Minutes of the May 1, 2009 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
The meeting was called to order in room 204 by President Norm Knox. The secretary read the business parts of the minutes of the April meeting, which were approved. Norm expressed thanks to the club for the get-well card signed by members at the April meeting. He was absent in April because of a medical procedure, which had a successful outcome. There was no old business to be considered by the club.
New business the May meeting consisted of the annual election of officers.Nominees for president were Bob Black and Norm Knox, but Bob withdrew, leaving Norm to be re-elected. Vice President Bill Goebel nominated Bob Black for the office of vice president. Bob accepted this nomination and was elected as the new vice president. Bill will continue as the club's technical advisor.The club re-elected Secretary Garth Peterson to his previous position.
Norm reminded club members of the availability of the club's laptop computer. (Interested members can call him at 370-3957.)
The club members then moved to the computer classroom for the technical part of the meeting. Bill Goebel began the classroom session by reviewing various points about using e-mail in Outlook Express. Outlook Express can also be used for participating in newsgroups, but not many computer users are involved in newsgroups lately, so Bill skipped over that part. When making changes in e-mail options, it is important to click on the Apply button in each window where changes are made to make sure the changes actually take effect. Changes in font sizes and font faces affect outgoing e-mail. Incoming e-mail is affected by the options chosen by the sender. If users want a spell checker to help compose e-mail messages, there are several possibilities available. Microsoft Word provides spell checking, but is charged software. Open Office has similar capabilities but is free. There are also spell checkers available for e-mail only that are not complete word processing packages. These can be found by searching for "freespell checker", but some sites that offer free software make the free software difficult to find, while making paid software very visible. When downloading software, it is important to right-click on the link to the software and choose the "save" option rather than the"run" option. Bill usually puts new downloaded software in a folder by itself before executing the downloaded installation program. New software that does not work well can usually be uninstalled, but in case this does not work, it is very desirable to make a restore point before installing it so that System Restore can back it out if uninstalling it does not work. Having an icon on the desktop for System Restore makes it easier to create restore points. Midco offers a combination of cable modem and router for under $100. Club members discussed whether this would be a good deal or whether separate components would be better. If a toolbar from MSN has gone missing, it can be obtained again from the MSN web site. MSN as a homepage can be set under Tools and Internet Options." Fact or Fiction" is a WWW site that is an alternative to Snopes.com. (Its complete address is http://www.factorfictionblog.com/ .) The "Computer GIG" meets on the second Friday of each month in the computer classroom from 10:00 to 11:30. See also http://siouxvalleygenealogicalsociety.org/Tips.html . Bill is using VodaHost (www.vodahost.com) to maintain this page. VodaHost charges, but the cost is modest, and it works well. Norton Anti-Virus should be uninstalled if it is not in use anymore. More memory is usually a cheap way to improve computer performance.The need for more memory can be checked by running msinfo32 in the Run box.
Bob Black reminded the members of the SeniorNet Conference coming on June 25. (See www.cfag.org/seniornet.htm for a list of topics of the break-out sessions.)
The June meeting will be about Facebook and Twitter. At this point it appears that club members have limited familiarity with Facebook, but those who have tried it like it.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
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Saturday, April 4, 2009
Minutes of Meeting - April 3, 2009
Minutes of the April 3, 2009 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204 in the absence of President Norm Knox, who was unable to be present. Bill announced a change in the planned program and offered to see members in need of assistance after the meeting. On a motion by Nellie Reeves, the club voted to accept the minutes of the March meeting as submitted by the secretary in e-mail.
Visitor Phyllis Knutson of the Sioux Valley Genealogical Society spoke to the club about the Genealogy Interest Group (GIG), which is new at the Center. This group will meet in the computer classroom at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of every month. Membership in the Center for Active Generations is not required of those who attend, but Center members pay $1 per meeting, while others pay $2.For further information, call 528-6375. Ms. Knutson also announced the expected presence in Sioux Falls of Rick Crume, contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine and a published author on genealogical subjects. Mr. Crume will be in Sioux Falls on April 17 and 18. For further information, call 275-4197 or visit http://siouxlandlib.org/adults/genealogy.aspx and http://siouxfallsevents.com/eventDetails.CFM?EventID=9225
Bill answered a couple of questions sent to him in e-mail. The first question was about how to uninstall Internet Explorer 8. System Restore can do this. The second question concerned a printer problem. Steps that may help a printer problem are as follows. Run the error checking program Check Disk (right-click the C: drive in My Computer, click on Properties, click on Tools, and click on Error-checking). Uninstall the printer and reinstall it. Use System Restore. Use a Web searcher such as Google to find help. Find and remove temporary files (files with the name pattern *.TMP).
The main part of the April meeting was a survey conducted by Justin Smorawske, Eric Sivertsen, and Kevin Kennedy of Epic Multimedia on behalf of the Good Samaritan Society. Members who chose to participate in the survey received a $5 gift card to use at a local business. Everybody opted in. The first part of the survey asked us general questions about our computer familiarity, Internet usage, and such. The second part was about our interest in long-term care and how we may choose this care. The third part asked for our reactions to the Web site of the the Good Samaritan Society with particular attention directed to the homepage of the Society and its page showing services in Sioux Falls.The survey was conducted in room 204, and the Web pages were projected onto a portable screen. This gave us more room to sit and write than we would have had in the computer classroom. The wireless service of the Center's router does not go as far as room 204, but a cable connection is available there that our visitors used. Members who were present signed a get-well card for the President. The club welcomes new members Eleanor Sturdevant and Carol Moon.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204 in the absence of President Norm Knox, who was unable to be present. Bill announced a change in the planned program and offered to see members in need of assistance after the meeting. On a motion by Nellie Reeves, the club voted to accept the minutes of the March meeting as submitted by the secretary in e-mail.
Visitor Phyllis Knutson of the Sioux Valley Genealogical Society spoke to the club about the Genealogy Interest Group (GIG), which is new at the Center. This group will meet in the computer classroom at 10:00 a.m. on the second Friday of every month. Membership in the Center for Active Generations is not required of those who attend, but Center members pay $1 per meeting, while others pay $2.For further information, call 528-6375. Ms. Knutson also announced the expected presence in Sioux Falls of Rick Crume, contributing editor for Family Tree Magazine and a published author on genealogical subjects. Mr. Crume will be in Sioux Falls on April 17 and 18. For further information, call 275-4197 or visit http://siouxlandlib.org/adults/genealogy.aspx and http://siouxfallsevents.com/eventDetails.CFM?EventID=9225
Bill answered a couple of questions sent to him in e-mail. The first question was about how to uninstall Internet Explorer 8. System Restore can do this. The second question concerned a printer problem. Steps that may help a printer problem are as follows. Run the error checking program Check Disk (right-click the C: drive in My Computer, click on Properties, click on Tools, and click on Error-checking). Uninstall the printer and reinstall it. Use System Restore. Use a Web searcher such as Google to find help. Find and remove temporary files (files with the name pattern *.TMP).
