kipcug · joe rothstein computer user news july, 2004 page 2 this magazine is published monthly by...

July 2004Volume 23, No. 7

Contents

KIPCUG

COMPUTER UserNews

Monthly Publication of the Kentucky-Indiana Personal Computer Users Group

Program Director . . . . . . . . . .3Late Breaking News . . . . . . . .5Microsoft Streeets and

Trips 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6Digital Camera Flash Cards .7Internet Annoyances . . . . . . .8Comdex 2004 . . . . . . . . . . . . .9The Deals Guy . . . . . . . . . . .10Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13SIG Directory . . . . . . . . . . . .14SIG Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15

Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15, 16Advanced Users . . . . . . . . .15Community Outreach . . . .16 Digital Photography . . . . .17Genealogy . . . . . . . . . . .17, 18Intermediate Users . . . . . .18Investing . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19Linux . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19New Users . . . . . . . . . . . . .20Technical Market Analysis 21Utilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21Visual Basic . . . . . . . . . . . .21Webmasters . . . . . . . . . . . .22Windows OS . . . . . . . . . . .22

Membership Application . . .23General Public is invited to attend.

Free Program Starts at 6:30 PM

w w w . k i p c u g . o r g

PRESENTATIONOF

Microsoft’s

byKeith Stenger

andCompUSA’s

Christopher Egberton

July 6, 2004

RAFFLETHIS

MONTH

KENTUCKY-INDIANAPERSONAL COMPUTER

USERS GROUP, INC.291 N. HUBBARDS LANE

SUITE B-26-318LOUISVILLE, KY 40207

EDITORSUSAN MOORE

REVIEW EDITORJOE ROTHSTEIN

Computer User News July, 2004

This magazine is publishedmonthly by the Kentucky-IndianaPersonal Computer Users Group,Inc. and is intended principally forits membership. All articles in thispublication are copyrighted byKIPCUG unless otherwise stipu-lated.

Express permission is granted forqualified User Groups to copy thematerials in this publication pro-vided appropriate credit is given toKIPCUG, Computer User Newsand the author.

Requests from individuals ororganizations other than UserGroups for permission to reprintshould be made to the Editor.

Advertising materials must besubmitted four weeks prior to pub-lication. Editorial submissionsmust be submitted three weeksprior to publication.

All editorial materials submittedbecome the property of KIPCUG,and may be used by the organiza-tion in any way deemed appropri-ate by the magazine staff and theBoard of Directors of KIPCUG.

The editors reserve the right tomake any changes deemed neces-sary to any editorial matter submit-ted or to refuse publication of anymaterial submitted.

Direct all magazine correspon-dence to the Editor at KIPCUG,291 N. Hubbards Lane, Suite B-26-318, Louisville, KY 40207 orto [email protected].

Contributing Staff WritersCharley May Brian Miller

Tom McArdle

KIPCUG is a member of APCUG, an international association ofcomputer user groups. Information is available at www.apcug.org

Ad size RatePer 1 col. inch (2.25” wide) 12.00Half Page (3 col x 5”) 140.00Full Page 250.00Member’s Std. Bus. Card 100.00 for 4 consecutive insertions (No Discounts).

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Discount RateThree consecutive insertions 10%Twelve consecutive insertions 20%Special discounts offered to KIPCUG members Call

(In addition to other discounts)All Advertising must be paid for at the time of submission or on approved PO.Rates are for electronic (TIF PDF) copy in gray scale. The submission deadlinefor advertising materials is the first of the month for the next month’s publication.Send all advertising materials to: KIPCUG Address - Attn. EditorCall (502) 499-5222 or send email to: [email protected].

NOTE: Magazine is published electronicallyin addition to its printed edition. Advertisingmaterials not supplied in electronic form willnot be included in the electronic edition.

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July, 2004 Computer User News

By Tom McArdle and Charley May,KIPCUG

Now that summer has officiallyarrived, we have a timely topic forthis month's Main Presentation.KIPCUG Member Keith Stengerand CompUSA's ChristopherEgbert will show us Microsoft's®Streets and Trips 2004, but moreabout that a little later.

We will begin the program withKIPCUG SIG LEADER GrantMcCormack's Back To Basics ses-sion. In July, he will introduce andassist SIG LEADER and CertifiedFinancial Planner Jim Boneck in a

presentation on Home FinanceComparison. They will show howExcel can be used to do some of thedata processing for which manypeople think Access is needed. Theparticular application will be homefinancing and re-financing. Whendoes it make sense to refinanceyour mortgage, and when does itnot?

Our User to User presentation willbe lead by Bill Cull. This is thechance for those attending to haveany personal computer questiondiscussed by the group. We ask thatyour questions be written down inadvance and dropped in the basketor tray at the end of the GuestRegistration table. If you've beenstruggling with a nagging gremlinthat has been making your comput-er somewhat difficult to deal with,now is the time to share the prob-lem with those present and get theanswer you need.

We are proud to welcome back tothe podium one of our ownKIPCUG Members, SIG LEADERKeith Stenger. Keith's long resumeincludes working as a CertifiedMicrosoft® Trainer and is currentlyinvolved with a major networkrestructuring with UPS at theLouisville Air Hub. Keith will pre-sent Microsoft’s “Sttreets andTripss 2004”, a low cost trip routeand mapping program that is avail-able from CompUSA. Keith willshow us the many new features thatmake it easy and informative to use.We are also pleased to welcomeback Christopher Egbert, theAssistant Sales Manager atCompUSA, who was one of ourDecember 2003 Main Presenters ofthe "Holiday Electronics Expo".Christopher will demonstrate theuse of several cutting-edge GPSGlobal Positioning Systems thatcan be used with the "Streets andTrips 2004" to plot just where youhappen to be located.

Microsoft® Streets & Trips 2004is the easy and effective way to planyour next family vacation, businesstrip, or jaunt across town. It's the

one product that instantly meetsyour mapping needs without wait-ing for an Internet connection.Whether you're in charge of theroute for the next family vacation orcoordinating the school carpool,Streets &Trips is for you. Evenbusiness travelers will enjoy theability to explore their destinations,with more local highlights in everycity and the ability to locate theirexact location (within approximate-ly 3 meters) and to me, that is closewhen you are less than ten feetaway from where you want be.

What program is best for you? Itdepends on what your needs are. Ifyour main needs include findingaddresses or creating routes, Streets& Trips is the application for you.Keith and Christopher will showyou how this software runs on adesktop, laptop, and new for thisrevision, any PocketPC running thenewest Windows operating system.

MEETING DIRECTIONSChrist Church United Methodist

4614 Brownsboro Road

From I-264 (Watterson X-Way)take the US-42/Brownsboro Roadexit number 22 turning left ontoBrownsboro Road if you weretraveling East on I-264 (turn rightinstead if you were traveling Weston I-264). Continue for about 0.6miles turning left at the trafficlight at Blankenbaker Lane andturn left into the Church parkinglot. Look for the signs.

Maps are at www.ccum.net andwww.kipcug.org

Over the Program Director’s Shoulder

July

Back to Basics Topicfor July:

Home FinanceComparison.

WERE YOU THERE?ON JUNE 1

THE NAME DRAWN WAS PAUL KIENER

AND HE WAS NOT INATTENDANCE.

NEXT MONTHTHE PRIZE WILL BE

$80.WILL YOU BE THERE?

If you need to do those tasks and inaddition, view sales informationgeographically so you can betteranalyze it, or easily plot data from aMicrosoft Office application such asExcel, Access, or Outlook, then youshould take a closer look atMapPoint 2004.

You can choose from five mapstyles, including strip maps withdirections, turn-by-turn maps, direc-tions-only maps, a map overviewand highlighted places. However,please note that the end user licenseagreement (EULA) prevents youfrom selling printed Streets & Tripsmaps. With Microsoft Outlook andthe File: Send To option, you cansend the Streets & Trips file or justa picture of the map you currentlyhave on your screen. With a GPSreceiver you can connect via USB toyour laptop or to a PocketPC andhave a truly portable map servicethat updates your location onceevery second.

The 2004 version of Streets &Trips includes all new maps andpoints of interest as well as somefunctional refinements and somegreat new features. Microsoftfocused on the number one requestfrom Streets & Trips users:Expanded and updated map cover-age while retaining the simple andeffective interface the product isknown for.

- Approximately 300,000 miles ofroads and streets were added, andthe data for existing areas wasupdated to reflect the new traffic sit-uation (road upgrades, turningrestrictions, one-way roads, etc.).

- NEW! Drive-time zones. Streets& Trips 2004 now enables travelersto generate drive-time zones - a fea-

ture that allows you to visually seeon a map how far you could travelwithin a specified amount of time.

