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Contents
1 State of the Group - Rick Mattingly
2 About k-Byte
3 June/July Meeting Reports - Mike Meyer
5 Free Internet Discussion Group
6 Printer Paper - What's The Difference?
10 Windows Task Bar - Rick Mattingly
11 Avoid The Reformat/Reinstall Two-Step - Fred Langa
14 Calendar of Events
16 August/September Calendars
18 Membership Application
19 The HP ScanJet 5370 Cse - William LaMartin
20 Those ZIP & PDF Files - Bob Elgines
22 On The Web: What Does My ISP Do For Me? - R. Glenn York
26 Easy Thumbnails - Rick Mattingly
30 Trading Post
31 FRPCUG Contacts
Never mistake motion for action. - Ernest Hemingway
State of the Group
by Rick Mattingly
Attention All FRPCUG Members!
FRPCUG is now in its 18th year of continuous service. A pretty remarkable record.
However, times are changing. Over all those years our membership has remained fairly stable, averaging around 150 members annually. Over the past several years we have experienced a slow reduction in membership to the point that we are presently below 100 members. This appears to be a national trend with computer user groups. Have no fear though, FRPCUG has no intention of going away. We simply need to re-evaluate our structure and our goals.
The FRPCUG Board of Directors have discussed this situation at length, and the implications it has on services provided to our members. For one thing, fewer members means a smaller annual budget. We are fortunate in that we pay no monthly fees for meeting space, through the generosity of a small group of volunteers who provide computer related training at the Fort Collins Senior Center in exchange for meeting space. The bulk of our annual budget is expended for publication of the newsletter. Over time the cost of printing and postage have slowly crept up to the point that newsletter publication, even semi-monthly, is taking up almost all of the budget. With dues renewals coming up in the fall, we are going to really cut it close to put out two more issues scheduled in this fiscal budget year. With this said, we do have a suggested plan.
With less than 100 members, it is somewhat ironic that we will be able to mail the newsletter first-class postage rather than bulk rate. Bulk rate requires a minimum of two hundred pieces. So, we will be mailing the newsletter first class with a substantial savings each issue resulting from the overall reduction in number of total issues printed and mailed. You will receive the newsletter quicker, for less money from the budget.
In addition, plans are also currently underway to completely restructure the FRPCUG Web site. Our intent is to make Web site structure and maintenance more available to all members who wish to assist. Toward this goal the FRPCUG HTML Special Interest Group (SIG) has been restructured with primary focus being the official FRPCUG Web site. In an effort to provide input access to the Web site to as many members as possible, we are restructuring the site to be created and maintained using any software product which supports HTML. Using this technique, volunteers will not need to be versed in HTML programming. Software products which are capable of saving to HTML file format would include Microsoft Office, Corel WordPerfect Suite, Sun Star Office, just to name a few. Using such software applications the volunteer can create and maintain web pages via WSIWYG (What-You-See-Is-What-You-Get). With this said, bear in mind that we obviously will still welcome volunteers who are adept at HTML programming as well.
The concept which we would like to employ with the FRPCUG Web site is to have numerous member volunteers maintaining separate interests on the site. Spreading out the workload in this fashion will result in a small donation of time each month for each member of the team. And, we will have a much more active club Web site reflecting the truly varied interests of our membership.
Basic training for this concept will be provided by the volunteer core team of the new HTML SIG. The core team will also prepare the home page and a shell page file for each volunteer to use. This will provide a consistent "look and feel" for the site. If you presently are familiar with any software application capable of producing HTML file format (such as recent versions of Microsoft Word, for example) the training involved in preparing web pages for the site will be quite painless. If the volunteer does not presently have such a software application, Sun Star Office, an integrated Microsoft Office work-alike package, will be provided free of charge. Training of techniques and software for uploading finished pages to the online Web site will also be provided. Uploading to the site will actually be quite simple in that it is as easy "click and drag." Don Anderson, FRPCUG Vice President, has volunteered to provide initial coordination for the reorganized HTML SIG. We are now actively seeking member volunteers to assist with this project. If you would like to hear more please plan to attend the organizational HTML SIG Meeting on Tuesday, August 7. This meeting will be held at the offices of JYM Information Systems at 311 South College Avenue in Fort Collins. This is your opportunity to quickly learn how to prepare your very own Web site.
The Web site will also become a more functional part of support for our membership, including the fact that our newsletter will be published there in mirror-image, HTML format. This will likely require a redesign of the newsletter format to a more basic letter-size column format, rather than the folded booklet format used for some time. Once the newsletter site is up and functional on the Web site we will be asking members to volunteer to receive the newsletter directly from this media format, rather than via U.S mail. Members will be able to access the newsletter quicker than by mail and will be able to print out a hardcopy on demand if desired. Every volunteer to this program will further reduce the drain on our budget by reducing our printing and postage costs.
FRPCUG will continue to evolve to meet the needs of the future. We need input from you, the members, to ensure that we are on target. Please let the Board know your thoughts on this matter.
Thank you.
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Scribe's Corner
June Meeting Report
by Mike Meyer
39 people attended this month's meeting. During the Announcements Period, President Rick Mattingly stated that a representative from Microsoft would present the main program for the July meeting, which will be held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. He also mentioned there will be no regular meeting in August, because of the annual summer maintenance program; however, there still will be a Board Meeting. Rick again emphasized the importance of keeping Jack Linder informed of any changes in membership addresses and phone numbers. Doug Boicourt announced that he won't be able to continue to head up the HTML SIG, but will continue to maintain the club's web-site. Rick then mentioned that this was an exceptionally good time for members to buy computers and equipment.
