C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XXIII: NUMBER 1 JANUARY, 2008
Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the Knollwood
Village Clubhouse 4012 S. Bradley Dr., Santa Maria.
General meeting at 7:00PM. System Special Interest Group session is at
5:45PM. Guests are welcome.
Check out our web site: http://fourseas.apcug.org for the latest
program schedule information.
Membership is $15 for twelve months for individuals, $20 for families.
For this you receive: Monthly newsletters, EXTRA4C E-mail Messages,
Help-line support, Monthly presentations, Valuable door prizes, Question
and answer sessions.
NEXT MEETING: JANUARY 15, 2008 KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: Art Culatti will present a slide show on the evolution
of the super computer.
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********* JANUARY COOKIE PROVIDER: SPENCE STIMLER *********
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The January meeting is the deadline for the annual
membership dues. Make checks out to Treasurer:
Gerry Miller, 2741 Banyan Way, Santa Maria CA 93455
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) OFFICERS, HELPLINES, S.I.G.S
(2) PRESIDENT'S CORNER Vic McLaughlin
(3) EDITOR'S COMMENTS Dick Trissel
(4) BEGINNERS? - NON-NERDS? S.I.G. Spence Stimler
(5) WEB WANDERINGS
(6) SYSTEMS S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(7) REVIEW: EASY MEDIA CREATOR 10 SUITE Ray Isenson
(8) DDR RAM Kim Komando
(9) XP vs VISTA SPEED
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Vic McLaughlin 937-8326 Dick Trissel 937-7572
vnmclaughlin2448@msn.com rtrissel@juno.com
Vice-President Help With Any Problem
Ray Shafer 934-0130 Ray Isenson 937-6938
raymondlshafer@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Secretary Hardware, Windows XP, Vista
John McCurdy 925-1825 Ray Isenson 937-6938
jmccurdy.1@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer Custom Computer Design and Assembly
Gerry Miller 934-1396 Digital Imagery and Video
2741 Banyan Way Command Line Operations and Batch Files
Santa Maria CA 93455 Jim Tonge 937-0187
gandamiller@verizon.net jtonge1@msn.com
Publicity AOL
Bill Corning 934-0775 Frank Maciel 922-2318
foster95@impulse.net frm8198@aol.com
Newsletter Editor Visual Basic and Genealogy
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Gerald Miller 934-1396
rtrissel@juno.com gandamiller@verizon.net
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.) Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Basics (6:00pm) Amy Malicki 925-5780
Spence Stimler msamym5@verizon.net
SPENCE932@msn.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.)
Systems (5:45pm)
Dick Trissel
rtrissel@juno.com
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CCCC Page 2 January 2008
PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Vic McLaughlin
Our Christmas party was enjoyed by 40 members and guests. All members
received a prize, and we have some left over for future meetings.
Our January meeting will be on the 15th. The program will be "The Evolution
of Super Computers" by Art Collatti, a club member.
Remember dues are due by the end of the January 15, 2008 meeting. They are
$15.00 for members and $20.00 for a family. Members not paid up can still
attend as guests, but will not be eligible the February door prize drawing.
If you cannot attend in January, send a check to:
Gerry Miller
2741 Banyan Way
Santa Maria CA 93455
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CCCC Page 3 January 2008
EDITOR'S COMMENTS by Dick Trissel
Well, the club member dues are due in January, and if for no other reason,
the Christmas parties make membership valuable. This year every attending
member got two prizes--many totaling more than the annual membership fee.
And there are many more reasons to be a member of the Central Coast Computer
Club. Besides the companionship of people with a like interest, there is
help for those troublesome computer problems, latest information on computer
developments, entertaining presentations by members and guest presenters,
and of course, the valuable monthly door prizes.
We currently have nine persons attending the monthly staff meetings and are
working to provide the best service to the members. However, it behooves
you members to advice the staff as to what you would like to have happen to
keep the club valuable. Make your suggestions to any of the club officers
listed on page 1 of all the monthly CCCC newsletters.
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CCCC Page 4 January 2008
BASICS - BEGINNERS - NON-NERDS S.I.G. by Spence Stimler and Gerry Miller
The BASICS Special Interest Group will meet at 6:00PM. The main subject
will be managing e-mail.
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CCCC Page 5 January 2008
WEB WANDERINGS
AT A LOSS FOR WORDS?
You’ve heard the old adage: A picture is worth a thousand words. As with
many things, this saying is popular because it is true.
At some point or other, we’ve all been at a loss for words. Maybe you’re
trying to describe something. Or maybe you need to buy something and you
don’t know what it is called.
That can be a frustrating experience. Fortunately, though, you can consult a
visual dictionary. Visual dictionaries use pictures to define objects.
