Computer Act!ve back issues from March 2005:
From the editor.
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Dylan Armbrust. Sit back for a moment and contemplate this: your computer can make you money. We know that computers can make us more efficient and help us make better use of our time. So what about using our guide to convert your PC into a sort of cash machine, helping ...
Spammers hole up in the US. Governments around the globe pressure the US to take action against its spammers.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... International concern over America's failure to crack down on spammers operating in the US has risen dramatically as spam becomes increasingly linked to organised crime. The UK Government said spam is now a real menace and a solution has to be found quickly. However, governments ...
Stop keystroke loggers.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Anti-virus, firewalls or anti-spyware software won't necessarily protect you or stop you from downloading a keystroke logger. Worse, this threat often comes with the ability to neutralise your ...
Food for thought.(www.food.gov.uk, food colorant scare cause high net traffic)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... With the number of items in the latest Sudan 1 food scare growing, people have been turning in droves to the Food Standards Agency's website for information. Within 24 hours of Friday's announcement, the Agency's website was receiving more than 50 per cent of the traffic to health and ...
Discarded hard disks leak data.
Mar 03, 2005 ... Computer users are handing criminals personal information on a plate by selling their old hard disks, said new research. Computing experts at the University of Glamorgan bought 92 hard disks from online auctions and found that more than half of the devices contained enough ...
OFT leads way in clearing spam.(Office of Fair Trading)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) is to target deceptive companies that use spam to ensnare consumers. The OFT is the UK's representative at the 29-nation International Consumer Protection Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which attempts to sweep the web of rogue traders. ...
Xbox safety cord scare.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... A safety scare has forced Microsoft to recall 14.1-million Xbox power cords following reports of consoles catching fire. Microsoft said that in all regions except Europe, Xbox consoles manufactured before 23 October 2003 require a replacement power cord. In Europe, consoles ...
Jargon Buster - Techno babble demystified ...(computer related terms)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Hard disk: A high-capacity disk drive used to store applications and files. Megapixel: A measure of the level of detail recorded by digital cameras. Phishing: Internet fraud that tries to trick users into revealing personal details. Search engine: A ...
Google tools up.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Google has updated its toolbar. The search engine now offers additional tools to help web searches, including a spellchecker, translator and map links. The spellchecker helps with online application forms, comment boxes, webmail or ...
Get Mum's mug on a mug.
Mar 03, 2005 ... Although you may have missed Photobox's February sale, you can still choose a personalised Mother's Day gift. Photobox will take digital snapshots and print them onto various items ...
Finns find phones fine.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Findings from a Finnish survey take some of the heat off the safety fears of mobile phones. Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK) tested popular phones by Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Siemens, Motorola and Samsung. It found the radiation emitted was well below agreed limits and ...
Microsoft targets security.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Microsoft's decision to invest heavily in tackling internet security issues could come at a price for Windows users. Top of Microsoft's list is a revamp of Internet Explorer, its web browser and a beta version is expected this summer. Microsoft said Internet Explorer 7 would ...
Speak out over the net using L-Mail.(audio letters for visually impaired )(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Visually impaired people can now receive cassettes and CDs containing audio letters via the internet. L-Mail enables net users to submit typed text to its website, which is then recorded as an audio file and saved to the recipient's choice of media. L-Mail users can ...
Apple gets bitten again.(Apple Computer Inc.)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... US consumers and retailers have sued Apple, claiming the company sold old computer equipment as new and failed to fulfil warranty services. The suit, filed in San Francisco's Superior Court, seeks redress that will benefit all those who bought Apple products or services in the US since 1 ...
Fast video capture.(Instant VideoMPX)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... ADS Tech has launched Instant VideoMPX, which allows uncompressed, high-quality video footage to be transferred using USB 2. The video can then be compressed into a variety of formats. The package includes Video Studio 8, allowing direct recording to programs such as ...
