NWA-PCUG Newsletter Articles 2002

NWA- PCUG
The Northwest Arkansas Personal Computer
User Group

Newsletter Articles



2002


Jan thru Mar - 02

Apr thru Jun - 02

Jul thru Sep - 02

Oct thru Dec - 02




October thru December - 2002

December - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    NEW: http://www.pcpitstop.com (system diagnosis, tips, links, etc.)
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
    Linux, StarOffice/OpenOffice and Microsoft
  • Vice President's Report - by David Hinds, Vice President
    Linus Torvalds, Linux, & sites for learning Linux
  • Linux vs Windows Summary - by Ken Hreha
    Recap of October Meeting Presentation
  • Processing Speed of a Computer - by Grant Wales
    The cpu MHz clock speed is not the only index that determines your computer speed
  • PC Pitstop: A Valuable Resource - by Grant Wales
    PC pitstop can diagnose the performance of your PC as well as determine upload and download speeds and provide tutorial links
  • Guerilla Strategies for eBay Buying & Selling - by Steve Bass
    Bass shows you how to take advantage of eBay's loopholes & trapdoors
  • Have Yahoo Mail? Make it Usable - by Gabe Kingsley
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Dealsguy
      Are You Also a Victim?
      Still Good - High Growth Stock (HGS)
      Make Your Own Movies - Gear Software
      Is Your Computer Secure? - "Hewie's Favorites"
      "Hey, What's Goin On There, Huh!"
        StartMan - "A must to find out what takes place when you start your computer."
      "Just Stick This Keyboard In Your Pocket. Ya Heard Right, But Maybe Not Your Shirt Pocket!"
        "Wear your keyboard over your head.", or wherever
  • November - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
    Recap of October's meeting and info on upcoming programs
  • Jargonary, - A Review by John Clark, Webmaster
    Not just a dictionary, but an interactive listing allowing links to definitions of words within definitions.
  • The Tax Man Cometh...(Again) - A Review by Gilbert Jay
    Now is the time to select your tax program for the year 2002
  • Choosing a New Computer for the Kids - Part II - by Ira Wilsker
    More options to consider with this continuation of selecting a new computer, started in the August newsletter
  • BugBear Warning - A Dangerous Computer Worm! - by Ira Wilsker
    According to reports published in recent days in the computer media, BugBear has surpassed the infamous Klez in becoming the fastest spreading computer worm or virus in history
  • WordPerfect Ofice for Linux, Std - by Russell Albach
    Follow one user's saga on searching for a Windows alternative
  • OmniPage Pro 11 - A Review by Karl Rehak
    Thoroughly testing this highly touted Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software program
  • To Sleep, Perchance to Hibernate... - by Fred Langa (Not in the Mailed Newsletter)
    All you ever wanted to know about automatic power management, e.g., sleep, standby, hibernation, etc
