Front Range PC Users Group Newsletter k-Byte
	v. 23, n. 3/4 March/April 2006	Users Helping Users

Features	Norton 2006¹	McAfee 2006²	PC-Cillan 2005³	CA eTrust2005	Titanium 2006 Beta
What is the user experience? Does the product provide system, data and security feedback in a single, integrated interface?
Integrated interface that captures overall security status	YES	YES	YES	NO	NO
Notification to the customer of security status	YES	NO	YES	YES	YES
Communication of when recommended security settings have been compromised	YES	YES	YES	NO	YES
Self-Help support with active links to online documents on error dialogs	YES	NO	NO	NO	NO

Contents   1 The Care and Feeding of CD's - Lynn L. Kauer   2 About k-Byte   5 Digital Duo - Mike Morris   7 E-mail Turns 34  8 Sony BMG-Shame on You! - John Brewer 11 Is Freeware/Shareware Worth While? - Brian K. Lewis 14 Calendar of Events 16 April/May Calendars 18 Membership Application 19 Portable Version of OpenOffice.org Now Available 19 Do Anti-Spam Programs Really Work? - Vinny LaBash 21 Tip of the Month 21 Ram & Reason: 2005 Computer Equipment Recalls - Bob Rice 22 Tech News - Sue Crane 24 Software and Website Reviews - Herb Goldstein 30 Trading Post 31 FRPCUG Contacts "One man's remorse is another's reminiscence" Ogden Nash Care and Feeding of CD's by Lynn L. Kauer, Editor Saginaw Valley Computer Association llkauer@chartermi.net I read an interesting article in the September 2005 issue of Popular Photography written by David D. Busch titled, "The Truth About Disc Rot." It paralleled some other magazine and news articles I have read on the same subject. The following is what we should know and understand about CD (and DVD) discs as storage devices. For the purposes of this article, CD's and DVD's are considered the same as far as backup media is concerned. The only difference is that DVD's can hold more data. We save things that are important to us. Those of us who take digital photos know that simply storing them on the hard drive of our computer is not a wise or safe thing to do as the disc may crash and we will loose everything. Thus, we copy the photos to a CD or DVD disc so that they will be always available for a long period of twenty or more years. However, will they really be there when we look for them? The media of choice for backup and storage purposes less than ten years ago was tape backup. Some commercial enterprises continue to use digital tape for backup purposes. Tape is rarely used, if at all, for home use anymore. Actually, the backup media of choice for commercial use is moving toward external hard drives. Where does the CD fall into all of this? There are hosts of backup utilities that utilize the CD for backup purposes. Most CD manufacturers advertise that CD media is good for 20 to 100 years depending on the depth of marketing they are trying to offer. The National Institute of Standards Technology (NIST) tests products for longevity. The catch is that longevity is available if the user adheres to very strict rules and standards. Let us look at some interesting facts. Handling When a CD is burned, a laser shoots through the bottom of the disc into the dye layer located under the top protective plastic covering on at the top of the CD. This is the layer where the laser burns pits into the dye layer to allow the computer to interpret what is being written by the CD burner. When the bottom side of the disc becomes scratched or soiled, the laser is diffused and the data is not clearly written. Secondly, if the top layer becomes damaged, moisture can penetrate the surface and cause the layer to slowly disintegrate and is the beginning of what is called "Disc Rot." How often have you watched someone open a CD case and directly pull on the edges of a CD until it is released from the case? Notice how the CD is bent while it is being removed? This bending is causing tiny cracks to develop in the reflective (protective) layer of the CD. To properly remove a CD from the case, press down on the inside of the retaining plastic that holds the CD in place. This causes the retaining ring to become slightly smaller so that the CD slides off easily with out bending forces. When handling, always pick up or carry the CD by the outer edge. Avoid placing your fingers on the read (bottom) side of the disc as this will cause acid penetration of both protective layers to begin. Reliability CD-R is a disc that that can be written to once while CD-RW are discs that can be written to many times; reportedly 1000 times. CD's that are the least reliable for archival purposes are the CD-RW's. These discs include a layer that is altered by the CD burner each time it is rewritten. Experience has shown that when these discs are used with another computer, it is a common for the second computer to be unable to read it. I burn a new music CD monthly for each show that I do. (I entertain at nursing and retirement homes.) I burned and placed the CD-RW into my karaoke player, it would not recognize it. In addition, my second computer would not recognize it either. Only the computer that originally burned the CD was able to read it! Imagine if I had saved all of my music and photo images on a CD-RW. When the computer would eventually be replaced, the disc would likely be unreadable. It is better to save data on CD-R discs, as they are readable with any computer with a CD player. CD-R's aren't permanent either. The organic dyes layer that the burner works with are similar to dyes in film. When exposed to sunlight, heat, cold, humidity and UV exposure the dye layer changes over time. How often have you watched someone place a CD on the dashboard of a car or keep it in a glove box? Proper storage of CD's is critical to their useful longevity. Dyes There are many types of dyes used for the production of a CD. To quote the above mentioned author, "Under the NIST's accelerated "stress test," which includes exposure to very bright light, high temperature and humidity, recorded CD discs using phthalocyanine dye combined with a gold/silver shallow reflective layer proved to be considerably more stable than all other types of CD-R media. Discs using azo dye as the data layer had less stability under light, temperature and humidity testing. Media using cyanine dye performed well when exposed to light, but had longevity problems under temperature and humidity stress. DVD's, which generally use a modified form of a stabilized cyanine dye for the recording layer, are less predictable in terms of longevity. NIST data suggest that, despite lower data capacity, you might be better off in the long run using premium CD-R's instead of DVD+/-R discs." The author went on to say that it's not always possible to tell what kind of dye was used for the manufacture of the disc because the dyes can be tinted. Cyanine based CD's (most common) have a light green or blue tint on the data side. Phthalocyanine dyes are often light green while the azo dye tends to have a blue color. While it's possible to tell the dye type by reading the specs from the manufacturer, a better indicator might be the reflective layer. If a gold reflective layer was used then the likelihood of using a good quality dye is increased. Be aware, some cheap discs appearing to have a gold layer may be simply paint. Buyer beware! Recommended brand discs are Fujifilm, Imation, Kodak, Maxell, TDK, Verbatim and Mitsui/MAM-A. Protection and Care of CD's Manufacturers recommend storing CD's vertically in a cool, dry area instead of horizontally. The reason is to prevent warping and damage from humidity. Also, never use solvent based pens to write on them similar to permanent felt tipped pens. The solvent can penetrate the protective layer and damage the reflective layer below. The only safe place to write on the top of a CD is in the clear center portion of the hub when using a felt tipped pen. It is better to apply a label to the top of the disc for identification purposes. Never write on the label with a ballpoint pen when it is applied