NBCUG - New Bern Computer Users Group {NBCUG MINUTES

NBCUG MINUTES

2007 - Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2008 - Jan Apr July Oct

July 2008

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, July 19, 2008 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 52 attendees and 7 new Members.

Nate Salsbury was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table was rich to-day: a Notebook PC, a Bubblejet Printer, assorted ink cartridges, cables, etc: many items quickly found new homes.

Nate welcomed the new Members and described how we have no 'Dues', only a $3.00 Admission Fee, and that they can become Members simply by their act of registering to-day.

For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug at always-online . com

Nate assured us (several times) that he was not going to mention his beloved BarberShop Quartette.

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concludedthat we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $253.95.

VOLUNTEERS:
Nate Salsbury reviewed the Volunteers who regularly support NBCUG:
Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name-tags and manages the name-tag list (a name-tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

We no longer have a Program Commitee but we continue to have a Moderator Committee which consists of: Nate Salsbury, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Jim Miller and Rob Reiner.

PROGRAM: 'BUILD YOUR OWN PC'

Nate introduced our program by telling us that we MUST visit http://pages.suddenlink.net/wamaruna/tribune.html
That is the site that is provided by Wayne Maruna: Wayne is the Presenter of to-day's program. The site gives us access to dozens of Wayne's former 'Taberna Tribune Articles'; his most recent Article is "NBCUG- A great resource".

Wayne described his primary occupation as "Accountant"; but that working with computers is a "paying hobby". 'Building your own PC' was previously described to us by Max Myover (1/20/01) and by Al Friedlander (6/18/05).

Wayne (with Jim Miller as the Projectionist) displayed and discussed his prepared slides. Later, Wayne e-mailed us the link to his slide-show:
http://pages.suddenlink.net/wamaruna/index.html (48 pages and 11 MB)

The slides illustrated topics like: Top Ten Reasons to Build Your Own PC; Anatomy of a Computer; the choices/prices of CPUs and Motherboards; the choice of which Case, etc Wayne then presented a series of step-by-step photos of the assembly of the motherboard, CPU, Hard Drive, etc into a working computer.

He built his PC to run Windows XP Home but it is upgradeable to VISTA. Some of his choices included: 4 GB RAM, 400 Watt Power supply, two DVD burners, 250 GB Seagate hard-drive and an AMD CPU; he prefers an OEM Operating System rather than a 'Retail OS'.

Some of his additional comments were:
-he prefers to buy from NewEgg.com rather than from Tiger Direct -total assembly time...once the components were in-hand... was about 1 1/2 hours -total cost of components of his PC (without the Operating System): $517.00 -comparison of the cost of the components...to build a similar but 'adequate' system: $ 307.00 (e.g. with just one DVD burner, etc) -he did not use a wrist-strap to ground himself..."I like to live dangerously"

Wayne completed his presentation and then answered or discussed multiple questions, such as:
-where can I find a tutorial about understanding/modifying the 'PowerOnSelfTest' (POST) process?...it might be found thru a Google search

-how to decide whether to upgrade or buy a new PC?...will depend on your needs, the capability of your CPU, your motherboard, your OS, etc

-is it possible to build your own portable PC/laptop?...this would be quite difficult as there are only limited options for buying compatible components

-how to remove dust from your PC?...use canned compressed air, NOT a high pressure air hose, and NOT a vacuum cleaner (is too-strong and can generate dangerous static electricity)

-how does he choose his BIOS settings ('Basic Input/Output Settings')?....he begins with the manufacturer's default settings and then chooses between the options that are offered, like 'fast boot or slow boot', the order of loading applications, turning off unused apps, etc.

Wayne added a caution about some 'rogue software' that is currently circulating under many names (e.g. AV '2008'); it is sales-oriented and it purports to scan our systems for problems, then it reports multiple problems which it offers to fix for a fee. This is not a 'virus' but it is to be avoided and "don't fall for it". One Member described downloading it and then having difficulty extracting from his PC; another Member described downloading it and then successfully removing it using the free Windows Defender. A Member mentioned using the Microsoft product 'Windows Live OneCare' for malware-cleansing but he added that this is not free but that it is sold by Microsoft. A Member mentioned using Microsoft's 'Malicious Software Removal Tool'.

Dave Wallace asked Wayne to discuss the Taberna e-mail list (which Wayne
manages): it has over 350 Members and has some standing rules which are similar to those of NBCUG.
Personal conflicts via e-mail are uncommon.

Nils Hokansson recommended a strategy to use if you feel you MUST respond to a personal conflict by e-mail: initially enter your 'To:' address down in the body of your e-mail, compose your message and then wait 24 hours and THEN re-read it and make the proper 'To:' entry and send it, if you still want to. This prevents hasty answers.

Nils Hokansson discussed Windows Updates: his choice is to be automatically notified about their availability but he wishes to control which ones to accept and when to download them.

Wayne invited our questions and comments until all had been answered; he was thanked and then he received enthusiatic applause.

A Member asked for advice about upgrading his Windows XP to Service Pack 3...in view of some recent e-mails describing problems with this. Jim Cason discussed some SP3 problems with PCs that have an AMD CPU; he has successfully upgraded many PCs with SP 3. Two other Members described successfully upgrading multiple PCs with SP3.

We adjourned at 10:20AM.
Next meeting: October 18 with a presentation by Jim Cason , topic TBD.

Recorded by Dan Edwards.

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April 2008

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, April 19, 2008 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 81 attendees including nine new Members.

Jim Miller was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM; he remarked that this is the first of our new 'Quarterly Meetings'.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table was empty to-day.

To-day we enjoyed something new: several plates of (free) cookies and cake were presented by some of our Members. Jim Miller asked that "the Ladies who made the cookies please raise your hands": they did so and they received enthusiastic applause.

Jim welcomed the new Members and described how they become Members simply by their act of registering to-day.
For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $157.44.

VOLUNTEERS:
Jim Miller reviewed the Volunteers who regularly support NBCUG:
Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

PROGRAM:
Jim Miller introduced Don Wainwright and Don then presented our Program:
'Microsoft System Configuration Utility--A basic understanding of the msconfig utility'.

Don reviewed some background: this is his first presentation to NBCUG; he strongly feels that we should NOT become an 'e-mail only' club (which was an option mentioned at our last Meeting); therefore he volunteered to present to-day's Program; he noted that we are (mainly) 'users' and not 'techies''; he feels that we should have 'audience-driven' topics; so he requested our input about topics--then organized and displayed them to us--then had us vote on which topics we preferred. The result: MSCONFIG.

Don explained MSCONFIG by projecting both prepared slides and real-time screen-shots. then he expanded on the bulleted points. Don passed out a number of printed handouts of his slides; in addition, after the Meeting, Don e-mailed the slides so
that all Members can review them and/or print them out. Note: the
emailed Attachment also includes an added slide of 'Links'.

