Transcript
vol. 28 no.5 / may 2010
award winning monthly newsletter for orcopug members
May Program
pcmover professional presented by Charlie Moore
see how you
can move
programs, files, & settings to a
newer windows version with this powerful program!
may program description 2 feedback 3 favorite shot 4 handy accessories 5 archiving slides/negatives 7 iphone life discount 8 word tip: columns 9 computer tips & news 10 free music downloads 11 “gotta have” usb gadgets 14 social media book review 15 ask the experts 17 april keyword explained 20 joining facebook generation 21 ask computer tutor 24 media converter review 26 raffle results 28 net neutrality update 29 user group deals 29 orcopug information 30
MAY PROGRAM
watch pcmover in action at the may meeting!
C
http://www.laplink.com/pcmover
here’s how pcmover
harlie Moore will demonstrate PCMover Professional at the May 11 meeting by upgrading his wife’s Windows Me computer to another computer running Windows XP. PCMover Professional is a powerful, intuitive migration tool that is compatible with all older Windows operating systems — starting with Windows 95, 98 through ME. It can transfer existing applications, settings, data files, and even registry settings to another PC. And there’s no need to tell PCMover where to find anything; it already knows exactly how to complete the move swiftly and accurately. The newer computer will be ready to go; complete with user’s important data, applications, and even with the user profile selectivity from the old computer. (PCMover is also ideal for copying configurations to a notebook or to another computer for use in addition to a primary PC.)
professional works
Transfering programs, files and settings to another PC is done in three easy steps…
1. Install Install PCmover on both the new and old PC.
2. Connect Automatically connect the PCs by local or wireless network or USB transfer cable included.
3. Transfer The wizard guides usres through a couple of easy steps and it’s DONE!
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
Lore
feedback
freezing your hard drive to recover files —“it’s an old trick” Lothar Loehr ORCOPUG
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o get up on a camel was very shaky, but the trip though the jungle in Thailand was rough. Harriet (my wife) was sore after the elephant ride for a few days after that. Still both rides were fun and I would do either one again at any time! (Please see Lothar’s Favorite Shot photos on page 4. —LG)
Mike Lyons ORCOPUG, president
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egarding LifeHacker’s article about “Saving a failed hard drive in your freezer” at http:// tinyurl.com/y7wurrj It’s an old trick that is making the rounds again. It does work in some instances and sometimes it requires repeating the process to get everything off the drive. Be sure to wrap it twice so any condensation forms on the outside wrapper instead of inside the drive. Here are some additional links about this idea. • http://server.dzone.com/news/ what-do-when-hard-drive-fails • www.wikihow.com/Recover-aDead-Hard-Disk
• www.datarecoverypros.com/ hard-drive-recovery-freeze.html • http://geeksaresexy.blogspot. com/2006/01/freeze-your-harddrive-to-recover-data.html I would use this method as a last resort. My first line of rescue is Steve Gibson’s Spinrite http://www.grc. com/spinrite.htm. Steve Gibson discussed saving data from a failed hard drive on his podcast a few weeks ago. The transcript is at http://www. grc.com/sn/sn-227.txt . I haven’t had a drive not work after I ran SpinRite—although it can take a lot of time, so patience is required.
Darry D Eggleston GTBPCUG, Florida
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icrosoft has released a FixIt Center software that will be proactive in fixing problems with Windows Vista and 7. While I’m a little leery of anything that is “automatic,” it’s a great concept. http:// download.cnet.com/Fix-itCenter/3000-18512_4-75181095. html
Neil Longmuir WPCUG, Canada
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ur group meets at a local food bank which has gotten grant for a new building. We will have a room for our use in it. We are currently using their old warehouse where Internet service is iffy at best, and it is used for our forums and meetings. Our newsletter editor wants to hold off doing any newsletters until we are in the new building. In the meantime, we’d like to ask if we could put your last four newsletters for 2010 on our website for the members to download. Our website would give you and your group full online credit for the newsletters.
survey question What programs, software, free stuff, antivirus, antimalware, firewall, Office and so on, do you load on a brand new laptop when you get it home? (If you have time, please say “why” you prefer one over the other.) Thank you! Please email editor@ orcopug.org.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY
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rom the desert to the jungle, Harriet and Lothar Loehr test their mounts on two recent trips. Lothar asked, “Can you guess which was a wilder ride, the elephant in Thailand or the camel in Egypt?” (see Feedback, p.3) photos from Lothar Loehr ORCOPUG
E
veryone has a photo that they like a lot. Please send us your favorite photo for our next “Your Favorite Shot” page. Email your low resolution JPG to
[email protected]. Please provide a short description of
the photo or photo trick that you used to get it. Photo subjects can be whatever you choose.
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
NEAT STUFF
UNDER $20
HANDY ACCESSORIES
digital ipod charger iTurbo ip140 with digital AlgorChip technology safely charges your iPod® without overcharging. Twist on/off switch with status LED. It’s the perfect portable power supply. Easily carry one with you just about anywhere. Requires 1 AA battery, included. Compatible with iPod mini (4GB, 6GB), iPod nano (1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB) and iPod classic (20GB, 40GB, 60GB, 80GB, 160GB). 3/4”dia. x 3-3/4”L, Cable length: 4”
wallet light
earphone cord manager
TeleBrands 2 LED Owl Wallet Light 1642 3X magnifier for reading menus, receipts, prescriptions, programs, or any small text in poor light. Includes two built-in LED lights, and fits a purse or wallet! Includes slip case, cleaning cloth and battery. Simple activation switch. 1/3 of 1 oz., 3-3/8”L x 2 1/8”W x 3/32”H
The iRoll Earphone Cord Manager FE005-W from the Bone Collection is so simple to use, that you’ll actually use it! Just wrap the cords around the center core, and then fold the flaps down to protect everything from pocket lint and other debris. It’s a soft and squishy way to take care of your earphones and prevent them from getting tangled. Measurements: 2-3/4”L x 1-1/4”W x 1”H
All 3 products displayed at Cyberguys.com
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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NEAT STUFF
Name tag and podium displayed at Cyberguys.com
ipod & itunes for dummies For iPod touch, iPod classic, iPod nano, and iPod shuffle. How to set up iTunes, shop at the iTunes store, and import music, videos, and podcasts. Manage photos, videos, synchronize devices with iTunes, burn CDs from iTunes, play iPod content, and play music on home stereo, TV, or car stereo. Create playlists, reset and restore iPod, troubleshooting, organizing and sharing content.. 7th Edition, by Tony Bove. Paperback, 408 pages, Oct. 2009. Publisher: Wiley, http:// tinyurl.com/26t2q9m
scrolling led name badge If you’ve got something to say, this Venus Scrolling LED Name Badge Blue LEDs V-OIBA-B will get your message noticed! Program it with buttons on back. LED display continuously scrolls one message up to 512 characters long (or 6 messages with a combined 512 character total). Requires 2 CR2016 batteries, 4 included. 9 scrolling speeds, 9 brightness levels, no computer required.
