C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XX: NUMBER 4 MAY, 2005
Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of every month at the Knollwood
Village Clubhouse 4012 S. Bradley Dr., Santa Maria.
General meeting at 7:00 PM. Special Interest Groups sessions are at
5:45pm and 6:00pm. 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,
Access to the clubs software library, Disk of the month (usually for $1),
Help-line support, Monthly presentations, Valuable door prizes, Question
and answer sessions.
NEXT MEETING: May 17, 2005 KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: The May presentation will be a Question and Answer session,
and a Swapmeet.
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) OFFICERS, HELPLINES, S.I.G.S
(2) PRESIDENT'S CORNER Spence Stimler
(3) EDITOR'S COMMENTS Dick Trissel
(4) WEB WANDERINGS
(5) SYSTEMS S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(6) HOW SERIOUS A THREAT ARE COOKIES? LangList
(7) XP WINDOWS EXPLORER Dick Trissel
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OFFICERS HELPLINES
President Juno
Spence Stimler 938-0217 Dick Trissel 937-7572
SPENCE923@msn.com rtrissel@juno.com
Vice President Windows 95/98/ME/XP & VoiceControl
Bill Corning 934-0775 Amy Malicki 925-5780
foster95@juno.com savvyforseniors@juno.com
Secretary Hardware and Windows XP
Dorothy Raupp Ray Isenson 937-6938
dort32Raupp@AOL.com 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
Disk Librarian Visual Basic and Genealogy
Sharon Allen 928-2209 Gerald Miller 934-1396
sallen4060@aol.com gandamiller@verizon.net
Publicity Help With Any Problem
Bill Corning 934-0775 Fred Adams 934-1128
foster95@juno.com fredeadams@verizon.net
Newsletter Editor
Dick Trissel 937-7572
rtrissel@juno.com
SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS (S.I.G.s)
Systems (5:45pm) Word & Windows (6:00pm)
Dick Trissel Amy Malicki
rtrissel@juno.com savvyforseniors@juno.com
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CCCC Page 2 May 2005
PRESIDENT'S CORNER by Spence Stimler
Our April meeting showed a count of 46 in attendance. The room can hold
many more, so come-on-out.
At our April meeting, in an attempt to try to update the members on CD
burning, Amy Malicki gave examples and answered questions posed by members.
It was a worthwhile session since CDs and DVDs are today's state-of the-art
devices for saving and backing up files.
Door prize winners:
Glossy photo 4x6 HP paper: Ray Shafer; Iron-on decal patterns: Bill
Corning; Business Card Program: Eldean Voris; Hi-Intensity lamp: John
McCurdy; Epson Photo Paper: Ray Isenson; Fine Line Marking Pens: Loretta
Thomas; Board Games: Duane Peterson; Pool Shark: Miles Dennis.
The program for May will be a Question and Answer session led by Ray
Isenson. We request that you bring your questions to the meeting in
writing. Explain the problem or problems you are encountering in as much
detail as possible. Describe the problem and what you did to try to fix it
and the results. Hopefully somebody else has experienced a similar problem
and will be able to answer your question. Having the question in writing
will save a lot of time and it can be read aloud so that everyone can hear
and not have to repeat it. Good for old duffers like me. Probably one of
the best ways to do this would be to submit your problem via email ahead of
time to Ray, or Dick. If you are desperate, send it to me, and I'll see
that they receive it prior to the meeting.
[Editor's note: In order to accommodate a special Systems S.I.G., the two
S.I.G.s will trade rooms for the May meeting. The Word and Windows S.I.G.
will be in the Poolroom.
In addition to the Q&A session there will be an informal "Swap Meet".
Bring any computer related stuff you want to sell, trade, or give away.
Put it on the table in the right front corner of the room (near the
cookies).]
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CCCC Page 3 May 2005
EDITOR'S COMMENTS by Dick Trissel
You probably are aware of the new scam to get personal information. It's
called "phishing". You receive an authentic looking e-mail requesting
information about your account (bank, store, Web service, etc.). DON'T
RESPOND TO IT!
Here is an example of an e-mail I received that is in the category of
"Phishing". They want personal information from me. Below the message
body I've shown the e-mail full header. This is a dead give-away. A few
days after receiving this e-mail, I got another "PayPal" phish from a
completely different source.
First of all, I have never used PayPal, nor have I ever used Ebay.
Notice the use of the word Disactive! in the Subject line, and the improper
grammar in the body of the message. I don't think there is such a word as
Disactive.
Besides the weird From line, notice the Message-ID URL and other references
are holland.nl (Netherlands)
Then, somehow, Microsoft gets involved in the account description.
The last line is some leftover HTML tags from some poor programming.
Never the less, there must be enough gullible people out there to make this
a profitable endeavor. Don't be one of those.
