4th tuesday, july 27, 2010 annual ice cream socialcugr.apcug.org/pdf/mb201007.pdf4th tuesday, july...

4th T4th T4th T4th T4th Tuesdayuesdayuesdayuesdayuesday, , , , , July 27July 27July 27July 27July 27, 2010, 2010, 2010, 2010, 2010

Volume 2010, Number 07 http://cugr.apcug.org/ July 2010

GENERAL MEETINGS AREat the Redding Library

100 Parkview Ave,off Cypress.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE IShttp://cugr.apcug.org/For more information

call any Board memberlisted on Page 2.

CUGRCUGRCUGRCUGRCUGRCalendarCalendarCalendarCalendarCalendar

In This Issue .In This Issue .In This Issue .In This Issue .In This Issue ...........SHARED VIEW & SKYPE

Judi McDowell ............................... 2

CLUB PICSJune Meeting ................................. 3

WELCOME TO RENEWALSCUGR ............................................. 4

MULTI-MEDIA SIG UPDATEJane Quinn .................................... 4

WINDOWS 7 TECH TIPSBrian K. Lewis ............................... 4

CONTROLLING SYSTEM RESTOREVinny La Bash ............................... 5

BITS AND PIECESRush Blodget ................................ 5

“DISK FAILURE” SCAREPhil Sorrentino .............................. 6

A GREAT WRITERAnnoymous Humor ...................... 7

WHEN IS A DSLR NOT A DSLR?Jerry Schneir ................................ 8

COMPUTER HEALTHNAPSA ........................................... 9

E-MAIL SCAMSVinny La Bash ............................. 10

Sign in at the Greeting Table and pick upyour name tag and please leave it in theTag Box when the meeting is over. Alsoplease stay and help reset the tables to

the Library’s original arrangement.Thank you.

6 PM Club6 PM Club6 PM Club6 PM Club6 PM ClubIce Cream SocialIce Cream SocialIce Cream SocialIce Cream SocialIce Cream Social

CUGR Board MeetingNEXT MEETING

3:15 PM, AUGUST 30at Jack-In-The-Box, Dana Drive

MULTI-MEDIA10 AM, Saturday,

September 25

WINDOWS & MORENo Meetings Until

Further Notice

DTP SIGNo Meetings Until

Further NoticeSee back page

for more SIG information

Annual Ice Cream SocialAnnual Ice Cream SocialAnnual Ice Cream SocialAnnual Ice Cream SocialAnnual Ice Cream Social

No MeetingAnd No

MotherboardIn August!

Next MeetingIs

September 28

No MeetingAnd No

MotherboardIn August

Next MeetingIs

September 28

ComplComplComplComplCompliiiiiments Of CUGRments Of CUGRments Of CUGRments Of CUGRments Of CUGR. . . . . Don’t For Don’t For Don’t For Don’t For Don’t Forget Tget Tget Tget Tget To Bring Yo Bring Yo Bring Yo Bring Yo Bring Your Four Four Four Four Familyamilyamilyamilyamily

THE MOTHERBOARD July 2010

Club InformationClub InformationClub InformationClub InformationClub InformationClub MentorClub MentorClub MentorClub MentorClub Mentors & Sponsors & Sponsors & Sponsors & Sponsors & Sponsorsssss

DTP Judi BallGraphic Prgs 275-4632Photo Editing [email protected] Word, PowerPoint, Jane QuinnMovie Maker 2, DVD Prgs. 365-0825Digital Image Pro [email protected]

New Users Bob Rice 357-2143, Anytime [email protected]

MS Windows Darold WrightPhoto Delux 222-1781 [email protected] Users Fred SkillFree Library PC Classes 243-3557Spread Sheets [email protected] Windows Bill BallHardware, Software 275-463298, ME, XP, Vista [email protected]

Club Website:http://cugr.apcug.org/

Members volunteeringto help members!

BoarBoarBoarBoarBoard of Ofd of Ofd of Ofd of Ofd of Officerficerficerficerficers and Directors and Directors and Directors and Directors and Directorsssss

MotherboarMotherboarMotherboarMotherboarMotherboard Newsletter Stafd Newsletter Stafd Newsletter Stafd Newsletter Stafd Newsletter Staffffff

MotherboarMotherboarMotherboarMotherboarMotherboard Newsletter Pd Newsletter Pd Newsletter Pd Newsletter Pd Newsletter Policies and Deadlinesolicies and Deadlinesolicies and Deadlinesolicies and Deadlinesolicies and DeadlinesThe Motherboard newsletter is publishedmonthly by the Computer Users Group ofRedding, PO Box 494778, Redding, CA96049-4778. The CUG is a 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation. Sub-scriptions areincluded in the $25 annual membershipfee. The purpose of the newsletter is toinform members of upcoming events andprovide information about the use of IBMcompatible computers.Disclaimer: Neither the CUG, its Offi-cers, the Editor, nor the newslettercontributors assume any liability fordamages incurred due to the use ofinformation provided in this pub-lication.Reprints: Articles from this news-lettermay be reprinted by other user groups ifcredit is given to both the author, CUGand the Motherboard. Mail a copy of the

newsletter where the article is reprinted tothe Editor at the address in the firstparagraph 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. Ballby the monthly date of the board meeting.Sorry, no exceptions.Other terms must be approved by the club’sBoard of Officers and Directors.Article Submissions: All articles andreviews must be submitted to J. Ball by theMonday of the monthly Board meeting(see Page 1 for date.) Sorry, no exceptions.Motherboard Editor reserves the right tomake corrections and deletions in all articlesin the interest of grammar, style, and space.

