USERS HELPING USERS
PC UPDATE
JUNE 2012 • VOLUME 29 • ISSUE 05
Official Magazine of the MELBOURNE PC USER GROUP INC.
Gaming Arrives! Melbourne PC User Gaming LAN Party comes to Melb PC User Group Featured Articles
Great Prizes
to be WON at Monthly Meeting
Northern Suburbs Linux Interest Group East SIG
www.melbpc.org.au
PLEASE READ THIS NOTICE PCUpdate (this publication) must not be republished in whole or in part using either print or electronic formats. The electronic formats referred to include optical and flash media together with the Internet. Members who do this will forfeit their membership rights and may also incur legal action from the authors and copyright holders.
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THE PURPOSES OF THE GROUP are to conduct, on a non-profit basis, activities aimed at the effective utilisation of the personal computer and to endeavour to achieve such effective utilisation by means of: • Advancing computer literacy
computer users and the computer industry
• Advancing the art and science of information processing through education and interchange of ideas
• Co-operating supporting or joining with, or in, other organisations with similar purposes
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Keeping members abreast of developments in computing and information technology and enabling members to exchange information and experience
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Representing computer users in public debate and by acting and speaking on their behalf where they would be affected by proposed legislation or other regulatory measures
In order to further its purposes the Group shall have the rights, powers and privileges of a natural person.
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JUNE 2012 • VOLUME 00 • ISSUE 00
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JUNE 2012 • VOLUME 29 • ISSUE 05
CONTENTS
Official Magazine of the MELBOURNE PC USER GROUP INC.
REGULARS & FEATURES Directory & Services Committee Editor’s Report
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ARTICLES LAN PArty comes to Melb PC User Group 10 Our Friend - Android OS Software 14 Multi Partition Audio Players 16 How to get a temporary e-mail address 18 Mighty Mouse - Logitech’s G700 21 Record and Broadcast - with Webcam XP 23 Banners 25 Access Tips 27 Youtube Clip Downloader for Firefox 32 Access UK - restricted content from Australia 34 DSLR vs Compact Digital cameras 36 Apple iMac 39 The Internet World 41 iPhone 4 Lens 42 USB-knife 43 Facebook Knocks on the Exchange Door 44 Apple “The Pick of the Season” 45 Photoshop Touch review Or how to buy the latest full Photoshop for $10 legally 46 Northern Suburbs Linux Interest Group 52 East SIG 54 Author Submission Form Calendar SIG Details SIG Reports Training Monthly Disc Monthly Disc Order Form Membership Application Dialing Help
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DIRECTORY AND SERVICES COMMITTEE directory committee management & online services info OFFICE, MEMBERSHIP, DELIVERIES Unit 26, 479 Warrigal Road, Moorabbin VIC 3189 (9am – 5pm) Phone: 9276 4000 Fax: 9553 0475 E-mail office@melbpc.org.au Office Manager Dianne Vogt Sharon Williams FIRST AID & INTERNET HELP LINE (10am – 3pm) 9276 4088 This line is answered only when a volunteer is available between 10am – 3pm Monday to Friday. Outside these hours please leave a brief message and your membership details. An iHelp team member will call you back when available. Alternatively please refer to the Dial Help listing. MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE committee@melbpc.org.au President Charles Wright president@melbpc.org.au Vice-President Roger Wragg vice-president@melbpc.org.au Treasurer Claudio Bevilacqua treasurer@melbpc.org.au Secretary Peter Horsley secretary@melbpc.org.au Members Don Mckenzie committee@melbpc.org.au Geoff Lethbridge committee@melbpc.org.au David Godfred davidgodster@gmail.com Phil Lew committee@melbpc.org.au Ian Wright committee@melbpc.org.au Graeme Potter committee@melbpc.org.au Yahya Abdal-Aziz yahya@melbpc.org.au Michael Andrus mjandrus@melbpc.org.au ONLINE SERVICES Melb PC BBS (4 lines, up to 28.8 kbps) 9553 0488 Internet Service Melbourne Local Access 9697 4000 Intranet Service Melbourne Local Access 9697 4004 Melb PC Home Page http://www.melbpc.org.au Internet Services Page http://www.melbpc.org.au/isp/ Internet Help Service Page http://ihelp.melbpc.org.au/helpdesk/iuser/index.asp
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PC UPDATE MAGAZINE CLOSING DATE FOR MONTHLY SUBMISSIONS
IS ALWAYS THE FIRST DAY OF THE PRECEDING MONTH
JUNE 2012 • MELBOURNE PC UPDATE
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EDITOR’S REPORT Iinitiatives wish to personally thank all those that have supported the new initiatives at the Melbourne PC User Group Inc. These included Gaming, New Website, revised edition of the Monthly Magazine, Introduction of the Fibre Optic and significant cost reductions. In the May edition, there was listed a Solar article (Page 18), which is in reference to my company, Power In Solar. I wish to inform all members that such an article was not placed with my verbally or written consent. I was not aware of the article until a week before the Disk had been sent to all members. I believe at that stage the Disk had been delivered to the production company and was outside of my control to delete the unauthorised publication. I am obligated to state this, as I do not want to be seen to abuse my position as Treasurer in receiving free advertising. This edition of the Magazine has been an interesting experience, with some highs and lows. Prior to this edition, the magazine was produced by Roger Wragg, (Vice President), as the Editor. The layout of the magazine was completed by Maria Vallianos a contact of Roger Wragg, at the cost of AUD$4,000 per edition. In addition, the cost to produce and mail the CD to members is a further AUD$8,000, resulting in a total monthly cost of AUD$12,000. The production of the disk for mail out to members was completed in China. The current June edition is produced overseas by a graphics designer, including the procurement of IT related articles, which I believe would add to the overall interest of members. A significant amount of the content has also been provided by our members in Melb PC. Thanks for your efforts. The current cost for the June edition is $3,000 USD. However depending on what is outsourced the arrangement have the following pricing structures. They are: USD$1,500 for the layout template and for up to 80 pages. USD$50 for every 10 pages thereafter; USD$2,000 to produce it in a number of formats; USD$3,000 which includes the above with up to 10 - 14 articles; The overall annual cost saving to the members is AUD$108,000. (over 12 months). In both instances, both Roger and my time have been donated free to the club. I must state that Roger has done this for a significant period, unlike myself. I hope my efforts to save the club money do not fall on deaf ears. On a further note, Michael Andrus, a valued member of the Committee has resigned due to medical reasons. We wish him well in the future and thank him for his support. I wish to thank all who have contributed and assist me in producing this edition of the magazine. Given the situation with my father, and the current political climate, I may be required to direct my efforts elsewhere. I had planned for a regular paper version of the magazine to be available again in a few months, as I said in my address at the April Monthly Meeting. I hope this is achieved. The pricing in the magazine is incorrect and does not reflect current prices. I have tabled my concerns with the committee and have not received any feedback as why this unauthorised publication had occurred. Please note the magazine will be in download version going forward. Please go to the Melb PC website for download instructions. Committee meetings to be held on the last Monday of the month.
Claudio Bevilacqua Treasurer & June Editor
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ARTICLES
LAN Party comes to Melb PC User Group An interview with Nuke By Geoff Lethbridge What is a LAN-party LAN stands for Local Area Network. A LAN Party is a place where gamers bring their computers, connect them to a LAN and play video games. LAN Parties vary in size from a house LAN (5 - 16 players) to large organised parties which can be in the 1000s sometimes with cash and prizes available. My passion for running LAN tournaments is to get computer gamers together socialising in a non-threatening environment. A lot of friendships with gamers are built online and it may be the first time they have met each other in person. Additionally it provides the opportunity to meet new people and form new friendships. Loving computer games myself, it’s a pleasure to facilitate the running of such an event and seeing such friendships strengthened. One particular group from South Australia come to mind. A lot of their clan members live in Melbourne and they were willing to road trip to this event, so they could game together for the first time. LAN Parties go beyond the friendships. The atmosphere is both exciting and competitive. There’s nothing like yelling out a taunt at your best friend after you’ve decapitated their head (in game of course). Indeed showing off at a LAN party is all part of it. Whether it be your god-like ability at a game, or your fully modded case, people love the competition both in and out of the games. A lot of effort goes into making sure both their skills and equipment are both up to scratch. After all, there’s plenty of prizes and give-aways to win. We give every player a show bag on entry. During the event we give away prizes to the winners of each competition and random door prizes. No one goes home empty handed! We’re seeing a lot of younger players coming along for the first time, who have never experienced a LAN party. Perhaps parents can even see it as cheap babysitting. In either case, gamers come to realise that online gaming is not quite the same as what a friendly (but competitive) LAN party can provide. It gets young people out of the house, enjoying their hobby and making new friends in a safe environment.
What is LAN-slide We are an Australian not for profit organisation that runs LAN parties in south-east Melbourne. Our goal is to bring gamers together from across Melbourne to socialise and of course play multiplayer games! Gamers vary in skill level from supreme noob to hardcore gamer. Whether you are seeking total domination in your preferred game, or just looking to connect with people with similar interests, LAN-slide is for you. Without the support of the community, we cannot exist.
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Event #1 Approximately 70 players came down to our first event. Thanks to Melbourne PC User Group, SteelSeries, GameTraders for making it possible. Please check out these websites and show some love. Also a shoutout to all the helpers during the event ( Traffic control, show bags, event payment, energy drinks, hosting servers, etc). And of course thank you to all those players that came down (even from South Australia)! Don’t forget to like GameTraders Fountain gate on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/GTfountaingate and mention ‘LAN-slide’ to get an in-store discount. There is a good range of photo’s at: http://lanslide.com.au/photos.php?album=lanslide1
A massive thank you to all the helpers and to those on the Committee that supported the initiative.
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LAN PARTY
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ANDROID OS
Our Friend Android OS Software By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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evices based on Android OS are not aimed at advanced users and enthusiasts but rather to those who buy smart phones for the replacement of portable media players, ultra-compact camera, digital recorders or even notebooks. Android is a Linux-based operating system which is programmable for mobile devices such as mobile phones and tablet computers. It was developed by the Open Handset Alliance led by Google. Google purchased the company Android, in 2005 with the purpose of entering into a consortium with some 86 hardware, software, and telecommunication companies devoted to advancing open programming for mobile devices. As of February 2012 there were more than 450,000 applications available for Android devices, with an estimated market of 10 billion users. Source: Wikipedia.
Music Player
Nearly all mobile mobile phones (devices) manufacturers (i.e. HTC, Samsung, Acer, SE) have tried to develop their own software, with mixed success, especially when “speed to market” of delivering new technology is critical. Keeping the manufacturer on their toes, consumers have always sought to obtain a more powerful device for listening to music and now this need has extended to podcasts and audio books. The most practical application is the replacement of the standard program PowerAMP. This device can play a variety of formats of music files which can be compressed into MP3, MP4, WMA. In order to adjust the sound quality, an equaliser with presets was implemented within a number of devices. The PowerAMP allows you to assign a specific sound setting when you connect a certain accessory - a headset, portable speakers, wireless headphones, as well as when playing a particular song or album / playlist. A device can download files from the memory cache (internal or removable), a specific folder, or a library, with thousands of songs taking just a few second, depending on the unit’s capacity and the speed of the memory card.
Internet, Radio and Television
Most of the Android-mobile phones have hardware support for FM-radio, but to listen to Internet radio requires a third-party intermediary shell client. The most famous and the best of them is TuneIn Radio, which contains a catalog of different broadcast streams with the search function, and allowing you to add your own channels and load metadata of your currently playing songs. The application can also record an audio stream (in the paid version). With regards to streaming Internet TV, the excellent software for the Internet under the Android OS is the SPB TV. SPB TV is a streaming TV application that provides users not only with access to streamed TV channels from all over the world, but also provides program scheduling information for many channels.
Find Music
Music stores for Android still do not exist, because Google has not yet been able to negotiate with record labels and musicians. An option available to users is to access the “cloud” storage of Google Music, to upload 14
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music. Most of the vendors of Google phones for the U.S. market are using a client Amazon MP3 application, which offers to purchase and download tracks. But the effective way to download music without having to buy is to use the application MP3 Downloader, which is able to locate music quite freely on the internet. These can then be downloaded on to your mobile phone. This program works with numerous international languages, and lets you hear the song before downloading; including rewinding, download it by marking a certain tag and sending the downloaded file by e-mail.
Wireless Multimedia
Virtually all modern mobile phones are based on Android OS supports household multimedia solutions: audio and video transmission via HDMI or DLNA. In the first instance, the unit will need to use a HDMI cable, the second - the connection is via Wi-Fi. Thus, the user can start the playback of music stored in your smart phone on a compatible home system including Windows Media Player and Xbox 360.
Recorders
The recording function within Android mobile phones is these days of a high quality. Most of the manufacturers install an advanced noise reduction system in their smart phones. This consists of two microphones placed in different parts of the body within the device. However, due to licensing restrictions of Android OS, not all software voice recorders can record a voice directly to a format MP3, as most will utilise 3GP, and “Wave”. The best utilise a “TapeMachine” recorder, which supports recording directly to MP3 after the installation of additional codecs files. The voice recorder can run independently with an increase in the microphone volume, automatically arranging the necessary frequency levels, allowing you to set specific parameters of sound quality which are not available in other programs.
Photo
Today, all Android-powered mobile phones without exception are equipped with cameras, allowing for highquality photos to be taken, that can then be printed or posted on the web. However, before they can be edited with Photoshop, 3 sub programs are enacted; they are the slide show applications such as Photo Editor, and Photo Downloader. The editor function within the smart phone camera allows for a range of functions and effects, which are suitable for basic processing of the image. It contains commands to flip and rotate images. Rotations are generally right movements. Straighten tool allows you to rotate an image at any angle. The user can also display the desired level of image exposure, saturation, tint, or apply an effect of black and white photos. The degree of severity of the effects is increasing with every new model. It is clear that the day will come when the phone will replace the camera unless you’re an enthusiast. RETURN TO INDEX
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AUDIO PLAYER
Multi Partition Audio Players By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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iston Software Company has released a multi-format player allowing music to be streamed to different partitions within the same complex, without having to buy more expensive audio system or install a system accustomed to a “smart home”. It’s not just another Media Player, as it is able to utilise all available channel in your computer to stream audio files utilising even limited hardware you may have. A computer with a 7.1 channel sound card can have up to 8 different playlists playing at one time however this application supports up to 32 playlists, where a 4 7.1 channel sound cards exists. The application is designed to work with a number of professional and commercial applications / environments, as music can be distributed to different parts of a complex, allowing for individual tastes to be catered for. The inbuilt graphics equaliser allows for the fine tuning of the music. An individual window view for each partition assists in overall management of application and better decision making for each partition. The Multi-zone Audio Player will help you to create new playlists to create your own music or tracks. The application allows for the user to use MP3, WMA, WAV, OGG, FLAC, APE files. These files are able to be stored in the Multi Zone Audio Player music library. The auto play list function Purchase price $55.85 AUD (Download is a useful tool, for those wanting to play Version) and walk away. Creating a playlist allows you to construct music to whatever length http://www.pistonsoft.com/multi-roomyou desire. Splicing different music, commusic-system.html mercials and jingles is a excellent option to get a message across or have fun with Size: 9.5 MB friends, by including charming announcements for a person birthday party.
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ARTICLES Zone Editor Panel
Summary of Features Multi Zone Audio Player •Create numerous music partitions that are able to be transmitted to a number of dedicated zones. •Flexibility in allowing the user to add / merge/ delete music files; •Allows automated playlists; •Library of music allowing for easy selection; •Equaliser function to allow for the user to improve / individualise the music and distribution to each zone; •Implementation of Hotkeys for specific music files; •Ability to customise windows views to individual preferences. •Ease of use – drag & drop function.