Don's remarks were closely and enthusiastically attended; he welcomed and addressed nearly continual questions and comments by the Members.

Don added some comments:
-msconfig has been bundled with Windows since Win 98; it can also be downloaded by users of Win 2000 and Win 95

-msconfig can be very useful to improve performance. Don asked how many of us felt our PC was not performing well: about 20 hands were raised

-using msconfig is easier (and safer) then editing the Registry. Don asked how many of us have had the problem of 'leftovers' from incomplete uninstalls after uninstalling a Norton or McAfee product? about 15 hands were raised. And, how many of us have edited the Registry? about 5 hands were raised.

-when using msconfig: Don discussed how 'non-techies' can use the options offered in the 'Startup' tab and how they should avoid the options in the 'Services' tab

-the 'Manufacturer' column in the 'Services' tab is useful to help identify a running Process

-re using the 'System Restore' option in the 'General' tab: he is 'not a big fan' of System Restore; he prefers to change settings using Safe Mode

-HP Printers...and other HP peripherals...often add many many drivers to Startup. Several Members commented on these excesses of the HP 'All-In-One'
product

-Dave Wallace described his organized elimination of many entries from his Startup list: he now has only six items

-when you work to improve the performance of your PC: in addition to pruning the Startup entries, remember that now the 'de facto standard'
amount of RAM is one GB

-Startup entries can be identifed by Googling them

-re using 'OK' or 'Apply': they both will perform the task but ''OK'
performs the Apply function AND it will also close the window

-unchecking an entry does NOT delete the program

-Don recommended that we download the 'Tools' addition to msconfig: it is available...free.. for Win XP SP2 from Microsoft. This 'Tools' addition does not contain 'new' programs but rather is a useful 'congregation' of several utilities which already exist in your OS.
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=9689F6E9-ADED-44B8-BBBB-BEAE1B4A4BC9&displaylang=en

-re Registry Cleaners: Don likes and uses the CCleaner utility; it is important enough to be a topic for a future NBCUG Program http://www.ccleaner.com/

-Don likes...and runs... several utilities on all his PCs: Windows Defender, Spybot Search and Destroy, AdAware, AVG

-re Windows Defender: Don likes the help he gets from the 'Software Explorer' utility. In Windows Defender under the 'Tools' tab, click on 'Software Explorer' to "View or monitor all software that is running on your computer".
Dave Wallace asked if Don has ever had Win Defender find a problem? Answer: yes, Defender has found problems.

Don enthusiastically...and lucidly... discussed all of these topics; he addressed many, many questions...until our mandatory end-time at 10:30AM.
He was thanked and was applauded.

At our last Meeting (on January 19) we agreed on our schedule for the rest of 2008:
April 19: managed by Don Wainwright.
July 19: managed by Wayne Maruna.
October 18: managed by Jim Cason.

Recorded by Dan Edwards.
(danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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January 2008

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, January 19, 2008 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 51 attendees including one new Member.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered free cables, a hard drive, a book and many storage-boxes.

Jim Miller was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM.

For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/
Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $144.61. Our expense was $150 to K of C for rental. Jerry announced that...because of another commitment...the K of C will not be available to us on February 16.

Jim Miller reviewed the Volunteers who regularly support NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities
management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller (Chair), Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Then, Jim announced that...after to-day... he will retire from the Moderator Committee Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

Dave Wallace announced that his 'Pickin and Grinin' cannot use the Mall at this time; they await input from the new manager of the Mall.

Jim Miller reported that the 'Once Upon a Mattress' presentation (by the New Bern Civic Theatre) is superb: he highly recommends it.

Jim Miller announced that we need 'Road Maps' As we are not able to address 'Peace in the Middle East', maybe we can address the the future of
NBCUG: he then introduced Dave Wallace and Dave conducted the remainder of this Meeting.

Dave Wallace approached our problems by first reviewing some history of NBCUG, beginning with when NBCUG began in 1994: the first 'mover' was Nate Salsbury who proposed that there be a face-to-face meeting of the users of Donnie Benner's Bulletin Board (four of those users are present to-day!); this meeting was a success and there followed meetings at the Berne Resturarant, the Craven Community College and elsewhere; the 'NBCUG' name was proposed by Fran Knapp; the first ISP (CoastalNet) came to New Bern and e-mail replaced the Bulletin Boards (there were twelve BBS in New Bern at one time);the first President was Jim Gray at a time when NBCUG had just 5 or 6 Members.

Significantly, a formal organization structure...including Officers and Commitees...was discussed, but that idea was discarded in favor of one that Jim Gray proposed: having one Member at a time...taking turns... take complete responsibility for a Meeting, and: announce/publicize the Meeting AND preside AND provide a Program (or run an 'Open Forum'). That plan was successful for several months, but then it evolved into Dave Wallace doing all three tasks for many years.

Then, for the last 2-3 years we have tried a 'Moderator Committee' and a 'Program Committee'. These have produced some outstanding Programs but there are some major problems: uncertainty about the Programs, falling attendance (it once averaged in the 60s or 70s...and once hit 142... but recently averages 48), and shrinking Treasury. Many recent NBCUG e-mails (at least 31) have confirmed the concern of the Members; they have discussed our problems and suggested various solutions.

Dave proposed three possible outcomes to our problems: (1) NBCUG could no longer have Meetings--we might change to just communicating by e-mail; (2) continue having 'social' Meetings but without defined Programs; (3) continue scheduled Meetings, with Members actually participating by announcing/publicizing/presiding/presenting Programs.

Dave favors Option (3) and proposed returning to a structure where...in turn...a Member will take complete responsibility for a Meeting: e. g. announcing/publicizing/moderating/providing the Program (or moderating an Open Forum).

Hob Bonnett commented: it is important to remember that we all have different interests--so NBCUG should address our 'mixed interests' and 'mixed abilities'; a 'fixed term' for a Volunteered job is the best way to go--rather than an 'indefinite' job asignment; consider Quarterly Meetings; we once had several active 'Special Interest Groups' (Mac, Linux, Graphics, Website) and maybe it is time to have a Newbie SIG; he will volunteer for one SIG Meeting.

Jim Cason commented: consider Quarterly Meetings; Options (1) and (2) are probably not viable,; a frequent 'Open Forum' format would probably not survive; Option (3) is the one most likely to work; be aware that our 'Member List' is very unlike those 'Members' that regularly attend Meetings; he estimates about 100-150 postings/appeals each month to the NBCUG e-mail list; volunteering to present a Program won't be viable unless it is scheduled months in advance; there is considerable time and attention required to prepare some programs: each of the ones he presented last year required about 20 hours of work to prepare it and enter it into his website. We should nourish a contact with the Computer Dept at Craven Comm College about: new Members, our interests, what we can offer, and available courses.

Frank Fiederlein commented: he asked if there was interest in a Program on 'Basics'?...about 15 hands were raised; he offered to present and moderate a Program on Basics; he requested that....before such a Meeting...we post our questions/interests well in advance of the Meeting; he requested that someone make a laptop and a projector available. He would like to see a Program on Macs.

