FAQS FAX AND FACTS 001 (16/04/96)

DIGITAL DILEMMA

My old television is on its last legs so I’m thinking about buying a new one. I’ve  been reading about the new digital television channels that are supposed to be on the way. If I buy a TV now will I be able to update it later, for digital reception, or should I wait until the new models reach the shops? Incidentally, have you any advice on screen size?

J.G., King’s Lynn

A

Don't worry about digital TV just yet. Go ahead and buy your new television -- preferably a NICAM stereo model -- get the largest one you can afford and comfortably accommodate in your living room. To work out ideal screen size, measure how far you normally sit from the screen in feet, (sorry, this doesn’t work with metric measurements...). Multiply that by four, to give a screen size in inches. For example, if you sit 9 feet from the TV, the best size screen will be 9 x 4 = 36 inches.  If the viewing distance is 7 feet then the screen size should be 28 inches, and so on.

Digital TV is coming, that much is certain. It makes much more efficient use of the airwaves, transmitters can broadcast dozens, possibly hundred of channels, moreover it paves the way for video-on-demand services, plus widescreen and high-definition displays. However, there’s still a few technical problems to be resolved, not to mention the tricky question of who’s going to pay for it all. As far upgrading existing sets are concerned, that’s quite possible. It’s likely that manufacturers will develop set-top converter boxes, to carry the market through a probable five to ten year changeover period. By the time you come to replace your new TV  -- the average life expectancy of a television brought today is around eight years -- digital TVs should have reached the high-street, there might even be something worth watching...

UP TO SPEED

Last year I brought a multi-media PC for the family. It is a 486/100 MHz model (pre-Pentium and Windows 95), with 4 megabytes of RAM and a two-speed CD ROM drive. How easy would it be to improve performance, could I replace the CD-ROM drive with a four-speed type, and should I upgrade to Windows 95?

I. W., Biggin Hill

A

There’s a quite a lot you can do to make your PC go faster, without spending a lot of money. First, make sure it’s properly configured and delete all the unused files that may be cluttering your hard disc. Programs like Clean Sweep make the task a lot easier, and they have plenty of safety nets, to make sure you don’t wipe out critical files. Finally, run the ‘Defrag’ program, that’s part of your MS-DOS operating system. This will help to speed up access times on your hard disc. The procedure is quite simple, and fully explained in the Windows and MS-DOS manual that came with your computer. 

Replacing your CD ROM drive probably won’t make a great deal of difference, especially if it’s mainly used for accessing information-based discs, like encyclopaedias, or loading software applications. Some CD ROM games might run a little smoother though. However, the single biggest improvement in your case would be to increase the size of your machine’s memory (RAM) capacity to 8 or 16 megabytes. As for Windows 95, it’s well worth having on a new PC but upgrades can be troublesome, and it’s unlikely you’ll see any improvement in speed. The old adage about, ‘if it ‘ain’t broke, don’t fix it’, springs to mind. 

 How secure is the Internet? Is it true that my e-mail be read by a third party? Could anyone find out which Web sites I’ve visited, the files I’ve downloaded or the newsgroups I’ve subscribed to?

M. D., Croydon

E-mail is about as private as a postcard or sending post in unsealed envelopes. Unless you have taken fairly elaborate steps to protect or hide your identity, every time you log on to an Internet server or on-line service your computer leaves a trail that can be traced back to you and your PC. The mountain of records kept by computers holding or handling Internet data can show precisely which sites you’ve visited what files you’ve downloaded.

However the sheer volume of traffic now circulating the Internet makes it unlikely that routine messages and files will provoke much interest from official, or unofficial eavesdroppers. It’s far more likely that records of your activities will be used to target mail-shots or junk e-mail. Nevertheless, governmental and security organisations around the world closely monitor traffic at what they consider to be sensitive sites. It’s no secret that the UK police have used Internet records to track down paedophiles and keep tabs on terrorist organisations.

Clearly it would be most unwise to send secret commercial information via this medium, though industrial spies are far more likely to break into the PCs where data is held, rather than attempt to intercept messages, which requires a lot more effort. Highly effective encryption systems are readily available, that will ensure that files you send -- or are sent to you -- cannot be read by others. The most popular one is PGP (Pretty Good Privacy), which is generally reckoned to be uncrackable. PGP software is freely available as shareware, numerous versions have been posted on dozens of sites around the Internet. At the risk of adding to your profile as a dangerous subversive, newsgroups such as alt.security.pgp and alt.privacy have more information about PGP, where you can get hold of it and the whole security debate.