PC World - August 2000
- — 01 July, 2000 17:22
COVER STORY
58 NEW WAVE MUSIC
The complete guide to MP3s
MP3 is about more than digital tunes: it's about hardware, software, Web sites, and a few niggling laws. Where did the format come from and why do music fans love it? What are the best digital music players and software programs? How do you find good - and legal - digital music on the Web? We answer these questions and more in our sound test of the digital music revolution.
64 MUSIC IN THE FREE WORLD
All about MP3s
To get you going, we'll walk you through the most important steps: finding and using an MP3 player program, downloading new tunes from the Net, and converting your existing CD collection to MP3s.
FEATURES
53 WEB AND YOU
Online: where the jobs are
Employment Web sites have matured in the past six months, adding all manner of features and user interaction. Many smaller sites have joined forces with the larger players, consolidating into considerable databases of job ads. We tell you what to look for in an employment site, and compare their features, support and interactivity.
68 IMAGE IS EVERYTHING
Graphics-editing software roundup
Improvements in scanner and digital camera technology, together with increased CPU performance, has led to a resurgence in working with images on the PC. However, choosing the right program to match your experience and needs can be a bit daunting, with hundreds of graphic applications promising to turn you into a pixel pushing guru overnight.
NEWS
16 TWO STRIKES FOR FEDERAL AUTHORITIES ON PRIVACYATO's plans to sell details given to them by applicants for the ABN breached the Federal Privacy Act, and the use of electoral rolls to send out GST information packs has been ruled illegal16 E-COMMERCE INSURANCE OFFEREDInsurance broker and risk adviser Marsh is offering Australia's "first" e-commerce insurance policy for first and third party losses16 HREOC RELEASES REPORT ON COMMUNICATIONS ACCESSIBILITYThe Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission has noted the growing "digital divide" that determines who is and who isn't participating in the new information industry and society17 MICROSOFT ORDERED TO SPLITThe two-year antitrust battle between the software giant and the US Government came to a close when the judge ruled that Microsoft be split into two companies17 TELECOMMUNICATIONS INTERCEPT ACT PASSEDA new bill gives ASIO and other law enforcement agencies greater powers to investigate computer-related crime or fraud17 STUFF.COM.AUThe online auctioneer has announced a third quarter relaunch that should see the company rebrand its site as the "Stuff Marketplace"18 HOUSEHOLD USE OF THE INTERNETThe ABS conducted quarterly surveys of Internet use in Australia during 1999, and recently released the final results and an accompanying report18 GOCONNECT FORCED TO WITHDRAWISP GoConnect has been ordered by the ACCC to withdraw and correct a series of advertisements promoting a "free" ISP service18 INSTANT MESSAGING WAR FLARES AGAINAOL has blocked users of startup Odigo from exchanging messages with AOL's Instant Messaging users19 ABC, TELSTRA DEAL OFFA content agreement between the ABC and Telstra has fallen through, with the telco declaring the deal dead, and laying the blame squarely on the ABC19 PRIVACY BREACHESAdvertising firm DoubleClick and toy manufacturers Mattel have been exposed for breaching their customers' online privacy19 HEAVYWEIGHT ASP ALLIANCE TO DEBUT IN AUSTRALIAAustralia will be among the first nations to experience the new ASP alliance between Cable & Wireless, Compaq and Microsoft19 IBM TO PRE-LOAD LINUX ON LAPTOPSIBM's popular A20m and T20 ThinkPads will feature Caldera's OpenLinux eDesktop, in response to customer demand20 tech.filesChipset chic - Intel's 815, VIA Apollo Pro 133, and the new Intel Pentium 4 (Willamette)24 alt.netShare and share alike - CuteMXFIRST LOOKS28 SyncMaster 170MP29 Casio MP3 watch, JazPiper32 McAfee Personal Firewall, FreeHand 934 Swish, Xara 3D36 Canon BJC-820036 Opera 4 (beta)38 SuperMicro SuperServer 8050, i-Vox and Syncharger40 Magellan GPS-315 and DataSend41 QuickLink PenLINUXWORLD.COM.AU109 Using LinuxHelix GNOME Preview 2110 Putting Linux to workOpenSales AllCommerceECOMWORLDe6 Stage 9: Marketing your site HERE'S HOW114 UpgraderInstall a new hard drive118 Windows 9xCustomise your InfoTips and ToolTips; enhance Explorer with DMEXMenu120 Windows 2000Using the Accessibility options122 Mac OSCreate a software restore CD124 Graphics new!