- NEW! See One-Way Streets.Streets & Trips now also includesthe ability to view one-way streetsright on maps for increased accura-cy.

- Improved! Real-Time GPS sup-port. Now you can know exactlywhere they are at every turn. Simplyconnect a Global PositioningSystem (GPS) receiver to your lap-top running Streets & Trips 2004 ora Pocket PC running Pocket Streets2004 (included with Streets & trips2004) and see your exact locationright on their screen.

- Postal codes and other addressattributes were also updated to max-imize the "find rate" of youraddresses.

- The number of points of interestwas increased to over 1.3 million(from 1million in the 2003 version).

Streets & Trips lets you performmany tasks other tools don't, includ-ing the following:

- Streets & Trips 2004 providesyou with the most comprehensivemapping and travel informationthrough alliances with the leadingmap vendors and the combination ofthe best data from each. Streets &Trips works with leading mappingexperts to provide the most up-to-date, rich mapping data available forevery ZIP or postcode throughoutthe United States and Canada.

- Streets & Trips allows you tomap multiple destinations, andenables you to create directionsbetween more than just point A andpoint B.

- Streets & Trips optimizes travelbased on your preferences, whichcan be easily changed based on thetype of trip you are taking.

- Streets & Trips gives you morethan just information about busi-nesses; it provides you with person-al travel information that will makeyour vacation, personal travel orbusiness trip more effective, what-ever the purpose.

- Streets & Trips includes PocketStreets for exporting personalizedstreet-level maps to your Pocket PCto take on the road wherever you go.

To use Microsoft Streets & Trips2004, users need the following:

- PC with Pentium II or higherprocessor; Pentium III recommend-ed.

- Microsoft Windows 98,Windows Millennium Edition(Windows Me), Windows NT® 4.0with Service Pack 6.0 or later,Windows 2000 Professional,Windows XP or later operating sys-tem.

- Microsoft Internet Explorer 5browser software; Internet Explorer6, Service Pack 1 included.

- For Windows 98, Windows Meand Windows NT 4.0: 64 MB ofRAM.

- For Windows 2000 Professionaland Windows XP: 128 MB of RAM(256 MB recommended). Runningadditional applications simultane-ously may require additional memo-ry.

- 1 GB of available hard disk spacefor standard installation (450 MBfor minimum installation); someusers may require up to an extra 100MB for System Files Update (hard


Over the Program Director’s Shoulder (cont.)


By Charley May, KIPCUG

We are very proud to announcethe new "KIPCUG Koffee Klatch" apre-General Meeting gathering thatruns roughly between 6:00 - 6:30PM, before the start of the GeneralMeeting. Come meet with yourKIPCUG friends and swap those"You won't believe what happenedto Harold's computer at work" orsome other hair curling tale.

We had 7 attendees plus SIGLEADER and TEAM MEMBERSat the NEW USERS DAYTIMESIG. If you are a new computeruser, you want to brush up a little orif you need help with a basic prob-lem and can only attend during thedaytime, this is the place to look forhelp. We are very pleased that ourfirst daytime SIG is starting out sowell. Remember that this first day-time SIG will only be running dur-ing the summer months of June

through September on the thirdTuesday, at 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM andmay be extended if it is met withsufficient interest. The location ofthe NEW USERS DAYTIME SIG isthe in the Computer Lab, Room222, at CCUM. The SIG LEADERis Winnie Miller, who has served asSecretary on the KIPCUG Board ofDirectors for several terms. Winniewill have two KIPCUG TEAMMEMBERS, Tom McArdle andCharley May, to assist attendeesduring the presentations as they fol-low along on the Computer Lab'scomputers. Winnie is very patientwith new users. She tutors newusers and knows what speed andrepetitions they need to learn andretain the lesson. Winnie is stilllooking for a few more attendees,although we may have to limit theattendees to the number of machinesavailable in the lab and split theclass up if the count gets too high.

The COMMUNITY OUTREACHSIG is reforming and will be hold-ing its first meeting as a field trip.For those of you that have con-tributed to the efforts of this SIG inthe past and anyone interested injoining in at this point, I hope youmade it to the June 25 first meetingeven though it is at a temporarylocation, CCUM's Computer Lab.We are meeting there to do somerepairs on the Lab computers andwill also do some planning forfuture meetings, future communityprojects and development of addi-tional sources of used computers tobe used in our future projects. Wehave a regular location for this SIGto meet, but we still need a SIGTEAM to operate the SIG. If youthink that you could contributesome time and skills, please talk tous about joining the COMMUNITYOUTREACH SIG TEAM.

Over the Program Director’s Shoulder (cont.)

Late Breaking News

disk usage will vary depending onconfiguration).

- 4x or faster CD-ROM drive.

- Super VGA (800x600) or higher-resolution monitor with 256 colors;a monitor with higher resolution andmore colors recommended.

- Microsoft Mouse, MicrosoftIntelliMouse® or compatible point-ing device

Our KIPCUG June General meet-ing featured KIPCUG SIGLEADER and Webmaster JohnHenderson presenting TechSmith's"SnagIt", a one click desktop cap-

ture utility that makes screen repro-duction a simple activity. Memberswere offered a chance to buy thesoftware at a significantly discount-ed price. Our thanks to WinnieMiller and John for bringing thisopportunity to our attention.

The meeting began with our usualBack to Basics session, but with atwist. Our regular host, GrantMcCormack, introduced KIPCUGMember and past KIPCUGSecretary Winnie Miller who pre-sented some bargain priced TrainingCDs. Winnie showed the membersscreens shots of the products and allagreed it was an outstanding value.

Hosted by Bill Cull, the User to

User session addressed a variety ofproblems, from DVD technologyoptions to operating system prob-lems. Another great opportunity formembers to help members solvecomputer problems.

The June General Meeting wasour annual Business Meeting wherewe elected the new Board ofDirectors. Please check theDirectory of KIPCUG Leaders onpage 12 for the list of our newlyelected Board of Directors. We wishto thank our outgoing BoardMembers for their many hours ofservice they have given to this orga-nization.

June


By Dave Gerber, Sarasota PCMonitor of the Sarasota PersonalComputer Users Group, Inc.

They say that real men don't usemaps or ask for directions. Well, thisman rarely asks for directions, butsecretly does use maps. Not the kindyou used to get for free from gas sta-tions. You remember the ones thatsome origami master folded andonly a woman could refold perfectlyand be smug about it! While thereare many mapping options availableto us computer users, I have been afan of Streets & Trips by Microsoftfor many years. You might ask whyI recommend this option over someof the free web sites out there thatcan prepare a map for you. Due tothe feature rich content provided byStreets & Trips, I can offer quite afew good reasons. But first I shouldmention that installation was simpleand straightforward. Since I had aprevious version of Streets & Tripson my computer the programadvised me that it would first haveto uninstall the old version andpromised not to delete any of themaps that I had already created andsaved in a folder called ..... get this... "My Maps". This process workedflawlessly.

Since I do a lot of driving aroundtown, I create a personalized map toevery address that I'm scheduled tovisit. Having the latest versionoffers the newer addresses in itsdatabase and in this part of Floridanew addresses are, it seems, createddaily.

To locate an address, simply enterthe Number and Street Name andZip Code. (That's a little knownsecret ... no need to enter City &State). Once the address is found

you can edit its name from thegeneric address to something like"Dave's House" and save for futurereference. Streets & Trips lets youmake pushpins which I then use tocreate a Route. You can set your dri-ving profile (i.e.: speed, fuel costs,mpg, etc) so that upon completion areport will be generated summariz-ing time spent, costs and miles dri-ven.

Whenever I travel, either local orlong distance, I like to know what'saround. Where are the hotels,restaurants, gas stations and ATM's?Whether you are looking at a map ofa specific address or a Trip Route,you can choose to find nearbyplaces which are also customizable.

Another feature that you won'tfind on any of the online mappingwebsites is up-to-date constructioninformation. With an Internet con-nection and a click of the mouse,Streets & Trips will check theInternet for scheduled constructiondelays within the route created. Itried this on a recent trip to the EastCoast of Florida and it was 100%accurate.

A feature new to the 2004 versionis that, where applicable, you willfind arrows on streets that are oneway, something I would think to beextremely handy when traveling. Asin previous versions, you can printmaps of a specific address or anentire trip's route with written stepby step directions. Maps can besaved and shared via email orincluded in any document (some-thing neat for a party invitation). Amap can also be saved in HTMLformat and posted on a website.

Do you have a database created inOutlook, Excel or Access? If so,

you can import these addresses intoStreets & Trips automatically pro-viding you with a Pushpin for eachentry.

Another new feature is Real-timeGPS support (device not included).Since I do not have a GPS (GlobalPositioning System) device, I couldnot test this feature but a version of"Pocket Streets" for use with a GPSor Pocket PC is included. Users atevery level will find the interfaceeasy to navigate and most will noteven use the small manual that Iincluded.