Here is the message body:
From: OCN91Y_Account@microsoft.com (Hypotheekaanbieder)
To: rtrissel@juno.com
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 07:23:27 +0200 (CEST)
Subject: Paypal Account Disactive!
Below is the result of your feedback form. It was submitted by
(OCN91Y_Account@microsoft.com) on Wednesday, April 27, 2005 at 07:23:27
---------------------------------
: Dear Member
We Here at PayPal, are sorry to inform you that we are having problem's
with the billing information on your account.
We would appreciate it if you would go to our website and fill out the
proper information that we need to keep you as an
PayPal member.
Please Update your account information by visiting our updates web site
below.
http://members.lycos.co.uk/qwertyuiop1234/
Steve Johnson.
Billing Updates Center
Account Updates Team.
Ebay ID Number.VJ36JM
We do hope to continue doing business with you.
L2DUE3
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Here is the message e-mail full header:
Message-ID: <20050427052327.44DC42A71A9@barney.isd-holland.nl>
Received: from mx01.nyc.untd.com (mx01.nyc.untd.com [10.140.24.61])
by maildeliver24.nyc.untd.com with SMTP id AABBG8JQSAW7YLSJ
for (sender );
Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:23:28 -0700 (PDT)
Received: from barney.isd-holland.nl (barney.isd-holland.nl
[62.221.254.14])
by mx01.nyc.untd.com with SMTP id AABBG8JQSAGJBJ4J
for (sender );
Tue, 26 Apr 2005 22:23:28 -0700 (PDT)
Received: by barney.isd-holland.nl (Postfix, from userid 10000)
id 44DC42A71A9; Wed, 27 Apr 2005 07:23:27 +0200 (CEST)
X-Status: Read
X-Juno-Att: 0
X-UNTD-Peer-Info: 62.221.254.14|barney.isd-holland.nl|barney.isd-
holland.nl|VISP@isd-holland.nl
X-ContentStamp: 6:3:172091793
Return-Path:
X-UNTD-UBE: -1
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CCCC Page 4 May 2005
WEB WANDERINGS
BABEL FISH
How often have you come across foreign phrases? Next time, use Babel Fish
to find out what they mean.
At Babel Fish you can put in blocks of text from an e-mail or a document.
Then, select the language you want to translate from and to. There's a slew
of choices, including Chinese, Dutch, German, Greek, Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Russian and Spanish.
Alternatively, you can enter a Web address and watch the Web pages change.
The pages you visit will be translated to the language of your choice!
A word of caution: Don't use Babel Fish to do your homework! The
translations are surprisingly good. But there're not always 100 percent
correct.
http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr
FLIGHT ARRIVALS
Here's a site that makes things air travel easier for all of us.
It's called Flight Arrivals. Yes, you can check real-time flight
arrivals and departures. But more importantly, you can verify delays,
schedule changes and airport status.
Search by airline, airport or city. As a bonus, the weather at 71 major
airports is also included.
http://www.flightarrivals.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Flights
EPA DATA
Do you ever wonder what's in your air or water? Go to the Environmental
Protection Agency online to find out more.
Just type in your ZIP code and pick your poison -- Envirofacts,
Watershed or UV Index. You'll get back a profile. Pollution is
sneaky. I found a bunch of local sources.
The EnviroMapper is interesting. It lets you zoom in on toxic air,
hazardous waste and other byproducts of big-city living. You can also
customize the map by choosing elements like streams and schools.
http://www.epa.gov/epahome/commsearch.htm
GET ORGANIZED
MiniMinder is a program that "tickles" your memory. Enter
anniversaries, birthdays and meetings now for delivery later.
You can flaunt MiniMinder on your desktop or vanquish it to the
Notification Area. Either way, when the big day arrives, so
does MiniMinder.
Busy people will fancy the drop-down menus. They're pre-loaded for
Event and Occurrence. Don't let another event slip your mind!
This program is donation-ware. It's free to use and keep, but the
author asks for a $5 donation if you like and use it.
http://www.vellosoft.com/miniminder/index.html
LEAP OVER THE LIMITS OF LANGUAGE
Since taking up genealogy, you may have discovered some intriguing stuff on
the Web. Now, thanks to Google, you can search for Russian documents in the
Ukraine!
The Google Language Tool allows you to conduct searches in specific
countries or languages. It even translates text and Web pages--provided
it's one of the languages made available. Read Chinese Web sites in
English or convert German text into Spanish.
Just for giggles, set your Google home page to Klingon, Pig Latin or
Elmer Fudd language and start "feewing wucky."
http://www.google.com/language_tools
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CCCC Page 5 May 2005
SYSTEMS S.I.G. by Dick Trissel
Before I review the April S.I.G., I want to announce that the May Systems
S.I.G. will be held in the main room at 5:45pm. The reason for this is
that I want to use the phone connection in there to connect to the Internet
for some demonstrations (I hope!).