telescoping laptop podium The ONYX Telescoping Laptop Podium VLT-058 (for use with luggage bag) attaches securely with hook-and-loop fasteners to extendable handle of carry-on travel bag to create a sturdy laptop stand. Telescoping leg can be adjusted to height of bag’s handle. A 2nd fastener strap secures laptop to the tray. The tray can also be mounted on any tripod for a mobile laptop desk. Sturdy aluminum dissipates heat. Telescoping 4-segment pole, grippy rubber foot, under 2 lbs. Tray size: 9-1/4”L x 121/2”W, Pole height: 16-44”
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
PHOTO ARCHIVING
how to archive and organize slides and negatives by Neil Longmuir, WPCUG
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o date I’ve scanned about 2,500 images from slides and negatives. I took some time to choose different films and film speeds to see how well the different films would scan. Let’s start with slide film. Without a doubt all the slide films scanned well. I turned on Digital Ice from Kodak on the scanner to remove dust and scratches. Digital Ice is a must have option, in my opinion, for any scanner. Without Digital Ice users could spend many hours to remove dust and scratches from their scans. Digital Ice on the Minolta Dimage Scan Elite 5400 worked very, very well with Kodachrome slides removing virtually all the dust and scratches. The Nikon 9000ED scanner has not yet arrived. The Nikon 9000ED scanner has Digital Ice Professional which works even better on Kodachrome slides. I will update everyone on this feature when the scanner arrives. Also, the Nikon 9000ED scanner has Digital GEM Professional noise reduction built into the hardware. I have the Kodak Digital GEM Professional plug-in for Photoshop and Elements. The plug-in works great so it will be interesting to see how the plug-in compares to the hardware version. All scans are done at 4000 dpi which produces a 64.9 MB 8 bit file.
Each slide or transparency takes about 5 – 6 minutes to scan. Each color negative takes 10 – 12 minutes to scan depending on the film manufacturer. (I scanned four slides or negatives one after another. The holder holds only 4 slides or 6 negatives. All my negatives are in strips of four.) The slide films I’ve scanned so far are: Kodachrome, Velvia, Provia, Ekatachrome VS, Ekatachrome Elite, Ansco, and Kodak slides made from old color negatives. The color negatives films I’ve scanned so far are: Kodak Gold 100, 200 and 400, Fuji Superia 100, 200 and 400 and Agfacolor 200 and 400. The Kodachrome and Velvia scans stood out above the rest. The sharpness and clean colors of Kodachrome and Velvia were terrific. Because both of these films are a bit Before & After using Digital Ice
Before & After using Digital Gem contrasty, I only had to tone down the contrast a bit on a few slides. For the most part, I did nothing with these scans except to do a bit of cropping to make a better image. The other slide films produced nice scans. The old Anscochrome scanned surprisingly well. The scans were flat, but minor Curve and Levels adjustments produced very useable images. So how did the color negative films fare? Kodak Gold 100 and Fuji Superia 100 scans did not require any Photoshop work at all. All the negatives were well exposed and produced gorgeous scans. The Kodak Gold 200 and the Fuji Superia 200 did almost as well but required sometimes a bit of Curve and Level adjustments Turn to next page
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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PHOTO ARCHIVING \ SPECIAL OFFER
to make better images.Fuji Superia 400 scans were simply better than the Kodak Gold 400 scans. I had to apply Digital GEM Professional to most of the Kodak Gold 400 scans. Which now brings us to the question — how did ISO 800 film scan? I scanned two rolls of ISO 800—one from Kodak and one from Fuji. In my opinion, neither of the films produced scans I would use. Today’s digital cameras simply produce better high ISO results than film, so stick with digital. I have yet to scan any of the Kodak Porta line of color negative films but will be doing so in the future. The scans from slides made from color negatives turned out reasonable. Let me qualify that statement, the original images were done on a disposable camera by a graduate student whom I worked with at the University of Manitoba on his Phd. thesis. All of the slides had deterioated badly so I had to use the Kodak ROC (Restore Old Color) Professional plug-in for Photoshop to recover the images. ROC worked well. I’m saving my best images in Adobe PSD format and the others in high resolution JPEG. I’ve created directories on a new 500 gig drive using the film number, i.e. N0001 for Neil images and C0001 for Carrol’s (my wife’s) images followed by the month and year the images were taken. One other note: I’m also including a text file with each directory indicating any information about the images that have been scanned—the film, the ISO, location and subject.
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
word
EXCEL TIPS
mixing column formats on a page
I
t is not uncommon to have a document that mixes different column layouts on a single page. For instance, let’s assume you have a five-page document, and you want to format the center part of page two as three columns. You want the rest of the document to remain a single column.
To overcome this formatting challenge, you can follow these steps if you are using Word 97 through Word 2003: 1. Select the text that will appear in the columns. 2. Choose the Columns option from the Format menu. Word displays the Columns dialog box.
The Columns dialog box 3. 4. 5.
In the Number of Columns field, specify the number of columns you desire. In the Apply To box, make sure it says Selected Text. Click on OK. Word places the selected text into its own section and sets it in the number of columns you specified.
