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APCUG Editorial Committee ArticlesClick to see our Authors October,2006Are You a Zombie? How About Your Computer? By S. Jack Lewstschuk, Monterey Bay Users’ Group – Personal Computer (approx 747 words). There are literally hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of “zombie computers” out there. Is your computer one of them? Jack gives up warning signs as well as how to protect our computer from becoming a Zombie. Comodo Free Desktop Security Tools by Rob Rice, a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City and a computer specialist in Anchorage, Alaska (approx 1,674 words). Symantec bought Rob’s beloved Sygate Personal Firewall and then immediately yanked it from the market. Still, a nice thing about capitalism is that where there is a void, it will get filled. Enter the Comodo Group, who not only has a worthy alternate to Sygate’s Personal Firewall, but a whole suite of security products for free! Earth Probe, by Berry F. Phillips, a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City (approx 687 words). There is no life left on Earth! There was no evidence of a nuclear war! There was evidence of obsolete computers and monitors all over earth! Perhaps we should have recycled. How Do I Get My Home Videos Into the Computer? By Elise Edgell, President, North Orange County Computer Club, California (approx. 1,189 words). Elise has stacks and stacks of VHS and 8mm tapes that she wants to convert to digital format before they are no longer accessible. She wanted to write the article since she felt readers might have the same confusion as she does regarding how to transfer those VHS and 8mm tapes to digital format. Microsoft Vista Beta-First Look by Biran K. Lewis, a member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., Florida (approx. 1,906 words). The saga of Dr. Lewis installing Vista on an older machine. Surprising New Search Engine by Sandy Berger, Compu-KISS (approx. 710 words). Google has been Sandy’s search engine for several years, but recent developments have made her change her alliance to a new search engine – www.ixquick.com. Tech News by Sue Crane, Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, CA (approx. 1,041 words). From Amazon’s Windows Vista pricing to Flying-cars, another varied tech news article from Sue. The New, the Best, and the Worst by Pim Borman, SW Indiana PC Users Group (approx 1,298 words). Pim can’t pick up a computer magazine without being harangued about the urgent need to back up his hard drive(s) before the world is coming to an end. Do you backup? Also, info about TV Tuner Troubles, Freespire and the Dell DeCrapifier. The Part of Backup Nobody Mentions by Vinny La Bash, a member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida (approx. 616 words). There are dozens if not hundreds of ways to backup your data, but his article doesn’t talk about that. It discusses the most important part of doing a backup, the part that is hardly ever mentioned. Do you believe that your backup is a sound copy of your data? U3 Drives by Diane George, Webmaster, PC Community, California (approx. 766 words) + graphics in a separate folder. What is U3 and why do you need to know about it? Several flash drives now come with software preloaded that enables you to take your work with you without a laptop, use a computer elsewhere, like in an Internet café, without having to copy the files to the new computer, including your e-mail. September,2006Are you “Computerliterate?” by Berry F. Phillips, CCOKC. Computer literacy is today a necessity when entering the job market; Time magazine even awarded the computer their coveted Man of the Year years ago, dramatically illustrating the incredible impact the personal computer has had on our contemporary society. Computer literacy doesn’t mean you need to know everything about a computer but you should master the basics and understand how a computer works. BlueCoat’s K9 Web Protection by Mike Mitchell, Topeka Kansas PC Users Club. Lately Mike has been approached by several parents asking if there is a reliable Internet filtering solution they can install on their kid’s (in our cases, probably grandkid’s) computer. He let’s us know all about BlueCoat’s K9 Web Protection – a free web-based protection system. (Graphics in a separate folder.) Digital Resolution Made Confusing by Dave Chrestenson, Fox Valley PC Association. There seems to be a plethora of articles on the number of pixels required to create your photos to their full glory. Many of the articles disagree with each other and some are mystifying (to say the least); occasionally a few are wrong. Dave approaches the subject from a different point of view. Distinguishing Forests from Trees in Search Engine Results by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor. Some people cherish details without grasping the big picture. They can’t see the forest for the trees; always miss the landscape’s glory. Searching the Web can feel like this. Search engines cheerfully deliver millions of search result hits without revealing patterns