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FAQS!
FACTS! FAX! 086 (25/11/97)
CHARITABLE
DONATIONS
I
have two Commodore C286-LT laptop computers and I am about to replace them, but
what do I do with these machines? Give them to schools? That’s no good, they’re
too old for the internet. Give them to a Third World aid organisation? Probably
no good again, 70% of schools in some parts of South Africa have no water or
electricity. Any suggestions?
Dr.
Caroline Jackson MEP (Wiltshire North & Bath), Swindon, Wiltshire
A
You
could start with your local charity shops, who should be able to sell them, or
put them to good use. Various organisations are geared up to handle old or
obsolete PCs and peripherals. The charity Cybercycle will accept almost
anything, from a single machine to a corporate clear-out. They specialise in
refurbishing PCs and selling them on to charities. Cybercycle are involved with
the Government’s ‘New Deal’ employment initiative; volunteers gain hands-on
experience building PCs and learning computer skills. They can collect larger
donations, or equipment can be sent to their London office at: Camelford House,
87-89 Albert Embankment, London SE1 7TP, telephone 0171-582 8800. RecycleIT,
another registered charity, also supply donated PCs to charities, though they
tell us they’re mainly interested in 386 and 486 models. They can also arrange
collection, contact them on: (01582) 492436. Reasonably recent , working PCs,
that can run up-to-date software, are welcomed by: AIDIS Trust (01202) 695244,
The Foundation for Communications for the Disabled, (FCD) on (01684) 563684,
and SEQUAL (Special Equipment Aids for Living), (01691) 718331.
LEFTIST
TENDENCY
Is
it possible to purchase a ‘left-handed’ keyboard? By that I mean everything
after the return/enter key, specifically the arrow and number keys, which are
normally on the right hand side of the keyboard, on the left. Do you know if
such a device is available?
Simon
Betts
A
The
Keyboard Company stock a wide range of specialist and purpose-designed
keyboards, including a left-handed model -- product code KBC 3500 -- it costs
£81 (including VAT), plus post and packaging. They can also supply a
left-handed mouse, this costs £57. The Keyboard Company can be reached at:
(07000) 500515. The mail-order division of the ‘Anything Left-Handed’ shop in London
also sell left-handed computer keyboards, they cost £100, their telephone
number is 0181-770 3722.
ANSWERING
THE CALL
I
was interested to read of the possibility of using a PC as a telephone
answering machine (F!F!F! 11/11/97). I would be grateful if you could explain
how one proceeds. What software is required for a PC with a modem and Windows
95?
D.
A. E. Blacknall, Witham, Essex
A
You
will need voice modem, one that is specifically designed to handle both speech
and data; almost all of them come with voicemail and fax software as standard.
The scope of bundled programs vary, but they all have basic telephone answering
machine facilities. In other words, once configured, the PC will answer
incoming calls, respond with an outgoing message or greeting, and record the
incoming message. Other common features include automatic fax and voice
switching, with separate voice and fax mailboxes. Most programs can handle
multiple voice mailboxes -- useful for small to medium sized companies -- and
the software can dial out, to notify a pager or a mobile telephone, that a
message has been received. Be warned that some voicemail software can be
difficult to set-up and voice recording on a PC uses up a lot of hard disc
space.
Two
recently launched modems have built-in telephone answering facilities, that
operate independently of the PC, so it doesn’t have to be left switched on.
They are the US Robotics Sportster MessagePlus-56k, which costs £199, and the
Olitec Self Memory, the 33.6k model sells for
£131, there’s also a 56k version
for £168 (all price include VAT). Nevertheless, if you only want a
simple telephone answering facility a purpose-designed answering machine is
normally cheaper, and a lot easier to use.
US
Robotics, telephone (0800) 146805, www.usr.co.uk/dtel/
Olitec/Datacom,
telephone (01787) 476976
ONE
MORE TIME
I
use the Sound Recorder utility in Windows 95, with a microphone, to record my
voice and sounds, but I have only been able to record short pieces before the
'tape' runs out. Can I increase the
length of time available to record so that I
could,
for instance, record a three minute rendition on the guitar?
John
Davis
A
First
increase the recording time by clicking on ‘audio properties’, then the ‘customise’
button, and selecting an 8-bit mono mode with the lowest bit-rate. Next, click
on the record button create a blank ‘WAV’ file, save it then use the ‘insert
file’ command (under ‘edit, on the menu bar), several times to build up the
length of the file. If Sound Recorder is the only audio recording program on
your PC then it seems likely that it was supplied with the soundcard already
fitted, or it is incorporated into the motherboard. Most after-market
soundcards come with a suite of software, that normally includes recording and
audio editing utilities. These will allow you to record for as long as you
like, or until you’ve used up all of the free space on your hard disc drive.
There are numerous sites on the internet with downloadable shareware and
freeware. You will find a good selection, with links to other related sites,
at: http://www.futurenet.com/musiciansnet/
smm/smm/index.html
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