visit your web site at

8/14/2019 Visit Your Web Site At

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WWW.BRCS.ORG

VISIT YOUR WEB SITE AT

Monthly Magazine of The Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc.

Volume 17, Number 12 December 2009Next General Meeting Wednesday, December 15, 2009 @ 7:30 PM - Q & A Star ting @ 6:15 PM

Inside This Issue

3 MEMBERSHIP NEWS

4 PRESIDENTS MESSAGE

5 BACKING UP AND

RESTORING FILES7 WINDOW PAINS

8 HASTA LA VISTA

10 HOWTO FORWARD

EMAILS APPROPRIATELY

11 THEY DID IT THEMSELVES

12 EDITORS NOTE

14 CHAPTER NEWS

16 APCUG NEWSLETTER

20 HELP LINE

21 SIG INFORMATION

22 ACTIVITIES CALENDARS

23 MEMBERSHIP

APPLICATION

Richard is going to be showing us the new

Windows 7 operating system.

Richard says:

"Windows 7 has been out for a little while now,

so is it time to buy new or upgradeor do

nothing. These topics and new Windows 7

features will be discussed at this meeting as the

holidays approach.

Subjects like backup and a new feature called

Sticky Notes will be introduced.

Answers to all of your questions will be given

both through the presentation and at the end.

See you there."

Windows 7&PotpourriBy Richard Miller, SIG Leader,Director, and Past President


2/24

BOCA RATON

COMPUTER SOCIETY, INC

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

OFFICERS

President Steve Costello954-978-9010 [email protected]

Vice President Jerry Naditch561-865-1253 [email protected]

Treasurer Sherman C. Potter

561-495-6797 [email protected]

Secretary Larry Jablon561 368-8028 [email protected]

DIRECTORS

Bob Balogh 561-374-9287Immediate Past President

[email protected]

Jerry Bartzoff [email protected]

Richard Brenner [email protected]

Jerry [email protected]

Richard Miller [email protected]

CHAPTER PRESIDENTS

Gleneagles Jerry Bartzoff561-499-5150 [email protected]

Huntington Lakes Lou Strumlauf561-495-1476 [email protected]

Century Village West Bernie Semell561-451-1371

Kings Point Jerry [email protected]

Cascade Lakes George BrucksMilte Sherman

Hunters Run Joan [email protected]

FACILITIES

C.P.A. for BRCS Len Geronemus, P.A561 241-1040 No Listing

Facilities Coordinator Open

Help-Line Coordinator Larry Jablon561 368-8028 [email protected]

Web Master Jerry [email protected]

Web Master Assistants Stanley WarshawJerry Naditch

Membership Coordinator Richard Brenner

561-742-3234 [email protected] Assistant Riki Chicofsky561-499-9310 [email protected]

Boca Bits Editor Steve [email protected]

Public Relations Mort Mazor561-496-1733 [email protected]

SIG Coordinator Open

Genl Meeting Coord. Marty Greenlinger561-638-5483 [email protected]

Program Coordinator Vacant

Boca Bits is published monthly by the Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc. (BRCS) 5030 Champion Blvd., G-6#202, Boca Raton, FL 33496-2473. The BRCS is an independent, not-for-profit user group and is not affiliated inany way with any vendor or equipment manufacturer.

No warranty, expressed or implied, is made by the Boca Raton Computer Society, the Boca Bits editorial staff, orthe individual authors or contributors. This disclaimer extends to all losses, incidental or consequential, from theuse or inability to use any and all information in any issue of this publication. Unless specifically stated otherwise,the opinions expressed in any article or column are those of the individual author(s) and do not represent an officialposition of, or endorsement by, the Boca Raton Computer Society.

Advertising appears inBoca Bits as prepared by individual advertisers. The Boca Raton Computer Society does notendorse the products, services, or companies so advertised.

Copyright 2009 by the Boca Raton Computer Society. All rights reserved. Articles without additional copyright

notices may be reprinted in whole or in part by other non-profit computer user groups for internal, non-profit use,provided credit is given to Boca Bits and to the authors of the reproduced material. All other reproduction withoutthe prior written permission of the Boca Raton Computer Society is prohibited.

Submission Format

Any word processor or text editor capable of producing straight ASCII text files may be used to write your article.We'll make it as easy as possible for you, just don't do any formatting like use of the Tab key, Italics, Bold, etc.

Use the Enter key on your keyboard just to separate paragraphs. If you would like to include your formatting,please send a second file that can be used as a reference. Include your name and telephone number so we cancontact you if we have questions.

Transmission: Please send your article, or advertising copy, by email to [email protected], or viapostal mail to: BRCS 5030 Champion Blvd., G-6 #202, Boca Raton, FL 33496-2473, Attention: Editor.

Deadline: Deadline for each issue is 12:00 p.m. on the Saturday following the General Meeting.

Advertising Rates

Ad copy would be preferred in either Microsoft Publisher format, or in scannable camera-ready copy. Business

cards, line art, or halftone/line art combination original art is acceptable.

Rates are for CAMERA-READY COPY and must be pre-paid.Non-commercial classified ads for computer-related merchandise are published, subject to space availability, at nocharge to Boca Raton Computer Society members.

Size of Ad

1 3 6 12

Full Page (7 x 9.25") $90 $250 $475 $900

Half Page (7 x 4.25") $60 $150 $260 $500

Quarter Page (3.4 x 4.25") $40 $100 $200 $360

Business Card (3.4 x 2") $20 $50 $90 $160

Number of Issues

Tall Business Card (3.4 x 3.4") $30 $75 $145 $240

EDITOR

Steve Costello [email protected]

CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

Lee Reynolds [email protected] Balogh [email protected] Hirsch [email protected] Porterfeld ilonam1 (at) juno.comLinda Moore [email protected] Jablon [email protected]

GRAPHICS EDITOR

Jerry Dinerman [email protected]

DISTRIBUTION CHAIRMAN

Jerry Rutstein

ADVERTISING COORDINATOR

Vacant

PROOFREADERS

Jerry Bartzoff [email protected]

Jerry Flomen [email protected]

Boca Bits Staff

Wyatt Bell 07/1983 - 01/1984Richard V. Sandell 01/1984 - 01/1987Mark Lautenschlager 01/1987 - 01/1990Wayne S. Ackley 01/1990 - 05/1990Norman D. Olson 05/1990 - 01/1992Bob Hubbell 01/1992 - 01/1993Glenn Stocking 01/1993 - 01/1995Richard Miller 01/1995 - 01/1997Mel Macy 01/1997 - 01/1999

