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1. Some of these installed programs are provided by the vendors to address perceived deficiencies in Windows but almost all include advertising There is a fee paid to the vendor for the placement of these Demoware pro grams which in turn enables the PC vendors to be more competitive price Northpole com http www northpole com and much more It links to a great website for kids parents and teachers Give it a try think it is sponsored by St Jude s and is a free and safe site The website offers the following plus more FREE Things To Do Send a letter to Santa Send holiday wise so there is some tradeoff Most of the computers test ed ran 4 8 faster after re moval of the un needed programs The authors of this article state other than personally removing these pro grams or hiring a technician to do so in order to avoid the junkware one may buy a business PC both HP and Dell are said to put very few of these additional items in their business models They also say that Sony store technicians will remove all trialware and adware free on request Dell is stated to now accept orders for computers free of these annoying add ons Mrs Claus Cookbook Cookies Fudge d Condy Cakes Pies Other Recipes Breads postcards Stories to read amp color Santa s Birthday Cards Games to play Christ mas Karaoke Holiday recipes Northpole Wallpaper Puzzles amp Activities Good
2. could go on and on about this product But join us in the following weeks to see what we learn together Our member Mike Doyle shared his photo stamp software It is a great idea for Christmas cards or creating a set of stamps as a holiday gift Our next planned meeting is at our house Nov 17th So until next time take some photos Picasa s window example with some of my personal photos G e rE iiam ri THE MOTHERBOARD November 2007 Would You Sign This Contract by Rob Rice Anchorage PC Specialist amp Member Of The Computer Club of Oklahoma City www ccokc org articles isp com Obtained from APCUG with the author s permission for publication by APCUG member groups Ok here s the deal offer you a big 56 inch shiny new Filch Plasma Screen TV and I will sell it to you if you will agree to have a camera installed in your home so may watch you watching the new television Sound fair You also agree that should you disable or inhibit the free operation of the camera in any way you forfeit the television and your money Neither am responsible for any damages to your home from the equipment or its use nor do guaranty privacy or even that the television will work Would you sign such a contract Many of us in a sense have already agreed to something like the above scenario when we clicked on the End User License Agreement EULA the contract that accompanies most software these days It
3. EULA and rightly so Take for example these observations by the Electronic Frontier Foundation regarding the contents of the Sony EULA If you file for bankruptcy you have to delete all the music on your computer The EULA says Sony BMG will never be liable to you for more than 5 00 lf your house gets burglarized you have to delete all your music from your laptop when you get home That s because the EULA says that your rights to any THE MOTHERBOARD copies terminate as soon as you no longer possess the original CD You must install any and all updates or else lose the music on your computer The EULA immediately terminates if you fail to install any update No more holding out on those hobble ware downgrades masquerading as updates Ifyou move out of the country you have to delete all your music The EULA specifically forbids export outside the country where you reside 3 Most EULAs that have read place all of the burden and financial responsi bility upon you You pay the money you take the risk and you take the liability The software company decides every thing in its favor and takes no respon sibility whatsoever even for the software doing what it claims to do It would seem that you in effect given up your legal rights in exchange to use a piece of software THIS AND THAT From Page 5 What HappeneD NEXT One of my oldest and most valued programs is CorelPaint Suddenly after goi
4. Just click once on the icon THE MOTHERBOARD wait long enough so that the computer doesn t interpret the next click as a double click then the icon text will be in Edit mode You may have to experiment with the timing for this since not all mice are set for the same response time The two clicks need to be fairly close together but not close enough for a double click Once in Edit mode you can type in what ever name that makes better sense to you We should all know by now that if there Word 2003 is a curved arrow in the lower left corner of the icon then the icon is a shortcut to the executable file not the program or file itself Be very careful Sometimes there actually are icons for executable programs placed on your desktop when the programs are installed Those icons will not have the curved arrow Don t delete them unless you want to get rid of the program itself This applies also to other things you might have placed on the desktop yourself such as graphic or document files It might be wise to leave those names in their original form It might also be a good idea to examine the icons on your computer to see how many if any DO NOT have the curved arrow Chances are there won t be many possibly none lt is helpful to know if there are any that reflect actual programs or files just to keep yourself informed about your own computer system It always pays to figure out what your computer i
