Rob Pegoraro

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Tech Support Friday
Fast Forward's Rob Pegoraro
Friday, Mar. 30, 2001; 1 p.m. EST

Is your computer making your life difficult? Again? Worried that you downloaded the latest virus? Are you always waiting on hold to talk to the manufacturer's tech support? Do you have questions about ISPs?

Take your question to the Fast Forward staff instead! It's a repeat engagement of "Tech Support Friday," in which Rob Pegoraro takes your queries, scrambles madly to get answers to them from the collective Fast Forward brain trust and replies within mere minutes.

Below is the transcript.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

To read the most recent responses, click "Get New Text" or select "Automatically Update Page."

Rob Pegoraro: The switchboard is lit up like a Christmas tree this afternoon with posts about Verizon DSL--once again, it's topic A. (My producer tells me there's 42 questions in the queue. Ack!)

So, let's get this thing started. First question...

Arlington, Va.: Right on with your article on Verizon! There are several people in my building that have it, but when I tried to sign up, they said "we do not serve your address yet." (I'm also within two blocks of an actual Verizon building.) Ha! I thought about arguing with them, but then I decided: if that's the way it's going to be, why bother.

Now I have a cable modem.

Rob Pegoraro: This is a somewhat common--and maddeningly Kafka-esque--situation: You can see the nearest central office, with a nice little Verizon sign on the front door, but the company says you're too far off. This happened to a friend of mine. So he gets his DSL through Telocity now.

Bethesda, Md.: I am amazed, utterly aghast, that people are still with Verizon for DSL service. We used them for a year when I lived in Rockville installation was painful and they were unbearably rude. In addition, once it was up, service was constantly out with no explanation and no feedback on when it would be on again. When we moved to Bethesda, I tried to sign on with them again (I have no idea why, perhaps latent masochism). This time the installation, which was self-install, was even worse. Verizon provided no help. More than once they closed trouble tickets without informing me and in the end never got the service working (on the same PC that had had it before). I switched over to CapuNet and haven't looked back. I think their customer service is very good, though I have never really had to test it, because the service is always on. It is like a utility should be very very reliable. The only problem is that I hear they are discontinuing consumer service and I will either have to pay business rates at the end of my contract or switch. I am not sure what I will do, but I can promise you this, it won't be switching to Verizon.

Rob Pegoraro: Another unsatisfied ex-customer. I've heard good things about CapuNet as well; they have been around here a long time, and the people I've talked to there myself seem to know what they're doing.

They--and many other non-Verizon DSL providers--cost more, but money's not the only thing, right?

Arlington, Va.: Rob,

What is an applet? Why won't it load?

Rob Pegoraro: An applet is a small program, most often written in the Java programming language. It might not load because:

1) You're running an operating system (e.g., Win 3.1) with no real support for Java;

2) Your browser is out of memory to load its Java virtual machine, the environment in which the Java applet runs;

3) Your browser or your OS's virtual machine is buggy;

4) The applet is buggy;

5) The Web page that includes the applet is poorly coded;

6) You got up on the wrong side of the bed today.

Posting early: Hi Rob. I've been running OS X for three or four days now, and, contrary to what I expected from lurking in Mac message boards, haven't had any problems. All of my old apps (most notably, Word) work well in classic, and the new operating environment seems to be functioning as advertised. I almost wish I had some trouble to troubleshoot. (Almost.)

Have you heard much from other early adopters?

Rob Pegoraro: No, I haven't--which surprises me. I was fully expected to be drowned in e-mail from OS X users after the review ran (I even stayed late at the office to catch up on my old e-mail, so I'd have a nice clean inbox for the deluge.) Haven't heard much, though.

My own experience has been quite positive as well. One forced reboot so far--the G4 desktop refused to wake up from sleep after the DSL connection went offline.

Arlington, Va.: Aaaarrrgh! Recently moved within Arlington and attempting to bring my DSL with me. (I've corresponded with you before about the network problems). My first install, I actually worked at Bell, sat across from the product manager, and was probably one of the first to be turned up on my switch (Clarendon), so problems were minor.

