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The Bug Report |
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THE 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 - Kay Burton
FEATURE ARTICLES:-
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PERSPECTIVES
By Dr. John Hanson |
Topics for September
1. M Ram to the Rescue
2. Oleds to replace LCDs
3. Bloomba Sounds Better than IE 6
4. 256 mb SD Flash Memory at 25 cents/mb
5. RFID Tags on Everything
6. Sandex Report
7. Benefits of a Digital Camera
8. 64 bit Chips Coming
9. Ink Jet Printer Inks
10. LA Free Net is still a good ISP
11. Broadband Internet
12. Integrated Graphics Card
13. Notebook Computers
14. Batteries at 99 Cents Store
1. M Ram to the Rescue: One reason I don't use Windows very much is that it takes too long to boot whereas DOS is very fast o you can boot up, do your work and turn it off. On the horizon s a new magnetic Ram called M Ram which like flash memory does not lose everything when you turn off the power. With this M Ram you won't have to boot up any more as everything is saved. Of course, if you have a crash you will want to erase the Ram and start over so booting will still be useful.
2. OLed to Replace LCDs: Kodak's Easy Share LS633 digital camera has this lovely view panel. It can be seen from almost ny angle and doesn't hog batteries like LCDs. Imagine what it would be like with OLeds on a monitor. OLed stands for Organic light Emitting Diode. Unfortunately, this camera is not sold in he US yet.
3. Bloomba Sounds Better than IE 6: Page 18 of July PC World has all the details. With Bloomba you can sort thru your e-mail nd find what you want more quickly. It's from Stata Labs and a ree beta version is available with a 10 mb download. Go to ind.PCWorld.com/35591
4. 256 mb SD Flash Memory at 25 cents/mb: When on sale you can et a 128 mb SD card for 31 cents/mb at Frys and often you have to wait for a rebate and it's not even a name brand. Costco is not always the cheapest but on July 27 I bought two 256 mb San Disk cards for about $65 a piece and I don't even have a digital camera that uses that format but Emmett Ingram does so he got one and I kept the other. It is great to keep in your card reader or transferring large files quickly. Costco also has Compact flash but I didn't check the price as I have a lot of those already.
5. RFID Tags on Everything; RFID stands for Radio Frequency Identification. It is about the size of a grain of salt and can be implanted in the clothes and other things you buy. Thus when you walk into a store wearing anything with one of these tags, your name can appear on the store's computer with various information you may not want known. Read the details on page 40 of PC World. Since the cost may be only 5 cents each I may want to include them in all my Tootie products.
6. Sandex Report: The Southwest User Group association met
over the weekend of 8 Aug in San Diego and it was very well done as usual
with over 200 attendees from all over California and Arizona. Representing
our club was president Doc. Sexton, Doc.Virginia Pfiffner, Bill Champlin,
Jack and Kay Burton and Doc. Hanson. Judy Taylour and Pat Hill did
an outstanding job in putting the whole Sandex convention together.
There were many sponsors but their meals were not up to the standards of
the past except for MIcrosoft, which was terrific but then Microsoft had
a boring young lady talk on and on. You would think that on
something so special they would bring in one of their good speakers.
When the Microsoft leader, Allan, realized he was saddled with this girl
he should have done the program himself as he is an interesting, enthusiastic
speaker. He could have used the girl in some minor parts so that
she wouldn't feel left out. The subject was Office 2003 which in
itself was not very appealing to the group. I could have looked around
to see how many were asleep but I was asleep myself as the girl droned
on and on. Microsoft made the same mistake at Comdex in Las Vegas
with a terrific dinner followed by a dull speaker but other dinner speakers
from Microsoft have been excellent such as when Bill Gates spoke to our
group in person and at another dinner one of his right hand men.
In contrast, the girls from Smart Computing and Paint Shop Pro did an outstanding
job talking about their products. It is a shame that Bonnie was not
there as her company, Cassady & Green,
which has been an ardent supporter for years, had to close its doors.
