utility it tells me that my processor is a 750MHz AMD Athlon. My BIOS says the same...

Supercookies: you are being watched. (bugs & fixes).
May 1, 2002... If you're a fan of Microsoft's Windows Media Player, you need to know that the sites you visit may be tracking your movements on the Web without your knowledge. According to recent findings (www.computerbytesman.com/privacy/ supercookie.htm) by...

Internet. (help screen).
May 1, 2002... Spam address scam Q I recently received an e-mail telling me that a message I had apparently sent was undeliverable. The e-mail gave a list of addresses with various errors like `550 invalid recipient' and appended to it was the text of...

General. (help screen).
May 1, 2002... Print multiple photos on one page Q I want to print two or three photographs on a single page. I have Adobe PhotoDeluxe Business Edition, which doesn't appear to have this feature. Is there a way around this limitation? -- Bill...

IT skills for small business. (skills).
May 1, 2002... Many small businesses have to contend with intense competition, small margins and plenty of expenses. Trained, competent staff are a must to survive and, as such, some basic IT training or experience is often a prerequisite for employment in...

Upgrading & Troubleshooting Your Mac: Mac OS X Edition. (on the shelf).
May 1, 2002... BY GENE STEINBERG Incorporating coverage of the new features in Mac OS X 10.1, this book is targeted towards all user levels -- including relative newbies -- and contains all the necessary content to make it a true Bible-like resource. ...