MAY 2005 issue of TOE - Channel Islands PC Users Group

The Outer E
d
g
e
Newsletter of the Channel Islands PC Users Group
May 2005
Vol. 18, No. 11
Whole No. 218
ISSN 1055-4399
The Friendly Computer Club Helping Make Computers Friendly. On the Web at www.cipcug.org
Attendance at the
April general meeting
85 members and 9 guests
We welcome 2 new members
To Contact CIPCUG
The Outer Edge...........(805) 485-7121
General Information.. . . . . . . (805) 604-7538
Mailing Address...P.O. Box 51354, Oxnard, CA
93031-1354
Volunteers needed
for Boys & Girls Club
The Boys & Girls Club has
asked us if we could help them
mentor the children in their Computer Lab between 4 and 6 p.m.
one or two days a week.
Volunteers will work only one
day a week, two hours. You don’t
have to be a techie just a computer
user.
Please call or e- mail me with
questions if you are interested.
— David Harris
president@cipcug.org
805-388-2522
May 2005
COMMAND.COM
By David Harris, President
Our May meeting is our annual meeting. You will be asked to vote
for your board of officers.
The slate of officers (listed below) is presented for your consideration, and we will add any nominations from the floor.
President: Lois Evans. Lois is also past president.
Vice President:
Craig Ladd.
Secretary: Martha Churchyard.
Treasurer: Art Lewis.
Membership: Ken Church.
Web Manager:
Helen Long.
Technical advisor: Toby Scott.
SIG Coordinator: Open
Past president will also serve on the board.
HARRIS
The board wants to thank the membership for its
approval of the new bylaws. This is your club, and these are your bylaws. A lot of time and effort was put into the changes you approved.
The board is open for any suggestions, additions or deletions to the bylaws. Please submit any suggestions in writing to the club’s secretary for
the board’s consideration.
The beginner’s class was started at the last meeting, and we are
thankful to Gracia Marks for heading up this class. Toby’s Internet session continues on track, and Michael Shalkey’s SIG at the Roundtable
drew a good crowd and this will be continued.
The club needs some volunteers per my last month’s column. Please
consider being a SIG coordinator, working with Ken on the membership
committee or Craig with programming.
We need help if CIPCUG is going to continue to be one of the best
clubs in Southern California.
The Outer Edge
Page 1
Root
Directory
CIPCUG NEWS
Beginners SIG
8
Benefits
19
Coming CIPCUG events
3
Command.com
1
F1: Your help key
18
Map, schedule
20
Membership report
17
Program: Corel Painter,
Paint Shop Album
7
Q&A, business meeting
4
Steering Committee
4
TOE contributors (2005)
16
Treasurer’s report
4
Web page news
12
GENERAL
Computer briefs
15
Computer security:
General precautions
9
Correction
6
Review: Google Gmail
12
Rick’s rants: When service 11
falls off
Tips from Smart Computing magazine
14
ADVERTISEMENTS
Active Health Center
5
Copy Court
15
Ventura County
Computers
13
Channel Islands
PC Users Group
CIPCUG mailing address:
P.O. Box 51354, Oxnard, CA
93031-1354
Executive Board
(Elected officials)
President……………….……David Harris
…………….……….president@cipcug.org
Vice President/Program Chairman
………………...Craig Ladd...….482-4344
………………...vicepresident@cipcug.org
Secretary……………..Martha Churchyard
……………………..secretary@cipcug.org
Treasurer…………….……....…Art Lewis
………………….….treasurer@cipcug.org
Membership Chairman.……...Ken Church
....……………….membership@cipcug.org
SIG Coordinator…………Lois de Violini
…………………………....sig@cipcug.org
Tech Support…………………..Toby Scott
Web Page Editor……………..Helen Long
…………………...webmaster@cipcug.org
Past President……………...…..Andy Toth
……...………....pastpresident@cipcug.org
Ex-officio members of Executive
Committee
(Appointed Officials)
Chief Protocol Officer……...George Lakes
CIPCUG ISP Signups………...Helen Long
Computer Show Coordinator.Dick Otterson
.......………….………..shows@cipcug.org
Go-fer Extraodinaire……….Dick Otterson
Legal Adviser..……………..John Stanton
Librarian……………......………….Vacant
Marketing Director………...Ron Pinkerton
Newsletter Editor…………....John Weigle
Program Chairman…………….Craig Ladd
Publicity Chairman………..…David Harris
Past Presidents
Walt Yates............ ..............1987/1989
Lois Evans de Violini............1989/1991
Terry Lee............. ..............1991/1993
Jerry McLoud........................1993/1995
Robert Provart.......................1995/1997
Toby Scott.............................1997/1999
George Lakes………………1999/2001
Andy Toth........... ....... ….2001/2003
(With the exception of the immediate past
president, past presidents are not members of the
board.)
Life members
Frank Segesman*
Toby Scott
Lois Evans de Violini
CIPCUG is a member of APCUG,
The Association of PC Users Groups
The Outer Edge
Editor……………………..John Weigle
P.O. Box 6536, Ventura CA 93006
485-7121……….jweigle@vcnet.com
The Outer Edge is published monthly by Channel
Islands PC Users Group, an independent, nonprofit
corporation. Contents of The Outer Edge copyright
2001  by Channel Islands PC Users Group.
Permission for reproduction in whole or in part is
granted to other computer user groups for internal
nonprofit use provided credit is given to The Outer
Edge and the authors of the reproduced material. All
other reproduction is prohibited without prior
written consent of Channel Islands PC Users Group.
Opinions expressed in this journal are solely those
of the authors or contributors, and do not necessarily
represent those of Channel Islands PC Users Group,
its officers or membership as a whole. The
information provided is believed to be correct and
useful; however, no warranty, express or implied, is
made by Channel Islands PC Users Group, its
officers, editorial staff or contributors. This
disclaimer extends to all losses, incidental or
consequential, resulting from the use or application
of the information provided.
Channel Islands PC Users Group does not endorse
or recommend any specific hardware or software
products, dealers, distributors or manufacturers. All
trademarked or registered trademarked names are
acknowledged to be the property of their respective
owners, and are used for editorial purposes only.
Advertising in The Outer Edge
Advertising is accepted for computer-related
materials, businesses and services only. Rates are
for Camera-Ready copy (clear, clean black and
white masters). Typesetting and graphics are
available at an additional fee.
SIZE
Cost/Issue
FULL-PAGE (9½”H x 7¼”W)................$50.00
HALF-PAGE (4½”H x 7¼”W)
or (9½”H x 3½”W )....…........$30.00
THIRD-PAGE (3”H x 7¼” W)………….$25.00
QUARTER-PAGE (4½”H x 3½W)..........$20.00
BUSINESS CARD ad...............................$15.00
Discounts for multiple issues (3, 6, 9 and 12
months)
Ad copy deadline is the 5th of the month of
publication.
Make all checks payable to CIPCUG.
*Deceased
Page 2
The Outer Edge
May 2005
Society news: Programs and SIGs
Digital Photo Guy to present April program
Programs
(Last month’s program listing was
incorrect, based on a listing on the Web
page that was there for only a brief time,
but just long enough to be picked up by
the editor for TOE. We apologize for the
error. — John Weigle, editor)
This month’s program will feature
The Digital Photo Guy speaking on
“Hints, Tips, & Tricks for Getting the
Most From Your Digital Camera.” The
meeting will be on Saturday, May 28, at
the Camarillo Boys & Girls Club, 1500
Temple Ave. (northeast corner of Ponderosa Drive and Temple Avenue),
Camarillo (see map on page 20).
The doors open at 8:30 a.m., and the
Beginners SIG and Internet SIG start at
8:45 a.m.
Lee Otsubo, The Digital Photo Guy,
will present an intermediate-level digital
camera workshop, where members will
learn more about the technology behind
digital cameras.
During this 1-hour workshop, Lee
will explain:
— How to get the most performance
from the six major parts of a digital
camera.
— Techniques for dealing with digital camera delays.
— The secrets to processing and
printing good images.
Lee has presented his Digital Camera Workshop series to computer and
camera clubs throughout Southern California, Arizona and Nevada. He consistently wins rave reviews for his ability
to entertain and explain how people can
get the most from their digital cameras.
Lee teaches digital camera photography in the Palomar College Community
Development Venture Program. He has
been an invited guest speaker at regional
computer and camera club conferences,
and has been interviewed on radio talk
shows about digital camera technology.
To date, his company, Digital Photo
Guy Inc., has published four multimedia learning CDs: Digital Cameras
for Newbies, Digital Camera Workshop,
Digital Cameras: Knobs, Dials,
Switches & Menus, and Digital Camera
Software, with several more CDs and a
book in progress. All of the CDs will be
available for purchase after the presentation at a special club discount.
Lee specializes in photographing
professional bicycle races but also enjoys photographing flora and fauna, including an often-uncooperative housecat
named Alf, near his home in Escondido,
where he lives with his wife, Mary.
