1. EDITOR'S CORNER
   • Should Wi-Fi Networks be a City Utility?
   • Followup: Wireless Insecurity, Violent Video Games and Rebuilding My Empire
2. HINTS, TIPS, TRICKS & TWEAKS
   • Microsoft Phishing Filter
   • Ten Years of Microsoft Highs and Lows
   • Tip: Open Acrobat Reader Faster
   • Looking Forward to MSN Messenger 8.0
   • Coming Soon to a DVD Player Near You
   • Zotob Worm Writers Arrested
3. HOW TO'S: ALL THE NEW XP FEATURES
   • How to Customize the Command Window
   • Microsoft Office How-to: Updating Table Math in Word
4. WXP SECURITY: UPDATES & PATCHES
   • New Worm Attacks MSN Messenger
5. WXP QUESTION CORNER
   • How Can I Get XP to Show the Contents of System Folders?
6. WXP CONFIGURING & TROUBLESHOOTING
   • Connecting a Hard Disk Drive in Slave Only Mode leads to System Halt
   • Some Web-based programs don't work after installing security updates
   • Problems with Using Fast User Switching on XP
   • Backup utility doesn't prompt you to change the media when it's full
7. FAVE LINKS
   • This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff
8. PRODUCT OF THE WEEK
   • X2Net Recent Documents: Never Lose Track of a File Again!

Should Wi-Fi Networks be a City Utility?

Last week, one of our neighboring Dallas suburbs launched a city-wide wireless network in conjunction with a private Wi-Fi provider. You can read about it at (free registration may be required):
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830ED-City_WiFi

Addison is only one of a number of cities across the country that have built or are in the process of building wireless networks that will provide Internet access almost anywhere within the city limits.

The City of Addison is helping to fund the building of the network, but users will have to pay $16.95 per month or $9.95 per day for the service. Some cities around the country are footing the bill completely (or, more accurately, their taxpayers are footing the bill) to provide "free" wireless access to anyone with a wireless-equipped computer. And that's where the issue gets controversial.

Private Internet Service Providers complain that they can't compete in a market where the government sees Internet access as a welfare entitlement. Why would any average computer user want to pay an ISP for access when they can log on "free" to the city's network? After all, if they pay taxes, they're having to pay for the municipal network whether they use it or not.

Those on the other side argue that 'Net access has become almost as essential as electricity, water, or phone services, and thus should be seen as a utility and provided, or at least partially controlled by the government. Traditionally, "utilities" - whether run by the government itself or by profit making companies - were monopolies. With the deregulation of first the phone companies and later (in some states) electric companies, that changed.

Competition was supposed to drive prices down, but does it really work that way? California was one of the first states to deregulate electricity and soon had prices that were shocking to the rest of us. Texas followed suit and deregulated a few years ago, and my electric bills are literally four times what they were before deregulation. Of course, it's hard to say how much of that, if any, can be blamed on deregulation since other factors (the price of natural gas being one of the biggest) are also at work. Yes, we have more choices now, but it seems as if all of those choices are expensive.

The reason government-owned utilities are (theoretically) cheaper for the consumer is that government agencies (theoretically) aren't concerned with making a profit. But the personnel and resources used by the government to provide a service have to be paid for somehow, and generally there are two ways for governments to get revenues: taxes and user fees. With tax-funded services, everyone pays. With user fees, as Addison plans to charge, those who use the service pay for it. But those fees can still be less expensive than a private company can afford to charge because no profit is necessary.

As we discussed in a recent editorial, private ISPs are already being driven out of the DSL business by recent court rulings that phone companies don't have to make their infrastructures (DSL lines) available for their use. Now they're being driven out of the wireless business as cities decide to get into it.

Of course, this new trend of setting up city-wide wireless networks gives urban dwellers yet another choice in Internet services, and doesn't do a thing to help all those folks in rural areas who are still limited to either analog phone lines or satellite.

What do you think? Is it great that cities are getting involved in creating wireless networks, or should the government stay out of the Internet business? If cities are going to run their own Wi-Fi nets, should they be "free" taxpayer funded services, or should users pay to connect? Will small local ISPs soon be a thing of the past? If so, is that a good thing or a bad thing? Let us know your opinions at feedback@wxpnews.com.

Followup: Wireless Insecurity, Violent Video Games and Rebuilding My Empire

Last week, we wrote about the security implications of wireless networking. Thanks to all of you who completed our survey. We'll be publishing the results soon.

