Ed sent this info our way:

Note: Radio Shack, Sequim, listed as LYCORP
##

Students can earn a Certificate for Professional Development from the
University of Illinois Office of Continuing Education upon completion of
a selected series of courses. Certificates are currently offered in
Client-Side Web Programming, Linux/Unix System Administration, Web
Programming, Open Source Programming, and .NET Programming.

Courses are offered at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels.
Whether students take the courses individually or with a certificate in
mind, the completion of each course earns Continuing Education Units
from the University of Illinois, and count toward the certificates that
include that course.

For more information about the O'Reilly School of Technology, including
a current list of certificate and courses, see:
<http://www.oreillyschool.com/?CMP=BAC-ostug>

Watch the video to see how it works:
<http://www.oreillyschool.com/why/theostmovie.mp4>


          ##


          Google's Gmail débuted almost three years ago, but 
          it's been "invitation only" during all that time. In most cases, it 
          wasn't too difficult to get invited since members regularly received a 
          number of free invitations to send to their friends. However, there 
          were still some people who wanted accounts and couldn't get them. 
          Well, now Gmail is open to everyone who wants a free web mail 
          account, with no invitation required. 

          Read more here:
          
          

          
          http://www.wxpnews.com/0WJMWV/070220-Gmail-Open

          

          To sign up for a Gmail account, go here: 


          

          
          http://www.wxpnews.com/0WJMWV/070220-Gmail


          Gmail 
          Craze 30 + Tools and Hacks for Gmail " MakeUseOf.com: 

          
          http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/gmail-craze-30-tools-to-make-your-gmail-better
          

          

          Gmail Tips 
          - The Complete Collection:
          
          http://g04.com/misc/GmailTipsComplete.html 
          


          See OUR 
          NEW gmail TIPS page - full of links to TIPS>
          gmailTipsPage.htm 
          

        				


          

          

          .Olympic Peaks Camera Club  -- 
                    Almost everyone today with a PC has or is moving to digital 
                    photography. Yet one cannot assume that the art of 
                    photography is automatically endowed by purchasing a digital 
                    camera. What is assured, however, after the initial outlay 
                    of bucks, is that one can take as many photos as time and 
                    circumstance allow without the additional cost of film and 
                    developing, thereby making it easy and cost-free to hone 
                    one's photographic skills. Reading about photography is not 
                    usually a good way to learn the art of excellent 
                    photo-taking. But seeing the pictorial essays of one's 
                    fellow photography enthusiasts and hearing "expert" 
                    commentary on these about what is good and bad and how to 
                    improve on their various works makes for great learning 
                    experiences. The local Olympic Peaks Camera Club offers an 
                    opportunity for all who want to learn how to improve one's 
                    photographic skills. There are two meetings monthly, on the 
                    2nd and 4th Thursdays, held from 7pm till around 9pm. The 
                    first of the monthly meetings is usually focused on 
                    member-submitted photos in three categories: slides, printed 
                    and digital photos. These are displayed and/or projected for 
                    all to study, while a commentator gives his "experienced" 
                    perspective on each photo. At the same time three judges 
                    weight the technical and artistic merits of each, resulting 
                    in First, Second and Third Place finishes in each category. 
                    This is a tremendous learning experience for all, whether 
                    one enters his/her own photos or not into the open 
                    competition. At the second of the monthly meetings we 
                    usually have guests speakers of renown or photographic 
                    workshops in which we can learn and practice useful 
                    techniques in the art of photography. And mixing with 
                    like-minded photographers is a wonderful way to exchange 
                    ideas and pick up useful tips to improve your own photo 
                    essays. The club meets at the Dungeness Community Church 
                    at 45 Eberle Lane, about 4 miles north of Washington St. 
                    in Sequim, off Sequim-Dungeness Rd. The club meets in the 
                    activities room behind the church and closest to its large 
                    parking lot. You might want to view the camera club's web 
                    site at 

          

                      olympicpeaks.org. 
                      For more information, call Bill Black at 360-681-4422. Or 
                    just show up at one of the meetings. You can decide if you 
                    want to join after a few meetings. [Thanks to 
                    Ed, our Project Manager and SPCUG Member.]
                      


          Ed 

                    reminded me of this: Get Human 

                    http://gethuman.com/us/

                    finding a toll-free phone number


                    


                    To find the toll-free phone number for any US-based company, 

                    try calling 1-800-555-1212 or search Google for company name 

                    plus "phone numbers". Or maybe even searching for the 

                    company name and "president office" or "investor relations".


                    


                    Tip: did you know that your phone company charges $1.49 or 

                    more each time you call 411? Instead, try using 

                    1-800-FREE-411.


                    


                    For companies who try to hide their phone numbers, many 
          times the Google search will find a page from a disgruntled customer 
          who exposes the phone numbers for that company. 


                    


                    For a public company, you could also try searching EDGAR. 

                    The "10K" report includes information about corporate 

                    officers and the official company mailing address.


                    


                    You could also try looking up their contact information via 

                    a "whois" database: internic, godaddy, whois.net, etc. 
          ##
                      


          Getting to a human


                    


                    Once you have a phone number, here are some tips to try to 

                    get through the computer to get to a live human:


                    


                    1. Interrupt. Press 0 (or 0# or #0 or 0* or *0) repeatedly, 

                    sometimes quickly. Unfortunately the same keystroke does not 

                    always work for each company. Many IVRs (Interactive Voice 

                    Response) will connect to a human after a few "invalid 

                    entries", although some IVRs will hang up. 


                    


                    2. Talk. Say "get human" (or "agent" or "representative") or 

                    raise your voice, or just mumble. :) The IVR might connect 

                    you to a human after one of these key or unknown phrases.


                    


                    3. Just hold, pretending you have only an old rotary phone.


                    


                    4. Connect to account collections or sales or account 

                    cancellation; they always seem to answer quickly. First ask 

                    them for their name and rep number (so they know you are 

                    writing it down, and thus so they are more likely to help 

                    you.) Then ask them to transfer you to the department you 

                    need. Sometimes they will put you ahead of the queue, 

                    although sometimes they will send you to the end (and thus 

                    in those cases this tip is useless).


                    


                    5. Toll call. For credit cards, if the expected wait time is 

                    too long, hang up and try to call back on their 

                    non-toll-free number, as they often have shorter queues.