5. a closer relationship between the Library and the computer users of the area With all the free computer classes that are being taught in the Computer Lab or the Technology Training Center as it is officially called we are finding that more and more citizens of the area are getting involved The First United Methodist Church of Redding is forming a Computer Club also and there has been an encouraging response from various members Several have already been attending the classes taught in the Computer Lab of the Library and more are signed up for the next group of classes The Computer Users Group of Redding has cordially invited the FUMC Computer Club to attend this their first meeting at the Library and the joint meeting of the two clubs should be an opportunity for genuine fellowship as we make new friends and greet others that we have known for some time We are all hoping that other interested computer users of the area will take the opportunity to join us as we present a program featuring a most favorite presenter Frank Tona of Crown Camera He will bring some of the newest and most intriguing of the new digital technology that will interest us all as we approach the Holiday season Our regular general meetings are held the third Tuesday of every month and anyone interested in computing whether a beginner one who has been using a computer for some time or a definite expert will find a friendly welcom
6. boot normally Most of the preceding information applies when you first start the computer after it has been off for a time This is called a cold boot If you restart your computer from Windows using the restart selection or the three finger salute CTRL ALI Del or the reset button then this is a warm boot Then most of the POST is omitted and the BIOS reloads interrupts device drivers checks the CMOS and loads the peripheral BlIOSes Then the memory drives and summary are displayed on the video screen As hope you now realize the BIOS and its associated CMOS are essential for the operation of your computer Always be cautious in making changes in the setup or in updating your BIOS That way you can ensure continued operation of your system November 2007 There is another thing should mention Use of the BIOS originated with the IBM AT some twenty five years ago As computer technology has changed radically in this time span there is a move afoot to replace the BIOS with what is referred to as UEFI or Unified Extensible Firmware Interface The specifications for this interface were first published in October 2006 and revised in January 2007 The statement of purpose from the UEFI organization is as follows The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface UEFI specification defines a new model for the interface between operating systems and platform firmware The interface consists of
7. data tables that contain platform related information plus boot and runtime service calls that are available to the operating system and its loader Together these provide a standard environment for booting an operating system and running pre boot applications Currently the companies involved are working on producing motherboards using the UEFI firmware in place of the BIOS However there is also some consideration that some users may need to have both a BIOS and the UEFI firmware Since this process is still in flux Keep tuned for future developments Dr Lewis is a former university amp medical school professor He has been working with personal computers for more than thirty years He can be reached via e mail at bwsail yahoo com This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups All other uses require the permission of the author see e mail address above THIS AND THAT From Page 5 some way become corrupted don t want to know the answer to that one Anyway after deleting the icons new ones were put in place by right clicking on the executable files in Explorer and double clicking the Send to desktop option from the menu Usually the names given icons made in this way are not the best so they usually get changed to something more useful on my computer Often part of the name is shortcut Who needs that It s fairly simple to change the name
8. pretty much goes without saying that most of us do not read EULAs They are often long dry and hard to understand documents written in a very small type face and crammed in a tiny window Even if there is something bad in it what are the chances it will have any real affect After all I m one among millions We may often think of ourselves as just one among many cattle feeding in the pasture so The chances of lightning striking me are remote But lightning did hit hundreds of folks in the form of a Recording Industry Association of Amer ica RIAA lawsuit Hundreds of persons have been sued for allegedly downloading music illegally For example RIAA filed a lawsuit against 12 year old Brianna LaHara whose mom had paid a 29 99 service charge to KaZaA for the com pany s music service Said Brianna I got really scared My stomach is all turning thought it was OK to download music because my mom paid a service fee for it Out of all people why did they pick me 1 But what we have learned since Brian na s case came to light is that many intellectual property owners are using eavesdropping techniques to monitor end user compliance Whether it s intercepting data traffic over an Internet connection or placing spyware on your computer the name of the game seems November 2007 to be intimidation through litigation Of course heavy handed tactics do tend to produce mistakes and bad public feeling su