If you are using Word 2007, then the steps are a bit different: 1. Select the text that will appear in the columns. 2. Choose the Page Layout tab for the ribbon. 3. In the Page Setup group, click the Columns drop-down list. 4. Pick the number of columns you want to use for the selected text. Copyright © 2010 by Sharon Parq Associates, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Thousands of free Microsoft Word tips can be found online at http://word.tips.net.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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COMPUTER TIPS
handy computer tips & news you may need to know
by Darry D Eggleston, GTBPUGP
facebook reveals more than it should
F
or those of you who play Facebook, and are still sleeping at night, you need to read this article. You’ll be surprised what can be shared about you by your friends and by any quizzes you take. “What Facebook Quizzes Know About You,” Sarah Perez, CNET News, August 27, 2009, http://tinyurl.com/llfu5f (Please, make the time to check your Settings in Facebook. Instructions are in the ninth paragraph of the article.) According to The Northern California chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), millions of Facebook users taking quizzes are revealing far more personal information to people other than friends than they are aware of. Even worse, the ACLU reports that even if you shun quizzes yourself, your profile info is revealed when one of your friends takes a quiz. Want to see how bad the problem is? Just take the ACLU’s Facebook Quiz and prepare to be shocked: http://tinyurl.com/29jhnwq
see big keyboard letters
I
seldom recommend buying items, but I’ve got a suggestion that I believe will aid you. I have purchased “Large Print
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Keyboard Stickers” (black letters on yellow background), and I can tell you that it makes seeing the keys— even in reduced visibility—a joy. We have them on our desktop keyboards and on our laptop keys. They make seeing the keys so much easier. Putting them on was a simple task: Just peel off and place onto the key. We’ve had them on the keyboards for four months now, and there has been zero degradation. (Previously, the “e” key’s letter was almost invisible.) They’re at http://aramedia. com/kbslargeprintdir.htm
quick switching between programs
I
n case you didn’t know, if you have two or more programs open, you can use the Alt+Tab keys to switch between them. Hold down the Alt key, touch the Tab key, and release both of them. If you have only two programs open, it switches between the two. If you have three or more open, it switches between the three (or more) in the order that you opened them. (You can read more tips on Darry D’s website at http://darryd.com)
windows 7 split screen Want to view two open programs, side-by-side? 1. Open the first program maximized. 5. Hold down the Windows key. 2. Hold down the Windows key. 6. Touch and release the Right Arrow key. 3. Touch and release the Left Arrow key. 7. Both programs now show. 4. Open the second program maximized. When you’re finished, just maximize or close each of the programs in turn. If you maximized them, minimize each in turn, and it will disappear onto your TaskBar at the bottom of the screen.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
free music downloads by Ira Wilsker
R
egular readers of this column know that I like bargains, and I especially like the biggest bargains of all, “free stuff.” Many of us now have some form of
from amazon MP3 player (digital music format) in our cell phones, in our cars, on our computers, or in the myriad of small personal MP3 players carried by millions of people. There are many sources of MP3 music that range
Many of us now have some form of MP3 player in cell phones, in cars, on computers, or in small personal MP3 players.
from ripping music CDs (converting commercial music CDs to MP3 format), downloading pirated (illegal) music from P2P (peer-to-peer) file sharing services, and purchasing MP3 files from a variety of legitimate services, such as iTunes. Many are not aware that the online behemoth Amazon.com also has an enormous collection of MP3 files available for download, many of which are totally free! I first found out about the free MP3 downloads from Amazon from a listing on one of my favorite deal sites, dealnews.com, which periodically displays listings of new free CDs and MP3 files that can be downloaded from Amazon; often the free albums are seasonal, and have included Christmas music, Halloween, St. Patrick’s, and other events, but are definitely not restricted to seasonal music. After seeing several albums available for free download from Amazon, one particular listing caught my attention as it was a genre’ of music that I like, so I decided to download the free album. Upon arriving at the Amazon listing, I was directed to download Amazon’s proprietary MP3 downloader (free) from www. amazon.com/gp/dmusic/help/amd. html. This downloading utility is available in Windows, Mac, and Linux versions, and only has to be Turn to next page
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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COLUMN
Amazon is offering several dozen free albums and hundreds of “singles” for free. installed before the first MP3 is downloaded, and will automatically load for subsequent MP3 downloads. The downloader utility downloaded and installed quickly. After installing the download utility, I went back to the page that had the free album, and clicked on the download link. Since I already had an established Amazon account, I was not asked for any additional information or credit card information, and the price was clearly listed as “free.” If the user does not have an Amazon account, registration is quick and easy. The Amazon MP3 downloader loaded, and in just a few minutes, downloaded the entire album to my hard drive. The album title was displayed, as was information about each song, and organized as an album, that can be played by any MP3 player. Since downloading this first album, and finding
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that it worked flawlessly, I have subsequently downloaded dozens of other free albums, and hundreds of individual music selections. I have a 4 gig SD memory card in my cell phone which is now loaded with legitimate music downloaded for free from Amazon, and it plays very well. Obviously, in addition to the free MP3 titles, Amazon has countless more “pay” titles which they obviously hope that the user will purchase, but I have been happy with the free titles.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
As I type this, Amazon is offering several dozen free albums and hundreds of “singles” for free. Music is available sorted by genre. The listing on the left side of the page shows the 21 genres available, including children’s music, pop, rock, blues, classical, R&B, country, folk, jazz, hard rock & heavy metal, dance and DJ, Christian and gospel, soundtracks, opera, rap and hip hop, Latin, Broadway, and a few other genre’s. Turn to next page
COLUMN
Since I have a new granddaughter, I decided to download several free MP3 titles to help entertain her, downloading enough free music to fill a CD. The free listings are variable and inconsistent, as today (as I type this), there is only one free child’s album available, but there are still a few dozen individual children’s titles available, including “The Wheels on the Bus,” Twinkle Twinkle,” “Frere Jacques,” and “This Old Man.” On a daily basis, Amazon always has a featured “Free song of the day,” and I just downloaded today’s selection, “He’s Gone Away,” by US Air Force Singing Sergeants, which was from the album “This Land Is Your Land.” On the bottom of the download page was a listing of other free titles downloaded by people who downloaded this song, and the first item listed was Elvis Presley’s “Walk a Mile in my Shoes.” For myself, I like more traditional music, and actively download music from the genre’s that I enjoy. I just checked the classical listings, and there are five free albums listed for download today. One that I just saw listed, which I am downloading at this moment is “I Love the 80s, Vol. 1 (1880s),” which is a collection of symphony music composed in the 1880s by such greats as Tchaikovsky, Mahler, Brahms, Dvorak, Bruckner,
and others. Also listed was an album of Chopin music, which will be next on my download list. I have also downloaded show tunes, jazz, international music, patriotic music from the Boston Pops, Big Bands, music of the 60s, and dozens of other albums as well as individual MP3s. There is also a selection of individual comedy audio available for free download in MP3 format, but be aware that some of these are quite risqué’, and may be inappropriate for children. I also just downloaded the free album “Discover Texas Music: Volume 1,” which includes nine contemporary songs by Texas artists. Right now, Amazon lists 1547 free MP3’s available for download, but this number and selection is very variable, as some items I have downloaded for free in the past are no longer listed as free; likewise,
every time I check the listings, I find interesting newly listed free titles by sorting on “Release Date” (top right corner of music listings) to see what is coming up and what has just been posted. By simply clicking on the “Get MP3” button, I can download the files. While there is obviously a marketing benefit to Amazon by offering these free MP3 files, they are to be commended for making them available. Since they are all free, there is not much risk in trying a selection. I can recommend these free Amazon MP3 files to anyone. WEBSITES: http://tinyurl.com/ygke6t5 (connects to Amazon Free MP3 Downloads) http://www.amazon.com/gp/ dmusic/help/amd.html
Free albums may be available in as many as 21 genres
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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USB GADGETS
say it with a box?
