Jan 03 SOUNDBOARD

THE SOUNDBOARD

KEEPING PACE IN CYBERSPACE

Heritage Village Computer Club http://www.hvcomputerclub.org

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MONTHLY MEETING

Heritage Hall: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Time: 10:00 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.

Program: Making Labels for C.D.’s: "Do It Yourself CD Labeling and Packaging from NEATO"

By: Dave Kennaugh

EVERYONE WELCOME, BRING A FRIEND

DEMO SOFTWARE

Some software manufacturers have been releasing Demonstration (“Demo”) versions of their commercial programs for free. These programs are often available for download at the manufacturer's Web site. Demo versions give you the essence of the real full-blown application but with some limitations. The best features are often disabled, or you cannot save anything you create, or the demo is a full working copy that simply expires after a certain number of days. If there is a costly piece of software you have been fawning over, trying a free demo version is a great way to see if it is really worth the money. Enter the name of the software in your search engine and see what appears in the listing.

EXCEL TIPS

When you do not want your column in Excel to crowd into the next column, do NOT add a column as a “spacer”. SELECT the column by clicking on the LETTER on the top of the column. This should highlight the whole column. Next, click on FORMAT, CELLS. On the next window that pops up, Choose ALIGNMENT from the TOP TAB. Under TEXT ALIGNMENT / HORIZONTAL: “General” is usually the default selection. INDENT can be changed to 1, for example. This will allow all typing in the column to be indented and separated from the previous column’s entry. A cleaner presentation.

In this same window (FORMAT,CELLS), under TEXT CONTROL, click on WRAP TEXT to make an entry fit into the cell (without typing part of the text on another line, in another cell). You can now type as much as you want and the cell will expand to hold the contents.

Click on all the tabs under the FORMAT, CELLS choice and see what else you can do to change the whole column. Try it again after just selecting one cell of the spreadsheet.


	What?

This is a sample of what you get when you select (or click in) the cell and change the (PATTERN) color to blue, and then select (click in) the cell and change the FONT color to white.

· Press any key...no, no, no, NOT THAT ONE!

NEED MORE GRAPHICS?

On the GOOGLE search engine there are five tabs across the page to choose WEB, IMAGES, GROUPS, DIRECTORY, and NEWS. Click on IMAGES, type a word into the search box, click on “Google Search” or hit your ENTER key. What a surprise I received when I typed in “heritage village”. We are not alone!!!! You will see all the information about the graphic and the URL source. Click on the graphic for more information and a larger picture. Right-click on the graphic to save it.

SEARCH HELP

Have you ever searched for a keyword and found that the web site you were looking for does not appear in the listings? Reliance on only one search engine is impractical because not every search engine lists every web site. Some search engines, such as Google, Yahoo, and Kartoo (for example) will only list certain sites. Some only list those that were Submitted to them. Some have certain criteria that must be met before they will list a web site/URL. I submitted my personal web pages to one search engine that would not accept more than one page from my email address. I attempted to submit my site to a search engine that took only certain types of web pages and genealogy did not fit into their list of acceptable URL’s. In order to find what you want, here is a tip: on Google (for example) type in the keyword ‘SEARCH ENGINE’. Several pages of alternative search engines will be listed from which you can choose any you feel will meet your needs.

Other reasons for not finding what you are looking for may be that the web site is not even created yet. Or, maybe it was temporarily taken down for editing. Perhaps the domain name was not purchased prior to its expiration date and the page was lost to another owner. I have been searching for years for information on the 1920’s era actress, Helen O’Donnel aka Helen Steele. I finally found some information on her this past month. Since she is my grandmother (I never met her) I wanted to find information regarding her life on the stage. What a pleasant surprise to finally find a tidbit on her appearances on Broadway.

ROBOTS

I love the idea of Robots doing our work for us. Especially the work we don’t want to do ourselves. Apparently, robots are being used in the war on terrorism. iRobot Corporation has been developing and selling robots to the military, researchers, large corporations, and consumers. Their robots have been used to help soldiers clear caves and compounds in Afghanistan that had been occupied by the Taliban. The robots have discovered land mines buried in the sand.

A robot was used in searching the pyramids of Egypt. Using fiber-optics in the darkness, these custom-built robots were sent into tunnels to locate buried artifacts.

I’m sure many of you are aware that robots play a large part in the movie industry. Robots (aka Spiders) are also used on search engines to find that keyword you just entered. To find out more, go to your favorite search engine and type in “robots”. The web site http://robots.net has lots of information on robots.

VIRUSES REVISITED

The most recent viruses to infect your computer are listed on the Symantec web site. Symantec explains in detail what happens to your computer or documents when they are attacked and you can find all the information at the link below. I list the most recent ones here and the systems that are affected (Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP).

W97M.Killboot (discovered 12/31/2002) is a macro virus that infects the currently active document and the Microsoft Word Normal.dot template when an infected document is closed. So, once the Normal.dot is infected, clean documents will be infected when they are closed.

