C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XXII: NUMBER 6 JUNE, 2007
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://member.apcug.org/fourseas 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: JUNE 19, 2007 KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: The June meeting will be: Questions and Answers Session
***********************************************************
********* JUNE COOKIE PROVIDER IS CHARLES DORSTEN *********
***********************************************************
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) OFFICERS, HELPLINES, S.I.G.S
(2) PRESIDENT'S CORNER Ted Tucker
(3) EDITOR'S COMMENTS Dick Trissel
(4) WEB WANDERINGS
(5) SYSTEMS S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(6) REVIEW: DVD MOVIEFACTORY 6 PLUS Ray Isenson
(7) HD DVD PLAYER Kim Komando
(8) WINDOWS VISTA: FIRST THREE MONTHS Arie Slob
(9) RESIZING MULTIPLE IMAGES Kim Komando
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Ted Tucker 937-2374 Dick Trissel 937-7572
genmail@verizon.net rtrissel@juno.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Vic McLaughlin 937-8326 Amy Malicki 925-5780
vnmclaughlin2448@msn.com msamym5@verizon.net
Secretary Hardware, Windows XP, Vista
John McCurdy 925-1825 Ray Isenson 937-6938
jmccurdy.1@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
gandamiller@verizon.net
Publicity Visual Basic and Genealogy
Bill Corning 934-0775 Gerald Miller 934-1396
foster95@impulse.net gandamiller@verizon.net
Newsletter Editor Help With Any Problem
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Ray Isenson 937-6938
rtrissel@juno.com risenson@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.)
Systems (5:45pm)
Dick Trissel
rtrissel@juno.com
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CCCC Page 2 June 2007
PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Ted Tucker
Greetings: It is nice to be back in the fold. But travel can be fine also.
You may remember, at last month's meeting I said we were going on travel.
For Barb and me, it was a great trip to Milwaukee where she was born and
reared, and where she still has a lot of friends.
Since we have been in the computer club, and mingle with you, we are now
much more mindful of the digital revolution, than we would otherwise be. We
travel with a GPS and record our activities and places we visit with a
digital camera.
On our trip when our crowd would gather, the dig-cams would pop out for
pictures, and then every one would review their neighbors instant replays.
During the plane rides it was laptop computers, that for the most part
replaced cameras among the travelers. No more boring plane rides for those
people.
I was surprised by all I saw on the trip - guess I will have to go oftener.
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CCCC Page 3 June 2007
EDITOR'S COMMENTS by Dick Trissel
As reported in the newsletter header, the usual presentation period is
actually going to be our periodic Questions and Answers session. We do this
several times a year to dedicate time for problem solving. To make this
more convenient, write your question on a piece of paper (with your name on
it if you wish). Give the question to the president sometime before the
main meeting begins.
Of course, we will take questions from the floor, but questions written out
usually are more comprehensive because the writer has had time to compose
it, and the reviewer can usually read it better than hearing it.
Don't be reticent to ask a question. I doubt that there isn't someone else
with the same or similar question. And it's always amazing how one thing
will lead to another that is of interest to many.
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CCCC Page 4 June 2007
WEB WANDERINGS
WHOM DO I LOOK LIKE?
Facial recognition software is cutting-edge technology.
The software is able to measure the size of your facial features. It also
determines the distance between different parts of your face.
Then, it can use the measurements to “see” what you look like. Facial
recognition software has many noble purposes. For example, authorities hope
to use it to spot criminals and terrorists.
It’s all pretty cool. And, at today’s Cool Site, you can have a little fun
with it! Just upload a picture of yourself. You’ll get a list of celebrities
you resemble.
How accurate are the results? You'll have to decide that.
www.starsinyou.com
MAPS, MAPS, MAPS
There are plenty of map and satellite imagery sites online. Google, Yahoo!
and Microsoft all have them.
Of course, not all sites offer the same features. Some may offer maps and
not satellite images. And the quality of images can vary from service to
service.
And don’t forget that some sites have better images of certain areas. All
this is enough to give you a headache.
Well, if you’re tired of hopping from site to site to find what you need,
visit Flash Earth. This site includes maps and images from several other
sites.
This means you can compare the quality of Google, Microsoft and NASA with
the click of your mouse. It’s great!
www.flashearth.com
YAHOO! TO GO
One of the best things about the Internet is it puts information right at
your fingertips.
You can catch up on the latest news, check movie times or find a restaurant
near you. But what about when you’re on the go?