9. software that only use up computing power Most new computers have pre loaded Adobe Reader and the limited versions of CD DVD burning software such as Nero or CDCreator both of these are of course worth keeping Trialware copies usually 90 days of Microsoft Office Suite Norton Security Suite and McAfee Antivirus are also frequently found loaded and may also be desirable They state that Circuit City and Best Buy advertise that they will remove all of the junkware from a new computer for a fee The authors surveyed 15 new desktops and laptops and found an average of eight non standard desktop Epitor s Note fi AIDES i ia G San ae a 5 i BA ta l This cute cookie graphic was sent to me via e mail message It turns out to be a huge list of holiday cookies with each cookie being linked to its recipe on Mrs Claus Cookbook page And when you link backward on the North pole com website you will find many holiday baking categories with recipes icons plus 4 5 non Windows applets in the system tray plus still more in the Windows Registry and the Start menu PC World offers a free junk removal program called the decrapifier at www find ocworld com 58607 The Sony VAIO VOC L530E Desktop was said to head a list of tested computers as having the most such undesirable programs the Gateway DX430X placed eighth and an Alienware Area 51 7500 computer placed last with very few such icons and links installed
10. D movie projects Our next Multi Media monthly meeting is on November 17 at my home from 10 am to noon For directions contact me at qiquinn7427 gmail com or phone 365 0825 This month we have been working with Google s Picasa2 Picasa instantly locates and organizes all the pictures on your computer It does basic photo editing You can create Web Albums to share with family and friends These albums can include videos free if less than 10megs There are a lot of nifty tools in the Picasa program Let me mention the two most popular features Creating a Gift CD with a built in slideshow and creating a Web Album Girt CD The Gift CD will package your photos into a slideshow and create a Picture Folder on the disc You can specify to keep the original image size or adjust it This is greatforthoseof H us with 7 to 10 mega pixel im ba Ben ages Personally hii Sarre llovetheideaof being able to p quickly arrange GF rait odanin photos into my choice of a slide a show presenta m tion Itincludesa tool to rotate hori BF hitri zontal photos My Dacmang counter clock mari wise My personal La tact photo story slide Creal 7 show wouldn t be Miah complete unless included them have made DVDs but only because they hold more images than a CD How ever a CD will Ds hee iTi Page 6 T krri Taini Multi Media SIG UpDate by SIG Leader Jane Quinn only pl
11. Deed Calendar Visit Elf Pal Academy Educational Activities Q amp A with Santa Find the hidden stories Naughty or Nice List Santa Tracker Dec 24 Northpole com is a commercial banner free child safe Web site designed to provide a family oriented Christmas site for children and families to share together Parents grandparents and teachers around the world have told us about the quality time they spend sharing the site with children We hope you too enjoy the site as much as we enjoyed creating it for you This And That by Elizabeth B Wright Computer Club of Oklahoma City www ccokc org wrighthb99new sbcglobal net Obtained from APCUG with the author s permission for publication by APCUG member groups Have you accessed the WindowsXP Restore option to reset your computer to an earlier time We often need to do this when things go haywire after installing some new software Fiddling around with old programs or offbeat wares can sometimes land you in hot water operating wise found myself in just such a mess not long ago Fortunately had made a restore point prior to installing the renegade software so was able to use it to get things back to normal Well almost November 2007 THE MOTHERBOARD Continued on Page 7 Bottom Column 3 Page 5 Weekly S I G Group meetings are every Thursday at the Senior Center in Anderson from 1 3 pm Only members will be able to use the club s laptop to burn their DV
12. MOTHERBOARD A Publication of the Computer Users Group Of Redding CA Volume 2007 Number 11 http users snowcrest net ibmpcugr November 2007 TOUR C U 6 PRESENTS Tuesday November 20 2007 WE RE MOVING TO THE REDDING LIBRARY MEETING TO BEGIN AT 6 PM ROOM B Please see Page 2 Editor s Corner and Page 4 for more Library details FRANK TONA OF CROWN CAMERA i 7 Will Bring News Of What Is On The Digital Market gt A Few Digital Lessons And He Said Fun We ll Have Fun November Door Prizes CA Internet Security Package DVD RAM Discs Surge Protector One free ticket to each member at the door Club Business and Program Presentation 6 PM coffee available in library s cafe see P2 for more details Check at the Greeting Table for your name tag and please leave it in the Tag Box when the meeting is over bd y ae I J Sa sou Sees SATS TAS ws Ze CUG Calendar CUG Board Meeting 1 PM Monday Nov 26 at Jack In The Box Dana Drive MULTI MEDIA 10 AM Saturday Nov 17 WINDOWS amp MORE 11 30 AM Wednesdays Nov 14 28 Dec 5 12 DTP SIG 2 PM Wednesdays Nov 14 28 Dec 5 12 SEE BACK PAGE FOR MORE SIG INFO General meetings are at the Redding Library 1100 Parkview Ave off Cypress Ave near City Hall Official Website http users snowcrest net ibmpcugr For more information call any Board member listed on Page 2 Future Presentation December C