Meanwhile, we're still getting input on the subject of violent video games. We heard from a psychologist in the U.K. who theorizes that rather than being a causal factor, video games may serve as a catalyst to people who are already inclined toward violent behavior. He's in favor of banning such games on the grounds that they serve no useful purpose that can't also be obtained from non-violent games.

At the same time, we got a message from another mental health professional who thinks the games do serve the purpose of allowing young men an outlet for their normal aggressive feelings in a "safe" environment, thus preventing them from acting out those feelings in the real world. Obviously, there's as little agreement on the issue among professionals as there is among readers in general.

Rebuilding the Empire: The primary hard disk (the one holding the boot and system partitions) on my main desktop computer bit the dust unexpectedly, leaving me to try to get my work done from the bedroom computer, which has only one monitor, basic applications, and just doesn't feel like "home."

Tom trekked down to Fry's and got me a new disk (Seagate 300 GB) and I've spent the last couple of days rebuilding the empire. The good thing about doing a total rebuild is that you get rid of all the old junk that was cluttering up the OS and things are nice and snappy (for a few months, until you start installing more junk). :)

Yesterday I installed XP Pro, got all the hardware peripherals working, got it configured the way I like it (changed the theme back to Windows Classic, customized the wallpaper, arranged the desktop(s), created my toolbars, changed the file view, etc. etc., and installed the utilities: anti-virus, anti-spyware, PowerDesk, and so on. Today I finished up installing the most-used applications: MS Office, FrontPage, Visio, OneNote, Corel PhotoPaint, Adobe Acrobat, PaperPort, Streets and Trips, Virtual PC and VMWare.

I'm back "home" again with my desktop spread across three monitors and everything in its place. And a cleaner, faster system. I used to always brag that I reformatted at least once a year, whether I needed to or not. Of course, I usually needed to; previous operating systems slowed down or gunked up so as to be almost unusable by then. I'd been running this installation of XP for almost two years (often going for months without a reboot) and I got lazy. Being forced to start over reminded me of the benefits of tearing it down and rebuilding every now and then.

Quote of the Week:
Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. - Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Microsoft Phishing Filter

Mary Jo Foley (Microsoft Watch) says the phishing filter, a major feature of Internet Explorer version 7 (which is now in beta testing) is going to be available for previous versions of IE before the launch of IE 7.0. The filter is designed by an Austin company named WholeSecurity, Inc., and it detects fraudulent Web sites used to trick users into entering their credit card numbers, bank account numbers and other personal identification information. The service automatically notifies users of phishing sites.
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830TI-Phishing_Filter

Ten Years of Microsoft Highs and Lows

Has it really been an entire decade since the debut of Windows 95? Time flies when you're having fun, and we've had plenty of fun over the last ten years with W95, NT 4.0, W98, Me, Windows 2000, XP and Server 2003. Despite some frustrations during the learning curves, we have to admit that each new operating system has been better than the last. Now we're having fun beta testing Vista (the OS formerly known as Longhorn). For another perspective on riding the Windows roller coaster for the last ten years, see:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830TI-Decade

Tip: Open Acrobat Reader Faster

Does Acrobat Reader 6.0 open too slowly for you? Thanks to John Roller for this tip on making Reader open up faster:

1. Navigate to your Acrobat\Reader folder.
2. Open the Plug_ins subfolder.
3. Move everything to the Optional folder except the following .API files: Search, Search5, IA32, EWH32, EScript.

This causes the program to open much faster.

Looking Forward to MSN Messenger 8.0

What missing features would you most like to see added to MSN Messenger? The folks over at TheHotfix.net have a list of new features that they say Microsoft is considering putting into the next version of their IM program. You can check it out here:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830TI-Features

Coming Soon to a DVD Player Near You

One of our favorite "nerd" movies, Pirates of Silicon Valley, is finally coming out on DVD. We've been waiting to add this one to our DVD collection for a long time. It's the story of the humble beginnings of Apple Computers and Microsoft, and more specifically, the "war" between Bill Gates and Steve Jobs. Noah Wyle, especially, does a masterful portrayal of Jobs. Amazon starts shipping it on August 30th, so reserve your copy now.
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830TI-Pirates

Zotob Worm Writers Arrested

How to Customize the Command Window

Most folks just use the command prompt window "as is." Did you know that you can customize its appearance and properties? It's not obvious, since there are no menus at the top of the window, but if you right click in the title bar, you'll see several selections.

A reader recently wrote to say he'd been playing around with these settings and now when he opens the command prompt, a huge black box fills the entire screen. He wanted to know how to get back to the previous small box.

