For last season’s minutes go to: www.geocities.com/vccvcc2000/minutes.html
Note the LINKS list at the far right -->> . . . . . . . . . ..
To print these minutes, DO NOT just hit the PRINT command or you will get all the minutes on several pages. Hi-lite this new set of minutes. Then hit FILE-PRINT and select PRINT SELECTION. If unable to print a highlighted SELECTION like our Club Minutes, then click on THE YELLOW BAR ABOVE and select TEMPORARILY ALLOW POPUPS.
On January 5 at 7 PM we are invited to visit the Comp Club at AW across the street. There will be a presentation by SMART COMPUTING Magazine. On January 12 at 7 PM we are invited to visit the Comp Club at AW across the street. The presenters will be the Davises from SOS-Mesa. The topic is: Wireless Networking.
WE WILL NOT BE MEETING AGAIN UNTIL MONDAY, 5 JAN 2009, WHEN WE WILL HAVE A JOINT MEETING WITH APACHE WELLS RESORT CLUB ACROSS THE STREET in Apache Wells Bldg A at 7 PM.
Minutes of 18 Dec 2008 follow:
Convened by Stanton Rickey
Village members present were: Jim Broschat, Bill Brown, Dick Conroy, Nancy Curtis, Myrna Dirk, Jim Erickson Arlene Frolick, Marilyn Girardin, Marian Grider, Bill Kautt, Peter, Hal Miller, Char Miller, Jack Prasloski, Pat Prasloski, and Rex Weinreich.
Peter introduced us to www.hulu.com This website was launched last March by collaboration of News Corp (Fox TV) and NBC. Hulu hosts more than 1000 TV shows like Saturday Night Live, Heroes, etc. Now there are more than 130 content providers, including Sony, MGM, Paramount, Lionsgate and PBS. In addition to TV shows you can view full-length movies at this site. Click on FULL SCREEN for improved viewing.
Video Cam Corders are new devices that store data on a tiny DVD or Photo Memory Card. Latter are now increasingly cheap. i.e. 4 Gig for less than $10 and 8 Gig for under $20.
Transferring old 8mm film to DVD is possible by taking pictures with digital camera of what is being projected onto a screen. Set the camera to movie mode with background music running on your stereo set. It is a miserable process. If you must, use a commercial service.
SMART COMPUTING magazine is probably the best publication for average users. Little advertising and lots of good advice in plain English. They have a FREE TECH SUPPORT feature that answers questions online HERE. Or Phone them at 1-800-733-3809 Jim Erickson stated that he previously used this service and they were extremely efficient and helpful.
DATA DOCTORS says paid extended warranty programs beyond the normal manufacturers warranty are usually not necessary for desktop computers or for laptops that only travel infrequently. A laptop in use by “road warriors” or students probably would benefit from this extra outlay because of hard usage. In any event read the fine print. Don’t just trust the salesman’s pitch - read the fine print. Oftentimes claims are rejected because of “abuse”, which is difficult to disprove.
NEVER BUY a used laptop on E-Bay or from other anonymous sources. Who knows what damage has been inflicted by the prior owner.
Hal Miller shared that laptop overheating and resultant shutdown could be prevented by using a turkey rack or other wire mesh product underneath the machine. This increases the normally inadequate builtin air circulation.
Peter cautioned against FWD FWD FWD type messages received from well wishers this time of year may have viruses. Also unknown E-mail ATTACHMENTS or LINKS can result in SCAMS. Rick Russo just removed 150+ spyware infections with SpyBot – all received in the last 10 days.
MICROSOFT Automatic Security updates can be turned ON or OFF by going to CONTROL PANEL then double click on SECURITY CENTER. Recommend you go with ON for FIREWALL, VIRUS PROTECTION and AUTOMATIC UPDATES. If Service Pack 3 causes problems, it can be UNinstalled through the usual Program Uninstall process.
The INTERNET EXPLORER Browser Icon has a yellow slash across the E if you are running version 7 (mandatory with VISTA). If no slash, it is version 6. Latter is probably best for XP users. At some point the Automatic UpDate feature will push you into version 7 regardless.
Computer Club Minutes are being produced by using BLOGGER by GOOGLE. You must sign up for a FREE GOOGLE E-Mail account to create a Blog. Text created in MS Word or WORDPAD and/or photos can be easily copy/pasted onto your Blog.
An easier available Blog program can be found at http://multiply.com/ Signup is FREE. When creating a Blog it is unwise to use your own name. That may attract unwanted attention. Use a cryptic address and notify selected recipients. Peter used Paris&Beyond for his blog title.
Try going to GOOGLE and searching for your own name to see what turns up. You will probably find there is no place to hide. Best if your own name is uncommon. We searched Peter's name and found many infamous characters unrelated to our own Peter!
WE WILL NOT BE MEETING AGAIN UNTIL MONDAY, 5 JAN 2009, WHEN WE WILL HAVE A JOINT MEETING WITH APACHE WELLS RESORT CLUB ACROSS THE STREET in Apache Wells Bldg A at 7 PM. Representatives of SMART COMPUTING Magazine will make a special presentation. Usually they impart much helpful and interesting knowledge and award door prizes.
See You there,
Stanton Rickey, Club President
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