textfiles/computers/tips.txt

       
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                       COMPUTING TIPS, TRICKS AND TRAPS 
            PLUS COMMENTS REGARDING ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE COMPUTING

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       Sometimes it takes months or years to stumble onto the ESSENTIAL 
       tips, tricks and traps with which every PC user should 
       become acquainted. Let's discuss a few of the more important 
       items which never seem to be covered adequately in the 
       instruction book which arrives with the computer. Many of these 
       tips apply to both laptops and desktop computers. If you are an 
       advanced user, glance at all of the tips - this tutorial 
       contains a sprinkling of basic, intermediate and advanced tips. 
       A little something for everyone! Let's begin....
          
       Don't experiment with ORIGINAL copies of your files! If you want 
       to tinker with a word processing file or slice and dice your 
       accounting data FIRST make a floppy or hard disk copy of the 
       file and then work on the COPY in case something goes wrong. 
       That way you will have the original to fall back on in case you 
       need it. 

       Don't buy floppy disks when the price is too good to believe. If 
       your data is worth anything at all, a few pennies more can make 
       the difference between having that important business letter 
       obtainable or a dreaded error message on the screen that your 
       file format is unreadable just when you needed that file at 3 
       AM. 

       Make backup copies of important files. If the data is REALLY 
       important, keep yet a second or third copy in a safe deposit box 
       in case your home or office burns down! Sounds a little severe, 
       but just wait until you discover the joy of doing your income 
       tax return on your PC (fantastic compared to the old pen and 
       pencil way) and then discover somehow the ONLY copy of the file 
       is no good when the IRS decides to perform a routine audit! 

       For backup you might want to switch from the COPY command to the 
       sensational DOS XCOPY command (available in DOS versions 3.2 and 
       later) which also allows file copying and backup using 
       additional parameter switches which you can read about in your 
       DOS manual. For example the /S switch used with XCOPY will copy 
       all files from your subdirectories to the new target disk. 
       Adding /P to XCOPY will cause a pause at each step to ask 
       whether you want each file copied. Using the /D switch followed 
       by a date will allow you to copy only those files created or 
       modified on that date or later. All three of these switches can 
       be used in tandem. 

       Here's a standard tip which is so simple most people overlook 
       it. Whenever you buy a box of new diskettes, FORMAT them 
       immediately. Why? Reason one: you will find out if any disks are 
       bad and be able to return to the store rather than be down to 
       your last (surprise: defective!) disk when you need it. Reason 
       two: usually you are right in the middle of a long word 
       processed document and need to save the file, but OOPS, your 
       current disk is full. No problem. Just reach into the desk 
       drawer and grab an empty floppy disk. SURPRISE! The floppy disk 
       is NOT FORMATTED which forces you to exit your word processor, 
       lose the data permanently from RAM memory, and format the disk 
       just as you should have in the first place. Beginners luck, I 
       guess. . . 

       Here's an extremely important tip most beginners should 
       consider: AT class computers and those containing a 80286 CPU 
       chip also contain a special battery to maintain the "setup 
       configuration." This battery will eventually die and thus 
       cause you to lose your important setup data. The first sign 
       that your battery is going are mysterious losses of time and 
       dates. Other "strange" data losses may start to occur. 
       
       Eventually your computer will even refuse to start! Preventative 
       maintenance suggests that you dig around on your DOS disk(s) and 
       locate the SETUP program. Run setup and when you see the 
       configuration report screen (lots of funny numbers and 
       settings), hit the SHIFT-PRTSC (Shift key and Print Screen key 
       pressed at the same time). This will force a printout of the 
       valuable setup data to paper. You can also obtain shareware and 
       commercial software programs that will store this data to disk.
       Most experienced users deal with the situation by making a 
       copy of this setup data onto a "safety disk." If your battery 
       dies, you will be able to quickly reconstruct the setup data 
       from your paper sheet or safety disk after replacing the battery 
       and running the setup program (or safety disk backup program.)
       
