GREATER BOSTON SENIOR COMPUTER GROUP NEWSLETTER
Issue No. 65, 10 November, 2005
CHAIRPERSON:: Charles Moir, cmoir@rcn.com
EDITOR: Harriet Mandell, harrietd@rcn.com
WEB PAGE: Garry Ziffer, http://users.rcn.com/gbscg
LIAISON: Eve Welts, ewelts@rcn.com
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BLAH, BLAH, BLAH….ever wish you could talk and not be interrupted? Feel you have something to say and want the world to listen? Then join the world of bloggers (someone who keeps a blog) A blog is basically a personal web page set up as a journal that is available on the web that can and should be updated regularly. The activity of updating a blog is blogging) Google owns www.blogger.com that offers ease of use including a choice of templates. Blogger service is free. For questions, problems, comments, use the help system. Bloggers provide an informal "voice" on a project, idea or simply set up a family blog where relatives share personal news and pictures. There is now a menu which can be downloaded from blogger.com that can be installed and used in Microsoft Word.
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ASK ANY QUESTION... Not only on computers but on any subject. www.Allexperts.com the oldest and largest free Q&A service on the Internet. Pick a category and click on a volunteer's name to ask a question! Thousands of experts volunteer here to answer questions! Like most free sites this website is funded by advertising, however, it also provides free advice via email. The experts are listed and their qualifications posted.
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COMPATIBILITY PROBLEMS...avoid or resolve issues which apply to installing not only Windows SP2 but also any service pack or update...Always run a full virus scan on your system before installing any service pack or update. This simple step will likely prevent 80 percent of potential application compatibility issues. Next, check the vendor web sites for your installed non-Microsoft applications before installing any service pack or update. This step will typically provide you with fixes and workarounds to solve most of the remaining 20 percent of compatibility problems, or it may require you to upgrade to a later version of the vendor's application, wait for a fix to be released before updating your system, or (as a last resort) switch to another vendor's product. Norton users go to: www.symantec.com/techsupp/sp2/faq.html?Open&src=con_web_nam&tpre=us&tdir#6
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DIVERSION TIME…from Garry Ziffer we get a fascinating eye, hand, exercise if you go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/sleep/sheep/reaction_version5.swf
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OLD EQUIPMENT DISPOSAL....The National Cristina Foundation accepts a wide variety of items and can usually place useful equipment with one of its partner organizations around the United States. A list of common donation items might include: PC Desktop Systems, PC Laptop Systems, Mac Desktop Systems, Mac Laptop Systems, Answering Machines, CDROM Drives, Copier Machines, CPU (Partial System)s, Digital Cameras, Docking Stations, Pen/Drawing Tablets, Fax Machines, Flatbed Scanners, Floppy Disk Drives, Handheld Scanners, Hard Disk Drives, Keyboards, Miscellaneous Items, Modems, Monitors, Mouse devices, Network Devices, Network Interface Cards, Plotters, Printers, Software, Sound Cards, Tape Backup Drives, Video Cards, and Zip Drives. What are NCF’s minimum requirements? Pentium II & Higher CPUs (486 & Pentium No Longer Accepted). Alternative CPUs accepted if Pentium II equivalent or better. Hardware needing repair is considered on a case-by-case basis where partner organizations have repair capabilities. Check out their website for how to donate: https://www.cristina.org/index.html?live=welcome
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CYBER CRIMINALS who have always tried new things to dupe users into running malicious code are spreading a malicious Trojan horse under the guise of an update to Skype. The Trojan horse arrives in an e-mail purporting to be an update to Skype, the popular Internet telephony application. Once opened the malicious software displays a phony installation error message. It then blocks access to security updates and installs a back door on computers. The e-mail can have one of five different subject lines, which always refers to Skype. One, for example, reads: "Skype for Windows 1.4 - Have you got the new Skype?" The e-mail body text advertises the Skype voice-over-IP application and urges the user to run the attached file to find out more. Although the e-mail carrying the Trojan horse isn't widespread, it is the first such attack that pretends to be from Skype and users should be on the lookout.
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EASY ACCESS to changing printer from black to color…if you use your black ink cartridge in draft mode most of the time, and like to change to color some of the time….go to the control panel printers and faxes using the add printer function and install a second copy of the printer driver. Adjust the printing preferences to your desired setting. Rename this printer… color. Now you are all set to conveniently switch from black to color by selecting the printer that has the preferences preset.
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WORD’S PASTE SPECIAL COMMAND…Before you paste your text using Word commands try using the Paste Special option available in the Edit drop down menu. The choices in this option are: Document Object, Formatted Text, Unformatted Text, Picture etc. To learn what each option does, select it from the list and read the description in the Result area of the dialog box.
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ACCESSABILITY AND THE COMPUTER… join Senior Net at http://www.seniornet.org SeniorNet served as the pilot web site for technology developed by IBM to make the World Wide Web accessible to everyone, including people who have visual limitations that make it difficult or impossible to see a Web page or motor impairments like tremors that make it difficult to type or use a mouse. This software is now available to all SeniorNet members. Learn more and sign up for the free software at http://www.seniornet.org/ibm
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WANTED: URL's of web sites; Helpful hints for Mac users, Win 95/98/ME/XP. Software reviews, desired topics for future meetings. Send these items via email to the editor. Please sign your email with your name. We will publish your email address, but not your name, phone number or address without your permission.