                    


                    6. Selecting the option for Spanish will sometimes get you a 

                    bilingual human more quickly than if you just waited for an 

                    English-only operator.


                    


                    When you do finally find a human, ask them how to connect 

                    directly the next time (in case your call gets disconnected 

                    etc. ## -tp. 
                      


                    

                    If you need to backup your DVDs, get a copy of AnyDVD

                    AND CloneDVD < 

                    http://www.slysoft.com/en/ >  You need both.  

                    After you archive your DVD, you can

                    print 

                    covers and disk images by grabbing them at:

                    http://www.cdcovers.cc  

                    . Get printable DVDs if your inkjet can print on DVDS.  

                    I encourage you to support the CD covers site by donating a 

                    dollar or two. 


                    


                    You can buy both software packages as a bundle for $52.48.  

                    You can download them and TRY them, FREE, for three weeks.

                    


                    


                    Just don't try to sell your copies on eBay or on a street 

                    corner (as 

                    our friends in New York and other places  do). ##

                      


                    

                    Saving Bacon


                    


                    The system restore (SR) has saved my bacon a few 

                    times, (and so has clearing the cache in Internet Explorer). 

                    [More about IE at some future date.] Today's piece is on the

                    WIN XP System Restore service.


                    


                    First, you should know how to turn and and off System 

                    Restore:


                    


                    To manually turn off System Restore:


                    


                    1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click 

                    Properties.


                    2. Click the System Restore tab.


                    3. Click to select the Turn off System Restore check box (or 

                    the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box), and 

                    then click OK.


                    4. Click Yes when you receive the prompt to the turn off 

                    System Restore.


                    Manual steps to turn on System Restore


                    


                    To turn on System Restore, follow these steps:


                    1. Click Start, right-click My Computer, and then click 

                    Properties.


                    2. Click the System Restore tab.


                    3. Click to clear the Turn off System Restore check box (or 

                    the Turn off System Restore on all drives check box), and 

                    then click OK.


                    


                    SR comes with Windows XP, Home and Pro and with Windows 

                    ME. SR lets you recover from a failed software 

                    installation, a software conflict, or some other problems.


                    


                    You should be aware of the limitations of SR:


                    


                    1. It doesn't back up your files and documents. System 

                    Restore works on system-level files. If you delete an 

                    important document, SR can't help. System Restore doesn't 

                    take the place of backing up your important data--like 

                    documents and spreadsheets, for example.


                    


                    2. System Restore is not a true, ROLL BACK tool like 

                    Symantec's Go Back, for instance. If you 

                    install new software that crashes or causes a serious 

                    problem, SR may get Windows to run, but it may not erase the 

                    program or portions thereof, that caused the problem.


                    


                    3. The default settings let SR take up a lot of hard disk 

                    space. 


                    


                    4. System Restore is processor and disk-intensive when it 

                    runs, which is often. It runs: At first boot, every 10 

                    hours of continuous system operation, every 24 hours of real 

                    time, every time Windows Update installs something and every 

                    time you install any software using an installer program 

                    that System Restore recognizes.


                    


                    My recommendations are to use SR, but adjust it. You can 

                    set the restore cache area. Here's how: In XP: Right 

                    click on My Computer, then Properties, and then the System 

                    Restore tab. Select the hard drive you wish to adjust and 

                    click the Settings button.


                    


                    In WinME: Right click My Computer, then select Properties, 

                    then Performance/File System/Hard Disk.


                    


                    Next, whether XP or ME, move the slider to choose a 

                    reasonable amount of disk space for the System Restore 

                    files. Start with 200-250 megabytes by moving the slider to 

                    the left.  I use 500M, and it gives me a week of 

                    restore points, which is enough for me.


                    


                    Over the next few weeks you can check to see if you have 

                    enough Restore Points available for your needs. Here's how: 

                    In XP: Click Start/All Programs/Accessories/System 

                    Tools/System Restore.


                    


                    In WinME: Click Start/Programs/Accessories/System 

                    Tools/System Restore.


                    


                    In both operating systems, select "Restore my computer to an 

                    earlier time" and click next. You'll see a calendar with 

                    some dates in bold; those are the days with one or more 

                    available Restore Points. Note how far back the bold dates 

                    go. Next, click Cancel to exit the Restore tool. Don't go on 

                    to the next step and perform a System Restore. You are just 

                    checking at this point.


                    


                    You can also disable SR. If you're making regular, full 

                    backups you don't need System Restore. If you decide to 

                    disable SR altogether: In XP: Right click on My Computer, 

                    select Properties, and select the System Restore tab. Select 

                    the checkbox labeled Turn off System Restore on all drives.

                    


                    


                    In WinME: Right click My Computer, select Properties, then 

                    Performance/File System/Troubleshooting. Then check the box 

                    marked "Disable System Restore." Unlike XP, WinME does not 

                    allow per-drive settings.


                    


                    With System Restore disabled, you'll reclaim wasted disk 

                    space, and avoid the automatic CPU and hard disk tasks that 

                    SR would automatically do. You can turn SR on when you feel 

                    you need it. For example, turn it on and make a restore 

                    point just before you install some big program or radical 

                    change of some kind. Once you know everything is OK, you can 

                    shut it off again. 


                    


                    In XP: Right click on My Computer, select Properties, and 

                    select the System Restore tab. Deselect (uncheck) the 

                    checkbox labeled "Turn off System Restore on all drives." 

                    Or, if you used per-drive settings, select the drive you 

                    wish to adjust, click the Settings button, and then deselect 

                    the checkbox marked "Turn off System Restore for this 

                    drive."


                    


                    It is recommended that you SHUT OFF SR any time you discover 

                    a virus or worm. Clean the virus and worm, restart your 

                    computer and make sure all is OK, THEN turn SR on again if 

                    you use it on a regular basis. Most virus removal procedures 

                    will say the same thing.  -tp, et. al.

                    


          Steve writes: "... the windows patch files. C:\Windows\


                    they start with a $ and end with a $ they should be safe to 

                    remove after the patch or update is applied. I found I had 

                    over 3600 of these files totalling 892MB of wasted space."