Judith E. Ball [email protected] 275-4632Rush Blodget Bits And [email protected] 241-4754Jeanie Richardson Spotlight & [email protected]

Mike Doyle [email protected] 524-0774Richard Marx Vice [email protected] 365-7773

Belva Sullivent Past President, [email protected] 241-9926Mario Quinn [email protected] 365-0825Margaret Martinovich Secretary, [email protected] 241-6378Jane Quinn SIG Lder, Vendor, Dir.,[email protected] 365-0825Ron Cole Membership Chair, [email protected] 242-0982Anna Lee Horton Mail Manager, [email protected] 222-5521

Bill Ball SIG Leader, [email protected] 275-4632Judi Ball Editor, SIG Leader, [email protected] 275-4632

Darold L. Wright [email protected] 222-1781Lyle VanNorman [email protected] 242-0925Colly Lord Website [email protected] 224-1633Ginny Wall Name Tag [email protected] Richardson [email protected] Skill [email protected] 243-3557

Electronic Recycling For CharitableSituations:Bruce Roth and Darold Wright3300 Veda Street, Rdg. 245-0500 (no microwaves or large appliances)

SponsorSponsorSponsorSponsorSponsorsssss

Mary Montague [email protected] 365-6414Anna Lee Horton [email protected] 222-5521

SharedView & SkSharedView & SkSharedView & SkSharedView & SkSharedView & SkypeypeypeypeypeAttending a RemoteAttending a RemoteAttending a RemoteAttending a RemoteAttending a Remote

SIG PresentationSIG PresentationSIG PresentationSIG PresentationSIG Presentationby Judi McDowell, President, Quad

Cities Computer Society, Iowa/ Illinois,www.qcs.org/[email protected]

This article has been obtained fromAPCUG with the author’s permission forpublication by APCUG member groups;all other uses require the permission ofthe author (see e-mail address above).

A few Quad Cities Computer SocietySIG leaders have been using MicrosoftSharedView and Skype to allow participa-tion from members remotely. We havebeen practicing with small test groups; andalthough SharedView is limited to 15 partici-pants at one time we would like to providedetailed written instructions to all members.

First you need to download Skype,available at Skype.com. tinyurl.com/yjuzbbg Click the download button andthen follow the instructions belowprovided by Skype for installation.HOW DO I INSTALL SKYPE?

Run the Skype Setup application. Awindow will open asking what you wantto do with a file called SkypeSetup.exe.You might see a confirmation message,asking if you’re sure you want to run thissoftware. Click ’Run’ again.FOLLOW THE SETUP WIZARD

When the download has finished, theSkype Setup Wizard will appear andguide you through the rest of theinstallation.

After the installation has finished, youcan open Skype at any time by clickingthe Skype icons located either on yourdesktop or in your system tray (this isfound at the bottom right of your screen).

Now you need to add your “newcontact,” from the contacts menu. A hellowindow will appear where you type a briefmessage to introduce yourself; send andwait for the “contact” to accept you. Afteryour invitation is accepted, the “contact”will appear in your contact list.HOW DO I INSTALL SHAREDVIEW?

Next you need to download Microsoft’sSharedView, available at the followingwebsite connect.microsoft.com/site94

After downloading and installingSharedView you will have to obtain a

Continued On Page 7

July 2010 THE MOTHERBOARD

Congratulations TCongratulations TCongratulations TCongratulations TCongratulations To Our Winnero Our Winnero Our Winnero Our Winnero Our Winners!s!s!s!s!

June MeJune MeJune MeJune MeJune Meetingetingetingetingeting

Our Special Guest StarPresented by

Chuck & Ginny Wall

RushBlodgett wona Logictech

OpticalWirelessMouse

GlennAnderson

won a DigitalFull-SizeTri-Pod

Ted Heringwon theTravel

LightedMap Holder


CUGRMEMBER WEBSITES

Publicize Your WebSiteHere for FREE!

(Members Only Please)

KITTYSTONE PERSIANSLynn Johansonkittystone.com

MEXICAN-TOURSwww.mexican-tours.com

Lyle [email protected]

Lyle Van NormanRobert MackenstadtJoe & Pat Asaro

Shirley LeeBelva SulliventFrank AutenJoe & Mary

AdamsRobert & Mary

SchneiderCarolyn Bowles

Welcome RenewalsWelcome RenewalsWelcome RenewalsWelcome RenewalsWelcome Renewals

Multi-Media SIGMulti-Media SIGMulti-Media SIGMulti-Media SIGMulti-Media SIGUpDateUpDateUpDateUpDateUpDate

by SIG Leader Jane Quinn,[email protected]

Jane’s SIGs as des-cribed below will beclosed for the summerand will begin in Sep-tember.

Weekly S.I.G. Groupmeetings are everyThursday at the Senior Center inAnderson from 1- 3 pm. Only membersmay use the club’s laptop to burn theirDVD movie projects.

Our monthly Multi-Media SIG will beon the Saturday before our club’sgeneral meeting, at my home from 10am to noon. For directions contact meat [email protected] or phone365-0825.

Windows 7 TWindows 7 TWindows 7 TWindows 7 TWindows 7 Tech Tech Tech Tech Tech Tipsipsipsipsipsby Brian K. Lewis, Ph.D., Regular Columnist, Sarasota Personal CUG, Inc., FL,

www.spcug.org, bwsail @yahoo.com


Have you ever wanted or neededinformation about the hardware in yourcomputer? Did you know that Windows 7contains a command that can provide youwith a list of your hardware componentsincluding memory information? It doesand it is very easy to explore and to saveto a file. There are other helpful little bitsof information hidden in the recesses ofWin7, so let’s take some time to explorea few of them.

