C C C C N E W S L E T T E R
CENTRAL COAST COMPUTER CLUB
Santa Maria, California
VOLUME XVI: NUMBER 11 NOVEMBER, 2001
NEXT MEETING: NOVEMBER 20, 2001 7:00PM KNOLLWOOD VILLAGE 4012 S. BRADLEY
PRESENTATION: President Charles Barney on advanced image editing techniques
with Adobe Printshop Elements.
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| CONTENTS |
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(1) Officers, Helplines, S.I.G.s
(2) President's Corner Charles Barney
(3) Election & Dues Warnings
(4) Editor's Comments Dick Trissel
(5) Windows XP Bugs
(6) October Internet S.I.G. Dick Trissel
(7) Web Wanderings Gil Smith
(8) Windows XP Upgrades
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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
yung.bag@verizon.net risenson@juno.com
Treasurer AOL
Gerald Miller 934-1396 Frank Maciel 922-2318
2741 Banyan Way frm8198@aol.com
Santa Maria CA 93455
gmiller33@excite.com
Librarian Help With Any Problem
Sharon Allen 928-2209 Dick Savage 928-4932
sallen4060@aol.com rsavage65@hotmail.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 (S.I.G.s)
Windows 95/98/ME Internet (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
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 November 2001
PRESIDENT'S CORNER
by Charles Barney
There were about 65 folks who turned out for ourNovember meeting, including
new member Donald Calhoun. Welcome aboard Donald! We are pleased to have
you join our group and hope that your association with the 4C's will be a
long and rewarding one.
Thank-yous are due to Spence Stimler who ran the 50/50 drawing, Dick Savage
who substituted as Treasurer and Ken Stiffler who is acting as the
Nominating Committee Chairman this year.
Mr. Rollin White of Sundial Systems presented his company's e-mail anti-
spam filtering software called JunkSpy. Unsolicited junk e-mail is one of
the biggest irritations of the information age and JunkSpy was touted as
being able to block-out about 90 percent of it after incoming messages are
screened through its database of known offenders. The list requires regular
updates however and JunkSpy will only work with POP mail servers and not
web-based e-mail such as Juno, AOL and others.
The no-shows outnumbered attendees by 8-5 when door prize names were
called. Missing out were Enid Gilham, Paul Highfill, Jean Burress, Sylvia
Connors, Charles High, Donald Rhode, Barbara Lohman and Bill Rich. The
attending winners and their prizes were Joe Magnusson - CD-ROM storage
tower, Ken Stiffler - PowerQuest DriveCopy 4.5, Laudell Ludwig - 3-pack CD-
Rs with jewel cases, Seymour Schwartz - CheckIt Net Optimizer and Eldean
Voris - Corel Print Office 2000.
At the upcoming November 20th meeting we will be voting for the 2002 club
officers. Please be sure to fill-in the ballot enclosed in this newsletter
and bring it with you or mail it in if you cannot attend. Also, I plan to
present the final program of the year on Photoshop Elements, Adobe's latest
software entry into the digital imaging arena. I'm very excited about this
robust new program that fits right in with my personal hobby of digital
photography and image editing. I hope to see you all there! - Charles
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CCCC Page 3 November 2001
ELECTION TIME
The first inside sheet of the newsletter is a pull-out ballot. Use it to
vote for the CCCC officers for the year 2002. Bring the filled in ballot
to the 20 November general meeting.
If you can't attend the meeting, follow the instructions on the back of the
ballot and mail it to:
Kenneth Stiffler
5321 Redwillow Dr.
Santa Maria CA 93455
This fancy ballot compliments of Ray Isenson.
______________________________________________________________
MEMBERSHIP DUES EARLY WARNING
Last year we instituted a new membership dues schedule in which all members
annual dues are payable by the end of the January meeting (January 15,
2002). The purpose of these changes is to make the financial bookkeeping
simpler and easier. To achieve this end, here are the requests and
expected results:
1. Pay by check to CCCC. This eliminates the need for receipts.
2. Mail your check to the treasurer-
Gerald Miller
2741 Banyan Way
Santa Maria, CA 93455
3. The annual dues are $15 for individuals, $20 for families.
4. Pay in advance (now is good). The treasurer is going to
receive nearly 100 payments in a short period of time.
NOTE: Anyone who has NOT paid by the end of the meeting in January will NOT
be eligible for door prize drawings. You can still attend as a guest and
participate in the 50/50 drawings.