The main part of the April meeting was a survey conducted by Justin Smorawske, Eric Sivertsen, and Kevin Kennedy of Epic Multimedia on behalf of the Good Samaritan Society. Members who chose to participate in the survey received a $5 gift card to use at a local business. Everybody opted in. The first part of the survey asked us general questions about our computer familiarity, Internet usage, and such. The second part was about our interest in long-term care and how we may choose this care. The third part asked for our reactions to the Web site of the the Good Samaritan Society with particular attention directed to the homepage of the Society and its page showing services in Sioux Falls.The survey was conducted in room 204, and the Web pages were projected onto a portable screen. This gave us more room to sit and write than we would have had in the computer classroom. The wireless service of the Center's router does not go as far as room 204, but a cable connection is available there that our visitors used. Members who were present signed a get-well card for the President. The club welcomes new members Eleanor Sturdevant and Carol Moon.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
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Added note: On most PCs System Restore sets up restore points automatically at regular intervals. However, it is advisable to take an extra restore point manually ahead of any major system change. This provides a convenient place to roll back to when necessary. If a rollback is needed that goes back to an automatic restore point that is several days old, there is the problem of saving recent user data prior to the rollback. User data that is newer than the latest restore point should be downloaded into files from whatever software has it stored, and these files should be copied out to a backup medium before the rollback. The best backup medium is probably a recordable compact disk (CD-R).
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Minutes of Meeting - March 6, 2009
Minutes of the March 6, 2009 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
Prior to the meeting, printed copies of the list of member names and e-mail addresses were available.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The club discussed the question of how often the list of member names and e-mail addresses should be printed and handed out. On a motion by Bob Black, the club voted to have this list distributed every six months.The secretary will forward e-mail messages as needed to new members whose names and e-mail addresses are not on the most recent printed list.
Norm Knox mentioned SeniorNet facilities that are available to club members when they travel to other places. SeniorNet also has a Website that offers courses on a variety of topics besides just computer topics. These SeniorNet opportunities that go beyond SeniorNet courses in Sioux Falls do cost additional dollars. Norm reminded the members that letting the Center's office know about their interest in particular topics for computer classes can be helpful in getting their desired courses scheduled.
Due to a misunderstanding by the secretary, the name of Marvalyn Rollag was omitted from the printed list of members. She had wanted her name on the list, but without the e-mail address beside it. Members were given the opportunity to write in her name on their printed copies. The secretary apologized for two problems. The printed list came from the spreadsheet software, which prints small and has no option to increase the print size. The Yahoo e-mail account used for sending out the minutes has an invalid reply address which creates a problem for members who try to reply to a question that comes from that e-mail account.
Our speaker at this meeting was Charlotte Jaeschke. Ms. Jaeschke is Tax-Aide Coordinator for Sioux Falls for IRS and AARP. Tax-Aide is an all-volunteer group of tax-preparers, reviewers, facilitators, and the coordinator herself, who assist taxpayers of all ages who need help with their tax returns. Tax-Aide is jointly sponsored by AARP and the Internal Revenue Service. The volunteers use tax preparation software that runs on the preparers' PCs and Tax-Aide's highly reliable server. The IRS supplies this software. When taxpayer data is saved on the server, it is in encrypted form. The server has two hard drives that are mirrors of each other, and data is regularly copied and saved off-site on flash drives. During the off-season, all tax data is removed from the server and saved elsewhere and the server is put away in storage. With a taxpayer's permission, summary data from a return can be carried over from previous years to assist in the preparation of a new return. Taxpayers who use Tax-Aide for the first time should bring in their old tax returns. Taxpayers can also bring in their returns for the current year that they themselves have prepared. The assistance that Tax-Aide can provide has some limitations. Volunteers at Tax-Aide cannot go to court on behalf of taxpayers. High income level, inventory, or depreciation will take a taxpayer's return outside the scope of what the volunteers are trained for. On the other hand, Tax-Aide can help taxpayers who have received incorrect W-2 forms. All tax returns are reviewed, and two reviewers go over the work of four preparers. All volunteers must agree to respect the privacy of taxpayers. Tax returns are filed electronically (e-filing). After a return is prepared and is on the server, it has to go through a three-stage process. In the first stage, returns are submitted tentatively to the IRS. In the second stage, the IRS checks what has been submitted. The third stage consists of the actual electronic filing of the returns that the IRS has approved. People who want to do their own tax returns with computer assistance can use personal tax software, or they can go to tax-preparation Webpages at the IRS's Web site (irs.gov).
The club welcomes new member Linda Barnett.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
Prior to the meeting, printed copies of the list of member names and e-mail addresses were available.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The club discussed the question of how often the list of member names and e-mail addresses should be printed and handed out. On a motion by Bob Black, the club voted to have this list distributed every six months.The secretary will forward e-mail messages as needed to new members whose names and e-mail addresses are not on the most recent printed list.
Norm Knox mentioned SeniorNet facilities that are available to club members when they travel to other places. SeniorNet also has a Website that offers courses on a variety of topics besides just computer topics. These SeniorNet opportunities that go beyond SeniorNet courses in Sioux Falls do cost additional dollars. Norm reminded the members that letting the Center's office know about their interest in particular topics for computer classes can be helpful in getting their desired courses scheduled.
Due to a misunderstanding by the secretary, the name of Marvalyn Rollag was omitted from the printed list of members. She had wanted her name on the list, but without the e-mail address beside it. Members were given the opportunity to write in her name on their printed copies. The secretary apologized for two problems. The printed list came from the spreadsheet software, which prints small and has no option to increase the print size. The Yahoo e-mail account used for sending out the minutes has an invalid reply address which creates a problem for members who try to reply to a question that comes from that e-mail account.