to the disc. The tip of the pen can cause stress cracks in the protective layer. When using CD-RW discs, I use removable labels from digital innovations: (http://www.digitalinnovations.com). They can be written on many times and then removed and replaced as necessary. For discs that I intend to keep for archival purposes I print the contents on the label with an ink jet printer (http://www.fellowes.com). When cleaning to remove fingerprints or smudges on the read side on the read side of the disc, always use a CD or lens cloth wiping radially out from the center. Never clean using small circular motions on small portions of the disc as it can cause diffusion of the laser beam. Isopropyl alcohol or clear or soapy water can be used to clean a grimy disc. Never use acetone, anti-static agents or wood based products such as toilet paper or facial tissue to clean a disc. When applying labels, be sure to center the label on the disc to avoid "off balance" condition when the disc is being used. When the disc is rotated at high speeds, the "off balance" condition can unbalance the disc and cause problems with high speed readers. For this reason I purchased a label applicator that perfectly centers the label each time versus putting the label on the disc "by eye." The Future Like the 1.4 MB floppy drive, tape drives, Zip discs and LS 120 disks that are no longer being used, the CD as we know it will likely bite the dust in about ten years. I predict the media of choice for backup and archival purposes will be that of external drive media similar to USB jump drives and flash card burners or other external drive sources. Personally, I use a 160 GB external hard drive to backup my computer data including music and photo files. Because of transportability, I also backup my music and photos on CD's and store them at an offsite location in a safety deposit box. Back to the Top About k-Byte 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 ©2006 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, Windows, or UNIX/LINUX 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. Back to the Top Digital Duo by Mike Morris Front Range PC Users Group The computer magazine PC World (http://www.pcworld.com) has created a TV show that reviews digital products and services. It is called DIGITAL DUO and describes itself as "the independent, irreverent video review of all things digital. Hosted by Stephen Manes and Angela Gunn." Why a television show? Here is PC World's answer: "In each episode of PC World's Digital Duo, Stephen Manes, columnist for PC World and Forbes, teams with tech writer Angela Gunn of USAToday.com to test, talk over, and-when necessary-tear into the gadgets and gear that make up the current digital-tech landscape. Why a television show? Because even though computers are essential to life as we know it, odds are you're fond of your TV as well. Besides, this stuff is fun-as the Duo demonstrate, both when products work and when they don't. (Sometimes especially when they don't.) Regular features include the Tip Jar, a fount of advice on making tech work for you; In Sites, quick looks at Web resources you shouldn't be without; and the PR Pinata, where the Duo give away the silly "gifts" tech companies use to try to get their attention. (Steve and Angela would rather tech companies get their attention by creating products that work-they don't accept those gifts, but they're happy to pass them along to viewers who write in with good questions.) The Duo offer real-world advice along with expert perspectives, and mercilessly mock whatever deserves it most-with fairness and flair, and keeping in mind that in the real world, no one's got time or money to spare for gear that doesn't measure up." Here is a partial sample of a "summary" of one segment from a recent broadcast obtained from the PC World website (videos are also available on the website): "Finding Great Financial Sites January 16, 2006 The Duo take on a topic near everyone's heart: managing money. If you think about where money lives nowadays, say the Duo, it's predominantly not in your wallet-it's in cyberspace. Saving, borrowing, and spending have all become primarily paperless activities. Your life savings and your debts are essentially just ones and zeroes stored in a computer. Financial institutions have been moving money around using computers for years. But now, thanks to the Web, the rest of us can do it, too. And, thanks to the Web, you can now comparison shop for financial products the same way you do for, say, running shoes. Everything is out there, from mortgages to annuities to insurance policies. . . . As with any financial info, proceed with caution; a ridiculous number of sites stack their advice in favor of whatever financial product or service they're shilling. (For instance, the brokerage Steve uses always seems to give its products great ratings, even when more-independent sites don't.) And even sites that you might initially consider independent often have deals with "partners" that can skew the advice they give." The PC World website identifies only one channel in Colorado, KBDI Channel 12, that broadcasts the program. You will need to check the local listing for day and time. And if it is broadcast during the normal workday, dust off that VCR you thought was obsolete and record the program. You might find it informative, and, if the program lives up to its own description, might even enjoy the humor. Back to the Top E-mail Turns 34 From BBC News In October, 1971, Ray Tomlinson, often called the father of e-mail, invented the software that allowed messages to be sent between computers. He didn't invent e-mail itself. That had been around since 1965 when Fernando Corbato and colleagues at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology developed a program to let the individual users of the institute's Compatible Timesharing System swap messages. But that program only let people using one machine communicate with each other. Tomlinson's program made it possible to swap messages between machines in different locations-between universities, and across continents and oceans. Back to the Top Sony BMG - Shame on You! by John Brewer Computer Club of Oklahoma City http://www.ccokc.org [Ed. Note: see related article in the Jan/Feb issue of k-Byte] Computer users may have noticed the recent brouhaha about Sony music CDs. Is there a valid issue or simply a lot of heat with no real threat? The issue developed from the desire of Sony-BMG to copy-protect its music CDs. If the music CD is played in a personal computer, and the "accept" button is clicked, then software known as XCP is installed. XCP reportedly uses "rootkit" technology. Wikipedia states that a "rootkit is a set of software tools frequently used by a third party (usually an intruder) after gaining access to a computer system. These tools are intended to conceal running processes, files or system data, which helps an intruder maintain access to a system without the user's knowledge. Rootkits are known to exist for a variety of operating systems such as Linux, Solaris and versions of Microsoft Windows. The rootkit concept is the dominant controversial aspect of the 2005 Sony CD copy protection controversy, which has made the previously obscure concept of a rootkit much more widely known in the technology community, and to the general public." The technical issues seem to be rather complicated, but a survey of the articles available on the Internet is disturbing. Apparently, rootkits install a backdoor to the computer and are difficult to remove. Apparently, there is a patch available that may or may not remove the Sony software. Personally, this author thinks the only alternative is to avoid Sony CDs or to avoid playing any Sony CDs on a personal computer. The music industry is very serious about copyright violations and may think that the "end justifies the means" in this particular matter. The following is a portion of a Sony response dated November 