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THE WEB BUG REPORT
A monthly publication of
GS-BUG Inc. (c) copyright 1996.
Reproduction of any material herein by any
means is expressly prohibited unless written permission is granted. Exception:
Articles may be reprinted by other users groups in unaltered form if credit
is given to the author and the original publication.
STAFF
Editor - Sharon Grant
FEATURE ARTICLES:-ACTIONTEC 54 MBPS WIRELESS ACCESS POINT
BEWARE OF OLD INTERNET SCAM - NOW MUCH MORE COMMON
MINUTES OF MAY 2004 GENERAL MEETING
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System Diagnostics, Repair & Upgrades e-mail: Rich richbu@netzero.net 310-374-8633 |
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PERSPECTIVES
By Dr. John Hanson |
Topics for June
1. Buying a Digital Camera
2. Using Curves and Levels
3. Sports Pictures
4. Camera and Printer Resolution
5. Sharp LCD Monitor
6. Cell Phone Scam by TracFone
7. Build or Buy a Computer
8. Do Dogs Understand Computers?
9. Simple Solutions for Complex Problems
1. Buying a Digital Cameras: With more choices
it is
becoming more and more difficult to decide which is best for your
purpose. One place to start is with the article on page 73 of PC
Mag for March 13th. Be careful not to believe any of their recommendations
on anything positive but do believe when they have something negative to
say and think that it could be worse than they say. Why buy a camera
with lots of fancy do dads if the picture quality is poor. The Grotta
couple are good writers but I have never had much confidence in their conclusions.
Another writer you have to be careful about believing is Ibarionex Perello on page 34 of PC Photo for April-March. What makes his writing subject to more rigorous scrutiny? Read his paragraph on page 37 titled "I Want to Shoot Fast Action". What he says about film SLRs is correct but he is cloudy when discussing digital cameras as he doesn't want to offend any of the manufacturers. It's true the higher the buffer the better but he doesn't mention anything about shutter lag or speed of focus. In the spec tables on page 39 there is no mention of buffer size nor of shutter lag. It is what he leaves out that should make you suspicious.
Another source to check out is Consumer Reports but there you have a different problem. Their technical expertise has always been the lowest and if they have any graduate engineers they must be of the quality that can't get a real engineering job. So with CU you have to be skeptical of both the good and bad comments. Nevertheless they do provide some information providing you use it wisely and they never say who the author is. On the other hand CU does a great job on statistics so it is a worthwhile magazine providing you are aware of the caveats in getting advice from any source. You need to do you your homework like the nice, smart member that bought a digital camera on thenternet from New York and got a very good deal. She brought it in to the Digital Camera SIG so I was able to check it out for her. Her biggest problem was learning how to press the button just half way down to lock focus and xposure.
You can also check out page 34 of PC Photo for March-April to see some lovely pictures of expensive cameras. Don't try to read the text as only idiots print white letters on a dark background for normal reading. Notice that the tables do not mention measurements of shutter lag which is critical for many pictures.
What about megapixels? For most 8 x 10 prints and smaller, 2 or 3 megapixels are fine and if you have a little money to burn you can get 4 or 5 megapixels. But megapixels are not the secret. The lens quality is the secret as well as the lag time. You may have noticed that lag time measurements are hardly ever give as most are so slow. Of course if you are an expert in Photoshop like Jack Noble then a quality lens with a few more megapixels is useful as he crops tightly and is very good at getting the best out of a picture.
Most of my pictures are very demanding high speed action shots, yet the excellent lens, 10x optical and image stabilization yields excellent cropped prints of Tooties in action. Of course I wish it had 3 megapixels but even with 2 megapixels it was over $1,000 new.
If you are interested in getting a digital camera bring your homework to the Digital Camera SIG on Tuesday but call in advance so I can bring in a camera or bring in the one you have.
2. Using Curves and Levels: Page 26 of PC Photo for March-April does have a good, simple explanation using some practical examples. They are better than brightness and contrast if you take the time to learn how to use them.
