UCHUG Monthly DriveLight - Under the Computer Hood Users Group

November 2010
Volume 31, No 10
theElectronic
DRIVE
LIGHT a newsletter of the
Under the Computer Hood User Group, Inc
Meeting reminder Nov. 3 rd, 2010
Topics: ID Theft Presentation by Wayne Widener,
President of the Lake San Marcos Computer Club;
Team Viewer by Larry Colton, new UCHUG
member; and a Webinare program on USB
3.0 (time permitting)
Meeting Place: Wesley Palms, Woodbury Hall
2404 Loring St.
San Diego, CA 92109 7:00 PM
(click map for google maps)
For More information about us go to our website: www.uchug.org
Features in this issue:
Prez' Corner
2
December Auction Raffle Reminder 4
Meeting Reports
5, 6
Bits and Pieces
7
Smart Computing Tips
12
Cell phone or computer ?
13
Identity Hyjacked, Hybrid Drives 16
Social Networking Seniors
16
Renewal Reminders
17
The above links are ”Hot”. Click on any title
and jump to that page. Cick on the Drive
Light logo at the bottom of each page to
return to this index. Use the underlined
links in each article to quickly go to the web
sites referenced.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
Members: The UCHUG board received an email informing us that fellow member
Robert C Carpenter passed away on October 22 of heart failure. Christen and
Dee tell us “He requested no services and passed peacefully. Mom and I are doing well
and beginning to go through the motions that all families do at this time. He has always
appreciated your emails, funny jokes and information as he has passed them on to me
many times.”
President's Corner
by Greg Skalka
The Saga of Yet Another Computer Upgrade - Part CXXXIII
I hope you will be reading this in November, and not December. I’m
starting this column at thirty thousand feet over California. My wife and I
are on our way to Kauai, Hawaii for an anniversary trip, and as usual, I have
not planned ahead too well. We had our UCHUG board meeting last night,
and our editor will be expecting my column for the newsletter in four days.
I usually wouldn’t start writing until a day or so before the deadline, but my
wife would not appreciate that activity in the middle of our vacation. Since
I couldn’t find time to write before this, I’m stuck trying to write on the
plane on the way over, while my wife is otherwise occupied or asleep. I
figure I have a pretty good chance of banging this column out in the five
hours of flight time going over, but I told Art my main concern was in
getting it to him before he goes to press. I don’t know if any of our
accommodations will have Internet access, so I may be roaming for access.
I like to be on vacation, but I don’t like going on vacation. The travel is often the most trying part of the trip.
The airline industry has now managed to suck most of the fun out of air travel. I used to look forward to a
plane trip, but now it is similar to going into battle. Part of the problem is economics, but some carriers don’t
trade off expense against customer service as well as others. We are on one of those carriers that has chosen to
charge extra for every little convenience (or lack of inconvenience). I’m happy to help reduce costs by booking
and performing check in online, but when the airline’s web site is difficult to navigate and packed with screens
trying to upsell you on seats with a little more legroom, you wonder if they have lost sight of who keeps them in
business. When the basic flight experience consists only a cramped seat, a few swigs of soda, a handful of
peanuts, no more than what you can bring along in a small suitcase, and any more costs extra, it takes some of
the joy out of air travel. If I were not able to see out a window, I might as well be in the cargo hold.
The increased security at the airport only adds to the travel angst. The rules keep changing for what is allowed
and how you will be scrutinized. I always hated having to take off my belt when going through airport security,
to insure the metal detector is not set off. I thought I had solved this problem by switching to REI nylon pants
and belt when traveling, which kept me cool and metal-free, with my pants at the proper elevation. Now with
full-body scanners installed at Lindbergh Field, my plan to keep my pants up has been thwarted, as they now
insist all belts, wallets, watches and jackets be removed for clear scanning. Just as with computer security,
more precautions may become necessary as new threats are uncovered, but the inconvenience to the user never
seems to be reduced.
I bought a new compact digital camera to take on this trip, a Nikon Coolpix S3000. It is very thin, and comes with a
case that looks like a cell phone holster. It only took a few hours of traveling to find a flaw in its design, however. I
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November 2010
fully charged it a few days ago and carried it along with me on the plane in a fanny pack, because keeping it with
you at all times is the reason for having a camera this small. When we completed the first leg of our journey and
arrived in San Francisco, I took the camera out to take a photo in the airport and found the battery appeared to be
completely dead. I pulled the charger out of my carry-on, found an ac outlet in the terminal and was able to verify
that the camera was still functional and the battery could be charged.
While I was relieved that the camera was not broken, the reason for the total discharge of the battery was still a
mystery. The camera appeared to have an on button designed to prevent accidental activation. After inserting it in
its case a few times, however, I noticed that it sometimes came out with the display screen on. It turns out a button
on the back will turn on the camera in display mode, and this button can get pressed if the camera case is squeezed.
I hope this button can be disabled in some settings menu. If not, I’ll be sending some comments to Nikon.
Chapter 231 - Blind and Powerless
I have two Panasonic network cameras in my house that can be viewed from any computer on the Internet (with the
correct login, of course). They are great for monitoring what is happening at home while we are away. I believe
I’ve demonstrated their use at one of our past general meetings. Earlier this year one of the cameras failed. A
preliminary debug session indicated to me that the camera was broken, as the wall wart power supply provided with
it appeared to output the specified voltage, but the LED on the camera did not come on when they were connected. I
had become used to having two netcams, so I bought a replacement when I saw a sale. As usually happens, I never
got around to installing the replacement camera. It sat in the box for three months until the desire to use it while on
this trip spurred me into action.
