Diablo Blue

The Newsletter of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group

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MAY 1, 2008 MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

Dave Whittle Shares Tech Gems
Presenter: Dave Whittle, From

Join Us and Enjoy
"The Best Kept Secrets In Technology- Only the Best, Not All the Rest"

Have you ever found a hidden gem of a product or service that was so good that you ended up telling people about it? Would you like to learn the secret favorites of five of America’s leading technology experts? Here’s your chance.
 
At our May 1, 2008 meeting DVPC is hosting a presentation by David B. Whittle, author of "Cyberspace: The Human Dimension" and named by Working Woman Magazine as "one of America's most original technological thinkers." Dave's been a leader in the PC revolution since 1979, and an opinion-leader in the PC industry since his days as OS/2 Evangelist at IBM in the early '90s. Most recently, he’s been writing for Smart Computing. Now, you can have a friend in the technology business as he shares new products and services that open up new horizons of possibility and solve problems you’re probably facing.

Dave will introduce you to hidden gems that are not yet household words, but will be because they solve real problems for real people and help make life a little bit or a lot better. These hidden gems include muvee™ autoProducer 6 (www.muvee.com) and the Invisus Family of PC Services (www.myinvisusdirect.com/usergroups). See exciting new possibilities from these companies and learn how the digital revolution can bless your life. You will come away from this meeting entertained and informed. Dave will provide time for questions and will bring valuable door prizes, informative handouts, and actual product for sale at significantly discounted prices arranged exclusively for user groups. If you'd like to take advantage of these special prices at the meeting and take product home with you, remember to bring cash, check, or a credit card. See you then!

This month's meeting will be fun, interesting, and informative. We'll see you on Thursday, May 1, at Diablo Valley College.

NOTE: Diablo Valley College has replaced all of the old parking permit dispensers that required quarters with new models that take dollar bills as well as nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins, and will at some time in the future take credit cards. No longer do you have to have a collection of eight quarters to buy your parking permit! Note that these parking permit dispensers do not make change.

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 take dollar bills and quarters, but do not give change so be sure to bring correct bills and/or 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 take nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins. Note that these parking permit dispensers do not make change. DVC parking 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 will 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.

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.

DVPC Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
by Tom Krauss, DVPC

This was one of the best meetings ever: I got to sit in the Seat of Wisdom — Ron’s seat!

Seating at the Board meeting is somewhat structured. As president (and host) Alan sits at the head of the table. If Alan is not at the meeting no one sits in that chair. Partly because we’re afraid doing so would make us president, and we don’t want the work and responsibility, but primarily because if Alan isn’t there, neither are we: the meeting is usually called off. This arrangement also makes it easier for Alan to run to the kitchen for dessert, extra napkins, or whatever else one of us might need.

The other “designated” seat is at the foot of the table. Ron sits there (hence the nickname “Seat of Wisdom”) and in a manner reminiscent of Solomon dispenses wisdom and settles arguments. When Ron is not present eventually someone sit in his seat, but not until all the others are taken. This is not because we think Ron is necessarily smarter than us (we do, but we each tend to think of ourselves as coming in a close second), but because we’re afraid he will come in late and make us get out of his chair.

So at this meeting, as we began to head for the table, I heard Alan say Ron would not be there. So I quickly went to the foot of the table and sat down. And the funny thing is, sitting there actually made me smarter! I was smart enough not open my mouth on technical issues I knew nothing about.

Throughout the meeting there was intermittent reference to Charlie’s new boat. Apparently it has been the talk of the neighborhood. It spent a few days in front of Charlie’s house, but when the talk of the neighborhood changed to talk of CC&Rs and lawyers, Charlie moved it away. The descriptions of it were vague and contradictory. As near as I can figure out it is a cross between a large rowboat and a small, well used garbage scow. And it is difficult to tell if it is upside down or right side up due to a fairly evenly distribution of barnacles. I kept picturing the décor of Davy Jones’ ship in the second Pirates of the Caribbean movie

Another intermittent topic was the July meeting. It seems the first Thursday of July is July third and there was some concern that many of our members will not be back from their annual run down to Mexico to pick up illegal fireworks. Alan bravely kept asking what we wanted to do about the meeting and we kept avoiding answering him. My notes say there will be no July meeting, but that could be wrong. I didn’t think we were quite that forceful in making a decision. Someone mentioned voting at the end but in the laughter that followed I grabbed my notes and ran for the door.

