
Getting the Most Out of Your Old PC Hardware
Last updated 2003.05.09 @ 9:55 a.m. EDT

Recently Posted on Low End PC
- Value and cost: With a PC, you
get what you pay for, Katherine Keller, Thinking From the Box,
02.26. With the right choices, your PC can be easy to upgrade and
avoid becoming a doorstop.
- Networking 101, Dan Knight,
Online Tech Journal, 02.10. An introduction to ethernet, hubs,
switches, routers, and wireless networking.
- Pixels and points, screens and
paper, Dan Knight, Online Tech Journal, 02.06. What you see on
the screen corresponds to what you get on the printed page. A brief
history of points, pixels, and the changing face of computer
displays.
- Deliver us from evil: Thoughts on
computer self defense, Dan Knight, The Knight Line, 01.16.
"Should you have the right to take active steps to stop a
computerized attack on your computer system?"
- Why we need anti-spam
legislation, Dan Knight, The Knight Line, 01.02. "Unlike rain,
sending spam is a human behavior which can and should be covered by
law."
- older links in our
archive
PC Humor
Around the Web
- Opinion: The dark side of
software upgrades, Adam Robert Guha, Apple Archive, 05.09. New
features are great - but what about those who have to use an older
version of the program on another computer?
- Dark Side: Best Buy
& Microsoft named in scam lawsuit, Vern Seward, Mac
Observer, 05.08. Store employee scans "free" MSN disk at checkout.
Customer gets billed for MSN service he never signed up for.
- Analysis: The startup that
saved ATI, Rick Merritt, EE Times, 04.21. How the acquisition
of ArtX turned ATI from a has been into serious competition for
nVidia.
- Spam: EarthLink
wins $16 million settlement in spam case, Paul Roberts,
MacCentral, 05.08. Court awarded "$16 million in damages against a
New York state man that it alleged used illegal means to send out
more than 825 million unsolicited e-mail messages."
- Analysis: Does four-thirds stand
a chance?, Dan Knight, Digigraphica, 05.07. What is Olympus
proposing with their "four-thirds" digital standard? Does it really
stand a chance against Nikon, Canon, and other established
brands?
- Spam:
EarthLink to offer anti-spam e-mail system, Jonathan Krim,
Washington Post, 05.07. "Some experts see problems with the
technology and doubt that consumers will warm to a process that
adds another step to e-mail delivery."
- Forum:
Earthlink deploying challenge-response anti-spam system,
Slashdot, 05.07. "The problem with Challenge - Response is that it
makes the assumption that if there's not a human behind the email
that it's spam."
- Opinion: Digital
hijacking, Vern Seward, Just a Thought, Mac Observer, 05.07.
"Some Web sites load files and scripts onto your computer when you
click on a pop-up or visit some innocent seeming sites."
Spam: Government to
crack down on spam, BBC News, 05.06. "From October, a European
Union directive will make unsolicited e-mails illegal across member
states."
- Humor: Future
advertising blunders by Microsoft, Jeff Adkins, The Lite Side,
05.06. After the "butterfly backfire" and "fake switcher," what
will the folks in Redmond come up with next?
- Rights:
Record labels back software to stem piracy, Yahoo/Reuters,
05.04. "The industry's big five labels . . . have all backed the
development of counterpiracy programs" that can lock up, crash, or
slow down computers of suspected pirates.
Rights:
U.S. says Canada cares too much about liberties, Jim Bronskill,
Ottawa Citizen, 05.01. U.S. State Department report suggests Canada
"doesn't spend enough on policing and places too much emphasis on
civil liberties."
- Rights: RIAA cashes in on
file-swapping students, Ashlee Vance, The Register, 05.01. Help
others find MP3s on your school's network, get sued just as if you
were providing the files yourself.
- Hardware: PoGo! Products
releases Radio YourWay digital AM/FM radio recorder,
Mobilemag.com, 04.29. It's like TiVo for radio. Never miss your
favorite radio programs. Archive them on your computer.
- Web: New
ultra-intrusive pop-up ads introduced, Slashdot, 04.30.
"...Unicast is attempting to introduce a new on-line ad format that
takes over the entire screen of the PC for about 15 seconds and
must be closed by the viewer."
- Rights: RIAA gets
the message about IMs, Katie Dean, Wired, 04.29. "On Tuesday,
the RIAA began sending thousands of instant messages to file
traders using IM services on Kazaa and Grokster, warning them that
trading copyrighted songs is illegal."
- Opinion: Three
domains, two buyouts, one frustrated customer, Jeff Adkins, Mac
Lab Report, 05.01. From @home through attbi.com and now on to
comcast.net, it's been a year of unwanted changes for a lot of
cable Internet users.
- Advice: Conversions Plus lets
Windows users work with Mac files and drives, Alan Zisman,
Mac2Windows, 04.30. Program lets Windows users mount Mac floppies
and CDs, connect to a Mac iPod, and open and convert files from Mac
and old PC software.
- Spam:
Virginia governor signs tough anti-spam law, Steven Ginsberg,
Washington Post, 04.29. "The law, which takes effect July 1,
creates stiffer criminal penalties for spammers and allows the
state to seize some of their assets."
- Spam:
FTC: Two-thirds of e-mail spam contains false claims, Linda
Rosencrance, Computerworld, 04.29. "...the FTC is holding a
three-day Spam Forum to focus on the proliferation of unsolicited
commercial e-mail and to explore the technical, legal and financial
issues associated with it."
- Spam: Rise of the
spam zombies, Kevin Poulsen, The Register, 04.27. Spammers now
"using Trojan horses to turn the computers of innocent netizens
into secret spam zombies."
Rights: Judge
throws out case against file-sharing services, Scarlet Pruitt,
MacCentral, 04.26. Judge dismisses case, states ""It is undisputed
that there are substantial noninfringing uses for defendants'
software."
- Dark Side: Not all
Microsoft apps run on Windows Server 2003, Gregg Keizer,
TechWeb News, 04.25. "Many of the company's own applications won't
run on Windows Server 2003 without updating. Some never will."
Web: AOL
blocks BigPond mail, Kate Mackenzie, Australian IT, 04.23.
"Telstra is negotiating to have a block lifted on some of its
BigPond customers' mail being delivered to AOL and Compuserve
users."
Rights: Telemarketer reveals
tricks of trade, Bob Sullivan, MSNBC, 04.21. Epixtar Corp.
allegedly alters taped phone conversations to "prove" it is
authorized to tack $29.95 onto your phone bill.
- Opinion: The digital SLR:
Affordable or overpriced?, Dan Knight, Digigraphica, 04.25.
Digital SLRs now rival film in quality, but with smaller imagers
and much higher prices, are they ready to compete with 35mm
SLRs?
- Huh?: The
curious world of Windows, John H. Farr, Applelinks, 04.24.
"...two of the three claimed that it was impossible to delete
emails in Outlook Express without opening them first."
- Spam: E-mail
marketers sue antispammers, Daniel Tynan, MacCentral, 04.24.
"Antispammers contacted for comment seemed more amused than
concerned by the suit."
- older links in our archive
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