                    


          

          WhatsRunning.net - This application helps you investigate 

                    what applications, processes, services, modules, drivers and 

                    IP connections are running on your computer. See 

                    extensive system information in a simple graphical user 

                    interface. Version 2.2

                    


                    

                    http://www.download.com%2F3001-2094_4-10526910.html  

                    [Thanks, Pete.]

                    


                    

                    Small Applications:  

                    http://portableapps.com and

                    http://www.tinyapps.org 
                     

                    


          List of education resources:

                    

                    http://www.eliteskills.com/free_education/ 


                    


          If Programmers built airplanes. Video. 


                    

                    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq55R7R-qfw 


                    


          Impressions of Windows Vista after one month of use:

                    

                    http://www.philoking.com/2007/01/13/windows-vista-one-month-in/

                    


                    


          Passwords in plain sight:


          


          Let's 

                    suppose your password is: Mf497ree1 To write it down and to put it in plain view for you and for 

                    anyone that sees it stuck to your monitor, you write it down 

                    as M497wree1


                    


                    Mf497ree1 is the password, but you write:

                    Mfw497ree1. w is your secret letter. You add a w to 

                    the real password, anywhere in the password.  Don't use 

                    your initials. Too easy to guess. Use any character and add 

                    it anywhere to the password. Make sure the letter you choose 

                    is NOT already in the password, of course.


                    


                    You can always ADD an extra character in the fifth 

                    position for example. Let's say your secret character is 

                    an x. Again, Suppose your password is Mf497ree1 You 

                    would add a "x" in the fifth position, thus: 

                    Mf49x7ree1 is your obfuscated password. You use the same 

                    scheme.  An x in the fifth position. ##


                    


                    A few days ago, a friend and I got into a discussion about 

                    the pros and cons of using the tiff versus the RAW format 

                    when taking digital photos. Most medium to high-end 

                    digital cameras will offer a choice of file formats. The 

                    most popular formats are JPEG, TIFF and RAW.


                    


                    Raw files are so named because they are not yet processed 

                    and ready to use with a bitmap graphics editor <

                    

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitmap_graphics_editor >, 

                    printed < 

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printing >, or displayed by 

                    a typical web browser. The RAW file format is digital 

                    photography's equivalent of a negative in film photography 

                    as it contains untouched, "raw" pixel information straight 

                    from the digital camera's sensor - the heart of the camera. 

                    RAW isn't an acronym, it doesn't stand for anything, it just 

                    means raw, unprocessed, data.


                    


                    Normally, the RAW image must be processed and converted to 

                    an RGB < 

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RGB  > format such as TIFF <

                    

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TIFF > or JPEG <

                    

                    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JPEG > before it can be 

                    manipulated. RAW files contain the most information (like 

                    capturing 4096 shades of gray instead of only 256) and allow 

                    for the most versatility when you use Photoshop to edit your 

                    files. The downside is that RAW files also take the most 

                    work to get a great looking image and there is a different 

                    RAW format for each manufacturer, so you may have to use the 

                    manufacturer's software to view the images. Some graphics 

                    applications can read some manufacturer's RAW formats.


                    


                    Not all digital cameras offer TIFF as a choice, but when you 

                    have both TIFF and JPG available, consider that TIFF files 

                    will always be higher quality than JPEGs, and JPEG files 

                    will always be smaller than TIFFs. The main problem with 

                    TIFF files is that they are very big. This will cause your 

                    camera to slow down when writing your images to the flash 

                    memory card. If you're going for the highest quality image 

                    you can capture, the RAW format is a better choice than 

                    TIFF, because it is much more versatile and smaller.


                    


                    TIFF is a very portable format as it is supported by a wide 

                    variety of photographic and publishing applications. If you 

                    want to maximize storage capacity stick with JPEG. In the 

                    Nikon, D100, typical TIFF files are over 17 megabytes each.

                    


                    


                    RAW permits much greater control than JPEG for several 

                    reasons:


                    For example, the white point can be set to any value, not 

                    just discrete values like "daylight" or "incandescent". The 

                    settings can be previewed and tweaked to for the best 

                    quality image or effect. RAW files have 12 or 14 bits of 

                    brightness information. 


                    Other Drawbacks


                    


                    Camera raw files are typically 2-6 times larger than JPEG 

                    files. Some raw formats do not use compression, some 

                    implement lossless data compression to reduce the size of 

                    the files without affecting image quality and others use 

                    “lossy” data compression. This avoids or reduces the 

                    compression artifacts inherent in JPEG, but means that fewer 

                    images can fit on your memory card. It also takes longer for 

                    the camera to write raw images to the card, so fewer 

                    pictures can be taken in quick succession (affecting the 

                    ability to take, for example, a sports sequence). My friends 

                    Nikon D100, for instance takes about 25 seconds to write a 

                    RAW file to his card. This would prevent him from shooting 

                    sports events and other action shots, of course.


                    


                    Cameras that support raw files typically come with 

                    proprietary software for conversion of their raw format to 

                    TIFF or JPEG. Other conversion programs and plugins are 

                    available from vendors that have either licensed the 

                    technology from the camera manufacturer or 

                    reverse-engineered the raw format. 


                    


                    A portable open source program, dcraw, 

                    supports most raw formats and can be made to run on 

                    operating systems such as Unix not supported by most 

                    commercial software. Get dcraw, but first see an example of 

                    dcraw images at: <

                    

                    http://www.aim-dtp.net/aim/digicam/dcraw/ > 

                    [Incidentally, RAW can be easily used from many image 

                    viewers such as the excellent freeware software IrfanView
          by Irfan Skiljan < 

                    http://www.irfanview.com  / > Get Irfan View at: <

                    

                    http://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm  > 

                    ] You can download the tool, dcdraw, from <

                    

                    http://www.insflug.org/raw/  > 


                    


                    In 2005, Apple Computer introduced several products which 

                    offered RAW file support. In January, Apple released iPhoto 

                    5, which offered basic support for viewing and editing RAW 

                    files. Picasa, a free image editing and cataloguing program 

                    from Google, supports many RAW formats.


                    


                    RAW files typically are slightly processed in the camera. In 

                    general, this processing is limited to algorithms that 

                    require direct access to the camera's hardware. It includes 

                    rudimentary noise reduction. Noise reduces the effectiveness 

                    of compression algorithms, so files are compressed more 

                    efficiently when noise reduction is applied before 

                    compression.

