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eBLUE NOTES - San Francisco PC Users Group

1. fan SAN FRANCISCO PERSONAL CompuTER CBLUE nai USERS GROUP NOTES Lat Member of Volume 20 Nos 1 2 ot personal Compute U January February 2001 Who We Are What We Do and How You Can Join the Fun The San Francisco PC Users Group founded in 1982 serves as a regional volunteer forum forthe exchange of ideas industry insights and solutions to problems etc related to using personal computers having the Intel x86 or compatible processor Blue Notes was first published in December 1982 by The San Francisco PC Users Group Copyright 2000 by The San Francisco PC Users Group except as noted All rights reserved Permission for reproduction in whole or in part is hereby granted to other computeruser groups forinternal non profit use provided credit is givento Blue Notes and to the authors of the reproduced material All other reproduction without prior written permission of the San Francisco PC Users Group is prohibited Annual membership in The San Francisco PC Users Group includes among otherbenefits monthly meetings a one year subscription to Blue Notes and Internet access Cost 25 for individuals 30 for families and 50 for businesses E mail our Membership Registrar membership mail sfpcug org or attend a monthly meeting see details inside and calendar An application formcan be found on the last page of this issue Once completed mail it with your payment to the SFPCUG Member
2. Well Herewith is my offering to clear up any misunderstanding s as to the purpose and choice of the name of our organization as well as others of similar bent A user group is a community of computer enthusiasts who band together to learn to share experiences and to serve their community This pretty much reflects the club s statement of purpose within its by laws The use of the descriptive word user s is more or less traditional when it is found in the name of many cyber clubs So it was incorporated in ours its connotation was not in question when the club was born Our main thrust is and has always been to provide computer and software education That means the instruction in using your computer more effectively To achieve this goal we try to keep pace with the industry trends get updates on new hardware and software then bring this information to the classes we hold for our members and the community We make it a policy to share social activities with fellow computer January February 2001 BLUE NOTES enthusiasts at our general meetings held monthly in the local recreation center We offer a social hour prior to the gavel rapping so that general mingling can ensue This period usually includes the opportunity to present certain troublesome technical queries to selected gurus in attendance Our community activities include support to local schools and charities The recycling of used computer equipment and working
3. Could Mean User s Super Buddy 12 Ken s Kompendium Buying a New Computer 14 Challenges And Mysteries 24 Macworld San Francisco 2001 26 Crystal clear on PING 0 0 27 User Groups Defined 8 31 The MP3 and Internet 32 Given California s energy supply problems it is time to think about protecting your PC 33 SFPCUG Minutes 0 00 00005 35 CALENDAR i444 640650 2426066442014 05050442 36 Application Renewal Address Change 38 January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 3 Editor s note by Tom McLoughlin elcome to the first edition of Blue Notes of 2001 This is my first chance to congratulate Butler and others who contributed so much time and effort to the Annual 2000 Holiday party and Auction There was more food than one could imagine It was a great time In this issue we have offerings from the Dealsguy and Ken Fermoyle We also have an offermg from Carol Lee Thanks again Carol Numerous articles are presented from the APCUG One article in particular is a detailed description of modules and components in a PC and advise on how to buy and what level on performance is desirable and economic in each This article is very informative It is an offering from a member of the Sacramento PC Users Group I am reminded when I was very young Then
4. Guess why He didn t say if there was anything about Florida or pregnant chads in it Info http www winograd com Windows download http www winograd com Hang2000 Setup exe Mac download http www winograd com Hang2000 sit hqx The exe on the file means it is self extracting According to Ken it will ask you before it installs anything 2 The DesignCAD offer is still good so I suggest you order it now if you are interested It s a nice saving Phone 800 233 3223 or 918 825 4844 3 I don t know if they ll still honor the Caligari iSpace offer or not but if you want iSpace give it a try Go to http www caligari com ispace isldg to order iSpace Caligari has also introduced version 5 of TrueSpace There was an incredible offer for just a few days but it has expired and a new one is now in effect for upgrades Check their Web site How Clean is Clean A few months ago I wrote about Steve Gibson s Web site and his Optout January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES program to search your hard drive for spy software that might report on you David Walters of Greater Orlando UG suggested that you should go to http www lavasoft de aaw index html and download a more comprehensive program freeware called AD aware that also searches your hard drive for spy programs You have the choice of removing what it finds David says a clue that spyware might be on your computer could be sluggish performance caused by the s
5. be a big growth area for PCs and Macs In addition USB provides an interface such business oriented technologies as Integrated Services Digital Network ISDN and digital PBXs The latest version of USB Version 2 0 introduced late in 2000 offers even faster communication with bandwidth up to 400 Mbps It easily accommodates high performance peripherals such as monitors video conferencing cameras next generation printers and faster storage devices Happily USB 2 0 is backward compatible with Version 1 1 Next one or two USB ports can support many peripherals In theory up to 127 devices can be daisy chained from a single port There are practical limitations power supplies among them and most of us will never use Page 12 anywhere near that number The ability to plug a USB hub into a USB port and then connect four or more peripherals to it is a real convenience You can place a hub anywhere on your desktop for easy access no more crawling under the desk to connect or disconnect a mouse digital camera or any other USB compatible device Frosting on the cake comes in the form of an impressive hardware package from Belkin the USB BusStation This versatile docking station not only serves as a hub that gives you up to seven USB ports Using optional adapters it can accommodate many non USB peripherals It also offers a laundry list of other features Innovative modular tower with three slide out modules that fit into the p
6. comes with a RagePro 128 Prices are US 1699 2199 2799 and 3499 respectively All models come with CD DVD CD RW drives standard January February 2001 BLUE NOTES except the 733 Hereis where things get well revolutionary The 733 model comes with something called a SuperDrive This drive is something different We all have players than can play CDs Some of us have players that play DVDs We may have CD burners units that can create a CD But units that can create a DVD let alone one that can be played in consumer DVD players cost US 5000 10 000 Until now The SuperDrive can read and write CDs AND DVDs Now most of us have seen a DVD movie and we know they have interactive menus and backgrounds Apple thought about that Welcome to iDVD As easy to use as iMovie iDVD lets users create their very own DVDs and its free with the SuperDrive in the 733 It took a while to create a DVD in the past A one hour DVD may take as much as 24 hours to process This is unacceptable to Steve Creating DVDs with iDVD can be done at 2x That means a one hour movie will only take two hours to encode All this for a price of US 3499 Steve said this marks the end of a dream he has had The place went wild He followed that with professional grade DVD software called DVD Studio Pro As easy to use as Final Cut Pro DVD Studio Pro is a bargain at US 995 for the professional Then came iTunes A free download from Apple that allows users to burn audio and MP
7. distinct message saying they no longer took voice tech support calls when I tried it last summer Good to know you can still get help Page 4 More Crow or Victim of Circumstances Last month I wrote about Address com a free ISP I was originally going to write about Istup com but when I looked it over it was more of a network hosting service for free ISPs so I decided to write about Address com Istup com closed their doors shortly after I looked it over and I don t know which ISPs they were the network for Wouldn t you know the very day I released my column unknown to me Spinway com closed their doors and they are also a network hosting service for free ISPs in fact for Address com and Bluelight com To survive Bluelight com bought some of the assets of Spinway com to continue operating Address com emailed me to say they were shut down but were negotiating for a new network provider Things happen fast in the free ISP world and I m sorry for inadvertently giving you a bum steer Still Good Your users group should have received a package of order forms for PowerQuest users group specials from Gene Barlow as mine did Ask your special offer coordinator about them CAD Software For The Price Conscious Do you own or know somebody that owns popular CAD Computer Aided Design software What was the cost for that package Plenty if they have a certain brand but I have a cheaper solution if you do that kind of work Accordi
8. for individuals to invest in DVD RW and DVD RAM are conflicting standards we need to wait for the dust to settle In addition the blanks are about 50 each When we get to 10 then it is time to jump I predict third quarter of 2001 CD ROM It appears that 32X is about the slowest drive currently available and 40 seems to be standard on entry level systems This means it can read the Page 16 contents of a CD at 32 times the original CD speed the speed used to play audio CDs Some of the faster drives use buffering to gain some speed the media does not really spin that fast Do not pay extra for a faster drive unless you have some application that benefits from that speed I know of none at this time I expect CD ROM drives to go away within the next year CD RW and DVD drives are becoming standard even on entry level systems CD RW Everyone should have a CD RW drive on his or her system Data files have gotten too large to fit on floppies and CD R and CD RW media are very inexpensive I envision that soon there will be no more floppy drives on computers CD RW drive specifications confuse people because there are three speed numbers associated with the drive The numbers on a popular HP CD RW is 8x4x32 The first number is the speed that the drive can write to CD R media The middle number is the speed that the drive can write to CD RW media The last number is the read speed Compare this to the speed of a CD ROM drive Conside
