Lightning and power surges frequently damage computer components, televisions and telephones. It is important to take steps to minimize the danger to the equipment in your home or business. Here is some info on what lightning and power surges can do and steps you can take to prevent it.

Power surges are an increase in the voltage that powers your electrical equipment. Surges often go unnoticed, lasting only 1/120th of a second, but they are much more common and destructive than one might think. According to recent studies, electrical equipment is constantly experiencing surges of varying power. Some of them can be absorbed by your power supply, while others can only be handled by a quality surge suppressor. The most destructive power surges will wipe out anything that gets in the way! Power surges can not only damage or destroy computer equipment (and the equipment plugged into your computer, including scanners, printers and monitors) sound systems and home theatre equipment.

Lightning can send a spectacular power surge along any conductive line (electrical and telephone lines) to destroy everything in its path. No matter what manufacturers claim, NO SURGE SUPPRESSOR IN THE WORLD CAN SURVIVE A DIRECT LIGHTNING STRIKE. However, by making the right choice in power protection, you can increase the probability that your surge suppressor will take the hit - ending up melted - and your electronic equipment will stay protected. When looking at protection, remember that a jolt through the phone line can cause as much damage as and electrical power surge and is the most common cause for damage to a modem.

Here are a few simple solutions to protect your electronic equipment from lightning damage.

1. The simplest way to protect equipment is to unplug it during any electrical storm – both from the electrical outlet and the phone line. If a storm is imminent, shut down your computer, unplug it, and pull the phone cord at the computer or jack. Unplug all home theatre equipment, televisions, etc. too. This is the only way to guarantee that your electronics will remain safe.

2. Even when no storms are present, make sure that all of your electronic devices and phone line are plugged into a surge protector of some kind. Tiny electrical surges that could damage these devises are always present over the power grid.

3. Another option for computers is  to connect your computer to an Uninterruptible Power Supply, or UPS. A UPS is similar to a standard surge suppressor except that it includes a battery backup that can last anywhere from ten minutes to three or four hours, depending on the quality and amount invested. Most quality power supplies also regulate the power flow to a computer so that it receives a constant, unchanging stream of voltage. (Many also include software that will shut a computer down when the battery gets low on power.)

The following links are to some popular and very reputable companies.

Tripplite – www.tripplite.com

American Power Conversion (APC) – www.apcc.com

Belkin – www.belkin.com

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Ask The Help Desk - Where's The Correct Place For E-Mail Replies?

Question: When I reply to an e-mail, I put my reply at the top of the message pane (above the sender's original message). Most of my friends and family do the same thing. However, I correspond with a few people who reply to e-mail messages at the bottom of the message pane. Which way is correct?

Answer: Congratulations! You come out on top in this debate. Typing your e-mail reply message at the top of previously sent correspondence is considered proper etiquette. This just makes sense from an efficiency standpoint, especially when you have a series of messages going back and forth between two people. When the most recent reply is at the top of the message pane, it's right there in front of the receiver and ready to be read. By contrast, when the reply is placed at the bottom, the receiver has to waste time scrolling down the e-mail to find it.

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Great Sites To Check Out This Month

Astounding Stats
http://nationmaster.com/index.php -  Any idea what the least populated country in the world is? It's Pitcairn Island, which has just 45 residents. What country has the most Internet users per capita? It's New Zealand. And did you know that in Taiwan, mobile phones actually outnumber people? You'll find a world of fascinating facts at this site, which provides a vast central source of statistics comparing nations in more than one thousand categories. Browse around and you'll probably discover a thing or two about your own nation. For example, did you know that the U.S. is the all-time leader in number of Summer Olympics medals?

March is Women's History Month
http://history.com/minisites/womenhist -  According to the U.S. Census Bureau, women now outnumber men in this country (152 million compared with 148 million). If women of the past are any indication, today's women will continue to make valuable contributions in every field. This site celebrates Women's History Month with a look at groundbreaking American women throughout the years. For example, did you know that Victoria Chaflin Woodhull was the first female presidential candidate in 1872? Check out the list of Firsts in Women’s Achievement, the History of Women's Suffrage, and the National Women's Hall of Fame. It's an inspiring tour through the lives of amazing women.

Laughter on Ice
http://bladesofglorymovie.com -  For the first time in the history of the sport, two men (Will Ferrell and Jon Heder, star of Napoleon Dynamite) compete as a figure skating pair. That's the premise behind this lighthearted comedy from DreamWorks, which promises to spin, lift, and jump its way through laugh after laugh. (The skating costumes alone are worth a chuckle.) See the trailer at this site and register for updates on special events and promotions.

Wealth of Money Tools
http://smartmoney.com/worksheets -  Different stages of life generate different types of financial decisions. Should I buy or lease a car? How much house can we afford? How much should I save for college? How long will my money last once I retire? This site contains a broad range of step-by-step financial worksheets to help you find the answers you need. It's easy to use and a smart resource for making informed choices about buying, saving, investing, and borrowing.

Join the Fun of Fantasy Baseball
http://www.mlb.com/mlb/fantasy/wsfb/info/index.jsp -  The free fantasy baseball game, MLB.com Open, starts a new season on April 2nd. So now's the time to join the fun and compete for the $10,000 prize. The easy-to-play game is designed for fantasy participants of all skill levels so anyone can take a swing at it. Play with your friends in your own private league or test your skills as an individual against a random group of eleven other participants. Get complete contest rules and register online, then check out the site's stats on team records, players, draft action, and more.

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Short Tutorial - Manually Adjusting Time Settings To Match Earlier DST Start

As a result of the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 2005, Daylight Saving Time (DST) is set to begin three weeks earlier this year on March 11th. (Congress decided that more early evening daylight would translate into energy savings.) Most U.S. states and Canadian provinces are following this revised DST schedule. Be aware that unless certain updates are applied to your computer, it's possible that the date/time settings may now be incorrect. This is because software created before 2005 is set to automatically advance its timekeeping by one hour on the first Sunday in April, not the second Sunday in March.

To help you "spring ahead" this year without stumbling, just follow these steps:

Windows Users

1. Go to this webpage: http://support.microsoft.com/gp/cp_dst and read the introduction to see whether you need to update your PC for the new daylight savings time law.
   
   
2. Select the option that best applies to you from the list and then click "Next."
   
   
3. Select your operating system and click "Next."
   
   
4. To download the update for the system you selected, click the "Download" button.
   
   
5. You will be asked if you want to download the update to your disk or run it immediately. Either way is fine but, for the purpose of this tutorial, we will choose to run the update. Click the "Run" button.
   
   
6. The "Internet Explorer - Security Warning" dialog box will appear. Click the "Run" button again.
   
   
7. The first screen of the "Software Update Installation Wizard" will appear. Click the "Next" button.
   
   
8. The "License Agreement" screen will appear next. Click on "I Agree" to agree to the terms and then click the "Next" button.
   
   
9. The final screen of the installation wizard will appear. Click the "Finish" button.
   
   
10. When the installation wizard quits, you will return to the "Update your operating system" window in Internet Explorer. Click the "Next" button.
    
    
11. Some other programs will require additional updates. Select the program you would like to update and then continue. This applies mostly to Outlook users, not Outlook Express users. If you are an Outlook Express user or if you use Thunderbird or some other e-mail client, select "I do not use Outlook" and click the "Next" button. If you do use any of those programs, mark them and follow the directions.
    
    
12. The "I do not use Outlook" window will appear. Click the "Next" button.
    
    
13. You are now finished. As the final screen says, there is no reason to restart.

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Best regards,

PSC
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