Richard Miller 01/1999 - 01/2000Larry French 01/2000 - 01/2001Bob Hirshan 01/2001 - 02/2001Larry French (Acting Pres) 02/2001 - 01/2002Oscar Segal 01/2002 - 01/2006Bob Balogh 01/2006 - 01/2009Steve Costello 01/2009 - Present

BRCS Presidents


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BOCA BITS DECEMBER 2009 3

Welcome New MembersNovember 2009

Marvin Silveston

Membership RenewalsNovember 2009

Albert Cataldi

Evelyn Chernetz

Max Enos

Olie Fernald

Robert H. Fleming

Alan Kaitz

John W Lange

Morton Newman

Expir ing MembershipsAs of December 2009

Murray L. Apfel

Nicolas Arena

Joseph Bendersky

Victor Blumenthal

George Brucks

Marvin Buchalter

Ted BullockJerome Catz

Paul Davis

Alfred Eriv

William Fingerett

Merete Fischer

Marvin Fishman

Herbert Foxman

Milton M Ganberg

A J Hendler

Hirsh Jacobson

Joshua & Harriet Kalin

Ken Lassiter

Richard Levine

Herbert Littman

Dennis Lucey

Paul Merlin

Elaine Pare

Sherman Pessin

M.C. Portnick

Leo RatnerWalter Schaffer

Armond Schiff

Martin Shack

Marcel Spiegler

Harvey & MyrnaSpringel

Elizabeth Stretch

Robert Tanzer

Joel Whitman

Isabel Yarnall

Judith Yellen

Irene & StanleyZimmerman

Membership News & Views

Expired MembershipsAs of November 2009

Antoinette Dube

Martin Harris

Henry Kurlansik

Ben Licht

Ruth Resnikoff

Jack Rubin

Gloria Schnitzer

Alex Williams

"The difference between e-mail and regular mail is that computers handle e-mail, andcomputers never decide to come to work one day and shoot all the other computers. "

Jamais Cascio


4/24

4 DECEMBER 2009 BOCA BITS

BRCS.org Email Discontinued

YES, our Email service has been discontinued as of

December 1, 2009.

EXPLANATION

Our Email, like most others, is handled by our webhosting service. Early this year our long time host sold

their clients to another service, who then proceeded to

move our website and Email accounts with only a few

days advance notice.

Unfortunately, the new service was not able to transfer

the Emails complete with user name and password.

We now also find ourselves looking for a new web

host, due to many problems we have encountered.

For a comparison of web mail providers, both paid and

free, we suggest you visit http://sn.im/brcs-webmail.

Keep in mind that the free services allow advertising and

pop-ups to support their activities.

January 2010 Presentation

Gene Barlow will once again be presenting to BRCS,

at our January 20, 2010 general meeting. The following

is directly from the email from the email setting up the

presentation:

"If any of your members are looking at Windows

7 as their future Operating System, we will showthem the best way to setup and install Windows 7on their current Win XP or Vista System. Wellalso explore the benefits of using a Sandbox utilityto protect the integrity of your hard drive. Finally,there are exciting new features to improve thebackup of hard drives that we will introduce in our2010 tour."

Check out the January 2010 issue of Boca Bits for

more detailed information.

Paul Nappo November 2009 Presentation

Paul once again gave a great presentation to his fellow

BRCS members, this time on the subject of

troubleshooting your PC.

Paul went through a slide presentation outlining

various ways to determine whether the problem could be

software or hardware related.

The importance of regular backups before having

problems was stressed, as well as making restore points,

and making sure you have all the necessary information

prior to having problems. Two pieces of free software

were recommended for gathering important information:

Belarq Advisorhttp://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

SIW (System Information for Windows)

http://www.gtopala.com/

Both of these pieces of software will give a software

inventory, hardware inventory, and much more.

It is recommended that you run these whenever you

add or remove software and/or hardware, to keep the

inventories and other information as up to date as

possible. Also, you should print the reports out and keep

in a safe place, for easy access to the important

information.

Thank you Paul, for an informative presentation.

Steve Costello

December 2009

Steve Costello

Boca Raton Computer SocietyPresident s MessageBy Steve Costello, President, BRCS

Communications from the President of Boca Raton ComputerSociety, regarding impor tant issues and information.


5/24


Introduction

If I had to pick a single area where most computer us-

ers are extremely lacking, it's in the area of backing up

and preserving the documents and other items that they

generate during the course of their computer activities.

Most people just dismiss the subject with Oh I don'treally have anything of importance, and even if I do, I

can always redo it easily. These people may only use

their computer for the Internet and e-mail. But, redoing

your address book and bookmark listing can be a task in

itself.

And, if you use a program such as Quicken or Money,

you have lots of financial info that would be a real job to

rebuild if all your files were lost.

I reminded a friend about backing up his Quicken

stuff, and he said that he really didn't have to, as Quicken

always backs things up automatically, which it does. But

it backs things up onto the same hard drive, into a differ-

ent folder. So, about 6 months later when his hard drive

failed, his backup was worthless, and he was a very un-

happy person.

What Does Backup Really Mean?

Backup is the generation of duplicate files, often onto

a removable medium, for all the things that you have

generated on your machine. Generally, these are files thatyou have produced, not the program files which came on

the CD. These duplicate files must be stored on some-

thing which can be separated from your machine, and

definitely separated from your internal system hard drive.

Since most people have only one hard drive, it does

not make good sense to backup onto that same drive.

And, if you have your main drive partitioned into say a

C and D drive, you will still lose your backup if the drive

fails. If however, you have a second hard drive on your

computer, you are much safer storing your backups there.

There are online services which offer online backup

at a small cost, or no cost. This can offer access from an-

other computer, when you might need that data. But I

personally don't want my private data etc. on an online

computer, where it is possibly subject to being hacked or

having that operation go out of business.

Note:

This article is only discussing backup of your per-

sonal files and data, not a complete backup of your

system drive, including your operating system

(probably Windows). That is a separate topic which

will be covered in another article.

STORAGE OF BACKUP MEDIA

The backup media should be stored in a place where

they it will not become lost, stolen, or damaged.

When I was in business (many

years ago), we backed up all our

files every day, with a rotating

system of seven tapes. Copies

were stored in a fireproof safe,

and periodically, we placed a cur-

rent copy in our safety depositbox at the bank.

Just putting copies on the shelf doesn't protect against

their loss in case of a fire. Obviously, most users don't

have to go to such extremes.

(Continued on page 6)

Backing Up And Restor ing FilesBy Ron Hirsch, BRCS Member & Contr ibut ing EditorContact Ron at: [email protected]

If you find this material useful, you may want to download this artic lein PDF format, from our web site www.brcs.org.