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How to get a tempoprary e-mail address By Freelancer - Nata. K The box for an hour Many of our webmail’s are constantly subjected to spam attacks. So what can you do! The answer is to create a temporary email. Temporary emails allows for filtering of emails, which is currently gaining popularity. Using a disposable mailbox (disposable e-mail address (DEA) services), allows you to minimise the intake of spam, however this depends on the service provider you use and your vigilance to manage emails daily. The Modus of Operandi is to create a temporary e-mail address, which may last from a few hours to a year. The majority of temporary mail providers allow for the option to on forward valid emails received in the temporary email folder, to your real e-mail address. As a result, you achieve your desired result by quarantining your real email address book from being filled with spam. The following are a summary of such service providers.
GuerillaMail www.guerrillamail.com
Highly recommended for those that like a simple solution like myself. Creating the mailbox is just a single mouse click on the main page of the project. Within 10 to 15 minutes, you may receive letters to the newly created address. Incoming messages are able to be viewed automatically, including the time left for the use of the temporary mail box. Letters can be viewed and removed directly from the page box. There is an option to extend the mail box for a further 15 minutes. Guerilla mail states the following: “Guerrilla Mail gives you a disposable email address which lasts for 60 minutes. There is no need to register, simply visit Guerrilla Mail and a random address will be set. You can also choose your own address. You can give your email address to whoever you do not trust. You can view the email on Guerrilla Mail, click on any confirmation link, and then delete it. Any future spam sent to the disposable email will be zapped by Guerrilla Mail, never reaching your mail box, keeping your mail box safe and clean. Guerrilla Mail consists of a web server (Apache), a database server (MySQL) and a Mail Server (Guerrilla SMTPd). Guerrilla SMTPd is a mail server written in PHP. The design goal and purpose of Guerrilla SMTPd is to receive large volumes of email and nothing much else (besides doing only the most basic verification).”
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ARTICLES 10 Minute Mail 10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/index.html
10 minute emails is adequate for registering and confirming emails. You are able to preference your language, with over 20 to choose from. With one mouse click, and you are provided with an email address as such as h380835@rppkn.com. All incoming messages are displayed and with a simple click you are able to read these. No additional download tools are required to use the service, which is also available for both the iphone & ipad.
TempEMail
www.tempemail.net
The user is prompted to choose a name for a temporary address. They state it’s the place to get free, temporary, disposable, email addresses. However, you are not able to send email from their server. Create a temporary address by choosing a name. They call this “creating” the email address. All messages are stored for 14 days and then automatically deleted without notice.
Jetable.org
www.jetable.org
Available in a number of languages, the process of creating a temporary email requires 3 easy steps to be completed. Step 1, specify your real mailbox, where you can forward legitimate emails. Step 2, select the mailbox lifetime (hour, day, week, & month) and finally Step 3 create your disposable email address. An additional advantage is the availability of plug-in for the browser Firefox.
SpamBox
www.spambox.us
Available in 11 languages, developers have allowed users to have greater flexibility than others. They have provided the option to have a temporary email from 30 minutes through to a year. They make claims not to sell your email to spammers. As with most other service providers, the site is free to users. A temporary email is generated within a single second.
Temporaryinbox – “they claim – the place where spam dies” www.temporaryinbox.com
All messages in the inbox are automatically deleted after six hours. The email accounts are not secure; there are no passwords, and anyone that knows the address can access the email. The account is totally free and does not require any registration. The interface is multilingual. The service allows you to create temporary mailboxes in the domain temporaryinbox.com to receive and process messages. The creation of a mailbox is needed to allow the forwarding of actual e-mail and password for access to the created temporary box on temporaryforwarding.com box. Mozilla Firefox and Opera are available for easy expansion of the service. An additional function available on the temporaryinbox.com, allows for the storage of all accounts you have created.
Sneakemail.com www.sneakemail.com
Available since 2000, the application comes with the offer of a free 1 month trial. Exiting free accounts
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TEMPORARY EADD
have been switched to 3 month free trial. Therefore an account is required to be opened. You are able to reply back to the emails received through their servers and with your actual email address will remain hidden. There are a number of nice to haves with this service. They are: - 1) the ability to set the maximum length of user name and password to 30 characters, and 2) the ability to change the actual e-mail address an additional 9 times. Once registered, you must create an account directly to the address in the domain sneakemail.com, consisting of random of characters, for example 5hrejuskem@sneakemail.com . It is this address that is provided for external communication, including registrations. The available size of incoming messages is limited to 150 kb, the number of messages per day - 500 for each box generated by an overall restriction of 10 MB.
Others you may wish to consider are:
Mailinator offers temp email addresses, to create an account just send emails. Service does not assign you an email address, you can use any email you want (@mailinator.com) anytime you want. MyTrashMail is good temporary mail service that gives you a mailbox in the address for mat e.g. something@trashymail.com Dodgeit provides throwaway address, for example, “myaddress@dodgeit.com”, then you can check inbox from homepage or subscribe to RSS feed to keep an eye on it.
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Mighty Mouse Logitech’s G700 By Freelancer - Nata. K
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ere we have it! Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700, which serious Gamers will appreciate.
The manufacturer claims that the mouse is ideal for Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game (MMORPG). Our testers love it especially given its wireless. Normally Gamers would be very reluctant to uptake any wireless product let alone one that replaces their “tools of trade”. The G700 does just this. The G700 has a high response report rate of 1000 per second with a strong signal to match. The mouse could be considered a little heavy than your standard mouse but it is a delight to use. Recharging the mouse is able to be performed by connected to your computer via micro-USB-cable. The mouse comes with a rechargeable cable. The battery life is measured in the number of click estimated at over 7 million or able to travel for some 250 kilometers. The mouse can be recharged whilst in use. The shape of the mouse lends itself to all different hand shapes. The device is ideal for people with more than the average palm, who will appreciate the convenient anatomical shape and rough plastic. The mouse is based on a laser signal which works well on glass or table without a mouse matt. The buttons are perfectly positioned for gaming; allowing you to save your shirt when being ambushed by fellow Gamers. The first buttons are the standard left and right click with the scroll wheel centrally positioned and yet not intrusive. The fourth button is used to switch between scrolling. In the normal mode, turn-bar is convenient allowing you to quickly choose a weapon. Hyperfast scrolling makes it easy to quickly switch and review news, emails or any other items that may take your interest.
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LOGITECH’S G700 The remaining eight buttons can be programmed to perform certain tasks using the Logitech SetPoint. The software is easy to install and can be configured for 5 profiles, with 5 dpi levels per profile. The software is already configured for 3 profiles, which are adjustable. The buttons can be programmed to run a number of scenarios, including keyboard macros and screen resolutions. There is the ability to switch between the targeting mode (200) dpi right through to super fast lightning exercises (up to 5700 dpi). Three color changing indicators help you to navigate in the selected modes. All these settings can easily to be stored in profiles, including in the G700 memory.
Cost of Logitech Wireless Gaming Mouse G700, $150 (AUD)
Pros:
Programmable buttons Ability to change the DPI & profile Battery meter Lights on side display battery percentage Nice and clean ergonomics Side scrolling Scroll wheel ratchet Well positioned buttons Wireless / corded Most of all great reviews from serious Gamers. Comes with USB Hub, USB Extension Hub, drivers & manual.
Cons: Heavy on the battery use, but it can be eliminated with the use of rechargeable AA batteries. The standard battery with a 2000 mAh will last 15 hours under intensive use. However our tests showed results of closer to 10 hours.
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Record & Broadcastwith WebcamXP By Freelancer - Nata. K
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urn to most computers these days and you will either see an external or built-in webcam. These are utilised by many to interact with friends, family and associates that are dispersed all over the planet. Webcams are used for video calls and to authorize entry to a person’s pc. Webcams even allow for the production of homemade videos for uploading onto a number media sites including YouTube. Images can be captured and downloaded up line to others over the internet. In order to complete any of the tasks, it is encumbered that a sound program is operational, i.e. WebcamXP (webcamxp.com). WebcamXP, despite its name being similar to Windows XP, works well with computers running a number of operating systems. They are Windows Vista / 7, and Windows Server 2003/2008 Server and are able to work well with most PCI / USB-cameras; TV tuners and other WDM-devices. WebcamXP can work with smart phones screen permissions (there is even a separate mobile client for Windows Mobile-devices), but it’s not possible to set optional values. The application allows you to screen cast snapshots occurring on the camera, or a continuous record in real time or on schedule. On the advanced tab you can specify the broadcast address of the host server, whereby you can provide pictures for public viewing via FTP or HTTP over a secure / non-secure connection to a remote server. Therefore a user is able to determine the desired settings that best suit their circumstances, especially as WebcamXP is able to be operated in the following modes. These are: 1) Video modes; 2) IP software for cameras 3) Media server for broadcasting & recording using Windows Media. In order to take advantage of this function, the appropriate codecs and decoders must be available.ie WMP 9.
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WEBCAM XP The user is able to select the video source, adjust the quality of the output stream which includes the resolution, color, contrast, more options, white balance, and saturation. Once completed you are required to manually adjust the focus of the camera. WebcamXP is now ready to work. A useful option is the chat function, which requires a password to be specified. The program allows for virtual rooms to be created, thereby entertaining a group of people for an online meeting. In order to protect the security of the group passwords can be constituted as well as specifying trusted / untrusted IP-addresses. The motion detector allows you to customize the behavior of the sensor chamber (indicate the maximum threshold, the number of moving units, the threshold value for the sound), send notice of the beginning of the recording or sensor triggered by SMS, e-mail and any Windows-based application. There is a function of DVR / DVR, which allows initiating a recording at a specified interval of time with compression to MPEG-4. In the settings it is possible to pre-select decoder settings for all streams. AS for the additional functions the program include the possibility of generating HTML-code for the webcast or chat to be inserted into the structure of a web page as a JavaScript, and through the Flash / MJPEG (for the browser Firefox). The process of working with video broadcast can be also remotely managed through a web interface. This program will be useful for owners of budget Web cameras where the built-in software falls well short of providing any special features. See below: Supported Devices: - USB webcams (WDM driver required) - TV, analog or multi-input capture cards (WDM driver required) - IP cameras (JPEG/MJPEG/MPEG4) - Windows Media streams (ASF) - Local video files (AVI/WMV/MP4/MOV/...) Supported Streaming Modes: - Still jpeg images for low-tech devices - Flash client (compatible with most operating systems and handheld devices) - JavaScript clients (MJPEG or JPEG PUSH) - Windows Media streaming (audio + video) [WebcamXP] - Flash Video streaming (audio + video) [webcam 7] - Windows Mobile client Additional Key Features: - Local and remote pan & tilt control (Logitech Orbit, Creative Live Motion! and IP cameras) - Supports FTP/FTPS and HTTP/HTTPS Post - motion detector (optical or acoustic) with many possible ways to handle alerts (local recording, ftp, http post, launch external applications) - Advanced users manager to grant limited or unlimited access. - Overlay editor supporting picture in picture, animated gifs, and alpha-blending and text editor. - DVR (permanent recording deleted after X hours)
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By Freelancer - Nata. K How to recover your site and make a profit Internet is no longer just a means of obtaining information, communication and entertainment, but the real source of income. We consider one of the most affordable options - how to generate money from your website or blog. It is quite understandable how a variety of online shops, casinos and similar resources make money, but for the average user it is not very important. It is important to ensure that the Banner is appropriately placed, therefore Banner designers usually pre-assign the best place on the site, and otherwise it will not be noticed. The bigger the Banner the more visible and effective it is to be. In general, the principle of income is simple: Webmaster actually sells space on your pages by inserting code into a template.
Fresh Banners Probably the most well-known and popular way to earn money is to place contextual advertising on your website. Many website templates CMS (Content Management System) have been prepared with the space to insert the banner of a certain size. Web-master, who use contextual advertising on the site usually turn a profit, with the level of profit depending on the number of clicks received, the number of banner being displayed or user interaction with affiliated programs. The most popular system for calculation of revenue is by the number of a cliques received. However, the cost to receive a click is often neglected, specifically the cost to ensure that your website is listed on the first page of a Google search page. Research has shown that the cost of a click associated with a financial website is far more expensive than that associated with entertainment. The cost of a click can vary from a few cents to several dollars for advertising. The second method for determining as to whether a banner is effective is dependent on the CTR (click through ratio), which is often used by advertisers and web masters to evaluate the effectiveness of the resource. According to statistics, the average response to a banner is as low as 0.2% to 0.5%. Therefore for every 1000 banner displays, the user only clicked on the banner between 2 to 5 times. In order to increase the CTR, some webmasters use various tricks, such as masking the banner under the menu. Such methods are considered unacceptable by many in the industry but are also a means to divert you to another site. Affiliate programs, in fact, are similar to the described above. The hosted banners or text links are placed on the site, and webmaster receives the income for the transfer of the user to the advertiser’s site. But most of the partners still do not pay for the transition itself, but for the registration of the user on their site or share percentage of the sale of goods. Thus, contextual advertising could generate significant profit when there are a large number of redirected visitors.
Banner Farm If the site is well promoted and has good attendance rates, you can try to find the advertiser directly. For example, try to negotiate with an online store, which sold the goods which are relevant to the subject
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BANNERS matter on your site. Web-master itself sets the price, size and location that host the advertising, though the discussion may be clarified. In this case, the income does not depend on the number of clicks or transitions; but finding a publisher. Among the most popular sites is Google AdSense.
Google AdSense www.google.com/adsense
The undisputed leader of contextual advertising systems, which includes the cost of a click, is through AdSense. Google AdSense is a program run by Google Inc. that allows publishers in the Google Network of content sites to serve automatic text, image, video, and rich media adverts that are targeted to site content and audience. AdSense has been particularly important for delivering advertising revenue to small websites that do not have the resources for developing advertising sales. Registering for this system is quite simple, and is applicable to all website and available in any language. Writing code using a very simple step by step wizard, and using the constructor of advertising units, you can create a banner which perfectly fits into the structure of the site. Banners can be graphical or textual. A wide selection of sizes and formats are acceptable for banner construction. Colours can be set from the presets or be created and saved for later use. Payment is made according to quantity of clicks. AdSense scans the content of a webpage allows ad channels and web-master to influence the nature of the ads displayed, generates system reports including statistics in order to analyses results. Google AdSense is a free program that empowers online publishers to earn revenue by displaying relevant ads on a wide variety of online content, including:
Site search results Easily add a custom search engine to your site and earn from ads on the search results pages.
Websites Display ads on your website that are suited to your audience’s interests and earn from valid clicks or impressions.
Mobile webpages and apps Connect your mobile users with the right ad at the right time as they seek information on the go. There are also disadvantages with AdSense as the minimum withdrawal amount is $ 100.00 Depending on the country you operate within, payment may be issued via a cheque. After registering with AdSense a letter will be sent to the indicated address with an activation code, and only after, will payments begin. Given all the delays (click count, delivery of the cheque and cashing), money on hand can only be obtained after four months. AdSense for search, allows website owners to place Google Custom Search boxes on their websites. When a user searches the Internet or the website with the search box, Google shares 51% of the advertising revenue it makes from those searches with the website owner. However the publisher is paid only if the advertisements on the page are clicked; AdSense does not pay publishers for regular searches. Web publishers have reported that they also pay a range from $0.20 to $0.80 AUD per click.
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Purchase Links Another popular way to earn money today is to sell links and articles. Webmasters (SEO), buying links on other sites, are not interested in traffic, so you can start making money on products and services that have yet to be promoted. When buying a space for a reference it is assessed against the search index as set out by search engines such as Google, the performance site (PR and TIC) and the available quantity of external links (usually if there is more than five external links the page is ignored). Cost of links can range from $ 20 USD (home page) to $ .01 (internal pages). The value of the internal pages is affected by the level of hosting. When linking to another’s websites it’s important not to overdo it, because this method of website promotion is not well liked by web site promoters, as it diminishes the product where a quality product or services ends up being advertised on a third rate site..