       A better method, of course, is to realize that the battery 
       contained inside the computer lasts for about 2 to 4 years 
       and simply keep a record (much like oil changes on your car) 
       and manually replace it well before the deadline. Of course 
       when you replace it, run the setup program and record the 
       setup data on paper, since once you remove the battery the 
       data will be lost from memory. You might investigate newer 
       battery systems which automatically recharge themselves from the 
       power source of the computer and thus never need replacement.
       
       IBM originally designed this feature, by the way, to supplant 
       the older "dip switch system" on the first PC's. In older 
       computers of the XT design, a user had to remove the PC cover and 
       carefully set tiny switches deep inside the computer whenever a 
       different circuit board or monitor system was used. This was 
       tedious, so the software equivalent of the tiny switches were 
       created in memory with settings stored by battery (when the 
       computer was shut down). This allowed users to change the setup 
       from the keyboard using the DOS setup program from the DOS disk 
       rather than removing the cover and fiddling with switches. The 
       downside is that now we must replace the battery periodically 
       and of course record the setup data on paper or disk. Technology 
       marches on!

       Here's an "insider's" tip power users are familiar with. When 
       working with long text or document files such as instructions 
       for shareware packages, business letters and other text files it 
       is frequently useful to extract small portions to a separate 
       file or print for future reference. Power users frequently use 
       the shareware program LIST which browses or displays these 
       documents and can "clip" screens using the frequently overlooked
       ALT-O key (press and hold ALT then hit O). Assuming LIST is 
       currently browsing your document, it will ask for the name of a 
       file to create which you may supply (e.g., custom.doc). List 
       will extract that single screen of data to the file. As you 
       continue browsing the document, hitting ALT-O will append or add 
       any additional screens to the special target file! When finished 
       you have a compact file of extracted text data which you can save, 
       print or edit with your word processor rather than wading 
       through endless screens of the lengthy master document! LIST 
       is available from all shareware vendors, many computer clubs and 
       individual users. Several shareware vendors are listed in the 
       tutorial on software.

       Want the ultimate simple database? Combine LIST with any simple 
       word processor or text editor. Using your word processor type in 
       any list of ideas, phone numbers, addresses, parts inventory 
       which needs to be tracked. Save the information on disk as an 
       ASCII (plain text) file. Load the file into LIST using the 
       appropriate command (e.g., LIST INFO.DOC) and use the high speed 
       search feature by pressing the F key (F for find) and enter a 
       search phrase to locate (e.g., Denver). List will locate that 
       phrase and the information near it very rapidly. Pressing the F3 
       key will take you to the NEXT occurrence of the same search 
       phrase. When finished, hit the HOME key to return to the top of 
       the document to begin a new search. Technically you could use 
       your word processor's search feature to locate information also, 
       but LIST is quicker and more flexible. To update your simple 
       database, periodically edit the master document with your word 
       processor to change, delete or update entries. 
       
       When you turn on your computer each morning does DOS greet you 
       with several prompts instead of one? Do you see:

       C>
       C>
       C>

       This is easy to fix since most beginners are unaware that 
       someone has probably tinkered with the AUTOEXEC.BAT file and 
       inadvertantly added a few extra carriage returns to the end of 
       the file by pressing the return key several times when the file 
       was orginally created and saved on disk. Simply load AUTOEXEC.BAT 
       back into your word processor and remove all (usually invisible) 
       lines and spaces and carriage returns at the end of the file 
       (use the delete key). Resave the file as ASCII text with the same 
       name and your problem should disappear.
       
       Beginners also need to know about the alternate keyboard. 
       Sometimes you need a special symbol like the cents sign, the 
       British currency (pounds sterling) symbol, or the one half 
       fraction sign. IBM compatable computers contain an "alternate 
       keyboard" system which allows access to special math, foreign 
       language and graphics symbols. The source is a special ASCII 
       chart printed in the appendix of your DOS manual as well as most 
       computer reference books. It's easy to use this system: while 
       you are in your word processor, DOS or other program, press AND 
       CONTINUOUSLY HOLD DOWN the Alt key and then USING ONLY THE 
       NUMBER KEYS ON THE NUMERIC KEYPAD (to the right of the keyboard, 
       not the normal number keys above the keyboard) hit the three 
       digit DECIMAL number code of the special character you need. 
       
