In our previous tip, we told you that WinPopup is great for sending messages across a Windows or NetWare network. Type WINPOPUP on the Run command line to open WinPopup, and we'll show you how to send someone a message. The thing to keep in mind is that the recipient of your message has to have WinPopup installed and running (minimized is fine) in order to receive the message. The best way to be sure of this, if you're a potential recipient, is to place a shortcut to WinPopup in your Startup folder, and to keep the program running minimized for as long as you're on your computer. To send a message, click the Envelope icon and type the name of name of the person or computer to whom you'd like to send the message (if you're on a NetWare network, type the user's log-in name), or select Workgroup and type in the group name, such as an NT domain name. Type your message in the appropriate box (in the case of a NetWare network, you're limited to a shorter message then if you were on a Windows network--about 70 characters), click OK, and off it goes!
When WinPopup detects a new message, one of two things will happen: Either the WinPopup Taskbar item will flash, or the full WinPopup window will jump onto your screen, with the message inside. If you prefer the latter option, choose Options under Messages, select 'Pop up dialog on message receipt,' and click OK. Want WinPopup to make a sound, so you absolutely can't miss a new message (for example, if you're reading another message when it arrives)? Select 'Play sound when new message arrives' in the Options dialog box and click OK. The third option there, Always on top, keeps WinPopup on top of all your open windows; that way, it can't get buried. If you have more than one WinPopup message waiting to be read, you can scroll through the messages using the left and right arrow icons. To delete a message, just click the trash can icon. Doing so automatically minimizes the WinPopup dialog box. Whatever you do, don't click the X in the upper-right corner of the dialog box, or you'll close WinPopup and won't be able to receive any more messages. You wouldn't turn your cordless phone off if you were waiting for a call, would you?
If you have two or more computers networked, you can share the Internet connection across the network using a proxy server. This is great if you have a fast Internet connection (cable modem) or, if all you are doing is getting email off the Internet.
The slowest way to cruise the Internet is to use AOL, because of the way they access the Internet. If you don't use the AOL content, then it is best to use another ISP (Internet Service Provider). If you are using the AOL content, then you can get a TCP/IP AOL Account for $10 a month and still get their content, but logon to another ISP (This is great if you have a cable modem and still want to use AOL).
When you see an Internet address on TV (or on a baseball cap or those photos coming back from Mars) that you'd like to visit, don't bother typing in the entire address. You can ignore the 'http://' part. For example, to get to http://www.pcworld.com you can click on the Address box and type 'www.pcworld.com' and let Microsoft Internet Explorer add the remainder.
If you want to print a Web page and would also like a list of all the URLs on the page, choose File|Print. When the Print dialog box opens, select Print Shortcuts in a Table at the End of the Document. Your Web page will print, and, at the end of the page, you'll get a table listing all the URLs embedded in the Web page.