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Front Range PC Users Group Newsletter k-Byte |
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| v. 21, n. 1/2 January/February 2004 | Users Helping Users |
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Contents 1 Take Rest Breaks, Exercise - Ken Fermoyle 2 About k-Byte 3 What Is Your Resolution - George McGinnis 6 Hide Folders XP 7 Scanner Resolution Issues - Rick Mattingly Computer Viruses and SPAM - Ira Wilsker 10 Using USB - Rick Mattingly 13 Inkjet Tip - Rick Mattingly 14 Calendar of Events 16 February/March Calendars 18 Membership Application 19 The Toughest Decision 21 If Operating Systems Were Airlines - Humor 22 Windows 98SE Memory Issues 22 Telephone Tech Support May Cause Brain Damage 25 Cooking On The Web - Ira Wilsker 27 Computer Law - Al Harrison 30 Trading Post 31 FRPCUG Contacts Take Rest Breaks, Exercise To Prevent Computer Ailments by Ken Fermoyle Between us, my wile and I offer a catalog of physical ills caused by long hours of working on computers: repetitive stress injury (RSI), neck pain, backaches and vision problems. Liz underwent surgery twice for carpal tunnel syndrome and still has frequent wrist and hand pain. I have suffered from aggravated neck and back injuries. My vision has deteriorated from 20 years of staring at a monitor, although admittedly age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts have been more damaging. The sad truth is that if we knew 15 years ago what we know now, these problems need not have occurred. Or if they had, they would have been less severe. Even sadder is that prevention of many computer-related ailments is neither difficult nor especially time-consuming. Frequent rest breaks are vital, says my chiropractor, Kurt W. Rice, who is also my son-in-law, God bless him. (He has helped me more times in recent years with neck and back problems than I care to remember!) The breaks needn't be lengthy. Dr. Kurt recommends that we get up from our chairs every half-hour or so, stretch our backs and walk for a minute or two. Other experts offer different opinions about frequency and duration of breaks but all agree that they are vital. Sitting and working at a computer creates more tension and stress on muscles, nerves, tendons and joints than most of us realize. Our bodies fight gravity every minute that we're seated. Breaks alleviate this tension and stress. To prevent the dreaded carpal tunnel syndrome, during your break let your hands go limp at the wrist and wiggle them vigorously in what some call “the clerk & typist exercise.” Some people use voice recognition programs to cut down on their need to use a keyboard and mouse. I find that difficult; after more than 50 years of banging away at typewriter and computer keys, dictation comes hard to me. Now that voice recognition is improving and more reliable, however, I've resolved to use it more often. A major benefit is that you can use a microphone or headset while standing or even lying down. I plan to try dictating drafts, then to rewrite and edit as necessary from the keyboard. Vision experts warn that we should take “eye breaks” even more frequently. Every 10 or 12 minutes, look away from the monitor at objects 10 to 12 feet away. When I'm working with a word processor or any other program that allows me to increase type size easily and temporarily, I do it. Working with 14- instead of 10-point type prevents squinting and straining to see my work. It also allows me to sit up straight, not bent over the keyboard, and you can always reduce point size before printing or sending e-mail. I mentioned my neck and back injuries earlier. The neck problems began about 17 years ago. I was riding my bicycle when a large tree limb broke off and fell on me. (Fortunately I was wearing a good helmet or the freak accident might have killed me.) That caused some damage, which increased with age and was aggravated by working on computers and long-distance cycling. The pain got so bad I could not turn my head to either side more than 12 or 15 degrees. Dr. Kurt came to the rescue, with manipulation, ultra-sound and heat packs. He recommended several simple exercises, which I try to do regularly. My back injuries were computer-related. The first came when I installed a second drive in one of our machines. I crawled under a desk to get at the computer case. After removing all the cables, I tried to lift the box and slide it out to where I could work on it, not waiting to shift to a position that would give me more leverage. Bad move. I heard a pop and was in instant agony. It took several weeks of Dr. Kurt's ministrations to recover from that one. I injured it again in October 1999 after conducting my monthly desktop publishing/word processing SIG. I took a computer and 17-inch monitor out of a car trunk with a high lip that made it impossible to lift them properly. I had to bend and lift with my back-and pop, there it went again! This time, recovery took even longer. I mention these details to make a point. The first instance was pure accident. No way could I foresee that a brittle, rotted pepper tree branch would break off and fall just as I pedaled under it. The second injury occurred because I didn't take time to position myself properly. The third case was avoidable too; I should never have tried to lift heavy objects out of that particular car trunk. Trouble is, I forget my hard-used back is more vulnerable now than it was even 20 ago, and I think many of us who have reached senior citizen status do the same. I just caught myself in a no-no a few minutes ago. I wanted a book from a built-in shelf high and to the right of my home office workstation. I started to reach up, twisting my back at an awkward angle. Various muscles prepared to scream in protest, so I did what I should have done in the first place. I moved my chair out of the way, got a step stool I keep folded behind the door, set it firmly in place and climbed up to find the desired book. It took a few extra minutes, but it kept me from aggravating my previously-injured back. The book, by the way was Zap! How your computer can hurt you-and what you can do about it. Written by Don Sellers (edited by Stephen E. Roth). You can find Zap! and the condensed version, 25 Steps to Safe Computing, also by Sellers, at micronite.com. Either book would be a good addition to your library. Meanwhile give yourself, and your body, a break…at least once every half-hour! Copyright 2000 by Ken Fermoyle, Fermoyle Publications. Ken Fermoyle has written some 2,500 articles for publications ranging from Playboy and Popular Science to MacWeek, Microtimes & PC Laptop. Published bi-monthly, k-Byte is the official newsletter of the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group (FRPCUG): our mailing address is PMB 152, 305 W. Magnolia, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. Opinions expressed in k-Byte are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the group or its members. Publication of information in k-Byte constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Use of any information found in this publication is at the sole risk of the user. Neither k-Byte, nor its officers, nor k-Byte, nor its editors or contributors assume any liability for damages resulting from use of information in this publication. Submissions Articles, letters and short items of interest on computer-related topics are welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for publication are subject to editing. Send your contribution to the editor via e-mail attachment or submit on disk. