The times they are a-changin’

The times they are a-changin’, and come this weekend many Indiana readers will face the dreaded Daylight Savings Time for the first time. Since most of their computers are set to the Indiana East time zone (thoughtfully provided by Microsoft, since Indiana has until now avoided the semi-annual ritual) their clocks will be off Sunday morning, causing an unwarranted amount of consternation I’m sure.

it’s a simple thing to prepare now and avoid any lag-time in your time.

Every version of Windows from 95 on features the current time (more or less) displayed in the System Tray in the lower right corner of the screen. Double click the time and you’ll get the Date and Time Properties dialog box. Here you can adjust the actual time as well as change the date (very seldom necessary) AND change the time zone in which you reside.

It varies among the different versions but all are pretty straightforward. Instructions for 98, XP and Server 2003 are as follows:

98: Double click the time. In the dialog box adjust the time if needed, then at the bottom of the window change the time zone to Eastern Time and check the box next to Automatically adjust clock for daylight saving changes. Click Apply and OK.

XP : Double click the time. In the dialog box adjust the time if needed then click the Time Zone tab. Change the Time Zone to Eastern and the Automatically adjust clock box will appear at the bottom of the window. Check it and click Apply and OK.

If you make that change now your Sunday (or Monday) morning will be problem free. You’ll be presented with a new dialog box when you first fire up the PC advising you that your clock has been adjusted for daylight savings. Click OK and your job is done. At least until October.

Copied from GuruNews

No back up system - get one

I just received a call from a young lady that has volunteered to help with some data entry for a non-profit group. She tells me there is no back up system, therefore if the big crash comes (and it will) all her work will be lost, what can she do?

I ask a few questions about the size of the files and found that they will not be too large. I also ask if the computer had USB ports and it did. I then asked if there was a read/write CD ROM and it did. I recommended a thumb drive to save daily work. Then once a week write the complete data to CD.

This gal is thinking ahead, and will save herself hours or days of work in the future. You should be thinking ahead like she is doing.

Googles GMail

I was asked about the below post, So I went looking for more information. The below post answered the question quite well, but I might recomend Googles GMail. It is the best and you will never loose anything, ever. Please check it out at:
gmail.com.

Will I Lose My Email If I Don’t Check It ?

I just moved and was not able to check my email for 3-4 weeks. Will I still receive emails sent in that time period?

Probably, but it depends on a couple of things: the rules that your email provider might impose and just how popular you are.

But it is definitely something worth planning ahead for.

Personally I don’t think I could go for three weeks without email. Too much of my business and my life revolves around it. But I also know not everyone’s quite as addicted geeky as I am.

There are two potential problems if you don’t check or download your email for a prolonged period of time.

If you stay away long enough, your account may be suspended for inactivity. This is most common with the free accounts. Some services will let you reclaim the account within a certain amount of time, but your email and contacts may well be lost if this happens. Typically the shortest timeframe I've heard of is about a month of inactivity before your account is suspended.

Many email providers or ISPs impose a limit or "quota" on the amount of email that they will store for you. If you don't download your email for a prolonged period of time, your email simply accumulates on your provider's server until this limit is reached, and then further email is bounced back to the sender.

There are a couple of things you can do to protect yourself from situations like this.

For the three to four week timeframe, your real risk is the quota, so I'd make sure you were using a mail service that had a large quota before penalizing you. How large? It depends on how much email you get. Take a look at your incoming email rate, if you can, and do the math to make a guess as to how much you might get in the week's you'll be gone. Make sure that your email provider can handle it. In fact, make sure they can handle at least twice that, just to be safe.

I'm sure many readers are thinking "GMail!, GMail!", and that's certainly my initial reaction as well (2.7 gigabytes, as I write this, is a LOT of space). However I encourage you to do the math anyway - if you're gone for a month, that's "only" 90 megabytes per day. If you're a heavy email user, or are on lists that regularly send around large attachments, it's possible that's not quite enough.