To change the size of the command window for just the current window, do this:

1. Right click the title bar and select Properties.
2. Click the layout tab.
3. In the Window Size section, set the desired width and height (in pixels). The default size is 80(W)x25(H).

To change the size for all windows, right click the title bar, select Defaults, and follow steps 2 and 3.

You can also change the colors of the screen text, background and popups. Tired of thinking of the command window as the "dark place?" Want red text on a nice green background when the holiday season draws near? Just change your colors by clicking the Colors tab. I always change the text color from gray to white so it will show up better in screenshots.

Microsoft Office How-to: Updating Table Math in Word

Thanks to The Office Letter for this tip. By default, when you change the value of a cell in Excel, formulas that include that cell are updated automatically. In Word, formula cells are NOT updated automatically. If you change a value in your table, here's what you need to do:

1. Right-click on the formula result (on the actual figure displayed, not just anywhere in the table).
2. Choose Update Field from the context-sensitive pop-up menu. Alternatively, click on the field (so its value displays with a gray background, assuming you haven't changed field display options) and press F9.

New Worm Attacks MSN Messenger

How Can I Get XP to Show the Contents of System Folders?

QUESTION:
How do I keep Windows Explorer from hiding the system folders? (ie. \Program Files or \Windows) I am getting tired of always having to click on the "Show Files" link. -Steve P

ANSWER:
XP has a bad habit of trying to protect you from yourself. By default, Explorer doesn't display files that are marked as system or hidden in their file attributes. This is one of the first settings that I change when I install a new instance of XP for my own use (it's best to leave it as is for users who don't have a good understanding of what the system files do). The easiest way to correct this is to open Explorer and click Tools | Folder Options. Click the View tab and scroll down through the list of advanced settings. Here you can make numerous changes to the way Explorer displays files and folders.

Specifically, click the option button "Show hidden files and folders" and click the checkbox "Hide protected operating system files (Recommended) to uncheck it. XP doesn't give up easily; you'll get a dialog box saying "You have chosen to display protected operating system files in Windows Explorer. These files are required to start and run Windows. Deleting or editing them can make your computer inoperable. Are you sure you want to display these files?"

Connecting a Hard Disk Drive in Slave Only Mode leads to System Halt

If you're running Windows XP and you install a hard disk that has its jumpers set to act as a "slave" (subordinate) drive, without any other drive connected to the IDE controller as a "master," you may find that you get a stop error when you resume from standby. There are several workarounds to the problem, which can be found in KB article 330100 at:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830CO-KB_330100

Some Web-based programs don't work after installing security updates

If you've installed security updates 896358 and/or 890175 and now you find that certain Web-based programs or HTML help features aren't working properly, it's because of a change that was intended to patch up some security vulnerabilities in HTML Help. You can correct the problem by modifying the registry. For instructions on how to do so, see KB article 892675 at:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830CO-KB_892675

Problems with Using Fast User Switching on XP

The Fast User Switching feature is handy for home and small office XP computers that don't belong to domains, when several people need to share a machine. However, you may find that after switching users, the new user gets an error message when trying to use certain keyboard buttons, or programs may not quit properly. This happens because of a driver problem with some multimedia keyboards. For more info, see KB article 310918 at:
http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830CO-KB_310918

Backup utility doesn't prompt you to change the media when it's full

This Week's Links We Like. Tips, Hints And Fun Stuff

• DefenseTech: the future of military, law enforcement and national security
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-DefenseTech
• Dinosaur sightings
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-Sightings
• Blast from the past
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-Past
• The true meaning of Playstation symbols?
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-Symbols
• For Physics Phanatics
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-Physics
• Everything you ever wanted to know about your Department of Motor Vehicles
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-DMV
• How invisibility cloaks work
  http://www.wxpnews.com/rd/rd.cfm?id=050830FA-Cloak

X2Net Recent Documents: Never Lose Track of a File Again!

This weeks featured Product of the Week is an extension to Windows Explorer. X2Net Recent Documents keeps track of documents as you use them, much like the Recent Documents item on the Start Menu. Unlike the standard Windows Recent Documents feature, X2Net Recent Documents provides the ability to subsequently find and open those documents in a variety of more useful and intuitive ways. You can find documents by date (Today, Yesterday, Last Week etc.); by application (Word, Excel, Photoshop etc.); by type (music, pictures etc); and even by categories that you define yourself! Once installed, all this tracking and categorization happens automatically as you work with your documents. Download the trial version and check out all the Feature Highlights free.

INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND FREEDOM FROM INFRINGEMENT.