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the editor for information. Copyright k-Byte is copyrighted ©2004 by the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group. Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit users groups may reprint or quote from any articles appearing in k-Byte without prior permission, provided that proper author and publication credits are given and that a copy of the publication in which the article appears is sent at no cost to k-Byte at the above mailing address. User groups wishing to exchange newsletters with FRPCUG are invited to send a copy of their newsletter together with an exchange request. IBM PC, OS/2, Compaq, MS-DOS, UNIX, Windows and other trademarks occasionally mentioned in k-Byte are registered trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc., Compaq Corporation, Microsoft, Digital Research, AT&T or their owners respectively. Neither FRPCUG nor its newsletter k-Byte are connected in any way with any manufacturer or seller. We, however, gratefully acknowledge sponsorship of our group by Data Service Center, Jim Becker, owner. Advertising Classified advertising is free to members for non-business ads. See “Trading Post” for pricing for camera-ready display ads. Charges for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are available on request. Deadline for camera-ready and classified ads is listed in the Calendar of Upcoming Events. Deadline for ad-makeup is the same as for articles. About FRPCUG FRPCUG is an independent nonprofit computer society, so incorporated with the State of Colorado and open to anyone interested in MS-DOS, OS/2, or UNIX microcomputers. Its purpose is to provide an educational and scientific forum of mutual benefit for members of the micro-computer community. FRPCUG holds a monthly meeting and conducts various special interest groups (SIGS) and seminars. Members have voting privileges, subscription to k-Byte newsletter, SIGs and selected seminars. Annual dues are $25 for individual/family membership and $50 for corporate/group membership. by George McGinnis This story is not about your New Year's Resolutions. Instead it is about the resolution of your monitor. The resolution of a monitor is important because it determines how correctly the monitor will portray the textual and graphical material that is sent to it by the graphics board in your computer. The following information relates to cathode ray tube monitors and it is not intended to apply to the so-called “flat” Liquid Crystal Display “LCD” monitors. Your monitor is based on a 4 x 3 aspect ratio. This means that it is four elements wide by three elements high. If you measure the screen of your monitor, taking into account the portion of the screen that is obscured by the plastic frame, you will find this to be true. Historically, these numbers relate to the aspect ratio generally used by the TV industry and in a loose way are also related to the aspect ratio of the movies as invented by Thomas Edison almost 100 years ago. Computer resolution refers to the number of pixels on the face of the monitor. For example, a resolution of 800 x 600 means that there are 800 pixels wide on the monitor face and 600 pixels high. The width is always expressed before the height. In this example, if you multiply 800 x 600 you will get the number 480,000 and this represents the total number of pixels on the face of the monitor. The general rule that applies is that the greater the number of pixels the better the quality of the reproduced image. This same reasoning applies to both graphical and textual material. Of the two, graphical material is of course more difficult to reproduce and the number of pixels is of greater importance. Whom, or what, determines the resolution? You do. You set the resolution when you set up the computer when you take it out of the box. Each Windows version has a slightly different way of setting the resolution however they are all similar. For Windows XP go to Control Panel, Display, Setting and move the screen resolution slider to the desired resolution position. At the same time you can select the color quality from the pull down menu. The highest setting is (Highest 32 bit). By going to Advanced, you can set the monitor refresh rate and change the size of the text. Now, you are probably wondering what your setting(s) should be. Here are most of the standard resolutions that are ordinarily available for your monitor, however they may vary slightly depending on the size and model of your monitor: 640 x 480 800 x 600 1024 x 768 1280 x 1024 1600 x 1200 However, each size monitor has a recommended resolution number. Here are the recommended numbers: 17” 1024 x 768 19” 1280 x 1024 The capability of your computer to obtain the desired resolution depends on several things. For example, the graphics board that is in your computer and the quality of the monitor are predominant. A high quality graphics board will probably permit you to go to the highest setting your monitor will permit. You will have to look at the manual you received with your monitor to find the settings that are recommended and to determine other parameters of the monitor's capabilities. For some monitors, you must not go above a certain resolution or refresh rate for fear of harming the monitor. Another factor to consider is the Screen Refresh Rate. This represents the number of times per second the monitor screen is refreshed. If your monitor will permit a refresh rate of as high as 85 Hz, at the recommended monitor resolution, then choose that number. However, a refresh rate of 75 Hz is more likely the maximum number your monitor will permit unless you have a high quality monitor. The higher the refresh rate, the finer detail the picture and the better the quality of reproduction. Very low refresh rates such as 65 Hz are likely to produce annoying flicker and possibly jumpy text. This is very hard on your eyes and is to be avoided. To repeat, look in your monitor manual and determine the maximum refresh rate it will permit and try for that number at the recommended resolution of your monitor. I took a poll of 50 computer users to determine the monitor resolution they used. I was surprised to learn that, regardless of monitor size, the predominant resolution was 800 x 600. I also learned that most of the individuals were not aware that a higher resolution produced higher quality graphics representation on the monitor. Several individuals indicated that the higher resolution produced very small text and small icons on the desktop and therefore they had difficulty reading the text. All this is true; however these problems can easily be remedied. With Windows XP, go to Control Panel, Display, Appearances, font size and choose the larger font. Then go to Advanced, desktop, icons, to increase the size of the icons; then to icon spacing to adjust the horizontal and vertical spacing of the desktop icons. All these adjustments are important and will overcome the objection to smaller icons and smaller text