If you can, suspend your subscriptions to mailing lists while you're away. Much like stopping the newspaper delivery at home when you take a vacation, this is a quick and easy way to slow the rate at which your inbox fills up.

You'll also want to check with your email provider to see how long they'll let the account remain untouched before suspending it. The good news is that most paid accounts will stay active as long as you keep paying.

If your account would be suspended within your planned absence, then you'll want to make arrangements of some sort. The simplest is to make sure you have a way of logging in occasionally before time runs out. Alternately you could have a (very) trusted friend do that for you. If you're lucky enough to have a responsive ISP, you might even be able to contact them beforehand, and make arrangements to have the suspension "time out" lifted for your account.

In general, you're most at risk with free email accounts. These providers are constantly having to prune inactive accounts to recover their resources. Time limits and quotas are a common method. In my opinion it's yet another reason to never use free email accounts for anything truly important.

Copied from:
http://ask-leo.com/

Never, never, ever

Never, never, under any circumstances, should you even consider uninstalling any software before you are absolutely certain it has been shut down completely. No exceptions. This is one of those no-nos that you can get away with for a long time - until you don't. Try it with Zone Alarm, for example, and you'll never do it again. Trust me on that.

Have you seen RipleyCounty Dot Net

I just bought a new computer

Q.
I just bought a new computer and want to move some of the programs on my old computer to my new one, especially Microsoft Office. How can this be done.

A.
You said move, and this is an important word. Copy may not be legal, you must read the licensing that you agreed to when you installed the software or activated the computer. Yes I know no one ever reads it, we just check the agree box and go on with the installing. Most software companies state that you may only use their software on one computer at a time. This means you can reload it on your new computer but then it must be deleted on the old one. You just have to read the licence to know what they permite.

Now to answer what you ask, It is very difficult to copy or move a program from hard drive to hard drive. There are expencive programs that will try to do this, but I have found they work poorly at best. Here is one, but there are many to choose from. You should do a clean install then move the files that were created with the program. Most files will be stored in "My Documents" folder. You can copy them on to CD, thumdrive, or network. You say, "I don't have the CD as it was installed on my computer when I bought it?" Well, to make a long story very short, You most likely are out of luck. Some times Microsoft Office comes as a three month trial on new machines. You then pay the money to keep it working after the trial period on that computer. Most likely you will not have the install diskettes as it was loaded on the hard drive. Here again you are out of luck. This is called OEM (pronounced as separate letters) short for original equipment manufacturer. OEM software is not to be transferred from the computer it came on, "end of story".

It is always best to buy a computer with nothing except the OS (operating system) but this is hard to do with the name brands such as Dell, Gateway, E-machine, or HP. Make sure you get the OS and any program dissects. This may be imposible, but you can ask anyway. Some years ago Compact supplied me with a complete set of CDs, after I complained big time.

Some times the software to do work with the computer will be more expensive than the computer itself.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Have you seen TownOfVersailles Dot Com yet ?

The History of Aspirin

The father of modern medicine was Hippocrates, who lived sometime between 460 B.C and 377 B.C. Hippocrates was left historical records of pain relief treatments, including the use of powder made from the bark and leaves of the willow tree to help heal headaches, pains and fevers.

By 1829, scientists discovered that it was the compound called salicin in willow plants which gave you the pain relief.

According to "From A Miracle Drug" written by Sophie Jourdier for the Royal Society of Chemistry: "It was not long before the active ingredient in willow bark was isolated; in 1828, Johann Buchner, professor of pharmacy at the University of Munich, isolated a tiny amount of bitter tasting yellow, needle-like crystals, which he called salicin. Two Italians, Brugnatelli and Fontana, had in fact already obtained salicin in 1826, but in a highly impure form. By 1829, [French chemist] Henri Leroux had improved the extraction procedure to obtain about 30g from 1.5kg of bark. In 1838, Raffaele Piria [an Italian chemist] then working at the Sorbonne in Paris, split salicin into a sugar and an aromatic component (salicylaldehyde) and converted the latter, by hydrolysis and oxidation, to an acid of crystallised colourless needles, which he named salicylic acid."

