Number 279 - August 2006

UPDATE
July Program    Dave Rowe continued his presentation on the EXCEL spreadsheet with several interesting hints and tips. August Program    For this month's program presentation, Tom Stepanek has planned a three part presentation.    1. He will tell us how he goes about selecting, designing and creating the labels that he puts on the library CD offerrings.    2. Anyone who has tried to send those huge CD files in an e-mail, and failed, will be interested in Tom's next topic. He will tell us how to go about re-sizing CDs.    3. Time permitting, he will continue his series on Windows Tips telling us of some of those features that can really enhance our computing experience. Beginners    In One Click Access to Frequently Used Programs the author is referring to a desktop display of icons that he uses to make access to the programs that he uses. You may have different favorites, so you select the ones that work for you. Communications    The article Video Conferencing Links Families discusses what you need to use free software from Skype and MSN Messenger to communicate with family and friends using video images as well as sound. He discusses both faults and advantageous features. Operating System    Windows Vista Preview discusses the next major planned release of Windows after XP. As usually occurs with new releases, several delays occur before the actual release. Brian Lewis	discusses some of the features of this new operating system.    In the current version of Windows XP there are many, many programs running in the background doing things that are necessary to the operation of your computer--or are they? In Essential Processes, How You Can Tell? Vinnie Labash talks about how can you tell which programs can safely be shut down without affecting the efficient operation of your computer?    In PC Intrusion Management the author admonishes us to include available system protections such as firewalls, ant-virus software etc. If you have been paying attention to our library offerings you already have taken most of the steps discussed the article.    In Long Journey Into Linux, Rich DiFranco of Danbury Area Computer Society discusses his experiences in seeking a version of Linux he liked. He discusses installing and running a couple of different versions of Linux, i.e. Red Hat demo,and Ubuntu, as well as utilities QTParted and Partition Magic. General Interest    In Improving PC Performance Without Upgrading Your Hardware Kevin J. Veda gives an easy to follow step by step procedure--most of which most of you prbably already follow. But you may pick up a few things you didn't konw.    While the it does have a slight "commercial news release" flavor, the article Mcafee Avert Labs Points To Increasing Prevalence Of Stealth Technology In Malware (Rootkits) points out that "findings suggest online collaboration sites and blogs contribute to the increased proliferation and complexity of rootkits." Hardware    In Router Firewall v Software Firewall Tom Stepanek shares some info that he found in the Q and A section of Kerio about whether or not you need both types of firewall.
Number 279 - August 2006