This allows readers to keep the mater ial either as a PDF file, and/orpr int it out, and place it in a looseleaf notebook, for future reference.Ron Hirsch

"Just putting

copies on the

shelf doesn't

protect against

their loss in case

of a fire. "


6/24


But, for important information, it's a good idea to peri-

odically put a backup copy into a secure and fireproof

place, such as a home safe, or your safety deposit box.

In order to be able to follow and use the material in thisarticle, you must be conversant with Windows Explorer,

or a similar file manager. Earlier this year, I presented

several articles on this activity, with several exercises on

the subject.

If you are not familiar with using a file manager to copy

files and add new folders and subfolders, I would suggest

that you bone up on this subject first, and then get back to

this article.

What Do I Have To Do FirstFirst of all, the typical user who has programs in which

files are saved, generally has no idea where they are. So,

the first thing to learn is just that.

When you are in a program such as Quicken, your files

are generally saved in the same folder as the Quicken pro-

gram. Other programs may use the My Documents folder,

My Files folder, the Documents and Settings folder, or a

special folder that the program has set up to store things.

I personally set my own folders for storing things.

And, fortunately, most programs allow the user to specify

where things are stored.

MASTER FOLDERS

In WordPerfect, I have a master folder set up, name

WPWIN. Under that I have about 56 subfolders for all the

categories that I have defined. There is a folder named

BocaBits, which holds all the articles I've written for

this publication.

One of the main advantages of having your personal

files organized in a master folder is that they are easier to

copy to a backup medium. Just copy the main folder,

specify to include the subfolders (if that is needed), and

everything underneath will be copied. This is far easier

than having to locate many different folders, and copy

from each one individually.

SUBFOLDERS

Remember, using subfolders is a must. Some years

back, one of my friends stored all his files for all his pro-

grams in the same folder, with no subfolders.

Finding a file to use was almost like looking for a nee-

dle in a haystack. And, name your files using descriptive

long filenames which all operating systems since Win-

dows 95 can use. Which is easier to find Letter to Jack

re the new building.doc or let2jreb.doc?

STEPS TO CONSIDER

Here are some steps that I would suggest users con-

sider - change the names to suite your desires.

1. Add a new folder on your C: drive, and call it All

My Stuff (without the quotes.)

2. Add as many subfolders under it as you need. For

example, (assuming you have these programs) add

one for Word, Quicken, Money, Excel, etc.. Then,

add as many subfolders under each of the main sub-

folders you've added. For example, the Word

folder can have subfolders named Letters,

Faxes, IRS correspondence, etc.. (Don't use the

quote marks - they are used here for clarity.)

3. Then in each of those programs go intopreferences or settings, or wherever is appropri-

ate, and set your new path and folder name there as

the place to keep stuff. In something like Quicken, it

wants its files where it specifies, but when you call

for a backup in Quicken, you can specify the path/

folder. So this folder you set up will always have

duplicates of Quicken's files, ready to be copied out

to the removable media you choose.

4. For programs such as Outlook Express or AOL, it's

a good idea to save your address book, and your

bookmarks. Finding the names of these files, and

where they are located will be a good exercise for

you in using Windows Explorer, and learning more

about your browser.

(Backing Up And Restoring Files Continued from page 5)



7/24


Window PainsBy Bob Balogh, Director, BRCS

Dont forget to visit the BRSC Web Site at www.brcs.org for informationabout club pr ograms, SIGs, meeting information etc.If you have any computer questions or problems or if there is any specifictopic you would like to see discussed at my pre-meeting SIG why not e-mailme [email protected] .Bob Balogh

Introduction

Last month we covered Security items for Windows.

This month we will deal with built in Maintenance pro-

grams as well as some we might wish to add from outside

sources.

Why Maintain Our Computer?

The first question we should ask is "Why should we

maintain our computer?" The answers are really quite

simple.

View the cartoon and then just peruse the list below:

1. Speed up Startup time.

2. Speed up internal running of programs.

3. Keep Spyware & Viruses out.

4. Avoid computer breakdowns.

5. Add life in years to your computer.

6. Avoid freezing and error messages

7. Save data.

8. Save money.

Startup

Let's look at these items one at a time. "Startup" time

is like watching water boil. It never seems to be fast

enough. The first clue is to do what I do. Start your com-

puter, put on some shorts, go outside and pick up your

newspaper, if you drink coffee put up a pot and then goback to your computer and it will be already to go. Of

course, you could always sit and watch it boot up and

look at your watch. By the way, let me know when the

eggs are ready.

If the computer is taking too long to boot it is due to

the fact that you have too many programs starting up at

the same time. Well not exactly at the same time, but in a

predetermined order. Meanwhile why are they all starting

up? Do you need them? Do you know what they do?

How do you find out?

OK, click on Start >Run (on the right)> and type in

msconfig. On the drop down click on the Startup tab .

Once this is opened you will see a list of items that are

loaded at Startup.


msconfig Startup Tab


8/24


Hasta la Vistaby Lee Reynolds, Member BRCS

I'm told the literal meaning of " hasta la vista" in Spanish is "until the seeing." Ormaybe a more adequate translation is " see you later."

But in this column, I'm using that phrase to invite you to take a look at Micr osoft'slatest version of Windows: Vista.

Windows Update

All owners of previous versions of Windows are fa-

miliar with Windows Update, which allows you to auto-

matically download and install the latest security and fea-

ture patches from Microsoft.

The version installed with Windows Vista has beenmodified somewhat from previous versions, and is sup-

posedly easier to use. This is explained in brief on this

page:

h t tp : / /www.microsof t .com/windows/product s /

windowsvista/features/details/windowsupdate.mspx

Windows Vista: Features Explained: Windows Update

Vista's Windows Update feature is on the Start Menu,

as in previous versions, and can also be accessed in a

Control Panel applet. It is no longer available as a directlink in Windows Help, as it was in Windows XP.

In Vista, you can automatically download and install

both Important and Recommended updates, not just High

Priority ones as in prior versions.

You can schedule or postpone the computer restarts

that are nearly always required after installation of up-

dates.

There are a number of options you can select from to

give you greater control of the update process.

A very good and complete tutorial on this is available

here:

h t t p : / / w w w .b l eep i n g co mp u t e r . co m/ t u t o r i a l s /

tutorial140.html

Understanding Windows Update and Extras in Windows

Vista

As I look at this page right now, there are sections of

the document pertaining to configuring and using Win-

dows Update in Vista, installing and accessing the Win-

dows Vista Ultimate Extras, and uninstalling previously

installed Windows Vista Updates and Extras, as well as a

Frequently Asked Questions section.

In the left pane of the Windows Update screen you are

given these options:

Check for updates

Change settings

View update history

Restore hidden updates

Updates: Frequently Asked Questions

Learn about Windows Update Ultimate Extras.