9. integrated circuit There is a lot of surface area where problems can occur during manufacturing If more than a couple of dots are bad they have to scrap the display We end up paying for the cost of the scrapped displays If you can afford the price buy a digital LCD panel you will love it Liquid Plasma Liquid plasma screens are large and expensive but beautiful I do not know anyone who has one on his or her desktop They are normally used for conference rooms or tradeshow booths Bottom Line on Monitors This is an important component of your system You spend a lot of time staring at it and it will have a lot to do with your satisfaction with your system You should sit in front of the potential monitor and use the computer for a while to determine if you really like it It is possible to spend more on the monitor than the computer If that is what it takes to be comfortable do it I use an expensive 21 ViewSonic that is very comfortable to work with I have used cheap monitors that normally came with the computer they were hooked to and could not wait to get away from them Do not be afraid to buy a system that does not include a monitor so that you get a good monitor separately If you bought a good monitor last time and want to use it on your new computer that is okay too unless it is wearing out Compare the quality of your old monitor with the latest models and be sure your monitor is still worth using Page 22 Recomm
10. offering I often end up buying a better keyboard and mouse and shelving the one they include The system may also include a monitor and a printer You will have to decide for yourself if they are really giving you a deal Processor The processor is the core of the computer and there have been lots of choices through the years You currently have a choice between processors made by Intel and processors made by AMD These are roughly equivalent processors and the choice is mostly a religious one I personally always buy Intel based computers but I have many friends who prefer an AMD based computer The price between equivalent speed processors is very close and so is the technology I can not give a rational reason to prefer one over the other The speed of the processor is measured in megahertz and usually written as MHz The low end computers have a speed specification over 500 MHz What that means is that the processor clock is ticking at 500 thousand times per second There appears to be little difference in processor price per cycle i e power per dollar until you reach 700 MHz and then it gets expensive You can buy a computer with a 1 GHz gigahertz processor one million cycles per second but expect to pay an additional thousand January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES dollars for the privilege Running at those speeds the processor generates Processor Hard disk type and size Memory size CD drive type and speed Video card
11. product Available mail address and phone number s At A Glance A 1 to 4 rating Price MSRP retail or street System Requirements self explanatory Pros Ease of use learning etc Documentation comprehensive intelligible Support Does it deliver as advertised If a book is the author s style smooth or challenging Is the Index useful Cons Shortfalls if any The body of your review Graphics welcome and requested if possible When addressing technical complex issues endeavor to be as cOMPreneneWe and street level clear as possible Use one space between sentences two carriage returns at the end of each paragraph Re read your work carefully objectively checking word sentence and logic flow to ensure you say precisely what you mean to say clearly Do not use indents or tabs Spell check your work Procedure for submitting articles for publication Save your article as a pure ASCII file with line breaks and a TXT extension You may alternately save your files in Rich Text Format RTF extension then send them to bluenotes mail sfpcug org Should special formatting be necessary forward a hard copy to the Editor Contact Blue Notes staff by e mail bluenotes mail sfpcug org TABLE OF CONTENTS Editor s Notes 242 egewexyerssaweeeeasesedee ces 4 From The DealsGuy 00050 4 Relief in Sight from Barrage Of Irksome TV Commercials 10 Unofficially USB
12. tlxd tal sprintnetops net 143 190 1 109 7 lt 10ms 10ms 10ms 199 250 21 210 8 20ms 10ms lt 10ms 199 250 21 230 9 lt 10ms 10ms lt 10 ms inthub dms state fl us 204 90 26 110 10 lt l0ms 10ms_ 10 ms hcsisp dms state fl us 204 90 26 102 11 20ms 10ms 20ms 500 Serial12 1 1 GW1 JAX1 ALTER NET 157 130 81 185 12 20ms 20ms 20ms 153 at 2 1 0 XR1 ATL1 ALTER NET 152 63 84 34 13 30ms 20ms 30ms 195 ATM4 0 GW6 ATL3 ALTER NET 146 188 233 217 14 50ms 30ms 20 ms foundry 86 p3 2 atl2 mindspring net 157 130 29 194 15 20ms 20ms 20ms web ft So ee 199 174 114 46 0 rp038585 FLDOI GOV 158 229 2 100 1 158 229 2 126 2 tmphqsms tempfldoi gov 158 229 1 41 Trace complete is the tracert response between 158 229 2 100 and 158 229 1 41 Tracing route to tmphqsms tempfldoi gov 158 229 1 41 over a maximum of 30 hops Trace complete With Windows 2000 you can enter pathping 158 229 1 41 and get the following information Tracing route to tmphqsms tempfldoi gov 158 229 1 41 over a maximum of 30 hops You see my machine router and the destination machine This only works on Windows 2000 machines but do not worry this and tracert do not give you the entire story A router HAS to have an IP address on BOTH sides The side your ping signal goes in on and the side the ping signal comes out on But This lists the different routers through which the ping signal went to get while both tracert which everyone runnin
13. with senior centers The bottom line Learning from each other s experiences and sharing ours through meetings instruction newsletters and our Web page www crug com There is no restriction against anyone using the article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given to the author This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups APCUG an International organization Dick is a past president of the Crystal River User s Group Florida s west coast and currently acts as the club s publicity person He also does some instructing in such subjects as Internet Print programs i e Shop and Master and Quicken If you use his article he asks that you send him a copy Page 31 THE MP3 AND INTERNET by Bruce Fries with Marty Fries TeamCom Books P O Box 1251 Burtonsville MD 20866 www TeamComBooks com 301 847 7600 At A Glance Rating Price 24 95 System Requirements None This is a book Pros Cons reviewed by M K Carol Lee Good resource for learning about the issues and technologies involved in enjoying MP3 and other digital music formats CD ROM not included with the book Internet are changing the way music is distributed and consumed The MP3 and the Internet provides detailed and easy to understand coverage of the issues and technologies surrounding the digital music phenomenon The authors go into detail explaini
14. you have a UPS The it is time to think about protecting your PC companies typically offer insurance similar to surge protectors The better UPS devices include a voltage regulator line conditioner built in And the best ones have software that will automatically shut down by Steve Shank your computer through either a USB cable or a serial cable if you are away from your computer when the problem hits The objective is not to let you finish that last thought on the Great American Novel but to give you enough time perhaps five minutes to save your files and shut r I here are two potential problems down your computer safely If the problem is only a brownout the UPS will allow you to continue without interruption Most UPS devices will have a mixture of outlets some with battery backup for your computer and monitor and the rest with only surge protection If the total number of outlets in not enough for all your devices then an additional surge protector would be needed for the other ones 1 Power surges These can come when power is restored after being cut off or simply as a result of the energy grid adapting to changing conditions A power surge can destroy hardware the solution is a surge protector It is important to make sure it is a quality surge protector not to be confused with the power Companies that make surge protectors typically also make uninterruptible strips sold at hardware stores and masquerading as surge power
15. 001 BLUE NOTES Challenges And Mysteries by Judy Lococo President APCUG e mail judy apcug org i we re from the government We re here to help you I didn t H think this joke would come back to haunt me on the Internet but alas I have been shot down in flames by one of our very own State of Kentucky web sites Or possibly my Xerox Docuprint P12 laser printer I located a form I needed on one of our state s Internet sites but every time I tried to print it my printer would stop dead in its tracks and tell me it was out of paper I checked the tray and beheld there was enough paper in there to print 150 copies I looked for a paper jam and the innards of the printer looked its usual black self So I tried to print something else and the printer kept telling me that it was already printing this form and until it finished that job it wasn t gonna print another thing Jeesh I checked all the settings amp purge print jobs I could find and there just wasn t going to be any printing done today Finally in desperation I turned off the printer and restarted the computer Again I checked the settings and everything looked right and I asked the printer for a test page which came through perfectly So I decided to print the form again The out of paper light came on again with the same dreadful message that it was printing that form and I wasn t going to print another thing until it finished that one After a couple hours of fru
16. 100 base T port This means that the network port can communicate at either 10 MBPS megabits per seconds or 100 MBPS depending on the hub being used There are other network possibilities but I have not seen them offered on new computers so I will ignore them in this article I will talk more about networks in a future article FireWire Page 19 FireWire can be thought of as USB on steroids It works very similar to USB but it runs at a higher speed This technology was conceived by Apple Computers which is probably what slows the implementation This is useful for talking to a digital video camera FireWire supports data rates of 100 200 and 400 Mbps yes faster than network speeds It supports up to 63 devices with a maximum cable length of 4 5 meters between devices Telephone Virtually every computer system I found in my research includes an internal modem whether you want it or not Any modem you get will be V 90 compatible meaning you will be capable of connecting at 56K There will be a pair of telephone jacks for connecting to your household telephone system The performance of these internal modems will be average but not extraordinary In many cases these will be processor less modems often referred to as WinModems because the first of this type of modem was called WinModem that use your computer to control the modem functions fairly heavily This should not be a problem unless you want to run something other than Win
17. 15 346 2644 Orchidanica goplay com 415 242 0429 bluenotes mail sfpcug org 415 474 1587 510 654 4027 415 431 024 jbpuig mail sfpcug org 415 564 7730 programs mail sfpcug org 415 474 1587 Page 37 San Francisco PC Users Group Application Renewal Address Change Name Please type or print legibly Address Home phone ___ Work phone ___ City State Zip FAX phone ___ 7 E Mail Address Please check _ Renewal member ___ New Member Check type of membership please send your check to G Individual 25 SF PC Users Group G Family 30 Attn Membership Director G Business 50 3145 Geary Blvd Box 284 G Outside US 25 San Francisco CA 94118 3300 Please be patient it may take up to 3 weeks to enable the account Amount enclosed Please do not mail cash January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 38