First let’s check out the system infor-mation command. Go to Start and type“cmd” in the Search box (without thequotes), then press Enter. This will opena command window in which you can type“systeminfo,” also without the quote marks.Press Enter again and you will get a de-tailed profile of your computer. This list willinclude the processor, BIOS version,operating system and updates, bothinstalled and available memory and muchmore. In all, there are thirty-two categor-ies of information provided by this com-mand. You can scroll up and down throughthis information. Then, if you want to savethis info to a disc file, type the command“systeminfo /FO CSV > system info.csv.”Again, without the quotes. This file willbe saved in the directory shown at the be-ginning of the command line. So be sureyou remember this location when you goto look for the file. A CSV file can be open-ed in a spread-sheet or a database pro-gram. Now you will have a ready referencefor the components which make up yourcomputer. It’s not a bad idea to createthis file and keep it for reference purposes.

Of course, if you are a frequent readerof Dr Herb’s “Computer Buffet” you wouldhave seen references to “Belarc Advisor.”This free program gives you a profile ofall the hardware and software on yourmachine. It also highlights problem areassuch as non-working applications. Thesoftware information can be quite exten-sive. The last time I ran this applicationon a Windows machine I had more thaneight pages of information. Far more than

I really wanted. The systeminfo com-mand gives you a summary which isprintable in one page.

There is another use for systeminformation. If you type this “systeminformation” command into the Start-Search box, it will bring up a list of appli-cations before you finish typing. Select“System Information” from the list andclick on it. You now have a double panewindow with a tree of topics on the leftand an information window on the right.The first item is a general summary ofsystem information similar to the informa-tion we obtained in the command window.But there are other more detailed topicsunder the headings in the tree list. Forexample, hardware resources, compon-ents and software environment. Undercomponents you will find a very importanttopic — problem devices. Hopefully, atthis point there will be nothing listedwhen you highlight this topic. But if thereare, it can lead you to solutions for someof your hardware problems. Under soft-ware environment you will find a topiccalled Startups. This lists the applicationsthat are loaded into memory when yourcomputer starts. Always something worthknowing.

Another interesting item under Soft-ware Environment is Windows ErrorReporting. This gives you a detailed listof applications that have “misfired” orproduced system hang-ups. This can beuseful when you have problems with eitherWindows or third-party applications. Allof the errors I found on my system wererelated to missing drivers that I had toinstall after installing Win7. Once that wascompleted the errors disappeared. Yes, Isaid that with crossed fingers — no useasking for bad luck, right?

If you haven’t backed up your computerrecently, then you should try the backupbuilt into Win7. In previous versions ofWindows the backup application providedby Microsoft was very slow and someversions were very limited in the mediato which they would write the backup file.It was also useless when you changedyour Windows version as the file formats

Continued On Page 9


Bits And PiecesBits And PiecesBits And PiecesBits And PiecesBits And Piecesby Rush Blodget; IMB/PCUG of Redding, [email protected]


Did a shareware application you wereenamored of turn out to be an unmitigateddisaster? Perhaps a device driver instal-lation, system update or modification toa registry key went bad, and your systemwandered into an alternate universe.Windows has a utility called System Re-store that takes a picture, called a RestorePoint, of your system before certain typesof operations are started. System Restoreis a very handy feature that allows youto go back in time to erase actions youhave come to regret. If a problem occursyou can revert back to the way thingswere, and all is well again.

System Restore, for all its utility andconvenience, has its drawbacks. Someargue that if there is not enough free diskspace, System Restore will fail to createa restore point, so an unsuspecting per-son may discover that there is no restorepoint available when trying to put thingsback to normal. There is also no way tomake a permanent restore point that willnot get deleted after a time when auto-matic restore points need the disk space.This could be a predicament if a problemis intermittent.

It is possible that System Restore maybe responsible for your disk drive runningout of room. While today’s supersizeddrives make that less likely than a fewyears ago running out of disk space couldstill happen, especially if you load up yoursystem with videos. You can reduce thatlikelihood even further by configuringSystem Restore properly.

The snapshots we talked about in thefirst paragraph are taken by a built-in pro-gram called the Volume SnapshotService (VSS). There is no way to accessthis utility in the standard WindowsGraphical Utility Interface (GUI). Thismeans you can’t get to it with a menu

Controlling SControlling SControlling SControlling SControlling SystemystemystemystemystemRestoreRestoreRestoreRestoreRestore

by Vinny La Bash, Member andRegular Columnist, Sarasota PCUG,

Inc., FLwww.spcug.org,

[email protected]

option. You need to open a CommandPrompt window with elevated adminis-trator privileges.

Click on the Start orb located down atthe bottom left corner of your screen,select All Programs, and open the Acces-sories folder. Right click on the CommandPrompt icon, and then select Run as Ad-ministrator from the menu. That will openup a Command Prompt window withenough authority to configure SystemRestore.

KEYSTROKE LOGGING (continued from the June Issue)Last month I summarized the data on

Keystroke Logging software from theInternet source Wikipedia. Hardware-based keylogging does not require anysoftware as it exists only at a hardwarelevel. It depends on a hardware circuitattached somewhere between thekeyboard and the computer, typically inline with the keyboard’s cable connector.These circuits can also be installed orbuilt into the standard keyboard so asto be entirely invisible. All keyboardactivity is then logged to internal memorywhere it can subsequently be accessedby entering a secret key.