18, 2005. "You may be aware of the recent attention given to the XCP content protection software included on some SONY-BMG CDs. This software was provided to us by a third-party vendor, First4Internet. Discussion has centered on security concerns raised about the use of CDs containing this software. We share the concerns of consumers regarding these discs, and we are instituting a mail-in program that will allow consumers to exchange any CD with XCP software for the same CD without copy protection and receive MP3 files of the same title . We also have asked our retail partners to remove all unsold CDs with XCP software from their store shelves and inventory. Please click here for exchange program details." "Our new initiatives follow the measures we have already taken, including the voluntary suspension of the manufacture of CDs with the XCP software. In addition, to address security concerns, we provided to major software and anti-virus companies a software update, which also may be downloaded at http://cp.sonybmg.com/xcp/english/updates.html . We will shortly provide a simplified and secure procedure to uninstall the XCP software if it resides on your computer." Sony sounds like it is trying to respond in a responsible manner. However, this type of response is also an attempt to institute damage control. Sony has been sued by the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Attorney General for the State of Texas regarding this practice. EFF filed its complaint in a California state court on November 21, 2005. The EFF Web site states that "by including a flawed and overreaching computer program in over 20 million music CDs sold to the public, Sony-BMG has created serious security, privacy and consumer-protection problems that have damaged music lovers everywhere. At issue are two software technologies: SunnComm's MediaMax and First4Internet's Extended Copy Protection (also known as XCP), which Sony-BMG claims to have placed on the music CDs to restrict consumer use of the music on the CDs, but which in truth do much more, including monitoring customer listening of the CDs and installing undisclosed and in some cases hidden files on users' computers that can expose users to malicious attacks by third parties, all without appropriate notice and consent from purchasers. The CDs also condition use of the music on unconscionable licensing terms in the End User Licensing Agreement (EULA). After a series of embarrassing public revelations about security risks associated with the XCP software, including warnings issued by the United States Government, Microsoft and leading anti-virus companies, Sony-BMG has taken some steps to respond to the security risks created by the XCP technology. Sony-BMG has failed, however, to address security concerns raised by the MediaMax software or the consumer privacy and consumer fairness problems created by both technologies." The Attorney General of the State of Texas has also filed litigation regarding the same spyware from Sony. The Web site for the AG addresses the litigation. Today [Texas] "sued SONY-BMG Music Entertainment as the first state in the nation to bring legal action against SONY for illegal "spyware." The suit is also the first filed under the state's spyware law of 2005. It alleges the company surreptitiously installed the spyware on millions of compact music discs (CDs) that consumers inserted into their computers when they play the CDs, which can compromise the systems. The Attorney General's lawsuit alleges the New York-based company violated a new Texas law protecting consumers from the hidden spyware. The company accomplished this by using new technology on certain music CDs to install files onto consumers' computers that hide other files installed by SONY. This secret "cloaking" component is installed without the knowledge of consumers and can cause their computers to become vulnerable to computer viruses and other forms of attack. SONY has engaged in a technological version of cloak and dagger deceit against consumers by hiding secret files on their computers," said Attorney General Abbott. "Consumers who purchased a SONY CD thought they were buying music. Instead, they received spyware that can damage a computer, subject it to viruses and expose the consumer to possible identity crime. SONY insists on its Web site that it has recalled all affected CDs. However, Attorney General's investigators were able to purchase numerous titles at Austin retail stores as recently as Sunday evening." [Ed. Note: date not specified] According to SONY's Web site, the company recently distributed millions of CDs across the nation on 52 CDs by various artists. These CDs contained embedded files used for copy protection - or XCP technology. The files prompt consumers to enter into a user agreement to install SONY's audio player. By opting into the agreement, which Sony represents is the only way a consumer can listen to these CDs on a computer, the consumer is unaware that SONY secretly installs files into the computer's Microsoft Windows folders. Consumers are unable to detect and remove these files. SONY-BMG claims on its Web site that this XCP technology merely prevents unlimited copying, is otherwise passive and does not gather personal information about a computer user. However, the Attorney General's investigation into this technology revealed that it remains hidden and active at all times after installation, even when SONY's media player is inactive, prompting concerns about its true purpose. The Attorney General's lawsuit also alleges that a phantom file is installed to conceal the XCP files from the user, thus making it difficult for the user to remove the files from his or her computer. Moreover, recent news accounts allege that newly created viruses that exploit this phantom file have been spreading. A user unfamiliar with installation - and removal - of this technology may be vulnerable to new security risks and possibly identity theft. "Because of alleged violations of the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act of 2005, the Attorney General is seeking civil penalties of $100,000 for each violation of the law, attorneys' fees and investigative costs." Sony-BMG - shame on you! John Brewer practices law in Oklahoma City, is a member of the Governor's and Legislative Task Force for eCommerce, and enjoys issues relating to eBusiness and cyberspace. Comments and questions are welcome and can be emailed to johnb@jnbrewer.com. Back to the Top Is Freeware/Shareware Worth While? by Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D. Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. http://www.spcug.org People sometimes question whether or not freeware or shareware applications are safe or even reliable. So I thought I'd take an inventory of the freeware-shareware software that I have on my computer. It's not a long list, but much of it is software that I use every day and it is important to the operation of my system. For example, my list includes OpenOffice (office software suite), Firefox (Internet browser), Thunderbird (e-mail software), Avast! (anti-virus), Sygate Personal Firewall, Spybot Search & Destroy, Spyware Blaster, CD Burner XP Pro (burns CD's and DVD's) and Picasa (photo software from Google). All of these are freeware, although some do ask for donations. You don't have to pay if you don't want to do so. Have I made donations? Yes, but only after I have used the software and found it useful. I also make extensive use of Google & Froogle, both of which are free search engines. How about mapping services such as Google Maps, Yahoo and Mapquest? These are also free services. So is this software safe and reliable? Let's take OpenOffice as an example. It reads and writes all the file formats found in Microsoft Office. So documents can be interchanged with anyone using MS Office with no problem. This article for instance, was written with OpenOffice and saved in its new international open document format. After