Soundboard October 2002

Heritage Hall

WEDNESDAY, November 13, 2002

10:00 - 11:30 am

Program: Using the Internet to Assist the Hearing Impaired.

By: Michael Kravitz

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The ANNUAL LUNCHEON

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2002
12:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m.

Thatchers Restaurant

There are five selections
1.	Prime Rib
2.	Broiled Salmon
3.	Broiled Scallops
4.	Teriyaki Chicken
5.	Veggie Pasta

Included with lunch:

Salad, Vegetable, Desert, and coffee or tea.

$20.00 per person (Tip & Gratituty Incl.)

Loaners:

Many computer users have found themselves in the dilemma where they cannot tell if their computer or their monitor has failed. This may also be true of mice, keyboards and speakers. The club has spare units in all of these categories to loan to you the particular item that would allow you to determine which component was at fault. If you are in need, you can visit the "Open House" at 1 to 3 p.m., on Tuesday or Thursday, to secure the loan of the item you think necessary. This will enable you to continue to use your computer while securing the replacement of the faulty component. Please return the loaned item when the replacement been completed.

Speed:

The computers of today are coming with CPUs that are so fast that 99% of the owners will never use less than 25% of its capability. Still, their computer is slow. There are several reasons that fast computers become slow. The one solution that seems to have the most dramatic result is the addition of memory. Win95, '98 and 'XP required 8, 16 or 32mb of memory, respectively, to run correctly. Yes, they did run but not that well! Doubling the memory did result in a system that ran reasonably well. However, it still was not a speed demon. Doubling the memory again will usually exhibit a significant increase in speed, however adding more memory than that results in diminishing returns. Thus, a Win95 OS should have 32mb, a Win98 OS should have 128mb and WinXP OS should have 256mb. Enjoy!

Contributions - No not the monetary kind!

What is sorely needed within the computer club is a cadre of members willing to contribute their time and talent. Everyone reaching our age has accumulated some talent, which can be shared with others. The needs of the club are for Board Members, Officers, Committee Members and Chairpersons, Instructors, Open House Monitors, Class Helpers, and Greeters. Won't you contribute? Contact anyone on the board and offer to help. Too much of the work load is falling on the shoulders of too few. The long-term result of this is burnout! Please consider making your contribution today! -Ken Pelletier, President

It was sent to me in an email: I was having trouble with my computer. So I called Rick, the computer guy, to come over. Rick clicked a couple of buttons and solved the problem. He gave me a bill for a minimum service call.

As he was walking away, I called after him, "So, what was wrong?"

He replied, "It was an ID ten T error."

I didn't want to appear stupid, but nonetheless inquired: "An ID ten T error? What's that ... in case I need to fix it again?"

The computer guy grinned.... "Haven't you ever heard of an ID ten T error before?"

"No," I replied.

"Write it down," he said, "and I think you'll figure it out."

So I wrote out: I D 1 0 T

I recently found an interesting web site that you might also find unusual. It is a non-profit site offering satellite pictures of munitions storage in various Middle East countries as well as a few from the United States. The detail is remarkable and the pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. Other areas covered are "Military", "Special Weapons", "Intelligence", "Homeland Security", "Space", "Public Eye", and "Cyber Strategy". It has too much to mention here. Check it out for yourself at:

On July 20, 1969, as Commander of the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon. His first words after stepping on the moon, "that's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind", were televised to earth and heard by millions. But just before he reentered the Lander, he made the enigmatic remark
"good luck, Mr. Gorsky." Many people at NASA thought it was a casual remark concerning some rival Soviet Cosmonaut. However, upon checking, there was no Gorsky in either the Russian or American space programs. Over the years many people questioned Armstrong as to what the "good luck, Mr. Gorsky" statement meant, but Armstrong always just smiled.

On July 5, 1995, in Tampa Bay, Florida, while answering questions following a speech, a reporter brought up the 26-year-old question to Armstrong. This time he finally responded. Mr. Gorsky had died, so Neil Armstrong felt he could answer the question. In 1938 when he was a kid in a small Midwest town, he was playing baseball with a friend in the backyard. His friend hit the ball, which landed in his neighbor's yard by the bedroom windows. His neighbors were Mr. and Mrs. Gorsky. As he leaned down to pick up the ball, young Armstrong heard Mrs. Gorsky shouting at Mr. Gorsky: "Sex! You want sex?! You'll get sex when the kid next door walks on the moon!"
Thanks for the Contribution!

