PC Club of Charlotte
Bytes and Bits
February 2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
FEBRUARY 14th MEETING
'BILL BLOVIATES'
Following our usual 30-minute "Q & A" session,
PC Club VP Bill Barnes will moderate a discussion on a topic that raises many questions within our group:
HOW MAIL WORKS
We will discuss:
• Where does email come from?
• I check my email online. No, I use Outlook Express. Why do I see different things?
• How do I manage several addresses? And more….
If time proves longer than questions, we will introduce the topic that will affect how you think about computing in the future:
WHO NEEDS SOFTWARE? (Life in a browser)
Join us for this informative presentation!
The February PC3 Meeting will be held on Thursday, February 14th at
Little Diversified Architectural & Consulting 5815 Westpark Dr. Charlotte, NC 28217
The meeting will begin promptly at 7:00pm. (Doors do not open before 6:45).
PCCC BOARD MEETING
Monday January 28th, 2008
In Attendance:
Richard Kinkel Bill Barnes Dewey Williams
Paul Reiss Pat Rogers
Agenda
1. Call to Order: Richard Kinkel @ 5:30 PM
2. Approval of Minutes: Paul Reiss - 2nd Bill Barnes
3. President’s Report: Good turnout for January's General Meeting
4. Publicity Report: N/A
5. Treasurer’s Report:
Bank Balance - 1484.93
Cash on Hand - 30.00
PayPal Receipts - 429.05
Account Total - 1943.05
SUMMARY OF CHRISTMAS PARTY EXPENSES:
Rent - 150.00
Insurance - 100.00
Decorations - 106.40
Food - 522.00
Total Expenditures - 878.04
Ticket Receipts - 510.00
Club Net Cost - 368.04
6. Programs: February - How Mail Works (Host: Bill Barnes )
7. Membership Report: N/A
8. Newsletter Editor’s Report: Submit reports by 02/05/08
9. Web Master’s Report: Working on bounced club e-mails
10. SIG Reports: Still looking for venues for SIG Meetings
11. Discussion of Club Objectives:
· Provide quality programs to our membership
· Schedule general meeting programs 3 months in advance
· Get more outside speakers for our programs
· Focus club activities on interested areas
· Grow membership by 50% over the next year
12. Other Business:
NEXT BOARD MEETING - Monday, February 25, 2008
McAlister's Deli on Park Road - 5:30PM
(All Club Members are invited to attend!)
13. Adjournment: 7:00 PM Dewey Williams - 2nd Bill Barnes
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SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
(Remember: we're seeking a 'permanent' venue for our SIG meetings!)
MS Office SIG
Wednesday, February 27
"WORD Introduction" (cont'd)
Reservations required: Sold out!
(Contact
Office@pc3.org for Wait List)
Web Design SIG
Wednesday TBA
"Website Design from the Beginning"
(Watch for location announcement!)
Digital Photography SIG
"DigPhoto Basics" TBA
For the times and locations of all meetings: go to
http://pc3.org/EventCalendar.
The Event Calendar is the most reliable source for late program changes
(including cancellations).
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Cyber Security Tip ST05-002
KEEPING CHILDREN SAFE ONLINE
Children present unique security risks when they use a computer--not
only do you have to keep them safe, you have to protect the data on
your computer. By taking some simple steps, you can dramatically
reduce the threats.
What unique risks are associated with children?
When a child is using your computer, normal safeguards and security
practices may not be sufficient. Children present additional
challenges because of their natural characteristics: innocence,
curiosity, desire for independence, and fear of punishment. You need
to consider these characteristics when determining how to protect your
data and the child.
You may think that because the child is only playing a game, or
researching a term paper, or typing a homework assignment, he or she
can’t cause any harm. But what if, when saving her paper, the child
deletes a necessary program file? Or what if she unintentionally
visits a malicious web page that infects your computer with a virus?
These are just two possible scenarios. Mistakes happen, but the child
may not realize what she’s done or may not tell you what happened
because she's afraid of getting punished.
Online predators present another significant threat, particularly to
children. Because the nature of the internet is so anonymous, it is
easy for people to misrepresent themselves and manipulate or trick
other users. Adults often fall victim to these ploys, and children,
who are usually much more open and trusting, are even easier targets.
The threat is even greater if a child has access to email or instant
messaging programs, visits chat rooms, and/or uses social networking
sites.
What can you do?
* Be involved - Consider activities you can work on together,
whether it be playing a game, researching a topic you had been
talking about (e.g., family vacation spots, a particular hobby, a
historical figure), or putting together a family newsletter. This
will allow you to supervise your child's online activities while
teaching her good computer habits.
* Keep your computer in an open area - If your computer is in a
high-traffic area, you will be able to easily monitor the computer
activity. Not only does this accessibility deter a child from
doing something she knows she's not allowed to do, it also gives
you the opportunity to intervene if you notice a behavior that
could have negative consequences.
* Set rules and warn about dangers - Make sure your child knows the
boundaries of what she is allowed to do on the computer. These
boundaries should be appropriate for the child's age, knowledge,
and maturity, but they may include rules about how long she is
allowed to be on the computer, what sites she is allowed to visit,
what software programs she can use, and what tasks or activities
she is allowed to do. You should also talk to children about the
dangers of the internet so that they recognize suspicious behavior
or activity. The goal isn't to scare them; it's to make them more
aware.