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This Ivy Carat jewelry box has a small 2” video screen in the lid and a speaker. Images or video and audio are downloaded to it from your computer via USB cable. The USB also charges the system up for playback at that special—if not way too geeky—moment. The box holds a ring or other small trinket and is controlled via buttons on the bottom. http://www. everythingusb.com/
thumb drives that get attention Thumb drives that look like a tobacco pipe, Hershey bar, clothes pin, Swiss Army knife, sperm, and so much more can be seen at http://tinyurl.com/y6f3ecs and http://tinyurl.com/ylpxze9.
heated fuzzy slippers These little piggy warmers are individual slippers that charge when connected to your USB port. A pair of lithium batteries allow the disconnected slippers to provide heat for two hours when not plugged in. An LED readout gives you charging information. Slippers come in Medium and Large. http://www. everythingusb.com/thanko-usb-heatingslippers-16100.html ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
BOOK REVIEW
review:
the social media marketing book “An extremely valuable resource on understanding and applying social media for both the individuals, and business. The book is a great introduction that can help you to get started.” Ben Rothke, Slashdot.org
by Linda Gonse, ORCOPUG
B
usiness owners and organizations have long used advertising to promote themselves and their products. But advertising in the newspapers, magazines, radio, and television isn’t working like it used to. As a result, advertisers are shifting away from traditional media. How social media is changing from “one-way, static broadcast technologies” to more direct, personal, and interactive messages forms the basis for The Social Media Marketing Book, by Dan Zarella. Blogs, Facebook, Linkedin, YouTube, Twitter, and a host of other social networking sites are becoming the face of advertising in the 21st century. There are many reasons for the changeover. Reaching out and meeting people on their own turf, so to speak, can be done cheaply (by both large and small companies), quickly, and on a time-sensitive schedule. Advertisers have found that using social media can generate a lot of interest, and it can even reach a wider group as it is redistributed by the customers it reaches. Interestingly, “the roots of online social networking can be traced to the 1980s bulletin board systems (BBSs). These systems allowed users to log in—through very slow connections—to share software and data as well as send private messages and post to public message boards.” The BBSs were mainly local entities because of the cost of long distance calls. At the end of the 1980s, desktop programs by CompuServe, Prodigy, and AOL came on the scene. The number of users began to grow and the programs were able to do more than Bulletin Boards. Users could connect to the Internet, browse websites, share files, post personal profiles and chat online. In the mid-1990s, Classmates. com and Match.com—web-based applications—were created for specific Turn to next page ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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BOOK REVIEW
groups of users. By 2002, “the modern era of social networks began”; first with Friendster, then with MySpace. “Currently, Facebook is the dominant social networking site, and it has the most features useful to the social media marketer.” Although it began with university students as members, its “fastest growing segment has been users older than 35, and recent data suggests that the 35-54 age group has become bigger than the 18-24 age group.…a fun but easily navigable place where they can reconnect with old friends.” For anyone new to social media and those wishing to use social media for their own businesses and products, the book lists a history and protocol for over half a dozen categories of social media. Media categories include blogging, microblogging, social networking, media sharing, social news and bookmarking, ratings and reviews, forums, and virtual worlds. Fascinating facts about their use, personal anecdotes from the author, and solid techniques for
for marketing purposes, or for your personal understanding, The Social Media Marketing Book is a knowledgeable resource and an interesting read. The Social Media Marketing Book by Dan Zarrella, November 2009, O’Reilly Media eBook $15.99, Paperback $19.99 — 35% UG Discount http://tinyurl.com/236pkx8
book excerpt—media sharing history
O
ne of the earliest media-sharing sites, IFILM.net, was launched in 1997 as an online collection of
short videos where users could also submit their own work (see Figure 5-1). Back then, video was streamed using browser plug-ins such as Windows Media Player, QuickTime, and RealPlayer, and most people had dialup connections, which made watching videos a very slow process. In 2002, Flash MX was released, and the web video we know today was made possible. Now you no longer needed to download a special streaming video player; MX introduced the ability to include and play videos within a Flash file. Sites such as YouTube,
Most popular social media sites among hundreds of others Twitter
Facebook
Linkedin
MySpace
YouTube
Flickr
SlideShare Digg
Reddit
StumbledUpon
Delicious
4Chan
Citysearch
SecondLife
Yelp
which was launched in 2005, were suddenly possible. In 1999, three photo-sharing communities were born. Ofoto, Shutterfly, and Webshots allowed users to upload their pictures and share them with the world. Before these sites (and even after them), you had to use a host such as Geocities or Angelfire to upload your photos to your home page via FTP. Spawned by the rise in popularity of MySpace,
getting the most from online media are related with common sense and humor. The book goes beyond being a primer for business marketing, however. It will be of interest to the users of social media, as well, with background descriptions about favorite, (or soon to be favorite!), gathering places on the web, and screenshots of user pages. What’s more, if you’ve been hesitant about jumping in on, say Twitter, Zarella walks you through the jargon and answers the questions you are most likely to ask about it as a beginner. Whether you need to learn about social media
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
photo-sharing sites such as Photobucket and ImageShack were launched in 2003 with the idea that people should be able to upload their images there and then display them on their profiles. Social media sharing didn’t really hit its stride until 2004, when Flickr was launched, combining easy photo uploading with tagging and social networking functionality (see Figure 5-2 for examples of tags).