3. Sports Pictures: It takes good equipment to get great shots, especially without flash in poor light. That is why I like my Olympus image stabilization camera. Action Snapshots.com uses the Canon EOS 1Ds which is about $9,000. Make sure you don't confuse it with the 1D which is only $5,000 or the 10D for only $2,000. There is a wonderful article on page 29 of how Action Snapshots is able to make money providing great pictures for parents. With my Tootie training classes I need lots of good sports pictures to document my student's progress so when possible I bring in one or two expert photographers who know how Tooties work and they take hundreds of pictures for one session. Action Snapshots says that with their old D30 cameras they were tossing away about 75% and keeping only 25%. With their new 1Ds cameras they are getting about 60 to 80% keepers which is about the same as my photographers get. The best of these are then massaged, given some explanatory text and published on any of my five Tooties web sites.
4. Camera & Printer Resolution: Unfortunately this article is also hard to read because the editor allowed it to be printed with white letters on a dark background but the author has some very useful information so you might want to struggle. It's on page 46 of PC Photo for March-April. Note his comment that the best quality JPEG gives good results but if you compress more to save on file size you will toss out much of the sharpness your camera provides. Read your manual and experiment. He doesn't say this but if you use TIFF it takes considerably longer to write your flash card and uses up more space. Visit the DIG SIG for excellent advice. My color laser printer will do 600 dpi so I get very good results on ordinary bond paper, even two sides, but not as good as my Epson 880 with special photo paper.
5. Sharp LCD Monitor: I didn't really need another LCD monitor as I have three good ones already but the ad in Fry's was so enticing I couldn't resist and no cumbersome rebates to deal with. At the store it is important to have the salesman put some text on the screen so you can see how sharp it is from various angles. I don't favor speakers in a monitor but Sharp has done a superb job in placing their speakers facing down at the bottom so they don't take up room on the sides. In addition the all around bezel is very narrow which is quite good. It's a 17 inch which is equivalent to a 18 or 19 inch CRT monitor and for only $349. As an engineer I tend to be very critical of designs but overall Sharp has done a terrific job except for the manual. The model number is 171 A-B.
Last week I was tempted by an 18 inch Gem for the same price at Fry's and while the screen seemed quite readable I didn't like the wide bezel so was able to resist. There are some good buys every now and then at Fry's but you need to do your homework and be very careful. Be sure to test it out immediately when you get home, especially if a rebate is involved. About a year ago I spotted a good buy at Best Buy from Samsung which I couldn't resist but when I got it home and tested it I was very disappointed so returned it right away. It had a built in TV tuner which I couldn't get to work. Anytime you can't get something to work right away don't take a chance and return it.
Page 46 of June Consumer Reports has an article on monitors but as usual be cautious about following any of their advice as they remain weak in technical things and chemistry. Besides they didn't even test any Sharp monitors. Just because a report looks impressive doesn't mean you should believe what you read.
6. Cell Phone Scam by TracFone: Cell phones can be very useful but finding one that works and with a good screen can be very difficult. It's too easy to be charged too much because the plans are purposely made very complicated. Two years ago I thot I found the perfect one with a prepaid plan. It was a Nokia 252 with nice big numbers in the display. I bought the yearly plan and only turn it on when I call out or am expecting an important call. The minutes are expensive, over 50 cents a minute but they don't expire so it seemed worth it. Every now and then you can buy more minutes but that is where the scam comes it. TracFone manages to cheat you out of minutes every time you add minutes so be very careful to note how many you have before you add.
Calling them to get help is an exercise in frustration. If you get an operator who seems quite dumb or doesn't speak English well hang up and start over. Even when you get one who speaks English they are trained to be very apologetic over and over again and ask a lot of dumb questions and evade giving any clear answers. Asking them to talk to supervisor is another waste of time as they too are highly trained scam artists.