or gaps in the data. Even worse, hardly anyone looks beyond the first screen of search results. Researchers are investigating how organizing search results provides contextual and visual cues that make searches more powerful. Downloading a File by Dave Gerber, APCUG Advisor. How many of us are asked by our members, friends, etc. how to download files. Dave gives us step-by-step instructions. First impressions – Office 2007 (Beta) by Ann Moore, Topeka Kansas PC Users Club. The deadline for her monthly article was looming and she was using Office 2007 and having strange problems. Microsoft Windows Vista by Mike Moore, Bowling Green Area Microcomputer UG. In many respects, Microsoft’s dominance in the areas of Internet browsers, Office Suites and, of course, Operating Systems, is puzzling, at least in the past few years. Open Source software such as the free OpenOffice.org suite has come into its own and the latest Apple Macintosh™ computers are brought to market with an OS featuring iron-clad Unix underpinnings and a cheeky marketing campaign designed to turn PC users away from Windows. But Windows-based PCs still command a staggering market share without any major upgrades to IE or XP in 3 and 5 years, respectively. MS’s answer is a complete rethinking of Windows from the ground up. My Spyware by Sandy Berger, Compu-KISS. Everyone has computer woes…even me. Last week my office computer slowed to a crawl when accessing anything on the office network or on the Internet. It was so slow that I was anxious to begin troubleshooting. Sandy takes us through her troubleshooting and conclusions. Should Your System Be RAIDed by Vinny La Bash, Sarasota PCUG. You may have heard fellow computer enthusiasts brag about their new fast RAID system is if it were a high performance sports car. Vinny clues us in on what they are talking about. Software with New Computers by Hilton Kaufman, Chicago Computer Society. When a typical consumer buys a computer, some software or programs normally comes with it. Hilton takes us through why you might want to remove some of the software that is included with your new computer. August,2006A Lot of Assembly Required by Karen Rhodes, an Honorary Member of the Rochester Computer Society, Inc. Karen’s computer died but she got her data files off before it completely went west as she keeps most of her data on Zip disks or USB portable drives. But it was time for her to get a new computer and she takes us through the steps of buying and putting her new computer together. Are You Concerned About Loss of Personal Data? By Carlisle Barnes, Newsletter Editor, Bowling Green Area Microcomputer User Group, KY. The advanced state of Information Technology is one of the great blessings of modern times. Today it is built into our economy, and it would be hard for both individuals and corporate America to do without it. However, along with the blessings to us have come curses. These curses are going to get considerably worse unless some dramatic changes are made in the way stored information is handled by the majority of organizations. Basic DVD Recording by Bob Elgines, Editor, Colorado River Computer Club, AZ. Bob probes into the basics of DVD: what is needed to record data and sound plus video requirements. CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart) by Sandy Berger, Compu-KISS. Have you tried to sign up for a message board or Web service and been presented with an image with letters and numbers which you are asked to read and type into the Web form? This is CAPTCHA and Sandy gives us information about the mechanism that makes us type in the information and the history on why we need to do this. Computer Hysteria: Shhhhh!! By Berry F. Phillips, member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City. More and more computers are on 24/7; have you ever wondered what computers are up to when humans are not operating them? Well, Berry’s computer wrote the article while he was asleep! Hard Drive Class Action Settlement and HP Recalls by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont TX; radio and talk show host. About one million users of Western Digital hard drives, both external and internal, may be the beneficiaries of a class action settlement and HP recently recalled over 15,000 HP and Compaq Notebook Computer Batteries. Maybe your readers are affected by the Western Digital lawsuit or HP recall. Quality Freeware by Brian K. Lewis, PhD, member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. Brian lets us in on the absolutely free software he was been using for the past 2-5 years. Tech Corner – SP1 Abandoned in the Fall by Chuck Thomas, member of the Bowling Green Area Microcomputer User Group, KY. If you are still running SP1, you might think that October 10 being the last date that Microsoft supports it is no big deal. But the one big problem is that there will no longer be any security updates for the old version of XP. Windows XP and Speech Recognition by Vinny La Bash, member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. Speech recognition has come a long way since it was first introduced