       For example, from the ASCII table in the back of my DOS manual I 
       note that the symbol for the British currency Pound is decimal 
       code 156. I hold down the Alt key, press in sequence the three 
       numbers 156 on the numeric keypad and finally release the ALT 
       key to get the proper symbol on my screen. 
              
       There are many useful symbols for foreign languages, math, 
       fractions, foreign currency, symbols to draw boxes, lines and 
       useful graphics symbols. Note that these ASCII symbols will 
       usually display properly on your screen but MIGHT NOT print 
       properly on your printer since some are used for special control 
       codes and other activities. Many will, however, display on both 
       your screen and printer. 
       
       Jot down the codes for the most interesting ASCII symbols to 
       keep near your keyboard! By the way, PC-Magazine published a 
       shareware utility called ASC.COM several years ago (available 
       from many computer clubs and BBS systems) which can "pop up" 
       over many of your programs and display the full ASCII code table 
       for quick reference and handy use if you don't want to go 
       searching for the ASCII index in the back of your DOS manual. 
       
       Before leaving the discussion about the alternate keyboard, note 
       that crucial control of your printer - setting various typefaces 
       and features - can be provided via a combination of batch files 
       and use of the alternate keyboard. See the printer discussion at 
       the end of the batch file tutorial elsewhere on this disk.

       Absolutely lethal trick: If you get the message ABORT, RETRY 
       IGNORE? from DOS while you are attempting to copy files from 
       one drive or disk to another DO NOT EVER switch disks in the 
       target drive (i.e., the drive to which files will be sent) then 
       answer RETRY. 

       If you do, you will end up with a hopelessly scrambled mess on 
       the target disk if it already has important files in place. This 
       can occur, for example, when you try to copy files to a disk 
       which has a write protect tab in place. Your temptation might be 
       to insert another different disk and retry. However, when DOS 
       copies files, it first reads the directory of the target disk 
       and stores it in memory. If you switch disks, the in-memory copy 
       of the directory of the OLD disk will overwrite the directory of 
       the new disk. Best situation in this case is to answer abort and 
       rekey the operation again (shortcut with DOS is hit F3 to 
       automatically reissue the last command) then try another disk, 
       if necessary. There are other ways this dangerous situation might 
       arise besides a write protect tab, so be careful. 

       Don't install or change add-in circuit boards or cards within 
       your computer with the power on. And be extremely careful about 
       static electricity. Try to briefly touch a metal ground such as 
       a lamp or metal window frame to discharge stray static 
       electricity before you touch your fingers inside the PC. Static 
       electricity discharges can blow out one or several integrated 
       circuit chips and leave you with a repair bill of $300 or more! 

       If you ever see the message:    ARE YOU SURE (Y/N)?     always 
       answer no unless you really know what is going to happen next! 
       This message usually precedes disaster as DOS prepares to delete 
       all of the files on a floppy disk or format your hard drive and 
       wipe out all data. 

       Don't invite dumb power problems. You are typing the last draft 
       of a valuable client contract and your 30 foot long power cord 
       dangles in front of both family cats on its meandering way 
       across the middle of the living room carpet to the wall socket. 
       It is plugged into a rat's nest of four way plug adapters along 
       with high-current drawing air conditioners and toaster ovens. 
       This is a great way to send your data to toaster heaven while we 
       are on the subject. 

       Treat your hard drive with EXTREME tender loving care while it 
       is spinning. No bumps, jolts, slams or ramma-lamma-ding-dongs! 
       One little bump will send the read/write heads plowing into the 
       spinning disk surface. Kind of like a 747 jet crash into the 
       library of congress. Translation: large data catastrophe! 

       If your data is sensitive and you lock the keyboard with that 
       cute little key which slips into the front panel of your 
       machine, DON'T forget to remove the mouse or other input 
       devices. Since a mouse is an alternate input device, a savvy 
       user can easily direct the computer to spill forth its 
       information even while the keyboard is locked. 