If you’ve never used a visual dictionary, now’s the time. Merriam- Webster
has a free one online.
It will help you find the words that escape you. It's also fun to explore!
visual.merriam-webster.com
TEST YOUR WORLD IQ
How long has it been since you’ve studied geography? If you’re like me, it’s
probably been a few years.
So it is understandable if your geography is a little rusty. But that
doesn’t mean you can’t improve your knowledge of the world.
For example, you can visit today’s Cool Site and take the Traveler IQ
Challenge. It is a fun way to both test and improve your geography
knowledge.
The quiz is interactive. Simply use your mouse to pinpoint cities and
historic events on the world map. You’ll then see the actual location.
You’re awarded points on how close you are.
Don’t expect to get a perfect score, no matter how good your geography. The
map is a little small. So, you won’t achieve pinpoint accuracy.
www.travelpod.com
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
The idea of polling people for their opinion is nothing new. In fact, the
first known opinion poll dates back almost 200 years.
Maybe you want to find out what people think about an issue. Unfortunately,
personal polling hasn’t been easy in the past. It has largely been the
domain of organizations.
Ask500People changes that. Users can post questions for other people to
answer. Then, the results are placed on a map. That means you can see what
people are thinking around the world.
Now, Ask500People is a misnomer. Each question can be answered by 100 people
before it is archived. The site is testing larger surveys.
You can post a question. Or, you can simply browse through the answers to
the questions that have already been asked.
www.ask500people.com
AVOID WAITING AT THE AIRPORT
I often hear people complain about long delays at airports. This time of
year is particularly hard on travelers. There are bound to be delays, given
the crowds and wintry weather.
Even if you’re not traveling, the flight delays and crowds can take their
toll on you. If you’re picking up someone at the airport, the stress can
affect you.
With so much to do before Christmas, you don’t want to spend time waiting at
the airport. So visit FlightAware.
FlightAware is your one-stop spot to check the status of flights from all
major carriers. It will help you decide when to leave for the airport.
You can check by flight number or by airport. That’s handy if you don’t know
your guests’ flight numbers!
flightaware.com
SEARCH AND PLAY
The World Wide Web only dates from 1989. But the changes it has undergone,
and those it caused, are profound.
Thanks to broadband, the Internet has become an important source of
entertainment. We use it to listen to music and watch videos.
There are countless sites on the Internet that offer music and videos. Who
could possibly visit all of them?
That’s where Seeqpod comes in. This site will help you find music and videos
you want to play. It works much like any search site. But you can create
playlists from the search results.
That’s pretty cool. However, it gets better. You can save your playlists, so
you can access them later. Or, share them with friends, or embed them in
your blog. What fun!
www.seeqpod.com
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CCCC Page 6 January 2008
SYSTEMS S.I.G. by Dick Trissel
Obviously, we didn't have a S.I.G. in December, but there will be one in
January. In the meantime, here's a useful program.
FILE AND FOLDER RESTORATION
The January 2008 PCWorld magazine describes a free program I have used for
years. It's called Restoration, is less than 200KB, and can be downloaded
at:
find.pcworld.com/59055
It was written by a Japanese programmer, Brian Kato. The latest version is
3.2.12. The following two paragraphs were paraphrased from the PCWorld
article:
--If you tend to empty the Recycle Bin or permanently delete files using
- a little to quickly, the program Restoration (with a little
bit of luck) can save you a lot of frustration. Run the program and specify
the drive (hard drive, floppy drive, some flash drives), and a particular
folder or a part of a file or folder name, and whether you want zero byte
files and used clusters.
The program does not need to be installed. After you have uncompressed the
downloaded file, and saved the extracted files, it will run from any device,
even a floppy disk.--
I tried the highly publicized free program RECUVA that has to be installed
to use. Restoration found files that RECUVA did not.
Two cautions about restoring files--do it as soon as possible after the
deletion to prevent the original from being overwritten by subsequent file
saves. And, if possible, restore to a different partition than the original
so as not to damage the original that you are trying to recover. Remember,
deleted files are not really deleted--just the FAT pointers are changed to
indicate usable disk space.
Also, know that the Restoration files displayed may not have the same name
as the original because deleted files have a $ substituted for the first
character of the file name.
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CCCC Page 7 January 2008
REVIEW: EASY MEDIA CREATOR 10 SUITE by Ray Isenson
With the release of Easy Media Creator 10 Suite, Roxio has set a new
standard for all publishers of media manipulation software and offered to
the PC and Mac communities an incredibly extensive, integrated set of tools
for the control and management of audio and video information. Although some
of the basic functions offered by the Suite to PC users will run on a
Windows 2000 SP-4 operating system the overall Suite is best suited for
Windows XP SP-2 or the more advanced versions of Windows Vista; and
optimized for Windows Vista Ultimate. Absolute system requirements are
rather relaxed; mirroring, the advertised minimum specifications for the
respective operating systems.