(The last option may not be visible, unless you arerunning the Ultimate edition of Windows Vista.)

If you click on the link in the Windows Update screen

for Change Settings, you are given 4 choices:

Install updates automatically (recommended)

Download updates but let me choose whether to install

them

Check for updates but let me choose whether to

download and install them

Never check for updates (not recommended.)

When there are updates available, you can click on the

link for View Available Updates in the right pane of the

screen to see a list of what you can download and install.

You can set or remove the check mark in front of each

one to choose whether or not to download and install it.



9/24


10/24


A computer expert received the following directly

from a system administrator for a corporate system. It is

an excellent message that ABSOLUTELY applies to

ALL of us who send emails.

Please read the short letter below, even if youre sure

you already follow the proper procedures.

Do you really know how to forward emails?

50% of us do, 50% DO NOT.

Do you wonder why you get viruses or junk mail?

Every time you forward an email there is information left

over from the people who got the message before you,

namely their email addresses& names.

As the messages get forwarded along, the list of ad-

dresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is

for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer

can send that virus to every email address that has come

across his computer.

Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell

them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will

go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit.

Thats right, all of that inconvenience over a nickel!

How do you stop it?

Here are several easy steps:

(1) You MUST click the Forward: button first and

then you have the full editing capabilities against

the body and headers of the message.

When you forward an email, DELETE all the other

addresses that appear in the body of the message

(at the top). Thats right, DELETE them.

Highlight them and delete them, backspace them,

cut them, whatever it is you know how to do. It

only takes a second.

(2) Whenever you send an email to more than one per-

son, do NOT use the To: or CC: fields for adding

email addresses.

Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) field for

listing the email addresses.

This is the way the people you send to will only see

their own email address. If you dont see your

BCC: option, click on where it says To: and your

address will appear. Highlight the address and

choose BCC: and thats it, its that easy.

When you send to BCC: your message will auto-

matically say Undisclosed Recipients in the TO:field of the people who receive it.

(3) Remove and FW: in the subject line. You can

rename the subject if you wish or even fix spelling.

(4) ALWAYS hit your Forward button from the actual

email you are reading.

Ever get those emails that you have to open 10

pages to read the one page with the information on

it? By Forwarding from the actual page you wish

someone to view, you stop them from having toopen many emails just to see what you sent.

(5) Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It

states a position and asks you to add your name

and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or

your entire address book.


How to Forward Emails Appropr iatelyWrit ten by Dorothy Por ter feld

A Member of The Computer Club, Inc., Sun City Center, Flor ida

www.scccomputerclub.org/ilonam1 (at) juno.com

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the authors permission for publication by APCUG member groups;

all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).


11/24


The email can be forwarded on and on and can

collect thousands of names and addresses.

FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a

couple of bucks to a professional spammer be-cause of the wealth of valid names and email ad-

dresses contained therein.

If you want to support the petition, send it as your

own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your

position may carry more weight as a personal let-

ter than a laundry list of names and email ad-

dresses on a petition. (Actually, if you think about

it, whos supposed to send the petition in to what-

ever cause it supports? And dont believe the ones

that say that the email is being traced, it just aintso!)

(6) One of the main ones I dislike is the one that says

something like, Send this email to 10 people and

youll see something great run across your

screen. Or, sometimes theyll tease you by saying

something really cute will happen. IT IS NOT

GOING TO HAPPEN!!! ( Trust me, Im still see-

ing some of the same ones that I waited on 10

years ago!)

I dont let the bad luck ones scare me either, theyget trashed. (Could that be why I havent won the

lottery??)

(7) Before you forward an Amber Alert, or a Virus

alert, or some of the other ones floating around

nowadays, check them out before you forward

them.

Most of them are junk mail thats been circling the

net for YEARS!

Just about everything you receive in an email thatis in question can be checked out at Snopes. Just

go to http://www.snopes.com.

* * * * *

(How To Forward Continued from page 10) SIG NewsThey Did It ThemselvesAn October 2009 HardwareSIG Repor tBy Larr y Jablon, BRCS Secretary

Introduction

"Captain Ray" Sollberger wasn't feeling up to par on

Tuesday, the 27th of October, so he asked Bill Frisch to

sit in for him. Bill called me, and I brought the projector.

XP In Vista

When I got there Charlie Burnaford was already there,and had his laptop going, showing a virtual Windows XP

working perfectly inside Windows Vista, using the

VMWare program.

Bill arrived and saw what Charles had going and told

him to run the first part of the SIG. Charlie then gave us

a great demonstration of what one could do using one

Operating System within another, using VMWare (a

Freebie, no less). As an example, if one were to buy a

new computer with Windows 7, and Windows 7 didn't

yet have a driver for your printer, you could revert to XPwhich we are all so used to, and print from there.

XP/Vista Dual Boot

Then Bill Frisch, who came with two loaded laptops,

showed us how a dual boot (Vista and XP) would work

in a laptop that came with two hard drives installed. Bill

explained what could then be done, and what couldn't be

done with this type of setup.

Conclusion

So between these two guys, three running computers,

and Captain Ray's usual enthusiastic crowd, we had a

successful evening even though the "big guy" wasn't

there. It just goes to show what talent we have amongst

the members of BRCS.

Larry Jablon

* * * * *


12/24


APCUG Newsletter

Linda Moore, APCUG Secretary sent out the first

monthly APCUG newsletter "to update all of our member

user groups as to what is going on at APCUG."

I have published it inBoca Bits, in its entirety, so that

everyone interested will be aware of how much APCUG

helps user groups, as well as upcoming training,

webcasts, conferences, etc. that are, or will be, available.

Word And Excel Tips Syndication

I received an email from Jason Dyck, Content

Specialist for Sharon Parq Associates ,

in which he offered to syndicate Microsoft Office Word

& Excel tips, both beginning and advanced, inBoca Bits.

The following is directly from their home page at

http://sharonparq.com:

"Sharon Parq Associates (SPA) is a publisher ofhigh-quality information on the Internet. Ourflagship site, Tips.Net, provides a gateway tomany other sites focused on providinginformation in a variety of topic areas. We alsooffer several weekly newsletters includingExcelTips, WordTips, Cleaning Tips, OrganizingTips, Cooking Tips, and Gardening Tips."

I have subscribed to the Word tips RSS feed for

sometime now, and have found a lot of information I did

not previously know.

I am sure that their other tips will be of a like quality,

and will be a valuable addition toBoca Bits.

Window Pains

Bob Balogh's Window Pains column this month ties in

well with the PC Troubleshooting presentation given by

Paul Nappo in November.