and at the same time give you better quality graphics and text. In case you are interested, I have a 19” monitor. It is set for 1280 x 1024 pixels, 32 bit color quality and 90 Hz screen refresh rate. As you would expect at these numbers, it produces outstanding textual and graphics reproduction. Computer Society of West Florida - Pensacola George McGinnis- gpmcginnis@mchsi.com October 23, 2003 For Immediate Release FSPro Labs Releases Hide Folders XP 1.4 Hide folders to prevent unauthorized access and protect sensitive data stored in Windows XP and Windows 2000 computers. Hide Folders XP is a simple but ingenious program for Windows XP and 2000 users. In the days when almost all computers are tied in one or another type of network, protecting personal, sensitive data is critical. After installing Hide Folders XP, you can make invisible (hide) folders with important information to others, including people who access your computer directly or via a network. This means these files will be visible only to you. Network search, browsing, even removing an upper-level folder will not have any effect. Hide Folders XP is very easy in use - all hiding and "unhiding" is done with one mouse click. Up to 64 folders can be made invisible simultaneously. Importantly, Hide Folders XP comes with a password protection option, meaning even if the program is discovered on a workstation, accessing the protected folders is impossible. Hide Folders XP protects files from being accessed, edited and deleted and comes with NTFS, FAT32 and FAT volumes support. No file system structure modifications occurs during hiding. The program can run in a stealth mode (cannot be detected with Windows Task Manager), requires a password in order to be uninstalled and comes with a wealth of other options - such as "dummy protection" (does not allow system folders to be hidden, in order to avoid computer crash), and capability to delete files stored in the hidden folders from the recent documents list and recycle bin. The program offers multilingual support, hotkey option, is extremely easy to set up and run and has a very pleasant straightforward interface. Hide Folders XP is distributed electronically over the Internet; free demo version is available at http://www.fspro.net/ for evaluation. The price of a single copy is 24.95 US Dollars. There is a similar version of the program called Hide Folders for Windows 95, 98 and ME users. FSPro Labs is a small independent shareware company specializing in personal protection and corporate security products. Founded in 2000, it has already released several popular products - Hide Folders and Hide Folders XP, Lock My PC, Secure Credit Card and Access Boss. If you have any questions, would like to request editor's copy, want to inquire about special prices for volume buyers/software resellers, or have a business proposal, please contact Michael Karsyan at mike@fspro.net Company Website: http://www.fspro.net Product Page: http://www.fspro.net/hfxp/ Screenshots: http://www.fspro.net/img/hfxp/main.gif Download: http://www.fspro.net/download/hfxp.zip Buy Link: http://www.fspro.net/hfxp/purchase.html by Rick Mattingly Many users are creating scanned documents and images at far too high a resolution. This results in a file which is way larger than necessary. The majority of new model optical scanners are so user friendly that users are not taking the time to read the documentation. Read that documentation now. Not only will you see why too high a resolution scan is a waste of resources, you may also discover that the default settings which came with the unit are not optimal for your needs. Obtaining the optimal product from the scanner involves two decisions: physical image size desired for the end product and scanning resolution (dots per inch or dpi). If you are planning on utilizing the end product for printing an image at 2 inches x 2 inches, set the scanner settings to scan the target image at that size. This will result in the smallest file size for the job. The second decision will be the resolution to use. The following list outlines the optimal dpi resolution setting to use for common tasks on desktop equipment: E-mail 72 dpi Web Page 72-100 dpi Desktop Printer 72-100 dpi OCR 300 dpi by Ira Wilsker The final statistics on spam emails and viruses have been released by several organizations and companies, and it was not a good year for computer users who had to deal with them. Through awareness of what happened last year, we may be better prepared to deal with what we may encounter in 2004. Even though President Bush signed the “Can Spam” act, and it recently went into effect, the spam tracking companies have found no decrease in the amount of spam emails being sent, and in fact there are indications that it is still increasing at a rapid rate. According to the e-mail filtering service Brightmail (www.brightmail.com), the percentage of all emails in December, 2003, that were spam was 58%, compared to the January 2003 rate of 42%, a substantial increase. Of the spam filtered in December, Brightmail determined that 21% was for products advertising general goods and services, 18% was financially oriented, 18% was adult oriented, 9% was for outright scams, 6% each for health, leisure, or internet related, 3% was spiritual or religiously oriented, and 3% were for clear frauds. The marketing research and information company Synovate (www.synovate.com) found that the average American received an average of 155 spam emails per week, for each email account used. One out of five Americans received over 200 spams per week, in each account. Statistically, men receive more spam than women each week, 164 compared to 147, and there is no major difference in the rate of spam based on age ranges. Geographically, people living in the northeast received the fewest spam emails at 131 per week, while those of us living in the south received the most at 163. While many computer security experts have stated that the best way to fight spam is to simply delete it, 11% acknowledged having a transaction initiated by a spam mail. The commercial spam filtering company Commtouch (www.commtouch.com) reported that the single most common subject used by spammers was “Viagra”, or a substitute for Viagra. In order to attempt to slip by the spam filters commonly used, the spammers uses over 50 variations of the spelling of Viagra, according to Commtouch. They also reported that 28% of all spam contained some form of trickery in the subject line in order to penetrate the spam filters, and be delivered to the recipient. Far more destructive than spam mail was the proliferation of computer viruses, worms, Trojans, and spyware. According to the antivirus software company Panda (www.pandasoftware.com), over 3700 new viruses and worms, including variants, appeared in 2003, which was about a third more than appeared in 2002. Documented and projected damage from these digital vandals was enormous. The British security company “mi2g” (www.mi2g.com) calculated that the most damaging viruses and their variants of 2003, in terms of dollars of damage around the world, were Sobig ($36.7 billion), Klez ($19.4 billion), Yaha ($11.3 billion), Mimail ($10.5 billion - and still very active in 2004), and Swen ($10 billion). Mi2g also saw, “a meteoric rise in electronic