C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVIII: NUMBER 5 MAY, 2003
NEXT MEETING: MAY 20, 2003 6:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: MARGRIT HOLMES OF ARROW CAMERA PRESENTS:
"MAKING GREAT DIGITAL PICTURES"
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) S.I.G. for Novices Amy Malicki
(4) Systems S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(5) Nostalgia Ray Isenson
(6) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(7) Editor's Comments Dick Trissel
(8) CD Burning Part 4 Dick Trissel
(9) Review: 50 BIGGEST COMPUTER MISTAKES
Komando CD BOOK Dick Trissel
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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
Richard Holmes 938-0622 Amy Malicki 925-5780
holmesr1@juno.com amymal@juno.com
Secretary and Book Librarian 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
Disk Librarian
Sharon Allen 928-2209
sallen4060@aol.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
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (S.I.G.s)
Novice (6:00pm) Systems (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 May 2003
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Charles Barney
April 15th may have been tax deadline day, but the 60 folks in attendance
at the monthly meeting of the 4Cs had other things on their minds. The fun,
camaraderie and learning that regularly takes place in our user group is
what makes it all worthwhile and keeps us coming back!
I'd like to welcome new members Bernie Benninger, Tom Doyle, and John
Portune who joined up at the meeting. Welcome aboard gentlemen! It is our
sincere wish that you will find your time spent with us a most rewarding
one.
George Magenta was our guest speaker for the evening and gave us a very
well-received presentation on a topic of keen interest to a lot of our
members: "Buying a Digital Camera." George brings many years of experience
as a professional photographer, computer enthusiast and teacher to his
talks as well as unbridled enthusiasm! Following handouts he had prepared,
George discussed a list of "Suggestions" for selecting the right digital
camera features and accessories for each level of user and budget. Clear
explanations were given for concepts such as ergonomics, resolution, zoom
ratio, exposure controls, and memory cards. I'm sure that most of us
attending walked away with a clearer understanding of our next digital
camera purchase, whether it be a first purchase or an upgrade.
The lucky door prize winners included Allen Alderson - Rand McNally
StreetFinder & TripMaker Deluxe, Barbara Flood - Broderbund 3D Home
Landscape Designer, Spencer Stimler - 10 Pack CD-R Media With Jewel Cases,
Ted Tucker - Memorex SpillProof Keyboard, Bob Chikar - CD Stomper Pro
Labeling System, and Laudell Ludwig - InterAct USB Mouse. Called for a
prize but conspicuously absent were Cliff Rush, Jack Sutherlin, Carolyn
Smith, Stanley Voris (likes bowling better) and Christian Heck.
Continuing with our Digital Imaging theme, Margrit Holmes of Arrow Camera
will be at the clubhouse on May 20th to speak to us about "Making Great
Digital Pictures." She is an expert with digital photography and image
post-processing. Come and learn from one of the pros! I'll see you there.
Charles
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CCCC Page 3 May 2003
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP (S.I.G.) FOR NOVICES
By Amy L. Malicki
This six o'clock session will meet in the poolroom. We will try to have a
larger screen for better viewing
This month we will talk about Saving files in different directories and
folders (including the floppy drive,) and how to Find/Search for files that
have been saved or downloaded. We can also explore Microsoft Explorer, if
there is time, or a need. Our main purpose is to help solve individual
problems, the Agenda is just a starting point to help bring problems to
mind.
Bring a notebook or use the Agenda to make your own personal notes about
the subjects being discussed. A Glossary of basic computer terms will be
available.
Future sessions will cover Writing and Editing letters or creating columns
or tables.
Bring your questions, even if you are not a novice, and I will try to
answer them
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CCCC Page 4 May 2003
SYSTEMS S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
Most of the programs discussed were reviewed in the EXTRA4C for 16 April.
One error needs to be cleared up. The backup program Backup4all is
available for download by searching in Google for backup4all. The
reference to bu4all.exe that I made was an hallucination .