W32.Yaha.L@mm (discovered 12/30/2002) is a worm that is similar to others of a similar name. This worm terminates some antivirus and firewall processes. It uses its own SMTP engine to email itself to all the contacts in the Windows Address Book, MSN Messenger, .NET Messenger, Yahoo Pager, and all the files whose extensions contain the letters HT. The email message has randomly chosen the subject line, message, and attachment name. W32.Yaha.K@mm (a variant of the W32.Yaha.L@mm) was found to be on 38% of computers scanned by Symantec recently.

VBS.Celeron.B.Worm (discovered 12/30/2002) attempts to spread itself through the KaZaA file-sharing network. The existence of the Celeron.txt file is an indication of a possible infection.

W32.HLLW.Backzat.B (discovered 12/30/2002) is a mass-mailing worm that uses Microsoft Outlook to send itself to all the contacts in the Microsoft Outlook Address Book. It also deletes security software from your computer when it is executed. The email has the following characteristics:

Subject: Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude

Message: Whoa man amuse yourself with this funny freakin screen saver

Attachment: WuFFie.Scr

http://securityresponse.symantec.com/

I strongly urge you to update your virus definitions on a weekly basis; the viruses and worms that I list above were “discovered“ on December 30 and 31, 2002. A checkup is FREE on the HVCC web site as well as on the Symantec site. A purchase of a good AntiVirus program is your best safeguard and allows scheduled downloads of the latest virus definitions and installs them on your computer’s hard drive.

HUMAN FOR SALE

With tongue in check, the site at http://www.humanforsale.com/ asks you 30 questions, then calculates your net worth if you can find someone who's willing to buy.

PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT AND THE NEW AIRLINE RULES

The Transportation Security Administration has a Web site that offers advice on getting photographic equipment safely through airports and gives current information on the screening procedures that are now in place. http://129.33.119.130/public/theme_home1.jsp

· Crashing is the only thing Windows does quickly.

· It works! Now if only I could remember what I did...

· Of course I know how to copy disks. Where's the Xerox machine?

· Oxymoron: Microsoft Works

Officers and Chairpersons

(Click here)

Send computer related suggestions, questions, or Soundboard contributions to either of the following email addresses:

diana.scott@att.net theweb@snet.net

TEACHERS & HELPERS

Are there any members who would be willing to share their knowledge and add to the teaching staff of the HVCC? Our computer club faculty is strictly volunteer (they receive no fees) and training is provided. Perhaps you would like to volunteer to be a faculty helper for the classes?

The fees charged for courses go into the club treasury to help pay for various club expenses, such as our hardware and software.

S.O.S. - HVCC Help Line:

Ken Pelletier 264-2310 Bob Greene 264-9747

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. 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 the suggestions do not fix 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; you may even be under a warrantee program.

Who Can You Call??????

AutoCAD.............. Ken Pelletier................. 264-2310

Digital Camera.... Joe Franzino................. 264-2922

MS Word.............. Arnold Deutchman........ 267-7355

MS Word.............. Joe Franzino................. 264-2922

Paint Shop Pro..... Ken Pelletier............. 264-2310

Publishing.............. Joe Franzino............. 264-2922

Quicken.................. Arnold Sail................ 264-2540

Scanning................ Joe Franzino............. 264-2922

WordPerfect.......... Jean Van Loon......... 267-5397

CLASSES, FEBRUARY 2003

Prerequisite for all courses: Own a computer with Windows 95, 98, ME, or XP

(Other Prerequisites may apply)

Courses are in THE WEB / 8 Students Per Course unless otherwise indicated.

Changes to the schedule are announced on Channel 14 and in the weekly bulletin.

To view a list of all courses offered by the club (click Here)

Maintaining the Health of Your Computer…………..$10.00

Tuesday(s): FEBRUARY 11 & 18; 9:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.

DESCRIPTION: The ways an individual can maintain the health of a computer with very simple measures that do not require a tech and are available on the computer.

Basics of Scanning……..$10.00

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday: FEBRUARY 11, 12, 13 6:30 P.M. - 8:30 P.M.

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 by email or use for other purposes. Prerequisite: Students must have completed Computing Basics I or have equivalent working knowledge. They should have a computer with Windows 95, 98 or ME.

Computing Basics I……………$20.00

Two (2) separate sessions this month

(1) Monday, Wednesday, Friday: FEBRUARY 3,5,7,10,12,14 9:30 A.M. - 11:30 A.M.

(2) Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: FEBRUARY 17,19,20,24,26,27 6:30 P.M. - 8:30 P.M.

DESCRIPTION: To learn what a computer is and to learn the basics needed to successfully operate it. Identify computer components including HARDWARE parts; use of the MOUSE; the KEYBOARD; the installed SOFTWARE programs 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.

· The definition of an upgrade: Take old bugs out; put new ones in.