it is completed, I will save it in MS Office format and transmit it to the editor for publication. OpenOffice also does spreadsheets, presentations, drawings, databases and HTML documents. All of these can be converted to MS Office format. OpenOffice also reads MS Office formats and can edit them directly without conversion. OpenOffice is freeware, so why should I pay the very high price for Microsoft Office? There may be some functions of MS Office that I don't have, but so far I haven't missed any and I've been using OpenOffice for over a year. I've just downloaded and installed the latest version (2.0). Have I had problems with OpenOffice? That answer to that is a definite NO. It works so well that I have it as the primary word processor, etc. on both my desktop and laptop. I use the spreadsheet format for a number of purposes. And, I just recently prepared and gave a slide presentation from my laptop. The flexibility of the presentation software enabled me to do everything I wanted. It also had the capability of adding animation and sound to the slides. However, that was more than I needed. The OpenOffice software also allowed me to print handouts of all the charts included in the presentation. That gave the audience something to take home and study. As for my Avast! anti-virus software, it is among the highest rated A-V applications. It updates itself in seconds in the background. It does pop up a notice after an update has been installed. It also notifies me when there is an update to the application, not the virus database, so I can download and install it at a convenient time. On my broadband connection any updates take only seconds. The longest update and install was for a program update and it took less than a minute. O.K., but does it protect me from viruses? In the three years I have been using it, I haven't had any virus infections. I've also downloaded it and installed it on many other computers as well as recommending it to many people. It is free for personal use and no donations are needed. It is indeed a gem in the freeware field. Why would I use Firefox as a browser when Internet Explorer is free? Mainly because it is a better browser. It uses less memory, loads more quickly, and has a tabbed window interface that I really like. IE won't have tabs until the next major upgrade. Some people have made much of the fact the Firefox has "holes" which could allow hacker exploits just as IE does. My answer to that is that all large applications have errors, but at least Firefox provides patches much more quickly than does Microsoft. I could go on and on talking about the software I'm using. Suffice it to say I have been using them all through several updates and for at least a year. It's really nice to be able to try out an application before thinking about having to make any payment. If you want to find more shareware, you should sign up for Fred Langa's free newsletter. He always has information on reliable freeware-shareware applications. His newsletter is useful for any computer user. Another question is why do people make their software available as freeware or shareware? In some cases, usually for shareware, it is a trial run to see if is commercially viable software. In other cases, it is a way of having a large group of people testing your software at little or no cost to the programmer. Also, some people write programs for their own use and then find that others find them useful as well. So the software ends up on the freeware list. Then we have the major players like OpenOffice and Firefox. OpenOffice has a mission statement: "to create, as a community, the leading international office suite that will run on all major platforms and provide access to all functionality and data through open-component based API's and an XML-based file format." In other words, it is designed to work with Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD and Apple Macintosh operating systems. It also makes its programming code freely available under an open-source license. The Mozilla Foundation was established by AOL's Netscape division and provides support for the Mozilla open-source software, Firefox and Thunderbird. The Foundation is a California not-for-profit organization. It is exempt from federal taxation under IRC 501(c)3. Any donations made to it are tax-deductible. In both cases, these organizations are part of an international group that believes software should be free or at least very inexpensive. Google is somewhat different from these other companies. They primarily make their money from ads associated with searches made by users. If you go to their Picasa web site, you will find a link to other software they produce. Some of it has a price, but there is also usually a version that is free. So they are not an open-source software company. But their freeware generally does what you expect. Some major software companies that produce anti-virus software, firewalls and malware removers make their software free for personal use. Why? Because they believe it is better to give software away so more people will be protected than to have unprotected computers connected to the Internet. There are far too many computers that have been turned into "zombies" by trojans or other malware. We would all be better off if every computer was cleaned of malware and protected from further infection. So these companies are doing themselves a service at the same time they are doing a service for the public. So how do you find products like this? For most of the software applications I've listed you can go directly to a web site associated with their name. As an alternative you can go to http://www.download.com. This is a web site operated by CNET. You can search for any of these products by name on the CNET web site. The listings also identify those applications that are freeware or shareware. Even shareware usually has a trial period where you can use the software to see if it does what you want before you make any payment. Another site devoted to only freeware is: http://www.freewarearena.org. It has a wide range of freeware listed, and it provides user ratings of the software. It also has links to other freeware sites. The Sarasota SPCUG Monitor is another good source for shareware-freeware. Our editor, Dr. Herb Goldstein, spends hours researching software for you. He always has many interesting applications listed in his column entitled "Computer Buffet". So you can find useful and reliable shareware-freeware if you look for it. This is another "try it, you might like it" situation. Back to the Top Calendar of Events - IMPORTANT NOTICE - FRPCUG meetings are held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Check below for directions to the Senior Center. April General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, April 4 at 7:00 pm. Meeting Agenda 7:00 - 7:15 Announcements 7:15 - 8:00 Open Forum 8:00 - 8:15 Break 8:15 - 9:00 Google Earth-a combination of satellite images, maps and more. May General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, May 2 at 7:00 pm. Meeting Agenda 7:00 - 7:15 Announcements 7:15 - 8:00 Open Forum 8:00 - 8:15 Break 8:15 - 9:00 Larimer County Parcel Ownership Records and Zillow.com Find out what the county-and the public know about your home. Then discover how to compare your estimate of your home's value to the estimate from the Zillow website. See you at the meetings! 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 in the Staff Board Room of the Fort Collins Senior Center. 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 Bluebird Manufacturing Inc., 1421 Webster Avenue, in Fort Collins. For more information contact Chuck McJilton at 493-2987 or email telecomsig@jymis.com. 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/. 