C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVI: NUMBER 5 MAY, 2001
NEXT MEETING: May 17, 2001 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: Linda Falcon from Gateway Santa Maria
Country Store on Gateway Services and Products.
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) Editor Comments/Keypress Alerts Dick Trissel
(4) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(5) Helplines/Help-Yahoo Mess. Bds. Dick Savage
(6) April Internet SIG Dick Trissel
(7) Uninterruptible Power Supplies Dick Trissel
(8) Microsoft Product Update System Dick Savage
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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 & Voice Control
Phil Grycel 937-1805 Amy Malicki 925-5780
feliksy@juno.com amymal@juno.com
Secretary Hardware & DOS
Barbara Godwin 934-9885 Ray Isenson 937-6938
yungbag@best1.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer Help With Any Problem
Gerald Miller 934-1396 Dick Savage 928-4932
2741 Banyan Way rsavage65@hotmail.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
gmiller33@excite.com
Librarian
Sharon Allen 928-2209
sallen4060@aol.com
Publicity Help With Any Problem
Bill Corning 934-0775 Fred Adams 934-1128
foster95@juno.com fred421@earthlink.net
Newsletter Editor Visual Basic
Dick Trissel 937-7572 Gerald Miller
rtrissel@juno.com Gmiller33@excite.com
Program Chairman AOL
Ray Isenson 937-6938 Frank Maciel 922-2318
risenson@juno.com frm8198@aol.com
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
Windows 95/98/ME Internet
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
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 May 2001
President's Corner
by Charles Barney
I'd like to extend a hearty 4C's welcome to new member Charles Curry who
joined us at the April 17th meeting. We hope that you feel right at home
with the club. Computers can be wonderful tools that enhance our lives in
many ways, but at the same time can be troublesome and maddening. Our hope
is that through fellowship in our group, members will find solutions to
their problems, share in their discoveries, learn new skills and have fun
computing. After all, if we don't enjoy 'em more than we hate 'em, what's
the point?
For those of you who did not attend the last meeting, I want to let you
know that the club Welcome Disks (which you may or may not have received
when you first joined) have been completely revamped and were distributed
to all present. They now have a nifty and easy-to-use interface (thanks to
Ray Isenson) and are chock-full of useful information for long-time members
as well as the new ones.
The disks contain four items of interest to everyone:
1) A copy of our revised club bylaws,
2) A fascinating account of the club's history (compiled largely by Amy
Malicki),
3) A list of past Disks of the Month - some of which are probably still
available for the asking from Librarian Sharon Allen, and
4) The catalog of our library of computer books which you may check out for
one month by arrangement with Secretary Barbara Godwin.
If you don't have the new Welcome Disk yet, please ask Treasurer Jerry
Miller or myself for your free copy at any meeting.
Our guest speaker for the evening was Betty Boyce, a vivacious 75-year-
young author, teacher, marathon runner, community activist and owner of her
own publishing company.
Betty showed us some of the books she had "ghost-written" for others which
included a delightful children's magic book, created as a fund-raiser for
research to find a cure for a rare childhood disease, and a lovely
illustrated tribute to a deceased spouse that someone had done to serve as
mementos for the surviving family.
What's all this have to do with computers you say? Well, today's technology
(fast computers, scanners, high-quality printers, etc.) has empowered the
average person to publish their own creative, highly personal works; or at
least to prepare them sufficiently to be submitted for editing and
reproduction.
Betty taught business skills classes back when computers were very new and
quite primitive by today's standards. Her humorous accounts gave us some
real insight into and appreciation of how far things have advanced. A
champion for courage and personal fulfillment, Betty's message if anything,
was a call to envision our own possibilities.
Among the lucky door prize winners were Donald Rowe - Under Monitor Power
Center, Robert Dixon - PowerQuest's Lost & Found, Christian Heck -
Mindshare T-Shirt, Vic McLaughlin - ArcSoft Photo Montage 2000, Spencer
Stimler - TechSmith Travel Mug, Francis Maciel - ArcSoft Photo Fantasy
2000, Joseph Gatwis - declined a prize, Don Feragen - Microsoft T-Shirt and
Bob Allington - Lucky Penny Seeds (donated by Betty Boyce, guest speaker).
Inductees to the Order of the Crying Towel included Joseph Knight, Florence
Standard, George Keys, Glen Wood, Annabelle Wood, Irvan Winterfeldt, Bill
Rich, Charles High, Al Paquette, Cheri Holmes, Howard Williams, Gary Aston
and David Lowry.