       Use the DOS command DISKCOPY in ONLY two cases: to make a backup 
       copy of new commercial software OR when you have somehow damaged 
       a disk and want to work on it with the Norton utilities or some 
       other recovery program. For all other copies you are safer to use 
       the COPY or XCOPY command. Reason? DISKCOPY does not remove file 
       fragmentation which COPY does. Second reason? DISKCOPY can 
       attempt to copy good information onto a target disk sector which 
       has formatted bad or is otherwise unavailable to DOS. Use COPY 
       *.* to copy all files on a disk and you will simultaneously copy 
       everything and unfragment the files. Two operations for the 
       price of one! 

       Thunderstorm coming? Shut down the computer and unplug it from 
       the wall INCLUDING the modem or telephone line! LIghtning hits 
       to the power or phone line send very high voltages hurtling down 
       the wire. If you prefer you can leave the computer plugged in 
       and chose as to whether you wish your PC scrambled, sunnyside up 
       or just deep fried! 

       Never switch or remove disks in the middle of an aborted program 
       operation. If for some reason you get an error message in the 
       middle of a file copying session or disk writing operation, 
       don't swap in another disk! DOS may think the old disk is still 
       there and continue to write the remainder of the data over 
       something valuable on the new disk! Better to stop what you are 
       doing and issue a non-writing command such as VER or DIR or even 
       shut down the computer in extreme situations rather than mangle 
       two disks with misinformation. 

       Be careful using the DOS commands ASSIGN, FORMAT and RECOVER. 
       Especially if you are being a little too clever and change disk 
       drive letters with the DOS commands ASSIGN, JOIN and SUBST. What 
       happens is that you might temporarily rename your hard drive the 
       B: drive and then absent-mindedly try to format B: or recover B: 
       which will lead to a lot of deleted data on your hard drive. 
       Generally the RECOVER command is best removed from your DOS 
       subdirectory and never used. It is just too dangerous! 

       If you delete some files by accident, Norton Utilities, PC Tools 
       and several other utility programs can bring them back if you 
       are quick to use them and haven't created or changed any files 
       since the accident. Best to go out and get a copy of Norton, PC 
       Tools or a shareware unerase utility (e.g., Bakers Dozen) before 
       the need arises. Then practice using them on a dummy disk for 
       the likely day you need them. 

       Be careful when using the powerful DOS redirection and piping 
       commands discussed in our earlier DOS tutorial. 

       (example)     a>sort < this.doc   (sorts contents of this.doc on 
                                         column one and displays contents 
                                         on the monitor - a nice idea!) 

       (example)    a>sort > this.doc    (trashes any existing this.doc 
                                         and gives it a file length of 
                                         zero! Bad news!) 

       The same advice also applies to using the MORE command with 
       redirection arrows <  > since you can likewise wipe out data 
       files. Watch the direction of those cute little redirection 
       arrows! Same thing applies to using the redirection arrows when 
       you write batch files. Look at the sample line from a batch file 
       listing below: 

       (example)   ECHO -------->This message is important! 

       In the above example, DOS will erroneously think the little > 
       redirection symbol is telling it to create a file named THIS and 
       use ECHO to redirect text from that line of the batch file into 
       the file. A goofy, dangerous result! Another good boner is the 
       following batch file example: 

       (example) ECHO  Now use the c>prompt to return to DOS

       The above perfectly innocent batch file line creates a file 
       called PROMPT because DOS spots the > symbol and does what you 
       told it to do! 

       Instructions mean business! If program documentation says MUST 
       BE USED ON A COLOR MONITOR don't try to run it on your hercules 
       or monochrome system. Software can indeed destroy a monitor and 
       it only takes a second! Know what your monitor and display card 
       can handle and be SURE that the intended software matches 
       hardware capabilities. 

       If you suspect a business or individual may be illegally using a 
       commercial software package, for example buying one copy and then 
       installing MANY copies on various machines, you should report 
       the violation to the Software Publishers Association. Call 
       tollfree: 800/388-7478. SPA use of Federal and State law 
       enforcement methods is sudden and highly visible. The SPA is 
       quite aggressive on this point. The majority of calls received 
       by the SPA are from "whistleblowing" employees within a business 
       which is illegally using software. 

       If you use a RAMDISK to hold data be sure to stop every half 
       hour and copy the information into a more permanent floppy or 
       hard disk area in case of power failures. In fact every half 
       hour, check to see that your data from ANY program is 
       transferred to magnetic disk. No exceptions! 