This is the kind of quality information we expect to

keep providing in both Boca Bits and during our general

meetings.

My Health

I have received a lot of email, and personal

conversations regarding my comments in the NovemberEditor's Note, regarding my recent illness.

Thank you all for your concerns and best wishes. I

seem to be getting a little better all the time, and have

been able to keep up with my editorial duties a little more

easily, at least so far.

Comments Solicited

I am always trying to find good, relative, and

informative content, so need your feedback.

Please send your comments and / or suggestions to:

[email protected]

Please include a subject line, that begins with:

Bits Comment

This will enable me to quickly distinguish it from

other emails.

Editor s NoteBy Steve Costello

This is where the editor communicates with you, the reader.

Here you will find information regarding upcoming changes in formatand / or content.


13/24


Note:

It is not absolutely necessary to do all of these pre-

vious steps if you're willing to do your backup work

with all your files where they are now. These stepsare just offered to make your job of backing up eas-

ier. If this is the case, you can skip to the section

entitled What Medium Should I Use To Back

Things Up.

How Do I Get My Existing Files Into These New

Folders

FINDING WHERE FILES ARE STORED

If you don't know or can't find where the program

stores the files you create, go into the program, generate

a new document, and do a save on it. When the save

window comes up, it may well show you the path/folder

that the program uses. So you can now go to that folder,

and find all the stuff you have done previously. While

you're in the save window, you can now specify your

new repository for your files in this program, assuming it

will cooperate.

If this does not happen, do a search in Windows

(Start>Search) to find that file, and the location path will

be available there.

COPY EXISTING FILES

Rather than move the existing files, I'd copy them into

the new folder you set up. That way, if there are any

goofs (perish forbid), nothing has really been lost.

In the case of a program like Quicken, just open

Quicken, and press CTRL+B. This should open the

backup window, and you can type in the path/folder

you've just made.

Later on, when you know that everything has been

safely copied into your new folder tree, you can safely

delete the files in their original locations if you want to

do so.

When you've done this for all your important stuff,

you will now have a new filing cabinet with drawers

for all your important files.

What Medium Should I Use To Back Things Up?

In the olden days, the choices were fairly limited.

Floppy disks and tapes were about it. These days, those

two media are not the ones of choice.

Floppies have limited storage space, and most people

don't have a tape drive, nor should they bother to get one

these days.

USB DRIVES

The two choices that I would recommend are external

USB drives, which many people have or flash drives

which many people also may have. If you're not familiar

with these devices, you should become familiar - they are

very inexpensive now and are the perfect media for back-

ing up purposes, transporting, and archiving files.

ZIP DISK OR CD

Or you can use a ZIP disk, if you have a ZIP drive, or

use a CD rewritable disk. To burn a CD, you must be

familiar with the process.

If you have a recordable or rewriteable drive on your

machine, there should be a software utility to handle

copying files. Usually this utility is on the CD that came

with your hardware. But, it's possible that the utility was

not loaded on at the factory. Check through the manual orhelp files to learn more about this.

Remember, once you get into the habit of backing things

up, you can feel more comfortable about not losing lots

of time and effort trying to reconstruct things.

And, when you get a new computer, your new machine

can take the backup medium you used, and copy it all (as

desired) onto the hard drive of the new machine.

One Further Recommendation To Save Your

Stuff

UPS

One area that most users don't bother to consider, is

the use of an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). These

units plug into your wall outlet, and then the computer

and monitor plug into it.




14/24


Computer and Technology Club

Suzanne J Wertheim

MAN OF THE YEAR

The October 26 meeting of the Cascade Lakes

Computer and Technology Club began with the

presentation of the clubs Man of the Year Award, for

2009-2010 to Mike Blackman.

Mike was presented with a plaque bearing the words,

"He Never Refuses Anyone Needing Help". Mike was

completely surprised.

PRESENTATION

The meeting continued with a presentation by Jerry

Naditch, the vice president of the Boca Raton Computer

Society. The informative and interesting topic was The

New World of Internet Browsers.

With the aid of a vivid PowerPoint presentation, Jerryintroduced us to different browsers that are now

available. In addition to Internet Explorer, that we have

been familiar with for many years, he gave us detailed

information about: Firefox, Google Chrome, Opera and

Safari. He made comparisons with charts showing the

advantages and disadvantages of each.

He spoke about security risks and how adware/

spyware can get into a computer. (Knowledge that these

bad guys can find their way into our computers,

reinforces the need to have excellent protections

installed.)

Numerous browsers can be running on one computer

at the same time. You can also have multiple home

pages. Different browsers can be advantageous for

different purposes.

For more details, a summary of the presentation can be

seen at http://brcs.org/browsers.php.

FOR CASCADE LAKES EYES:

Watch your e-mail messages from the club to be

informed of meeting dates.Every meeting holds a wealth of information and

allows time to answer your burning questions.

Every little bit of knowledge to help you make best

use of your computer will move you along to being more

comfortable in our technological world.

Come to the next meeting; theyre great!

Meeting Of 11/12/09

40 members, guests, and new members attended.

I explained that I would be hosting the next few

meeting as the president of vice.

The speaker was Richard Miller who spoke on the

subject of the new operating system, Windows 7. He

used the actual program and demonstrated some of thenew feature. He was very positive about the new system

as opposed to VISTA. It seems that Microsoft has

cleaned up most of the problems with VISTA in this new

system. One of the big advantages was that 2 programs

can be displayed side-by-side on the monitor allowing

easy transfer of information between programs.


Cascade Lakes Computer ClubGeorge Br ucks, Milton Sherman, Co-Presidents

Huntington Lakes Computer ClubLou Strumlauf, President


15/24


There were many questions and comments as to length

of time to install as an update. From the comments and

Richards reply was that VISTA would take

approximately 2 hours after wiping out the old operating

system and about 5-6 hours for XP. I remarked that I had

seen Windows 7 for sale at Costco for $179.00 for the

Home Version. Richard recommended Ultimate, which

has many more features.

The bottom line was that if your current system is

operating well, leave it alone. The cost to install

Windows 7, including labor would exceed the cost of a

new computer that had Windows 7 pre-installed.

He stressed the importance of not trying to upgrade,

but starting from a clean system.He also emphasized the importance of backing up your

system as a general rule. There are only 2 types of hard

drives: those that have failed and those that are going to

fail since they are just mechanical devices.

The coffee & cake that was prepared by Bev Berger

was immediately devoured.

Bill Berger, Vice Pres.

Computer Club Classroom

The EAGLES have landed and right into the Computer

Club Classroom. This season we have scheduled more

classes with a bigger variety of subjects to accommodate

the growing Gleneagles computer usage.