For example, on a Vista system, a gigabyte of RAM is the minimum suggested;
decreasing to 150 megabytes for an XP system. Obviously, from a simple
listing of the offered capabilities, the installation requires well over a
gigabyte of the hard drive and, if DVD sized video and or audio
presentations are to be made, will require additional multi-megabytes of
free space for the latter. Computer processing time is going to be vary
drastically with the amount of system RAM and the need, or lack there-of,
for extensive hard drive access where virtual RAM is required.
Easy Media Creator retains the ability to simply copy a CD or DVD or save
music or data files to one of those discs. It does those functions and does
them well. However, buying the Suite for that purpose would be tantamount to
acquiring a new Cadillac to carry trash to the city dump.
Clicking on the program icon on the PC's desktop opens a window showing the
Roxio Central; a streamlined central launch area where users can enter an
application, a task assistant, or quickly complete a popular digital media
activity such as copy a disc. A key click on the icon representing that
function is all that is required to do the copying. Clicking on another icon
in Roxio Center will bring up the powerful photo editing program,
"PhotoSuite", for enhancing digitized photographs and preparing albums or
other attractive presentations. The software can be used to backup files by
type; jpeg or mp3, for example, or a complete drive and recover the backed
up material. Additionally, from the Center the user will find links to
tutorials and, if the computer has on-line access, other online resources.
Missing from the offered capabilities is that very useful tool, "scandisk"
present in previous versions of Roxio Creator. Over the years that
capability has resulted in many, many CDs being resurrected or repaired in
my computers.
Moving to more esoteric functions offered by Easy Media Creator, it can be
used to add a sound track to slide shows or movies, transfer digital
information from a phone to a computer, rip music from multiple sources
simultaneously, create musical DVDs with very professional sounding fades
or, with just a single click of the mouse, upload video to "you Tube". DVDs
created with Creator 10 adhere 100% to the official DVD specifications and
are tested with Hollywood standard certification tools to verify DVD player
compatibility.
Buttons are quite readily identified as to function. "Users Guide", a 200
plus page printed manual that details the many functions of Roxio Easy
Creator Media Suite 10 is included in the package. That pocket sized manual
is written for the general public; adequate to satisfy the information needs
of the expected, typical, non-professional user of the total program but
still adequately comprehensive to satisfy likely needs of a professional
media manipulator.
Functions available to users running the Vista operating system, where the
version of Vista supports that function, include placing of controls as 2
new Vista gadgets along the right edge of the desktop, so you can accomplish
some of your most common tasks right from the desktop; tasks including the
recording of internet radio, and transferring of music and video to a mobile
phone or other portable device. Where the Vista version and the computer's
video card support the Aero video, Easy Media Creator 10 can exploit the
feature. If the CD/DVD burner in the PC can handle dual burning the program
can exploit that function to enable the extended time projects where the
proper media is inserted into the DVD-RW drive.
Summarizing, Roxio's Easy Creator Media 10 Suite is an integrated, user
friendly, media creative and manipulating program offering the user an
opportunity to achieve professionally acceptable results with minimal
experience or skill. This package, with a suggested retail price of $99,
comes replete with project templates and professionally designed DVD menu
styles. The program has been available at Best Buy, Circuit City and other,
local, PC software vendors since at least the last quarter of 2007.
Discounts are available to users of prior Roxio software as well as that of
some competitors. Details as to special discounts are available at
WWW.Roxio.com.
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CCCC Page 8 January 2008
DDR RAM by Kim Komando
Q. What are the differences between DDR3 and DDR2 RAM? I’m planning to add
more memory to my computer. I’ve heard that DDR3 is faster. But is it worth
the extra money?
A. There are several types of double data rate (DDR) RAM. DDR has been
around since 2000. The original is sometimes called DDR1. DDR2 was
introduced in 2003. It took a while for DDR2 to reach widespread use. But
you’ll find it in most new computers today. DDR3 began appearing in mid-
2007. The numbers refer to the generation.
First off, the different types are not interchangeable. The RAM must be
compatible with your memory controller and motherboard. If the processor is
from Intel, the memory controller is part of the chipset, on the
motherboard. AMD processors have integrated memory controllers. Motherboards
are designed for use with particular processors. Additionally, AMD does not
yet support DDR3. Support should come during 2008.
RAM modules contain a notch. The notch guides the module into the
motherboard’s RAM slot. DDR, DDR2 and DDR3 have notches in different
locations. The different types of DDR RAM also have different numbers of
pins. It’s impossible to install a module on the wrong motherboard.
