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Tuesday 1 February 2000

Newsletter Issue 5, February 2000


Sam Young Newsletter

Issue 5, February 2000
Hi guys,
Well - it has taken longer than I thought to get the New Year under control so that I could get the next Newsletter out to you all.  Hope you all had a lovely time with your families and friends, and that life is treating you well.
It was great the Y2k was so much of a fizzer. I was anticipating lots of calls from clients, and in the end had only two; and of the two, only one was actually a Y2k problem. Check out Virus News below and New Stuff
If you want to be taken off my mailing list, click here to send me a reply e-mail and I will remove your name.

Virus News
For those of you that have visited McAfee.com, check out the Install Active Shield option. For about $50 US, you can have constantly updated virus checking, without having the hassle of installing the software on your PC, having to remember to update every week (AND in-between when there's a new virus in the wild). Your PC picks up the latest version from the McAfee site each time you are on the internet. 
You can test the software to make sure that it is operating correctly by going to the McAfee site, to the Anti-Virus page and clicking "Test Active Shield". This is a very easy site to navigate. I have been using Active Shield for about 4 months, and it has proved to be great. No fuss. No waste of my time. No problems. And no viruses. Check it out at http://www.mcafee.com/centers/anti-virus/default2.asp
 
New Stuff

Well, what's new-ish?

VPNs, or Virtual Private Networks allow you to link two or more computer networks over the internet. VPNs use encryption & authorisations so that you can't be hacked easily. These developments have been rolled into Windows NT 2000, and are great for managing remote offices. You can look at this on http://www.microsoft.com/ and enter VPN in the search box.

Creating a new webpage or website for a mail order business? You must go & check out http://www.awp.com.au/ and download their free Ezi Catalog starters kit. This will help you set up your whole site for ordering and has heaps of layout options.

In 1999, heaps of wireless "carriers" introduced wireless data services - using cellphones, pagers, infra-red devices and GPRS. These technologies are expected to take off this year,  with the number of wireless device users with inbound and outbound information service access and Internet messaging increasing a whopping 728% in the United States alone (from 7.4 million last year to 61.5 million by 2003), according to research done by IDC. Check out the full article at http://www.idc.com/default.htm

Hewlett Packard is now coming out in support of a standard approach of measuring print costs per page. They have set their own standards until now, so you weren't really able to compare costs across manufacturers before this agreement. 

Looking at buying a new presentation projector? You HAVE to check out the new Compaq MP 1600. This thing is tiny (weighs less than 2kg), and is upright, not a flat "video" box like the old ones so you have much less trouble setting the thing up to view on screen properly. To to www.compaq.co.nz 

On-Line Buying

Looking at buying stationery? Why not go to Office Products Depot on line? They have put their product range on the internet, and it is MORE than just an on-line catalogue.

While you can view and order from more than 3500 product lines, using your credit card, by entering your personal information only once, you can also view your order history, have special offers made to you, and suggest alternatives and possible purchases. Find it at www.officeproductsdepot.co.nz 

And for those of you who have not yet taken the plunge, do try www.amazon.co.uk. I went to Whitcoulls to order some books, and was more or less told that they were in the too hard basket (you know "we MIGHT be able to get them from overseas, but it will take quite a while"). I went on-line, found them, entered my card number and delivery address. Processed. Confirmed. Delivered. Excellent. 

However, a word of warning. Amazon's international postage charge is ASTRONOMICAL. I had them sent to my friend Justine's address in London for $13. She is posting them on for $25. It was going to cost $75 to get Amazon sent to me direct. Ouch. 

Nano-Bytes

A bit of an update on the MIT Project Oxygen (the Handy & Enviro 21s); this is also being supported by GPRS and satellite telecommunications technology. In the first 100 years of telecommunications, we connected 1 billion people. In the next FIVE years, we will connect another billion... blows you away, doesn't it!
The name of the Handy 21s etc for Project Oxygen is not likely to be a goer. More than likely we will end up using a word that we already use and morph it to a new application - I read recently in Management magazine that "mobile" was a good contender. 
Don't forget to keep an eye on progress at http://www.lcs.mit.edu/search/. Enter Project Oxygen into the search box and look for articles with this year's dates - i.e. "article?name=00..." 
Another interesting thing is the standards-setting Joint Venture by Motorola, Eriksson and Nokia - the Mobile Multimedia Mode or "WWW.MMM". This is like Qualmark, and was set up so that we can recognise products, services and websites that comply with their mobile internet applications. Go to http://www.nokia.com/cebit99/report_24_2.html to read on. 
At www.idc.com, the fourth annual installment of the ISI tracks data from 55 countries that collectively account for 97% of the global GDP and 99% of IT expenditure. The country coming top of the list was Sweden, pipping the USA at the post. Research includes four infrastructure categories: information, Internet, computer, and social, with the data being drawn from IDC, UNESCO, ITU, World Bank, and Freedom House (all highly reliable sources). New Zealand was well down the list, despite scoring highly in internet and computer penetration - I assume our eroded social infrastructure has let us down, yet again.
Short+Hot Keys... and now tips
Paste short cuts this time;
  • Excel "Paste a defined name into a formula" F3 
  • Excel "Paste a function into a formula" SHIFT+F3 
  • Publisher & Word "Paste formatting" CTRL+SHIFT+V 
  • Publisher "Paste text or objects" CTRL+V or SHIFT+INSERT 
  • Universal "Paste" Ctrl+ V 
  • Word "Paste" Shift+ Insert
Hot Linx

Want to know more about GST? Check out the Brookers site at  http://www.brookers.co.nz/
Are you a member of the Chamber of Commerce? If you are, keep an eye on the site for upcoming courses, news and so on at http://commerce.org.nz  
Ever wanted to know what "ship" is in Norwegian? I have found an easy to use and easily downloadable dictionary (words only, not phrases - so take care!) at http://www.freedict.com/dictionary/index.html
If you also have RealPlayer Basic 7 (you can get a free download - but it is at the bottom of the page; at http://www.real.com/player/index.html  )Another bit of freeware/shareware is the Real Jukebox, which will play and record your CDs on your PC. You can listen to your Ravel's Bolero or Metallica while you work by installing the "RealJukebox basic" found at http://www.real.com/jukebox/ 
Another yellow pages site - I don't think that we have had France yet. The French are to be found at http://www.infobel.be/infobel/

                                Catch you again soon!! E-mail your suggestions to me here