Doc Sexton was one of the presenters and gave the same wonderful medical
report he gave our club. He also provided all the technical audio
visual support for the various presenters. One of the best programs
was the one given on Digital Cameras by an old time photographer which
gave the other expert photographer, George Margolin, time to take lots
of pictures of the convention. At the vendor fair Epson showed off
the 925 Photo printer and other printers which produce fantastic results.
Imagine a photo of about 18 x 24 from only a 2 megapixel camera, which
George uses. I have an identical Olympus C-2100 but so far can not
get the great results that George gets but I am still trying. It
was pointed out that a good lens is more important than the megapixels
so be careful when buying a digital camera. Be especially cautious
in following any of the recommendations of Consumers Reports and magazines
like PC Photo and prolific photography writers like Arthur Bleich.
Consumer Reports seems to have trouble finding talented technical people
and the other magazines have to be careful not to say anything that might
displease their advertisers. Another of the highlights of the Sandex
convention was Intel's support of wireless for laptops. I didn't
have time to check it out but Bill Champlin and others were delighted.
Intel set up a wireless station in a van outside the hotel so anyone with
a wireless laptop could connect to the Internet. Via Technologies
has come out with their own chip and motherboard in an ATX format and it's
only about eight inches square. One of the vendors had it at Sandex
and I was impressed at how much it offered for such a low cost. Check
out Via's web site for details. Frys sells a similar small one but
so far the price is quite high.
7. Benefits of a Digital Camera: We all know that it's great
to be able to see your pictures right away and also that you can shoot
hundreds of pictures at no cost and easily delete any that are not useful.
All professional photographers have always taken hundreds of pictures in
order to get a few good ones. With our computers we always get all
kinds of error and warning messages. When they bug you too much have
your digital camera handy and take a picture of the screen using the macro
mode. If you have a print screen program you can often print the
message but when that doesn't work the digital camera will save you.
If you like to work with tools and fix things like many of our engineers
do, it is great to be able to take close up pictures of things before you
take them apart. For electronic
items you can take pictures of the inside so you don't have to take
off the cover to check on things the pictures might provide. Fred
Vogel and I like to use ACDSee to manage our pictures and even print out
quick pictures or contact sheets. Sometimes I resize the picture
in Photoshop, Elements, or Paint Shop Pro so I can paste a copy of the
circuits on the bottom of the electronics unit. You could even take
a picture of the inside of your computer focusing on the memory bank so
you can remember how many free slots you have. The marvelous BelArc
program will tell you what amount of memory you have and in how many slots
but I have found a number of errors so you need to verify.
8. 64 bit Chips Coming: The 32 bit processors currently
in use can address up to 4 gb of memory which is way more than most of
us need. Even on the Dr. Hanson Special computer I recommend only
256 mb and in one slot so you can double it later if you wish. Photoshop
likes a much memory as it can get so those users could get 512 mb or even
1 gb in their current machines. In theory 64 bit chips can address
16 billion gigabytes but the new AMD chip will probably only address 8
gb or twice what is available now. Don't hold your breath to buy
one as you will need a new operating system. For details check out
page 32 of PC
World for September.
9. Ink Jet Printer Inks: So far most of our members have
been satisfied with the very inexpensive inks supplied by CSI on 190th
Street just east of Western. I found them about two years ago and
have found that the owner, Charlie, is very reputable and does a good job
insuring that the inks he buys are good. In fact, his ink cartridges
are so cheap it doesn't pay to refill your old cartridges except maybe
in the case of HP printers. Page 22 of September PC World has a long
article on inks but save yourself the trouble as I don't have much confidence
in this author and just buy Charlie's inks or those of Don Baker, both
of whom sell at the TRW swap meet. PC World does point out
that some inks are really bad or the cartridges don't fit so be cautious
of other vendors. I would be suspicious of any mail
order inks.
10. LA Free Net is still a good ISP: For about 5 dollars
a month the service is excellent and well run. For the best advice
read Frank Chau's articles as he is the club's best expert on the Internet.
My wife has Earthlink but it's more expensive and really not any better.