For those that have already paid for part of 2002, the remainder of 2002
will be due in January 2002. Obviously, the few of you that have already
paid in advance for all of 2002, you are paid up.
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CCCC Page 4 November 2001
EDITOR'S COMMENTS
by Dick Trissel
NEW CLUB COMMUNICATION BY E-MAIL
It has been proposed that CCCC establish communication capability to and
from the members by way of e-mail. This will allow announcements, notice
of club activities, discounts, etc. on a more timely manner than through
the monthly newsletter. The newsletter content is by nature over a month
old when you receive it--it takes that long to get it published. Members
could post articles, comments, used items for sale or wanted by submitting
to the e-mail editor.
In order to implement this idea, we need the e-mail addresses of those that
want to participate--strictly voluntary. We currently have most of the
members' addresses in an e-mail addressbook. These addresses will be
tested with a test message sent before December, 1 2001. The subject line
will be CCCC Extra 1/12/01. The subsequent subject lines will always be
CCCC Extra plus the date so you will know it is not spam.
If you do not receive this test e-mail and want to receive the CCCC Extra,
send an e-mail to:
Extra4c@juno.com. If you do receive the test e-mail but don't want to
participate, send an e-mail stating that you don't want the CCCC Extra.
The CCCC Extra will be sent by way of BCC (blind carbon copy) so that there
will be no unwanted disclosure of your e-mail address.
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CCCC Page 5 November 2001
WINDOWS XP BUGS
This is an excerpt from an e-mail newsletter:
It's just a week out! Yes, Microsoft has identified a number of "issues"
(we like to call 'em bugs) during late Release Candidate testing, but since
there were no so called "show stoppers", the release went ahead according
to time schedule. These schedules aren't set by the developers, but are
dictated by marketing. Anyway, expect to see Windows XP SP 1 in the not so
distant future! In the mean time, there are already well over 10MB of
updates available on the Windows Update Web site, with 1 (1.9MB) critical
update, a 161KB update when using an UPS, a 272KB update for CD Burners, a
2.2MB Application Compatibility Update, a 794KB update to the Files and
Settings Transfer Wizard, a 350KB update to Remote Assistance, a 826KB
Windows Messenger Update and a 3.3MB Windows Movie Maker Update (if you
haven't downloaded Java yet, there's another 5.5MB Java VM). Then you could
probably find some updated drivers too. According to Microsoft they have
added hundreds of drivers after the Windows XP code was frozen on August
24.
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CCCC Page 6 November 2001
OCTOBER INTERNET S.I.G.
by Dick Trissel
We had a very lively 31 attendees. And that was good, because I didn't have
anything in particular to discuss.
The first item was why does a user sometimes have to log on to a particular
Web site, and sometimes not. The consensus of opinions was that in some
cases it is because the user deleted the specific cookie in his/her
computer that contained the logon information. In other cases it may be
the Web site failed to retain the information. All this assumes the user
chose the option to save the log on data.
We got a bit afield from the Internet with a few questions. One was why do
we need to update drivers for installed hardware. You don't unless you
have installed software that requires the newer drivers. If what you have
works, it is not necessary.
Then there was the question of how to determine what drivers are being used
on your system. One way is to right click My Computer, click Properties,
click Device manager, select a device and choose Properties. A better way
is to go to Start/Run and type in HWINFO /UI and pressing Enter (there's a
space between the O and the /). You'll get more information that you can
digest. This is the command I couldn't remember in the meeting.
Somehow we got into system startup problems. Most users have many programs
being started every time they start or restart their computer. There are
several sources the system uses to determine what gets started. The main
one is displayed by going to Start/Run and typing MSCONFIG and pressing
enter. Then click on the Startup tab. The check boxes can be used to turn
on/off each program. Leave the Systray and the Scanregw items on
(checked). If you uncheck an item, it does not remove it from the system.
And, you can go back and check it if you change your mind.
You can see what is running at any time by pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL
(simultaneously). When there, DON'T click the Shutdown button. A running
program can be stopped by selecting it and pressing the End Task button.
There's a whole lot more to this subject, but this isn't the place for it.
Wouldn't you know--those people that signed up for one year of Juno Gold
last year at $2.95 per month, got the option to renew for another year at
the $2.95 rate--lucky dogs!
________________________________________________________________
****** SPECIAL NOTICE ******
Ignore last month's Special Notice about the AOL S.I.G. There will NOT be
any further AOL S.I.G. sessions.
