C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVII: NUMBER 4 April, 2002
NEXT MEETING: April 16, 2002 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: CD Burning by Dick Trissel & Charles Barney
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| |
| CONTENTS |
| |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) Editor's Comments Dick Trissel
(4) March Internet S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(5) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(6) March Windows S.I.G. Session Amy Malicki
(7) Compact Disc (CD) Burning Trissel/Barney
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Charles Barney 937-1240 Gilbert Smith 925-3743
cbarney@lightspeed.net Gs5081@aol.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Amy Malicki 925-5780 Amy Malicki 925-5780
amymal@juno.com amymal@juno.com
Secretary Hardware & DOS
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yung.bag@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer AOL
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
Gmiller@pronet.net
Librarian Help With Any Problem
Sharon Allen 928-2209 Dick Savage 928-4932
sallen4060@aol.com rsavage65@hotmail.com
Publicity Help With Any Problem
Bill Corning 934-0775 Fred Adams 934-1128
foster95@juno.com wd64acj@netzero.net
Newsletter Editor Visual Basic
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Gerald Miller 934-1396
rtrissel@juno.com Gmiller@pronet.net
Program Chairman
Ray Isenson 937-6938
risenson@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (S.I.G.s)
Windows 95/98/ME/XP (6:00pm) Internet (5:45pm)
Amy Malicki Dick Trissel
amymal@juno.com rtrissel@juno.com
CCCC Membership is $15 for twelve months ($20 family). For this you
receive:
Monthly newsletter
EXTRA4C E-mail Messages
Access to the clubs software library
Disk of the month (usually for $1)
Helpline support
Monthly presentation
Valuable door prizes
Question and answer sessions
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CCCC Page 2 April 2002
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Charles Barney
We ventured to try something out of the norm at our meeting on March 19th.
Instead of holding the usual 45-minute SIGs followed by a break and a
presentation, there were two concurrent "clinics" held on general computing
topics hosted by Amy Malicki and Dick Trissel that ran about 1-hour, 45-
minutes each with a break in between. The general business meeting was
conducted afterwards along with the door prize and 50-50 drawing.
This type of format was suggested to benefit the members by allowing more
time to cover questions and answers regarding the many issues that come up,
but there never seems to be enough time to cover, during the SIGs. We may do
this again sometime if that is agreeable. The feedback I've gotten so far
has been mostly positive, but I'd like to hear from more of you on your
opinions and suggestions.
While on the subject of feedback, let me say that if you're too shy or just
cannot pin me down at a
meeting, please send me an email voicing your ideas, complaints and yes, I
even accept compliments! The contributions of the members are what
strengthens and grows the club and you can all be a part of that.
For those who did not attend Amy's group, I did a "mini-presentation" after
the break on Windows Media Player, specifically, the one that comes with
Windows ME and XP. Using an Internet connection with a music CD inserted in
the club laptop, I demonstrated how the player will display the disk's
information it retrieves online. This includes the name of each track, the
CD title and cover art. The player has a number of audio controls to enhance
the listening experience as well as what Microsoft calls "Visualizations."
Having come of age in the 60s, I remember these used to be called "light
shows." Far out!
Also included with Media Player, and probably my favorite feature, is an
Internet radio tuner that lets you listen to scores of various radio
stations from around the world that broadcast online.
These cover just about every format imaginable. Some of the stations that I
was able to "tune in" during the clinic included those devoted to bluegrass
music, big bands and those old-time radio shows from the 40s and 50s. Ah,
nostalgia!
I'd like to extend a hearty 4Cs welcome to new members Cliff Newbold and
Ferd Sobol who recently joined us. We are pleased to have you as part of our
group and trust that you will enjoy your time spent with us and will learn
what you need to know in order to tame that sometimes cantankerous beast
that is the Personal Computer!
The lucky door prize winners of the evening and their booty were as follows:
Robert Davis - Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2002, Robert Dixon - 5-
pack CD-R media with jewel cases, Laudell Ludwig - Microsoft Bicycle Board
Games 2002, Bill Corning - Typing Instructor Deluxe v12 and Dick Jones -
Aladdin Systems Stuffit 7.0. Missing out on the opportunity to pick up a
prize were Barbara Lohman, Carolyn English-Smith, Rosalie Roy, Mike Reineke
and Paul Highfill. Folks, you can't win if your aren't present!
