Ask Mr. Modem! – August 2007     
www.MrModem.com 

Q.  I have several computers, so I’m continually copying my Favorites and it's driving me nuts.  There's got to be a better way to share Favorites between computers. Any help would be greatly appreciated, Mr. M.

A.  It is cumbersome, to say the least, to have to continually copy or update your bookmarks between computers, but you’re correct, there is a much better way:  The free DotBookmark (www.dotbookmark.com) service will place an additional button on your browser toolbar, then retain a backup copy of your bookmarks on their server. You can import your existing bookmarks from multiple computers or start fresh with DotBookmark. Complete information is located on their Web site, but it’s a convenient and cost-effective way to centralize your bookmark folder for easy access from any computer. Another excellent online bookmark-keeper-coordinator is My Bookmarks (www.mybookmarks.com).


Q.  How can I determine how much room I have left on my hard drive?

A. To eyeball the size of your C: drive and to see how full (or empty) the drive is, open My Computer then right-click your C: drive icon, and select Properties. The Properties window will display used space, free space, and the total capacity of your drive, all in a festive, colorful pie chart format. The blue part of the pie is used space, the pink area is free space.


Q.  Can you explain the difference between Standby and Hibernation modes for my computer?

A. Other than the spelling, Standby puts your machine to “sleep," which can then return to operational status fairly quickly, usually within seconds. While in Standby your computer remains powered up, in a semi-comatose state, though it uses very little power to maintain its memory. Standby does not automatically save your data as does Hibernation, so you want to be sure to save your data before using Standby. How quickly your system goes into Standby mode is up to you. You can adjust the time by going to your Control Panel > Power Options.

Awakening your computer from Hibernation takes longer than awakening it from Standby because Hibernation saves the state of your system’s memory to disk and shuts the computer down completely. The machine boots back to the state it was in prior to Hibernation, so you don’t have to save and close each document before going into Hibernation. To start working again, press the power button and log-on normally.

While Standby and Hibernation modes can be useful, they do not always work as represented. Sometimes a system that goes into Standby won’t “wake up” with a wiggle of the mouse. There are also occasions when the Hibernation feature may cause problems with USB devices that suddenly become “unavailable” when the system wakes up. If that occurs, press the power button and reboot.

You’ll find your Power Saving options by going to the Control Panel > Display > Screen Saver tab > Power button. Click the Hibernate tab and place a check mark beside Hibernation, if you want to enable this feature.


Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em) Sites of the Month -  August 2007

Kiddie Records Weekly
Classics from the Golden Age of children's records, from the mid-1940's to the early 1950's. The objective here is to give parents and grandparents the opportunity to share children's albums of the past with their own little ones.  Every week the site is updated with a new record, including such classics as "Puss in Boots," "The Happy Prince," and "Tubby the Tuba,” which will probably be renamed “Bubba, the Big-Boned Tuba” to be more politically correct.
www.kiddierecords.com/

Liquid Sculpture
An artistic Web site dedicated to photography that captures incredible shapes by dropping, dripping and splashing water and other liquids. Vindication at last! I’ve been telling Mrs. Modem for years that I am not a slob, I’m an artiste. The site's creator has taken more than 20,000 photos of squirts, beads, colored water, milk, cream, and other liquids, the best of which appear on the Web site.
www.liquidsculpture.com

Spider Myths
Created by Ron Crawford, CAS (Certified Arachnid Specialist), here you’ll find a tangled web of spider myths and misperceptions. Pay particular attention to the “House-Spider Myths” section. You’ll never have a good night’s sleep again.  
http://tinyurl.com/9wvaf

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