One day, all of a sudden, my phone wouldn't work so I called in and they told me that they no longer support analog service so I had to buy a new phone. I got the Nokia 5100 with a lousy, tiny display but with lots of fancy features. Trying to activate the new phone and transfer the minutes from the old phone was another scam dancing exercise. The operator was doing all kinds of tricks so I would lose the 250 minutes I had on the old phone. When she finally transferred the minutes she short changed me after about an hour on the phone. The next day I discovered that the one year of service I had bought with the old phone was now shortened to less than a month. Another phone call lasting about 30 minutes with the same kind of apologetic operator finally resulted in getting my year back she said but it would not show on my phone until I bought more minutes. Another scam technique. Finally you hang up in disgust. My advice is to tell all of your friends that TracFone is a worthless scam. Trying to do anything on their web site is another frustration so be cautious.
7. Build or Buy a Computer: Normally Smart Computing's writers are quite good but if you see any articles by Jeff Dodd be suspicious. Decide for yourself by reading his article on page 56 of May Smartomputing. Page 58 also has some bad advice but there is no byline but I suspect Jeff Dodd is the author as he is indicated on most of the following articles about computer components. For really good advice go to the hardware SIG. That is one of the great advantages of being a member of GS-Bug. Because of the good detective work by Rich Bulow, the computer repair expert, the best way to get a good computer is to buy a basic machine and then add the things you want using the Hardware SIG for advice. The Smart Computing articles don't mention this method as a viable choice. Rich has also found a potential good deal at BZBoyz.com in Signal Hill. We are working on a standard package as an alternate to Advanced Computer on Western Avenue, who has been so good to our members for over two years. Be careful with either in following our advice or you could end up paying way too much for what you get. The secret is to know what to get where.
8. Do Dogs Understand Computers? My dog Schatze knows that whenever the dot matrix printer starts I will have time to pet her as soon at it's finished printing. She also knows that when I boot up my DOS computer, which boots up very fast, that I am going to be busy. So she goes away and lays down til she hears the printer. So far, she hasn't figured out the sequence when I turn my output to the laser printer, which is another room. When I am on a Windows computer it's more complicated and takes a long time to boot, so she hasn't quite figured out the routine yet. She comes and lays down near me which blocks my access to the color laser printer when my output is going there. Has your dog figured out some of your routines?
9. Simple Solutions for Complex Problems:
Have you checked your power cords for correct polarity. One assumes
they are all perfect but imagine the little boy or girl in China running
the machine. Who will know or care if I mix up the black, white or
green wire? Get yourself a polarity checker at Harbor Freight
where they are only a dollar rather than $5 at Home Depot.
Check to make sure it is correct and then check your wires and outlets
around the house. If your house is more than 30 years old it is possible
that some if not all of your receptacles are not grounded and the neutral
and hot wires are reversed. A simple reversal could be the source
of a complex problem. Recently I found an extension cord which had
a reversal so let that be a warning to check polarities and grounds.
If you need help stop by the Hardware SIG some Tuesday but call in advance
so I can
bring a polarity checker.
Editor's Note: John Hanson is the
inventor of Tooties, a superb self-teaching system used by millions in
schools, homes, and by eye doctors around the world to improve vision.
He also invented a new form of psychology called QET (Quick Effective
Therapy) which transforms poor students into good students, almost overnight,
usually in 5 to 15 days. He has also had outstanding success in helping
brain damaged people, even years after their accident. Why go to
therapy for years and spend lots of money when you can improve quite fast
with QET? He uses computers to document his cases for his books so
that others may benefit and improve their vision and other skills.
Visit his web site at; Http://www.tooties.com
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INTERNET
TALK
By Frank Chao |
Welcome to the 70th "Internet Talk" article for "The Bug Bulletin", a publication of the Greater South Bay PC Users Group (GSBUG). Liz and I hope that you are enjoying your computer and making good use of the billions of dollars worth of information that you can access with it.
MEMBERSHIP REPORT FOR GSBUG
Joyce Oliver, the membership director of GSBUG, reports that as of the end of May, our membership count is 154, down one from last month. If you have received a renewal notice, please mail in your payment or give it to Joyce at any general meeting. She is also available at many SIG meetings.
