Australian PC World articles from November 2001

Australian PC World archives from November 2001

Technology tested.
November 1, 2001... The tragic events in the US tested the true strength of the Internet as a global communications medium. While the Net community quickly rallied to show support for the victims of terrorist attacks on a large scale, those who want to cause...

Merger affects consumers.
November 1, 2001... A new computer colossus looms: the combined Hewlett-Packard and Compaq. In September, HP stunned the IT industry by announcing it will acquire Compaq in an all-stock purchase valued, at the time, at $US25 billion. Should the deal go...

Ximian to ease Linux use -- for a fee.
November 1, 2001... Open-source software developer Ximian has announced a fee-based version of Red Carpet, its service for downloading, installing and maintaining applications on Linux and UNIX computers. Red Carpet works with a variety of Linux distributions...

Nintendo's Gamecube hits the shelves in Japan.
November 1, 2001... In September, Nintendo launched its much-awaited Gamecube console in Japan, providing the first of two coming challenges to the dominance of Sony's (SCEI) PlayStation 2 console. Nintendo hopes to sell around 1.4 million consoles in Japan by the...

Bus without a licence.
November 1, 2001... The storm has been brewing for months, but it finally erupted in September when first Intel and then VIA filed lawsuits against each other over patent infringements associated with Intel's Pentium 4 processor. Intel struck first, alleging that...

Facelift for Pocket PC.
November 1, 2001... Microsoft has announced the first revision of its Pocket PC operating system for personal digital assistants, an OS that has been steadily gaining ground on market-leading rival Palm since its April 2000 launch. By Microsoft's own...

Trend Micro gets patent on AV for Java, ActiveX.
November 1, 2001... Antivirus vendor Trend Micro has been granted a patent on a system designed to fight viruses and other malicious code sent through Java and ActiveX. The patent covers the use of antivirus for mobile code, defined as Java and ActiveX,...

Borders Books delays face-scanning plan.
November 1, 2001... Bookstore chain Borders Group has suspended a trial plan to implement Facelt face recognition software in two stores in the UK capital, pending a review of legal and human rights issues, spokeswoman Jenny Carlen said. The software, sold by...

StarOffice on the horizon.
November 1, 2001... Sun Microsystems is preparing the release of the next version of its open-source office productivity suite, attempting to gather grass roots support to position the software as a viable competitor to Microsoft's Office XP suite. The vendor said...

Quick-footed robots.
November 1, 2001... It was a tight finish -- 7-6, in fact -- but "Lynchie's Androids" held out against "The Waggles" to retain the crown of RoboCup Junior champions in the soccer grand final of the RoboCup Junior Australia National Finals recently held in...

Seiko, Nike put flexible LCD into watch.
November 1, 2001... Seiko Instruments and Nike have applied some of the latest LCD (liquid crystal display) technology in a new watch they jointly developed. Nike wanted to make its new Triax Speed and Triax Stamina watches curved so they could fit closely...

Sony gets cute with new Aibo models.
November 1, 2001... Sony unveiled a new version of its pet robot, Aibo. In the 12 months since the company launched its previous model, Aibo has been given a facelift and improved speech recognition. The new Aibo, Sony's third and arguably cutest model yet,...

Not-so-happy birthday?
November 1, 2001... With the PC turning 20 this year, one could be excused for thinking it is a time for celebration. For many vendors, though, it has been far from a happy time. Overall, PC sales have slumped. The latest IDC figures on the state of the PC...

PowerQuest updates partition program.
November 1, 2001... PowerQuest's PartitionMagic software gives WinXP users more control of their hard drive and other data storage. PartitionMagic can create, resize, move, split, delete or undelete partitions on the hard drive without damaging key data. The...

NEC develops fuel cell for handhelds.
November 1, 2001... The days of racing to get work done before the notebook battery runs out of juice may soon be over. NEC and two Japanese Government-affiliated research institutes -- Japan Science and Technology, and the Institute of Research and Innovation --...

Telstra under fire from ACCC.
November 1, 2001... In what has become a common occurrence this year, Telstra's ADSL offering has taken another bashing. This time it was from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, which issued Telstra with a Competition Notice on the grounds that it...

Optus@Home customer satisfaction high.
November 1, 2001... A study by ACNielsen.consult has found that over 90 per cent of Optus@Home residential broadband users have remained satisfied with their broadband experience in the period between May and July of this year. This figure is quite high in light...

