Show Section Wednesday January 1 2002 The Herald Journal mm! ' we’d like i ' Here’s a resolution worth’ keeping: keep your computer in By JoLynne J Lyon features writer to see in 2003 A personal computer is a little like a car: it needs maintenance in order to run smoothly It may be tedious but it’s a lot better than the kind of excitement a crashed hard drive can By Matt Syma T oday I'll share a few unrelated tidbits which on their own wouldn't necessarily merit a complete column n For the people who have yet to see "The Two Towers” prepare to see the pinnacle of computereffects married -generated live action fantastic to a seamlessly are not If completely epic you amazed by the digital character Gol-luand his uncanny screen presence you have the eyes of an ore and the brains of a warg And on the subject of "The Two Towers” my wife completely indulged my little boy self and for Christmas surprised me with the PlayStation 2 game of the same name While I'm still being converted to console gaming I must say the half-doze- bring! Here are some tips from local experts on maintaining a lean machine: Keep it clean The inside of the computer's central processing unit can collect dust and grime Chris Barpes of Cache PC Doc and Jeff job could be messy But it will be worth doing since it will rid the dust computer of and it will help the fans to do their job without seizing up If a fan is squeaky it needs cleaning Limb said If it stops working toe computer will overheat Limb of PCs Unlimited both say the inside of the case should be sprayed but with compressed air A can of compressed air can be purchased just about anywhere elec- tronics are sold Barnes said it will run about $3 to $5 First said Limb touch the case to make sure you are grounded and you won’t introduce any static into the system Then remove the cover Inside depending on the PC are two or three fans that should be sprayed off: Next force out the dust that has collected in the bottom of the CPU Be prepared Barnes warned this static-produci- i Keep it simple Two programs on d system can helq ScanDisc and Disc Defragmenter: Limb recommends running both pro-grams once every six months or so Both programs will help the computer operate more efficiently To access the programs look a windows-base- buyers button-- mashing romp worthy of both and fans Rings fighting gamers alike For those of you who gave or received an electronic gadget of some expense (good for you) register that product with the manufacturer If something were to go wrong in (he future a registered product is always easier to service and prove w arrantee coverage And slip that warrantee certificate in a safe place Also if you bought a product with a mail-i- n rebate your time may be running out Mail-i- n rebates were invented for forgetful consumers Don't he one of them Finally at the beginning of what is sure to be an eventful 2003 1 present to you the top 10 significant technology related advances that should occur hut probably won't during the next year 10 You know that mysterious blank page that comes out of your printer at the end of your document? It slops happening 9 Governor Leavitt gives up The moratorium on Internet sales tax AP photo wife Meiissa Rayworth pose for the camera in front of a computer advertising an program in Beijing China last month Like many of today's professional couples who must travel extenthe technology of instant messaging to bridge the miles that often keep them physically apart AP correspondent Ted Anthony instant-messagin- g sively they use M and his §® Far Duoti mis® Couples keep romance alive through instant messaging Editor's note: Ted Anthony China news editor for The Associated Press marhas spent chunks of his riage apart from his wife while they both travel for work But like so many today they have managed to converse under difficult distant conditions through instant messaging th By Ted Anthony Associated Press Writer gets extended indefinitely 8 Microsoft releases a new operating system and actually lowers the price like many other software ven- BEIJING — She was 7(XX) miles away from our apartment in China ensconced in the suburbs of New York City attending to her ill father I was in a place where the phone system barely worked and the idea of public Internet access was laughable — Kabul the capital of Afghanistan Nonetheless there it was uploaded through the ether from Long Island on a January morning bounced off an orbiting satellite beamed back down to an antenna on dors 7 Somebody comes up with a legal economically viable method Matthew Syme is an Internet project manager at a local technology See RESTART on B2 carts track game nearly match those of the movie Though a tad short it's a glorious ail shape New production values of this cell-pho- ne tip-to-p under "programs” on the start menu then “accessories" and then “system tools” More information may be had in the computer’s own help menu on Windows 98 there is a section titled ’‘tuning up your computer” In addition to running the two programs the computer operator should also go through the programs on the computer and uninstall those that are not being used or that are not working well Stephen Funk the Help Desk m of distributing music electronically that somehow doesn't irk the Recording Industry Association of America an I prompt yet another lawsuit 6 Comcast Corp which acquired AT&T Broadband cable services lowers or even maintain! their rates because they are a burgeoning but benevolent monopoly S Wireless companies come to realize consumers want reliable and affordable voice and data service not cheap add-o- n cameras and silly ring tunes 4 We will finally be able to attend a concert play or movie and not hear someone’s silly ring interrupt the performance because we’ve all learned basic etiquette 3 Despite a few publicized fatal collisions the Segway human transporter catches on and creates a new and despised demographic: the urban commuter elite 2 The computer you got for Christmas seems as fast on January 1 2004 as it does today 1 A three-wa- y tie: spam is eliminated by legislation the technology sector recovers all its losses and Cache Valley gets one of them new fangled IMAX theaters to compete with Providence Stadium 8 