crime: business interruption, financial fraud, "phishing" scams, extortion demands post distributed denial of service attacks, espionage and mass spam campaigns.” They attribute much of this increase to global criminal syndicates, and extremist group activities, the 2003 rate being several times more than in 2002. According to “mi2g”, the most frequent victims were home users, and small to medium businesses. Users of broadband internet access were more frequent targets than dialup users. There also was a dramatic increase in “pfishing” and other elaborate scams to ensnare victims into disclosing sensitive personal and financial information through fraudulent email and websites appearing to be authentic banking, retail, or other commercial websites. Many customers of major banks, retailers, credit card companies, and online services were duped into providing their information to thieves who used that information to conduct financial transactions, steal their identities, hijack their internet access for nefarious purposes, or commit other criminal activities. Mi2g also predicts that 2004 will see a worsening of cyber problems, with the rate of spam increasing to 66% of all email (despite recent US and European laws designed to restrict the practice), spam costing the world economy $60 billion in lost productivity and other costs. Mi2g also predict that there will be a greater merging of spam, viruses, worms, and Trojans in 2004, where personal computers hijacked by viruses and worms will be used to generate spam at far higher numbers than in 2003, or attack other computers. Where virus writers used to be vandals seeking notoriety, 2004 will see a dramatic increase of viruses and worms created for financial gain, identity theft, or infrastructure attack, with some of the most dangerous being politically motivated. It is predicted that while much of the politically motivated “hactivism” will originate in Moslem countries, with unofficial reprisals from American, British, Indian, and Israeli hackers. “Pfishing”, the attempt to steal sensitive personal information by tricking the victim into thinking that he is responding to a legitimate request from his credit card company, bank, or retailer with which he has a relationship, is expected to continue to increase, resulting in a continued loss of confidence in our established institutions. Our personal risks can be reduced by using common sense, deleting all spam and other questionable emails without opening them, using updated antivirus, firewall, and anti-spyware software, and never disclosing personal information without verifying the necessity and destination of that information. As the gruff sergeant on the “Hill Street Blues” said at the end of every roll call, “Be careful out there!” Ira Wilsker is the Advisor for Region 8, APCUG Representative & Bylaws Chair for the Golden Triangle PC Club, a columnist for The Examiner in Beaumont, Texas, and has two radio shows. He also graciously shares his articles with the APCUG editors. There is no restriction against any non-profit 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. by Rick Mattingly The USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface port has been around for quite a while, but is just now coming into it's own as the peripheral interface of choice. Virtually every new hardware device (printer, digital camera, optical scanner, etc.) is now coming equipped with a USB port connection. USB has a number of advantages over the older port interface standards, such as serial and parallel. USB is faster, allows for devices to be chained together on the same port and is hot-pluggable. And, by chaining inexpensive hubs together, you even can drive up to 127 devices from a single USB host port. Great news for all those new USB peripherals! The original USB port standard was dubbed version 1.1. If your USB equipped PC is more than one year old, it is probably equipped with version 1.1 USB ports. Version 2.0 USB ports (also known as Hi-Speed USB ports) have been available since mid-2002. The version 2.0 port provides a dramatic increase in transfer rate over the version 1.1 port. USB 2.0 has a transfer rate of 480 Mb/sec (Megabits per second) - 40 times faster than USB 1.1. The difference in transfer rate is quite noticeable in real time application! If your computer is a newer model it is probably already equipped with Hi-Speed USB ports -- you lucky dog. But, what if you are stuck with the older version 1.1 ports on your system? Fortunately, the solution is quick and inexpensive. Version 2.0 USB port expansion cards are available in the $20 range. Simply install this card into an empty slot on your motherboard and you now have both 1.1 and 2.0 version USB ports available on your system. These add-in cards come with software drivers for Windows 98, 98SE, ME, 2000 and XP. Now, for some first hand experience with USB 2.0. In theory, version 2.0 USB devices are supposed to operate on a version 1.1 port (at the slower version 1.1 transfer rate). I have not personally had much luck with this capability. With numerous applications I have found that the 1.1 port simply does not see or acknowledge the version 2.0 device. If you are planning to utilize a version 2.0 hardware device do not bother with the version 1.1 port. Version 2.0 expansion cards are so inexpensive that it is not worth the headache, even if the slower connection does work. Also, in theory, the reverse should be true by USB standard. A version 1.1 device should connect and run at slower speed on a USB 2.0 port. The same cautions apply here, although I have not personally experienced this as an issue as much as the other way around. And, some "heads up" regarding Hi-Speed USB. When connecting a version 2.0 hardware device to a version 2.0 port make sure to use a version 2.0 rated USB cable! I have seen this frustrating experience first hand more than once. If the device and port are both USB 2.0 but the connection does not work, suspect the cable. And finally, maximum total cable length for USB from the host port (at the computer motherboard) is 15 feet. Exceed this distance and expect problems! This reminds me of several related issues - access to the USB ports and power. In the past, USB ports have typically been installed on the rear of most PC's. Nothing is more inconvenient than standing on one's head to connect a USB cable to a port on the rear. This is why most newer PC's are coming equipped with USB port connections on the front of the case. USB ports are even appearing now on many keyboard housings for the same reason. If the USB ports on your system are still hiding at the rear of the case this is a great reason to add an inexpensive USB hub device. The hub is cabled to one of the rear USB ports and may then be positioned up front where connection is quick and convenient. And, at the same time, you have also multiplied the number of USB ports available. What a deal! USB hubs come with a power brick to add power at the hub. Many USB devices operate at such low power levels that the separate power connection at the hub may not be necessary, as marginal power is being provided by connection to the host port. However, if the device does not function from an un-powered hub -- add the power brick! For more information on this topic visit