As you will notice in the review in this newsletter, the club has been
given a copy of Kim Komando's CD book detailing 50 computer mistakes and
how to avoid them. It is a $19.95 plus $6.95 value that will probably be
given away as a door prize.
There were a few questions relating to printers, mostly about ink
cartridges. The newer printers seem to outsmart themselves with the
attempt to determine that the cartridge is out of ink. My old HP doesn't
even try, so I don't have any problems--it either prints or it doesn't.
I'm afraid not many questions got answered. One good suggestion was made.
If you leave the printer on continuously, the ink seems to dry in the
nozzles more readily. Maybe there is a heat related problem.
They say the nozzles can be cleaned by removing the cartridge and carefully
cleaning the jet surface with a Q-tip and alcohol. Of course, removing and
reinstalling the cartridge could confuse the ink supply monitoring (back to
problem one).
One member mentioned a problem he has with using the "Standby" shutdown
option--the computer doesn't always come out of standby. He has to power
off, etc. My suggestion is don't use Standby.
Many of you have seen the suggestion of how to block e-mail spammers from
using your address book to forward spam by putting an invalid address at
the top of your address book. Supposedly, once the spamming program hits
the bad address, it dies. I don't think it does any good, but it probably
doesn't do any harm, either.
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CCCC Page 5 May 2003
NOSTALGIA
by Ray Isenson
Here is a sample of what the Central Coast Computer Club looked like ten
years ago:
MINUTES OF MEETING
MAY 1993
Shared experience session:
The preliminary meeting started at slightly after 6:00PM with Amy Malicki
presiding and 23 members present. This was the first of a planned series
based on the Shareware program Tutor.Com; an MS/DOS tutorial. Amy reviewed
a number of command line operating system commands, basing most of her
choices upon requests from the audience. The 2-disk copy of Tutor.Com was
made available to the membership as the "disk of the month".
Regular meeting:
Geoff Brenneman called the regular meeting to order at 7:15PM with 37
members and guests present. For the benefit of the newcomers he briefly
reviewed the operations of the club, meeting schedule, annual dues, the
availability of software from the club library, etc. He announced that
Microsoft had sent the club a CD/ROM disk that describes current Microsoft
products, lists known problems with some of the programs and describes
fixes and contains demo files of many of Microsoft's various programs.
Milt Bramer, club librarian, reminded the members that they can get copies
of files from the club's CD/ROM by calling him before the 25th of the month
at 937-7281.
Don Hyde announced that he had copies of older versions of some commercial
software that were free for the taking after the club meeting. Included
were copies of DOS 5.0, PC Tools, QuatroPro, AmiPro, and a few others.
Reports:
Minutes of the 6 April were approved as read.
The treasurer reported $451.45 on hand with no outstanding bills.
Old business:
None.
New business:
None.
Meeting was adjourned at 7:35PM for a presentation on installation of
MS/DOS 6.0 by Geoff Brenneman.
Ray Isenson,
Secretary
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CCCC Page 6 May 2003
WEB WANDERINGS
By Gil Smith
CITY CREATOR
Are you a fan of SimCity? Well if so here is a site for you. City Creator
allows you to build cities online. You have a choice between Blankton and
Snoland. One is a regular city, the other is, you guessed it - full of
snowy items. Build great cities, or tiny communities, it's your choice.
I've spent hours here just building the roads and landscapes. Definitely
worth a look,
and a great place to spend time.
http://www.citycreator.com/
WHAT IS?
Have you ever been curious - what those IT people are talking about? Well
here is a site that has thousands of definitions for the latest IT-related
words. Just pop it in their search engine and get your definition, or
better yet browse by letter, or topic. Believe me if you can think of the
word, they probably have the definition you are looking for. Here's an
example: Lazy loading: is also known as dynamic function loading, is a
mode that allows a developer to specify what components of a program should
not be loaded into storage by default when a program is started.