Our speaker at this meeting was Charlotte Jaeschke. Ms. Jaeschke is Tax-Aide Coordinator for Sioux Falls for IRS and AARP. Tax-Aide is an all-volunteer group of tax-preparers, reviewers, facilitators, and the coordinator herself, who assist taxpayers of all ages who need help with their tax returns. Tax-Aide is jointly sponsored by AARP and the Internal Revenue Service. The volunteers use tax preparation software that runs on the preparers' PCs and Tax-Aide's highly reliable server. The IRS supplies this software. When taxpayer data is saved on the server, it is in encrypted form. The server has two hard drives that are mirrors of each other, and data is regularly copied and saved off-site on flash drives. During the off-season, all tax data is removed from the server and saved elsewhere and the server is put away in storage. With a taxpayer's permission, summary data from a return can be carried over from previous years to assist in the preparation of a new return. Taxpayers who use Tax-Aide for the first time should bring in their old tax returns. Taxpayers can also bring in their returns for the current year that they themselves have prepared. The assistance that Tax-Aide can provide has some limitations. Volunteers at Tax-Aide cannot go to court on behalf of taxpayers. High income level, inventory, or depreciation will take a taxpayer's return outside the scope of what the volunteers are trained for. On the other hand, Tax-Aide can help taxpayers who have received incorrect W-2 forms. All tax returns are reviewed, and two reviewers go over the work of four preparers. All volunteers must agree to respect the privacy of taxpayers. Tax returns are filed electronically (e-filing). After a return is prepared and is on the server, it has to go through a three-stage process. In the first stage, returns are submitted tentatively to the IRS. In the second stage, the IRS checks what has been submitted. The third stage consists of the actual electronic filing of the returns that the IRS has approved. People who want to do their own tax returns with computer assistance can use personal tax software, or they can go to tax-preparation Webpages at the IRS's Web site (irs.gov).
The club welcomes new member Linda Barnett.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Minutes of Meeting - February 6, 2009
Minutes of the February 6, 2009 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the January business meeting were read and approved. After the reading and approval of the previous minutes, the club members discussed the issues of privacy and the need for information about fellow club members. The secretary moved to reconsider the second motion of the December meeting which called for no general distribution within the club of information about the club members. This motion to reconsider did not receive a second. Mildred Hottman Roesch moved to have the membership list, with names and e-mail addresses only, distributed at club meetings on paper. This motion was carried on a show of hands. (Please see the question for members at the bottom of these minutes.)
Before moving to the computer classroom, the club discussed some computer questions in room 204. Mildred Hottman Roesch asked about the meaning of "webinar". Mary Myklebust, having been in one, explained it as a class with discussion among participants conducted via the Web. Sanford Hospital's Web site has a page that will accept a patient's list of medications for a medical professional to look at later. Such a list can also be prepared on paper on a PC. In the classroom, Bill Goebel introduced the free genealogical Website http://www.tribalpages.com/. Club members with experience in genealogy also mentioned other genealogical PC software and Web resources. Joran Olson reported that she was able to copy data from Family Tree Maker into http://www.tribalpages.com/ by making a GED (GEDCOM) file using the Save As command in Family Tree Maker. Cathy Walker warned that information stored at http://www.ancestry.com/ becomes their property and they can sell it. The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club welcomes new member Cathy Walker.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
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Here is a question for club members.
The complete Rules and Procedures of the club are quoted with the minutes of the January meeting, but rule number 14 states: "A club member designated by the President shall maintain a list of e-mail addresses for sending announcements to Computer Club members. Any member may ask to opt out of this list if they so choose. "Do you prefer that your name and e-mail address *not* appear in the printed list that will be given to attendees at the March meeting?Please let me know if you wish to opt out of this list. If there are any members who prefer to be omitted from the printed list but do want to get e-mails of the minutes and meeting announcements, I will make a note of their preference on the membership spreadsheet. This is easy to do on a spreadsheet. Garth Peterson
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In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the January business meeting were read and approved. After the reading and approval of the previous minutes, the club members discussed the issues of privacy and the need for information about fellow club members. The secretary moved to reconsider the second motion of the December meeting which called for no general distribution within the club of information about the club members. This motion to reconsider did not receive a second. Mildred Hottman Roesch moved to have the membership list, with names and e-mail addresses only, distributed at club meetings on paper. This motion was carried on a show of hands. (Please see the question for members at the bottom of these minutes.)
Before moving to the computer classroom, the club discussed some computer questions in room 204. Mildred Hottman Roesch asked about the meaning of "webinar". Mary Myklebust, having been in one, explained it as a class with discussion among participants conducted via the Web. Sanford Hospital's Web site has a page that will accept a patient's list of medications for a medical professional to look at later. Such a list can also be prepared on paper on a PC. In the classroom, Bill Goebel introduced the free genealogical Website http://www.tribalpages.com/. Club members with experience in genealogy also mentioned other genealogical PC software and Web resources. Joran Olson reported that she was able to copy data from Family Tree Maker into http://www.tribalpages.com/ by making a GED (GEDCOM) file using the Save As command in Family Tree Maker. Cathy Walker warned that information stored at http://www.ancestry.com/ becomes their property and they can sell it. The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club welcomes new member Cathy Walker.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary
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Here is a question for club members.
The complete Rules and Procedures of the club are quoted with the minutes of the January meeting, but rule number 14 states: "A club member designated by the President shall maintain a list of e-mail addresses for sending announcements to Computer Club members. Any member may ask to opt out of this list if they so choose. "Do you prefer that your name and e-mail address *not* appear in the printed list that will be given to attendees at the March meeting?Please let me know if you wish to opt out of this list. If there are any members who prefer to be omitted from the printed list but do want to get e-mails of the minutes and meeting announcements, I will make a note of their preference on the membership spreadsheet. This is easy to do on a spreadsheet. Garth Peterson
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ADDITIONAL INFORMATION FURNISHED LATER
The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club will meet in room 204 on Friday, March 6, at 10 o'clock. Our speaker will be Charlotte Jaeschke, Tax Aide Coordinator for Sioux Falls for IRS and AARP. Her topic will be Income Taxes and the Computer. If you have computer questions, you can e-mail them to Bill Goebel or bring them to the meeting.
AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY: Last week I used Yahoo webmail to send out the minutes and to ask whether any members wanted to be left off the printed list of member names and e-mail addresses that will be distributed at the next meeting. This morning I discovered that the e-mail message went out with a useless reply address. If any members used the Reply button in e-mail to answer the message, I did not get their responses. Why Yahoo does this to us is a puzzle, but the account is free, so what can we do. For newer members, I should explain that at one time I tried to send out club notices from my own e-mail address and got rejected byMidco, which treated them as spam. If you do *not* want to be on the the list of members and e-mail addresses that will be handed out on paper at the next meeting, please let me know by e-mail, or call me to make sure I get the word.
The Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club will meet in room 204 on Friday, March 6, at 10 o'clock. Our speaker will be Charlotte Jaeschke, Tax Aide Coordinator for Sioux Falls for IRS and AARP. Her topic will be Income Taxes and the Computer. If you have computer questions, you can e-mail them to Bill Goebel or bring them to the meeting.
AN UNPLEASANT DISCOVERY: Last week I used Yahoo webmail to send out the minutes and to ask whether any members wanted to be left off the printed list of member names and e-mail addresses that will be distributed at the next meeting. This morning I discovered that the e-mail message went out with a useless reply address. If any members used the Reply button in e-mail to answer the message, I did not get their responses. Why Yahoo does this to us is a puzzle, but the account is free, so what can we do. For newer members, I should explain that at one time I tried to send out club notices from my own e-mail address and got rejected byMidco, which treated them as spam. If you do *not* want to be on the the list of members and e-mail addresses that will be handed out on paper at the next meeting, please let me know by e-mail, or call me to make sure I get the word.
Garth Peterson
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Request For Ideas For Future Meetings
Dear Computer Club members,
Do you have ideas for topics for future club meetings? If you do, please send your thoughts to the Club Secretary and he will forward all suggestions to the other club officers.
President Norm Knox announces that the club's Compaq notebook computer is available for loan to any club member. This computer now has word processing software. It also has Internet access when it is operated in WiFi locations, including the computer lab at the Center for Active Generations. It does need to draw power from a wall outlet due to the age of its battery. If you are interested in borrowing the notebook computer, call Norm.
Do you have ideas for topics for future club meetings? If you do, please send your thoughts to the Club Secretary and he will forward all suggestions to the other club officers.
President Norm Knox announces that the club's Compaq notebook computer is available for loan to any club member. This computer now has word processing software. It also has Internet access when it is operated in WiFi locations, including the computer lab at the Center for Active Generations. It does need to draw power from a wall outlet due to the age of its battery. If you are interested in borrowing the notebook computer, call Norm.
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Minutes of Meeting - January 2, 2009
Minutes of the January 2, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the December business meeting were read and approved. Under the heading of old business, the club took up the matter of distribution of the membership list. The President brought the following resolution to the meeting as a proposed change to the Rules and Procedures of the club.
Resolved: A current membership list containing names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses shall be maintained by the club Secretary. A printed copy of this list will be provided by the club Secretary to any current member upon their request for such list. The membership list will not be posted on the internet by any club member.
After extensive discussion, the matter was tabled for further discussion later.
Our speaker for January 2 was Asella Crum and her topic was Introduction to Genealogy. The club moved to the computer classroomfor her talk. Our speaker began studying genealogy in 1958, after her first child was born. She wanted her children to know their family history. Asella polled the club members on their use of genealogical software. About half of those present have such software. Most use Family Tree Maker, which Asella herself has used for a number of years. Some club members do use other genealogical software, however. Taking a class in genealogy helps people with an interest in genealogy to get started right. Classes here in genealogy are based on Family Tree Maker, using manuals from SeniorNet. Family Tree Maker may be available for a discounted amount. It pays to shop for the best price. Moving data from one kind of genealogical software to another kind is a problem that can be handled by saving data in a GED file. This is a file format with the extension GED.Besides discussing genealogy, Asella pointed out that members of the Center who are interested in particular topics for computer classes should tell the front desk what classes they would like to take and when they can take them.The LDS Family History Center has a yearly seminar in October. The LDS Family History Center and the Courthouse Genealogical Library are both worthwhile places to visit. DNA testing can show relationships by identifying common male and female lines. However, it does cost money. $175 was mentioned as a possible amount.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
The current rules and procedures of the club are shown below. They also appear in the attached file Rules.doc, which is better for making a printed copy.
2. The purpose is to create a self-help group to expand the individual's computer knowledge.
3. An adult person shall become eligible for membership in the Club upon (a) completion of the Club's application form and (b) having attended and completed one SeniorNet computer class.
4. A regular meeting of the Club shall be held on the first Friday of each month unless the Club President orders otherwise in advance. Meetings start at 10:00 a.m.
5. The regular monthly meeting in May shall be shall known as the Annual Meeting and shall be for the purpose of electing officers and conducting other business that may arise.
6. A special meeting or workshop may be held upon the call of the President.
7. The officers of the club shall be the President, Vice President and Secretary.
8. The President shall be responsible for the overall activities ofthe Club, shall preside over all meetings and shall appoint standing committees necessary to accomplish the purposes and objectives of the Club.
9. The Vice President, in the absence of the President, shall preside over the meetings and shall carry out all such duties as the President may assign.
10. The Secretary shall have the responsibility of keeping the minutes, sending notices of meetings, and other duties generally pertaining to the office.
11. Individual members are encouraged to attend the monthly meetings and participate in discussion related to the computer-based questions of interest.
12. Members are encouraged to submit computer-related questions prior to the monthly meeting to a designated Computer Club member so they may be addressed at that meeting.
13. The Secretary shall see to the timely submittal of information about the next monthly meeting topic or agenda to the Center for Active Generations' person responsible for the CFAG monthly newsletter.
14. A club member designated by the President shall maintain a list of e-mail addresses for sending announcements to Computer Club members. Any member may ask to opt out of this list if they so choose.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the December business meeting were read and approved. Under the heading of old business, the club took up the matter of distribution of the membership list. The President brought the following resolution to the meeting as a proposed change to the Rules and Procedures of the club.
Resolved: A current membership list containing names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses shall be maintained by the club Secretary. A printed copy of this list will be provided by the club Secretary to any current member upon their request for such list. The membership list will not be posted on the internet by any club member.
After extensive discussion, the matter was tabled for further discussion later.
Our speaker for January 2 was Asella Crum and her topic was Introduction to Genealogy. The club moved to the computer classroomfor her talk. Our speaker began studying genealogy in 1958, after her first child was born. She wanted her children to know their family history. Asella polled the club members on their use of genealogical software. About half of those present have such software. Most use Family Tree Maker, which Asella herself has used for a number of years. Some club members do use other genealogical software, however. Taking a class in genealogy helps people with an interest in genealogy to get started right. Classes here in genealogy are based on Family Tree Maker, using manuals from SeniorNet. Family Tree Maker may be available for a discounted amount. It pays to shop for the best price. Moving data from one kind of genealogical software to another kind is a problem that can be handled by saving data in a GED file. This is a file format with the extension GED.Besides discussing genealogy, Asella pointed out that members of the Center who are interested in particular topics for computer classes should tell the front desk what classes they would like to take and when they can take them.The LDS Family History Center has a yearly seminar in October. The LDS Family History Center and the Courthouse Genealogical Library are both worthwhile places to visit. DNA testing can show relationships by identifying common male and female lines. However, it does cost money. $175 was mentioned as a possible amount.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
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The current rules and procedures of the club are shown below. They also appear in the attached file Rules.doc, which is better for making a printed copy.