Top Banner Sizes Although at present there is no official standards adopted by the size of banners, advertisers are still trying to stick to a single system. Thus, the most popular (classical) is the so-called full banner 468x60 pixels. But there are other dimensions, often found on the web. They are: horizontal - 728x90, 234 × 60 (Half Banner), 125 × 125, 120 × 90, 120 × 88 × 60; and Vertical - 392 × 120 × 72 and 240. Some services may not offer all sizes, or enter their own standards. Therefore, when developing a website design, you should be familiar with the sizes of banners offered by the selected service of contextual advertising.
Access Tips 1. A table has two fields: DatesOwing and Owing (Image 1b). We want to update the Owing check box to a tick or untick. 1a: Attach the code (below) to the text box receiving the DatesOwing data. The event is AfterUpdate and this will run an update-query (Image 1a - Query1) to tick/untick. Be warned, the query calculates every field in the table. We believe 100,000 rows will be processed in seconds The update-query formula is Image 1a - Update To. The result in the table is Image 1b
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ACCESS TIPS The information message (Image 1c) may be prevented by using the code line : DoCmd.SetWarnings False.
This is the code for the textbox Event AfterUpdate (Image 1d) Private Sub Text_AfterUpdate() DoCmd.SetWarnings False DoCmd.OpenQuery “Query1” DoCmd.SetWarnings True End Sub
2. Quick and useful code may be automatically created by adding a button in design view of a form. Ensure wizards are turned on (Image 2a and Image 2b) and select the required categories and actions (Image 2c).
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3. Access 2010 stores automatically generated code as an Embedded Macro (Image 3a).
The Embedded Macro is converted to code in the Form’s Design view (Image 3b).
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ACCESS TIPS 4. How to disconnect users who fail to log off from a database at the end of the day. Image 4a outlines the basic design.
When set to TRUE (Image 4b) users will be requested to log out after a specified amount of time (Image 4c) AND new users cannot log in. The Timer Interval (Image 4c) is behind a HIDDEN open form in the front-end database.
Timer Interval (Image 4c) 18000 = 18 seconds. This setting is usually 600,000 = 600 seconds = 10 min.
The code below is attached to a HIDDEN open form in the front -end database which has the timer event of Image 4c. The code is triggered by the Timer Interval (Image 4c) which is determined by the administrator.
Private Sub Form_Timer() Dim msg As String, iLogoff As Integer iLogoff = DLookup(“SettingValue”, “tblSettings”, “SettingName=’Logoff ’”)
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If iLogoff = True Then If Me.Tag = “MsgSent” Then [User has been notified already (Image 4d)] Application.Quit (acQuitSaveAll) [Close the user’s database without warning] Else Me.Tag = “MsgSent” [Indicate the one warning is displayed] DoCmd.OpenForm “frmExitNow” [Display the warning (Image 4d)] End If End If End Sub
The warning form has a Timer Interval (Image 4e) Timer Interval (Image 4e) 5000 = 5 seconds.
The code below is attached to a warning form (Image 4d and Image 4f) in the front -end database. The code is triggered by the Timer Interval (Image 4e) which is determined by the administrator. The code presents a flashing form to the user (Image 4d and Image 4f). Private Sub Form_Timer() If Detail.BackColor = vbYellow Then Detail.BackColor = vbBlue [Change the BackColor (Image 4f)] Label0.ForeColor = vbCyan [Change the Text (Image 4f)] Else Detail.BackColor = vbYellow [Change the BackColor (Image 4d)] Label0.ForeColor = vbRed [Change the Text (Image 4d)] End If End Sub
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DOWNLOADER HELPER
Youtube Clip Downloader for Firefox By Patrick Brennan
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ownloader Helper is an add-on for Firefox by mig. It downloads video clips (audio clips too) with ease from Youtube and other popular, media-choked websites. Open Firefox and visit the address shown: Type: download helper into the box and click the arrow.
Scroll down until the add-on is found. Click Add to Firefox. Installation is automatic. Restart Firefox when requested to do so.
Visit Youtube and select a clip. Now click the mouse on the icon to the left of the title. The download of the clip on the current page begins – just like a regular download using the browser.
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Once downloaded, the clip is ready to watch offline.
Addictive? Yes! Be warned. This add-on makes clip downloading so easy, that a state of addiction can easily be established. After all who can resist a regular offline fix watching Geoff Dunham’s “Achmed the Dead Terorist”, now with a son (Achmed Junior) ? Sublime. He keeels me, every time. If you want to do more than just download clips, the add-on offers a host of other features. Click the small black arrow, at the right of the main button, to make a menu appear. Try not to go nuts with the dazzling array of choices.
Thank you, mig and ACLAP. If you feel like donating, visit: http://www.downloadhelper.net All trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective companies.
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EXPAT SHIELD
Access UK-restricted content from Australia By Patrick Brennan
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xpatShield, http://expatshield.com, from AnchorFree Ltd, is a download well worth exploring. It enables non-UK residents to access UK-only content by letting users surf the internet through a UK-based internet address. Once installed, ExpatShield is accessible from the system tray. From there the connection can quickly be enabled or disabled.
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BBC blockout One website’s content that is dear to Australian surfers, but is off-limits for many items, is the BBC. ExpatShield solves this problem. When ExpatShield is enabled, the BBC website permits access to the content without complaint.
Google Snooping? Clients who object to Google’s recent changes to its privacy policy, have the ability to avoid Google’s oversight by using the software. When the Google website is accessed, a prompt appears offering an allegedly, privacy-friendly alternative.
For niceness, not naughtiness Surfers attempting to connect to sites well known for offering nefarious content, may find, much to their surprise, that their actual IP address is no longer hidden. This feature is not well documented, so beware. For more information on this software and the philosophy that drives its founders, visit: anchorfree.com/about/ All trademarks used herein are trademarks of their respective companies.
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DSLR vs Compact Digital cameras The advantages of SLR cameras and their classification By Freelancer - Flashbox
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n order to obtain photos of magazine quality, a descent camera is required. In order to obtain such results you may wish to consider a DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reflex) camera. Lets us look at the DSLR and list a number of features that makes it the choice of those in the know. A key feature of Digital or DSLR cameras has been the significant improvement in photo quality and ease of use in taking quality photos. This has been aided with the ability to increase the number of megapixels. From the 1990’s the number of megapixels has increased to over 15 megapixels. The first film SLR or standard camera was invented in Germany some 75 years ago.
Features of a DSLR
The use of interchangeable lenses utilising a moveable mirror system through mechanical movements, which is angled at 45%, allows for light to be transmitted over a focusing screen. A condenser lens and pentaprism is used by the photographer to take photos through a viewfinder. This method is diverse from that deployed in a digital mirror less camera. Quick focus in a DSLR is achieved with the use of special sensors as part of the autofocus feature. A widely held view is that more megapixels aid in the quality of the photos taken. This is not necessarily the case, as the image sensor on the Compact Digital camera is not as high quality, as those installed in DSLR’s. Photos taken by your traditional camera has what is known as Film grain or noise, which represents speckles on photos. When negatives are turned into photos, the grains are enlarged and are visible to the human eye. The ability to use “RAW” files allows for a better quality digital photo and the ability to capture more detail. Compact Digital cameras capture photos on image sensors rather than film. The megapixel count covers how many dots are able to be captured on the camera’s sensor. The diagram below illustrates that to improve your photo, moving from 3 to 4 megapixels Compact Digital camera is an insignificant increase and will result in a minimal improvement in your photos, when compared to move to a camera with a 6 megapixel count. A camera with 10 + megapixel count is able to produce photos for an A3 background, without losing quality, and remember when printing to use 300 dpi, with good prints attainable with a 240 dpi.
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Speed of Camera A number of items affect the speed of a camera. The first key item is the ability of the camera to quickly focus on the subject. The autofocus function is critical. DSLR have been widely regarded as having superior auto function capability, especially in low lights in comparison to Compact Digital cameras. The frame rate is the number of frames per seconds. Compact Digital cameras are able to take sequential orders, as the autofocus is likely to stay in focus. Most DSLR’s are built with a highly motorised auto function facility, with the auto function taking place by manually adjusting the barrel.
Lens The quality of lens with Compact Digital camera is somewhat behind of those used with DSLRs. A reason for this is that the Aperture which is the hole inside the lens allowing for light to get through and is measured by the “f” number is of a greater range with DSLRs. The spectrum is far greater with a DSLR, a desirable function when taking portrait photographs. Quality lenses are often more expensive than the camera itself. Many manufacturers do however produce low end models i.e. Canon EF 50 mm F/1.8 versus the super expensive and professional lens of the Canon EF 50 mm f/1.2 L USM. If you do not wish to buy additional quality lenses, it is best to bypass the DSLR.
Flash A common function with Compact Digital camera is the inbuilt flash, which is limited in its performance as both in the ability to deliver depth or power and the ability to be manipulated to adjust for the surrounding environment. DSLRs often have an inbuilt flash but also allow for an external flash to be mounted in a shoe. This allows for the flash be set in a diffused position allowing for the reduction in the “red eye” effect.
The Size of the Matrix Most common SLR cameras have light-sensitive have 2 matrix sizes: full-frame, which is the conventional 35 mm film - 24x36 mm in the professional SLR and half-shot (around 23h16 mm) in the amateur and semi-professional cameras. Compact Digital cameras have a size of the matrix is lower - only 6x8 mm or less. Using such a small matrix has two negative outcomes. First, it reduces their sensitivity and increases the noise that degrades image quality. Secondly, to provide the usual angle of the camera field of view is necessary to use lenses with small focal length, unsuitable for background blur when shooting portraits utlising the Canon range of SLRs.
CLASSES DSLRs Low Price Entry Point Compact Digital camera Low level entry cameras and often these days are Compact Digital cameras. Such cameras are often stripped down and simplified amateur DSLR. The model is equipped with half-shoot matrix, simplistic design and functionality. Resolution of these cameras is less than 10 megapixels. The camera has manual and automatic shooting modes, built-in flash. They use memory cards SecureDigital, rarely CompactFlash. Despite its simplicity, the
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SLR CAMERAS cameras in this class have everything that you may need as enthusiastic amateur photographer, including manual shooting modes and a few more settings. Even such a simple camera is able to capture professional quality, which would then be difficult to distinguish from a picture made by a professional model.
Semi-lens reflex camera These cameras are equipped with a higher resolution - about 15 megapixels. The camera becomes slightly heavier and much more convenient with significantly improved ergonomics, durability and functionality. Since the camera includes amateur use, it has a typical plot of the exposure chamber of the program and built-in flash and an option for manually mounted. From professional camera model it gets an LCD display on top of the camera that allows you to see and perform basic camera settings without the help of the monitor. In place of memory cards often arrives with SecureDigital CompactFlash. The image in the viewfinder is a little lighter, more accurate and larger.
Professional entry-level DSLR camera You are presented with a robust and reliable camera with elements of protection from moisture and dust. Since the camera is primarily aimed at experienced photographers, there are no built-in flash and scene modes shooting. But the main advantage and the difference - it’s full-frame the CCD with a resolution of 20 megapixels. The image in the viewfinder becomes even larger and more accurate. It is designed for studio and not very intense pictures of the city, for the shooting with not very big budget. Therefore, it has a compact body in comparison with professional models, lighter weight and the price can be regarded as affordable. The camera is a considered to be professional grade aimed at the semi pro.
Professional SLR camera When price is not an issue and functionality is the aim of the game to get that one in a life time photo – or so the story goes. Professional DSLR camera designed for robust use in heavy traffic with moisture-and dustproof enclosure with a greater service life. The camera turns into a massive all-wheel drive all purpose vehicle. The cameras of this class have built-in vertical grip, capacity for longer battery life. On the rear panel, the LCD screen is significant to ensure a viewfinder is not required but there for the enthusiast. However with all this comes the weight and long gym sessions may be required especially when taking photos all day.
What to Buy The market for Compact Digital cameras are growing rapidly and forever changing; increasing the resolution matrix, improved image processing algorithms, including noise reduction, new features, and already tested come from the older models to the lower-end models. Unfortunately the expected life of a Compact Digital camera is about 2 to 3 years maximum. For example, in 2007 Canon released the EOS 40D, and a year later it was replaced with the Canon EOS 50D. The new mode or menu appears immediately in the whole model range. Pay attention to it and try not to buy a camera of past generations. Why spend money on a previous generation model when the price of the new is similar and of better performance. If you decide to buy a camera of the past, rather than a new generation – have a look, what modes and features you will lose. If the dilemma arises between a cheap camera with expensive lens and expensive camera with a simpler lens, then remember the lens will last a long time and is imperative in taking a quality photo. It should also be noted that SLR cameras can be sold bundled with a lens (kit) and without it - just the camera body. Preference is with one of three leaders of the photographic market, Nikon, Canon & Leica. If you are looking to shoot more portraits, interiors and landscapes then your budget should certainly include an external flash.
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Apple iMac By Freelancer - Nata. K
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he release of the new iMac has seen deployment of the Sandy Bridge Thunderbolt motherboard and a new graphics card, AMD Radeon HD all contained within their standard size 21 “and 27” inch diagonal, screens. A good feature that is now being offered is the ability to spec your iMac, with an online configuration tool allowing you to select from a proposed list. It seems that this feature will only grow in time whereby the consumer drives change, albeit in a limited way. Whilst the engine room has changed for the better, the outside look has remained the same with the stylish monolithic aluminum frame and glossy glass, under which hides an excellent IPS-matrix with LEDbacklight. In addition all are equipped with a High Definition camera (Face Time HD allowing to take video at 720p), integrated speakers, a side slot for loading your DVD which also acts as a burner, an IR receiver, an SDXC card slot, four USB 2.0 ports, audio in/out jacks, a FireWire 800 port, a Gigabit Ethernet. Watching your photos, film or music clip on a screen that provides a 2560 × 1440 pixel on diagonal of 27 “inch works a treat, even in low light surroundings. Processors available in the new iMac ranges from an Intel Core i5 2,5 GHz through to a Core i5 3,1 GHz. All processors are from Sandy Bridge with a 4 GB of DDR3 1333 MHz. The high end spec delivers a 27 “2560 × 1440 pixel screen, Intel Core i7 3,4 GHz, 16 GB of memory DDR3, AMD Radeon HD 6970M Memory 2 GB GDDR5, hard drive capacity of 2 TB + 256 GB SSD, two ports. The AMD Radeon HD 6770M cards with 512 MB are considered just adequate so do not expect “Gamer Type” performance, especially from those you could receive from AMD. The amount of RAM, SSD-drive, CPU performance, screen resolution, the ability to connect an additional monitor with a resolution up to 2560 × 1600 high-speed external drives - all that says that the top-end iMac is quite ready for serious work.
Pros:
Cons:
A beautiful computer, which should deliver all the requirements needed for the home or office.
No HDMI input or a Blu-ray drive. Inability to expand its internal mechanism to the level of a traditional pc. Serious gamers may be a touch disappointed.
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The Internet World By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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id you know that in 2011 over 2 billion people used the internet?