The scheduled program for the May 15th meeting will feature guest speaker
Linda Falcon from the Gateway Country Store to tell us about the computer
products and training services that they have to offer here locally. I'll
see you at the clubhouse! - Charles
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WEEKLY COMPUTER CLINIC
THE LUIS OASIS SENIOR CENTER IS SPONSORING A WEEKLY COMPUTER CLINIC. THE
FIRST SESSION IS SCHEDULED FOR 1:00PM TO 4:00PM FRIDAY MAY 18 AT THE HECK
ROOM AND IS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC.
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CCCC Page 3 May 2001
Editor's Comments
By Dick Trissel
As you see in the announcement above, Luis Oasis Senior Center is going to
sponsor a computer clinic that will be moderated by Ray Isenson, Dick
Trissel and anyone else that wants to volunteer.
Luis Oasis is located in Old Orcutt at 420 E. Soares Ave., west of the
Orcutt Junior High School.
The intention is to provide a question and answer format including actual
hardware problem investigations. This means, if you have a problem that
can only be solved by having the hardware present, bring the entire
computer system. The reason for all the pieces needed is because so many
times the problem is equipment inter-related.
For more information contact Ray Isenson at 937-6938 (risenson@juno.com)
You will notice on this month's newsletter cover page that in the Helplines
list Amy Malicki has graciously volunteered to be the help point of contact
for WindowsME (Millennium Edition) problems.
The survey at the last CCCC meeting showed about a dozen attendees are
using WindowsME. Since the club's computer does not have WindowsME
installed, hopefully, those that have it installed will contribute their
knowledge. To volunteer to help, please contact Dick Savage, 928-4932,
rsavage65@hotmail.com.
Maybe, if the club buys a laptop, it will have WindowsME installed
(snicker, snicker).
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Keypress Alerts
By Dick Trissel
(Courtesy of Dick Savage)
The capitalization (Caps Lock), number (Num Lock), and scrolling (Scroll
Lock) keys are useful keyboard keys, allowing the user to toggle between
upper and lower case or between numbers and arrow keys on the numeric
keypad, and control scrolling. But they can also impede productivity when
accidentally hit.
Don't let yourself be caught in the wrong mode unawares. You can change
your settings so that you're alerted whenever the Caps Lock, Num Lock or
Scroll Lock key is hit. A mild, high-pitched tone from the cabinet speaker
will indicate that Caps Lock, Num Lock or Scroll Lock has been turned on,
and a slightly lower tone will indicate that one of these features has been
turned off. On some computers it may just be a click sound.
To activate these alerts, select Settings/Control Panel from the Windows 98
Start menu. Double-click the Accessibility Options icon (assuming the
Accessibility options have been installed). From the Accessibility
Properties window, select the Keyboard tab. Under the ToggleKeys section,
check the box labeled "Use ToggleKeys". Then click the ToggleKeys
"Settings" button. Check the box labeled "Use Shortcut". This will let
you turn this option on and off by pressing and holding the Num Lock key
for five seconds. Click the OK and then the Apply and OK.
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CCCC Page 4 May 2001
Web Wanderings
by Gil Smith
HOW STUFF WORKS
This site has information on how just about everything works. They cover
topics from toasters to missiles. If you're the curious type (like me)
better plan an hour or two.
http://www.howstuffworks.com/
LIKE TECHNOLOGY?
If you like technology, you'll love this site. Information on everything
from computers to phones. Not only will you pick up a trick or two, but
you'll also get information on how to record vinyl records to CDs, saving
on your electric bill.
http://www.technocopia.com
COOKING HELP
Have you ever wondered how to prepare a certain food? Wouldn't you like to
find a place where you go for help? Check out Ask A Chef. It's a
Q & A site where you ask the questions. They have a searchable database
you can use to find past questions.
http://www.askachef.com/
ABOVE THE EARTH
Here's one you'll spend a few hours at. It showcases NASA photo and
satellite images. Some of the regular photographs are breathtaking.
Mountains, volcanoes, glaciers, and more.
http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/
STUPID INVENTIONS
Here's a site dedicated to showing you all sorts of, well, stupid
inventions. Everything from the "Alarm Fork" to "Foot Hoops".
http://totallyabsurd.com/absurd.htm
GET HEATLHY
Here's a neat health site for you. All sorts of tables, tools,
information, and articles. You can even check your maximum heart rate.
http://www.asimba.com/
SUPER HOMEWORK HELP
If you've ever needed help with homework (your own, or your kids or
grandkids) then here's a site that should find its way into your favorite
folder. They have homework/research info for just about any subject. You
tell them what you're looking for and the grade level, and they find what
you need.
http://www.bigchalk.com
SUPER DICTIONARY
Need to look up a word? Try this site below. They have nearly 3 million
words on file (multiple languages). It's a search for online dictionaries,
so you'll get plenty of results.
http://www.onelook.com/
GREEN THUMB ANYONE? Looking for gardening info? Here's a site that is
filled with hundreds of gardening links. No matter how far your thumb is
from being green, this site can help.
http://www.gogrow.com
GOT MONEY?