                    
Give RAW a spin.  -tp, 1/7/07

                    
[ See my article on LENS BASICS in 

                    the library. ] ##

                    


          

          Common Passwords:

          The top 20 passwords are (in order): password1, abc123, myspace1, 

          password, blink182, qwerty1, f--you, 123abc, baseball1, football1, 

          123456, soccer, monkey1, liverpool1, princess1, jordan23, slipknot1, 

          superman1, iloveyou1 and monkey. ##


          


          I have been having fun playing around with  NationMaster

          

          


          (  

          http://www.nationmaster.com  ), a cool site developed by Luke 

          Metcalfe,


          an Australian who was frustrated at his inability to mine the data 

          within the CIA World Factbook. NationMaster now includes data from the 

          World Bank, various United Nations entities, OECD (Organisation for 

          Economic Co-operation and Development), World Trade Organization, and 

          so on. See, also, STATE MASTER at:

          

          http://www.statemaster.com/index.php 


          


          Computer Hope dictionary - Browse through our complete listing 

          of over 6,000 computer definitions and terms either by using the below 

          search or browse by letter or number by clicking one of the below 

          links. 

          http://www.computerhope.com/jargon.htm 


          ----------------------------------------------------------------------


          I have a new term for those people that come to your door: Wet Spam. 

          A live person spamming you with religious tracts and other, verbal 

          nonsense. Wet Spammers are just as bad as those cretins that text 

          message your cell phone.


          ##


          

          Tokyo Computer Club newsgroups: 

          

          http://www.tokyopc.org/tpc/newsgroups.html  Membership is 

          5000 Yen! That's a little over 42$.


          ## 
            
            
Get the best commercial software titles - for 

            free. Every day we offer licensed software you'd 

            have to buy otherwise, for free! Yes, we are giving 

            away software, and you can download it from our site, right now and 

            right here and our goal is to give away every good piece of 

            software, sooner or later. You have to INSTALL IT THE DAY YOU 

            DOWNLOAD IT.  

            http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/ 


           



            ~~~


                    -What is Password Safe? Password Safe is an Open Source <

                    

                    http://www.opensource.org/licenses/artistic-license.php 

                    > (free) tool that allows you to have a different password 

                    for all the different programs and websites that you deal 

                    with, without actually having to remember all those 

                    usernames and passwords. Password Safe runs on PCs under 

                    Windows (95/98/NT/2000/XP). An older (but fully functional) 

                    version is available <

                    

                    https://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=41019&release_id=191101 

                    > for PocketPC. Linux/Unix clones that use the same database 

                    format have also been written (see Related Projects).

                    

                    http://passwordsafe.sourceforge.net/ 
                    ##


                    


                    -Want to download some music? All you have to do is search 

                    using Google. Enter this:


                    "Band or Artist name here" last modified mp3 "index of" 

                    -html -htm -php -asp Here is a verbatim example, including 

                    all the correct punctuation, etc., that you would enter into 

                    a Google search box to find Pink Floyd music: "Pink Floyd" 

                    last modified mp3 "index of" -html -htm -php -asp


                    


                    Let's say you want to search indices related to technology 

                    for PowerPoint files: use this search:  


                    "Technology " last modified ppt "index of" -html -htm -php 

                    -asp ##


                    


                     ChangeMacAddress Released. 

                    http://amac.paqtool.com/  Mini Quick mac address 

                    changer released! Download to Try <

                    

                    http://amac.paqtool.com/quickamac.exe > Grab this little 

                    proggie and try it out. It quickly changes your MAC address 

                    as reported by running ipconfig /all from a command prompt. 

                    -tp. Quickemac 

                    
                    http://secure.emetrix.com/order/product.asp?PID=97017115&DID=84674642&ID=&Q=1&DC=&CUR=   
                    $15.00


                    


                    -Searching for inexpensive USB thumb drives? Use this search 

                    string in Google to find USB drives costing between five and 

                    ten dollars. The search string must look EXACTLY like what 

                    is shown, here: USB drive $5..$10 You might want to modify 

                    your search to eliminate any mention of REBATES by adding 

                    -rebate, as in: USB drive $5..$10 -rebate

                    


                    

                     -Phish Tracking at DSLreports:

                    

                    http://www.dslreports.com/phishtrack 

                    
 


                    

                    

                    Some 

          Google Search Tips:


          


          If you want to improve your Google searching tenfold, try some of 

          these tips to narrow or enhance your searches.


          


          If you want to search for one or the other items, use OR between the 

          search terms, as in car OR plane. Be sure to capitalize OR. Since I 

          used to do some programming, I use the split-pipe symbol "|" as a 

          substitute for typing OR. It looks like this in the search box: cat | 

          dog This would search for cat OR dog.


          


          If you want to be sure you INCLUDE a word in your search, put a + sign 

          in front of it. For example, to include the word "how" in your query, 

          you’d enter +how. Be sure to include A SPACE BEFORE + sign, but not 

          after it. 


          


          Sometimes you want to refine your results by excluding pages that 

          include a specific word. You can exclude words from your search by 

          using the - operator; any word in your query preceded by the - sign is 

          automatically excluded from the search results. Remember to always 

          include a space before the - sign, and none after. For example, if you 

          search for game, you could get pages about the game and hunting. If 

          you want to search for games and nothing to do with big game or 

          hunting, enter a query that looks like this: game -hunt This will 

          EXCLUDE anything to do with hunting.


          


          Google lets you search for synonyms by using the ~ operator. Just 

          include the ~ character before the word in question, and Google will 

          search for all pages that include that word and all appropriate 

          synonyms. To search for anything to do with houses, use ~house. This 

          returns things to do with housing, homes, etc., and even The House of 

          Representatives. To list only synonyms, without returning a lot of 

          matches for the original word, combine the ~ operator with the - 

          operator, like this: ~keyword -keyword. This excludes the original 

          word from the synonymous results.


          


          The other use for the tilde "~" is to search for different word 

          suffixes. Use auto~ to search for automobiles, autos, automatic, etc. 

          Try using the tilde in a search. Of course, you can combine terms in 

          searching. Try experimenting. 