Frank thinks Net Zero is very good but I haven't tried it yet as I am very
satisfied with Lafn. If you haven't done so yet you need to be aware
there are two places in Windows you need to check to find out about your
Internet connection. One is under My Computer, then click on
Internet networks, and then right click on Lafn and then on Properties
to find where the telephone number is that your computer dials. The
other place is in Control Panel. Click on Internet and on the many
tabs to see what it says. Be cautious about changing
anything if your Internet is working fine. There is one tab which
results in about 30 features you can turn on or off by putting a check
mark in the box. One of those tabs also has choices for setting your
Cookie risk level. On the Internet go to www.Lafn.org and see what
it has to offer. You can even register there.
11. Broadband Internet: Yes, it's much faster but it costs more than Dial Up like Lafn above. Herman Krause had bit the bug and installed Road Runner and he is very pleased so far. When he was helping me with one of my computers with Dial Up he was reminded how slow it was compared to his. For me I think Lafn is best but our computer repair expert, Rich Bulow, would like it better if one could have two hours on without redialing so he can download bigger files. At the moment Lafn restricts members to only one hour during peak hours so I download large files late at night. If you are considering Broadband read the article starting on page 127 of September PC World. The author is quite good.
12. Integrated Graphics Card: When the integrated graphics became good enough I recommended it for the Dr. Hanson Special Computer for most of our members. If you have grandchildren who are heavy into the latest games you may want to spend a little more and get a fancy graphics card. For details check out page 34 of September PC World but in general I would never buy anything made by Gateway.
13. Notebook Computers: Page 140 of PC World lists various notebooks they have selected but have not included the Fujitsu I recommended last month for only $1300 at Frys. Not only does it have a built in floppy drive but also a slot to read an SD flash memory card plus all the standard goodies. On TV Dell is advertising one for $700 but I don't know what you get. My older Dell Latitude is still working very well. When you see lists like this one in PC World or PC Mag take them with a grain of salt and do your own checking. Still they are a good place to start.
14. Batteries at 99 Cents Store: Normally batteries are
not a good buy at this interesting store but among the many poor quality
items are some good buys if you go frequently and look for bargains.
Their marketing strategy is a well known one where you only have a limited
supply displayed even tho they have thousands more. Since you won't
find any tomorrow you buy more today. It also depends on which store
so these good batteries were at the store on 190th St. near Anza.
Sometimes when one store is out you can find the same items at another
store. It was hard to believe they had name brand nine volt alkaline
batteries for only 99 cents each. I bought ten and measured the voltage
on each and all were good. I also bought 12 of the alkaline C cells
but two were zero volts so be sure to
measure them, save your receipt and take them back.
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 www.tooties.com for more
information
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INTERNET
TALK
By Frank Chao |
This is the 61st "Internet Talk" article and the seventeenth newsletter that has been compiled by editor Kay Burton.
Based on the e-mail messages and phone calls that I have been receiving from various GSBUG members, I hope you are aware of the fact that computers break as often as used cars.
You nice folks continue
to tell me sad tales of woe about broken printers, monitors, keyboards,
hard drives, mice, modems, etc.
Every piece of your
computer system will eventually fail, so when any part of your computer
fails, repair or replace it and keep on computing.
You can get knowledgeable about repairing computers at the various excellent hardware SIGs. At these events you can developing a basic working knowledge and watch other club members struggling with all sorts of computer failures.
If you need some expert help, you can also hire Rich Bulow to help you with computer problems of any type. His ad appears in this newsletter. Liz and I recommend him highly.
Also, you can get in-store and on-site technical assistance. See http://www.compusa.com/tech_services/default.asp for details.
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 take up golf instead !!
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SOFTWARE
LIBRARY NEWS
By BOB HUDAK |
I want to start off by congratulating Jack Burton on being appointed to Director At Large position by President Gary Sexton. Jack agreed to take the position left vacant when Carl Warner moved to Hawaii. I'm sure Jack's picture and full story is on the front page. Elections are next month and I hope all candidates running for the Board Of Directors positions are listed in our newsletter. If you would like to be a nominee for any of the positions, call George Austin at 375-7213, and he will see that you are on the ballot.