Getting to grips with graphic file formats126 Audio new!
Put old recordings on your PC
Help Screen
128 Windows 9x
Stop Windows from accessing the floppy drive; put away the Windows CD-ROM for good; load any program to the system tray; stop or change the splash screen130 InternetRemove e-mail hoaxes from your inbox; retire an old PGP key132 Word Processing Fine-tune self-typing text; view heading styles in Word134 Spreadsheets Plot data in Excel; restrict cursor movement to unprotected cells136 Hardware Troubleshoot your inkjet printer quickly; reduce screen flicker137 Bugs and Fixes Critical update for Internet Explorer 4 and 5; Lotus Word Pro division bugDEPARTMENTS12 EDITORIALMore than meets the eye42 OPINIONS42 Internet for all By Beverley Head44 The love network By Nicholas Petreley46 Cash into ash By Mark Stafford48 You better, you bettor, you bet By Ian Yates50 READERS' FORUM plus DILBERTBACKBYTES169 SKILLSAcademics lead e-commerce education170 BOOK REVIEWThe Internet Startup BibleMake Your Website Work For YouHow to buy a computer171 WEB REVIEWFlame WarriorsMake Money Slowly!
Tianwang Search Office
PublicDebate
Open Directory Project
172 GADGETS AND GIZMOS
PowerShot IXUS
Matchbox PC
Remote PC Resetter
Handy magnets
Wind-up Torch
Retractable Telephone Cord
Eye D Mouse II
Cordless TrackMan Wheel
174 GAMES
Star Trek: Armada
Lemmings Revolution
Preview: MDK2
176 BYTESBACK
BEST BUYS
76 PCS
HOME PCS
Dell Dimension XPS B-800r
Peripherals Plus Athlon 700
Gateway Performance 850xl
Peripherals Plus Athlon 600
Acer Aspire 6490
Gateway Select 850
Digital Star PowerPro P3-733
Digital Star PowerPro P3-600
Peripherals Plus Athlon 800
Packard Bell Platinum 933
Compaq Presario 3588
BUSINESS PCS
Dell Dimension L-500cx
Compaq iPaq Legacy Free
Dell Precision 220
SUB-$2000 PCs
Beyond SuperO M-Class
Peripherals Plus Athlon 600
Packard Bell Club 533C
86 NOTEBOOKS
POWER NOTEBOOKS
Compaq Armada E500
IBM ThinkPad T20
Dell Inspiron 3800
Gateway Solo 9300xl Deluxe
Acer TravelMate 734TL
VALUE NOTEBOOKS
Toshiba Portege 3440CT
Gateway Solo 2150CS
Westan Armabook
Gateway Solo 3300
95 HARD DRIVES
Seagate U8
Seagate Barracuda ATA II
Western Digital Caviar 153BA
Western Digital Caviar 102AA
Maxtor DiamondMax 30VL
Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 40
Maxtor DiamondMax 60
Quantum Fireball Plus LM
Quantum Fireball Lct 15
Samsung SpinPoint V series (10.2)
Samsung SpinPoint V series (20.4)
100 GRAPHICS CARDS
AOpen 3020 Riva TNT 2 Pro
Asus AGP-V6600 GeForce 256 Deluxe
Asus AGP-V6800 Pure GeForce 256 DDR
Asus AGP-V6800 GeForce 256 Deluxe DDR
Asus AGP-V7700 Pure GeForce 2 GTS
ATI Rage Fury Maxx
ChainTech Desperado AGP-RI70 GeForce 256Creative Labs 3D Blaster GeForce 2 GTSDaytona GeForce 256 Daytona Riva TNT2 M64Diamond Stealth III S540Diamond Viper IIGuillemot Prophet II GTSLeadTek WinFast GeForce 2 GTSMatrox Millennium G400 MaxVideo Excel TNT 2 Speed ChaserWebstar Spectra 3000 GeForce 256 DDR