A Member commented: before any Open Forum Meeting we should post our questions-- then the Moderater can choose...and prepare...what to address.

Chris Earner--who became a New Member to-day--commented: we need younger Members--a likely source is attendees at Craven Community College; a 'Membership Committee' might be effective; we should each look at our own motivations re NBCUG ( e.g. 'socialization' or 'get answers' or 'like to teach'); we should be specific about what topics we would like to see addressed (e.g. he could expound on Assembly Language--but he doubts that this is what we want). He is interested in how NBCUG would benefit from a 'Publicity Chairman'--someone who would contact the Sun-Journal etc about NBCUG. Chris is new to New Bern; he asked for suggestions about publicity.

John C. Tayloe asked: how many of us would take responsibility for a single Meeting?...little or no response.

Several Members suggested tactics to build up the Treasury e.g.: a yearly membership fee of $3 on all Members...with the Admission Fee remaining at $3 (no vote was taken); a 25 cent fee for coffee ( no vote was taken); a contribution to NBCUG of at least $1 every time a 'Freebie' item is taken from the Sale/Donation/Freebie table; donation of eatables (e.g. a cake) before NBCUG Meetings...with a $1 fee for each serving (several enthusiastic comments followed).

Dave Wallace then asked for shows of hands: should we continue to have regular Meetings? ..at least 30 said Yes; how many of us would "consider volunteering for something''?..about 12..(and no-one gave specifics); should we have a Meeting every two months?...No; should we have Quarterly Meetings? a large majority said Yes. Jerry Tetrault said the K of C will usually be available on third Saturdays...but if that date is preempted we tentatively agreed to change to the fourth Saturday

Accordingly, we agreed that our Meetings in 2008 will be on April 19, July 19 and October 18. No decisions were made re 2009.

Don Wainright was identified by Dave as a "Resident Guru...who runs the Trent Woods e-mail list". Don assured us that NBCUG is 'worthwhile and should survive". Don volunteered to manage the April 19 Meeting, he agreed to Dave's request that he accept ''total responsibility for the program including format and subject" (then: enthusiastic loud applause). Don said "I must know my audience, so tell me what interests you have and what is your level of ability?" One Member asked that we e-mail these answers directly to Don--and not to all of NBCUG.

Wayne Maruna is another 'Guru'; he runs the Taberna e-mail list; he confirmed that NBCUG is a 'closed' e-mail list (only Members can post to it); Wayne volunteered to manage the July 19 Meeting; topic TBD.

Jim Cason has many IT certifications (from Microsoft, and others); he is an active IT Professional whose other commitments prevent regular attendance to our Meetings; last year he made several major presentations to NBCUG...and he frequently adddresses the problems that Members post on NBCUG e-mail. Jim volunteered to manage the October 18 Meeting: topic TBD; he requested that a Projector be available.

Dave Wallace adjourned the Meeting at 1027.

Reminder: NO February or March Meetings; our next Meeting will be on April 19.

Recorded by Dan Edwards...plus some additions from Dave Wallace.

( danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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December 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, December 15, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 39 attendees including one new Member.
The Sale/Donation/Freebie table was empty to-day: it is rarely empty.
Jim Miller was our Moderator today; Jim opened the Meeting at 9AM.
For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/
Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $191.25. Our expenses were: $150 to K of C for rental, and $10 for Projector rental.
The balance represents a 'loss' of $31 since last month; and, in a comparison of 11/06 versus 11/07: a 'loss' of $48.99 over the last 12 months.

Jim Miller reviewed the Volunteers who regularly support NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller (Chair), Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

Jim asked: how many of us are using Windows VISTA? about 6. Then, how many are "pleased with it?" about 2. Jim reported that it takes a full two minutes for his WinVISTA system to boot; Dave Wallace said that his WinXP takes three minutes. Nils Hokansson uses VISTA and likes the Sleep Mode over-nite rather than total Shutdown : this uses minimal power and allows rapid 'wakeup'.

Nate Salsbury reminded us about his BarberShop Quartette program on May 3.

Don Sargent reminded us about the 'Once Upon a Mattress' play at the New Bern Civic Theatre: it begins January 4.

PROGRAM: 'How to Eliminate Spam' by Al Kish

Jim Miller introduced Al Kish: Al is one of the Founding Members of NBCUG; Al is a long-time activist in New Bern civic affairs.
Al became acutely interested in SPAM recenty when his ISP (Yahoo!) bounced his e-mail repeatedly: up to 20 times in one day...and then claimed that it had no record of Al's e-mail address. This led to Al (and many others) being dropped (by the List Manager) from the River Bend e-mail list. Al then changed to the AARP-sponsored ISP of 'PeoplePC';
Al is very pleased with PeoplePC and he described many features:
-a software CD arrived by mail: it was easily installed and he found he could quickly begin using PeoplePC
-unlimited Internet access
-AntiVirus program included (Norton)
-three e-mail addresses are available (e.g. for Al and also for two of his family members)
-major news events are automatically presented
-SPAM control is excellent. He formerly received up to 200 SPAM/day (Al is on four e-mail lists)
-the Home Page is user-friendly
-a concise user-friendly INBOX
-Al has the options of either: PeoplePC (itself) deleting the SPAM...or of (Al himself) viewing the SPAM and easily selecting/deleting the SPAM ("I am through with it in 5 seconds")
-a handy Google Search box
-10 MB storage
-$11.95/month with a free 30 day trial
In summary, Al is well-pleased with his PeoplePC ISP. He was thanked and was applauded.