This one is a nightmare. First, I had to talk through several tiers (and a full week) to convince Bell that the CO serving my new home (FC, off 66 and Lee) is indeed DSL-enabled. Then there were troubles with the name on the account (guess they don't update each other).

Three days before turn-up date, I get a vague e-mail telling me due to unknown problems my service cannot be connected -- please call the phone company. Of course they have no idea what this is about.

Been over a week and still don't have a new install date, or a proper reason for delay -- how can I fix something if no one can tell me what's broken? Taking good notes for DSLreports.

Oh, sorry, guess there's not really a question here. Just wanted to gripe and respond that maybe you're not getting as many complaints because those ahead of the curve have already got broadband and now you're getting a less vocal mass market signing up for DSL.

Formerly a semi-satisfied DSL customer for over two years, now just another customer in queue.

Rob Pegoraro: Thanks for sharing the gripe. That's what we're here for. FWIW, I know the central office you're talking about--across Lee Highway from the SunTrust, right? The Telocity user I mentioned before lives there. Maybe that ISP is worth looking into?

Chevy Chase Maryland: Are there good DSL alternatives in Montgomery county?

Rob Pegoraro: Certainly. Have a look at our ISP directory , or visit DSLReports.com and type in your Zip code.

Incidentally, I've yet to hear much from people using the two-way cable-modem service that Comcast is allegedly offering in MoCo. If you're a customer, drop me a note sometime.

Arlington, Va.: You only tell one side of the story on Verizon DSL. I'm not technically savvy, but I installed it in half an hour from the box and it was running at the designated date and time without even a technician's help.

Rob Pegoraro: There's plenty of sides to every story, including this one--but look at the other posts here. From the reporting I've done, I do think Verizon is doing better. But I also think a lot of customers aren't happy with it still, and would be better served by investigating their options elsewhere.

Manheim, Penn.: How can you tell whether your computer is seemingly slower because of volume of web traffic at the time at the site you are accessing versus traffic on your ISP versus other factors?

Rob Pegoraro: Try hitting several different Web sites. If they're all slow, then it's probably your ISP having a bad-hair day. If it's only one or two sites that bog down, the problem's likely somewhere upstream of your provider.

Reston, Va.: Hi Rob - Re/ synchronizing a handspring from a Windows 2000 machine: are you or your colleagues experiencing any difficulties? After some trouble arose I took the Palm desktop off and reloaded my OS (and synch from a borrowed Win98 machine instead) but really there is no way I can tell whether it was the desktop application or something else on my machine or perhaps just the phase of the moon.

Rob Pegoraro: Haven't synched a Handspring with Win 2K anytime lately myself. Are you using the USB or the serial cradle? I'd go with USB if you can--Palm serial cradles have a long history of being cranky under Windows. (Or, I should say, Windows has a long history about being cranky with Palm serial cradles.)

Anybody with experience w/ this?

Reston, Va., 20190: Rob,

Two things.

On the front page it says the chat is hosted by Rob Peragoro. Who's he?

2. Did you read Carolyn Hax's column today? Woman did a Deja search on her boyfriend and he got offended. Carolyn says that her actions were OK and that there's no expectation of privacy. Is Ms. Hax right?

Rob Pegoraro: 1) He's an alter ego I created to attract junk mail. There's also Rob Pegorano and Rob Pegerano--that way, I can see who's selling whom their marketing lists.

2) Carolyn is right. If you post to Usenet, you're engaging in public speaking. If you want to mouth off like a freak, you'd best do it under some anonymous account. (I've done DejaNews searches on dates myself... hmm, hope my girlfriend isn't reading this :)

Bethesda, Md.: Let me share what made a HUGE difference in the reliability of my Verizon DSL. I installed a gateway for a home LAN that replaced Verizon's PPPoE dialer software. Now, my connection has been solid for weeks at a time when before it would drop several times a day. I think the gateway handles momentary disruptions better than the Verizon dialer.

Rob Pegoraro: Yes, I hear that a lot of PPPoE software is junk. That's one issue I didn't get into... one of my coworkers dropped Verizon when they said they couldn't support PPPoE under Windows Me yet. He didn't feel like downgrading his operating system to please his ISP, so guess what had to give?