ORANGE COAST IBM PC USERS GROUP
Since March, my "Internet Talk" articles have appeared in the "Readme.doc", the monthly newsletter of the Orange Coast IBM PC Users Group. Their Web site is located at
In addition to general and SIG meetings, this energetic users group also interacts with the community through it's scholarship fund and as instructors for the Costa Mesa Senior Center's "SeniorNet Learning Center".
TERRASERVER
To get an aerial map of anywhere in the United States and many other parts of the world go to
http://terraserver.microsoft.com/default.aspx
This Microsoft-owned Web site is a repository of free aerial photographs. The United States photographs have been obtained from the U.S. Geological Survey.
"FREEBAY" !!!
People are now listing free stuff that they wish to give away on the Internet. You can now use the Internet to find "treasure" by seeing what "junk" other people want to give away to you. To start your search for free "junk", I mean "treasure", go to:
http://www.freecycle.org
and
http://www.freecycle.org
Let me know what you find.
BEFORE DOING SOFTWARE-BASED MAINTENANCE
Kostek Haussman
and other GSBUG members have indicated to me that when running "Error checking",
"Disk Defragmenter", or "Disk Cleanup", their computers often hang up and
these Windows utilities often fail to complete their tasks.
Prior to performing
any "soft" maintenance procedures on a Windows computer, you should perform
the following "Shut Down Processes" procedure. The effects of this procedure
are temporary and no permanent changes to your computer occur, so whatever
you turn off with this procedure is started again by your Windows operating
system after the next re-boot.
"SHUT DOWN PROCESSES" PROCEDURE
STEP 0) Close all windows that are open or minimized. When you are finished with this, you should have no "Task buttons" between the "Start" button and the "System Tray" of the gray Windows "Taskbar".
STEP 1) Press one of the "Control" keys on your keyboard and leave it pressed down.
STEP 2) Press one of the "Alt" keys on your keyboard and leave it pressed down. (Unless you have three hands like the Hindu god, it is best to press on the right-most "Alt" key.)
STEP 3) Then press on the "Delete" key on the keyboard and leave it down.
STEP 4) Leave all
three of the above-mentioned keys pressed down
for one second.
Then release all three keys at the same time.
STEP 5) A "Task List" or "Windows Task Manager" dialog box will pop up.
STEP 6) Now, click on the "Applications" tab of this dialog box, if there is more than one tab. Ignore this step if there are no tabs displayed.
STEP 7) Click on any "task" other than "Explorer".
STEP 8) Click on the "End Task" button.
STEP 9) Repeat STEP 1 through STEP 8 until everything but "Explorer" and your anti-virus background scanner software is gone from the "Task list". (Many versions of Windows do not show "Explorer" in the "Task list". In versions of Windows that show it, "Explorer" represents the Windows operating system and performing an "End task" on it will shut down your computer.)
or, instead of Steps 1 through 9, you can run "EndItAll" or "EndItAll 2" to shut down as many "processes" as possible. It is a lot faster than going through the above Steps 1 through 9 repeatedly. See
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,1935,00.asp
for details.
FIXING A VIRUS-INFECTED COMPUTER
It is not hard for your computer to catch a virus or two or three. You forget to update your anti-virus software or you never install one to start with. (Save yourself a lot of aggravation by installing one of the free anti-virus software applications mentioned in the previous article.) All of a sudden, your digital day of reckoning arrives and your computer is really slow and locks up a lot. Pretty soon, one or more of your software applications fails to start up. If you have an anti-virus software application installed in your computer, your first indication of a computer virus is usually when your anti-virus software starts opening multiple warning boxes telling you about one or more viruses it has found inside of your computer.
Let’s resolve this problem logically and start with small, non-invasive actions, followed by increasingly aggressive procedures:
If you have an
anti-virus program such as AVG Free Edition, Avast !, McAfee
Viruscan, or Norton
Antivirus installed in your computer, start it up, and run a “scan” on
your computer.
