While Bill and his team of lawyers maintain that Internet Explorer is integral to the operation of Windows 98 and the two can’t be separated, not everyone agrees.
O’Reilly & Associates, publisher of a series of Windows Annoyances books, has come up with a quick and free application called IE-Off that turns off the integration, making Win98 look more like Win95. Download it at www.annoyances.org/win98/features/integration.html.
And if you see Bill peeping through your window, you can quickly turn the browser on again.
HARDWARE
YOU’VE GOT PROTECTION
The company that made its name in audio tape has come out with a budget computer keyboard that should be a hit with families as well as with college kids whose roommates are less than neat.
The $19.99 Memorex spill-proof keyboard for Windows machines is designed to withstand the onslaught of spilled pop or coffee, has a removable wrist rest and can be adjusted to your typing speed. And it’s easily locked to keep kids–or roommates–away from your data.
THE INTERNET
YOU’VE GOT ACCESS
The government’s latest look at computer ownership and Internet use in America, issued by Vice President Al Gore and the Commerce Department on Wednesday, revealed a widening digital divide between haves and have-nots in the country. If Al is looking for ways to narrow the gap, he need look no further than Muncie, Ind.
The Muncie library has built the Cybermobile, a former bookmobile fitted with seven computers and a wireless telephone connection so librarians can take the Internet directly to the people.
The Cybermobile uses run-of-the-mill, off-the-shelf electronic equipment. “There is nothing exotic about what we did. It’s just kind of like how you put it together,” said John Drumm, assistant library director.
William Tadevich, a salesman for Network Solutions in Granger, Ind., designed the Cybermobile computer system, and his father, Larry, president of the company, installed it in the bus.
The government might not be interested in this solution, though: The whole deal cost only $50,000.
AUDIO
YOU’VE GOT EXCESS
Pioneer Electronics did some research and found out that the average music lover owns around 100 CDs, and the largest CD changer now on the market holds 200 of the things. So pioneer has come out with the PDF-1007 GIGA changer, the first CD changer that can hold 300 CDs.
Now you can ask two friends over and tell ’em to bring all their CDs. But the changer costs $350, so tell them to bring money, too.