Because the new netcam, also a Panasonic, had improved capabilities, I decided to replace my working netcam with
new one. I moved my existing netcam to where the broken one was installed (they were both the same model), but
found it would not work with the broken camera’s power supply. I tried the netcam I had thought was broken with
the other supply, and found it still worked. By making some modifications to the now suspect power supply’s cable,
I was able to determine that it output the correct voltage when unloaded, but had a low output when connected to a
camera. It turned out that it was not the camera that was bad, but the power supply.
Fortunately, the new netcam came with the identical power supply module, so I was able to get my two original
netcams working again quickly. Since I can no longer return the new netcam, I’ll need to find a new location to
monitor, and see if I can obtain a replacement supply from Panasonic.
Chapter 232 - The Lost Interface
One of the problems with my habit of buying things and then not installing them in a timely manner is that product
problems may not be discovered until after the return period is over and the warranty has expired. This has not
happened often, but I have been lucky a few times. Sometimes I’ll get a feeling that I should check something out,
even though I’m not ready to use it. I recently discovered something interesting about my wife’s new computer that
it is good to know about now, rather than later.
As I described last month, I recently purchased an Acer Aspire X3950 mini-desktop computer to replace my wife’s
old Pentium 4 XP machine. I unfortunately must report that I have not yet set it up for her, but I have placed it next
to her old one, connecting it to share her interface devices with a KVM switch.
This new computer has a much smaller case than a normal tower, and no room inside for a second hard drive. I
usually require two hard drives in my computers to facilitate backups, but the specs listed for this product on
Amazon’s site listed an eSATA port, which would allow external hard drive access that was as fast as to the internal
drive. The Amazon specs indicated that the eSATA port was shared with one of the many USB connectors. Though
this eSATA port was not mentioned specifically for this model on the Acer website, it was clearly described by
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November 2010
Amazon, so I bought the computer there. I looked at external eSATA hard drive cases at Fry’s, and found I could
add a second hard drive with internal-drive speed for only $25 plus the drive cost.
I looked at the new computer after receiving it, but could not identify the eSATA connector in Amazon’s
description. Unfortunately, Acer does not provide much documentation for such a complex product. They provide a
cartoonish hook-up diagram as the only hard documentation. Their user guide is provided on the computer hard
drive as a pdf, is only about 40 pages long, and devotes about half of the pages to product safety and warnings.
Since I could find no reference to the eSATA interface in Acer’s documentation, I sent them a support inquiry email,
asking how to identify it, and included an attached pdf of Amazon’s web product page. Acer responded that this
model does not have an eSATA interface, and that they have contacted Amazon about correcting the specifications
on their site. I guess I’ll need to ask Amazon what they are going to do about this.
Greg
DECEMBER SPECIAL MEETING REMINDER
A note: It takes two laptop batteries to write this column.
If you are new to the UCHUG or have forgotten, we want to
remind you of our holiday auction in December. This is our
annual fund raising event, and like a one day PBS fundraiser, we
want to keep it short, fast moving, and fun.
Perhaps you have an old IPod or wireless router that is no longer as cutting edge as
the day you brought it ho
me. Check your workbench, your desk, your pockets, your friend's pockets, the
bottom of your computer bag, your computer room shelves. Bring in your unused
books, software and hardware donations. You might even bring in that old toaster,
video game, DVD player, or kids toy that might want to find a new home. Please,
only working equipment, if it is broken please ask us about recycling options. NO
PRINTERS, UNLESS THEY ARE WORKING (You may need to demonstrate at the
meeting before auction begins). No CRTs, or computers that can't run XP and up.
Remember your contribution is a donation, after all we are a 501(c)3 organization,
so it is all tax deductible.
So be sure your membership is paid up so you will qualify for all the bonuses and
prizes at this meeting. To check if your membership is due (or overdue) CLICK
HERE.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
Secretary's Reports
General Meeting,
October 6, 2010
Secretary Ray Ferbrache
The meeting was held in Woodbury Hall - of the Wesley Palms Retirement
Community at 2404 Loring St San Diego, CA 92109 (http://www.wesleypalms.org/). The meeting was called to
order by President Greg Skalka at 7:04 p.m. The President welcomed approximately 22 members and guests.
REPORTS:
President: The President discussed the Evenings Program with the assembled member's and guests. The
President made an announcement about not forgetting to prepare for the December Christmas Party. We plan to
have the Christmas Party, Auction and Raffle. Details to be worked out at the November Board Meeting and
will be in the Drive Light December edition.
A Powerpoint program was ran to introduce the Slate of Officers for the UCHUG Corporation Board of
Directors for the upcoming year. A Motion was made and seconded from the floor to elect the presented slate of
Officers. The motion was approved by voice Acclamation.
