Diablo Blue
The Newsletter of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group
Create Photo Albums from Your Digital Photographs
Presenter: Rebecca Mildwurm
Computers can be used for many different kinds of projects. The projects we usually read about are most commonly business-oriented. But they don't have to be. There's no reason that projects can't be fun. How about a project to create a photo album? We're going to see exactly that, presented by Rebecca Mildwurm, just in time for those holiday pictures we'll all be taking. So, instead of leaving those pictures in a folder on your PC, learn how you can create imaginative and interesting photo albums online using one of the photo service sites like Shutterfly. There's no longer any reason to leave your digital photographs stored away on your PC, only to be shown when you can drag someone in front of your monitor. Instead, organize them into striking photo albums you'll be proud to show friends and family.
Rebecca is a talented photographer who will show us the steps from taking the pictures through designing and ordering your photo album. As a bonus, she'll also show us some scrapbooking techniques.
This will be a fun, educational, and interesting presentation. See you at the December meeting. We'll see you at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 6, at Diablo Valley College.
No January 2008 DVPC Meeting!
by Ron Ogg, DVPC
We will not have a DVPC meeting in January. Because of the holidays, there will be no classes and no classroom access at DVC. Our next meeting will be on Thursday, February 7, 2008. See you then!
No December 2007 Elements SIG Meeting!
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC
The Photoshop Elements SIG usually meets on the third Wednesday of each month, but we're taking a hiatus in December for the holidays. We will resume our normal meeting schedule in 2008. The next meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, January 16, 2008. Check the SIG News link in the menu at the top of this issue of Diablo Blue to find out the January Photoshop Elements SIG meeting topic.
Don’t forget to check out the Elements SIG pages at www.bkbrown.net for the latest news, information and tutorials.
Where and When We Meet
Our monthly meetings are held on the first Thursday of each month at 7 p.m. at Diablo Valley College In Pleasant Hill, California, on the Main Campus located at 321 Golf Club Road. We meet in room H109 in the Humanities Building. See the campus map on the About DVPC page for driving directions, parking information, and how to get to room H109. Remember: there's a $2.00 parking fee, payable at the ticket machines in each lot. These ticket machines require quarters, so be sure to bring 8 quarters to buy your parking ticket. Place the ticket face up on the driver's side of your dashboard.
We have a Networking Table from 6:30 to 7:00; if you have something to sell or trade, need technical help, or just want to exchange views, visit the Networking Table. The regular monthly meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. with Random Access where you can ask questions or report on technical problems, followed by a presentation by our guest speaker. Also, as usual, we'll have SIG news and some of our usual great door prizes.
Driving Directions:
680 Northbound:
Exit at Willow Pass Road
At the end of the exit ramp turn left onto Willow Pass Road
Continue on Willow Pass Road to the second signal and
turn right onto Contra Costa Blvd.
680 Southbound:
Exit at Concord Ave.
At the end of the exit ramp turn left on Contra Costa Blvd.
Direction into the Campus:
Continue on Contra Costa Blvd. to the signal at Golf Club Road and turn into Golf Club Road. At the second entrance into the campus turn left then immediately right to parking lot 7. Turn left into lot 7. Park (but don't use parking spaces that are reserved for faculty and staff only), then purchase a parking permit (see Parking Fees below) and put it on your dashboard. Click on this link (www.dvpc.org/about.html) to see:
> a detailed DVC map showing parking and our meeting room
> a map for driving to DVC
> an aerial view of the DVC campus
Parking fees:
On the Pleasant Hill campus parking permits are $2.00 per day for short-term parking. You can purchase permits at the parking permit machines marked with a red star on the maps above and below. Be sure to bring sufficient change! Parking permit machines only take quarters. DVC permits are required Monday through Friday at all times that classes are in session. That includes the times that DVPC meetings are held! Do not park in metered or faculty/staff spaces.
You need to purchase a parking permit and place it face up on your dashboard so it is clearly visible through the windshield. If you attend classes at DVC and have a campus parking permit, you can use it when you attend DVPC meetings.
Some members park (for free) in the College Park High School lot across Viking Drive from the DVC campus. Do so at your own risk!