COMPUTER HELP
ask the
experts compiled by Bob Goodman, Cajun Clickers
buying wireless
R
alph Campbell: I want to add a wireless router so I can use the Internet with my Netbook, which has wireless built in. My Desktop PC does not; is hard-connected to the cable modem. Besides a wireless router, and a wireless receptor card for the PC, what other items should I get to complete a system? Do the router and card have to be of the same manufacturer? What determines computability? I’m running Windows XP Home Edition, with 2.8 MHz P4 on 133 MHz bus MB and 2GB RAM. Thanks for any advice. Larry Braud: Ralph, you do not need to put a wireless card in your desktop. It will plug into the wireless router just as it plugs into the modem. I use the Linksys WRT54G. Check out Terry’s website: http:// tinyurl.com/yjxoxmb Bill DePierri: Ralph: In my mind, if it is not inconvenient, hard wired ethernet is the way to go. It is much faster, more secure and extremely reliable. If hard wired is inconvenient, then go Wireless. Walter Scott: Exactly my opinion, Bill. Even though we had to run a cable thru the attic, I wanted my media player to have the speed and reliability of hardwired. Still, wireless is fine for the lappy. Ron Spruell: Ralph, the two main vendors of routers are Linksys and Netgear. Most of the folks on this list use Linksys. I use a Netgear. I have never had a problem — except for the original setup. I buy Netgear because that is what my personal Tech Support person uses. Just make sure that you get the wireless router with 4 wired ports — because they cost less. I think you want the newer N — that’s 802.11n, which also
supports A, B and G. Yo u may want to check your Netbook to see whether it uses N or G. Richard Lewandowski: I’ve set up both Linksys and Netgear for different friends. The instructions supplied by both are clear. The Linksys setup on the PC is a bit easier as the Netgear uses its own “network connections” software. But in the end, both work fine. If you have firewall software on the PC, be sure to allow the range of IP addresses that you will designate for your system. When you log in to the router, be sure to change the admin password and use encryption for the network communications. That will keep others from getting on your network. Terry Stockdale: Ralph, Do a search on my site for wireless networking The custom Google searchbar is at the bottom of every page. Turn to next page
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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COMPUTER HELP
You’ll find a lot of articles such as: terryscomputertips/wirelessnetworking, terryscomputertips/ wireless-security and all the wireless networking articles linked from the “Computer Tips” menu button: terryscomputertips/menu-computertips Larry Braud: Ralph, you have to have at least one computer hardwired to the router to set it up. All the rest can be wireless. Most routers come with at least 4 wired connections. Ron Spruell: Ralph, PC World, July 2009 issue rated wireless routers. Not a lot of difference: Rating 86, Belkin F5D8235-4, Performance Good, $100 (best buy) Rating 86, D-Link DIR-655, Performance Very Good, $100 Rating 85, Linksys WRT320N, Performance Very Good, $110 Rating 84, TrendNet TEW-633GR, Performance Very Good, $100 Rating 81, NetGear WNR3500, Performance Very Good, $120 Rating 79, SMC SMCWGBR14-N, Performance Good, $120
source, wait a minute, then turn it all back on and boot up, all is well. Ron Spruell: Ralph, I have a NetGear WGR614, 802.11g. It also does a and b. I don’t remember the last time I had to do a hard reset (pressing the reset button that is hidden away on the back by the antenna). I have only had to do that, 1) When I updated the firmware when I first got the router 3 years ago, and 2) When I screwed up the settings and could not get anything to work. As far as unplugging the router to do a soft-reset, maybe 3 or 4 times in three years. I normally do this when Cox has requested it while they are troubleshooting my internet connection. There are two things of which to
Walter Scott: Not really “not a lot of difference,” at least not with Linksys. I had to flash the firmware on ours awhile back. On very rare occasions we will lose our connection, and I cycle power to the modem and router (they are both on the same power strip) and everything is fine. cajun12: Ralph, I have an old 802.11G Belkin wireless router. It only hiccups every once in a great while; and that’s usually after I just turn everything on and boot up. If I shut it all down and cut the power
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
be aware: 1) At some time with a new router, you will probably have to upgrade the firmware. Updating your firmware restores the default settings. So, before you do that you should backup your settings. NetGear has a little step-by-step process. I would think that other manufacturers would have the same thing. I normally add the date to the end of mine so that I know when I made it without looking at the file creation date. 2) The hard reset is for when you can’t get the router to work. Do the ‘hard reset’ then restore your saved settings that worked. The setup is done using a browser, but you need the Admin Turn to next page
Does anyone out there know how to kill Bing?
COMPUTER HELP
I know what software and hardware is, but I’m not familiar with the term “firmware.” It may sound dumb—what is firmware? password. And you should change it from the default. So, write it down somewhere. I use Keepass. If you don’t remember it, it is hard reset time. Another thing to keep in mind is the wireless is UNSECURE. Most businesses run their wireless network separate from their wired network. I run my network with my wired network and with file and print sharing turned on. I run an unsecured network. But I limit the MAC address that can connect to my network. If I have a visitor that I want to give access, I have to change the settings in my router to allow them to connect. I have one B and one G device that can connect to my router. I could use WEP, but it is unsecure also. Good luck on your quest for wireless. Terry covers all this in his articles; but there’s nothing like doing it. Ron Spruell: I have more modem interruptions than router interruptions. Ralph Campbell: Ron; those are
helpful tips; I don’t think I would have known all this any other way. One question though — I know what software and hardware is, but I’m not familiar with the term” firmware.”It may sound dumb, but what is firmware? Walter Scott: Firmware is the software that makes the router work, it is embedded into a chip. You change the firmware by ‘burring’ or ‘flashing’ new firmware into the chip. Be careful, flashing firmware is a good way to ‘brick’ your device, or turn it into a light paperweight. Ron Spruell: The BIOS in your computer is firmware for the motherboard. Normally firmware is “flashed”, or written into nonvolatile memory. If you screw up while flashing the BIOS on your computer, you can end up with a brick. It can be salvaged, but I have never had to do it. The latest Intel motherboard that I have is for the Intel i5/i7 CPU. It is very easy to flash. The flash program for a mother board normally would run from a floppy or CD. On the
latest motherboards the flash runs under Windows. Just download the “firmware” from the manufacturer to your desktop and double click. Reboot and you are done. With a router the flashing process is simple. Just follow the manufacturer’s instructions. With a router, if it doesn’t work the first time, you just re-flash it again.
chkdsk error Carlton Smith: My personal computer runs Windows XPand I have 2 hard-drives, both partitioned. During bootup, I get the blue screen of death telling me I have problems with the two partitions on one of the drives. It will run through Chkdsk and just go into nevernever-land leaving the blue screen for my enjoyment. Fortunately, this drive contains miscellaneous data but not WinXP. I can bypass the Chkdsk screen by pressing any key and go on to boot in Windows. Any suggestions? Turn to next page
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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COMPUTER HELP / KEYWORD
Chopin Cusachs: Copy any data you can to some removable medium, CD, external HD, etc. Then reformat the offending partitions. You may or may not be able to get all your data. But the sooner you try, the more you are likely to be able to salvage. If any data you can’t read is valuable, take the bad drive to a shop. Most have software that can work through a bad drive if it spins and get more than you can with a simple copy command. You may do better opening a command window to copy the data to safety than relying on clicking and moving in the Windows GUI.
kill bing Bill DePierri: Today when I was browsing the web, a popup from Bing kept showing up. I Googled how to kill Bing, but didn’t find anything. Does anyone out there know how to kill Bing? Mark A. Lappin: Disable the addon in IE through the manage addons on the tools tab. Bill DePierri: Mark: Thanks. However, I forgot to mention that I was using the Firefox Browser. I looked at all of the add-ons, etc in my copy of Firefox, but found no mention of “Bing.” Any suggestions with this new information? Tom: If you loaded the liveon and other Microsoft Updates, then you got the Bing addon even for Firefox. It’s one of the pains that come along with some of the security patches etc. Microsoft and others give you true programs as addons along with your security patches.