Bethesda, Md.: Hi Rob,

I have an MSN account which I use both at home and in my small office. I have no problems at home downloading, but at work I very often get a "cannot find server" messages which can be very frustrating because, after several attempts at trying and clicking on "detect network settings", I am able to eventually download the page. I have MSN version 5.0. What do you think is going wrong?

Rob Pegoraro: Sounds like your network settings at work are glitchy. You'd need to double-check the domain-name server settings in the MSN software there; ideally, you should have at least three servers entered. (This is normally in the Network control panel.)

Washington, D.C.: Good afternoon. I'm moving to the San Francisco Bay Area this summer. (Lucky me, huh?) Is there a "check-list" approach for finding and establishing service with a new ISP in my new location? The best information I have about my current ISP (Starpower) is they do not provide service in my new location and I will have to change my ISP. I have heard that this is can be an enormous pain. Thanks for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: Ick... the chat server just got into a screaming fight with my copy of Netscape. (Well, it's not screaming--but I'm ready to!). Hence that dead air. For some reason, things are working in Netscape now.

Anyway: Best approach is to ask people you know in the Bay Area. FWIW, RCN--the owner of Starpower--just bought one of the better providers around there, DNAI (www.dnai.com).

Williamsburg, Va.:
Rob,

Have you heard anything about the installation of iTunes 1.1 w/CD authoring support deactivating CD burners in Adaptec/Roxio Toast?

I tried upgrading to iTunes on my Pismo 400 PowerBook to try the CD burning function. It didn't work (claimed the drive wasn't connected), so I decided to go back to the OEM Toast 4.1.2. But even after I removed the iTunes authoring software extensions, the QPS Que 12x10x32x Firewire drive no longer shows up in Toast.

QPS tech support hasn't been very responsive by e-mail, so I'll try to call them today. I seem to recall reading something about the drive deactivation issues being fixed in Toast 5 Platinum, but I'd rather not have to spend $100 for the full version of Toast just to get the drive working again.

Anything else you might suggest? Thanks for your help! - Karl

Rob Pegoraro: What's happening is that iTunes puts in its own system extensions to access your CD-RW, which disable the Roxio extensions. You need to create two sets of extensions in Extensions Manager, one with just the iTunes extensions and the other with the Roxio extensions (they won't be re-enabled simply by taking out the iTunes files).

Washington, D.C.: Good afternoon. I sometimes have trouble sending Word documents from my home to friends and family members at their homes using Outlook. The recipients receive the e-mail but they say the Word documents do not accompany the e-mail. This has happened to several different recipients in different parts of the country who using different ISPs and different OS's. Oddly enough, I can send the same Word document to myself at work and then forward it to my friends and family members at their homes with no problems. I'd rather not do this, especially with the heightened scrutiny workplace e-mail is getting these days. I can't imagine what feature of Outlook I activated or enabled that would prevent my friends and family members from getting the Word documents directly from me from my home, yet would permit me to get them myself at work (where we have a firewall and other sophisticated security arrangements). Any ideas? Thanks for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: Unless you actually *need* to ship Word files back and forth, my advice is to not bother attaching them at all. Just cut and paste their contents into the message body. Otherwise, you're making your correspondents do more work--they have more junk to download, plus they have to run a virus scanner on the file just to be safe. Word attachments are evil!

(This is directed in particular at all people of the PR persuasion.)

Alexandria, Va.: Please don't laugh at this. My 13-pound cat likes to jump on top of my CPU and sit there. Is this a bad thing? I wonder whether the weight of her jump could damage the unit, or whether cat fur could get inside and ruin it.

Rob Pegoraro: Too late! Hahahaha....

I would guess that the cat hair is the bigger problem, though more with the CPU--the fan can suck that kind of stuff into the case. The weight probably won't do anything to the monitor. But you might want to give the cat a little more exercise. (See? I'll answer any questoin you throw at me!)