Providing the flexibility thatStreets & Trips offers make this afine alternative to those you willfind on the internet and I highly rec-ommend it to all.

Microsoft Streets & Trips claimsto include 6.7 million miles ofstreets and highways and over 1.3million points of interest includingCanada.

EASE OF USE: 9VALUE: 8USE LEVEL: Casual

System Requirements: Windows98, Me, NT 4, 2000 Professional,XP, Pentium II or higher, InternetExplorer (for construction updates),128 MB Ram (256 recommended)Price: $39.95 ($29.95 after enclosed$10.00 rebate)

http://www.microsoft.com/streets/

Microsoft Streets and Trips 2004

KIPCUG’s Deal$10 Rebate on

Microsoft’s Streets &Trips through CompUSA

until 12/31/04


Digital Camera Flash CardsBy John Hoffmann, CAUG

HOW MANY PHOTOS WILLTHEY HOLD?

One must go back and ask, "Whatare you going to take pictures of?Portraits, scenery, grandkids grow-ing up? All of the above, I assume.

The following is MEMORY 101, Iguess. A digital sensor (CCD forCharged Coupled Device) is a smallcard (2 X 3 inches) made up ofmany photocells which respond tolight intensity to generate a givenvoltage. The voltage representsshades of gray but can be convertedinto colors. Each cell is then digi-tized into a 24-bit pixel, which rep-resents a point on your computerscreen or a point on your printedpicture. A few other things are alsodone when converting the cell datato picture data.

Now let's do the Math. Supposeyou have a 5 MegaPixel digitalcamera. This means you can setabout 5,000,0000 pixels of picturedata from side-to-side across thesensor. Now recall that each pixel is24-bits (8 each for Red, Green,Blue) that can produce 16 Millioncolors - a very common setup foryour computer viewers. Then thereare 8 bits per byte - OK! 5,000,000pixels per pictures time 24 bits (onor off data, i.e. 0 or 1s) per pixeldivided by 8 bits per byte equals15,000,000 bytes per picture. Weusually say 15 Megabytes or just 15MB. So, you want a Flash card?How about buying a 128-MB cardfor about $70 although I heard Fry'shas 'em for $40. 128 MB divided by15 MB per highest resolution pic-ture yields 8 pictures. WOW! Flashcards do come in the Gigabytememory amounts but they cost morethen the camera.

If that is not enough pictures, beprepared to lower your quality stan-dards. Compressing the data so lessmemory is used reduces the storagerequirements. Now one loses quali-ty as the picture is uncompressedi.e., not all the original pixels werestored and the missing ones are cal-culated out via math techniques.

My Nikon 5700 5 Megapixel cam-era has compression levels of 4, 8,and 16. OK, now, so I am on a longvacation and will take lots and lotsof pictures of Granny, etc. For my128-MB card and maximum com-pression, I can take about 16 times 8equal 128 pictures. That ought to beenough.

John Hoffmann is CAUG's DigitalCamera SIG Leader. Email him:

[email protected]

AnnouncingWin.Net DSL

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502-815-7000 Ext. 5(9AM - 5PM EST)

DSL available in theLouisville/Jefferson County

area only.

“Possibly the best tech support in the business...”

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Speed

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Knowledge

Internet Annoyances


By Sherry Zorzi, Secretary, CajunClickers Computer Club, BatonRogue, Louisiana, and Advisor forRegion 8 of KIPGUG

The Internet is full of creepy-crawly beasties. Spam, popups,hoaxes, cookies, spyware -- whatare these critters and how do I tamethem???

Spam - unsolicited, usually com-mercial email, also known as UCE.You can't stop it; the best you can dois try to limit it.

- Don't post your address on pub-licly accessible websites (news-groups, chat rooms, directories).Web "crawlers" harvest theseaddresses for spammers' mailinglists. You can obtain free, "throw-away" email addresses at sites likeYahoo (www.yahoo.com) orHotmail (www.hotmail.com) to usein these situations.

- When you register for a legiti-mate website (Microsoft, Amazon,Delta Airlines, etc.), opt-out of anynewsletters or mailings they offer tosend you. If opting out is notoffered, don't register for the siteunless you want advertising email!

- Use "filters" in your email pro-gram to automatically route suspect-ed spam to a special folder, whichyou can check periodically anddelete. Or use special (free!) soft-ware, like MailWasher (www.mail-washer.net) or K9 Spam Killer(www.keir.net/k9.html) to automati-cally check incoming mail and han-dle suspected spam for you.

- Don't ever follow directions to"unsubscribe" or stop receivingmail, unless you know you are deal-ing with a reputable source.

Replying to the message or clickinga link to supposedly unsubscribe isoften just a ruse by the spammer toverify that your email address isvalid and that you are naïve enoughto open spam. You will get more,not less, spam!

- Use SpamCop(www.spamcop.net) to report spam.The service is free. They will auto-matically report, in your name, thetrue source of the spam to the appro-priate ISPs.

- Send a copy of the spam, withfull headers, to the Federal TradeCommission at [email protected]. Theykeep a database of fraudulent spam-mers.

- Support strong legislation at thestate and federal level to stop thescourge of spam!!! Write, call oremail your Senators andRepresentatives and urge them tosupport strong legislation.

Popup - advertising that "pops up"in a small window of its own. Somewebsites pop up an unsolicited ad ina window on top of the page you aretrying to view. Others hide the pop-ups beneath the site you're visiting,so that you see it when you finallyclose your main window. Some sitespop up several, or even dozens ofpopup ads - sometimes "freezing"the computer. The new popupscourge is controlled by one or moreprograms hiding on your computer,causing popups even when you arenot online! They are all bad, bad,bad!

The best way to squash popups iswith free software like PopupStopper (www.panicware.com).Works perfectly and the price can't

be beat!

Hoax - fictitious email forwardedaround the Internet by your well-meaning friends. Flesh-eatingbananas, large corporations con-trolled by Satanists, viruses thatcause your computer to catch fire -all are fabricated hoaxes. Most of ushave at one time been taken in byone of these, forwarding it to every-one in our address book only to beembarrassed to find out it's a fake.Any email, even if it's from yourmother, that says "Please forwardthis to everyone in your addressbook" is a hoax. Any email thatpromises you will get something fornothing is a fake.

- Never, ever forward anything toeveryone in your address book, nomatter how "true" it sounds. Even ifit is supposedly from IBM,Microsoft or the government.

- Type a few keywords from theemail into a search engine likeGoogle (www.google.com) and fol-low several of the links that comeup. You should quickly discoverthat the mail is a hoax.

- Before you hit "forward", checkout the "story" on one of the web-sites that specialize in de-bunkingurban legends and hoaxes:

- Snopes(www.snopes.com)

- Urban Legends(www.urbanlegends.com)

- HoaxBusters(www.hoaxbusters.com)

Spyware - technology that aids ingathering information about a per-son or organization without their

Internet Annoyances (cont.)


knowledge. Spyware usually comes"hidden" within software you volun-tarily install. Along with what youwanted, you also get a small pieceof software than installs itselfbehind the scene and sends backinformation on your surfing habitsto an advertiser or marketing com-pany.

You can control spyware withsome free tools available on theweb. The tools will either preventspyware from getting on yourmachine, or remove it once it isthere.

- Ad-aware(www.lavasoftusa.com)

- SpyBot Search and Destroy(http://beam.to/spybotsd)

Cookie - a small text file placed onyour computer by a website youvisit. Cookies can be innocent, butsome operate as spyware. Spyware-controlling software like Ad-awarewill control spyware cookies, too.You can also exercise some controlover cookies in Internet Explorer byclicking Tools, then InternetOptions. Click the "Privacy" tab toallow or disallow various kinds ofcookies on your system. Be awarethat some features of some siteswon't work properly unless youallow cookies.

Virus, worm - a piece of program-ming code that causes some unex-pected and usually undesirableevent, such as spreading itself (inyour name!) to everyone in youraddress book, locking up your com-puter, or deleting important files.They can be transmitted as attach-ments to an e-mail, as downloads, orbe present on a diskette or CD.

- Install antivirus software andkeep it up-to-date. Popular brandsinclude McAfee Virus Scan, NortonAntivirus, and TrendMicro PC-cillin. Free antivirus software,which works well, is available atwww.grisoft.com. HouseCall, a freeonline virus scanner, is availablefrom TrendMicro at http://house-call.antivirus.com/housecall/start_corp.asp.

- Don't allow "autopreview" fea-tures on your email programs. Whenan email message is previewed, it isreally "opened," which can trigger avirus.