AFL deal a fillip for Telstra's broadband offering.
November 1, 2001... Telstra's plans to increase its supply of broadband content has been given a boost with the recent signing of a rights deal with the Australian Football League. The deal, rumoured to be worth upwards of $20 million, comes into effect on 1...

The Net's toughest test.
November 1, 2001... At press time, it has been less than two weeks since the terrorist attacks in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania. These events marked the first time that such a graphic disaster has happened since the popularisation of the Internet. How did...

Dot-com has-beenz.
November 1, 2001... The operation of incentive-based rewards company Beenz.com has come to a halt. The company shut up shop in August. "Pursuant to the Terms and Conditions - Membership Agreement of beenz.com, the operation of the beenz economy will be...

Yahoo Shopping hits the e-books.
November 1, 2001... Stating that it expects demand to increase in the so-far lumbering e-books market, Yahoo has launched a new e-books category for its Yahoo Shopping online commerce destination, boasting titles from four major publishers. The portal sealed...

File swapping growing.
November 1, 2001... File-swapping fans are more active than ever, downloading billions of free files in August from four leading peer-to-peer sharing systems, according to a report released by entertainment researcher Webnoize. Over 3 billion files were...

AltaVista: page not found.
November 1, 2001... If you were searching for a Web page created between mid-April this year and early September on any of the 22 regional AltaVista search sites, the results were a bit dated, as many users discovered. No new Web pages had been added to the...

Chip, set and match.
November 1, 2001... A chipset connects the processor to memory, hard drive, video adapters and all the other components of the machine (see tech.files, August 2000, page 20). It's the core around which a motherboard is built and usually consists of two chips...

Intel pushes new technology.
November 1, 2001... Intel trotted out representatives from some of its future technologies to offer updates and field questions at the recent Intel Developer Forum in Sydney. According to Steve Whalley, manager of the Always Connected computing initiative at...

Intel cancels 2GHz Xeon, opts for 2.2GHz.
November 1, 2001... Intel has decided not to launch the expected 2GHz version of its Xeon processor for dual-processor servers this year, opting instead to launch a 2.2GHz version early in the first quarter of next year, the company said. US-based Intel...

Wireless Networker; SpringPort Wireless Ethernet Module; Wireless LAN Module.
November 1, 2001... PDA MODULES Using a wireless network has obvious benefits: you can browse the Web and send e-mail without worrying about cables. Now PDA users can enjoy such advantages, thanks to new adapters for Palm, Handspring and Pocket PC PDAs that...

Ulead MediaStudio Pro 6.5.
November 1, 2001... VIDEO-EDITING APPLICATION Hot on the heels of Adobe's significant upgrade to video-editing market leader Premiere, Ulead has updated its application, MediaStudio Pro 6.5. Professional DV applications have a reputation for being...

Logitech MOMO Force.
November 1, 2001... GAMING DEVICE Once you come to grips with the fact that you've shelled out $500 for a gaming steering wheel, you realise you expect a lot from this device. The name MOMO (www.momo.it), which is synonymous with racing paraphernalia, is not...

Virtual Drive 6.1.
November 1, 2001... UTILITY If you've ever waited for a CD-ROM to catch up to the action while you play a game on your PC, you'll appreciate Farstone Technology's CD emulator, Virtual Drive 6.1. A CD emulator copies data from a CD to a virtual CD-ROM drive on...

Roxio GoBack Deluxe 3.
November 1, 2001... BACKUP SOFTWARE Software that protects you from yourself: how many utilities promise that? By backing up changes to your hard drive in real-time, Roxio's $155 GoBack Deluxe 3 can restore your drive to virtually any recent state, whether...

Dantz Retrospect Express 265.
November 1, 2001... BACKUP SOFTWARE Backing up your data is a necessary evil, and Retrospect Express amply fits the bill as a simple and easy-to-use backup utility. Dantz may not ring any bells for Windows users but it has a long backup history on the...

QPS Que SuperDisk 240MB.
November 1, 2001... STORAGE If you'd like to use those 3.5in floppy disks you have left over from the mid-1990s, then you might fancy QPS's Que SuperDisk 240MB external drive. The $419 USB unit supports 240MB and 120MB SuperDisk media as well as standard...