  • USB To Whatever - by Fred Langa (Not in the Mailed Newsletter)
    How to connect to and/or from any USB or non-USB device. Yes, even DOS
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealsGuy
      Technology at Work - Bob's and his wife's experiences attending the National Business Aviation and Aeronautics show and the Southeastern Regional Users Group conference Still Good - High Growth Stock software
      How About Some Animated Gifs, If You Do Them Yourself! - Barbarosa Gif Animator 3.2
      How About a Freebie From Executive Software! - Diskeeper Lite
      A Free Office Suite For Cheapies - OpenOffice suite
  • SideBar #1 - The Google.com [SITE:] Command
    Search in one site, any site, by only knowing the site URL
  • SideBar #2 - Accolades to John Clark
    Congratulations and THANKS, John!!!!
  • October - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • President's Corner
    Election of 2003 Officers, by Bill Shook, Editor
  • What's Your E-mail License Number? - by Steve Bass
    Bass explores ways to send better e-mail, not waste your recipient's time, and make sure your mail's read.
  • Quick! Delete the jdbgmgr.exe File - by Gabe Kingsley
    "This is an email hoax, but what really ticks me off is the open list of recipients, often 30 to 50 of them, that become fodder for all sorts of junk through the systems of others."
  • Google is Great! - by John Lenihan
    A mini tutorial on getting the most out of http://www.google.com
  • Are You Having "Buffer Underrun" errors with your CD Burner? - by Ira Wilsker
    According to several CD-RW drive manufacturers' websites and CD burning software publishers, this error is the single most common problem encountered by users when creating CD-R discs. Here are a few solutions.
  • BOYCOTT KaZaA! - by Matt, Los Angeles, CA
    A solution to eliminate the piggy-back ads with KaZaA.
  • # What is This Character? - by Cliff Millward
    Is it the "pound" sign? the "number" sign? the "sharp" key? or what?
  • Give This Some Thought!
    Charles Schultz Philosophy
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealsGuy
    Aladdin - Updates and a special offer
    Help for the investor (It's about time)
      A FREE, no strings attached, risk free, sixty (60) days 'introductory subscription' to High Growth Stock (HGS) investing solutions (A $125.88 value) for the 'professional' investor. Thirteen (13) specific items are received with this offer.
    How About Secure E-mail For A change? (PCs only)
      Included from Centuriansoft are SoftClan e-cryptor and Steganos 3 Security Suite (FREE)
  • SideBar #1 - More on the Web
    See an additional article not in the mailed newsletter at http://pcgroup.nwark.com/dvd---a2.htm titled "Digital Video: A Layman's Guide to Creating Video CDs and DVDs," by Ben E. Brady
  • SideBar #2 - Keep Your Anti- Virus Updated!
    Don't get bit by the new BugBear virus going around.
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    July thru September - 2002