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CCCC Page 7 November 2001
WEB WANDERINGS
by Gil Smith
AUTO SHOP ONLINE
We've all been here before - you take your car to the shop, thinking it's
something minor and the mechanic proceeds to tell you that your car needs
an entire front end replacement because the klappenfilger rod is bent and
it's rubbing against the balance nut on the dilwanger arm. So you stand
there with a blank stare and whip our your checkbook, asking "How Much?",
never giving a second thought to what's REALLY wrong. The good citizens
who put together the Car Care Council think that this "happens all too
often" and something should be done. So, they created the Auto Shop Online
site. It's where drivers can get answers to the most commonly asked car
care. Included in this site is a complete database of in-depth
descriptions of your car's major systems, or better yet, see what you know
by taking an on-line Car Care Quiz. You'd swear this site is run by "Ray"
and "Tom" of "Click and Clack" fame, but it's not.
http://www.autoshop.online.com
SMART COMPUTING
Smart Computing is a monthly
magazine offering computing tips and tutorials in a "Plain-English" style
that welcomes readers of all knowledge levels. They invite you to stop by
and take a look at their Web site where you'll find a searchable Index of
Articles, along with a Hardware Reviews & Comparison Charts section, a
Computing Dictionary, and a Directory of Web sites.
http://www.smartcomputing.com.
MUSEUM OF HOAXES
Here's a fun one to browse. It's a web site filled with hoaxes from
yesterday and today. It even has a "gullibility" tester that you just
gotta try. Lots of fun.
http://www.museumofhoaxes.com/
TECH TOYS
If you like your electronic gadgetry, you'll enjoy this site. They have
reviews of lots of the latest and greatest tech products. To see what's
next, head to:
http://www.streettech.com/
PREPARE FOR MARS
While we haven't put a living person on Mars yet, that isn't stopping some
scientists from preparing for the big landing. This site has all the
latest happenings on humanity's trek to the Red Planet.
http://arctic.marssociety.org
MORE LEARNING
Also known as the "ability utility", Learn2.com is a web site that's all
about helping you help yourself. Sometimes life presents all of us with
little trials and tribulations that we don't know a lot about, but we often
aren't comfortable asking others for help. And that's where Learn2.com
comes in handy. Using the anonymity of the Internet, it dispenses helpful
solid advice about a whole host of topics, covering everything from dealing
with bad breath to preparing for an earthquake to changing your own oil.
http://learn2.com
NEED A NAME FOR YOUR PET?
Naming a pet is tough, isn't it? Well, it doesn't have to be anymore.
Check out this site for all kinds of suggestions for pet names and lots
more. Animal tales, tips on their care, and chat lines are available at
your fingertips.
http://www.ivillage.com/pets/petnames/
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CCCC Page 8 November 2001
WINDOWS XP UPGRADE
The following is a compilation of several articles taken from technical
newsletters.
Does your computer qualify for an upgrade to Windows XP?
Here's the hardware what you need to use Windows XP home edition.
CPU: Intel Pentium/Celeron family, AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family (233-
megahertz minimum (MHz) required--300 (MHz) recommended). 400-MHz CPU or
higher processor for digital video camera capture.
Memory: 128 megabytes (MB) of RAM or higher recommended (64 MB minimum
supported; may limit performance and some features)
Disk space: 1.5 gigabyte (GB).
Monitor: Super VGA (800 × 600) or higher resolution video adapter and
monitor.
For Internet access: 14.4 Kbps or higher-speed modem (33.6Kbps for network
and video conferencing).
CD-ROM or DVD drive (DVD requires 8MB of video RAM).
Keyboard and Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device.
To find out if your current operating system is eligible for an XP upgrade,
look below for the version of Windows that you currently have, and then
check to see if you can upgrade to the edition of Windows XP that you want.
Previous Version Home Edition Professional
Upgrade Full Upgrade Full
$99 $199 $199 $299
Windows 3.1 NO YES NO YES
Any Evaluation Version NO YES NO YES
Any Server Version NO YES NO YES
Windows 95 NO YES NO YES
Windows 98/Windows 98 SE YES YES YES YES
Windows Me YES YES YES YES
Windows NT 3.51 NO NO NO NO
Windows NT 4.0 NO NO YES YES
Windows 2000 Professional NO NO YES YES
Windows XP Home Edition YES YES
Windows XP Professional NO YES
If your version does not qualify for an upgrade, buy a computer that's
ready for upgrade or has WindowsXP installed.
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