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SLO Bytes Newsletter - November 2008 - PUSH Article Descriptions

!Danger: Music Download! by Mike Morris, Editor-in-Charge, Front Range PC Users Group, Colorado www.frpcug.org (Approx. 381 words). Mike wants all of to know about the legal consequences for anyone caught in violation of copyright infringement - the laws have now increased!

Apple Bytes - Laptop Battery Maintenance Procedures by Norm Kronenberg, Macintosh Director, Hilton Head Island Computer Club, South Carolina http://hhicc.org (Approx. 486 words). Did you know that for proper maintenance of a lithium-based battery, it's important to keep the electronics in it moving occasionally? Norm's article includes instructions on how to calibrate batteries for the PowerBook G4 and any model of MacBook or MacBrook Pro.

Almost everyone needs a little help with Word 2007 by Linda Gonse, Editor & Webmaster, Orange County IBM PC Users' Group, California www.orcopug.org (Approx. 1,153 words). Linda quotes John Dvorak from his August 2008 PC Magazine column regarding Vista. "Vista isn't completely unusable; it's simply hard to use. Menus have been reorganized for no apparent reason, features of XP appear to be missing or need to be turned on from some remote directory, and basic functions are now obfuscated. In a nutshell, Vista manages to be more complicated than XP, performs more poorly than XP, and is more expense than XP." Now, substitute Word 2007 for Vista and Word 2003 for ZP and Linda's point is made.

Computhankgsiving by Berry F. Phillips, a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City www.ccokc.org (Approx. 580 words). The CCOKC recently celebrated "Thanksgiving in August" at their monthly general meeting when they celebrated all their members, past and present, who have given of their time and talents in the evolution of their computer club. This got Berry thinking about the history of computers and he talks about it in his article.

Mac versus PC by Sandy Berger, Compukiss.com www.compukiss.com (Approx. 856 words). We have all seen the popular Apple television commercials encouraging computer users to switch from Windows to Mac. Not only are the commercials convincing, but Apple has made some moves that make the Mac a viable option for computer users.

Microsoft Releases Photosnyth Panoramic Image Creator by Ira Wilsker, APCUG Director (Approx. 815 words). Many of us take a lot of digital photographs and wouldn't it be interesting if a collection of photos with some degree of commonality could be seamlessly "stitched" together creating a 3-D panoramic view of the subject? I saw this demonstrated last week by one of the Microsoft reps who was at the Southwest Conference and it's spectacular.

Moving to Vista - Part 10 by Neil Stahfest, Librarian, Tacoma Area PC User Group, Washington www.tapcug.org (Approx. ??? words). Most of us who upgrade to Windows Vista from an older version of Windows encounter compatibility problems. Vista doesn't want to recognize some programs as valid or authorized Windows programs even though they worked with Windows XP. Does this mean that you have to abandon them or upgrade to a new - "Vista" version of your favorite programs?

Password Protection by Sandy Berger, Compukiss.com www.compukiss.com (Approx. 738 words). When technology is goof, it is very, very good, but when it is bad it can be truly atrocious. So it is with the hacking of Sarah Palin's Yahoo e-mail account. The bad guys are out there using technology for their own advantage and Sandy reminds us of the lack of privacy on the Internet.

Pinnacle Studio 12 by Beth Pickering, Sonoma Valley Computer Club, California www.von.com/svcg (Approx. 712 words). Beth would love to compare video editing programs and declare Pinnacle Studio 12 the easiest one to use, but to be honest … it is the only video editing she has ever done. But she found it a very easy program to use - and even demonstrated it at her meeting.

PowerDirector 7 Ultra by Terry Currier, Vice President & Editor, WINdows usERS, California www.windowsusers.org (Approx. 1,056 words). Terry has used several video editing programs over the years but still likes using CyberLink's PowerDirector. Yes, there are more powerful programs that can do more, but he feels that the PowerDirector's Interface is just easier to work with, and it's faster.

QuickMonth Calendar by Ken Peters, Product Review, Hilton Head Island Computer Club, South Carolina http://hhicc.org (Approx. 431 words). If you are tired of double clicking the clock to get the calendar up, then this program is for you.

Significant Bits by Sean N. Henderson, Vice President, Danbury Area Computer Society, Connecticut www.dacs.org (Approx. 512 words). A little bit about ColdFusion, hype about Skype, and another USB Gizmo are included in Significant Bits.

SnagIt, a product review by John Roy, President, The Personal Computer Users Group of Connecticut www.tpcug-ct.org (Approx. 682 words). So what is SnagIt? It is a screen capture program (like base-level PrintScreen). For a screen capture program to be useful it needs flexibility beyond Microsoft's dismal screen and window capture and SnagIt fits the bill.

This and That by Elizabeth B. Wright, a member of the Computer Club of Oklahoma City www.ccokc.org (Approx. 1,031 words). Lost and gone forever…. Or not. Well, it finally happened. A picture which had taken far too much of her time was finally ready for printing and she sent it online to her favorite photo store but it was a great disappointment when she got it back. After tweaking it once again, she eliminated the extra files and she certainly did a good job. Not only were the unwanted files gone, but also included the one version that was half way good. Oops!

Traveling Then and Now - "Technically" Speaking by Gregory West, Editor for the Sarnia Computer Users' Group (SCUG), Canada www.scug.ca (Approx. 956 words). A fun article on how things have changed since 1974.

Twriterext (at) gmail.com
Nkron (at) roadrunner.com
Editor (at) orcopug.org
Bfpdata (at) 1access.net
Sandy (at) compukiss.com
Iwilsker (at) apcug.net
Ncstahfest (at) msn.com
Bethpick (at) emailx.net
Winnersug (at) aol.com
Product review (at) hhicc.org
Shenderson (at) dacs.org
Johnroy1 (at) comcast.net
wright599new (at) sbcglobal.net
prospector16 (at) gmail.com

These articles have been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).

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