letters - Letter to the Editor

Home Office Computing, Feb, 2000

Internet Postage Praise

As an E-Stamp user, I found your review "Virtual Stamp of Approval" (November, page 38) to be slightly biased.

You say, "Despite its convenience ... E-Stamp is hamstrung by silly postal regulations." But dealing with any government agency has its share of bureaucracy--the U.S. Postal Service included. However, E-Stamp did its best to mitigate the issues surrounding postage meters.

You take issue with the program's requiring the address-matching CD-ROM to be in your PC's drive--I do not. If you understand how automation and technology helps the USPS deliver millions of pieces of mail each day, you can appreciate the need for exact addresses. Also, you failed to mention that besides verifying the correct address, the program also prints the delivery point bar code.

As for E-Stamp's "vault" device, it stores the postage you purchase and download. E-Stamp is the only electronic-postage solution that lets you work without a constant Internet connection. I find this a huge benefit, one you completely overlooked. I only connect to the Internet when I need to replenish my postage and to upload the activity log to the USPS.

All in all, I am completely satisfied with the product; I had absolutely no trouble installing it or printing postage. And, if you do need support, the people at E-Stamp are ready to help, gratis.

Neil R. Ayrons via the Internet

A Slot in the Dark

Amee Abel's review of Farallon's HomeLine PCI Starter Kit (October, The Networked Home, page TNH8) stated that "most PCs and some Power Macs (for instance, Apple's blue-and-white Power Mac G3s) have PCI slots, but newer Power Macs and iMacs have NuBus slots instead."

The current crop of iMacs has neither PCI nor NuBus slots (the original iMac shipped with a Mezzanine slot). And NuBus was present in the Mac II through the first three Power Mac models. Since then, all Power Macs, including the new G4 series, have sported PCI bus slots.

Owen W. Linzmayer San Francisco

Rising Watermarks

In your "Timesaving 101" feature's "Goof-Proof Graphics" section (October, page 80), there is an error in the way you explain how to do watermarks. First, you must select View/Headers and Footers, then you should proceed with the rest of your directions. When you are finished, you have to turn off headers and footers, or the watermark will just keep moving down the page as you add text.

Perry Yaver via the Internet

No More Wipeouts

In "True Crimes" (November, page 88), the "My So-Called PC Life" sidebar's discussion of reinstalling Windows advises users to make sure to back up their Internet Explorer bookmarks and Outlook Express mail folders, "as Windows buries these vital files in hidden, cryptic directories." Then the article reports that [3 hours later] you "successfully restored [your] browser and e-mail information."

Since April, I've reinstalled Windows three times due to total wipeouts, and have finally realized the critical importance of backing up my files. However, I still haven't figured out which files contain my e-mail and, although of lesser significance, my browser favorites. I have Zip disk backups from my last crash, but I need help on where to find these particular files for restoration. Could you give me some guidance?

Allen Grossman San Francisco

Contributing editor Rick Broida responds: Internet Explorer bookmarks are stored in the Favorites folder in the Windows directory on your hard drive. Outlook Express 5 e-mail and mailboxes are stored in Windows\Application Data\Microsoft\Outlook Express. If you're using an earlier version of Outlook Express, you may have to drill even further to find the folders.

Keep Your Hands Off

As a student at the University of Texas, I have three roommates and I want to keep them from using my computer. The only thing I'm aware of doing is running the Windows screen saver with a password. What do you suggest?

Rene Moncivais Austin, TX

Editor in chief Eric Grevstad responds: Unfortunately, all your roomies need do to bypass your password screen saver is to reboot the PC by pressing Ctrl-Alt-Del. To block that key sequence, or insert password protection at system boot time, you'll need a commercial security package such as EggMan Network's Desktop Blocker ($20; www.eggman.net) or Sterling Strategic Solutions' SOS Best Defense ($60; 800-427-9422, www.sterlingweb.com).

Correction

The Studio DC 10 Plus reviewed in the October issue (page 100) is manufactured by Pinnacle Systems (www.pinnaclesys. com), not Pinnacle Data Systems as noted.

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