Parking violations:
Be sure to purchase a parking permit! Fines range from $35 for parking in a regular space without a permit, to over $275 for illegally parking in a space reserved for the handicapped.
Parking alternatives:
Some members carpool and share the parking fee; they park at Sun Valley Mall, have dinner at one of the many restaurants in the mall, then take one car to the meeting. Some members park in the lots in front of College Park High School, which is across Viking Drive from DVC. Remember: if you decide to use any of these parking alternatives, you do so at your own risk!
Diablo Blue Password Access
by Ron Ogg, DVPC
Starting with the December, 2007 issue of Diablo Blue, you need the monthly login ID and password to access the current issue of the newsletter. If you are a paid-up member of DVPC you'll receive an email message, usually on the Weekend prior to the meeting, with the password.
As each month's issue is uploaded, it's placed in a password protected folder on dvpc.org. When you click on the link to go to the newsletter, a dialog box will be displayed asking for the login ID and password from the email message. The password is case-sensitive; either copy it from the email message or make sure you type it correctly. An Adobe Acrobat pdf file will open with the link to that month's issue of Diablo Blue.
As we add the current month's newsletter, the password on the prior month's newsletter will be removed so anyone coming to the DVPC website can access older issues of Diablo Blue.
If you have any problems accessing a password protected newsletter, please email webbie@dvpc.org.
Watch for Updates!
by Ron Ogg, DVPC
With our new method of producing and publishing the monthly Diablo Blue newsletter, we can easily add updates to each month's issue. For example, we added an update to the October issue, a news article about Barry Brown demonstrating the new version 6 of Photoshop Elements at the PE SIG meeting.
When we add a new article "mid-month" it will be shown in red in and will be at the bottom of the Table of Contents.
President's Message
by Alan Mildwurm, DVPC
Arrgh, the holidays are upon us and I am already behind! Seems like it was just Halloween and the stores are ready for Xmas.
Wasn’t there supposed to be a holiday or two in between?
Our December meeting will feature my daughter Rebecca as our guest presenter. Rebecca is a very skilled (and as a proud father I can say award winning) amateur photographer. In addition to her skills in taking pictures, she is also quite adept in making albums. Becca will show us how she makes professional looking photo albums using several online commercial services such as Shutterfly. She will also demonstrate some scrap booking techniques. The good news is that there will still be time for you to make and order an album in time for Xmas!
Also on tap for the December meeting, I will do a short presentation on how to burn CDs and DVDs. A great photo tie-in!
We have decided to cancel the January meeting since it hits on the 3rd and many of us will likely not be ready for a meeting so soon in 2008. As it happens, I will be at CES on the 3rd. In past years we have attempted a live video from CES to the club but hardware did us in. I actually think this year with my Sony Vaio and Serra Wireless 3G modem it would work but getting the Board to function by Jan 3rd is probably asking too much!
See you on the 6th of December!
DVPC Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
by Tom Krauss, DVPC
The topic covered at the November Board meeting that inspired the most lively discussion and greatest participation was experiences with phone answering systems. There were a number of colorful and highly entertaining anecdotes shared, but I’m sure all would agree that Ron’s story made the others pale by comparison.
It seems that Ron has volunteered to revamp his neighborhood association’s website. The experience he related to us centered on Ron’s attempt to set up several email accounts through the website hosting vendor. As his narration unfolded it became apparent that several of the things said about Ron are true. He is stubborn almost to a fault. He is frugal beyond the norm. And he has entirely too much time on his hands now that he has “retired”. Ron’s story is too long to recount here, and it would suffer greatly in my retelling. Suffice it to say that customer service is a concept foreign to this vendor. In the interest of obtaining a handful of email accounts while saving a few bucks, Ron spent almost 20 hours over several days on hold with these people. But he prevailed!
At the end of his anecdote the rest of us sat silently in awe at this display of sheer determination. Well okay, you know us too well. We weren’t exactly silent. In fact, we interrupted Ron frequently in the telling of his tale. But we were impressed.
In a side conversation Charlie and I reminisced over previous conversations regarding the perceived need for a new projector—perceived by Charlie but not by me. It has been several years since this topic came up. I miss it. It was great filler for these minutes.