    September - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    NEW THIS MONTH: Another URL to help determine whether Hoaxes or not:

    http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
      Recap of August meeting
      Our upcoming September program of PaintShop Pro by Joe Schork
      Recap of desired meeting days/times poll
  • Purloin Your Data or...Hide it in Plain Site - by John Clark, WebMaster
    Called Steganography,or secret writing, is very old, but simple with today's technology
  • Buying Digital Cameras - by Lee Holt, Collier's Drug, Fayetteville, AR
    Recap of Lee's meeting presentation with many suggestions, tips, and alerts
  • AOL Scam Alert - by Steve Bass
    A real live AOL scam analyzed in detail
  • Hold on to Your Domain...Before it Slips Away - Domain names are precious commodities and they can be lost in a matter of days - by Matt Lake
    Details of real cases of domains being lost and how to keep it from happening
  • Incredimail, A FREE Email Program Part II - by Sigrid Foreman
    Part II, "Finding Your Own Stationery" with this free email program
  • Poem for Computer Users Over 50 - submitted by Jim Burgner
    'nuff said
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealsGuy
      Buying American
      Get Your PDF files free
      Clean up that email
      Everything under one roof with Hancom Office 2.0.2, just released (for Linux)
      Hey, give me back that file, ya hear!! Drive Rescue, hard disk recovery tool
      Will the REAL File Manager please stand out! Check out PowerDesk
  • SideBar #1 - Automatic IE Addressing - by Dale Oliver, President
  • SideBar #2 - HOAXES (and another good URL) - by Dale Oliver, President
    http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
  • August - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    NEW THIS MONTH: Microsoft Tips on most current products:
    http://www.microsoft.com/mindshare/tips.asp
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
      July meeting recap - IrfanView Graphic software
      Meeting Schedule - Consideration for possibly a more convenient meeting day or time of day
      Make a Difference! - volunteer for some small activity to give back to the club a small fraction of what you have received
      Linux vs Windows - worth a try?
      Upcoming Presentations - Digital Photography with Paint Shop Pro in September, Linux vs Windows in October and Star Office/Open Office in November
      Ken's Teaser! Ken Hreha talking about his Oct/Nov presentations
  • Windows XP: More "As Good As It Gets" - by Steve Bass
    "More ways to take advantage of XP's terrific features"
  • For Inveterate XP Tweakers Only - by Carl Siechert, Co-Author, MS Windows XP Inside out
    Peeking under the hood to make it just like you want it
  • My Favorite E-Mail Program - by Sigrid Foreman
    http://www.Incredimail.com
  • Choosing a New Computer for the Kids - Part 1 - by Ira Wilsker
    "First, what is it going to be used for?"
  • Click 'N Design 3D - A Review by Ev Quinnett
    Help in labeling your CDs, and more.
  • Current E-Mail Hoaxes - From Symantec
    139 of them!
  • Microsoft Chats
    Monthly chats with the Program Managers
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealMaking Man
      "A little about my website..."
      Inkjet & Laserjet Cartridge Deal Continued
      Make Your Search Easier - PatrolSearch 1.6
      How About Getting More Organized
      Problems - Check Your Registry - Advanced Registry Tracer 1.58
  • SideBar #1 - Update your anti- virus software, by Dale Oliver, President
  • SideBar #2 - Microsoft Tips (see Internet Help above)
  • July - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
    Quality and inexpensive software to create PDF files
  • Ten Years Ago - by Steve Bass
    A look back at a column that deals with the transition to Windows in 1992: "The Ongoing Windows Dilemma"
  • Windows XP: As Good as it Gets - by Steve Bass
    Bass discovers few crashes, great performance, and a minimum of headaches with XP Pro
  • Connecting Your PC to Your Stereo - by Bruce Fries, author of The MP3 and Internet Audio Handbook
    With your music collection on your computer, why not listen to it through a good stereo system
  • Make Your Own PDF Files - by Paul Witheridge
    Create PDF files with two freeware programs (free for non-commercial, home use)
  • Stop the Madness - by Judy Shulman
    How to control the amount of e-mail and spam madness
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Deal Making Man
    It's been a frustrating month, what with both desktop and laptop PC problems
    Dave's Deals
      PhotoSuite
      VideoWave 5
      PhotoVista 2.0
      MGI Cinematic
    What, Another Free Office Suite!
      EasyOffice 2001, free for personal use
  • SideBar - Does MSCONFIG and its list of names confuse you? - by John Clark, WebMaster
    There's a solution. Go to http://www.pacs- portal.co.uk/startup_content.htm
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    April thru June - 2002