Megapixels drive market.(digital camera buyers)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Digital camera users say resolution is the most important factor in their decision to buy. Market analyst IDC said this would continue to drive the industry to produce products with an ever-increasing megapixel count as ...
DJ hear that?(disc jockey)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... An Italian DJ has been fined almost [pounds sterling]1m for using pirate music files in a Rome nightclub. The DJ was discovered with more than 2,000 MP3 files and 500 video clips suspected to be illegal ...
Jargon Buster - Techno babble demystified ...(computer related terms)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Beta: Version of software in development made available to testers for evaluation. Phishing: Internet fraud that tries to trick users into revealing personal details. Resolution: The amount of detail shown in a digital image, whether on screen or ...
Copyright loophole found.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Clever computer crackers are finding new ways to defeat copyright restrictions on music downloaded from legal sites such as Napster. By making a few tweaks to the popular music playing program WinAmp and using a small plug-in available on WinAmp website, the copyright protection ...
RNID site revamped.(Royal National Institute for Deaf People)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... The Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) has revamped its website in a bid to offer a fully accessible site without compromising on design standards. The website is a key online resource for the UK's nine million deaf and hard-of-hearing people, featuring information ...
Resource pack for Silver Surfers.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... The resource pack for this year's Silver Surfers' Day is now available for download as a Word document or in PDF format at the organisation's website. The organisers are using this method of distribution rather than sending the files as attachments because there were so many ...
MS shoots its Messenger.(Microsoft Corp., MSN Messenger)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Microsoft took drastic action last month to prevent hackers taking over people's computers through MSN Messenger. The company forced all MSN users to upgrade to either the latest version, or the beta version of the next version of the software - MSN Messenger 7.0 - before they ...
New releases.(audio players)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Philips will release a number of audio players this year, starting with the PSS110 Compact Personal Sound System, on sale in May for [pounds sterling]130. This digital music player comes with its own speaker system and the 256Mb of memory allows for up to 16 hours of WMA music, while the ...
Jargon Buster - Techno babble demystified ...(computer related terms)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Hackers: People who break into other people's computers and networks. Mb: Megabyte. A measurement of storage capacity, usually for computer memory. Plug-in: A small program that adds extra features to your browser or other applications, and is loaded only when it's ...
UK leads new piracy wave.(television program piracy)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Impatient Brits wanting to watch their favourite TV shows have turned the UK into the leading pirate nation. According to a report from web-monitoring firm Envisional, the growth in broadband means UK viewers can turn to file-sharing sites and download first-run American TV ...
Doctors' bedside manner is not what it used to be.(robots controlled by doctors visit patients)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Patient care in some US hospitals has taken a decidedly hi-tech twist with robots replacing doctors on ward rounds. The robo-docs may look and move more like over-sized steam cleaners than humanoids, but the aim is to give patients more of the personal touch. When ...
Let it rip?(DVD copying )(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... New anti-piracy measures could make DVDs unplayable on some DVD players. Recently, Macrovision, one of the companies developing digital rights management protection, launched its new RipGuard technology. It claims this will prevent most of the current DVD ripping (copying) ...
MSI goes Mega.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... MSI will launch a DVD writer and portable media player in the next few months. The DR16-B3 is one of the first DVD drives to burn both DVD-R and DVD+R discs at 16x speed. It can also burn dual-layer DVD+R discs at 4x. The Mega View 567 ...
Gut instinct.(Web site on digestive health)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... Yakult, yoghurt manufacturer, has launched a website to teach people about digestive health. Not surprisingly, it plugs its own products but also offers advice on foods and exercises that ...
Jargon Buster - Techno babble demystified ...(computer related terms)(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... DivX: A video compression standard that allows high quality video to be stored in relatively small files. File sharing: Swapping files with other people over the internet. Gb: A measurement of storage capacity - usually for hard disks. Hard disk: A ...