Other coming programs:
Saturday, June 25 (fourth Saturday): TBA
Saturday, July 28 (fourth Saturday): Cheryl Wester, Pocket PC. Wester
provided this information about herself:
“Currently I’m a high school computer
and math teacher in Corona, Calif. In
this capacity, I’ve successfully dealt
with all types of personalities. I’m a
people-oriented individual, and I have
done numerous presentations on Windows Mobile devices, Outlook, and
Google to various computer clubs, including the APCUG conference.
“At the present time, I also work part
time for Mosaic and Microsoft, training
people on selling Windows Mobile devices. I am a member of several different computer clubs and pride myself on
my organizational skills. I’m a detailoriented person that meets all deadlines
in a timely manner
“I will be talking about Windows
Mobile devices. This includes Pocket
PCs, SmartPhones, and Portable Media
Centers. I will show the who, what,
where, when, and why of these terrific
devices. I will also bring with me several attachments to show how they can
be used with a keyboard and as a GPS
system.
“I have been involved with these
since they first came out five years ago.
I often say that it is like a microwave
oven — if it were to die today, I would
have a new one tonight.”
July 23 (fourth Saturday)
Aug. 27 (fourth Saturday): Smart
Computing
Sept. 24 (fourth Saturday)
Oct. 22 (fourth Saturday)
Nov. 19 (third Saturday): Gene Barlow
Dec. 17 (third Saturday)
Door prizes
The club door prizes for this month are:
Creative Optical 5000 mouse
Logitech Cordless Desktop CX300
(keyboard and mouse)
Lexmark All-In-One 5150 printer,
scanner and copier.
Estimated retail value: $200.
We have two types of raffle tickets:
one for prizes offered by the presenter and
one for club-provided prizes. The tickets
for the presenter’s prizes are free and
limited to one per member.
The tickets for the club-provided prizes
are $1 each, $5 for six tickets, $10 for 13
tickets and $20 for 26 tickets and are
available to anyone.
Consignment table
A consignment table is set up at every
meeting. Anyone can buy, but only members can sell. The club gets 10 percent of
the sales price. A tag with the seller’s
name, CIPCUG membership number, item
name, item description and price must be
placed on each item. Sold items must be
picked up at the end of the day’s meeting.
Any items not picked up will become the
property of CIPCUG and will be subject to
disposal at the club’s discretion.
CIPCUG is not responsible in any way
for items bought or sold at the table. Each
item is sold as-is unless otherwise stated.
Meeting, SIG notices
If you would like e-mail notices of
regular meetings and SIGs, go to
www.cipcug.org, where you’ll find a link
on the home page to sign up. The URL is
http://cipcug.org/listserv.cfm.
You will need your membership
number, which is on your TOE mailing
label, to complete the sign-up.
Programs being worked on include
Dave Whittle and Adobe. If you have a
program idea or request, please let any
board member know.
Special Interest Groups
Unless otherwise noted, Special
Interest Groups (SIGs) meet at Ventura
County Computers, 2175 Goodyear
(Continued on page 5)
May 2005
The Outer Edge
Page 3
Society news: Business meeting, Q&A
Membership approves
amendments to bylaws
Treasurer’s report
By Art Lewis
<treasurer@cipcug.org>
March 2005
Category Description
Business meeting
Officers’ reports were given. SIG coordinator Lois
Evans asked for help from the group for someone to moderate a graphic SIG once a month. We have had requests
for this but so far, no volunteers.
Helen Long had no report on the Web Page, and Ken
Church advised that we had 76 people signed in. He had a
request for someone looking to share a ride to the CIPCUG meetings. If anyone is willing to help out with transportation, please contact Ken at 987-3159 or e-mail him at
kacdic@adelphia.net.
TOE editor John Weigle said the deadline for the
newsletter is May 1.
Craig Ladd said we would have a presentation in July
on Pocket PC by Cheryl Wester. He also gave some information on other things going on in the computer world,
and promised to mention it elsewhere in the newsletter.
Look for information on Adobe, Allum Systems icSpyware and anti-Phishing, and Lucent Link.com for secure
wireless network.
Craig also took the vote on the proposal for the
amended bylaws. It was moved that the bylaws be accepted, and the motion was seconded. It was unanimously
passed with no nay votes from anyone at the meeting. The
computer votes were 10 in favor and 1 nay vote.
Q&A Session
Unless otherwise noted, questions were answered by
Toby Scott, a partner in Ventura County Computers and
our technical adviser. Michael Shalkey handled the demonstrations projected on the screen.
3-1 through
3-31, 2005
INFLOWS
Donation
ISP Income
New Members
Raffle
Renewals
1.50
300.00
120.00
43.75
430.00
TOTAL INFLOWS
895.25
OUTFLOWS
Equipment
ISP Expense
Rent Paid
TOE
2,461.48
424.00
150.00
398.75
TOTAL OUTFLOWS
3,434.23
OVERALL TOTAL
-2,538.98
Unrestricted Funds
Restricted Funds
Bank Balance 3-31-05
4,907.38
2,000.00
6,907.38
Year to Date Income
11,233.19
Year to Date Expense
-14,011.84
(Continued on page 5)
April Steering Committee meeting
By Helen Long, acting secretary
The meeting was hosted by Art
Lewis, and attending were David Harris,
Helen Long, Craig Ladd, Lois Evans,
Art Lewis, Toby Scott, and Ken Church.
(Martha Churchyard was nursing a broken wing — we wish her a speedy recovery!)
The meeting was called to order at 7
p.m.
In line with the passing of the
amended bylaws, Art made a motion
that Ken Church, membership; Lois
Evans, SIG coordinator; Helen Long,
Page 4
Web Page/ISP coordinator; and Toby
Scott, tech advisor, be appointed to the
board of directors in order to fill those
newly created offices until the next general election. The three official board
members — David, Art, and Craig approved.
The next order of business was to
find a president.
We approached Lois Evans about
running and we managed to wear her
down, but now we must also find a SIG
coordinator to replace her.
The Outer Edge
Ken and Art submitted their reports
and they are listed elsewhere in the
newsletter.
There was a long discussion about
the club’s sound system It was tabled
for further research into a replacement
amplifier by Ken Church.
Art made a motion to authorize up to
$800 to purchase a laptop for the second
SIG held during our regular meetings,
and it was approved unanimously.
The meeting was adjourned at 8:45
p.m.
May 2005
More on Q&A: Do I need IE if I have Firefox?
(Continued from page 4)
‘PC Annoyances’ book offers lots of help
Toby started the Q&A with a discussion of a book written by Steve Bass called “PC Annoyances.” Toby indicated
that the name of the book sort of put him off, but Steve
writes the column called “PC Annoyances” for “PC World.”
The book deals with things that people are either annoyed
with or that they have problems with that they don’t know
how to handle. This is a well-written book, with no really
long, involved descriptions, and it is written for the general
public to understand. Toby recommended it highly, and if
you are interested, check out the club’s Web site for the
O’Reilly User Group book discount. (Just go to the CIPCUG front page, scroll to the bottom of the page and it tells
you all about O’Reilly. You can click on the O’Reilly icon
More on programs ...
(Continued from page 3)
Ave., Unit 117, Ventura; phone 805-289-3960. From the
101 Freeway, exit at Telephone, take Telephone south to
McGrath, turn left and go one block. Turn right on
Goodyear and then right again into the second driveway.
Unit 117 is the back, right corner of the industrial building.
Unless otherwise noted, SIGs run from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are sponsored by CIPCUG
and led by volunteer club members. There is no charge for
members to attend the SIGS.
The general schedule follows:
Second Wednesday: Toby Scott on HTML, CSS and
Web design.
Third Thursday: Open.
Fourth Thursday: Linux
Fourth Saturday (or after the regular meeting): Michael
Shalkey’s SIG, conducted at Roundtable Pizza in Camarillo).
Here is the schedule for the balance of May and all of
June.
May
Thursday, May 19: Moderator and topic TBA
Thursday, May 26: Linux. Moderator Bill Wayson.
How to keep your Linux PC Up-To-Date with updates. We
will set up the CIPCUG PC to retrieve and apply Linux updates.
Saturday, May 28: Michael Shalkey. Internet Phone
Calls. Round Table Pizza, Ponderosa Drive and Arneill
Road, Camarillo. 12:30-2:30 p.m. Can you really call
Europe for free?
June
Wednesday, June 8: Toby Scott, HTML / CSS.
Thursday, June 16: Moderator, topic TBA
Thursday, June 23: Linux. Moderator, topic: TBA
Saturday, June 25: Michael Shalkey, TBA. Roundtable
Pizza, Ponderosa Drive and Arneill Road, Camarillo. 12:302:30 p.m.
May 2005
to go directly to O’Reilly or click on the link to CIPCUG’s
User Group Discount page.)
Do I ever need to use Internet Explorer
if I’ve installed Firefox?
Q: I have just installed Mozilla Firefox. Is there any need
to ever go back to Internet Explorer?
A: Only for the Windows Update Page. Mozilla will not
do the Windows Update page or the Office Update page.