Rules and Procedures of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club
1. The name of the organization is the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club.2. The purpose is to create a self-help group to expand the individual's computer knowledge.
3. An adult person shall become eligible for membership in the Club upon (a) completion of the Club's application form and (b) having attended and completed one SeniorNet computer class.
4. A regular meeting of the Club shall be held on the first Friday of each month unless the Club President orders otherwise in advance. Meetings start at 10:00 a.m.
5. The regular monthly meeting in May shall be shall known as the Annual Meeting and shall be for the purpose of electing officers and conducting other business that may arise.
6. A special meeting or workshop may be held upon the call of the President.
7. The officers of the club shall be the President, Vice President and Secretary.
8. The President shall be responsible for the overall activities ofthe Club, shall preside over all meetings and shall appoint standing committees necessary to accomplish the purposes and objectives of the Club.
9. The Vice President, in the absence of the President, shall preside over the meetings and shall carry out all such duties as the President may assign.
10. The Secretary shall have the responsibility of keeping the minutes, sending notices of meetings, and other duties generally pertaining to the office.
11. Individual members are encouraged to attend the monthly meetings and participate in discussion related to the computer-based questions of interest.
12. Members are encouraged to submit computer-related questions prior to the monthly meeting to a designated Computer Club member so they may be addressed at that meeting.
13. The Secretary shall see to the timely submittal of information about the next monthly meeting topic or agenda to the Center for Active Generations' person responsible for the CFAG monthly newsletter.
14. A club member designated by the President shall maintain a list of e-mail addresses for sending announcements to Computer Club members. Any member may ask to opt out of this list if they so choose.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Minutes of Meeting - December 5, 2008
Minutes of the December 5, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the November business meeting were read and approved. On a motion from Ray Vaughn, the club voted that names and addresses and phone numbers of club members should not appear in the club's blog. This motion passed without dissent. On a second motion from Ray Vaughn, the club voted on whether to exclude members' names, addresses, and phone numbers from the information distributed to members. The motion to exclude received 9 yes votes and 10 no votes. Mildred Hottman Roesch moved that this matter be discussed further at the January meeting. This motion passed without dissent.
Bill thanked Glenn Johnson for his work in creating and maintaining the club's blog. (Added note: This blog is located at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ .)
In the computer classroom Bill asked the members to state what kinds of things they are doing with their computers. An alphabetized list of these uses appears below.
Access
Adobe
Backups to flash drives or CDs
Banking online to watch account, pay bills, and reconcile
Blogs
Books downloaded to an Ipod at Siouxland Libraries
Camera's pictures stored
Card-making
Creative writing
Data bases for church and high school
Drawing
Games
Geneological Web sites
Health records
Heritage Quest access via library card
Labels
Letters
Library access
Microsoft Word
My Yahoo
Newspaper: Argus Leader
Newspapers in inbox (various newspapers)
Picasa for organizing pictures
Printing on freezer paper for transfer to fabric
Publisher
Quicken
Recipes
Repair information for old radios
Rubik's Cube help
Servlists
Sewing machine control from laptop computer
SiouxFalls.org as a place to join
Turbo Tax
Video viewing
Other matters disussed in the classroom included the following. Webpage's addresses may be sent as shortcuts to the desktop. These shortcuts may need to be renamed. Yahoo Briefcase provides backup storage for individual files. A picture in Adobe can be copied elsewhere by means of the Save As function. Possibilities for future speakers and topics might be Turbo Tax, genealogy, or a speaker from the city library.
The club welcomes new member JoAnn Garner.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the November business meeting were read and approved. On a motion from Ray Vaughn, the club voted that names and addresses and phone numbers of club members should not appear in the club's blog. This motion passed without dissent. On a second motion from Ray Vaughn, the club voted on whether to exclude members' names, addresses, and phone numbers from the information distributed to members. The motion to exclude received 9 yes votes and 10 no votes. Mildred Hottman Roesch moved that this matter be discussed further at the January meeting. This motion passed without dissent.
Bill thanked Glenn Johnson for his work in creating and maintaining the club's blog. (Added note: This blog is located at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ .)
In the computer classroom Bill asked the members to state what kinds of things they are doing with their computers. An alphabetized list of these uses appears below.
Access
Adobe
Backups to flash drives or CDs
Banking online to watch account, pay bills, and reconcile
Blogs
Books downloaded to an Ipod at Siouxland Libraries
Camera's pictures stored
Card-making
Creative writing
Data bases for church and high school
Drawing
Games
Geneological Web sites
Health records
Heritage Quest access via library card
Labels
Letters
Library access
Microsoft Word
My Yahoo
Newspaper: Argus Leader
Newspapers in inbox (various newspapers)
Picasa for organizing pictures
Printing on freezer paper for transfer to fabric
Publisher
Quicken
Recipes
Repair information for old radios
Rubik's Cube help
Servlists
Sewing machine control from laptop computer
SiouxFalls.org as a place to join
Turbo Tax
Video viewing
Other matters disussed in the classroom included the following. Webpage's addresses may be sent as shortcuts to the desktop. These shortcuts may need to be renamed. Yahoo Briefcase provides backup storage for individual files. A picture in Adobe can be copied elsewhere by means of the Save As function. Possibilities for future speakers and topics might be Turbo Tax, genealogy, or a speaker from the city library.
