Oklahoma City PC Users Group
3000 United Founders Blvd. Suite 201
Oklahoma City, OK 73112-4279
405-843-4300
June
2004
A Publication for Windows and Macintosh Computer Users
This is the official 'eMonitor' of the Oklahoma City PC Users Group. To receive this newsletter each month, please go to: http://www.okcpcug.org and subscribe. Place your e-mail address and First and Last name in the boxes. You will receive a confirmation e-mail in return that you must reply to. You may not recognize the address from the company sending the confirmation, so do not delete it as spam. Click on the URL in the confirmation e-mail to finish the subscription.
By clicking on the links in the newsletter, you will be taken to the website to view the article, read it online or print it, as you like. There is a box on the website where you may place your comments. Click Here
Items of additional interest: Calendar Study Group meetings Senior Net Classes
General Meeting Program for June 17, 2004
By Troy Segler, VP of Programs
The Oklahoma City PC Users Group extends you an invitation to join us on Thursday, June 17 at 7:30 PM for our regular monthly general meeting. All members and guests are welcome. We will convene in Suite 201 of the Centre 3000 Building located just north of the Hilton Hotel at Northwest Expressway and May Avenue. A map is included on our Web site for your convenience.
At this month’s meeting we will feature Adobe’s Creative Suite software. A representative of Adobe will be in Oklahoma City on the morning of June 17th for a seminar on Adobe Photoshop Creative Suite with Adobe ImageReady CS (Creative Suite), Adobe Illustrator CS, Adobe InDesign CS, Adobe GoLive CS and Adobe Acrobat 6.0 Professional. We plan on his joining us in the evening to show us how to preview, tag, and sort images with the improved File Browser in Adobe Photoshop CS. Adobe Illustrator CS will be reviewed with the professional user in mind. Other tools, available from Adobe, such as Adobe GoLive CS for creating personal or professional Web sites, and a program designed to permit fast search and reading of files, including sharing them with others, will be discussed. This program is called Version Cue. I have asked that they schedule the speaker for the above program to attend our User’s Group meeting and present the highlights of that seminar for us. Hopefully, we will be able to secure them for our presentation. Final arrangements will not be completed until this announcement has to be placed on our Web page, so this is a tentative schedule.
For information about this seminar go to their Website to register. http://www.adobe.com/store/main.jhtml
We will have coffee and refreshments available in a relaxed environment. Also, soft drinks will be available at a cost of 50 cents.
If you have not attended a General Session recently, attend one soon and bring a guest!
There are some interesting links on the okcpcug.org/greatlinks page. Check them out!
Buzz Words
by Bill James
There seems to be no end to buzz words associated with the internet. Last month I discovered ‘Malware’ This month I recently came across a new one, or at least it is to me – phishing. (pronounced like ‘fishing’) What is ‘phishing’ you ask? Phishing is spoofed' e-mails and fraudulent websites designed to fool recipients into divulging personal financial data such as credit card numbers, account usernames and passwords, social security numbers, etc. By hijacking the trusted brands of well-known banks, online retailers and credit card companies, phishers are able to convince up to 5% of recipients to respond to them.
You may not even be aware that you are on a bogus site. These sites look genuine and you can see from the above statistics that they victimize some folks. I use my computer for bill paying and other online services. So I am cautious to make sure that I am on a real site. But I have received e-mails asking me to verify my account information and these are the ones that you should be concerned about. Here are some tips that I found on Brian’s Buzz on Windows (Brain Livingston, editor of Briansbuzz.com), what to look for, and what could help you if you feel unsure that the site you are on might not be authentic. In this instance the readers Host file had been compromised. A Host file is a component of the Windows operating system. It is a standard Windows file (it has no extension) that finds a requested remote computer — on the Internet or on a local network — as an alternative to using a domain name server (DNS). A detail explanation can be found here: More info. But here is what you need to know if you are on a suspect site. The writer found to his horror that his Hosts file had been quietly corrupted in an attempt to phish for his password at a site called E-gold. This is an e-commerce service that, according to a Wired.com article, is a legitimate way for individuals to send each other payments in shares of gold bullion. Read More....
Bill James is President of the OKC PC Users Group. He is also the OKCPCUG's Webmaster.
A Look at one of our Study Groups:
Investment Tools Study Group |
|
| Time: | 6:30 p.m., 1st Wed |
| Location: | Resource Center |
| Leader: | |
| Phone #: | Eric Nelson 767-2108 |
|
Are your investments receding on you? Been buying high and selling low? This Study Group will cover all the angles of buying stocks, the right way. The leader of this Study Group is with the brokerage firm, Charles Schwab, and will cover all those confusing things, like- buying on "margin", placing "stop/loss" orders, buying mutual funds, bonds, etc. Everyone is welcome. |
|
NEW Study Group for beginners on Wednesdays at 10:00 AM
This Study Group is a discussion-type meeting (not hands-on) where questions are asked and answered and there is a presentation of a specific basic computer skill each week. The group meets from 10:00 am to 12:00; we have a lot of fun, and there are refreshments and coffee. If you are not attending and feel you need some basic instruction, please come be with us. There is a $2 attendance fee per week.