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april keyword explained
weaponized email (source: Security Now Podcast)
W
eaponized email is a new term that is being used to target individuals and/or companies to gain access to their information. Basically, the bad guys gain access to your social network (which is not very hard to do) and this gives them your circle of friends, your activities, etc. From there, they send a loaded email requesting you click on a link from your social network account to your friends that they have no reason to suspect contains bad news for you. In a recent case, the bad guys broke into this guy’s social network. They noticed that many of his friends worked at the same company. They also saw that the Company picnic was coming up on Saturday. Monday morning the bad guys sent out an email to the circle of employees using his social network telling them to open up the attached photo of the picnic. Opening the photo (which weren’t of the picnic) caused a key-logger to be installed on their PC. On of the ladies that clicked on the picture with her corporate laptop. She then took her laptop home and connected to the office via the VPN. The key-logger now had captured everything they needed to gain full access to the corporate network. The bad guys were able to access the corporate network for two weeks before the intrusion was noticed. It’s getting to the point where TNO (trust no one) will become common place.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
INTERNET
“oag” joins th
e
Facebook generation
by Mike Morris, Front Range PC Users Group, http://www.frpcug.org
H
part 1
ello everyone. I am writing to you as the Old Analog Guy again. (A reminder: The acronym is OAG and is pronounced “ogre.”) You may find it surprising that this OAG has signed up for a Facebook account. I certainly surprised myself. However, I decided it was time to explore this . . . whatever it is when an older cousin sent me a message saying “check out my photos on Facebook.” With help from my 17 year old grand niece, I think I have figured out (at least some of) the basic mechanics of using this social network.
I don’t claim to understand the motivation behind the popularity of (electronic) social networks. The interests of advertisers in this phenomenon, are, however, very clear (more on that in a moment). The origins of this phenomenon (at least for Facebook) are in the east coast (US) universities around 2003 – 2004 (connect to http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook for more history and discussion of this company). According to that Wikipedia article, “. . . within the first month [of launch], more than half [of] the undergraduate population at Harvard was registered on the service.” In 2005, Facebook launched a high school version, and in 2006 it was offered to the general public (everyone over the age of 13). OK, I understand the interest in having friends and sharing conversation with friends. Even this OAG has a few friends (I think). What I don’t understand is this willingness (compulsion?) to share (almost) every last detail of your life in a public (or “semi-public”) way. That seems analogous to running around in a football stadium without any clothes and with 100,000 (or 60,000,000—the number of US Facebook users estimated in May of 2009*) screaming fans watching. And, of course, in today’s world, it has risks. The current version of Facebook allows you to control what information to enter (and display). So . . . I am now a Facebook registered user, and I think I may Turn to next page
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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INTERNET
have learned a little about how to use it, and, perhaps . . . possibly . . . maybe . . . a glimmer of understanding of why it is used. The first page you see when you connect to Facebook is this:
To register you need to enter the usual contact information, plus gender and birthdate. Your birthdate is the ONLY personal information (other than gender) that you are required to enter (and you can arrange so that it is not visible to anyone). Once you register and log in, you are connected to your “home page.” Here is what my homepage looks like at the moment:
the “Facebook Generation” (I hope you are not too easily offended— after all every Google search results page has advertising). The ads (and “Suggestions”) change every few minutes, I think. Before I go on with my description of the homepage—or any other page—I need to call your attention to the “Settings” button at the upper right of the page. If you use your mouse to move the pointer over that button, you will se a list of four choices: Now click on the “Privacy Settings” choice, and you obtain access to a list of privacy controls:
There are several categories of these settings. Profile Search News Feed and Wall Applications
You can also block a name and/or an email address from this page. Probably the first item that catches your eye is that large “670.” Yes, that is an advertisement, and advertising is the “fuel” that drives the social networking phenomena. So, if you find any or all of the ads objectionable (even for just being there), then you are, I am sorry to say, not a candidate for
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
Turn to next page
INTERNET
Here is how I have set my Profile privacy settings: I have limited access to everything to “Only Friends” (another clue that I am still very much an OAG and have not made the transition to “Digital Man”).
The choices are:
I have limited access to “Only Friends” for all information, including Contact Information and Search Visibility. If your reaction is “. . . but no one will be able to find you,” my response is that my “friends” will find me. For more information on Facebook privacy settings, connect to http:// arstechnica.com/web/news/2009/08/meshing-social-networking-and-privacyon-facebook.ars. Note that there privacy settings for “News Feed and Wall.” Well folks, you need to learn the language. News Feed is, as far as I can determine, the primary function of your homepage, and the Wall is another name for your Profile page. I will talk about those 2 pages in Part 2. (NOTE: Part 1 was written in November 2009. There are changes since then. The various settings are now sub-menu items under the Account menu item, and although the choices are similar, they are not identical. Also, you used to be able to switch the home page between News Feed and Live Feed. Now there is only News Feed — which makes sense to me, since I could never figure out why there were two choices.)
facebook facts
F
acebook is a social networking website that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. Since September 2006, anyone over the age of 13 with a valid e-mail address can become a Facebook user. Facebook’s target audience is more for adults than youths. Users can add friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves. Additionally, users can join networks organized by workplace, school, or college. The website’s name stems from the colloquial name of books given to students at the start of the academic year by university administrations in the US with the intention of helping students to get to know each other better. Facebook was founded by Mark Zuckerberg with his college roommates and fellow computer science students Eduardo Saverin, Dustin Moskovitz and Chris Hughes. The website’s membership was initially limited by the founders to Harvard students, but was expanded to other colleges in the Boston area, the Ivy League, and Stanford University. It later expanded further to include (potentially) any university student, then high school students, and, finally, to anyone aged 13 and over. The website currently has more than 405 million active users worldwide. The original concept for Facebook was borrowed from a product produced by Zuckerberg’s prep school Phillips Exeter Academy which for decades published and distributed a printed manual of all students and faculty, unofficially called the “face book.” Privacy has also been an issue, and it has been compromised several times. The site has also been involved in controversy over the sale of fans and friends.