In Asia 45% of all people visited the web as compared to Europe (22%), North America (12%) in Latin America (10%). Africa, the Middle East and Australia accounted for 6.3% respectively. Among individual countries, China leads by the number and rate of growth of the number of users which current stands at 485 million people. The number of sites on the World Wide Web as in December was more than 555 million, of which about 300 million appeared last year. The most popular browser is still Internet Explorer with a share of 39%, Google Chrome - 28%, Firefox - 25%. Number of e-mail accounts - 3.146 billion (about 1.5 more than the number of Internet users). Among the undisputed leader of social networks is Facebook (800 million accounts). http://www.internetworldstats.com/ images/world2011pie.png http://www.internetworldstats.com/ stats.htm
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iPhone 4
Lens
By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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chneider Optics Company has released interchangeable lenses (iPro Lens System), designed for use with standard camera the iPhone 4. The user has the possibility of installing a standard tripod, which carries a wide angled lens, or “fish eye” allowing for the viewing angle to increase to 165 degrees. Cost of kit is $ 199AUD. In addition, the recent release of the telephoto lens iPro Tele Lens $ 99AUD, narrowing the field of view of the camera double. The housing is of anodised aluminums, preventing wear and tear and the possible twisting of the lens. Lenses can be fitted and removed quickly and easily, courtesy of a twist-to-fit system. Schneider makes renowned professional optics & high quality filters. Century add-on lenses include: Wide Angle Adapters, Fisheyes, and Telephotos & Achromatic Diopters for broadcast, DV & HDV. Schneider’s respected glass filters include 77mm True-Match Vari-ND Thread-in Filter, ClassicSoft™s, True-Pol®s, ND’s, Color Correction, Color Effects, etc. Also Century 4x4 filter kit with filter holder. New iPro lenses for iPhone 4/4s. Offering Chrosziel matteboxes, follow focus systems, wireless controls.
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USB-knife By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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wiss Victorinox, the company famous for its folding knives has now turned to the computer storage business. The company has been in existence for 125 years and its recent innovation has been around for some time. Victorinox has announced two new Swiss Army knives which includes a SSD (solid state drive) and Victorinox Slim 3.0 eSATA. Victorinox offers two versions: the design of the first (red) includes scissors and a knife, and the second (black), with these mentioned items missing. The latter is intended for those who frequently fly the jetsetters amongst us. The knives have the option to store from 16GB to 1TB. The SSD will be offered in 64GB, 128GB, 256GB, and 1TB capacities. Each SSD comes equipped with two knife bodies, between which the drive can easily be interchanged, one being flight-friendly and the other including traditional Swiss Army knife implements such as blade, scissors, nail file, etc.
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Facebook Knocks on the Exchange Door
By Claudio Bevilacqua
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anagement of the largest social networking site Facebook has filed a preliminary application for a public offering of its shares on the Stock Exchange (NYSE IPO - Initial Public Offering). According to the Wall Street Journal, the company plans to obtain an estimate of the value of its shares about USD $75-100 billion, and then expects to attract investments of about 10 billion. If this happens, the event will be the largest IPO in the history of the Internet. Earlier, such a record company owned by Google, placing its shares on the Stock Exchange in 2004, the search giant earned $ 1.67 billion investment. In preparation for this event, Facebook management has had to publish their financial results, according to which social network revenues last year totaled more than $ 3.7 billion and net income - $ 1 billion. Although this is a very good result for the segment of social networks in general, for a specified period of the financial results of its main competitor FB, Google, which turned out to be about ten times higher. The stock was well oversubscribed, with instant billionaires being made in the process. The stock closed USD$4 down on the high of the day. The stock is valued on its potential to tap into the new generation of expenditure. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303302504577325933918463076.html
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Apple “The Pick of the Season” By Freelancer - R. Rombiballi
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pple published its figures for the 1st quarter of 2012 financial year for Dec. 31.
Both revenue & profits reached a high record high since its existence, USD$ 46.3 and USD$13.06 billion respectively. By comparison, revenue for the same quarter of last year totaled $ 26.74 billion and net income equated $ 6 billion in international sales reached 58% of total income for the period. In the first three months to the market was delivered with 37.04 million units of iPhone modifications representing a 128%, year on year. This again has made Apple the biggest smartphone maker in the world. It towers over the Korean giant Samsung Electronics, which sold 35 million smartphones, in the same period. In the same quarter there was an increase in the production of iPads as 15.4 and 5.2 million units of Macs were supplied. However, the sales of iPod music players continued to decline with 15.4 million units sold, but a decline of 21% in comparison to the same quarter in the previous year. Commenting on the financial results, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that Apple is experiencing strong growth. Market capitalisation of the company reached $ 400 billion, higher than the GDP of Greece.
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PHOTOSHOP TOUCH
Photoshop Touch review Or how to buy the latest full Photoshop for $10 legally By George Skarbek
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ell, actually it is $10.49 and close to the full version of Photoshop which costs over $1,000 for the PC. This is the Photoshop for the iPad or an Android tablet and it cannot handle RAW files but does very many other functions found in the full version. The maximum resolution size of files is limited to 1600 x 1600 pixels. However, for the price it is amazing value as it can do so much, such as: • layers, allowing multiple images in multiple layers in one file • blend modes, • crop photos, • text with many fonts, • levels and curves, • ability to isolate objects from an image, •
has very many creative tools and filters.
Images can be easily uploaded to the cloud. Although I am a keen photographer, I am not an expert in Photoshop as I have been using Paint Shop Pro for about 15 years and decided it is time to learn Photoshop in order to join the mainstream. I have found the 13 tutorials included with the program very helpful, not only for my tablet version but also for learning Photoshop CS 5 as well.
Using Photoshop Touch As all recent tablets have a 5 MP camera (iPad 2 has only a 1 Mega pixel camera but iPad3 has 5 MP), for photographers to have a good photo editing program at a very low price this will allow their snaps to be considerably enhanced and improved before mailing to friends. The main difference between using Photoshop and Photoshop Touch is the fact that you have no mouse and therefore you also cannot right-click. Experienced Photoshop users will find that many tools are in different places and some in different groups.
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When using Photoshop Touch and requiring to select an object there is the Magic Wand and all the other selection tools but you have to select the object by moving your finger around the selection. This is a bit tricky at times because your hand will obstruct the view. I use a rubber tipped pen designed for this purpose and it helps considerably but this is still not as precise as a mouse. However it is possible by using the Refine Edges tool to obtain a good clean selection without much difficulty even with edges that have hair or fur.
PHOTOSHOP TOUCH
With layers, you can open multiple photos, adjust and constrain them and manipulate them in very many ways such as using gradients, blending and many more. Double tapping on the layers will allow you to see them in 3D, something that I have not found in CS5. Text with many fonts is available with 3D effects. For a short demonstration of using layers see: http://www.photoshop.com/products/mobile My initial misgivings about having to use fingers to manipulate images largely vanished after a while and I found it satisfying using fingers and obtaining almost instant responses. I have included a number of images showing the progress through one tutorial that illustrates both the tutorial with the instructions at the bottom of the screen and the prompts pointing to the menus there to find the tools required. These should give you a feel of how Photoshop Touch operates.
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Speed of operation On my 10� ASUS Transformer T101, purchased on GreysOnline for $299 which as a dual core 1 GHz processor, when using photos taken on the 5 Megapixel camera, response is quite good. The time to load Photoshop Touch about seven seconds. The opening screen asks if you want to start a tutorial or open a project. Local images loaded very quickly and you can load images from the web. Most adjustments appear within a second, but usually less, when editing so there is no need to pause for any length of time in order to observe the effect of your adjustments.
Alternatives There is a free Photoshop Express from Adobe for both the Android and the Apple market but this is aimed at the more casual photographers who need a quick and easy way for basic fixes. It does many things quite well such as adjusting contrast and saturation, cropping, adding borders but does not have the clone tool or layers and the adjustments are more limited. However, as a free app this may be quite adequate more many users. For anyone who needs more control or such tools as layers, they require Photoshop Touch and at $10 this is excellent value. Both programs allow images to be mailed to friends or to social media sites such as Facebook.
Summary This low cost version is amazingly powerful. The learning curve is lower than the desktop version and the tutorials provided with the program are very good indeed. Anyone who is taking photos with their tablet has now a powerful editing program to improve the images before mailing them. For users who have never used Photoshop but intend to learn it, this is a low cost way to explore very many features of this product. Experienced Photoshop users will also like it as most functions are there.
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Northern Suburbs Linux Interest Group By Paul Addis
A
pleasant Melbourne evening greeted us as we found our way to Watsonia Library for the meeting. As is common, our downloader has been busy this month: but he is much too tall to realistically be described as an Elf. Updates to the repository included: LibreOffice 3.5.0 32 & 64 Bit RPM’s, DEB’s, Windows, MacOSX PPC & Intel; OmniBoot 0.3 Live DVD; Clonezilla; PartedMagic 2012-3-24; Ultimate Edition 3.2. Nick Vespo again provided the material for the meeting, which again started with a video Linux News. Among the news items were: A brief discussion on whether Android is Linux. The comment from Linus Torvalds was that he thinks of Android as a “fork” of Linux, and that forks are good. The fork is only as good as its acceptance. Good ones will either live separately or get folded into the main branch. Poor ones will wither on the vine and be forgotten. The FXI Cotton Candy, a computer that fits onto a USB stick. Billed as the smallest computer in the world, the Cotton Candy is designed to be a computer you can carry in your pocket. The $199 Linux-powered machine is simple and only needs a USB port for power and a HDMI-compatible display to operate. Note that the price is much higher than that of the Raspberry Pi, but this is a more or less complete computer, whereas the Raspberry Pi is a computer board. The Cotton Candy can be plugged into any computer or device with a USB port, hooked to a display and paired with a mouse and keyboard and it’s ready to go. Cotton Candy’s manu-
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facturers describe it as providing a secure way for people to access cloud services and applications (apps) on the move. Then the second part of the Revolution OS video was shown. It is the 2001 documentary film that traces the twenty-year history of GNU, Linux, open-source and the free software movement. The second part covers the period when “Free Software” was re-born as “Open Source Software”, and events such as the attempts to obtain refunds from Microsoft of license fees for Windows when a machine had Linux installed and Windows was never installed or used even though the machine vendor had included Windows in the product and the price. The definition of Open Source Software was expanded to mean more than just access to the source code. It included a number of essential criteria to govern the terms and conditions for a program’s distribution: 1. Free Redistribution – the license shall not require a fee or royalty; 2. Source Code – must be included; Derived Works – must allow modifications and derived works; Integrity of the Author’s Source Code – may restrict source code from being re-distributed only if the license allows the distribution of patch files; No Discrimination Against Persons Or Groups; No Discrimination Against Fields of Endeavour; Distribution of License – must not require an additional license on re-distribution; Licence Must Not Be Specific to a Product; License Must Not Restrict Other Software; License Must Be Technology-Neutral. The United States government viewed with suspicion the idea of sharing code and programs without payment, and, because of this, some of the Linux and open source luminaries were questioned as to whether they were communists. A few companies involved with Linux were caught up in the so-called “dot-com” boom, with share prices reaching giddy heights and later crashing to make the company almost worthless. The VA Linux company was involved in this cycle, with its shares peaking at almost $300 each and later dropping to about one hundredth of that price. The company later ceased trading. The video stopped portraying the history of Linux in 2001, when the video was made. Linux itself has continued to expand its functional content and user base steadily since then, but still has a way to go before it challenges the dominance of Windows in the home personal computer market. After the video, David Hatton gave a brief presentation/demonstration of OpenShot, a Linux video editing program. It enables the user to stitch together videos or pictures to make a coherent whole. David showed the program in the context of creating a slide show from a series of discrete images. The program looks fairly simple to use, with a preview pane and time line to help the user assemble and time a complete video or slide show. The program includes a local user guide which acts as a form of Help file. An interesting and stimulating evening was had by all the attendees.
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East SIG By Clive Chatfield
P
aul opened the meeting by explaining that the Media and Ripper Hardware groups’ projector from Wadham House projector was being used for assessment and is the same as that being considered for purchase together with a wider screen. He then welcomed four new attendees before handing over to George for Q & A. George began by pre-empting his after-break presentation of Hiren’s Boot Disc. The ISO file is some 490MB. Needing it to demonstrate burning it as a bootable CD, he intended starting the download immediately to save time; however, recent changes to the Hiren’s homepage meant the download was not readily available and this had to be abandoned (See note at end of this report). Next he gave details of the aftermath of a cable modem failure, when he found it necessary to purchase a wireless ‘dongle’ for the brief period while he waited for the new (free from Optus) modem. In doing so, he found that Melbourne PC’s wireless broadband offer compares unfavourably with commercial offers.
Questions & Answers: 1. Windows 7 installed on a new hard drive runs normally except for Skype which starts and then fails with the message, ‘Skype has stopped working’; however, it runs normally under XP on the same computer. The software is the latest version and has been uninstalled and re-installed, and the firewall has been disabled briefly for trial, but to no avail: No solution found. Recommendation: type the problem into Google. 2. Message received on a network that has operated satisfactorily for some time: ‘Unsecured Wireless. New network detected (IP address given). Secure communications with TrustConnect.’: Comodo TrustConnect is a Wi-Fi security service. It is possible that someone, e.g., a neighbour, has logged into the network. If the password used is only the factory password for the modem, it is insecure and easily broken (lists of factory passwords for various makes of modem are readily available). Recommendation: Reset the modem to default using a pin or the tip of a ball point pen (see the modem user guide) and use a new, hard to break password which should be stored somewhere secure for reference in case you forget it.
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3: What slide scanner is suitable for old 35mm. slides?: One with a resolution of at least 2000 dpi. 300 dpi is useless because the image is enlarged so much it will pixelate badly. Also, get a camel hair brush and clean the slides before scanning. Recommendation: Put ‘Review of slide scanners’ into Google and use advanced search options to limit the result to the last two years. 4a: Using Acronis True Image to backup drive C, can the increments be directed to a different drive? Not tried and not recommended; if either drive fails, all is lost. 4b: Can you transfer the backup from a full drive to another drive which has space for both the full backup and the incremental? Certainly. Following discussion on desktop gadgets available for Windows 7 users, Paul thanked George and handed over to Stewart, who gave a presentation and demonstration of his new Samsung Galaxy phone: some of its features are phone, 8 megapixel camera which can be used as in-car camera, video camera, clock with timer and stop watch, GPS with maps and turn-by-turn voice, spirit level, radio, email client, voice recorder, torch, barcode reader, video player, social media centre for facebook and twitter, handwriting recognition for use as a notebook, speech recognition with conversion to text, calendar. Many of these are voice activated. With an HDMI dongle, it can be connected to a TV; with a suitable adapter, a mouse or a pen drive can be used with it. It is simple to use and required no setting up other than to enter email address details. George’s presentation of Hiren’s boot CD followed after the break. He began by showing how to burn the ISO file to a CD as an image file, using CDburnerXP, a free utility that is easy to use and will create a bootable disc. If the BIOS has not already been set up to boot first from a CD, enter the BIOS setup (for most computers, by pressing <Delete> during the POST, Power On Self Test), set the boot order to suit and save the changes. For a situation where the machine will not boot, insert the boot CD and press the start button. The opening screen offers a number of boot options including Mini Windows XP. No part of this utility writes into the hard drive; instead, it creates and loads into a ram disc. It finds the internet connection and opens Windows Explorer, giving access to data files. The CD contains some 150 utilities, between 50 and 100 of which are not for beginners. Warning! Do not ‘try’ utilities unless you are quite certain what they are for; you could damage your machine. Before trying to repair the fault, backup all data onto an external drive, e.g., a flash drive. The CD George used for the demonstration was offered to the audience on the understanding that the recipient, determined by a heads and tails coin-toss system, would donate $2 to the projector fund. Dave rounded out the meeting with a talk on mobile broadband comparisons and the reasons behind MelbPC’s choice. This was a talk he would be giving to the Ripper Hardware group later in the week. (NOTE: Post-meeting research: Download Hirens.BootCD.15.1.zip (498.36MB) from http://www.hirensbootcd.org/download/ and unzip it. Files include BurnCDCC.exe, BurnToCD.cmd, HBCD.txt and the ISO file. Insert a blank CD in the burner. Do not run BurnCDCC.exe directly; run BurnToCD.cmd instead and it will point directly to the ISO file, saving browsing to find it. Tick Read Verify, Finalize and Auto Eject; then click Start. The 16 page text file HBCD.txt lists the contents of the CD with brief notes on each item.)