.
Basic Computer Class
If you are interested in taking the hands-on Basic Computer Class, which meets once a week for about six weeks, call Isaac Franklin, 751-3411, for registration and information. This class is free; the study book is $5.
Articles for June 2004
(The following are only excerpts from the articles. Click on the hyperlink to read the entire article)
Excel-2003 Previewing Sheets Without Opening - by James D. Duncan, CPA June 2004
If you know how to preview an Excel worksheet without opening it, then you are ahead of me this month. I just discovered this feature and it comes in handy when I have not named a sheet what I thought I did.
There are two steps to previewing a spreadsheet, saving it that way or changing an existing sheet to let you preview it. First, let’s save a sheet so it can be previewed. Click on file, click on properties, click on Summary tab and notice the box on the bottom that says “Save preview picture”. Click the check box, fill in any other information you want and press the ok button.
Legal Bytes: Who Is Linspire and Why Is Microsoft After Them? - By John Brewer June 2004
Everyone is familiar with Linux (the other operating system), either by reputation or by usage. Many are familiar with the litigation between Microsoft and a company called Lindows, Inc. The Lindows operating system is based on the Linux kernel and is now known as Linspire. The story of how Linspire came to be is an interesting one.
In the first part of this article we discussed how to make a video CD that will play on a home DVD player so that you can watch your home movies on the television. Video CDs (VCDs) are the key. We discussed how Video CD Maker by Topics Entertainment, ($20 at CompUSA) does a good job of producing and burning videos to a common blank CD. Taking my Sony camcorder, I used a *FireWire cable (a.k.a., IEEE 1394, Sony i.LINK) and transferred my video recording to a computer and then burned the video on to a blank CD. Video CD Maker handled everything from transferring the video to burning the CD. No other software was used, only Video CD Maker and a common CD burner. But, if we want a video disk with a picture quality that is as close as possible to DVD quality then our best option is not a VCD, but a Super Video CD (SVCD).
Online and In Person - by Billy Mabray June 2004
In the early days of the Internet, a common fear was that people would spend too much time online, creating a world of isolated loners. Computer users would stop spending time in the real world, preferring to type instead of talk. While this may be true for some people, many others are finding the Web has enhanced their social life, not hurt it. The proliferation of e-mail, instant messaging, and chat rooms are evidence that people are connecting more now than ever before.
Computer Hysteria: "Androids Are Coming!" - by Berry F.
Phillips June 2004
Will androids become the new Frankenstein monsters of the future, as
portrayed in the movies such as 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Terminator, The
Stepford Wives, Westworld and Futureworld?
An android is a robot with the shape and abilities of a human. Humans have been
developing tools for other humans throughout history. Many industrial robots
today can do specific tasks better and faster than humans. If androids had the
same capabilities as humans, they would be able to use those tools and improve
the quality of life for humans.
To KVM or not to KVM? Networking Made Easy - by Elizabeth B. Wright June 2004
KVM is merely a switchbox which will allow multiple computers to use one keyboard (K), monitor (V) and mouse (M). There are KVM plus Audio boxes available, but they are more expensive. It’s similar to boxes many of us have used for years to connect several computers to one printer and/or scanner. One way to end up needing a network is to buy a new computer case when all you want to do is upgrade your old machine.
****Don't forget to read the New articles under the APCUG heading on the left column of the website. When you click on the "Click here" hyperlink, it will take you to the synopsis page and the links to the articles.
Join the Oklahoma City PC Users Group. See the Membership form on the Website-
What is a Study Group
The OKC PC Users Group offers many different Study Groups. They are groups of 10-50 people who meet monthly to learn about a particular subject. The format is part presentation and part facilitated discussion. These meetings are supported by our membership. There is no charge, but a $2 donation is requested to defray the rental cost of the room.
Join the Oklahoma City PC Users Group!
Come to a Study Group in our Resource Center at 3000 United Founders Blvd.!
We are located at the east end of the Center 3000 Building in Suite 201, so use Entrance One on the east side of the building.
What is the PC Users Group?
See "About Us"
We are a nonprofit, all-volunteer organization of around 1200 members, with the goal of teaching each other more about using and enjoying their personal computers for business and pleasure. The sole purpose of the organization is reflected in its motto, “Computer Users Helping Computer Users.”
Information on Senior Net
Sr.Combo Members- Computer Classes
Register Now for Windows XP Course. This 8 week course will cost $30.00.
If you are interested, contact Charlene Francis, 359-5675.
Click here for Class Schedule and Registration Form
**Free Computer Class with Sr Combo Membership**
New Senior Combo Members (50 +) can now register for the Computer Fundamentals class at no charge. Read More...
Contact Charlene Francis 359-5675, if you have any questions regarding membership and/or registration for the class.
eMonitor editor: Fran Crane