Alexandria, Va.: Rob: I tried to order Verizon DSL but they kept delaying and delaying the delivery date. So I cancelled and signed up for Comcast. Well, it went great. Wonderful download and upload speed. But here's the catch. A month after we got the service, we decided to try out Comcast digital cable service. As soon as the installer hooked us up, our cable modem went dead. It took the company another 2 days to really fix it, but now our TV signal is suffering, and the cable modem doesn't seem to be working as well as it once was. Just thought I'd let you know that the grass isn't necessarily as green on the Comcast side of the fence.

Rob Pegoraro: So I'm told, so I'm told. The cable-modem guys have a great opportunity here--but they need to not act like, well, cable guys.

Pentagon City, Va.: I have a problem with my computer which hangs on me whenever I turn it on, It reads as Building Data Pool.
Veryfying Data Pool...
It will not boot from A: drive or let me do any thing accept going to my Bios Configuration. I have Pentium MMX 233 mhz with 4G HD. Please Help.

Rob Pegoraro: How's this for helpful? The item at the Microsoft Knowlege Base on this recommends, in full:

"To resolve this issue, please contact your computer manufacturer."

It goes on to explain that "Desktop Management Interface (DMI) is a method for managing computers in an organization. The main component, Management Information Format Database (MIFD), is a database that contains all the information about the local computer and its components."

So... I'd call the manufacturer and ask them what's up.

Upper Marlboro, Md.: I have a Hitachi camcorder and it has the iLink compatibility. I have a Sony VAIO computer with the iLink hook up. I have the fire wire to connect them both, but I still can't capture the footage from my video camera. What can I do?

Rob Pegoraro: What video-editing program are you running? You need to have that open before hte computer will do anything with the camera--although at that point, it ought to auto-sense the camera. (At least, that's how it works with iMovie on a Mac. I would hope that Sony, of all people, could figure out how to get a computer to work with consumer-electronics devices.)

Herndon, Va.: Thanks for your columns. I am planning to purchase DSL thru Earthlink. Should I? Also can I use a 'regular' hub to connect 2 PCs for DSL or should I use hubs now available for DSL/Cable connection? Thanks.

Rob Pegoraro: EarthLink seems to have an OK reputation. The main gripe seems to be that, like Verizon, it uses PPPoE to set up connections. But the service and the tech support seem alright, from what I've heard.

You should check w/ Earthlink about that hub question; they might support a particular kind of Ethernet hub but not others.

Metro Center DC: I hope you can help with this annoying problem as it has me stumped...I'm running Win98 SE and had to reinstall in a few months ago along with Office 97. Now Windows doesn't recognize JPEG files. (TIFF, GIF, bitmap all fine). When I go to open a JPEG I get "this file doesn't have a program associated with it. Go to my computer, view, options to set the file type." I go there. There is no JPG or JPEG listed in the registered file types. I try to add a new type, calling it JPEG Image Document, associated extension jpg, content type image/x-jg (that's the closest on the pull down menu). When I click OK it says this is already in use by file type JPEGFILE. Any ideas? Should I re-reinstall Win98? This isn't a major problem but extremely annoying because JPGs are so common...
Thanks!

Rob Pegoraro: Boy, that's just bizarre. Before you reinstall Win 98, though, how about reinstalling Internet Exploder, or any other Web browser? That program will be loading JPEGs all the time, and so should register the file type with the system for you.

Washington, D.C.: Whats with Microsoft and this WPA (Windows Program Activation)thing? Didn't Microsoft do very well with out it. I think Microsoft and Bill Gates are pig$. Or is this more than raw greed?

Rob Pegoraro: Windows Program Activation is a new technology, rolled out with Office 2000's first service pack, that aims to tie a program to one user. You're allowed to install it on one or two machines, then reinstall it, I dunno, two or three times, after which the program locks and won't run until you call MS to get it unlocked (verifying your ownership along the way).

It's an attempt to quash piracy, which is a really huge problem for MS, but it's also going to get that company into some profound customer-support headaches. FWIW, the review copy of Windows XP beta 2 I just got has this feature disabled "in an effort to accomodate the needs of reviewers."