Ordinarily, the system loader automatically loads the initial program and
all of its dependent components at the same time. In lazy loading,
dependents are only loaded as they are specifically requested. Lazy
loading can be used to improve the performance of a program if most of the
dependent components are never actually used. Isn't that more helpful than
being told that it's dynamic function is loading?
http://whatis.techtarget.com/
eHOW
I know, the name is kind of strange, but let me tell you, the site is chock
full of great 'how to' advice. They say they have over 15,000 articles (I
wasn't going to count), so if you have a how-to to do, here's your site.
http://www.ehow.com
MR. SMARTY PANTS KNOWS
Visit the Fact-O-Matic, type in a single word and find all occurrences of
that word in Mr. Smarty Pant's database. Or you can just jump right in
headfirst to the topics, and browse to your heart's content. I choose the
odd topic heading of Flan. Knowing that flan was a dessert. I was curious
as to what interesting factoids I could find on it. Here are some of the
results: In El Salvador, flan is called flan de horchata because it is
made with a mild-based almond drink sold across the country. Spanish
writer Vital Aza once said, if you eat flan, you have a hearty appetite.
The Green Burrito chain of Mexican restaurants in California added flan to
its menu in January 1991. In an interview with The Los Angeles Times,
Ruben Rodriguez, chairman of Green Burrito's parent company GB Foods Corp.,
said the move was due to the fact that flan is very popular with Hispanics.
And with it we believe we can attract a larger share of the Hispanic market
into our restaurants. When it came to naming the new dessert selection,
Green Burrito chose a name with a distinctly Anglo ring: Flan-Tastic.
http://www.austinchronicle.com/mrpants/
DUMB LAWS
We all know they are out there, waiting, just waiting to get us. Have you
ever been the victim of a dumb law? Well now you can find out about dumb
laws from all over the world. Check out the dumb laws for the state of
Ohio.
1. It is illegal to get a fish drunk.
2. The Ohio driver's education manual states that you must honk the horn
whenever you pass another car.
3. It's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license!
4. You cannot eat a doughnut and walk backwards on a city street.
5. Throwing a snake at anyone is illegal.
Why don't you check out and see what dumb laws will affect you.
http://www.dumblaws.com/
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CCCC Page 7 May 2003
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
by Dick Trissel
It's been a while, and with all the new members, it seems appropriate to
enumerate the features of the CCCC Web site at:
www.member.apcug.org/fourseas
First, on the home page there is a list of the current officers and helpers
and their e-mail addresses.
Then there is a description of the club features, where we meet, and what a
meeting consists of, including the Special Interest Groups (S.I.G.s) that
meet before the business meeting.
This is followed by the date of the next meeting and a brief description of
the special presentation for that meeting.
There are reminders of the Disk Library and the membership rates and
privileges.
The remainder of the home page consists of links to other pages on the Web
site which are:
The Book Library titles.
Help resources.
Web site bookmarks.
Notes and Comments.
CCCC Newsletter table of contents.
CCCC Newsletters since Feb. 2000.
APCUG Newsletters.
Internet Service Provider references.
The Web site is provided to us as a member of APCUG (Association of
Personal Computers User Group) and, therefore, must contain their ID
graphic and the site host graphic.
Finally, there is a "Site meter" that can be linked to for Web site
activity information.
There is a deliberate minimum of graphics on the Web site so that the page
display is fast, but it's not glamorous.
This issue of the CCCC newsletter contains a review of the Komando CD book
50 most common computer mistakes and how to avoid them.
As part of the review I am supposed to provide my opinion of the CD book.
Most of you know I usually have an opinion (called being opinionated
). But for once, I can't decide if there is $26.90 ($19.95 + $6.95
S&H) worth of value there. For the power user, there are probably only a
few things new. For the novice, there is a lot of useful information. So
there, I guess that constitutes an opinion. So, read the review and decide
for yourself.
