How do I convert photo-type files from one format to another? Forexample, how do I convert a PIC file to the BMP format? I have perused allthe manuals and books that I have without finding an answer.
One of the problems with computer graphics is the wild profusion ofincompatible file types in which images can be stored. Gradually, two types,JPEG and GIF, are becoming dominant, because they are the types mostcommonly used in Web pages. But many other formats still linger on. Forinstance, Microsoft's popular Windows software, Picture It, stubbornlydefaults to a proprietary format, MIX, which never really caught on.

Two types of software can be used to convert your photos from one format toanother. You can use an inexpensive graphics-editing program. Even the Paintprogram, which comes free with Windows, will convert among three types: BMP,JPEG and GIF. And others do much more. Or, you can use a program that'sspecifically designed as a format converter. One example of the latter is avenerable $30 Mac program called GraphicConverter, from Lemke Software(www.lemkesoft.de). It accepts scores of formats and also does batchconversions, altering many files at once. I also like two Windows programsfrom Jasc Software (www.jasc.com). Jasc's $99 Paint Shop Pro is a powerfulimage-editing program that also converts among a whole host of formats. Itcan even do batch conversions. Jasc's $29 Media Center organizes all yourgraphics into albums, which can be searched like a database or displayedlike a slide show. This program will also perform file-format conversionsamong numerous formats.

More on forwarding e-Mail:Last week, I answered a question from areader who wanted to know how to forward his e-mail from his currentaddress, at an Internet-service provider he planned to leave, to his newaddress at a provider he planned to join.

Since he said he'd be willing to keep both accounts open for awhile, Ipointed out that Microsoft's two e-mail programs, Outlook and OutlookExpress, can automatically forward received e-mail from one account to theother. But I may have given the impression that this process is simpler thanit is. I forgot to explicitly add that, during the period in which heplanned to keep both accounts open, the reader would still have to e-mail achange-of-address notice to all of the people whose mail he hoped to keepreceiving.

He'd also have to change his address with any mailing lists or e-mailnewsletters to which he subscribes. Otherwise, his e-mail would be returnedto sender when the old account shuts down, regardless of any procedure hesets up in his e-mail software. This change-of-address notification processmust be done manually, since there's no electronic equivalent of the PostOffice's change-of-address process.

It can be eased a bit by setting up boilerplate group e-mails in the mailsoftware, but it's still tedious. One alternative is to use a freemail-forwarding service that provides a constant e-mail alias that otherscan use to reach you, and forwards the e-mail to your real account, whereverit is. That way, nobody has to learn a new e-mail address for you, even ifyou change your e-mail provider. For instance, with these services, you canset up a constant address like harry@coolmail.com ,even if your real addressis h345xyz@acne.com. You give out only the constant address. When you chanethe underlying e-mail account, you only have to notify the forwardingservice, not everybody in your address book. One such service is atwww.bigfoot.com.

Cat update:Many readers wrote in with ideas on how to keep a cat offthe top of your PC's monitor - where she can block the air vents - whilestill keeping her in the general vicinity to provide soothing companionship.It turns out that this is a widespread problem for cat-loving PC owners.

Several readers suggested building a low, comfortable shelf above themonitor, complete with a heating pad. Others proposed using an incandescentlamp to create a warm pool of light on the desktop to lure the cat. Manymore offered various schemes for making the top of the monitor inhospitableby spraying or gluing various uncomfortable or smelly substances, includingsandpaper, between the vents. One reader even e-mailed me a photo of asadistic looking anti-cat defense he has glued between the vents on the topof his monitor: sharp-edged protrusions of metal made from a cut-up sodacan.

This tinkerer reported that his wife (appropriately named Kitty) objected tohis homemade barbed wire, fearing the cat would be injured by it. But, hesays, the cat wisely poked the hideous contraption once or twice with a paw,and retreated uninjured to a safer spot, never to return to the monitoragain.

-- www.wsj.com