Washington, D.C. 20007: My favorite tech/gadget site -- etown.com -- has apparently gone belly up. Do you know if it will have a reincarnation anywhere?

Rob Pegoraro: Nope. ETown--a good site for consumer-electronics news and reporting--went bust earlier this winter, and nobody's been looking to buy it that I've heard of. The financial situation for content providers like that is just hellish now.

Washington, D.C.: I have Verizon DSL at home. I use their external DSL modem, and I haven't installed any kind of firewall or security. Realistically, should I worry about this?

Rob Pegoraro: Do you use Windows? If so, yes. You should visit the Shields Up site (http://www.grc.com) and test your computer, then at the very least make sure you've got all the defalut security settings reset properly. Out of the box, Windows is rather leaky.

NW Washington, D.C.: What is killing competition in DSL in this area? Starpower cable doesn't work with Macintosh computers, so DSL is the only choice for those of us who 'think diferent". (And for those who don't want cable TV, cable DSL is expensive.) Verizon seems to be the only $39.95/month choice left. And the article in today's Post says it's not a good choice.
Is it FCC rules, and the new FCC Chairman, that are impeding the spread of affordable DSL?
-BTW, I'm crossing my fingers and signing up with Verizon, in spite of the dire warnings on DSLReports.com.

Rob Pegoraro: Repeat after me:

Verizon is not the only DSL provider in town! Do not sign up for them before looking through DSLReports.com! Do your research, don't just listen to Verizon's ads!

Verizon is not the only DSL provider in town! Do not sign up for them before looking through DSLReports.com! Do your research, don't just listen to Verizon's ads!

Verizon is not the only DSL provider in town! Do not sign up for them before looking through DSLReports.com! Do your research, don't just listen to Verizon's ads!

I'm serious. If you're going to just cross your fingers and hope the monopoly in town does alright, you are asking to get hosed.

Reston, Va.: Hi - re: handspring/Win2K: I use the USB cradle.

Rob Pegoraro: Hmm. This will sound like classic help-desk BS, but I'd try reinstalling the Handspring software again. Also, make sure you've got the cradle plugged into a USB port on the CPU itself, not on a hub.

Gaithersburg, Md.: I'm using the Comcast cable modem in Gaithersburg, and am happy with it. Installation was on time. Only one noticed outage in most of a year.

Rob Pegoraro: There ya go. Hope your good luck continues, G'burg.

About DSL in general?: I have a stupid question about DSL in general.

Do they have to come to your house to install new wiring, or is this something that can be done from the consumer end using existing wiring? (which is the impression I'm getting, but this doesn't seem logical) Or is the answer "it depends"?

Rob Pegoraro: It depends. Verizon and EarthLink, for instance, offer "self-install" DSL, where all the necessary work is done outside your house, and you put some filters on your phone jacks and plug in the DSL adapter yourself. With other companies, you've gotta have a tech come to your house to put the DSL jack in place of an exising phone jack.

Washington, D.C.: Folks are saying that they live close to a Verizon central office, yet Verizon tells them that they are too far for service. Here's a possible explanation...

Contrary to the DSL providers' rosy marketing campaigns, DSL is not automatically available to everyone with a phone line. The following criteria must be met (plus a few others, but these are the basics):

-You must be within a few miles of the CO
-That CO must have DSL equipment on its premises (called a DSLAM, or DSL Access Module)
-The lines running to your house must have loading coils removed--this is equipment that is on 80% of the copper in the US. It was placed there to improve voice quality, but it doesn't work with DSL.

So just because you live near a CO, doesn't mean that CO can serve you--you may be too far from a CO with DSLAM's. For more info on DSL, go to www.whatis.com and enter DSL into the search field. It will give you info on DSL theory but not specific providers.

And no, I don't work for Verizon and never have--I'm just in The Industry.

Rob Pegoraro: This is all true, but the guy I mentioned earlier by the Lee Highway CO lives within 50 feet of it! And he had no problem getting hooked up by Telocity. Sometimes, Verizon just screws up.

