| December 2001 | Volume 11 • Number 12 |
Debunking Urban Legends ... by Tom S. Bair, Jr.
Last month I gave a tip on how to bring up a freaky Easter Egg in any Word Processing program using Microsoft's Wingding font. The day that issue hit the streets, I received email from Darrin Mossor.
"Tom, you might want to check out the following URL: http://www.snopes2.com/rumors/wing ding.htm."
After checking out the site (and finding it fascinating), I was going to write a page-long disclosure of how the site debunked my Easter Egg. Yet after several hours of researching the site (hey, there's lots of neat stuff there!), I decided to keep it simple and quote Darrin's email. "The site, in general, debunks Urban Legends and in this case specifically indicates that there is/was no flight number like that associated with the 9/11 disaster and that the larger 'significance' is purely coincidental."
There you have it, folks. Many thanks to those readers following Darrin who also sent me email pointing out my error.
[XP] Free for the downloading at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp is this outstanding collection of utilities for XP. Eleven additional programs for Windows XP are described as follows:
Super-Fast User Switcher - allows you to switch between users on the same PC without having to go through the Logon screen.
Open Command Window Here - adds a context menu option on file system folders allowing you to quickly open a command window pointing at the selected folder.
Alt-Tab Replacement - is most helpful when multiple sessions of an application are open at the same time. In addition to seeing the icon of the application window you are switching to, you also see a preview of the page.
Tweak UI - gives you access to system settings normally not accessible in the Windows XP default user interface. You can quickly reconfigure your mouse settings, taskbar settings, Explorer settings, and much more.
Power Calculator - allows you to graph and evaluate functions, along with the ability to perform many different types of conversions.
Image Resizer - allows you to resize one or many image files with a right-click of your mouse.
CD Slide Show Generator - lets you view images burned to a CD as a slide show.
Taskbar Magnifier - will magnify part of the screen from the taskbar.
Virtual Desktop Manager - gives you the ability to manage up to four desktops from the Windows taskbar.
HTML Slide Show Wizard - helps you create an HTML digital picture slide show to place on your website.
Webcam Timershot - lets you take pictures at specified time intervals from a Webcam connect to your PC and save them to a location that you designate.
This utility package is worth the time to download if just for obtaining TweakUI for Windows XP.
[2K] A few weeks ago I was called in to consult on a hardware problem by the owner of a computer service and repair shop. Seems their client had an internal Plug and Play modem for an NT computer on which they had to reconfigure the jumpers manually to work with NT.
When the client installed Windows 2000 Professional on this computer, it refused to recognize the modem. This is due to the Windows 2000 Plug and Play Manager. The simple solution is to change the modem's settings back to the default so it can be recognized.
If you no longer have the modem manual, you can go to the manufacturer's website and obtain the default jumper or dipswitch settings. We sometimes get stumped over the simple things while trouble-shooting.
[XP] ClearType screen fonts will give you extra text clarity on your display screen by smoothing all fonts at all sizes. This incredible technology makes the whole system so much easier to read. You would be amazed at the sharpness you get using a 64 MB video card and ClearType!
[XP] If you have a recordable CD drive (CD-R) or a rewritable CD drive (CD-RW), you have the power to copy (burn) files or whole folders to a CD. Windows XP features built-in CD burning. And its very easy to use.
XP now starts the "CD Writing Wizard." Let's examine it for the benefit of our less-experienced Computer users.
The first screen of the Wizard is entitled "Welcome to the CD Writing Wizard." You are offered the option to change the name of the CD-R. (Windows uses the current date as the default name for the CD-R). You can click the Next button to continue, or enter your own name for the CD-R.
If you intend to make only one copy, click on the checkbox at the bottom of the Wizard screen entitled, "Close the wizard after the files have been written."
After clicking the Next button, you will be presented with the Status screen. A progress bar will visually show you the status of the copy process, and underneath that will be a time estimate of how much longer the writing process will take.
When the CD is completed, the wizard will eject the CD (the tray door will open), and the "Completing the CD Writing Wizard" screen will appear (unless you opted to close the wizard after a single copy, in which case the process ends).
You are presented with a checkbox titled, "Yes, Write These Files to Another CD." If you wish to make another copy, click on the checkbox. Clicking the Finish button closes the wizard, or restarts it, as appropriate.
This month celebrates the third anniversary of this column. It is also the issue in which my wife, Laura, and I are able to wish you an extremely joyous Holiday Season. We hope all the trials and tribulations the citizens of our country are experiencing during this time will only cause us to become closer to one another.
Expect to see a deluge of Windows XP tips in this column over the next several months. It is my latest addiction. I love the new and enhanced features of Microsoft's latest operating system. I continue to dislike the Product Activation feature, but am learning to slowly accept the presence of it.
Please feel free to email the author with your comments about this article: Tom Bair