The hardware keylogger will notinterfere with any software programsand cannot be detected by any software.Keylogging hardware devices can be pur-chased for $50 openly on the Internetunder the guise of being a way to checkon your child’s Internet usage althoughone vendor does suggest that it mightalso be useful to check on a spouse.Unless the person doing the keylogginghas been able to substitute a keyboardwith the keylogging software built in, itcan usually be detected by some attach-ment in the cable between keyboardand computer.

This rather complete treatise on thesubject lists many rather unique waysof recording your keystrokes, such asacoustically. It is stated that each char-

acter on the keyboardhas a distinct acousticsignature although 1000or more keystrokesmust be recorded tointerpret the data. Elec-tromagnetic emissionsfrom the keys can be captured up to 66feet from a keyboard without there beingany physical contact.

The writing of a software keyloggingprogram is stated to be fairly simple; itcan be distributed via a Trojan or as partof a virus. An attacker that connects to ahost machine to download keystrokesrisks being traced as may a Trojan send-ing data to a fixed e-mail or IP address.

Of interest also are some of the uniquedefense measures one may use ifkeylogging is suspected. Many of theanti-keylogging software programs candetect keylogging programs and quar-antine, disable or cleanse them. A soft-ware anti-keylogging program can not,however, detect a hardware based pro-gram. A firewall can prevent the remoteinstallation of keylogging software. Key-logging software is written on thepremise that the user has a standardQWERTY keyboard. A defense thusmight be to use a DVORAK keyboard ora custom keyboard using he MicrosoftCustom Keyboard Creator.

Several ways have been suggestedto protect the detection of passwordentry by a keylogger. One of the moreinteresting methods was to type the firstword of a password and then to add fiveor six miscellaneous letters that the key-logger will record, followed by selectingthese letters and deleting them, This canbe done repeatedly to bury the passwordamong these many additional lettersrecorded by the keylogger. Other meanssuggested are the use of speech recog-nition software, handwriting recognitionsoftware, one-time passwords, andnetwork monitors.

Recently available is a bar codereader designed for home computerusers that plugs into the computer’sUSB port. One merely makes a swipeof the credit card through it to defeatany type of keylogger.

CONTROLLING SYSTEMRESTORE CONTINUED


Continued on Page 7


This morning, it happened again. I start-ed the computer in the morning, as I doevery morning, and staring me in the facewas the dreaded “system disk failure” mes-sage. A chill went down my spine. It seem-ed like this happened only about a year ortwo ago. When I thought further, it was2005 when it happened, almost five yearsago, so maybe that’s not too bad. As I atebreakfast, I rapidly thought about the hard-ware in that computer. (I currently havethree desktops that I am using for variousactivities in the home, but this was mymain computer, the one other family mem-bers use.) Panic started to set-in. Werethe disk drives 160GB, or 250GB? Whenwere they installed? Were they Seagateor Western Digital? What interface is usedin that computer? Are they formatted inNTFS or FAT32? Well, if it was the C: drivethen it must be NTFS. I’ll have to openthe chassis and look at the drives. For-tunately, this story has a very happy end-ing. After breakfast, as I knelt down to lookat the desktop chassis, to see what wasthe best approach to removing the cablesand other things around the chassis, Ispied a floppy disk in the floppy disk drive.Eureka! XP was trying to boot from thefloppy: an impossible task, so it reporteda disk failure, obviously. Most desktopcomputers today don’t have a floppy diskdrive, so this will probably not happen tomost people. However, it got me thinkingthat the answers to all of the questions Ihad during breakfast, should be in oneplace, probably along with a lot of otherinformation that defines the currentcomputer hardware setup. So it’s probablynot a bad idea to gather all of this infor-mation, while the computer is operating,and put a hard copy printout in a safe place.The disk drive information is probably themost important for this kind of failure, butit is a good idea to have all the basic hard-ware information in one easily accessedplace. Here is a list of the things that youmight want to have. You may not need allof these, so use only those that are per-tinent to your hardware setup. (If there’s

“Disk F“Disk F“Disk F“Disk F“Disk Failureailureailureailureailure” Scare” Scare” Scare” Scare” Scareby Phil Sorrentino, President, Sarasota PCUG, FL, www.spcug.org, [email protected]

anything that I’ve forgotten, just add it tothe list, and let me know by e-mail.) I’llstart with the disk drive informationbecause that is what you’ll need if thedrive goes down, or you may need if youhave to reinstall the entire system. (Bythe way, you can accomplish all of this

Disk Drive 1Manufacturer Typically Seagate, Western Digital, …Part Number e.g. ST3160023A (Seagate part no.)Date Installed May be the date of computer purchaseSize (GB) e.g 330GBRotating Speed e.g. 7200 RPM (or possibly 5400 RPM)Interface Type IDE (Parallel ATA) or SATAFormatted NTFS or FAT32C: drive size Typically 25GB (for XP) or 50GB (Vista)D: drive size (if used) Various

Disk Drive 2Same as Drive 1

CPUType e.g Intel Pentium 4, or AMD AthelonSpeed e.g. 3.2 GHz

Processors e.g. 2 Only used for multi-core processors (e.g. Intel Core Duo)Memory

Amount e.g. 1GBType/Speed e.g. PC133 or DDR2, etc.

Display Adapter (If not on Motherboard)Manufacturer e.g. nVidiaPart Number e.g. GeForce GTX295Other Information if needed.