Washington, D.C.: Why is it that ISPs and computer people say my computer is connecting at 56K, but the actual transfer rate is never much above 6kb/sec? What happened to the rest of that bandwidth? It seems if I actually sent and received at 56K I wouldn't need a DSL.

Rob Pegoraro: That's the diff between bits and bytes. Your connection is 56,000 bits per second (actually, 53,000 max), but the d/l speed is 6,000 *bytes* per second. Eight bits make up a byte; 53,000 divided by 8 is 6,625, leaving out some complicating factors.

Now with a 600 kbps DSL connection, you really would have that 56-kilobyte per second access, and then some.

Rosslyn, Va.: Does Telocity not use Verizon? I am trying through Speakeasy DSL and it seems that Verizon is "testing" the lines 'till April 28th. So, another month of waiting!

Rob Pegoraro: Telocity does use Verizon (to judge from the logo on their home page), but it also uses other carriers--around here, Rhythms NetConnections, and NorthPoint Communications (acc. to the company fact sheet).

Well, not NorthPoint--they shut down a day or so ago, stranding a bunch of customers. We've got a reporter working on that story; e-mail me if you'd like to talk to us about it.

Arlington, Virginia: Oh, and Verizon On-Line also offers on-line tech support which is very quick and apparently goes to more experienced people than the telephone tier 1. You would need another connection to the Internet if your DSL connection is down, but Verizon includes a dial-up service and most of us have at least some other way to get to the Internet.

Rob Pegoraro: True. Although many people I konw are real skittish about using e-mail tech support--too often, your query is ignored and goes right to the bit bucket, so you have to call to see if they even read your e-mail.

Rob Pegoraro: I'm going to run a few minutes late here, owing to that technical glitch earlier. Keep those questions coming!

Dupont: Hi Rob, so, was a solid PC user til 4 years ago, started working at non profit and switched to Macs. Love em. But I have to admit sometimes I do look on the other side of the fence and wonder about the grass. Here's current situation. I'm nect in line here for upgrade of computer. I travel a fair bit. Thinking a docking station/laptop might be the best way to go, but what are Mac options? How's the G4 (in general) treating you? Found a company (Bookendz) about to ship (was going to be April, now is May) docking stations for the G4, wondering if I should wait a bit and see what the news on them is? I'm content enough with my old powermac G3 to wait a few months. Or should I really give serious consideration to switching back to the evil empire? Thanks!!

Rob Pegoraro: My experience is that if you like using a Mac, you're probably not going to like using Windows. It's a matter of aesthetics more than utility.

BTW, you really shouldn't need a docking station for a Mac laptop--there isn't the profusion of redundant, half-obsolete ports that would make one necessary on a PC laptop.

Washington, DC: Good morning. When I hit -Ctrl]+-Alt]+-Delete] I notice that all of these programs are running. Is there somewhere I can find out what all of these are? Some of them I can figure out (like Guarddog and VirusScan -McAfee products I bought and installed). But most of the others are a mystery. Do I really need to have all of these running? Thanks for your help.

Explorer
Aim
Guarddog
Rnaapp
Mk9805
Startm
Reminder
Point32
Mswheel
Systray
Vsstat
Webscanx
Vshwin32
Msgsys
Windbkgd
Comdlgex

Rob Pegoraro: Isn't it great how Windows now lets you use long file names to identify programs?

That *is* a lot of junk you've got running there, and I can only recognize half of it. Like, Aim has to be AOL Instant Messenger, and Explorer is the Windows desktop itself. If yo'uve got a lot gunk in the system try, try right-clicking on each icon to see what it is and if you can turn it off. Also run msconfig to see what's launching at startup.

Falls church, Va: I have questions about local and long distance phone service. Can we discuss this today, or is that for another day?

Rob Pegoraro: Sure. Bring it on!

Gaithersburg, Md.: Northpoint DSL... shut down our office dsl line yesterday after AT&T purchased their assetts...my office is now without email...

Rob Pegoraro: Yes. This seems to be a lousy situation--AT&T bought Northpoint's equipment, but not its customers, leaving them very much SOL.