Sony SDMN80.
November 1, 2001... LCD MONITOR Sony recently expanded its range of Flat Panel LCD monitors with the introduction of the 18.1in SDMN80. It debuts with the same metallic, slim, trim and sexy Sony LCD characteristics evident in the 15-in SDMN50. Brushed...

Minolta Dimage 7.
November 1, 2001... DIGITAL CAMERA New 5-megapixel digital cameras are shooting bigger and more colourful pictures than ever. With one of these shooters, your photos can be detailed enough to display at even 8x10in print size. The latest cameras are a...

Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum eX.
November 1, 2001... SOUND CARD The new Audigy cards feature Dolby Digital 5.1, a 96KHz DAC, a 100dB signal to noise ratio (SNR) and the ability to perform 24-bit analog to digital/digital to analog conversions at 48KHz. The 32-bit effects engine is capable of...

Apac LV210.
November 1, 2001... MP3 CD PLAYER While MP3 CD players are undoubtedly better value than most other portable MP3 devices on the market, they definitely have a long way to go before they feature the functionality and user friendliness of some of the less...

Round 'em up and head 'em out.
November 1, 2001... There was a cow hide-covered office seat in the showroom of Gregory Chairs, a manufacturer based in one of Sydney's far-flung western suburbs. The chair was one of a series made for Gateway Computers. Attempts to buy it (for aesthetic rather...

Scriptless spells disaster.
November 1, 2001... My Linux-based VarLinux.org experienced a disk crash recently. Prior to this, I had equipped my server with two IBM model DTLA 46GB ATA100 hard drives with SMART (Self-Monitoring Analysis and Reporting Technology); I had planned to use one for...

Vote 1: Remote.
November 1, 2001... If death, taxes and Microsoft profits are certainties, then uncertainty can be defined by trying to pick a federal election date. Maybe by the time you read this... It costs a lot to run an election, but they keep calling 'em. Consider...

Reader's forum.
November 1, 2001... Mobile manners In response to your article ["Poms die by the phone", October 2001 page 18], motorists who use a mobile phone while driving should adopt a common sense approach and give their full attention to the operation of the vehicle,...

Chat in full colour.
November 1, 2001... This month's Web and You has everything you need to start video chatting online. Read on for the current state of video chat -- especially when it comes to performance, profiles of video chat tools and details of which webcam to buy. ...

Windows XP SPECIAL REPORT.
November 1, 2001... The NEW Windows eXperience This month, the launch of Windows XP fulfils Microsoft's dream of having a unified 32-bit platform. Windows NT and 2000 users have benefited from a stable operating system for years. Now the rest of the Windows...

Mother of all boards.
November 1, 2001... The word motherboard is enough to strike fear into the heart of even the most experienced PC owner. This month, PC World demystifies this core component by explaining its functions. Here's a teaser for you: off the top of your head, do you...

Notebook special update.
November 1, 2001... Thinking of buying a notebook? Read this special update first! We have everything you need to go shopping: a buyers' guide, reviews and an update on the latest CPUs. Once upon a time, notebooks were the tools of choice for road warriors --...

Right Ways to Protect Your Net.
November 1, 2001... Companies everywhere leave back doors open to hackers and thieves -- but it doesn't have to be that way. Here are smart tips for tightening your security and protecting your business. When it was revealed that a NSW Labor MP's computer was...

Are free Web services a dying breed?
November 1, 2001... If you're one of the few Web surfers still looking for free stuff online, you will no longer find it at My Docs. The three-year-old Web storage company has discontinued its free service, switching entirely to a paid model. My Docs Online...

Adding the Internet to the menu.
November 1, 2001... Case study FoodDrop www.fooddrop.com.au Careful planning has allowed an Adelaide food e-marketplace to balance growth with the need for steady income for all participants. The dot-com crash made it abundantly clear that in order to...