Henri Leroux had extracted salicin, in crystalline form for the first time, and Raffaele Piria succeeded in obtaining the salicylic acid in its pure state.

The problem was that salicylic acid was tough on stomachs and a means of 'buffering' the compound was searched for. The first person to do so was a French chemist named Charles Frederic Gerhardt. In 1853, Gerhardt neutralized salicylic acid by buffering it with sodium (sodium salicylate) and acetyl chloride, creating acetylsalicylic acid. Gerhardt's product worked but he had no desire to market it and abandoned his discovery.

Felix HoffmanIn 1899, a German chemist named Felix Hoffmann, who worked for a German company called Bayer, rediscovered Gerhardt's formula. Felix Hoffmann made some of the formula and gave it to his father who was suffering from the pain of arthritis. With good results, Felix Hoffmann then convinced Bayer to market the new wonder drug. Aspirin was patented on March 6, 1889.

The folks at Bayer came up with the name Aspirin, it comes from the 'A" in acetyl chloride, the "spir" in spiraea ulmaria (the plant they derived the salicylic acid from) and the 'in' was a then familiar name ending for medicines.

Aspirin was first sold as a powder. In 1915, the first Aspirin tablets were made. Interestingly, Aspirin and Heroin were once trademarks belonging to Bayer. After Germany lost World War I, Bayer was forced to give up both trademarks as part of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919.

Web site reference: http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blaspirin.htm

For a scholarly well referenced work on the history of Aspirin, see:
http://www.medicine.mcgill.ca/mjm/v02n02/aspirin.html

Also see Bayers Web site: http://www.bayeraspirin.com/questions/hundred_aspirin.htm

All of the above was taken from other Web Pages & eBay

Its really free - News Groups

Not much in this world is truly free for the taking, but if you paid your Internet bill this month you can have an almost unlimited supply of information, knowledge, and fun. It is there for the taking, but even the most geekie nerds seem not to use it. I have used this service ever sense, Well a long time anyway. OK - enough, Its called the "News Groups" or "Usenet".

One source of both information and communication is newsgroups. A newsgroup is a continuous public discussion about a particular topic. You can join a newsgroup at any time to become part of a huge conversation between hundreds or even thousands of people.

Newsgroups originated in North Carolina back in 1979. That's when a couple of Duke University students hooked a few computers together to start an exchange of information with other UNIX users. Just down the road at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, another student was writing software that could be used to distribute the information. Eventually, the work of these three students became the first bastion of newsgroups, termed Usenet.

Newsgroups are most effective when:

* You don't need an immediate answer.
* You want to communicate with more than one person.
* You want to communicate with a group of people interested in the same topic.
* You need or want to provide extensive information about that topic.

The above was taken from: How Stuff Works Dot Com
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/newsgroup.htm
Go there to read everything you ever wanted to know on this and other subjects. How Stuff Works can do a much better job of telling you how it works and how to use it than I ever could.

One thing I may caution you on, as with anything, there are dangers, You should not post anything that will give away information that can come back and haunt you later, such as your personal information. I never post my real name, address, or email. Keep your eye on the kids if they have access. There are groups that contain porn, illegal movie, and music downloads.

If you like e-books there is a wealth just for the taking. Want the words to a song, or how to make ice cream, its all here. There are over 50,000 topics to choose from.

If you want a dedicated program other than the one you have (Outlook Express) you can download: "GrabIt" for free. Read or download it here:
http://shemes.com/
On this website you can find GrabIt, one of the easiest binary Usenet downloader in the world. With GrabIt you can search and download MP3 files, pictures, movies, software, games and more on USENET news servers, without downloading gigabytes of headers. The program features NZB file support, automatic batch downloading of multiple binaries at once, advanced error checking, filter options, multiple server support and more. You can also choose to save the downloaded files with a custom prefix and resume broken downloads. It can even shut down your computer for you when all downloads are completed. All features are controlled from an easy and intuitive interface.