If your anti-virus program will not run, perform the “Shut Down Processes” procedure.
After completing the above “Shut Down Processes” procedure, try to start your anti-virus software. If it starts successfully, use it to scan your computer for viruses. Tell it to expunge or quarantine any viruses that it finds.
However, if your
anti-virus software still does not start, locate the “rescue diskette(s)”
that you made when you installed your anti-virus software. Insert the lowest-numbered
rescue diskette into the diskette drive of your computer.
Then perform a
re-boot on your computer. If your diskette drive is working and configured
as a bootable device with more precedence than your hard drive, your lowest-numbered
rescue diskette will boot up your computer and you can then use it to run
a scan of your computer.
If your lowest-numbered
rescue diskette fails to boot your computer and your computer boots from
your hard drive instead, turn off your computer, bring it to a power off
state. Then start it up and get into your CMOS configuration screens.
Then change the
“boot order” of your various drives to boot to a: (your floppy diskette
drive) before it boots from your hard drive.
Then try to boot
up your computer with the lowest-numbered anti-virus rescue diskette.
If you do not have an anti-virus rescue diskette or if it fails to boot up your computer, you need to be more aggressive as follows:
Go to
http://www.pandasoftware.com/activescan/com/activescan_principal.htm
and run "Panda Activescan" which is a free Web-based anti-virus application.
Get it started
and run it for as long as it takes. It sometimes runs for a day or two.
You have to keep
your computer connected to the Internet during the scan for viruses.
"Panda Activescan" does a better job of removing viruses from infected
computers than any other anti-virus software that I have ever used. It
is just plain tough. It succeeds where their competitors fail.
If "Panda Activescan" removes one or more viruses from your computer, re-boot your computer and run it again.
If "Panda Activescan"
fails to run or fails to find any viruses on your computer,
go to
http://housecall.trendmicro.com/
and run "Housecall" which is a free Web-based virus scanning utility from Trend Micro. If "Housecall" removes one or more viruses from your computer, re-boot your computer and run it again.
Assuming that the above elongated procedure expunges one or more viruses from your computer, run Lavasoft's "Ad-Aware" and/or "Spybot" to remove adware and spyware from your computer, since these digital pests can use up any free RAM in your computer and they increase the likelihood that your computer will become re-infested with viruses.
However if the
above elongated procedures fails to expunge one or more viruses from your
computer, you will probably have to format and fdisk your hard drive and
re-load Windows and all software applications or see the last line in this
article (just kidding ! ).
WAYS TO CONTACT ME:
If you have any questions
or problems, I can be contacted by the following methods:
1. Send me
e-mail at:
fchao@pacbell.net
2. Leave me
a voice message at
(310)768-3896.
3. Send "snail"
U.S. Postal Service mail to
Frank
Chao
PO Box 6930
Torrance, CA 90504-0030.
Or sell your computer
and get some regular sleep instead !!
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Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless Access Point
and 54 Mbps Wireless PC Card
by Terry Currier
WINdow usERS (WINNERS), Costa Mesa, California
From the May 2004 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Actiontec has now come out with their 802.11g Wireless Access Point
and PCMCIA (PC card). And, the answer to your question is no, they do not
have a 802.11g router - yet. Actiontec waited until the final 802.11g specifications
were close enough to completion that there would only need minor changes
before coming out with their own product. That way they (and you) could
feel confident about their product. The 802.11g specifications will also
work with the 802.11b. The speed rating for the 802.11b is 11Mbs (megabits
per second) while for the 802.11g is 54Mbs.
Setup is easy. The Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless Access Point is installed
by simply attaching the Ethernet cable from your router or hub to the Access
Point. I should point out the Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless Access Point is
just that. It is a point for wireless units to connect to. The Wireless
Access Point can be a distribution point for transmission, or it can be
used as a relay to extend how far you want to transmit. With it you get
the Actiontec locator software for loading onto any computer you want to
link to. This helps to quickly setup a connection to the Access Point and
thus your computer. Not that it is needed, it just helps. In fact I did
not even install the software at first, and still could find the Access
Point connection to my desktop computer. It does help to configure the
connection with setting it to obtain an IP address automatically (DHCP),
or by using a set IP address.