That settles it for most people. They’ll stick with the memory type
supported by their motherboard. But maybe you don’t mind overhauling your
system to get DDR3 memory.
RAM simply holds data for the processor. But there is a cache between the
processor and the RAM: the L2 cache. The processor sends data to this cache.
When the cache overflows, data is sent to the RAM. The RAM sends data back
to the L2 cache when the processor needs it.
DDR RAM transfers data twice per clock cycle, hence the name double data
rate. The clock rate is the rate at which operations are performed. Clock
rate is measured in cycles per second, or hertz.
DDR clock speeds range between 200 MHz (DDR-200) and 400 MHz (DDR-400). DDR-
200 transfers 1600 MB/s, while DDR-400 transfers 3200 MB/s.
DDR2 RAM is twice as fast as DDR RAM. That’s thanks to design improvements.
The bus carrying data to DDR2 memory is twice as fast. That means twice as
much data is carried to the module for each clock cycle. DDR2 RAM also
consumes less power than DDR RAM.
DDR2 speeds range between 400 MHz (DDR2-400) and 800 MHz (DDR2-800). DDR2-
400 transfers 3200 MB/s. DDR2-800 transfers 6400 MB/s.
DDR3 RAM is twice as fast as DDR2 RAM, at least in theory. DDR3 RAM is more
power-efficient than DDR2 RAM.
DDR3 speeds range between 800 MHz (DDR3-800) and 1600 MHz (DDR3-1600). DDR3-
800 transfers 6400 MB/s; DDR3-1600 transfers 12800 MB/s.
Incidentally, you’ll see RAM with higher clock speeds and faster transfers.
To achieve these speeds, you must overclock your system. BIOS settings are
tweaked to deliver more power to the RAM modules.
If you’re buying a new machine, you may want to spend extra for faster RAM.
For example, faster RAM appeals to gamers. But most users probably won’t
notice a difference.
If you’re upgrading your system, don’t worry too much about RAM speeds.
Simply match the RAM that’s already in your system.
Copyright 2007, WestStar TalkRadio Network. All rights reserved.
Kim Komando hosts the nation's largest talk radio show about computers and
the Internet. To get the podcast or find the station nearest you, visit:
http://www.komando.com/listen . To subscribe to Kim's free e-mail
newsletters, sign-up at: http://www.komando.com/newsletters.
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CCCC Page 9 January 2008
XP vs VISTA SPEED
Excerpts from e-mail newsletters
When Microsoft's Windows Vista took center stage earlier this year, and
observers noted that it seemed to run significantly slower than the
company's previous OS, Windows XP, it was assumed that the performance
hiccups would be addressed in Vista's first major update, Service Pack 1
(SP1).
But, according to Suzanne Tindal over at CNET, "New tests have revealed that
Windows XP with the beta Service Pack 3 has twice the performance of Vista,
even with its long-awaited Service Pack 1. When Vista with the Service Pack
1 (SP1) beta was put through benchmark testing by researchers at Florida-
based software development company Devil Mountain Software, the improvement
was not overwhelming, leaving the latest Windows iteration outshined by its
predecessor."
According to the tests, which included creating a compound document and
supporting workbooks and presentation materials, SP1-powered Vista took more
than 80 seconds to complete tasks that XP with the SP3 beta finished in just
35 seconds.
It gets worse: "Vista's performance with the service pack increased less
than 2 percent compared to performance without SP1," notes Tindal, "much
lower than XP's SP3 improvement of 10 percent."
According to the exo.performance.network research staff, which also ran
tests, "SP1 provides no measurable relief to users saddled with sub-par
performance under Vista. It seems clear that the hoped-for performance fixes
that Microsoft has been hinting at never materialized. Vista + SP1 is no
faster than Vista.
"Bottom line: If you've been disappointed with the performance of Windows
Vista to date, get used to it. SP1 is simply not the panacea that many
predicted. In the end, it's Vista's architecture—not a lack of tuning or bug
fixes—that makes it perform so poorly on systems that were 'barn-burners'
under Windows XP."
In response to the tests, a Microsoft spokesperson said in a statement that,
although the company understood the interest in the service packs, they are
"still in development" and will continue to evolve before their release.
"If SP1 does not evolve sufficiently," adds Tindal, "it could be another
setback for Vista, with many businesses waiting to adopt the operating
system until the service pack is released. A year after its launch, only 13
percent of businesses have adopted Vista, according to a survey of IT
professionals."
Microsoft had originally set a deadline of Jan. 31, 2007 to allow PC vendors
to continue to sell XP on new PCs, but manufacturer and consumer pressure
has forced the company to extend that deadline until June.
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