18. 3 files direct to CDs connect to Internet radio stations collect and save playlists and much much more This is yet another free gem from Apple that compliments the free iMovie software nicely We were almost done when in standard Steve Jobs fashion he simply states Oh there s one more thing Apple s new PowerBook G4 Totally redesigned this will make even the most diehard PC person go I want one They include a 5 3 hour battery 15 2 inch mega wide screen built in FireWire USB Audio I O SVGA and composite video out 56k modem 10 100 Ethernet infrared PC card slot AirPort wireless ready a 400 or 500 MHz G4 processor slot loading CD DVD drive no tray 10 20 or 30 GB hard drives 128 or 256 MB of RAM up to 1 GB 5 3 pounds and are you ready for this 1 inch thick Made of 99 5 pure Page 26 titanium this is one killer portable Talk about a laptop Rush to your nearest Apple dealer to gander at one of these While many people often understate Apple s influence in the market taking in a Macworld and seeing what Apple is capable of may cause more than a few people to start thinking a little different And that s all Steve asks Schoun Regan is the training and media specialist for Complete Mac Services They are Apple Specialists Apple Solution Experts and a training and consulting facility in Louisville KY He travels around North America teaching people all kinds of computer related things He also regularly wri
19. 6X they are fast drives DVD RW or DVD RAM There are two standards for writing DVD disks The standards DVD RW and DVD RAM are not compatible When the industry decides which standard is best it will be worth buying Until then hold off unless you are mastering DVDs for some reason Video Cards The video graphic card options available on a pre made computer are fairly limited and will probably fall into the business class It will be fine for business applications and web browsing If you are a serious gamer or graphics professional you will want to replace that card with a different card Some hard core gamers will spend as much as 600 for a graphics card Graphic professionals may spend over 1000 For the rest of us the standard card will do just fine Memory and Color Depth The video cards can run in different video mode based primarily on memory limitations The modes vary in resolution dots across by dots Page 17 down and the number of colors The more colors the more realistic the images will be The color depth at any given resolution is limited by the memory on the card The number of colors fills up the memory at the following rates 16 Colors 0 5 Bytes per Pixel 256 Colors 1 Byte per Pixel High Color 2 Bytes per Pixel True Color 3 Bytes per Pixel Use that number in that following calculation to see the amount of memory used for that setting Horizontal Resolution x Vertical Resolution x Bytes per
20. A special version of the CD R was developed that could be erased and then rewritten This is the CD RW The benefit of CD RW is that you can re use the CD but with an overhead penalty A CD RW disk must be formatted like we used to do with floppies but it takes longer A partial erase just maps around the erased data without regaining the used space A full erase requires reformatting This media has dropped in price to an affordable 2 00 to 5 00 depending on the brand In theory this would be a good media to use for system backups I prefer to use the less expensive CD R media and archive different versions of what I am backing up Most computers with just a CD ROM drive can not read CD RW media but they will read CD R media For a while there were drives that read only CD R disks but the CD RW drives ended up costing the same and manufacturers phased out the CD R type CD RW drives will read all CD ROMs so you do not need both a CD ROM drive and a CD RW drive DVDs Digital Video Disks look like CDs except they store a lot more data up to 5 2 GB They use a blue laser instead of a red laser to read smaller holes which allows for greater density of data in the same space DVD ROM drives can serve as CD ROM drives There is even one DVD ROM drive that can also serve as a CD RW drive all three in one I have not forgotten DVD RW and DVD RAM drives The concept of writing to disks with that capability is enticing but it is still too early
21. Net com to get the special price of 175 00 75 00 off the retail price I know nothing about server software so check their product description at the Web site http www starnet com Clean Your Computer FREE Susan Ives of Alamo PC Users Group passed this on to me through their editor Clarke Bird If you are running a current virus scan program ignore this but if you are not you can check your computer and clean it here http housecall antivirus com Keep your computer checked for free often You install a small program and can virus scan your computer on the Web The site is run by Trend Micro the creators of PC cillin How About a Deal And a UG Fund Raiser Several editors forwarded this one to me It was e mailed by Boomerang Software to all user groups belonging to APCUG Here is an abbreviated description and statement by Boomerang Now you can use FrontPage 2000 and Total E Commerce for FrontPage 2000 together to build complete E commerce sites However for a limited time only we are offering Total E Commerce for FrontPage 2000 for the Special Introductory Price of 119 95 Limited time special introductory offers on Boomerang products and services Total E Commerce for FrontPage2000 sale price 119 95 retail 149 95 January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES WebShop Designer 2000 sale price 69 95 retail 79 95 Internet Intranet Design Shop Gold 2000 sale price 49 95 retail 59 95 Photo
22. PCUG an International organization to which this user group belongs Page 25 Macworld San Francisco 2001 by Schoun Regan sregan completemac com their wares swag is easy to find and the Macintosh community holds it s collective breath durmg Steve s keynote address The products Apple rolled out this time are both subtle and revolutionary again rocking the PC world and setting standards for others to follow Weill go in the order of the announcements because it s more fun that way March 24th More precisely Saturday March 24th That s the day Mac OS X is released to the public for the retail price of US 129 When Apple rolled out the beta they had over 100 000 users purchase a copy They had over 75 000 comments Mac OS X is UNIX with a Mac interface built on an open source platform From many peopleis standpoint this is Utopia While I d like to cover X in more detail I ll wait until March to do so Mie is the Comdex of the PC world Where vendors hawk Next up was an upgrade of the PowerMac line These are the desktop computers that are great to look at and pop open with the flip of a latch They re getting a much faster BUS and a speed bump with four models available 466 533 available in a dual processor configuration 667 and 733 MHz models The 466 and 533 models come with 128 MB of RAM the other two 256MB Hard drive sizes range from 30 60 GB and all models but the 466 comes with GeForce2MX nVidia cards The 466
23. Pixel Amount of Ram Required in bytes If you want to run at True Color with a resolution of 1600 X 1200 your video card must have 5 6MB of video RAM 1600 x 1200 x 3 5 760 000 bytes Interface If you are happy with the settings available on the video card in the computer you probably do not care how the computer talks to the video card You will care only if you ever expect to replace it Check to see if the existing card can be removed or at least disabled Many of the low end computers will have the video built into the motherboard You may be able to tell by looking at the back of the computer If all the connectors are in line with each other including the video port the video is definitely on the motherboard In my research I found that most of the video cards interface through a special bus known as AGP Accelerated Graphic Port rather January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES than PCI Be sure that there is an AGP slot available if you expect to change the video Note that there can still be an AGP slot even though the video is built into the motherboard AGP is a special interface developed by Intel that provides a much faster communications channel In addition AGP allows 3 D textures to be stored in main memory rather than video memory This is why you will see shared video memory in some specifications Data Ports Your computer will include several connectors for external devices These connectors are called data po
24. Web Deluxe sale price 29 95 retail 39 95 Web Hosting General and E commerce sale price 14 95 mo one month free Dedicated E commerce Web Hosting sale price 39 95 mo one month free Prices in effect until February 1 2001 but check with your user group since the time period may be extended due to newsletter delivery schedules Prices do not include shipping and handling To help support your user group Boomerang will contribute to your user group an amount equal to 10 of the sales of the listed products generated by your group s members during this period Your group s officers must contact Boomerang to make appropriate arrangements If the group does not take advantage of this offer of support individual members can still take advantage of the limited time special introductory offers check with your user group special offer coordinator who should have details To purchase these products and services and receive credit toward our contribution to your user group please call 617 489 3000 ext 114 or e mail richards boomerangsoftware com with ordering information Please be sure to state the name of your user group and where you can be contacted This offer applies only to the listed products purchased via the above telephone number or e mail address and is available for a limited time only It does not apply to any sales of Boomerang Software Inc products or services purchased in stores or elsewhere For further inf
25. all business page simple Prices are in US funds Uses Windows 9x NT4 platform Not sure about Win2K or ME Order by phone fax email mail Phone 800 233 3223 or 918 825 4844 Fax 918 825 6359 Email sales upperspace com Mail Upperspace Corp Page 5 600 SE 49th Street Pryor OK 74361 Liven Up Your Web Graphics Caligari Software has introduced iSpace At this writing I have purchased it but have not yet tried it but I have used Caligari s TrueSpace also an excellent product for giving graphics an impressive new look I ll include some of their description below For web designers and developers who want to differentiate the look of their Web site iSpace provides a Web graphics tool that enables the creation of stunning 3D graphics Working with traditional Web design tools iSpace delivers the full range of 3D capabilities in a familiar drag amp drop environment Unlike other 3D tools iSpace works seamlessly with your main HTML editor such as Front Page Dreamweaver or Adobe GoLive and uses a standard HTML format for input and output of the entire fully formatted page 3D workspace is revolutionary the rendering results breathtaking Check out http www caligari ccom if you want more details on iSpace I had a better special posted on my Web site that ran out December 15 2000 However they agreed to offer my readers iSpace at 199 00 which is 100 off the MSRP from January through February 28 2001 G
26. alm of your hand Configure your own low cost universal docking station choose whatever module combination is right for you whether you are a PC or Mac user Compatible with Windows r 95 rev B Windows r 98 Windows r 2000 Mac r OS 8 1 or higher 7 port hub standard configuration connects seven devices to a single USB port on your PC Freedom to Connect keyboards mice joysticks speakers and more to a single USB port on your computer 4A Ampere power supply provides true 500 mA milliAmp power to each port Modules available for Ethernet SCSI devices serial parallel PS 2 and additional USB ports Illuminated green LEDs for easy access to port status Supports all high speed and low speed USB devices January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Includes a Belkin Pro Series 3 ft USB Device cable for a quality connection lifetime Belkin warranty and USB Wizard to make configuration even easier I ve been using a BusStation for many months now and find it invaluable Faithful readers know I don t report on a service or product until it has proved itself over a reasonable length of time and I have become thoroughly familiar with it Even before installing it in my main computer I vowed never to buy another non USB peripheral again With BusStation I ve found it easy to connect some of my older devices including one of my several scanners and a digital camera with only a serial interface This rates