Classes have been well attended and registrations for

December are higher than ever.

We are fortunate to have a wonderful group of

Teachers and Aides and appreciate their volunteering to

help our neighbors become more computer proficient. All

residents are invited to attend a class or join our

volunteer group.

Gleneagles residents who consider themselves to be a

Computer Mechanic are invited to become a part of our

team that maintains the 12 classroom computers. They

also help update and rebuild donated computer systems

for distribution to Gleneagles employees as a gift. So far

this year more than 12 systems have been handed out.

Internet Access

The Computer Club maintains an open use Internet

Computer at Lomond Hills Satellite for your use and

practice. Guests can print boarding passes or just bring

their own laptop and use our wireless Internet service

until the new Wireless Internet now being installed

throughout the community is completed. Tests show that

all the present XP, Vista or SEVEN systems will work

just great. We suggest however, that all residents updatetheir Browser, to the latest version (its FREE), for

greater security with the WiFi system.

We have been stressing in our classes and meetings

that residents should use the Gleneagles Country Club

web-site on a regular basis. They can read and print the

Eagle, view resident phone numbers, and keep up with

the events calendar. Golfers can enter their golf scores,

sign up for Couples events, major Tournaments and golf

Schools, plus view tee times, all on-line. Its a great tool

that has improvements almost monthly.

Meeting

The November 19th. meeting was conducted by our

VP, Josh Kalin along with Program Chair Jack

Rosensweig, who had invited Marty Traum to speak on

Buying and Selling on the Internet. It was a wonderful

presentation that touched all the facets but did so in plain

English with marvelous Internet and Power Point

graphics. Marty is an excellent speaker and very

knowledgeable and was prepared to answer all questions,

which he did as well.

The next Computer Club meeting will be Monday,

December 21, 2009 at 2:30 p.m. in the Strathearn

satellite.

V i s i t o u r w e b - s i t e a t : h t t p : / /

www.gleneaglescomputer.org for class schedules and

registrations.

(Chapter News Continued from page 14)

Gleneagles Computer ClubJerr y Bart zoff, President


16/24


APCUG Monthly Newslet terNovember 13, 2009This is the first APCUG monthly newsletter to update

all of our member user groups as to what is going on at

APCUG and believe me there is a lot.

Below is a list of the topics to be covered in this

newsletter.

New Membership Database PDF updates &

Word document updates

APCUG Membership Early Renewal Contest

with software prizes

Election

Magix Webcast

LiveMeeting training sessions

Windows 7 LiveMeeting

Upcoming APCUG Regionals Both scheduled

and tentatively scheduled events

Update on the APCUGs new membership

database:

Well, this PDF update process for the new

membership database has really been a learning

experience for all of us. A number of users had problemswith this process, primarily because they didnt have a

full version of Adobe Acrobat or they were not using the

latest Adobe Acrobat reader. No doubt, there were lots of

other reasons why this didnt work the way that it was

originally envisioned.

Congratulations to the 2/3 of APCUGs member UGs

that have responded to my request but there are still some

UGs that have not yet responded. Please respond by

Friday, November 20, 2009. There are several things that

are holding up the deployment of the new membershipdatabase and they are testing of the new online payment

system and getting all of APCUGs member groups to

provide the basic information on their UG.

The CDB that we have been using is over 15 years old

and is now prone to crashing on almost a daily basis. As

a result, it is not possible to extract the data on your user

group from the existing CDB.

Once we get the new membership DB deployed, this

will go a long way in automating the membership

renewal process but I will talk more about that later in

this newsletter.

There are three possible ways to submit your UGsinformation and they are:

Using the PDF update form that was previously

provided

Using the attached Word document or

Cut and paste the fields into the body of an email

message

APCUG still has to complete the testing process for all

aspects of the new DB and then train APCUGs advisors.

But if your UG does not send in your information, then it

will not be included in the new membership DB.

APCUG Early Membership Renewal Contest:

Every UG that renews their membership and it is

received by APCUG by December 31, 2009, they those

UGs will be entered into the early renewal raffle for a

variety of software prizes that your UG can use any way

that they see fit. This can include using the software as a

raffle prize, or providing it to one of your leaders to

enable them to do their UG job better.

The deadline for renewing is February 28, 2010 and if

a UG has not renewed by then, they will have until

March 31, 2010 before the UG will lose their APCUG

membership benefits. Below is the URL for renewing.

http://www.apcug.net/membership/renewal_application.htm

If you renew using PayPal, please send an email to

[email protected] stating your name, and the full

name of your UG. Currently, the only thing that is

provided via PayPal is your name and the treasurer and I

spend a lot of time trying to figure out which UG hasrenewed, if an email is not sent. Fortunately, this is but

one of the problems, which will be solved by the new

membership DB.

If you are going to send your check via snail mail to

APCUG, then please use the correct snail mail address,

which is



17/24


APCUG

P O Box 671294

Dallas, Tx 75367-1294

Birl Smith, APCUG treasurer has already receivedseveral checks but we were lucky to get one of the

checks. Why? Because it was sent to the Las Vegas mail

forwarding address, except the mail forwarder has moved

to one of LVs suburbs. So, please make sure that all

sources for APCUGs address are updated. The correct

address is also included on the membership renewal

webpage URL shown above.

Update on Upcoming APCUG Election:

The deadline for UG members to submit their names

to stand for election to either the board of directors or the

board of advisors was October 29, 2009. APCUG has a

slate of UG members who have submitted their names to

run in this election. This slate will be published on

November 23, 2009 and UG members can go to

SharePoint, http://sharepoint.apcug.net/ to see the

biographical sketches on each candidate with the

candidates picture.

If you have not registered on the SharePoint site,

please encourage your UG leaders and members to click

on the option Create a user account. It will take from 2-

7 days for your account to be set up. This is because

APCUG does not have any paid staff and the APCUG

volunteers that handle this function also do a lot of

traveling for their business.

The candidate bios and pictures will also be sent out

in the December 6, 2009 mailing. Voting will end on

December 14, 2009. The election committee consisted of

Jay Ferron (director), Birl Smith (director) and Mitch

Garvis (advisor).

Magix Webcast:

There will be a Magix webcast on Wednesday,

January 18, 2009 at 9:00 PM EST (New York).

Magix is one of APCUGs regional sponsors and they

are one of the leading producers of software for any kind

of multimedia, which includes photos, graphics, videos,

music, media and much, much more.

Check out their website for more detailed information

and then be sure to put watching this webcast on Magix

on your schedule.

http://www.magix.com/us/

Windows 7 Live Meeting:

The Windows 7 Live Meeting will be held on

November 24, 2009 at 9:00 PM EST (New York). The

URL for the Windows & Live Meeting for November 24

(Tuesday) https://www.livemeeting.com/cc/usergroups/

join?id=F8C4G7&role=attend&pw=p%23pG%2CZB9r.

