SLO Bytes Newsletter - June 2012 - PUSH Articles Index

A Tablet Love Affair by Roger Carlyle, Member, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 561 words). Roger thought tablets were just a passing fad or just toys … until he bought his. He says he rarely gets out of his recliner to go to his desktop – he’s having too much fun with his tablet.

Agloves, a review by George Harding, Treasurer, Tucson Computer Society, AZ (approx. 364 words). George’s review covers a clever piece of apparel that you can use with your touch-screen devices.

“And the Oscar Goes To….” Making a Good Video by Greg Skalka, President, UCHUG, CA (approx. 1,562 words). Greg has discovered it is a lot harder to make a good video than it is to take a good photograph and it is definitely a lot more work. He says that in making a great video, once you have captured the action, your work typically has only begun.

Are you ready for some Windows 8 on your desktop? By Barney Babin, Member and Instructor, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 1,136 words). Now that Win 8 consumer preview is a reality, you can download it and ‘play’ with the latest and greatest from Microsoft. You can get a feel for what’s coming – and it is definitely a change.

Building a Better System and Data Backup Strategy by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor, Region 2 (approx. 1,102 words). Gabe’s article addresses corporate health without a reliable backup and reminds businesses to Backup, Backup, Backup. Of course, this also applies to those of us who no longer work. Gabe has a few steps that all of us should follow.

How to Share You List of Apps for your iPhone and iPad by Hewie Poplock, APCUG Director (approx. 373 words). Would you like to share a list of Apps you have downloaded and installed on your iPhone and iPad? Hewie tells us how he does it.

Cannot Send Mail – A copy has been placed in your Outbox by Hewie Poplock, Director, APCUG; VP, Central Florida Computer Society (approx. 632 words). Hewie was excited to be able to upgrade his iPad2 to the new iOS5….it went well but them the realized he was having e-mail issues. If this has happened to you, Hewie has the solution.

Closing the door on Facebook by Linda Gonse, Editor/Webmaster, Orange County PCUG, CA (approx. 561 words). You have read about more privacy concerns in Facebook and want to close your account. Linda tells us how to go about it because you may not actually be closing the account.

Coffee Shop Computer Etiquette by Mark Tiongo, Geeks.com (approx. 824 words). This Tech Tip outlines the general etiquette so mobile tech commuters can share a common courtesy in this world filled with laptops, eBook reader and coffee shops!

Creating a Program Icon on Your Desktop by Jim Cerny, Director, Sarasota PCUG, Florida (approx. 621 words). Did you ever wonder how those icons you double-click on your Desktop screen get there? Jim tells us how to create them.

Cut and Paste to and from a Thumb Drive by Gordon Giles, Committee Member, Perth PCUG, Australia (approx. 469 words). Giles gives us some handy hints to copy or paste to and from a thumb drive.

Dad is probably not a Geek, but is most likely a Technophile! By Lou Torraca, President, The TUG MOAA Computer UG, Hawaii (approx. 1,198 words). Lou has some neat gifts for dad on Father’s Day or any other day.

Google+: The Missing Manual reviewed by Steve Costello, President/Editor, Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc., Florida (approx. 361 words). This is the book that should have come with the site. It covers getting started; managing contacts and circles; streaming, sharing and privacy plus much more.

How to remember your passwords with eWallet by iLium Software, reviewed by Hewie Poplock, APCUG Director (approx. 639 words). Are you a password nut? Hewie is and he tries to have a unique password for every program, website, e-mail address, etc. That makes it difficult to remember them. There are many password manager programs available but Hewie likes eWallet – he’s been using it for 12 years.

Easy-to-Remember Passwords by Doris Collins, Member, ccOKC (Computer Club of Oklahoma City) (approx. 293 words). We all know that simple passwords are dangerous and gives us a list of no no’s in the world of passwords. Then she tells us how to set up better passwords. Evernote 4, reviewed by Hewie Poplock, APCUG Director; VP, Central Florida Computer Society (approx. 512 words). Hewie likes to share info, especially with members of his UG. He reads a lot of articles about computer hardware & software, finds URLs he’d like to share, etc. What to do with all of this information so it can be found when he wants to share it? Enter Evernote, an organizational tool that he realized he should use.