       For those using the newer disks having 1.44 Meg and 720 K sizes 
       - those little plastic diskettes - don't swap and mix formats 
       willy nilly. Label the diskettes clearly and know the format 
       density (1.44M or 720K) with which you are working. 

       If data is sensitive and you want it GONE from snooping eyes, 
       use a utility like Norton's WIPEFILE to truly delete it from the 
       disk so an office curiosity seeker can't bring it back with an 
       unerase utility! 

       Likewise, some word processors create backup files having the 
       extension BAK. You may think you have deleted that sensitive 
       client proposal when a second document CLIENT.BAK also exists! 

       DOS manuals make reference to the VERIFY command. You can add 
       the /V switch to the COPY command to supposedly verify the 
       accuracy of the second file copy. Likewise you can turn VERIFY 
       ON and VERIFY OFF from within your AUTOEXEC.BAT file. 
       Unfortunately, the VERIFY command does a rudimentary CRC check 
       which can test only gross errors in file transfers. To be sure 
       the second copy is good, use the COMP command which, although 
       slow, is deadly reliable when you "gotta be sure." The FC 
       command found in MSDOS versions is even better and DOS manuals 
       discuss its use. Likewise use the DISKCOMP command whenever you 
       use DISKCOPY if you absolutely have to be certain that the 
       second diskette is PERFECTLY identical to the first. 
       
       Our next tip concerns computing devices and services to 
       assist the disabled:

       AbleData, Adaptive Equipment Dept, Newington Children's 
       Hospital, 181 E Cedar St, Newington, CT 06111 800/344-5405

       Accent on Information, POB 700, Bloomington, IL 61702
       309/378-2961.

       Apple Computer, Office of Special Educ. and Rehab., 20525 
       Mariani Ave. MS 43F, Cupertino, CA 95014  408/996-1010

       Closing the Gap, POB 68, Henderson, MN 56044  612/248-3294

       Direct Link of the Disabled, POB 1036, Solvang, CA 93463
       805/688-1603

       Easter Seals Systems Office, 5120 S. Hyde Park Blvd, Chicago, IL
       60615  312/667-8626

       IBM National Support Center for People with disabilities,
       POB 2150, Atlanta, GA 30055  800/426-2133

       Proceedings of Johns Hopkins National Search for Computing 
       Applications to Assist Persons with Disabilities. IEEE Computer 
       Society Press, 10662 Los Vaqueros Circle, POB 3014, Los 
       Alamitos, CA 90720-1264 

       American Foundation for the Blind, 15 W. 16th St, NY, NY 10011
       212/620-2000

       Trace Research and Devmpmnt, Univ of Wisconson, Madison Room S-
       151, Waisman Ctr, 1500 Highland Ave., Madison WI 53705
       608/262-6966

       National ALS Association, 21021 Ventura Blvd, Ste 321, Woodland 
       Hills, CA 91364  818/340-7500
       
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                        ENVIRONMENTALLY SAFE COMPUTING

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       Computing has impacts on the earth and I would like to share a 
       few constructive suggestions and tips about saving resources and
       protecting the environment. 

       Computing uses paper. Keep two wastebaskets by your desk and
       recycle. Same for cardboard packing boxes and packing materials
       which arrive with computing equipment.

       But let's go a little deeper with the paper issue: Do you really 
       need to print on multiple part carbonless forms and heavyweight 
       computer paper? I use a lightweight 18# paper in my little dot 
       matrix printer. How about carbonless and two part forms? The 
       chemicals used in the manufacture of carbonless paper are toxic. 
       Do you really need a two part form (or 6 part form in the case of 
       some corporations which go wild with multipart forms?) Why not 
       see if a single part form can be made with a tear off stub or 
       perhaps a file saving feature in the software that traps the data 
       and saves it to disk for "your copy" of the form? Just like 
       banks: ask the customer if they want their checks back: meaning 
       does your customer need seven copies of a form or will your monthly 
       invoice statement cover the bill?
       