In other business, we touched briefly on the state of our finances. Charlie suggested we start asking members to renew their membership each month on the theory that some would probably forget and submit their check month after month. The idea was finally dropped when we realized that some of those who forgot and repeatedly paid would probably be us Board members.
There was some discussion about what to do for the January meeting. Alan will be landing in Las Vegas that day to attend the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show). Since he will not be here, he said it was up to the rest of us to do whatever we wanted at the club meeting. We were pretty much able to ignore Alan’s thinly veiled request for our participation, however. In fact, the conversation was deflected to trying to guess whether DVC would even be open that day (January 3). In typical fashion we each presented our rationale for why the room would/would not be available. Finally it was suggested that given the uncertainty and the lack of a topic we just cancel the meeting. I noted that this was something we could actually vote on. There was laughter, and we moved on to talk of something else.
Do Printer Cartridges have an Expiriation Date?
by Ron Ogg, DVPC
Walt Parsons sent me an email asking about a strange situation he had with his HP color laser printer. The three color toner cartridges all ran out of toner at the same time. He was wondering if there's an expiration date in printer cartridges, or if one cartridge needs to be replace, then all have to be replaced.
I had read that HP has two notifications built into the chip in each of their cartridges. One is based on the amount of ink or toner left. The other is based on an “Install by” date for the cartridge. On my HP ink cartridges the “Install by” date is clearly (but not obviously) printed on the package. On the package back for my inkjet cartridges, the date is below the country where it was manufactured (in the picture below it's “02/2009”). The words “Install by” are not near the date, but are 2-1/4” to the left and 1/4” above the date, and are very easy to miss.
The inkjet cartridges themselves have a more explicit date printed on the label, like 2008/03/13. There is no indication that this is an expiration date, but there have been articles in computer magazines and online that this is, in fact, an expiration date. Is that true, though?
The HP website says this:
Be sure to install and begin using the cartridge before the install by date on the cartridge package.
The implication is that if you don’t install an ink cartridge by that date, it might not work.
I also found this:
Ink cartridge limited warranty
HP’s ink cartridge limited warranty covers against defects in parts and workmanship and only those defects that arise as a result of normal use of the product, and do not apply to:
- Cartridges out of ink
- Any improper or inadequate maintenance
- Any unauthorized modification or misuse
- The cartridge was installed after the "Install By" date on the box
- Refilled or non-HP ink cartridges
Inkjet printheads (if exchangeable, like on my cp1700d color inkjet printer) also have “Install by” dates on the package (see the illustration at the beginning of this article). I’ve never had one notify me that it has expired. The printheads in my printer don’t have dates, but the packages for the extra set (four printheads, one for each color) I got with the printer are each dated “Jul 2004”. The printheads in the printer probably had earlier dates. These are getting a bit ancient, aren't they!
For inkjet printheads the only information I could find on the HP website was this:
Introduction
It is important to be aware of the recommended shelf life of the consumables, in particular the printheads.
NOTE: |
The printhead has a recommended shelf life of 12 months from the date of manufacture. |
A label with the manufacture date is placed on the side of the printhead. HP recommends that printheads be installed in a printer before the end of the 12 month shelf life. The recommended install-by date can be calculated by adding 12 months to the manufacture date.
Minimize the risk of printhead failures :
The reason HP recommends that there is a shelf life for the printhead, is to minimize the risk of printhead failures during installation, failures that are caused by dried ink residue on the nozzle plate.
In general, the longer the printhead remains in storage prior to installation, the greater the chance that dried ink residue will cause missing or mis-directed nozzles during installation.
Reason for recommending shelf life date :
The shelf life of the printhead is anticipated to be one year from the date of manufacture. However, this is not a hard date. The shelf life is recommended only to minimize the risk of printhead failures during installation. If a printhead exceeds the shelf life, it is still quite acceptable to install the printhead as per normal.
So, I guess my “ancient” printheads will be OK when I finally need to install them.