Get with the program, get going in the fast lane with the news groups.

XM Radio streaming audio

Do you have a XM Radio account, If so, did you know you can listen over the Internet for free? Go to:
http://listen.xmradio.com
Want to record what you hear on XM Radio or any other streaming audio? Get Audio MP3 Sound Recorder. It's not free but it is well worth the $14.95 they want to register it. The trial download has a 120 second record time limit.
I have this set-up and find that it works very well. I record in WAV format, then edit the file in a program called Cool Edit Pro.
Adobe Systems Incorporated acquired the technology assets of Syntrillium Software in May 2003. On August 18th, 2003 Adobe released a rebranded version of Cool Edit Pro 2.1 as Adobe Audition™ software.
This is a top of the line editor and very expensive but there are many lower priced programs that will do the trick. Search Google to find a few.

Then change the WAV file to MP3 with Free Mp3 Wma Converter

Say the Time

Copied from: windows.fileoftheday.com/

Get organized -- the fun and easy way! Say the Time will keep you on schedule by automatically announcing the date, time or both at specified intervals using a pleasant male or female voice. Keep track of important time commitments with fully-customizable appointment reminders. Transform your boring taskbar time display into a colorful clock that can display both the date and the time. Download Your Free Trial The cost to keep it is $9.99

Get the Firefox Facts!

There are many different aspects to Mozilla's Firefox, do you know about them all?
Firefox Facts is the definitive guide when it comes to using the world's most famous alternative browser. Inside the pages of this eBook you will get tips and tweaks to make your browsing experience better. You will also get reviews of some of the best known and the less known extensions as well. [Download Now!]

Reverse phone number lookup

You can do people and business searches on many sites but the online directory at http://www.anywho.com/ offers a fairly unique option… Reverse phone number lookup.

The next time you get a mysterious message to call a number with no other information just visit AnyWho and input it. As long as the number is listed somewhere in the US you’ll get a response within seconds.

Town of Versailles Dot Com

The Town of Versailles Dot Com will be edited by my good friend Ralph Stenger from this day and into the future. The page address will remain the same but will be off the net for a day or so. Good luck to Ralph in his new adventure as a Web Editor. View the page at:
TownOfVersailles.com

Writely, The Web Word Processor

Great news from Google,
Share documents instantly & collaborate real-time.
Pick exactly who can access your documents.
Edit your documents from anywhere.
Nothing to download -- your browser is all you need.
Store your documents securely online.
Offsite storage plus data backup every 10 seconds.
Easy to use.
Clean, uncluttered screens with a familiar, desktop feel.

Now here is the bad news, You have to wait to get it.
Go sign up now at:
http://www2.writely.com/info/WritelyOverflowWelcome.htm

ALERT ! McAfee's anti-virus software went wild

Alert ! If you use McAfee's anti-virus software please read this report.
Click HERE

This is not a hoax - I seen it destroy an OS today.

Its a nice place "Versailles"

As promised I have added some new photos to the Town of Versailles web page. Some of the old ones are there too. I hope to finish this page in the near future, so please keep checking on it. You may find it at:
http://www.TownOfVersailles.com
There are links from RipleyCounty Dot Net & WB9OTX Dot Com also By the way, its For Sale

Cool evening - photo by: J Demaree

I took this photo while trying to get a picture of some deer. I did not see any deer but captured this photo just as darkness was falling. This cabin is located just West of the Versailles State Park entrance or across from the Versailles Legion Park. It was a cool evening, thus the smoke from the fireplace.