13. Some mother boards may use nonvolatile RAM that doesn t require a battery to keep the information safe In this case the battery if one is present is used only for the real time clock So when the battery fails the computer can still boot In order to change any of the CMOS settings you have to use a key stoke or series of key strokes during the early part of the boot up process The most common keystroke is that of the AMI BIOS that uses just the DEL key to access the setup program However some manufacturers use other specific keystrokes and may even vary the combination from one model to another So it is advisable that you check your owner s manual for specific instructions on how to access the setup program in your computer This setup may be called the BIOS setup the CMOS setup or some combination of these terms The setup program allows you to change some parameters related to the operation of your computer Generally you can set the system time and date in the CMOS As mentioned earlier you can change the boot sequence in the CMOS to select the order in which the BIOS will look for a bootable drive The CMOS setup allows you to specify how fast your computer reads from memory whether or not your CPU s cache is enabled or disabled and how fast your PCI bus communicates with its adapter cards In the advanced settings you can modify other parameters such as power management USB settings and enable or disable I O po
14. UFD as being 694 floppy disks all packed into a two inch long by 1 2 inch wide package UFDs are data storage devices that have replaced CDs floppies and other methods of carrying data from computer to computer Plug one into a USB port on any computer and you can read and write files on it It is now the method of choice for transporting data that you need often In fact there is a special class of UFDs called U3 that can also store applications Plug one of these UFDs into a computer and you can run Mozilla Firefox Open Office or even utilize an operating system such Linux Finally your choice of UFD can reflect your individuality You don t have to settle for the standard gray plastic housing You can buy UFDs that look like twigs http inhabitat com 2006 02 08 oooms twig usb drive or even animal characters http lab mimo co com The cost of a UFD depends upon the number of bytes it can hold A 64 mega byte UFD used to be considered more than enough storage But as the size of data files has increased so has the size of UFDs Fortunately the prices for large storage has dropped considerably You can pick up a 1 Gigabyte UFD for around 15 Alarge UFD currently available is a 16 Gigabyte that sells for 133 at www newegg com So if you find you need to transport data files from computer to computer a UFD is an easy solution They are avail able anywhere you can buy electronics A word of caution To av
15. UG Christmas Party In This Issue Of The Motherboard EDITOR S CORNER Judi Ball RECOGNIZE ANYONE Anonymous CLUB PICS October s Meeting NORTHPOLE COM Judi Ball THIS AND THAT Elizabeth B Wright MULTI MEDIA SIG UPDATE amp TIP Jane Quinn WOULD YOU SIGN THIS CONTRACT Bob Rice of Oklahoma City 7 WE RE MOVINGTO REDDING LIBRARY UNDERSTANDING YOUR PC S BIOS Belva Sullivent Brian K Lewis Ph D 8 OFFICER NOMINATIONS PORTABLE DATA Corinne Goeke THE WEB A GOOD CHARACTER NAPSA News WELCOME MEMBERS BITS AND PIECES Rush Blodget Club Information Club Website http users snowcrest net ibmpcugr Members volunteering to helo members Club Mentors New Users Bob Rice 357 2143 Anytime ricerl snowcrest net MS Windows Darold Wright Photo Delux 222 1781 daroldiwright yahoo com New Users Dorothy Kirk PaintShop Pro 246 9661 Anytime oscartaffy yahoo com MS Windows Bill Ball 98 ME XP bcard9 charter net Hardware Software 275 4632 DTP Judi Ball Graphic Prgs 275 4632 Photo Editing jebed charter net MS Word PowerPoint Jane Quinn Movie Maker 2 DVD Prgs 365 0825 Digital Image Pro qjquinn charter net Board of Officers and Directors President Greeter Name Tag Manager Belva Sullivent belvas charter net 241 9926 Bruce Roth Vice Pres Director baroth prodigy net 247 7306 Darold L Wright Past President daroldiwright yahoo com 222 1781 Mario Quinn Treasurer gaucho7427 msn
16. ay on a computer while a DVD will play on the family room DVD player But being on a CD can deliver my vacation photos quickly to my family and also have a quick backup to my photos The drawback is that the software doesn t allow you to add music to the slideshow However you can create a movie avi format that will let you add MP3 music files to it The User s Forum on Picasa has some other ideas of work around solutions for adding music Note There is great help and user support with this product To take full advantage you should have high speed internet Wes ALBUM You will need a G mail account for this activity Posting photos and videos takes just seconds using Picasa with G mail In contrast to their competitors Kodakgallery Imagestation etc during the upload process Picasa lets you choose the image size to upload The default setting is fast and still maintains enough pixels for good quality standard size photo printout The web album can be exclusive to your family and friends or made public Your choice when you create the album Adding captions and comments Is fast and fun You can scroll through many images adding com ments and captions The text cut and paste feature works in this mode making it easy to label every picture You can also keep track of favorite people and see when something new has been added to their albums Download a friend s photo album and have your own set of keepsake photos