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
23
COMPUTER HELP
ask
computer tutor by Pamela Tabak
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
COMPUTER HELP
Q
UESTION: I have just purchased Corel’s Paint Shop Pro X3 and would like to know if it’s possible to open it without first seeing the “splash screen?”
ANSWER: It is possible to bypass the “splash screen” by following the steps below: • Click on File • From the drop down menu click on Preferences • Click on General Program Preferences. • When the Preferences dialog box opens click on Miscellaneous on the left hand column and uncheck “Show splash screen when application starts.” Your program will now open without the opening the splash screen first.
want to change. Then hold down the CTRL key and hit either the key numbered 1 or 2. The space between your sentences will change according to your selection. Release the CTRL key. QUESTION: How can I make a “degree” symbol when I want to write 85 degrees? ANSWER: Type the number 85 and hold down the CTRL plus the SHIFT key and tap the @ key. Release all and then tap the space bar. This is what you will see 85°
P
amela Tabak receives numerous computer-related questions via e-mail and during classroom presentations and selects those of common interest to most computer users. She sends to us for publication in this newsletter. You’re invited to e-mail computer-based questions to
[email protected] Questions are often answered within 24 hours.
QUESTION: I am working on an Excel 2007 worksheet and some of my columns are missing. How can I find them and why did this happen? ANSWER: Inadvertently you have hidden the columns in your worksheet but it’s very simple to unhide them: 1. Highlight the column before the columns that are missing by clicking on the column letter heading. 2. Right click in the middle of the highlighted area and choose unhide from the drop down list. Lo and behold the columns that were hidden will reappear.
Can you tell me what I did and how I can change it back?
QUESTION: I hit an incorrect key and now my word doc is double spaced. Can you tell me what I did and how I can change it back to single space? ANSWER: There is a simple shortcut that you can use to change the space size: Click into the section or highlight the section that you
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
25
SOFTWARE REVIEW
by Terry Currier, Winners
I
f you need to make a legal backup any of your DVD the Daniusoft Media Converter Ultimate is a good place to start. It does not really copy them, it does a rip of the disc and converts it into a wealth of different formats. Some of the examples it can rip and convert to are: iPod, iPhone, Xbox, Xbox 360, PSP, PS3, BlackBerry, Window Mobile device, even 3GP. Although I did try the 3Gp2 on my cell phone I really would not recommend staring at a 2” cell phone screen for more than a half an hour. Other common formats include: MP4, MOV, AVI, WMV, MPG, FLV, SWF, VOB, MOV, ASF, and many more. There are over 50 formats to which it will convert. My grandson loves to watch animated movies. He also likes to watch our vacation movies, since he is in them. Unfortunately he also likes to take out the disc from the holders put his finger prints all over them, and has rubbed them together. I’ve learned to put them on Verbatim VideoGard disc which are 40 time more scratch resistant. Keeping them backed up on the hard drive in high quality MP4 format is perfect since it also saves space. I was really impressed with all the program can do; and it does it fast, too. Besides movies you can remove DRM from most music downloads. Their tech support is good, getting back to you usually within 24 hours. The Daniusoft Media Converter Ultimate has five independent
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daniusoft media converter ultimate rips discs and converts to over 50 formats
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
function units: DRM Removal, DVD Ripper, DVD burner, Media Converter, and Media transfer, are built into a single program. It can not only rip the video it can transfer it directly (if connected to the PC) to another device such as an iPod. It won’t copy the disc, but you can copy the content to your hard drive. From there it can create a DVD from the content. If you want to rip an episode DVD, such as a TV series, each episode will be a separate file. It works great to help you keep up on your TV shows. Just convert a recorded show to whatever portable format you need. I converted a one hour 10Gb HD TV show to a 433Mb MP4 file. Converting it to 3GP2 for my cell phone it takes only about 60Mb. Which is almost nothing when you consider the 4Gb micro SD card I just brought for $12. I can even choose which chapters to exclude, so the mother-in-law does not “have” to be in the saved video. (Shh-hh don’t tell my wife.) I had one disc which gave me an application fault from the program. When I used another program it told me there were sector errors. I sent an email to support and they asked me to uninstall and reinstall the latest version. In doing so it went through the ripping and I was amazed it could do so since I put a long deep scratch in the disc. Upon checking it I found it only ripped 15 minutes of what should have been 86 minutes. The program could use a sector checker to verify content. Daniusoft Media Converter Turn to next page
SOFTWARE REVIEW
Ultimate is $59.95. If you don’t need the ability to create a DVD, or copy direct to another device the Daniusoft Media Converter Pro at $39.95 is a bargain. The Daniusoft Video Converter will help you convert videos to all the different formats for $35.95. www.daniusoft.com Their Daniusoft DVD Ripper not only rips DVDs, but can also separate an audio track from DVD file. It does video cropping, or trimming by setting the start time and end time. You can also adjust picture quality by changing Brightness, Contrast, Saturation, and Volume. Create special effects by switching output video to Gray, Emboss, Negative, and Old Film. Review was done on a computer with Windows 7 64-bit, and 4Gb of RAM.
System Requirements Supported O.S. Processor Free Hard Drive Space RAM
Windows XP / Vista or Windows 7 32- or 64bit 1GHz or above Intel or AMD CPU 1Gb (depending on how much you do) 512Mb or more
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
27
MEMBERS’ PAGE
email
addresses
NoStarch shot glass Tony Loechner Bob Schmahl Bob McDonald Vipre Antivirus Bob Schmahl Bob McDonald Walter Jackson SmartComputing t-shirt Gary Covington III Terry Schiele Sharks Screensaver Frank Bollinger
for renewal?
FEBRUARY 1– Charles Burgwin, Darryl Swensen (3 mos. past due) JULY 1– Walter Jackson, Ralph Seymour AUGUST 1– Stan Leese, Sid Liptz SEPTEMBER 1– Don Ogden, Leonard Prince, Bob Schmahl OCTOBER 1– Ann Carnahan, Dorothy Dassen, Larry Klees
Bollinger, Frank
[email protected] Boutwell, Lloyd
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New Member
time
submitted by Charlie Moore
T
he files and video Mike Lyons used in his April presentation about passwords is posted on the club’s website: www.orcopug.org
winners
Value $35 Winner Value $ 20 Winner Value $ 20 Winner Value $ 29 Not Present Winner
ink cartridges needed
P
lease bring your used Hewlett Packard, Canon (BC-02, BC-05, BC-20 or BX-3), Lexmark, Dell, Compaq, Kodak, Samsung, or Sharp inkjet cartridges or any laser cartridge to our next meeting.
membership application
submitted by Charlie Moore
password presentation
april raffle Firefox Hacks Lloyd Boutwell Cook’n in Mexico Ann Carnahan Aquarium Screensaver Sid Liptz Vipre Antivirus David Musser Charlie Moore
Renewal*
Expired members are not eligible to win raffle prizes or to access the Members’ Only web page. Last Name
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Meetings are the second Tuesday of every month. See www.orcopug.org for more information.