                    


          ## -tp


                    


                    Note

                    ADSL 

                    (Asynchronous DSL use {Different speeds up and down}) in US 

                    during 2006 - 21.5%, while cable use in US was close to 30% 

                    and other (wireless, satellite, fiber,

                    

                    powerline, etc., was 1.3%)


 


          

          The list below is a list of PC CLUBS 

          

          

          

          registered with O'Reilly 

          USER GROUPS. I added our club to the list yesterday. I suggest that 

          members and officers see what other clubs are doing, what services 

          they offer members, what they publish on their site, and what SIGs 

          (Special Interest Groups) they have within their group. :


          

          B


          BBCC Big Bear Computer Club, Big Bear Lake, CA <

          http://www.bigbearcc.org  

          > 


          


          BCUG Brookdale Computer Users Group, Lincroft, NJ <

          http://www.bcug.com > 


          C


          CCC Chautauqua Cyber Club, Inc. DeFuniak Springs, FL - 


          < http://www.waltonccc.org> 

          


          D


          DVPC  Diablo Valley PC Users Group, Concord, California serving 

          the East Bay and Contra Costa County < 

          http://www.dvpc.org > 


          G


          GTBPCUG Greater Tampa Bay PC User Group, Inc., Tampa, FL USA 


          < http://gtbpcug.org> 


          I


          IPCC Indian Prairie Computer Club, Hinsdale, IL 


          < http://ipcc.eboard.com > 


          L


          LVPCUG Las Vegas PC Users Group, Las Vegas NV, USA. 


          < http://www.lvpcug.org>  


          M


          MelbPC < http://www.melbpc.org.au 

          > Melbourne PC User Group, the world's largest PC user group, 

          Melbourne, Australia 


          N


          NWCUG New Wave Computer User Group, Inc., Chicago, IL - 


          < http://www.nwcug.org> 


          O


          OCIPUG  Orange Coast IBM User Group, Costa Mesa California 


          < http://www.ocipug.org > 


          


          ORCOPUG Orange County IBM PC Users' Group, Brea, CA. (Located in 

          Southern California) < 

          http://www.orcopug.org > 


          P


          PCCC  Personal Computer Club of Charlotte, Charlotte NC - 


          < http://www.pc3.org> 


          


          PCS Prescott Computer Society, Prescott, Arizona, USA. 


          < 

          http://www.prescottcomputersociety.org> 


          


          PPCompAS Pikes Peak Computer Application Society, Colorado Springs, CO

          


          < http://ppcompas.apcug.org>

          


          S


          SCUG  Sarnia Computer Users Group, Sarnia, Ontario, Canada 

          serving Southwestern Ontario and bordering on Michigan. <

          http://www.scug.ca > 


          


          South Walton Computer Club in Destin, Florida 


          < 

          http://www.southwaltoncomputerclub.org > 


          


          SWIPCUG  SW Indiana PC Users Group, Evansville, IN serving 

          IN-KY-IL tristate area < http://swipcug.apcug.org > 


          T


          TC/PC Twin Cities PC User Group, Bloomington, MN - 


          < http://www.tcpc.com > 


          


          Tokyo PC Users Group < 

          http://www.tokyopc.org/ >, Tokyo, Japan 


          W


          WACUG Washington Area Computer User Group, Alexandria, VA 


          < http://www.wacug.org> 


          


          WVPCUG  Warwick Valley PC Users Group Warwick, NY 


          < http://www.wvpcug.org > 

                

                


            ##


            

            Some 

            background on phishing @ Indiana:

            

            http://www.indiana.edu/~phishing/


            

            Root kits: A stealthy set of software tools used by 

            cyberslimers to gain control of the “root” or core of a remote 

            computer. A root kit often goes undetected by security software, and 

            can introduce a Trojan horse that opens an unused port on your 

            computer that crackers can exploit.


            


            Prevention is key.  Windows XP includes a firewall, but it’s a 

            weak one that monitors inbound traffic only, not outbound. It can 

            block spyware from entering your computer, but it can’t stop a worm 

            that’s already on your system from accessing the Internet. 


            


            I recommend disabling the Windows XP firewall and installing one 

            that monitors both inbound and outbound traffic. I use Zone 

            Alarm. Get YOUR FREE copy, here: <

            http://tinyurl.com/ygecq3 >

            


            To disable the Windows XP firewall, go to Start, Control Panel, 

            Security Center. Click on Windows Firewall, and then the Off button. 

            Windows Vista is expected to have a two-way firewall. 


            


            Before you can install a new firewall program, you must turn off the 

            Windows firewall.

            

            
If someone has a good recommendation for 

            detecting/removing Root Kits, let me know your favorites. Some info, 

            here: 

            http://www.pcsupportadvisor.com/rootkits.htm 


            


            ## -tp


            

            What is 

            an ISO and how do you create a disk image? The term comes from 

            the International Organization for Standardization 

            as is an IMAGE file of a DISK. All of information (file structures, 

            data, etc.) is contained in a single file. These properties make it 

            an attractive alternative to physical media for the distribution of 

            software . [Note: 

            Because "International Organization 

                      for Standardization" would have different abbreviations in 

                      different languages ("IOS" in English, "OIN" in French for

                      Organisation internationale de normalisation), it 

                      was decided at the outset to use a word derived from the 

                      Greek isos, meaning "equal". Therefore, whatever the 

                      country, whatever the language, the short form of the 

                      organization's name is always ISO.]


            


            Remember that you can't create a functional ISO from copy protected 

            discs such as movie DVDs. You can build an ISO from files on your 

            hard drive, or you can convert an existing disc, CD or DVD to an ISO 

            file. 


            


            How to create an ISO from a CD:


            


            The simplest tool for creating an ISO from an existing CD or DVD 

            also is free. It's called ISO Recorder. It is listed in the 

            background info at the bottom of this tutorial.


            


            To create your ISO, insert your disc, right-click on the drive and 

            choose 'Copy CD to image file'. Type in a file name for your ISO and 

            click Next. A couple of minutes later, your image will be ready. The 

            only drawback is that the program runs only on Windows XP.


            


            Building an ISO


            


            The process for constructing your own ISO is much the same as 

            producing a normal CD. Where it differs is instead of burning to 

            disc, you pick Create Disc Image' or something that is worded 

            similarly. If you want to make the CD/DVD bootable, most programs 

            will require you to select the bootable option in your program, 

            rather than the normal data CD/DVD.