Consumeractive! - Get Some Answers! Consumeractive sticks up for your rights. If there's an issue you want investigated, get in touch.
Mar 03, 2005 ... PROBLEM - What's in a name? I read a letter in issue 181 about the problems Barbara Wright had with getting a refund on a warranty from Time. I also bought a PC from Time four years ago, completed the cash-back registration forms and returned them straight away. In ...
10 Tips for Buying Safely.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... 1: Keep copies of the original Computeractive advert and all further correspondence. If you speak on the phone, make a note of whom you spoke to. 2; On large orders, obtain a written quotation. 3: If possible, pay with a personal credit card - all transactions over ...
Cover Story - eBay special - Cash in with ...eBay. Join the eBay revolution and make hard cash by selling off almost anything or hunting down the best bargains. We'll show you how to be an eBay expert and make money online.(Cover story)
Mar 03, 2005 ... There will be few internet users around today who haven't heard of the online auction site eBay. The brainchild of founder Pierre Omidyar back in 1995, eBay spawned the online auction phenomenon, using the web to create the perfect platform for a trading community and appealing to bargain ...
Hot New Products - Apple Mac mini. It's small, it's cute but can Apple's latest sapling meet the demands of modern computing?(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. The question that springs to mind when seeing a Mac mini is: why can't PC manufacturers make something that looks like this? The unit is just 16.5cm long and 5cm tall, roughly the size of five CD cases stacked on top of each other. The ...
Hot New Products - Fujitsu Siemens Pocket LOOX 720. A Pocket PC that can take a pretty picture.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. With mobile phone handsets gradually morphing into fully-fledged handheld computers and many handhelds now sprouting phone-like abilities, the future isn't looking bright for bog-standard palmtop PCs. Undaunted by modern trends, however, Fujitsu Siemens ...
BBYY Scan To Office. A paperless office is a tidy office.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Anna Lagerkvist. Scan To Office conveniently turns information from paper documents or image files into editable Word or Excel documents or Outlook email attachments. It's aimed at home and small business users and is easy to use. You'll need a scanner to ...
Hot New Products - Sony Network Walkman NW-HD3. At last, Sony supports MP3, but is its portable player up to scratch?(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Luke Peters. Sony pretty much invented the notion of music-on-the-go and has now released the second embodiment of its hard-disk-based Network Walkman. Whereas the NW-HD1 worked solely with Sony's bespoke ATRAC3 digital music format, the NW-HD3 is compatible with MP3 ....
Hot New Products - Vodafone Blackberry 7100v. Get your email on the move, organise your data and more.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Tim Smith. Most mobile phones offer some form of basic email access but the Blackberry 7100v aims to make everything more like your computer. Emails can be sent to the Blackberry just like text messages, so you get them as soon as they arrive, rather than having to log ...
Hot New Products - Diskeeper 9 Home Edition. A tidy hard disk means a faster, more stable PC.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. Given the large amounts of digital media we store on our PCs, it's becoming more important to keep our computers in good working order. Diskeeper is a hard disk defragmenter that helps optimise your computer's performance by rearranging the ...
Hot New Products - Apple iPod Shuffle. Apple's music player goes on a diet and comes over all random.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. Having become accustomed to the idea of carrying around 7,000-odd songs in your pocket, it could be hard to get enthusiastic about the concept of a slimmed-down iPod that can only hold a fraction of this amount of tunes. Just why would someone choose an ...
Hot New Products - Trust BT446 Wireless Bluetooth Graphics Tablet. A wireless tablet that isn't too big to swallow.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. You don't have to be a graphic artist to justify a graphics tablet. Many people find that the pen and work surface combination is much more intuitive to work with than a mouse, particularly for drawing, handwriting and photo editing. But, ...
Hot New Products - BT Aviator. Ride the airwaves - digital or FM.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Cliff Joseph. Pure Digital turned a few heads recently with its futuristic-looking digital radio called the Bug. BT's Aviator isn't quite as eye-catching, but its neat black-and-silver design still looks pretty good, and it has a couple of features that the Bug lacks. ...