Fairfax, Va.: I've seen ads in the Post for Qwest, and also gotten a phone solicitation from them... but on their web site, they say they are not available in this area. Do you know anything about this?

Rob Pegoraro: For local or long-distance? They've offered LD for a long-time--Qwest bought LCI, a newish long-distance carrier, not long after it moved its headquarters to Ballston. Haven't heard about local service.

Falls Church, Va.: Are the competing local phone services, like Cavalier, any good? reliable? The same for long distance companies, like Qwest and GTC?

Rob Pegoraro: There really aren't any competing local-exchange carriers for home phone service. For long-distance... uh, there are quite a few, and they've sorta been around a while...

Washington, D.C.: Re the guy on Lee Highway--

So Telocity has DSLAM's in that CO near his house, and Verizon probably doesn't. The individual provider puts in the DSLAM's, so it's possible for one provider to have service from a given CO while another provider cannot.

Rob Pegoraro: Actually, Verizon *does* service that CO--since before Dec. 99, when they coughed up a list of COs that they support DSL in.

For those curious, DSLAM = Digital Subscriber Line Access Multiplexer. I.e., the thingy your DSL modem talks to.

Washington DC: What have you heard about MS Ultimate TV? Any thing good or bad?

Rob Pegoraro: Read us next week--we've got a review scheduled then.

Mac/laptop/docking: yeah, I think I am sticking Mac (though I switch back and forth and don't mind PC). I think I want a docking station cause I really hate laptop keyboards and screens. Traveling one week a month means I'd love laptop, but would HATE having to use laptop other 3 weeks of the month. But, non-profit situation so not possible to get two computers. Does that clarify my situation? Thanks again.

Rob Pegoraro: Ah, OK. In that case, you'd just need a second monitor, keyboard and mouse--but you could plug them right into the PowerBook's own ports (monitor-out and USB).

Washington, D.C.: This is almost a computer question. My son has a Sony dreamcaster. When he tried to get it to play on-line, it asked for our login for the internet. We gave it and it said it was not right. Well that's the one we use, I asked Sony and they said they didn't know what was wrong, does anyone else have this problem with the Sony system?

Rob Pegoraro: I think you meant the Sega Dreamcast, right? Sega's tech support ought to be able to tell you what's wrong--but OTOH, they're discontinuing this system and may not have a whole lot of resources devoted to keeping the online gaming network at 100 percent. (This is me speculating, not reporting--Dreamcast users are welcome to provide some real-world reports.)

Manheim, Penn.: Just a comment from following the posts in this discussion...
Cats are nothing to computers compared to wallabies (small kangaroos)! They jump onto the keyboard and you never know what keys their large feet hit simultaneously, so it is impossible to tell tech support what happened when you try to get help!

Rob Pegoraro: This is the explanation I should have used for some of the articles I've written...

Competition in local phone companies: You said that there is no competition--not true. When I lived in Alexandria I had Jones Communications as my local provider. They're not in every market, but I had a good experience with them. I think ComCast now owns them.

Rob Pegoraro: Is Comcast still doing phone service over cable? I don't think that's in their plans, although I'd expect them to support their existing customers.

This is the big, big failure of the Telecom Act of '96. Local phone competition is by and large a myth. The only evidence most people have seen of it is that little extra charge for "phone-number portability."

Washington, D.C.: Good afternoon. In Outlook, whenever I create a new folder, the new folder comes with the Preview Pane open. I don't like having the Preview Pane open, and I always have to close it manually. Is there some option or setting I can change or adjust so that when I create a new folder it doesn't come with the Preview Pane already open? Thank you for your help.

Rob Pegoraro: I don't think so--you can drag that frame divider all the way down, but it's still technically there. And since the preview pane marks a message as read, thereby executing any active content, this is a bad thing in terms of security.

Rob Pegoraro: I think that about kicks it in the head for today, gang. My keyboard is tired of me pounding it for the last half an hour :) Thanks again for all the questions; bug me in e-mail or stop by our message boards if I missed yours. Let's talk again soon.

- R

Rob Pegoraro: That was our last question today. Thanks to Rob Pegoraro, and to everyone who joined us.

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