At the April S.I.G. there was a question on how to eliminate pop-ups that
occur even when not on the Internet. It sounded like somebody was infected
with a virus. It was recommended they install the free anti-virus program
AVAST--search on Google for it.
For those of us that still don't have a broadband high-speed connection to
the Internet, there are two free Wi-Fi (wireless connection) sites in Santa
Maria--the Santa Maria Public Library and the Santa Maria Airport. Several
of us have used these sites successfully with laptop computers equipped
with wireless PC cards. These cards are available for as little as $10
locally when on sale (after rebates). And for those people that want to
use wireless in the home or office, wireless routers for desktops are just
a little bit more at around $20 (after rebates). Wireless routers do
present a security problem, especially when used on a DSL or Cable Modem
connection. This topic will be the subject of a future presentation at a
club meeting.
The need for an UPS (uninterruptible power supply) was demonstrated last
month when the high winds caused a power loss in parts of the city. Mine
probably saved my computer from being stressed as the power spiked four
times in a matter of seconds in my area. The units are not expensive ($50
or so when on sale). I use CyberPower units. APC is another good brand.
It was pointed out that at one of the previous club presentations by a
local computer store owner not to put your printer on the power backed up
sockets of your UPS--put it in a surge protected only socket. Printers
draw a lot of power, and they do not need to be backed up in the event of a
power loss. The same person however, said he puts a surge protected power
strip between his wall socket and the UPS. Some UPS manufacturers warn NOT
to do that. You can put a power strip after the UPS, but it is not
necessary as surge protection is part of the UPS circuitry.
One member mentioned he had a USB (Universal Serial Bus) card installed in
his computer, and the card also had a Firewire port. When I commented that
the Firewire is suppose to be faster than USB2.0, another member stated
that USB2.0 is rated at 480Mb/sec while Firewire 400 (IEEE1394) is only
rated at 400Mb/sec., and therefore, Firewire is NOT faster than USB2.0. I
little research on the Web revealed that this is correct as far as the
specifications are concerned. But due to the architecture of the two
protocols, in practice the Firewire is significantly faster. And,
therefore, is preferred by those looking for maximum data transfer speed.
Of course, to make it more confusing, there is now a Firewire 800
(IEEE1394b) rated at 800Mb/sec. In order to take advantage of this higher
speed, you must have Firewire 800 compatible hardware.
We discussed the announcement by Microsoft that as of April 12 any further
Windows XP updates will require SP2 be installed in the computer before
updates will be downloaded. I don't know if this only applies to automatic
updates, or if you can still get manually downloaded (not installed)
updates, and if so, if these will install without SP2 installed. Maybe
this can be resolved at the next meeting by members narrating their
experiences.
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CCCC Page 6 May 2005
HOW SERIOUS A THREAT ARE COOKIES?
excerpted from LangaList newsletter
One writer to the newsletter said "It is true that tracking cookies
are only plain text and thus harmless. They are not a security threat but
they are indeed an invasion on privacy. But Ad-Aware and Spybot do much
more than track down cookies...."
That's mostly true, and that's why I recommend Ad-Aware and Spybot, among
other tools. The overwhelming majority of cookies are usually harmless.
But that doesn't mean to stop using your security tools. Don't worry when
your security tool bleats when it sees a "tracking" cookie from a reputable
site: Almost always, it's nothing to be concerned about: Odds are, the
cookie is just counting noses, or visits, or something equally benign.
Here's what most of the anti-cookie fanatics are forgetting: In most
cases, a cookie can only contain information that YOU PROVIDED. For
example, if you fill out a form on a web site and add your name, address,
shoe size, pet's name, and favorite American Idol star, that information
can (theoretically) be stored in a cookie. But if you don't give the site
any information, all the site really knows is that you showed up at a
certain time from a certain address, clicked around (or not) and left a
while later. That, and generic software compatibility information
provided by your browser, is all you gave the site, through your clicks,
and so that's all the site can store in any cookie.
The idea that cookies "invade" your privacy is plain paranoia. A cookie
can only contain what you told the site. How can it be an invasion if YOU
voluntarily provided the information?
Some of the irrational fear of cookies dates back to several years ago
when there was a rash of cases where unscrupulous site operators or
groups of site operators gathered private and personal user info under
false pretenses and then used that info, sometimes combined with other
info the users entered on other sites cooperating in this scam, for
spamming and such. The actual evil was in the fraudulent information-
gathering (via normal fill-in-the-blank forms) and misuse of the private
customer data.
Oddly enough, the cookies were actually kind of a hero in the story,
because it was through examining the plain-text cookies that users
discovered that sites were doing things with their data they didn't
really need to. But somehow, cookies got the bad rap, instead of the
fraudulent information-gathering that was the real problem. Blaming
cookies is kind of like shooting the messenger; but people did.