Check out the Money Page. They call themselves "The Consumers Guide to
Investment, Banking and Finance". They have information on a variety of
topics including consumer credit, electronic money, investing, real estate,
taxes and more. Take a look.
http://www.moneypage.com/
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CCCC Page 5 May 2001
Helplines
By Dick Savage
The list of volunteers listed under the Helplines caption on the front page
of the newsletter provides one of the fundamental services for which the
club was founded. These are the people you contact for one-on-one help
with your problem. They are generally ready to begin the process of
getting help within a short time after you decide to seek help. The name
pretty well describes what these people do but I believe a few explanations
may be helpful.
Prior to this issue it was not clear what a person seeking help in an area
for which no volunteer was listed should do. We now have volunteers with
an area of interest stated as "Help With Any Problem". These people are
not professing to be able to solve any problem; they are merely saying you
can contact me with any problem and I will help you solve it or put you in
touch with someone knowledgeable in your problem area who can be expected
to solve it.
What if you are not sure exactly what or where your problem is? If you do
not know how to proceed don't be afraid to ask for help. Helping someone
discover and define just what their problem is is probably the first thing
a helper will want to do.
Can I get someone to come over to my house to look at my computer? This is
up to the two people involved. If the telephone and email do not suffice a
problem solver may want to operate the faulty computer in person.
Can I expect to have my problem solved promptly? It may happen but most
likely the process of understanding and solving the problem will take some
time. Both the helper and the person with the problem will have other
demands on their time that will dictate the pace of the process.
___________________________________________________________
Help From Yahoo Message Boards
by Dick Savage
There are a large number of message boards on the Internet devoted to
almost any subject imaginable. They provide an opportunity to discuss
problems with people interested and knowledgeable in the subject area. The
Yahoo clubs area is a particularly good area to find an excellent
collection of these message boards.
I have begun the writing of the 'How To Get Help' section of the club Web
site by outlining CCCC programs and with detailed description of how to use
the three most popular Yahoo clubs message boards devoted to computer
related problems. You can find these details at
http://member/apug.org/fourseas/help.htm.
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CCCC Page 6 May 2001
April Internet S.I.G
by Dick Trissel
Well, we had 32 attendees out of the 50 some total for the evening. The
discussions started off a little early with a question about atypical
characters in Web site URLS, such as hyphens, question marks, etc. The
closest we could come to explaining an occurrence of these is possibly the
use of "wild card" characters such as asterisk and question marks. And,
I've never seen these used in URLs.
We did talk about how some URLs can be abbreviated in the address box of
the browser because the browser is smart enough to fill in the www and
.com. However, this can cause an erroneous address. For example, the CCCC
Web site must not have a www in it.
One member announced that Earthlink ISP now has a feature that allows you
to have an automatic e-mail response for when you are on vacation, or
whatever. It automatically enters the senders address.
For those that have a Juno account but are not paying for the Web access,
you can turn off the Web button so you don't accidentally dial a toll
number. Go to Options/Web Preferences/Automatic Web Connection and uncheck
the box for connecting.
I reported last month that I tried unsuccessfully to use Download
Accelerator. Well, I hadn't given it a chance. The next time I did a
download it worked great--especially the "resume" from an interrupted
download from a server drop. See last month's newsletter for the download
instructions.
It was suggested that you can speed up your Web access with Internet
Explorer if you turn off the "Show Pictures" option in the Internet Options
(Tools menu in IE5, View in IE4).
The latest report from Juno describes the Juno Virtual Supercomputer plans.
It only involves the pay Juno users in this area because we don't have a
free Web number. So far, it is planned to be optional.
One member reported getting duplicate text in his Earthlink e-mail and also
getting last lines cut off--strange.
There was a brief discussion about computer power consumption and the
growing need to consider purchasing an Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).
They are available locally costing $50 and up. I am satisfied with an $80
500volt-amp unit I purchased recently.
____________________________________________________________
My software never has bugs. It just develops random features.
11th commandment - Covet not thy neighbor's system.
RAM disk is not an installation procedure.
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CCCC Page 7 May 2001
Uninterruptible Power Supplies
by Dick Trissel
We've been very fortunate here in Santa Maria with very few electrical
power problems; so far. I'm afraid this summer will be another story.