There are several Fortune 500 Companies that have mandated
that they will use only Firefox because the cost of removing
spyware is so great and there is no effective way of doing it
from the server base.
I’m getting white boxes with colored icons on some Web
pages
Q: When I open up some sites, there are some white
boxes, and in the upper left hand corner is a colored icon. Can
you tell me how to get around that?
A: First of all, it’s not a problem, it’s a feature. There are
some sites that put boxes up that are typically advertising that
is controlled by the advertiser on another site. The little box
that shows up is a broken or non-displayed link. One of the
features of Firefox is that if the site is using a graphic from a
remote site, it will not display the graphic.
(Continued on page 6)
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?
Maybe … Maybe Not!
VENTURA CA — A recently released free report reveals a leading
cause of wrist pain, numbness or
weakness may not be caused by problems in the wrists and is overlooked
by most doctors when they diagnose
and treat carpal tunnel symptoms. If
you are currently seeing a doctor for
wrist pain, numbness, or weekness, a
free report is now available that reveales what your doctor may know or
be telling you. To order your copy of
this free report, call toll-free 1-800897-9542. (24 hr. recorded message).
The Outer Edge
Page 5
More Q&A: Boxes with X’s and types of e-mail
(Continued from page 5)
Is this related to Active X?
Q: Does this relate in any way to
Active X? Occasionally when I eliminated those it indicated that even though
I didn’t have Active X activated it did
not show the entire page.
A: It’s not related to Active X. Active X is a scripting language that is
exclusive to Internet Explorer and some
other non-related programs that Microsoft has on your hard drive. Primarily it
is used for Internet Explorer, and it is
the method by which spyware attaches
itself to Internet Explorer and messes up
your hard drive. If you notice now,
when you go to a site on Internet Explorer there will be a bar one line tall at
the top, and it will say that Internet Explorer has blocked an Active X control.
You can click here to enable it to deal
with it or for more information, and you
can either enable or disable Active X.
Internet Explorer is getting more active
in trying to prevent unauthorized additions to your computer. The Gator/Gain
Corp. last year is reputed to have earned
from just the clicks generated from hijacking Web pages, $300,000,000. This
is the reason you have not seen as many
viruses this year because writing viruses, while they create havoc, does not
earn the creators any money.
Since there is no way to remove
Active X, switch to Firefox; because it
has no Active X built in, it will basically
display any site and probably better than
Internet Explorer will.
What’s the difference between plain
text and HTML mail?
Q: I just converted to Mozilla Thunderbird for e-mail. When I send a message it gives you an option of plain text
or html? What is the difference?
A: Plain text is a text -only e-mail
with monospaced fonts, no paragraph
formatting other than double spacing
between paragraphs. It’s just straight
text like you would write in NotePad.
If you send it in HTML, it will allow you to embed fonts, italicize, underline, change font size, or other decorations, use colored text, drop pictures in.
Correction
do a backup at a particular time of day,
every day, every week. You can tell it to
We owe a special thank you to John do a scan and only back up what has
Stanton. He donated the wireless key- changed.
board and mouse for the raffle in April,
which was quite generous, I thought. Why don’t my e-mails print properly?
Through my error, I gave Toby the last
Q: When I print out some of my ename as Hanson.
mails, occasionally I miss part of it or
This is also an opportunity to ask the printer doesn’t print the right side. Is
for other donations to the raffle. The there a problem with my browser or my
more stuff we offer, the more people printer?
are likely to be buying tickets.
A: It’s a matter of trial and error.
— Paddy Ruzella What has worked for me one time, may
not work for me the next time. You can
It allows you to do all kinds of things. pop it up in its own window and manuHTML may take up a bit more band- ally narrow it to fit. You have less forwidth. If the person receiving the mes- matting capability if you are using the
sage has his computer set for text only, preview window. Most of the programs
he will not get to appreciate your efforts. today will automatically fit the text to
proper scale for printing.
Does Thunderbird have
Is there a log for Windows errors?
a calendar?
Q: When I start up XP, I hear a little
Q: Does Thunderbird have a calen“bong”
before it fully loads indicating
dar.
A: I don’t believe so. They are work- something isn’t there. Is there a log
somewhere that you can find out about
ing on one, but it is still in beta.
these unseen errors?
A: Event Log. First of all, you have
What is Motive Smart Bridge that
to
log
on as an administrator, then you
opens when I start my computer?
Q: Every time I start my computer I can go to Control Panel, Administrative
get a message “Motive Smart Bridge Tools, Event Viewer. Look at Program
Events and System Events — you won’t
auto update.”
A: She has Verizon DSL — that is get a bong from a Security Events.
one of the programs that you use to get
on DSL. Your computer is telling you How is the Opera browser?
Q: What do you think of the Opera
there is an upgrade of this service. It
would be in your best interest to keep browser?
A: It’s just fine. The only issue is if
the service updated.
you get the freeware version you get
ads; if you pay for it, you can get it
In the Internet SIG, you asked
without ads. It’s an excellent browser, as
to be reminded about SyncBack
Q: You mentioned SyncBack in the good as Firefox, only Firefox is free and
without ads.
Internet SIG.
A: There is a program from 2 Bright
Sparks.com for a program SyncBack. My wife’s computer slowed down
They have a freeware version to set up when I installed NAV 2005
Q: My wife’s computer is using ME.
backups from and to hard drive to hard
She
has been running Norton AntiVirus
drive, across your LAN from one com2004,
and when I upgraded to NAV
puter to another computer; you can
2005
her
computer slowed down to
back-up to CDRs or CDRWs, and you
can also FTP up to an FTP server or you about half speed. Should she uninstall
can download from an FTP server. It’s and go back to NAV 2004 or what?
A: If she goes back to NAV2004,
easy to use, but it takes a bit of getting
used to the interface. You can tell it to
(Continued on page 7)
Page 6
The Outer Edge
May 2005
Program: Corel
Painter, Photo Album simplify graphics work
By John Weigle
jweigle@vcnet.com
“I’m the graphics guy. I don’t deal
with boring applications,” Wes Pack, a
professional graphics specialist from
Corel, said at the beginning of the April
meeting. He was commenting on a Web
announcement that he would discuss
Word Perfect and Corel Draw — and
then quickly added that Corel Draw
isn’t dull and Word Perfect “is a great
application. If you ever get a chance,
definitely use it.”
He demonstrated Painter, a drawing
and painting tool, and Paint Shop Photo
Album, a photo editing and organizing
program.
Painter goes better with a Wacom
Pen Tablet and any one of several pens
the company makes, he said. A further
description from the Corel Web site
says of one version of the pens:
“Simply by rotating the pen, a drawn
line becomes narrow or broad. Together
with Corel Painter IX, the Wacom 6D
Art Pen can produce almost any type of
brush effect or marker stroke. This combination enables artists to transcend the
digital divide and explore a brave new
world of creative freedom.”
“You can use a mouse if you like
drawing with a bar of soap,” Park said
while he was showing off the pen and
tablet.
As Park showed how changing the
pressure on the Art Pen changed the
width of the line, he said that anyone
who can use a pencil or pen can use
Painter.
Painter is used by animation artists
at some of the top movie studios, he
added.
Painter offers a variety of brushes
and then varieties for each type. For
instance, an artist can select chalk and
then use square chalk. He said the program has 444 brushes and can create
“thousands or endless types of brushes”
from that base.
An Oxnard photographer, whose
work can be seen at nomi.com, uses
Painter to convert photos into pictures
that appear to be paintings. This kind of
work is be done in layers, with the photo
on the bottom layer and the special effects on a layer on top of that.
A quick clone feature allows the
quick conversion of photos to any number of special-effects creations.
“You can literally participate in the
natural theories that are out there” with
the program, he said. One technique, for
example, lets the user change the drip
rate and the drying rate of the paint,
both of which create different effects.
At one of his presentations, Park
said, someone shouted, “ ‘They’ve bastardized art.’ What this is, is a whole
new form of art.”
A paper texture pallet also lets users
pick the type of paper they want to use,
and filters make other special effects
possible.
Paint Shop Photo Album “is probably the most intuitive photo application
you’ll ever come across,” Park said. It
has four purposes: organize, enhance,
create and share photos.
The program will stitch photos to(Continued on page 8)
More on Q&A: Upgrading Norton AntiVirus
(Continued from page 6)
she may get clipped for another year’s
virus definition subscription. The
uninstall for 2005 should work. The
uninstall for 2002, 2003, 2004 frequently did not work. Symantec says
that they fixed the problem; however,
there is no manual uninstaller for 2005,
at least not yet, only the Windows Uninstaller.
ClamWin.com is a free antivirus
May 2005
and doesn’t seem to have the issues
that Symantec has with their program.
How I find free wireless connections?
Q: With a wireless laptop, how can
I determine what locals offer the free
wireless connections?
A: All the Starbucks Coffee places
have for-fee wireless connections.
With XP down in lower right hand
The Outer Edge
corner there will be the wireless network connection, and it will have an
“X” on it — right mouse click on it,
and one of the choices is “view available connections.” It will bring up a
little box; highlight the location where
you are, and down below there is a
little check box saying connect even
though this insecure.