the official USB standards and information site, USB Org, online at http://www.usb.org . by Rick Mattingly It is a good practice to plug all your computer components into a power strip or UPS and control power with one switch. However, leave your inkjet printer out of this plan! Inkjet printers are designed to park the printhead of the cartridge into an airtight pad to prevent the ink from drying and clogging. This parking process is controlled by the power switch on the inkjet printer itself. Bypassing the printer's power switch can strand the printhead in the open unsealed. For this reason, always turn your inkjet printer on and off using the power switch on the printer itself. This issue is also one of the reasons that many new inkjet models are now coming without a power switch at all. After no activity for a defined amount of time these models will power down to a trickle charge, as well as park the printhead automatically. Windows Support Date Extended Paid support for Windows 98, Windows 98 SE, and Windows Millennium Edition has been extended until the end of June 2006. - IMPORTANT NOTICE - FRPCUG meetings are held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Check below for directions to the Senior Center. February General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, February 3 at 7:00 pm. Meeting Agenda 7:00 - 7:15 Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 LP Broadband 7:30 - 8:45 Intel Centrino Technology 8:45 - 9:00 Break 9:00 - 9:30 Open Forum March General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, March 2 at 7:00 pm. Meeting Agenda 7:00 - 7:15 Announcements 7:15 - 7:30 Nomination of Officers 7:30 - 8:45 Genealogy and the Computer 8:45 - 9:00 Break 9:30 - 9:30 Open Forum See you at the meetings! Fort Collins Senior Center Thanks We want to thank the following FRPCUG members for assisting with training at the Fort Collins Senior Center over the past year. Our apologies if we have overlooked anyone. Don Anderson Dennis Nemitz Jim Bragonier Chuck McJilton Jim Willard Hugh McFadden Brandt Irion Bert Boekstra Mike Meyer Howard Norland Virginia Febinger Rick Mattingly Your assistance is not only greatly appreciated - it paid our monthly meeting space rent at the Senior Center. Thanks again everyone! Thanks to FRPUG member Jim Bramblett for providing the presentation at the January FRPCUG Meeting. Jim's presentation was a timely and detailed treatise on DVD technology. Jim shared his first-hand experience and knowledge with this media and equipment. DVD is rapidly becoming the new storage media of choice and Jim's information dispelled much of the confusion. Thanks Jim! Directions The Fort Collins Senior Center is located at 1200 Raintree Drive. This site is situated at the northwest corner of the Shields and West Drake intersection, on the north side of the Raintree Shopping Center. Check the marquee at the main entrance for directions to the specific meeting room. Up-Coming SIG's, Seminars and Meetings Board Meeting FRPCUG's executive board meets on Wednesday of the week following the General Forum Meeting at 7:00 p.m. All members are welcome and are encouraged to attend. These meetings are held at the offices of JYM Information Systems: 1630 S College Avenue in Fort Collins. New Technology SIG The LINUX SIG and the Telecommunications SIG have been combined to form the new Advanced Systems Support SIG. This SIG provides advanced support for all PC-related operating system and telecommunication issues. The meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month at the offices of JYM Information Systems: 311 S College Avenue in Fort Collins. For more information contact Chuck McJilton at 493-2987 or email telecomsig@jymis.com. Northern Front Range Netware Users Group NFRNUG meets at 5:30 pm on the second Wednesday of each month at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife building, 2101 Oakridge Drive in Fort Collins. NFRNUG meetings are open to any users that are involved with Novell networking products and integration of other networking products into the Novell environment (Unix, NT, Mac, etc.). Contact Jim Stephens at 303-541-3376 or jcsteph@concentric.net or contact Chuck Kluko at 970-663-4770 or c.kluko@ix.netcom.com for further membership information. Yearly dues are $000.00 (yes, FREE) with pizza and pop served at 5:00 pm prior to meeting. Saturday labs and training sessions open to NRFNUG members only, space is limited. Rocky Mountain Internet Users Group Meets on the second Tuesday of 'odd' months at NCAR in Boulder. Meetings start at 7:00 pm, but members are encouraged to arrive at 6:30 pm for informal networking and refreshments. NCAR is located in Boulder at 1850 Table Mesa Drive. For more information see the RMIUG Web site at: http://www.rmiug.org/. Web Design SIG If you're an HTML author/WEB page designer, or would like to learn, contact SIG coordinator Doug Boicourt at 495-6949 or e-mail db@jymis.com for the date and location of the next SIG meeting. Upcoming FRPCUG Meetings Along with presentations of new hardware and software, we will certainly continue to present tips, hints, solutions, as well as what is new with Public Domain and Shareware offerings. If you have ideas for presentations which you would like to see at future General Forum meetings or seminars, please let us know. We would appreciate the input and opportunity to improve your meetings. Know of a another computer-related meeting in our area? Please let us know so we can post it here. FRPCUG OFFICERS FOR 2004 Election of officers was completed at the December 3 meeting. Officers for 2004 are as follows: President: Rick Mattingly Vice President: Don Anderson Secretary: Jim Bragonier Treasurer: Virginia Febinger In addition, Robert Clayton has volunteered to share Treasurer duties with Virginia. Thanks Robert! 3 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00PM 11 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00P 19 New Technology SIG 7:00PM March 2004 2 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00PM 10 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00P 18 New Technology SIG 7:00PM SHOULD MY LOVED ONE BE PLACED IN AN ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY? For family members, it is often the most difficult and painful decision they will face: to accept that a loved one - a parent, a spouse, perhaps even a sibling - is technologically impaired and should no longer be allowed to live independently, or come near a computer or electronic device without direct supervision. The time has come to place that loved one into the care of an Assisted Computing Facility. But naturally you have questions. So many questions. We at Silicon Pines want to help. WHAT EXACTLY IS AN "ASSISTED COMPUTING FACILITY"? Sometimes referred to as "Homes for the Technologically Infirm", "Technical Invalid Care Centers," or "Homes for the Technically Challenged," Assisted Computing Facilities (ACFs) are modeled on assisted living facilities, and provide a safe, structured residential environment for those unable to handle even the most common, everyday multi-tasks. Most fully accredited ACFs, like Silicon Pines, are an oasis of hope and encouragement that allow residents to lead productive, technologically relevant lives without the fear and anxiety