Webmaster: Bob Woods reviewed the UCHUG Website for the assembled members. New programs were
reviewed including the following:
•
Note that as a bonus, Acronis users have a new feature called Drive Monitor. Acronis Drive Monitor
[17.4M] Win XP – Win 7 Freeware. Acronis Drive Monitor gives users extra time to react in order to
save data contained on disk devices and to arrange for their replacements. Acronis Drive Monitor
checks disk health in the following three categories:
-State and health of physical drive
-Critical events
-State of disk backups
Integrates with Acronis Home and Business products for greater data safety. Users of the latest versions
of Acronis True Image Home PC backup and recovery software and Acronis Backup & Recovery 10
business software can take advantage of Acronis Drive Monitor’s ability to trigger an immediate,
automated backup if any disk shows signs of imminent failure.
http://www.acronis.com/enterprise/download/drive-monitor/
•
Autoruns for Windows [605k] Win XP – Win 7 Freeware - was noted.
This utility, which has the most comprehensive knowledge of auto-starting locations of any startup
monitor, shows you what programs are configured to run during system bootup or login, and shows you
the entries in the order Windows processes them. These programs include ones in your startup folder,
Run, RunOnce, and other Registry keys. You can configure Autoruns to show other locations,
including Explorer shell extensions, toolbars, browser helper objects, Winlogon notifications, auto-start
services, and much more. Autoruns goes way beyond the MSConfig utility bundled with Windows Me
and XP. Autoruns' Hide Signed Microsoft Entries option helps you to zoom in on third-party autostarting images that have been added to your system and it has support for looking at the auto-starting
images configured for other accounts configured on a system. Also included in the download package
is a command-line equivalent that can output in CSV format, Autorunsc.
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November 2010
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902.aspx
PROGRAM:
Bob Woods gave a presentation on the Browser Wars and compared Firefox - IE9 - and Chrome. There are
many new features with "Fill Inn as you type" and address and Carret Browsing.
A random access period was held. A discussion was held on Google Voice for Phone Recording. Check out and
Clear Admistrater Password. Google "clear administrator password" for information on how to do it in different
Operating Systems.
Greg Wauson led a discussion of Cyber Security. Note the Wikipeda Definition of Spyware: Spyware is a type
of malware that can be installed on computers and collects little bits of information at a time about users
without their knowledge. The presence of spyware is typically hidden from the user, and can be difficult to
detect. Typically, spyware is secretly installed on the user's personal computer. Sometimes, however, spywares
such as keyloggers are installed by the owner of a shared, corporate, or public computer on purpose in order to
secretly monitor other users. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spyware
Receiving PDF Files by email was discussed. A lot of EMails have PDF files attached. There are several good
utilities which will nicely display them. A few have the ability to Edit a received PDF File.
We also mentioned how to reduce your Spam email. Check out "MailWasher". MailWasher is free to use and
won't ever expire. It works with Outlook, Outlook Express, Incredimail, Thunderbird, Windows Mail, GMail,
Hotmail and every other email program. Use this powerful spam blocker software to effectively stop email
spam. Discover the safe way to stop unwanted e-mails before they get to your computer.
http://www.mailwasher.net/
The meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m.
Board Meeting,
October 20, 2010
Secretary Ray Ferbrache
The meeting was called to order at the home of Al Brengle at 7:10 p.m. by
President Greg Skalka. In attendance were Greg Skalka, Al Brengle, Abbott
Brownell, Art Gresham, Bill Palmer, Bob Woods and Ray Ferbrache.
REPORTS:
President - The President reported on the change of date for Judy Talor's Scruggs meeting. Greg was able to
attend for about an hour during his lunch break. Only 6 people attended this quarter. Handouts for presentations
and some information about new Presentations in a Box. A discussion was held by the Board on the benefits of
paying $50.00 a year for membership in the APCUG. The item was continued until the next Board Meeting.
Out current benefits are the News and Technical Articles forwarded from APCUG Members around the
Country. A questionnaire has been received requesting the UCHUG Vote on next years officers for the
APCUG. Any input is requested to President Greg Skalka by the 1st of November as he will vote on them at
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
that time.
Vice President - The Vice President had Nothing to Report.
Secretary - The Secretary had Nothing to Report.
Treasurer - The treasurers report was received by EMail before the Meeting. The Group is solvent and
operating below budget.
Membership - The membership chairman reported 33 active members paid in full. 3are due for renewal next
month. We expect the normal high number of renewals at the December Christmas Meeting.
Editor - The Editor has a backlog of Technical Articles for use and request inputs over the next weekend.
WebMasters - New updates have been posted during the past few weeks. The Webmaster noted Windows 7
"God Mode" feature. If you have Windows 7 there is a way to easily go to all of the control panel functions plus
many more without having to open control panel and search through the functions for what you need. You can
easily create a God Mode folder on your desktop. To do this right click on the desktop and click New and
Folder. For the folder name insert God-Mode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C} which will
create a control panel that will launch into a tree like window with 268 functions available. For more info go the
the below web site. Note, this shortcut may not work in Vista as indicated on the web site.
http://scforum.info/index.php?topic=3544.0
PROGRAMS:
November
•
ID Theft Presentation by Wayne Widener, President of the Lake San Marcos Computer Club.
http://lsmcc.com/
•
Lary Colton will discuss the "Team Viewer" Program. TeamViewer - the All-In-One Solution for
Remote Access and Support over the Internet. TeamViewer connects to any PC or server around the
world within a few seconds. You can remote control your partner's PC as if you were sitting right in
front of it. Find out why more than 100 million users trust TeamViewer!
•
We may have a Webinare program with an update on USB 3.0
December - It is time for our Christmas Cheer.
The December 2nd meeting will be our Holiday party and auction. Bring your no longer needed Software and
Hardware for the Auction. The Board asked that you please do not use the Auction as a dumping place for items
no longer usable. We must rule out any CRT’s, Non Working Printers or computers to old to run XP Programs.