APCUGs Regional Meetings:

APCUG is co-sponsoring the following regional

meetings with a local user group for each event.

January 23, 2010 -- Computer Tech 2010 at

Northwest Florida State College, Niceville, Florida

February 19-21, 2010 Phoenix Regional and

APCUG Annual Convention

The keynote speaker will be Jay Ferron, who is an

acknowledged expert on security, mobility devices

and operating systems. His presentation will be on

Windows 7. Jay has the following certifications

ADSI, CEH, CWSP, CISM, CISSP, MCDBA,

MCITP, MCSE, MCT, MVP, NSA IAM and hisblog is located at http://blog.mir.net/.

There will be both an end-user track and an IT Pro

track. The end-user track will include lots of

information on social networking (Facebook,

LinkIn, etc.), genealogy, digital photography, etc..

The IT Pro track will include presentations on

Windows 7, Disaster Recovery, Microsoft Server

2008 R2 and Social Networking for businesses.

In addition, there will also be a computer build eventbut the available seats are limited and there is an

additional charge. So, if you have always wanted to

build your own computer, now is your opportunity

but you will need to register early to secure your

seat.

(APCUG Newsletter Continued from page 16)



18/24


Many don't feel that this is of any value to them, but

I'll bet that they've had a crash during a power blink.

The primary use of such a device is to keep your com-

puter and monitor running when there is a power failure,either an extended one, or momentary power blink.

The purpose of a UPS is not to allow you to keep

working for an extended period when the power goes

off, but to allow you to save your work, and shut down

in an orderly fashion.

Or, when the power blinks, your system doesn't

crash, and you lose the work that you have on screen.

Even a one tenth of a second blink can wipe out what

you're working on. And, if you haven't just saved it,

you've lost it.

SURGE PROTECTION

Furthermore, all computers should be connected via a

high end surge protector, to protect against power surges

and line fluctuations. A UPS is also just about the best

protection that you can use here. And, these days, UPS

units are available for not much more than the cost of a

good surge protector.

Check Costo for some good values here. A capacity of

300-500 VA is a reasonable range for most home com-puters.

Remember, as a minimum, you need to have your

computer and monitor connected via the UPS. Without a

monitor, your computer isn't good for much.

Conclusion

So, happy backing up - try it. The day will definitely

come when you'll be glad you did.

And once you get to be an expert at it, you can im-

press your friends by teaching them.

* * * * *


Also look for the Linux Install event, and the Gamer

event for all you gamers or want-a-be gamers

If you are flying (or driving) in from out of town,

the host hotel is the Clarion, which is just a coupleof miles from the site of our meetings. The Clarion

will provide transportation to and from the event

site. In addition, both breakfast and dinner will be

provided as part of your room fee.

The Saturday evening social is planned for Wild

Horse Pass Casino, which is a high-rise hotel that

just opened last week. So come join the fun and

enjoy some warm weather in Phoenix.

The following regional meetings are tentatively

scheduled, assuming that the local user groups completethe planning process and are approved by the APCUG

board of directors.

March San Francisco

April Dallas

May New York

June Toronto, Canada

August -- Ohio

Keep checking the APCUG webpage, http://www.apcug.net/, for details of these and other APCUG

meetings.

Conclusion

I hope that you found this newsletter both interesting

and informative. Now, if you are interested in being

involved and learning the latest technology, start by

volunteering for your local user group and come join the

fun. APCUG is here for the benefit of end-users, small

business owners, developers and IT Pros.

If your user group is interested in expanding their

membership base, then you might want to consider

expanding to include everyone, who is interested in

being on the leading edge of technology.

Cheers,

Linda Moore

APCUG Secretary

(APCUG Newsletter Continued from page 17)


19/24


20/24


BRCS Member s Help LineThis help line is for BRCS members who need answers

to technical questions, but cannot wait for the monthly

meetings. Help-line volunteers offer their time to assist

BRCS Members only!

Note: Some volunteers will answer questions only by

email.

If you would like to become a Help Line volunteer,

contact:

Help Line Coordinator Larry Jablon:

Phone: (Noon to 10PM only) (561) 368-8028

Email [email protected].

Digital Photography

Jerry Dinerman............................. [email protected]

Judith Yellen ................. [email protected]

General Computer Questions

Larry Jablon ................................................561 368-8028

...................................................Afternoon and Evenings

Hardware

Ray Sollberger ..........................................(561)487-2854

HTML

Jerry Bartzoff (email only)[email protected]

Most Any Topic (See list on her site)Pamela Tabak.....................http://tinyurl.com/ask-pamela

Paint Shop Pro

Murray Apfel [email protected]

Skype (Telephone via the Internet)

Luis Sanchez ...............................................561 483-6771

Windows XP, Vista, Most eMail Programs

Bob Balogh [email protected]

Spanish Interpreter (Will relay questions)

Luis Sanchez ...............................................561 483-6771

PLEASE REMEMBER:When you call the help-line, the people who answer are

volunteers. please treat them courteously.

Helpline contacts are not paid employees. They are

fellow club members, who have volunteered to try to

assist you. Please interact with them as such.

PERSONAL ADS

We are happy to run a personal ad, free of charge,

and subject to space availability, for members of

BRCS.

Items must be computer related hardware or

software.

Send information, with a subject line beginning with

the words BRCS Personal Ad, via email to:

[email protected]

Computer Help At Your HomeFrom a BRCS MemberThese club members make house calls. They havedifferent skill levels, areas of expertise, and willcharge different rates.

The listing of any name does NOT constitute arecommendation by BRCS of the person providingthe service.

Call, or email, them for pricing, and to make

appointments.

Percy Alexander 561 483-4378

Bob Dobski 561-265-0437

Herb Goodman 561-488-4465

[email protected]

Richard Miller 561-393-5813

Lee Reynolds 954-972-4961

Ray Sollberger 561-487-2854


21/24


Meeting / SIG Informat ionLocations

Patch Reef Park

Exit I-95 at Yamato Road. Go West to second left turn

after Military Trail (approximately 1/4 mile). Patch Reef

Park is on the South side of Yamato Road.

South County Civic Center

On Jog Road, four or five blocks South of Linton Boule-

vard (opposite the Morikami Japanese Gardens).

Sheriffs Office,

345 S. Congress Ave., Delray Beach.

Please leave the last parking space open for the

SIG leader.

He/she has a lot of equipment to bring in for

the class. It is impractical for the SIG Leader to

carry it all from the general parking lot.