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AUTHOR SUBMISSIONS AUTHOR FORM FOR SUBMITTING MATERIAL Melbourne PC User Group Incorporated PC Update Author Submission Form Note: All material submitted for possible publication must be accompanied by a completed copy of this form. It is intended to make the rights and responsibilities of authors clear. Please print this page, then send this to the Editor, Melbourne PC User Group, Suite 26, Level 1, 479 Warrigal Road, Moorabbin VIC, 3189.
Author Information: Name: __________________________________________ Phone: (___)___________________________ Address:______________________________________________________________________________________________________ E-mail: ____________________________________ Melb PC Membership Number: __________________
Article Information: Title: ___________________________________________ Subject: _________________________________________ Submitted for (Month): _____________________________ Number of Words: _______________________ Commissioned by: ________________________________________________________________________ This article/review is my original work, save for any references, quotations and other content that are properly credited in it. [__] It is previously unpublished.(tick one) or [__] It has been published previously, in ______________________________________________ I retain all other rights and hereby authorise its reprinting in PC Update. I permit the Melbourne PC User Group Incorporated: to publish the article on one or more occasions, on paper, the Internet or otherwise (as long as my authorship is acknowledged). to edit the article. to permit the republication of the article by any non-profit organisation (as long as Melbourne PC User Group Incorporated requests that my authorship be acknowledged). This permission extends to all articles, reviews and columns, I submit, unless I inform you in writing to the contrary when submitting material for publication. I acknowledge that the notification must accompany the submission, and be referenced in the first line of the text file for the article in question. Date: ______________________ Office use only below this line
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CALENDAR What’s On In June 2012
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SIG DETAILS
SIGs ARE THE LIFE BLOOD OF MELBOURNE PC USER GROUP Groups of members with specific interests meet regularly to discuss and indulge their interests in a wide range of topics. This is where Melb PC membership really pays off and you gain all the benefits. Enhance your computer knowledge, and widen your circle of friends to include others who have similar interests and very often, similar problems to solve. Attending a SIG and meeting other members not only helps to enhance your knowledge and understanding of the specific topic, Often you will see presentations by visiting experts and the value of that is clear to all. All members are most welcome. This is part of your Melb PC membership, so feel free to contact any of the conveners listed here. Ask them about future meetings; ask them about the format of their meetings and anything else you need to get started.
ACCESS (Database) access@melbpc.org.au
2nd Monday (except January) 6.30pm-8.30pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Jock Blair. The Access SIG provides an environment in which people can help each other to improve their skills with Microsoft Access. At each meeting there are presentations by members that are designed to cover the scope of Access during a year. Q&A segments are held at each meeting. Members may also address questions to the SIG mailing list and receive opinions for possible solutions.
ADOBE VIDEO SIG
adobevideo@melbpc.org.au http://member.melbpc.org.au/~adobevideo Convener, Kathy Rouse Co-convener, John Shirt 1st Thursday of each month (except January) 2:00pm-4:00pm Main Room, Melb PC Headquarters, 479 Warrigal Road, Moorabbin (Corner Cochranes Rd) The Adobe Video SIG is aimed at videographers, from beginners to the more experienced, wishing to edit and enhance their home videos using Adobe software. The group has lively interactive presentations from various members using the video editing programs, Premiere Pro and Premiere Elements. The workshop also includes tips and techniques, shared by the members, on the use of other Adobe Software, such as Photoshop, Illustrator and After effects.
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP ANYWHERE ANYTIME (AA SIG) anywhere@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~anywhere/ Times 24/7; Location as you choose. Kevin Martin The Anywhere, Anytime SIG provides a 24-hour, 7-day-a-week and always-easily-accessed place for all members of the MelbPC User Group to read and write comments, to ask questions on computing or non-computing topics, to receive replies from other Club members and to read their exchanges between each other. The subjects covered are not restricted in any way, except that there are a few groups whose names indicate that they are meant to cover specific areas or types of posts. There are two main newsgroups: melbpc.general, which is for general discussion of any topic, social, humorous, lifestyle, provocative or not, as the spirit moves the poster.
ANYWHERE ANYTIME con’t (We do, however, try to be nice!). The other newsgroup is:- melbpc.computing.misc, where miscellaneous directly-related computer topics are discussed. This latter place is an obvious place to ask questions about computer problems. Postings may be at any level of technicality, the principle being that the only stupid question is the one you don’t ask. No booking or finishing times are required and the more attenders the merrier. There is also a test newsgroup, where trial postings can be made for any reason, and a marketplace one for members’ items for sale or “ftagh” (free to a good home). For help on setting up your access to newsgroups with the several commonly-used programs, go to: http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~anywhereanytime or http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~anywhereanytime or http://member.melbpc.org.au/~parsonsd/newsgroups.html
BALLARAT
ballarat@melbpc.org.au 1st Thursday 7.30pm-9.45pm Midlands Golf Club, Heinz Lane, Ballarat. Alan Pittard or Ballarat is a general purpose SIG. Usually we have no specific topic; it suits everyone at present to let the meeting run in a direction that is topical on the night. From time to time we have a guest speaker/presenter on something of particular interest to us at the time but free form seems the norm at present.
BEGINNERS EAST (BEAST) beast@melbpc.org.au
3rd Sunday January - November, 2nd Sunday December 10.00am-12.30pm Vermont South Community Ctr. Karobran Drive, Vermont South. Melway 62 G7 Dave BotherwayThe East Beginners Group demonstrates how to set up and maintain a computer, how to run software, scan documents, process images, sort out error messages, etc. All procedures are repeated (slowly), until members feel confident with the new knowledge.
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SIG DETAILS BAYSIDE
bayside@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~bayside/ 3rd Thursday 10.00am -12.00 noon St Stephens Church Hall cnr Cochrane St. & North Rd Brighton John Morris or Graham Ackland Beginners subgroup meets after main meeting 12.00 noon to 1.00 pm
CASEY PC INTEREST GROUP casey@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~casey/ 2nd Friday Hampton Park Meeting 12.30pm-3.00pm Hampton Park Community House 16-20 Stuart Avenue Hampton Park Melway 96 E8 Jan Weiner or Phillip Roche Casey offers a friendly, social atmosphere where our members learn from, support, encourage and help each other on computer and communications topics. The Hampton Park meeting is based on presentations and Q&A. Please note that meetings are not held in school holidays. Please check the website for details
CASEY WORKSHOP
casey@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~casey/ 4th Friday of the month, 10 am till 12.30pm, Hampton Park Community House, 16-20 Stuart Avenue, Hampton Park, Melway 96 E8. Jan Weiner Please ring and book ASAP, and bring your complete PC or Laptop.The main aim of this Workshop is to be supportive of Melbpc members. No changes will be made to a PC or Laptop before an explanation is made, and only then with the ownersí approval. We offer a Hands On approach to Problem Solving, both Software and Hardware. PC clean up procedures, and recommended free programs for security. Email, Internet and WWW demonstration and support. Windows 7, Windows XP, Microsoft support. Downloading/Uploading. Updating, etc. Digital Cameras and Photography software for PC. Basic PC Know How, Advice and using free programs. If we are unable to assist, then referral to the Melbpc Hardware SIG, First Aid and Internet Help Line will be recommended as appropriate.
COMMUNICATIONS comms@melbpc.org.au
2nd Wednesday (except January) 7.00pm-9.30pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Philip Lew
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The Communications SIG focuses on all aspects of computer connectivity. Topics include modem communications (BBS and Internet dialup); Client/Server software, HTML and other Internet related topics. We also cover topics on Computer Networking (LANs and WANs) and other relevant general telecommunications issues of interest to the well connected PC user.
DIGITAL IMAGING
digimage@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~digimage/ The Didital Imaging Interest Group is no longer meeting, as a replacement convener for the retiring convener, Peter Carpenter, is not yet available. Any member who might have an interest in taking up this role, please send an email to the Groups Coordinator.
EAST
east@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~east/ 2nd Wednesday, February - December, 7.30pm-10.00pm Vermont South Community House Karobran Drive, Vermont South Paul Woolard or Ian Dewhurst At East we provide an entertaining and informative session covering a range of computer topics for all levels; some from invited speakers and some from our own members. George Skarbek hosts the popular Q&A segment.
EAST WORKSHOP eastwsh@melbpc.org.au
2nd Sunday 10.00am-2.00pm Wadham House 52 Wadham Parade, Mt. Waverley Rear of Library. Melway 61 E12 Ken Gubbins or Jeff Webster The East Workshop is hands-on, practical, interactive and runs on “Show me how, and I’ll do it with your assistance”. We handle “how to upgrade”, “software doesn’t run”, “slow computer”, “no sound”, “no video” problems and more. Bring your computer. Be there by 1.30pm.
E-BOOK SIG
ebook@melbpc.org.au 2nd Thursday 7.00pm - 9.30pm, Moorabbin Meeting Rooms. Dennis Fieldhouse The E-Book SIG is expected to be a forum for the sharing of information, experiences and ideas relating to the broad field of E-books and E-Readers.
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SIG DETAILS ESSENDON
essendon@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~essendon/ 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Fridays 9.30am-12.00 noon Nancye Kirchner Neighborhood Centre, Doyle Street Avondale Heights. Melway 27-D6 John Guegan Provides assistance with computer skills including, word processing, spreadsheets, digital photography, music applications, computer maintenance and product reviews. 1st Friday-Main meeting. 2nd Friday-New Users. 3rd Friday-Advanced Users. 4th Friday-Check website for details.
EVERYTHING APPLE
Everything AppleE–mail to: applesig@melbpc.org.au or everythingapple@ausom.net.au Convener: Susan Jensen Co-Convener: Damian Vuleta 2nd Tuesday 2:00 pm to 4:00 pm (except January) Moorabbin Interest Group Room A new SIG which began in April. A joint venture between MelbPC and AUSOM The emphasis will be on Apple iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Time Capsule Airport Extreme and helping people understand the Mac environment).
GENEALOGY
geneast@melbpc.org.au 3rd Sunday January - November, 2nd Sunday December, 1.00pm-3.30pm Vermont South Community Cr. Karobran Drive, Vermont South. Melway 62 G7 Andrea Roberts or Robert Swindley. The Genealogy SIG is for those beginning genealogy and for those who are advanced but need more computer knowledge to move ahead. Members’ trials, tribulations and expertise are openly discussed and freely shared in this self-help group.
GRAPHICS/ANIMATION
graphics@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~graphics/ 3rd Monday 7.30pm-9.30pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Yahya Abdal-Aziz or Myles Strous. The Graphics SIG explores everything to do with computer graphics, software and hardware. Topics discussed include paint programs, drawing, animation, graphic programming, fractals, printing, scanning, fonts, design, illustration and better photography. Bring along your questions and problems. Visitors are always welcome.
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LINUX & OPEN SOURCE linux@melbpc.org.au
2nd Monday (except January) 7.00pm-9.00pm Moorabbin Meeting Room James Cox. The SIG is a Linux based group exploring Linux at various levels from beginner to advanced including server based solutions. It also looks at open source applications for platforms that include Linux, BSD, Mac and Windows. We aim to have a mix of Q&A, demonstrations and workshops. Presentations will mostly be oriented towards demonstrating an application from the open source world and will include topics of interest to both beginners and those with some experience. We intend to hold Workshops to help users at all levels. Before main meeting 3.00pm-5.00pm there is a help workshop with one on one, hands on, informal training. Ringing to book is preferred but not essential.
LINUX WORKSHOP 2nd Tuesday 6.30pm - 9.00pm Training Room at Moorabbin Mohan Guptar, Robert Brown. If you have never stepped into the dark side, here’s your chance. This hands-on SIG will explore the basics of Linux as well as topics of interest.
MACE (Melbourne Atari Computer Enthusiasts) mace@melbpc.org.au
3rd Sunday 10.00am-2.00pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Graham Hurford or Roger Davies The Atari SIG is dedicated to the joy of Atari. The SIG is fast, furious and action packed. We welcome all owners and former owners (we know you are out there) to visit us and join in the fun; it’s a soul thing.
MAKING MONEY ON THE INTERNET amsig@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~amsig/
2nd Saturday (except December & January) 10.00am-12.00 noon Moorabbin Meeting Rooms George Skarbek or Paul Hemsworth Making Money on the Internet (was Affiliate Marketing (AM)) is a way to make money from one’s Web sites by placing links to merchants and taking a commission when someone buys through such links. This SIG covers the basics of building Web sites (but limited to AM purposes), time-saving tools, and available programs. Members are encouraged to share their experiences and the occasional hot tip at the SIG.
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SIG DETAILS MICROCONTROLLER PROGRAMMING micro@melbpc.org.au Convener: Philip Lew or John Hollow 2nd Wednesday (except January), 7.00pm-9.00pm, Moorabbin Meeting Rooms Microcontrollers are small cheap computer-chips with measurement orsense inputs (e.g. temperature, door-open) and control outputs (e.g.displays, motor control), i.e. all combinations of analog & digital,inputs & outputs. They need very few other components to function, and are in many products (e.g. cameras, cars, toys). Our group is for people to develop microcontroller projects (including the software-programming) - gadgets for fun and more serious purposes. We make machines, using microcontrollers, and other electronics, to do things. We cater for all levels of knowledge, novice to experienced - users helping users. The Wednesday meeting involves discussion and presentations. The associated Saturday Workshop (below) is informal and hands-on.
MICROCONTROLLER WORKSHOP micro@melbpc.org.au
Convener: Robert Brown or Geoff Lethbridge 4th Saturday (except December), 11.00am-4.00pm, Moorabbin Meeting Rooms See also the above description of the associated Microcontroller group. The Saturday Workshop is hands-on, where you have a go, meet like-minded people, to create or complete your project, and a place that facilitates sharing of ideas and support.
MULTIMEDIA HOME ENTERTAINMENT (MHE) multimed@melbpc.org.au http://member.melbpc.org.au/~multimed
1st Friday (except January) 10.00am - 12.00pm Wadham House, 52 Wadham Parade, Mt Waveley. Melways 61 E12 Kelvin Cording or John Hall The aim of this group is to assist members in the installation, operation and maintenance of PC based Multimedia Home Entertainment systems including personnel video recorders, media extenders, media servers, internet streaming of video and audio, home networking, and storage systems. Attendees from beginners to expert level are most welcome.
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MUSIC
music@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~music/ 3rd Thursday 7.30pm-9.30pm Moorabbin Meeting Rooms Yahya Abdal-Aziz, Roger Wragg. The Music SIG is for members who like to make or listen to music. Bring along your creations, questions and problems. Visitors are always welcome.
NEW USERS EAST newuser@melbpc.org.au
2nd Tuesday (Except January) 7.30p-10.00pm St Mark’s Anglican Church Cnr Canterbury & Burke Rds, Camberwell Melway 45 J10 Peter Newby New Users, East caters for the needs of prospective and new computer users, new members having machine operating or system problems, and those new members wishing to increase their understanding of their equipment.
NORTH EAST
neast@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~neast/ 4th Tuesday (except December) 7.30pm-9.30pm Uniting Church Hall 19 Seddon Street, Ivanhoe. John Grant; Choy Lai
NORTH EAST DAYTIME INTEREST GROUP & PHOTOGRAPHY/DIGITAL IMAGING neday@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~neday
2nd Thursday (Except January) 10.00am-12.15pm Uniting Church Hall 19 Seddon Street Ivanhoe, parking at the rear, Melway 31 F8 Colin Lampshire. We aim to interest and assist all levels of computer users, from beginners to the more experienced. Our Interest Group meetings feature reviews of useful software and computer add-ons, with plenty of time to assist with membersí computer problems. Every alternate month we specialise in issues relating to Photography/Digital Imaging. Please check the Web
NORTH EAST GENEALOGY negen@melbpc.org.au
1st Tuesday (except January) 10.00am-12.45pm Uniting Church Hall 19 Seddon St, Ivanhoe. Allan Medforth, Vilma Stargatt. Now recognized as an important support for members helping members with genealogy and computer skills. A good social atmosphere supported by excellent facilities.