You can’t get there until you check
on this box.
Page 7
Society news: Beginners SIG
What in the world are they talking about?
Gracia Marks has established a
Web site for notes from her Beginners
SIGs, a way to submit questions for
coming SIGs and announcements of
future topics. It’s at www.nicenet.org.
Go to Students: Join A Class and type
in the keyword GZ28026C44. That will
take you to a form that will require you
to choose a Username and Password.
Her e- mail address is msgracia@juno.com.
This was the first meeting of the
new Beginners SIG led by Gracia
Marks. Even though she’s been in the
field for 35-40 years as an analyst and
programmer, she said, “I’m just as
much a beginner as the rest of you”
because the computer world changes so
fast. This class was devoted to Computer Speak.
She began with a discussion of
hardware, software and firmware.
Hardware is what you see, feel and
touch when using the computer. It includes the printer, mouse, monitor, keyboard, scanner, tower (case) and its
contents, including the hard drive,
mother board, chips and cables.
She passed around a motherboard
and a hard drive so everyone could see
what they looked like.
Software includes the operating
system, utilities, word processors, databases and other programs that you use
to work on the computer. Software con-
sists of many instructions to the computer, which depend on what you’ve
done with the keyboard, mouse or other
input device.
Firmware comes with your computer, whether you want it or not. It
includes the BIOS (Basic Input Output
System) and instructions on sound
cards, routers, CPU and motherboard.
More on hardware
A variety of cards, such as sound,
graphics, modem and memory, go into
slots on the motherboard or are built in
to the motherboard. Both the cards and
the motherboard have computer chips
that contain instructions.
“The motherboard is kind of your
director,” Marks explained.
“Everything is hooked into your motherboard.”
Peripherals are attached to the
motherboard, and cables attach the hard
drives, floppy drives and CD or DVD
drives to the motherboard.
At the back of the computer are
ports, where you plug in such things as
the mouse, keyboard, printer, scanner
and USB devices. The ports are colorcoded on newer computers, although
not all manufacturers use the same colors for the same meanings, she said.
More on firmware
The Central Processing Unit, or
CPU, handles the instructions you give
the computer.
The BIOS, or Basic Input Output
System, is probably the most important
piece of firmware on the computer.
When you turn the computer on, it goes
to the BIOS for instructions on what to
do.
If you get a “can’t read” message
when you boot the computer, it probably means you left a nonsystem disk in
the floppy drive. Remove the disk and
try again.
If the machine still doesn’t boot,
you have a more serious problem.
To get into the BIOS, you have to
press a key — often ESC, DEL, F1 or
F10, but you might have to check the
instructions that came with the computer — when you boot the machine.
The main thing the average user might
want to do in the BIOS is to change the
boot order of drives, especially if you
have to boot from a CD to repair a
problem.
More on software
The operating system — be it Windows, DOS, Linux, or the Macintosh
OS X — is the interface between you
and your applications.
The registry is a large index in current versions of Windows that tells the
operating system what you’ve installed
(Continued on page 9)
More on Corel programs ...
(Continued from page 7)
gether to make panoramic views, he
said, adding, “It’s not that intuitive in
other applications.”
It allows the tagging of sound to
photos and provides an easy way to
adjust the color saturation and balance;
to convert color photos to black and
white or sepia; to change the edges;
and to add frames to pictures.
It can create a variety of photo
albums and allows the easy insertion
of text on the page with the pictures.
The text can range from simple head-
Page 8
lines to more extensive captions or
explanations.
The albums can be printed out or
sent to Corel where they’ll be placed
in a bound book.
The “very intuitive application to
play with” also provides ways to make
greeting cards, books and calendars,
along with ways to remove red eye
and to make subjects of photos look
heavier or lighter.
Painter costs about $449, Paint
Shop Photo Album costs about $60
and the tablet costs about $350, but all
The Outer Edge
three items sell for less at some stores
and on some Web sites, he said. There
is also a smaller version of the tablet
that costs less and comes with Painter
Classic or Essentials, which can then
be upgraded, he said.
Corel products are broken down
into several main categories: WordPerfect and its variety of suites; CorelDRAW and its varieties; and Paint
Shop Pro and its related products; and
several other products. The entire
product line can be viewed at Corel’s
Web site at www.corel.com.
May 2005
Computer security
Yes, you can use your computer and be safe
(This is the first of a periodic series itself to other computers (usually by eof articles on computer security. – Edi- mail) and to perform some unexpected,
tor)
but always bad, deed. The bad deed can
range from displaying a taunting message to wiping out the information on
By John Weigle
your hard drive.
jweigle@vcnet.com
Most reviews I’ve seen say any of
There are two ways to keep your the commercial antivirus programs are
computer perfectly secure without hav- probably sufficient for home users, even
ing to do any work: Never take it out of though they all claim to be best. If you
the box or take it out of the box, set it up don’t feel you can afford the cost of a
and never turn it on.
commercial program, there are several
Because neither of these is a practi- free antivirus programs for home use.
cal solution, The Outer Edge will peri- One of the best-known is AVG Antiodically run articles on computer secu- Virus Free Edition by Grisoft. The lirity, discussing some current dangers cense allows you to use the software on
and pointing out possible solutions or only one computer, no matter how many
other sources of information. This arti- times you download it and accept the
cle covers some of the most basic infor- agreement. It may not be used on a netmation and recommendations.
work, and it may be used only on a
1. Install an antivirus program.
home computer. For more information
Even if you never connect your com- or to download the software, go to the
puter to the Internet, you need an anti- company’s Web site at http://
virus program. Although e-mail is free.grisoft.com/doc/2/lng/us/tpl/v5. A
probably the most common way to get paid version is also available.
viruses, they also come on floppy
At the March meeting, Toby Scott
drives, CDs and DVDs. Some, in fact, also recommended ClamWin.com.
have even shown up on professionally
Four free programs — Grisoft’s
produced CDs for commercial software. AVG Anti-Virus System, Alwil’s Avast
A virus is a program that runs on 4 Home Edition, H+BEDV Datentchyour computer and is designed to spread nik’s AntiVir Personal Edition and Soft-
win’s BitDefender Free Edition Version
7 — are reviewed in the January 2004
issue of PC World at http://
www.pcworld.com/howto/
article/0,aid,113462,00.asp.
At least two Web sites have links to
free AV software and online scans:
http://www.thefreesite.com/
Free_Software/Anti_virus_freeware/
http://www.thefreecountry.com/
security/antivirus.shtml
Some of the commercial software
packages allow the download of 30-day
trial versions, which might work for an
emergency but obviously aren’t satisfactory for long-term use.
Reviews of antivirus programs and
news of new virus threats can be found
on eweek.com at
http://
w w w . e w e e k . c o m /
category2/0,4148,1237860,00.asp?
kc=EWGL10310KTX2B2200436.
Sites for the major antivirus programs contain information about the
specific product and usually also have
information about various virus threats.
Some of them also have special programs, usually free, to delete the most
serious viruses. Sites include:
Symantec (Norton AntiVirus): http://
(Continued on page 10)
More on Beginners SIG ...
(Continued from page 8)
and how you’ve customized your system.
What happens when
you start the computer?
Think of the computer as a big
batch of mailboxes — a set of instructions to software. The instructions
might say add this number in this location to that number in that location and
store it here. The computer will have
both instructions and data.
The instructions have JUMP commands, which is what makes computers
so powerful. They make a decision
based on certain criteria. When “it gets
an instruction it doesn’t understand,
May 2005
that’s when it drops dead.” Rebooting
clears the instructions and memory and
lets the computer start fresh.
“It’s really basically very, very
simple,” working with just 0’s and 1’s.
Michael Shalkey, who had been
running the computer for the SIG, offered a little more information about
the BIOS.
He noted that the Page Up and Page
Down keys are toggle switches for
many of the BIOS entries.
If your computer loses its time or
date, it’s probably time to replace the
battery on the motherboard. When the
battery dies, the CMOS
(Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor) and BIOS will lose the in-
The Outer Edge
formation they’ve stored. In newer
computers, they’re generally able to
recapture it when the battery is replaced.
The batteries generally last about
five years.
Topics for Saturday May 28
(based on the Web page listed in the
introduction to the article):
Using the control panel to customize your desktop.
What is the Registry?
What is DOS?
The importance of drivers.
Any suggestions would be most
appreciated. What do you want to
know?
Page 9
More on security issues ...
(Continued from page 9)
www.symantec.com/index.htm
McAfee: http://us.mcafee.com/root/
landingpages/affLandPage.asp?
a
f
fid=101&lpname=linkshare_vso&cid=5
617&siteID=5UyGA%2Fcz3qArZ5lKdfrR09EyG2zouG7MQ
Trend -Micro:
http://
www.trendmicro.com/vinfo/
P a n d a :
h t t p : / /
www.pandasoftware.com/home/
default.asp
Computer Associates: eTrust Antivirus: http://www3.ca.com/Solutions/
Product.asp?ID=156
and EZAntivirus: http://
store.ca.com/dr/sat3/ec_MAIN.Entry16?