* Monitor computer activity - Be aware of what your child is doing
on the computer, including which web sites she is visiting. If she
is using email, instant messaging, or chat rooms, try to get a
sense of who she is corresponding with and whether she actually
knows them.
* Keep lines of communication open - Let your child know that she
can approach you with any questions or concerns about behaviors or
problems she may have encountered on the computer.
* Consider partitioning your computer into separate accounts - Most
operating systems (including Windows XP, Mac OS X, and Linux) give
you the option of creating a different user account for each user.
If you're worried that your child may accidentally access, modify,
and/or delete your files, you can give her a separate account and
decrease the amount of access and number of privileges she has.
If you don’t have separate accounts, you need to be especially
careful about your security settings. In addition to limiting
functionality within your browser, avoid letting
your browser remember passwords and other personal information.
Also, it is always important to keep your virus definitions up to
date.
* Consider implementing parental controls - You may be able to set
some parental controls within your browser. For example, Internet
Explorer allows you to restrict or allow certain web sites to be
viewed on your computer, and you can protect these settings with a
password. To find those options: click Tools on your menu bar,
select Internet Options, choose the Content tab, and click the
Enable button under Content Advisor.
There are other resources you can use to control and/or monitor
your child's online activity. Some ISPs offer services designed to
protect children online. Contact your ISP to see if any of these
services are available. There are also special software programs
you can install on your computer. Different programs offer
different features and capabilities, so you can find one that best
suits your needs. The following websites offer lists of software,
as well as other useful information about protecting children
online:
* GetNetWise -
http://kids.getnetwise.org/ - Click Tools for
Families to reach a page that allows you to search for software
based on characteristics like what the tool does and what
operating system you have on your computer.
* Yahooligans! Parents' Guide -
http://yahooligans.yahoo.com/parents/ - Click Blocking and
Filtering under Related Websites on the left sidebar to reach a
list of software.
_________________________________________________________________
Authors: Mindi McDowell, Allen Householder
Produced 2005 by US-CERT, a government organization.
Note: This tip was previously published and is being re-distributed
to increase awareness.
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FYI - In follow-up to last month's Meeting Program:
Experiences of First-Time Mac Users
My friend’s parents recently bought their first Mac after years of struggling with a spyware- and adware-infested PC that had slowed to the point of being virtually unusable. They are not computer enthusiasts, so they had only average users’ knowledge of how to deal with a malware infestation. After many Google searches and numerous attempts to clean the PC themselves, they eventually gave in to temptation (and begging from their Mac-using children who were tired of providing tech support to their parents), walked into an Apple Store, and came home with a shiny new iMac.
The first thing they noticed when they opened the box and started setting up their new computer was that the users manual was tiny. My friend’s dad commented, “The computer manual is smaller than the manual for my new digital camera!”
They were also amazed that they could just take the computer out of the box, plug in the power cable, connect a keyboard and mouse, and start using the iMac right away. They also liked that they just pulled the Ethernet cable out of the back of their old PC and plugged it into the iMac, and they were online immediately, without needing to configure anything. The Apple iMac comes with iPhoto, a program that my friend's father, a self-proclaimed technophobe, taught himself to use.
Image courtesy of Apple
Because they bought a digital camera earlier in the year, my friend’s family had taken a lot of photos and had many digital images stored on their PC. They saved the photos to a portable USB flash drive and then plugged the drive into their new Mac. They had no trouble importing their pictures into iPhoto by dragging them to the iPhoto icon in the Dock.
Not All Smooth Sailing
Although my friend’s parents were very impressed with how simple it was to set up their new iMac, they did have a bit of a learning curve as they made the transition from the Windows world to the Mac world.
The first thing they had to learn was what the Dock was and how it worked. They weren’t sure initially why there were so many icons at the bottom of the screen, and they also didn’t understand at first that the Dock icons are just shortcut icons and not the programs themselves. They also thought the Dock was a little bit confusing, because Windows has a Taskbar in the same location as the Dock, but the Windows Taskbar only displays programs that are running. Once they figured out how the Dock works, though, they really liked how quickly they could access their favorite programs and files. (For more information about the OS X Dock, see last month’s “A Slice Of Apple” column.)
There was a humorous moment when my friend’s mom accidentally bumped the middle button on the iMac’s mouse. This triggered Dashboard, a collection of widgets (small programs) that swoop in from the outer edge of the monitor to fill most of the screen. The new Mac users literally jumped. Dashboard startled them, and they weren’t sure how to make the widgets disappear. In fact, they were doubly concerned because they didn’t even know what the widgets were or why they were there.
The last thing that they struggled with was learning the difference between closing a window and closing a program. In Windows, when you click the red X in the corner of a window, it closes not only the window but also the program itself. In Mac OS X, however, when you click the red dot in the corner of a window, it only closes the window itself; the program continues running. At one point, they had four programs running (and consuming system resources), and they didn’t even realize it.
In order to actually exit a program in OS X, you have to do one of three things: Press COMMAND-Q for Quit, click the program’s name on the menu bar and then click Quit [Program Name], or press CTRL while clicking the program’s icon in the Dock and then click Quit.
Although there has been a lot to learn, my friend’s parents have been pleased with how many things were actually intuitive. They’ve taught themselves how to use many of the preinstalled programs without asking their grown children for help, and they’re quickly becoming Mac pros.
by Kylee Dickey
kylee@smartcomputing.com --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
See you at the Meeting on the 14th!
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