O'Reilly UG Program Newsletter
by Marsee Henon, O'Reilly Media Inc.

O'Reilly News for User Group Members April 29, 2008

New Releases: Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts

Get 35% off from O'Reilly, No Starch, Paraglyph, PC Publishing, Pragmatic Bookshelf, Rocky Nook, SitePoint, or YoungJin books you purchase directly from O'Reilly. Just use code "DSUG" when ordering online or by phone 800-998-9938.

Free ground shipping on orders of $29.95 or more. See details.

Did you know you can request a free book or PDF to review for your group? Ask your group leader for more information. For book review writing tips and suggestions, go to: http://ug.oreilly.com/bookreviews.html

New Releases: Books, Short Cuts, and Rough Cuts:

• Adobe AIR for JavaScript Developers Pocket Guide
• Big Book of Apple Hacks
• Fine Art Printing for Photographers, Second Edition (Rocky Nook)
• Flex 3 Cookbook Rough Cut
• FXRuby (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
• Google Apps Hacks
• Hackerteen
• Harnessing Hibernate
• Illustrated Guide to Home Chemistry Experiments
• Java Power Tools
• Learning Flash Media Server 3
• My New Mac (No Starch)
• MySQL in a Nutshell, Second Edition
• Painting the Web
• Photoshop CS3 Accelerated (Young Jin)
• Practical Artistry: Light & Exposure for Digital Photographers
• Programming Flex 3 Rough Cut
• Programming Groovy (Pragmatic Bookshelf)
• Subject To Change: Creating Great Products & Services for an Uncertain World (Hard Cover)
• Take Control of iWeb: iLife '08 (TidBITS)
• Web 2.0 Mashups and Niche Aggregators
• Web 2.0: A Strategy Guide (Hard Cover)
  

16 Ways to Spend Your Stimulus Check
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

I read this article in today’s PC Magazine's What’s New Now email newsletter by Lance Ulanoff. Click the links to read the articles and find out how you might spend that huge $600.00 (or less) “stimulus” check when it arrives in your checking account or your mailbox. Recommendation: keep your tongue firmly inserted into your cheek when reading!

"They’re probably in the mail right now, those $600 government checks that are supposed to help stimulate the U.S. economy. Of course, the only way that works is if you spend the money. If gas, groceries, and that huge credit card bill haven’t eaten it up, you might consider, as I know many of us here are, pouring that money into some gadget goodness. PCMag has compiled 16 sub-$600 ideas. PCMag also produced the perfect companion piece: a list of excellent digital cameras that are now available at some truly bargain-basement prices. They tell you which cameras you’ll want, why you’ll want them, and where you can find the rock-bottom prices."

Governmentium
by Alan Mildwurm, DVPC

A major research institution has recently announced the discovery of
the heaviest element yet known to science.

The new element has been named Governmentium.

Governmentium (GV) has one neutron, 25 assistant neutrons, 88
deputy neutrons, and 198 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an
atomic mass of 312.

These 312 particles are held together by forces called morons, which
are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons.

Since Governmentium has no electrons, it is inert: however, it can
be detected, because it impedes every action with which it comes into
contact. A minute amount of Governmentium can cause an action
that would normally take less than a second to take over four days to
complete.

Governmentium has a normal half-life of 4 years. It does not decay,
but instead undergoes a reorganization in which a portion of the
assistant neutrons and deputy neutrons exchange places. In fact,
Governmentium's mass will actually increase over time, since each
reorganization will cause more morons to become neutrons, forming
isodopes.