17. ch as RIAA s disastrous lawsuit where they sued a deceased great grandmother who reportedly had never owned a computer 2 But what is interesting is that software that tends to operate in a dubious manner will typically tell you up front or give you some hints in its EULA Take for example this classic EULA that was analyzed by Benjamin Edelman back in 2004 He is an assistant professor at the Harvard Busi ness School and a member of the Massa chusetts Bar It is Gator an advertising pop up software that often came em bedded in weather monitors organizers and clock synchronizers The company changed its name to Claria Corporation GAIN stands for Gator Advertising Infor mation Network The EULA with over 5 900 words of text informed the user that You agree that you will not use or encourage others to use any unau thorized means for the removal of the GAIN AdServer or any GAIN Supported Software from a computer That includes removing it with Adaware or SpyBot which listed it as spyware Any use of a packet sniffer or other device to intercept or access communi cations between GP and the GAIN AdServer is strictly prohibited Meaning you cannot monitor what it is doing while it is on your computer Mr Edelman s website is a very good resource for the wary and worth a look hitp www benedelman org news 112904 1 html Sony has faced some embarrassing headlines as of late with their music CD s
18. com 365 0825 Margaret Martinovich Secretary Director Membership mjmartin56 sbcglobal net 241 6378 Jane Quinn Dir Vendor Contact SIG Leader qjquinn charter net 365 0825 Motherboard Newsletter Staff Judith E Ball Editor jebed charter net 275 4632 Rush Blodget Bits And Pieces rmaxtwo charter net 241 4754 Mary Montague Surfboard montaguemc sbcglobal net 365 6414 Eugenia Goodman Director Membership Chairman euggoodman snowcrest net 221 7723 Anna Lee Horton Director alhorton sbcglobal net 222 5521 Bill Ball Director SIG Leader bcard9 charter net 275 4632 Judi Ball Editor Director SIG Leader jebed charter net 275 4632 Lyle VanNorman Director kb6dow arrl net 242 0925 Bob Rice Website ricerl snowcrest net 357 2143 Mary Montague Proofreader montaguemc sbcglobal net 365 6414 Anna Lee Horton Proofreader alhorton sbcglobal net 222 5521 Motherboard Newsletter Policies and Deadlines The Motherboard newsletter is published monthly by the Computer Users Group of Redding PO Box 494778 Redding CA 96049 4778 The CUG is a 501 c 3 non profit corporation Subscriptions are included in the 25 annual membership fee The purpose of the newsletter is to inform members of upcoming events and provide information about the use of IBM compatible computers Disclaimer Neither the CUG its Offi cers the Editor nor the newsletter contributors assume any liability for damages incurred due to the use of information provided in this
19. e We often have Question and Answer time where any question or problem that someone is having will be thoughtfully considered and answered by knowledgeable members of CUG We may also be joined by some of our Library staff friends Janice White of the Library Manager s office Raeanne Gibb Volunteer Coordinator and Elizabeth Kelley Head of Reference Services and also Scheduler of Computer Classes Officer Nominations For November Election Elections take place during the November general meeting and new officers begin their duties in January of 2008 Nominations so far are Belva Sullivent Mario Quinn President Treasurer These folks along with all board members have been In board positions for many years now and care enough to con tinue to give their time for the sake of the continuance of the club Please consider taking a THE MOTHERBOARD Vice President Bruce Roth Secretary Margaret Martinovich position with the board as direc tor officer or helping with any of the club jobs If you can help please contact any board member on Page 2 We do need your help And it truly is your club November 2007 Bits And Pieces by Rush Blodget IMB PCUG of Redding rblodget snowcrest net Trialware Junkware Demoware Adware Crapware The November 2007 PC World has a comprehensive article on the growing problem of the PC vendors loading new PCs with links to various vendors trialware and other
20. e is a must Wednesday 2 PM Nov 14 28 Dec 5 12 See map below for meeting place Judi Ball 275 4632 jebed charter net Windows amp More SIG Wednesday 11 30 AM Nov 14 28 Dec 5 12 IBM PC Users Group of Redding P O Box 494778 Redding CA 4778 Meeting Place Change We re Moving To The Redding Library L100 Parkview Ave off Cypress and near City Hall We will be in Community Room B h D r gt lt Senior Center AX x Building oO A Parking City Park ok Main St Sentry Farmers Mkt Shasta Dam Blvd Exit Lo Hardenbro Bill Ball 275 4632 bcard9 charter net Page 12 Shasta Dam Blvd THE MOTHERBOARD Why Join A Computer Group Benefit from a common interest in a personal and costly investment Your business or personal computer Enjoy more of that investment by learning more about it Share tips and tricks as well as new and old ideas Become exposed to a variety of new hardware and software without sales pressure Receive an informative monthly newsletter Have access to various club func tions and all Special Interest Groups SIGs Find out that no one needs to be alone and helpless with today s computer technology November 2007
21. em memory size and configuration video com ports and parallel ports Finally the BIOS looks for a boot drive Most modern BlOSes can boot froma wide array of devices not just hard drives They can boot from CD DVD flash drives or external drives In every case the BIOS Page 8 uses the boot sequence information that is stored in the CMOS ROM This is information that can be changed by the user The term CMOS stands for Comple mentary Metal Oxide Semiconductor Now you see why the name is abbreviated Once the BIOS identifies the boot drive it searches for the master boot record and starts the operating system boot process on the drive At that point control of the boot process is taken over by the operating system Many functions relating to device drivers and plug amp play devices handled by the BIOS are now handled directly by Windows All of the processes carried out by the BIOS are required to allow the hardware to interface with the operating system Since the basic hardware in a computer can vary widely depending on the make and model there must be a common interface for it to communicate with the operating system OS The OS cannot incorporate all the necessary low level routines for all the possible combinations of computer hardware The BIOS provides this common interface The BIOS programming is usually contained in a chip on the motherboard referred to as an EEPROM chip This is a programmable chip that can be a
