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The
Tellico Village Computer Users Club's monthly meeting will be held
on April 7th at 7pm on the top floor of the Yacht Club.
Registration is on the Mezzanine level - 4th floor. -------------------------
The program will deal with two unrelated but important subjects.
First will be a panel review of current computer viruses and preventive techniques.
Second will be a presentation on Types of Electrical Disturbances and Protective Equipment
by Wayne Tinder,P.E. . Wayne is an Electrical Engineer and he
will present information about the various types of electrical damage
that can occur to our electronic components and how we can protect
against them. Subjects to be discussed are:
Lightning and other surges
Brownouts and Blackouts
Source of surges into a home
Protective devices
Loudon Utility offer for electrical
distribution surge protection |
Board Meeting
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The
next board meeting will be held Tuesday, April 14th, at 3pm
at the Rec. Center. All interested members are invited to attend.
Visitors are welcome.
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!!!!!!!!!SPECIAL MEETING NOTICE!!!!! |
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We expect parking will be an issues at the Yacht Club on our meeting night due to another meeting scheduled at the same time!
If parking close to the building is important to you we suggest you consider arriving early.
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Quick Links
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CHANGES HAVE BEEN MADE TO OUR WEBSITE!
We've added a Calendar
section to the TVCUC website to make it easier for you to find out
about what is scheduled in the coming months. In
addition, our Home Page has been changed to provide quick access to the Calendar and the Upcoming Events section.
In
the coming months we will be reviewing the website with an eye towards
changes that will make it even more user-friendly. Dean Miller,
our new chair of the Communications Committee, will be heading this
review as part of our overall communications strategy.
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Be sure to review the entire web site at www.tvcus.org.
There you will find; notes, handouts from previous presentations
and other valuable and useful information - free of charge. | |
| Message from the President
by Sharon Addison |
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We
have an interesting meeting coming up on April 7th that I'm sure you'll
want to attend. First is a brief panel review of current computer
viruses and preventive techniques. That will be followed by Wayne
Tinder, P.E.'s presentation of "Types of Electrical Disturbances and
Protective Equipment" Both of these will help you protect the
investment you have in your computer system and ensure its continued
operation.
The March 21st Garage Sale was very successful,
thanks to the many volunteers who worked the event and those who
donated items for the sale. Preliminary results show that the TAP
program netted about $1,500, the Boys & Girls Club netted over
$4,000, and we all had a great time! The proceeds will
provide much needed support to these two very worthwhile programs in
our community. To each of you, thank you all for your significant
help and support. It couldn't have been done without you!
This
is a significant week for news about security issues. The
"Conficker" worm has been spread to millions of PC's around the world
and many people don't know they're infected. The worm is expected
to activate on April 1st and it's unknown as to what the effects will
be. Because it's infection is at such a deep level, it can
compromise personal material such as account numbers, logins, and
passwords. A good article on this subject is "The 7 Most
Important Things to Know About Conficker" at pcmag.com. The link
ishttp://blogs.pcmag.com/securitywatch/2009/03/the_most_important_things_to_k.php
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The overwhelming majority of systems infected with
Conficker (also known as "Downadup" and "Kido") were infected through a
vulnerability in the Windows RPC facilities. This vulnerability was
patched in October. The patch is at http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/MS08-067.mspx.
If
you installed that patch before Conficker came out (late December '08)
then you were protected and still are. If you haven't installed the
update then it's essential that you do so. Windows Vista is technically
vulnerable in this way, but the exploit is almost impossible to execute
on it. Conficker is basically an XP problem. Ensure that you're
protected by checking the last update date/time of your anti-malware
software and by checking Windows Update manually. Leave no critical
updates uninstalled!
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Membership
by Bob Kutschera
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IMPORTANT CHANGE TO MAILING OF CHECKS
Effective immediately, please mail checks FOR ANNUAL DUES AND CLASS FEES to a NEW ADDRESS which is located in the More Than Mail office in the village. Funds for TAP activity should NOT be sent there. That new address is:
Tellico Village Computer Users Club
298 Village Square drive, Tellico Village, #128
Loudon, TN 37774.
NOTICE
DO NOT use PO in the address. Using PO in the address forces your letter to go to the
Loudon post office.
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EMAIL ADDRESS CHANGES. When
you make a change to your e-mail address, please remember to
send us a notice of that change. Please notify me at bkkutch@yahoo.com or Ethel Tatro at ehtatro@earthlink.net.
When you don't notify us we are unable to get you our
newsletter or any other important news. Thanks.
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We received five new memberships last month. Their
names are listed below. Please look for them at our general
meeting and make them welcome. They are:
Eileen and Joseph Kinson
Sandra Mucha
Phillip and Dana Rothrock
Bob Wright
Bernard and Carol Wysocki
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The Membership Committee would like to ask a favor of you. Rather than paying your annual dues (cost is $15.00 per membership)
at the reception table before each monthly general meeting, we would
greatly appreciate it if you would send a check made out to TVCUC at
the new club address given above.
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| TAP (Technical Access Program)
by Warren Sanders |
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Warren had no TAP report fo this month so I (editor)
thought you would like to know what he, Vince and the others in that
group do with those really old computers they are unable to
program. Now you know!
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| Don't Forget Apple
by Karen Brown |
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At last month's Computer Club meeting you heard advice on buying a new computer.
Here's more advice: don't buy any new computer without
taking a look at the Macintosh. My friends in the Computer Club might
call me a traitor, but I went back to Mac and I love it.
Why do you want to take a look at a Macintosh?
·
Macs don't have the inherent security problems of a Windows-based
machine. Yes, there is always a risk, but few viruses are written for
the Mac environment, not only because there are fewer people using
them, but also because Macs aren't generally used in the business world
(more in the creative world).
· You won't have to contend with the problems associated with Vista.
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It's incredibly easy to adapt to a Mac. After all, Windows was
originally developed because of the ease of using the Mac.
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If using a PC sometimes confuses and frustrates you, you will be much
less confused and frustrated with a Mac.
What about my programs, you say?
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If it's written for a PC, it's written for a Mac (unless it's very
obscure). You can use Microsoft Office (buy the student package),
Quicken, Firefox, etc.
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Mac has an incredible variety of built-in programs: iPhoto to store,
organize, crop all your pictures; iWeb to develop your own Web page
easily; Mail, Address Book, & iCal (calendar program); even Garage
Band if you want to play or record your own music.
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If you have old PC programs that you just don't want to lose (and that
probably wouldn't run under Vista anyway), you can buy and load Windows
XP (either with a separate boot-up or through a program that runs
Windows in a parallel environment to the Mac). That's what I did for
some of my old programs.
The Apple Store (at the West Town Mall),
teaches Mac classes. All you have to do is buy the class package and
you can take a class a week for a year if you so desire. Both Best Buys
sell Macs, although only the store by Cedar Bluff has an Apple
representative available to help you. You can also purchase a package
that lets you call an Apple representative (someone in the U.S. who you
can actually understand) any time for 3 years.
I used Macs in my
professional life and had one at home until 2000, when I switched to a
PC. As I said before, I love being back to the Mac. You will, too.
P.S. My husband, who is essentially computer illiterate, had no trouble.
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If you have questions for Karen you can reach her at khb306tellico@gmail.com
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| Learning Center
by Bob Mugge |
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If you need help making better use of your Microsoft Works program, here is an APRIL opportunity to do just that!
Beginners Microsoft Works - April 21, 23, and 24th from 10 AM to 11 AM
Intermediate Microsoft Works - April 21, 23, and 24th from 11 AM to 12 noon.
These
classes will be conducted by Ken Ray. To enroll in the
class, contact him via email at derkvr@charter.net before the first day
of class. Payment is to be by check made out to TVCUC and will be
received on the first class session.
The classes will be held at the Chota Rec Center - Room D.
The
BEGINNERS Microsoft Works class will be on April 21, 23, and 24th at
the Rec Center from 10.:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. Ken will cover an
introduction to word processing, data bases, and spreadsheets. The cost
for these three sessions is $5.00.
The INTERMEDIATE Works
class will meet on the same dates from 11:00 to 12:00 and will be an
extension of the BEGINNINGS class with: mail merge for labels and
envelopes, reports for data bases, and spreadsheets. The cost for
these three sessions is also $5.00.
If you are interested in attending these classes please contact Ken as mentioned above
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| Free Stuff, Cartoons & Photographs
by Frank Fritchman |
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Here is a website, sent in by Audrey Larson,
which may be of interest to some of you who have electronic
items, phones, cameras, etc., you no longer need. Go to www.gazelle.com and
there you will find a place to sell used items. I don't have any
experience with this company but it looks interesting.
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I dare say that most of us in the computer club
would say we do not know what we would do without Google. I would
also say that most of us have learned how to use Google by
simple trial and error and have never read much about how best to
use it. Here is a site which will interest some of
you. Go to www.googleguide.com/ and
look around. You will be surprised how much better your search
results will be when you understand how to better access this wonderful
tool. Good searching!!
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This first photo was provided by Bob Mugge and is a
view of Diamond Head and Malibu in Oahu, Hawaii. It was taken on
2/17/09 from an Hawaiian Air Lines B717 after takeoff from Honolulu on
the way to the Big Island. His camera is a Panasonic
DMC-FZ28 18x zoom digital.
 Bob
took this shot of the skyline of Auckland, New Zealand after
dark. It was taken (hand-held) from the deck of a sailboat
(Spirit of Auckland) he took on a sailing dinner cruise on
2/16/09. The intelligent auto mode was used. (It is much
better viewed in its original form so ask him to see that if your are
interested.)
Finally, below is a great picture sent in by Bob
Kutschera. It is the sunset at the North Pole with the moon at its
closest point last week.
Bob did not take the picture but he said this
about it. "A scene you will probably never get to see in person,
so take a moment and enjoy God at work at the North Pole. You see
the sun directly below the moon. An amazing photo and not one easily
duplicated. The Chinese have a saying that goes something like
this: "When someone shares with you something of value, you have an
obligation to share it with others!""
Thanks for sharing all three of these pictures!
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God not only has wonderful views for us at the North
Pole but they are also available to us here in East
Tennessee. Be sure to get out of the house late at night or
early in the morning and see what has been given to all of us. Have a great month in the yard or on the links and we will see you at the meeting. | |