    June - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    New this month: Multiple search engines - http://www.lukol.com and http://www.dogpile.com
  • President's Corner - by Dale Oliver, President
    Don Boudeman's meeting presentation
    Membership expiration (Dale's)
    "PAST DUE" stamp on expiring newsletters (and enlarged Ren Date on address labels)
    Charles Blanchard's stopping chairing the investment roundtable
    Future presentations
  • What I Do When It Goes Boom - by Don Boudeman, Treasurer/Membership Chairman
    My Great Computer Adventure
    "All I did was install a couple of memory chips...."
  • Upgrading Your BIOS - by Thornton Jacobs, NWA-PCUG
    Another "uneventful" job that went wrong, wrong, wrong
  • Computing Factoids - by Steve Bass
    Unrelated things picked up in email and too long for an article
      Hard Drive Repair Conundrum
      Better Backups
  • Here's a Tip: PC User Groups Are Great - a PC World article by contributing editor Steve Bass
    Members get advice and support from everyday experts like these four folks
      Tips on:
        Accessing System Properties
        Age of a web page
        Phone Dialer when using broadband
        Some user group information in general
  • Discovering Your Hard Drive - by Gene Barlow
    Learn to setup your hard drive to meet your individual needs
  • Get More System Resources Back! - by Tom Anderson
    Losing System Resources? Everyone does. Here's why and what to do about it
  • Computer Chronicles & Net Cafe - by Stewart Cheifet
    Some information on a weekly TV computer program that delivers useful information and an opportunity to get one in your area
  • PDF 2 HTML - submitted by John Clark, WebMaster
    Convert PDF files to HTML for emailing
  • World's Thinnest Books - Humor by Anonymous
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Deal Making Man
    I Do My Best, But Not The Very Best
    A New Deals Author - Not Yet
    Still Good
      Gene & Linda Barlow's specials (PowerQuest items)
      Alpha 5
      gobe 3.0
      Casady & Greene InstaFile
    LaCie SilverKeeper Backup
    Star Office Suite
    Newbie Club web site
    Spam Buster
  • SideBar - Multiple Search Engines
    Use multiple search engines at the same time (these are also in the Internet Help file)
  • May - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    New this month: Working with Digital Images and Bug of the Day
  • Vice President's Report - by David Hinds, Vice President
  • Computing You Can Count On - by Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation
    What is needed is Trustworthy Computing
  • Working with Digital Images - by Grant Wales
    Covers most everything from selecting a picture to scanning, retouching, displaying, tutorials, the physics of color, images on fabrics, and then some -- many take-away files.
  • On Computers: Image Cataloger Gives After Shot Nice Angle - by Bob Schwabach
    After Shot from Jasc software, includes stitching routine and image cataloger
  • Why I Am Against the Internet Freedom & Broadband Deployment Act - by Dennis Courtney
    Popularly known as the Tauzin-Dingell Bill
  • Installing New Components - by Vinny La Bash
    Five simple rules to improve your odds of minimum problems
  • Ten Years Ago - by Steve Bass
    Upgrade to a 120 megabyte hard drive???
  • Writing Inside and Out - by Steve Bass
    Six writing tips to help sounding better in letters, email, and reports.
  • The Plain Truth About Casual Software Piracy - by Matt Slot - (This article not in hardcopy newsletter)
    A long read (about 2600 words) but very compelling reading
  • PowerQuest Announces Drive Image 2002 - by Gene Barlow
    Drive Image moves from a DOS based application to a Windows based application
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Deal Making Man
    GREAT time at the FACUG Conference
    PowerQuest deals still good, as is Alpha 5 software and goBeProductive
    InstaFiles! by Casady & Greene
    DiskAlert, hard drive early warning system, by Dayton Microcomputer Association
  • SideBars - "Bug of the Day!" - by Bill Shook
  • April - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • President's Column - by Dale Oliver, President
    "Understanding the Windows Registry"
  • Microsoft WindowsXP - A Review by Ed Maxey
    An interesting narrative of various WindowsXP events
  • Shopping Tips for Internet Shopaholics - by Steve Bass
    "Last month I described my experience spending over $150 to save about $4 on vitamins I bought on the Internet. This column takes care of the other side of the story: Tips on tackling the problems of Internet buying."
  • Hard Drive Cloning - by David Moscato
    "On Windows_Help.Net I came across an article on drive cloning using the xcopy32 command and sure enough it worked like a charm."
  • My Amateur Computer Upgrade Adventure - by Harry Kelsey
    "Here's a cheap, easy way to speed up your PC"
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealsGuy
    "Any Takers?
    Still Good - 10% discount coupon for Inksell.com, good thru April 30th
    Gene & Linda Barlow - Special prices on PowerQuest & AccessData products (order form available during meetings)
    Alpha Five from Alpha Software
    Key board for the Palm
    Guard your files - Finjan's SurfinGuard
    Email for the Mac
    Watch that Spyware
    More on Antivirus"
  • The Book of WinZip - File Compression and Archive Management Made Easy - by Jerry Lee Ford - (This article not in hardcopy newsletter)
  • SideBar #1 - RAM Prices Going Up - by Dale Oliver, President
  • SideBar #2 - ScanDisk & Defrag Made Easier - by Bill Shook, Editor
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    January thru March - 2002