Meetings

Board Meeting

2nd Monday, 7:30 p.m. at Patch Reef Park.

General Membership Meeting

3rd Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at South County Civic

Center. Q & A Tables start at 6:15 PM.

Special Interest Group (SIG) Locations

Hardware & Software, Photoshop CS4 , & Windows

XP/Vista/Win7 SIGs.

Sheriffs Office, Room 219

Advanced Mutual Fund Investing

Sheriffs Office, Room 108

Digital Photography

Patch Reef Park

Special Interest GroupsAdvanced Mutual Fund Investing

Purpose: Advanced research of mutual funds market.Contact: Murray Apfel:

[email protected];

or

Gary Elsner

[email protected]

Meets: Fourth Tuesday, 7:00 PM

Digital Photography

Purpose: Getting the most out of Digital Cameras.

Contact: Gerald Dinerman 736-5601or

Marvin Wolf (637-9592)

Meets: First Wednesday, 1:30 PM

(Dec09 Rescheduled to 2nd Wednesday at 1:00

PM)

Hardware & Software

Purpose: Discussions & hands-on hardware demos.

Contact: Ray Sollberger (561) 487-2854

Meets: Fourth Tuesday, 7:00 PM

Photoshop CS4

Purpose: Introduce Adobe's newest digital program

Photoshop CS4

Contact: Murray Apfel - [email protected]

Jerry Dinerman - [email protected]

Meets: Second Tuesday, 7:00 PM

Fourth Thursday, 7:00 PM (Begin Jan2010)

Windows XP/Vista/Win7

Purpose: Using windows XP/Vista for pros & beginners.

Contact: Richard Miller (561) 393-5813

Meets: Second Thursday, 7:00 PM


22/24


Boca Bits Activities Calendars

Be sure to check the BRCS website athttp://www.brcs.orgfor locations, cancellations or changes, prior to the SIG or meeting you plan to attend.

S M T W T F S

1 2 3 4 5

6 7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 28 29 30 31

December 2009

DAY MEETING TIMETue 8 Photoshop CS4 SIG (New Date) 7:00 PM

Wed 2 Digital Photography SIG (Rescheduled) 1:00 PM

Thu 10 Windows XP/Vista/Win7 SIG 7:00 PM

Mon 14 Board Meeting 7:30 PM

Wed 16 Question & Answer Tables 6:15 PM

General Meeting 7:30 PM

Sat 19 Boca Bits Submission Deadline 1:00 PMTue 22 Advanced Mutual Fund Investing SIG 7:00 PM

Hardware SIG 7:00 PM

DAY MEETING TIME

Wed 6 Digital Photography SIG 1:30 PM

Mon 11 Board Meeting 7:30 PM

Tue 12 Photoshop CS4 SIG 7:00 PM

Thu 14 Windows XP/Vista SIG 7:00 PM

Wed 20 Question & Answer Tables 6:15 PM

General Meeting 7:30 PM

Sat 23 Boca Bits Submission Deadline 1:00 PM

Tue 26 Advanced Mutual Fund Investing SIG 7:00 PM

Hardware SIG 7:00 PM

Thu 28 Photoshop CS4 SIG 7:00 PM

S M T W T F S

1 2

3 4 5 6 7 8 9

10 11 12 13 14 15 16

17 18 19 20 21 22 23

24 25 26 27 28 29 30

31

January 2010


23/24


For office use onlyMembership Number ______ Renewal Date___/___/___ Check No.______ Recommended By __________________

Member ofThe FloridaAssociation of

Computer User Groups

Member ofThe Association of

Personal Computer User Groups

MEMBERSHIP APPLICATIONBoca Raton Computer Society, Inc.

5030 Champion Blvd., G-6 #202Boca Raton, FL 33496-2473

Membership is $45.00 per year and includes the monthly Newsletter,Help Lines, attendance at SIG meetings, and more.

First Name ______________________________Address _______________________________City ____________________________________State _______________ Zip ________________

Last Name ______________________________Home Phone ( ) ________________________Work Phone ( ) ________________________My Email Address _______________________

We depend upon volunteers to maintain the quality and efficiency of the organization.

Your participation will not only help the club, but help you become more proficient onthe computer. Please let us know your fields of interest.

1.________________ 2.________________ 3.________________ 4._______________

Community Computer Clubs that you belong to:

Alternate Address (for our Snowbirds)Do you want your newsletter, Boca Bits, mailed to another address for part of the year? If yes, complete the following:

Address _______________________________City ___________________________________State _______________ Zip ________________

Home Phone ( ) _______________________Dates: From __________ Through __________

mm/dd/yy mm/dd/yy


24/24

Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc

5030 Champion Blvd., G-6 #202

Boca Raton, FL 33496-2473

About The Boca Raton Computer SocietySince 1983, members of the PC UserGroup of Boca Raton, now the Boca RatonComputer Society, Inc., have been helpingone another use and learn about computers.

We have nearly 300 members, includingcomputer professionals, business owners,home users, and novices.

We welcome hundreds of visitors to ourmeetings each year. Network with otherswho share your interests!

GENERAL MEETINGS(OPEN TO THE PUBLIC)

General meetings are held on the thirdWednesday of each month, at the SouthCounty Civic Center, 16700 Jog Road inDelray Beach, Florida.

The Civic Center is on the east side of JogRoad, between Clint Moore Rd. andLinton Blvd., opposite Morikami Park.

At 6:30 p.m. several QUESTION and

ANSWER sessions are held to offerassistance to those seeking help withvarious computer topics. These sessionsare staffed by club members.

The formal meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.,with most meetings featuring presentationsby outside speakers including Microsoft,IBM, Adobe, Corel, etc.

The Board of Directors meets on thesecond Monday of each month, at 7:30p.m., at Patch Reef Park on Yamato Road,just west of Military Trail, in Boca Raton.

Members are welcome to attend.SERVICES

BRCS members receive our monthlynewsletter, Boca Bits, which providesinformation about meetings, SIGS, andincludes articles by prominent writers,about current computer-related topics.

Special Interest Groups (SIGs) aresmaller meetings which explore specifictopics in greater depth, such as Graphics,Hardware, Software, Windows, Scanners,email and Internet, to name a few.

Although we support the sharing of Public-

domain and user-supported software, theBRCS strongly opposes illegal distributionof copyrighted software.

From time to time, the BRCS arranggroup purchase discounts on majhardware and software items.

DUES (U.S. address only)

Membership is $45 per year and includthe monthly newsletter, Help Lines, attedance to SIG meetings and more.

Dues may be paid at the general meetinor mailed to the address listed below.

Visit the Boca Raton Computer Societys Web Page on the Internet

http://www.brcs.org