27. and _aperture grille designs called CromaClear It uses a 0 25 mm mask with elliptically shaped phosphors They claim that it provides good images for both text and graphics LCD Panel It is a pity that LCD panels are so expensive because everyone should be using them LCD panels consist of a thin panel of liquid crystal shutters that open and close to let the appropriate color of light through them There is no cathode ray gun firing at you so they do not emit much in the way of radiation As a bonus they take up very little desk space They provide a rock solid display that is easy on the eyes This style is suitable for text work and general graphics but may not have enough color depth for photo work This display technology is not quite as fast as CRT technology and so may not be suitable for some games There are two styles of LCD monitors digital and analog The digital model requires a special video card that outputs the appropriate digital signal A normal video card creates a digital signal and convert that signal to an analog one that is sent to the monitor An analog LCD converts this January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES analog back into the digital signal required to drive the screen The digital only version will provide a sharper screen since it avoids an unnecessary translation LCD monitors are available in various sizes with each larger size being significantly expensive The reason is that the display is really a large
28. as an especially valuable feature for those of us who can t afford to replace all of our currently owned peripherals with new USB products One caution The BusStation User Manual clearly states that that the 4A power supply is more than enough to supply adequate power to all ports in normal configuration At 500mA per port the power draw would be 3 5A Low power devices such as mice and keyboards draw only about 100mA However adding a 4 port hub as one of the modules would overtax the BusStation In such case the 4 port hub must have its own 2 1A power supply supplied with optional 4 port hub modules I like the fact that the BusStation includes built in Overcurrent Protection which shuts off a port if it draws too much current protecting both the connected device and BusStation from damage At the usual price of 79 99 I consider this Belkin product a good value The cost is higher than two standard 4 port USB hubs but you get more versatility The price is competitive with multifunction hubs even when you add in the cost of an adapter module or two adapters range from about Page 13 50 an up and again you have greater choice in integrating USB into your system Copyright 2001 by Ken Fermoyle January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Ken s KompendiumBuying a New Computer By Ken Hopkins Sacramento PC Users Group will be confronted with a bunch of computers that look very similar The key to differentiating them i
29. day of each month at the upstairs meeting room of Round Table Pizza on Geary Blvd and 16th Ave The SFPCUG Steering Committee discusses issues of immediate importance to the Group and makes plans for future activities Steering Committee meetings are open to all SFPCUG members Any Group member having attended two of four preceding Steering Committee meetings is eligible to vote General meetings General meetings are held on the 3rd Tuesday of each month Doors open at 6 15 PM for SIGs and the general meeting begins at 7PM and end by 9PM First time guests are admitted free repeat guests are asked for a donation of 4 Location Meetings now take place in the auditorium of the Community College District Office 33 Gough Street a half block south of Market Street San Francisco CA There is ample free parking in front of the building Civic Center BART and MUNI is a block away The latest information on programs and location for upcoming general and steering committee meetings is available on our web site http www sfpcug org Always check for late breaking news Page 2 P ublication in Blue Notes Follow the structure of a previous article in Blue Notes Name version of the subject program book What does the program do and on what operating platform s Does it satisfactorily fill a genuine need e g task entertainment utility etc Reviewer name and email address Name and reputation of the company distributing the
30. dows for an operating system I do not like internal modems even when they are free I normally rip out these modems and use an external modem connected to my serial port Expandability Ideally you should get a computer that has all the gadgets you desire already installed and ready to go from the vendor That may be possible but new gadgets are popping up all the time In some cases the new gadget may require a drive bay and or an expansion card slot For that reason I recommend that you buy a computer that has at least one empty drive bay and one empty expansion slot The ISA bus long the standard expansion slot has all but disappeared The winning technology is the PCI slot You will need to match the card and the slot An AGP slot is useful even if the January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES computer has video built into the motherboard This allows you to add a new video technology in the future Monitors There are three types of CRT cathode ray tube monitors currently available and each has its advantages for various applications There are also LCD liquid crystal display and liquid plasma monitors available if you have a large budget Dot Pitch The dot pitch of a monitor is the distance between adjacent sets of red green and blue dots The smaller the distance the sharper the image A sharper image is easier on the eyes Do not even consider a monitor that has a dot pitch number larger than 27 for a shadow mask
31. e document I was able to print out the gazillion copies I had stacked up in my queue lt g gt I have to wonder if other Internet documents have their own printing instructions hardcoded into the documents themselves that don t necessarily fit all printers For example if it required the paper to come from the upper tray and your printer used the bottom tray If this were true many of us would take a hammer to our printers and use language we didn t know we could pronounce without ever knowing why Wouldn t it be more sensible to ask that a document be printed out with the default settings of _any_ printer January February 2001 BLUE NOTES My challenge goes out to whomever is reading this to submit their own personal mysteries and hiccups Please send your thoughts to your editors email address for inclusion in the next issue of Your newsletter name I know that it matters not how proficient you are with a computer somewhere sometime one of these bumps in the road will strike and have you scratching your head If you are too shy and don t wish to divulge your identity use a pseudonym I seem to remember reading an excellent article on home networking written by Ima Clueless and M C Essee There is no restriction against anyone using the article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given to the author This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups A
32. egistering a company s Web site to their search engine I believe their browser voice software is free but you need your own headphones Check their system requirements They ll also send disks for your user group if you ask When Ya Gotta Go Ya Gotta Go More Trivia You re walking on the sidewalks of New York and suddenly you really have to find a bathroom fast What do you do What do you do I m not talking about the American Express card for this one though No I m talking about asking the net that is if you have a wireless Internet phone with you Just use it to search out the closest bathroom in about 30 seconds Actually your search is only possible in about a dozen major cities but I Page 6 look for the service by YadaYada com to get better You can thank http www besttoilets com for putting this information together However I suppose it will be a while before you could ask about restrooms in YeeHaw Junction FL Best to use your Road Whiz for that one You do have a Road Whiz for auto travel don t you Get a Family For Free My thanks to Lou Harris of Alamo PC Organization Inc for forwarding this to me through Clark Bird their editor It is a news release from Ken McGinnis of Millennia Corporation Check further but I only saw it listed for PCs Legacy 3 0 is now FREE Yes you read correctly Legacy Family Tree 3 0 the most comprehensive and easy to use family history software is now free for the tak
33. em too Windows Plug n Play eased the problem when it worked but it took USB to solve it completely With USB a computer automatically recognizes the device connected and installs the appropriate drivers It enables computer users to hot plug computer peripherals to their PCs Hot plugging means you can plug in and unplug peripherals with have to power down and then reboot your January February 2001 BLUE NOTES computer no small benefit Not that there weren t difficulties at first I heard many complaints from people who tried to install USB ports and devices in the early days of the technology The problems usually arose from trying to use USB in hardware or software systems that weren t ready for it i e older systems that hadn t been built with USB compatibility in mind I do not recall getting any similar complaints during the past year Lack of USB devices was a problem at first but now they re everywhere USB offers many more benefits than simple installation First USB Version 1 1 can carry data at up to 12 megabits per second Mbps 100 times faster than any serial port This broad category includes digital cameras modems keyboards mice printers digital joysticks some CD ROM drives tape and floppy drives digital scanners and specialty printers USB s data rate also accommodates a whole new generation of peripherals MPEG 2 video base products data gloves digitizers and computer telephony expected to
34. endation The tough part about recommending a system is that no two companies offer the same options In addition the recommendation system would be different based upon the intended application This recommendation is for typical home use word processing spreadsheets Quicken e mail and Web browsing It will work fine for most games but it will not be the fastest on the block It will work fine for Webcams but it is not necessarily a good video editing system It could serve as a workstation but would not make a good server 500 MHz to 1 GHz processor Intel or AMD 10 GB Ultra DMA hard drive 64 MB SDRAM memory CD RW drive 1 floppy drive 10 100 Base T network card 1 USB port 1 serial port 1 printer port V 90 K56 flex modem AGP graphics card Keyboard Mouse Sound card and speakers 17 Monitor The price of such a system will vary based upon the processor selected I calculate that the base price for the system above without the processor and motherboard would be 900 To that we need to add in the cost of the processor and the appropriate motherboard Based upon pricing at the January February 2001 BLUE NOTES beginning of September here are the prices you should expect to find for any given processor The sub 1000 systems will probably be based upon the AMD K6 2 or a low end Intel Celeronand run close to 500 MHz By Christmas expect that same amount to get you a 600 700 AMD Duron or Intel Celeron system ins