to personal computers and to find out if you have it installed on your computer along with XP, click on the Start button and go into Control Panel and the click on the Speech icon. If you don’t have it, Vinny tells us how we can obtain it. XP or Vista? By Elaine Drain, President, Senior Surfers Computer Club, Delaware Are you still running WIN98 or ME although they are no longer being supported by Microsoft? If so, Elaine’s article gives us some choices regarding XP or Vista. July,2006Choose Your Own "Home Page" by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont TX; Radio & TV Show Host. Startup or "home" pages are big business because they are commonly advertiser supported, and the more views (also referred to in the industry as "hits"), the more revenue generated by the host. There are many different services offering home pages and Ira writes about a few of them. Legal Bytes: Do Shield Laws Extend to Bloggers? by John Brewer, member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City. One of the important parts of the first amendment to the US Constitution is freedom of the press. In order to protect the press, approximately 31 States have enacted “shield laws.” Apple brought action in California alleging that persons unknown caused the wrongful publication of secret plans on the World Wide Web regarding Apply computers and the Electronic Frontier Foundation is directly involved in the litigation. How to know what's in a file or folder before you open it by Linda Gonse, Editor, Orange County IBM PC Users’ Group, CA. Sometimes you just don't know what's in a file by the title alone. You may have created it so long ago, you've forgotten it. There are ways to glimpse the information and Linda shows us how -- step by step. Managing Device Drivers by Vinny La Bash, Member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. For each piece of hardware that is connected to a Windows-based computer, somebody somewhere has written a piece of software to make the device work with a computer. This piece of software is called a “Device Driver.” Find out what they do and why it’s important to keep your device drivers up-to-date. Suddenly… “OR “I didn’t do anything!” Part 2 by Charles W. Davis, Newsletter Editor & Webmaster, Sun City Anthem Computer Club, Henderson NV. In working to help Club members and others with their computer problems during the Thursday morning Computer Talk sessions, or more often when making “house calls,” Charles often hears strange tales that usually involve acts of some gremlin like creature. Generally the caller’s comments start with “all of a sudden” or “suddenly” and end with “I didn’t do anything.” Your readers will undoubtedly find a few fixes for those “I didn’t do anything” problems they have with their computers. The New, the Best, the Worst by Pim Borman, Website Editor, SW Indiana PC Users Group, Inc. Open Document Format, Camera Fingerprints, Linspire Back on Top and more are in Pim’s article. Windows Vista: A Preview by Brian K. Lewis, PhD., Member of the Sarasota PCUG, FL. There will be more than one "consumer" or Home edition of Vista and you should realize that the six versions of Vista that are expected are really only two more than are currently available in Windows XP. Dr. Lewis' tells us about some of the features. July Zip files
Accessing Family Accounts in Cases of Emergency by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor; Columnist, AARP Computer & Technology Website, www.aarp.org. We know it’s important to maintain current wills, powers of attorney, medical directives, and other such documents. With much data now stored electronically, emergency preparedness includes planning for family members, trusted friends, and advisors to access personal information stored online, on computers, and in electronic gadgets. Preparation is especially important because laws and business practices don’t match today’s technologies.
Backup Awareness Month by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; Radio and TV Show Host. In case you haven’t heard, June is Backup Awareness Month. It is not a federally recognized holiday, nor is it one acknowledged by resolution from some governmental authority, but an awareness service of one of the largest manufacturers of hard drives, the newly merged Maxtor and Seagate. Sure, Maxtor and Seagate will benefit if we all rush out and purchase a large capacity hard drive but it is really more of a win-win situation, as there is a very valid need for timely and comprehensive backups of our data.
Computing Q&A Board by Michael Hanst, Member of the Lake-Sumter Computer Society, Leesburg, FL; member of Smart Computing Q&A Board. Michael shows us how to use Smart Comp ting’s great responses – the Q&A Board. The responders that answer questions on the Q&A board are unpaid volunteer subscribers and NOT paid employees. While most responses are accurate, sometimes there are incorrect responses which many times can be attributed to incomplete or erroneous information provided by the poster – wait for a consensus before doing anything radical to your computer.