Rick opened the Open Forum Session by re-emphasizing the importance of monitoring the condition of the storage media used for backing up your files, including carrying out an occasional restore to insure its functionality. Some user problems then were addressed, which included video editing and how it can be done in a more cost effective way; discarding of older software, if newer software consists only of the up-grades (re-install problems); and, several Internet issues that involved certain Microsoft products in some way (e.g., comparisons with LINUX operations).
The Main Program was presented by our own Bert Broekstra, who very ably covered the interesting subject of Read/Write CD's. He began by providing a web-site address (www.cdrfaq.org), where a good deal of helpful material can be readily accessed. Bert then provided some background information on CD's, such as types (e.g., single session and multi-session), writing speeds, finalizing and closing, history of the 74 minute standard, and the use of large filenames. He further discussed proper cleaning of CD's, potential CD write errors (e.g., "Buffer-Under-Run"), media types (e.g., branded/un-branded, color schemes), and erasing the information stored on CD's (i.e., short erase and long erase). His program concluded with a very lively question and answer period.
July Meeting Report
by Rick Mattingly for Mike Meyer
A smaller than normal group attended this meeting held on the “4th of July eve.” About 28 people were in attendance.
Therea Jacobs of Microsoft gave a excellent presentation of Microsoft Office XP, the new release of this popular integrated package. Just when you think that Microsoft could not possibly add anything else to this powerful collection of office tools, they add more! Very impressive and we thank Theresa for making the trip up from Denver.
Those members who did make this meeting were in for a treat as Theresa brought along four Microsoft products, including a full version of the new Office XP, which we raffled away for free to those in attendance. Glenn York put his name in the hat last but was incredibly lucky in that his name was drawn for the last remaining prize, the Office XP package. Way to go Glenn!
Remember, no General Forum Meeting in August due to maintenance at the Senior Center. We will see everyone again in September.
FREE Internet Discussion Group
JYM Information Systems and the Barnes & Noble Book Store on South College Avenue in Fort Collins are sponsoring a monthly "Internet Safari" discussion group. This group meets at 7 PM in the Barnes & Noble Book Store the first Monday of each month.
This is an open discussion and we examine current issues involving the Internet, how to use the Internet and subjects raised by those present. This group is open to the public without cost or obligation. This is a good chance learn how others are using the Internet.
REMINDER NEWSLETTER ONLINE
The FRPCUG k-Byte newsletter content is online at http://frpcug.org. Typically, the news is online here even before it is delivered to members via traditional mail. Thanks to Jack Linder for providing this service to our members.
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Printer Paper - What's the Difference?
You've finally got a great color printer with 600 to 1200 dpi (Dots per Inch) capability for text and graphics and you can't wait to start printing. According to the manufacturer it should be able to print photo quality graphics and crisp text files. However, when you actually print something, it seems the print quality is no better than with your old printer.
Eventually, you look with envy at your friend's printouts and sigh "Someday I'll be able to afford a high quality printer like theirs." But wait, maybe the problem isn't the printer... perhaps it's the paper. Let's take a look at the basics of different printers:
An impact printer uses a mechanical hammering device to produce each character by forcing a metal or plastic form against an inked ribbon to produce an image on paper. The characters may be on a moving bar, a rapidly rotating chain, a rotatable ball, or even a spoked wheel.
A dot matrix printer uses a matrix of tiny pins that, when struck, impart a set of dots to form a wide variety of characters. Graphics may be created by using different dot combinations.
Bubble-jet printers (or ink-jet printers) squirt heated ink through a matrix of holes to form characters. These small ink droplets are electrostatically sprayed from a nozzle onto the paper.
Laser printers form an image of the output on a selenium-coated drum, using laser light according to data from the computer. The image is then transferred to the output from the drum using photocopying techniques.
Thermal-wax-transfer printers and dye-sublimation printers use heat to transfer color pigment from a ribbon to a special paper to produce photographic-quality color images.
Inkjet (bubblejet) printers are very affordable for home use. In the store the printouts may look incredible but when you get home, somehow the printer just doesn't seem to have the same print quality. Most of the time the problem is not the printer, it's the paper.
Most people try out several different kinds of photocopy, laser printer, or inexpensive inkjet papers. When an inkjet printer sprays onto these papers, the ink is wicked by the fibers causing an effect known as bleeding. Some inks spread to the sides or the back of the paper making the image less sharp. When the ink bleeds, it isn't all on top of the paper, some has soaked in. This is easy to check by turning the sheet over. If the ink is starting to come through or the front appears lighter, grayed-out, or feathered, as though you were printing with diluted ink, you probably have the wrong paper.
To get good quality printouts with an inkjet printer you need to use coated paper stock. A single coated paper is not enough, as it is formulated to keep the ink from getting into the paper fiber but doesn't have the best ink adhesion or reflectivity. Quality printouts need a second coating on top of the ink barrier coating. The second coating optimizes viewing by reflecting light back to set off the colors. The second coat also provides a base to adhere the ink. To put it more simply you need a primer coat and a finish coat to generate a quality printout.
Two options controlled by most inkjet printers are configuration for the "Media Type" and "Print Quality". "Media Type" controls the amount of ink set down on the media. It DOES NOT control or affect the resolution. "Print Quality" controls the "Resolution" of the images printed.
Now you know what type of paper to use, lets see what some of the other manufacturing terms mean! Basis Weight - the weight of a ream of paper in the Basic Size for that grade (e.g. 500 sheets of Sub. 20 Bond paper in its basic size, 17x22 in., would weigh 20 lb.) Bond Paper - paper manufactured usually for stationery, letterheads or forms.