Virtual Drive

I notice a few computer companies are putting the operating system on a small partition then configuring a very large partition for storage. Novice users think they are out of hard drive space when they actually have loads of room. You can check this out by looking at the file tree. Do this with my computer program. If there is an Icon on your desk top click it, if not click Start > My Computer. Look inside the window that pops up, you should see "Hard Disk Drives" one should be "C" if there is one called "D", this is the Virtual Drive. That is unless you have two physical hard drives. I think you would know if you have two hard drives though, Most store bought computers do not have two. Do not confuse hard drives with removable storage. This refires to CD, DVD, Zip Drives, etc. If you have a Virtual Drive store your files there. When the big crash comes you can eliminate the Virtual Drive or tell the tech to do it for you. I see no advantage of a Virtual Drive because when the operating system crashes most times you can't access the 2nd partition anyway. I say most times, it may save your data some times, but I know you had it backed up anyway. (not)

Repeat Questions

Two to three times a week someone calls to ask, "I can't shut my computer off, what do I do" ? The answer is simple, just hold the power button in for 5 or 6 seconds till it shuts off. If you have a reset button push it, this will restart the computer. After it boots up fully, shut it down the normal way with the start button. If either of these two methods will not put the lights out, pull the power plug from the wall. This always works !

Another question I get is, "I see the big blue screen of death, what do I do"? Your computer has crashed, or as I like to put it "it has a headache". Turn it off then back on.

Another one is, I have a pop-up window that states "Your computer is infected with Spyware, click here to remove it". DON'T DO IT, this is malware. (malicious ware) Try to close the window by clicking the red "X" at the top right corner. If this fails, close out your browser. Don't go back to that page in the future. The best way to prevent most of this malware and other bad things that cause you grief is to use the Fire Fox browser. Only use Microsoft's Internet Explorer (your default browser) when you must. FireFox is free at http://getfirefox.com It is 5 Meg., so give yourself some time to download it if you are using dial-up.

Hope this helps,
Jack

Free books on the Web

Listing over 25,000 free books on the Web.
Yes, I said free. Download & read.
http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

System Restore

Many of us have at one point or another installed a program or made some change that was harmful to our computer. Problems can occur when you are installing drivers for network devices (and other hardware) or another user on the network installs a program or other component that is harmful to the computer. Thankfully, XP includes a program called System Restore that addresses this issue. For example, if a user on your network accidentally deletes a program file, the computer can be easily restored without having to reinstall XP or losing any of the user’s personal data.

You can use the System Restore feature to return your computer to an earlier state (meaning, before you actually did the damage). You can do so without losing your documents, e-mail, personalized settings, browsing history, etc. The System Restore Wizard will walk you through the process of returning your computer to an earlier state making it something that even novice users can do. You can find the System Restore utility by clicking Start >All Programs > Accessories > System Tools > System Restore.

Bird-friendly backyards

Welcome to a unique source of backyard bird knowledge where you are invited to slow down just a bit, take a deep breath of nature right here on www.birdfeeding.org and discover how you can join thousands of other birders who have decided to add their yards to a rapidly-growing network of backyard bird oases all across North America.

Donna's christmas cactus

Photo by Ralph Stenger

Cell phone text message

Cell phones are everywhere now, even I have one. Did you know you can send a text message to a cell phone from your computer? Google has a page from where you can do this and it is so simple to do. I sent one to myself for a test and it worked. You do have to know what carrier the cell phone is using such as Verizon, Cingular, etc. Its free for the computer user, but will cost minutes to the cell phone user. You will have to copy & paste this URL into your brouser, or click on the link below. Give it a try.

http://toolbar.google.com/send/sms/

If It Smells Funny

I get scads of email messages and many of them “smell” funny. Anytime you get a virus warning, missing person report or outraged claim of some corporation doing something treasonous it’s always a good idea to check that message against the Snopes database. If experience counts for anything I would estimate you’ll find that 99% or more of those messages are either outright hoaxes or horribly distorted or out of date. Please don't forward this garbage on to others.
http://www.snopes.com

Resizing Photos

If resizing photos for emailing is baffling to you, try this Web page. After resizing you can click on the blue link to display the photo. Then right click to save to your hard drive. Just make sure you name it with a different file name or you will destroy the original photo. Then insert it into your email. 640 by 480 or smaller is a good size for someone on a dial-up connection.
http://www.resizepictures.com/