V1=671589&PN=1&SP=10023&xid=3
5715&V5=31040704&S1=&S2=&S3=
&S4=&S5=&V2=&V3=&V4=&DSP=0
&CUR=840&PGRP=0&CACHE_ID=0
Sophos: http://www.sophos.com/
(In some of these cases, it might be
easier to go to the home page and search
rather than trying to type in some of the
more complex URLs.)
2. Install a firewall, especially if
you have an always-on Internet connection.
Why do you need an antivirus program and a firewall? Aren’t they the
same thing? Absolutely not. As Carey
Holzman explains in his book “The
Healthy PC”:
“Think of a firewall as you would an
alarm for your house. Think of antivirus
software as you would pesticide for
your home. Now, the alarm system
won’t keep out the bugs, and the pesticide won’t keep out the burglars. That is
why it’s important that your computer
has both a firewall and antivirus software running at all times.”
The firewall that comes in Windows
XP Service Pack 2 has received decent
reviews, as opposed to the original XP
firewall. It is probably satisfactory for
most home users.
Zone
Alarm
(http://
www.zonelabs.com/store/content/
home.jsp) had excellent reviews for
several years, but some users are saying
that newer versions try to do too many
things at once and can make trouble-
shooting your computer difficult. Still,
the price of the free version is hard to
beat. It also comes in a paid version
with more features.
A new firewall might seem irritating
at first because it will keep asking you if
you want a program to be able to access
the Internet. Obviously, you want to
allow your Web browser and e-mail
program to have access, along with programs that you want to automatically
update themselves (such as Windows
and your antivirus program), and your
FTP program if you use one. On other
programs you might want to be a bit
more hesitant.
Home networks are best protected
with a hardware router, which performs
the same watchdog functions.
To see how well your firewall is
protecting your computer, visit Gibson
Research (http://www.grc.com) and run
Steve Gibson’s ShieldsUp program.
3. Install programs to remove and
block spyware.
There are dozens of these programs,
but CIPCUG technical adviser Toby
Scott recommends three that are free:
Ad-Aware SE Personal: http://
www.lavasoftusa.com/software/
adaware/
Spybot Search and Destroy: http://
www.download.com/3000-2144 1 0 1 2 2 1 3 7 . h t m l ?
part=104443&subj=dlpage&tag=button
These two programs search for spyware on your computer and help you
eliminate any they find.
SpywareBlaster: http://
www.javacoolsoftware.com/
spywareblaster.html
This program prevents spyware from
being loaded on your computer by
blocking access to Web sites known to
dump it on your computer. The company’s Web site says the program also
can: “Prevent the installation of
ActiveX-based spyware, adware,
browser hijackers, dialers, and other
potentially unwanted pests. Block spyware/tracking cookies in Internet Explorer and Mozilla/Firefox. Restrict the
actions of potentially dangerous sites in
Internet Explorer.”
As Toby has pointed out during sev-
eral Q&A sessions, spyware is becoming a more serious problem than viruses.
Spyware can capture your personal information and send it to crackers, hijack
your browser home page, dial home and
send or receive information and even
make you an unknowing partner in
crime by using your machine to do all
kinds of things you don’t know it’s doing.
While it’s not a good idea to run two
antivirus programs, you can run two
antispyware programs on the same computer — just not at the same time.
Do not install any anti-spyware programs that pop up on your computer or
are contained in ads on Web sites.
Many of these are just more spyware in
disguise. Use recommended programs
only. When in doubt, search for the program on Google or your favorite search
engine.
Toby Scott and others have also recommended Mozilla Firefox as not being
nearly as vulnerable to spyware as is
Internet Explorer. This, however, does
not mean it never has any security problems (see, for instance, http://
w w w . p c m a g . c o m /
article2/0,1759,1775806,00.asp or Fred
Langa’s article, along with readers’ res p o n s e s ,
a t
h t t p : / /
www.informationweek.com/story/
showArticle.jhtml?articleID=160900911
4. Keep Windows and your antivirus and antispyware programs up
to date.
You can set up Windows to automatically download and install updates,
but if you insist on having control over
what goes on your computer and when it
goes there, you can check the Windows
Update site manually. Go to Help and
Support and then Update. (You will
have to use Internet Explorer for this.)
Most antivirus programs allow automatic update (Symantec calls it Live
Update). If you aren’t willing to use this
system, be sure to check the company’s
Web site at least once a week. My Trend
Micro PC-cillin seem to average at least
one update a day.
Spybot, Ad-Aware and SpywareBlaster all offer you a chance to check
(Continued on page 11)
Page 10
The Outer Edge
May 2005
Rick's rants
It had to happen sometime, but why me?
By Rick Smith
rants@vcmail.net
Hello, faithful readers. I’m not quite
sure how to start out on this rant, but
here goes. The computer industry
SUCKS! We are quickly headed down a
slippery slope that leads only to agony
and despair. You know
what I’m talking about, the
sad and getting even sadder
state of competent support
for computer problems.
And please hold the jokes
that I never met a computer
I couldn’t screw up. Thank
SMITH
you.
All of you, I’m sure, have
had this sinking feeling of malaise and
nausea every time you even think about
picking up the phone to ask for some
kind of help, support or even return of
product issue. You know what I mean.
You would avoid it if you could just to
not to have to deal with the nuisance
factor of endless phone trees, endless
hold times, noninterested techs and just
plain hard to talk to and understand people for whom English is a second language.
So we only call when we’re
REALLY in a jam and Toby’s not
around to help. Which makes matters
worse because we REALLY do need
some help. And we’re willing to put up
with all this crap just to get some
enlightenment on how to extract ourselves from the predicaments we find
ourselves in. So many of us start finding
ourselves even thinking about talking to
the neighbor’s kid as an option. Sheesh!
So I sit here in my ivory tower and
watch you, the helpless masses, scurry
around until finally you come to me and
say, “Help me, please.” Well, my days
of self importance are finally over as I
And as the sales and prestige
grew, my service and support
started to get shaved away.
find myself down in the muck with the
rest of you. The only thing about letting
your ego get so high is that it REALLY
hurts when you fall all the way down to
the bottom. OUCH!
So let me finally get to the point. My
beloved company that I buy most of my
computer hardware from has finally let
me have it. It has reassigned my account
to a foreign country, CANADA! For
those of you who have no idea of what
the industry is like, I’m about to give
you a few inside clues of the working of
the computer sales industry. Volume is
EVERYTHING. If you spend enough
money, you get preferred pricing, service and sales and technical staff.
There was a time when I had it all.
My own private sales team with a direct
line. Unlimited pre-sales technical support for purchasing proper product and
aggressive discount pricing. But what
happened? People like me made the
company a success, and it grew and became a leader in the industry.
And as the sales and prestige grew,
my service and support started to get
shaved away. The first was the minimum order for free shipping. To entice
greater sales it offers shipping discounts
for volume. Well, the bar gets higher
and higher to the point that when I don’t
want to have to pay $50 to ship a large
item from the East Coast and pass the
cost on I buy lots of extra stuff. Get the
picture? Well, it just got progressively
worse to where I lost my direct line and
then the direct line for presales support
all because my volume was just under
the bar they set.
I have spent almost a million dollars
with this company. I was not happy, but
I stayed a loyal customer because of
one thing: PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS! By getting to know the people
in the company and understanding their
jobs I found a way to get what I wanted
and do business. I can be quite charming
when I want to, and by respecting the
people I worked with they respected me.
What a concept.
But all of that changed this week as I
sadly found out that my account was
transferred to the CANADA office.
What? When I was placing an order, I
noticed something was funny as I could
hear all the background noise that you
get when you talk to a telemarketer.
“Excuse me,” I said, “are you new to my
sales team?”
He answered, “yes.”
“What is your name,” I asked?
“AMIR,” he said. I had to ask him to
spell it as I couldn’t understand him
very well. He went on to explain that all
the small and medium accounts were
being transferred to the Canada office to
give me better service. I won’t have to
wait on hold for my call to answered.
“What a line of crap,” I thought. I
want to talk to people who I can be comfortable with and maybe even ask about
the football game last night. This guy
couldn’t even give me a total dollar
amount on a three-item order without
asking me to wait. And when I asked to
talk to his supervisor about getting some
quotes for a network scanner, she told
me that I needed to give her more information. Wait a minute! MORE INFOR(Continued on page 12)
More on security ...
(Continued from page 10)
for updates when you start them. If
you don’t use the programs often,
May 2005
checking for updates when you open
them is a good idea.
(The writer expresses his apprecia-
The Outer Edge
tion to CIPCUG technical adviser
Toby Scott for reviewing this article
before its publication.)
Page 11
Society news: Web page
Bylaws have been moved but are still available
I have been cleaning up a bit on the
CIPCUG Web site, and I have moved
the proposed revisions to the bylaws to
the bottom of the Latest Revision column with no date on it, which means it
will reside there until the
bylaws have been completely rewritten. Just in
case you want to refresh
your memory about what
you have approved, it is
still there for your inspecLONG
tion.