       Environmentally responsible computing also means ONLY upgrading 
       machines when you really need to or buying a used computer. Here's 
       why: the manufacture of integrated circuits used in computers uses 
       large amounts of concentrated acids, gasses and caustic chemicals. 
       These are stored, recycled or (hopefully) dumped into approved waste 
       sites in normal practice, but the point is do you really need 
       the latest machine and its impact on our planet given the toxic 
       nature of computer manufacturing processes? This package was 
       written on an XT class machine. I don't need anything better, 
       and when I do, I hope to find a USED "recycled" computer of 
       higher quality rather than buying a new one. Same with printers, 
       modems and so forth! Here in Seattle, several computer brokers 
       specialize in reselling used computers on consignment. Head that 
       direction for your next purchase! It's less expensive and helps 
       the planet! 

       As a commercial photographer by training, I use a Seattle film 
       lab for some of my photo processing. The lab uses an 8 1/2 by
       11 inch TWO part carbonless form to log in each order, they 
       later mail me a THREE part carbonless invoice for EACH order 
       within a few days by mail, then a final billing statement at 
       the end of the month AND they have 4 computer terminals in the 
       order processing customer counter area of the lab! I am sure 
       their accounting is extraordinarily well documented, but there 
       may not be enough trees on this earth to support this kind of 
       "information flow" if every business operated this way. I could 
       do with a small claim stub when I drop off my film, a little
       itemization printed on the paper envelope which contains the 
       finished order and perhaps a monthly statement printed on 
       recycled paper to summarize the account activity. The ironic 
       footnote is that the same lab has a sign prominently posted in 
       the lobby as to willingness to accept cardboard and plastic 
       (from things like film containers) for the benefit of the 
       environment! Clearly the right hand doesn't know what the left 
       hand is doing and sadly computers are pushing the waste factor 
       in this real life example.
       
       If you suspect I am beating the environmental drum too loudly, 
       back up and consider the financial COST to an operation like the 
       film lab mentioned above. Unwise from the financial end and 
       equally unwise from the environmental end.

       Computing uses electricity. If you are just stepping out of the 
       office for a half hour or so, it is probably best for the machine 
       to leave it on and the hard drive spinning to prevent the wear and 
       tear of machine startup which eventually wears out a hard drive.
       
       However, turn off the monitor if you are away for even short 
       periods using its own separate power switch (leaving the PC on) 
       even if you use screen blanker software since the monitor is 
       still drawing power! When should you turn off the machine 
       completely? Use the two hour rule: if you are away from the PC 
       NO MORE than two hours, leave the machine on. If away MORE than 
       two hours, shut it off. Also factor in the dust argument which 
       follows:
       
       Don't leave a PC on all night or LONG periods of time. The dust 
       sucked through your machine by constant fan use will more than 
       offset the savings in wear and tear you may gain by leaving the 
       hard drive spinning! The dust impacts the power supply which is 
       the heart of the system. If the power supply goes bad due to 
       overheating (because of a thick blanket of internal dust) it 
       can destroy your entire PC! For the curious or mechanically adept, 
       open the power supply WITH ALL APPROPRIATE PRECAUTIONS IN AN 
       UNPLUGGED AND COMPLETELY DISCHARGED MACHINE. You will be stunned 
       by the dust you see! I regularly take my pc and power supply cover 
       off and give the internals a LIGHT blast of compressed air (not 
       ozone-destroying freon) to free the dust and help the machine run 
       cooler. I do this every six months.

       Do a calculation for your office on your PC: how much wattage
       does an average PC in your office draw per hour? How many PC's
       in your office? What is the TOTAL economic cost leaving them ALL
       on during the night (12 hours?) versus turning them off? Now how 
       much a month, then how much a year. Finally, multiply by the cost
       per killowatt hour for cost per year. This doesn't even consider 
       maintenance savings or waste - just electricity!
              
       Plastics and computing are everywhere. Talk to a recycler and 
       see if they can accept polyethelene packing bags, stryrofoam 
       packing, printer cartridges and so forth. 
       
       If you are involved in large corporate purchases, ask the 
       vendor to supply a one page sheet describing how they use 
       LESS in an environmentally safe way in providing your computing 
       equipment needs (e.g., do they use popcorn from a growing 
       plant (which is now common) rather than styrofoam chips for 
       packing, do they recycle paper in their organization, etc.)? 
       Vendors just might take notice if large organizations asked 
       for a one page "computing impact statement" from each 
       computing supplies vendor. If your vendor doesn't know what 
       you mean by a "computing impact statement," send THIS 
       printout as an example and ask them again for their statement.
       