NetworkingComputer Namee.g. “Mary’s Computer”Wired MAC address (if connected to wired Ethernet port)

e.g. 00-34-5A-BC-DF-3FWireless MAC address (if used on wireless network)

e.g. 00-34-5A-BC-DF-3FRouter IP address e.g. 192.168.1.0

USB DevicesExternal Drive (for Backup)—Manufacturer e.g. Seagate, Western Digital, LaCie—Part Number Free Agent (Seagate part no.)—Date Installed May be the date of computer purchase—Size (GB) e.g. 1 TB (1,000 GB)—Rotating Speed Typically 7200 RPM—Formatted NTFS or FAT32MP3Player e.g. Apple iPod—Part Number e.g.—Size e.g. 4GB

by using the free program, Belarc Advisor(http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html). Belarc produces a listing of almostall of the following pieces of informationand additional information in the computersecurity area.).


—Other Pertinent InformationMouse and/or Keyboard (if connected to USB)Digital Camera—Manufacturer e.g. Cannon—Part Number e.g. Powershot SX110IS—MegaPixel size e.g. 10MPixels—Other Pertinent Information—Other USB Devices

PARTIAL BELARC ADVISOR PRINTOUT

Windows Live ID in order to use it. Thisis a simple procedure that requiresproviding an e-mail address and apassword.PLEASE NOTE:

If you do NOT obtain a Windows LiveID, you may still be able to join a sessionas a guest, but it will require a password.This password is unique to each sessionand you will have to obtain it from thefacilitator to join as a guest. A WindowsLive ID makes joining a session muchsimpler.

On the night of a SharedView oppor-tunity, you will receive a Skype call from“your contact” to start the audio.*Open SharedView and sign in with your

Windows Live ID and password.*Once signed in, click on the button that

says “join a session.” Enter thesession name.

*After clicking “Join now” at the bottom,wait for the search to find the session;when found, your name will pop up tothe SharedView facilitator who mustallow or deny your connection to theircomputer.After the connection is established,

you will see the desktop screen of the

SIG Leader. Try again if you aren’taccepted the first time. The facilitatormay not have seen your request to join.

*The audio and facilitator’s voice willbe heard through the Skype connection.While listening to the presentation,remember to mute or turn down yourmicrophone. Otherwise, every soundpicked up on your end will be heard byall the other participants in addition tothe facilitator’s voice.

Only 15 people are allowed to join asession at one time so if demandexceeds that, it will be “first come firstserved.” To assure the best results, letthe SIG leader know in advance youplan to attend and if this is your firsttime, it is recommended that you havea short trial run a day or two prior tomeeting night.