__________________________________________________________________________
MAY COOKIES
Thanks in advance to the May "Cookies" volunteers:
Eldean Voris and Sharon Allen.
__________________________________________________________________________
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CCCC Page 8 May 2003
CD BURNING PART 4
by Dick Trissel
OK. So now you've got a CD burner, the appropriate software, a stack of
CD-R discs, and a stack of CD-RW discs. Now what?
After you've read all the online manuals for the software (right!), I
recommend starting with a formatted CD-RW disc so you can do packet writing
(drag and drop) just like you do with a floppy disk. I'm going to use
Roxio's Easy CD Creator program set for reference.
With the CD-RW disc in the burner, run DirectCD from the Data CD option.
You will have to format the disc before it can be written to with DirectCD.
This will probably take about 25 to 30 minutes for a 4X CD-RW disc. You
will use about 150 megabytes of disc space for the formatting. So, a 650Mb
disc will have about 500Mb of usable space.
The formatted disc can be treated just like a floppy--copy files and
folders to and from, rename and delete. You can even rename the disc.
Once formatted, all this can be done without running DirectCD.
However, to remove the disc DirectCD must be running. Just press the eject
button on the burner. Or, you can use the "Eject" function in DirectCD.
To continue writing on the disc after removing it, put it back in the
burner and, again, treat it like a floppy. In fact, CreateCD doesn't have
to be running. However, it will need to be running to eject the CD.
Realize, the disc space is reusable. They say it is good for 1000
rewrites.
You can reformat the disc with CreateCD using the "Quick Format" option.
This will only take about two minutes, and will effectively, remove all the
files, giving you a disc ready to start all over packet writing.
You can make the CD-RW just like when you bought it by doing an "erase".
The "Quick Erase" won't be available because a full erase is required
(about 25 minutes).
Now, let's go to a CD-R disc. It will have to be formatted for packet
writing, but it only takes about two minutes. After formatting, use it
just like the CD-RW. However, any used space will not be usable again--
every operation uses new space.
Now it gets tricky. To remove the CD-R disc, you must have DirectCD
running.
Then, either press the eject button, or click on the DirectCD icon. There
will be three possibilities:
1. "Leave the disc as it is..." which means the disk can be written to some
later, but will not be readable in anything but a CD burner.
2. "Organize the disc so that it can be read in most CD-ROM drives..."
which means any multi-read drive.
3. "Protect the disc..." which closes the disc permanently so it can be
read in any CD-ROM, BUT, you can never write to it again.
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CCCC Page 9 May 2003
REVIEW: THE 50 BIGGEST COMPUTER MISTAKES (and how you can avoid them)
from Kim Komando Reviewed by Dick Trissel
If you are a recent listener to the Kim Komando computer radio show on
1240AM KSMA from 7:00 to 10:00 AM on Saturday mornings then you've heard
about her new book on Compact Disc titled "50 BIGGEST COMPUTER MISTAKES AND
HOW YOU CAN AVOID THEM"
Those that attended the April club meeting and saw the 50 Mistakes CD Book
demonstration know I've been given the opportunity to review this CD book.
It costs $19.95 plus $6.95 S&H. You can order the book on CD in the
Komando online mall at
http://www.komando.com/kk_estore_40/
details.asp?prodID=41
If you want to pay by check or money order, go on line at
http://www.komando.com/
online_order_form.htm. Then print and complete the form and include it in
the envelope with your check.
The computer system requirements are: PentiumŪ or faster PC with Windows95
or higher, 64 MB of RAM, 5 MB hard drive space, and CD-ROM drive.
Recommended minimum monitor settings are: 800x600 resolution and 16-bit
color. A sound card is needed to hear the narrations, etc.