- Don't open emails or attachmentsfrom unknown sources. Even whenmail is from a trusted source (suchas your mother), don't open anyattachments unless you are expect-ing them without checking with thesource first to be sure they intendedto send the attachment and are sureit's virus-free.

Trojan horse - similar to virusesand worms, Trojan horses are partic-ularly nasty as they can open upports on your computer, making itpossible for an intruder to controlyour computer remotely.

Anti-virus software is not great atcatching Trojan horses. You shouldinstall and periodically run a Trojanscanner, such as the free SwatIt(www.swatit.org).

If you use the available tools, yourInternet experience will be morepleasant for you, your computer,and for all your email correspon-dents. Don't forget the most impor-tant tool of all - YOUR BRAIN!Use it.

(June 24, 2004) Once known asthe showcase for computer technol-ogy, the fall 2004 addition ofCOMDEX has been cancelled by itsproducers. From a high of 2,500exhibitors and attendees approach-ing 300,000, last falls' event had lessthat 500 exhibitors. The largest wereMicrosoft and Dell.

MediaLive purchased theCOMDEX show last year. Theyannounced that their goal is torebuild the show and return in 2005.There will be a board of corpora-tions helping with this rebuildingeffort. Members include AMD,Borland, EMC, Global TechnologyDistribution Council, Microsoft,Oracle, Samsung, Cisco, Dell andIntel. Missing from the list are IBMand HP, both having left COMDEXa few years ago.

"While we could still run a prof-itable Comdex this year, it does notbenefit the industry to do so withoutbroader support of the leading tech-nology companies. In order to givethe Advisory Board the time andopportunity necessary to partake inthe redesign of Comdex, we thoughtit best to postpone this year's show."said Robert Priest-Heck, presidentand CEO of MediaLive, in a pre-pared statement.

Officially COMDEX has beenrescheduled for November 13-17,2005. Behind the scenes this appearsto be the end the once great tradeshow.

Note: APCUG's User Group FallConference is still scheduled forNovember 12-16, 2004. Watch forannouncements at www.apcug.org

Comdex 2004


By Bob (The Cheapskate) Click,Greater Orlando Computer UsersGroup

Some Rebates Aren't So Bad We've all heard horror stories

about rebates and I seldom purchaseanything with a rebate unless it's agood deal even without the rebate. Irecently purchased an 80-gig exter-nal Western Digital hard drive for$110 that had two rebates, one for$30 and another for $20. After mail-ing them, I noticed I had mailed thewrong barcode. A month later Ireceived a postcard telling me I hadnot included the UPC barcode andoffering the opportunity to resubmitit, which I did for the $30 rebate.Several days later, I received thesame notice for the $20 rebate, butmisplaced that card. Since I hadonly seven days to resubmit it, Ithought all was lost when I finallyfound it too late.

I gave up on that rebate, but wasfiling another for a free telephoneand was confused about something.I called the 800 number they provid-ed for questions, and got my answer.Before she hung-up, she asked if shecould be of any further help and Ilaughingly told her about the one Ihad misplaced and the time hadexpired. She said it was no problemand after giving her my information,she fixed it and got it back in theprocess. It was an OfficeMax rebate,which I have since received.

Since then, I called the OfficeMaxrebate center about another one Ihadn't received after almost a year. Iwas told the Seattle rebate center itwas mailed to was closed, but hewould fix it. I received the acknowl-edgement by e-mail the next day,

and the check a week later.Fortunately, I have not lost anyrebates so far.

Ain't Technology Grand?Trade shows often have magazine

stands with interesting ones to read.At the Home Electronics Expo Ifound ElectronicHouse [http://www.electronichouse.com ]which I enjoyed, and this itemcaught my eye. We have oftenlooked in our bathroom vanity'smirror. What about one that mayseem like it morphs? Royal PhillipsElectronics has developed a newtwist for the bathroom vanity calledMirror TV, and it might be lookingback at you, sort of. It will turn intoa TV screen that could be showingyour favorite news broadcast orstock reports. How about that ---turned off, it's a mirror, or on, it's aTV! When offered, it will firstappear in hotels, then to home userssometime in 2005. What about ifyour stock is dropping? Don't watchit too long or you may shut off thecirculation to your legs. Can they besued for that? Probably!

ElectronicHouse also had an arti-cle about putting your audio systemon IP. Giving your speakers theirown IP address properly can makeamazing improvements to thesound. I was also looking throughan issue of FlatPanel World that hadinteresting articles. It is a new pub-lication by CE-Pro. One articleoffers explanations about varioustypes of flat panel displays. I didn'tsee a Web site except for the parentmagazine's [ http://www.ce-pro.com] Author Robert Archer stresses thatdealers should know the differencebetween LCD (Liquid CrystalDisplay) and LCOS (Liquid Crystal

On Silicon) as well as plasma dis-play technologies when giving theirsales pitch. He explains them allincluding DLP (Digital LightProcessing) and explains the impor-tance of calibration on a thin screen,which can cost upward of $300. Hediscusses some technologies ofplasma displays. I saw several greatarticles about FPDs (Flat PanelDisplays) and audio techniques.

In Digital Connect Magazine'sMarch issue [ http://www.digital-connectmag.com ], I read an articleconcerning the licensing of lowvoltage integrators (installers). I'llbet many of you didn't know that insome states, integrators who workwith low voltage systems, such asremote controlled lighting,audio/video or telephone systems,must be licensed. Their licensepresently specifies 50 volts or less.One state is considering a billrequiring home installers perform-ing electrical work at more than 50volts to obtain high voltage licenses.CEDA (Consumer ElectronicDesign and Installation Assoc.) islobbying the state to classify high-voltage projects as starting at 100volts, a level that would not shut outintegrators with a low voltagelicense from working with audio,video and home telephone systems.You might think that anybody couldpull in some low voltage cables andhook them up according to the colorcode, but an experienced integratorfor that type of wiring would knowthe importance of the proper wireand routing to eliminate interferenceand other problems. From my ownexperience installing auto audio,wire placement is extremely impor-tant. Not just anybody is capable ofalways installing a successful inte-

The Deals Guy


The Deals Guy (cont.)grated digital system without expe-rience.

With home wiring turning towardIT more and more, appliances andcontrols are also changing. Forexample, you are all familiar withyour AC/heat thermostat, whichoriginally had only the ability toturn the system on or off. Times arechanging --- new controls are capa-ble of talking to the appliances aswell as controlling them. Otherappliances will become the sameway in the future. New technologiespretty much lets your home thinkfor itself. I hope mine doesn't getmad at me for neglecting it!

Last Minute ChangesTwo vendors pulled out at the last

minute because their material sup-pliers are raising prices at a dramat-ic rate and they want that to stabi-lize, so here are some things I havekept in reserve. Also, if you forgotto take advantage of the greatExecutive Software Deal, I thinkthey will still honor it, but act soon[http://consumer.execsoft.com/home.asp ]. Don't forget also theMailWasher deal from last month.[http://www.firetrust.com/prod-ucts/pro/ ].

A Nice Tool For TeachingAbout Computers

This item has limited interest atbest for my readers, but since wehave teachers in our user groups, Iam including it. Some larger usergroups also have hardware SIGs,some of which are structured andmight be interested in this product,although it may be too costly for aSIG. While browsing through the"Association For Technical AndEducation Show" I saw many types

of training stations and this onecaught my eye. It is a "PersonalComputer Training Station" withthe motherboard, keyboard andsome other components mounted onthe top, easily accessible rightbefore your eyes. Pull out a drawerand you will find the drives, whichcan be snapped out of their respec-tive holders and quickly unplugged.It has a custom-built 350-watt ULpower supply and supportsAT/ATX/P4 motherboards. It alsooffers high-speed hard drive dupli-cation capability.

This is a sort of breadbox typeworkstation and everything is veryhandy. Go to [ http://www.atp-p51.com ] where you can get moreinformation and pictures of theproduct. The guy said he was unableto offer a deal because he dependson distributors.

Opt Out Of SpywareAccording to Kim Komando, the

Network Advertising Initiative, [http://www.networkadvertising.org] helps you drop both DoubleClickand Avenue A Inc., known for spy-ware. I haven't tried it yet.

Accidentally Deleted ThosePictures?

Don't worry, if you were usingyour digital camera and, with a slipof the finger, you deleted somethingfrom your Smart Media or CompactFlash Card that you later want, hereis the answer. Just go to [http://www.z-a-recovery.com/digi-tal_image_recovery.htm ] anddownload Zero Assumption DigitalImage Recovery at no cost to you.Even though it says no image isthere, if it used to be there, this pro-gram will recover it. Thank God for

freebies, and for Bob Schuchman ofSan Diego PC UG who wrote aboutthis one some time ago in theirnewsletter.