You can also sign up for
the SIG List Reminder, and the Meeting
Notice Reminder at the bottom of the
Latest Revisions.
up individually as the replies go to difPlease remember that you cannot ferent directories.
sign up for both at the same time. If you
I can’t stress enough the importance
want both of them, you do have to sign of keeping your antivirus program up to
More on rants ...
(Continued from page 11)
MATION! That’s what I’m asking her
for. If I could have figured it out on
my own, I would have. I told her my
old team would have helped me, and
she quipped, “Well, we don’t do that!”
Which brings us full circle to
where we started: I’m no better off
than all of you. All my special privileges are evaporating, as is my own
self importance. I used to have salesmen that would tell me, “You’re a
good client; you don’t waste our time
and spend a lot of money and are easy
to deal with! We want your business,
and I like working with you.” Gone!
You know what? It made me feel good
to be appreciated, to have business
people, managers and employees tell
me that they like doing business with
me. It’s all over now. I’m to feel good
being told that I’m being served better
by having some idiot pick up the
phone quicker.
And, oh, yeah, don’t forget the last
issue of this rant. Someone in the
United States just lost his job to Amir
in Canada. Go figure.
Page 12
date and running Adaware and SpyBot
frequently to keep the spyware to a
minimum. You would be amazed at
how these things can slow your computer down.
Also, you might want to try Firefox
as your browser instead of MSIE. I
really like it, and I swear the spy junk
does not collect as much on Firefox as it
does on MSIE.
There is a link from our Web site for
this free software, so try it out.
If any of you are becoming dis enchanted with Symantec’s AntiVirus
program, Toby reminded us last month
of a free antivirus called ClamWin.com
which doesn’t seem to have the issues
that Symantec has with its program. You
might want to give that a try; the price is
certainly right.
Review: Gmail
An examination of Google’s Gmail
By Richard Johnson
Member of TUGNET, CA
www.tugnet.org
The two most useful features of
Gmail are (1) its huge storage capacity,
which essentially eliminates the need to
delete messages, and (2) a lightningquick search facility, allowing the user
to retrieve any message almost instantly.
Gmail also touts its unique labeling
system that replaces other e-mail services’ folders (for filing incoming messages), its “conversation” grouping of
messages, and its lack of banner ads or
pop-ups. In this writer’s opinion, the
value of the labels is overblown. To
label incoming messages is timeconsuming and on the whole not particularly helpful. Unlabeled messages
may be retrieved easily either from the
main window (with the “Search Mail”
button) or with Gmail’s advanced
search (accessible via “Show search
options” on the main window). This
writer uses the advanced search rou-
The Outer Edge
tinely, for finding messages.
It should be noted that Gmail is not
ad-free. It’s just that the ads are text ads
(similar to the ads on Google’s search
pages).
At this time, a Gmail user can receive HTML mail but send in plain text
only. For security purposes, graphics are
excluded by default from incoming
messages, and you can vary this instruction on a message-by-message basis
only.
Spam control. Gmail features its
own rudimentary spam filtering system,
discussed in greater detail below. While
imprecise, this system cannot be turned
off. Although you can create your own
additional filters, the only way to stop
Gmail from diverting legitimate mail to
its spam folder is to add the sender to
your contact list. (You can do so either
directly or by marking a “Spam” message “Not spam.”)
At this writing Gmail still follows a
(Continued on page 13)
May 2005
More on Google’s e-mail program ...
(Continued from page 12)
quirky protocol under which bounce
messages are
diverted to the spam
folder.
Should you switch?
Gmail is not for everyone. You
should not switch to Gmail:
• Ιf you find Web-based e-mail just
too slow.
• Ιf you want pictures on your incoming messages and don’t want to
have to bother with Gmail’s one-click
instruction (to include graphics) for each
such message.
• Ιf you need to be able to compose
messages in HTML.
• Ιf you don’t want to have to periodically check the spam folder for legitimate mail or bounced messages,
• Ιf you prefer to read in your inbox
all incoming mail, even mail that might
be spam, or
• Ιf you’re happy with what you
have, and feel it’s not worth the trouble
to notify folks of your new address.
You should consider switching to
Gmail:
May 2005
• Ιf you’d rather not fuss with setting up folders for messages that you’ve
read and want to keep, but still want to
be able to retrieve such messages speedily.
• Ιf you like Web-based e-mail such
as Yahoo Mail or Hotmail but are fed up
with the banner ads and popups you
encounter.
• Ιf you don’t want to have to decide
which incoming messages to keep and
which to delete.
• Ιf you’ve ever wanted to view an
old incoming message only to realize
that you’d permanently deleted it.
• Ιf you presently use a disk-based
system like Outlook or Outlook Express
and don’t want the hassle of backing up
your messages to protect against their
loss in a disk crash.
• Ιf you find your present e-mail
filtering scheme too complicated, or
• Ιf you like the idea of grouping
related messages in “conversations,” for
easier reference.
Gmail compared to Outlook Express
Nearly all new Windows computers
The Outer Edge
come bundled with Microsoft’s Outlook
Express. This fact may explain the overwhelming preponderance of that program among users. Both Gmail and Outlook express are free. But although price
is not one of them, there are various
reasons for choosing one over the other.
Storage: There are pluses and minuses to using a Web-based e-mail system like Gmail, with respect to storage.
A plus is that since messages are stored
on the Web, they’ll always be accessible
to the user, regardless of any hard disk
catastrophes. Moreover, an accumulation of large numbers of stored messages will not affect either the available
disk space or speed of access.
(However, Internet access — especially
dial-up — can be uncomfortably slow,
compared to disk access.)
One minus with a Web-based system is that the provider’s server will
accommodate only a limited amount of
storage — typically much less than will
easily fit on a user’s hard drive. So the
user may find older messages simply
(Continued on page 14)
Page 13
More on Google’s e-mail ...
(Continued from page 13)
gone. This distinction is turned around
by Gmail — which allows a gigabyte
of storage, and in fact discourages the
user from deleting any messages.
Filing: With any e-mail system,
sent messages may be retained in their
own mailbox. The conventional way of
filing an incoming message for later
reference is to move it from the inbox
to another mailbox of the user’s choice.
This is the filing system used by Outlook Express. The user may need to
create anywhere from a few new mailboxes to dozens, with names like
“Purchases,” “Events,” “Subscriptions,”
“Bills,” “Software reference,”
“Confirmations,” etc. A simpler choice
might be to send all such saved messages to a “Hold” mailbox.
Gmail has revolutionized e-mail
filing. (In its terminology, it doesn’t
even offer filing!) Rather than send it to
a particular mailbox, the user simply
“archives” the message. Archived messages in Gmail go to “All Mail,” which
is just like the “Hold” mailbox referenced above, except that it includes
outgoing as well as incoming messages.
A Gmail quirk is that while a user’s
draft will be found in All Mail, messages that Gmail considers spam will
not.
Gmail’s “labels” or keywords, can,
at least in theory, facilitate a message
search, in addition to the usual search
criteria (sender, subject, date range,
etc.). Multiple labels may be assigned
to one message.
As would be expected with a system
As would be expected with a
system created by Google,
searching for messages is
lightning -fast. This rapid retrieval
of messages actually renders
Gmail’s labeling system largely
unnecessary, in this writer’s view.
created by Google, searching for messages is lightning-fast. This rapid retrieval of messages actually renders
Gmail’s labeling system largely unnecessary, in this writer’s view.
Spam Diversion: Gmail has been
criticized for having an insufficiently
sophisticated spam blocking system.
It’s actually miles ahead of that of Outlook Express — but OE users often can
use spam controls supplied by the Internet Service Provider. For this writer,
Gmail’s system is more than adequate.
Gmail controls spam by means of
(1) message filtering — similar to that
of Outlook Express, and (2) spam
blocking.
With either Gmail or Outlook Express, the user can set up filters to bypass the inbox and send the subject
messages directly to “Trash” [Gmail] or
“Deleted Items” [Outlook Express].
Outlook Express also has a “Block
sender” option to keep those senders’
messages from reaching any mailbox.
Using its own criteria, Gmail will
divert incoming messages to its “Spam”
folder. This criteria can be overridden
by the user’s action either manually to
add messages to the spam folder or to
remove them. This action by the user
will continue to affect all messages
from the same sender.
Further Considerations: Any retrieved Gmail message will be accompanied by other messages in the same
“conversation.” You can think of this as
your girlfriend’s bringing her female
cousins along with her on every date. It
may be convenient if you want to relate
to a cousin, but you need to remember
who is the girlfriend and who is the
cousin. Whether Gmail’s “conversation
view” is a positive or a negative is a
call you’ll have to make.
Gmail out of the box will not notify
you when you have a new message.
Keeping your Gmail window open
won’t tell you anything unless you refresh the page. And even with a fast
connection, refreshing can be tediously
slow. You can download the Gmail
Notifier, but only if you use Windows
2000 or XP (or a later Windows version).