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. Members contributions of articles, columns, industry news items, and letters to the editor are welcome and appreciated. Back to the Top April 2006  4 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00 PM 12 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00 PM 20 New Technology SIG 7:00 PM May 2006  2 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00 PM 10 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00 PM 18 New Technology SIG 7:00 PM Back to the Top Portable Version of OpenOffice.org Now Available from The Status Register Champaign-Urbana Computer Users Group This one is kind of interesting. An open-source community Web site called PortableApps.com has released a portable version of the OpenOffice.org office productivity suite-including full versions of the desktop application's word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, database, and graphics packages-that will fit on a USB key, giving users a complete productivity solution on the go. The Portable OpenOffice.org suite takes up just 144MB, can run from USB memory keys and other storage devices, and can be used on shared PCs found in libraries, Internet cafes, coffee shops, and the like. It's a nifty idea; even if you regularly use Microsoft Office on your home and work machines, you might want something for those times when you're sans PC and yet need to churn out the next "War and Peace." If you were to combine the suite with portable versions of Mozilla's Firefox Web browser and Thunderbird email client, you'd have a complete office in your pocket. Without the blithering idiot in the next cubicle, of course. For more information, check out the Portable OpenOffice.org Web site: http://portableapps.com/apps/office/suites/portable_openoffice Back to the Top Do Anti-Spam Programs Really Work? by Vinny La Bash, vlabash@home.com Member of the Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc. Among the most effective anti-spam programs are the ones that use some kind of approval based email management system. They work by constructing a "white list" of permitted email addresses, accepting mail from anyone on the list, and rejecting everything else. The program initially sniffs through your contact list, inbox, and other email folders, organizes the email addresses it finds, asks you if you want to add or change anything, and the list is complete. From that moment on, any incoming email that is not on the list is considered to be spam, and is automatically exiled to a quarantine folder or wherever you decided it should go during installation. The programs do work as advertised, which is both their greatest strength and their greatest weakness. Here's what you need to know before installing one of these puppies. Scenario 1: A friend you have lost contact with over the years sends you an email. That friend's email address is not on your white list. Unless you have a quarantine folder where unapproved email is sent without automatically deleting it, you will never see this email. You have to check your quarantine folder, at least occasionally, to see if there are any false positives residing in there with all the junk. How much time will this take? Who knows? None of the programs mention this in their promotional material or specification lists. Scenario 2: You install a new program or device and run into difficulties. The troubleshooting guide sends you to an email address where you can get a solution to your problem. You remember to add the email address to your white list. You wait for a reply, and wait, and wait. What happened? Your problem was given to a technical representative who has an email address different from the general support address. You don't see the reply unless you check the quarantine email folder, assuming that in your efforts to rid yourself of all spam you did not specify that anything not on your white list be automatically deleted. Scenario 3: You order something from an online merchant and before your order is shipped the merchant emails you to ask whether you want the white one or the black one. The query has been rerouted to the quarantine folder because the person trying to contact you has an email address that is not on your white list. Scenario 4: Your spouse sets up a Yahoo! Email account for the sole purpose of sending you a surprise Valentine's Day email. For no apparent reason you are getting the silent treatment. You ask, "What's wrong"? Your spouse replies, "Nothing". Scenario 5: Your granddaughter just got an email address of her own. She sends you a message, and can't understand why you won't answer. She asks her parents "Why doesn't grandpa love me anymore"? We could go on, but you get the general idea. 99.99% of all real spam will be banished from your sight, but the very few legitimate emails identified as spam will very likely be the ones you most want or need to see. Some anti-spam programs have a "sender confirmation feature" that automatically sends a personalized notification to anyone whose message has been quarantined. Simply replying to the challenge causes the original message to be moved to your inbox, and allows their email address to be added to the white list. Legitimate senders can respond to these challenge messages, but suppose that for whatever reason they don't. Does a seven year old grandchild really understand why she needs a grandparent's permission to send an email? What you end up with is a time-consuming process of back and forth emails. Why should every email first contact have to be sent twice? What a waste of time. This might be acceptable if your email volume is very low, but who are we kidding. Simply establishing an email account anywhere will get you a boatload of spam. ISP level filters are a joke. How many essays do you want to compose explaining why someone needs "permission" to send you an email? I don't respond to challenge email. Why should anyone respond to mine? You can check your quarantine folder regularly, but with the huge quantity of genuine spam generated and thrust upon us daily, it's too easy to overlook a legitimate message. When you finally delete the spam, there is a good chance that among the junk a valuable note is lost forever. After using one of these programs for several months, I decided that I would much rather delete spam manually, rather than run the risk of missing an important legitimate email. No computer program, no matter how expertly crafted or trained, can ultimately determine what emails I do or don't want to read. Even after being married for 38 years, my wife still can't read my mind. How do I expect a dumb computer to do it? Back to the Top Tip of the Month From Lehigh Valley Computer Group Need to get back to the top of a long webpage? Just hit the Home button on your keyboard, in the cluster of keys above the arrow keys. This works in many other programs also! Holding down Shift+F10 does the same thing as a right mouse click. Use the arrow keys to navigate to the item you want to try it on. Back to the Top Ram & Reason: 2005 Computer Equipment Recalls by Rob Rice Computer Club of Oklahoma City http://www.ccokc.org, or (http://www.ccokc.org/articles/2006Articles/Jan06_Articles/Jan06_Recalls_Rice.htm) [Ed. Note: the following information was extracted from a much more complete article that has the website address listed above. Rob Rice has done an excellent job of extracting relevant information (including model and serial numbers) from the government website. If you discover you are using a recalled product and did not know it, please send Rob a thank you at articles@isp.com] As in previous years, notebook batteries were the most recalled items in 2005. Apple, Hewlett-Packard and Dell had battery recalls; Apple had a recall of batteries last year as well. The numbers of recalls were the same as last year. To find out more regarding these and previous recalls and to view pictures of the items, please visit The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission's web site at http://www.cpsc.gov: Name of Product: Hewlett-Packard (HP) L2035 Flat Panel Monitor Units: About 15,000 Name of Product: Rechargeable batteries for iBook G4 and PowerBook G4 computers. Units: About 128,000 units (in the United States) Name of Product: AC power adapters sold with Go!Data 3.