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AOL: Is There Life Beyond Time Warner?
Q. Is it true that AOL is going out of business or is going to just disappear?
A. Not exactly, but it is important for all AOL users to be aware of what’s
happening. Last month, Time Warner announced that it will jettison its AOL
subsidiary by the end of this year.
Attempting to put a positive spin on the unceremonious dumping of AOL, Jeffrey
Bewkes, Time Warner CEO, said (with a straight face), "We believe AOL will have
a better opportunity to achieve its full potential as an independent Internet
company."
Sure it will.
AOL today is a mere shadow of its former self. In 2002, users peaked at nearly
27 million. Currently, AOL has approximately six million subscribers, and this
announcement is expected to result in a spike in migration as AOL users flee to
greener digital pastures.
If you are currently using AOL, you effectively have two choices: You can stay
with AOL and see what happens (last one out, please turn off the lights), or you
can join the tens of millions of former AOL users who have moved to other
Internet access providers. I’ll be providing additional information and updates
about this ongoing development in my weekly newsletter (www.MrModem.com).
Q. I received two .PUB files, which I assume are Microsoft Publisher files. I
don't have Publisher, and I don’t want to buy it, so is there some way I can
convert the files into Adobe .PDF format, which I can then open?
A. Yes, .PUB files are Microsoft Publisher files and the good news is that you
can easily convert them to the .PDF format by using PDF Online (http://tinyurl.com/pj22k8).
When you go to the site, select the .PUB file that you want to convert, enter
your email address, and click Convert to PDF. The converted file will be emailed
to you within minutes.
Q. When I’m using the Google search engine with Internet Explorer on my PC
at work, after I type in the first few letters of my search term, a drop-down
list appears. If I entered the same information before, I can select it from the
list. My computer at home, however, does not provide this drop-down list. How
can I get a similar list to appear on that computer?
A. The feature you are referring to is called AutoComplete. To view the
settings for AutoComplete, in Internet Explorer, click Tools > Internet Options
> Content tab, then the Settings button in the AutoComplete section. Click the
check boxes for some or all of the options you want to use. In your case, be
sure to select Forms, but you may also want to select Web Addresses, Username
and Passwords on Forms, and Prompt to Save Passwords, as well. Click OK twice to
save your changes and exit.
Q. I have Windows XP, Outlook Express and Office 2007. I speak English, but
I can only get French in the spell-check. How can I get an English
spell-checker?
A. When you install Office 2007, spell checking in Outlook Express works very
well -- as long as you want to spell-check in French. That's because Office 2007
initially replaced old files that spell-checked in English, Spanish and German.
According to Microsoft, the new version of these files contained within Office
2007 are incompatible with OE-6. (Isn’t that just peachy?) The easiest way to
resolve the problem is to install a third-party Spell Checker for OE (http://tinyurl.com/k2xcv).
This problem was resolved in a subsequent Office 2007 update.
Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em)
Sites of the Month
Congressional Votes
Hosted by washingtonpost.com,
here you can browse an extensive database of every vote cast in the U.S.
Congress since 1991. You can search by aggregate votes on a given issue or by
individual member of Congress to determine if your representative is truly
representing you, or if he or she is asleep at the switch. The site is updated
several times each day.
http://tinyurl.com/px7zh9
Flight Status
This was created for Palm-type, hand-held computers, but I use it as a
no-frills, cut-to-the-chase, bare-bones, stop-with-the-hyphens,
flight-information center to enhance my going-nowhere-in-a-hurry lifestyle. Here
you can quickly obtain flight status, departures and arrivals, flight alerts,
airline and airport information, security wait times, and current airport
delays. If you prefer the full-frills version, visit
www.flightstats.com.
http://tinyurl.com/y6g7gm
Universal Leonardo
No, not DiCaprio, the other Leonardo. This unusual site is a celebration of the
genius of Leonardo da Vinci’s work. Through a series of linked exhibitions and
scientific investigations, new dimensions of the “El Da-Vee” (as he was known in
the ‘hood) legacy are revealed. From the home page, click Browse, then meander
through Paintings, Manuscripts, Inventions, and Drawings. One can easily spend
hours on this site, so get comfortable, and it wouldn’t hurt to have a few
snacks standing by.
www.universalleonardo.org
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