When I first got the Actiontec 802.11g Wireless PC Card I took it
to the Southwest Computer User Group Conference in San Diego. Intel was
there and offering a free Wi-Fi hot spot. Putting the PC Card in, it registered
and installed itself with no sweat. In the system tray up came a "balloon"
saying there was a wireless connection available. I clicked on it and picked
up the Centrino connection. In another test I tried lunch and the free
Wi-Fi at the Panera Bread store in Newport Beach. It was so easy it's unbelievable.
I put in the card, found their wireless connection, and accepted their
agreement for getting on. I then connected to the Internet with no problems.
I also tested the download speed with their connection. It was pretty good,
albeit through a 802.11b connection. I went to PCPitstop.com for the Internet
connection test. My download transmission speed was 1223kbs and my upload
speed was 418kbs. By comparison on my cable hook-up my transmission speed
is 3182kbs.
Now what you have to keep in mind is the speed rating is kilobits
per second (kbs), not bytes. For a real world test I transferred files
between
my computer and my notebook using both a 802.11b and 802.11g cards. With
my Belkin Wireless Router and Buffalo Wireless PC Card both being 802.11b
I transferred 51Mb (megabytes), it took 91 seconds. With the Actiontec
802.11g Wireless Access Point and PC Card it took 29 seconds.
The wireless speed can not compare to Ethernet. If you have to transfer
large files often, then it may not be fast enough for you. Wireless is
for those that have to connect to another computer and don't want to drill
holes to run the cable. Or, in my case have to face my wife after drilling
the holes. It works great for connecting my computer with my son's. We
could transfer files, share the printer, even played games. It easily keeps
up with cable modem speed with both of us on.
The Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless PC Card will do Dynamic Rate Shifting
to automatically select the best available data rate while maintaining
the connection and extending range. While you are roaming you can protect
your data from eavesdroppers by using 40-bit and 128-bit WEP encryption,
and WPA. With the WPA, you will be able to add in password protection to
really make your network secure. It works in 2.4 GHz frequency, and no
problems with wireless telephones. Both the Wireless Access Point and PC
Card come with a one year warranty.
Actiontec 54 Mbps Wireless Access Point ($129.95)
54 Mbps Wireless PC Card ($79.95)
http://www.actiontec.com
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Beware of Old Internet Scam - Now Much More
Common
by Ira Wilsker
Golden Triangle PC Club
From the May 2004 issue of the I/O Port Newsletter
Remember the old adage If it sounds too good to be true, it probably
is not? An old financial scam has now blossomed into a full internet epidemic,
costing Americans millions of dollars, and enriching international cybercrooks.
Several months ago in this column, I warned about this scam and
included an alert from the Texas Attorney General. The modern internet
version of this fraud plays on the gullibility of sellers of high-ticket
merchandise and cars. Federal investigators have stated that these scams
are generally being promoted by organized crime groups in Russia and Nigeria,
and are a modification of the infamous Nigerian 419 Money Laundering Scam.
Recently, one of the readers of this column sent me an email where
she was contacted by a buyer for some merchandise she had for sale on a
popular local website. Her email (edited) is as follows: I have furniture
listed on (a local website). A guy, (fictitious name), claiming to live
in Switzerland, wants to buy my furniture. He says he has a shipping company
here to pick the items up.