Bring a favorite finger food or dish for the Pot Luck. The Group will provide utensils, plates and soft drinks.
See next months minutes for further information. For all the December members, renew your membership to be
eligible for the drawings.
January - TBD
OLD BUSINESS: Printing more UCHUG Business Cards for use by the Board was discussed. A discussion
was held on Recuiting New Members. It is still one of our most challenging projects. The Board is still looking
for a source of T-Shirts with the UCHUG Logo at a reasonable price. Anyone with a tip will be most welcome.
NEW BUSINESS: None
The meeting adjourned at 8:06 p.m.
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November 2010
BITS and pieces
A look at items of interest found on the web
collected by Ray Furbrach
Avoid 'Free Public WiFi' Network At All Costs
· by Brandon Dimmel on 20101013 @ 01:12PM EST
on infopackets.com
Frequent wireless Internet (WiFi) users are being warned this morning to never click on the network "Free
Public WiFi". It's not actually free wireless, but a rogue network that can lead to the infiltration of a system by
hackers.
Waiting for a plane several years ago, WiFi security guru Joshua Wright first noticed the "Free Public WiFi"
network in an airport. Desperate for a connection, he was drawn to the option, but stopped short to investigate it
first.
"I went to connect to an available wireless network and I saw this option, Free Public WiFi," Wright says.
"As I looked more and more, I saw this in more and more locations. And I was aware from my job and analysis
in the field that this wasn't a sanctioned, provisioned wireless network, but it was actually something rogue."
(Source: npr.org)
"Free Public WiFi" an Ad Hoc Network
Rogue it is. "Free Public WiFi" is not the kind of network that will provide access to the web, but is instead an
ad hoc network, which means someone who successfully makes a connection is linking up with another
person's PC rather than the Internet. By allowing this connection, a user puts himself at risk; it essentially opens
up a gateway to allow a hacker into their computer.
How this issue came to be relates to a long-time Windows XP flaw. When struggling to find an available WiFi
network, older versions of the operating system (OS) will initialize an ad hoc network with the same title as the
last one to which it made a successful connection. In this case, that network was called "Free Public WiFi," and
the name not only sticks, but spreads every time a new person connects. (Source: ciol.com)
Microsoft Recommends XP SP3, or Win7
Thus, it's easy to see how the issue has spread like wildfire across North America. The problem is, our addiction
to the web has grown, and given the growing number of businesses that offer free WiFi access, a lot of us are
easily convinced free wireless Internet is no longer too good to be true.
If you're running Windows XP, the best solution to the problem is to upgrade to Service Pack 3, an action
Microsoft strongly recommends. That said, the option to upgrade to Windows 7 is also highly recommended -especially now that it's on sale.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
Windows Media Center:
I Don't Get No Respect
As a tech writer, I am regularly inundated with press releases for various
hardware and software products. Recently I've been hearing about how the
way we watch TV is going to be dramatically changed by Apple TV, Google
TV or some other "new" technology. A search of news headlines turns up
such gems as "Apple TV tethers computer to TV" and "New Apple TV a
Surprise Hit" and "Google TV ... Apple TV ... Roku ... the Future of TV is
Here."
According to tech reporters, these devices revolutionize television by
allowing you to "unite Web browsing, TV watching and applications."
Ummm. Hey, there, media folks, I've been been living in the future of TV - with Internet radio, DVRing my
favorite programs, watching streamed video, running apps - for eight years, with Windows Media Center. And I
know hundreds of other WMC fans who swear by it and use it for all their TV watching. But you rarely hear a
peep from the mainstream media about how Microsoft revolutionized TV viewing in 2002 with Windows XP
Media Center Edition.
XP MCE was nothing short of amazing, giving us the ability to control our TVs from a computer with the
familiar Windows interface. The drawback was that you couldn't just buy the Media Center edition of XP and
install it on a computer of your choice; you had to buy a specially configured one from HP or Dell or Gateway
or another OEM that had licensed the OS. And those OEMs took advantage of this to price Media Center
computers too high for the budgets of many of those who would have liked to use it.
But Microsoft fixed that when they made the decision to include Window Media Center functionality in the
Home Premium and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista. Techie types - who were the most likely to want to set
up WMC - could buy one of those operating systems and install it on any home built or OEM system that had
the correct specs. All you needed to do was install a compatible TV tuner card, which you could buy for a
reasonable price from Hauppauge, AVerMedia and other vendors. If you didn't like cracking open the case, you
could even get external USB tuners from various vendors, from cheapie "stick" types to high end, high quality
(and relatively high priced) boxes like the Autumn Wave OnAir Creator that I used with one of my Vista
Ultimate machines.
It was a move in the right direction, but unfortunately, even though Vista's Media Center application worked
great, Vista itself suffered from a myriad of problems and bad press, so the majority of Windows users stuck
with XP and never discovered the joys of WMC in Vista. And many Vista users were unhappy that the Business
version didn't include WMC, so that if they wanted features such as dual processor support, Encrypted File
System, Group Policy, Windows Fax and Scan, offline folder support and/or the ability to join a domain, and
also wanted WMC, they had to spring for the much higher priced Ultimate edition.