Several Members commented:
Dave Wallace managed the 'River Bend-Yahoo!' problem by specifically listing NBCUG as a permitted originator of e-mail.
Pete Peterson said an effective strategy is to put your own Yahoo! address in your own Address Book: Yahoo! mail will then be accepted.
Nate Salsbury and Hob Bonnett described their great satisfaction with their EsisNet ISP (especially re SPAM control).
Nils Hokansson praised the SPAM control he gets from his Suddenlink ISP. But, he advised periodically visiting the Suddenlink site: inspect the collected SPAM and verify that no 'good' e-mail has been sent there. He recently found 280 messages in the SPAM box. He uses the 'Settings/Preferences' option to increase the number of messages displayed per page, for his review...then he deletes the SPAM.
Art Behrer asked if Nils would update his tutorial on this subject and distribute it to NBCUG: Nils agreed and will do this. Nils added that VISTA seems to have an efficient SPAM filter.
A Member described another use of the Suddenlink mailbox: the 'Settings/Junk Mail' link offers an option to immediately delete any mail identified as Junk Mail.
Dave Wallace commented that he does NOT want any automatic deletion; Dave likes his 'Mailwasher' program; he wishes to inspect his mail and then perform the deletion himself.
Jim Miller added that he has found 'good' mail in his SPAM box.
Several Members commented on the problem of 'disappearing' Attachments to e-mail: one possible cause is if your e-mail is set to display in a 'Stationary' mode: this can cause your PC to handle it as an HTML event, and...depending on the settings of the sender's and recipient's PCs....can make the Attachment disappear. In OE 6 the path is: Format/Apply Stationary/No Stationary. Dave Wallace offered another strategem: temporarily save the Attachment and then attach it to a new e-mail. Dave reminded us that we still have some Members on Dial-Up connections: therefore he limits NBCUG messages to 500 KB.
Jim Miller described a continuing credit card problem wherein 'Rhapsody' charges keep appearing on his statements, despite his repeated protests by phone. Al Kish recommended communicating using a written notice...perhaps on the statement itself.... because this establishes the special category of a 'Disputed Charge'.
Nils Hokansson's computer usually connects with a cable modem; he also has an internal ('phone') modem which he sometimes must use to send a FAX. He found a fraudulent 'Dialer' on his system which was 'dialling out' to some unknown number. He managed this by disabling the phone modem. In WinXP: right-click My Computer/Properties/Hardware tab/Device Manager/expand Modems/right-click on your phone modem/Disable..and now see a Red X on the modem-listing. In addition, he physically unplugged the associated phone-line.
Don Sargent described the Adobe Reader program as bloated and intrusive. He recommended replacing it with the free FOXIT PDF Reader which is fast and is very functional.

Don Sargent is surveying NBCUG about how we u se our computers, about our interests, and what topics we would like to see for NBCUG Programs.

Our next Meeting will be on January 19. Jerry Tetrault suggested that we return to a 'Panel of Experts' format to address our questions. Nils Hokansson agreed to be on the panel. Several other Members (who were not here to-day) were mentioned as very desirable participants (Larry Whitney, Wayne Maruna, Jim Cason): they will be asked to join the panel.
We adjourned at 1022.
Recorded by Dan Edwards ( danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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November 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, November 17, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.
Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 43 attendees including one new Member.
The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered us the 'NBCUG Printer': it has been freely available to Members for several years but has not been used.
Nate Salsbury was our Moderator today; Nate opened the Meeting at 9AM.
For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $222.25. Jerry has performed a 'Profit and Loss' analysis for the last 12 months: this revealed a (very) slightly positive trend.
Nate presented a spirited...and spiritual...discussion of the Volunteers who manage NBCUG. He urged all of us to contribute by positive actions such as: provide a Program suggestion to the Planning Committee; offer to assist the Planning Committee; provide a Program; ask any of the Volunteers "How can I Help?":

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees. And, to-day Jim also made our coffee: thank you, Jim.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

Nate showed us a recent copy of his 'Smart Computing...in Plain English' magazine: he found that it has excellent articles and...unlike many other 'computer magazines'....it is written in readable language and it has a minumum of intrusive advertising.
Nate favored us with an early reminder about the upcoming concert by his beloved Barber Shop Quartette: see Nate in April for tickets to the May 2008 concert.
Nate asked for help with a problem: when his PC is left unused for a time, the Monitor screen goes black and can only be awakened by rebooting. Jim Cason discussed it and advised review of the 'Power Options' in Control Panel: the PC might be going into a 'Sleep Mode'.
Dave Wallace asked how many of us used Yahoo!: about 3. Dave had a continuing problem with bounced mail from Yahoo! addresses...until he found the solution: the recipient should specifically list NBCUG as a desirable source for e-mail.
Nate asked for our wishes about a December Meeting: after some discussion...and two rounds of voting...we agreed to have a regular Meeting on December 15. We agreed that the plan is to have an 'Open Forum' Meeting without a specific Program.

PROGRAM: 'Wireless Networking, Windows networking, and Vista'
Jim Cason presented the Program and he recommended that we review....or download...the files which are available on his site http://www.promlancomp.com/
These are the same...or are very similar to... the slides that Jim used for his presentations to NBCUG in May, June and July 2007. Minutes of those Meetings are available at http://www.nbcug.com/minutes.htm
At Jim's site, use the 'How To's' link to access:
'Wireless Networking' (39 PowerPoint slides); or
'Sharing Files and Printers' (76 PowerPoint slides or use the MS WORD version); or
'Microsoft Windows Vista' (and MS OFFICE 2007)' (50 PowerPoint slides).
Jim systematically projected these slides while he surveyed each subject, added some comments, and emphasized the important principles; he expressly did not read all the texts nor did he dwell on each slide: they are available for all of us to review..and chew on...at our own pace.
Some especial points that he emphasized:
-the 'Windows Automatic Update' process is useful but it can change some of your settings...to your surprise
-the 'Norton Internet Security' program (antivirus, antispyware, firewall etc) has been so problematic that he avoids it
-AVG antivirus is effective, it is great
-when you wish to share a file with another PC, the best practice is to make a folder and specifically authorize the other PC to have access to that folder (instead of just allowing the other PC to access everything on your C: drive)
-it is often best to NOT allow the guest PC to alter files, although you may allow access
-his preferences are a Linksys router using the 802.11g wireless standard
-he likes the security obtained from entering the unique MAC Address ('Media Access Control') of the guest PC...so as to specifically allow that PC to use your PC

Jim reminded us of the great Robert Heinlein's dictum: 'TANSTAAFL!'
('THERE AIN'T NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH')
In summary, Jim masterfully presented an organized and intelligible review of File&Printer Sharing, Wireless Networking and VISTA. He was thanked and was applauded.
Jim also enthusiastically displayed his 'PayPal Security Key': it is a $5 electronic anti-fraud device...sized to fit on a key-chain... which is convenient and secure.
Several Members commented on the prevalence of Wireless Hotspots, and how they are often are available. Dave Wallace said that one list of local Hotspots is available at http://nbcug.com/nbtg/wifi.htm
The next NBCUG Meeting will be on December 15. At this time, the plan is to have an 'Open Forum' Meeting without a specific Program.
We adjourned at 1030AM.
Recorded by Dan Edwards ( danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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October 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, October 20, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.
Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 47 attendees and five new Members.
The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered us a scanner and some joysticks.
Pete Peterson was our Moderator today; Pete opened the Meeting at 9AM.
Pete described how simply registering is all you have to do to become a Member. Then, if you have provided a valid e-mail address, your Membership continues indefinitely (unless you do not sign-in for six consecutive Meetings). For new Members, the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/
Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message (or computer-related questions) to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $233.94.
Pete identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

Pete noted that our Treasury is less each month: he asked that each of us remember to publicize the NBCUG Meetings and that we ask our friends to attend.

Projector Problem: Jim Miller reported that we purchased the NBCUG Projector in 2001 for $500. It gave us good service until now: the projected image has become fuzzy and indistinct despite all his efforts to improve the image. Jim feels the Projector is at the end of it's useful life. Jim then presented some alternatives: 1. Purchase a new Projector at about $400; 2. Purchase a used one via e-Bay; 3. Solicit some other Club to give us a Projector which they no longer need; 4. Each of us donate $2 or $3 or $5 to a Projector-Fund. Later, Jim offered NBCUG the option of simply renting a Projector for $10 for each NBCUG Meeting: there was general approval and we agreed to do this for the present.