       Try to recharge printer ink cartridges if possible. Same with 
       laser printers. A nutty but workable method of recharging
       a FABRIC printer cartridge is to take it outside, lay it 
       on a piece of newspaper, pry off the plastic cartridge lid 
       and lightly spray the ribbon with the lubricant WD-40. Replace 
       the lid of the printer cartridge and allow a few hours for the 
       WD-40 oil to redistribute ink from the edges of the ribbon 
       (where the printhead does NOT strike the ribbon) to the center 
       strip of the ribbon. Recharged cartridges at the cost of a few 
       pennies of WD-40! This method works best with cloth fabric 
       ribbons not mylar ribbons, but I am told a few people have even 
       tried this with the mylar ribbons too. Professional ink and 
       ribbon recharge companies exist, investigate this option!

       Consider using shareware rather than commercial software. How 
       does this positively affect the environment? Simple. Shareware 
       uses simple packaging or NONE AT ALL since it frequently 
       travels electronically by BBS/modem methods, isn't returned to 
       the wholesaler to be sent to the garbage dump if too many 
       packages are manufactured, supports a small software programmer 
       who has less impact on the earth as a single human being rather 
       than a large corporation and provides you with high quality at 
       a fair price which goes well with the environmental features. 
       This isn't just a sales pitch, shareware DOES have less negative 
       impact on the environment than commercial software!

       Speaking of laser printers, the environmental cost and economic 
       cost is NOT favorable. Toner, paper, electricity, everything 
       about lasers is less favorable to the earth. Use a humble dot 
       matrix printer unless you are ready for the final draft. Lasers
       need more maintenance, too. Finally people are forever buying
       MORE plastic font cartridges and upgrades for lasers. 

       In this respect, a good compromise if you need laser quality and 
       sharpness in printing, is to consider using BUBBLEJET printers 
       which produce crisp "near laser" quality, but use far less ink, 
       plastic cartridge material and electricity than a conventional 
       laser printer. Most software packages now support bubblejet 
       printers.

       Back to the paper issue. Do you really need to send a memo or 
       submit a rough draft on paper? Can you get the boss to accept 
       the memo on disk and teach the boss how to use a simple file 
       browser to read the file? Pick up the phone and call with the 
       information, it is a faster, more human in scale and saves 
       resources.

       Let's talk about envelopes: if your office uses window style 
       envelopes for billings or mailings, try to design or use  
       window envelopes WITH EMPTY WINDOW OPENINGS RATHER THAN 
       CLEAR PLASTIC WINDOW OPENINGS. The billing address peeks out the 
       front just the same and becomes recyclable! Plastic containing
       envelopes cannot be recycled. Otherwise try to pre-print the
       address on the return envelope - anything but plastic windows.

       FAX processes are wonderful. Investigate FAXing onto disk (using 
       a FAX board installed in your computer) rather than paper 
       printouts of FAXES. This produces an electronic FAX file which 
       is saved on disk rather than printing on paper.

       Do you program or sell software? Why not recycle disks? Simply 
       slap your new label over that old disk no longer needed and add 
       a line that "this is a recycled disk" on the bottom of your disk 
       label or jacket. Most folks approve of greeting cards printed on 
       recycled paper. Do you really need to use a fresh new disk to 
       impress your client when a recycled one with a new label will do?

       Keep your keyboard, computer and printer clean. Once in a while
       vacuum or dust out the power supply which collects loads of dust.
       Reason: you prevent breakdowns which require repairs or scrapping 
       of the computer. End result: more earth resources used which 
       could have been prevented in the first place with a little
       preventative maintenance.

       Look at your software and documentation shelf. Stacks of old 
       computer magazines and documentation pile up! Have a once a 
       month PC recycling party where you rip out pages from 
       documentation and magazines you really need and recycle the 
       remains. Same goes for old disks, binders, the works.

       Donations. If computers help you make money, and they do, set 
       aside a small contribution to the non-profit group of your choice 
       which is involved in conservation and recycling. 