Then I found this explanation, about 8 pages into a search on the HP website:
HP Inkjet Supplies - |
|
So, it sounds like HP is saying that there’s no actual inkjet cartridge or laser toner cartridge expiration date. This implies the cartridge would still work if it was installed after the “Install by” date on the box, but it wouldn’t be warranted after the “End of warranty date” on the cartridge itself. BTW, I’ve searched every inch of my genuine HP 96A laser toner cartridge and there’s no date molded into the plastic anywhere on the cartridge.
But this doesn’t explain Walt's situation, unless all three color toner cartridges ran out simultaneously. What I’d do is find a very accurate scale and weigh each of those cartridges. If they weigh the same, then the toner probably did run out in each at the same time. If not, I’d call HP.
It will be interesting to hear what Walt finds out from HP.
Windows Vista Tips
by Peter J. Mitchell, DVPC
1. Drag Toolbars off the Taskbar in Vista
Microsoft confirms that they have removed the ability to drag toolbars off the taskbar in Vista, because it was too confusing for users.
But, of course, there is a workaround for this as well and here is how you can do it:
- Right click on any blank area on your desktop.
- Select New Folder from the context menu.
- Drag the new folder to the very side of your screen and let go of your mouse. The toolbar should run vertically down the side of your desktop.
- Next, right click the new toolbar and select Toolbar - Quick Launch.
- Then right click the new toolbar again and deselect New Folder.
- Right click the taskbar at the bottom of your screen, select Toolbars and deselect Quick Launch.
2. Checking Windows Vista for Add-Ons and Parasites
In Internet Explorer, choose Tools - Manage Add-ons - Enable or Disable Add-ons.
From that point, you can see which add-ons are currently running and, by choosing to show add-ons that have been used by Internet Explorer, a list of all the add-ons that have ever been run. Click a specific add-on and choose Enable or Disable in the settings box to turn off the suspect ones.
3. Resize Desktop Icons with Your Mouse
I'm sure you're all aware that Windows Vista supports three default sizes of desktop icons, whereas Windows XP only supports one. But, the real reality is that Vista can support even more than that, with just a simple scroll of the mouse. Follow these directions to resize your desktop icons quickly and easily:
- Click on the icon you want to resize.
- Hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard.
- Next, just start scrolling your mouse wheel.
Voila. Your icons instantly change to whatever size you need!
4. Skip the Product ID
One of the very first steps you'll see when setting up your Windows Vista computer is the prompt to enter a product ID number. If you're familiar with Windows XP, you can probably enter that number with no problem. But, in Windows Vista, you can leave the product ID box blank, if you'd like. If you do that, you'll get a stern warning from Microsoft that basically says you better put the ID number in if you know what's good for you! Well, you can still safely skip it if you know you have (or will have) a legitimate product ID number in the near future. Or, if you're just planning to evaluate Windows Vista for 14 days or less.
It just gives you a little breathing room. Cool, huh?!
5. Make the Cursor Easier to See
The blinking cursor in Vista that indicates where you can type text is as thin as Kate Moss, which can sometimes make for frustrating moments when you're not able to locate it. So, to make your cursor easier to see, just go to Start - Control Panel and type “optimize visual display” in the search box. Next, click the shortcut to see the dialogue box, shown here:
Bumping up the size of your cursor from 1 to 2 makes a noticeable difference and going all the way to 11 would really make it impossible to miss!
Cradlepoint Cellular Travel Router
by Alan Mildwurm, DVPC
I admit that this one is somewhat esoteric! This device is a cellular travel router. (Model CT350 from www.cradlepoint.com). These days we expect internet everywhere. Often it is a simple matter to launch your wi-fi sniffer and find an open network to “borrow.” Beware though, in some jurisdictions, logging onto a network without permission is a crime! The solution? Of course you can always go to Starbucks or McDonalds and log on there- for a price. Or you can go to several websites to find wi-fi hotspots. A favorite of mine is www.jiwire.com/search-hotspot-locations.htm. Of course you need to do that BEFORE you hit the road! But there is another solution. Many cell phone providers sell a data service which you can subscribe to. These range in price from $30 to $60 per month for limited/unlimited use (check carefully for exact details of what you are getting!).