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SIG DETAILS NORTHERN SUBURBS LINUX nslig@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~nslig/
3rd Monday (except December) 7.30pm-9.30pm Community Meeting Room, Watsonia Library Ibbottson St Watsonia David Hatton davehatt@melbpc.org.au Stephen Davidson The Northern Suburbs Linux SIG provides a focus for members living in the northern suburbs who are interested in learning more about using Linux in day-to-day computing tasks. Meeting topics are influenced by the regular attendees; beginners and visitors are most welcome. For SIG news and last minute updates please see our Web pages.
PENINSULA
pennsula@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~pennsula/ Two main meetings monthly 1st Monday evening 7.00pm (except January) 3rd Monday morning 9.30am (except December) plus Genealogy Subgroup 3rd Monday afternoon 2.30pm (except December) Mornington Information Centre 320 Main Street, Mornington Lindsay Wiles or Terry Said plus...New Users Subgroup 2nd and 4th Mondays 4.00pm (except school holidays) Mornington Secondary College. Graphics Workshop Sub -Group 3rd Monday at 12.30PM
WEB SITE DESIGN SIG The Web Site Design SIG is in recess until a new convenor can be found. If anyone is interested please contact the SIG Coordinator: Ian Rankin groups@melbpc.org.au
PROGRAMMING program@melbpc.org.au
4th Tuesday 6.30pm-9.00pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Mohan Gupta or Roger Plant Tell us about programs you are writing, wrote in the past, or give ideas for interesting programs to write. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll walkthrough the process of writing programs, from user interface design to code cutting and testing. Different programming languages, techniques and tools will be showcased as well as scripts, plugins, extensions, markups, compilers, databases, hopefully something for beginners and pros alike.
RETIRED & INTERESTED PERSONS ripper@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~ripper/
10.00am-12 noon 4th (not last) Friday (Except December) Moorabbin Meeting Room Ken Thomas
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
This general interest group has subgroups Graphics and Digital Imaging and New Users meeting at Moorabbin at 9.00 am before the main meeting. The Windows subgroup meets for a further hour, commencing 12.00 noon, after the main meeting. The Hardware subgroup meets at 10.00 am on the 2nd Friday of each month (except Jan) at Wadham House, 52 Wadham Pde Mount Waverley.
SUNBURY DAYTIME
sunbury@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~sunbury/ Every Thursday 9.30am-12.00 noon Sunbury Senior Citizens Centre (back room) 8 O’Shannassy Street, Sunbury Melway 382 E4 Kevin Day or Kevin Hale 1st Thursday New users, but everyone welcome. 2nd Thursday New users hands on - bring laptop if you have one 3rd Thursday General meeting - demos, presentations etc. 4th Thursday (and 5th when there is one) Maintenance, problems discussed, sometimes solved.
WAFFLE (WINE & FINE FOOD EVENT) On the 1st Wednesday (except Jan) from 9.40 pm following the Monthly Meetings, at La PORCHETTA, 1017 Centre Rd, just west of Warrigal Rd, next to Red Rooster & the Car Wash. Melway map78/D2. Patrons are welcome for coffee only. How-to-get-there sketch maps are available at the meeting. Inquiries and alternative venue recommendations to Tom Rado trado@melbpc.org.au
WASINT (WEB & SOFTWARE INVESTMENT TOOLS) wasint@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~wasint/
2nd Tuesday on morning 10.30am-12.30pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Richard Solly Become more confident in the use of Web and software tools as part of your financial life. Join others, both at the monthly meeting and through the online Web board to share favourite sites and information sources in the exploding field of online financial information.
WEBSITE DESIGN
webdesign@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~webdesign/
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SIG DETAILS WEST
west@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~west/ 4th Wednesday (except December) 7.00pm-9.30pm Footscray YMCA cnr Essex & Market Street West Footscray Tony Bajoras or Ernie McCarthy
WINDOWS
windows@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~windows/ 1st Monday (except January) 6.30pm-9.00pm Moorabbin Meeting Room Peter Horsley The SIG’s focus is on all versions of the Microsoft Windows operating system. Members are invited to bring their questions to the meeting for discussion. We cover a wide range of general topics including virus detection and removal, Internet problems, scanning and printing, simple networks and general upgrading and hardware problems that pertain to Microsoft Windows. Many gather at 4.30 pm for a pre-meeting chat.
WINDOWS 7 WORKSHOP 1st Thursday 6.30pm - 9.00pm Main Meeting Room, Moorabbin Meeting Rooms Mohan Guptar You’ve heard the hype, read the reviews, now take the plunge! This hands-on SIG will let you get down and dirty with Windows 7. If you want to know if that Windows XP game or program works with W7, bring it along and see for yourself. If you want your printer to work with W7, bring that too. Learn the basics, experiment, gain insights, uncover tips and tricks and more.
WINDOWS ADVANCED winpro@melbpc.org.au
3rd Tuesday (except December) 7.00pm Moorabbin Meeting Room John Bade or Bob Traynor Our Group aims to provide a forum for system / network administrators and advanced users. The primary focus is Windows and related products. Typical topics include security, servers and networking.
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP
WYNDHAM
wynd@melbpc.org.au http://groups.melbpc.org.au/~wynd/ General on 2nd Monday (except January) 7.30pm-9.30pm MultiMedia on 3rd Tuesday (except December & January) 7.30pm-9.30pm
Room 3, Central Park Community Centre. Lonsdale Circuit, off Franklin Blvd Hoppers Crossing Melway 206 J1 Chris Hughes or John Healey General: This General Interest Group exists to provide local information and support to the Southwest Region of outer Melbourne. There will be Q&A sessions and coverage of PC hardware and software issues. There will be a supper break with time for informal discussion. Visitors always welcome. MultiMedia: With the convergence of video and still photography and the attendant add-ons, this group will cater for the media aspects of PC technology, including video & photo manipulation and production, animation, presentation, sound & music, illustration, 3D and various associated add-ons and plug-ins. We will also have visiting presenters to show us some of what can be achieved. Visitors always welcome.
YARRA RANGES IG & WORKSHOP yrig@melbpc.org.au
4th Tuesday (except December) 9.15am-3.00pm at Japara Neighbourhood House 13 Leith Rd Montrose Melway Ref: 52.D.7 Bryan Paten or Shane Mason The Interest Group meets to provide general information and support to members in the Outer East Region of Melbourne. There will be Q&A sessions and coverage of PC Hardware and Software issues, with time for informal discussion. Also, from time to time, we will have visiting presenters and demonstrations. The workshop will cater for the members who experience problems with their computers or programs. Also, extended answers can be given to questions that need clarification. Alternatively, come along to help other members or just to enjoy the companionship. Please send all changes, updates and corrections in writing to the office: office@melbpc.org.au
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SIG DETAILS NEW ANDROID SIG The North East Android Interest Group provides the opportunity for members to learn how the new rapidly emerging Android Operating System (OS) can be used to operate, control, and maintain applications (APPS), on compatible mobile devices such as computer tablets and smartphones. All aspects of both hardware and software are considered with a learning experience based on friendly discussions, presentations, and demonstrations to suit both novice and experienced computer users. See http://groups.melbpc.org.au/#neandroid for more information.
MELBPC BOOK EXCHANGE Do you enjoy reading novels, adventure, biography, romance, travel or non-iction? We are launching a new free service for all members - the MelbPC Book Exchange.
THE BOOK EXCHANGE works like this:
1. Bring along any books you no longer need, to our Moorabbin club rooms. Only clean books, please! 2. The books will be kept on available shelving near the Library books. 3. Borrow one or two books at a time, for as long as it takes to read them. 4. Return borrowed books directly to the Book Exchange shelves when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done. There will be NO register kept of these books. You do not have to sign for them. The borrowing period is unlimited. The Book Exchange will operate purely on the honour system. We know we can trust MelbPC members to do the right thing! The MelbPC Book Exchange is there for you to enjoy. So enjoy! Yahya Abdal-Aziz Librarian
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Everything
Apple
Convener: Susan Jensen 9885 7060 Assistant Convener: Damian Vuleta 9509 9992 E-mail to: applesig@melbpc.org.au or everythingapple@ausom.net.au
A joint venture between MelbPC and AUSOM. The emphasis will be on Apple iDevices (iPod, iPhone, iPad, AppleTV, Time Capsule Airport Extreme) and helping people understand the Mac environment.
Next Meeting: June 12 2:00 pm iPhoto for iPad iOS 5 Presented by Dick Johnson (author of iPad Magic)
Throw out all the old image editing Apps, Apple‘s iPhoto App just works. We’ll learn how together
3:05 pm What sort of iPad User are You? Presented by David Turk
What Apps help you in your work or play? BYO iPad.
2nd Tuesdays, 2.00 pm–4.00 pm (except January) Moorabbin Interest Group Room 479 Warrigal Road, Moorabbin
SIG REPORTS Beginners East, 15 April 2012 by Jean de Neef
D
ave Botherway opened the meeting in the usual way, inviting us to report our recent purchases. Amazingly, there was only one – have members been practising self-denial during Lent?
Recent Acquisitions Jean bought an 8 GB USB stick for $9.99 from Aldi, despite having read several less than complimentary comments about it on an internet forum. It did the required job of copying My Documents, but took a long time. Dave remarked that, out of interest, he had once ordered a 1TB (= 1,000GB) USB stick from China - guessing that such a thing didn’t exist, and he would be protected by PayPal if sent a fraudulent product. In the event, the item was “withdrawn from sale”. Dave recommends always paying with PayPal and, in the past, has used the PayPal Resolution Centre to get his money back.
Questions & Answers I have my CD collection in iTunes on my C drive. How can I transfer it to the E drive? Dave didn’t know the answer, so Googled “Moving iTunes library”. You should read the instructions there. Because iTunes is an application, just copying the library wouldn’t work, so you need to move it from within the application. How do you change a jpg file to a pdf file for use with genealogy software? Dave used IrfanView to demonstrate opening the jpg file, going to File/Save As … and choosing pdf. You can then use it in Family Tree Maker. It will increase the size of the file. Somebody asked if you can change the files in bulk. Dave said that there must be a facility for doing that. Some members pointed out that you can use jpg files with Family Tree Maker anyway. Will it be possible to keep my current email address when I eventually abandon Outlook Express and WinXP? My ISP is Westnet. Your email address is independent and can be kept when you change over to another email engine. I haven’t been able to open my emails. What can I do? Dave commended the sender of this question on subsequently finding the answer through Google!
Recent Scams Dave showed a scam ANZ Bank email advising that you have $150 credit and providing a false link for you to click on . enough said! Another scam is a FedEx email advising that you have a parcel. It contains a zip file (danger of virus) and asks for money. There is a warning about this on the FedEx website. You should just delete such emails. You can use Web Mail to delete them from the server and prevent them even getting anywhere near your computer.
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP How do the scammers find all these addresses? There are people who harvest emails looking for exposed addresses. They can find them in emails sent to multiple addressees. If you are sending to multiple receivers you should put their names in the Bcc: (blind carbon copy) field, not the Cc: field, and put your own address in the To: field. If you can’t see the Bcc option, go to the View menu (in Outlook Express) and click on All Headers.
Presentation 1: Mobile Broadband These days, most people access broadband via our phone line (ADSL) or a cable that connects to their modem/router, from where it goes to the computer via a usually-blue Ethernet cable or USB connection. Some people also have WiFi within their modem/router so that they can connect their laptop wirelessly to the internet through that router. For security, you should change both the router name and password – don’t just leave it with the known factory defaults. Away from home, “wifi hot spots” may exist at hotels, libraries, McDonalds, Office Works etc. Hotels usually charge, while the others are free. With Mobile Broadband, however, you are not restricted to a particular location. You can access the internet anywhere there is mobile phone reception. You need a USB Modem to plug into your laptop and access a 3G mobile phone tower, maybe 5 kms apart. Today in ciry areas, most mobile phones tend to use 3G (= 3rd Generation), defaulting to 2G in remote areas. If you don’t get good reception, you can attach a cable to the USBmodem, and locate it in a better position. In rural areas, Telstra has far better coverage than Optus or Vodafone. Another option is a 3G Wi-Fi modem/router which accesses the 3G mobile phone towers, then puts out a WiFi signal and can be used by up to five PCs. (Note - some mobile phones/tablets may have all this built in). If you lose your 3G modem, ring up and suspend or cancel it. The diagram below shows how these methods of accessing the internet work.
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SIG REPORTS The following table compares various Mobile Broadband providers with regard to costs, monthly data allowance, and cost (if any) incurred for exceeding the allowance. Although in the past not recommending Dodo, Dave has recently signed up to their 6-month WiFi modem plan (last entry in table) ; results so far very good – see next diagram . . .
For his Dodo setup, a mobile download speed of 4+ MB per second and an upload speed of 1.4 MB per second were obtained, with the upload speed being 3x faster than his “non-premium” cable broadband setup.
Presentation 2: Making a Video Presentation using Windows Live Movie Maker Dave pointed out that we can all easily make videos using our mobile phone or a still camera and we have access to a huge variety of short videos via Internet such as YouTube. If we wish to create a video presentation incorporating the above, as well as additional components, the free program Windows Live Movie Maker is easy to use. He then showed a short video he had made of the Nathalia floods, using photos, excerpts from live TV news and music, and then demonstrated how he had gone about creating it. The key to creating a successful movie is to first make a story-board list of what you want to do and know where all the components reside. Assemble all the photo, video and music files you need and put them in a folder and number them. Then open WinLive Movie Maker and click on New Project. Click on the menu button Add Videos and Photos. They will then appear in the window. You can rearrange these files in a different order and also edit the videos by deleting the parts you don’t want to include.
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP One of the menu buttons is add a Title. You can format the title and place it in the body of the video or photo. Another menu button lets you add music files and place them where you wish. You can then add transitions between the photos, but don’t use too many confusing animations! Save the project. Go to Home in the menu. You have various options such as uploading the project to SkyDrive where it can be viewed by others that you notify. Or it can go to Facebook or YouTube. You can also burn it to a DVD. Dave saved it to the computer but did not choose High Definition, which would have created a very large file. When you save the video, the process of creating the finished product (called Rendering) is quite slow. For a long video, you could let it run overnight. Dave rendered his project into finished product as a .wmp file. You should keep the project file in case you want to go back and make changes. You would then need to render the project again. A question: how much computer space you would need for making videos? Dave said that while his demo PC only had 2GB memory, 4 GB was preferred plus lots of disk space. Some video enthusiasts have dual 2 TB hard drives.
ISO Files
by George Skarbek How do I install an ISO file? Q: I have downloaded an ISO file that should have bootable software and data to scan a hard drive for viruses. When I double-click on it my computer does not know what software is required and I don’t know either. Can you help? A: An ISO file is just an image of a DVD or of a CD. It contains not only all the files but the CD file structure as well. To burn it you only need some basic CD / DVD burning software. If you do not have any on your computer you can download some good free software such as ImgBurn from www.imgburn.com or CDBurnerXP fromhttp:// cdburnerxp.se/en/home. Both are small and very good programs. Once the ISO file is burned, you can then boot on that CD.
Restoring from an Acronis backup Q: I have been regularly backing up my entire hard disk using Acronis to a second hard drive in my computer. Yesterday my computer failed and I have been told that it is not economical to fix it and I should purchase a new and much faster computer, which I have just done. My problem is that the new motherboard will be quite different and I was told that I cannot restore from my old image and the new computer will now work. Are all my backups now useless or is there something that I can do?