WMC took another big step forward when Windows 7 came out. Microsoft listened to customers and included
it in all generally available editions of Windows 7 except Starter Edition (which is made to run on low powered
netbooks that don't generally have the specs to support WMC). That means you can have all the business
oriented features in Pro and also have Media Center functionality (however, on a business network,
administrators easily can disable WMC via Group Policy if a company doesn't want its employees watching TV
or listening to their music on company time).
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
WMC has gotten better with each incarnation and is a very mature and well behaved application in Windows 7.
You can read about its new features in our sister publication, Win7News, at
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q1VBLI/101012-Win7News
But even if you're still running XP MCE, it's more flexible and has many advantages over some of the dedicated
devices. The interface is far more user- friendly than that of the cable company's DVR, which is clunky and
exasperating to use. You can easily add more storage if we run out of room for our programs. And you don't
have to pay a monthly rental fee.
We currently use WMC on a Windows 7 Ultimate computer attached to a 65 inch Sharp Aquos HDTV for
almost all of our TV viewing. We watch almost nothing (other than breaking news) live; we use WMC to record
and time-shift our favorite network broadcasts in Clear QAM (unencrypted high definition signal). With a
Netflix subscription, you can access Netflix content within Media Center. You can also use the Internet TV
feature to access content from CBS, MSN/MSNBC.com and the Zune video podcast library. Unfortunately,
these new features aren't available on XP MCE.
The "revolutionary" Apple TV device is a bit different. It doesn't record programming; it's basically just a
receiver that plays digital streaming content. The new version only has 8 GB of storage (for caching); it gets the
content online or from your computer. So even though, at first glance, it appears to be a lot cheaper than a
WMC computer (at $99), that doesn't tell the whole story. You'll have to buy the content through iTunes or have
it hooked up to a computer (which could, in fact, be a WMC computer) in order to have something to watch.
You can, however, watch YouTube videos directly, or access photos from Flickr and MobileMe, and Netflix
integration was added last month.
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q1VBLI/101012-Apple-Tv-Device
What about Google TV? Whereas WMC is an application and Apple
TV is a device, Google TV is more of a service. However, you will
access it through a set top box (Logitech is one company that will make
them) or a TV or Blu-ray player that has it built in (which will
reportedly be the case with some Sony products). Considering that it's
from Google, it shouldn't come as a surprise that its key feature is
search. It's about finding the TV content that you want. It supports
Netflix, CNBC, Pandora, Napster, Amazon Video on Demand and even
Twitter, and there is a special version of YouTube for it. And of course, it runs the Chrome web browser. The
whole thing runs on the Android operating system, and there will reportedly be a remote control app for it that
you can install on your Android phone. Developers will be able to create widgets for the system, as well. Rumor
has it that Google TV will officially launch this month.
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q1VBLI/101012-Google-Tv
Apple and Google are obviously betting that the future of TV is in the "cloud," rather than being stored on a
hard drive. But with WMC, I have it both ways. And I was glad of that not long ago, when the cable service was
down but I could still watch my recorded, stored programs. I've also experienced the uneven reliability of the
cloud in watching programs streamed from Amazon's Unbox. Sometimes it works great. Sometimes, not so
much. So I don't see these new TV technologies as replacements for Windows Media Center, although they
might serve as supplements to it.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
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November 2010
Tell us what you think. Someday, will we get all our TV content streamed over the Internet, enabling us to
throw away our DVRs and unsubscribe from our cable or satellite services? Do you prefer the "stream on
demand" model to having your favorite programs recorded on a TiVO or WMC computer's hard drive? Or do
you plan to stick with local storage for a while? Which do you think will be more successful - Apple TV or
Google TV? And why does the press ignore WMC? Let us know your opinions and experiences by posting in
our forum at
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q1VBLI/101012-Discuss-This-Weeks-WXPNews-Here
October 12 saw a record number of updates
Microsoft had a record number of security updates last June and then again in August. Now it appears October
was yet another record breaking month, with sixteen security bulletins covering a whopping 49 vulnerabilities.
Many of these affect Windows XP SP3 (remember that support has ended for XP installations that haven't been
upgraded to SP3). You can find out more about the individual bulletins and vulnerabilities here:
http://www.wxpnews.com/Q1VBLI/101012-XP-Security-News
Is it okay to turn off the computer with the power button?
QUESTION:
My XP computer has started hanging up when I try to shut it down. I've been just turning off the power button
and then everything seems okay when I restart. But I've been told you shouldn't do this. Will I damage my
computer? Thanks. - Bill R.
ANSWER:
The shutdown sequence ensures that all running programs are closed properly and
your data is saved. If you do a "hard" shutdown, using the power button, you could
lose data or risk corrupting files. However, if Windows hangs and won't shut down
properly, you might have no choice but to shut down this way. You won't "damage"
the computer itself (the hardware) by shutting down. Check out this article on
advanced troubleshooting for shutdown problems in Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/308029
Protect your browsing with ClearCloud
In his Oct 7 Newsletter Steve Bass discusses a tool to add protection to your
browsing activities. Steve says "ClearCloud, a valuable, free tool that monitors your online activity in three
ways: In your browser and e-mail program, or if a program's trying to send details about you to their servers.
ClearCloud works by making a small, benign change to your PC's Internet settings. When you head for a Web
site -- by clicking a link in e-mail, typing a URL in your browser's address bar, or clicking a link on a Web page
-- ClearCloud looks over the link. If the site's dangerous, it blocks access.
