Announcements

Download of the Week

We have another terrific (and free) download for ya this week. It's called Ace FTP. It's used to transfer files to and from FTP sites (I know, it doesn't apply to everyone, but if you have your own website you'll like it). We've been using it to manage the WorldStart site and it's been great. For more info, head to our homepage and check out the Download of the Week section:

http://www.worldstart.com

New Stuff

As you may have noticed, we've been doing a lot of updates to the WorldStart site. The sidebar buttons are new, the store now has pictures next to the mini-descriptions on the index pages, and we've added a new book store (we partnered with Amazon.com for that one).

In the book store, we've put together a collection of books we feel are some of the best how-to references for computer users. So, instead of trying to figure out what the best book to buy is, try our store :-)

OK, here's the link to the bookstore:

http://www.worldstart.com/bookstore/index.htm

And here's the new & improved software store:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/index.htm

Coming Soon...

We are currently working on updating our online computer tips section. We hope to have it completed within a week or two. Oh, if you want to browse through the (already huge) selection of tips, head to:

http://www.worldstart.com/tips/index.htm

PS - That page also has our "Top Tips" listing. Check it out.

And Finally

We've had lots of requests for AOL tips. So, we've decided to dedicate this issue to all of our AOL users (is that cheering I hear?).

However, since I know next to nothing about AOL, I'm going to turn the rest of the newsletter over to our "Cool Site" guy, Jonathon.

Enjoy!

Computers 101

Q:
Why do my graphics look so bad on AOL's web browser?

A:
Yay! A Computers 101 for the AOL users out there!

OK OK.. Stop being so excited.. sheesh :-)

If you browse the web with AOL, you know that sometimes graphics just don’t look so perty. Never fear! I’m here to show you how to turn off the built in image compression.

AOL says this image compression helps images download faster. Blah! This may be, but a typical human can't see any significant difference in speed between having compression on vs off. In fact, the only thing this Image Compression seems to be good at is converting nice looking graphics and photos into something that appears to have gotten messed up in Captain Kirk's transporter.

I'll walk you through how to turn this off, but note that I'm using AOL 7.0. If you use AOL 6 (or even 5), there shouldn't be any major differences in the way this works.

1) Log On to AOL.

2) Go to Keyword: Preferences

3) Under the Organization Menu, click the Internet Properties WWW link.

Your AOL Internet Properties Panel will pop up.

4) There are several tabs to choose from. Choose the Web Graphics Tab.

5) By default, Always Compress Graphics should be selected. If you enjoy crisp clear graphics, choose the Never Compress Graphics option.

6) Click "OK"

Congrats! Your graphics should be lookin' good from now on.

Have a question for the newsletter? Submit it at the link below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitquestion.htm

Tip of the Day

Don't use AOL's included browser!

Web Link - http://www.worldstart.com/tips/orgmydoc.htm

Have you ever been on a website using AOL and the browser crashes? (Or better yet, have you ever been on a site and not had it crash?)

What happens? That's right.. The whole AOL program crashes. As for whatever you were doing, kiss it good-bye.

Another bad thing about the AOL browser is the way it limits the amount of space you have to view a website in its entirety and intended design.

I know while viewing Worldstart.com in AOL, the browser only uses the middle portion of your screen when you’re running an 800x600 resolution. At lower resolutions everything will get scrunched up and scroll bars start to appear where scroll bars weren’t designed to be. There are two things you can do.

1) Maximize the browser window within AOL to its full extent. That helps websites look more like they were designed to. You still run a high risk of AOL crashing and loosing whatever you were viewing or working on with this option but, hey, at least you’ll crash in style!

2) This is the best option. Use Internet Explorer (or Netscape in if you like).

You can open Internet Explorer through your "Quick Launch" toolbar (the icon looks like a little blue "e").

You can also find it by clicking the Start Menu and choosing "Programs."

This option is great because if you're on a website and the browser crashes, AOL won’t feel the need to crash along with it. Websites also seem to look much better with a non-AOL browser.

Hot Hot TIP! Another way to open up Internet Exploder.. Oops.. I mean, Internet Explorer is to click your Start button, then go to Run, then type in “iexplore” or “iexplore.exe”. Then hit OK.

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/submitatip.htm

Cool Site of the Day

Playing With Doppler

Have you ever wanted to check out Doppler radar maps but missed them on the news? This cool site gives you a map of the US and you can click on a button and see the Doppler radar live.

Who knew the internet could be so handy?

http://www.crh.noaa.gov/radar/

Do you have a cool site that you want to share? Send it to us! Here's the address:

jonathon@worldstart.com

Oh, and we're looking for non-commercial sites. We generally don't run sites that are strictly for shopping.