File Recovery Strategies by Dick Maybach (approx. 1,320 words). Have you ever needed to recover something from your trash can but you just emptied it? Perhaps a CD, CD-ROM or DVD is scratched and unplayable or unreadable…surprisingly you can probably recover some and perhaps most of your data as you will see in this article.

Focus on Lighting Photos, reviewed by Rosemary Lloyd, President, Big Bear Computer Club, CA (approx. 364 words). Excellent photographs gain much of their impact from the way the subject is lit. The techniques presented in this book are exciting and inspiring and it is a fairly easy read.

Get Your Photography on the Web, by Donna Kamper, Member, Tucson Computer Society, AZ (approx. 912 words). The only reason you need this book is if you’re looking for a quick, inexpensive and easy way for people to see your photos on the Internet. If you prefer time-consuming, difficult and costly you need to keep looking.

How to find Twitter’s hidden options by Linda Gonse, Editor/Webmaster, Orange County PCUG, CA (approx. 430 words). More people are using the Twitter social networking site and finding out that they like the mini-blog that allows them 140 characters to say what’s on their mind. If you have new Twitter users in your UG, she has some handy hints for them.

Interesting Internet Finds by Steve Costello, President/Editor, Boca Raton Computer Society, FL (approx. 117 words). Need something short to fill a space in your newsletter? Steve has some interesting websites you can use.

Kaspersky One Universal Security, reviewed by George Harding, Treasurer, Tucson Computer Society, AZ (approx. 244 words). Kaspersky One is a security protection service that sets itself apart from all the others and George has two reasons that people should use it.

Knoppix Live CD by Cal Esneault, President, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 492 words). The strength of Knoppix is the excellent hardware detection and minimal configuration to get a working Linux system.

Mastering Landscape Photography, Learn by Video, reviewed by Mark Mattson, Editor, Computer Users of Erie, PA (approx. 735 words). This is a somewhat different book review since it also includes a complete video workshop on a DVD and the DVD is really the star of the package. The workshop is comprised of four hours of HD video, all of which are accessed via the software player developed to make your learning experience smooth and seamless.

Light Housekeeping for a Safe and Healthy Computer by Mike Morris, Editor, Front Range PCUG, CO (approx. 1,288 words). FRPCUG provides free computer help to the community and to several other local non-profit organizations. As a result of these efforts, they have concluded there are two tasks and several free and reliable utilities that help to maintain a safe and health computer.

Media Sharing & Devices by Jerry Grommes, Editor, Sandwich Computer UG, IL (approx. 1,555 words). Jerry feels strongly that his media, whether its pictures, videos, music, recorded TV, etc. should be available to him on whatever device he owns and not just tied to a computer, CD/DVD player or a DVR. This article highlights how he shares recorded TV with Device #9.

The Problem: Muffled Sound by Steve Baer, Feature Writer, Hilton Head Island Computer Club, SC (approx. 721 words). Do your readers have a problem hearing their TV and DVDs? This article has a couple of suggestions that just might help them.

Microsoft OneNote, an All-Purpose Planner, reviewed by Nancy DeMarte, Regular Columnist (Office Talk), Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 994 words). OneNote lets you create notes, gather information, and organize it all using a simple system modeled after a ring binder….and it ships with the home version of MS Office.

OpenClickArt by Cal Esneault, President, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 537 words). This program is a large compilation of clip art in which images have been released to the public domain (unless specifically stated otherwise), and thus are free to use without any restrictions.

The Painter Wow Book, 10th Edition, reviewed by Iris Yoffa, Member, Tucson Computer Society, AZ (approx. 520 words). This edition covers all the new and numerous features of Corel Painter 12. The companion CD contains goodies for personal use from contributing authors as by Cher, the author of the book.

Parted Magic, by Dick Maybach (approx. 1,172 words). Although modern operating systems are robust, sometimes they need maintenance either to repair problems or because we want to make changes. One way is to use a live-CD.

Spam and Spyware – It Takes Two: Senders and Receivers by John Roy, President, The PCUG of CT (approx. 395 words). Everyone needs to use common sense when opening and sending e-mails and John gives us some tips to help us fine tune our common sense.