There have been some recent changes in the club officer positions that I'd
like to inform you of at this point. Due to personal reasons, Dick Savage
was unable to continue as club Treasurer. Past Treasurer, Jerry Miller, has
agreed to step down from the office of Vice President to resume the duties
of Treasurer until the next regularly scheduled election. The Executive
Committee has appointed Amy Malicki to fill the Vice President slot for that
interim period.
A topic in which there appears to be a rapidly growing interest, while at
the same time remaining quite puzzling to many, is the copying of data to
media in compact disk read/write drives or "CD burning" as it's come to be
known. Dick Trissel and myself will attempt to shed some light on the matter
with a presentation on this very subject during the main program at the next
meeting on April 16th. I hope to see you all at the clubhouse. - Charles
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CCCC Page 3 April 2002
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
By Dick Trissel
NOTICE: There are two pages in this newsletter that are the outline of the
CD Burning presentation for the April general meeting. Please bring those
pages with you to the meeting to make it easier to follow the slides used in
the presentation.
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CCCC Page 4 April 2002
MARCH INTERNET S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
Last February we celebrated our fourth year of my moderating the Internet
S.I.G. When I started I was adamant about sticking to just the Internet--
not even applications. Then I realized that most user's problems were
associated with their Internet applications. Lately, it has become apparent
that many club members need assistance on computer problems in general. So,
as reflected in the March extended S.I.G., we've started covering almost
everything except most user installed applications such as Word, Excel,
etc.--that's Windows S.I.G. stuff.
Even with a two-hour extended S.I.G. we still were going strong at quitting
time. We spent some time discussing the concept of file types and
associations. This came up when I mentioned the trick of changing a file's
extension to trick an application into recognizing the file. This doesn't
always work, but it's worth a try.
If you need to associate a program with a particular file type, select the
file in Windows Explorer, do a shifted right-click. This will give the
option in the drop-down menu to Open With. When you click on Open With, the
program choices will be listed, or you can Browse for one that isn't listed.
If you check the box to Always use this program, etc., that program will be
associated with that file type the next time you double click a file with
that extension.
We discussed desktop Toolbars and how to manage them. A right-click in a
toolbar will pop up a menu. The properties option presents many management
options. However, one option that isn't present which was a problem for one
of the members was how to re-arrange the desktop toolbar. His Quicklaunch
area was not adjacent to the Start button as it normally should be. We
finally deduced that re-arranging by setting the mouse pointer on the
divider, left-click, and dragging the pointer to the area you want it had to
be done from left-to-right. Trying to move the Quicklaunch from right-to-
left next to the Start wouldn't work.
We really did discuss a little Internet when it was mentioned that Juno has
been hard to get connected to on both the e-mail and the Web for both the
free and the subscribed. It is not a phone connection problem because the
modems do complete the handshake. It is a problem with Juno's servers being
too busy. I guess if enough people get disgusted and quit Juno, the problem
will be solved for the rest of us .
I say again--Please quit sending HTML e-mail unless you really mean to. I'm
still getting HTML e-mail from club members when it is just straight text.
When you do that, it comes with =20 end-of-lines and is repeated in HTML
source code which more than doubles the size of the file. Check your e-mail
program options. I'm sure your other e-mail recipients will appreciate it,
also. Thank you.
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CCCC Page 5 April 2002
WEB WANDERINGS
by Gil Smith
Earthlights
Have you ever wondered what the world looks like from the sky? All the
lights sparkling at you from the city. Well if you're curious as to what
the continents look like from above, check this out.
http://hungingsociety.org/earthlights_dmsp_bigl.jpg
Make Up Your Mind!