Help Your PC Beat the Heat.
November 1, 2001... What's cooking? It may be your PC's delicate inner workings. There are ways, however, to prevent the early death of your office's PCs. Who needs a campfire when you can toast marshmallows over your PC? I'm only half joking. I recently...

best buys: HOME, SUB-2000 & BUSINESS PCs.
November 1, 2001... HOME 1 Infocom Gaming Beast This AMD-based system relies on an ASUS A7V133 motherboard and it sits in an aluminium enclosure, which, while keeping the system extremely light, is also surprisingly rigid. Internally, the system is...

best buys: NOTEBOOKS.
November 1, 2001... POWER NOTEBOOKS 1 Toshiba Satellite 3000 Toshiba has brought the total weight (notebook plus power supply) of this unit down to 3.3kg. The 3000 is comprised of an Intel Pentium III 850MHz processor, a 14.1in active TFT display, a 15GB...

best buys: MOTHERBOARDS.
November 1, 2001... Many years ago, motherboards were exotic items that would be bought separately by a only a few hardcore nerds. Boxed motherboards are now aimed at the hobbyist, and are presented with detailed manuals and many software utilities designed to...

Celebrate 10: A trip down Linux lane.
November 1, 2001... This year marks a milestone in the relatively brief life of the Linux operating system: its 10th anniversary. For many people in the wider community, Linux has only recently gained prominence, yet like any "overnight sensation" the technology...

Build your own PC Step-By-Step.
November 1, 2001... You don't need a hammer, a saw, and a shelf full of home improvement books to qualify as a bona fide do-it-yourselfer. For computer aficionados, building your own PC is the ultimate do-it-yourself project -- and you don't even need to be a...

Windows tips.
November 1, 2001... A BETTER START FOR YOUR DOCUMENTS MENU You get fast access to the files opened most recently when you select Start-Documents, but only the last 15 files you worked on are visible from this menu. Want to view more than 15? Here are several of my...

Customise folders.
November 1, 2001... The Windows environment folders form an integral part of data management and organisation, so it makes sense to have them tuned up and displaying their information to your liking. Having to customise a folder every time you open it can be a...

Create a firewall.
November 1, 2001... The powerful Windows 2000 Policies feature is buried deep under a cascade of wizards and dialogues, making it difficult and non-intuitive to use. In this column, I'll show you how to use the IP Security Policies feature to block access to the...

Customisation tips.
November 1, 2001... From the display properties to the folder layouts to the start menu to the taskbar to the desktop, Windows XP can be manhandled and moulded into a few different shapes to look prettier and help you get around your programs and files more...

Configuring sound.
November 1, 2001... You've installed Linux on your PC and are now looking to implement the functionality of your sound card. This month's Here's How demonstrates the use of specific setup tools as well as manual configurations. In order to play sound you will...

Virtual memory.
November 1, 2001... Has your brand-new Mac already given you out of memory errors? Can't understand why 256MB of RAM still doesn't seem enough for OS 9.1 to open more than a few of your favourite programs? Read on. One notable difference between Mac OS 9.1 and...

Audio utilities.
November 1, 2001... Most people who have been using computers for some time will have gathered a collection of handy applications that they just can't do without. Often small and dedicated to a narrow set of tasks, these utilities can fill in some of the gaps that...

Slideshows.
November 1, 2001... One of the problems with using your PC to store photographs is that it can be difficult to enjoy them. Opening and closing images one at a time can be intensive and tedious. Thumbnails are handy for finding an image, but sometimes you want to...

Headings, lists and image tips.
November 1, 2001... HEADINGS Previous columns have discussed how to change the size of text by using the FONT command. For example: Text here You can achieve the same result using `heading' tags while also reducing the amount you need to type. There are...

Collecting user data.
November 1, 2001... There are two stages to receiving data from Web users: the first is to provide an interface to interact with, and the second is to retrieve this information. The most common way to do this is through the Common Gateway Interface (CGI),...

OPERATING SYSTEMS.
November 1, 2001... WINDOWS 9x Keep others off your PC Q How do I make my computer secure? Password-protecting Windows doesn't do much -- all someone has to do to get on my PC is press . -- Name withheld A The Windows log-on password doesn't...

OFFICE APPLICATIONS.
November 1, 2001... MICROSOFT WORD Create easy mail merges Word's Mail Merge command lets you fill in the blanks on a master document with information from a `data source'. What does that mean in English? Let's say you have a letter you need to send to...

INTERNET.
November 1, 2001... Send browser pop-ups to their deserved demise I know how many browser windows I want open at any particular time, and it's usually just one. So it drives me nuts when sites use their Web programming wiles to open extra browser windows on my...

