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©1998, Lockergnome LC. All Rights Reserved. Subscription inquiries are answered below. Content written by Chris Pirillo. Website hosted by DigitalDaze. After all is said and done, usually more is said than done.

 

 

Lockergnome
01.06.1999 - GnomeREPORT

Joe is a happy computer. Of course, he's also the one that gets picked on the most around here. When Be Inc. sent me R4 of their BeOS, I was extremely excited to get it up and running. I have to admit, the setup was simpler (and much faster) than expected. I believe I was up and running within 15 minutes--or so it seemed.

This was the Intel version of the OS, and it came with a boot manager which was as easy to use as it was to install. Heck, booting into Be on Joe takes a fraction of the time it takes to get into Windows 9x. Once I was up and running in Be for the first time, it felt odd. The user interface was different--but that's not a bad thing. I started snooping around like a kid in a candy store.

I suppose the first "big" thing I noticed was that the video seemed to be slow (which could either be attributed to the not-quite-polished video drivers or my ATI All-in-Wonder Pro). Beyond that, I found a decent set of "on board" utilities; the font viewer was the coolest thing (very configurable). The sound didn't "sound" any different than it did in Windows 9x (then again, sound is pretty much driven by the card and not the software).

I'd definitely say that Be is well on its way to becoming an "everyday" Desktop OS. The only thing that really bothered me about this revision was the video--it was too slow on Joe. My suggestion? Wait until BeOS is completely out of testing phases, then pick it up. By that time, there will be great BeOS resources on the web (to help you find great Be downloads). And who knows, perhaps even a Be Lockergnome?

-- Chris Pirillo        


GnomePROGRAM

Local IP v1.2 [1.9M] W9x FREE

http://home.sol.no/~tmanneru/files/localexe.zip
http://home.sol.no/~tmanneru/localip.html

Where am I right now? Oh sure, I'm sitting at home in my chair... but what's my IP? Yes, I could gather basic IP information by entering "WINIPCFG" in the Run Command line, but what if I wanna know more? This tool can help. It'll show your local, current, and "decimal notation" IP address, as well as your Hostname, Media Access Control address (NIC), Network Class, Winsock information, and Asc / LongIP address. The values can easily be copied to the clipboard, too. IP freely!


GnomeSYSTEM

IntelliMouse Wheel Does Not Work Properly

http://support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/q172/1/50.asp

"When you are using the IntelliMouse, the wheel functions may not be available even though Device Manager correctly identifies the mouse as 'Mouse with Wheel.' Also, when you click the Turn On The Wheel check box on the Wheel tab in Mouse properties, you may receive the following error message: IntelliPoint cannot change your settings." I love my Intellimouse Pro!


GnomeCANDY

GIF Cruncher

http://www.gifcruncher.com/

Graphics are great things to have on websites (as long as they're done tastefully, and load relatively quickly). 'GIF' is an extremely popular format, although it is limited in several ways. When you decide to use GIFs on your site, be sure they're as small as they can possibly be (byte wise). By using the GIF Cruncher site, you can make sure that no quality is sacrificed when you attempt to shrink them. You can browse through images that are on your computer or already online. Definitely crunchy!


GnomeFAVORITE

Interface Hall of Shame
Found by Philippe Lhoste

http://www.iarchitect.com/mshame.htm

When programmers ask me for feedback on their programs, the first thing I usually complain about is the UI (user interface). If a program doesn't look good on the screen, I'm not going to want to use it often. If a program is functional, but doesn't look inviting, it stands the chance of being lost in the shuffle. Here's a site that's an "irreverent collection of examples of common interface design mistakes". Send your favorite (or least favorite) programmer here for tips.


GnomeDESKTOP

FONT: Bigheadmofo [7k]

http://www.fuelfonts.com/files/bighead.zip
http://www.fuelfonts.com/

My hair grows too quickly; it seems like I visit the stylist more often than I reboot. Kids used to make fun of it (for good reason) in gradeschool. When I finally discovered gel, it wasn't as bad--my hair actually stayed curled for the early part of the day. In college, I gave up and wore a hat everywhere. Er, of course, there was the period of time that I dyed my hair orange. That wasn't too bad, once you got past the initial shock of seeing a fireball sitting atop my head.


GnomeTIP

"Hey Chris, how did you get so many people to read Lockergnome?" Well, I suppose I count on the "satisfied subscribers" to keep spreading the word about it. Some people forward newsletters to their friends, and others talk about Lockergnome around the water cooler in the morning. I discovered that the best way to help them "talk" is through a well-crafted Recommend script. Smaller sites can rely on Recommending web services, but larger sites might look into making a script of their own. I strongly suggest using MasterRecommend. Not only is the author a Lockergnomie himself, but the script is easier than cake to install and implement. You can grab it here: http://www.willmaster.com/MasterRecommend/ -- keep spreading the word!