Having trouble making up your mind? Confused as to what to do? Well if
you'd like some help with your decision visit this site. It has online
quizzes that you can take to see what best suits you. Everything from help
choosing the right breed of dog to what cartoon character you would be and
many more.
http://www.selectsmart.com/
Influenza
Find out the current rate of flu suffers in your area. Look at where the
flu is most prominent in the country. See if you have flu symptoms, find
out what predominant flu symptoms are, and their treatment.
http://www.flustar.com
Searchable Timeline
See the year 2001 reviewed, according to searches made on the popular Google
search engine. Here's a month-by-month description of the most popular
terms across the world.
http://www.google.com/press/timeline.html
Movie Mistakes -- Have you ever been curious about what mistakes were made
in a particular movie? Do you enjoy bloopers? That's why this site is fun
to visit. Over 12,580 mistakes from 1762 films are on the site for you to
read about and enjoy. Here's an example off their tip film list: Titanic
(Insert swelling, dramatic music here)
Mistake: When the old rose is shown at her house, she has three fish in the
fish bowl. When she arrives at the place where they are exploring the
Titanic, she unloads her fish bowl, which now has five fish. Interested in
what else is there to discover? Check it out.
http://www.movie.mistakes.com
Music Robot -- Can't find the music or sound clip you're looking for? Are
you ready to pull out your hair? Well don't - there's an easier way to do
it. Use the Music Robot to search for .wav files with lightning speed.
Just type in the letter or letters in the name of what you're looking for
and it brings up a list of all the files that start with that letter. Have
fun!
http://www.musicrobot.com/cgi-bin/windex.pl
Have Some Fun -- Check out this fun site. They have stuff like IQ tests,
games, puzzles, brain teasers, and tons more. It would take several days
(at least) to explore this one. Have fun.
http://www.afunzone.com
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CCCC Page 6 April 2002
March Windows S.I.G. Session
By Amy Malicki
This was a Trouble Shooting meeting. One problem that created the most
interest was the printing of a video tape (VHS) label. We tried using
Microsoft Word several different ways to set the label up with options to
change the size, style and color of the text.
The best way is to Open a new Document, Click Tools, Click Envelopes and
Labels, then Options in the new Dialog Box to select the size of the label.
Make sure Avery Standard is shown under Label Products, then check out the
list of Product Numbers to find the size and type of label you want to work
with. Besides the two Video Tape choices, there are many types of address,
folder and mailing labels to choose from.
After you make your selection, Click Details for the exact dimensions. You
can change these by increasing or decreasing the numbers. When you are
finished, Click OK on Details, OK on Options, then Click New Document. This
will open a new Word document with borders to help identify each label, so
you can see how it fits as you type the name.
Click Format, then Fonts, to change size and style, then Click the Color
"triangle" for a Pull Down Menu and choose the color you want to use. This
option is also available in Windows 98.
Following the break, Pres. Charles Barney showed us how to play musical
CD's, and discussed copying, burning and writing to CD's. He also
entertained us with some old time radio music from the Internet, and
explained how to search for radio channels and set up your own group of
favorite stations.
The previous month we discussed using Microsoft Publisher to print a book or
booklet. This program was bundled with some computers, and can be used to
make Business Cards, Flyers, Brochures, Folders and many other graphic
publications.
Select from the list of choices, or Click Blank Publication for Book Style
choices. To customize, Click Custom Page to start a new booklet, then
Special Fold. You can set the size to 5 x 7 for two pages, or 4-1/2x 5-1/2
for two books per page. Any other size will print on an 8-1/2 by 11 sheet,
but would have to be trimmed. Be sure "Mirror Backgrounds" is checked. Type
in the size and your book will appear.
The blue and pink lines are Margin lines, they help you to keep a consistent
layout. To change the size, Click Arrange, Click Layout and type the sizes
you want on top, bottom, etc. The Layout guides are on the background. To
move them with the mouse, Click View, Go to Background, or Press CTRL-M.
Repeat CTRL-M to return to the foreground.
To input text you need to add a Text Frame. Click on the small "A" on the
sidebar. Place the mouse at the top left corner of the guides, and drag it
down diagonally to the bottom right margin and it will snap into place.
Now you can create the cover page. Click Format, Lines/Border Style, More
Styles, Border Art. Pressing Down Arrow key will give you a preview of each
one. Border size displays the Point size as related to the size of the Font.
You can reduce the size to make it fit the page better. Try making changes
-- size, color, stretch, etc. You can always Click Default for original
size, Click Restore original color, or just Press CTRL-Z to Undo and make NO
Changes.