Here is the email she received, complete with spelling and grammatical
errors, which should make one very suspicious:
Hello. I am ok with the price since you said the condition isok,
I will pay {500} I have quickly contacted my client and he has agreed to
send payment to you.my client is owing me the sum of ($4500) and he has
agreed to forward a check ( cashier's check ) to you for the payment.Like
I have told you before,i had already arrange for the shipment and i want
you to help me wire the excess funds of ($4,000) to my shipper VIA WESTERN
UNION MONEY TRANSFER for the shipping charges in order for them to come
to your location for the pick up . I want you to give me the full name
that will be on the check and address including phone number so that the
check for the payment can get to you. I want you to mail me back as possible
because the check has already been issued out on your na me.hope to HEAR
from you in this regard. Thanks.
I replied to her that this is a well documented fraud that has already
fleeced thousands of people out of millions of dollars. The reply she received
from the buyer was absolutely typical of this fraud. Yes, she would have
received an authentic looking cashiers check for $4500 which she could
have deposited. The catch is that when she wires the $4000 balance back
to the sender, the funds would be instantly deducted from her account,
which is days before she would inevitably find out that the check was a
worthless forgery. Recently, in a similar Houston case, the lady who deposited
the forged check was criminally charged, and held until it was determined
that she was a victim, and not a crook.
A reasonable person might think that when my reader would not accept
this deal that the crook would stop soliciting her, but that is not what
happened. A few days later, she received another email:
Hello. I was informd by by client that you must have gotted the
check by today. I want youm to let me know maybe you have received it,
And if you have not received it let me know. Thanks and get back to me.
Fortunately, my reader did not and will not respond further to this
crook. I forwarded her emails to federal authorities who investigate this
type of crime, but they are overwhelmed by the sheer number of complaints
and inquiries received.
By coincidence, the same day I received the following email from
someone else; note the similarities in spelling and grammar.
RE: buyer for your carHi, thanks for your email and sorry we didnt
get back to you on time.I would have loved to contact you directly on phone
to discuss this transaction because it would have been a lot better that
way but unfortunately that wont be possible because my office just moved
to a new building and construction/renovation work is still going on so
our lines are not yet in order and as a matter of company policy all transactions
are coordinated officially through the office so am afraid we are gonna
have to work online for a possible transaction. Anyway,your mail content
was forwarded to my client and am glad to inform you that he has instructed
to carry on with the transaction at your least stated price However,he
said that i should inform you that payment will get to you in a cashiers
check of ($27,745 )which is a refund payment of an initial cancelled orde!
r earlier made by my client. Due to company policy this check has to be
made out in this amount to you,because company policy only allows a refund
payment only on one cashiers cheque,so you are required to deduct cost
of your(car )$ 21,999 when payment gets to you and refund balance $5,746
to my customer in London via western union money transfer or money gram
transfer for him to be able to offset shipping charges. Thanks and God
bless
The email is signed with another fictitious name similar to the
previous email, and the title sales/procurement officer.
It is obvious that this $5746 would be gone, too. Do not fall for
these scams which are now rampant!
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MINUTES OF MAY 2004 GENERAL MEETING
The president and secretary being present, a general meeting of
the Greater South Bay PC Users Group (GS-BUG) was held on Monday, May 3,
2004 at the Salvation Army Facility, 4223 Emerald Street, Torrance, CA.
In attendance were approximately 61 members and guests. President U. A.
Garred (Garry) Sexton called the meeting to order at 7:40 p.m.
President Garry requested a volunteer to be responsible for bringing
to each meeting the name tag cases.
George Austin announced that Ed Leckliter is closing the New
Hardware SIG due to the lack of participants.
Bob Hudak invited members to view the library table at the back
of the hall and also invited members to come to the Hardware SIG on Tuesdays
for help in fixing hardware problems.
Emmett Ingram introduced the guest speakers Dean W. Ibelle, Tony
Hayes and Kevin Boutwell from SILVIO’S CAMERA SHOP located on Hawthorne
Blvd., Torrance. Each speaker spoke about various manufacturers’digital
cameras explaining their special features and applications. Each presenter
included a question and answer period. Members were invited to take one
of Silvio’s discount coupons that were available at the end of the meeting..
A door prize was won by Sharon Grant.
The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.
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Submitted by Pamela Harrison, Secretary
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