Attending a SIG in person is stillpreferable to a remote log in, but wehave had a couple people use it whenthey were out of town and this is a greatopportunity to keep in touch with yourfavorite SIG if you can’t be there inperson. To learn more about SharedViewand how you could use it with yourfriends for collaboration — Visit thiswebsite: Shared View User AssistanceHome Page/tinyurl.com/a4lt7h

~~~ ~~~Editor’s Note: Jane Quinn has beenusing Skype in her SIGs and will havetips and reviews of Skype for clubmembers in September when her SIGsare up and running again.

SKYPEContinued From Page 3

A Great WriterThere was once a youngman who, in his youth, pro-fessed his desire to be-come a great writer. Whenasked to define “great” hesaid, “I want to write stuffthat the whole world willread, stuff that people willreact to on a truly emotion-al level, stuff that will makethem scream, cry, howl inpain and anger!”He now works for Micro-soft, writing computer errormessages for us.



Simple question but very indicative ofwhat the future holds for some of us photobuffs. In simple terms, it is a camera thatis devoid of a mirror box assembly. Inother terms it is an interchangeable lenscamera, but unlike a single lens reflex(SLR) it does NOT have a mirror to redirectthe light from the lens to the opticalviewfinder. All SLR cameras, digital andotherwise, use a mirror assembly to inter-cept the light that comes through the lensand redirects the incoming light to theviewfinder rather than to the film (orsensor) at the back of the camera.Generally the light will also pass througha prism or fixed mirrors at the top of thecamera on its way to the viewfinder. It isthis complex configuration that gives anSLR a distinctive look. It is also this con-figuration that gives an SLR a distinctivesound as the mirror swings out of the pathof the incoming light and then returns toredirect the light back to the viewfinder.

To answer the question we need to goback in time. The entire dSLR worldstarted changing in September of 2004with Olympus’s introduction of their E300dSLR. Here was a camera that didn’t lookquite like anything else, not SLR norrangefinder. It sported a mirror that workeddifferent, didn’t have the traditional topbulge and was based upon the Four Thirdssensor design. In September of 2005Olympus came out with their E500 adSLR looking camera and then in Januaryof 2006 they introduced the E330, anotherdSLR type, but a camera with “Live View,”the ability to see the image on the LCDbefore the shot was taken. That featurecaused an uproar among the traditionalSLR manufacturers.

In February 2006 Panasonic intro-duced their unique looking L1 which wasalso based upon the Four Thirds sensor..While the L1 still incorporated a mirrorit did not have the look of an SLR, butmore closely the rangefinder camerasof the ‘1950-1960 period. That camerabombed primarily because of cost. InAugust of 2007 Panasonic introduced

When Is A dSLR Not A dSLRWhen Is A dSLR Not A dSLRWhen Is A dSLR Not A dSLRWhen Is A dSLR Not A dSLRWhen Is A dSLR Not A dSLR?????by Jerry Schneir, Member of the Los Angeles Computer Society, CA, www.lacspc.org, [email protected]

the L10 which now resembled thetraditional look of the SLR and had LiveView but again did not do as well ashoped for by Panasonic.

In September of 2008 Panasonicbrought forth the G1 a Micro Four Thirdscamera that looked like a dSLR in that ithad the characteristic bulge on the top ofthe camera, had interchangeable lenses,but it did NOT have a mirror box assembly.In the GI, light passed directly throughthe lens onto the imaging sensor. Thiswas a much different camera. The camerawas different for several other reasons. Itwas based upon the Four Thirds sensorsize introduced several years earlier, butused Micro Four Thirds mount lenses, andused an electronic viewfinder (EVF) inplace of the traditional optical viewfinderof the digital single lens reflexes (dSLR)cameras. Though it looked like the smallerdSLR cameras, Micro Four Thirdscameras are not dSLRs. They are alsosmaller because they don’t house adedicated autofocus image sensor. Theautofocus on the G1 uses the Four Thirdsimage sensor. This is exactly like auto-focus on a compact camera. But here,autofocus is speedier because on theMicro Four Thirds cameras they use botha faster autofocus algorithm and a fasterprocessor. This makes autofocus feelfaster and more like a dSLR, at least onsome cameras.

Up to this time, two companies,Olympus and Panasonic had adoptedthe Kodak developed Four Thirds sensordesign. The major advantage, and tosome old diehards, the only advantage,was the reduction in both size andweight of the lenses and to a certainextent, the size and weight of the cam-era body as well. But these earliercameras although smaller and lighter inweight, still could NOT do what everypoint and shoot camera could, show theimage on the LCD or EVF before takingthe picture and shoot movies. The GIstill lacked the movie ability. The moviemode was just peeking its head up inregular dSLR at about that time with“Live View.” Panasonic changed thatwith the arrival of the GH1 in March2009, a new movie mode had beenadded.

Up to this point in time, all these cam-eras still utilized the mirror box, nothingreally had changed until the earthshattering (somewhat an exaggeration)introduction of the new mirrorless cam-eras in 2009, the Olympus E-P1. This wasa rangefinder looking camera, albeit,without a rangefinder but having therangefinder look. However, this break-through camera lacked two importantbuilt-in features, no flash and no viewfinderof any type. Olympus partially correctedthis “whoops” with the introduction of theE-P2 in November 2009. This camera hada port for connecting a high resolutionEVF. In February of this year, Olympusannounced its newest edition to thisfamily, the E-PL1. This camera had a builtin flash and a port for connecting the EVF.

Panasonic finally took the plunge intoa rangefinder style camera with the intro-duction of the GF1 in September of2009. The GF1 uses an optional EVFand has a built-in flash unit. In March ofthis year, Panasonic announced two newcameras, the G2 and the G10. Theseare almost identical cameras resemblingSLR designs more than anything else.Interchangeable Micro Four Thirdslenses but no mirror boxes.

But this question about dSLR camerasdoesn’t end here. Other cameras withinterchangeable lenses but lacking amirror box have been introduced, havebeen announced, or are rumored to bein the works. I have deliberately skippedtalking about Leica cameras since,IMHO they are just largely rebadgedPanasonics. Sony showed their non-working proto-type based upon a fullAPS-C sensor. Ricoh’s GXR comes withinterchangeable units containing a lensand a sensor in a rangefinder stylecamera. Can’t say much about thesensor size since it is dependent uponthe lens that is part of the system. I havestrong reservations about this concept.

Continued on Page 10


in the backup file were not compatiblewith the newer version. In the Win7 helpfiles there is information on how to restorea backup made with Vista to Win7. So atleast the latest versions should be com-patible.