PROGRAM (planned by Nils Hokansson): Elliot Alterman presented our Program: OPEN OFFICE
Elliot described his enthusiasm for OPEN OFFICE and said that he is "an occasional user" and that he "plays with it". He described many desirable features of OPEN OFFICE; he used the NBCUG Projector to demonstrate his points. Some high points:
-OPEN OFFICE is free and you can download it from http://www.openoffice.org/
-Once you have it installed, you can select the option of automatic updates.
-the OPEN OFFICE website also offers forums, free tutorials, free lessons, and free 'books' on using its products (e.g. a 500 page .pdf document)
-the main download is about 110 MB; there is also a 'documentation' download
-OPEN OFFICE is also available to us...on three CDs...thru the NBCUG Software Library: contact the Librarian (Susie Hokansson)
-how many of us use OPEN OFFICE?....about six
-how many of us use Microsoft's word-processor 'WORD'?...almost every hand was raised. However, most of the WORD functions are available to us in OPEN OFFICE 'Writer'.
-other programs in the Microsoft 'Office' family that have OPEN OFFICE correlaries are: the spreadsheet 'Calc' in place of MS EXCEL; presentations by 'Impress' in place of MS Power Point; and the database of 'Base'. Other programs are 'Math' and 'Draw', OPEN OFFICE also correlates with Adobe Acrobat .pdf files. There is not a correlary to the MS 'Publisher' program.
-Elliot found that...for some large spreadsheets...Calc opens them faster than EXCEL
-most of the OPEN OFFICE programs can open the corresponding MS program. Although there are a few gaps, Elliot described "about 98%" correspondence.
-OPEN OFFICE is open source software and is provided by the SUN company, it was recently accepted by IBM as a standard software.
-someone asked: "why is it free?" Some reasons could be: to introduce users to the free product....and be so pleased that they will advance to buy more complex products; and, to compete with Microsoft. Jim Cason commented that Microsoft makes more profit from it's Office products than it does from the MS Operating Systems.
-one Member said he had converted all his MS files to OPEN OFFICE then he deleted the MS programs so that he could avoid MS products. Two other Members enthusiastically described their experiences with OPEN OFFICE

Elliot presented an excellent introduction to OPEN OFFICE and he convinced us about its utility and the user-friendly interface. He answered all our questions until 10:22AM. He was then thanked and was applauded.

The next NBCUG Meeting will be on November 17. At this time, no definite Program is available. Please contact Frank Feeney or Pete Peterson with your suggestions for a Program topic.
We adjourned at 10:24AM.
Recorded by Dan Edwards ( danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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September 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, September 15, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 34 attendees and three new Members.
The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered many cables, switching devices and a genuine 1200 Modem.
Don Sargent was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM.
Don described how simply registering is all you have to do to become a Member. For new Members the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com. Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $269.94
Don identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = Regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

Jerry Tetrault invited us to come next weekend to the Knights of Columbus' huge yard sale: he has 'two buildings full of stuff'.

Don Sargent is one of the Directors of the New Bern Civic Theater. The current performance of 'Moon Over Buffalo' is superb: tickets are still available for to-nite and tomorrow night, call 633-0567.
Don discussed the popularity of USB Flash Drives; one version now is sold with preinstalled 'U3 Launchpad' software. He described how, if this software causes a problem, you can remove it by following the instructions on the U3 website.

PROGRAM : 'New Bern 2010 Tricentenniel'
Jim Miller is on the 'Connectivity Comittee' for the Tricentenniel. JIm discussed the many associated initiatives while Jim Cason projected the relative bullet-points and illustrative screenshots. Some high-points:
- the central theme will be a display of New Bern's history and culture
- many attractive items are being prepared: an expanded River-Walk, a refurbished historic New Bern mechanical clock, etc
- visitors can be guided by a sophisticated handheld ('mobile') electronic device
- visitors will be able to rent or purchase a chip which can add data (text,images, video,etc) to their handheld electronic device
- Jim's group is defining New Bern's 'Points of Interest' ('P.O.I.')
- their plan is provide searchable...and usable... access to the many P.O.I. (just Googling 'New Bern NC' gives over 1 million hits)
- webmasters are asked to review their pages so that the page will display appropriately on a handheld device
- two related problems are: #1. creating a link to a P.O.I., and #2. 'perpetual maintenance' (so as to preserve accuracy and timeliness)

Jim ended his Program by inviting all of us to help by e-mailing him about missing or erroneous P.O.I.. Example: check in Google Maps for relevant 'metatags' of P.O.I. The format to use to notify him is as follows To: jcmnbnc@jayseemill.com Subject: NB300

Jim then displayed a video of the historic Alfred Cunningham Bridge (built in 1955).
Dave Wallace reminded us that many Members are still using DialUp and that large Attachments (of photos) are a regular problem. Use the 'Photo Resizer' free download to shrink a 1 MB image to 50 KB: it will download and display much faster and the appearance on your screen will be about the same. You can find it at http://www.nbcug.com/ then LINKS then Photo Resizer download (695 kb)

Dave Wallace described a way to limit SPAM: he Googled his own name and was surprised at the number of hits he got. Then he requested that his name be removed from the sites. He recommends that we all do this.

An open Q. and A. then followed, with discusion of several topics: how to post photos on a website that is under construction; one asked how to forward messages within a forwarded e-mail; how many of those present have websites (about 6); how many of those present have VISTA? (about 4); how many have WIN 98? (about 3).
Some new Members described why they came to NBCUG and what they hoped to get from NBCUG. One asked how to ask other Members for help (just address your question to nbcug@always-online.com). Other useful sources are the NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/
then investigate links such as MINUTES, PAST PROGRAMS, LINKS .
Web pages by members (Member Don Tirabassi's site has many tutorials).
JIm Cason's site is at http://www.promlancomp.com/ and the 'How To's' link will give you access to the several outstanding PowerPoint presentations he made to NBCUG.

Jim Cason invited our suggestions for future programs: contact him at jcason@promlancomp.com

Frank Feeney is our Program Comittee: he again requested possible topics for future programs.

Our October 20 Program is being arranged by Nils Hokansson and will address Sun's 'OPEN OFFICE' software.

We adjourned at 10:31AM
Recorded by Dan Edwards (danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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July 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, July 21, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.
Jim Gray greeted attenndees and managed the check-in table. We had 48 attendees and two new Members.
The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered a free HP Printer...complete with ink cartridges. There were also some boxes to store your treasured 3 1/2 and 5 1/4 floppies. And, there was a nice display of the 'innards' of a hard drive, so that we could see and touch the platters, read-write heads etc.