ClearCloud: Under the Hood
Technically, ClearCloud changes the DNS server settings so traffic is routed through its servers first. I like how
I can turn the ClearCloud service on and off, and it uninstalls without doing any damage. ClearCloud is still in
beta, a testing phase. Read the ClearCloud FAQ. If you're interested in this technology, you can also look at
Norton DNS, which is in beta as well.” Read full article here
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 11 of 18
November 2010
Reprinted with permission from Smart Computing. Visit www.SmartComputing.com/Groups to learn what
Smart Computing can do for you and your user group!
• Hard-To-Read Web Pages: Some Web sites and email messages are really hard to read. Whoever designed
them may not have realized that some users have a hard time reading dark text on colored backgrounds. Here's
a trick that can help. Select the text with a click and drag of your mouse. This usually highlights it in white on a
blue background. If the text is still hard to read this way, copy and paste it into Notepad or some other black-onwhite text editor..
• Customize The Win7 Start Button: Shutting down Windows 7 is a simple matter of clicking Start and Shut
Down. If you find yourself logging off or putting your computer to sleep more often than you shut it down, you
may want to customize the Shut Down button. Right-click the Start button and choose Properties. Then, on the
Start Menu tab, click the Power Button Action drop-down menu and make a selection. Click OK. Now when
you click Start, you'll see the chosen action instead of Shut Down. It's an easy way to make your computing a
little simpler.
• IE 8 Tabs: Did you just close Internet Explorer 8 when you meant only to close a tab? Oops. Tabbed
browsing can be a hazard if the wrong settings are in place. First, don’t despair. As soon as you recognize the
error, restart IE and, in the Tools menu, click Reopen Last Browser Session. In many cases, this will save your
set of open tabs on the last IE window you had open. To keep this from happening again, use the Tools menu to
access Internet Options. In the Tabs section on the General tab, click Settings. Checkmark the Warn Me When
Closing Multiple Tabs box.
Smart Computing Articles*
• Facebook Security: We’ll show you how to control who sees what when you post information on Facebook.
• Plan Your Garage Sale Adventure Online: If you like to rummage, a handful of Web sites aims to help you
have fun in the most efficient way possible.
*These articles will be available online in their entirety for our user groups at www.SmartComputing.com until November 26th,
at which time unlimited access will no longer be available.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 12 of 18
November 2010
Cell Phone or Hand-Held Computer: That Is The Question
By Mike Morris, Editor / President,
Front Range PC Users Group (FRPCUG), Colorado
http://www.frpcug.org
twriterext (at) gmail.com
Over the past few years, I have received numerous questions about the meaning of various terms, such as MP3,
BlackBerry, etc. These questions have come from FRPCUG members, participants in the
computer classes taught by FRPCUG and offered through the Fort Collins, CO Senior Center, and
many others.
Those questions led to a Digital Gadgets presentation at a FRPCUG meeting with the presentation
material posted on the FRPCUG web site, and to this article. Actually, to a series of articles,
because it is not possible to include sufficient information in just one article.
This article examines the state of today’s cell phone market. A cell phone is not just a cell phone
anymore. In fact, even the term cell phone is no longer accurate, as the means of connecting to telephone
networks and the internet has greatly expanded (more on this in a moment). A more accurate term may be
mobile phone. An interesting statistic for this market
is that “(a)n increasing number of countries, particularly in Europe, now have more mobile phones than people”
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_telecommunications).
Any attempt to answer the “phone or computer” question must consider these facts:
• All new mobile phones available today offer email (with address book), text messaging,
camera, and web browsing.
• Most (maybe all) offer a media player, GPS and games.
• Many (again, perhaps all) offer a calendar, clock, calculator, notes/to do lists, etc. (if not
built-in, available with apps, or applications).
• The newest of the new products offer multitasking (simultaneous use of more than one
application).
The word “application” is crucial to understanding the power of today’s mobile phones. There are many
applications (some free, but most need to be purchased) available. There are over 200,000 applications available
for Apple’s iPhone. They range from the useful to the—ahem—strange. For example, there is a free
application for the iPhone called “Find the nearest bathroom using your iPhone.”
As you can see, the modern mobile phone has many features that used to be found only on computers.
Even more interesting, these modern phones (a more appropriate description is “smartphone”—see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartphone) have many ways to connect to telephone networks and to the internet.
There are a number of different network standards and transmission technologies. Some mobile phone products
offer more than one of these choices, which are collectively called “connectivity.” An excellent source of
information on this topic is the “Networks and connectivity” section of the Wikipedia article “Comparison of
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 13 of 18
November 2010
smartphones”: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_smartphones
Today’s consumer is faced with an almost bewildering array of product choices,
technology choices, and even carriers (service providers). Some products are restricted
to one carrier, some are not. Many products have names that provide no idea of the
capabilities of the product: BlackBerry, Droid, Tattoo, Wizard, Storm, Bold—to name
just a few.
The idea behind the Digital Gadgets presentation (and this article) is to try and
demystify this jumble of products. You will NOT find a comprehensive list of products
or
technologies or product features in this article. The table below lists only a few products
(some of the more well-known names) and only selected product features (beyond the
“standard” features listed above). Most companies offer a variety of products with
different features and prices. There are a number of Wikipedia articles on the products
and the technologies (the Wikipedia smartphones comparison article lists 55 products as of August 2010).
Those references are provided in the notes with the table. For more details on product features, I advise you to
check the web sites for each product.