35. g TCP IP and windows has from my computer to the server at Mindspring You will notice some time and pathping which only windows 2000 users have only show one IP outs in the middle No those sites are not down or I would not have been address for the router in the middle In this example there is only one able to get a response back from Mindspring For security reasons those router We saw several routers between my computer and mindspring routers are configured to NOT respond to ping messages This keeps Ifthe tracert between my computer and mindspring stopped at hackers from sending a ping to a range of addresses to see who responds then attacking those who do January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 29 1 lt 10ms lt 10ms lt 10 ms 158 229 2 126 Reply from 158 229 1 41 bytes 32 time lt 10ms TTL 127 2 lt l0ms lt l0ms lt l0ms 158 229 15 1 Route 158 229 1126 gt 3 lt l0ms lt lOms 158 229 225 2 158 229 1 41 gt a lt lt i Request timed out 158 229 2 125 5 Request timed out 6 30ms 3lms lt 10 ms talhub tlxd tal sprintnetops net 143 190 1 109 I got an extra response That additional response is the other IP address 7 lt l0ms 10ms 10ms 199 250 21 210 on the router between myself and the remote computer And as we 8 20ms 10ms lt 10ms 199 250 21 230 know any windows machine using TCP IP can use ping Many of 2 7 Request timed out your computer geek friends are not aware of this limitati
36. he basics needed to amuse and astound your friends even the Computer Geek types Open a command prompt on your computer Notice how I didn t even ask what version of Windows or NT you were running that was deliberate Type Without the quotes but with the space ping www mindspring com You probably got one of the responses below Pinging www mindspring com 199 174 114 46 with 32 bytes of data Page 27 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 This means 1 Mindspring is up and running You got a response 2 A Name server is running Computers only recognize numbers so a server turned www mindspring com into 199 174 114 46 If you got unknown host www mindspring com Your computer is not communicating with a name server Are you connected to the internet If you got Request timed out Either you typed in an incorrect IP address If you tried to get smart from response 1 above and entered ping 199 174 114 46 or the machine you are trying to ping is not on or connected to the network You may sometimes get the message Destination net is unreachable This is like a bridge being out between you and the destination Until the bridge is repaired you cannot get there from here Now for the Power User stuff that will impress your friends Many times I know a machine is being re booted How can I tell when the remote site is back up and running Type ping lt machine name gt t The t make
37. ing This is the entire program Nothing has been held back and there are no restrictions Everything is there from world class merging search and replace and spell checking to powerful research logs reports and sources Legacy overpowers the competition with an unbeatable feature list Beginning December 12th 2000 you can download the Standard Edition of Legacy from our Web site at http www LegacyFamilyTree com There are no strings attached It is our gift to the genealogy world Please come to our web site and read all about this great program You can also read about the new Deluxe Edition that is now available Legacy Family Tree Changing the World of Genealogy That s it for this month Meet me here again next month if your editor permits This column is written to make user group members aware of special offers I have found or arranged and my comments should not be January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES interpreted to encourage or discourage the purchase of products no matter how enthused I might sound Bob The Cheapskate Click dealsguy mindspring com Visit my Web site at http www dealsguy com for past columns What a Deal I drove a neighbor to a Best Buy store today to pick up his new TV Best Buy is a place I rarely frequent but while waiting for my friend I looked at a package of 5 Memorex CD RW disks for 5 99 I also checked the price on a package of 10 which was 15 99 This Best Buy deal
38. ing was the Word And don t you forget it There is no restriction against anyone using the article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given to the author This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups APCUG an_ International organization to which this user group belongs could translate to User s Super Buddy for PC and Mac users Anybody Page 11 Unofficially USB Could Mean User s Super Buddy who tried to install and configure a peripheral device in the old pre USB days likely will agree Back then the chore was a major one especially with PCs It required a ton of computer savvy and no little amount of luck First you had to figure out which port to use from a bunch of confusing possibilities Then in most cases you had to pull the cover off your computer always scary for either Mac or PC to install an add in card For PCs this often required setting pesky DIP switches Next came the job of finding and configuring an available IRQ not always easy Basic system components used up some IRQs serial devices already installed used up still more It was a fun job yessir I can recall blowing the better part of a day trying to install a single new peripheral in computers ranging from the venerable XT through a variety of X86 machines even into WinTel systems of the 090s Mac users had it easier but USB has been a boon for th
39. is exactly the same as their model BP500UC except without the retail packaging and listing for 50 less 180 for BPSOOUC vs 130 for BP500U I got the BPSOOU at their auction last week for 69 00 plus about 10 shipping handling The auction site is http auction apcc com They offer different items at different times so you may have to wait a couple of days for your item to be offered Reconditioned models don t include the software you download it instead or a USB cable buy it separately and the warranty is 3 months instead of 2 years January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 34 SFPCUG Minutes of 5 December 2000 The San Francisco PC Users Group Steering Committee meeting of December 5 2000 was held at Round Table Pizza 16th and Geary Present were Butler Crittenden Judy Gaer Harold Charns Pierre Hahn and Don O Classen The meeting was called to order at 19 04 chaired by club president Butler Crittenden The minutes of the November 2000 meeting were distributed A motion was made and seconded that they be approved The minutes were approved The Treasurer s report The Treasurer says we have sufficient funds to carry on We need to reinstate club liability insurance Harold will find out if we have it and if not what it will cost to reinstate Motion was made seconded and passed The Treasurer s report was approved The Vice President s report was that the Cow Palace Tech Bench was a good place to hand out our fl
40. is just slightly above the 15 monitors 19 Monitor This is the size for the amateur graphics designer or the hardcore gamer This will look best at a resolution of 1024 x 768 pixels These monitors take a lot of desk space There are now short length monitors that eliminate that problem Be sure to measure your desk space before buying one of these 21 Monitor This is the size of choice for professional graphics designers and people that need a lot of windows visible at one time I find that this size is great for programming because I can have lots of debug windows open This size is normally run at a resolution of 1280 X 1024 or even 1600 X 1200 Refresh Rates January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES The refresh rate of a monitor tells you how frequently the screen is redrawn by the electron guns within the CRT This number is measured in hertz Hz or cycles per second A refresh rate of 70 indicates that the screen is redrawn 70 times per second If the refresh rate is set too low you may notice some flicker on the screen This is especially true when working under fluorescent lights which operate at 60 Hz You should increase the refresh rate until you find one that does not flicker The possible refresh rate may vary based upon the resolution with higher refresh rates available at lower resolutions You should be able to find a comfortable range between 67Hz and 85Hz Do not try to refresh at a rate higher than the mon
41. itchfork usually identifies it Most current motherboards will have one or two USB ports on the back of the computer Many computers will also have an additional port on the front of the computer This is useful for devices like cameras where you only use the device occasionally There will not be enough USB ports for all of the devices you could end up with But USB is capable of connecting up to 127 USB devices You can increase your USB ports through a USB hub a small box with one cable that connects to an existing port and then a series of ports to connect your devices You may even have a hub on your monitor or USB keyboard Be aware that there are powered and unpowered hubs You may need a powered hub for certain devices The hub on a keyboard is not powered but one on a monitor probably is If you plug a device into a hub and it does not work try connecting directly to the port If that works you have an unpowered hub and need a powered one If you are buying a hub I recommend buying a powered hub just in case I have not experienced this problem but have seen reports of it Network Networks have finally made it to the home computer Part of that is because people have more than one computer and are linking them together to share files or printers I think that the biggest reason is because of high speed connections like DSL and cable A network allows you to share the high speed Internet connection The network connection will be a 10
42. itor manufacturer specifies You could damage the monitor with a bad setting Fortunately the expensive monitors include circuitry to protect them Flat or Curved Most monitors have a curved front to them but some of the more expensive have a flat screen Why would you pay more for the flat screen The flat screen will have much less glare A flat screen will have more usable screen space than the same size curved screen There will be less image distortion on a flat screen When you first look at a flat screen the image will look funny as though the screen is bowed out You will get used to it quickly Dot Trio Shadow Mask CRT The most common type of monitor tube uses a thin sheet of perforated metal in front of the CRT to create discrete phosphor dots Look for a dot pitch the shortest distance between phosphor dots of the same color of 0 27 mm or less This CRT style is well suited for text Page 21 Aperture Grille CRT Sony invented aperture grille CRTs sold by Sony as Trinitron and by Mitsubishi as DiamondTron Aperture grille uses an array of stretched wires instead of the hole filled metal plate to create images using phosphor lines Look for a stripe pitch of 0 25 mm or less Aperture grille designs boast improved brightness and contrast over shadow mask tubes without a loss of focus This style CRT is best for image editing and is not as sharp for text work Slot Mask CRT NEC invented this combination of shadow mask
43. left me wondering what I may have missed in the interpretation I ve heard about modern math Maybe I should take that class Have you noticed in many weekend sale flyers that sale items often show no regular price besides the sale price In reality there s no sale at all just a featured item with a large price that appears to be on sale I ve noticed one store s flyers doing that for several years now Guess the others are learning from them To Linux Or Not To Linux It was not a good time for the Intel Pentium 4 in early January 2001 Some distributors installing Linux found that the install was less than clean since the operating system s installation procedure could not properly identify the chip Apparently it had to do with Intel changing its CPU identification model numbering Intel says they informed distributors of the chip update but some distributors didn t attend the briefing so they didn t update their operating systems From what I read the best bet is Red Hat s Linux which is said to install correctly Caldera and Turbo Linux have a work around to sidestep the Page 7 problem Others do not have any information to help but do know about it Perhaps this won t matter that much since Pentium 4 sales are sagging anyway Updates 1 Ken Winograd e mailed me to alert you that both of his Hang2000 games for Windows and Macintosh have been updated The info in the Presidents and Vice Presidents categories is modified