That's it for this month. Meet mehere again next month if your editorpermits. This column is written tomake user group members aware ofspecial offers or freebies I havefound or arranged, and my com-ments should not be interpreted toencourage, or discourage, the pur-chase of any products, no matterhow enthused I might sound. Bob(The Cheapskate) Click [[email protected] ].

Have you visiteda SIG lately?

We now have over 20

Special Interest Groups.

Surely at least one of the

SIGs would be of benefit

to you. Check the

KIPCUG Planner on page

13 or the KIPCUG

Special Interest Group

Directory on page 14.

RAFFLETHIS MONTH


Name Position Home Work Email AddressCharley May President 425-4604 [email protected] Buzan Vice-President 639-7647 [email protected] SecretaryAnthony Krainski Treasurer 429-5155 [email protected] Langdon Program Director 245-8132 [email protected] Setree Membership Director 452-9851 [email protected] McArdle Volunteer Director 458-7269 [email protected] Miller SIG Director 749-5892 [email protected] Moore Editor 499-5222 [email protected] Henderson Webmaster 812-945-1102 [email protected] Publicity DirectorMike Shaikun Legal Advisor 425-3326 587-3540 [email protected] Rothstein Review Editor 451-3874 [email protected] Garst Director 897-2820Finis Gentry Director 228-3964 [email protected] Denning Director 502-550-6106 [email protected] Birch SIG Leader 429-0506 [email protected] Boneck SIG Leader 345-3384 812-941-0225 [email protected] Campion SIG Leader 810-9125 [email protected] Combs Durso SIG Leader 452-8471 [email protected] Garr SIG Leader 239-5335 [email protected] Kilpatrick SIG Leader 969-6983 [email protected] McCormick SIG Leader 935-2497 [email protected] (Preferred)Flave Reising SIG Leader [email protected] Scanlan SIG Leader 502-477-1639 477-1639 [email protected] Smith SIG Leader 897-7718 [email protected] Stenger SIG Leader 502-252-8643 [email protected] Travelstead SIG Leader 375-4796 852-4761 [email protected] Viele SIG Leader 452-6878 [email protected]

Changes for mailing address, email address or telephone numbers should be sent to Beverly Setree, Directorof Membership. You can send the change to the KIPCUG mailing address printed on the back of this Magazineor by email to [email protected].

Directory of KIPCUG Leaders

For Your Information


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ACCESS PROGRAMMING SIG - Meets 10:30 AMon the 4th Saturday of the month at the Main Branch ofthe LFPL at 4th and York Streets. Contact SIGLEADER John Kilpatrick at 969-6983 or [email protected] USERS SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the3rd Friday of the month at CCUM at 4614 BrownsboroRoad (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane) in the ComputerLab (Room 222). Contact SIG LEADER Tom Scanlanat 1-502-477-1639 or [email protected] ACCESS SIG - Meets 10:00 AM on the 2ndSaturday of the month at NHCLC at 10200 Linn StationRoad in the Triad East Bldg. Contact SIG LEADERAlan Birch at 429-0506 or [email protected] EXCEL SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 1stFriday of the month at CCUM at 4614 BrownsboroRoad (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane) in the ComputerLab (Room 222). Contact CO-SIG LEADER FlaveReising at [email protected] OUTREACH SIG - Meets on June 25at CCUM in the Computer Lab. Contact SIG COORDI-NATOR Charley May at 425-4604 or [email protected] PHOTOGRAPHY SIG - Meets 6:30 PMon the 4th Tuesday of the month at the LFPL-Bon AirRegional, 2816 Del Rio Place. Contact SIG DIREC-TOR Brian Miller at [email protected] or 749-5892EXCEL INTERMEDIATE SIG - Meetings on Hold -Meets 6:30 PM on the 2nd Friday of the month atCCUM. Contact SIG DIRECTOR Brian Miller [email protected] or 749-5892FLASH MANAGER DATABASE SIG - Meetingson Hold - Meets 6:30 PM on the 3rd Wednesday of themonth at the LFPL-Bon Air Regional, 2816 Del RioPlace. Contact SIG DIRECTOR Brian Miller [email protected] or 749-5892GENEALOGY SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 3rdMonday of the month at the LFPL-Eline Branch at St.Matthews City Hall Building at the corner of GrandviewAve. and Fairfax Ave. about 3 blocks south ofShelbyville Rd. Contact SIG LEADER Susan Moore at 499-5222 - [email protected] (www.win.net/mooresk)GENEALOGY II SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 2ndThursday of the month at the LFPL-JeffersontownBranch, 10635 Watterson Trail. Contact SIG LEADERSusan Moore at 499-5222 or [email protected] SIG - Meets 6:30 PM the 1st Mondayof the month at the LFPL-Eline Branch at St. MatthewsCity Hall Building, the corner of Grandview Ave./FairfaxAve. 3 blocks south of Shelbyville Rd. Contact CO-SIGLEADERS Grant McCormick at [email protected] Charley May at [email protected] or 425-4604INTERMEDIATE USERS SIG - Meets 6:30 PM onthe 4th Monday of the month at CCUM at 4614Brownsboro Road (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane) in theComputer Lab (Room 222). Contact SIG LEADER JimTravelstead at [email protected] or 852-4761(W), 375-4796(H)INVESTING SIG - Meets 6:30 PM the 2nd Thursdayof the month at the Louisville Aero Club, Bowman

Field. Contact SIG LEADER Doc Viele at 452-6878LINUX SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 3rd Wednesdayof the month at the n+1 office located at 3415Bardstown Road, Suite 208. CO-SIG LEADERS RobCoffey and Jacob Wilkins. Contact TEAM MEMBERJack Link at [email protected] LAB SIG - Meets 10:00 AM the 4th Saturdayof the month at the LFPL-Eline Branch at St. MatthewsCity Hall Building at the corner of Grandview Ave. &Fairfax Ave. 3 blocks south of Shelbyville Rd. CO-SIGLEADERS Rob Coffey and Jacob Wilkins. ContactTEAM MEMBER Jack Link at [email protected] USERS SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 2ndMonday of the month at the NHCLC at 10200 LinnStation Road in Suite 110 of the Triad East Bldg.Contact SIG LEADER Charley May at [email protected] USERS DAYTIME SIG "NEW" - Meets 2:00PM on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at CCUM at 4614Brownsboro Road (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane) in theComputer Lab (Room 222). Contact SIG LEADERWinnie Miller at [email protected] USERS SW SIG "NEW" - Meets 6:30 PM onthe 2nd Wednesday of the month at the SouthwestRegional Library at 10375 Dixie Highway. Contact SIGLEADER Grant McCormick at [email protected] (PALM OS) SIG - Meetings on Hold - Meets6:30 PM on the 3rd Tuesday of the month at a locationto be determined. Contact SIG DIRECTOR Brian Millerat [email protected] or 749-5892TECHNICAL MARKET ANALYSIS SIG - Meets6:30 PM on the 4th Tuesday of the month at LouisvilleFree Public Library, Crescent Hill Branch, 2752Frankfort Avenue in the lower level meeting room.Contact SIG LEADER Myron Smith at 897-7718 [email protected] SIG "NEW" - New Date - Meets 6:30 PMon the 4th Thursday of the month at CCUM at 4614Brownsboro Road (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane) in theComputer Lab (Room 222). Contact CO-SIG LEAD-ERS Tom McArdle at [email protected] orCharley May at [email protected] or 425-4604VISUAL BASIC SIG - Meets 6:30 PM on the 1stThursday of the month at the LFPL-Bon Air Regional,2816 Del Rio Place. Contact SIG LEADER MartinCampion 810-9125 or [email protected] SIG - Meets on the 3rd Thursday ofthe month at 6:30 PM at Win.Net located at 1048Chestnut St. Contact SIG LEADER John Henderson [email protected] or 812-945-1102WINDOWS OS SIG - New Date/Location - Meets onthe 3rd Tuesday of the month at 6:30 PM at CCUM at4614 Brownsboro Road (US 42 & Blankenbaker Lane)in the Computer Lab (Room 222). Contact SIGLEADER Keith Stenger at [email protected] SIG - Meetings on Hold - Meets 6:30 PM onthe 4th Friday of the month at CCUM. Contact SIGLEADER Joan Combs Durso at 452-8471 [email protected]

KIPCUG Special Interest Group Directory


By Brian Miller, KIPCUG

Where to find the scoop on your Special Interest Group

HEADLINE NEWS

Let me start by introducingmyself. My name is Brian Millerand will be serving you as the newKIPCUG SIG DIRECTOR. I amvery appreciative to Bill Edwardsand the kind words he had to say inlast months issue and hope to liveup to the high standards that he hasset for this role. I want to thank Billpersonally for his contribution toKIPCUG over the past two yearsand for his dedication to KIPCUGas a whole. I am sure that as Bill hasstepped down from this position hewill still be very visible and activewithin KIPCUG.

