1) Windows Tips - "What's Your Point?"
2) File Find! - "M@ilDefense"
3) Sites-Seeing - "English Done Wrong\You're Out!"
4) Email Funny - "IceBreaker"
5) MOUS Tips - "What's Your Status? Part II"
6) They Said It - quotes to give one pause
7) Hodgepodge - that what fits no where else

Welcome to Constant Reader, and those of you new to these pages! Enjoy your visit in The Basement!

No matter what applications you use, there is one item that you just can't miss, and that's the mouse pointer. Why not add a little spice to your screen life this week and give your pointers a new look?

I) Start > Settings > Control Panel

II) Double-click the Mouse icon, then choose the Pointers tab.

III) Click the Scheme dropdown box, and choose from available schemes such as Large or Animated Pointers. A preview of each pointer in a given scheme will be displayed in the bottom section. If you're really into customization, you can select individual pointers, tap the Browse button, and pick from all available cursor shapes.

As we all know by now, nasty things can arrive uninvited in your Inbox at any time. That why I suggest you take a look at the File Find! I have for you this week--M@ilDefense. This  email filtering application will give you more control of your email. It protects against viruses and other forms of email-borne malware by removing potentially harmful executables, scripts, and macros received either as an attachment or embedded within the email itself.

By default, all macros are removed from Microsoft Office attachments, all Javascript, VBScripts, applets, and ActiveX objects will be removed from within the mail message, and all executables such as VBS, EXE, SHS, PIF, and OCX will be removed. When this removal occurs, you will see an alert window on the bottom right hand corner of the screen.

What is left is a "clean" message, with the original stored in a quarantine area on your hard drive. If you were expecting the "suspect", and are sure it's safe, you can easily retrieve it from quarantine, otherwise toss it away!

M@ilDefense has stripped a number of scripts out of HTML emails I received, and isolated every executable sent my way. I've been quite happy with its ease of use and its added protection. Free for personal use, worth a look! [8571 Kb\EXE]

Update August 4, 2002 - This program is no longer freeware.

 CLICK HERE to download M@ilDefense

This site defines an error in English as "deviations from the standard use of English as judged by sophisticated users such as professional writers, editors, teachers, and literate executives and personnel officers. The aim of this site is to help you avoid low grades, lost employment opportunities, lost business, and titters of amusement at the way you write or speak."

Not a dictionary, and definitely not a dry and boring reference source; you'll enjoy Common Errors in English as a fascinating tour of mistakes -- some I'm sure you'll recognize, some you might disagree with, and some that you might even commit! There's also plentiful interesting links to be found in the Supplemental and Other Resources pages.

 CLICK HERE for Common Errors in English

Lorenzo Music died recently. Shown his picture, ninety-nine of one hundred people would have no conception of who he was, yet if they heard recordings of his voice, would instantly identify him as the voice of both Garfield the Cat and Rhoda's Carlton the Doorman. Not a major "star", his passing was little more than a one- or two-sentence mention in most media.

Mr. Music is given a more expansive epitaph at our second site, "You're Outta Here!", as are many more of the lesser-known "personalities" that had some impact on humanity. The famous and not-so-famous alike are eulogized here, with insights into their lives that you won't find through your typical news outlets.

A few examples of recent departures recognized here are: Ron Townson of the music group 5th Dimension; Adolf Schoepe, founder of both Kwikset and Fluidmaster; and Luella  Hennessey- Donovan, who created the Kennedy-Donovan centers, established to assist children and adults with special needs.

With over five years of archives to browse, YOH also makes a great reference source for settling those water cooler bets!

 CLICK HERE for "You're Outta Here!"

This past May, I turned a flock of Penguins loose on your desktops. This week I have another slick little toy for those of you who can't get enough of those tuxedoed types.

Similar to an old favorite, Jazzball, only this time there's a bunch of penguins sliding over an iceberg. You need to break the ice cube into progressively smaller pieces to trap the 'guins, but watch out!-- they don't take kindly to your aims and will destroy your icebreaker with a single touch. [616 Kb\EXE]

 CLICK HERE to chill out with IceBreaker

Last week I covered the leftmost side (1 & 2) of the Word Status bar. This week, we'll take a quick look at more Status bar items, several of which I'll cover in greater detail in future issues.

Items 3 through 6 act as ON/OFF switches--double-click on the box text to activate the item, repeat to deactivate. These boxes also act as indicators--when turned "on" the letters will no longer be gray, instead they will look like normal text.

3) "REC" is the Status bar switch to turn on the recording of macros. Double-click on this box to bring up the Record Macro dialog box. More on macros in the future.

4) "TRK" switches Change Tracking on and off. With this Word Tool, revisions to a document can be made and reviewed by multiple users - often used in collaborative projects. Again, more on Tracking Changes in a coming MOUS Tips column.

5) The "EXT" box is the sole way to access the Extend Selection utility, used to select a block of text. Here's how to use it:

I) Click or otherwise position your insertion point at the beginning of the text you'd like to select.

II) Instead of dragging to select your text block, double-click the "EXT" box.

III) Position your cursor at the end of your text and click. Your text is selected.

IV) Turn off the Extend Selection tool by again double-clicking "EXT", or choose a menu item to manipulate the selection (Cut, Copy, Format, etc.)

6) "OVR" is your Overtype indicator. When your keyboard is in Overtype mode, typed text will REPLACE the current text, rather than "shove it ahead" as happens in the normal Insert mode. For most people, there's never a good reason to be in Overtype mode; in fact, most will find they've accidentally slipped into this mode and don't realize it until they find Word "misbehaving".

Now, you might be thinking, "I've had this happen to me, and I know I didn't double-click the "OVR", so how did I get into Overtype mode?" Well, this almost always happens when you're keying and tap the Delete key... only you unknowingly catch the Insert key instead. The Insert key also acts as a toggle switch between Overlay and Insert ("normal") modes.

Looks like this is getting longer than I expected, so we'll finish up Word's Status bar next week.

"In a time of rapid change, standing still is the most dangerous course of action." -- Brian Tracy

Paparazzi caught the Prez leaving for his month-long vacation; see what he's taking along for reading material in this week's Photo Funny. Meanwhile, the ODDS and ENDS bin has collected stories about a project to get kids to move the Earth, a new judicial dislike for computer monitoring, and my nominees for a Darwin Award; all in The Basement --

G'nite, and thanks for reading!