If you have an Internet-enabled phone, you’re in luck. Search sites are
creating custom sites designed specifically for mobile phones.
You will like Yahoo!’s new oneSearch. It serves up accurate Web results.
Also, you can communicate with others via instant messaging or e-mail.
You’ll also find financial information, sports scores, news and weather. And
don’t forget to check out Flickr. You can use it to share your photos – or
just transfer them to your computer!
mobile.yahoo.com
BUILD A PLANE
At some time or other, we’ve all made a paper airplane. Some attempts may
have been successful. And then there are the others…
Unless you’re already a master, you could probably use some help building
paper planes.
Today’s Cool Site will give you just the help you need. You can select from
several different styles of paper planes. Then you can tweak the design.
Once you’re done, you get to test your creation. Now, I don’t know if the
physics behind the planes are sound. But it sure is a fun site!
solidworkspilot.com
ARTHRITIS DRUG GUIDE
Arthritis is a disease that affects many Americans. It can make even the
simplest tasks painful.
Fortunately, there are treatments for arthritis. But recently, there have
been high profile lawsuits highlighting the dangers of some arthritis
medications.
So, if you suffer from arthritis, you should learn more about medications
that are available. The Arthritis Foundation has a free guide that you can
order.
It will tell you about newly approved drugs. It also offers updates on
recent FDA warnings. This is something you don’t want to miss.
If you know someone who could benefit from this, be sure to recommend this
site to them.
www.arthritis.org
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CCCC Page 5 June 2007
SYSTEMS S.I.G. by Dick Trissel
The first item discussed at the June Systems S.I.G. was multi-tasking, not
to be confused with multi-processing. Multi-processing means the concurrent
running of several hardware processors, like the main CPU (Central
Processing Unit), the video processor and the audio processor. Multi-
tasking is the simultaneous running of more than one program at a time, like
Windows Explorer, Control Panel, Internet Explorer, MSWord, etc.
I've watched users stop one program before they would start another, not
realizing their computer can do many things at the same time. However,
there is a practical limit. Every program that is running is in the main
memory (RAM). When the memory is full, the next program started will cause
a displacement of a program into Virtual Memory. Virtual Memory exists in a
file on the hard drive. Since access to the hard drive is slower than to
RAM, the computer will appear to slowdown. That's why users that do a lot
at a time need a lot of RAM.
Take a good look at your taskbar. The buttons showing programs you've
started are programs that are running. Look at the Systray (where the clock
is). All those icons are indications of programs running either from
startup or by the user. That's all multi-processing and using memory and
possibly slowing down your computer. Most of those Systray items can be
controlled using the Msconfig Startup application and Task Manager, but
that's another story.
For those people that like to mess with their computer, Windows XP has an
area called Event Logs. Everything you do is logged there. So what, you
say. Well, System errors are logged there, which may have value if your
system is acting up. However, those logs can get very large and can be
edited. To see the Event Logs, right click My Computer, left click Manage,
open System Tools, open Event Viewer. Click on Application, Security or
System to see the events listed. Under the Action button you can edit the
log.
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CCCC Page 6 June 2007
REVIEW: DVD MOVIEFACTORY 6 PLUS by Ray Isenson
For the non professional who aims at producing movies on his PC that closely
emulate the true professional, Corel's Ulead DVD MovieFactory offers an
amazing hand-up. This latest version, 6 Plus, is compatible with the
Windows Vista operating system and is among the first software of this class
offering both Blu-ray and HD DVD support. The Plus version reviewed here,
also includes InterVideo WinDVD 8 Silver for DVD playback, InterVideo
DVDCopy 5 for recording non-encrypted discs and converting them to DivX, and
an incredible complement of data and audio disc-burning utilities.
DVD MovieFactory allows the user to import any of more than 20 different
video formats and to export in any of the ten more popular. The user can
cope with images written in BMP, GIF, JPG, TIF, TGA and others on the import
side and write to BMP and JPG for output. Acceptable audio formats include
CDA, MPA, Dolby Digital WMA, and camcordersWAV; to name the more popular.
If for no other purpose, gaining the ability of one's computer to read and
or write to these many formats probably is worth the cost of the entire
program.
Most important, it will accept import information from DV, HDV and AVCHD
cameras, digital TV tuners and analogue video-capture devices. Thus it will
work with your DVD Camcorder or VHS tape, burning directly to disc from
camcorder ot tape. Firewire I/O devices compliant with OHCI standard cards
for use with HD/DV/D8 support are required.