These latest versions of the backupapplications are much faster than previousversions. To try the backup applications,open the Control Panel and select SystemSecurity, then backup and restore. Hereyou have several options. You can do acomplete image of your hard drive, justbackup your data, or make a systemrepair disc. If you did not get a Windowsinstallation disc when you purchased yourcomputer, then the first thing you shoulddo is make a system repair disc. All youneed for this is a blank CD and then justfollow the on-screen instructions. The nextstep would be to make a complete imagefile, preferably on an external drive. It’sreally not a good idea to put it on thesame drive you are imaging even if it is aseparate partition. Why? Because whenthe drive fails you won’t be able to accessthe image file to restore anything to a newhard drive. Even if you do have a Windowsinstallation disc the repair disc plus theimage file are a better solution for restoringWindows and your files after a drive fail-ure. The image file you create will be morecurrent than the original installation discwhen it comes to Windows updates. It willalso include the installation of all the appli-cations you added after you purchasedthe system or upgraded to Win7.

Once you have the repair disc and theimage backup you can start doing databackups, or you can create new imagefiles periodically. There is no need to make

image files unless you have added applica-tions or made substantial changes to yoursystem. Windows file backup can be setto run automatically to save your data files.It will also add new folders and files tothe backup list when you create them. Iwould also recommend that this be savedto an external drive.

Do you have a need for a system toremember user names and passwords?Win7 has a credential manager which canbe used for storing user names and pass-words in an encrypted file. This applicationcan be found in the Control Panel underUser Accounts. If you can’t find it, trysearching within the Control Panel.

I frequently have a need to write downshort notes or references to information Ifound on the Internet or in other sources.This is where Sticky Notes comes in quitehandy. You can run this application bytyping “stikynot” in the Start-Search boxand clicking on the program that showsin the popdown menu. Alternatively, youcan go to All Programs — Accessoriesand click on Sticky Notes. These can beplaced anywhere on your desktop. You canalso pin the application to the taskbar soit will be readily available. Just right clickon the menu item or one of the stickynotes and select “pin to taskbar.”

If you want to see the minute by minuteperformance of your computer, try typing“resource monitor” in the Start-Search box.The complete term will show up beforeyou have completed typing and you canthen click on the item. This brings up awindow in which you can view the memoryutilization, cpu utilization and other res-ources as you use your computer. It’s agreat way to see which applications areusing the most memory.

By playing around with the Control Paneland other aspects of Windows 7, you canfind many helpful built-in functions. You canalso query the Help files. On my systemthe Help response is much quicker thanit was in Vista and XP. I also found thatmany subjects are better explained andmore detailed. So if you are stuck on some-thing, try the Help application that’s on theStart menu. The more you play with Win7,the more you will find that may be useful.

Dr. Lewis is a former university andmedical school professor of physiology.He has been working with personalcomputers for over thirty years, develo-ping software and assembling systems.

WINDOWS 7 TECHContinued From Page 4

(NAPSA)—According to a new sur-vey, 86 percent of Americans are morefocused on maintaining their hair thantheir computers. While most people seethe value in regular doctor visits and cartune-ups, only 15% will likely get their PCstuned up. And regular computer main-tenance is important to the health of yoursystem — and all that’s on it. Your com-puter works hard managing your familyphotos, videos, games, music and finan-cial records. So when it has a bad dayor crashes, the losses can be substantial,not only in terms of information and memor-ies, but also in time, effort and money.But it doesn’t have to come to that.

“Consumers depend on their PCs tomanage their personal and professionallives, and a system failure can be atraumatic event,” said Lenny Alugas,vice president of Symantec, maker ofNorton. “The typical PC owner doesn’thave the time, patience or knowhow toproperly maintain his or her computer —it can be difficult for even the most tech-savvy consumer to isolate a problemwith a PC, let alone solve it.”A PREVENT DEFENSE

It’s much easier to prevent computerissues before they occur. Regular compu-ter maintenance staves off computer cra-shes, wipes out viruses and ensures com-puters operate at peak performance lev-els. It’s like getting an oil change for yourcar — and should be done just as regularlyto clear up computer clutter and alleviatethe strain on your system’s resources.

Several companies offer PC helpservices, but before making a selection,consider not only price, but also conven-ience, the company’s reputation and ex-perience. A new service getting high marksfrom consumers and testing organizationsis Norton PC Tune-up (www.nor ton.com/tuneup). With Norton PC Tune-up, youdon’t have to take your computer any-where, and they’re ready whenever you are,24 hours a day, seven days a week.Norton’s computer experts connect

remotely to your computer over theInternet to optimize your system. You canstay on the phone with the tech or not —it’s up to you. Either way, it’s one of theeasiest ways to maintain or fix yourcomputer, at your convenience, by acompany with 25 years of experience incomputer security and performance.

A PC help service will help yourcomputer run faster and last longer. Andin these uncertain economic times,optimizing your PC makes you look evensmarter.

RegularComputer

MaintenanceIs Important

To The HealthOf Your

System.

Computer HealthComputer HealthComputer HealthComputer HealthComputer Health



There are at least two dozen peoplein Nigeria that want to give me twelvemillion dollars. Imagine that! People arevigorously competing with each otherto make me rich. You would think thatafter all the publicity over the last dozenyears everyone would know about theNigerian scam. Headhunters in NewGuinea know about the Nigerianscheme. Lost tribes in the Amazonknow about the Nigerian scheme. Sowhy do the scammers keep doing it?Because people keep falling for it.Some folks want to believe, and nothingwill stop them no matter what evidencesits in front of them.

E-mail scams like the one that keepsflowing out of Nigeria can be downrightdangerous. Not only have people beenscammed out of money, but in a fewinstances have actually lost their lives.That is a high price to pay for credulity.

Most unsolicited commercial mess-ages (SPAM) may be annoying, butthey do little more than eat up somebandwidth. The originators don’t wantto harm you, just entice you to buysomething. It’s sometimes called onlineadvertising.

As the Internet evolves, so do thescammers. They have become moresophisticated at attempting to trick usout of our money, hand over personalinformation, reveal passwords, frightenus or make us believe in something thatisn’t true.

For example, our current polarizedpolitical system has generated distrustof government in some places. A bandof swindlers has used these sentimentsto construct an email that “warns” youthat the Department of HomelandSecurity and the FBI believe that youare involved in either money launderingactivities or somehow complicit interrorist activity. Information like that,even if false, can make people uneasy.

Fortunately, the scammers have asolution. For the small sum of $370 the

E -Mail ScamsE -Mail ScamsE -Mail ScamsE -Mail ScamsE -Mail Scamsby Vinny La Bash, Regular Contributor, Sarasota PCUG, Inc., FL

www.spcug.org, [email protected]