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SIG REPORTS
A: Your Acronis backup is not useless and you have several options. When your new computer arrives, the first step is to put the original second hard drive into the new computer. If you cannot do this yourself then ask the computer dealer who is providing the new computer to install it for you. Now having the Acronis image on your new computer you have several options. If by some chance the operating system on the new computer is the same as on the old one, say both Windows 7, the restoration is very simple. Either boot on the Acronis rescue CD or install your Acronis on the new hard drive and simply do a full restoration. Now when you reboot the computer will still not work well. You will have no Internet because the Ethernet card will not have been found as you have different drivers, no sound, video will be very limited etc. Fortunately the fix is easy. Just run the motherboard driver CD that came with the new computer and after one or possibly two re-boots all will work well and all your data, mail, contacts, favourites, desktop icons etc, etc will be there and working. If the version of Windows is different on the new computer then the answer is not clear cut and will depend on your level of expertise and how many programs you have on the old computer. Assuming that the old computer runs XP and the new computer has Windows 7 then here are some options. One option is to restore the full image and run the motherboard drivers. Unless there is some Windows 7 only driver, which is unlikely, you will have a functioning XP computer but running much faster on the new hardware in about half an hour or so. For most users the operating system is not important as it is your applications which are important such as mail, browsing, word processing etc. XP is stable and there is no real reason to upgrade. The other option, if you want Windows 7 is to install all your programs such as Microsoft office, Acrobat reader, Skype, etc. Then restore. You will have to restore your data such as your word processor files, favourites, desktop icons, other application data and mail from the TIB file. The problem with this approach is that not only will it take more time but you will need to know where to place the restored data, especially with mail in order to have the new programs find your mail and contacts.
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP I am receiving mail that is not mine Q: Occasionally I receive unwanted e-mail that is not addressed to me. Today there was one that was close to my e-mail address but still not correct. How come I get them and how can I stop this? A: The reason why you are receiving this spam without your address being correct is because the spammers put all the addresses into the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) field that has been designed so the recipient does not know who else has also received a copy. Your e-mail address will be in the BCC which naturally you cannot see. The spammers will select an ISP and try to send mail to most of the users. They could start with john, johna, johnb etc then johnaa, johnab etc and send in large blocks. All this will be computer generated resulting in millions of junk e-mails, and the cost of sending these is virtually zero. Finally, as to what you can do, the answer is unfortunately not very much. The best approach is to have a good spam filter or use a program such as Mailwasher where you can review all mail on the server and delete all unwanted mail first without having to download it to your computer. Another solution, if your ISP allows you to automatically forward your mail, is to forward your mail to a free Gmail account and read it there: Gmail’s spam filter is excellent. Hotmail’s spam filtering has been improving over the last couple of years and is also very good.
WinSIG
April 2012
A
pril’s WinSIG meeting began a little differently with a recent Volunteer Of The Month member, John Hollow, giving us a presentation on his recent discoveries relating to daylight saving and the effect of the transition from one DST to another. He had found that in the early hours of the morning the event was very peculiar and he’d noticed that across the changeover certain things happened to file date- and time-stamps that a rational person wouldn’t at first expect. Essentially what John had found was that the time/dates on our files weren’t actually that: that they only ‘appeared’ to be what we saw, but were, in fact, ‘images’ of time/date-stamps that, while looking like ordinary dd/ mm/yy hh.mm.ss data, were codes linked to global, world, time. And John surmised, with a demonstration to us, that with inductive reasoning he’d learned that the time codes on files were flexible, changed by any movement in local time – such as by a daylight saving change event. It looked like a Heisenberg Uncertainty phenomenon: something that couldn’t be examined directly, but only discovered by testing and drawing conclusions. John described various consequences from his study and gave us certain warnings when tinkering with file settings. A fascinating insight. SIG leader Peter Horsley then took us into the nooks and crannies of the Windows update process and what
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SIG REPORTS is possible to control and how to do it – and whether we should tamper with the process (one example of the recent ‘Bing Desktop’ was cited as an example where we should maintain a watchful eye). We were shown how a popular download site has a fairly innocuous and small update manager, one that reports on what updates were available for our installed programs. It examines our computers in a few seconds and provides a succinct list for our approval. There’s a simple download function that lets us grab the updates and, once swapping to administrator mode, install them. An adjunct to this facility is the handling of zip and rar compressed files, so we had a quick look at what the programs WinZip and WinRar are able to do for us. Managing the update function itself was discussed, comparing FileHippos’s checker with Secunia’s. Either way, it was suggested that to be truly effective, one should be left running in the background (as a Notification Area icon). One immediate alternative to this was suggested: Task Scheduler, which could fire up the background routine every, say, week. Then, for tidiness’s sake, it could be closed down. Jacques B mentioned that he had had a firewall warning from his IrfanView update, and was still getting warnings after he’d uninstalled the program! Discussion concluded that, whatever the reason for Jacques’ update problem, downloads from authentic or respectable sites was an intrinsic part of safe hex. Or IrfanView could be installed from the UG’s monthly disc; a perennial constituent. We briefly canvassed browser addons, using the Ask Toolbar as an example of a sneaky, usually unwanted, add-on, and we saw how to remove it from Internet Explorer. We also cast an eye over some very useful addons for Firefox, a field where it excels. We had the beverage and biscuit break that gives us the opportunity to chat amongst fellow users and to update our recent success and failure stories, and then we retuned for our open Q&A session.
Q&A Client administration came up again, in the sense of managing our workstations that are sometimes called clients when belonging to a domained network environment. Primarily the discussion revolved around backup. Geoff G reported his satisfaction with Macrium Reflect, even the free version. He related his problem with the normally well-regarded Acronis package in that booting from an Acronis CD he isn’t able to see his C: drive; very strange. John H told us of his regular practice of backing up and immediately restoring the set or image to a separate partition and inspecting it there – checking for integrity rather than use. Peter H told us how he regularly uses an Acronis backup image and how he mounts the image as a drive and extracts files from within. A question on Eudora on XP was asked and how it might be possible to remove mail data from the system disk to another. Opinion was that Eudora as a product is in its decline phase and being morphed into Thunderbird,
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP published by Mozilla, the makers of Firefox. It was thought that data isn’t a separable commodity in these programs, being quite heavily integrated with the system for reliability and efficiency reasons. It was thought that Thunderbird would be a good direction to choose given its general flexibility – for example, the opportunity to link directly to Gmail. One member wanted to rationalise all his files, specifically locating duplicates and trimming the excess. The first answer was searchEverything, given its ability to log multiple drives and catalogue all files as one set. Agent Ransack was suggested as an interesting alternative. Phil L finished up the meeting with a showing of some photos of the preparations that had been made over the preceding weekend to connect up a high-speed LAN for the impending Gaming Weekend (since run, and conducted very successfully, as a commercial event). With that, the meeting closed, invitations to Fongs for continued discussion over dinner were issued, and we all departed, wiser once again.
Thinking About The Unthinkable
Y
ou’ve had a computer at home for years, and you are going to live forever. Right? Not much point in telling your wife or another family member what you use it for, and because you have done whatever you do for years, your wife hasn’t been interested to find out anything. Why should she worry, you’ve always looked after everything so well. You probably have your investments in a spreadsheet, and do your banking on line. As an office bearer of a club, you may keep the minutes or the club’s bank account, and you have all your family friends email addresses, phone numbers and street addresses in your system. Of course. Who keeps paper records these days? You more than likely use a few passwords to stop unwanted people getting into the important stuff, even though there is no one in the house who would have the need nor be the least bit interested in looking. Being a computer whiz you probably also have an iPhone, an iPad, and a Kindle and you might even have a password or two on some of these. Then what was not supposed to happen happens. You fall off the perch! The family grieves, but life goes on. The bills come in and someone says to the wife, “How do you pay your bills, Dear?” And she replies through her tears, “I don’t know anything about that. Fred did it all on his computer. “ The computer might well be found to be a brick because no one can get any sense out of it without the passwords!
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SIG REPORTS Searching through his draws his wife might find some funny little things that Fred used to plug into his computer. “I saw him do it but I don’t know why,” she says,” and I’m sure there are some more of them somewhere.” Enter the ten-year-old grandson computer wizard. “Oh Gran they are memory sticks.” And he sets out unsuccessfully to try to guess the passwords so they can get into Grandpa’s computer. This couldn’t happen to you could it? Want to bet?
Suggestion To save any angst for those remaining after you are taken to the big computer room in the sky leave clear instructions to enable the family to easily access the family’s banking/club minutes/and whatever records on their dear departed’s computer. Perhaps there might be for example, an almost completed manuscript of a best seller on it that would otherwise be lost forever for lack of a password. And when you type the instructions on your computer for Heaven’s sake don’t leave it there in a computer file. Print it and put it with your Will. And make a note in your diary to review and amend it each year or whenever you buy a new computer.
Yarra Ranges Internet Group meeting April 2012 by Bryan Paten
T
he April meeting was well attended, despite the inclement weather, however we enjoyed the company of Dave Botherway as our special guest. The only new hardware acquisition mentioned by a member was the New NetComm Wireless Powerline Kit (NP206) purchased by Shane Mason. Bryan advised that he had downloaded a couple of new software acquisitions onto the YRIG netbook. Namely “Microsoft Ice”, and “Presentation marker”. Both of these programs were free. Dave Botherway gave us a presentation on Making WMV files using Windows live movie maker. All Members enjoyed Dave’s presentation and the “how to do it” information as we all gained from it. John Sapsford complimented the morning by giving members an insight into using Microsoft Ice- this is a free program which can be downloaded from Microsoft and it does create an interesting panorama photo image, providing the photos you wish to use, are overlapping. As John said you tend to get a better result if you take your overlapping photos using a tripod so that the photos line up nice and evenly. Thank you Dave and John for 2 most informative presentations
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP Members also enjoyed seeing a video of just how computer graphics are taking over, in creating movie scenes that are simply not as real as you would normally expect. Have a look at these scenes for the TV show “Boardwalk” http://player.vimeo.com/video/34678075?title=0& The question on what is a suitable program to copy records onto a CD was raised and “Audacity”: was one possible program which members might like to try because if is a freebie to download. The program Bryan uses to convert audio cassette tapes and vinyl records onto a Cd is “Spin it again”. There is a cost to purchase it, but you can download a trial version etc. from www.acoustica.com/spinitagain/ “Spin it again’ is excellent because it does have a simple one click operation to remove the hiss and noise from all the tracks on an audio cassette, whereas you need to do this on each and every track if you are using Audacity. So it is a much slower process. A good tip for members is to have a think about is how Google tracks you See: http://donttrack.us/ Bryan’s recommendation is to install “DO NO TRACK” available from www.abine.com - definitely worth having and this program is now on the YRIG netbook. You will be amazed to see just how many sites have been tracking your use of Google, when you install the do not track program. A most enjoyable and informative meeting, followed by our usual workshop.
THE MICROCONTROLLER WORKSHOP CONVENER:
ROBERT BROWN GEOFF LETHBRIDGE
Please contact us at: microws@melbpc.org.au Second Saturday of each month (except January) 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Fourth Saturday of each month (except December) 11:00 am to 4:00 pm Moorabbin Interest Group Room The Saturday Workshop is a “Creative Space”. It is a space to express your creativity. This workshop is under construction. Its development depends on those who are involved and their interests. The workshop is centred on microcontrollers but are not limited to microcontrollers. If you are looking for a space that facilitates sharing of ideas and support. A place where you can express your creativity. Then this SIG could be what you are looking for? The Workshop is an informal SIG, a place to work on your project, start a new project, or join a group project.
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TRAINING SCHEDULE TRAINING IN 2012 NEW COURSES & DETAILS COORDINATOR: PATRICK BRENNAN NEW COURSES FOR 2012 – ACCOUNTING IS BACK! • Trainer Cathy Fanning is back in town, so QuickBooks and M.Y.O.B. make a return. • Mohan Gupta shares his Android expertise with: Introduction to Android and Writing Android Applications. • Sick of updating static webpages, or wish you could run a database online? You can cut your teeth on Data base driven websites with PHP and MySQL on 27-3-12. • Kenn Tetley is now offering XARA Webdesigner PRO courses, as well as the old favourite: Dreamweaver.
PLEASE, DON’T CALL THE OFFICE Please use the website as your first point of contact with training. As of 2012, the MPCUG office staff are now no longer to help with training enquiries. That role has been handpassed to yours truly. My telephone number is published below. Emails can be sent to: training@melbpc.org.au.
COURSE BOOKINGS There are 2 methods of booking training courses: 1. Via credit card or PayPal, using the form provided on each course page on the website. You do not need to open a PayPal account to pay. When you pay, you will notice that the trainer’s business name or email address will appear on the PayPal checkout screen, and not MPCUG, Inc. Don’t panic, Mr Mainwaring! This is how it is meant to be, as of 2012. 2. Call me on the training course bookings hotline on: 0432 032 388 This service is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm. UPDATED TRAINING WEB PAGES Are located at: http://www.melbpc.org.au/training/ Why not have a squiz? PC UPDATE Use training information published in PC Update as a guide only. The website always has the latest changes to prices and scheduling. SPREAD THE WORD Help MPCUG consolidated revenue by doing a course with a friend. Non-members are welcome to attend all courses.
Website Design
menus. This session looks at creating basic
your seat.
Convener: Fleur Stephens
navigation and menu bars using images, CSS
Registration: Register to attend at
Tel. no.: 0407330963
and hover over effects.
http://67.211.70.223/php/courses.php
The Web Site Design SIG will run on the fourth
The Course Covers
Sunday of every month from 2pm - 4pm
-Beginners HTML
Email: fleur@fleuritsolutions.com or fleurstephens@ieee.org A joint venture between MelbPC
-Page design and Layout
and fleuritsolutions.
HTML for Beginners
The Web Site Design SIG restarts in June
Create your own webpage
-Menu Bars
Special offer just $55.00
-Creating a uniform look across different inter-
-Basic CSS
net browsers
Next Meeting: Sunday JUNE 24th 2pm - 4pm 2pm - 3pm Drop In - need some help?
Convener: Fleur Stephens
Drop In!
Tel. no.: 0407330963
The aim of the Web Site Design SIG is to help
-Uploading your site to the web using FTP.
Email: fleur@fleuritsolutions.com
By the end of this course you will have cre-
or fleurstephens@ieee.org
ated and launched a practice webpage that can be viewed online for the following week.
members build and manage their own web sites. So if you are creating, managing or design-
When: 30th June 2012 - 10:30am - 5:00pm
ing a web site and need some help, Drop in.
Where: Melbourne PC User Group training room
An instructional cd will be provided, with all
3pm - 4pm Navigation and Menu Bars
1st floor Unit 26, 479 Warrigal Rd, Moorabbin
software tools relevant to the course and
Learn to create awesome navigation bars and
Places are limited, so book early to secure
course notes.
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MONTHLY DISC
Monthly Disc - June 2012
All programs on the Monthly Disc are free except where shown otherwise. The Monthly Video is of the May 2012 Monthly Meeting.
Audio
CoolPlayer - Ver: 1.1.0.220 r59
MPEG Layer 1, 2, and 3 digital audio player. CoolPlayer is built as an MPEG Layer 1, 2, and 3 digital audio player for Windows users. It’s a blazing fast Audio Player for Win32 Environments.
RightMark Audio Analyzer - Ver: 6.2.4
RightMark Audio Analyzer is designed for testing quality of analog and digital paths of any audio devices, be it a sound card, an MP3 player, a consumer CD/DVD player or an acoustic set.