Essential Processes, How you Can Tell by Vinny La Bash, Member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. While waiting for Windows Vista to be released, Vinny gives us some XP tips to make our life easier.
The New, the Best, and the Worst by Pim Borman, Website Editor, SW Indiana PC Users Group, Inc. This is about the 80th installment of Pim’s column – he started writing it in February 1998. He finds that the most interesting new developments with potential long-term importance are not first reported in PC Magazine or PC World but in high-quality publications such as The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. Wi-Fi Progress and Shisen Sho are two other topics covered in this article.
Internet Fraud by Bob Schneider, Editor of the PC Keyboard, the newsletter of the Spring Hill Teaching Computer Club, Hernando County, Florida. Internet fraud continues to be the fastest growing crime in America (and perhaps the world). Bob reminds us that we can even receive “phishing” e-mails from a friend and high-lights a PayPal scam.
Computer Hysteria: Pew by Berry F. Phillips, a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City and a regular writer for the CCOKC website and the eMonitor. “Pew” could conjure up several images in your mind. For example, you might think of a human expression uttered upon inhaling the exotic perfume of a skunk, or that wooden pew in a church. But this article is about The Pew Charitable Trusts, and The Pew Internet & American Life Project which studies the social and civic impact of the Internet.
Suddenly… “OR “I didn’t do anything!” Part 1 by Charles W. Davis, Newsletter Editor & Webmaster, Sun City Ahthem Computer Club, Henderson NV. In working to help Club members and others with their computer problems during the Thursday morning Computer Talk sessions, or more often when making “house calls,” Charles often hears strange tales that usually involve acts of some gremlin like creature. Generally the caller’s comments start with “all of a sudden” or “suddenly” and end with “I didn’t do anything.” Your readers will undoubtedly find a few fixes for those “I didn’t do anything” problems they have with their computers.
Tech News by Sue Crane, Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, CA. Take a look under the hood of a car that runs off an electric battery and blows away a Ferrari 360 Spider and a Porsche Carrera GT in drag races. Windows Vista security, virtualization, the next energy source and more can be found in this issue of Tech News.
Web 2.0 and The Evolution of the Small Office/Home Office (soho) by John Abbott, member of the Bentsen Grove Resort Computer Club, Mission, TX. Will the evolution of Web 2.0 have any lasting effect on the proprietary software vendors? John believes so, to a limited extent. Each of the new Web 2.0 companies springing up hourly offer something unique to attract users.
June Zip Files
Gerry Says by Gerry Gerstenberg, 1st Vice President, Broward Personal Computer Association, FL. Gerry gives us some great tips and how to get our computers back up-to-speed.
One-click Access to Frequently Used Program, Files and Folders by Glenn Richards, Emeritus Member of the Lake-Sumter Computer Society, Leesburg, FL. How to make it easy to access files, folders, programs, and websites that you access frequently during the day.
Online Librarians Never Say Shhh! by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor, AARP Computer & Technology Columnist. Research assistance once only available in person or by telephone is blossoming into diverse online "ask a librarian" services, handling questions ranging from general curiosity and homework-related to business research.
Printing Better Pictures by Robert Spotswood, Member of HAL-PC, active in the Linux SIG and a freelance computer professional. Have you ever tried to print out a picture that looks good on your monitor only to be disappointed with the result? Does it come out way smaller/bigger than you expected or look really grainy? This is not a random act by your computer. In order to understand why it happens and, more importantly, be able to prevent these problems, you have to understand when a dot is not a dot. This is not an easy subject to grasp initially, but if you play with it just a little, the light bulb will light and it will become almost second nature very quickly.
RSS Explained by Phil Shapiro, member of the Capital PC User Group, Virginia Macintosh Users Group, Washington Apple Pi, Young Hackers and Scholars Libre Users Group. RSS – really simple syndication – is a labor-saving tool that allows people to tune into information sources that interest them. The information source could be a blog, a podcast, a videocast or any web site that includes RSS feeds. The value of RSS accrues when you subscribe to multiple RSS feeds. You can then monitor multiple information streams with a minimum of effort.
Swissbit - Victorinox Do Everything USB, MP3 Swiss Army Knife by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner – Beaumont TX; radio & TV show host. Just in time for Father's Day, Ira gives us information about a product that just entered the market. And it's much better than a tie!
