Newsletter_Jan

Vol. 8, No. 1

January 2004

Please submit any comment or suggestion for the February issue to Sandy Tucker (5085 (email sandy1959@davtv.com) no later than January 25. Remember that articles should be submitted by e-mail or placed on disk and delivered to Sandy’s lower box at 2 Coburn Dr. E.

Next Meeting
Pinckney Hall
7pm
January 12, 2004

The program will be presented by Corporal Mike Jennings
of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Department.

Computer Classes

Click Classes This Month or Classes Next Month

Sign up:

Monday Jan 5, 1 - 3pm in the computer room,
Monday Jan 12, 6:15 Pinckney Hall
or, beginning Jan 13
through the Class Sales Black Box

COMPUTER CLUB COMMENTS

By Phillip Shuppel

President

Fight Pop-Ups, and Spyware

Spyware and a related variety called adware enter your computer via the Internet – often without your knowledge – and plant themselves on the hard drive. Adware can unleash torrents of pop-up ads. Spyware does that and more. It can reset the home page from, say, Google to a porn site. A particularly insidious version monitors a computer’s activity, scouring PCs for personal, credit-card or banking information.

Microsoft is working on changes with security-pack updates. AOL has already fixed it for its millions of users.

Not surprisingly, the most effective protection comes at a price. The best software has antivirus, firewall, spam protection and privacy software rolled into one package. Two choices include Norton’s Internet Security 2004 for $69.95 and McAfee’s Internet Security Suite for $69.99. Trend Micro Inc. just released a similar product called PCCillin Internet Services for $49.95.

If you don’t want to pay up for security, another option is Spybot Search & Destroy by PepiMK and Ad-aware by Lavasoft, both available at http://www.dowload.com/. These programs can “immunize” computers against the more-frequently found spyware and adware programs, though I use Ad-aware and found it more reliable.

The easiest way to keep a computer’s defenses current is to set up Windows to automatically download security patches. Methods vary by operating system, but the goal is to click the box in Windows Update in the Control Panel that says “Keep my computer up to date.” Then, when you’re online, Windows will send a red-flag alert to your taskbar if a patch is available. This can help prevent a site from downloading adware without your knowledge, though it can’t get rid of existing adware.

Some experts recommend using Web browsers other that Internet Explorer because they aren’t integrated into Windows and are less susceptible to threats. Some of the best alternatives include Opera, Mozilla and SlimBrowser. These can be downloaded FREE at http://www.download.com/, http://www.opera.com/ and http://www.mozilla.org/.

If you’ve been having a problem with spyware, adware, viruses or worms, there is one big though rather expensive way to avoid it completely: Apple Computer Inc.’s Macs have yet to see a virus or worm since the company unveiled its open-source OS X, which is less attractive to spyware and adware in part because fewer people use it.

What to use to protect your computer:

Blocking Software: Ad-aware 6.0 or SpyBot Search & Destroy, both FREE.

Firewall: ZoneAlarm FREE.

Alternative Browser: Mozilla 1.5 or SlimBrowser 3.8 both FREE.

Set windows Update to automatically download and Install Critical Updates. FREE

Don’t want to hassle with all these separate programs? Buy an Internet security suite: McAfee Internet Security ($69.99) or Norton Internet Security 2004 ($69.95)

Preventing Pop Ups

For Windows users, here’s how to prevent those annoying official looking Windows messenger pop ups on your computer.

1. Click Start, then Settings, then Control Panel, then Administrative Tools, then Services.

2. Scroll and highlight Messenger.

3. Right-click it and choose Properties.

4. Click the STOP button.

5. Select disable or manual in the Startup Type scroll bar.

6. Click OK.

I guess you can tell that I’m mad and I’m not going to take it anymore. Neither should you!

MAC SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

The Mac meeting will take place at 3:30pm on Jan 12 in the Computer Room. We will take a look at our new computer, new operating system "Panther" and two new programs. iScoop allows users to download and browse batches of photos faster and more conveniently and iClip, a note taking program. Please note change in time for this month.

For more information about the Mac Special Interest Group, call Lynn Conley at (3906.

GENEALOGY SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP

The Genealogy Group will meet on Wednesday, Jan 7 at 7pm in the Computer Room. The purpose of the meeting will be to discuss the direction members want the Genealogy Group to take during the next 12 months. We need group input on programs for future meetings. We will also want to form a program committee at that time.

For more information about the Genealogy Group, contact Gail Boggs at (7932 or kaila5@davtv.com.

MUSIC SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
	The Music SIG will meet Monday, Jan 19 at 7pm in the Computer Room. The topic will be: Windows Media Player - Copy CDs, create a music library, burn a new CD. The SIG is free and open to all members. Come with your digital music questions. Did you receive any digital music toys for Christmas? Come and share with us.

For information, call Diane Hutchings (7805 or email dianeh@alum.bu.edu.

PROGRAMS

JANUARY PROGRAM

Our program will be presented by Corporal Mike Jennings of the Beaufort County Sheriff's Department.

Cpl. Jennings' presentation will cover the BSCO web site, how it started, how it is used, and future plans. It will also cover Computer Security and Internet Fraud.

FEBRUARY PROGRAM

Our February meeting will be a presentation by Murphy Hall and Don Nelson from the Hilton Head Island Computer and Photography Clubs. They will discuss digital cameras and what features to look for when selecting one.