associated with actually having to understand or execute the technologies themselves. WHO SHOULD BE IN AN ACF? Sadly, technology is advancing at such a dramatic rate that many millions, of all ages, will never truly be able to understand it, putting an undue burden on those friends and family members who must explain it to them. But unless the loved one is suffering from a truly debilitating affliction, such as Reinstallzheimers, the decision to commit is entirely personal. You must ask yourself: "How frustrated am I that my parent/sibling/spouse is unable to open an email attachment?" "How much of my time should be taken up explaining how RAM is different from hard drive memory?" "How many times can I bear to hear my dad say, 'Hey, can I replace the motherboard with a fatherboard? Ha ha ha!'" To make things easier, we have prepared a list of Warning Signs which we encourage you to return to often, or, if you can't figure out how to bookmark it, print out. Also, please take a moment to read "I'm Glad I'm in Here! - A Resident's Story." MUST IT BE FAMILY, OR CAN I PLACE ANYONE IN AN ACF? Several corporations have sought permission to have certain employees, or at times entire sales departments, committed to ACFs. At present, however, individuals can be committed only by direct family or self-internment. The reason is simple: there are not nearly enough ACFs in the world to accommodate all the technologically challenged. For example, there are currently only 860,000 beds available in ACFs, but there are 29 million AOL users. HOW MUCH WILL IT COST? ACF rents range from free up to $12,500 per month. The disparity is currently a point of contention in the ACF industry. Many residents are covered through government programs such as CompuAid or CompuCare, but reimbursement rates are low and only cover a portion of the fees. Exacerbating the situation are the HelpDesk Maintenance Organizations (HMOs), which often deny coverage, forcing residents to pay out of pocket or turn to expensive private techcare insurers such as BlueCache/BlueScreen. Offsetting the costs are technology companies themselves, many of which subsidize ACFs. Firms such as Microsoft, Dell, Qualcomm, and America Online will pay up to 100% of a resident's monthly bill, but there is a catch. ISPs, for instance, require residents to sign service contracts lasting a year or more. Microsoft, meanwhile, prohibits the installation of any competitive software, while Priceline requires that residents buy shares of it's stock, which seems onerous but saves residents on lavatory tissue. HOW OLD MUST I BE TO HAVE SOMEONE COMMITTED? Until very recently, you had to be 18 or older to legally commit a family member. However, the now famous British court case Frazier vs. Frazier and Frazier has cleared the way for minors to commit their parents. In that case, 15-year-old Bradley Frazier of Leicester had his 37-year-old parents committed to an ACF in Bournemouth after a judge ruled Ian and Janet Frazier were a "danger to themselves and the community." According to court records, Bradley told his parents about the I LoveYou virus and warned them not to click attachments, then the next day his Parents received an I Love You email and clicked on the attachment because, they explained, "it came from someone we know." WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR IN AN ACF? First, make sure it's a genuine Assisted Computing Facility, and not an Assisted Living Facility. To tell the difference, observe the residents. If they look rather old and tend to openly discuss bowel movements, this is probably 'assisted living.' On the other hand, if they vary in age and say things like, "I'm supposed to figure that out? I'm not Bill Gates you know!," this is probably 'assisted computing.' Also, at a well-run ACF, residents should lead full, independent lives, and should be allowed the use of many technology devices, including telephones, electrictoothbrushes, and alarm clocks. However, only a facility's Licensed Techcare Professionals (LTPs) should perform computational or technological tasks such as installing programs or saving email attachments. And LTPs should NEVER answer residents' questions because studies have shown that answering user questions inevitably makes things worse. Instead, residents should simply have things done for them, relieving them of the pressure to "learn" or "improve." CAN A RESIDENT EVER GET OUT? No. OK, THIS SOUNDS PROMISING. HOW CAN I LEARN MORE? For your enlightenment, we offer extensive information on Silicon Pines and the ACF lifestyle, which can be found by clicking one of the links in the navigation bars found at both the top and bottom of this page. But whatever you decide, keep in mind that due to demand, ACFs now have long waiting lists. WebTV & AOL users alone will take years to absorb. We look forward to your response. Thank you. CHH Thanks to R. Glenn York for the humor! "I am." is said to be the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Some people think "I do." is the longest. DOS AIR: All the passengers go out onto the runway, grab hold of the plane, push it until it gets in the air, hop on, and jump off when it hits the ground again. Then they grab the plane again, push it back into the air, hop on, etcetera. WINDOWS AIRLINES: The terminal is very neat and clean, the attendants are all very attractive and the pilots very capable. The fleet is immense. Your jet takes off without a hitch, pushing above the clouds, and at 20,000 feet it explodes without warning. MAC AIRWAYS: Tickets are expensive. The cashiers, flight attendants, and pilots all look the same, feel the same and act the same. When asked questions about the flight they reply that you don't want to know, don't need to know, and would you please return to your seat and watch the movie. LINUX EXPRESS: Each passenger brings a piece of the airplane and a box of tools to the airport. They gather on the tarmac, arguing constantly about what kind of plane they want to build and how to put it together. Eventually, they build several different aircraft, but give them all the same name. Some passengers actually reach their destinations. All passengers believe they got there. Q. My system runs Windows 98 SE. I had 512MB of memory but increased to 1GB because of dropping memory prices. But my system constantly displays messages saying that the system is running out of memory or doesn't have enough memory to run certain programs. This never happened before I upgraded! A. Windows 9x (95, 98, and Me) is not designed to support that much memory-at least not in its default configuration. At start-up, it reserves space for a memory cache called Vcache, whose size is proportional to the amount of memory on the system. This space is drawn from a memory area called the system arena, which is used by Windows internally for other purposes. When the amount of memory is much larger than 512MB, the Vcache can consume all or most of the system arena, causing Windows to report insufficient memory. The solution is to put a lid on the amount of memory allocated to the Vcache. Open the file C:\Windows\System.ini in Notepad and find the section header [vcache]. Look within this section for a line beginning MaxFileCache=. If you don't see this line before the next section header (the next line of