TechNews by Sue Crane, Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, CA. Cosmeo, Microsoft, Ice Weasels, Space Cookies and Cheesy Poofs, Neurofeedback - tidbits about these organizations or topics, and more.
Traveling with a Video Camcorder by Joseph Asling, Monterey Bay Users Group – PC, CA. Excellent information if you are planning to take your camcorder with you on your vacation.
Web 2.0 and Portable Computing by John Abbott, member of the Bentsen Grove Resort Computer Club, Misiion TX. Portable computing has always lagged behind the rest of the computing market. This is probably because there are currently less mobile devices than computers. But that is about to change.
Why do you get so much spam? by Vinny La Bash, Sarasota PCUG, FL. Did you know that the earliest recorded instance of what may be described as spam occurred on 5/3/78 by a Digital Equipment Corporation sales representative? Selling products of dubious value is not the only kind of spam on the net and today estimates of the amount of e-mail that is defined as spam range from 66% to 94%.
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AMD's Visionary Gamble by Jim Hinwood, Monterey Bay User's Group - Personal Computer. For 35 years AMD (Advanced Micro Devices) was the "Beta" to Intel's "VHS": a lot of people would only buy computers with Intel chips even though in many ways AMD was the better value.
Back to the Future with System Restore by Marjorie Tucker, Member of the Mountain Computer Users Group, Young Harris, GA. Did you know that your computer has the ability to go back in time – just like the movie, Back to the Future? The built-in Windows program named System Restore periodically makes an image of your hard drive, much like a backup copy.
Computer Hysteria: The Sentence by Berry F. Phillips, Computer Club of Oklahoma City. Berry faces the Judge of the Spammers' Court, awaiting his sentence while the Judge reviews his case.
Getting the Most Viewing Space in the Internet Explorer Window by Glenn Richards, Emeritus Member of the Lake-Sumter Computer Society, Leesburg, FL. The IE window toolbars can take up a lot of space that could be better used to see web page content; Glenn shows us how to maximize the viewing area.
Google Earth by Joe Schmitt, Member of the Tampa Bay Computer Society, FL. One of the greatest tools of the Internet has always been that of maps. From the early days of the Internet www.mapquest.com was a great source for online geography. Now a myriad of new tools is available to home Internet users to navigate through the world. This article uses the following graphics; insert where indicated in the article. Hard Drives and Hard Drive Management by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; Radio & TV Show Host. With the oft mentioned convergence, where our desktop computers are now commonly used for more than traditional computing tasks, many of us seem to run low on hard drive space. This is an indication that it is time to somehow utilize an additional hard drive. There is a folder of graphics to include in this article.
Organizing the Favorites Menu by Glenn Richards, Emeritus Member of the Lake-Sumter Computer Society, Leesburg, FL. When you collect shortcuts to web sites like Glenn does, the Favorites menu gets difficult to manage without some organization. You will find it’s easy to add sub-folders to the Favorites main folder.
TechNews by Sue Crane, Editor, Big Bear Computer Club. Sun Microsystems, Microsoft Office 12, 1/3 of American Internet users go online just for fun rather than to check e-mail, RoboCup, What's Your "Brain Age?", plus more info is in Sue's article.
The New, The Best, and the Worst collected by Pim Borman, Website Editor, SW Indiana PC Users Group, Inc. Much of the unanticipated success of the Internet is due to the contributions made by selfless volunteers. The Internet would not be more than a large flea market if not for the powerful search engines capable of retrieving information almost instantly. More on the wonders of the Internet, as well as Oldie Tribulations.
Upgrading Your Monitor by Vinny La Bash, Sarasota PCUG, Florida. Do your research carefully if you want to watch high definition on your monitor, it must be HDCP compliant.
XP Housecleaning by Dick Maybach, Member of the Brookdale Computer User Group, NJ. Unless you are careful, after a period of use, Windows will begin to slow down. This occurs because many programs are always active, even though you aren’t using them and because the number of files increases, which means that searches take longer. Dick tells us about the many tools Windows XP has to help us ease these conditions.