HARDWARE.
November 1, 2001... Will a new CPU give your PC more vroom? If you think you can feed your need for PC speed without investing in a whole new system, simply by replacing your old CPU with a newer and faster one, you're right -- probably. A CPU upgrade can be a...

bugs & fixes.
November 1, 2001... Problems in Windows 2000 Service Pack 2 It seems a common occurrence that Windows service packs can apparently introduce just as many new bugs as they fix. Since the June release of Windows 2000 SP2, the number of new articles for fixing...

Windows XP Training Options.
November 1, 2001... There is definitely a mixed reaction to the preparedness of training institutions for the October launch of Windows XP. Reactions from institution representatives included "you must be talking about Office XP training", "We will wait until we...

Windows XP Course Providers.
November 1, 2001... Excom www.excom.com.au (03) 9696 7707 * Two different one-day courses Educom www.educom.com.au (02) 9957 1633 * Courses available at the end of the year ITC Learning www.itca.com.au (02) 9438 2500 * Online or...

Teach Yourself Visually Digital Photography.
November 1, 2001... Teach Yourself Visually Digital Photography BY ELAINE MARMEL If you're interested in learning more about digital photography but don't want to spend a whole lot of time reading, this book may be the answer. Titles in the Teach Yourself...

Photoshop Studio Secrets, 3rd Edition.
November 1, 2001... Photoshop Studio Secrets, 3rd Edition BY DEKE MCCLELLAND, KATRIN EISMANN, AND JENNIFER ALSPACH This is not a book for Photoshop beginners, and it makes no attempt to teach that package. Intermediate or advanced users who want to learn...

Just for Fun.
November 1, 2001... Just for Fun BY LINUS TORVALDS AND DAVID DIAMOND For those who have watched the rise of open source and Linux with interest, this autobiography of Linus Torvalds gives an insight into the man behind the phenomenon. Alongside the...

web.
November 1, 2001... Auction oddities www.whowouldbuythat.com Ever since the rise of online auctions, there have been occasional news reports of odd items being offered for sale -- souls, drugs, nuclear submarines and the like. Now there's a Web site dedicated...

editor's choice.
November 1, 2001... Buying online www.esquare.com.au, www.acpn.com.au, www.greengrocer.com.au Despite the famous dot-com disaster, the use of the Internet for commercial applications proceeds apace. Australian companies are working hard to find ways...

Cam phone.
November 1, 2001... Nokia's latest mobile phone, the J-NM01, has a built-in 70,000-pixel digital still camera, which is displayed through a 2in, 256-colour screen. Standby time is 300 hours with 120 minutes of talk time, and the handset measures only 49x94x25mm...

Handheld hybrid.
November 1, 2001... This hybrid mobile phone and PDA is likely to be fairly pricey, but it will come with a 4in, 256-colour touchscreen display. Based on a 206MHz Intel StrongArm processor, the PC-EPhone has 32MB of memory, USB and infrared IrDA interfaces and a...

Advanced webcam.
November 1, 2001... The Creative PC-Cam 300 has the usual small 640x480 CCD sensor, but better quality than most webcams plus the ability to go walkabout. Its 8MB of onboard memory can hold 128 snapshots, 75 seconds of video, or up to 30 minutes of audio, making...

Fist fighter.
November 1, 2001... Input device maker Thrustmaster has possibly missed the point of game consoles -- that they're used by people who want to sit on their behinds while making a virtual person do all the work. Built for PlayStation owners, Thrustmaster's Fighting...

Little big disk.
November 1, 2001... Toshiba has managed to squeeze a 5GB hard disk drive into a Type II PC Card -- a development that will be welcomed by road warriors and users of portable digital multimedia devices everywhere. At 5GB the drive has greater capacity than a DVD...

Board at the office.
November 1, 2001... The Microsoft Office Keyboard is designed to integrate with the company's popular productivity applications, and features a host of programmable buttons preset to common functions. Among its unusual features are a scrolling wheel at the left,...

Card board.
November 1, 2001... Another keyboard with an unusual feature, the Smart Card Reader Keyboard can not only read to smart cams, but also write to them. This ability can be used to restrict access to cardholders for security, as well as to program cams for various...

Pygmy PC.
November 1, 2001... Toshiba claims the Genio is the world's smallest and lightest Pocket PC device. It includes a 3.5in colour screen, 32MB of memory and support for both MP3 audio and MPEG-4 video. Like many other Pocket PCs, it uses Intel's 206MHz StrongArm...