These services also come in different speeds. A knock against the new Apple/AT&T iPhone is that it uses the older and slower Edge network as opposed to the speedier 3G networks. Some laptops, for example the Sony Vaio SZ series come with an integrated wireless wwan (wireless wide area network). Sign up and you have internet wherever you get cell service. If your laptop does not have wwan built in, you can obtain a wwan modem in either a pc-card or usb dongle form factor. I use a Sierra Wireless U595 on the Sprint network. I plug it into a USB port; launch the software and instant broadband internet. It works great! It even acts as a GPS unit for map navigation and it integrates directly into Windows Live---very cool- want to find a local German restaurant and get directions from where you are. Since it is a USB device, I can use it on any machine with a USB port (and drivers!)
By itself, a great concept. But what if you want to use the cellular modem on more than one device or a device that doesn’t have a USB port- like a PDA? Then you need a cellular router. It is a simple matter to set up a network based on this router.
Setting up the modem took just a few minutes and it works perfectly. The only downside I see at this point is the fact that the onboard Ethernet port is an uplink port only. In other words, you can’t use the modem to connect to a computer via an Ethernet cable; you can only use the wireless. In speaking with the 3Gstore (www.3gstore.com) I was told a firmware upgrade is planned to deal with this. Other upgrades are expanding the types of phones and devices the router is compatible with. A terrific place to research these products can be found at www.evdoforums.com. The cost for this pocket sized device: $149.00—almost ½ of the competing D-Link or Kyocera devices!
Is this for everyone- probably not- but if you want to get more use out of your cellular modem- what a great product!
Features
- Wi-Fi Compliant with IEEE 802.11 b/g Standards
- Compliant with IEEE 802.11 b/g Standards
- Tethers to Cellular phone or Cellular USB modem for Wi-Fi access anywhere in coverage
- Compact and portable
- Charges handset via USB or powers USB modem
- 10/100 Ethernet port available for wired uplink when available
- Added firewall prevents unauthorized use of your bandwidth
Specifications
Model #: CTR350 Cellular Travel Router
WiFi Standards: IEEE 802.11b/g
Phone Connection: Requires compatible 3G handset with USB data connection
Wired Network Connection: 10/100 BASE-T uplink port
Firewall: NAT (Network Address Translation) with SPI (Stateful Packet Inspection)
Security: Enable/Disable SSID, Internet Access Control (Services, URL, and MAC)
Encryption: 64/128 bit WEP, WPA/WPA2, and WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK
Network Applications Support: UPnP, ALG, Email, FTP, Gaming, Remote Desktop, NetMeeting, Telnet and others
Business Applications Support: Multiple and Concurrent IPSEC, L2TP and PPTP VPN pass-through sessions
Platform Compatibility: Windows 98SE/NT/2000/XP/Vista, Mac OS X, Linux, and WiFi-enabled PDAs
Firmware Upgrade: Available from www.cradlepoint.com
Device Management: Via Web Browser (HTTP)
4 LEDs: Power, WLAN (wireless LAN status), WAN (Ethernet link status), USB (cellular link status)
Dimensions: 3.6" x 2.8" x 0.8" (92 mm x 70 mm x 19 mm)
Weight: 4.0 oz.
Certifications: FCC, RoHS
Operating Temp: 0 C to 50 C
Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder — Free!
by Barry Brown, DVPC
Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder and Presentation Software — record your screen with audio, webcam video, add MPG files, and more to create presentations, product demos, instructional film etc. This is probably the best available and this is version 3.1.2 released in June 2006. Admittedly the version is now up to 5 (just released) but it costs $299! This is the full version of Camtasia Studio so it contains a lot of other plug-ins.
This is an absolutely free gift from TechSmith, the producer, who did a deal with PC Plus Magazine in the UK as a promotion. To take advantage of this offer, go to:
http://download.techsmith.com/camtasiastudio/enu/312/camtasiaf.exe
This is about a 28 MB download. After downloading install as a trial version and then go to:
http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia/pcpls.asp
Just fill in your name, state, country and e-mail address and TechSmith will send you the product key. It’s that simple and you save yourself $300! I know it isn’t the latest version but it is very good and I plan to use it for some tutorials for the Elements SIG group.