The club welcomes new member JoAnn Garner.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Minutes - November 7, 2008
Minutes of the November 7, 2008 meeting of theSioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the October business meeting were read and approved. Cheri Lehmann called attention to the sign in the computer lab that calls for SeniorNet identification cards. These signs do not reflect the fact that the ID cards are no longer being issued. Secretary Garth Peterson reported that computer #3 in the computer lab now has Windows Vista. At this time, however, the lab's LaserJet printer is not yet able to receive printing from Vista. Norm announced a revision of the form for membership registration. He and the secretary worked together on the new wording of the form. Copies of the form were on display during Sunday's open house. Norm also plans to arrange for copies of the registration form to be handed out to students in SeniorNet classes along with the course CD and manual. Norm has a manual from 2005 entitled, "Organizing Computer Files Made Easy". This is from a course not being taught at present, but it possibly may be taught again. The club welcomed new member JoAnn Wagner. In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel talked about the meeting topic, "Organizing Files and Folders", and demonstrated operations on files and folders in Windows XP. During the classroom part of the meeting, Barbara Mackintosh asked how to restore missing buttons for "My Music" and "My Pictures", etc. on the right side of the Start Menu. No member had an answer at that time.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the October business meeting were read and approved. Cheri Lehmann called attention to the sign in the computer lab that calls for SeniorNet identification cards. These signs do not reflect the fact that the ID cards are no longer being issued. Secretary Garth Peterson reported that computer #3 in the computer lab now has Windows Vista. At this time, however, the lab's LaserJet printer is not yet able to receive printing from Vista. Norm announced a revision of the form for membership registration. He and the secretary worked together on the new wording of the form. Copies of the form were on display during Sunday's open house. Norm also plans to arrange for copies of the registration form to be handed out to students in SeniorNet classes along with the course CD and manual. Norm has a manual from 2005 entitled, "Organizing Computer Files Made Easy". This is from a course not being taught at present, but it possibly may be taught again. The club welcomed new member JoAnn Wagner. In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel talked about the meeting topic, "Organizing Files and Folders", and demonstrated operations on files and folders in Windows XP. During the classroom part of the meeting, Barbara Mackintosh asked how to restore missing buttons for "My Music" and "My Pictures", etc. on the right side of the Start Menu. No member had an answer at that time.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Minutes - October 3, 2008
Minutes of the October 3, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the September business meeting were read and approved. There was no old business. There was also no new business. During the classroom part of the meeting, Linda Bauer proposed "Organizing Files and Folders" as the topic for the November meeting. The club accepted this suggestion.
In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel described and demonstrated Photo Story 3, a free application program for processing and displaying digital photographs. Google can find various copies of this program for downloading, but it is best to download the copy that comes from Microsoft.com. The customary first step after starting Photo Story 3 is to import images. These images usually come from the My Pictures folder in My Documents. The user can key control-A to highlight and import all images at once, or individual images can be highlighted and imported separately. Photo Story 3 provides a thumbnail display of all imported images in the lower part of its window. These images can be rearranged by using the mouse to drag and drop them. Unwanted images can be deleted without affecting the originals in the folder they come from. The second step in processing the images is the collective removal of black borders. However, the user may want to skip over this step. Dealing with black borders when the pictures are edited individually may give better results. The third step begins the individual editing of images. Each image can be cropped as needed. Photo Story 3 has some of the same editing options as PhotoShop, but PhotoShop can do many things that Photo Story 3 cannot. On the other hand, Photo Story 3 can zoom in or zoom out or sweep within a picture to create movement that suggests the operation of a video camera even though the picture is really a still photo. Bill considers this to be one of the best features of the program. Titles can be added to images during editing. If the PC has a microphone, voice comments can be supplied for pictures. The duration of the display of each picture can be an automatic value, or a particular time in seconds can be specified. Many kinds of transitions between pictures are available. The program has a selection of different kinds of background music that can be added. It is desirable to save the work being done frequently during editing. When the current project is saved, it goes into a file with extension WP3. The customary folder for storing this file is My Videos in My Documents. This is also the usual folder for storing the end result. When the project is complete, it should be saved as actual video in a WMV file. The program has to go through several steps to make this file. When the WMV file is completed, it can be viewed with Windows Media Player, or it may be an input to Windows Movie Maker. If there is a possibility that further editing may be needed, theWP3 file should be saved together with the WMV file. If a PC user runs Photo Story 3 on very many digital images, the resulting output files can take up a lot of hard drive space. Moving the files to CDs or DVDs will solve this problem. When Photo Story 3 is in use, it needs a recent version of Windows Media Player on hand to show the results of editing individual pictures. This happens while Photo Story 3 itself is running. Either Version 10 or Version 11 of Windows Media Player will support Photo Story 3 properly, but an earlier version may not work right.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the September business meeting were read and approved. There was no old business. There was also no new business. During the classroom part of the meeting, Linda Bauer proposed "Organizing Files and Folders" as the topic for the November meeting. The club accepted this suggestion.
In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel described and demonstrated Photo Story 3, a free application program for processing and displaying digital photographs. Google can find various copies of this program for downloading, but it is best to download the copy that comes from Microsoft.com. The customary first step after starting Photo Story 3 is to import images. These images usually come from the My Pictures folder in My Documents. The user can key control-A to highlight and import all images at once, or individual images can be highlighted and imported separately. Photo Story 3 provides a thumbnail display of all imported images in the lower part of its window. These images can be rearranged by using the mouse to drag and drop them. Unwanted images can be deleted without affecting the originals in the folder they come from. The second step in processing the images is the collective removal of black borders. However, the user may want to skip over this step. Dealing with black borders when the pictures are edited individually may give better results. The third step begins the individual editing of images. Each image can be cropped as needed. Photo Story 3 has some of the same editing options as PhotoShop, but PhotoShop can do many things that Photo Story 3 cannot. On the other hand, Photo Story 3 can zoom in or zoom out or sweep within a picture to create movement that suggests the operation of a video camera even though the picture is really a still photo. Bill considers this to be one of the best features of the program. Titles can be added to images during editing. If the PC has a microphone, voice comments can be supplied for pictures. The duration of the display of each picture can be an automatic value, or a particular time in seconds can be specified. Many kinds of transitions between pictures are available. The program has a selection of different kinds of background music that can be added. It is desirable to save the work being done frequently during editing. When the current project is saved, it goes into a file with extension WP3. The customary folder for storing this file is My Videos in My Documents. This is also the usual folder for storing the end result. When the project is complete, it should be saved as actual video in a WMV file. The program has to go through several steps to make this file. When the WMV file is completed, it can be viewed with Windows Media Player, or it may be an input to Windows Movie Maker. If there is a possibility that further editing may be needed, theWP3 file should be saved together with the WMV file. If a PC user runs Photo Story 3 on very many digital images, the resulting output files can take up a lot of hard drive space. Moving the files to CDs or DVDs will solve this problem. When Photo Story 3 is in use, it needs a recent version of Windows Media Player on hand to show the results of editing individual pictures. This happens while Photo Story 3 itself is running. Either Version 10 or Version 11 of Windows Media Player will support Photo Story 3 properly, but an earlier version may not work right.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
Minutes - September 5, 2008
Minutes of the September 5, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204.The minutes of the August meeting were read and approved. Bill mentioned that Moviemaker and Photostory can be used to assemble pictures to use in family histories. New members and old members introduced themselves around room 204.