text in square brackets), insert a MaxFileCache= line just after the [vcache] header. You need to set it to 512MB, but the values are expressed in kilobytes, so the correct number is 512 multiplied by 1,024, or 524,288. Edit the line so it reads MaxFilecache=524288, save the System.ini file, and restart your system. And people wonder why are they paid so much for just being on the phone. Take a look: Tech Support: "I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop." Customer "Ok." Tech Support: "Did you get a pop-up menu?" Customer: "No." Tech Support: "Ok. Right click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?" Customer "No." Tech Support:: "Ok, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?" Customer: "Sure, you told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'." Customer: "I received the software update you sent, but I am still getting the same error message." Tech Support:: "Did you install the update?" Customer: "No. Oh, am I supposed to install it to get it to work?" Customer:: "I'm having trouble installing Microsoft Word." Tech Support:: "Tell me what you've done." Customer: "I typed 'A:SETUP'." Tech Support:: "Ma'am, remove the disk and tell me what it says." Customer:: "It says '[PC manufacturer] Restore and Recovery disk'." Tech Support:: "Insert the MS Word setup disk." Customer:: "What?" Tech Support: "Did you buy MS word?" Customer: "No..." Customer:: "Do I need a computer to use your software?" Tech Support:: ?!%#$ Tech Support:: "Ok, in the bottom left hand side of the screen, can you see the 'OK' button displayed?" Customer: "Wow. How can you see my screen from there?" Tech Support:: "What type of computer do you have?" Customer:: "A white one." Tech Support:: "Type 'A:' at the prompt." Customer:: "How do you spell that?" Tech Support: "Is your computer on a separate telephone line?" Customer: "No." (clicks the button to log on to our service) Tech Support:: "Well then we can't-" Customer:: "It says 'no dial tone'." Tech Support: "That's because you're on the line with me right now. You need to-" Customer:: "No, that's not it. It does this all the time. I just have to try a few times, and it will let me through." Tech Support:: "No, ma'am. It's not even trying to dial right now because you're on the phone with me." Customer: "It must be busy. I'll try again later." Tech Support: "What's on your screen right now?" Customer: "A stuffed animal that my boyfriend got me at the grocery store." Tech Support:: "What operating system are you running?" Customer: "Pentium." Customer: "My computer's telling me I performed an illegal abortion." Customer: "I have Microsoft Exploder." Customer: "How do I print my voicemail?" Customer: "You've got to fix my computer. I urgently need to print a document, but the computer won't boot properly." Tech Support: "What does it say?" Customer: "Something about an error and non-system disk." Tech Support: "Look at your machine. Is there a floppy inside?" Customer: "No, but there's a sticker saying there's an Intel inside." Tech Support: "Just call us back if there's a problem. We're open 24 hours." Customer: "Is that Eastern time?" Tech Support:: "What does the screen say now?" Customer: "It says, 'Hit ENTER when ready'." Tech Support:: "Well?" Customer: "How do I know when it's ready?" by Ira Wilsker No, this is not about using the Internet to cook your food, but instead as a resource for culinary information. Whether you are looking for some novel way to re-serve your abundant holiday leftovers, or some novel new meal, the internet may be a valuable resource. A quick review of the Yahoo cooking directory at dir.yahoo.com/Society_and_Culture/Food_and_Drink/Cooking reveals over 3000 websites with recipes, and thousands of other websites with related topics. The directory is divided into subdirectories with headings such as “By Ingredient”, Cookbooks, Cooking Methods, Drinks, Ethnic and Regional, Holidays and Occasions, Humor, Name Brands, Special Dietary Needs, Specific Courses and Dishes, and Web Directories. My oldest daughter recently called asking for help for a housewarming she was hosting at her new condo in Miami. She had special requests for vegetarian, low carbohydrate, Kosher, and other specialty dishes. Not being a gourmand herself, she needed help. This Yahoo directory provided the resources that she needed to meet the needs of all of her guests. A brief review of the ten most popular recipe sites as determined by Yahoo show the diversity of tastes that can be satisfied by using the web as a resource. The most popular recipe site, according to Yahoo, is allrecipes.com. This site is self-described as “Your home for great recipes, meal ideas and cooking advice.” At this single website, in addition to thousands of recipes being directly available are recipes and links to other well known resources and brands, such as Hershey, Borden, Keebler, Kellogg, McCormick, Nestle, Crisco, Herb-Ox, and Smuckers. Recipes from popular magazines including Southern Living, Cooking Light, Sunset, and other magazines and periodicals are also available or linked directly from this site. Additional resources are also available for special dietary needs. With the information available on this site, one could feed his family for years without duplicating a menu. The website topsecretrecipes.com has a secret recipe of the week, which is only on the site for a week, with a new “secret recipe” appearing every Monday. As I type this, the weekly secret recipe is Olive Garden's excellent Tiramisu, described on the site as, “A delicious combination of mascarpone cheese, cream cheese, lady fingers, espresso and Kahlua”. I am getting hungry just reading the page! Where would our kitchens be today if it were not for the ubiquitous Betty Crocker? Bettycrocker.com has an outstanding and large selection of recipes for every taste. Recipes can be easily browsed by categories such as appetizers and snacks, breakfast and brunch, lunches, dinners, desserts, beverages, breads, side dishes, and other scrumptious and delectable choices. For those interested in what others are cooking, there is also an updated list of the most popular dishes selected from the site. Bettycrocker.com also offers a convenient free online service (registration required), “Your recipe Clippings”, and an electronic file of individually selected recipes. By using this service, a customized web based cookbook can be created. Buried deep in my kitchen are several small file boxes with rough edged clippings from a variety of sources collected over decades. With the online clippings service, these old boxes are approaching obsolescence. I have frequently been at a restaurant, and liked what I had to eat. I had wondered if these dishes could be easily duplicated at home. A site copyKat.com, which proclaims on its banner “You've tried it in the restaurant; now make it at home” offers this opportunity. As I opened up this site I was greeted with the recipe of the day, “Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Hash Brown Casserole”. One of my coworkers is a faithful Luby's patron, and frequently brags about the fine meals she and her family has at Luby's. CopyKat.com has several Luby's recipes, including Hawaiian Pie, Butternut Brownie Pie, Italian Chicken Breast, Macaroni and Cheese, and