Additional points will become apparent with use. For example, a minor
annoyance is Gmail’s closing your history/favorites/search sidebar whenever
you click on a link in a message. The
best way to make up your mind about
Gmail is to try it.
The Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User
Groups (APCUG), an international
organization of which this group is a
member, brings this article to you.
Tips from Smart Computing magazine
Reprinted with permission from
Smart Computing. Visit http://
www.smartcomputing.com/groups to
learn what Smart Computing can do for
you and your user group!
Lighted USB Cable For More
Than Just Looks: If your computer
tower sits under your desk, chances are
that you’ve had to fumble around in the
dark when making cable connections on
the back of your computer. Well, the
Page 14
folks at Belkin, whose motto is
“Connecting people with technology,”
have come up with a solution for those
dark spaces: lighted USB (Universal
Serial Bus) cables. These new cables
look like any other USB cables until
you connect them to your computer.
When you do, you'll discover that the
connectors on both ends of these USB
cables contain special, low-powerconsumption, super-bright LEDs (lightThe Outer Edge
emitting diodes) that provide enough
light to illuminate the connector panel
on the back of your computer. The cables retail for around $15 and come in
6-foot lengths with lighted Type A and
Type B connectors in four colors.
Back Up The Registry & Set A
Restore Point In WinXP/WinMe: If
you absolutely refuse to perform a
whole-system backup, then at least cre(Continued on page 15)
May 2005
Computer briefs
Bits and bytes from here and there ...
ADOBE CREATIVE SUITE 2
TOUR: A seminar on Adobe’s Creative
Suite 2, which combines full new versions of Adobe Photoshop CS2, Adobe
InDesign CS2, Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional, Adobe Illustrator CS2 and
Adobe GoLive CS2 with new Version
Cue CS2, Adobe Bridge and Adobe
Stock Photos, is scheduled in Irvine on
May 18.
You can register for Empowering
Ideas: Adobe Creative Suite 2 on Tour
at http://www.adobe.com/events/
s p l a s h . j s p ?
eventID=1952#dateLocations.
Neither the site nor the e-mail sent to
Craig Ladd gives the exact location of
the event, but presumably it becomes
available when you register.
Admission is free, and the event about an extension because of the late
lasts from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
notice we received.
Product details are available at
ANTI-SPYWARE PROGRAM: http://www.allume.com/ugspyware.
Allume Systems has released icSpyware
& anti-Phishing Suite, according to an
WIRELESS NETWORK SECUe-mail sent to Craig Ladd.
RITY: Craig Ladd received this inforIn addition to blocking access to mation from a SCRUGS meeting. This
sensitive data and stopping unauthorized Lucent program easily makes wireless
transmission of account numbers, ad- networks secure. The program is nordresses, e-mail and chat addresses, the mally $99 for a license of three comprogram will clean the system at what- puters. As of the date Craig received the
ever times you schedule it for, including notice, Lucent was giving that for free.
bootup and shutdown.
Go to www.lucidlink.com and click on
The program costs $29.99 regularly, the icon saying Free 3 User Home Edibut a user group price of $19.99 was tion.
available.
You will have to give them your eThe offer was to end April 30, but it mail address. It is 36MB and took two
might be worth asking the company hours to download.
More Smart Computing tips ... The latest on DVDs
(Continued from page 14)
ate a Windows System Restore Point and back up your Registry. To create a Restore Point, go to Start, select All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and System Restore.
Select Create A Restore Point, click Next, give the Restore
Point a name (such as Before Tweaking), and click Create.
If needed, you can restore your system back to this point in
time on this same screen. To back up your Registry, click
Start, select Run, type regedit in the Open field, and click
OK. Right-click My Computer and choose Export. Set the
Export Range to All, save the file with a name (such as Before_tweaking.reg), and click Save.
FireWire vs. USB: FireWire was actually invented by
Apple, though it has since spread to X86 and 64-bit PC platforms as well as video equipment. Its hot-plugability and
speed in connecting external devices to computers inspired
the later USB standard. However, even the latter-day
480Mbps Hi-Speed USB 2.0 interface can’t keep up with
the original FireWire 400Mbps (IEEE 1394) in real-world
speed tests. A FireWire cable can also be used to directly
connect computers for file transfers, too, something that
requires special adapters and software to do with USB.
By Bob Elgines
Colorado River Computer Club Editor, Lake Havasu, AZ
The DVD world is going crazy. The price range is from
$59 to $130, well within most of our budgets. DVD blanks
are down to 50 cents apiece, almost as cheap as CDs. The top
four recorder manufacturers are Plextor, Toshiba, Pacific
Digital, and Memorex.
Speed is up to 16X, which is max on the outer part of the
disk, but only 8X blanks are readily available.
Dual layer (8.5 GB of data space) is labeled as the latest
big deal, but is it really? These disks are hard to manufacture
and are very expensive. The most important thing is, what
will they play in? Well, not much of anything. Most DVD
players will not recognize the format, and neither will your
older recorders. So I don’t look for this to do anyone much
good even in the future.
(Continued on page 16)
Help your fellow members.
Volunteer to lead a SIG.
More details available from
any officer at any meeting.
May 2005
The Outer Edge
Page 15
Editor’s corner
Short comments on matters of interest
CORRECTION: I apologize for
the mistake in the program notice last
month, but I was working with the
best information available at the time.
As noted on page 3, there was an error
on the Web page for a short time, but
the short time just happened to be
when I checked for the
latest information and
discovered that the program had apparently
changed from the last
information I had. Stuff
happens, as the cleaned
up version of the bumper
sticker goes.
WEIGLE
ELECTION TIME: It’s time to
elect officers under the revised bylaws
approved at the last meeting. The slate
as of earlier this month is listed in
Command.com on page 1. If you’re
interested in one of the offices, you
can submit your name from the floor
at the next meeting for consideration.
And if you don’t want one of the highprofile jobs, consider helping on the
membership or program committees
or volunteer to fill the SIG coordinator
job. It’s going to be empty if the proposed slate is elected because Lois
Evans is likely to be the next president.
WHAT’S GOING ON? We ran
late last month because one of the
regular features arrived late, and I held
for it. It looks like this issue will also
be a little late because I also held for
late items. If you don’t get TOE before the meeting (and you usually
should), you can always check the
Web page for the details or sign up for
the e-mail notices of coming meetings
and SIGS. Both are good reminders
even when TOE is right on schedule.
Remember that all our writers are
volunteers, so if a favorite feature
doesn’t show up sometimes it’s because other aspects of life sometimes
outweigh an article for TOE. That’s
what happened this month with Penguin’s Lair, our open source software
column. Bill Wayson promises he’ll
be back.
HELP KEY: I’m curious about
how many people have used the F1
Help Key that runs in each issue of
TOE. I revised it this month, deleting
Andy Toth, who has moved out of the
area, and realized that we now have no
one offering help on any of the office
suites.
Here are my questions to the people who have volunteered to help and
to the other members: If you’re listed
as a volunteer on Help Key, has anyone contacted you recently for help? If
so, when was your last call or e-mail?
To the rest of you, do you see any
value in continuing the Help Key?
Have you ever used it? If the answer is
no, is it because you’ve never needed
it or because we don’t offer help for
the programs you need help with? All
comments will be appreciated.
If no one responds, I’m leaning
toward dropping the feature and using
one of the articles made available by
APCUG instead. This issue’s review
of Google’s Gmail is typical of the
articles we are offered each month.
More on DVD developments ...
cide on a format for the blue-laser.
(Continued from page 15)
What is in the future (next year)? The digital world has
still been undecided on DVD-R and DVD+R formats, so
most of your recorders will do both. Now we come to the
future of introducing two new formats named “HD-DVD”
and “Blu-ray.” These new formats have been developed to
use the new blue laser, where they have been using the red
laser in our present recorders. Red laser single-level DVDs
have 4.7 GB of capacity where the blue laser single-layer
DVDs will have a capacity of 15 (HD-DVD format) to 25
GB (Blu-ray format) at present.
An HD (High Definition) two-hour movie uses about
17.4 GB with our max compression. The compression
schemes (MPEG-2, MPEG4, etc.) will be the same for both,
so there will be no big difference in playback quality. Here
we go again: New DVD players will be needed, and this
reminds us of the old videotape war on formats “Beta” and
“VHS.” Remember, VHS won out due to more recording
time and lower costs. Will this be true of the two blue-laser
formats? Only time will tell.
These Blue-laser recorders and players will be coming
out near the end of this year or the start of next year, but I
think we are going to have to wait and see if they can de-
Page 16
There is no restriction against any nonprofit group
using this article as long as it is kept in context with proper
credit given the author. The Editorial Committee of the
Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG),
an international organization of which this group is a
member, brings this article to you.
2005 contributors to The Outer Edge
Your name can appear here, too. Share your knowledge
with other members by sending an article, letter or computer tip to editor@cipcug.org.