Now, let's talk computers. If youare anything like me, you have avery busy summer and not muchdowntime. With the daylightextended, it seems like midnight bythe time I sit down to check emailor work on the many computer pro-jects I have going. I just want toencourage you, and myself includ-ed to continue to support the excel-lent SIGs that KIPCUG has to offer.Now is the perfect time to invitepeople to come with you to a SIGmeeting. With my new positionwithin KIPCUG, I plan to visit allof the SIGs at one time or another. Iwould like to challenge you asmembers to try to visit a SIG otherthan the ones you are attending reg-ularly this summer. You may nothave a deep interest in that subject,but it will give you the informationneeded to invite someone you meetwho may be interested in that verytopic. Who knows, you may discov-

er a new area of interest for your-self.

John Henderson did a great job atthe June General Meeting givingthe demonstration of SnagIt. I wasblown away by the extensive fea-tures that are now available in thistool for such a reasonable price. Ihave downloaded the trial versionat work and plan on purchasing assoon as the trial runs out. I didn'teven take advantage of the lowerprice at the meeting, but still feelthis is a great value. If any of youhave the need for technical docu-mentation, this is the right tool forthe job. Everyone knows that a pic-ture is worth a thousand words andwith SnagIt, you can speak vol-umes.

Whatever your area of interest iscurrently or what you may want tolearn about, there is a SIG out therefor you. So come visit some of theSIGs. The SIGs and the GeneralMeetings are open to any and allguests.

If you don't see one that peaksyour interest then email me a let meknow what would. I am alwaysopen to your comments and sugges-tions for the SIGs. After all, this isyour user group.

KIPCUG SIGs are still lookingfor NEW meeting places. Pleasekeep your eyes and ears open fornew SIG meeting locations andreport suggestions to KIPCUG SIGDIRECTOR Brian Miller at 749-5892 or [email protected] should hold 12-24 per-sons and Internet connections and,if possible, computers for the atten-dees would be a plus.

ACCESSPROGRAMMING SIG

NOTE: TIME CHANGE

The July 24 meeting will continuewith the same format as the Junemeeting. Bring an Access program-ming problem and we will findsome suggestions for you. Seeinghow someone else approaches theproblem may be just the inspirationyou need.

The ACCESS PROGRAMMINGSIG assumes a good workingknowledge of Access, focusing onprogramming and advanced tech-niques. If you have found a greatsolution to a problem in Access,please come share it with us. If youhave a problem or topic you wouldlike to learn about, please emailSIG LEADER John Kilpatrick [email protected]. Come join us thefourth Saturday at the Main Branchof the Louisville Free PublicLibrary downtown 10:30 AM to12:30 PM.

ADVANCED USERSSIG

The ADVANCED USERS SIGwill meet again on Friday, July 16,at 6:30 PM in the CCUM ComputerLab, Room 222.

Our June 18 meeting was an opendiscussion on current topics such asthe SCO lawsuit and the Anti-Spamregulations. We also resolved some

The SIG Scene


individual user problems wherespyware had hijacked the user'sbrowser.

The last several meetings we havebeen looking at "computer securi-ty". Many people use firewalls andantivirus programs, but perhaps it isthe application software we use thatput us at risk, especially our brows-er and email software. At the July16 meeting, we will be continuingour look at security. Knowing moreabout how we are at risk and how toavoid attack is becoming a majorconcern for every user. Come learnand share what you know.

The ADVANCED USERS SIGexplores software and hardwaretopics of interest to people verycomfortable with their computerand who want to know more. Weencourage everyone to share theirexperience so we can all learn andgrow in areas we would not normal-ly venture into.

We meet in the Computer Lab,Room 222, of Christ Church UnitedMethodist, 4614 Brownsboro Road(US 42 at Blankenbaker Lane) onthe third Friday of each month at6:30 PM. To be added to the SIGemail list, contact Tom at 502-477-1639 or at [email protected] andenter 'Add me to the ADVANCEDUSERS SIG' in the subject line.

BASIC ACCESS SIG

The BASIC ACCESS SIG wascancelled for June. Please watch foryour email notification on July'smeeting. SIG LEADER Alan Birch

unfortunately has been out of thecountry.

The BASIC ACCESS SIG meetsthe second Saturday at the NewHorizons Computer LearningCenter from 10 AM to Noon. If youhave a topic, something to share orjust want to learn more aboutAccess, come join us. Send sugges-tions to SIG LEADER Alan Birch,429-0506 or [email protected] BASIC ACCESS SIG uses thetools available within Access with-out programming.

BASIC EXCEL SIG

The BASIC EXCEL SIG willNOT meet in July -- have a greatJuly 4 holiday!

In August, Jim Boneck, theinstructor for this SIG, will be con-tinuing his concentration on thebasics of Excel spreadsheets. Thiswill be an opportunity for KIPCUGmembers and guests who have notused Excel to join the class and forregular attendees to brush up ontheir skills. Time will be allowedfor practice. Come early to get acomputer as this is a hands-on class.

This SIG is held the first Friday ofeach month in the Computer Lab,Room 222, of Christ Church UnitedMethodist, 4614 Brownsboro Rd.,which is the same location as theGeneral Meeting. Enter the buildingat the office entrance on the side ofthe church. Room 222 is straightdown the hall on the left.

The BASIC EXCEL SIG assumes

no working knowledge of MSExcel, but assumes one is familiarwith MS Windows.

To be added to the email list or tosuggest topics send a message toFlave Reising [email protected] with"BASIC EXCEL SIG" on the sub-ject line. You can contact JimBoneck at [email protected].

Hope to see you at the meeting.Bring a friend or family member!

COMMUNITY OUTREACHSIG

The COMMUNITY OUTREACHSIG will restart June 25 at 6:30 PMin the Computer Lab, Room 222, atChrist Church United Methodist.Our first project will be to repair thecomputers in the Computer Lab atCCUM where we hold some of ourSIGs. At this meeting we will beginsome of the work on the computersand also have an OrganizationalMeeting to decide when the SIGwill meet along with other details.

This SIG has been able to providea valuable community service to thedisadvantaged residents of theLouisville area. We are open to yoursuggestions for other projects.

For more info or comments, con-tact SIG COORDNATOR CharleyMay at 425-4604 or [email protected] be added to the email notifica-tion list, please type "Add me to theCOMMUNITY OUTREACH SIGList" in the subject line.

The SIG Scene (cont.)


DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHYSIG

The topic for the July 27 meetingat 6:30 PM to be held at the LFPLBon Air Branch, 2816 Del RioPlace will be announced by email.

The DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHYSIG met Tuesday, June 22. MattChojnowski presented a multi ses-sion program beginning with Part 1,Improving Your Digital ImagesWith Your Own Digital Camera.

The SIG will examine softwareand hardware topics that will makeyour digital photographic experi-ence more rewarding. Members atany level of experience and ownersof any type of digital camera arewelcome.

The DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHYSIG meets monthly at 6:30 PM onthe fourth Tuesday at the LFPL BonAir Branch, 2816 Del Rio Place. Tobe added to the SIG's advancenotice list, please send an email toSIG DIRECTOR Brian Miller [email protected]. Pleaseinclude DIGITAL PHOTOGRA-PHY SIG in the subject line.

EXCEL INTERMEDIATESIG

The EXCEL INTERMEDIATESIG assumes a working knowledgeof Excel and familiarity with mostof the Excel icons. There are many,many functions that are available in

Excel that few of us realize canmake our lives easier. Due to lowattendance, the EXCEL INTER-MEDIATE SIG has been suspend-ed. We hope that the SIG willresume soon if KIPCUG membersexpress sufficient interest.

To be added to the email list or tostate your interest in this SIG, sendan email to [email protected] type "EXCEL INTERMEDI-ATE SIG" in the subject line.

FLASH MANAGERDATABASE SIG

The FLASH MANAGER DATA-BASE SIG will not be meeting untilfurther notice due to health issues ofour SIG LEADER Don Garr. Pleasekeep Don and his family in yourthoughts and prayers.

If you or someone you knowwould like to be on the mailing listfor the FLASH MANAGERDATABASE SIG please send anemail to Brian Miller [email protected] and typeFLASH MANAGER DATABASESIG in the subject line.

GENEALOGY SIG

The presentation for the July 19GENEALOGY SIG will be on spe-cific reports. The first is locatingrecords for a particular cemetery,church, hospital or nursing home.The second is finding people that do

not have particular events like abirth or a death record. The thirdtype is finding people that you havea particular record for like a birth ordeath, but that your flag still saysthat you need the record. Thesereports can assist you with yourresearch and help audit the validityof your records.