Pete Peterson provided his usual good coffee...regular and decaff, and free!

Pete Peterson was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM.
For new members the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ .
Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $282.14. This represents a decrease...since last month... of $39.68. He calculated that if we continue to draw down our Treasury at this rate: we will remain solvent for about 7 more months.
Pete noted that Dave Wallace was absent: a very unusual occurence.
Pete described how Volunteers manage the three lists of Members:
1. The master list, kept by Dave Wallace
2. The Members with an e-mail address, kept by Don Tirabassi
3. The name-tag list, kept by Pete
Pete reviewed and confirmed our plans for the summer: we will NOT have an August Meeting. Our next Meeting will be on September 15.

Pete identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = Regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.

Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Contact Frank about any Program topic that you would like addressed; or, if you can provide a Program.

PROGRAM : we had two Programs to-day.
First, Nate Salsbury presented to us: 'Noteworthy Software'.
This is a music-writing program that Nate uses to construct and print-out working copies of the sheet-music for each member of his beloved Barber Shop Quartette. It is not a 'composition' program. Nate has used it for five years; he has found it easy to use and he is very satisified with it. Nate demonstrated many features: using the keyboard to enter the individual part for each BBSQ member; entering lyrics with control of each syllable; changing/transposing to other keys; changing octaves and saving as a midi file. Then, using the speaker in his laptop, he demonstrated how it could play the audio of any combination of the 'voices' of his BBSQ....e.g. one Member could play the three other (computer-generated) 'voices' while he harmonized with them....and he could easily do it over and over, if he wished.
You can download your free trial copy from http://www.noteworthysoftware.com/ and then you can purchase it for $39.00 (for both the download and the CD); they offer prompt replies to e-mailed questions. Nate also invited us to call him with our questions at 252-638-4456.
Nate enthusiastically shared his appreciation of this fine program: he was thanked and was applauded

Jim Cason then presented the second Program:
'Windows-based Networking - Sharing Files and Printers'.
This is a detailed step-by-step "how to" that Jim has also made it available at his website:
http://www.promlancomp.com/
Go to the 'How To's' link on the left side and you will see the option of opening (or downloading) 'Sharing Files and Printers Power Point' (76 Power Point slides at 5.65 MB)...or the option of 'Sharing Files and Printers Word Document' (about 32 pages and 4.65 MB).
Jim used his slides as a starting point to present the principles and the step-by-step enabling of sharing of files and printers. Many screen-shots illustrated the steps.
In addition to his detailed coverage of the topics...and answering many questions...Jim emphasized some additional points: when you purchase a printer, be sure to select one designed for 'sharing'; for the sharing to be successful, all the PCs in that network must have the same password; some entries will not be succesful unless they are entered 'just-so' using a special syntax (="Microspeak"); be aware of exact names according to the 'UNC' (="Universal Naming Convention")
Jim's outstanding presentation of file/printer sharing was authoritative and was so persuasive that he made us feel that we could actually do it. However, for further help, his slide #76 offers "professional help" (for a fee) at:
Promised LAN Computing, Inc.
4703 Carolina Avenue
Trent Woods, NC 28562-7113
e-mail: jcason@promlancomp.com
Phone: (252) 636 0407
JIm was thanked and he received enthusiastic applause.
We adjourned at 10:30 AM
Next Meeting: September 15
Recorded by Dan Edwards (danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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June 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held on Saturday, June 16, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern. Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We only had 35 attendees sign in, although Jim said 37 paid admission. Nevertheless, it was the lowest recorded attendance ever for the NBCUG. There were no new members.

Flea Market
The flea market was loaded with stuff - printers, cables, cards, zip drives, software, magazines, etc, - all FREE and yet most of it was left for the K of C to add to their upcoming yard sale. Ever since I auctioned off a working Win 98 PC for $1.00, it seems that nobody wants used stuff anymore. I'll bet if we had some kids in our club they'd haul it away fast. On the other hand, kids nowadays may have better PCs than us old-timers.

Minutes
Dr Dan Edwards, nor his backuip minutes writer Susie Hokansson were present, so I'm the stuckee with minutes. Consequently you're going to get the condensed version. I'd rather see more folks attend the meeting.

Treasury
Jerry Tetreault, our treasurer, reported a balance of $322.90 ending with the May meeting. We're remaining solvent but going downhill.

Club business
Frank Feeney was the moderator. Club business consisted of whether to have a July and August meeting. The consensus was to have a July meeting because we had two speakers volunteer, and then cancel the August meeting, as we did last year. The speakers in July will be Jim Cason on "File Transfers" and Nate Salsbury on "A music writing program." Nils Hokansson volunteered to get a speaker from Fairfield Harbour for the September or October meeting on free "Open Office." a competitor to MS Office.

Speaker - Jim Cason - Microsoft Vista and Microsoft Office 2007.
Jim Cason did an excellent job of presenting the good and bad of Microsoft's new operating system Vista and at the end of his presentation touched on MS Office 2007. Jim put a lot of effort into creating a nice MS Powerpoint presentation and it was especially good that he didn't go from slide to slide reading what was on them. He made it more interesting and answered questions along the way. Good job Jim.

I won't attempt to provide highlights of Jim's presentation. You should have been there. But if you really want to see his slides you can go to Jim's Promised Lan Company website at http://www.promlancomp.com/ and download his Powerpoint presentation on Vista. If you're dial-up it will will take awhile because it's a 5 MB .ppt file. If you don't already have MS Powerpoint installed you'll need their Viewer at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/thankyou.aspx?familyId=428d5727-43ab-4f24-90b7-a94784af71a4&displayLang=en. See you guys in July. Meetings are always on the 3rd Saturday. An updated member list will be sent out shortly.

Dave Wallace - NBCUG http://www.nbcug.com/

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May 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held Saturday, May 19, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 53 attendees with three new Members.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered free software.

Pete Peterson provided his usual good coffee...regular and decaff, and free!

Nate Salsbury was our Moderator today and he opened the Meeting at 9AM.

For new members the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ .
Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:
Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $318.14. This represents a decrease...since last month... of $43.19.

Nate Salsbury identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = Regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail or who (2) don't attend for six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.
Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Frank is the only member, as all the other members have resigned.

Nate Salsbury reported that his Barber Shop Quartette organization had its very successful annual show with 837 attendees. To remind us just what we had missed, he described one outstanding quartette of "four nice-looking ladies". Then Nate played one of their songs and demonstrated the close harmony in one of their a cappella performances.

Dave Wallace announced the his 'Picking and Grining' group will again perform next Friday night at the Mall, 7-9 PM.

Frank Feeney announced that Suddenlink invites Beta users to try the new Sudenlink voice-over-internet program.

Nate asked for our wishes about omitting our Meetings in July and August: no decision.

Nate requested volunteers to the Program Committee: no takers.

Frank Feeney, for the Program Committee, invited topics for future Programs: contact him with your suggestions.

PROGRAM : Wireless Networking

James Cason III was identified as a "Resident Guru" and he presented 'Wireless Networking'.
Jim began his work with electronics at age 15; since then he has had extensive experience (Chief Engineer TV Channel 12, VOA Transmitter Engineer, Engineer at Naval Operations Base Norfolk VA, consultaht in many projects, etc etc); he has attained multiple licenses and certifications (Microsoft Certified Professional, etc etc). To-day he briefly described his present work as "PC repair and Networking" but the details of his history, qualifications, and what he now provides can be seen at http://www.promlancomp.com/
This website provides a convincing basis for his mission ".............. bringing our clients back from the desert wasteland of dissatisfaction to the Promised LANd of professional grade results".

Jim made his presentation with 39 Power Point slides and then he expanded upon those points. After the Meeting, he e-mailed NBCUG about the availability of the slides....his message is reproduced as follows:
<<<<<<<<<<<<
The presentation made this morning for the May 2007 NBCUG Meeting was on
Wireless Networking. A copy of the PowerPoint presentation can be
downloaded from the following link:

http://www.promlancomp.com/How_Tos.htm Then click on the link "Wireless
Networking" and either run or save.

NOTE: If you do not have Microsoft Office 2003, and wish to view the
presentation, a free PowerPoint 2003 viewer application can be downloaded
from Microsoft at the following link: (there is a link on my Promised LAN
Computing, Inc. web page that points to this link also).

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=428D5727-43AB-4F24-
90B7-A94784AF71A4&displaylang=en

Now that we have made the coding needed for this, I would anticipate that
any other presentations that we make for the group (as well as any other
items of interest) will be located on links from this same page.

Jim Cason
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Jim used his slides as a starting point to ask the questions:
"What is 802.11? What is Wi-Fi? What should I buy? How do I set it up?
He then answered the questions by systematically and concisely describing the concepts and the details of Wireless Networking. There is a wealth of data in his slides and they will be a major resource for NBCUG. For many of us, they will bear printing, saving, reading and rereading.

He added some comments:
-the typical usage range around a Hotspot is 200'
-most routers allow access to about 100'
-free Hotspots can be found at some McDonalds, Barnes and Noble, public libraries,etc
-for-pay Hotspots can be found at some hotels, marinas etc (e. g. for $10 a day)
-one major reason to secure your Wireless system is to prevent a Hacker from using your system as a sending point for spam or porn: this is illegal and can put you at risk
-most routers have a limited firewall
-hiding the SSID is an option; he discussed the pros and cons and prefers 'not'
-the best security posture is to use WPA2 *and* MAC Address Filtering *and* turn off DHCP
-the router 'Reset' button returns it to the basic ('factory') settings...which can leave you at risk
-always change the SSID

Jim gave his outstanding presentation to a rapt audience and he continued until we were told we must ''clear the room by 10:30AM''. He was thanked and he received enthusiastic applause; Jim also offered to return and present a future program on a topic of our choice.

Next Meeting: June 16 and 'Open Forum'.

We adjourned at 10:30 AM

Recorded by Dan Edwards ( danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

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April 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held Saturday, April 21, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 40 attendees including 1 new member.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered a router from Nils Hokansson for just $5: it quickly found a new home.

Pete Peterson provided his usual good coffee...regular and decaff, and free!

Pete Peterson was our Moderator today and opened the Meeting at 9AM.

Pete welcomed one new Member and described how...once you submit our e-mail address...you become a 'Member' for life (unless you miss six consecutive Meetings or ask to be dropped).
Pete (and Dave Wallace) described how there are three different NBCUG lists: one is maintained by Dave Wallace and is the Master List of all Members; a second list is maintained by Don Tirabassi and is limited to those who have submitted an e-mail ddress; and the third list is maintained by Pete as the source for the nametags that he prepares before each Meeting.

For new members the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ . Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:

Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $361.33.

Pete Peterson identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many many housekeeping details for our comfort.
Pete Peterson = Regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for the next 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
Dan Edwards = Recorder
Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail and (2) don't six consecutive Meetings.
Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.
Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Frank is the only member, as all the other members have resigned.
Dave Wallace reported e-mail problems with Always-Online for a number of days. He said this is from major problems with SPAM and that Always-Online is working the problem.

Dave also reported that 13 NBCUG Memers still have Cox addresses. Please notify Dave as soon as you complete your (required) change to a Suddenlink address (or, you will not receive your e-mail).

Nate Salsbury reported that his most excellent Barber Shop Quartette will offer their last performance of this season on May 5. This is your opportunity to hear some nationally-ranked BBSQ singers. See Nate for tickets.

PROGRAM :
Pete Peterson announced that the to-day's program would be an 'Open Forum' Q & A.

The first question was about the Startup Menu: how to use it and how to remove (sometimes stubbornly persistent) entries. Many Members commented (including Nils Hokansson, Larry Whitney, Dave Wallace, Jim Ebright, Frank Federlein, Jim Cason and others). They discussed: using Google to identify entries in the Startup Menu; whether to remove programs using Add/Remove or by using an 'Uninstall' option or by changing the Registry; and why to end with the 'Normal Startup' plan rather than 'Selective Startup' option. Jim Cason used his laptop and the NBCUG Projector to illustrate the actions that the discussors advised. A spirited discussion continued for about 50 minutes until a Member asked if we could turn to other questions.

Pete remarked on the great value of what we had just seen: a laptop had been to used to project and demonstrate each action on the computer . He recommended that a few of us should bring a laptop to our Meetings and 'just leave it in the car' until needed. Jim Cason emphasized the great danger of leaving a laptop or Notebook computer in a car during cold weather.

Other questions and issues were then defined and were discussed:
how to use Task Manager and the 'Processes' tab to measure the amount of RAM in use; how to avoid programs that slow your PC; whether free 'Cleanup' applications are worth the risk of getting Spyware; how to use an XP OS to open WRITE files created using WIN 3.1; and how to compare the performance of INTEL vs AMD microprocessors.

Free internet accounts and Webmail were addressed by several Members: Dave Wallace recommended considering the 'Delete at Server' option after reading your Webmail; Jim Ebright emphasized that there significant limitations to many of the free services; Pete Peterson described the free Yahoo internet account and the existence of three additional levels of paid Yahoo internet accounts. Larry Whitney observed that many NBCUG Members are confused about some Webmail features--and that we would benefit from an organized presentation about Webmail: there was general agreement but no-one volunteered to make a presentation.

Pete Peterson discussed the resignation of 5 members from the Program Committee and that the one remaining member is not here to-day. He asked for volunteers to form a Program Committee: no takers.

Jim Cason agreed to make a presentation on Wireless topics at our May 19 Meeting.
Nate Salsbury agreed to provide an exciting demonstration of BarberShop Quartette harmony at our June 16 Meeting.