Read the Format Menu carefully to see all of the font and style options, to
make sure your lettering is centered both horizontally and vertically, and
to copyfit text if needed.
The left and right arrows on the status turn the pages. The End arrows go to
the first page and to the last page. To add pages after the last page, Press
the Right arrow on the Status Bar. A dialog box will prompt to add a page,
or pages. If you are doing a small book, it will want to add four pages at
a time. To Insert a page or two (in between) for graphics Click Insert,
Click Page.
To add page numbers, go to Background, CTRL-M, Click A on sidebar to create
a very small text frame, just large enough to hold a number and type the
word "Page". To stretch it or make it smaller, position the mouse on a
corner, or a line. Using the corner, will keep scale values. Page numbers
can be placed at any corner or in the center.
Once the first one is placed, it can be copied then "dragged" to the other
side. It will snap into position to mirror the ones on the opposite side.
Numbering can be done on any page. Click Insert, Click Page Numbers. A
number sign will appear. Press CTRL-M to return to the foreground and your
pages will be numbered.
To cover the page numbers on a "blank" page, create a small Text Frame
again. Click sidebar A again, and drag it to "cover" the number or hide it.
To type text on all the pages you have to add more Text Frames. Create
another Text Frame, then Highlight it, Click Edit to Copy, Go to next "odd"
or "even" numbered page, Click Edit, then Paste, turn the page and Paste
again. Continue to Paste on all the pages you plan to type on. Repeated for
the pages on the opposite side. Once you make a copy you can paste it over
and over. Odd numbers on Odd numbers, and Even numbers on Even numbers.
To connect pages so the text will flow from one to the other, Click Tools,
then Text Frame Connecting. A Toolbar will appear. Click the first page
you want to start with, Click the Paperclip in the toolbar, Go to next page
and Click again. There must be a Text frame, or it won't connect. Once
it's connected, Click the connected page, Click the Paper Clip again, Go to
next page and Click again. Continue until pages are all connected. Pages
can be skipped for Graphics.
Now you can start typing or you can copy and paste material that has been
typed in Word. Minimize Publisher, Open Word, Open the document. Click
Edit, then Select All, Click Edit again, then Click Copy. Switch back to
Publisher by clicking the button on the taskbar. Press F5 to GO TO (Page
Number). Type Page number you want to start with. Click on Text Frame,
Right Click, then Left Click, Paste. The text should flow through all the
pages.
If you have to add more pages. You must have a blank page with a text frame
to connect pages. If there is any text on the page you want to connect to,
press Enter Key repeatedly to move it to the next page, then connecting the
frames. The Delete Key will bring the text back from the next page if you
have a space to fill.
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
| COMPUTER CONSULTING |
| |
| Amy Malicki has started an "In-House" computer consulting service. |
| She charges $35 per hour in your home at your computer. |
| She can be contacted at 925-5780 or amymal@juno.com. |
______________________________________________________________________
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CCCC Page 7 April 2002
Compact Disc (CD) Burning
By Dick Trissel & Charles Barney
Why Make Personal CDs?
Backup important CDs such as
Operating System and application
discs.
Backup computer system hard drive.
Archive programs and personal data
currently on floppies (floppies
fail).
Convert, edit and restore old music
sources.
Make video CDs.
What does "Burning a CD" Mean?
Commercial discs are mass produced
pressed with "pits" and "lands".
A laser beam reflects off lands,
not off pits--thus ones and
zeroes.
More on "Burning"
CD-R disc has laser burned pits
(4-11 milliwatts--250deg.C).
CD-RW disc has laser burned pits
(8-14 milliwatts--500-700deg.C).
Full erase at 200deg.C to anneal
surface.
Quick erase uses direct overwrite--
writes new lands as it records.
What is Required to Make CDs?
Enough computer speed and capacity
to prevent burn "over-run".
Computer--90Mhz, 16Mb RAM, 1.2Gb
drive.
CD-R and CD-RW blank discs.
CD-RW burner hardware (IDE internal,
USB, or SCSI).
What do the CD-RW Specifications Mean?
For example: 8x4x32x
means burn CD-R at 8X max.,
burn CD-RW at 4x max.,
read a disc at 32x,
where 1x equals 150Kbytes per
second (2048 bytes/frame, 75
frames/sec. equals 153,600
bytes per second.