The flexibility of the software makes it potentially just as valuable to the
home user interested primarily in collecting, organizing and making
presentable his collection of photographs, annotated with background music
or narrative and stored to Standard or HD DVD or Blu-ray format. The
program has some basic video editing tools, needed if you just want to
string a few video clips together and add transitions. Slideshow support
remains strong, with the ability to create collages and add text.
The hardware requirements tend to closely match those spelled out by
Microsoft for Windows Vista Home Basic; 1.8 MHz or faster CPU, a minimum of
512MBytes or RAM although 1024 MBytes is preferable. 1024 MBytes is
required for a DVD HD project. The computer's graphics should be 1024X768,
16 bit color minimum with 24-bit or 32-bit preferred. Installation of DVD
MovieFactory 6 Plus requires over 1.5 GBytes of hard drive space for basic
installation. An additional available hard drive space of 10 GBytes or more
is required for burning a DVD; 30GBytes or more for 3 hours of high quality
HD DVD burning.
The operating system should be Vista, Windows XP SP2 (Home or Professional)
or Windows XP Media Center Edition. The free download from Microsoft,
Windows Media Player 10 or higher is required for either XP or Vista.
A fairly comprehensive, pocket size, paper back manual accompanies the
software. The manual, 60 pages in length is available to help the new user
through the learning process. Adding to the ease of use DVD MovieFactory 6
Plus has over 100 Menu Templates to simplify formulating the project had in
mind by the user.
The list price of DVD MovieFactory 6 Plus is $79. 95. Ordering through
www.ulead.com saves 10% from now until December 31, 2007. Special discount
prices may be available to User Group Members.
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CCCC Page 7 June 2007
HD DVD PLAYER by Kim Komando
Q. I want to buy a high-definition DVD player. I’ve heard that both Blu-ray
and HD DVD players have amazing pictures. Can you help me decide between the
two? I’m particularly interested in learning the details of each. I
understand that movie studios are only releasing movies in one of the two
formats.
A. I can understand your confusion. High definition DVD is off to a slow
start. That’s because many people are confused. And too many of us remember
the VHS and Betamax format war of the early 1980s.
I recently wrote a column that outlines what you should look for in a high-
definition DVD player. You might want to start by reading that. It covers
many different aspects of the two formats.
As it happens, some studios are releasing movies in both formats. And soon
there will be discs that can be played in either Blu-ray or HD DVD players.
But now, let me give you a quick rundown of the differences between the two
formats. I’ve put it in a table so you can do a side-by-side comparison.
Some of these details won’t mean anything to some people. However, there are
two sections you should look at closely: hardware manufacturers and studios.
The more companies you have supporting a standard, the more choices you’ll
have. There will be more movies available and a wider selection of hardware.
That may sound like I favor Blu-ray over HD DVD. So let me clarify. At this
point, I think the best option is a hybrid player. Both LG and Samsung make
players that work with Blu-ray and HD DVD.
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 8 June 2007
WINDOWS VISTA: FIRST THREE MONTHS
by Arie Slob of HelpWithWindows
29 Apr 2007
Hello Windows users,
Windows Vista has been available for consumers for three months now, how is
Microsoft's new flagship OS doing?
If you look at the (financial) numbers, it seems that Vista is doing just
fine. Microsoft just released record braking profits for its first quarter
(ending March 31st). The Windows Client division brought in $5.27 billion,
up 67 percent from a year ago. According to Microsoft, roughly 85 percent of
its client sales where Windows Vista, the remaining 15 percent Windows XP.
The financial data seem to contradict the reception Vista has received in
the press, and the often lack-luster reception from computer users. There
seem to be a few factors that contribute to this. First, Windows Vista
doesn't have a 'must have' feature. When Windows XP was released, the
Internet was 'booming ' and digital media started to take off. Windows XP
made great improvements in working with digital media. It also greatly
improved on networking, specially wireless networking, which also started to
become more popular around the time XP was released.
Another reason for Vista's reception by end users is the fact that Windows
XP (SP2) seems to be doing the job just fine, so users don't see the need to
change. Windows XP can run all the current hard- and software so again
there's no need to change. This will most likely change in the near future,
and gaming will be at the forefront, but again, gamers using Windows as
their gaming platform are only a small group.
Yet another reason for Vista's reception has to be blamed on a group of
people Microsoft doesn't (seem to) have much influence on: hardware
manufacturers. They have had liberally years to build new drivers for Vista,
but have chosen (with maybe a few exceptions) not to do so. You'll be hard-
pressed to find drivers for any hardware that's not popular or fairly
recent. And don't even think about 64-bit drivers!