That's why I decided to run my computers from UPS (Uninterruptible Power
Supplies). Actually, even in the best of times we get power glitches
during storms or when power gets transferred from one grid to another.
Of all the electrical items in your house, the computer is probably the
most vulnerable to power fluctuations. The sudden loss, return, and loss
of electrical power is rough on the computer electronics, not to mention
the data file in progress and even the system files that may be getting
modified. Did you know the system registry (the backbone of the Windows
system) is occasionally being modified as you use your computer?
So, how does an UPS solve the problem--with a battery. When the 60 hertz
power goes away or gets too low, the battery supplies 60 hertz power for a
short time--long enough to close the files and shut down the computer
gracefully.
Most units have superior voltage surge and spike protection. They have
audio alarms to let you know the power is being used from the battery.
And, they maintain charge on the 12 volt sealed, lead-acid, rechargeable
battery or batteries (nominally 7 amp-hours each). Most UPS have multiple
outlets-some battery backed and surge protected; and some just surge
protected.
The determining factors as to which model to buy are the amount of power it
can provide, and for how long. To determine what I needed, I used a
wattmeter to measure the power used by my systems. Since I don't want (or
need) a printer or scanner to be battery backed, I excluded them. A
typical computer and monitor will use about 150 watts. I could get by with
a 320 VA unit. However, I chose the 500 VA UPS. This should give me about
15 minutes to get to the computer and shut down.
Here's a set of typical UPS specifications. VA are Volt-Amps; Watts are VA
times 0.55. The numbers under the monitor size are maximum seconds of run
time for computer and monitor on battery mode.
VA Watts 15" 17" 21" Cost
320 185 9 6 NO $ 60
500 275 20 18 16 80
650 350 22 20 18 100
700 385 45 30 27 130
900 495 60 40 36 150
The more expensive units have features such as AVR (automatic Voltage
Regulation) to maintain a constant 110-120 volts. And, they have greater
equipment insurance coverage ($100,000-get real!).
Most UPS have a program you can install in your computer that will detect a
power loss, close files and shut down gracefully. This requires either a
serial connection from the UPS to a serial port on your computer (and an
open IRQ for the port) or a USB port (on some models).
Prices have been going down for UPS, but with the probable increase in
demand, I imagine they will stay about where they are now.
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CCCC Page 8 May 2001
THE MICROSOFT PRODUCT UPDATE SYSTEM
by Dick Savage
One of the best things that Microsoft has done is their Product Update
system. Here is a brief explanation of the fairly simple three step
process:
Step One: Obtaining a list of what is available for your machine.
First go to Microsoft's update page at:
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
The simplest way to do this on most Windows 9x systems is to just click on
the Windows Update option available on the Start Menu that pops up when you
click on the Start button on the left hand side of your Taskbar.
In the upper left hand corner of the Microsoft Windows Update page the
second box reads Product Updates. Click on there and that should bring up
a PLEASE WAIT window that indicates that Microsoft's computer is reading
what you have installed in order to furnish you with a list of what they
have that you might want to update to. NOTE: It is quite possible that you
might get some screens explaining what will be happening when you get the
PLEASE WAIT and asking for your permission to scan your computer prior to
getting the PLEASE WAIT window.
When Microsoft is done scanning your computer, the PLEASE WAIT window
disappears and is replaced by a list of suggested updates divided into
Critical Updates, Pick of the Month, Recommended Updates and Additional
Windows Features categories.
Step Two: Selecting what you want:
Peruse the list and select what you want to download by clicking
on the little box preceding each item. There are frequent opportunities to
click on more information options to help you decide which of the available
upgrade selections you want. If you should select more than one item and
there is an incompatibility between your selections, the system will warn
you of the situation and only allow compatible downloads. I would
recommend that you start with The Critical Updates category and that you
limit your selection to one item the first time through the system.
Once you have selected the items you want to download, click on the
Download button wherever you may find it. This will give you a list of
what you have selected for downloading.
Step Three: Downloading and Installation
After you have the list of items that you have selected, the rest is pretty
automatic. Simply click on the Download option and follow the directions
on the screen. You may find that if you lose your Internet connection in
the middle of the download that if you go through the process again it will
begin again where the download was interrupted. On one occasion I thought
I was making a one minute download that led to an installation process that
involved subsequent downloads and took well over an hour. But the process
is automatic and frequently ends with a statement that you must restart
your computer to complete the process.
If after you have downloaded and installed an item and you want another,
simply go back to the update page and go through the process again. I
recommend that you visit this site on a monthly basis. It is simple, well
thought out, and free.
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