    March - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • President's Column - by Dale Oliver, President
    NEWER = BETTER??? Hmmm...
  • I Thought You'd Never Ask - by Bill Shook, Editor
    My Multi-Boot Arrangement
  • The $152 Internet Bargain - by Steve Bass
    When to Decide if a Trip to Target is a Better Bet
  • The Department of Homeland PC Security - by Patrick J. Suarez
    The Latest Maintenance and Protection Tools Safeguard Your Data
  • That New Holiday Computer - by Ira Wilsker
    Consider many useful goodies, software and hardware, for that new (or not-so-new previously owned) holiday computer.
  • Caveat Emptor... - by Judy Lococo, APCUG
    An Upgrade: More Like a Fiasco. Everything's supposed to work. Right? Wrong!
  • My Email Address is Changing - by Don Singleton, APCUG Director
    How many addresses do you need? Here are many alternatives to choose from.
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The DealsGuy
    Caligari Software - I like Caligari Software, but have recently written them off. See why.
    Omega Frame is still good. Problems with PC Pinpoint.
    Not a Good Month for Deals
    Do Your Income Taxes FREE (and try to get them done SOON) - http://www.taxact.com
    Ink Jet Your Ink Jet - http://www.inksell.com
    Free HTML Editor - http://www.evrsoft.com
    Make Annoying Popup Windows Go Away - http://software.xfx.net/utilities/popupkiller/
    Clean Yp Your Mail Before Forwarding - http://www.dsoft.com.tr/stripmail
    SPAM Punisher - http://biosolutions.hypermart.net/
  • SideBars - by Bill Shook, Editor
    New Feature - More Articles on the Web not in the hardcopy newsletter:
      Six Ways to Move to Windows XP - by Gene Barlow, User Group Relations
      Yes, that many. Gene discusses them in depth for users to select which meets their personal needs.
      Backing Up Your Hard Drive - by Gene Barlow, User Group Relations
      Only a matter of time - not IF hard drive will fail, but WHEN! Gene describes reasons, methods and types of media and software to get the job done.
  • February - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
    NEW this month:
    PC911 (http://www.pcnineoneone.com); Lots of good stuff - try it!
    Ubran legends and hoaxes: Is virus alert factual or hoax?
    (http://www.snopes2.com and http://www.urbanlegends.com
  • President's Column - by Dale Oliver, President
    Recap of January 2002 Meeting
  • Windows XP: Why You Oughta Upgrade - by Carl Siechert, Co-Author of Microsoft Windows XP Inside Out
  • PowerQuest's Drive Image 5.0 - A Review by Pat Kennedy
  • Quicken 2002 - A Review by Betty Davis
  • Are User Groups Infected with Funnel Vision? - by Lynn Kauer
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Dealsguy
    Who's Foreign?
    Gobe problems (Gobe Suite special)
    Turn your Palm into a Word Processor
    Is Your computer desk all cluttered?
    Good God - Where do I carry all this stuff - I know - the Scott eVest
    How about a free CD Burner and MP3 Ripper!
  • SideBars - February 2002 - by Bill Shook, Editor
    PC911 (http://www.pcnineoneone.com) - Lots of good stuff
  • January - 2002
  • Internet Help
    Many technical help and price comparison links
  • The President's Column - by Dale Oliver, President
    "Year ahead looks positive
    David Hinds added as Vice President
    Professionally trained, hands-on computer classes??? maybe
    3 meetings in 2002 NOT on 3rd Saturday -- April on 2nd Saturday (4/13) and June & July on 4th Saturday (6/22) & (7/27)
    January 19th meeting program is Alan Lantz, Network Engineer with Northwest Medical System on Firewalls
    Feb 16th meeting is General Question & Answer."
  • Eudora E-Mail - by Thornton Jacobs
    "Two versions of Eudora -- Lite (free) and 5.1 ($39.95)"
  • What Were They Thinking...? - by Steve Bass, Pasadena IBM Users Group
    "Products that never saw the light of day"
  • Return to Vendor - by Bruce Pechman
    "Examine and evaluate the collective return policies from major national retailers"
  • Giving vs Taking - by Don Singleton, Director, APCUG
    "Membership in your local User Group offers a wonderful opportunity to learn more about computers...but it also offers an opportunity to get a lot more out of your membership..."
  • Second Renaissance - by Cliff Milford
    "In case you haven't heard, we are in the midst of a second Renaissance! The first occurred in the 15th century... and then there was the computer and the Internet..."
  • Ask Dr. DOS - by Steve Bass, Pasadena IBM Users Group
    "The Doctor of Computing is available to answer all of your computing questions"
  • Humor from Fred Langa's Newsletters
    "You might be an engineer if..."
    Alternative answering machine greetings
  • The Deals Column - by Bob Click, The Dealsguy
    "Fall Comdex events
    Aha-Soft's ArtIcons Pro 3.0; gobeProductive
    Making digital DVD recording easy (Mediostream's neoDVDstandard)
    Have your PC fixed without leaving the house (PC Pinpoint)"
  • SideBars - January 2002 - by Bill Shook, Editor
    #1 Thanks for a successful 2001!
    #2 Communincating your opinions, comments, and desires will help ensure an even better 2002!
    #3 Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year for All!
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