Distinguishable in the more popular grades by a watermark and excellent writing surface. Brightness- the measurement of a paper's light-reflective qualities that affect contrast and halftone reproduction. Coated Paper - paper with a coated surface that gives the paper a smooth finish. Finish - the special characteristics of a paper's surface, which differ from grade to grade. High, low and textured finishes, for example, exhibit varying degrees of smoothness, ink receptivity and printability. Ink Holdout - the ability of the paper to keep ink on its surface rather than absorb it into the sheet (e.g., paper with good ink holdout would require less ink and exhibit less "feathering" than a highly absorbent paper). Ink Receptivity - the degree to which a paper resists or accepts ink penetration based on variations in its size and coating.
Laser Papers - papers suited for optimum performance on heat fused, high-resolution, laser printers used in desktop publishing. (Not recommended for inkjets) Ream - 500 sheets of paper, regardless of size.
What are some of the specialty papers available for inkjet printers?
HIGH RESOLUTION: Coated 24lb paper provides distinct crisp details and colors for graphics, text and photographic images. This paper has a non-resin coating and provides exceptional results at an economical cost.
ULTRA RESOLUTION: Coated 27lb paper provides a sturdier platform for intense graphics and color applications which would saturate lighter papers. It provides a thicker media while maintaining an economical cost.
PHOTO GLOSSY: Photographic coated paper provides a heavy surface for "true" photo applications. Gives images a glossy photographic appearance. This paper may also be obtained with an extra coating that bonds with the ink to provide a waterproof image.
OPAQUE WHITE GLOSSY FILM: Synthetic film providing a durable media for Photo applications. A thin polyester material provides stability for hostile environments and also provides for exceptional color and detail.
CLEAR TRANSPARENCY FILM: A clear polyester base coated with a specifically formulated quick dry emulsion for optimum performance. Produces bright colorful overlays and presentation foils.
T-SHIRT TRANSFER: An iron on product that utilizes a "cool-release" process to maximize image detail and color transfer. Look for an easy to use product with easy peel backings and machine washability.
ULTRA-VIOLET T-SHIRT TRANSFER: This product provides a unique transfer. In addition to color transfers, the Ultraviolet transfer actually changes color when exposed to sunlight! When sunlight is removed the image returns to the natural state
SILVER REFLECTIVE FILM: A polyester based silver film. The metalized film is excellent for monochrome as well as color graphics
CANVAS: An artist grade canvas that is pre-stretched and gives an elegant look to portraits and artist renderings. Provides excellent color reproduction.
POLY-SILK FABRIC, (ADHESIVE BACKED): A woven polyester base that looks, feels and gives the appearance of real silk. An adhesive backing provides for transfer to fabric or textiles.
WATERCOLOR PAPER: An artist grade paper that provides the feel and appearance of watercolor texture. Provides excellent format for reproduction of renderings and other artistic applications.
BACKLIT REVERSE PRINTING FILM: A UV resistant polyester film designed for most light box applications. Produces bright vibrant colors with a superb light diffusion quality. Reverse printing or viewing through the base allows for single sided lamination.
WINDOW DECAL FILM: Polyester based transparent film with self-adhesive backing to allow mounting directly to windows or other substrates.
Some of these specialty papers are difficult to locate and prices vary considerably. For economy, print your images on inexpensive 20-24 LB paper until you are satisfied with the composition, then switch to the more expensive media. Try printing the same image on several types of media, you'll be amazed at how different they look. To acquire various types of specialty papers go to the web sites of paper manufactures and distributors such as Hammermill, Mead, Hewlett-Packard, or Kodak and request sample packets. Most of all, have fun and experiment with different paper media, you'll be amazed at what your inkjet printer can do for you!
This Article is brought to you courtesy of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG) by Alicia King Padgett is a member of the Fresno PC Users Group in California.
Did you know that odd-price sale items was started by a newspaper publisher?
When Melville Stone started the Chicago Daily News in 1875, the price was a penny. At first, circulation was high but then dropped off sharply. Stone discovered that the problem was a shortage of pennies in the area. He brought in barrels of pennies and then persuaded merchants to start an "odd-price sale," selling goods for a penny under the regular price. Thus goods were sold for an amount such as $2.99 (instead of $3). Pennies came back into circulation, Stone sold many newspapers, and we still have odd-price sales items.
- didyouknow.com
A NOTE ON MODEM CARDS
Whether they're in your PDA or your laptop, remember that many modem cards draw power from your computer whether they're in use or not. So if you're sure you won't be using your modem, you're always better off disconnecting it from your computer or PDA to save battery power. Just remember to keep it somewhere safe when you take it out of your computer.
Topica TipWorld - http://www.topica.com/
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Windows Task Bar
by Rick Mattingly
The Windows Task Bar is one of the most important Desktop tools, used for accessing all Windows applications and data. Because it is so important and accessed constantly, it is useful to know what formatting options are available for the Task Bar.
Move the Task Bar
The default position for the Task Bar is at the bottom of the screen. You may actually quickly anchor the Task Bar to any of the four sides of the screen. To do this Left-Click an open area of the Task Bar and drag the task bar to the left, right or top of the screen and release. The Task Bar is now anchored to that side of the screen and will remain there until you choose to move it again.
Make More Room
If you usually work with a lot of applications and data the Task Bar can become quite crowded. The task Bar handles this situation by automatically reducing each icon in size. While it is true that you may determine the owner of each icon by resting the cursor on the icon, resulting in a pop-up window, things may still become just too cluttered. The solution is to give the Task Bar more room. To do this, point the cursor at the top edge of the Task Bar until a double arrow appears. Now, Left-Click and pull the Task Bar open to provide as much room as desired and release. The Task Bar will retain this setting until manually changed again. The downside to increasing the Task Bar space is that it now takes up more of the Desktop. The solution -- hide the Task Bar.