Pete brought up the question of possibly omitting our July or August Meetings. No answers were offered and Pete requested we use NBCUG e-mail to provide some discussion. This question should be revisited at our May Meeting.

We adjourned at 10:25 AM

Recorded by Dan Edwards (danandelaine80@suddenlink.net)

Top

March 2007

The NBCUG monthly meeting was held Saturday, March 17, 2007 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in New Bern.

Jim Gray greeted attendees and managed the check-in table. We had 64 attendees including 2 new members.

The Sale/Donation/Freebie table offered multiple connection-cables, ink cartridges and computer magazines: all free for the taking.

Pete Peterson provided his usual good coffee...regular and deaf, and free!

Jim Miller was our Moderator today and opened the Meeting at 9AM. He welcomed two new Members and described how...once you submit our e-mail address...you become a 'Member' and you remain on the NBCUG mailing list indefinitely unless your address becomes invalid or you ask Dave Wallace to be removed.

For new members the NBCUG web page is at http://www.nbcug.com/ . Members may send e-mail to the group by addressing their message to nbcug@always-online.com

TREASURY:

Jerry Tetrault reported the recent receipts and expenditures and concluded that we began the meeting to-day with a balance of $324.58.

Jim Miller identified and thanked the Volunteers who manage NBCUG:

• Jim Gray = Greeter and collector of admission-fees.
• Jerry Tetreault = Treasurer, K of C liaison and he performs 'facilities management'-- which means many housekeeping details for our comfort.
• Pete Peterson = Regularly makes the coffee, name tags and manages the name tag list (a name tag is available for 6 Meetings after a Member attends)
• Dave Wallace = manages the e-mail and member list; edits and attaches attendance list to minutes prepared by Dan Edwards.
• Dan Edwards = Recorder
• Susie Hokannson = Software Custodian and Backup Recorder
• Don Tirabassi = Tracks attendance and removes members who (1) don't have e-mail and (2) don't attend a meeting in 6 months.
• Jeff Dixon = Webmaster for NBCUG webpage at http://www.nbcug.com/

Moderator Committee = Jim Miller, Pete Peterson, Frank Feeney, Don Sargent, Rob Reiner and Nate Salsbury; i.e. for a total of six members.
Program Committee = Frank Feeney. Frank is the only member, as all the other members have resigned. Frank urged us all to contribute to Programs. He asked for a show of hands of anyone who would volunteer to help with the Program Committee: no takers.

PROGRAM : INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS: COMMENTS THEN Q & A

Jim Miller noted the recent disruptive changes for many of us...due to changes in our Internet Service Provider ('ISP'). By show of hands, many of us
have had to change from Cox to Suddenlink. And now, Earthlink customers will have to change to Embarq. Therefore, it is timely to hear from our local ISPs.

Jim introduced Dennis Fitzgerald: Dennis, owner of the Always-Online ISP in New Bern. Dennis presented an ISP update and answered many questions. Some high-points:

-Always-Online is now constructing a widespread WiFi service for New Bern; he explained how the the higher and higher placement of antennas
(on the towers) will give'Near Line of Sight' capability and why this is better than the older 'Line of Sight' systems.

-everyone should have at least one free e-mail account (to help you control SPAM)

-we should also consider getting our own Domain (even though you also will need an ISP): the cost of registering a Domain has dropped to about $10/yr; your address never changes even if you change your ISP; you can provide individual addresses for your family members

-one Member said he wants to move from Dial-Up to a High Speed connection: he asked how to choose which level of new service. Dennis offered several criteria:
1. compare the cost (not only the stated price/month but all extras including taxes);
2. determine what tech support is available (cost, time of day, local vs overseas, effectiveness, etc);
3. consider what bandwidth you really need and what you want to pay for...you need more speed for downloading images/videos and less speed for just surfing the Internet (e.g. downloads might be 256 kbs or 4 MBS or 5 MBS etc)

Jim Miller then introduced Tod Crosby: Tod is an owner of the ESISNET ISP. Tod made a number of points; then he answered many questions. Some
highpoints:

-free e-mail accounts are very useful: he has 'about a dozen' and uses them to harvest incoming SPAM; he then enters the sources of the SPAM into his 'Blacklist'

-after you get your own Domain and then look for an ISP: be sure to choose an ISP that intercepts most of the SPAM (different ISPs vary a lot in their efficiency in blocking SPAM)

-SPAM is prevalent and in increasing. Example: one customer formerly received about 12,000/week and now receives 50,000/wk.

-Webmail is especially useful when you receive a large Attachment: you can delete it from the Webmail site without having to download the Attachment.

-the 'Challenge-Response' method of controlling SPAM is irritating and it should be avoided.

Larry Whitney commented on free e-mail services: you should choose one that will 'be around for a while'; he particularly likes gmail for the functionality it offers (large storage capacity....it saves all his mail...he can access his old mail from any computer); some ISPs will not accept the 'Forward' option from gmail...so sometimes he needs a free account that is other than gmail; gmail is now 'open' and you no longer need an 'invitation' to set up an account; gmail works well with Google's 'Picasa' photo-editing application; he exported his Address Book from Outlook to gmail. Remember: Google examines your gmail and uses the data for 'marketing purposes'

Pete Peterson commented on Yahoo!: he has used it for years and likes it very much; it is particularly useful if you have to change ISPs a lot; he receives about 80 e-mails/day with about 2 SPAM/day. Remember: if you do not use your free Yahoo! account for 30 days, it will be automatically inactivated.

Jim Miller then moderated a general Q and A: many Members provided written or oral Questions; answers were volunteered by many of our expert Members.

Examples:
-how many of us would like a presentation about reinstalling an OperatingSystem? (about 3)
-what to do about a nonfunctioning 'corrupted' Outlook Express
-what Ports should be enabled for handling email? (TCP Ports 80-110-25-587)
-what to do when you get a 'redX' instead of an Attached image (one option is to Google 'RedX')
-how to eliminate applications from loading during PowerUp (use MSCONFIG, etc)
-what are the Pros and Cons of using Windows Automatic Update
-why some webpages will never open with Internet Explorer (some are coded for a different browser)
-many questions about IE7 problems, especially about using FOX News
-why won't my Voice Recognition software by recognized by a word-processor? (the new Office 2007 is sometimes the only application that will work)
-is 'Dragon Naturally Speaking' a good Voice Recognition application? (yes)

The Experts repeatedly advised using Google to search for the answer to your problem: "Google is your friend". Tod Crosby added that he finds the 'Dogpile' Search Engine at http://www.dogpile.com/ particularly useful for computer-questions.

Nate Salsbury reported great satisfaction with the solution to his recent problem with Adobe PDF files: Nate now uses the free FOXIT software and
is very satified. See http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php

Ken Wyman announced that the Trent Woods e-mail system fhmail@esisnet.comwas discontinued on 3/15/07. It has been restarted by NBCUG member Don Wainwright on Yahoo. If you are a Trent Woods resident and wish to be added contact Don at