The presentation for the June 21GENEALOGY SIG was on CensusRecords. Discussed were tips tolocate your records, how to use thecensus data and how to enter datainto the Excel forms that has beencreated for your use. The 1930Excel format was available at themeeting and will soon be availableon the web site. A handout was pro-vided.

Since TMG version 5 is nowavailable as a complete product, weare switching to version 5. Now isthe time to jump in so that you getall of the tips and tricks from thebeginning. The current version is5.13, which was released in May.

The GENEALOGY SIG meets atthe LFPL Eline Branch at 6:30 PMon the third Monday each month.SIG LEADER Susan Moore and allof the SIG's attendees are lookingfor YOU to join us at a future meet-ing. If you have any particular ques-tions before the next meeting,please email SIG LEADER SusanMoore at [email protected]. If youwant a map or directions on how toget to the GENEALOGY SIG, go towww.win.net/mooresk.


RAFFLETHIS MONTH


GENEALOGY II SIG

The GENEALOGY II SIG willhave its next meeting on July 8 andwill continue to meet monthly onthe second Thursday at 6:30 PM atthe Louisville Free Public LibraryJeffersontown Branch.

This SIG is going to be an infor-mal Q&A session without anyhandouts. Topics are not announcedahead of time because the partici-pants will determine the content ofthe meeting. Short subjects may bepresented from time to time whenthere are insufficient questions.

If you have any particular ques-tions before the next meeting,please email SIG LEADER SusanMoore at [email protected]. If youwant a map or directions on how toget to the SIG, go towww.win.net/mooresk and click onthe GENEALOGY II SIG.

HARDWARE SIG

The July meeting of the HARD-WARE SIG will not be held as wecelebrate the Fourth of July holiday.Our next meeting will be August 2at 6:30 PM at the LFPL ElineBranch. Early plans call for ademonstration of new printer tech-nology. Co-SIG LEADER CharleyMay will show the group a newEpson printer that can create animage directly on special CD's.

The June 7 meeting continued our

review of network systems. Co-SIGLEADER Grant McCormack creat-ed an 802.11g network and sharedan Internet connection through anopen network to members' laptopsand his own desktop PC. Thishands-on presentation gave thegroup a step-by-step understandingof how to create their own wirelessnetwork using the router's advancedset-up options. We also attemptedto stabilize the operating system onan older PC and prepared a laptopfor a keyboard replacement.

If you have a hardware problemthat you would like us to work on,contact Grant or Charley to setaside time in the next availablemeeting to work on your machine.With advance planning, you maynot need to bring as much of yourcomputer equipment with you andthe HARDWARE SIG TEAM canbe better prepared to resolve yourproblem.

This SIG meets in the secondfloor meeting room at the ElineBranch of the LFPL in St.Matthews at 6:30 PM on the firstMonday of the month. If you wouldlike to receive a reminder notice ofour SIG meetings, contact us [email protected] and please put thewords HARDWARE SIG list in themessage header.

INTERMEDIATE USERSSIG

For the July 26 meeting, the topicwill be announced through email.

The INTERMEDIATE USERS

SIG meets in the Computer Lab,Room 222, of CCUM at 6:30 PMmonthly on the fourth Monday.CCUM is at 4614 BrownsboroRoad (US 42) at the BlankenbakerLane traffic light. Directions are onthe CCUM web site atwww.ccum.net and on the KIPCUGweb site at www.kipcug.org.

At the June 28 meeting, we had aQ & A session where attendeesasked technical questions for thegroup to answer and resolve.

The INTERMEDIATE USERSSIG focuses on the various versionsof MS Windows software, its fea-tures, method of operation, prob-lems and all the hints and tips thatJim knows you will be interested in.Topics suggested at meetings dousually become future meeting top-ics. This SIG is for users who arecomfortable with the daily use oftheir computer and want to learnmore. In other words, you havemastered your fear of computersand are willing to push the envelopea little. We welcome discussion anda chance for everyone to learn.

If you have any questions or sug-gestions for meeting topics, bringthem to the SIG or email Jim [email protected] andJim will have your answer at thenext SIG meeting. Want to get onJim's email notification list? Sendhim a short note with "Add me tothe KIPCUG INTERMEDIATEUSERS SIG meeting email list" inthe subject line.


RAFFLETHIS MONTH


INVESTING SIG

SIG LEADER Doc Viele moder-ates the INVESTING SIG discus-sions, which have been ongoingsince 1986. There were four atten-dees at the June 10 meeting.Meetings consist of round tableinformation exchanges on any eco-nomic subject of current interest.Questions and presentations areencouraged.

The next SIG meeting willinclude general information oninvesting and the usual informationexchange. The INVESTING SIGmeets the second Thursday of themonth at the Louisville Aero Clubat 6:30 PM. This is not an invest-ment club; they DO NOT discussmutual funds.

LINUX SIG

The LINUX SIG meets at 6:30PM on the third Wednesday of eachmonth. Meetings are now beingheld at the n+1 office, 3415Bardstown Road, Suite 208. Fromthe Watterson Expressway, go southon Bardstown Road past the secondtraffic signal to the only four-storybuilding directly across fromShowcase Cinemas. Turn left intothe driveway between the four-story building and Ken Towery's.Park in the back of the building andenter through the rear door. Then+1 office is on the second floor,Suite 208.

The next LINUX SIG meeting isscheduled for Wednesday, July 21,at 6:30 PM.

At the June meeting, JacobWilkins made a presentation on filesystems and directory structuresused in Linux. Next month, thetopic will be: "Linux, is this theoperating system for you?" Futuresubjects may include such topics ascompiling and configuring theLinux kernel; how to patch the ker-nel; the X windows system; powermanagement; and end user appsthat run under Linux. It is the SIG'sintention to approach these subjectsas broadly as possible in order thatthe information applies to as manyversions of GNU/Linux as possible.

Please come, support the LINUXSIG and bring your suggestions tohelp give SIG LEADERS RobCoffey and Jacob Wilkins from n+1a direction for this SIG. If you arean established user of Linux, pleasecome help with a future presenta-tion.

Want to be notified about futuremeeting subjects? To be added tothe meeting reminder list, send anemail to TEAM MEMBER JackLink at [email protected] with"LINUX SIG" in the subject line.

LINUX LAB SIG

The LINUX LAB SIG meets eachmonth to assist attendees with theinstallation and configuration ofGNU/Linux on their personal com-puters. These meetings are held onthe fourth Saturday morning ofeach month, 10:00 AM until Noon,

at the Eline Branch of theLouisville Free Public Library inthe upstairs meeting room. Nextmeeting is July 24. The LINUXTEAM, including experiencedmembers from n+1, will be there tohelp YOU get your Linux box upand running.

In addition to their computerhardware, attendees are asked tobring the Linux distribution of theirchoice. The computer should have aworking CDROM drive and prefer-ably have a hard drive with suffi-cient free space for installing theoperating system and distributionapplications (3GB or more is ideal).If your BIOS can not boot fromCDROM, a couple of blank floppydisks are also required.

KIPCUG can not be responsiblefor the loss of any data on the harddrive; so be sure you have backedup any irreplaceable files.

These meetings are a lot of fun,and oftentimes provide the opportu-nity to see how others useGNU/Linux. The LINUX LAB SIGis always looking for membersinterested in finding out how toinstall, setup and operate theGNU/Linux Operating System ontheir computer. So, drag that oldused computer out of the closet andbring it to the LINUX LAB SIG.After the meeting, we may go tolunch (daytime PIG SIG) at W. W.Cousins or Burger King.

Want to be notified each monthabout future meetings? To be addedto the meeting reminder list, emailTEAM MEMBER Jack Link [email protected] and type"LINUX SIG" in the subject line.



NEW USERS SIG

The next meeting of the NEWUSERS SIG will be July 12. SIGLEADER Charley May presents arepeating series on basic computeroperation. You are invited to bringyour questions, too. We will startthe series over in July so now isyour chance to jump in at the begin-ning.

The NEW USERS SIG holds itsmeetings on the second Monday ofeach month from 6:30 to 8:30 PM.We meet at the New HorizonsComputer Learning Center, 10200Linn Station Road in Suite 110 ofthe Triad East Building.

At the June meeting, we coveredMicrosoft Word topics. We addedand used buttons on the MS Wordtoolbar for operations like insert aSymbol, changing text to All Capsand easily increasing or decreasingfont size with the click of one but-ton or key. We also covered (handson): copy and paste, cut and paste,inserting graphics, writing a letterand fancy touches - colors, fontsand more even including convertingtext to tables.