Hiding the Task Bar
Hiding the Task Bar results in the Task Bar disappearing from view until that edge of the Desktop is touched by the mouse cursor. To hide the Task Bar, Right-Click an open area of the Task Bar and choose Properties. From the resulting menu choose Auto Hide. While you're at it, also choose Always on Top. Now the Task Bar will remain out of sight until needed, maximizing available Desktop space. The Task Bar and its contents will always be available, even when working with full screen applications, by simply touching that edge of the screen with the mouse cursor. Moving the cursor away from the open Task Bar results in the Task Bar hiding itself automatically.
Task Bar Properties
In the event that you find the text and icon size to be either too large or small within elements of the Task Bar, you may want to change them more to your liking. To accomplish this, Right-Click on an open area of the Desktop and choose Properties. Now, choose Appearance. From the resulting menu choose the Item arrow in the lower left and scroll to Active Title Bar. Once chosen, the present Font style and Size will be displayed below. Change the Size (and Font style, if you wish) to your liking. To check the result, click on Apply at the lower right. Check the Task Bar to see the result. If everything is as desired click on OK in the Properties menu. If not, try again and Apply until satisfied with the results.
The Task Bar is your doorway to the Windows operating system and all your applications. Use the tips above to show the Task Bar who's boss!
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Avoid The Reformat/Reinstall Two-Step
by Fred Langa
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-01-11.htm#2
From the March 2001 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Reader Ed Newbold ran into a problem that's fairly common. Well--- at least the *result* is common: A hosed OS. Ed's specific problem may or may not parallel one you've had or will have, but sooner or later, everyone is at the point of knowing their OS is toast, and wondering if there's an alternative to a full reformat/reinstall:
My current dilemma: I purchased Win98 SE, installed it OK, installed some DSL hardware and software OK, and then got the not-so-bright idea of attempting to remove the non-essential IE Explorer stuff from the setup. So, I downloaded one of these 'free' programs that strip Win 98 of the IE components. It did. It also disabled my Explorer executable. Now, when I fire up Explorer, it shows me all the disk drives and subdirectories available, but it doesn't show me any files! Just great! I tried finding a copy of explorer.exe to install over it, but that didn't work either. I'm now using a shareware Explorer-like application to perform my Explorer activities, but it's just not as good as Explorer was.
My question Do you think I'll have to perform a *complete* Win 98 reinstallation to recover from this mess? I'd hate to do that, 'cause my DSL install and configuration was a real battle, and I'd hate to have to reinstall that too.
One often-overlooked option is an "in-place reinstall" where you just layer a new copy of the OS over the copy that's gone bad. With some kinds of problems--- missing or overwritten system, files, for example--- this kind of reinstall may completely cure what's wrong, and can do so without losing your data, your installed apps, or any customizations or alterations you've made. Instead, the new copy of the OS picks up your existing installations, alterations and such, and leaves them alone. With a little luck, the only thing the reinstall alters is the broken portion of the old OS install.
The problem with the in-place reinstall is that it's not as thorough-going as a clean install, and can also pick up bad settings, and may not correctly replace subtly corrupted files. An in-place reinstall isn't a panacea, but it may be worth a shot if you're out of other options:
It's easy: Just insert your OS setup CD, navigate to the root directory on the CD, and launch the Setup file. The OS should reinstall right on top of the existing OS. The broken or missing parts should be restored, and your settings *should* remain intact.
If that doesn't work, there's still another option short of a full reformat, and it's spelled out at http://www.winmag.com/library/1998/1001/fea0045i.htm#won't_work. (Sorry, but winmag is no more and the link doesn't work - JL) It's basically a way to completely delete Windows from your system, leaving no trace, but leaving all your data intact. Although this "no-reformat reinstall" does require that you re-install all your applications, it's still faster than a full-reformat reinstall because all your data stays put.
You know what's coming next: With good backups or drive images, you can skip all the above and get your system back to a known-good state with far less time and hassle than any of the above options. But I know very, very few people bother with backups of any kind, so it's worth discussing various no-reformat reinstall options, even though they're a poor substitute.
In any case, it's good to have options other than "format c:"
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-01-15.htm#3
More Reformat Time- and Step-Savers
In "Avoid The Reformat/Reinstall Two-Step" ( http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2001/2001-01-11.htm#2 ) we discussed an "in-place reinstall" where you just layer a new copy of the OS over the copy that's gone bad. With some kinds of problems--- missing or overwritten system, files, for example--- this kind of reinstall may completely cure what's wrong, and can do so without losing your data, your installed apps, or any customizations or alterations you've made.
While that advice was deliberately general, reader Lou Holobradek suggests a targeted kind of fix for problems associated with a copy of Explorer that's gone bad. Lou suggests putting in fresh copies of explorer.exe, shell32.dll and user.exe: In combination, fresh, known-good copies of these files may solve many problems with Windows Explorer.
Lou also suggests:
As an aside, for a long time now, I've been storing all my data files on another drive. Various system folders (eg program files, desktop, templates, favorites, my documents, etc) can be moved using TweakUI. If using Outlook Express, the mailbox can be moved by clicking Tools -> Options -> Maintenance -> Store Folder.
This way, no matter how bad the C\drive, your data is safe even after a format and re-install. And as the data is all in one location, it can be easily backed up.
Thanks, Lou. There are all kinds of ways of protecting data files from OS problems, and this approach works fine too. If other readers are interested in TweakUI, you can get up-to-date information on this excellent, free utility at http://www.winmag.com/help/sbs/2000/tweakui/default.htm.
This item reprinted with permission from The LangaList (a free email newsletter available at http://www.langa.com/newsletter.htm), Copyright (c) 2000 Langa Consulting."
Have you updated your DAT files for your virus protection software lately? You are running virus protection aren't you? Virus' are running rampant-protect yourself NOW!