This characteristic of moron promotion leads some scientists to
believe that Governmentium is formed whenever morons reach a
critical concentration. This hypothetical quantity is referred to as
critical morass. When catalyzed with money, Governmentium
becomes Administratium... an element that radiates just as much
energy as Governmentium since it has half as many peons but twice
as many morons.

Tips and Tricks
from Bearly Bytes, Big Bear Computer Club

 

All Computers Wait at the Same Speed
by Vinny La Bash, Sarasota Personal Computer Users Group, Inc.

I first heard that phrase about ten years ago at a geek conference in Seattle. A decade ago is earlier than the Stone Age in computer years. It was probably meant to make fun of the propeller heads that couldn't live without the fasted CPU on their motherboard. The geeks' concern with processing speed seemed ridiculous to those who understood that computers spend very little of their time processing information. They spend it waiting for us to tell them to do something. You would certainly find your life very boring if you had to spend 99% of your time waiting for other people to act before you could do anything.

What are we talking about? We're talking about keeping your system properly tuned so that you don't have to wait while it tries to do its job. It's no secret that Vista has had performance problems. Microsoft has promised that their upcoming service pack should resolve most if not all performance issues. We've heard similar kinds of promises from Redmond before, but this time they say they really mean it. In fairness, not every performance issue can be laid at Microsoft's doorstep, but it's always fun to blame them because they're such an easy target.

Vista puts great demands on your CPU due to Aero and other assorted graphical gizmos built into the product. They should have named it the Eye Candy OS. Responding to the user community, Microsoft also added security features and additional functions that were not present in XP. When you ask your CPU to do more, you're adding overhead. This means you need more CPU power or you live with a slower system. If Vista performance has been less than stellar, the good news is that you can do something about it other than buying a new computer. Here are some of the things you can do to make Vista more appealing from a performance standpoint.

You're probably tired of hearing this one. It's like mother telling you to eat your vegetables. You know she's right, but you don't want to hear it. ADD MORE MEMORY. Vista is hungrier for RAM than any of its predecessors, and with memory as cheap as it is, it doesn't make sense to keep it on a starvation diet. XP runs great on one gigabyte of RAM. Vista should have two gigabytes as a minimum, and you won't go wrong by installing even four gigabytes.

Even with enough physical memory, Vista can still act like a tired old dog if you have a lightweight video card. Go into the Performance Information and Tools utility in Control Panel, and check out your video card with the Windows Experience Index. You need a video card that's certified for Vista Premium and supports Direct X 10. Use the money you save on RAM to buy a good video card. Don't try to do this one on the cheap.

A real help to good performance is bringing your power settings to the High Performance option. Do this from the Power Options utility in Control Panel. The default setting is Balanced which is OK for XP but not Vista. The High Performance setting gives you full access to all the Power in the CPU.

Turn off the sidebar. While this feature is visually appealing, it has few socially redeeming traits. Turning off this feature can sometimes result in significantly faster startups and shutdowns. Disable the sidebar by right-clicking it. Select Properties, and remove the checkmark in the box that starts the sidebar when Vista wakes up.

Fine tune your indexing options. Vista has a great search feature, but it's totally dependent on indexing the files and programs on your hard drive. It's a mixed blessing. You have a fantastic search capability when you index all locations, but you take a performance hit. By indexing fewer areas, performance will improve, but your search feature will be less robust.

Vista won't let you turn off indexing completely, but you can disable indexing for locations that may not be important to you. Do this from the Performance Information and Tools utility in Control Panel.

Here's another "eat your veggies" type tip. Empty the Recycle Bin and adjust it so it doesn't take up more than 2% of your hard drive. Right click on the Recycle Bin, select Properties, and make the necessary adjustments in the dialog box. Don't forget to defrag your disk once in a while, and empty the Recycle Bin before you defrag, not after.

Open My Computer from the Desktop. Right click on the C: drive, select Properties and check how much space you have left on your hard drive. If you're approaching 90% or more, you need to take non-essential files and move them to another location. Vista needs free disk space to perform certain housekeeping functions, and if it has to hunt around for room or use virtual memory, your performance hit could be enormous.