            


            Nero is a little better than Easy CD Creator for generating ISOs 

            from existing discs, but still has its own foibles. Drag the 

            contents of your disc into the project area (or copy the files from 

            your hard drive if you're building an ISO from existing files). To 

            create your ISO, go to the menu and select Recorder-Choose Recorder. 

            Click Image Recorder. Next, follow the normal burn process. When you 

            click on write, you'll be prompted for a file name. Nero tries to 

            create its own file type (NRG), but for compatibility with other 

            programs, choose ISO.


            


            Next. Burning your image file to a disc


            

            


            Converting an ISO back to a normal CD or DVD is easy. Start your CD 

            burning package and select File-Burn Image (Nero). All ISOs are not 

            the same, even though they are supposed to follow a standard. I've 

            been lucky, however.


            


            ISO Recorder is a Windows XP freeware utility that uses native 

            Windows XP functions to write images to a CD. You can download this 

            utility from the author’s Web page. When the program is installed, 

            it is automatically associated with the ISO file extension in 

            Windows Explorer.

            

            http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm 


            


            Another burner:

            

            http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/free-iso-burn.html

            

            


            

            

            http://www.winimage.com/download.htm Win Image


            


            and lastly: Free Deep Burner:

            

            http://www.deepburner.com/?r=products&pr=provsfree 

            

            
## -tp.


          What's 
			happening with computer/electronics recycling in California?  
			See: recycleCalifornia.pdf

			from the Peninsula Daily News of 5 March.

            
			Open 
            Directory Project. Topic: Technology: 
            
            http://dmoz.org/Science/Technology/  

            

            
            Getting 
            an Education Online for Free - This article will teach you how to 
            get a top notch education for free online. Ctrl+Click any link to 
            open it in a new window.
            
            http://www.jimmyr.com/blog/Online_Education_Free_201_2006.php  
            Webcasts and Podcasts from Berkeley:
            
            http://webcast.berkeley.edu/courses/  #

            David 
            Pogue is the personal technology columnist for The New York Times , 
            an Emmy award-winning tech correspondent for CBS News, and one of 
            the world's bestselling how-to authors. In this unconventional talk,
            he offers a sweeping (and unusual) view on the state of software, 
            partially set to music. (Recorded February, 2006 in Monterey, CA.)
            
            http://www.ted.com/tedtalks/tedtalksplayer.cfm?key=david_pogue #

             

            A 
            wiki is an excellent tool for communication and collaboration in 
            any organisation. But, as Leigh Dodds points out, creating 
            successful social software system isn't an exact science. He uses 
            his own experience at academic publisher Ingenta to explain 
            efficient use and management of a corporate wiki. Read the full 
            article (free) >>
            
            http://www.freepint.com/issues/270706.htm#issue #

            

            Download
            WinSnap - 
            
            http://www.ntwind.com/download/WinSnap-current.exe I've tried 
            many free image capture alternatives and I still come back to SnagIt 
            as my ultimate screen capture solution. WinSnap is the latest in a 
            long series of apps that has some of the features I love, but lacks 
            a key ingredient here and there to really save me time. WinSnap does 
            a great job with still image capture of everything from standard 
            square windows, to the more unconventional skinned windows common to 
            media player apps. Support for drop shadowing, watermarking, color 
            alteration and background customization make WinSnap a useful 
            solution for making screen captures look pretty. I'd like to see a 
            few more editing options built in, because it's still easier to edit 
            and output a screen capture in the same app, rather than launching 
            an external editor to finish the job. Output formats include JPG, 
            PNG, GIF, TIF and BMP. You'll also need a solution for recording 
            movies of your desktop, like CamStudio, in addition to WinSnap. 
            [Windows 2k/XP $0.00] #

            

            Windows 
            marks files for deletion and removes them from the file system 
            database when you delete them. This doesn't mean they are 
            immediately gone. In fact, all that initially happens when you 
            delete a file is Windows makes note that the space occupied by the 
            file is listed as available space for storing new information. Until 
            something new is written to the part of the drive where that old 
            file was stored, your file is still there. Depending on how many 
            sectors that file occupies, pieces of the file could exist on your 
            drive for a very long time. If you very recently deleted the file, 
            there's an excellent chance you will recover it, especially if you 
            haven't downloaded a bunch of new files or created several gigabytes 
            of data. The trick is finding the right tool to get them back. 
            For simple recovery of deleted files, one of the easiest 
            solutions I've found is Restoration. The app works by 
            scanning your hard drive for sectors containing files marked for 
            deletion and then copying the files to space on your hard drive the 
            operating system has marked as available disk space. In my tests 
            with Restoration, most data recovery is successful. This is 
            especially true when recovering small files like Word documents. 
            When using the app to recover larger audio or video files, my 
            success rate is a little lower because sectors of the file often get 
            overwritten by something else. When you run a scan with Restoration, 
            it will find thousands of files on your hard drive, most of which 
            are temporary files deleted when your browser cache is emptied. A 
            few sort options make it easy to identify files by either file size 
            or alphabetically by filename if you already know what you're 
            looking for. Restoration is free.
            
            http://www.topdrawerdownloads.com/files/rest2514.zip #

             


                    The Future?

              

                    Some day, it is entirely possible that we 

                    will carry all of our applications on a keychain, and which 

                    computer we use will have little importance. 

                    In 

                    addition to flash drives, in the future, portable hard disks 

                    may also be used for this purpose.


            




            

            

            

             

            [Left]
			 [5-24 
            I am testing one of these in the next few days. -tp ] CD storage/carousel: 
			http://tinyurl.com/klwc4 
			Holds and retrieves via software/USB port, one-hundred CDs/DVDs, 
			etc. Not a player.  You can stack these and chain them together 
			to hold thousands of CDs More:
			
			http://www.tomshardware.com/2005/04/21/imation_disc_stakka/ 
			[My price was 99$ from buy.com]

             

            See the carousel that holds 150: 
			
			http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?ProductID=4667 

			Another alternative: 

            
			http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=3949 
			

			One more:

            
			http://www.cyberguys.com/templates/searchdetail.asp?productID=10670 
			


          TRACEROUTE (trās´rowt) (n.) A utility that traces a packet 

			from your computer to an Internet host, showing how many hops the 

			packet requires to reach the host and how long each hop takes. If 

			you're visiting a Web site and pages are appearing slowly, you can 

			use traceroute to figure out where the longest delays are occurring.