Sayings For The Computer Age
What boots up must come down.
Fax is stranger than fiction.
Don't byte off more than you can view.
The e-mail of the species is more deadly than the mail.
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach him to use the Net and he won't bother you for weeks.
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Calendar of Events
- IMPORTANT NOTICE -
FRPCUG meetings are held at the Fort Collins Senior Center. Check below for directions to the Senior Center.
August General Forum Meeting
No meeting in August due to maintenance at the Fort Collins Senior Center!
September General Forum Meeting
We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, September 4 at 7:00 pm.
Meeting Agenda
7:00 - 7:30 Announcements
7:30 - 8:45 The Road Warrior-A presentation on state of the art computing on the road, including portable computing equipment, tips, tricks and services.
8:45 - 9:00 Break
9:00 - 9:00 Open Forum
See you at the meetings!
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: 311 S College Avenue in Fort Collins.
LINUX SIG
This SIG, supports LINUX and other non-Windows operating systems for PC compatible hardware. This includes all distributions of LINUX, the BE Operating system, and OS2. These meetings are held 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 linuxsig@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/.
Telecommuncation SIG
The Telecommunications SIG covers topics related to computer communications hardware and software including modems, xDSL, networking, ISDN and the Internet. The meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Thursdays 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.
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.
Internet Safari
This free Internet discussion group meets the first Monday of each month at the Barnes and Noble book store 4045 S. College. This group covers any topics and questions relating to using the Internet and is open to beginners and experienced Internet users. Meetings start at 7:00PM. For more information call JYM Information Systems at 416-9286 or email info@jymis.com.
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.
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August 2001
7 NO FRPCUG MEETING THIS MONTH!
HTML SIG Meeting 7:00PM
8 NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM
15 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM
16 Telcomm SIG 7:00PM
23 LINUX SIG 7:00PM
September 2001
3 Labor Day
4 FRPCUG Meeting 7:00PM
10 HTML SIG Meeting 7:00PM
12 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00PM
NRFNUG Meeting 5:00PM
20 Telcomm SIG 7:00PM
27 LINUX SIG 7:00PM
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The HP ScanJet 5370 Cse
By William LaMartin, Editor, Tampa PC Users Group
lamartin@tampabay.rr.com
There is a new scanner in our house-thanks to my mother-in-law. Why might she be interested in my having a third scanner? Well, she just happens to have a lot of old, very large negatives floating around her house, and the HP 5370C series flatbed scanners come with a transparency adapter good for scanning in transparencies, photographic negatives or photographic slides up to 5" x 5" in size.
I have had an HP IIcx flatbed scanner for many years. And it has really been a workhorse for me. I think I have had it for at least seven years. It has been extremely reliable and does fast scans of standard pages of up to 14" in length. It does a good job on photographs, and, coupled with TextBridge Pro's OCR software, I have converted a lot of printed text to digital text. It has a 400 dpi optical resolution and does its scans quite fast with no warm up of the light.
But the IIcx cannot scan negatives. That is why my son added an HP PhotoSmart photo scanner to my collection several years back. It will scan 35 mm negatives and slides at an optical resolution of 2400 ppi (pixels per inch), and the results are quite good. It also scans regular photographs up to 5" x 7" at an optical resolution of 300 ppi. I think here we can equate ppi with dpi. So it would be better to scan a photograph using the IIcx; however, if you have a negative for the photo available, the results of using the negative scanner instead of scanning the photo itself in either scanner is superior. So I always scan a negative instead of a photo when I can.
Unfortunately the HP PhotoSmart scanner will not scan negatives larger than 35 mm, and I have a lot of 6 cm x 7 cm and larger negatives. That is where the new scanner comes in. Using the transparency adapter displayed in the photo above, I can scan these negatives at 1200 dpi (I don't know why HP keeps going back and forth between dpi and ppi in their specifications). It would be nice to be able to scan them at 2400 dpi, but since they are so large, the 1200 dpi scan of one of them contains more information than would a 2400 dpi scan of a 35 mm negative of the same subject.
But what about a comparison of using the PhotoSmart photographic scanner versus the 5370C with transparency adapter for either 35 mm slides or negatives? I did the comparison, and the PhotoSmart scanner is superior. I assume for the simple reason that scanning at 2400 dpi will give sharper results than will scanning at 1200 dpi. The color balance also seemed better with the HP PhotoSmart scanner.
But for an all in one scanner, I think the HP 5370 Cse is a real good buy. You get 1200 dpi flatbed scanning for documents and photos with the addition of respectable-although not top notch-scanning of slides and negatives. I think, however, that the average individual will be quite content with the quality of the negative and slide scans that it produces.
The HP 5370 also provides for one button scanning by allowing you to scan by simply pressing one of four buttons on the front of the scanner. There is a button to scan directly to your email program, your printer, your fax program or to your scanning software. A warning, though: If you are installing the scanner on a Windows Me computer, you will need to go to the HP site and download a small patch to make the buttons work.
Personally, I prefer to scan from the HP ScanJet software. And if you are going to use the transparency adapter you will have to use the software. Additional features include the ability to scan a document to text, which means that the HP software contains an optical character recognition (OCR) module. If the document is of good quality, like a page printed by a laser printer, then I found the text was recognized fairly well but not as well as by my standalone OCR program TextBridge Pro. However, for a small amount of OCR work on good quality documents, the included option should be sufficient. I acquired the article from the 1989 Bits of Blue reproduced in this issue using Text capture of the 5370 scanner.
The scanner costs $300 at the local CompUSA store, and for an additional $200 list you can get an automatic document feeder. The scanner can be connected to the computer with either a parallel printer port connection or by a USB connection. I like the USB connection. Additionally with the USB connection it should be easy to move the scanner between different computers.