In answer to a question about Open Office from Ray Vaughn, Bill recommended that material from Open Office be saved as files in DOC format to get around problems of incompatibility. Some club members might be interested in setting up personal Websites. At present the Center has no course for this. Jeanette Stadtfeld mentioned a need to be able to set up a password for a PC. According to Bill, if a PC is given a password in preparation for the visit of a grandchild, the password should not be the name of the family dog.
The secretary mentioned that recent minutes are available in the club's blog, which is maintained by Glenn Johnson. The blog is at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ or http://www.sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ .
In the computer classroom, Bill Goebel led a discussion of several computer topics. Some computer problems can be resolved by using the System Restore facility of Windows XP. Information about this can be found by searching for the words "System Restore" at Microsoft's Help and Support Center (http://support.microsoft.center/). Bill described how multiple user accounts with passwords can be setup on a PC. Look for User Accounts in the Control Panel to set these up. A new account starts with access to basic Windows XP. Permissions to use other things on the computer can then be added.
Windows Defender from Microsoft protects well against spyware. It is a free add-on for Windows XP and is included in Windows Vista. A computer can have multiple anti-spyware programs, but some of these programs tie up memory. Keeping Windows Defender alone for spyware protection is a good policy. AVG Free is a good antivirus program to go with Windows Defender but finding it to download from the AVG Web site (http://www.grisoft.com/) requires looking carefully for "AVG Free". The version of AVG with a price is naturally much easier to find.
Bill demonstrated functions of MovieMaker. Movies that it makes can be saved to a CD or DVD. A DVD has the advantage of more room. Photos can be organized with Photostory and then brought into MovieMaker. A Google search at Wikipedia showed the difference between a podcast and a webcast. Setting up a free account at Yahoo gives access to video feeds and other things like articles and Yahoo's webmail. Open Office is an office and productivity suite. It is a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and can be downloaded from http://www.openoffice.org/ .
Bob Black teaches the Center's course on Powerpoint 2003. This should be similar to any Powerpoint that someone has at home.When downloading a program from the Internet, it is better to choose the Save option than the Run option. The program that is downloaded this way can then be run as a program to install the actual working program. When the installation process is complete, the new program will be listed under Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. An install program can be downloaded temporarily to the desktop if that is convenient, but it should not be left in that location permanently because it ties up memory there. It is a good idea to save install programs in a special folder with some name such as Download. Then they will be available later if something needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled.A heavy spam load on an e-mail address may make it necessary to setup a new e-mail address. Getting the address book associated with the old e-mail address to work with the new e-mail address is likely to be the hardest part of setting up the new address. The Web site for the Center for Active Generations is at http://www.cfag.org/ and is maintained by Bev Johnson. In Internet Explorer Version 7, the bar at the top of the window that has buttons marked File, Edit, View, and so on may not always be visible. Pressing the Alt key will bring it out of hiding. (This part of the window is called the menu bar. You can keep it permanently visible or not by clicking on View, Toolbars, and MenuBar.)
The club welcomes new members Cheri L. Lehmann and Hoi Tran.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
In the absence of President Norm Knox, Vice President Bill Goebel called the meeting to order in room 204.The minutes of the August meeting were read and approved. Bill mentioned that Moviemaker and Photostory can be used to assemble pictures to use in family histories. New members and old members introduced themselves around room 204.
In answer to a question about Open Office from Ray Vaughn, Bill recommended that material from Open Office be saved as files in DOC format to get around problems of incompatibility. Some club members might be interested in setting up personal Websites. At present the Center has no course for this. Jeanette Stadtfeld mentioned a need to be able to set up a password for a PC. According to Bill, if a PC is given a password in preparation for the visit of a grandchild, the password should not be the name of the family dog.
The secretary mentioned that recent minutes are available in the club's blog, which is maintained by Glenn Johnson. The blog is at http://sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ or http://www.sfscc2007.blogspot.com/ .
In the computer classroom, Bill Goebel led a discussion of several computer topics. Some computer problems can be resolved by using the System Restore facility of Windows XP. Information about this can be found by searching for the words "System Restore" at Microsoft's Help and Support Center (http://support.microsoft.center/). Bill described how multiple user accounts with passwords can be setup on a PC. Look for User Accounts in the Control Panel to set these up. A new account starts with access to basic Windows XP. Permissions to use other things on the computer can then be added.
Windows Defender from Microsoft protects well against spyware. It is a free add-on for Windows XP and is included in Windows Vista. A computer can have multiple anti-spyware programs, but some of these programs tie up memory. Keeping Windows Defender alone for spyware protection is a good policy. AVG Free is a good antivirus program to go with Windows Defender but finding it to download from the AVG Web site (http://www.grisoft.com/) requires looking carefully for "AVG Free". The version of AVG with a price is naturally much easier to find.
Bill demonstrated functions of MovieMaker. Movies that it makes can be saved to a CD or DVD. A DVD has the advantage of more room. Photos can be organized with Photostory and then brought into MovieMaker. A Google search at Wikipedia showed the difference between a podcast and a webcast. Setting up a free account at Yahoo gives access to video feeds and other things like articles and Yahoo's webmail. Open Office is an office and productivity suite. It is a free alternative to Microsoft Office, and can be downloaded from http://www.openoffice.org/ .
Bob Black teaches the Center's course on Powerpoint 2003. This should be similar to any Powerpoint that someone has at home.When downloading a program from the Internet, it is better to choose the Save option than the Run option. The program that is downloaded this way can then be run as a program to install the actual working program. When the installation process is complete, the new program will be listed under Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel. An install program can be downloaded temporarily to the desktop if that is convenient, but it should not be left in that location permanently because it ties up memory there. It is a good idea to save install programs in a special folder with some name such as Download. Then they will be available later if something needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled.A heavy spam load on an e-mail address may make it necessary to setup a new e-mail address. Getting the address book associated with the old e-mail address to work with the new e-mail address is likely to be the hardest part of setting up the new address. The Web site for the Center for Active Generations is at http://www.cfag.org/ and is maintained by Bev Johnson. In Internet Explorer Version 7, the bar at the top of the window that has buttons marked File, Edit, View, and so on may not always be visible. Pressing the Alt key will bring it out of hiding. (This part of the window is called the menu bar. You can keep it permanently visible or not by clicking on View, Toolbars, and MenuBar.)