			


          


          Trace the route of your data from source to your "destination."  

			For instance, I traced the route from my IP to my friend's web site 

			in Arizona.  I start with START | RUN | CMD and at the DOS 

			prompt type: tracert mindymac.com -w 5000 


			


			tracert is the Windows command, while mindymac.com is 

			the destination, and -w 5000 is a five second wait between 

			replies so I can read the information in the dos window.  (5000 

			milliseconds, or 5 seconds)  If you need help with tracert 

			commands, type: tracert /? to get the commands.  Here is the 

			result [My comments in RED]:


			


			Tracing route to mindymac.com [66.235.193.155]


			over a maximum of 30 hops:


			


			1 6 ms 4 ms 4 ms my router [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx]  

			{hidden deliberately}


			2 61 ms 4 ms 4 ms [xxx.xxx.xxx.xx] {hidden 

			deliberately}


			3 57 ms 6 ms 4 ms gateway.nikola.com [64.146.180.225]  

			<- This "gateway" allows my host to "talk" to 

			NOA net.


			4 56 ms 7 ms 6 ms fa6-4.138.oly-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.205.245]


			5 68 ms 9 ms 8 ms srp2-0.wtn-cor0.noanet.net [66.119.192.17]


			6 61 ms 8 ms 9 ms six.above.net [198.32.180.19]


			7 77 ms 26 ms 26 ms so-3-2-0.mpr3.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.28.182]


			8 34 ms 27 ms 27 ms so-0-0-0.mpr4.sjc2.us.above.net [64.125.30.2]


			9 34 ms 34 ms 35 ms so-5-1-0.mpr1.lax9.us.above.net [64.125.27.1]


			10 34 ms 34 ms 34 ms 216.200.249.141.available.ipowerweb.com 

			[216.200.249.141]


			11 61 ms 38 ms 36 ms st14.startlogic.com [66.235.193.155  

			Startlogic.com is the hosting site of Mindy's 

			domain.


			


			Trace complete.


          What do the numbers mean? For example, in the first line: 

			6 ms 4 ms 4 ms is the time in ms (milliseconds) of  

			three round trip times in milliseconds. The round trip times (or 

			RTTs) tell us how long it took a datpacket to get from me to 

			that system and back again, called the latency between the 

			two systems. By default, three packets are sent to each system along 

			the route, so we get three RTTs.


          If you would like to know more about TRACEROUTE, see: 


			

			http://www.webopedia.com/TERM/T/traceroute.html and 

			


          If you want to know what/who the IP address is, use

			Karen 

			Kenworthy's tool, WHOIS to  Query the 200+ 

			top-level domain registries and Regional Internet Registries around 

			the world.  The proggie returns information about Internet 

			sites. Information available includes owner of domain name, and 

			often owner's mailing address, email address, phone number, and fax 

			number.  Search by domain name or IP address.  It's a nice 

			little, FREE tool from Karen.

			


            


			


			(Above:  Word Cloud for this site.)  A Word Cloud 

			is a grouping of words from a blog or site (usually tags) with

			the most-frequently-used words in the larger, bolder font. the 

			visual effect of the grouping is that of a cloud.

 Word Cloud Keyword Density Tool - View the keyword density of your web site using a word cloud. - FREE!


            FREE proggies from ANALOGX.  I use the proggie, 

            Script Defender from them.  Check it out, as well as the 

            other freebies at:

            

            http://www.analogx.com/CONTENTS/download/system.htm 


 


              
* Toool.de <http://toool.de/>, a German site, clearly groups search

  engines into categories, making it easy to find one that will give

  you the best results for your query.



* Trexy <http://trexy.com/> is a new research tool that remembers your

  searches on more than 3000 search engines, including Google and

  Yahoo. It also allows users to follow in the footsteps of other

  searchers.



* Universiteitsbibliotheek

  <http://www.leidenuniv.nl/ub/biv/specials.htm> is a collection of

  search engine links, specially designed to assist students in

  research on the Internet. The search engines listed is mostly

  subject- and discipline-specific.



* Metacrawler <http://www.metacrawler.com/> allows you to query the

  top search engines at once. Results are shown on the same page,

  making it easy to find exactly what you're looking for.



* Complete Planet <http://aip.completeplanet.com> is a listing of

  dynamic searchable databases. It allows you to search deeper than

  the surface to find web pages and documents that cannot be crawled

  or indexed. [source: FreePint - 

(c) Free Pint Limited 1997-2006 <http://www.freepint.com/>

			


            


			 

          

            


            DISASTER RECOVERY USING A USB DRIVE


			 Robert Vamosi Senior editor, CNET Reviews 

			June 16, 2006


			


			


			Nobody likes to think about disaster, but as the resident security 

			guy, I'm frequently involved with disaster planning around the home 

			and the office. Preparedness is the key, so get ready now while the 

			threat is still low. Obviously, tending to family and pets takes a 

			higher priority than mere hardware, but as we found out after 

			Katrina, sometimes you won't be able to get back home right away, 

			yet you'll need certain critical data to move on with your life. 

			Many Gulf Coast residents learned valuable lessons after last year; 

			here are some of their suggestions with regard to computer data and 

			personal information, as well as several steps you can take to make 

			an emergency evacuation and recovery less painful.


			


			Online services


			Many of those relocated outside of the Gulf Coast last fall 

			found themselves with the opportunity to use Internet-connected 

			computers--but they had no idea how to get the information they 

			needed. Those who had moved their banking and bill-paying online 

			were able to quickly put back together their financial lives after 

			Katrina. Now might be a good time for the rest of us to sign up for 

			these online services.