44. monitor or larger than 25 for an aperture grille monitor Display Sizes How big a monitor do you need That depends on your usage and your budget Just to confuse you monitor sizes are measured diagonally Gust like TV screens To make things even tougher on you the measurement is the tube size not the viewable size The image skews near the edges and so that area is not usable When you compare monitor size compare the viewable size instead of the tube size Higher resolutions let you see more information Running a display at a resolution higher than the ones I describe will result in eyestrain You can move down a notch or two if you have vision problems Monitors Smaller Than 15 Page 20 Do not buy one of these they are just too small I know they look like a good value but you probably not be happy using it This size will look best at a resolution of 640 x 480 pixels picture elements or dots I have seen some software that will not run at this low resolution 15 Monitor This size is suitable for word processing or spreadsheet applications The only advantage of this size is the low cost This will look best at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels 17 Monitor This is a good size for web browsing and other Internet applications It will also work well for word processing and spreadsheet applications This will look best at a resolution of 800 x 600 pixels and may be okay at 1024 x 768 The price for this size of monitor
45. ndows 98 or Windows ME due out in September If you want to run Windows 2000 then you want at least 128 MB of memory You will be happier with double my recommended minimums Adding memory to the system will increase performance more than an increase in processor speed CD Drives Every computer has a CD Compact Disk drive of some kind these days CD media allows us to store about 640 MB of data on a 5 4 multi layer plastic disk The CD has taken over as the media of choice for program distribution This is because the cost of manufacturing a CD for distribution is less than the cost of manufacturing a two floppy disk set High production CDs are produced by pressing them like vinyl albums were before audio CDs took over The data even music can be considered data here is recorded in the media as holes The data is actually stored under the label and read through reflection with a laser You can not actually touch the data area Low production CDs are produced using a specially formulated CD called CD R The CD R has the holes burned into the data layer via a laser These can be written once and are then considered permanent A low production drive is not much different than the drive you buy for a home computer except that it includes a feeder to insert and remove disks so the computer can make multiple copies unattended The blank CDs cost in the 1 00 to 2 00 range depending on the brand January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES
46. ndspring com Visit my Web site at http www dealsguy com to see past columns and some other articles of interest January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Relief in Sight from Barrage Of Irksome TV Commercials by Ken Fermoyle Tug Net crammed into your favorites TV shows and sports events If so join the club But relief may be in sight according to Electronic Digest Sept 5 2000 issue The magazine reports that sophisticated new integrated circuit controllers will improve performance of Set Top Boxes and Personal Video Recorders STBs PVRs The new ICs will make the devices less expensive and more versatile This should eventually change their status from novelties with appeal to a limited market of early adopters to appliances that gradually will take the place of today s VCRs A re you fed up with the seemingly endless barrage of commercials Electronic Design also notes that the new controllers can be used to manage arriving and departing data streams into and out of set top boxes storage devices digital TVs PVRs from a variety of sources including broadband cable satellites terrestrial and IP Internet Protocol networks What does this have to do with computers PVR technology is digital like computers not analog like VCRs and data is stored on a hard drive like computers not on magnetic tape A PVR will do everything that a VCR can but with significant improvements Page 10 For example I have ab
47. ng the music formats and the legalities of downloading music from the Internet They spend an entire chapter summarizing the copyright laws and hypothetical test cases to explain what is legal what is clearly illegal and what is still to be decided in court After explaining the legalities the authors go on to specify the hardware and software required to obtain extract i e rip organize and play digital music files In addition there is a chapter on burning your own audio CD s from your collection of digital music The authors provide a brief software tutorial on some of the most popular software used in processing digital music The book includes an appendix of web sites for obtaining digital music Although it comes with no accompanying CD ROM that normally accompanies a computer book there is an offer for a free CD ROM which is to include 140 MP3 songs from CDbaby com The CD ROM is also to include a shareware version of MusicMatch Jukebox Although the CD ROM is free for the asking it requires the extra step of asking for it It would have been better if it was included in the book However the book on its own is a good resource for taking advantage of the MP3 revolution Dire music formats like MP3 and streaming audio on the January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 32 5 z Ae essentially a combined battery and surge protector in one device so Given California s energy supply problems you don t need a separate surge protector if
48. ng to Upperspace DesignCAD will handle that type of drawing needs with ease and it s easy to learn and use It s also a much better bargain even at its regular price but I have a deal for DesignCAD You can actually own DesignCAD at about the price for only an upgraded version of that other famous CAD program Drawing and editing commands are intuitive and FAST Drawing January February 2001 BLUE NOTES shortcuts such as a right click for snap and object menus horizontal and vertical cursor mode and cursor step sizes allow you to make faster and more reliable drawings 3D support is greatly enhanced and animations can be saved in avi format This product offers so much that you should go to http www designcad com to get the details They re offering a great discount from February Ist through March 30 2001 thanks to Jody Wallace Public Relations Director She recommends taking advantage of the Bob Click Special from Upperspace to enjoy 40 off your order DesignCAD 3000 normally 299 00 Bob Click special 179 40 DesignCAD 3000 combines powerful 3D solid modeling with easy to use 2D drafting DesignCAD 3000 Express normally 129 00 Bob Click special 77 40 DesignCAD 3000 Express offers easy to use 2D drafting and has all the same powerful features of DesignCAD 3000 minus the 3D solid modeling ViaPage normally 49 95 Bob Click special 29 97 ViaPage makes designing your personal web page or sm
49. o to http www caligari com ispace isldg to order It uses Windows 95 98 2k NT4 platforms Win ME Be sure to check their recommended hardware Hey Browser Don t Do As I Do Do As I Say Last month I wrote about Conversa s voice powered browser software Now I m introducing you to Ivan Intelligent Voice Animated Navigator I enjoyed their demonstration at Comdex with an Ivan January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES walking around the booth I watched as a demonstrator talked to his browser asking for various types of Web sites and even products The browser responded saying I ll get that and listed sites catering to his request Sometimes VAN asked for more information IVAN is also said to think understand what word sounds mean learn your preferences search by concept instead of just keywords and is easygoing when spoken to in common everyday language My wife sometimes tells me she is like that With her though I just keep saying yes dear to play it safe no commands They say that VoiceSite is the One Voice technology that can actually make your Web site talk and be interactive and is an easy to use Windows based applet It doesn t affect your existing HTML code no tagging or special codes required and it s a GUI interface Find out more at http www myivan com and http www onevoicetech com where there may be free downloadable software but it looks like PC only The way they make their money is by r
50. on to tracert or this means of using ping 1 lt l0ms lt l0ms lt 10ms 158 229 2 126 a o a a Kevin Wood h tributed l articles to APCUG f in Report evin Wood has contributed several articles to or use in Reports or as a tmphgsms tempfidoi gov 158 229 1 41 filler to send out to our editors If you use this article please send him an email letting him know There is no restriction against anyone using the article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given to the author This article is brought to you by the signal went into router number 8 but never came back out on the same Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups side of the router as router number 9 I would get the same response I APCUG an International organization to which this user group belongs might call or send a technician to fix router number 9 when it is operating fine I might assume that router number 9 was down However if my ping Now try this Ping lt remote computer gt r 9 When I enter ping 158 229 1 41 r9 I get the following response January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 30 User Groups Defined by Dick Bromley Chrystal River User Group response when I uttered the name of our computer club to him recently The second word in that title seems to present an all together different meaning to some of our more worldly citizens M unknowing computer less cousin gave me the Oh really
51. ormation regarding Boomerang Software products please visit us at Page 9 www Boomerangsoftware com Free Software Anyone I ve never even heard of this product until I read of it but since it s FREE you might like to take a look Snippets version 2 0 a major upgrade is available at http www snippets com The review I read called it a browser but their Web site says The Ultimate Desktop Dashboard Whatever new features improve how users access the Internet It automatically retrieves information daily hourly or minute by minute and delivers information from several Web sites to alert the user I ve not tried it just thought I d pass it on Microsoft Mindshare Newsletter Check It Out Many user group members subscribe to the Microsoft Mindshare newsletter which contains good information for all kinds of interests including developers For people who want to learn you could have taken the on line multimedia tutorials FREE for the month of January Each newsletter has a URL for tips amp tricks To subscribe go to http www microsoft com mindshare monthly asp That s it for this month Meet me here again next month if your editor permits This column is written to make user group members aware of special offers I have found or arranged and my comments should not be interpreted to encourage or discourage the purchase of products no matter how enthused I might sound Bob The Cheapskate Click dealsguy mi