The club welcomes new members Cheri L. Lehmann and Hoi Tran.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Friday, August 22, 2008
Minutes - August 1, 2008
Minutes of the August 1, 2008 meeting of the Sioux Falls Seniors Computer Club:
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the July meeting were read and approved. Nellie Reeves informed the club that the ECHO symposium will run from 8:30 to 3:00 on September 30. This symposium will include break-out sessions from 11:00 to 12:00. For attendees with computer interests, there will be a break-out entitled, "Preserving Family History Digital Style," which will be led by Alice Lance and Asella Crum. Norm asked club members to tell their friends about computer classes at the Center. He reported that there were a few class enrollments arising from the Computer Learning Center Open House that was held on July 29. Norm also reported that customers of Midco (midco.net) have been receiving bogus e-mails asking for information about their accounts with Midco.
In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel described three World Wide Web sites that provide free off-site data backup for computer users. Yahoo Briefcase (briefcase.yahoo.com) is available to anyone who has a Yahoo e-mail account. Anyone can setup a Yahoo e-mail account as a way to use Yahoo Briefcase without bothering to use the account for e-mail. However, setting up the account will include reading an image with distorted letters and keying the letters into a box in a form. Sometimes the letters are too distorted to read, but one can get a new image and try again with different letters. Yahoo Briefcase is being superseded by a similar but newer free service at http://www.box.net/. HP's Snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com/) is a free data storage service that specializes in images. It lets the user save private copies of images or share them with others. Bill noted that computer users should choose carefully in deciding what to back up. For most computer users the thing that most needs to be protected is the address book. George Lair described his use of the Carbonite backup service. For $50 per year this service maintains a complete backup copy of his hard drive automatically. Nellie called attention to the weather service at Yahoo's home page. This weather service provides the local weather report, as well as the report for any other area in the country by means of its ZIP code. Bill warned that circulating e-mails may contain wrong information about politics and politicians. Claims in such e-mails can be checked at http://www.snopes.com/. This site has a search facility which can look for key words in an e-mail to show what http://www.snopes.com/ says about the e-mail's claims. The programs msconfig and msinfo32 can provide information about whether a computer has too many programs running or not enough memory. (To run msconfig or msinfo32, click on the Start button, click on Run, enter the program's name in the Run window, and finally press Enter or click on OK.) The important lines in msinfo32's display are marked Total Physical Memory and Available Physical Memory. To get more available memory, you can uninstall unneeded programs through the control panel, or buy more memory, which is usually not very expensive. Bev Johnson was briefly present and was naturally unable to escape without answering some questions. She recommends that anyone who installs Java on a PC should watch for and reject the option of installing a Google toolbar in Internet Explorer. She also recommends Windows Defender (free) as an anti-spyware program. Windows Defender contains Software Explorer, which can help to identify programs that can be removed. George observed that Adobe and Picasa are programs that can be unchecked so that they are loaded only when needed.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Added notes about data storage: Snapfish is basically a free service, but it has fees for scanning photographs that are mailed in and for making hard copies of stored images. These fees are based on use and are not very high. Briefase and Box from Yahoo are similar services, but Box allows file sharing with its free service, while Briefase does not. Box allows more data storage with its free service. Both free services come with advertisements. Box indicates that its monthly paid services that allow more saved data leave out the ads.
President Norm Knox called the meeting to order in room 204. The minutes of the July meeting were read and approved. Nellie Reeves informed the club that the ECHO symposium will run from 8:30 to 3:00 on September 30. This symposium will include break-out sessions from 11:00 to 12:00. For attendees with computer interests, there will be a break-out entitled, "Preserving Family History Digital Style," which will be led by Alice Lance and Asella Crum. Norm asked club members to tell their friends about computer classes at the Center. He reported that there were a few class enrollments arising from the Computer Learning Center Open House that was held on July 29. Norm also reported that customers of Midco (midco.net) have been receiving bogus e-mails asking for information about their accounts with Midco.
In the computer classroom, Vice President Bill Goebel described three World Wide Web sites that provide free off-site data backup for computer users. Yahoo Briefcase (briefcase.yahoo.com) is available to anyone who has a Yahoo e-mail account. Anyone can setup a Yahoo e-mail account as a way to use Yahoo Briefcase without bothering to use the account for e-mail. However, setting up the account will include reading an image with distorted letters and keying the letters into a box in a form. Sometimes the letters are too distorted to read, but one can get a new image and try again with different letters. Yahoo Briefcase is being superseded by a similar but newer free service at http://www.box.net/. HP's Snapfish (http://www.snapfish.com/) is a free data storage service that specializes in images. It lets the user save private copies of images or share them with others. Bill noted that computer users should choose carefully in deciding what to back up. For most computer users the thing that most needs to be protected is the address book. George Lair described his use of the Carbonite backup service. For $50 per year this service maintains a complete backup copy of his hard drive automatically. Nellie called attention to the weather service at Yahoo's home page. This weather service provides the local weather report, as well as the report for any other area in the country by means of its ZIP code. Bill warned that circulating e-mails may contain wrong information about politics and politicians. Claims in such e-mails can be checked at http://www.snopes.com/. This site has a search facility which can look for key words in an e-mail to show what http://www.snopes.com/ says about the e-mail's claims. The programs msconfig and msinfo32 can provide information about whether a computer has too many programs running or not enough memory. (To run msconfig or msinfo32, click on the Start button, click on Run, enter the program's name in the Run window, and finally press Enter or click on OK.) The important lines in msinfo32's display are marked Total Physical Memory and Available Physical Memory. To get more available memory, you can uninstall unneeded programs through the control panel, or buy more memory, which is usually not very expensive. Bev Johnson was briefly present and was naturally unable to escape without answering some questions. She recommends that anyone who installs Java on a PC should watch for and reject the option of installing a Google toolbar in Internet Explorer. She also recommends Windows Defender (free) as an anti-spyware program. Windows Defender contains Software Explorer, which can help to identify programs that can be removed. George observed that Adobe and Picasa are programs that can be unchecked so that they are loaded only when needed.
Respectfully submitted by Garth Peterson, Secretary.
Added notes about data storage: Snapfish is basically a free service, but it has fees for scanning photographs that are mailed in and for making hard copies of stored images. These fees are based on use and are not very high. Briefase and Box from Yahoo are similar services, but Box allows file sharing with its free service, while Briefase does not. Box allows more data storage with its free service. Both free services come with advertisements. Box indicates that its monthly paid services that allow more saved data leave out the ads.
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