Here's what Kim has to say about her book. "You get the information you
need now to: Protect your privacy, upgrade without wasting money, secure
your system from intruders, remove data for good, maintain your system and
enhance Windows performance, set up a network and share an Internet
connection, and much, much more! Plus, get custom Windows sounds. It's an
interactive software program that you can read on the screen, print out, or
have me read to you. There's a free sample of it online here:
http://www.komando.com/
kk_estore_4/details.asp?prodID=41
I guarantee that you'll like my book, or your money back!"
You must have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. If not,
there is an installable copy on the CD. And to hear her read the files,
you'll need Media Player, QuickTime, or some WAV file player.
There is a program set on the CD that must be installed in order to use all
the features. And, the CD must be in the CD-ROM player for the program to
run.
The executable files are in the root folder of the CD. There are two sub-
folders (Media and Themes). The Media folder contains the PDF and WAV
files for the text. The Themes folder contains custom sounds and pictures
of Kim. These files can be looked at or listened to without actually
running the 50 Mistakes program by using Acrobat Reader and a media player.
Besides the 50 PDF and WAV files, there are 22 Bonus Tips included in the
PDF files. Also, there are 14 pictures of Kim in four sizes each-
1024X768, 800X600, 640X480, and 144X108. The program allows you to
customize your computer sounds with Kim's words, and to use the pictures
for background.
The program is easy to install and run. To help you decide if this CD has
value for you, the following page lists the titles of the 50 mistakes and
the 22 bonus tips.
Part One: Getting Started!
1. Not doing your homework before buying
a new computer
2. Buying a used computer
3. Not saving boxes with new equipment
4. Not buying enough RAM
5. Not conditioning laptop batteries
6. Not using a surge suppressor
7. Not unplugging your computer in an
electrical storm
8. Not registering software
9. Wasting money by being an early adopter
10. Not knowing what is really inside your
PC
11. Not formatting with NTFS when you
install windows XP
12. Believing PC really means personal
computer
Part Two: Keeping It Running Smoothly
13. Not closing Windows properly
14. Looking for dirt in all the wrong
places
15. Not installing, updating and using
anti-virus software
16. Not making any backups
17. Letting your associations drift away
18. Using the wrong monitor settings
19. Not storing deleted items in the
recycle bin
20. Not using the task scheduler
21. Not networking your computers at home
22. Wasting system resources on clutter
23. Not setting up user profiles on a
shared computer
Part Three: The Internet, E-Mail and Online Security
24. Sending huge picture files
25. Replying to spam
26. Failing to spot virus hoaxes and
Internet legends
27. Leaving your computer open to intruders
28. Not knowing what's up with your phone
line
29. Using a debit card on the Internet
30. Letting your kids go online without
watching them
31. Not turning off call waiting
32. Failing to protect yourself in online
auctions
33. Not learning and using e-mail etiquette
34. Not checking for spyware
35. Not considering broadband
36. Putting personal details in an online
profile
37. Not upgrading your browser for 128-bit
encryption
38. Dumping your 56k modem when you go to
broadband
Part Four: Tricky Troubles
39. Burning CDs incorrectly
40. Not running disk defragmenter
41. Not running scandisk or error checking
42. Not updating Microsoft products
43. Not cleaning a hard drive before
disposing of a computer
44. Printing everything in high-quality
mode
45. Not using help files
46. Wasting system resources on 32-bit
color
47. Not using the power of Windows Explorer
48. Not dumping .tmp files
49. Not using Windows' Add-Remove program
50. Removing .cab files
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Bonus Tips
1. E-card worm
2. File association
3. Disk cleanup-more options tab
4. Dump files
5. Network status icon in systray
6. Hoaxes
7. Firewalls-say no
8. Online auction risk
9. Online shopping popups
10. Hi-speed 2 computers
11. Website identity
12. Clean ink cartridges
13. Passwords
14. Personal Web pages
15. Home office equipment
16. Search engines--Google
17. Lease a computer
18. Rebate slips
19. Landfills
20. USB2. 0
13. Public records
14. Error messages
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