System Suite Professional 2012, reviewed by Bert Koslow, member, Thousand Oaks PC Club, CA (approx. 683 words). This is a comprehensive utility program that will tune up and repair your PC and provide malware, virus, spyware, and firewall protection.

Perfect Photo Suite 6, reviewed by Bart Anslow, member, Thousand Oaks PC Club, CA (approx. 1,638 words). Perfect Photo Suite 6 is a collection of several image enhancement utilities. It can be used as a stand-alone set of utilities, or the utilities can be invoked from within Adobe CS4 or CS5, Photoshop Elements 9 or 10, Lightroom 2 or 3 and Aperture 2.1 or 3.

POyNT, reviewed by George Harding, Treasurer, Tucson Computer Society, AZ (approx. 312 words). This is a nifty app for your iPhone or Blackberry. It points you to various services or places of business.

Reasons for Moving up to Windows 7 by Phil Sorrentino, Past President, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 1,136 words). OK, we know many of your members are still using XP; maybe this article will help move them on to Win 7.

Roxio Creator, 2012, reviewed by Mark Mattson, Editor, Computer Users or Erie, PA (approx. 2,013 words). This review will introduce you to Roxio Creator 2012, the latest and greatest in this long-running suite line.

Selecting a Digital Camera, by Jerry Schneir, Member, Los Angeles Computer Society, CA (approx. 1,769 words). Jerry is often asked for help by students who are trying to select the ‘perfect’ camera. He tries to tell them that the most important thing about any camera is the six inches behind the camera, the photographer.

Setting Up a Page in Word 2007/2010 by Nancy DeMarte, Regular Columnist (Office Talk), Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 1,029 words). Most Word users know that when composing a document, they can select the font (style) and size of the text and can apply effects to the text, such as bold or italic. But many users don’t think about how important the page set up is.

Setting Win7 Default Applications by Dick Maybach (approx. 662 words). Win 7 offers a convenience that previous versions had – when you double-click on a file icon in its file manager, an appropriate application program starts and opens the file. However, you may disagree with Windows about what is appropriate. Fortunately, it is easy to make a one-time override of the default or permanently change it to what you prefer.

Shotwell by Cal Esneault, President, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 538 words). Digital cameras allow us to take as many pictures as we want without the cost or wasted film from bad shots. Shotwell can also help you organize your pictures.

Spam and Spyware – It Takes Two: Senders and Receivers by John Roy, President, The PCUG of CT (approx. 395 words). Everyone needs to use common sense when opening and sending e-mails and John gives us some tips to help us fine tune our common sense.

System Suite Professional 2012, reviewed by Bert Koslow, member, Thousand Oaks PC Club, CA (approx. 683 words). This is a comprehensive utility program that will tune up and repair your PC and provide malware, virus, spyware, and firewall protection.

Tablet computers – Great for Accessing the Internet by Phil Sorrentino, Past President, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 1381 words). Tablets are all the rage. You might think it all started with the iPad but tablets go way back to the PDAs of 1992.

To “Cloud or Not to Cloud,” That is the Question, submitted by Joan Frerichs, Board Member, CIACUG, IA (approx. 658 words). Joan had heard of saving files to the “cloud,” but really didn’t know very much about it until David Williams provided members with a great deal of helpful information about how it works.

The Transitional Operating System by Berry F. Phillips, member, CCOKC (Computer Club of Oklahoma City) (approx. 387 words). The OS is the most important piece of software on your computer….behind the scenes it carries out many important functions. But, it won’t help Berry write an article for the Computer Hysteria column for CCOKC’s eMonitor.

What do you mean there are other search engines? By Linda Gonse, Editor/Webmaster, Orange County PCUG, CA (approx. 561 words). It will come as a surprise to some people that there are more choices than Google or Bing for Internet search engines. How about DuckDuckGo and Gibiru?

Windows 7 Program Compatibility Mode by Lynn Page, Editor, Crystal River User Group, FL (approx. 238 words). Program Compatibility Mode allows you to run programs written for earlier versions of Windows, using the PC mode.

Windows Q & A, April 2012, by Mary Philips, Secretary, Icon UG, MO (approx. 1,587 words). May discusses the differences between data backup, system restore, dick image, system recovery discs and a system repair disk.

These articles have been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups.