The Computer Club Newsletter
February 2003
By Howard Jones
At the February meeting, Harold Ek presented an overview of "Digital Video
Editing" using professional software and hardware – this means expensive
tools. Bill Jochem followed up with an overview of Pinnacle software for a
very cost effective approach to video editing. You can convert your videos of
the family to digital format so that you can produce a CD containing edited
images for each of the family members.
The next meeting of the Computer Club will be held March 4th, 7
p.m. at the Yacht Club. Victor de Groote, the club’s new Vice President and I
will demonstrate "How to Build a Computer" which will also provide the basics
for upgrading, such as adding RAM (memory), installing a CD "burner" or
replacing a hard drive. I will also demonstrate "Filling Ink Jet Cartridges".
Both presentations will use a video camera to project what is being shown onto
the screen via a digital projector.
Viruses and Hoaxes are rampant. I’ve received the W32.Klez virus
10-12 times since the beginning of the year. In should be noted that there are
8 variants of the Klez virus listed by Norton. Also prevalent is the
W32.Bugbear.Worm virus. It is essential that an antivirus program protect your
computer. Most computers are delivered with one brand of software or another.
What is important is that you regularly download the updates to your virus
protection software’s program and the data files. I do this at least weekly.
Also, subscriptions to anti virus programs only last from 3 months to a
maximum of one year. At that point you can no longer download updates and must
pay to renew your protection or purchase a new software package. A current
antivirus program will identify a virus in an incoming email, isolate it, give
you the option to try to fix it (seldom happens), isolate it and then you may
delete it. Antivirus software also checks messages you send to assure that
they are virus free.
A quick way to check for a virus hoax or to obtain any information on the
Internet is to use the search engine in your browser. I use Google and have
installed their toolbar on my Charter/MSN home page. To download the Google
toolbar search for "Google" or go to
http://www.google.com/options/ and select "Google Toolbar", then
follow the instructions to download and install it. The toolbar makes searches
easy and fast. A search for information about hoaxes will lead you to Norton
(Symantec) at
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/hoax.html or to McAfee at http://vil.mcafee.com/hoax.asp.
To learn more about virus hoaxes go to
http://www.howstuffworks.com/virus.htm , which is a good site for learning
about many things. There are other antivirus programs for the more expert
among you.
The Computer Club is supporting the annual Tellico Village "Garage Sale" by
receiving donated computers, printers, scanners, monitors, etc. We will test
each item donated before they are priced and placed on sale to verify they are
functional. Villagers can contact me, Howard Jones at 458-9144 to arrange for
them to be brought to us or picked up. It would be helpful if the original
owners manuals with software/drivers, including licenses, could be provided
with all computer related items. Being able to verify that a piece of
equipment works by having the software/drivers will enable a new user to feel
they're not buying "a pig in a poke", thus increasing the value to the garage
sale effort.
The Computer Club has revised it’s website,
www.tvcuc.org . Under "Services" you will now find: The Forum, Flea Market
and First Level Support. These three areas of service are intended to help
Tellico Village computer users. You’re encouraged to attend a future meeting.
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