many others. Nearby in the list under “L” are Luther's BBQ sauce, and Lindy's Famous Cheesecake. A quick look at the “O” category revealed a multitude of recipes from Olive Garden, Outback, Otis Spunkmeyer, and other highly recognizable names. The site is easy to navigate, and a pleasure to browse, except for the popup ads which I found annoying. A most interesting and comprehensive site is www.recipesource.com, where there is an outstanding collection of ethnic and national foods listed both by region and by type of dish. I have traveled extensively, both domestically and internationally, and it is on this site that I found many of the unusual dishes that I enjoyed. Persian, Indian, and Vietnamese dishes are but a few of the many listed. With Chinese food being very popular, this site has 899 recipes for both authentic and Americanized Chinese foods. French, Greek, Swiss, Mexican, and Italian are but a few of the nationality based directories on recipesource.com. In addition to the ethnic listings, this site also offers a cross-reference based on the type of dish. What I found especially interesting was the section for restricted and specialty diets, including baby food, diabetic, gluten free, and vegetarian. Of the many websites I reviewed for this column, this one was my personal favorite. Enough for this week; I think I gained 10 pounds just fantasizing about the delights I found. Until next week, bon appetite! Ira Wilsker is the Advisor for Region 8, APCUG Representative & Bylaws Chair for the Golden Triangle PC Club, a columnist for The Examiner in Beaumont, Texas, and has two radio shows. He also graciously shares his articles with the APCUG editors. by Al Harrison Domain Names: The Rosetta Stone for Navigating the Web The fundamental Web-way for a previously-visited Web site to be recalled and to entertain visiting a new site is for a literal or suggestive domain name to be used. Thus, to visit the Web site of Compaq Computer, the domain name “compaq.com” is the obvious choice. Similarly, to visit the HAL-PC site, the domain name “hal-pc.org” is the first choice. As has become appreciated by regular Web-surfers and by businesses enjoying a presence on the Web, the easier the mnemonic captured in the domain name, the easier it is for surfers to routinely locate and visit the site. Ergo, as an “idiot-proof” vehicle for locating Web sites, domain names have evolved during the 1990's as a valuable asset to businesses, organizations, and individuals alike for reaching customers or potential customers. For individuals, businesses, and organizations seeking an Internet presence, since a domain name provides a “handle” for customers to latch onto a Web site, acronyms and mnemonics are selected not only to enable surfers to easily recall a site, but also to enable surfers to distinguish the contents of a site or perhaps the products or services offered by a vendor of a site from competitors' products and services. That is, a domain name not only identifies and associates a Web site with an IP address, but also tends to identify and distinguish the source of products and services displayed on the site. By serving to identify and distinguish the source of products and services, domain names are performing a trademark function: marketing and sales. Hence, this constitutes the basis for controversy between domain name registrants and trademark owners: simultaneous use of an established trademark by its owner and a use of a domain name incorporating the same or similar trademark by a vendor having an Internet presence. How does this controversy get resolved? One approach is to invoke the Anticybersquatting Consumer Protection Act (“ACPA”) that became law on November 29, 1999 (the text of Public Law 106-113 may be reviewed via the National Archives and Records Administration at www.access.gpo. gov/nara/naraoo5.html). The ACPA may be considered to be a plug-in to Section 43 of the Lanham Act. Section 43(d) of the ACPA defines prohibited “cybersquatting” and “cyberpiracy” activity occurring when a URL registrant benefits from the goodwill associated with an established trademark by engaging in the bad faith registration of, trafficking in, and/or use of a domain name that is prohibited. To prevail against a cyberpirate, a trademark owner must prove that the domain name in issue is either identical or so similar to the protected trademark to cause mistake, confusion, or deception, or to cause dilution of the trademark owner's reputation and integrity associated with the trademark. Injunctive relief may be obtained for all domain names registered before, on, or after the effective date of the ACPA, but damages may only be awarded for unlawful actions that occurred on or after this date. Besides affording legitimate trademark owners a new cause of action, this statute facilitates service upon cybersquatters: the option of in rem jurisdiction is provided for circumventing the elusive problem of achieving personal jurisdiction over cyberpirates who exist somewhere in cyberspace. That is, in rem jurisdiction is available over the domain name not the cybersquatter. It should be clear that while this new species of in rem lawsuit actuates an end-run around the personal service hurdle, it limits the trademark owner's award to domain name-based recovery. That is, a victorious trademark owner is awarded the rights to use the domain name, but not damages or attorney fees. Al Harrison, a previous president of HAL-PC, is a patent attorney with the Houston firm of Harrison & Egbert. Having a background in engineering and operations research, and having worked as a programmer, systems analyst and designer, consultant, author, and lecturer in the computer industry, he practices intellectual property law concentrating in computer and online law. Al has been chair of the Computer Section and chair of the Computer Law Committee of the Intellectual Property Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. He has been chair of the Computer & Online Law Section and Law Practice Management Section of the Houston Bar Association. He speaks regularly at seminars and courses on computer and online law, intellectual property, and technology issues. November, 2000 issue of Hal-Pc User Group newsletter FOR SALE: Viewsonic 17GA 17" monitor with speakers in bezel. Must see/hear this monitor to appreciate how wonderful it is. $100 or best offer. Paul, 484-7680 FOR SALE: Gateway 800C Desktop w/Monitor, 20GB Hard Drive plus Epson Stylus Color 777 printer. Less than one year old. Only $600 complete. Contact Frances in Fort Collins at (970) 224-0776. Members: Place your FREE ad here! About Trading Post k-Byte runs classified ads in Trading Post for three consecutive issues. Trading Post ads up to 10 lines (or 70 words) long are free to FRPCUG members: $5 for non-members. To place an ad in Trading Post contact Rick Mattingly at 223-2154 or email rmatt@jymis.com. Commercial Advertising Specifications (Monthly rate) Full Page (8 1/2” X 7”) $30 Half Page (3 1/4” X 7”) $20 One Third Page (3” X 4”) $15 Business Card (2 3/4” X 1 1/2”) $ 5 We offer a substantial discount for repeat ads and continuing contracts. For additional charge, we will design your ad for you. Contact Will Horton for information on this service at 223-2154 or email whorton@willsigns.com. |