Last month at the general meeting I talked about a program to recover deleted files. Sometime you click on the file and delete it. Depending on how you have your computer set up it might go to the Recycle Bin or to bit heaven. If it is in the Recycle Bin it is easy to get back. If not, you have a problem. The thing to remember is not to start writing to your hard drive till you recover the lost file. I have this recovery program on a CD in the Library that will recover the lost file. It does a better job on files that you deleted by holding down the shift key while deleting then the ones that were deleted from the Recycle Bin. Recovering files from Recycle Bin dumps are renamed in sequence so only the extension might give you a clue as to what file you are looking for. Maybe the date would help. The deleted files that are not sent to the Recycle come up with the full file name. You can run this program from the CD or install it on a partition that you will not need to recover files from. You cannot recover files from the drive the program is running on. Best to use it right from the CD on any of your drives. I hope you do not have a need for this utility but when you do it would be nice to have it on hand. One of our members lost a number of pictures from a digital camera memory card a while back. Pictures that could not be taken again. This program could have recovered them.(He did it again! This time he used the program and recovered all the pictures) Call and order a copy. You should practice this operation before you need it for real. I can bring the CD to the Hardware Sig on Tuesdays for pickup. The next program I brought to the meeting was a program on a 3 1/2" floppy that lets you bootup your NT-based system if you forgot the password. This will work on a Windows 2000 or Windows XP system. If you tried several times to logon several times and failed, you will be locked out. This program will unlock the machine and allow you to enter a new password. This is not a high need program but there may come a time when you wish you had it. It is in the Library.
I am leading the Tue. Hardware Sig. Every Tue.
at the Torrance Scout Center from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM. If you are bring
a computer in for repair, call me first and let me know what the problem
you are having is so I can prepare for it. The SIG is a big RAM session
beside just fixing computer problems. So come down and visit. Greg Neumann
has been helping out with software programs that he is knowledgeable in.
Harry Goldstein helps with hardware and software problems. Harry likes
to be on the cutting edge of new technology so he is a great resource.
You can't help but learn something every week. Harold Coccamise showed
us were we can get AAAA batteries really cheap last week. Like 6 for
a dollar. Yes, 4 A's. That is not a
misprint. Jack Noble helps out with PhotoShop questions. Dr. Hanson helps
all from Dos to flash lights. So come on down and learn or help someone
with your expertise.
With all the news about viruses and worms getting
into everyone's computer lately, I have a fix for you. Use a second computer
for Internet work only. After down loading a file and checking it out you
can move it to your main working machine. If you do get a virus, FDISK
the drive, format and reload your operating system and ISP software. You
are ready to go. Reloading can be done from a CD that has a image of your
hard drive on it. I am not going into the details at this time. I have
a few computers that will more then fill the bill to do this and they are
$100.00 and less. Clean and ready to do the job. E-mail me for more
information at rsh532@aol.com
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Aloha Carl Warner
Photo by Pamela Harrision |
Carl Warner, a long time GS-BUG member, a Director on the GS-BUG
BOD and Hardware Sig leader for many years will probably be in his new
home on the big island of Hawaii. The GSBug Board voted to give him a lifetime
membership in the club. He was presented with this by our president, Gary
Sexton, at the July general meeting. As far as I know, he is only the second
member to receive this lifetime membership award. Michael Immel, the club's
first president, was the first member to receive the award. On July 1st
we had a brown bag luncheon with Carl under the great shade trees at the
Scout Center during our regular Hardware Sig meeting. Many members of the
Dig Sig came down especially to tell Carl "Aloha". The Dig Sig is
not meeting in July but will be back in August. Carl was presented a "Certificate
of Appreciation" by Pamela Harrison who was standing in for Gary Sexton.
Carl was almost at a loss for words. He did have a big smile on his face
though. Everyone gave him their best wishes for a smooth move and wanted
to know when the welcome mat would be out. Carl will be greatly
missed.
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