52. out given up on watching a lot of TV when it is aired especially movies Instead I record them on a VCR and play them back later fast forwarding through commercial breaks This scenario works even better with a PVR You can record a program in real time but pause it at any point at a commercial break for example The PVR keeps recording the program while you get fresh coffee go to the bathroom or whatever When you return and hit the Pause button again the recorder picks up where it left off playing the program back from the hard drive Now you can fast forward quickly through the commercials and enjoy what you really wanted to see You will also be able to do your own instant replays just rewind then replay segments you want to view again You can also preprogram a PVR to record favorite program automatically just as with a VCR Ed Note If you currently use a PVR and service like TiVo Ken Fermoyle would love to hear about your experiences with these technologies for possible use in a future article E mail him at kfermoyle earthlink net fficially USB stands for Universal Serial Bus Unofficially I think it y January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Ken Fermoyle columnist Ken s Korner amp publisher Fermoyle Publications 818 346 9384 22250 Capulin Court Woodland Hills CA 91364 3005 E mail kfermoyle earthlink net http www zyworld com wordsmithken Consulting newsletters Website design In the beginn
53. prices I quoted This is because of a rebate from Page 23 MSN Prodigy or Compuserve These are not good deals do not do it To get the rebate you must sign up for a 3 year commitment to the ISP at 21 95 a month a commitment of 790 20 over 3 years That price is a little high for the Sacramento area most ISPs will give you equivalent service for less money It is the possibility of higher bandwidth connections that really sours the deal If you finally get DSL or cable modem service in your home the MSN Prodigy or Compuserve service is just money you are throwing away I believe that most of us will have a high speed link within the next 3 years Ken Hopkins has been involved with computers since the early seventies and has collected more computer information than he is willing to admit He currently serves as layout editor for SacraBlue the magazine of the Sacramento PC Users Group Send topic ideas to ken hopkins sacpcug org Tip The best time to buy a computer There really is a best time of the year to buy a computer That time is a few early moming hours on the day after Thanksgiving On that day stores like CompUSwill have sales that feature computers as loss leaders These are computers that they are selling below cost They will only have a few available maybe 10 and they will be gone before Noon If that sale computer is close to your desired computer in specifications wake up early and buy it January February 2
54. pyware working in the background and it could even lead to crashes I also received an e mail newsletter from Steve Gibson offering LeakTest as freeware to test your firewall at http grc com It leaktest htm I suggest you read all the important information on Steve Gibson s Web site http Awww gre com I was told that Steve had a new opinion of Symantec s Internet Security but didn t find it Oh No Taxes Again This may be a bit late not for procrastinators like me but I ll remind you that you can download a free tax program Tax Act for doing your federal taxes at http www 2ndstorysoftware com for absolutely no cost They do have Tax Act Pro that is not free but many will get along nicely with the FREE version Take a look Server Software Here s a chance to test X Win32 to connect to a Linux or Unix server X Win32 provides intuitive point and click access from Windows based client desktops to Linux and Unix servers and was ranked first in four of seven test areas by CMP Media s real world labs With X Win32 PC users can run even the most memory intensive graphics rich Linux applications on their Windows desktops Page 8 Go to http www starnet com x4u ssh htm to download an evaluation copy Use the license key VN 1714552 12727 for the download You have 90 days to see what you think If you like it and want to purchase the software e mail Paul Swart vice president sales and marketing at Paul Star
55. r the center number to be the most important A 1X drive would require 74 minutes to write a full disk there are none that slow on the market these days A 4X would require one fourth that time or 18 minutes A 10X takes us down to about 7 1 2 minutes The incremental cost for the faster drives is not much get a fast one when you can The fastest I have seen is a 16X but I suspect they will get faster In the near future we will see double density CD RW drives This will give us more storage and I expect to see some by the end of the year DVD ROM DVD ROM drives let you play DVD movies on your computer which you probably will not do very often It also can store lots of information up to January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES 5 2 GB Some companies that were shipping multiple CDs are now offering DVD as an alternative These tend to be database type things where the user needs multiple CDs of information online If the record companies ever start producing a lot of DVD Audio standard you may see DVD ROM drives become really popular DVD Audio provides music that has six channels of 192 000 samples per second using 24 bit samples compared to audio CD that has two channels of 44 000 samples per seconds using 16 bit samples DVD Audio promises to provide very high audio quality The speed numbers on DVD ROM drives look slow but really are not A 1X DVD drive reads a CD at a speed equivalent to a 10X CD ROM drive With drives running at 1
56. rts The standard ones you should expect to find are keyboard mouse serial printer USB network and telephone In most cases the data is transmitted one bit at a time or serially The printer port is one exception it transmits multiple bits at one time or in parallel Most name brand computers will color code the ports and the cables that connect to them This way you just match up the colors It works well for everyone except the color blind Keyboard and Mouse Ports The keyboard and mouse port use identical looking small round connectors It is easy to get them confused The good news is they are actually interchangeable the computer will figure out which device is plugged in where These ports are normally built into the motherboard Printer Ports There is normally one parallel printer port on a computer referred to as LPT1 This is designed to provide a high speed link to a printer It uses a 25 pin D type connector Be aware that unless the computer includes the printer the system will not include a cable to connect to the printer There is an inexpensive parallel cable that is available for inkjet printers and a Page 18 relatively expensive one used for laser printers You may end up connecting to the printer via a USB port instead This port can also be used for connecting devices like scanners zip drives and netcams Some expensive software utilizes a small device called a dongle to protect the software from unau
57. s in the specifications The name brand computers like Compaq and HP will have little specification cards This article will help you understand some of the stuff you see written there I know some of you are impatient If you do not care about the whys you can skip ahead to Recommendations for the whats you wander down to your local computer or office supply store you If you are buying a computer these days be aware that profit margins are very thin The store will make very little money on your computer For this reason the prices will not vary much between different stores or even brands Be aware that the store will try to sell you an extended warranty because that is where they can make some money The only computers I recommend buying the extended warranty for are laptops I say that because I seem to break laptops just after they go out of warranty I generally recommend a name brand computer unless you happen to know a reliable builder Be sure to read the return policy before buying the computer just in case you get a defective computer First the basics Each of the specifications will at minimum reveal the following Page 14 I suppose it is possible to select your choice from that information and the price alone but the following information should also be revealed The specifications will probably not mention the basic items you get like the keyboard and mouse You need to try out the system to see if you like what they are
58. s your computer keep pinging the remote computer till you close the DOS window So youre screen will look something like January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Request timed out Request timed out Request timed out Request timed out Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Reply from 199 174 114 46 bytes 32 time 50ms TTL 50 Can you tell when the remote machine was re booting I ll bet you can figure it out Unless your computer is connected directly to the computer you are trying to ping there are routers between you and the destination computer Want to know what those routers are named OK At the command prompt DOS Window type the following command Tracert www mindspring com You should see something like this your numbers will differ Unless you are sitting next to me Tracing route to www mindspring com 199 174 114 46 Page 28 over a maximum of 30 hops Now this is where you can amaze those computer geeks you know Here 1 lt lOms lt l0ms lt lOms 158 229 2 126 2 lt lOms lt lOms lt 10ms 158 229 15 1 3 lt l0ms lt lOms 158 229 225 2 4 Request timed out gt E e Request timed out 6 30ms 31ms lt 10 ms talhub
59. ship Director 3145 Geary Blvd Box 284 San Francisco CA 94118 3300 Internet Services for All Members Internet access is a major incentive for SFPCUG membership Visit our web site http www sfpcug org where you will find information about Blue Notes the club s dial up Internet services activities ofour various Special InterestGroups etc PPP accounts are available e mail help mail sfpcug org or contact our WebMaster at webmaster mail sfpcug org or 415 665 3599 The Internet SIGoffers access to a shared account forexperimenting with Web technology including CGI scripting Contact the WebMaster for details Special Interest Groups SIGs Users gather in SIGs to explore and solve specific problems related to software and or hardware The Calendarwill list dates and venues Ifa SIGaddressing your interest s does not exist call 415 665 3599 or 415 346 2644 to organize one January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES Write a Review on New Software and it s Yours Free Vendors frequently offer new software or books to the SFPCUG so that an interested member can give it a test run and keep the product in exchange for a published review in Blue Notes Our Product Review Coordinator can arrange to obtain software you want to review Guidelines for reviews appear regularly in Blue Notes or ask the Product Review Coordinator for a copy Steering Committee Meetings The SFPCUG Steering Committee Meetings are held on the first Tues
60. stration and a computer inferiority complex I decided that this shoddy form was my nemesis and quit trying to print it Page 24 altogether Enter an intelligent charming handsome distinctive extraordinary etc etc lt g gt technodweeb who is infuriatingly right most of the time He tried to print out that darned form and got the same error message I did Yeah I suddenly felt smarter However he was able to print it out on two different HP printers at another location without incident AND_ with my Xerox printer he was able to circumvent whatever it was that was denying me my printed form I shouldn t have been quite so smug The circumvention involved saving the document to my computer and removing the locks on the form instead of printing directly from the web In other words he CHEATED by changing the rules But he did get the thing printed lt mutter mumble gt The problem was that whoever created the document also locked the form so it couldn t be modified By doing that the form was also locked into using a specific paper tray Unfortunately between Word 2000 the form and the Xerox print driver the software decided to use what is actually an optional paper tray for the Xerox printer I asked Xerox technical support for an answer and after walking me through a LOT of the same steps I had already tried they finally instructed me to install an HP IP LaserJet emulation driver When I asked for that printer to print th
