Announcements

Ohh, do we have an AWESOME deal this Issue!!

You'll Love This One! 

It's One Of My Favorites!

We have Microsoft PictureIt Publishing 2002 Platinum Edition on sale for only $24.97 - with FREE US SHIPPING! This retails for $59.95, so you save nearly 60%!!

Special Note - We ran this special last year for the 2001 gold edition (a step down from the current platinum edition we're offering) and sold out within hours. For days after, we received phone calls and 100+ e-mails asking when we were getting more. In addition, we received tons of e-mail from people telling us how much they liked the software and how pleased they were with their purchase. So, if you want in on this, get to the site ASAP!!

Now, you know I've looked at a lot of different desktop publishing packages over the years, and this 5 CD set is one of the best by far. And yes, I do like it better than the 2001 version. It's super-easy to use and you can create about anything your heart desires. In case you can't tell, YES, I'm really excited about this one!

You can create greeting cards, e-mail cards, calendars, newsletters, web pages, invitations, announcements, labels, animated greetings, business cards, flyers, signs, stationary, T-shirts, stickers, web photo albums, party sets, recipe cards, awards, certificates, banners, and tons more. (whew)

It also includes over 15,000 different templates, 200 font styles, 3500 sentiments, 1500+ animated greetings, 2800 sounds, and over 5000 quotes!

You can use your own photos or choose from over 250,000 different clipart images (designed by over 200 artists)! You don't need to worry about finding that perfect image anymore!

This also includes powerful photo editing tools. Remove red-eye, cut people out of photos and put them somewhere else (very cool feature), adjust brightness / contrast, add frames to your photos, turn color to B&W, and choose from 150 different special effects that turn your photos into fine art prints! Oh, you can even print multiple photos on a single page (we've had a lot of requests for that).

Putting a project together couldn't be easier. Just choose the type of project you want, then follow the prompts. You're guided through step by step. Of course, you can also go into "do it yourself mode" and create projects from scratch if you prefer.

One of the coolest features this program has is helpful little movies that show you how to do basic operations. Regular help files are good, but learning by watching is best!

I could go on and on about this one, but since the web site has so much info, I'm just going to encourage you to go check it out. Here's the link:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/picture-it-platinum.htm

Don't miss out - this will be a very hot seller and quantities are limited. Remember, we have our 30 day satisfaction guarantee - if you don't agree it's as good as I say it is, you can return it (even opened) for a prompt and courteous refund! You have nothing to lose!

Computers 101

Q: My system seems sluggish. I know it has to do with all the programs that sit in my system tray, but how can I keep these programs from running at startup?

A:
I hate it when I install programs and they insist on starting when I boot the computer. You know the drill. You install something and it places an icon in your system tray.

All those little icons you see in your system tray represent programs that are RUNNING. If a bunch of stuff loads when you start your computer, you may be maxing out your system before you launch your first regular program. So, if you find your computer getting progressively slower as you add more software, it could be that these system tray icons are, at least partially, at fault.

In addition, program running in your system tray can cause any (or all) of the following problems:

- Sluggish system speed
- Frequent lockups / illegal operations
- Software install problems
- Difficulty in running some programs

The more of these programs you have running, the more likely it is that you're going to see one or more of the problems mentioned above. Granted, System Tray programs are not the only cause for the conditions mentioned above, but they are the first place to look.

So, how do you keep all these unwanted programs at bay?

1. Click the Start button and select Run...

2. Next, type in:

msconfig

Then hit OK.

3. The System Configuration Utility should run (please note that not all computers have it installed -see note below).

4. Click the Startup tab.

5. You'll see a listing of all the stuff that starts itself when your computer does. Just uncheck the programs you don't want to load and leave the rest alone.

Note - If you don't have msconfig on your system (win 95 / 2000 doesn't) then check out Startup Control Panel at:

http://www.mlin.net/StartupCPL.shtml

It does basically the same thing.

Once you get msconfig or the program above running, you'll probably see more stuff than you bargained for. I would advise exercising caution while unchecking, especially if you're not sure about what program(s) you're suppressing. Stuff like "Scan Registry" and "System tray" are probably best left alone. If you see stuff that you recognize as being non-essential software, than uncheck it. This is one of those do at your own risk things - for sure.

If you're not sure which program is being referred to, look at the path. Sometimes the folder just before the ".exe" file can give you a clue as to what program you're dealing with.

For example, if I see something like:

"C:\program files\real\realplayer.exe"

I can guess the program in question is the ever annoying Real Player.

In general, don't disable stuff that starts like this:

"C:\Windows\"

Or stuff like this:

SysTray.exe

These are more likely to be important system files and programs. You may find that your computer won't run without them and you'll have to go into Safe mode to get things working again.

Finally, note that unchecking this stuff doesn't remove it. The idea behind having these programs start when the computer does is to give you fast, easy access to them. However, having too many of these programs running at the same time can hit you hard in the system resources department. I personally make sure anything I don't need isn't running. If I need it, I'll click on it's shortcut.

-- Steve

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

Tip of the Day

Best Windows Shortcuts - Part 2 of 3

General Shortcuts

ALT- F4 - Quit a program / Shut down

ALT-TAB - Hold down the ALT key and hit tab to cycle through open windows.

CTL-ESCAPE - Display the Start menu

SHIFT - TAB - tab backwards through a form

CTRL - X - Cut

CTRL - C - Copy

CTRL - V - Paste

F1 - Help menu

CTRL - Z - Undo

SHIFT & Restart - To restart just windows and not your whole computer, hold down the shift key when you click the OK button on the shutdown screen. Saves lots of time. (not for XP)

CRTL-TAB - Navigate tabs on a tabbed screen

Be sure to check out part 3 Monday!!

Have a tip for the newsletter? Submit it below:
http://www.worldstart.com/writers-guidelines/index.htm

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

StarryScapes

“Welcome to Loke Kun Tan's Astrophotography website which displays photographic images of celestial objects adorning our night skies. Some of the objects are visible to the naked eye, such as the bright and spectacular Comets Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp. Other objects, such as gaseous nebulae and galaxies, can be extremely faint and are visually evident only in telescopes or through long exposure photography.” Did that grab your attention? It did mine, I sure couldn’t think of a better way to say it.

Now let me tell you about these pictures; they are phenomenal. You can even choose what kind of things you want to look at: Comets, Galaxies, Nebulae, Star Clusters, or H-Alpha.

I love the Nebula section, the pictures are in color and my favorite is NGC7000 North American and IC5070 Pelican Nebulae.

The color photos really take your breath away, and make great wallpaper for your desktop. However, please don’t just set these images as wallpaper, read the copyright info and ask.

http://www.starryscapes.com/etc/profile.html

Do you have a cool, non-commercial site that you want to share?
Send it to Amanda at amanda@worldstart.com