What do the CD-RW minimum requirements mean?
Minimum computer capability to use
burner at maximum capability.
Not necessary to burn at maximum
rate of burner hardware.
System requirements to prevent
"over-run":
90Mhz CPU will burn at 1x
100-133Mhz CPU will burn at 2x
200-233Mhz CPU will burn at 4x
300-333Mhz CPU will burn at 8x
What is Burn "Over-run"?
When information rate drops below
burn rate.
Buffer runs out of data.
On CD-Rs, creates drinking glass
"coaster"
How to Prevent Burn "Over-run"
Burn over-run will ruin a CD-R,
requires re-formatting CD-RW.
Too slow computer cannot keep up
with burn rate.
BurnProof and JustLink burners.
User prevention--copy to hard drive,
turn off other applications
(screen saver, anti-virus, etc.),
defrag hard drive just before
burning.
More on How to Prevent Burn "Over-run"
Cache buffer size prevents
"over-run".
Burner buffer on controller.
Hard drive buffer size selectable.
Run software provided speed test for
hardware.
Use burn simulation ("Test" or "Test
and Write").
Use separate IDE channel for burner.
About CD-Rs
Once finalized it is a ROM
(Read Only Memory) or
WORM (Write Once Read Many).
Not erasable.
Short formatting before writable.
Closed disc readable in most
computer CD-ROM players.
More About CD-Rs
Multisession Incremental /
Independent:
Incremental--modify old session and
add.
Access only last session,
but point to previous session.
Independent--Not linked sessions.
Read first or last only,
except with "Session Explorer"
utility.
About CD-RWs
Same capability as CD-R, plus
reusable if an over-run occurs.
Full formatting before writable
(30-60 minutes).
Quick formatting if previously
formatted (1-2 minutes).
Not readable in some computer CD-ROM
Players.
Not readable in CD players.
CD Burner Software
ROXIO (Adaptec) Easy CD Creator
(ECDC) versions 4 and 5.
NewTech Infosystems (NTI) version
4.05.
NERO5 (Ahead Software) version 5.5
(Pentium90, 16Mb, Windows95).
Burner proprietary.
CD-R or CD-RW disc?
CD-R is cheaper ($.10/disk), but not
recoverable (650-700Mb).
CD-RW more expensive ($0.50/disk).
Reusable (erasable), but not
playable in CD players (and some
computer CD-ROM players) (700Mb).
Needs 100Mb for overhead.
Limit 1000 re-writes per area.
Note rated speed (4x, 8x, 16x, etc.)
CD Structure Layers
(top down-bottom has ridge on hub).
1 Lacquered printable surface
(optional) (for printing
machines), white.
2 Scratch resistant surface
(optional) (premium brand name
discs), clear.
3 Reflective layer, gold or silver
(prevents burn-through).
More on CD Structure
4 Recording dye layer (recording
speed capability--slow to fast).
Cyanine (green).
Blue Azo (blue).
Pthalocyanine (clear--silver or
gold appearance).
Advanced Pthalocyanine (clear--
silver or gold appearance).
cyanine/pthalocyanine (greenish
gold).
And More on CD Structure
5 Substrate layer, clear.
Don't use markers on CD except on
hub surface.
Be careful of some label adhesives.
Terminology
CD-ROM Commercial (pressed).
(ROM stands for Read Only Memory).
CD-R Recordable Record/Read.
CD-RW Rewritable.
Record/ReWrite/Read.
CD-DA Digital Audio.
CD-I Interactive
(home entertainment--photo).
More Terminology
CD-ROM/XA eXtended Architecture
(audio and pictures on one track).
Locked open for writing (like the
locks in Panama).
Unlocked not open for writing.
Finalized session closed
session--disc still writable.
Finalized disc closed disc--
CD-R not writable.
And More Terminology
Lead-in beginning of a session
(contains TOC).
Lead-out end of a session.
ISO9660 recording standard
(character restricted).
Joliet extended character ISO9660
UDF Universal Disc Format
(for CD-RW).
References
http://www.roxio.com/en/support/
dcdwin/dcdwinfaqs.html
http://www.ntius.com
http://www.ahead.de
http://www.cdrfaq.org
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