April Zip Files
Being Online Brings Coincidences and Lasting Trails by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor; Columnist, AARP Computer & Technology Website. Technology and travel have shrunk the world and participating in mailing lists, newsgroups and Web sites leaves online footprints and makes us visible. The bad news is that’s one of the ways spammers find targets, but the good news is that being visible makes it easier for lost friends to track us down.
Clear Reading with Cleartype by Vinny La Bash, Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc., Florida. Find out about Microsoft’s Cleartype and how you can use it to make your screen characters appear smooth, clean, and sharp around the edges. As usual with Windows, you have more than one way to turn on or “enable” ClearType for your LCD display – in fact, there are three ways to accomplish the task.
Hard Disk Disasters by Dick Maybach, member Brookdale Computer User Group, New Jersey. Squeal, click, frequent error messages, missing or corrupted files or folders – these problems (and more) are a symptom of hard disk failure. And we know HD failure is the most serious PC problems because it jeopardizes all our data. Dick gives us many tips on what to do if we think our HD is failing.
Identify Theft Phishing Scams Abound by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont, TX; radio and TV show host. Ira’s tongue in cheek article has a lot of valuable advice for all computer users.
The Future of Broadband Access by Bob Hewitt, Editor, The Journal of The Computer Club, Inc., Florida. The goal is Broadband. Just about all computer owners want it. Many cannot afford it. But every provider wants to get the biggest share of the pie. An interesting article on proposed legislation, anti-competitive issues and more.
The New, the Best, and the Worst, collected by Pim borman, SW Indiana PC Users Group, Inc., Indiana. Rant #1 concerns the software Dell installs on new computers. Rant #2 covers rootkits and Rant #3 concerns the difficulty in finding how and where to download free software such as ZoneAlarm’s free firewall.
What Does a Cache Do for a Computer? By Brian K. Lewis, PhD, Member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. A cache (pronounced “cash”) is a form of memory storage that generally operates faster than RAM memory or the time required to access a hard drive. The cache is smaller, faster memory that stores copies of the data from the most frequently used memory locations. You will find all about the internal structure of a CPU and cache in this article.
Why Settle, Do It Your Way by Lee Alexander, member of the Macon Users Groups, Franklin, NC. Learn how to: make your PC more colorful and distinguish folders by using icons other than the ubiquitous manila folder, create toolbar buttons, LCD Usage with a Digital Camera, and more.
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Avoiding Security Risks by Kraig Lane, Group Product Manager, Symantec Corp. For millions of consumers in households worldwide, home computers are being used for a wide range of activities. However, as computer-related security incidents continue to increase, consumers have become increasingly concerned about online – and with good reason.
Improving PC Performance Without Upgrading Your Hardware by Kevin J. Vella, PR Manager, Uniblue Systems Ltd. Boosting up the performance of your PC doesn’t have to be difficult or expensive. Kevin provides us with a step-by-step guide on how to do it.
Do a clean sweep of your computer – How to safely remove software and files from your PC by Marc Saltzman, www.microsoft.com. It’s time for spring cleaning by removing unwanted clutter from your closets and garage, why not tidy up your computer as well?
Do I Have to Overwrite My Hard Drive Multiple Times? By Stephen Elderkin, President of WhiteCanyon, Inc. Computer forensics expert Stephen Elderkin explains how overwriting drives makes data unusable and how many times you need to overwrite your drive in order to prevent identify theft.
E-mail…Overused, Abused & Invaluable by G. A. “Andy” Marken, President of Marken Communications Inc. A smile, a wink of the eye, a smirk, a furled brow…is fine for face-to-face communications but they are completely missing when you use the killer application of the Internet…e-mail. Despite the hype and global business promises of the World Wide Web, the most used, most useful and most misused Internet tool is e-mail.
How to Protect your Laptop and your Lap from Heat Build-up and Other Hazards OR… How to Prevent Groin Burns from Overheated Laptops by Jose Calero, President, LapWorks, Inc. If you had been this guy, you wouldn’t be laughing! The BBC News World Edition reported that “A Swedish scientist who rested his laptop computer on his lap for just an hour needed medical treatment for extensive blistering on his penis and scrotum….. There you have it—proof positive that using a laptop computer unprotected can burn your lap and other delicate parts.