In addition to the HP PrecisionScan Pro software, you also get:
Corel Print Office 2000
Boomerang Internet Design Shop Gold
eFax Messenger Plus
Caere PageKeeper Standard
Hemera Graphics Desk for HP
I installed none of these since I already have high level graphics and OCR software.
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Those ZIP & PDF Files
By Bob Elgines
Trouble with some of those attachments and downloads? What do I do with those *.zip ( a data compressed file ) and *.pdf ( Portable Document Format compressed file) files ?
One of the most important things we need first is a program to unzip compressed files labeled as Zip files. There are several programs out there such as Aladdin, Winzip, etc. Winzip is the easiest and most widely used and a trial version can be downloaded free from the internet: www.winzip.com
After downloading Winzip ( winzip80.exe is latest version) save it to a folder such as "My Downloads" or what ever folder you want, so you can find it. If you have an older version remove it first by going to START/SETTINGS/CONTROL PANEL, then double click on ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS. See if Winzip is on the list, if Winzip is there, then click on it to high light, then click on the Remove button to uninstall it.
Now you are ready to install Winzip by finding your file using Windows Explorer ( file management tool) and doing a double click on your downloaded file (winzip80.exe), or go to START/RUN, type in C:\My Downloads\winzip80.exe and click on OK. The program called WINZIP will install itself and put icons on the Start Up menu, the Desk Top and in the Program listing. (I delete the one on the Desk Top with a right click and selecting Delete). Now we are ready to unzip those compressed files received from email, web, etc.
To unzip a file is very easy, just select your file and do a double click, Winzip will automatically come up showing you what is in the zip file. Go to the top right and click on EXTRACT! This will bring up the menu that allows you to select the folder you wish to extract and save the file(s). After you have the folder selected click on the EXTRACT button. That's all there is, now you can go to your folder and work your extracted or unzipped file(s).
If your unzipped files are picture files and you double click on them they will come up in Windows Paint (*.bmp) or Internet Explorer (*.jpg, *.gif, etc), unless you have a photo program. If the files are text files your will see them in Notepad or wordpad, or you can view them in your word processor. If they are PDF (Portable Document Format) files then we need a special program called Acrobat Reader by Adobe.
To get your free Acrobat Reader, go to the Adobe web site at: www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html
Save your file (ar40eng.exe) in your special folder such as "My Downloads". Before installing this program be sure you remove the old version (this is version 4) just like we did for Winzip. Now go to your special folder and locate the acrobat file and double click to install it, or go to START/RUN and enter C:\My Downloads\ar40eng.exe, then click on OK. Restart windows!
Once this is installed and windows is back up, you can double click on any PDF file and the Acrobat Reader will come up automatically.
I hope this helps people to read those email attachments and program manuals!
Bob Elgines is Editor for the Colorado River Computer Club user group located in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an International organization to which this user group belongs.
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On The Web: What does my ISP do for me?
By R. Glenn York
We all have some Internet Service Provider (ISP) that provides us a connection to the Internet for some fee or in the case of “Free” ISPs for providing some demographic information and accepting their targeted advertising. This article is intended to explain what the ISP does for that monthly fee.
CONNECTION: The first and most obvious service they provide is a connection to the rest of the Internet. This is usually one or more “T-1” connections to Internet backbone providers. There are about 50 different backbone providers including Sprint, MCI, Qwest, Uunet, Cable & Wireless, PSI and others. These backbone providers all provide access in various major cities. The backbone carriers all interconnect at one or more points in the US. The main interconnect points are New York, Washington DC, Chicago, and San Francisco. All backbone carriers interconnect at one or more of these four sites. There are also numerous other “private” interconnect points where two or more providers interconnect to exchange traffic. The backbone providers charge ISPs $500 to $1000 per month for these connections. In addition, the local phone company charges another $300-$1000 per month depending on mileage for the connection between the ISP and the backbone carrier's location.
The ISP also has to have a router and CSU/DSU equipment that will communicate with the backbone provider's network. This is usually about $2000-$3000 worth of equipment.
ACCESS CIRCUITS: Your ISP also provides some access circuit. This can be a dialup number you dial with your standard phone, a cable modem, a DSL connection, wireless or satellite. In some cases the ISP owns this connection, but often they have to lease equipment, right of ways, circuits or phone lines from other providers. Just to make this simple I will discuss the requirements for dialup 56K modems. Usually the customer has to buy or lease the computer and modem at their end of this connection. To support 56K (v.90) modems the ISP must lease or purchase remote access (RAS) equipment that will accept digital connections. These systems usually start at about $10,000 to support 400-500 customers. In addition, the ISP must contract with the phone company to get digital access lines. These lines will handle 23 or 24 calls at the same time and cost $500 to $1500 per month. One of these lines will handle 140 to 240 customers.
