NetBloke.com - Halloween Horrors
Publication Date: 29/10/2001
ISSN 1445-1360
Publication Date: 29/10/2001
ISSN 1445-1360
G'day!
Well that bumper issue on online hardware purchasing has been put off again.
Yes that is the opening line from last issue as well. I just want to make the computer hardware issue really, really good, and to tell you the truth at the moment I really do not have a lot of spare time on my hands. "Why?" you may ask. Well all will be revealed in the next issue I hope. Believe me you will want to read that one! I may be stressing out about it now but once this is out of the bag I will be relieved!
Ok so Halloween is almost here. This is all a bit new to me as in Australia it really is not that big a deal. Yes the retailers all try and push it to pump up sales but really it is entirely a commercial venture in my opinion in Australia. Here is Des Moines at least it is very commercial, however there is still the trick or treat aspect and carving the pumpkins (keep a look out for mine on my webcam: http://webcam.netbloke.com ).
We took our daughter Hayden trick or treating at Blank Park Zoo's Nighteyes (http://www.blankparkzoo.com/nighteyes.htm). This assortment of creepy story tales and subzero (Celsius) temperatures sure made my day. But the free candy and the look on Hayden's face made it all worthwhile.
Talking of freezing, what is the deal with Iowa weather? Did someone turn down the sun or what? I now want a nice warm coat for my birthday.
Also this week Ryan Glenn has compiled his own spin on the Instant Messaging phenomenon that I covered a few issues ago. Please let me know if you like this additional content or not. Ryan was nice enough to offer to write some items occasionally so I took him up on the offer.
So until next week seeya later! I will just try not to have a heart attack from all the stress myself! Remember all will be revealed next issue.
Nathan Allan
You scared the living daylights out of me!
There are other variants on this definition but with all the spooky stuff going on I thought this was appropriate.
Of course it means to be scared to the point of almost having a nasty accident.
Ok not a computer tip this week, more of a community announcement for dog owners.
Keep your dog restrained at all times when cleaning up the front yard. You just never know when a police dog and its handler will run past chasing youths.
The nice Policewoman in this instance told us her dog might actually bite our dog's head off. Personally I was a little more worried about our daughter going to have a pat of the dog.
It sure was pretty seeing all the flashing lights and police going up and down the street.
Ben And Jerry's Halloween site
I don't know what crazy people are still eating ice cream now that it is colder but hey this site sure has a lot of great activities for the kids on it!
Halloween Crafts, Games, Clip-art, with Desktop themes for the bigger kids!
http://www.benjerry.com/halloween/
Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF
I like the idea behind UNICEF's Halloween fund raising drive. Basically it is kids helping kids. A bit more noble than just seeking candy from your neighbors.
http://www.unicefusa.org/trickortreat/
The following content is compiled by Ryan Glenn of http://www.Gongus.com
A lot of you may use instant messenger clients, and you maybe have wondered which is the best. Well I am going to do a little review for you guys. The one I have always used is MSN Messenger (http://messenger.msn.com) this is a simple, but powerful client. Some of the features are: If you have a Hotmail account, it will display when you have messages and when you get a new one. You can also send a file, and voice chat. If you decide to go with this program you should also pick up Messenger Plus! (http://www.patchou.com/msgplus/ ) It takes away the ad at the bottom, lets you leave personalized away messages, log messages, and more!
You have probably heard of Netscape (formally AOL) Instant Messenger (http://home.netscape.com/aim/). It is one of the most popular programs. It is fairly simple to use. On Netscape, you can send files, pictures, voice chat, check your Pop3 email, check stocks, and get the news headlines. There are ads on the top and bottom, but they are small and shouldn't bother you.
Now unless you have never actually gotten on the Internet, you have heard of Yahoo. Even they have a chat program. (http://messenger.yahoo.com) This program has grown on me a lot. This is a really good program, but it is even better if you use a lot of Yahoo's services. You can get all your Yahoo needs including: news, email, stocks, weather, and more. You can do conferences and even have voice in them.
If you are a little more advanced you should try ICQ (http://www.icq.com). This program has a lot (almost too many ) of things you can do with it. You can send messages to ICQ from certain cell phones, chat, email, pager, search in the ICQ white pages, and much more.
I would just find out which program most of the people you talk with use, and use it. They all have their disadvantages and advantages. Well what if you have a lot of people that use every program. I would recommend Trillian for that. http://www.trillian.cc this program combines all chat programs and IRC into one small program. It does not have all the features some of the other programs have, but if you just want to chat this is the thing for you.
Well once you get your Instant Messenger client up and running. You can IM me with any comments or questions you have. My MSN is gimpy427@hotmail.com , My Yahoo is tennesseehenry@yahoo.com , My AOL is ryanglenn427 , and My ICQ # is 123362305. If you want to just email me please use my Yahoo.
NetBloke Note: So what do you think of Ryan's contribution? Something you would like to continue seeing? Email me at netbloke@netbloke.com and let me know.
In order to try and make the NetBloke newsletter more lively I asked you all last week if you would prefer HTML emails over plain text. Initially 99% of people who responded said to swap to HTML. They listed the benefits in their eyes; easier to read; links straight off to the Web; new fun format; more resourceful; nicer than plain old black text on a white background; needless to say the list goes on.
Although not as many of you prefer plain text a few of you had good reason, such as; inability to read HTML (although this can be overcome by the way I send out the issues to some extent); quicker to download (note I would keep my HTML version very lean to cut down on the load time); and finally some people just prefer the simple formatting of plain text.
So I am left with a dilemma! How do I keep everyone happy (including myself!)?
So this leads on to this weeks question!
If I swap to HTML format how many of you will unsubscribe?
If so will you go online to read NetBloke?
Just email me if you will unsubscribe at netbloke@netbloke.com
Ok this joke is a bit lame but it is a Halloween joke none-the-less. Plus I figure this would be the type of thing to happen to me!
Why was the boy unhappy to win first prize for the best costume at the Halloween party?
Because he just came to pick up his little sister!