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosures Units: About 3,100 Name of Product: These network communication cables are used to connect computer and electronic equipment, typically in data centers. These are 25- and 50-pair, category 5 and 5e, CMP cables. Units Sold: About 1.7 million feet. Name of Product: HP and Compaq Notebook Computer Battery Packs Units: About 135,000 battery packs worldwide, including about 85,000 in the U.S. Name of Product: Dell Notebook Computer Batteries Units: About 22,000 in the U.S. Back to the Top Tech News by Sue Crane, Vice President & Editor, Big Bear Computer Club, California www.bbcc.org sue.crane@charter.net Microsoft Previews IE7 Internet Explorer's program manager, Eric Lawrence, recently posted a blog that said IE7 plans to support the Transport Layer Security protocol by default. He also explained how IE7 will behave differently from earlier versions when it encounters potential security problems. From an HTTPS page, users will be forced to access insecure content via the information bar, since only the secure content will be rendered by default. IE7 is also rumored to have tabbed browsing similar to competitor Firefox. A Computer for Every Kid A $100 laptop? A global effort is underway to make it happen by next year. It was a pipe dream only a few months ago but soon will be reality. An ambitious effort from MIT Media Labs to put a $100 portable in the hands of every child in the world is picking up big corporate partners, top engineering talent, and interest from several countries. One Laptop Per Child (OLPC), a nonprofit venture, is expected to start distributing machines late next year and to produce 100 to 200 million in 2007. AMD plans 4-core Opterons by 2007 Advanced Micro Devices put a quad-core server processor on its road map and promised to upgrade its software investments, as it outlined its general technology direction for the next couple of years. The new processor will incorporate four cores connected together by a new version of the Hypertransport Interconnect technology, and will support DDR3 (double data rate 3) memory. The 2006 dual-core chips will also introduce AMD's Pacifica virtualization technology and its Presidio security technology into AMD-based systems. AMD's goal for 2006 is to improve its standing within the business PC market, both in desktops and notebooks. Phishers use Phony IRS Tax Refund to Scam Consumers A spam e-mail message has been sent around the world telling people they are eligible for a $571.94 tax refund from the IRS. The e-mail offers a link to a fraudulent IRS Web site, but the link actually goes through a legitimate Government Web site. The link in the phishing e-mail goes to a forged IRS Web site that asks for a Social Security number, tax returning filing code and credit card details including security codes and PIN. The government is aware of the issue and is working to fix it. New TIVO Product Promotes Targeted Ads After introducing a generation of television viewers to the joys of skipping over ads, TIVO plans to launch a new service to let its subscribers seek out the advertisements they've cut loose from their TV viewing. Digital video recorder (DVR) maker TiVo is positioning the new service, scheduled for a mid-2006 launch, as a way for subscribers to find targeted as in categories that interest them. The opt-in technology will let TiVo subscribers use keyword searches to look for information on specific products or services. The ad service will be free for subscribers; pricing for advertisers is still being determined. Microsoft Considers Making Desktop Apps Free - With Advertising Although no specific plans have been made, executives within Microsoft are examining whether it makes sense to release ad-supported versions of products such as Works, Money, or even the Windows operating system itself. Microsoft officials confirmed the authenticity of the paper, dated winter 2005, but declined to comment on its contents. But Chief Technology Officer Ray Ozzie and Chairman Bill Gates outlined some of the opportunities and the challenges Microsoft faces in a series of October memos. In the blunter of the two memos, Ozzie said Microsoft had an obligation to act on the shift to ad-supported software. .."It's clear that if we fail to do so, our business as we know it is at risk," Ozzie wrote. "We must respond quickly and decisively." The company's exploration of ad-supported software extends even to Windows, it's most important product. An ad-supported version of the operating system could make some sense, Microsoft researchers argue, noting that the product reportedly earns $9 per year per user. A New Kind of Music Label 40 years ago Jac Holzman changed music distribution with the release of The Doors' album on his independent Elektra music label. He's introducing a similar change with Cordless Recordings: the first all-digital music label operated by a major record company, the Warner Music Group, which is launching on the Web and on digital music services such as iTunes and RealNetworks' Rhapsody. Music from the label's first six bands is being sold only online in 3-song "clusters" instead of albums. The bands will be promoted on blogs and sites like MySpace. Artists get to keep ownership of the master recordings they release under Cordless. If they want to release their music elsewhere after a short contract is up, they are free to do so. The Cordless Recordings labels is an experiment for Warner Music, which has increased its focus on digital distribution, and a bet that inexpensive Internet distribution and marketing may give labels a cost-effective way to nurture new bands. On the label side, it's an attempt to reach out to a music-consuming world that is deserting radio and record stores for iTunes and MySpace. Back to the Top Software and Website Reviews by Herb Goldstein, Review Editor Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group E-mail comments, suggestions, etc. to Herb Goldstein at: revieweditor@spcug.org [Ed. Note: The following information has been extracted from a longer article] Please Note: The software references listed below are gathered from and recommended by a wide variety of usually reliable sources. Although I personally use and can vouch for some of the software mentioned, most are presented for your own individual perusal. For a wide variety of reasons there will obviously be some that meets your own interests and criteria, and some not. In any event, they are offered entirely for your own selection and personal investigation. You may occasionally find links that are not valid. They usually represent changes that have occurred between the time of investigation and the time they appear here in print. Most of the software listed is freeware. You may have already discovered that being free does not imply inferiority to software that is costly. Read, enjoy and look into what seems interesting to you. INTERNET EXPLORER OR OTHER XP COMPONENTS NEED REPAIR? On rare occasions, Windows XP may need fixing. Perhaps Internet Explorer or some other key component isn't working right or at all. What probably happened is that you accidently (or maybe by overambitious registry cleaning) corrupted or deleted some of Windows XP's system files. Here's how to restore your operating system files that may have become compromised for one reason or other. This procedure will not harm any good files, only fix those that need fixing. Your original XP installation disk should be inserted so that the process can find and restore any files it needs to: From the Start Menu select Run. Type in sfc /scannow (note the space between sfc and /scannow). Select OK. Follow any prompts during the system file checking process. Be patient. The procedure is slow Reboot when the check is complete Go to Windows Update and check to see if any