22. etter Let us refill them and save up to 60 Also if you have or know of a local business that would like to We also offer services for toner cartridges advertise in the Motherboard please give them the editor s phone i number for the details of becoming a Contributor 2521 Hilltop Drive Across from Big 5 Redding CA 96002 Editor Judi Ball 275 4632 IBMPC Users Group Of Redding Membership Application Address City Home Phone Business Phone E mail Address Renewal Cash Date Check MAIL TO IBM PC Users Group of Redding P O Box 494778 Redding CA 96049 For general information call any Officer or Director listed on Page 2 Not A Renewal Reminder November 2007 THE MOTHERBOARD Page 11 Multi Media Includes Digital Cameras Burning Music CDs and DVD Movie Making Weekly SIG 1 3 PM Anderson Sr Center Every Thursday no holidays Only members will be able to use the club s laptop to burn their DVD movies Saturday 10 AM Nov 17 At Jane Quinn s Home contact following for information Jane Quinn 365 0825 qjquinn charter net A DTP and ts Graphics Art SIG Do you have an interest in creating DeskTop Publishing projects such as flyers business cards logos newsletters etc or art and photo editing and manipulation We have an informal forum so bring a question problem project and we ll all work together to solve it Basic Windows knowledge of copy and past
23. for their good behavior Dugan concluded It s easy to find education only sites and gaming only sites on the Web But to find a good learning site that kids think is fun can be a daunting task That s why we re so glad we found KidsCom com Humor pictured here is one of seven Plant Babies on KidsCom com that is helping children learn desirable character traits November 2007 Crown Camera lt We Toss em Imaging Experts SE They re Awesome Digital Cameras i PIZZA FACTORY M F 8 30 5 30 Photo amp Printer Supplies Sat 9 5 Greg Rogers amp Gale Vaughn Owners 530 275 4455 530 243 8333 or 800 655 4256 1365 Market Street FAX 530 243 4978 RECOM Azone 4432 Shasta Dam Blvd e Shasta Lake CA 96019 CK OAK RESTAUR Northern California S Finest and First interhet Provider 4161 Front Street UNLIMITED INTERNET ACCESS Shasta Lake City Starting at 15 month 530 275 4448 DSL amp Wireless Access Web Design amp Hosting Services Breakfast Lunch Dinner s t net 530 DA si ees Wednesdays All You Can Eat Spaghetti Our local contributors help tremendously to pay for the function ing of our club As club members please do what you can to providing all your cartridge n eds support their businesses Visit or call their businesses be a St th inkiet cartrid i patron if possible and tell them you saw their business card in op throwing away your inkjet cartridges the club s newsl
24. ia Goodman won a Travel Memorex 100 Pack of CD R a year s subscription to 1Gig jump drive CDs Smart Computing November 2007 THE MOTHERBOARD Welcome To New Members Rion Nilson Jun a Renewals Sohn K Aubuchon Mary Hnn Zeunak PHD IBM PCUG MEMBER WEBSITES DAVE amp BECKY HEMP www c zone net dochemp JACK McAULIFFE Real Estate Broker WWWealtyphoto com KITTYSTONE PERSIANS Lynn Johanson kattystone com MEXICAN TOURS WWW mexican tours com LyleVanNorman lyle mexican tours com QUESTIONED DOCUMENT EXAMINATION Mary Ann Czermak www documents examiner com REDDING REAL ESTATE Rick Goates www reddingrealestate net RON COLE JR www houseofspecialtygifts com Publicize Your WebSite Here for FREE Members Only Please Page 4 Were Moving To The Redding Library by Belva Sullivent President CUG of Redding Eai ail Pers r a ki ji i Deo Wro F i a i A pnd Belva is showing the new library floor plan to the October s meeting audience The Computer Users Group of Redd ing will be having its inaugural meeting in the Community Room B of the new Redding Library on Tuesday November 20 2007 After many pleasant years of meeting in the Palo Cedro Church of Christ it was decided that the club members would benefit from a more centralized meeting place in Redding The staff of the new Library has been so welcoming to us and so very encouraging of there being
25. ltered by using software from the motherboard manufacturer However anytime you try to change the programming in this chip you can change it in such a way as to prevent your computer from booting So great care should be taken anytime you need to upgrade your BIOS It is always advisable to make a copy of the original BIOS on a removable disk so you can restore it if necessary So when should you need to upgrade your BIOS In some cases manufacturers will make BIOS upgrades available which will allow you to upgrade your CPU with a newer version Or they make a change to allow the BIOS to recognize faster system memory or more memory You must always ensure that the BIOS upgrade you plan on installing is specific for your motherboard So you need to know the manufacturer and the motherboard model Just remember a mistake may make your computer unusable requiring THE MOTHERBOARD a major repair such as replacing the motherboard Unless of course you made a backup of the original BIOS The CMOS portion of the BIOS is also very important to the proper function of your computer The settings in the CMOS are retained by use of a low voltage battery on the motherboard In some few modern motherboards you can no longer find the battery That s because it is integrated into another chip and is non replaceable Although the battery may have a long life span more than five years some computers are still going strong after ten years