Remember you were disappointed here first Page 1 war-wast- ed the sccond-lloo- r balcony of an house My wife's missive Afghan reached me in an instant oftering the romantic interrogative of a world “You there?" Melissa asked beeping as her pixellated box high-veloci- controllers AOLsays 21 billion instant messages are sent each day across its network Microsoft Corp’s MSN Messenger Service boasts more than 75 million active users worldwide typing away in 26 languages Each air-traff- ic ty is a pathway from place to place a appeared And there she was luminous as ever in her usual online outfit — Times New Roman with her name draped in brilliant royal blue It has finally become reality: live affordable conversation — the electronic equivalent of it at least — across seas across cultures uniting the separated All you have to do is nt Hype It's like jacked tain Dew: Capital letters disappear Typos are made and instantly forgotten New shorthand is horn even typists can two-lim- e three-tim- e friends and family toggling from screen to screen continent to continent like prattling on Moun- Caf-feinat- ed sliver of friendship anger money love Instant messaging (or IMing for short) is becoming to the dawn of the 21st century what the telephone was to the beginning of the 2()th — a normal way of communicating in real time across previously uncross-abl- e distances making faster if not better typists of us all How different it is and how little we realize it Could human beings really have once existed in a world where we had to communicate by messages paper where took weeks even months to cross ed Sec CHAT on B2 - Building a better mouse By Larry Blasko Associated Press Writer It Cordless computer mice once were as hot as topless beaches but then things started to sag While it was nifty to be able to eliminate the cord that tied you to the PC it was less than nifty to keep feeding the little beast batteries So unless you were using them for a presentation or had a brother-in-lain the battery business you probably reattached the umbilical and got on with life Now rechargeable mice are avail- able Logitech sent one by the MX 700 Cordless Optical Mouse Although pricey at $7995 it’s worth a look for both Mac and PC users The MX 700 is a jobbie contoured to comfortably fit your hand It uses optical technology so there’s no track ball to clean and no mouse-pa- d is required w silver-and-bla- gets recharged by sitting in a signal receiver that looks like a Salvador Dali eggeup and is connected both to your systems USB (Universal Serial Bus) port and to a little transformer that powers the charger If your widget doesn’t have an available USB port a adapter is provided So are the two rechargeable batteries The charging needs to be at least 8 inches away from other electrical devices to prevent interference Mine worked just fine on an overhead bookshelf And a full battery charge takes about two hours If they’re going to charge you almost $80 for a mouse they’d better add some enhancements In addition to' charging-stan- d ck USB-to-P- station-receiv- er k right-clic- k the usual buttons “Cruise Logitech added two Control” buttons that scroll text continuously up or down The scroll wheel scrolls text left-clic- so-call-ed line-by-li- ne I New generation is rechargeable h There's a program selector that switches between active programs and documents and a couple d buttons that of function on your the same duplicate ' Web browser The MX 700 is comfortable and the e All the bells cursor control is and whistles including setup software are there but old habits die hard and after having tested them I’ll probably not use them on a daily basis The optical technology worked well on the desk but equally well on the head of Tigger'who climbed into my lap to implore that we stop playing with the electric stuff and go for a quick-switc- forward-backwar- first-rat- walk An online check at Price Watch (http:wwwpricewatchcom) found wireless rechargeable mice available for around $30 including shipping but in the main they weren’t as feature-ric- h if that’s important to you’ " MORAGA Calif (AP) — What ir a shopping cart became a computer on wheels a sales vehicle sophisticated enough to analyze individual buying habits so it could pinpoint which shoppers got the best prices? Safeway Inc the nation's ihird-laige- sl grocer is quietly for the answer by searching a smart testing shopping cart The trial reveals how retailers might capitalize on the reams of consumer information they have been stockpiling since the mid-199It is unfolding at two of Safeway 's northern California stores one in the affluent town of Moraga near San Francisco the other in rural Cameron Park Shoppers are greeted by the "Magellan" — a shopping comcurt w ith a hook-size- d A the front handle on puter side slot lets shoppers swipe their Safeway "club" cards — the identification most major grocers now require for discounts on certain items Reading the club card enables the shopping cart's computer to tap into the buying histories Safeway has compiled on most customers The curt can then display four grocery items offered at sales prices unavailable to anvone else The computer also provides a guide to each consumer's most frequently purchased items and monitors the shopper's steps through the aisles flashing ads to promote nearby merchandise Safeway and other grocers experimenting with similar technology believe the tools will make it easier to reward their best customers and increase sales Keeping these customers happy is becoming even more important to supermarkets as they face increased competition from the likes of retail Inc powerhouse Wal-Ma- rt The grocers also believe customers will embrace the cart's other bells and whistles such as store maps Consumer advocates fear the smart carts will cultivate a caste system in which grocers cater to big spenders by offer-in- g deep discounts unavailable to poorer consumers “I am concerfted that some people are going to be left behind by this technology" said John Vanderlippe associate director for Consumers Agaiast Supermarket Privaicy Invasion and Numbering a watchdog group ' Even certain demographic groups such as unmarried shoppers might get the short end S£B38S i I 7 |