To defrag, or not to defrag? If you’re looking for ways to speed up WinXP machines, then the answer is Not, by Carey Holzman, freelance writer; co-host of the nationally syndicated talk show Computer America. Defragmenting, of course, is the process of reorganizing all data on a hard drive so that each file is arranged into a single uninterrupted, or contiguous, location on the disk. While it was true that defragging helped older PCs, it no longer applies.
What is Spyware by Anton Chuvakin, Security Strategist with a major information security company (published online at O’Reilly® Windows DevCenter (www.windowsdevcenter.com). In this article: How Spyware Works, Protecting Yourself, and The Future.
Industry Zip File
An End to Computer Annoyances by Gabriel Goldberg, APCUG Advisor; Columnist, AARP Computer & Technology Website. Many of us have mixed relationships with computers and technology. They enrich our lives but can be maddening at times. Books an magazines often tell us how great they are, but an O’Reilly book series addresses the dark side of the story by describing their annoyances and offers “help for newbies and powerusers alike.”
Note from Judy: If your UG belongs to the O’Reilly UG program, members receive a 30% on all of their books.
Anti-Spam Programs - Do They Really Work? by Vinny La Bash, Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. February 2006 issue of the Sarasota PC Monitor. Among the most effective anti-spam programs are the ones that use some kind of approval based email management system. They work by constructing a "white list" of permitted email addresses, accepting mail from anyone on the list and rejecting everything else. The programs do work as advertised, which is both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness.
How big is a 300 GB hard disk? By Jim Sanders, Editor, Orange Bytes, North Orange County Computer Club. Let’s see, converting the 300 GBs to characters – will ticker tape printed out reach around the equator of the earth 18.93 times? How many reams of 8.5 inch x 11 inch paper can conceivably be printed with a full 300 GB HD? Read along while Jim tells us how he came up with a visual reference for us on how big 300 GB really is.
Is the Internet Insecure Because of You? by Dave Gerber, APCUG Advisor; Vice President, Sarasota PCUG; radio show host. With the digital age upon us we can no longer be so sure our privacy is secure. We can simply blame this all on the big corporate companies but your privacy is totally up to you.
Legal Bytes: Fair Use – Wherefore Art Thou Going? By John Brewer, eMonitor, Computer Club of Oklahoma City. The news media is reporting the current brouhaha over electronic eavesdropping and surveillance of telephone calls, email and Internet searches. Fair use is a legal concept that permits the public to use copyrighted content without paying for the use, subject to specific restrictions. It is a good time for the entertainment industry to make an end run on “fair use.”
Multi-core Processors, by Brian K. Lewis, PhD, member of the Sarasota PCUG, Florida. What does it mean that a CPU has more than one core? You can think of it as a single chip containing two or more central processors. It is like having two (or more) computers in one box) Does it really double your processing speed? You’ll need to read the article to find out!
New Federal Website Provides Users with Internet Security and Security Information by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director; Columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont TX; radio & TV host. The media has recently been rife with stories about internet scams, frauds, identify theft, pedophiles, and other malevolent occurrences that have happened on the internet. While there are many online resources providing informational websites to help prevent us from falling prey to internet victimization, a consortium of federal agencies has created "OnGuard Online" at www.onguardonline.gov.
The Mouse from Hell Hardware Review…or Sort of by Ann Moore, member of the Topeka PC Users Club, Personal Computer Newsletter, February 2006. Ann’s article is a humorous look at the demise of her beloved mouse, purchasing another one that turned out to be a dud, and finally finding one that she can again use and love.
Note from Judy: The Answerperson that Ann sends her e-mail to is a lifetime TPCUC member who moved to Texas. If club members have a question that has them stumped, they send him an e-mail to see if he can help diagnose the problem.
The Shadow Knows, by Mike Morris, Front Range PC Users Group, Fort Collins, CO. How many readers are going to remember that phrase? Or remember listening to the show on the radio. The copyrights to a large number of the old radio shows have expired and you can now download (or order) these programs in a variety of formats and listen to them through your computer or other audio equipment.