       Submit suggestions for this little part of the tutorial on "how 
       your office saves the earth using computers WISELY." I'll try to 
       insert it if valuable and of course, it will float all over the 
       world on BBS systems and shareware distribution points so your 
       small or large suggestion WILL possibly make a difference to 
       somebody in Brazil or China. This is a shareware package 
       which lives electronically on the Compuserve network which is 
       accessed by people all over the world! If possible, send your 
       suggestion on disk in ASCII using your word processor so I can 
       electronically merge it. 
              
       Don't compute when you don't need to! Sometimes it is too easy to 
       turn on the machine and bang out a spreadsheet or draft a memo.
       Can you solve the problem with your BRAIN or grab your rolodex to 
       find that phone number? Our brains our much more capable than 
       the most modern computer. What can you do better by leaving the 
       machine OFF and not using electricity, paper, plastic, ink and
       toner? Finally, turning off the computer means we spend a few
       minutes with each other, rather than our (let's face it) 
       addictive computers. You just may come up with a solution to 
       that budget problem by visiting with a colleague at the next desk 
       rather than recalculating that monster spreadsheet for the millionth
       time trying to find an optimum budget solution for the office.
       The vast majority of business problems are solved by CREATIVITY
       which organic brains do best! 

       Print (on paper, unfortunately) this little section of the 
       computer tutorial and place it on the company bulletin board. 
       This is a win/win situation: your co-workers will start to think 
       about earth conscious computing and if more beginners will use 
       PC-LEARN they will learn how to use a computer more efficiently 
       SOONER and thus WASTE LESS paper, electricity and natural 
       resources, does that make sense? Computer beginners can waste a 
       lot of paper, money, time and electricity learning how to use a 
       computer. If PC-LEARN helps them learn faster, then they should 
       waste less and become proficient more quickly! 

       Consider renting computer equipment for short term and special 
       projects. Obviously you can save money in most cases, but the 
       larger issue is that you don't impact the environment by using 
       resources for something you can share that computer equipment with 
       many other people via a rental arrangement.
              
       When you print lengthy documents from a disk to paper, 
       investigate clever software products (many of them shareware) 
       which allow you to print FOUR pages in tiny but readable 
       typeface and on BOTH SIDES of the paper. 

       Add your suggestion here or mail it to me. You do not need to be 
       a registered user to submit a suggestion to this section! 

       Suggestion from Mr. Bo Stiff, Charmichael, California . . .

       (Letter has been slightly edited and shortened)

       "A company I used to work for had a mainframe computer in 
       Connecticut with office hubs in Houston and LA. Approximately 40 
       reports were printed from a spooler set up to do this routine in 
       over 200 offices in the U.S. EVERY NIGHT! The company had a 
       guilty feeling about the environment so asked each office to 
       submit ideas." 

       "I suggested that they take the reports off line. Make them 
       available on demand only, put them on a screen with a 48 hour 
       hold on daily reports. 10 day old on weekly reports and 40 day 
       hold on monthly reports. Also suggested that when reports were 
       printed, NOT to send a blank page to set line space or formfeed. 
       This could be performed by the local office if needed. Obviously 
       the computers in the company were turned over to the controllers 
       who decided who got to see which reports and screens." 

       "Our initial calculations were staggering, then we found out 
       that we were one of the frugal offices! By our accountant's 
       calculations we cut back over 4000 cases of paper nationwide per 
       MONTH! Latest calculation is closer to 5000 cases." 
        
       Tutorial finished. Be sure to order your FOUR BONUS DISKS which 
       expand this software package with vital tools, updates and 
       additional tutorial material for laptop users! Send $20.00 to 
       Seattle Scientific Photography, Department LAP, PO Box 1506, 
       Mercer Island, WA 98040. Bonus disks shipped promptly! Some 
       portions of this software package use sections from the larger 
       PC-Learn tutorial system which you will also receive with your 
       order. Modifications, custom program versions, site and LAN 
       licenses of this package for business or corporate use are 
       possible, contact the author. This software is shareware - an 
       honor system which means TRY BEFORE YOU BUY. Press escape key to 
       return to menu.