			


			Paperwork


			Create a small Notepad file or a spreadsheet with all of your 

			personal information on it--everything. Doctor information, 

			prescription drugs, pharmacies, school information, e-mail 

			addresses, physical addresses, phone numbers. The essence here is to 

			have a backup of your banking information (include bank account 

			numbers, stocks, and anything you access online), insurance (policy, 

			agent, and such), and ISP (you might need to reestablish your 

			account). If you run a small business, copy lists of your customers, 

			vendors, account numbers, and payroll contact information (if you 

			have a staff) into a separate folder. Later, burn the contents of 

			that folder to a disc or a flash drive for safekeeping. Those who 

			had moved their banking and bill-paying online were able to quickly 

			put back together their financial lives after Katrina.


			


			Why not also make digital copies of important papers? If you have a 

			scanner, scan important documents--birth certificates, mortgages (at 

			least the first couple of pages), tax forms, anything you think will 

			be important. Save them as PDF files and copy them to a folder on 

			your hard drive. PDF readers are free to download, and accessing 

			these documents after a disaster could speed the process of applying 

			for aid.


			


			Photos


			While you're at it, take the time to make CD or DVD copies of 

			all your digital photos and music. Because the file sizes are 

			larger, you'll need to burn several discs. The personal text files, 

			spreadsheets, and PDF files mentioned above should also be burned to 

			a disc. Store these discs in a safety deposit box. Another option is 

			to mail the photograph discs to relatives in another state (ideally, 

			a state unlikely to suffer from the same natural disaster). Your 

			relatives will not only enjoy the photos, but their home will 

			provide a safe backup for the data.


			


			Hardware


			Before evacuating, copy any updated personal file data to a USB 

			flash drive. These drives are handy and can be part of your 

			evacuation kit. Then, whenever you next get computer access, you can 

			plug in the USB drive and print out the info. I'd go the additional 

			step of recommending that you encrypt this data. ZDNet has a blog 

			about encrypted USB drives <

			

			http://blogs.zdnet.com/hardware/?p=14  >; you can use 

			WinZip and other common applications, such as PGP, to encrypt the 

			data. When you need to extract the data, both WinZip and PGP have 

			free downloads to install on the new computer. If you want, you can 

			wear the USB drive with your personal files on your key ring. That 

			way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to the evacuation 

			center. 


			


			If you want, you can wear the USB drive with your personal files on 

			your key ring. That way, in a moment's notice, you can dash off to 

			the evacuation center; while you may have only the clothes on your 

			back, you'll also have some of the data you'll need to reconstruct 

			your life. [Source:

			

			http://reviews.cnet.com/4520-3513_7-6543361-1.html?tag=nl.e497  

			Last accessed, 28 June, 2006. ]


             

            

            


            I am a big fan and user of on line 

            video and audio -- especially

            on line music sites and on line radio.  If you are interested 

            in capturing and recording music, you should grab a plug-in for 

            WinAmp, or get a copy of Audacity. There are several 

            on line music sources.  Among them: Pandora is a 

            music discovery service designed to help you find and enjoy music 

            that you'll love. It's powered by the Music Genome Project, the most 

            comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken. Just tell us one of 

            your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station 

            to explore that part of the music universe.

            http://www.pandora.com  

            Play music in your media player, track what you have been playing 

            and generate your music charts automatically. Share your profile 

            with your friends and get recommendations.


            


            Live 365 < 

            http://www.live365.com > offers some 7,500 user-generated radio 

            stations, and MusicStrands (

            http://www.musicstrands.com/  

            ), a comprehensive music recommendation and community Web site. 

            Live Plasma draws graphical maps that show the 

            overlapping relationships between artists.

            http://www.liveplasma.com 

            Grab a FREE copy of Audacity. Audacity is a fast multi-track 

            audio editor and recorder for Linux, BSD, Mac OS, and Windows. 

            Supports WAV, AIFF, Ogg, and MP3 formats. Save to MP3 with another 

            FREE download. Features include envelope editing, mixing, built-in 

            effects and plug-ins, all with unlimited undo.

            

            http://sourceforge.net/projects/audacity/ Audacity cannot encode 

            MP3 files by itself, because the MP3 encoding algorithm is patented 

            and cannot legally be used in free programs. However, Audacity has 

            been programmed to recognize other existing MP3 encoders that you 

            can download separately. All you have to do is obtain the 

            appropriate MP3 encoder for your computer and then show Audacity 

            where it is located. If you use Audacity, you will need a copy of 

            LAME in order to save/export  Audacity files as 

            MP3s. Get a Windows Download of LAME at 

            

            http://www-users.york.ac.uk/~raa110/audacity/lame.html  

            Download it, unzip the file, then look for the file called 

            lame_enc.dll. 

          The first time you try to export an MP3 

            file, Audacity will ask you to locate your MP3 encoder. Locate the 

            file indicated above. From then on, Audacity will not need to ask 

            you again and you will be able to export MP3 files easily.

            

             You can find LAME on the net by 

            Google searching for "lame compile download binary" or visiting this 

            list of mirrors. < Reference:

            

            http://audacity.sourceforge.net/manual-1.2/exportmp3.html  

            > Alternatively, I will put a copy of LAME 3.96.1 on our password 

            protected web page so you may download the ZIPPED file there.

          

            


            POSTURE AT THE COMPUTER: Use a good chair with a dynamic 

            chair back and sit back in this. The top of monitor casing should be 

            2-3" above eye level. There should be no glare on screen, use an 

            optical glass anti-glare filter where needed. Sit at arms length 

            from monitor with feet on floor or stable footrest. Use a document 

            holder, preferably in-line with the computer screen. Keep wrists 

            flat and straight in relation to forearms to use 

            keyboard/mouse/input device. The arms and elbows should be relaxed 

            and close to body center. The monitor and keyboard should be 

            directly in front of you. Use a negative tilt keyboard tray with an 

            upper mouse platform or downward tilt table platform adjacent to 

            keyboard. Use a stable work surface and stable (no bounce) keyboard 

            tray. Take frequent short breaks (microbreaks).  Lastly, 

            far-focus your eyes every 15 minutes or so.  Look across the 

            room and focus on something else.  Of course, take off those 

            special "computer specs" first.  I am lucky to have a pair of 

            glasses ONLY for computer use.  They are ground to my 

            prescription, fitted very well, and are optimally focused on my eye 

            to screen distance. They also have a non-glare coating, which helps. 

            -tp ##


             


            Yesterday, a club officer and I met a gentleman that had 

            impaired sight.  He is a computer user, and he called our 

            attention to these products:  Jordy II