Anti Virus
AdvancedWinServiceManager - Ver: 3.0
AdvancedWinServiceManager makes it easy to eliminate such malicious services by separating out third party services from Windows services. By default it shows only third party services along with more details such as Company Name, Description, Install Date, File Path etc at one place which helps in quickly differentiating between legitimate and malicious services.
Kaspersky TDSSKiller - Ver: 2.7.29.0
A rootkit for Windows systems is a program that penetrates into the system and intercepts the system functions (Windows API). It can effectively hide its presence by intercepting and modifying low-level API functions. Moreover it can hide the presence of particular processes, folders, files and registry keys. Some rootkits install its own drivers and services in the system (they also remain “invisible”). Kaspersky Lab has developed the TDSSKiller utility that allows removing rootkits.
Sophos Virus Removal Tool - Ver: 2.0.0.0
We know all about viruses and they’re a pain. They can slow down your computer or try to steal your data and you might not even know you’ve got one. What you need is a quick and easy way to find and get rid of them
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MONTHLY DISC StreamArmor - Ver: 1.5
StreamArmor is the sophisticated tool for discovering hidden alternate data streams (ADS) as well as clean them completely from the system. It’s advanced auto analysis coupled with online threat verification mechanism makes it the best tool available in the market for eradicating the evil streams.
Burner
Astroburn Lite - Ver: 1.6.1.0167
The best choice for those who want to have quick and easy-to-use home program with essential features to perform disc burning.
Desktop
AutoClick - Ver: 3.1
Classic Shell - Ver: 3.5.0
Classic Shell is a collection of features that were available in older versions of Windows but are removed from Vista and Windows 7.
Directory Monitor - Ver: 1.1.2.0
Gladinet Cloud Desktop - Ver: 4.0.856.18465
A tool that will help you organise your scattered files. You may have files stored online. You may have files scattered on multiple PCs. Gladinet software brings all your files together to your Windows Desktop and your online desktop, allowing you to organize and better manage your documents. Your files are following you wherever you go!
HyperCam - Ver: 2.0
HyperCam captures the action and sound from any part of Windows desktop and saves it to standard AVI movie files. Captures cursor movements, menus selections, windows popping up, and everything else you see on the screen.
There are several situations that require repetitive mouse clicking. If you’re involved in that kind of activities and you’re tired of it, the solution lays in software that automates mouse clicks. AutoClick is a small utility that can make clicks happen for you. Its sole purpose is to click the mouse, thus saving you time and effort. This is especially useful when you’re at work or playing a game that involves endless clicking.
You can use Directory Monitor for the surveillance of certain directories and it will notify you of file changes, deletions, modifications, and new files in real-time. You can optionally execute an application when a change occurs.
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Mouse Recorder Pro - Ver: 2 2.0.7.4
Mouse Recorder Pro is one advanced solution designed to record the activity of your mouse and key board and then play the exact same movements without user interaction.
Seanau Icon Toolkit - Ver: 5.0.1
Seanau Icon Tool Kit is a free, professional, powerful and easy to use icon combination & optimisation tool. Icon Tool Kit allows you to create and edit icon through like ‘Photoshop’ layer, and save as ICO, JPG, BMP, optimised transparency PNG or GIF image. Icon Tool Kit also allows you to apply some popular styles for your icon, such as Vista style, Mac style, crystal style, disabled or hot state style.
SWForm - Ver: 2.0.1.7
SWForm is a handy and reliable application that provides you with a calendar, notes and various SWF animations for your desktop.
Digital Imaging
DenoiseMyImage - Ver: 3.1
Remove digital noise from your photos and make them look better. DenoiseMyImage allows you to re move digital noise from your photos while preserving edges. Noise can be caused by low light conditions, high ISO, small (and dense) camera chip.
Raw Therapee - Ver: 4.0.7.1
RawTherapee is a cross platform image processing software equipped with the essential tools for high quality and efficient RAW photo development.
Disk Tools
DiskDigger - Ver: 0.8.3.176
A simple, straightforward, and easy to use data recovery utility. The DiskDigger application was designed to recover files from any type of media that your computer can read.
Safe PST Backup for Microsoft Outlook - Ver: 1.11.0.95 Backup Outlook PST files automatically using Safe PST Backup. It is an easy to use Free tool to back up and archive email automatically. Create backup of all or selected Contacts, Calendar, Tasks and other
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Microsoft Outlook folders with a few clicks.
Games
Gliderman - Ver: 1.0
In his personal vendetta against blue blocks, Gliderman must use quick thinking and lightning reflexes to out-maneuver soccer balls, falling cows and all manner of mayhem.
Balancing Act - Ver: 1.0
Play with objects on a teeter totter to learn about balance. Test what you’ve learned by trying the Balance Challenge game.
Lunar Lander - Ver: 2.04
Can you avoid the boulder field and land safely, just before your fuel runs out, as Neil Armstrong did in 1969? Our version of this classic video game accurately simulates the real motion of the lunar lander with the correct mass, thrust, fuel consumption rate, and lunar gravity. The real lunar lander is very hard to control.
Home/Office
Complete Home Library - Ver: 9.2.1.4
Create and control multiple libraries of both hard-copy materials and electronic files. Complete Home Library’s aim is to produce the best library applications for small business and for personal use.
Earth Alerts 2012 - Ver: 1.12
Earth Alerts is a Windows-based application that allows you to monitor in near real-time a variety of natural hazard events that are occurring anywhere around the world. Alert notifications, reports, and imagery provide the user with a convenient way to view natural phenomenon as they occur, whether close to home or some far-flung corner of the globe!
ESBCalc - Freeware Calculator Ver: 7.3.1
The interface is equipped only with the essential and there is no room for bells and whistles. All the functions are concentrated in the middle-lower part of the window while in the upper side there is the optional paper trail. Its purpose is to store all the calculations you make and display them just as if you wrote them down on a piece of paper. You can give up the pervasive view by simply pressing the “Paper” button in the middle of the title bar.
FREE!ship (formerly Freeship) - Ver: 2.6
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Freeship is compact but powerful application that allows you to edit ship models using a technique called “surface modelling”. Most hull modelling packages use these parametric spline surfaces which can be very tricky to use.
Office Ribbon Editor - Ver: 4.3.2
Office Ribbon Editor’s main focus is on editing the RibbonUI for Excel, Word, and PowerPoint. The reason behind this decision lies on the fact that the ribbonUI is managed with XML.
SFR CalcTape (formerly SFR Calculator) - Ver: 5.1.2
SFR CalcTape is a revolutionary new kind of software calculator for your PC. SFR CalcTape will allow you to easily perform extensive calculations. You can comment your calculations and save them.
Internet
BearShare - Ver: 10.0.890.48078
BearShare - a peer-to-peer file sharing program that not only allows you to download the latest music and video but you can connect with friends and make new ones who are into the same artists. The users can easily access other profiles, pictures and their music libraries.
Connection Keeper - Ver: 11.3
Connection Keeper is an invaluable time-saving tool for dial-up users. This free program simulates Internet browsing (at a random interval) to prevent your connection from appearing idle, thus preventing your ISP from dropping the connection due to inactivity.
Dooble Web Browser - Ver: 1.30
Dooble is the little Web browser that can. One of the primary purposes of Dooble is to safeguard the privacy of its users. At its core lies the WebKit engine. A compact and simple code base ensures that both developers and users have access to Dooble’s internal functions.
FavIconizer - Ver: 1.3
FavIconizer proves useful if you use Internet Explorer for browsing the web. FavIconizer will scan all links you have in your favourites and check if the website has a FavIcon. If it has one, FavIconizer will download that icon and adjust the link in the favourites to use that.
Hotspot Shield - Ver: 2.52
Hotspot Shield creates a virtual private network (VPN) between your laptop and the wireless router. This impenetrable tunnel prevents snoopers and hackers from viewing your email, instant messages,
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credit card information or anything else you send over a wireless network. Which means you remain anonymous and protect your privacy.
Xmarks for Internet Explorer - Ver: 1.3.4
Xmarks is the #1 bookmarking add-on. Keep your bookmarks, passwords and open tabs backed up and synchronised across computers and browsers.
Multi Media
Zoom Player Free - Ver: 8.16 Zoom Player is a robust media and DVD front-end player. It was designed to be simple at first glance while being remarkably dynamic and flexible when used to its full potential. It works in two modes: a Media mode which can play any file supported by DirectShow (any file which plays in MediaPlayer) and a DVD mode which uses pre-installed DirectShow DVD filters to play DVD content.
A-PDF Text Extractor - Ver: 1.4.3
A-PDF Text Extractor, a software solution designed to make PDF to text document conversion a breeze, promising not only to work blazing fast, but also to preserve formatting of the original file. The inter face is extremely simple, and you just have to open the PDF file you wish to use and press the “Extract text” button. Everything’s intuitive and very easy to use, and the same applies to the settings menu as well.
Sumatra PDF - Ver: 2.0.1
Sumatra PDF Portable enables you to read and modify any PDF according to your demands. This tool is the lightweight Sumatra PDF packaged as a portable app, so you can view PDF files on the go. You can place it on your USB flash drive, iPod, portable hard drive or a CD and use it on any computer, without leaving any personal information behind.
Registry
Registry Life - Ver: 1.40
Registry Life helps correct errors in the registry and optimises it, increasing the working speed and stability of the system. It’s a compact, simple to use, and FREE solution for servicing your system registry.
Security
Blank And Secure - Ver: 3.13
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Blank And Secure is a portable tool to securely delete data. Securely deleting files is required to block the recovering of deleted data. Secure deletion is possible with this program, because Blank And Secure overwrites the data with zeros before deleting.
File Shredder - Ver: 2.50
File Shredder has been developed as fast, safe and reliable tool to shred company files. File Shredder is simple but powerful program that surpasses many commercial file shredders out there.
IP Camera Viewer - Ver: 1.19
IP Camera Viewer allows you to view live video from your USB or IP cameras on your PC. Use any USB or IP camera to keep an eye on your home, office, parking area or anywhere you need security.
TrueCrypt - Ver: 7.1a
The ultimate freeware encryption program, TrueCrypt is loaded with powerful features that users concerned with protecting data from prying eyes will find robust and comprehensive.
TSR Watermark Image - Ver: 2.1.2.9
TSR Watermark Image software, is a free program for personal use that can add digital watermarks to all your images, photos and pictures with the transparency you decide. The program can also resize the images before the digital watermark is added.
Utilities
ClipTrap - Ver: 1.1.0 Build 1
ClipTrap was developed to be a small tool that watches the clipboard and keeps track of copied text in its window.
Daemon Tools Lite - Ver: 4.45.4 (with SPTD 1.81)
Daemon Tools is an advanced application for Microsoft Windows which provides one of the best optical media emulation in the industry. With Daemon Tools you can back up your physical CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blu-ray discs into “virtual discs” or so called “disc image” files, which run directly on your hard drive.
DevManView - Ver: 1.26
DevManView is a freeware application that presents itself as an alternative to the standard Device Manager, but it displays all devices and their properties in flat table, instead of tree viewer.
EnhanceMySe7en Free - Ver: 3.3
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EnhanceMySe7en helps users to control many aspects of the system with maximum convenience. You will get everything needed for maintaining Windows 7 in a perfect condition. The program offers tools that take care of the registry, disk space and its defragmentation, installed software, HDD temperature and all sorts of things related to system’s health.
EraseTemp - Ver: 3.5.0.6
From the Producer of this program - EraseTemp is a utility that automatically deletes old temporary files from your computer. After helping people with computer problems I discovered that many computers had a lot of old temporary files. This wastes space on your hard drives and could be a stability problem.
FFT-z - Ver: 3.1.0.116
FFT-z or Fast Fourier Transforms is an easy to use tool specially designed for Multi-CPU (and RAM) stress testing.
Find and Run Robot - Ver: 2.105.01
Find and Run Robot (FARR) is a program for keyboard maniacs - it uses an adaptive “live search” function to rapidly find programs and documents on your computer as you type.
FreeFileSync - Ver: 5.1
FreeFileSync is an Open-Source folder comparison and synchronization tool. It is optimised for highest performance and usability without restricted or overloaded UI interfaces.
GTweak - Ver: 1.61
GTweak is a command-line script that can be used for tweaking operating systems of Windows family. It has two modes of work: Wizard Mode (for average-skill users) and normal, prompt mode (also called advanced mode).
Liberkey - Ver: 5.7.0406
Liberkey is a collection of portable apps in a variety of categories that can be run on your local PC or from any portable media. Take these important apps with you and use on any computer.
Mem Reduct - Ver: 2.0
Mem Reduct is a small application that allows you to monitor and clean your computers’ memory. Ex empt system cache, modified, and idle memory pages. As a result of the program, the memory usage is reduced by ~ 25%.
PokIt - Ver: 0.7.0
Easily capture snapshots and upload them to the web PokIt is a one-click screen, file, video, sound capture/web broadcasting utility. This utility as designed to be very modular while also allowing users to
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create their own plugins.
PortableApps.com Platform - Ver: 10.0.1
StarWind Virtual RAM Disk Emulator - Ver: 5.5
StarWind Virtual RAM Disk Emulator: A RAM disk is a block of RAM (Random Access Memory) that a computer treats as if it were a locally attached Hard Disk Drive. It is sometimes referred to as a virtual RAM drive or software RAM drive.
TCC LE - Ver: 13.04 Build 57
If you’re frustrated by the limitations of the Windows command prompt, then TCC LE is the one command line tool you need. By adding thousands of features that Microsoft neglected, TCC LE makes the command line easy to use, providing more power and flexibility than you ever imagined.
Tweaking.com - Advanced System Tweaker - Ver: 1.0.6
Tweaking.com - Advanced System Tweaker is a central hub for any kind of tweak or anything else that can be done via registry files, commands and vbscript files. The add-ons in the program allow it to grow and handle just about anything. The program has a direct link to search and find the growing list of add-ons.
The PortableApps.com Platform™ is a full-featured portable software menu, backup utility, app store, automatic updater and application management system that ties all your portable apps together and lets you build your own custom portable app suite.
Video
VideoCacheView - Ver: 2.16
VideoCacheView is a useful manager for web browser cache. It extracts media files from the cache folder of your web navigator. We tested it on Internet Explorer and Mozilla Firefox and we easily identified video and audio files previously watched or listened online.
Ad-Aware A.E. 9.5; Adobe Reader 10.0; Agent 6.0; Avant Browser 2011.Build 30 Firefox 9.0; Foxit 5.0.2; Irfan View 4.3; Opera 11.5; Paint.Net 3.5.8; Slim Browser 6.00 Spybot 1.6; Thunderbird 9.0; Winzip 15.5; XnView 1.9
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ORDER FORM
CAN YOU BELIEVE IT ? For only $10 a week you can hire a Sony DVDirect Multi-Function DVD recorder and transfer all your old videos to DVD without ever going near your computer. Melbourne PC User Group has purchased this handy piece of equipment as a service for members only. All you have to do is take the recorder out of the box, and connect it to your VCR, camcorder or DVR with either a composite or S-video cable. Then follow the simple on screen instructions, and relax while your precious memories are transferred. A simple instruction book is included if needed. The created DVD, which can be either single or double layered, will play in standard DVD players. The video is encoded as MPEG-2. Digital photos can also be transferred from a range of memory sticks. If you happen to have a HDD Sony Handycam, many other features are available to you with USB and i.Link connectors. So try it out if you still have all those videotapes lying around. We do require a $50 holding deposit when you hire the equipment, but this is refunded when you return the box intact.
Contact the office on 9276 4000 to make a booking.
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MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION
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DIALING HELP
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DIAL UP HELP LIST
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for
$ale!
Rode VideoMic Behringer Eurorack UB502
Manfrotto Automatic Monopod
Zoom H4 Recorder
Manfrotto Triminor Tripod & Carrying Bag
For more product info, you may contact: Derek Hampson 98774284
www.melbpc.org.au