If you really, really want the current version, after installing and registering your copy of version 3, you’ll see a special offer to upgrade to the version 5 for $149.00. You may have to run Camtaxia and select Help - Check for Upgrade to see the upgrade offer.
Camtasia version 3 is not certified for Windows Vista. Ron Ogg reports that it seems to run under Vista in Windows XP compatibility mode, but he hasn’t tested it extensively.
On the same note TechSmith are offering their other product “SnagIt” under a similar deal. I already have SnagIt so I didn’t try the download but if anyone is interested the download is:
ftp://ftp.techsmith.com/pub/products/snagit/725/SnagIt.exe
The place to get the SnagIt key is: http://www.techsmith.com/snagit/ukdn.asp
Look at these free software packages as an early Christmas present!
Note: When you go to the TechSmith website, you’ll see that this is an exclusive offering for readers of the PC Plus Magazine that is from the United Kingdom. This magazine is sold at various locations in Contra Costa County, including Borders in Pleasant Hill. However, it’s possible that the offer could be withdrawn, restricted, or limited by TechSmith at any time.
Instant Online Conversion Service
by V. Saini, Advanced Computer Innovations, Inc.
Advanced Computer Innovations, Inc. offers a unique "instant online conversion" service, which converts your files between most word processor, spreadsheet and graphics file formats, internet formats such as HTML and XML (including to Microsoft Office 2003 XML), and also some data base formats. It also performs letter-perfect conversion of almost any such file to PDF. IT CAN CONVERT BETWEEN MORE FILE FORMATS, AND CONVERT MORE ACCURATELY THAN ANY OTHER ONLINE CONVERSION SERVICE WE KNOW OF!
This service can now also recover whatever text is possible from unknown or corrupted files, though the extracted text may require subsequent editing and clean-up.
This service is available 24/7. There is no software to purchase, nor any subscription fee or commitment. You just pay as and when you need to convert files. Converting a small set of files costs as little as $9.
This is an easy-to-use and reliable conversion service. From the service's web page, you click a "Convert" button, drag files to be converted into a dialog box that appears, and enter payment information. Your files are then uploaded to our conversion server, and in a couple of minutes the converted files are downloaded back to you. It's as simple as that. The whole process is automatic and very easy to use. All communication is encrypted and there is no security compromise. Please see www.acii.com/online.htm for more details.
This service is particularly useful for conversions you run into occasionally, or for which off-the-shelf conversion software is not available. We welcome you to give this service a try. Please see www.acii.com/online.htm for a detailed listing of the file formats, pricing and other details.
If you have any questions please email us at radvance@rochester.rr.com.
Where has the SIG News Gone?
By Ron Ogg, DVPC
Where's my SIG News? Where, oh where has it gone? Fear not, it's right here, on the DVPC website. There are links to dthe latest SIG News in the menus at the top and the bottom of every issue of the Diablo Blue newsletter. The menus have four choices that will take you to various pages on the DVPC website:
- DVPC Website — this takes you to the DVPC website home page.
- About DVPC — this takes you to the top of the About DVPC page.
- Map and Directions — this takes you directly to the maps on the About DVPC page.
- SIG News — this takes you to the SIG Meetings page.
Information about DVPC's SIG's (Special Interest Groups) is kept updated on the SIG Meetings page. Click on the SIG News link at the bottom of this page right now and take a look at the latest SIG news. You won't lose your place in this issue of Diablo Blue; the DVPC website will open in a new window, and you can return to where you are here in this issue of Diablo Blue at any time by toggling back to this window.
Today's Dilbert Cartoon
by Scott Adams
- No January 2008 DVPC Meeting!
- No December 2007 Elements SIG Meeting!
- Where and When We Meet
- Diablo Blue Password Access
- Watch for Updates!
- President's Message
- Board Meeting Minutes
- Do Printer Cartridges have an Expiration Date?
- Windows Vista Tips
- Cradlepoint Cellular Travel Router
- Camtasia Studio Screen Recorder — Free!
- Instant Online Conversion Service
- Where has the SIG News Gone?
- Today's Dilbert Cartoon