newly corrected files need updating. I suggest you save this info where you can get to it when someday you may very well need it WINPATROL 9.8 (updated 12/05) allows you to get a better understanding of what programs are being added to your computer. It monitors important system areas that are commonly altered by many malicious programs. This includes the startup groups (registry and startup folder), cookies and active tasks. You can terminate processes and enable or disable startup programs. The cookie monitoring option allows you to automatically delete cookies based on a keyword found in the cookie name. Additional features include a WHOIS lookup tool and an option to alert you on changes. WinPatrol is easy to understand, yet quiet powerful. Optional upgrade to a Plus version available. This is one of my most frequently used programs! http://www.winpatrol.com/ TIMELEFT is a countdown, reminder, clock (also Windows tray clock replacement), alarm-clock, stopwatch, timer, sticker, and time-synchronization utility. TimeLeft uses Winamp skins to show digits and text. The main feature of TimeLeft is a customizable reminder, which can alert you at a specific moment or run periodically. It can also remind you before a specified event or keep on reminding you after it. The reminder can show a message, play music, open a link or document, or shut down your PC. The Countdown feature lives on your desktop and shows the amount of time left until (or that's passed since) the specified event. You also can put your countdown on a Web page. Version 3.11 allows replacing Windows system clock with skinnable TimeLeft clock. http://www.nestersoft.com THE FREE DICTIONARY.COM is an incredible web reference resource that includes nine dictionaries, including medical, computing, legal, and financial, as well as idioms and acronyms and a lot more. Try it. You won't be disappointed. http://www.thefreedictionary.com YANKEE-CLIPPER is a powerful Windows clipboard extender/memory. The program handles Pictures, (Rich) text and URLS with no size limitations. Everything you copy to the clipboard is automatically sorted into the responding category, where it can easily be reviewed, deleted, saved or sent to other applications via the "Shoot" feature or drag and drop. Additional features include printing, optional permanent storage of clippings (boilerplate) and more. Yankee Clipper comes with a familiar Outlook-style interface. http://www.intelexual.com/products/index.aspx FASTSTONE IMAGE VIEWER is a free image browser, viewer converter and editor with an easy to use interface and a nice array of features, that include resizing, renaming, cropping, color adjustments, watermarks and more. It also includes an intuitive full-screen mode that provides quick access to EXIF information and thumbnail browser via hidden toolbars that emerge when you touch the edge of your screen with the mouse. Other features include a high quality magnifier and built-in slideshow with 60+ transitional effects, as well as lossless JPEG transitions, drop shadow effects, image frames, scanner support, histogram and much more. FastStone Image Viewer supports all major graphic formats including BMP, JPEG, JPEG 2000, GIF, PNG, PCX, TIFF, WMF, ICO and TGA as well as digital RAW formats including CRW, CR2, NEF, PEF, RAF, MRW, ORF and DNG). http://www.faststone.org WEGA2 is a free image viewer for digital photos and other graphics, that offers a variety of additional features that can assist you with file management, emailing of images, resizing of images and more. It integrates a handy pixel magnifier, as well as EXIF data display and sorting, histogram, thumbnail navigation and a customizable interface. http://www.wega2.vandel.nl/ SENSORSVIEW is a small utility, that monitors the temperature of your CPU, motherboard and hard disks, as well as voltages and fan speeds (as supported by your motherboard). It can alert you if the values reach a critical level, and also provides a complete overview of the measurements. http://www.stvsoft.com/ A-TOOLBAR is a useful internet and desktop tool bringing you 36 useful tools that are accessible from an attractive toolbar that runs at the bottom of your screen or in the system tray (when not in use). It includes tools for any type of Internet user, including Search throughout 40 different search engines at once, Language translator, Free SMS message sending, Latest news, Spam remover, Links manager, Applications manager, Agenda with world clock, Clipboard history, Password keeper, Password revealer, Weather forecast, Backup utility, Currency converter, Quotes (stock symbols). For more advanced users, it also includes several networking utilities: Ping, Trace, DNS lookup, Port scanner, Finger, WhoIs as well as webmaster tools to submit and rank your site: Submit url, Url info, Link popularity, Position analysis, Keyword density. Very nice, easy to use, attractive. http://www.metaeureka.com/ WEATHER WATCHER is your personal Windows desktop weather station. Automatically retrieve your local weather from the Internet and store it in your Windows system tray. With one click of your mouse button, the most current weather update is in your view. Weather Watcher provides an attractive interface with detailed information, hourly and daily forecast, as well as access to satellite maps, international weather and more. http://www.singerscreations.com/ SMARTFTP allows you to transfer files across the Internet via FTP. It offers a Windows XP look and feel and features including SSL (Implicit/Explicit), FXP Support, Multiple connections, Proxy Firewall support, Drag and Drop from Explorer, and Remote Directory caching and more. SmartFTP offers support for Unicode/UTF8/MBCS, IPv6, and UPnP. (Installer will download between 1mb and 6mb of additional files.) The free version has an annoying reminder dialog. http://www.smartftp.com/ SAFETY SCAN. Microsoft is offering a free safety scan for your computer It's like taking your PC in for a tune-up and oil change at the service station. Windows Live Safety Center is a free, Web-based service that gives you quick, on-demand PC health and security scans. It also has straightforward explanations about online threats and a vibrant online community where you can get answers to questions about your PC. http://go.microsoft.com/?linkid=4314395 FLIGHTAWARE. The Future Of Flight Tracking Has Arrived. A free and powerful flight tracker that will change how you think about flight status, tracking, and analysis. View schedule and track activity for any private (IFR) or commercial flight. See scheduled, enroute, and recent flight activity for any airport. http://flightaware.com/ Thanks to Janice Hinkley for this tip. MICROSOFT'S TEMPLATES. Microsoft makes available numerous templates designed to make your life easier. A template is just a document in a sort of "starter" format. It might be an Excel spreadsheet configured to act as a checkbook, a Publisher greeting card with a Christmas wreath, or a Word document for a teacher to use as a field trip permission slip. The basic premise is that the template is already designed for a particular purpose, and you just have to add your own content. Microsoft's templates available are in the following general categories: Business and Legal Calendars, Labels, Planners and Stationery Education Healthcare and Wellness Holidays and Occasions Home and Community Your Career All of these templates are available free from Microsoft. However, you must use Internet Explorer to download them. Get in the habit of checking the Microsoft site for templates whenever you need to create a new Office document, and your creations will look very impressive! They are available for download at http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/default.aspx TAXCUT 2005 DELUXE Painless Tax Preparation. It's the least happiest time of the year! You've heard the music, now you need to prepare yourself to face it. Yes, it's tax time and for many people it's a choice between