NWA-PCUG 09/99 NewsLetter Article 18861 N. Hwy 112, Springdale, AR 72762-9303 Ken's Korner Cupboard Offers Some Tips You May Find Useful by Ken Fermoyle This column includes an assortment of tips, comments and answers to questions from readers that have been cluttering up Ken's Korner for some time... Phone Combo Relieves Pain in the Neck How many times have you tried to juggle a phone receiver and follow instructions from a support technician using your keyboard and mouse? Tough, isn't it? I don't do it anymore; instead, I use a headset plugged into a cordless phone. When I went shopping for a new cordless last fall I found a remanufactured Uniden 900MHz model on sale for half the price of a new one. Seeing that it had a headset jack, I snapped it up. (Note: I don't hesitate to buy remanufactured hardware IF the refurbishing was done by the original manufacturer or its authorized supplier and IF it includes a reasonable warrnty. I've had good luck with several pieces of remanufactured equipment over the years.) I also got a Panasonic headset (about $25). The combination was one of the best buys I've made in years. I use it a lot for taking notes during phone interviews, conference calls and just plain chatting. Where it really shines, however, is when calling tech support numbers. It eliminates pinning the phone receiver against your shoulder and neck during long "on hold" periods and leaves both hands free for typing and mouse use as you follow a technician's instructions. Using the headset relieves me of a chromic pain in the neck (mine was damaged by a falling tree limb. Any phone with a headset jack will work, but the cordless/headset combo lets me walk around and talk with the phone tucked in a shirt pocket. Love that KVM Switch! Another favorite is my KVM (keyboard, video, mouse) switch. I wrote about this in an earlier article (if you haven't seen it, ask your editor to print it), but I grow fonder of it every day. The ability to control two or more computers (my workstation and our network server, in this care) from a single keyboard, monitor and mouse is terrific: convenient, saves space, is utterly reliable. I'm trying out several other types of switches that many of you may find helpful. Watch far an article soon. Brass Thumbscrews The least expensive, but probably the most convenient, items I use in maintaining our office computers are brass thumbscrews that replace the normal screws used to attach case covers. They make quick work of removing and replacing the "lids" on our four computers. The thumbscrews have the same diameter and pitch as the hex-head screws they replace, of course, but you don't need a nut driver or Philips-head screwdriver to remove and replace them. One of our Tugnet stalwarts, Bruce Doshier, found the thumbscrews at a computer show (aka "swap meet") and bought several hundred. They were packaged in sets of six and sold to members for $2 per package (a slight profit that went into the group's coffers). Bruce reports that you could probably get similar thumbscrews at local stores or Websites that specialize in electronic components, if they don't show up a computer shows in your area. Browser Tip Have you tried using two browsers, one for fast Internet searching and the other for general Web surfing? I have an older version of Netscape with graphics disabled that I use when I use search engines and to do research. This allows me to do quick checks of sites to see if they offer information I want. If I do want to view a graphic on any given page, all I need do is click on its icon. (Check your browser's manual or Help Menu for instructions on how to disable graphics.) I use Internet Explorer 4.x for more normal, leisurely Web browsing and when I want to explore a site thoroughly. The only drawback is the extra hard drive space that having two browsers installed consumes, but with hard drives so cheap now this isn't the limiting factor that it once was. Put Some Light on the Subject This one is really off the wall and makes you look like a weirdo, but it makes computer maintenance a lot easier for me. Like many of us who have reached "senior citizen" status, my eyes aren't what they used to be, especially since macular degeneration destroyed central focussing ability in my left eye 12 years ago. I need a lot of light on the subject when I work on a project, otherwise I have difficulty seeing the slots in screws, inserting interface cards, etc. I've tried various types of flashlights and work lamps, but they all require three hands or have other failings. My latest solution to the problem combines a small clip-on flashlight and a baseball cap. I clip the flashlight to the bill of the cap, so I can shine it directly on an area where I'm working. Even better is a clip-on flashlight I found recently that has a flexible extension. You can bend it to point precisely when you need the light, and the extension puts it closer to your work area. Like I said, it looks weird, but it works. (What really shook up my wife recently was seeing me wearing both the cap-and-light combination and the phone headset! Her reaction: "It's the creature from outer space!") Copyright 1999 by Ken Fermoyle, Fermoyle Publications. Ken has written some 2,500 articles for publications ranging from Playboy and Popular Science to MacWeek, Microtimes & PC Laptop. Ken's Korner, a syndicated monthly column, is available free to User Groups. For information or permission to reprint this article, contact kfermoyle@earthlink.net.