Please note that the product names are trademarked by the companies included in the table below. The
technologies may be open source or proprietary (and therefore protected by various means such as patents
and/or copyrights).
Most of the information in the table was extracted from Wikipedia articles. References to those articles are
included in the table notes. Specific product feature information was obtained from product web sites.
For those interested in more technical details, I suggest these web sites:
•
http://communication.howstuffworks.com/smartphone.htm/printable
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3G
•
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_mobile_phone_standards
For some history on mobile phones, connect to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones
Is there an answer to the question: phone or computer? I leave that to you—and
the philosophical debate to those inclined to such activity. It is important to
remember, that whatever you decide on this issue, you still need to do your
“homework” before you spend any of your hard earned cash on one these
products. Note that I have not attempted to tell you which of the many choices is
the best. I trust that this information will contribute to making you an informed
consumer.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 14 of 18
November 2010
Product
Name
Blackberry(1)
Communicator
(3)
Droid
Company
Research in
Motion (RIM)
Nokia
Motorola (and
others –see note
5)
Selected
Features
Apps
• Europe/Asia/Pacific
connectivity
• Keyboard
• Touchscreen
• Push to talk
• Internet faxing
•
•
•
•
•
Voice Recognition
Text to speech
Video Calls
Push to talk
Keyboard
4
5
6
7
8
iPhone
Apple
9
10
Palm(11)
Palm, Inc.
(recently
acquired by HP)
11
12
13
Various(13)
Various(13)
Microsoft
licensed Windows
Phone to four out
of the world’s five
largest mobile
phone
manufacturers,
with Nokia being
the exception (14)
80% of the 50
million
Windows Phone
devices made
have been built
by one contract
manufacturing
group, HTC(14)
14
Keyboard
Touchscreen
Slider Phone (6)
Speech
Recognition
Text to speech
Touchscreen
“Virtual”
keyboard
Keyboard
Touchscreen
Slider phone
Vary by
product/
Manufacturer
>7000 (as of mid
2010)(2)
Since Nokia
E90’s web
browser shares
similar codebase as iPhone’s
Safari browser,
most iPhone
Web Apps are
accessible
through Nokia
E90’s browser
as well.(3)
Operating
System
Notes and
Comments
Proprietary(1)
Recent new
products include
the “Storm,”
“Torch” and
“Tour” models
Symbian(4)
>70,000(7)(?)
90,000 (as of
mid-2010(2)(?)
Android(7)
>200,000 (as of
mid-2010) (2)(9)
iOS (formerly
iPhone OS) (10)
>4800 (April
2010(12)
WebOS
(Linux based)
<400 (late 2009)
(2)
Windows
Mobile – now
called windows
Phone (14)
The E90
Communicator is
the latest model
of the
Communicator
series.(3)
The brand name
Droid is a
trademark of
Lucasfilm
licensed to
Verizon Wireless.
(8)
Video calls only
with 4G
version(10)
Most recent
models are the
Palm Pixi and
Palm Pre
Windows
Mobile’s share of
the Smartphone
market has fallen
year-on-year,
decreasing 20%
in Q3 2009(14)
Notes:
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BlackBerry
2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_digital_distribution_platforms_for_mobile_devices
3. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nokia_E90_Communicator
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Symbian_OS
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Android_devices
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone_form_factors#Slider
7. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_(operating_system)
8. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_Droid
9. http://148apps.biz/app-store-metrics/?mpage=appcount
10. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IPhone
11. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm,_Inc.
12. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palm_Pre
13. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Windows_Mobile_devices
14. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Mobile
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 15 of 18
November 2010
Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 263 • 2010-10-28
LOUNGE LIFE
Help for a hijacked e-mail identity
By Keely Dolan
Having your e-mail address hijacked by spammers is more than irritating; it can damage your
reputation and make communicating with friends and business associates painfully difficult.
Sometimes spammers simply steal your e-mail identity and send out thousands of unwanted messages
under your name. Even worse, they might install malware on your PC and send their dreck from your
own machine without your knowledge.
Lounge member Eric Selje describes this predicament in his thread, "Spammers are using my e-mail address!" Fellow
Loungers step in with advice on stopping the spam — and tips on preventing e-mail hijacking in the first place.
Read the responses from readers, and some very sage advise, especially concerning your password on your email
account, and a very clever and safe tip for publishing your email address on a web page that can not be skimmed by the
bots looking for addresses. Read More»
Windows Secrets Newsletter • Issue 262 • 2010-10-21
Hybrid hard drives finally come of age
By Becky Waring
Once hailed as the perfect compromise between pricey solid-state drives and cheaper-butslower platter models, hybrid hard drives quickly became a technological flash in the pan.
But new models from Seagate have resuscitated the technology — the Momentus XT line offers many
of solid state's benefits without the sticker shock. Read the article here»
Social Networking and Seniors
by Hewie Poplock
“Hewie’s News & Reviews” (www.hewie.net)
There is a new report that shows that Internet users 50+ have nearly doubled in just the past year, from 22% to
42% in 2010. The survey goes on to say that almost half of Internet users 50-64 and about 26% users age 65
and older now use social networking sites.
While email and online news are still more appealing to older users, these people are now using the social sites
and are repeat users, at that. The report goes on to say it shows that one attraction to seniors and others as well,
is reconnecting with people from their past. It also states that older adults are more likely to be living with a
chronic disease and are more likely to seek out online support with others afflicted or with medical
professionals.
