Announcements

Follow-Up to Last Week's Tips

Due to the SoBig virus, we've been getting triple the email volume due to those pesky messages saying a virus was sent by our address. That means 800+ a day! If you send in a question or comment, please be patient while we wade through the sludge to find it.

8/18/03 Forward Filter: Something I didn't think about is that the forwarded message will contain the addresses of all recipients, which goes against our recommendation of using BCC for mass mailings. You decide which is most important for your usage.

8/21/03 Rename Several Files: We didn't realize that this tip only works on XP. We apologize to the hundreds of disappointed people who tried it on other Windows flavors. There is a freeware program recommended by dedicated reader Hollyecho called Rename It which works with Win 95, 98 & ME. It can be downloaded from:
http://www.mofunzone.com/downloadsoftware.shtml?500000029162

Computers 101

Q:
Everyone in our house shares one computer (I know, how primitive). Is there a way to put a password on a file or folder?

A:
There are two ways to password protect a folder built into Windows XP (for other Windows flavors, there are some freeware/shareware programs out there).

#1—If you have a log in password for your account, this can be used to protect folders from other users. Your hard drive must be formatted using NTFS (which it probably is unless you're dual booting with another operating system). Here's what to do...

Right-click the folder that you want to make private and choose "Properties" (or Alt+Double-click). Go to the "Sharing" tab and check the "Make this folder private" box.

Click Apply. If you do not have a password on your account, a box will pop up asking if you want to assign a password. This must be done if you want to make the folder private, so click Yes. You will need to use your password to log on to your computer from then on.

Type in a password then confirm it. Click the "Create Password" button then close the Password window.

Click OK in the Properties dialog box.

Now anyone else logged on to your computer can't access that file without knowing your password.

#2—If the Folder is Zipped (see today's tip) you can give it a unique password.

Just double-click the zipped folder. In the top menu select File then click "Add a Password".

Type a password into the Password box. Then again in the "Confirm Password" box.

Now, you are the only person who can access files in this folder. The folder can be opened allowing the files to be seen, but you are the only one who can access them.

Don't you feel more secure now?

~ David

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

Tip of the Day

Zip Your Folders in XP

As I mentioned above, you can create a zipped folder in Windows XP. You can also unzip folders with a simple click (see archived newsletter from 3/21/03). Here's how to do it...

First, you need to create a compressed folder. Right click an empty area of your desktop and choose "New" then "Compressed (zipped) folder".

You just created a new zip folder! See the cute little zipper?

To add files to the folder, just drag and drop—they will be compressed automatically.

If you plan to share this file with others, you should keep the name under 8 characters with .zip as the file extension. The recipient can use any unzip program (such as WinZip or Stuffit) to extract files.

~ David

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

Space Weather

"Science news and information about the Sun-Earth environment," is the slogan of this sitefull of quirky, good fun. From the fabulous pictures of things like meteoroids and the aurora borealis (just to name a few) to the current space weather conditions, this is a site you'll enjoy.

Their current front-page news has a beautiful picture of the aurora borealis (Northern Lights), and the news blurb about them being visible all the way down to California, and Arizona. Why were they that visible? Well the article goes to explain, in every day English, that it "was triggered by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which unexpectedly tilted south after a knotty magnetic structure in the solar wind drifted past our planet."

For this and other solar news you can join their free newsletter and be kept up-to-date. This site has a section on just meteoroids, and many, many other subjects. I hope you enjoy it.

http://www.spaceweather.com/

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