DOMAIN NAME SERVERS: Web and Email addresses are normally words people can remember. Computers work with numbers. www.frpcug.org is actually on a computer at IP address 63.173.117.25. When you enter a web address in your browser your computer sends a request to your ISP's Domain Name Server (DNS). This server looks at internal information and tries to provide a IP address for the site. If it does not know where it is, it forwards the request to other DNS systems until it finds one that can provide the answer. The answer is then returned to your browser. The browser then uses the numeric IP address when it sends the actual request for that web page. Every domain on the Internet requires two DNS servers to know where it is. This provides redundancy to make sure if one DNS system is not available the site can still be found. Your ISP runs a DNS on at least one computer. They may contract with another provider for secondary DNS services or may run a secondary DNS system themselves on a separate server
EMAIL SERVERS: Email is one of the most important parts of Internet service for most people. The Email system is designed as a “store and forward” system where each message is stored on a mail server until it can be delivered. When you send a message your computer forwards the message to your ISP's mail server. This server uses the DNS system to determine where the message should be delivered. The server then tries to contact that mail server. Once the mail servers have established a connection the message is forwarded and deleted from your ISP's server. The recipient's mail server then stores the message until the recipient connects and requests their email. The mail servers work 24 hours a day sending and receiving mail. If a destination server is not available the server keeps trying to contact it to deliver the messages. Usually if your ISP's mail server is unable to deliver the message in 4 hours it will generate a message informing you of the delay. Normally if a message can not be delivered in five days the mail server will give up and send you a message informing you that the message could not be delivered. If you get a message almost immediately stating your message could not be delivered that usually means there is an error in the address and the DNS system could not determine where it should be delivered. Your ISP will be running at least one mail server. The system allows additional mail servers to be identified with lower priority. These lower priority mail servers will accept incoming mail if the primary server is not available for any reason. Once the primary mail server is available the secondary will forward all mail to the primary server. Since mail is handled in a store and forward system the ISP can use slower servers to handle email processing.
RADIUS (authentication, authorization, and accounting) SERVERS: This server verifies your user name and password, determines what services you are authorized to access and keeps logs of the time you use the service. While this may not be a service to you it provides the information the ISP needs to verify usage and plan upgrades to their facilities. The RADIUS server has to be available 24 hours a day to allow customers to log in. Most ISPs will run two Radius servers to insure that even if one fails or is down for maintenance you can access the Internet.
WEB SERVERS: The Internet has provided an opportunity for everyone to publish information. Whether you want to share family photos or are running a business shopping site a web server is required to respond to requests from people wanting to view your information with their web browser. One Web server can serve hundreds of pages a minute. Many small sites (personal or small business) can be served by one web server. Big sites like Microsoft use multiple web servers that all access information from a common storage system. This allows thousands of pages to be displayed every second. Slow web sites can be due to several problems. Network congestion, sites with large graphics or multimedia files or overloaded servers are common reasons for slow pages. ISPs that serve hundreds of small sites may group sites on different servers to prevent overloading one server. These servers may require multiple hard drive to provide storage space for all the web sites hosted.
NEWS SERVERS: The Usenet News is a service that many people don't use, but at least ten percent of Internet users use it. Usenet started as a bulletin board type service on College and University systems in the early days of the Internet. This service allows anyone to post a public message and that message then is available to be read by thousands of people all over the world. There are over 30,000 news groups and the cover almost any imaginable topic. News servers are one of the busiest services on the Internet. With over 30,000 groups and hundreds of messages a day in each of these they require several Gb of storage
FTP SERVERS: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a system to allow files to be transferred over the Internet. The most common use for this is shareware distribution like at: jymis.tucows.com or software updates for commercial packages. FTP servers can accept uploads and downloads. Often the uploading files will require a user name and password or the files will go to an inaccessible directory until a system administrator can review the file and make them accessible to others. This is done to prevent misuse such as uploading and sharing copyrighted software or other files.
OTHER SERVERS: Some ISPs operate other servers based on the needs of their customers and their business objectives. These servers may host chat rooms, multi-user games, multimedia files, content filtering, anti-virus systems, databases or applications. Each has it's own requirements and may require additional servers.
SECURITY MONITORING: Every computer connected to the Internet is subject to attack. Some people just scan the Internet looking for computers that they can access for the fun of it. Others launch attacks based on security holes that have been discovered in various software or hardware products. Some are out to capture credit card numbers or other data for economic gain. ISPs have multiple servers connected to the Internet 24 hours a day every day. ISPs need to monitor the server logs daily to detect any unauthorized access attempts. They also need to read the latest security announcements and make sure their systems are not vulnerable to attacks. Some ISPs also run virus scanning software on their system to block the spread of virus programs. This security monitoring is often a routine hour or so a day, but when something unusual is detected it can turn into a major project to track down the hacker or close security holes to protect your service.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT: Everyone needs help with their computer from time to time. ISPs are often seen by their customers as their private “Computer guru”. Customers call their ISP when their printer won't print from their word processor or when the monitor don't come on. ISPs do provide technical support for problems with Internet connections and applications, but it is not possible to provide technical support for every computer problem.
MANAGE SERVERS: Your ISP has to monitor server logs daily to identify problems, allocate disk space, and identify problems. Customers don't accept outages of their Internet service much better than they do when their phone service is out. The ISP has to anticipate problems and reassign servers or schedule maintenance in the middle of the night to minimize inconvenience for their customers. Most ISPs use very reliable hardware and software to minimize downtime, but most servers need some maintenance at least once a year. The ISP needs to schedule these maintenance actions and reassign servers to minimize outages. They also have to upgrade software and hardware on a regular basis to maintain their abilities to meet the needs of their customers. All servers must also have Uninterruptible Power supplies to maintain operation during power glitches and short outages. In case of longer outages ISPs may have backup generators to keep their equipment operating.
MAINTAINING RELATIONSHIPS: The Internet does not have any central control structure so each ISP has authority to determine what is and what is not acceptable to them. In some cases a user will do something another ISP finds unacceptable and that ISP blocks all traffic from the offending user's ISP. This can result in inability to access a web site hosted by a different ISP or inability to send Email to a user on that system. Your ISP has to establish professional relationships with other ISPs and work with them to resolve these problems. In some cases this may involve technical issues or it could be a personal dispute. Your ISP spends several hours a month on these problems and maintaining good relationships with other ISPs so you can access any site or send and receive email from anyone on the Internet.
Your ISP provides all these services for about $0.65 a day. For the cost of a soft drink or two postage stamps a day you can communicate with others around the world, publish your information or get information when you need it 24 hours a day.
