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Cyberspace: What is it?
Q. What does “cyberspace” mean? I see it all the time associated with the
Internet.
A. The term “cybernetics” was coined by Norbert Wiener in his 1948 book
“Cybernetics or Control and Communication in the Animal and the Machine.” Catchy
title. He used the term in reference to the control of complex systems in the
animal world and in mechanical networks. Expanding on that 38 years later,
author William Gibson, in his 1980 science-fiction thriller “Neuromancer” used
the word “cyberspace” to define a Rod Serlingesque dimension of time and space
that begins when data is transmitted, and ends when it is received. For example,
when you send email, the data leaves your computer then subsequently arrives at
a destination mail server. During that brief time in transit, the data exists in
an electronic time warp known as cyberspace.
Q. I use Outlook Express for my email. How can I transfer all my messages and
mail folders from my old computer to a new computer?
A. The Outlook Express Backup Genie (http://tinyurl.com/6lz9a)
is a helpful utility that saves messages, settings, address books, mail
accounts, blocked senders lists and signature files to a compressed backup file,
which can be easily restored to the same computer or to another computer. You
can try the Backup Genie for 15 days and it’s $39.95 to purchase.
Though the program’s name suggests that its primary focus is Outlook Express, it
will also backup and restore data from Outlook, Eudora, IncrediMail, Opera,
Netscape Messenger, Netscape Mail, PocoMail and several other applications.
If you only have a few messages that you need to move from one computer to
another, instead of copying a message from one computer to another, simply
forward the email to yourself, then go online with the second computer and
retrieve your email. As ridiculously low-tech as it sounds, I’ve been using this
technique for years and it works like a charm.
Q. I know what an email filter is, but can you explain the difference between a
negative email filter and a positive email filter?
A. A negative filter is created to block email based on the sender’s name or
address, words used in the Subject line or body of the message. In other words,
there’s a negative connotation associated with the email: You don’t want to see
it, so you create a filter to block it or route it directly into the trash.
Conversely, a positive email filter is created for email addresses of people
from whom you do want to receive messages, such as friends, colleagues, family
members and, of course, Mr. Modem. Positive filters
bring messages to your attention. A filter's action may change the color of the
message header, play a jaunty little tune, or transfer the message to a
designated mail folder.
Q. A Web site that I need to visit displays a message that says that I have to
disable all pop-up blockers first. It says something about a Windows update that
enabled a pop-up blocker. Does this make any sense to you, Mr. M?
A. Yes, it sure does, and it’s easily resolved. When one of the large Windows
Service Pack updates was installed, it enabled Internet Explorer’s pop-up
blocker by default. To disable it, click Tools > Pop-up Blocker > Turn Off
Pop-up Blocker. That’s all there is to it.
Mr. Modem’s DME (Don’t Miss ‘Em) Sites of the Month
Birthday Statistics
Type in your birth date and this calculator will tell you how many hours and
seconds you have been alive, beginning with the date of conception. Okay,
perhaps a little too much information, but it also presents the top songs of the
year of your birth, your equivalent age in dog years (Mercy!), and the amount of
heat generated by all the candles on your birthday cake. If this won’t ruin your
birthday, nothing will.
http://tinyurl.com/2f8zg
Blinkx Video
Here you’ll find more than 35 million hours (approximately 4,000 years, give or
take) of video, in case you have some free time. Search for TV news clips and
other video snippets from more than 500 media partners. Lots of humorous
content, as well. New video continually arrives, fed by robotic ‘spiders’ that
comb the Web looking for video content.
www.blinkx.com
Newser
An online news aggregator that scans Internet news sources and delivers news in
concise summaries, together with photos, video, audio and links to original
stories. Newser editors select the day's top stories from more than 100 sources,
along with items from lesser known sites that are frequently overlooked. News is
presented in a nine-square grid pattern for fast and easy reference. If you
wish, you can increase the grid to 21 tiny squares that are so difficult to
read, it will give you a headache. You can also decide if you want hard or soft
news. Registration is free.
www.newser.com
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