So, if you just want to review oryou are a new computer user (akayou received your first computerrecently), please consider comingto the NEW USERS SIG. We don'tgo too fast. We start with the basicsand gradually build the new usersknowledge and skills. You willhave a computer to use whileCharley May leads attendeesthrough each step of every feature.

You will learn more by followingthe presentation on the computerand watching the presentation onthe projector screen. SIG TEAMMEMBERS Dick McGavic andSusan Moore and SIG LEADERCharley May will assist you if youget hung up during the presentation.Now is the time to jump in, so grabyour pad, pencil and floppy diskand come meet with us, have somefun and learn something new!

If you want to be on the NEWUSERS SIG email notice list,please type "NEW USERS SIGEmail List" on the subject line ofyour email and send it [email protected].

If eating before the meeting is aproblem, please consider ouroptional "PIG SIG" that follows theSIG at a restaurant down the street.We always try to cover any addi-tional questions at the PIG SIG.

NEW USERS DAYTIMESIG (NEW)

At the July 20 meeting, SIGLEADER Winnie Miller will takethe group deeper into basicWindows functions. Members willfind out how to save files, associatefile extensions with programs,review any problems on openingand using floppies, continue withWord on changing color and size oftext and begin finding sites on thewebsite. There will be lots of prac-tice.

On June 15, the NEW USERSDAYTIME SIG met for the first

time and began with the most basictasks a computer user needs to con-trol their machine. Membersworked with floppy disks, worddocuments and input devices.

No problem is too big or too smallto be addressed by this group. Wewill take the time you need tobecome confident with your com-puter and your ability to master it.We meet from 2:00 to 4:00 PM onthe third Tuesday of the month inthe Computer Lab, Room 222, ofCCUM.

To get a reminder of the nextmeeting or to add topics for discus-sion, contact SIG LEADER WinnieMiller at [email protected].

NEW USERS SW SIG(NEW)

KIPCUG has started a secondNEW USERS SIG, which is locat-ed at the Southwest RegionalLibrary, 10375 Dixie Highway.NEW USERS SW SIG LEADERGrant McCormick will meet on thesecond Wednesday of each month.The next meeting will be July 14 at6:30 PM.

Please try to attend and bring afriend. We have plenty of room andan excellent setup for the facilities.

If you want to be on the NEWUSERS SW SIG email notice list,please type "NEW USERS SW SIGEmail List" on the subject line ofyour email and send it to Grant [email protected].



PDA (PALM OS) SIG

There are no scheduled meetingsfor the PDA SIG this month.

This SIG reviews and explores thehardware and software of PersonalDesk Assistants. SIG DIRECTORBrian Miller is searching for indi-viduals who are interested in re-forming this SIG.

Members using a PDA are urgedto contact Brian with their ideas forthis SIG. He can be contacted [email protected]. You will thenbe added to an email list foradvance notice of future meetingtopics, time and location.

TECHNICAL MARKETANALYSIS SIG

The topic for the July 27 meetingof the TMA SIG will be announcedby email.

The June 22 meeting of the TMASIG reviewed current market trendsand discussed the current technicalindicators and implications of thoseindicators. We continued to reviewtechnical analysis web sites and dis-cussed topics members bring to thegroup.

The TECHNICAL MARKETANALYSIS SIG meets on thefourth Tuesday of each month,except December, at 6:30 PM at theLouisville Free Public Library,Crescent Hill Branch, 2752

Frankfort Ave. in the lower levelmeeting room.

For more information on meetingsor topic information, contact SIGLEADER Myron Smith at 897-7718, or email him [email protected] to be addedto the email distribution list.

New attendees are encouraged tocome to the meetings to learn abouttechnical analysis and its applica-tion to the present market condi-tions. We generally have discus-sions about the present market, anduse any web-based indicators avail-able. Many times, we also havesomeone present topics of interestto anyone using technical analysis.

We are always looking for sugges-tions for topics of discussion, orsuggested presentations, by knowl-edgeable groups or individuals.Please send ideas to SIG LeaderMyron Smith [email protected].

UTILITIES SIG (NEW)

When we meet on July 23, ourtopic will be Windows registry edit-ing tools. The group will learn howto customize the Start Menu andDesktop; monitor changes to theRegistry, and how to create com-plete Registry backups.

At the June 24 meeting, Co-SIGLEADER Tom McArdle introducedthe members to Forte's Agent, apowerful newsreader and emailclient that opens the user to tens ofthousands of newsgroups, provid-ing information overload to internet

addicts worldwide. He then showedmembers how to configure theclient and how to work through themenu options.

This SIG examines an eclecticmix of freeware; shareware andretail programs that make your PCexperience more rewarding.Members are asked to bring blankmedia to exchange for free and trialversions of featured utilities.

The SIG meets at 6:30 PM on thefourth Thursday of the month in theComputer Lab, Room 222, atCCUM. To get advance details ofupcoming meetings, contact Co-SIG LEADERS Tom McArdle [email protected] or CharleyMay at [email protected].

VISUAL BASIC SIG

The July 1 meeting will focus onthe question of security for webhosted databases, a subject that isbecoming more important each day.Members will discuss some ideason ways to prevent unauthorizedaccess.

Our June 3 meeting at Bon AirLibrary began with an examinationof KIPCUG's new ProjectorTracker, a Web Application writtenin VB.Net by SIG LEADER MartinCampion and hosted on his web sitebecause it requires the .NetFramework to run. The applicationis designed to allow the authorizedusers of KIPCUG's projector tokeep track of who has the projectorand to put their names and dates ona schedule. The schedule allows allusers to get an idea of who will



have the projector when they needit. The data is kept in a smallAccess database and displayed onthe list control and a data grid con-trol.

The main topic was the use ofMySQL, an open source databaseserver, with VB.Net. Martinshowed how to find the files neededfor this application, and how toinstall them. He pointed out that hisweb hosting service supportsMySQL, charging only a smallsetup fee. One of the advantages ofusing MySQL is the possibility ofworking directly with the databaseon the site. More information on theMySQL/VB.Net connection will bethe subject of future meetings.

The VISUAL BASIC SIG meetseach month at 6:30 PM on the firstThursday at the LFPL Bon AirBranch, 2816 Del Rio Place.Contact SIG LEADER MartinCampion at [email protected] receive an advance notice ofmeeting activities.

WEBMASTERS SIG

The intermediate level of how tobuild your web site usingMicrosoft's FrontPage will be theJuly 15 topic. After a quick reviewfor those who didn't make the Junemeeting, we will be building sitesusing some of FrontPage's ability togo beyond basic HTML. Examples:Building custom forms and usingcontent from other pages.

On June 17, SIG LEADER JohnHenderson covered the basics ofbuilding your web site using

Microsoft's FrontPage. The entry-level seminar included the answersto many questions. We discussedthe difference between usingFrontPage web templates, thegraphic interface and plain HTML.

At www.inetwebmaster.com,there is additional information onthis month's topic, a map and sum-maries of our recent presentations.

Every WEBMASTERS SIG pro-gram includes tips or tools that youmay use to improve your web site.There is also a Q&A after the mainpresentation. KIPCUG membersare encouraged to ask for a reviewof their web pages.

We meet the third Thursday of themonth at 6:30 PM in the Win.Netoffices. To be added to the advancenotice list, please email Roger [email protected].

WINDOWS OS SIG

When the members assembleagain on July 20, SIG LEADERKeith Stenger will presentMicrosoft's Virtual PC client. Thisrobust software package allows onePC to become two or more inde-pendent machines, running differ-ent operating systems at the sametime. When installed, a user canswitch from one 'machine' to anoth-er with just a click of the mouse. Itis an amazing program that makesolder multi-boot software packagesobsolete.

At the June meeting, we reviewedthe expected upcoming changes inWindows XP. Keith installed

Service Pack 2, Release Candidate1 on his Windows XP laptop with-out a problem. He led the membersthrough a summary of all the areasmodified by the planned release.Target date is still sometime in July2004 for the final release.

The SIG includes topics coveringWindows Operating Systems from95 through 2003, with an emphasison changing technology. Member'sproblems and questions with theirO/S are addressed at every gather-ing.

The WINDOWS OS SIG meetsmonthly at 6:30 PM on the thirdTuesday in the Computer Lab,Room 222, at CCUM. Contact SIGLEADER Keith Stenger [email protected] to beadded to the advance notice list ofthis SIG's activities.

YOUTH SIG

We continue to evaluate the rede-velopment of this SIG. Please con-tinue checking the KIPCUG website for the latest information atwww.KIPCUG.org.

To sign up younger members or tovolunteer your assistance, contactSIG LEADER Joan Combs Dursoat [email protected] orSIG DIRECTOR Brian Miller [email protected].

This SIG's mission is to developand improve the computer skills ofpre-high school members. It coverstopics beyond those basic skillstaught in the school system.



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