That kind of scam has mostly stopped--- though others certainly persist.
Today, overt "phishing" and other scams are far more lucrative for the
ethically challenged than is playing with cookies; and malware and other
active data-mining worms, viruses and trojans are a much greater threat
to privacy and security than passive, plain-text cookies are or ever
were. Some of these malware nasties do use cookies as part of their
operation, but again, the problem isn't the cookie--- it's the malware
that's creating the cookie. These far more serious malware threats do
require constant vigilance, which is why we discuss security in almost
every issue of this newsletter. But in guarding against the high-order,
serious threats, you automatically guard against the low-order, low-risk
threats. Cookies, per se, simply aren't that big a deal.
In any case, it's easy to guard against cookie abuse: Use the basic
security tools we repeatedly recommend (e.g. see the list in this item:
http://langa.com/newsletters/2005/2005-01-20.htm#2 ), and know the sites
you're dealing with. The movement for sites to post a clear "Privacy
Policy" was, in fact, a reaction to the early information-gathering
abuses: Today, sites that behave honorably and ethically will have a
clear, no-nonsense policy stating exactly what information they do and do
not collect, and what they do with any such information. (You can see the
Langa.Com privacy policy here: http://langa.com/privacy.htm ). A posted
privacy policy is a form of contract--- a legal promise by the site to
behave as they say they will.
If a site lacks a clear Privacy Policy, or if the policy contains items
you think are not in your favor, take your clicks elsewhere: There are
plenty of other sites online, and there's no need to do business with a
site that seems shady or sleazy in any way. If you leave a site without
having provided any personal information, the security risk is
essentially zero--- the site can't know anything important about you. In
short: You're safe.
When you think it through, you'll see that cookies, per se, simply aren't
much of a problem any more. They're very low-order threats, easily
managed; and, when so managed, are almost always completely harmless.
Keep your security tools up to date and deployed; use caution in what
sites you give information to; and you'll be fine. Common sense, really.
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CCCC Page 7 May 2005
XP WINDOWS EXPLORER by Dick Trissel
I find that when I get a request for computer assistance, many times I am
hindered in giving instructions to be followed by the user. This is
because the user is not familiar with the use of Windows Explorer (I'm not
talking about Internet Explorer). Windows Explorer is essential for
manipulating files and folders in your computer. Some people think the
Explore options in My Computer or the Start button are not Windows
Explorer--they are the same program.
In June through September of 2000, I put in the CCCC newsletter
instructions for using Windows Explorer for Windows 9X. I repeated this
series again in March through June of 2004. These articles are available
from the club's Web site at http://member.apcug.org/fourseas under the
Newsletters link.
By now there are over 50% of the club members using Windows XP. Most of
the instructions for Windows 9X Explorer are adaptable to XP's Explorer.
However, the XP Explorer is a little different.
The following instructions will setup Windows Explorer in XP so that the
user has better control of file and folder maintenance. At least, this is
the way I use it. I like lots of information before me on the screen.
First of all you need to get a shortcut icon on the desktop for Explorer.
Right click Start and click on Open.
Click on View, select Explorer Bar and click (check mark) Folders.
In the Folders pane click the plus sign on C:\.
Scroll to the Windows Folder and click on Windows.
Scroll the right pane until you see the file Explorer (NOT Explorer.exe).
Right click Explorer and choose Create a Shortcut.
Right click the Explorer Shortcut and click Cut.
Close the Window to get back to the Desktop.
In a clear area, right click and choose Paste to put the shortcut on the
desktop for future usage.
Right click the icon and in the Run area, choose Maximized, Apply, OK.
Here are the Explorer options I use. You may want to change these to suit
yourself.
In the Explorer window, click on View.
Under the Toolbars, check Standard Buttons and Address Bar. Leave the
others unchecked.
Check the Status Bar.
In the Explorer Bar, check only Folders.
I prefer the Details display. Experiment with the other displays.
Click View again and click on Choose Details. I check Name, Size, Type,
Date Modified, and Attributes.
In the Explorer window, click on Tools.
Click on Folder Options.
In the General tab Tasks, I use Windows Classic Folders.
In the View tab, start by clicking Restore Defaults. Then uncheck Display
Simple Folder View. This puts the vertical dots in the folder pane.
Check mark Display Contents..., mark Show Hidden..., uncheck Hide
Extensions..., uncheck Hide protected... (click Yes), check Show Control
Panel.
Click the Apply to all folders button.
Click Apply and OK to get back to the Explorer window.
In one of the column headings in the right pane, do a right click. Check
mark Name, Size, Type, Date Modified, and Attributes.
You can change the size of the columns. On a column separator bar, click
and slide it. Also, you can change the size of the Folder Pane the same
way.
All this should give you a start on managing your computer with Windows
Explorer. For more on using Windows Explorer, read the above references to
the four previous newsletter articles.
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