Lastly: when was the last time you've seen a Windows Vista commercial? I've
been in the US for the past two months, and the only OS ads I've seen are
those annoying Macintosh ads.
It looks like users that are currently running Windows XP are quite happy
with it, and the majority doesn't intend to upgrade their PC's OS to Vista.
In our Windows Vista poll, nearly 49% of respondents indicated they intend
to run Windows XP for as long as possible.
Does this all matter? Nope. Windows Vista will become a success. Sooner or
later Vista will be on nearly all PC's that users have. Even though Dell has
decided to start offering Windows XP again as an option on some consumer
PC's/Laptops citing consumer demand, after January 31th 2008 OEM licenses
will no longer be available for Windows XP, a year later followed by the
retirement of system builder licenses. From that point on only Vista will be
available to be installed on new systems.
Uptake in the corporate world is quite low right now. Most corporate PC's
don't have the hardware to run the majority of Vista's features, and the
lack of driver support for older and less popular hardware is also hindering
Vista's uptake. Corporate IT departments will probably starting to evaluate
Vista after Service Pack 1 is released, which we can probably expect around
October/November this year (according to Intel's CEO Paul Otellini).
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CCCC Page 9 June 2007
RESIZING MULTIPLE IMAGES by Kim Komando
Q. I gave my parents a digital photo frame as a gift. I loaded a bunch of
JPEGs on a memory card. Unfortunately, some of the photos are so large that
they take a long time to load. The instructions say that the pictures should
be 600x480 (or smaller) resolution. Is there a program I could use to
convert images to a smaller size in a batch? I know JPEGs can be compressed.
A. Yes, many programs can resize batches of photos. I’ll tell you about a
few in a minute.
But first, let’s clear up the difference between photo size and compression.
It confuses a lot of people. Understanding the difference will help you take
better pictures. And when you edit or resize your photos, you’ll get better
results.
Most cameras allow you to take photos in three (or more) sizes. The sizes
vary depending on how many megapixels a camera has. For example, a 10.2-
megapixel camera will take larger photos than a 6.1-megapixel camera.
A lot of attention is paid to megapixels when it comes to marketing cameras.
Many people equate it with image quality. But megapixels simply dictate how
big you can make a picture and get decent prints.
The more closely spaced pixels are, the smoother the image will look. If an
image contains more megapixels, the more you can enlarge it. Of course, the
more megapixels, the larger the file size. Larger files cause photos to load
more slowly in your picture frame.
Compression is different from photo size. Cameras usually have three levels
of compression. The less compression used, the larger the file size. And,
the better the prints will look. Compression reduces the amount of data in a
picture file. It doesn’t do this by reducing the number of pixels. Rather,
it reduces the number of colors.
For example, you may have 100 different shades of blue in a picture.
Compression will eliminate shades of blue that are similar to other shades.
One level of compression may reduce the 100 shades to 80 shades. More
compression may cut the number of shades in half. Compression can make your
photos look bad. Subtle transitions may become distinct bands of color.
The best way to reduce a picture’s file size is to resize the image. If that
doesn’t work, then try a little compression. JPEGs are already compressed.
So, don’t compress them further unless necessary.
You say the frame maker recommends photos that are 600x480 pixels. This
isn’t a standard photo size. The recommended size probably is 640x480. You
can make your photos this size without distortion.
I link to three programs on my site that will resize batches of photos: Fast
Image Resizer, Fotosizer and Multiple Image Resizer .NET. They run on both
Windows XP and Vista.
All three programs are easy to use. Some let you specify custom sizes. But,
that isn’t a necessity. You need 640x480, a common size. Of these programs,
I like Multiple Image Resizer .NET the best. It’s the most complicated. But
you can use it to rotate and flip images. You can also change the
compression of your images.
Make sure you don’t reverse height and width when you resize your photos. If
you’re resizing a photo in landscape orientation (the horizontal edge is
longer), use 640 as the width and 480 as the height. For photos taken in
portrait orientation (the vertical edge is longer), use 480 as the width and
640 as the height.
If you don’t pay attention to this, your photos will be distorted. For
example, your subjects will look short and fat. You can’t resize portrait-
and landscape-oriented photos simultaneously. These little complications can
be confusing. But figuring them out is worthwhile.
Copyright 2006, 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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