Hot New Products - OooFf.(office suite OpenOffice, Mozilla Firefox)(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. This application contains two pieces of software - the office suite OpenOffice, and the web browser Mozilla Firefox. We covered these in issue 179 and 180 respectively and both are excellent applications. OpenOffice is a superb alternative to ...
Hot New Products - NEC ND-3520 DVD writer.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. The advent of dual-layer recordable DVD boils down to two things for home users - twice the storage space of normal blank DVDs (up to 8.5Gb-worth), and yet more confusing new disc formats to contend with. That's why the current trend is for manufacturers ...
Hot New Products - Ricoh Caplio R1v. Good value, good quality.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. Five-megapixel cameras, of which this is one, are getting smaller and cheaper all the time, but then megapixels aren't everything when it comes to cameras. Equally - or more - important is the quality of the components, particularly the lens. After ...
Hot New Products - LaCie Silverscreen.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Luke Peters. The concept of the digital home is fast becoming a reality. Admittedly, the thought of an external hard disk entering our living space is different, but the LaCie Silverscreen is an 80Gb external hard disk with a twist. As well as being able to ...
Hot New Products - BT Communicator.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Jonathan Parkyn. You'd have thought that by providing internet telephony, BT must be undercutting itself somehow. The software needed to run BT Communicator is free and comes as part of Yahoo's instant messaging application. With the requisite hardware (a ...
Hot New Products - Belkin Digital Camera Link for iPod. Save photos on your iPod.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Luke Peters. The iPod is still the number one MP3 player on the market and many third-party manufacturers are continuing to make handy devices to go with them. Belkin has a whole range of iPod goodies and this nifty gadget will appeal to digital camera owners. ...
On Test - [pounds sterling]500 PCs - Bargain hunt. You don't need to spend a small fortune to upgrade your computing equipment. We put six budget PCs to the test and see just how far [pounds sterling]500 will take you these days.(Buyers Guide)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Anthony Dhanendran. If you think that buying a brand-new computer is going to blow a large hole in your wallet, think again. The PC industry wants you to buy the latest, greatest, fastest and shiniest computers, but Computeractive knows that not everybody wants, or ...
Feature - Using Windows Safe Mode - Safe haven. When a PC crashes, you need a safe environment to figure out the problem. Welcome to Safe Mode.
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Paul Allen. Home computing should be plain sailing but unseen elements can rock the boat. It's particularly frustrating when things go wrong without any obvious cause. Windows provides a safe harbour for those whose computers turn mutinous and crash - it's called Safe ...
Feature - Build a cube PC - It's hip to be square. If you've got an old PC that could do with a 21st century makeover, building a cube PC might be just the ticket. We show you how do it.
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Luke Peters. Desktop computers are generally ugly creatures. Unless you've got a shiny new Apple iMac, it's likely that you prefer to keep your case out of sight. However, with a few quid and a sprinkling of know-how, you can transform your old PC into a snazzy cube, ...
Feature - Making music - Music for the masses. So you wanna be a rock star? Follow our guide to recording and editing music on your PC and you'll soon have your very own hit factory.
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Tim Smith. If you dream of turning your musical aspirations into reality by recording music and creating a CD of your tracks, or you just want to capture a child or grandchild's musical party piece, your computer can help. Gone are the days when making an audio recording ...
On Test - CD-Roms - For future reference. A reference title doesn't have to be a dull, wordy tome, these interactive CD-ROMs make their subjects come alive.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Martin James. This issue we look at five reference titles that make full use of the modern computer's multimedia capabilities. Gone are the days when information was presented as simple text and photos. These days, animated video, colour, sound and flexibility all play a ...