This meeting will be of particular interest if you are considering buying a digital camera in the near future.

NOTES FROM THE EDUCATION CHAIR

The school bell rings again for computer classes the week of Jan 19. To see the classes offered, check Classes This Month or Classes Next Month on http://www.suncitycc.org/.

First sales for these January and February classes are Monday, Jan 5 from 1 to 3pm in the Computer Room and Jan 12 from 6:15 to 6:45pm in Pinckney Hall before the monthly meeting.

Classes remaining for sale after Jan 13 will be available in the Black Class Sales box during Computer Room open hours. If you have questions about the sales procedure, please ask the Computer Room monitor to assist you. Sales close at noon on Saturday for classes scheduled the following week. For a detailed description of most classes along with their skill level assumptions, check the Class Description book in the Computer Room during any open time.

If you have comments, questions or suggestions for the Education chair, please contact Robin Seaver (searobin@islc.net) or Diane Hutchings (dianeh@alum.bu.edu).

MEMBERSHIP
NEW MEMBERS
Patrick	Baker	Phyllis	Martin
Al	Burfeind	Bill	Nordhausen
Judy	Burfeind	Dolores	Nordhausen
Hugh	Dinwiddie	Roxi	Pollock-Washington
John	Dugue	Carl	Schilling
George	Hooper	Shirley	Schilling
Ann	Hudson	Jack	Shaw
Randolph	Johnson	Marilyn	Shaw
Ted	Kitzer	Helen	Sullivan
Ann	Lau	Thomas	Sullivan
Howard	Listwa	Lee	Weyhrich
Sharon	Listwa

Koffeeless Klatch		We plan to start a Koffeeless Klatch in January. The informal meetings will be Friday mornings in the Computer Room from 9 to 10am. Current plans are to start Jan 9 at 9am. This will be an opportunity to ask computer-related questions and to share some of your skills. Last week an informal group learned to download graphics for Christmas cards and letters from Google Images. The Computer Room will be open for general use at the same time if a monitor is present.
Check the weekly schedule or contact Diane Hutchings at dianeh@alum.bu.edu for more information.

Phillip’s Tips & Tricks of the Month

Right-click on everything. You can't really do any damage with the right mouse button in Windows, because it's designed only to show a context menu (a list of options appropriate for the selected object). One of the options is usually Properties, which gives you access to a lot of settings and information.

8Your mouse tells you what's happening. Look closely at your mouse cursor while you're moving it around - it's not always an arrow. For example, when you're dragging a file, Windows gives you a clue as to what's going to happen when you drop it depending on what's currently underneath the cursor.

Help is near. Pressing the F1 key in most situations will either display detailed instructions or brief descriptions of the controls. The help has a search feature, too, allowing you to find desired information by typing in a keyword.

Phillip’s Web Site Pick of the Month

Computer Laughs

http://www.rinkworks.com/stupid/

The following is a sample of what you will find at this site.

Customer: “I can’t seem to send any email."

Tech Support: “What are you doing to send it?”

Customer: “I write it down on a piece of paper, slide it into the slot on the front of my computer and click on 'send mail’."

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Tech Support: “Ok, now click your left mouse button.”

Customer: (silence) “But I only have one mouse.”

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Tech Support: “Please right click on the icon.”

Customer: “But I’m left handed.”

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Customer: “Do I hit ‘F’ and ‘1’ at the same time?”

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Customer: “Upper or lower caps?”

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Customer: “Exclamation mark – that’s the big stick with the dot underneath, right?”

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Customer: “What am I getting a keyboard error for? The keyboard isn’t plugged in!”

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Tech Support: "Ok, so your monitor is not working, the screen is blank, and no matter what you do it stays blank? Do you see that button on the bottom right hand side of the screen? Press it. Great, talk to you next time!”

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Customer: “I’m not getting any activity lights on the hub. Does it have to be turned on?”

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Important Note:

Bob Rasmussen, our Technical Chair, received an e-mail supposedly from security@microsoft.com with a subject "Use this patch immediately!”

DO NOT INSTALL THIS PATCH. It is not from Microsoft. Microsoft does not send out patches; ever, for any reason.

The Palmetto Chapter, located in Sheridan Park, Bluffton, needs volunteers with computer experience in network administration, database management, website administration, and data entry. Fill out the volunteer application on the website: http://www.palmetoredcross.org/ or call Frank Gindhart, 705-2231.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE DECEMBER MEETING/HOLIDAY PARTY

Bob Rasmussen was presented a certificate of appreciation in recognition of his contribution as Technical Advisor to the SCHH Computer Club by Phillip Shuppel, President. He was also given a lifetime membership to the Club.

Lifetime SCHH Computer Club memberships were also given to past presidents Jim Murnane, Juli Yale, and Ed Gutwald for their service.

Paul Shane, producer of the new SCHH Computer Club web site, was introduced. Robin Seaver demonstrated the web site and its new features. Phillip reminded all that the KeyStrokes would be published on the web starting in January and will not be delivered to homes.

George Weyhrich thanked John Longo and his crew of volunteers for putting the holiday party together. There was a drawing for several door prizes. Everyone enjoyed good food and musical entertainment by the Syncopators.

Respectfully submitted

Pat Beaty, Secretary

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