Economic Financial Crimes CommissionChairman will send documentationcertifying you as a proper upstandingcitizen, thereby avoiding a messyprosecution and jail time. How couldanyone pass that up? These govern-ment agencies must be terribly busy,and isn’t it a great comfort to know thatthey can resolve important matters byemail if you’re willing to send them onlya few hundred dollars?

Congratulations! You’ve won thelottery! There are many variations to thistheme, but they all involve filling out aform before you can claim your prize.Don’t forget to include your socialsecurity number since they need toinform the IRS. What makes this scamso devious is that legitimate lotteriesreally do need this information. Onething that should puzzle you is howcould you possibly win a lottery youhaven’t entered?

Suppose you really did enter thecontest or bought a lottery ticket, whatthen? Legitimate enterprises are aware ofthese scams and will almost always pro-vide you with an alternate way of supplyingthe information. In other words, never becareless with personal information.

You receive an email informing youof a “problem” with your bank account.Strange, you don’t recall doing businesswith the bank. All you have to do toresolve the “problem” is click on theprovided link and supply informationthat the bank already knows if you area customer.

Tens of thousands of people receivethese messages. A few may actuallybe customers of the bank. Somebelieving the email is real, click on thelink, and are taken to a bogus site. Anyinformation provided won’t be used toresolve any “problems”, but instead beused to clean out your bank account.

There are so many scams out thereperpetrated by email it makes you wantto give up in disgust. That would beunderstandable if there were no way toprotect yourself, but many people forgetthe obvious: Use Common Sense.

When you get an email that asks youto be part of a plot to move large

amounts of money offshore to yourbank account by doing business withpeople you don’t know from a foreigncountry thousand of miles away,shouldn’t that arouse your suspicions?

Any text message that turns out tobe an image should be suspect. Theonly purpose for turning text intoimages is to defeat spam filters. Be onyour guard.

The bad guys are very creative andalways seem to be one step ahead ofeveryone else. The FBI provides aservice for citizens to receive the latestinformation about online scams. Formore information on e-scams, pleasevisit the FBI’s New E-Scams andWarnings webpage at http://www.fbi.gov/cyberinvest/escams.htm. Visit thesite at least once a month to be awareof new and exciting ways scammershave to separate you from your money.

The Samsung NX10 is a rangefinderstyle camera using a new lens formatcalled NX. What is most interesting aboutthis camera is that it uses a APS-C sizesensor, that is about 1.5x that of the FourThirds sensors. Of course, this meanslarger and heavier lenses than that of thePanasonic or Olympus cameras of similardesigns. While Canon and Nikon have saidnothing, rumors are rampant. I suspectthat we will see new mirrorless digitalcameras from these mammoths of theindustry in the later part of this year. Isuspect that the designs will be that ofrangefinder styles reminiscent of earlierNikon RF cameras of the 1940-1960 andthe same with Canon except they maybase it more on their popular G series ofcameras such as their G11.

So here we have it, a whole new classof cameras, you might say SLR camerasminus the R. I prefer to say RF style sincein my mind they are truly reminiscent ofcameras from the 1940-1960 time period.The advantage to this new group ofcameras is smaller size and lighter weightwhile maintaining the excellent imagequality associated with the dSLR cam-eras. Disadvantage, fewer lens choicesand, for the time being, relatively moreexpensive. Some of these cameras tendto be slower focusing but that is changingin the newer models.

DSLRContinued From Page 8


Name(s): _____________________________________________________Address: _____________________________________________________City:________________________________ State: _________ Zip: _______Home Phone: __________________ Business Phone: ______________ ___E-mail Address: ________________________________________ _____ __Date: __________

Not A Renewal Reminder

Membership ApplicationIBMPC Users Group Of Redding

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)

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YEAR

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Stop throwing away your inkjet cartridges!Let us refill them and save up to 60%We also offer services for toner cartridges

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IBM/PC Users Groupof ReddingP.O. Box 494778Redding, CA96049-4778

Bill Ball [email protected]

WindowsWindowsWindowsWindowsWindows&&&&&

MoreMoreMoreMoreMoreSIGSIGSIGSIGSIG

Wednesday — 11:30 AM - 1PMNo SIG Until Further Notice

Wednesday — 2:10 PM - 4 PMNo SIG Until Further NoticeSee map below for meetingplace.

DTP andDTP andDTP andDTP andDTP andGraphics Art SIGGraphics Art SIGGraphics Art SIGGraphics Art SIGGraphics Art SIG

Judi Ball [email protected]

Do you have an interest in creating DeskTopPublishing projects, such as flyers, businesscards, logos, newsletters, etc., or art andphoto editing and manipulation? We have aninformal forum, so bring a question, problem,project and we’ll all work together to solve it. Basic Windows knowledge of copy andpaste is a must.

Why Join AWhy Join AWhy Join AWhy Join AWhy Join AComputer GroupComputer GroupComputer GroupComputer GroupComputer Group?????

1. Benefit from a common interest in a personal(and costly) investment: Your business orpersonal computer.

2. Enjoy more of that investment by learningmore about it.

3. Share tips and tricks, as well as new andold ideas.

4. Become exposed to a variety of newhardware and software without salespressure.

5. Receive an informative monthly newsletter.6. Have access to various club func-tions and

all Special Interest Groups (SIGs).7. Find out that no one needs to be alone and

helpless with today’s computer technology.

No SIG until September 25At Jane Quinn’s Home, contactfollowing for information:

Includes Digital Cameras,Burning Music CDs, and DVDMovie Making

Multi-MediaMulti-MediaMulti-MediaMulti-MediaMulti-MediaSIGSIGSIGSIGSIG

Jane Quinn, [email protected]

Weekly SIG 1 - 3 PMNo SIG until SeptemberAnderson Sr Center(Only members will be able touse the club’s laptop to burntheir DVD movies.)

4th Tuesday4th Tuesday4th Tuesday4th Tuesday4th Tuesday Monthly Meetings Are At Monthly Meetings Are At Monthly Meetings Are At Monthly Meetings Are At Monthly Meetings Are AtThe RThe RThe RThe RThe Redding Libraryedding Libraryedding Libraryedding Libraryedding Library

1100 Parkview Ave.,1100 Parkview Ave.,1100 Parkview Ave.,1100 Parkview Ave.,1100 Parkview Ave.,off Cypress and to the right of City Hall.off Cypress and to the right of City Hall.off Cypress and to the right of City Hall.off Cypress and to the right of City Hall.off Cypress and to the right of City Hall.

We will be in the Community RWe will be in the Community RWe will be in the Community RWe will be in the Community RWe will be in the Community Room, which is to the leftoom, which is to the leftoom, which is to the leftoom, which is to the leftoom, which is to the leftof the main library door.of the main library door.of the main library door.of the main library door.of the main library door.

4th tuesday, july 27, 2010 annual ice cream socialcugr.apcug.org/pdf/mb201007.pdf4th tuesday, july...

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