61. supplies There are many quality companies including Tripp Lite protectors The good ones come with insurance the company American Power Conversion Panamax Kensington Belkin and others A will pay for the cost of replacing equipment damaged by a list of what s available and best web prices can be found at power surge The better models include in and out ports for your http www pricegrabber com search_attrib php page_id 55 for surge modem before it connects to the wall jack as surges can come protectors through the phone line too and 2 Brownouts and blackouts A brownout or voltage drop can easily cause your PC to reboot At best this can cause you to lose whatever document is in memory at worst important files can get corrupted At An inexpensive way to go is a factory reconditioned model American a minimum set your programs for frequent auto saves But you should Power Conversion sells their refurbished equipment on their web site also consider an Uninterruptible Power Supply UPS This is through an auction process I chose model BP500U which offered http www pricegrabber com search_attrib php page_id 20 for UPS s January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 33 7 outlets 4 battery surge protection 3 surge protection only Voltage regulation Automatic shut off software through USB port Modem protection 13 minutes battery time at half power realistically I expect only about 5 minutes and 25 000 insurance This
62. tairs meeting room of Round Table Pizza Geary Blvd and 16th Ave 7PM Second Tuesday General questions about Windows and hardware and minor hardware installations 2040 Ellis 3 houses west of Divisadero 7 9PM confirm 415 346 9321 or 415 346 2644 Third Tuesday General Meeting The auditorium of the Community College District Office 33 Gough Street a half block south of Market Street San Francisco CA MARCH TBA Check our web site for latest schedule www sfpcug org APRIL TBA Check our web site for latest schedule www sfpcug org MAY TBA Check our web site for latest schedule www sfpcug org PRESIDENT president mail sfpcug org Butler Crittenden 415 346 9321 January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Page 36 VICE PRESIDENT Donald Oclassen SECRETARY Judy Gaer TREASURER Harold Charns Assistant TREASURER David Caldwell WEBMASTER Joseph Puig PRODUCT REVIEW COORDINATOR Carol Lee January February 2001 vice president mail sfpcug org secretary mail sfpcug org treasurer mail sfpcug org 415 861 6043 treasurer mail sfpcug org 415 777 1935 WebMaster mail sfpcug org 415 564 7730 productreview mail sfpcug org 24 hour recording for meeting information VOLUNTEER COORDINATOR Tina Saravia Blue Notes Editors Pierre M Hahn Tom McLoughlin Blue Notes FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED Tom Karnes MEMBERSHIP DIRECTOR Joseph Puig PROGRAM DIRECTOR Acting Pierre M Hahn BLUE NOTES 4
63. tead A system with a speed range of 600 MHz to 700 MHz of processor should cost under 1100 The processors could be AMD Duron AMD Athlon Intel Celeron or Intel Pentium III A system with a speed range of 700 MHz to 800 MHz of processor should cost under 1200 The processors could be AMD Duron AMD Athlon Intel Celeron or Intel Pentium III This is the best buy area You get more power for your dollar in this range of system A system with a speed range of 800 MHz to 900 MHz of processor should cost under 1600 The processors could be either AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium III This is a good range for power users I am not sure you could discern a difference between these machines and the much more expensive gigahertz computers A system with a speed range of 900 MHz to 1 0 GHz of processor should cost over 2000 The processors could be either AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium II These computers will probably also have lots of memory and large hard drives bringing the system cost closer to 2500 The top of the line computers are in the 1 1 GHz to 1 2 GHz range and will cost almost 3000 The processors could be either AMD Athlon or Intel Pentium III This range is just for the user who has to be the fastest on the block These computers will probably also have lots of extras bringing the system cost closer to 4000 Watch Out for That Rebate Scam When you look at the prices in the advertisements you will see prices that are 400 less than the
64. tes for Tech Republic authors the Mac tips at emazing com chairs 84Online a technology centric radio program heard in more than 30 states on Louisville s Clear Channel station 84 WHAS and dot com a technology centric TV call in show broadcast in the Louisville area He resides with his very tolerant wife and kids in the Ohio Valley area Please send Shoun an email if you use this article There is no restriction against anyone using the article as long as it is kept in context with proper credit given to the author This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups APCUG an International organization to which this user group belongs January February 2001 BLUE NOTES Crystal clear on PING By Kevin Wood woodhead koalacomputers com e all know the protocol for the internet and currently most M networks as well is TCP IP For some that is the extent of their knowledge If they try to open a web site the ensuing error message if the connection fails means nothing to them If you are happy with that level on expertise read no further There is a simple tool that can help determine if there is a problem and if so where the problem lies Most Network administrators use this program in their diagnostic toolkit Best of all it is affordable to even the cheapest of us it is FREE OK you probably already have it The utility is PING This article will give you t
65. the atomic age was just a few years old The pundits at the time were saying that atomic energy was so cheap that by the year 2000 people would not have electric bills Just with a hint of sarcasm from that bygone day I note that atomic energy has been prohibitively expensive and my electric bill is going through the roof I hope you enjoy this issue If you wish to contact Pierre or myself feel free to do so by email bluenotes pacbell net January February 2001 BLUE NOTES From The DealsGuy by Bob Click Greater Orlando Computer Users Group I ve read in the newsletters I receive that I think people may be interested in I have asked the authors for permission to post them and you re welcome to download them http www dealsguy com Editors are asked to send the author a copy of your publication if you use their article I hope to post more but finding an e mail address for the authors is often difficult Eatin Some Crow A ttention readers I have posted a new Web page containing articles In a past column I commented about a lack of voice tech support from Creative Labs among others Glen McLamore from Central Florida Computer Society e mailed me to say that I was wrong about Creative Labs He had talked to a technician for advice only a few days before although he said he had problems negotiating the phone system He forwarded their phone numbers to me to use Perhaps I missed what I was looking for but I did hear a
66. thorized use these connect to this port There is normally one of these ports built into the motherboard Additional printer ports normally require an expansion board Windows supports up to three parallel ports If you need more parallel ports you can add more through USB converters Serial Ports There is normally at least one serial port referred to as COM This might be used for an external modem to sync your PDA or to download images from a digital camera This port uses a 9 pin D type connector There used to be a 25 pin connector version but I have not seen this connector used in years One or two of these ports are usually built into the motherboard It is becoming common to have a front mounted serial port for use with digital cameras Windows supports up to four of these ports If you need more serial ports you can add more through USB converters USB Ports USB stands for Universal Serial Bus Intel created USB in response to user difficulties with adding hardware devices to computers USB ports started appearing on computers after Windows 95 was released The support for USB in Windows 95 was spotty at best but subsequent Windows releases have excellent support USB devices include scanners printers keyboards mice cameras and even PDAs USB ports are fast providing a throughput of 12 megabits per second USB connections use a small flat connector a symbol that resembles a January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES p
67. type and memory Data ports types numbers and locations Modem type Network card type Number of empty drive bays Number of empty slots and type a lot of heat and all computer systems will have processor fans The best fans have roller bearings but most manufacturers will not tell you anything about them Hard Disks Unless you are looking at an expensive server class computer the computer will have an Ultra DMA hard drive This is the latest evolution of the IDE drive Ultra DMA hard drives are very inexpensive these days and this may be the most distinguishing feature of the systems you look at Drives will range from 10 GB gigabytes a billion bytes to 50 GB If you are not familiar with the term gigabytes think of one GB as 1 000 MB I know that 10 GB sounds like a lot of storage but right now there are companies creating programs that you will want in the future that will use up that space Some folks will tell you that SCSI hard drives are faster That was once true but these days they are very comparable SCSI will cost you two to four times as much money for the same capacity if it is even available SCSI is more important in some mission critical systems and servers That is the subject of an entirely different article Most of us do not Page 15 need SCSI Memory Required memory size has grown over the years Most of these computers will have 64 MB of memory I do not recommend anything less if you are going to use Wi
68. yers Butler said we would when the new ones are printed He also suggested we start the hardware SIG again The President s report Butler is still planning to have a phone bank evening at his house Butler handed out a sample of the new brochure for the club Sam Wasserman has not gotten back to us re the signs Holiday Auction 70 items at this point 25 Vendors have responded and more are coming Butler and Pierre will get together to create the catalog Pierre will print numbers for the bid paddles The Webmaster s report The Webmaster was absent from the meeting January February 2001 CBLUE NOTES The Membership Committee 1 new membership 2 renewals The Blue Notes Editors report was that it is out The Product Review report was that we have a few more items The Program Chair report was that we anticipate it will be easier to get presenters next year Old Business We ratified the electronic steering committee membership dues changes 25 single 30 family or household 50 corporate allows 3 people to come to the meeting international 25 Motion made seconded and passed New Business None After a motion that the meeting be adjourned was made seconded and passed with Pierre abstaining Butler adjourned the meeting at 19 45 hours Respectfully submitted Judy Gaer Secretary Page 35 MARCH 2001 APRIL 2001 MAY 2001 se e tu we fm fo foe First Tuesday Steering Committee meeting Ups

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