what's worse...paying taxes or preparing a return. I can't help you with paying, but I can perhaps offer some very useful advice about preparing a return. There I was at the office of my accountant waiting for my appointment with an envelope full of documents in hand. I watched the professionals at work feeding info into computers and grinding out tax returns. It did not look like anything an average computer user couldn't do with a little guidance. I promised myself that next year I would give it a try solo and save the $450 it was currently costing me for professional efforts (I'm sure it's a whole lot more currently). And so with considerable trepidation, I purchased tax preparation software the following year and was shocked to discover that it did not take a Phi Beta Kappa to prepare a tax return and save a healthy sum. The net result is that I have been preparing my own tax returns ever since and saving a bundle in what turned out to be a surprisingly easy procedure. Is preparing a tax return for you? If you are running a business, have an unusual personal situation or are an investor with a complex tax situation, an accountant may save you a lot more than his fee. If you don't fall into that category, be assured that anyone of average intelligence can easily prepare an accurate return using tax prep software. How do you find out? It's easy and inexpensive. Buy tax prep software and give it a try. It is so inexpensive that in the very unlikely instance you are disappointed, you can chuck it and return to your friendly accountant or H&R Block office without a sense of loss. Many Floridians in particular have a relatively simple tax picture consisting of retirement and some investment, social security and savings income, perhaps with some employment W2's thrown in. The simplest of tax return packages would readily do it for you. Let's look at TaxCut, the software offered by H&R Block as a prime example. TaxCut comes in three different varieties, a Standard, Deluxe and Premium edition, each for successively complex tax situations. Visit hrblock.com for detailed descriptions of each or read the exterior of the box at your favorite location for purchasing software and decide which most interests you. We shall focus on the Deluxe package for this review. The software installs easily and then checks for the latest tax updates and incorporates them into your installation. It then proceeds to do exactly what your accountant would do, asking questions, category by category, and recording your answers. Categories include income, expenses, and personal info as they apply to federal income tax. TaxCut will determine whether you are better off itemizing your deductions or applying the standard allowance. It will question you and appropriately factor in any and all diverse elements pertaining to your IRA, 401K, investments, losses, and all other pertinent categories. You can import applicable financial info from any personal finance package such as MS Money or Quicken, as well as tax info from last year's tax prep software. As you proceed through the step-by-step interview, your taxes are continuously calculated in the background. If you are interrupted during your work, TaxCut keeps track of were you left off and need to commence again when ready. When you have answered all the interview questions, your return is audited by TaxCut for any error or discrepancy in accuracy or that might raise IRS eyebrows. When completed, you can print out your return on the official IRS forms and format that will look like it came directly from a professional preparer and mail it off to the IRS. Your tax due or refundable, as well as your payment schedule each quarter will be calculated and presented to you. Free E-filing is offered for your return in the TaxCut package, is preferred by the IRS, and results in a quicker refund if one is due you. If you are required to pay state taxes, preparation is included in the Deluxe + State package (vs. the Deluxe alone package at slightly less cost). TaxCut offers a plethora of help during your preparation procedure. Context sensitive help is available at any point using info provided either directly in IRS publications or in H&R Block professional guidance, tips and advice. TaxCut provides 100% accuracy and will pay any penalties and interest resulting from any error on its part. Block is so sure that you will like TaxCut that it offers a complete refund within 60 days of purchase if you are not completely satisfied. If you are a habitual worrier, H&R Block will review your return before submission or represent you in the unlikely event of an audit, either at some additional cost The software can be downloaded from the H&R Block website and is readily available in boxed product wherever software is sold both locally and on the Web. Although inexpensive enough by list price, discounts are commonly available. I found Wal-Mart to be the not-unusual low price leader. TaxCut represents excellent value regardless of price. If you have never used tax prep software before, it's likely you will become a confirmed convert. If you are a previous TaxCut user, it's also likely you will return for your 2005 return. I found (thankfully) no radical changes but some additional smoothing of the already very straightforward interview process. Nobody enjoys paying taxes or preparing a return, but TaxCut makes it as painless as it gets! Questions often arise about the competition tax prep software (TurboTax). TaxCut and Turbotax basically do the same job in the same way without one being outstandingly better than the other. There are 3 main (among other) reasons however that I prefer TaxCut. Firstly, TurboTax costs 30% more without offering any additional advantages. Secondly, TaxCut is published by an income tax specialist, H&R Block. I trust the tax advice of H&R Block a lot further than that of a software publisher, Intuit. Thirdly, and very important, I have found Block's customer relations and service significantly surpass Intuit's. In the several years I have been using TaxCut to prepare my return, I have never had a return questioned by the IRS for any inaccuracy. When refunds were due, I received them promptly. All in all I am happy with the results and so is the IRS. What's more, I have a much better understanding of my tax picture and what I might do to properly minimize my tax liability. TaxCut has my enthusiastic recommendation! Back to the Top 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 970-613-8968 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 Rick Mattingly for information on this service at 970-613-8968 or email rmatt@jymis.com. Back to the Top

          FRPCUG Officers         Name            Work        Home      e-Mail 
          President               Rick Mattingly              613-8968  rmatt(at)jymis.com 
          Vice President          Don Anderson    498-3534    482-0943  dona(at)jymis.com
          Treasurer               Virginia Febinger           223-0908  gingercln (at)cs.com
          Treasurer               Robert Clayton              493-4124	rclayton4124(at)comcast.net
          Secretary               Jim Bragonier               484-9061	jamesb(at)jymis.com 


          k-Byte Staff
          Editor-in-Chief         Mike Morris     461-2002    461-2002	ml_morris(at)jymis.com
          Features Editor         Mike Morris     461-2002    461-2002	ml_morris(at)jymis.com
          Calendar Editor         Rick Mattingly              613-8968  rmatt(at)jymis.com
          Review Editor
          Advertising Coordinator Open - We need a volunteer!  Contact Rick Mattingly in interim.


          Other Contacts
          Membership Coordinator  Jack Linder                 663-2151  jack(at)frpcug.org
          New Technology SIG      Chuck McJilton  416-9286    493-2987  cdmcj(at)jymis.com  
          Door Prize Coordinator  John Goldey                 221-0877	johngoldey(at)juno.com

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