A USB Primer by Brian K. Lewis, PhD, Sarasota PCUG, Florida. A great
educational article on USB: how it works, speeds, specifications and more.
Absence Makes the E-mail Grow Fonder by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor;
Columnist, ARP Computer & Technology Website. This article describes using
remote computers for e-mail if you are not traveling with a laptop or can use
your cell phone or wireless PDA to read your e-mail.
Anti-Spyware Basics by Dave Gerber, APCUG Advisor; Radio Talk Show Host. If
you don’t know at least the anti-spyware basic, you can have ‘extra’
windows popping up and your homepage set to another page than your original
choice. Welcome to the Net! You’ve been highjacked.
Care and Feeding of CD’s by Lynn L. Kauer, Editor, Saginaw Valley Computer
Association. We save the things that are important to us on CDs and DVDs.
Lynn tells us about how a CD is burned, how to handle it and much more.
Tech News by Sue Crane, Vice President & Editor, Big Bear Computer Club. Sue
includes tidbits about MS IE7, AMD’s 4-core Opterons by 2007, New TiVo
product, and more.
Website Accessibility for Disabled Users – No Mouse Allowed? By Dorothy
Cushway, Member of the Web Enthusiasts of Victoria, Canada. When creating a
website for your business or personal use, do you ensure that the site is
accessible to all? Do you know what accessibility involves for website
design? Have you used the many tools and evaluation programs available to
test your website for accessibility? A must read for everyone who has a
website – including individual user group websites.
Online “My Family Health Portrait” by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director;
columnist, The Examiner, Beaumont TX; radio & TV show host. Should you have
an online family health portrait? Is putting that type of information on the
web really secure? Read Ira’s article and find out how to create a family
history and upload it to the Surgeon General’s website or download it via a
zip file and keep it on your hard drive.
Sony BMG – Shame on You! By John Brewer, Computer Club of Oklahoma City.
Computer users may have noticed the recent brouhaha about Sony music CDs. Is
there a valid issue or simple a lot of heat with no real threat? When the
music CD is played in a personal computer, and the “accept” button is
clicked, then software known as XCP is installed and XCP reportedly uses
“rootkit” technology. This technology conceals running processes, files
or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system without
the user’s knowledge. Sony eventually provided a simplified and secure
procedure to uninstall the XCP software.
What Your Computer Really Does When It’s Idle by Vinny La Bash, member of
the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. You’re sitting at your
machine, thinking what to do next, when your disk drive starts whirring and
the light flashes, indicating that something is going on. What is your
machine doing? Your hands are nowhere near the keyboard or the mouse, and you
can be relatively certain that neither telepathy nor telekinesis is at work.
The following four articles are from Microsoft for you to use in your newsletters. Prior to using these articles you will need to:
Go to https://s.microsoft.com/mindshare/license.aspx and read and accept the Microsoft License Agreement. 10 tips for managing digital pictures on the road by Tony Northrup. Don’t miss an important picture because your camera’s memory card is full. Tony gives us 10 tips to help us prevent the dreaded Out Of Memory message.
Play it straight: Avoid pirated software by Sharon Oosthoek, Microsoft® Home Magazine. Ever been pleased to find the little variety store on your corner is selling a computer program at a bargain-basement price? Or you’ve learned a friend of a friend can get you a deal on the latest games? If so, you could be unwittingly using pirated software.
Optimizing Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, Xbox 360 and Media Center Extender Networks by Barb Bowman, Windows XP Expert Zone Community Columnist. With WinXP, XP Media Center Edition 2006, Xbox 360, Windows Media Center Extender, and Windows Media Center for Xbox, you can now enjoy media content in new ways in your home. Whether it’s live TV, recorded TV, or music ripped from your collection of music CDs or downloaded from an online music store, you can broadcast digital entertainment throughout your home.
Protect and purge your personal files – Eliminate private documents permanently from your hard drive by Alyson Munroe. When you stop to think about it, your home computer holds a lot of information about you – credit card numbers, bank account details, passwords, medical information, websites you’ve visited and those deep, dark secrets you share with your best friend via e-mail. Find out why “Delete” isn’t enough.
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