Don't throw away your old PC and monitor. A monitor could contain as much as 8 pounds of poisonous lead, and PCs also have small amounts of mercury, lead, and cadmium. Certified recyclers may take your worn-out computer equipment. I checked out a few web sites to find recycling information. Hewlett-Packard has a comprehensive site with recycling information that appears to cover all the services, including costs. The HP link is at the end of this column. IBM has a recycling program but I had no luck with accessing either a phone number or address on their web site. Dell has a recycling program and the web site is very easy to navigate, the information is easy to locate. The link is at the end of this column. Dell offers a trade in program too. Recyclers may require a small fee, but when you consider that you will be avoiding environmental damage, it is worth paying the fee. Some charitable organizations may be in need of old computers--get a receipt for the deduction on your income tax return. Whatever you choose, make sure that you remove all your personal applications by reformatting the drive before you get rid of the PC.

RADIO LOCATOR

This was impressive. I went to the web site, entered 06488 for the zip code and CT for the state. Results are listed in a table and I learned that There are 20 radio stations within close listening range of Southbury, Connecticut. (41° 28' 36" N., 73° 13' 27" W.) The site claims to be the most comprehensive radio station search engine on the Internet, with links to over 10,000 radio station Web pages and over 2500 audio streams from radio stations in the U.S. and around the world. Listings show call signs, distance from selected cities and towns, frequency, format, and signal strength. The BOLD CALL LETTERS will link to the radio station's web page. I really liked this site. http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/home

FALL FOLIAGE

If you are interested in taking a ride to see the fall colors, here is a website that gives the latest information on fall foliage. StormFax has links to the states in each region of the country and includes toll-free telephone numbers. Clicking on the Connecticut link offered the best places to find the best views in the state. They remind us that the shore is also a nice place to visit off-season. If nothing else, you will be able to admire some great graphics on the site. http://www.stormfax.com/foliage.htm

PERSONAL DIGITAL ASSISTANT ("PDA")

A small hand-held computer typically providing calendar, contacts, and note-taking applications but may include other applications, for example a web browser and media player. Small keyboards and pen-based input systems are most commonly used for user input.

BACK DOOR

A hole in the security of a system deliberately left in place by designers or maintainers. The motivation for such holes is not always sinister; some operating systems, for example, come out of the box with privileged accounts intended for use by field service technicians or the vendor's maintenance programmers.

APPLET

A short application program especially for performing a simple specific task. Usually written in JavaScript, an application can produce a clock keeping time, banners that change content, quotations running across your screen, and "shopping carts" on the internet. They are available for downloading and adding to your web pages, usually for free.

CRAPPLET

A badly written or profoundly useless Java applet. "I just wasted 30 minutes downloading this stinkin' crapplet!

UNINSTALLING APPLICATIONS

Have you ever wondered how to uninstall an application? Some applications come with an Uninstall icon in the program folder. Other applications require that you use the Windows Add/Remove Programs utility (START-SETTINGS-CONTROL PANEL-ADD/REMOVE PROGRAMS).Note of Caution: make sure you don't delete shared files that are in use by other applications

KARTOO

There are so many search engines on the Internet and everyone seems to have their favorite. Kartoo is different from all the others. It's worth a visit just to have some fun and to see a new twist on the genre.Kartoo is a meta search engine. It searches for the meta tags in the web page. The meta tags allow the search engines to find things with ease. You can choose the HTML or the FLASH version of Kartoo.In the Flash version, the results are displayed on balls. The larger the ball, the more relevant the result. Mouseovers on each ball will give a longer description, and click on the ball to link to the web site. Give it a try. http://www.kartoo.net

HAVE YOU UPDATED YOUR VIRUS DEFINITIONS LATELY??

HAVE YOU SCANNED FOR VIRUSES ON YOUR HARD DRIVE(s) LATELY??

IS YOUR EMAIL PROTECTED??

You CAN go to the HVCC web site to do an immediate scan with PC-cillin.

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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 warranty program.

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Send computer related suggestions or articles for the Soundboard to scottie2@att.net or theweb@snet.net

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NOVEMBER CLASSES

Prerequisite for all courses: Own a computer withWindows 95, 98, ME, or XP.

BACKING UP YOUR DATA

LIMIT: 20 STUDENTS

MONDAY, WEDNESDAY

November 11, 15 - 9:00 - 10:30 a.m.

TWO Sessions $10.00

Description: This instruction is oriented towards the individual that is comfortable using Microsoft Windows based programs. The subject content includeds "Backgrounds, Layouts, Using Templates, Creating a Master Slide, Inserting text and Clipart, Using Animation and Using Wave Files". The student, using the skills acquired, will create an information presentation and a photo album. A CD-ROM containing digital photographs will be provided.
Prerequisite: Completion of Computing Basics I.

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To view the Officer List click here

To view the Monthly Calendar click here

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THE SOUNDBOARD

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP

MONTHLY MEETING

NOVEMBER CLASSES

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