Ken Church
Martha Churchyard
Jerry Crocker
Bob Elgines (APCUG
article)
David Harris
Larry Hudson
Richard
Johnson
(APCUG article)
The Outer Edge
Kim Komando
Art Lewis
Helen Long
Stan Ranson
Smart Computing
Rick Smith
Bill Wayson
John Weigle
May 2005
Membership report:
Is it time to renew?
By Ken Church
membership@cipcug.org
Welcome to the following new members:
Michael & Suzanne Makuch
Attendance at the April 2005 general meeting:
85 Members
9 Guests
Total membership: 308
RENEWAL INFORMATION
The renewal/New Mbr dues are
$25/$35 for single membership,
$30/$50 for two or more family membership.
Please send your renewal payment to:
CIPCUG MEMBERSHIP
P.O. BOX 51354
OXNARD, CA 93031-1354
Or bring your payment to the May Meeting at
the Boys and Girls Club of Camarillo.
March 2005 renewals:
Mbr# Last Name First
Name
1003 Casey
Richard
0054 Erickson
Elden
T
1142 Johnson
Ginny
0757 MacArthur James
0100 McLoud
Jerry
1144 Mortensen Diane
1090 True
Ed
1143 Wiggins
Stephen
1013 Willson
Marty
1012 Yates
Jeff
April 2005 renewals:
Mbr# Last Name First
Name
0688 Arriola
Kirby
0829 Bates
Don
0865 Carter
Steve
1061 Churchyard Martha
0687 Clark
Lewis
T
May 2005
Pd to Date
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
200503
Pd to Date
200504
200504
200504
200504
200504
April 2005 renewals:
(continued)
Pd to Date
Mbr# Last Name First
Name
0547 Creasap
Barry
200504
1094 Harris
David
200504
0439 Jeffreys
Robert
200504
0916 Jensen
Ted
200504
1117 Johnson
Carl
200504
0830 Kiceniuk
Taras
200504
0202 Kleeburg
Hank
200504
0965 Kreitzer
Shlomo
200504
0126 Manning
Don
200504
0768 Nifong
Bob
200504
0142 Peck
Darrell
200504
1098 Robles
Andrea
200504
A
1098 Robles
Daniel
200504
1098 Robles
Edward
200504
B
0452 Simon
Hal
200504
0966 Wright
Margaret
200504
0967 Wright
Ward
200504
May 2005 renewals:
Mbr# Last Name First
Name
1147 Aker
Ray
0338 Beavers
Hal
0584 Bircher
Andrea
0207 Birkenshaw JJ
1099 Haney
Bill
0774 Hoffman
LaVern
0335 Hudson
Larry
0329 Kumler
Bob
0692 Maidel
Mark
0692 Maidel
Norma
A
0922 Neunuebel Bob
0873 Pass
Jim
1146 Pennise
Sam
0454 Provenza Richard
0211 Weigle
John
0697 Widney
Fred
Pd to Date
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
200505
Be there or be square, hope to see you at the
next CIPCUG program meeting, May 28, Boys
The Outer Edge
Page 17
WORD PROCESSING
Microsoft Word
WordPerfect.
BW, DM
DM
WINDOWS
Windows 98, 95
Windows Me
Windows 2000
Windows NT
DM, JM, MS (98)
JT
TS
TS
Initials
BR
Name
Bill Robinson
BW
Bart Wood
DM
David Minkin
469-6970 (cell); 484-2974
(home);
dddave@QuixNet.net or
dddave@cipcug.org
COMMUNICATIONS/INTERNET (GENERAL)
Compuserve
DM
Note Tab Pro
TS
World Wide Web
DM, TS
JM
JT
Jerry McLoud
Jim Thornton
(818) 889-6176 (e)
987-1748 (d)
<jthorn@adelphia.net>
DATABASES
Access
BR
MS
Michael Shalkey
483-9921 ext 142 (d)
mshalkey@cipcug.org
DOS
RP
RP
Robert Provart
EDUCATIONAL / CHILDREN
TZ
TS
Toby Scott
TZ
Trish Zakas
F1—Your Help Key
(Revised May 6, 2005)
E-MAIL
Eudora
Outlook
Outlook Express
Poco Email
JT
TS, MS
TS, BR
MS
(805)
389-2997 (b)
<bill@bzus.com>
482-4993 (e)
498-8477 (b)
289-3960 (d)
tech@cipcug.org
985-8519 (b)
Phone: (d) = days; (e) = evenings; (b) = both
HARDWARE, UPGRADING
JM
HTML
TS
NETWORKS
TS
If you would like to volunteer to help others, please
send your contact information and programs you’re
willing to help on to <editor@cipcug.org>.
Also, if you have a favorite help site on the Web,
please forward that, too, so we can make a separate section for Web-based help.
OFFICE SUITES
MS Office
Open Office
Star Office
GRAHICS PROGRAMS
IrfanView
Print Shop
MS, JT
BR
SPREADSHEETS
Microsoft Excel
Quattro Pro
DM
DM
UTILITY PROGRAMS
Norton Utilities
PCAnywhere
Page 18
Practice safe computing:
Back up
Back up
DM, JT (and Anti
Virus)
DM
Back up
(And then test the backup to be
sure it worked)
The Outer Edge
May 2005
Why join Channel Islands PC Users
Group (CIPCUG)?
P.O. Box 51354, Oxnard CA 93031.
Don’t forget to include the $15 set-up
fee in your first sign-up check. You may
make payments in three-month, sixmonth or annual increments. We also
give a 12-month subscription if prepaid
in advance at the 11-month price of
$165. Many of our club members are
electing to do this to keep Helen from
nagging them for money. Renewals can
also be mailed to Treasurer; just be sure
to mention the dates that your check is
to cover.
There is no program to install; you
will use programs that are already on
your computer. It’s simple to talk you
through the set-up, but if you’re the least
bit timid about setting up your
computer, a club member will come to
your house and make the necessary
arrangements. Our agreement will also
give you a 5 MB Web page allowance.
_________________________
Every month, members of the
Channel Islands PC Users Group have
access to:
♦ The Outer Edge newsletter,
which includes a list of
members willing to help other
members
♦ The general meeting, featuring a
question-and-answer session
and program on new software or
hardware
♦ Special Interest Groups —
special meetings held several
times a month on a variety of
topics
♦ Door prizes at the regular
meeting.
Other benefits include:
♦ Special user group discounts on
books and software
♦ An Internet Service Provider at
a large discount (see below).
CIPCUG INTERNET SERVICE
♦ A chance to make friends with
TECH TEAM
people who have similar
Roland Fleig, 983-8707, mornings
interests
schwable@cipcug.org,
♦ The ability to put your
Helen Long, 642-6521
knowledge to good use by
liz@cipcug.org
helping other members. The
David Minkin, 469-6970 (cell), 484whole concept of user groups is
2974 (home)
members helping members.
dddave@QuixNet.net or
dddave@cipcug.org
______________________________
Please clip last column and send
with payment to CIPCUG-Membership,
P.O. Box 51354, Oxnard, CA 930311354.
Please make checks payable to
CIPCUG members are eligible to CIPCUG
sign up for the group’s Internet Service
Provider (ISP) at the low price of only
Dues for new members
$15 per month plus a $15 processing
Individual member, $35.
fee.
Family membership (same
To sign up, contact one of the club’s address), $50.
techies (see below). Call one of them
Renewals are $25 and $30 per year
you may know or one in your area and respectively
they will be glad to provide you with the
details necessary for signing up. Checks
should be made payable to CIPCUG and
forwarded to Treasurer, c/o CIPCUG,
May 2005
The Outer Edge
CIPCUG MEMBERSHIP
APPLICATION
Amount enclosed:
____________________________
Please Print the following information:
Name:
_______________________________
Address:
_______________________________
City: ___________________________,
CA
ZIP Code:
_______________________________
Phone no. (Home): _______________
(Work): _______________________
E-mail address:
_______________________________
User level: Novice _____; Intermediate
_____; Advanced _____
Can you help the club as a volunteer? If
so, what would you be interested in
working on?
Date ___________________
Member # ____________
Page 19
|
|
NON-PROFIT
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
OXNARD. CA
PERMIT NO. 1785
Channel Islands PC
Users Group Inc.
P.O.Box 51354
Oxnard, CA. 93031
DATED MATERIAL
Please Do Not Delay
DUES REMINDER
If the number after your
name is 0505, your
membership dues are
payable in May 2005.
May 2005 Meeting
Meeting
Of the Channel Islands PC Users Group
Saturday morning, May 28, at
Boys & Girls Club,
Ponderosa Drive and Temple
Avenue, Camarillo, Calif.
Meeting Schedule:
8:30 a.m. Doors open
8:45-9:30 Beginners SIG, Internet SIG
9:30-10:30 Business meeting, Q&A
10:30-11:00 Break — Please contribute
requested amounts for
coffee and doughnuts
11:00-12:00 Program (The Digital Photo Guy),
Drawing
12:30 p.m. SIG at Round Table Pizza in
Camarillo
Page 20
The Outer Edge
May 2005