|
  |
Recent
Developments ..
by Roger Davies
Apr 1998
Soft Serve Direct
Box 389, Magrath,
Alberta, Canada T0K 1JO
Phone (403) 388-4332 Fax (403) 758-3505
Email comments to news@ssdirect.com
|
hat's New This Month?
Ok, it's not new new. It's old new. However ..
56K modem access is here - finally. Most of my customers are using the Telus
Telusplanet ISP here in Alberta, and they have just upgraded their pool of modems to
support K56Flex (see www.telusplanet.net/56kmain.html
for details). If you already have a K56Flex modem installed the benefit is automatic. I
was more than pleased to see my average download rates jump from 2K to over 4K baud.
Cool. And it only took a year plus to implement ..
The 32 bit WordPerfect Suite 8 replaces it's 16 bit based Suite 7 sibling. I loved WP
Suite 7. My favorite WP7 Quickspot feature is missing from WP8. So are the multimedia
training demos on CD. Awww. On the other hand, files that took 2 MB to store in WP7 only
take 1 MB in WP8 and I am quickly getting used to the new interface and features
(see www.corel.com/products/wordperfect/cwps8).
WordPerfect Suite 8 CD software is a standard option in our Acer A-Open Computer systems
effective April 98.
And for something even I can afford - Netscape Communicator 4.04 is now a free browser
(assuming you already have a fancy big computer capable of running it). The browser guru's
say that either IE 4.01 or Netscape 4.04 browser are great choices, but currently give the
edge to the new Netscape version (but note that last month IE was ahead). Read the current
reviews for yourself at www.browsers.com. Either
or both browsers can be installed on new Acer A-Open systems.
 ining for Gold
on the Internet
Say you are searching for something on the internet. You go to your favorite search
engine. You type in a word, say - [ games ] .. Good. Using Yahoo you will get the first 20
of 372 categories and 10588 sites. With Excite you get the first 10 of 902059 pages. With
AltaVista you see the first 20 of 7639298 pages. What are the odds that the page you want
is on that first page?
What gives? The problem is that you need to give that search engine just a little more
information to go on. Were you interested in football/baseball/hockey games or just
computer games. You have to say so. You have to know how to talk to it. To maximize your
odds, you have to talk computer to it. Don't cry, it's not THAT hard.
Although variations exist for each search engine, most permit the use of the + and -
signs to indicate that a word must or must not be included in the search. Quotes around a
phrase make sure you find that page with only that phrase on it, not just the millions of
pages with any one of those words on it. So, try typing in something like: [ +"arcade
games" shareware demo ]. This will search only for pages with the phrase "arcade
games" which also may have the word shareware or demo as well.
Revised stats: With above search Yahoo lists 2 categories and 52 sites, Excite is
narrowed down to 12310 hits, and AltaVista is down to only some 30000 matching pages.
Details on search how-to's and tips exist on each search engine page - look for
advanced search tips in the help for that page. Links for the Excite, AltaVista, and Yahoo
help files are listed below:
Excite: http://www.excite.com/Info/searching.html?a-tip-t#advanced
AltaVista: http://www.altavistacanada.com/en/help_simple.htm
Yahoo: http://search.yahoo.com/search/syntax?
| 
