Newsbytes - June, 2004

In this issue the following topics are addressed: ~~~ June 2, 2004 General Meeting ~~~ In the News ~~~ Worm and Virus Update ~~~ The News From Pasadena ~~~ Selected Software ~~~ Closing Humor And now for the details ~~~ June 2, 2004 General Meeting The next General Meeting is now scheduled for Wednesday June 2, 2004 at the West Charleston Library. The meeting will follow the usual outline, beginning with a round table discussion and Q's and A's with meeting participants. The meeting will begin at 6:15 p.m. with a short break at about 7:00 p.m. followed by our main Program. This month, the LVPCUG technical staff will present performance features of the Intel Pentium 4 processor such as hyperthreading. www.lvpcug.org ~~~ In the News Las Vegas PC Users Group News Change in General Meeting Schedule and Venue The Board of Directors is contemplating a change of the General meeting schedule and location. The current meeting location, West Charleston Library was selected when the Fremont Street Experience was being built and the then meeting location, the Plaza Hotel, became considerably more expensive. The meeting days have also changed to allow us to piggyback onto two other groups in the Las Vegas area, thereby giving us some leverage with large vendors and manufacturers. Several drawbacks at the West Charleston Library include the lack of parking (both regular and handicapped) during times of heavy classes at the Community College and the lack of Internet access for our presenters and vendors. The group is also required to keep library hours and to be completely off the property when the library closes. Other detrimental factors are cost, the requirement to have a technician (cost again) at the meetings and limits the selling or swapping computer equipment at the meeting. If our user group were to meet on the 1st Tuesday of the month next to the University, how would this move affect your attendance at our meetings? We have not made a decision yet and would like to hear from our members before we do anything. As the cost of using the Library increases, and we continue to miss out on Internet access, we are looking at other options. Let Donna know at president@lvpcug.org Member Shirts Available Again At the June General Meeting the LVPCUG will once again be taking orders for new polo shirts comparable to those we’ve offered previously. The target price will be $14 with the usual optional extra of $2 for a name and a small premium for the XXL or XXXL. Contact Phil Barr at pbarr2000@cox.net or see him at the General Meeting to get on the early list. Professional Quality Photography Videos Offered Software Cinema is proud to offer, for the VERY FIRST TIME, all active user group members a SPECIAL 25% discount, good through July 31, 2004, on ALL of our Photoshop training CD’s. This is the LARGEST discount we have ever offered to anyone or any group! Your unique discount code is UG304. Please visit our web site at http://www.software-cinema.com/ to check out all of the exciting Photoshop and digital imaging topics we have available. Many of the titles are brand new. They all showcase only the best real world TIPS and SOLUTIONS from practicing, professional photographers and digital artists. Frank Iadevaia Remembered Francis H. Iadevaia, passed away April 20, 2004. He was a member of Las Vegas PC Users Group and a director for over 10 years. Those who knew him will always remember Frank’s pleasant disposition and eagerness to help. Members desiring to make a contribution in his name can be made to City of Hope, attn: Central Processing, 1500 E. Duarte Rd., Duarte, CA 91010. >From PC World THE PLAYLIST: MUSIC FOR NOTHING; TRACKS FOR FREE Download free music legally--here's how. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/73799/8331229/238729/0/ WILL YOUR NEXT DISPLAY BE 3D? Display technology may soon hit a higher dimension--no glasses needed. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/73799/8331229/238730/0/ BLOG DEVELOPMENT TOOL SHIPS Six Apart adds plug-in options, authentication tools to Movable Type. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/82728/8331229/238924/0/ GEEKTECH: THIS HARD DRIVE BELONGS IN MENSA Seagate proves you don't need to spin faster--just smarter--to get better performance. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/82728/8331229/238928/0/ Top 5 Graphics Boards If you're looking to upgrade your system, you'll want to check out our roundup of the hottest AGP 8X graphics boards. The models that made our chart this month offer speedy gaming plus plenty of other cool features. For example, Asus's Radeon 9800 XT protects your PC by detecting motion and sending out e-mail alerts. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/85926/9099543/238975/0/ BURNING QUESTIONS: GOOD-BYE CD-RW, HELLO DVD Not sure what flavor of optical drive is best for you? Read on to learn why a DVD burner should be your primary optical drive. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/86762/8331229/239070/0/ ~~~ Worm and Virus Update >From PC World VIRUSES WILL GROW MORE VICIOUS More secure products will lead to more complex malicious code, experts say. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/97383/8331229/364440/0/ 'PHISHING' SCAM REPORTS JUMP Citibank, EBay, Paypal hit in recent rash of attacks. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/86762/8331229/239068/0/ CA DISPATCHES FREE SECURITY ALERTS Company adds e-mail alerts, RSS feeds to Web site to warn users of critical threats. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/85143/8331229/238974/0/ CRITICAL WIRELESS FLAW FOUND Hackers may be able to disrupt 802.11b communications. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/82728/8331229/238929/0/ NEW WORM EXPLOITS SASSER FLAW Dabber spreads to PCs that already are infected with Sasser. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/82728/8331229/238930/0/ MICROSOFT BOUNTY HELPS NAIL SASSER SUSPECT Reward-seekers' tip leads to arrest of German teen who confesses to writing viruses. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/76536/8331229/238761/0/ SASSER VARIANT APPEARS Suspected virus-writer caught, but creation continues to blaze a path in cyberspace. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/76536/8331229/238766/0/ SPAM'S GETTING NASTIER, BRIGHTMAIL SAYS Filtering firm says spammers are getting more aggressive as antispam laws loom. http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/64055/8331229/238517/0/ ~~~ The News From Pasadena Dig this: Playing PlasticBalls cost me an hour. Here's a playing tip: Use the mouse, not the arrow keys, and keep the cursor trained on the ball. http://snipurl.com/plasticballs ~~~ Selected Software >From PC World PGP Freeware Protect your e-mail messages from being intercepted and read. This program ensures that only the intended recipient can read your message, by authenticating the origin and destination. It also lets you encrypt your message so that you're protected against anyone who tries to read the message en route. The program also lets you "sign" e-mail messages so that recipients can be sure the messages have come from you. Another feature, PGPnet, secures all Internet communications between your PC and any machines on PGPnet. This version includes Self-Decrypting Archives, which allow you to exchange information securely even with those who do not have PGP. Free http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/66413/8819205/238538/0/ Dogpile Toolbar Dogpile searches the search engines, and it brings your results back in neat little categories generated by the results themselves. The Dogpile Toolbar installs in your Internet Explorer toolbar so you can run searches from it without first navigating to Dogpile's site. It scans About.com, Ask Jeeves, Google, LookSmart, Overture, Yahoo, and other search engines and retrieves a select list of links. You can view the results by relevance or by search engine. An ABC newsfeed crawl keeps you up to speed on the latest happenings, and a pop-up blocker keeps annoying ads from appearing. Free http://pcwnl.pcworld.com/t/71172/8819205/238668/0/ >From LockerGnome RegCool Win98/2k/XP FREE http://home.tiscali.de/zdata/mainpage_e.htm Windows comes with 'regedit,' but it can be rather unfriendly for some to use. And when it comes time to dig through your registry, it can make the task somewhat less painful to have a fuller featured registry editor/manager. RegCool is just that and then some. It utilizes an Explorer style permitting the cutting, copying, pasting, moving, deleting, and renaming of keys and values. Also the capabilities to import, export, backup, and restore functionality. It also has an address bar, allowing the user to easily access registry keys and values quickly. Starter Win98/2k/XP FREE http://members.lycos.co.uk/codestuff/features.shtml First thing every morning I fire up my computer and go grab my much needed first cup of coffee, and upon my return it is 'go' time. But what if you returned to find your system still not ready to roll? The best area to check into is your 'Startup' folder, OR you could use Starter, a handy freeware program that allows you to view and manage all the programs that run when you system starts up. It shows all hidden registry entries, startup folder items, and some of the initialization files allowing you to optionally disable them, edit them, create new items, or delete them. The program has a very sleek look that can be customized. HDCopy Win98/2k/XP FREE http://home.tiscali.de/zdata/hdcopy_e.htm Getting a new computer is great, BUT (there is always a but) it can sometimes be a pain to copy your old computer's hard drive onto the new system. You could use the Windows configuration to accomplish this, OR you could use the great freeware application HDCopy. It's a no frills, easy to use tool that will have your new hard drive set up identically to your old hard drive's Windows configuration, including hidden files. Deepnet Explorer Win9x/2k/XP FREE http://www.deepnetexplorer.com/ Deepnet Explorer is touted as being "the world's first browser to offer fully integrated P2P file sharing capabilities and a built-in RSS/ATOM newsreader," and that is but scratching the surface of the potential this new browser represents. It is a sort of Swiss army knife for browsing with a popup blocker, multiple start pages, an auto login feature for passwords and logins (these are stored securely on your local drive, protected with 128-bit encryption technology). Using the 'keyword navigation' expedites navigation online as you are not encumbered by having to type full addresses (or having to remember such). It features what I love in a browser, which is tabbed browsing - who among us has but one site to visit, or visits a site that doesn't have some links that need scoping out? More built in tools, you ask? Coming up: how about a newsreader? Yes, now you can switch to and from Web surfing to viewing your favorite feeds via RSS/Atom. Should you not be a real keyboard person, you have the option of using various mouse gestures to control Deepnet Explorer. Finally (drum roll please), built-in P2P filesharing via the Gnutella network (which, in my testing, went rather well, but it probably will be further developed with future releases). Note : The P2P function is, by default, set to be shared. You may disable this by going to Tools/P2P Browser Options/Shared Files and then unclicking the box titled "Share Downloaded Files." WheresJames Outlook Express Archiver Win98/2k/XP FREE http://go.lockergnome.com/321 Outlook Express Archiver allows you to easily export and archive your Outlook Express mail and newsgroups messages in plain HTML format. A simple step-by-step wizard guides you through the process and allows you to select the folders to be included. Mail and attachments are exported to HTML format and can then be viewed with any Web browser without the need to have Outlook Express installed. This is especially useful if you back up your old mail to a CD and want to browse the CD without having to use Outlook Express. Your archived mail is organized in folders, just like it was in OE, and you can even choose from different templates (or create your own) to customize the HTML design. Using Outlook Express Archiver does not delete any of your original e-mails in Outlook Express. ~~~ Closing Humor This month’s closing humor in a jugular vein looks at wacky warning labels. In 1997, Michigan Lawsuit Abuse Watch (M-LAW) began a contest to expose how frivolous lawsuits, and a concern about potential frivolous lawsuits, have led to a new cultural phenomenon: the wacky warning label. Over the years, M-LAW has received hundreds of warning labels from people around the world. M-LAW verifies the authenticity of each label and selects the "Top 5" for each year. Following is a list of some of the best labels from the first five contests: A warning on an electric router made for carpenters cautions: "This product not intended for use as a dental drill." A warning label found on a baby stroller cautions the user to "Remove child before folding" A prescription of sleeping pills says, "Warning: May cause drowsiness A sticker on a toilet at a public facility in Ann Arbor, Michigan actually warns: "Recycled flush water unsafe for drinking." A massage chair warns: "DO NOT use massage chair without clothing... and, Never force any body part into the backrest area while the rollers are moving." A snowblower warns: "Do not use snowthrower on roof.2" A dishwasher carries this warning: "Do not allow children to play in the dishwasher." A CD player carries this unusual warning: "Do not use the Ultradisc2000 as a projectile in a catapult." An "Aim-n-Flame" fireplace lighter cautions, "Do not use near fire, flame or sparks" A label on a hand-held massager advises consumers not to use "while sleeping or unconscious" A container of underarm deodorant says, "Caution: Do not spray in eyes" A cartridge for a laser printer warns, "Do not eat toner" A household iron warns users: "Never iron clothes while they are being worn" A label with a hair dryer reads, "Never use hair dryer while sleeping" A 13-inch wheel on a wheelbarrow warns: "Not intended for highway use" A cardboard car sunshield that keeps sun off the dashboard warns, "Do not drive with sunshield in place" A Bathroom Heater says: "This product is not to be used in bathrooms" A can of self-defense pepper spray warns users: "May irritate eyes" A warning on a pair of shin guards manufactured for bicyclists says: "Shin pads cannot protect any part of the body they do not cover." A popular manufactured fireplace log warns: "Caution - Risk of Fire" A box of birthday cake candles says: "DO NOT use soft wax as ear plugs or for any other function that involves insertion into a body cavity. You can read other wacky warning labels at http://www.mlaw.org See you soon! The information in this bulletin is compiled from a variety of public sources. Replies or comments should be sent to: newsbytes@lvpcug.org [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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