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you can enjoy the benefits of belonging to our user group! Make checks payable to: ORCOPUG — Dues are $25 per year ORCOPUG, P.O. BOX 716, Brea, California 92822-0716
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ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
Value $ 5 Not Present Not Present Winner Value $ 29 Not Present Prev. Winner Winner Value $ 5 Not Present Winner Value $ 20 Winner
USER GROUP DEALS & ANNOUNCEMENTS
fcc needs to protect
net use
secret keyword raffle
by David Lazarus, L.A. Times
A
battle is about to erupt between federal regulators and telecom companies, and nothing less than the future of the Internet could be on the line. As it stands, high-speed Internet service is classified by the Federal Communications Commission as a “Title I” information service in the same way that Google is an information service. This means broadband providers such as phone and cable companies are only lightly regulated by the agency. By reclassifying broadband as a “Title II” telecom service — like, say, phone service — the FCC would be able to more closely oversee providers’ actions and pricing, and would be better positioned to implement its recently announced 10-year plan to bring high-speed Net access to virtually every U.S. home. Ben Scott, policy director with Free Press, a communications advocacy group said, “It will define who really runs the Net.” (read the article at http:// tinyurl.com/2d66onm)
your favorite magazines with discounts!
P
A
pril’s keyword prize was not won. Two keyword prizes, a First Alert Universal Travel Adapter and a 3-pack of Adapter Cords, are in the May pot. Find the keyword in the newsletter or on our website and be the next prize winner!
thank you
newsletter contributors! Bob Goodman, Charlie Moore, Darry D Eggleston, Herb Goodman, Ira Wilsker, Linda Gonse, Lorene Romero, Lothar Loehr, Mike Lyons, Mike Morris, Neil Longmuir, Pamela Tabak, Sharon Parq Associates, Terry Currier, Tim O’Reilly
June Deadline
rices are for new subscriptions and renewals. All orders must be accompanied by check, cash or money order, payable to Herb Goodman. Mail to: Herb Goodman, 8295 Sunlake Drive, Boca Raton, FL 33496. Call or write: 561-488-4465,
[email protected] Y
Cat Fancy Computer Games Computer Shopper Dog Fancy Mac Life Maximum PC Men’s Health Microsoft System Journal National Geographic Travel PC Gamer PC Magazine (digital, 12 issues/year) PC World Readers’ Digest Saturday Evening Post Time Videomaker
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tutor in a book!
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$11.95 — — $15.95 — — $16.95 $32.95 $47.95 $11.95 — — $10.97 — — $ 9.95 $18.95 $27.95 $13.95 — — $21.95 $39.95 — $11.95 — — $12.95 $23.95 $33.95 $14.95 $24.95 $35.95 $16.95 — — $16.95 — — $11.95 — — $27.95 — — $11.95 $21.95 —
omputer Tips for Seniors by Pamela Tabak, Computer Tutor. Spiral bound, fold-flat laminated cover, cover design by Linda Gonse, free laminated “cheat sheet” bookmark. Get the help you need when you need it. www.computertutorinc.net/order.htm Revised October 2009
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may 22
Please allow 10 to 12 weeks for your magazines to start. You must supply an address label from your present subscription when renewing. I carry over 300 titles at excellent prices. Just email me for a price.
generous vendors
T
hank you Belkin, Iolo, Nik Software, NTI, Smart Computing, Sunbelt Software, TechSmith, User Group Relations and ASK SAM Systems for donations to our 2009 fundraising raffle. Please show your gratitude to these vendors by buying their products this year!
ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
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GROUP INFORMATION
computer users helping computer users
New Number!
member of the association of personal computer user groups
benefits of
User Group Membership
ORCOPUG Post Office Box 716 Brea, California 92822-0716 714-983-2391 • www.orcopug.org
• • • • • • •
President, Mike Lyons
[email protected] Treas/Membership, Charlie Moore
[email protected] Editor/Webmaster, Linda Gonse
[email protected] Programs, Lothar Loehr
[email protected] Reviews, Terry Schiele
[email protected] Membership, Carl Westberg
[email protected]
Nibbles & Bits is electronically published and distributed by Orange County IBM PC Users’ Group to its members and vendors. Opinions expressed herein are the writers and are not reflective of the Orange County IBM PC Users’ Group position, nor endorsed by inclusion in this newsletter. Submit newsletter items to:
[email protected]. Reprint Policy: PAGE LAYOUTS AND IMAGES MAY NOT BE USED. User groups MAY REPRINT UNALTERED, UNCOPYRIGHTED TEXT, WITH CREDIT TO THE AUTHOR AND NIBBLES & BITS.
our website has it all! • Program of the month • newsletters • computer site links • pdf & on-site search • location map • online review form • help & tips • tech news feeds • contact information • membership application • Members’ Only! page
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Product & “How To”demos Free raffles and magazines Help from other members Newsletter and web site Special offers & discounts Monthly meetings Affiliation with worldwide group
U
ser groups represent the spirit of the frontier, a community getting together to do things that no individual ought to have to do alone. The pioneers of the American west got together for barn raisings, cattle roundups, and the occasional party. The pioneers of new technology get together for installfests, new user training and support, and just plain fun. Being part of a user group is the best way to get more out of your computer, and lets you make friends while you’re at it. Tim O’Reilly, President O’Reilly & Associates
where are the meetings, when are they held?
egular meetings are held the second Tuesday of the month at 6:30 p.m. at the North Orange/County YMCA, 2000 Youth Way, Fullerton, CA 92835. Call 714-879-9622, for information. Meetings are free and the public is welcome!
Planning meetings are held the third Thursday of every month at 7 p.m. at Downey Savings & Loan, one block east of Harbor at Bastanchury in Fullerton. All members are welcome to attend planning meetings!
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See online map at http://bit.ly/orcopug
next meeting: tuesday, may 11, 6:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. — north orange county ymca, fullerton ORANGE COUNTY IBM PC USERS’ GROUP — MAY 2010