R. Glenn York is a partner in JYM Information System LLC, one of the oldest ISPs in the Fort Collins area. He can be contacted at otw@rgy.com
Scanner Tip
Most inexpensive flatbed scanners utilize a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) optical lens. On such scanners, always place the object to be scanned in the center of the glass (left and right) for the sharpest scanned image. The center of the CCD scanner's optical lens provides the sharpest result!
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Easy Thumbnails - A software review
by Rick Mattingly
Digital cameras and optical scanners result in images -- lots and lots of images. Keeping track of all those images quickly becomes a real chore. Often, the only way to determine which image file is the one you are looking for is to view the image contained with an image viewing utility. Image files can be, and most often are, quite large, complicating the issue even further. The solution is to use "thumbnail" views of the image files. Thumbnail images are nothing more than a minature duplicate of the original, much smaller in physical and storage size. Accessing the thumbnail images is fast and they take up very little storage space.
While it is true that you can create a thumbnail view of an image with most graphic software applications, it can be a real pain to manually set up the software to resize each image. A better route is to utilize a dedicated thumbnail software application for this task, as well as a quick thumbnail image viewer. "Easy Thumbnails" by Fookes Software is a great choice for this job.
The official description of Easy Thumbnails v1.0 reads as follows: "A handy utility for creating accurate thumbnail images and scaled-down copies from a wide range of popular picture formats. An elegant interface makes it simplicity itself to find your images and select them for processing individually, in batches, or in whole folders, using a well-designed file selector and built-in image viewer. You can use slider controls to rotate images and adjust their contrast, brightness, sharpness and quality, and preview the results. Thumbnails can be created in any existing folder or a new folder, and you can identify them clearly by adding a prefix or suffix to their titles. If you're a image processing enthusiast, you will appreciate the option of choosing from a selection of six size-reduction algorithms for the best possible results."
Easy Thumbnails is a small utility that does a really nice job with an elegent, yet simple interface. Oh, and I must not forget to mention what a great tool Easy Thumbnail is for maintaining Web site images.
And now the best part -- Easy Thumbnails is Freeware!
Go to Fookes Software on the Internet at http://www.fookes.com to snag your very own copy of this great utility.While you are there, also check out the other great software products available, including "Album Express" for creating picture albums of your images, "Mailbag Assistant" to enhance management of your e-mail. Also, be sure to take a look at "NoteTab," one of the most powerful ASCII text editors I have yet seen. NoteTab is available in a free "light" version (amazing!) or as a powerhouse "pro" version for only $19.95.
Classy, functional software from Geneva, Switzerland by Eric G. V. Fookes. Definitely worth a look.
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FOOT-AND-MOUTH BELIEVED TO BE FIRST VIRUS UNABLE TO SPREAD THROUGH MICROSOFT OUTLOOK
Scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Symantec's AntiVirus Research Center today confirmed that foot-and-mouth disease cannot be spread by Microsoft's Outlook email application, believed to be the first time the program has ever failed to propagate a major virus.
"Frankly, we've never heard of a virus that couldn't spread through Microsoft Outlook, so our findings were, to say the least, unexpected," said Clive Sarnow, director of the CDC's infectious disease unit.…
Executives at Microsoft, meanwhile, were equally skeptical, insisting that Outlook's patented Virus Transfer Protocol (VTP) has proven virtually pervious to any virus. The company, however, will issue a free VTP patch if it turns out the application is not vulnerable to foot-and-mouth.
(source unattributed)
A man left work one Friday afternoon. Friday, being payday, instead of going home, he stayed out the entire weekend partying with the boys and spending his entire paycheck. When he finally appeared at home, Sunday night, he was confronted by a very angry wife and was barraged for nearly two hours with a tirade befitting his actions. Finally his wife stopped the nagging and simply said to him. "How would you like it if you didn't see me for two or three days?" To which he replied. "That would be fine with me."
Monday went by and he didn't see his wife. Tuesday and Wednesday came and went with the same results. But on Thursday, the swelling went down just enough where he could see her a little out of the corner of his left eye.
Thanks to Larry Talley
Compaq iPAQ
PRINT TO FAX
If you're traveling with a notebook, but no printer, try sending documents to the hotel's fax machine. You can print out meeting notes and contracts without lugging extra equipment around.
Job Hunting
(From the Internet Author Unknown)
Joe Smith started the day early having set his alarm clock (MADE IN JAPAN) for 6 a.m. While his coffeepot (MADE IN CHINA) was perking, he shaved with his electric razor (MADE IN HONG KONG). He put on a dress shirt (MADE in SRILANKA) designer jeans (MADE IN SINGAPORE) and tennis shoes (MADE IN KOREA) After cooking his breakfast in his new electric skillet (MADE IN INDIA) he sat down with his calculator (MADE IN MEXICO) to see how much he could spend today. After setting his watch (MADE IN TAIWAN) to the radio (MADE IN INDIA) he got in his car (MADE IN GERMANY) and continued his search for a good paying AMERICAN JOB. At the end of yet another discouraging and fruitless day, Joe decided to relax for a while. He put on his sandals (MADE IN BRAZIL), poured himself a glass of wine (MADE IN FRANCE) and turned on his TV (MADE IN INDONESIA), and then wondered why he can't find a good paying job in.....AMERICA.
May, 2001 issue Desert Tales newsletter
Trading Post
For Sale: Running Windows 98, Craig Stinson, like new, $15. Call Paul Ostrof at 970-484-7680.
SELL IT IN THE TRADING POST WITH A FREE AD FOR FRPCUG MEMBERS
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 Will Horton at 223-2154 or email whorton@will-design.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@will-design.com.
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