THE SOUNDBOARD
Web Edition - January 2002
Website: www.hvcomputerclub.org
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THE SOUNDBOARD |
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Web Edition - January 2002
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| Heritage Village Computer Club | |||||||||||||||||
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| E-mail: theweb@snet.net |
Website: www.hvcomputerclub.org
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Mark Your Calendar -- COMING EVENTS!GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING Heritage Hall WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2002 10:00 - 11:30 am A Demonstration by Joe Glynn: Copying a Video to a CD **************** S.O.S. - HVCC Help Line: Ken Pelletier 264-2310 Bob Greene 264-9747 Beginning with this issue, we are incorporating a new help profile. Several members have volunteered to assist in the help duties and are available between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. They have specified the particular areas in which they are experienced. Give them an opportunity to assist you with your problems. All help personnel are volunteers who will try to walk you through a computer problem that you may be experiencing. If that does not resolve the problem, it is suggested that you bring the specifics of your problem to our Open House (Tues. & Thur., 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.). Members are encouraged to offer volunteer assistance when they are able. If none of these suggestions fixes the problem, your only recourse is to seek professional help. It is not the Club's policy to recommend professional computer technicians. Usually the best technical help will come from the manufacturer of your computer and you may even be under a warrantee program.
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***************** Board of Directors Resolution:The following resolution was unanimously adopted by the Board of Directors at their meeting of December 13, 2001 and reaffirmed at their meeting of December 27, 2001. "All Mac users are entitled to the same rights and privileges as any other member of the club. It will no longer be club policy to buy or maintain Mac equipment in the future. If any Mac member is not satisfied with this policy, they may request a pro-rated refund of their dues." By the Board The club cannot function as a club divided. It is essential that the focus and goals of club members be consistent. Club members need to be able to utilize the resources of the club to the maximum. We trust this will be understood by all members. Kenneth F. Pelletier, DOLLAR WISETHE TOP 10 NET SCAMS OF 2001 Old favorites and a few new twists, all designed to rip you off. Here's how to spot them -- and how to avoid them. By Jennifer Mulrean, Money Central http://moneycentral.msn.com/articles/smartbuy/dollarwise/8080.asp?special=msn NATIONAL CONSUMERS LEAGUE ("NCL")
****************** GET ALL THE DETAILS ON YOUR FAVORITE CHARITY "This page lists the current Better Business Bureau ("BBB") Wise Giving Alliance reports on charities and other soliciting organizations. The list is regularly updated with new charities added on a regular basis. Written versions of these reports can be obtained." ******************** CARD GAMES There are many web sites offering card games. Some are for download to your hard drive, others can be played while online. SOLITAIRE CENTRAL "Solitaire Central is your source for everything you ever wanted to know about solitaire and patience card games. There are literally hundreds of solitaires, varying from the familiar to the obscure, easy to difficult, and simple to complex. Solitaire is a great way to pass the time and exercise the mind, whether you play with regular cards, or on a computer screen." These games can be played online. BLACKJACK AT PCWORLD At this PC World home page you can search for the games you are interested in. I typed in "Blackjack" and the search of their website turned up 74 results. These games are for download. The site tells you what operating system is needed, the cost (if any), and the size of the program. If you have limited internet access time, these are probably best for you. ******************** DECEMBER, 2001 DUES Ronnie Kamphausen Samuel Klausner Rose Lenz Seymour Leopold Edward Melvin Walter Peterman Julie Rogers Joseph Sklaver ******************* RECYCLE SMARTLY "The potential damage to our environment from the careless disposal of PC's is becoming a problem," says Christie Whitman, head of the Environmental Protection Agency. Computers contain led and other toxins, which can leach from landfills into soil and drinking water. If your PC really is past its lifespan, recyclers can use the components to make everything from new computers to plastic benches, while disposing of the toxins responsibly. For $30, IBM will recycle any brand of computer (1-888-746-7426). Or visit www.eiae.org for a recycling or donation center. Page 12, November 25, 2001, Parade Magazine. Contributed by Ken Pelletier ******************** AVOIDING SPAM -- MUNGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS SPAM is unwanted e-mail. One way to avoid much of it is to MUNGE your e-mail address when using message boards or newsgroups. MUNGE (change) the last part of your address in your e-mail program so that it becomes worthless to the spam harvesters. For example, if you are JoeJones@mindspring.com Post your messages with your e-mail address as JoeJones@_NO_SPAM_mindspring.com A bonafide correspondent will note the need to remove "_NO_SPAM_" from the address. You should take care to MUNGE the portion of the address after the @, otherwise, your service provider would still get the spam. Marketers (spammers) entice you to click on e-mail messages by using bogus subject lines. An online gambling casino likes to use "Congratulations, you've won." Others use lots of exclamation marks and "Urgent!", "Important!", "Read this!", and "This is the information you asked for." A tip-off is that it is not important, urgent, or requested. Set e-mail filters (if you have them) to delete the spam without reading it, or simply ignore it and delete it. It's always best to not open it. ******************* BUMPER STICKERS * "If you don't like the way I'm driving, YOU come get these handcuffs off!" * "Honk if you love peace and quiet." REMEMBER: UPDATE YOUR VIRUS DEFINITIONS AND SCAN YOUR COMPUTER FOR VIRUSES If you use the MS Outlook Calendar, you can make a "recurring" entry to remind you to update. Then whenever the time comes, a pop-up window will appear as a reminder. The Calendar must be kept open and can be left as minimized in the task bar. ******************* BACK UP NETSCAPE EMAIL If you use Netscape for your e-mail and those files become corrupted, you will likely lose every message you wanted to save. You can avoid this by making regular back ups of the mail folder. You will probably need to create the backup on your hard drive because it has a tendency to grow to several hundred megabytes, too large to store on a floppy or zip. You'll find the folder on your hard drive, typically: C:\program files\netscape\users\your name\mail ******************* Eye halve a spelling chequer, it came with my pea sea. It plainly marques four my revue, miss steaks eye kin knot sea. As soon as a mist ache is maid, It nose bee fore two long and eye can put the error rite, its rare lea ever wrong. Eye have run this poem threw it, I am shore your please two no, its letter perfect awl the weigh, My chequer tolled me sew. Contributed by Janet Mann ******************* NATIONAL DOMAINS FOR INTERNET ADDRESSES In this Universal Resource Language ("URL"): http://www.somehere.edu means the domain is part of the education system.