26. ncreased emphasis is being placed on instilling these positive traits which are Page 10 beneficial to both the person and society as a whole One site that helps instill positive character traits is www kids com com KidsCom com has been entertaining kids since 1995 making it the longest running commercial Web site for kids But its much more than an entertainment site KidsCom com provides children an on line outlet to express themselves and learn the skills and attitudes to help them become responsible and successful adults said Jori Clarke president of Circle 1 Network which publishes KidsCom com Currently KidsCom com is teaching children desirable character traits through a unique virtual pet program called Plant Babies Each Plant Baby represents a positive attitude balance confidence gratitude hope humor patience and persistence Clarke explained Children adopt a Plant Baby and are entrusted with its daily care including feeding it and increasing its anti cloud power to fight the Clouds of Chaos which represent THE MOTHERBOARD negative traits that can cloud anyone s thinking anger gluttony sloth greed jealousy and others KidsCom com also features interactive games writing challenges message boards and other activities that teach kids how to apply positive character traits in real life situations plus a program that permits parents and teachers to reward kids
27. ng through the restore procedure began getting an error message plus having the program refuse to open when double clicked on the desktop shortcut icon This applied to CorelDraw as well The error message said something about trying to install the program then it would go through some strange digital ma chinations before rolling everything back and giving up Strangely enough though if double clicked on a jpg or tif file in Explorer the files would open the program with no difficulty Several days were spent opening graphic files in this manner when it suddenly dawned on me that perhaps the programs might open from the executable files directly Sure enough when went to them again in Explorer they both opened like clockwork So why did it take me several more days to figure out that the icons on my desktop had Continued on Page 9 Bottom Column 2 Page 7 Understanding Your Computers BIOS by Brian K Lewis Ph D Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group Inc FL www spcug org bwsail at yahoo com Obtained from APCUG with the author s permission for publication by APCUG member groups The computer s basic input output system BIOS is really a major key to its proper operation The BIOS differs from one computer to another depending on the make of the motherboard and the make of the computer itself So let s look at what it does and why it is so important for the operation of your computer When you wake up y
28. oid losing data be sure to eject a UFD before removing it from the USB port You can go to MyComputer right click on the UFD device and select eject Or you can use the Safely Remove Icon on the lower right corner of your desktop Typical UFD next to a quarter This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups All other uses require the permission of the author see e mail address above The Web A Good Character Perhaps A Great Gift For Grandchildren NAPSA Every parent wants his or her child to be a good kid Polite kind and happy Respectful funny and confident But how do you teach a child to be gracious or confident Many parents and even educators are turning to technology for help With computers now in most schools and homes parents and teachers are discovering that the Internet is a powerful tool for not only helping children learn geography and math but also for instilling positive character traits in them Our home computer offers me a great way to teach my kids said Kevin Dugan a father of two in Cincinnati Ohio They think they re playing when they re actually learning important skills Typically lessons from school are even being reinforced Developing positive character traits in children is vital in today s society and we re seeing character education taking place in the classroom as well as in the home I
29. our computer by turning on the power the first component to be activated is the computer pro cessor The CPU is preprogramed to look for a location in the RAM memory usually near the end of system memory This location contains a jump instruction to the location in memory of the BIOS program On activation the BIOS starts executing a series of diagnostic instruc tions to verify that the computer is functioning properly One of the first tests is the power on self test POST If there are any fatal errors the computer will shut down and not proceed further Some computers have a series of beep codes that can help a technician in determining the cause of the failure On some computers one of the first indications that the boot process is proceeding normally is the graphics card display on the video screen This is because the BIOS has found and loaded the video BIOS Then you will see either a manufacturer s splash screen or the sequence of messages from the BIOS The BIOS also looks for any other connected devices such as SCSI or SATA drives that have a BIOS Read only Memory ROM and those instructions will be loaded into memory If the manufacturer s splash screen isn t hiding the start up info you will see the memory count the floppy hard drive and CD DVD drive identification lines appearing on the screen This summary includes the CPU and its clock speed the drives that have been identified their size and type syst
