Announcements

Stop Pop Up Windows - And More!

Back by popular demand!!!

We get tons of requests every week for a good pop up window stopper. Seems like half the sites out there toss a pop up window in your face. So, we've decided to run this program again. Last time we mentioned it, we sold around 1500 or so. It's really a must have for anyone using the internet, that's for sure!

Well, we found an awesome CD called Internet Utilities Suite, and it not only has a fantastic pop up stopper, but also includes a lot of other handy internet toys!

iClean - This is the pop up stopper program (and I love it :-). I've been using it for about 4 months now and have been very pleased. Pop up windows simply don't get by this program. I've never come across a pop up stopper I liked better. Not only does it kill all those annoying pop up windows, but also does a lot more. Take a look:

• Stop pop up windows
• Remove internet temp files and save space
• Remove cookies placed by "spam" web servers
• Surf the web anonymously
• Easily manage internet cookies from sites you trust
• Delete history automatically
• Clear browser drop down address bar (very handy)
• Delete recent documents
• Clear AutoComplete
• And Tons More!!

In short, it allows you to surf the web without pop up windows and to cover your tracks so no one can tell where you've been. All of this is completely customizable through check boxes, so you can use only the features you want. It works with both Internet Explorer and Netscape.

In addition to the pop up stopper, you also get everything listed below! Note that each program installs separately, so you can install just what you want.

Stuff-It Standard - This program is for working with compressed files (including the popular "zip" format). It allows you to work with and create compressed files quickly and easily. It even protects against file corruption and can use encryption to protect your privacy. I started using this one over a year ago and it's been really great.

iAnnotate-it - Have you ever come across something on a web page you wanted to share with a friend? Wouldn't it be great to highlight, circle, or point out the parts you wanted to show? That's what this software does!

It lets you "mark up" a web page by highlighting, circling stuff, adding your own comments, adding "sticky notes", and more. After you're done, just send it off in an e-mail! Everyone I've shown it to has come up with lots of uses for it (and wish they would have had it a long time ago). I'm sure you'll like it too :-)

iCapture-it - Here's another handy utility. This one lets you capture a web page - or pages - for later offline viewing. In fact, not only can it grab a web page, but it also can snag all the pages linked though the captured page - up to 5 levels! What this means to you is that, in most cases, you can capture an entire web site and save it as a single file on your hard drive!

Once on your hard drive, you can browse through the info at lightening speed - no waiting for stuff to load (good for slow loading pages). Just click through the saved site like you would the online version. It's also a great insurance policy against sites that "disappear". You know, you find a valuable page, bookmark it, then go back later only to find it has vanished. If you capture it, you can keep it forever.

iOrganize-it - This software lets you capture pages and keep the captured pages organized. Even make separate web page "books".

Whew, that's it. The price on this is incredible - You get all of the above for $12.97 and US shipping is free (combined retail is around $130.00 - heck, the pop up stopper alone retails for $29.95)! It's a fantastic buy and I recommend you get to the site as fast as possible. Here's the link:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/internet-utilities-suite.htm

PS - Remember - if you buy it, try it, and don't like it, just send it back for a refund within 30 days! Nothing to lose - unless you miss out :-)

Computers 101

Q:
I was on a web page the other day and thought the info I was seeing was current. Turns out it was 2 years old! Is there any way to tell when a web page was last updated?

A:
Yes there is. To find out when a particular page was last updated, head to the page and type (or copy and paste) the following line into your address bar:

javascript:alert(document.lastModified)

Head to our homepage ( http://www.worldstart.com/ ) and try it. You'll get a message box that looks something like this (only with a different date/time):

(Note - your browser must have javascript enabled in order to do this little trick. That should be 99% of you.)

Oh, if you're on a page with "dynamic" elements (it shows the current date for example), this isn't too helpful. Since the page is basically updated everytime it's loaded, you'll just get a box with the date and time you landed on the page.

OK, that's all well and good, but unless you're a web page designer, chances are you're not going to remember how to do that a month from now.

So, what can you do? Add it to your favorites.

Now, this is not nearly as easy as it sounds. If you just try adding it to your favorites, you'll find that it doesn't work, you get the web page you're visiting instead. So, here's a workaround (this is for Internet Explorer, BTW):

1. Add a web page to your favorites. It doesn't matter what page it is. When the "Add to favorites" screen pops up, re-name the page "Last Update" (no quotes) or something similar.

2. Now, click your Favorites menu and find the favorite you just added.
Right-click it and select Properties from the resulting menu. Not surprisingly, a properties screen pops up.

3. Finally, put the line below in place of the current URL:

javascript:alert(document.lastModified)

You'll probably get an error message when you change it. Just hit "Yes" if this pops up.

That should do it. Click the "Last Update" favorite anytime you're on a page and want to know when it was last updated.

~ Steve

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

Tip of the Day

Refreshing Sites

OK, do you visit web pages with dynamic, frequently updated content? You know, stuff like news, stocks, and weather type sites.

Anyhow, have you ever noticed that sometimes you just can't get the stupid page to refresh? Sure, you hit the refresh button but it's the same page (and you just know it's been updated). Explorer is stubbornly refusing to re-load the thing properly.

Is there any hope? Are you going to be stuck looking at outdated information forever?

You'll be glad to learn there is a little trick you can use. Just put a question mark after the URL. Your browser, not being all that bright, will think it's a new page and re-load it for you. The question mark won't affect the page or the way it's displayed, so don't sweat that part.

Anyhow, here's an example. Let's say you went to:

www.worldstart.com

To make the page completely re-load, type this instead:

www.worldstart.com?

Oh, if you need to keep re-loading, you can keep adding junk after the question mark:

www.worldstart.com?1kjsdk

Cool huh?

Why does this work?

When your browser sees the question mark, it only loads the page in front of it. However, since the whole URL changes, you get a complete re-load of the page.

Another way: You could also hold down the Ctrl key while clicking Refresh.

~ Steve

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

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Russia: Land of the Tsars

This site is fascinating and exquisite. With a beautifully detailed timeline you can trace Russia back to the Grand Prince Vladimir of Kiev in 988, to the Fall of Nicholas II in 1918. There is very in-depth information and imagery to go along with the timeline.

I think you will love the multimedia section more than the timeline. With 17 images from history about the Tsars (a name derived from "Caesar"), and a movie, game and screensaver, they give you what you need from their multimedia collection. This is a great sampling of all the elements that bring this together.

This history of this is remarkable, time spanning and notable. Enjoy!

http://www.historychannel.com/russia/

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