******************* In the following URL and e-mail address, .co stands for Company and .jp stands for Japan: ktoedit@kto.co.jp (This is an interesting Japanese magazine web site) OTHER COUNTRY CODES, ALSO CALLED SUBDOMAINS: au Australia ca Canada ee Estonia uk United Kingdom There are too many to list, but this should give you an idea of how to read the domain names. If you get e-mail from someone with letters similar to this format in the return address, you can tell at a glance whether it's someone you know. ******************* SOFTWARE PICKS FOR YOUR MAC FROM CNET DOWNLOAD.COM: MAC SATELLITE AudioGalaxy Satellite, one of the most popular MP3 sharing programs for the PC, is now available for the Mac. MacSatellite combines a browser-based searching mechanism with a small downloading client for an inventive and powerful way to find and download MP3's onto your desktop. This update improves overall stability and fixes bugs to make it much easier to connect. http://one.digital.cnet.com/cgi-bin1/flo?y=eCee0CS4pT0Ps0vXW0Ag ******************* PERSONAL ORGANIZER Organize your schedule and contacts with this full-featured information manager that offers built-in caller ID functionality, the ability to print mailing labels, and much more http://one.digital.cnet.com/cgi-bin1/flo?y=eCee0CS4pT0Ps0vXX0Ah ******************** GOTTA SMILE SOMETIME! The two most common elements in the universe are hydrogen and stupidity. - Harlan Ellison I think; therefore, I am...not related to you. Do vegetarians eat animal crackers? - George Carlin ******************** Send computer related suggestions or articles for the Soundboard to; scottie2@att.net or theweb@snet.net ****************** THE PRESIDENT'S CORNER Viruses & Worms - What Do I Do? Many people have asked "What do I do with my e-mail if I suspect a virus?" Don't assume any mail you receive does not have the potential of being a virus carrier. There is no absolute way to avoid viruses, but there are a few things that you can do to minimize the risk. From here on I will make no distinction between a virus and a worm; I will refer to them collectively as "viruses." At the present time, a virus requires a vehicle to transport it into your computer. These vehicles are usually files containing an <EXE> extension. These are conveyed as e-mail attachments. Not all attachments contain viruses. There are ways that you can deal with this potential. 1. Do not assume that an e-mail with an attachment, from someone you know, is safe. The subtlety of the virus is that it uses an e-mail address book to send stealthy e-mail attachments to everyone in the address book automatically. Thus the e-mail bears your own name, thereby appearing innocuous. 2. If there is an attachment from someone you do know, ask yourself the following questions: a. Did your friend say, prior to this e-mail, that they were going to send you an e-mail with an attachment? b. Did you request your friend to send you an attachment? c. Did your friend express in the body of the e-mail what the attachment was, in a way that you could recognize it coming from your friend? If the answer to any of these questions is NO! Then - DELETE the e-mail. DO NOT OPEN OR SAVE THE ATTACHMENT! 3. If there is an e-mail with an attachment from someone you know, without regards to what is said in the subject, and there is no trustworthy content in the body of the e-mail, then - DELETE the e-mail. DO NOT OPEN OR SAVE THE ATTACHMENT! In both cases above, it is reasonable to send an e-mail to those whose e-mails you have deleted and explain the reason for the deletion and perhaps advise them of the cautions mentioned above. They may be willing to resend the attachments with adequate identification that it was their personal intent to send them to you. 4. If there is an attachment from someone you do not know or did not request an attachment from then, simply DELETE the e-mail. DO NOT OPEN OR SAVE THE ATTACHMENT! By Ken Pelletier *******************
CLASSES
Computing Basics I3:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. February 11, 13, 15, 18, 20, 22 Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays Six Sessions: $20.00 Goal: To learn what a computer is and to learn the basics needed to operate it successfully. Description: Identify computer components including HARDWARE parts; efficient use of the MOUSE; the KEYBOARD; SOFTWARE programs that are installed to perform desired functions, e.g., word processing, spreadsheets; become familiar with the installed operating system and learn the basics needed for effective use; create and save text. Prerequisite - Personal computer with Windows 95, 98, Me, or XP Basics of ScanningLIMIT 4 STUDENTS 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. February 20, 21 WED., THURS. Two Sessions: $10.00 Description: This hands-on course is for those who want to find out how to scan photographs and other documents in order to send them either by e-mail or for other purposes. Prerequisites: Students must have completed Computing Basics I or have equivalent working knowledge. They should have a computer with Windows 95, 98, Me, or XP ************** Please check the Bulletin or Flyers at The Web or the HVCC Web Site for class costs, changes, or updates to this course schedule ************** |
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