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Thursday, April 13, 2000 By David Radin
Q: Software packages that claim to speed up your Internet surfing: Do they really work?
Have a question for David Radin? Contact him at his Web site
A: Yes, they work, but not exactly as you might expect. They use tricks to speed up your access to information, and typically don't actually speed up your connection. Most of these packages use a technique called look-ahead to find the information that you might want to view next, and download it to your system before you ask for it. So when you click on a link, the page and its graphics are already on your local system. This technique alleviates the wait for the next page in many cases.
These "off-line browsers" as they are often called, read each of the links on the page that you are reading, then download the pages that are linked. They thereby take advantage of modem idle time while you're reading. If you're a slow reader, or want to turn to the first page on the list of links, you'll be pleasantly surprised when the page comes up immediately. You'll be less than satisfied, though, if you read faster than the look-ahead, and try to load the next page before the software downloads it. In that case, it will be no faster than with Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator.
Some software actually does make the page get to you faster, but the accelerator software doesn't usually run on your system. Pittsburgh-based Storm LLC, for instance, has released a product called PageSTORM that speeds up the servers from which you're downloading pages. You don't need to change a thing when PageSTORM is in action. It runs on the other end of the line -- where the pages are being stored and served to you. PageSTORM is helpful in speeding up systems that are saturated with heavy traffic.
Since you can't implement server-side solutions, the best thing you can do to speed up your Internet experience is to get a faster connection.
Q: Is there a way I can consolidate all my address books within Windows 98? I have Outlook Express 5.0 and Outlook 2000. Both of these programs have their own separate address books. It sure would be nice to have only one, shared address book.
A: Although Outlook 2000 and Outlook Express use different file formats to store address book data, you can easily exchange information using Import/Export functions. You can perform the action from either product. To import Outlook Express addresses into Outlook 2000, open Outlook 2000. Then select [File], then [Import and Export...]. This will bring up the Import and Export Wizard. To move from step to step, click on [Next] after you perform each step. On the first page of the wizard, use your mouse to highlight "Import Internet Mail and Addresses." Outlook 2000 will then show a list of Internet Mail software from which you can import your address book. Highlight "Microsoft Outlook Express 4.x, 5." Then check the box next to "Import Address Book."
At this point, you'll need to decide whether to import to your Outlook Contacts Folder or a personal address book. If you have only one address book showing, it's probably the Outlook Contacts Folder. So select that. Here's the tricky part.
If your most up-to-date address book is in Outlook 2000, then "Do not import duplicate items," as they will overwrite the newer information with older information.
If your most up-to-date addresses are in Outlook Express, "Replace duplicates with items imported." This will bring your Outlook 2000 address book up to date.
If you're not sure where your most recent information is stored, "Allow duplicates to be created." Then, you'll be able to eliminate the duplicates by hand after the import is complete. If you have a large address book, it may take you some time to remove all the duplicate entries.
Once you have imported your address book, try to keep all your addresses in a single format. Or if you can't do that because you have some important reason to use multiple e-mail programs, make sure that you keep one of the formats completely up-to-date. Then you'll be able to move your entire up-to-date address book to any other e-mail book format.
Q: What does BTW mean? I see it in your column and throughout your Web site.
A: BTW is Internet shorthand for "by the way." Over the years, Internet users, in their attempts to make it easier to communicate via e-mail, chat and instant messenger, have created their own language. BTW, I'll share other handy phrases with you in future columns.
David Radin is host of the nationally syndicated radio show "Internet Insider," a local version of which is aired on KDKA AM 1020 on Saturdays at noon.
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