30. publication Reprints Articles from this newsletter may be reprinted by other user groups if credit is given to both the author CUG and the Motherboard Mail a copy of the newsletter where the article is reprinted to the Editor at the address in the first paragraph of this text Personal Ads For Members Requirements are 1 Advertiser must be a member 2 The item must be computer related 3 The ad must be received by editor J Ball by the monthly date of the board meeting Sorry no exceptions Other terms must be approved by the club s Board of Officers and Directors Article Submissions All articles and re views must be submitted to J Ball by the Monday of the monthly Board meeting see Page 1 for date Sorry no exceptions Motherboard Editor reserves the right to make corrections and deletions in all articles in the interest of grammar style and space Recognize Anyone Editors Corner t s your club Your input is of value to us CHANGE OF MEETING PLace Yes were going to meet at the Redding Library at 1100 Parkview Ave off Cypress and near City Hall Phone number is 245 7250 We will be in Community Room B Enter the library and turn left the doors A and B to the community rooms will be at the end of this hall CorFeE Etc A variety of coffees etc are available at the library s cafe on the left before the community rooms This is such a bonus because find ing volunteers to help with
31. rts You may also be November 2007 COMPUTER BIOS able to set the computer to turn on in response to an incoming call ona modem or a request via a local network In some motherboards the CMOS settings allow you to overclock your system This means that you can set your CPU and or system memory to operate at a frequency higher than the standard manufacturers values Unless used with great care changing these values can destabilize the computer operation The settings in the CMOS will vary depending on the computer manufacturer and the make of the BIOS Some manufacturers make their own BIOS chips while others purchase them from companies such as AMI Phoenix or WinBond Reading your user manual or motherboard manual will give you a better idea of just what is included in your setup program The setup program uses a CMOS checksum as an error detecting code Each time you change the BIOS settings the checksum Is generated by adding all the bytes inthe CMOS memory and then storing the lowest byte of the sum Then each time the system is booted the system recomputes the checksum and compares it with the stored value If they are different then the system knows that the CMOS has been corrupted somehow and will warn you with an error typically something like CMOS Checksum Error Then you need to enter the setup program and check the settings Usually once you save the settings and exit setup the computer will
32. s up to Since it lives a life separate from yours it is often not possible to tell just what it has been doing in your absence With the new powerful operating systems many many things go on in the background when the machine is powered on whether you are there or not Super nerds probably have eliminated many of the automatic actions but most of us just muddle on thankful that the computer runs at all This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups All other uses require the permission of the author see e mail address above Page 9 Portable Data by Corinne Goeke Computer Club of Green Valley AZ Cmgoeke yahoo com http gvcc apcug org Obtained from APCUG with the author s permission for publication by APCUG member groups Which of the following is an item for storing computer data A Thumb Drive Memory Stick USB Stick UFD G All of the above If you guessed G good for you All of the above names refer to UFDs or USB Flash Drives USB of course refers to those little rectangular ports you can find although there never Key Drive E F seems to be enough of them on the back and front of most computers So what is a UFD You see them connected to people s key chains hanging around necks on a cord and stuck in pockets and purses Simply put a UFD is a really convenient data storage device Think of a one gigabyte
33. the coffee during our past meetings has been very difficult The coffee urns are heavy to carry and it has to be prepared ahead of time So now folks can get their coffee including lattes on their way into the meeting The cost is not exhorbitant according to others that have bought it However when it comes to party times such as at Christmas we are permitted to have and prepare food and coffee in the community rooms So it seems as though all preparation points are covered and all that is left is to try it out on the 20th of November REMEMBER THOUGH Meetings begin at 6pm now And most will be over by 8pm unless itis a special meeting of course Like possibly this one coming up so be sure not to miss it l Il see you there Judi Ball Anonymous Off Net You know it is time to reassess your relationship with your computer when 1 You find yourself typing com after every period when using a word processor com 2 You can t correspond with a friend because she doesn t have a computer 3 When your e mail box shows no new messages you feel very depressed 4 Your family always knows where you are 5 You turn off your computer and get a terribly empty feeling as though you just pulled the plug on a loved one Page 2 THE MOTHERBOARD November 2007 September amp October Meetings September s Panel Bruce Roth Bill Ball amp Fred Skill Anna Lee Horton won Ron Nilson wona Eugen

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