I am in the "older adults" category, as are many of my friends. Although I am more technically savvy than
most, I am still seeing many people from my past and present in my age group using Facebook. I also must say
that I have many friends who resist this new social stuff.
I am amazed that many of my friends, who have resisted a lot of the Internet hoopla and used AOL for many
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 16 of 18
November 2010
years because it was easy, are using Facebook and doing so daily. Some are very passive and are mostly lurkers.
Others have immersed themselves in social networking and have renewed friendships and have become closer
friends to many that they only occasionally see in person.
I have never played any of the games on Facebook and "hide" the references to Farmville, Mafia Wars, and
such. I don't post that I went to a movie or had stopped at McDonalds on the way home, but do not mind when
my "friends" do. I do enjoy seeing pictures from my friends, hearing that my real estate sales friend sold a
home, hearing that another friend found a job, or a friend's daughter finished a charity race.
Each of us has our own interests and it is fun sharing them with your friends. I enjoy seeing what others do and
what they are interested in. I can see what others in my age bracket find fun and interesting when using social
networking. Being the careful and responsible computer person that I am, I always watch what I say and post to
protect my information and the information of others. I also advise others to use the privacy settings that they
are comfortable with and not to post anything that they do not want the whole world to see.
The report also says that social media bridges generational gaps. I totally agree. I see that grandparents and the
rest of the family keep in touch, but all need to remember that what you share with your peers may not be items
that you want to share with your family, your bosses, or your ex.
Various organizations that work with older adults, such as AARP, Older Adults Technology Services (OATS)
and Project GOAL, have been actively promoting social media resources that are relevant to mature users.
Free Templates for Printing Labels and Business Cards in an Instant
from While Wandering the Web
by Dave Gerber, APCUG Director ([email protected])
autofillPDF-Labels 1.0 is a site that’s got tons of free, fillable PDF label templates for U.S. letter-size label
sheets. Fill your information in one field and watch as your information automatically fills all label fields within
that sheet! All you need to do is download and open up a template, fill a label field, and hit the Tab button on
your keyboard! Print your labels in an instant.
The site offers a complete collection of basic formatting templates for address, shipping, mailing, and CD labels
as well as file folder, round, name badge, business card, and all popular Avery label sizes are available —
among many more choices! PDF is an ISO International Standard: ISO 32000-1. PDF Reader Required.
Four types of auto fill basic formatting templates for labels and business cards are available:
1. Autofill all label cells with the same information in seconds.
2. For Shipping/Mailing labels, autofill information for FROM and TO - excellent for multiple shipments
to one address.
3. For Shipping/Mailing labels, autofill information for FROM & insert manually different information for
TO
4. Autofill image insert and text for popular size labels and business cards
Also, there are templates for manually inserting different information into each label cell.
Check it out!
http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/autofillpdf-labels.htm
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Page 17 of 18
November 2010
A
2009 - UCHUG – 2010
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Renewal
R
President . . . . Greg Skalka
VP . . . . . . . . . Al Brengle
E
Secretary . . . . Ray Ferbrache
M
Treasurer. . . . Mike Trempe
WebMasters . Bob and Jackie Woods
I
Editor . . . . . . . Art Gresham
Membership. . Bill Palmer
N
O-a-L. . . . . . . Abbott Brownell
D E R
O-a-L. . . . . . . Mark Ferbrache
The following memberships are due for renewal:
O-a-L. . . . . . . Greg Wauson
O-a-L. . . . .
October Robert Carpenter, Rod Mar, Gini
Pedersen,
Sandy Shapiro
November Ann Martin
THE DRIVE LIGHT is published by the Under The
Computer Hood User Group INC. primarily for UCHUG
members.
December James Berger, Mark Ferbrache, Art
Gresham, Jeff Meyer, Joel Owens,
Bill Palmer
Copyrighted material may be reproduced with the
written permission of the copyright holder. Other
contents of DRIVE LIGHT may be reproduced for noncommercial purposes only if appropriate credit is given
to DRIVE LIGHT and the author and a copy of the
publication is supplied to the UCHUG care of the Editor.
Membership in the UCHUG is open to
any person interested in computers.
The Membership Chairperson is Bill
Palmer and he will happily accept
your application or renewal at any
meeting. Dues are $15 per year.
Please make checks payable to UCHUG.
Submissions of interest to computer buffs are welcome.
All authors and sources must be identified. Copyrighted
material can be accepted for reprint only if permission of
the copyright holder is included.
The Drive Light preferred method for article transfer is
by Email, Word doc or
OpenOffice doc file to the
editor at
[email protected].
Deadline for submissions
is the weekend following
the board meeting (third
Wednesday of the
month.)
Checks may be brought to the meeting, or mailed to:
Mike Trempe, UCHUG Treasurer
4027 S. Hempstead Circle
San Diego, CA 92116
If you have questions concerning your
membership, renewal date, address info or other
questions,
please
contact
Bill
Palmer
[email protected]
The Drive Light is
produced with
OpenOffice.org Writer,
and printed to PDF using
its native pdf printer.
UCHUG DRIVE LIGHT
Please be sure to inform us if you change your
E Mail address so we can continue to send your
monthly Drive LIGHT.
UCHUG is a member of the Association of P C Users
Groups, WWW.APCUG.NET
Page 18 of 18
November 2010