On Test - Games - Second Sight. An action-packed tale of amnesia and, er, something else.(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Eddie Henderson. In Second Sight you take the role of the enigmatic John Vattic, with the action commencing when you wake from a coma to find yourself endowed with incredible psychic abilities - great. Except you can't remember anything about your previous life - not so ...
On Test - Games - City of Heroes: Deluxe.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Eddie Henderson. As you might have judged from the picture above, this online multiplayer game is set in the comic book world of superheroes. And we're pleased to say that it more than lives up to its fantastical premise. For starters, designing your ...
On Test - Games - Return to Mysterious Island.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Eddie Henderson. Despite its anachronistic method of gameplay - a first-person point 'n' click adventure game in the Monkey Island mould - Return To Mysterious Island is a contemporary offering that's thankfully better to play than it appears on paper. First ...
On Test - Games - Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile.(Brief Article)(Product/Service Evaluation)
Mar 03, 2005; ... Byline: Eddie Henderson. Immortal Cities: Children of the Nile is the latest city-building title from the developer behind popular offerings such as Pharaoh and Caesar. Despite coming from the same stable as these classics of the genre, it introduces a completely new style of ...
On Test - Games - Games Top 10. Here are the top 10 games according to the official UK Leisure Software chart. (C)ELSPA. Compiled by Chart Track.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... 1: Football Manager 2005 [pounds sterling]35 (football management) Sega 2: Half-Life 2 [pounds sterling]40 (first-person shooter) Sierra 3: The Sims 2 [pounds sterling]40 (people management) EA Games 4: Lord of the Rings: ...
Gadgets - Painkillers. Spending hours in front of a PC can cause RSI and other problems. We've got a few ergonomic gadgets that should help reduce such pains.(Buyers Guide)
Mar 03, 2005 ... ROLL WITH IT - [pounds sterling]34 After typing a long letter or scrolling up and down a spreadsheet, you'll probably feel the strain in your fingers and wrists. This so-called gyro ball will exercise those 'mouse elbow' muscles. Start it by pulling the lead, like you would ...
Net Chart - FREE Downloads. We've trawled the internet to test what you can get for free ...(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... TUGZip 3.2 www.computeractive.co.uk/downloads/1160765 A feature-rich archiving utility Although Windows XP contains its own archiving and compression program, you can do much more with a program such as this. Type: Freeware File ...
Net Chart - Site seeing ... The internet is all about other people. Use our selection of sites to interact, collaborate and discuss.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... www.music-map.com Type the name of a recording artist into the search box and Music map will show you a moving map of other artists, bands and groups that relate to the name you typed in. Clicking on one of the names will take you to a similar page for that artist. This site ...
Net Chart - Site of the fortnight - www.hertzmann.com.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... This site contains one man's thoughts on French food and cookery. It includes a host of recipes, several articles on aspects of cookery, and other miscellaneous pieces. There is even a section on cooking tools, which ...
No Problem! - Q&A - Answers to ... PC problems. Our resident technical doctor is here to cure your PC ailments.
Mar 03, 2005 ... Surf as you go Q: I would like to buy a mobile phone data card to connect my notebook to the internet while on the move. However, I would like a pay-as-you-go contract because I would just use it occasionally. Is this possible, as mobile phone companies only seem to be ...
Readers to the rescue ... Can you help your fellow readers? Do you need a problem solved? Join our forum dedicated to PC trouble-shooting at www.computeractive.co.uk.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... THE PROBLEM I keep getting pop-ups asking me to download ActiveX controls for Macromedia. Should I install them? I have heard bad things about ActiveX? Pol242, issue 183 YOUR ANSWER Rather than downloading these files via the ads that keep ...
Your help wanted.(Brief Article)
Mar 03, 2005 ... If you can answer the questions below, or have questions you want answered, write to the No Problem address given on the left, or go to our website: www.computeractive.co.uk THE PROBLEM I have just backed up my computer onto DVD. Now when I restart, Windows tells me ...