TechMay 29, 1998 Is it just me, or are the new computer models superseding the old ones so quickly that it seems to be a blur? Recently I mentioned to the guys at my favorite computer store that I would be building a new PC to replace the three-year-old dinosaur in my home office. Once, the day I brought the cute little DX66 computer home, it WAS fast. Compared to the computers at work it was like a lightning bolt. I’m not entirely sure it was my imagination, but it seems like it has been gradually slowing down every day since. Way back when I asked, (six weeks ago) the…

May 19, 1998 Pick up most any newspaper and odds are there is a story somewhere about doing business on the Internet. You would think that just about everybody is making money hand over fist on this global computer network ‑ but that’s not really true. Some companies are doing exceedingly well selling everything from books to mailing lists. However, most of the business on the web involves selling exposure, not products.  Some of that gold lies in the form of the banner ad, a rectangle of information usually about the width of a postage stamp and about three quarters as wide as your screen.  The rates vary widely, and…

Tech May 11, 1998 Who’s got a handle on the difference between Cellular and Digital phone service? If you go to a technician, you may learn all about the fascinating world of analog. That’s the traditional method of modulating radio signals so that they can carry information. Yawn. Analog comes in two flavors – AM and FM – but you can just call it radio. The other approach is Digital Modulation. It’s roughly the same principal, except the information is transmitted in binary code ‑ the zeros and ones of computer language. It’s the like the difference between old vinyl recordings and the present-day CD. Yawn. Like I said –…

Tech 9814April 13, 1998 After turning on the coffee pot and pouring a bowl of fruit and fiber in the morning, many of us click on the TV set and watch the local news. There it is all laid out for us, weather – traffic – and headlines. All made possible by some pretty neat technology.  “For me it starts the night before. When I get up, first thing I do dial up the private connection to the WTKR news computer from home. I can check my office e-mail and even send instructions back to the station that the producer on duty gets right away. Next I’ll get on the…

Tech #9812March 30, 1998 Why do you think it is that we love to hate Microsoft? Personally I believe it’s because we’re all – myself included – really jealous of Bill Gates in his role as the richest guy in the known universe. Some may argue that Windows ’95 doesn’t work up to expectations. Others simply may be being defensive of their first and true love – Apple. Whatever the reason, if in fact you have something against the computer King Fish, you probably won’t like this review of Microsoft’s new Internet Explorer 4.0 package. I took the time to download the entire IE 4.0 package from the Microsoft web…

March 20, 1998 As one to advise regular backups for every computer I wanted a high-tech tool to do the same for myself. But what? My first trip to the computer hardware store had me grunting like some Tim Allen comedy routine. 230 megabyte cartridge – eew! Seven gigabyte external tape drive – uggah!  Of course that was before I tried installing this stuff. The first attempt was a SyQuest 230MB EZ Flyer. I picked that one because you can hook it up without installing extra hardware. (More on this in a moment) Just run a cable from where your printer attaches to the back of your computer and you’re…