Keep your device drivers up-to-date. Device drivers were designed to ensure that programs or hardware peripherals could "talk" to the system without problems and do their jobs properly. Newer drivers can improve 3D performance, fix bugs and other graphical glitches in games and video programs. Device drivers can avoid memory conflicts and prevent programs from squabbling over resources. Newer device drivers can support innovative features within applications, and ensure compatibility among different programs.

These are only some of the things you can do to improve Vista performance. Removing unnecessary startup programs, preventing spyware and virus infections, and updating old software are additional steps you can take. If your system is frequently hanging up or crashing after doing everything you can do to improve performance, then it's time to consider reformatting your hard drive and reinstalling everything, but that's another article.

Obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups. This article has been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (vlabash(at)comcast.net).

Using a Restore Point
By Larry Bothe, Fox Valley PC Association and CAEUG

Recently, while in a big hurry to get a lot of work done before leaving on vacation, my computer started up with a blank screen. No mouse, no images, no text, no error message, no nothing. I had no choice but to just shut it down using the on/off switch. I then tried to start it again, this time watching very carefully to see what happened (I was getting coffee the first time). It went through the BIOS start (black & white screens with text) OK; then gave a brief color flash of the Windows XP logo, then nothing. The hard drive activity light was flashing so I knew the machine was trying. I was encouraged by the Windows startup sounds, but never got an image.

I recalled that the evening before I had received a warning from my computer security software that some program was trying to make a change to something it thought was a danger. I was in a hurry and I OK’d it without reading it thoroughly. Thinking back I decided that perhaps I had OK’d a bad thing that resulted in changing some setting in the operating system (Windows XP Home). I then crossed my fingers and tried starting the machine in Safe Mode. You do that by turning on the machine and then repeatedly pushing the F8 key until you get the black & white screen that lets you select the startup mode. Using the arrow keys I selected Safe Mode and pressed Enter. I lucked out and it started in Safe Mode.

Once in Safe Mode I decided to restore the system settings to an earlier point in time  when everything worked correctly. In Windows XP every time you shut down your computer it takes a snapshot of your operating system settings and saves them into what is called a restore point. If you later install a program or get attacked by a virus that alters your system settings such that the machine no longer runs right you can in theory go back to some prior point in time when the machine ran correctly and restore the settings to what they were then. That’s called a restore point. Note that you have to uninstall the offending program or get rid of the virus before you attempt a restore. Otherwise the program or virus will just alter your settings once again. Also note that going back to some prior restore point will not delete any files you created and saved after the restore point you select. You won’t lose any data. However, I had never tried this before so didn’t quite know what to expect.

In order to get into the routine you do Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Restore. After clicking System Restore you select Restore my computer to an earlier time, and then follow the prompts. The routine lets you choose a date you want to restore to. I had to think about that. It ran well the previous day, but that was the day the settings were changed. I chose to go back 2 days to be sure I was well before the bad thing occurred. I finished the restore procedure and the machine restarted perfectly. It turned out to be a really good use of the restore point feature in XP.

I mentioned above that you must first get rid of whatever changed your settings in the first place before you do the restore. If you don’t then you risk that it will simply alter your settings once again and you’ll be right back where you were with a sick machine. In my haste to fix my computer I didn’t take that corrective action, so when it restarted the malware once again tried to alter my settings. And once again my security software caught it and presented a warning. Being a bit smarter this time I clicked on Deny instead of Allow (OK). After the machine came up running properly I used my security software (Zone Alarm Security Suite) to do a full system scan for any malicious software. It did indeed find one bad thing (in addition to several spyware items), which I told it to remove. I guess that was it because I have had no more trouble. No, I can’t tell you exactly what the offending malicious software was because I didn’t write it down, and I have slept since then.

I learned several lessons from this little episode. A good suite of computer security programs is worth every penny you pay for it. Even cautious computer users like me can get caught up in a virus problem. When your security software presents a warning you need to pay attention; I won’t be so quick to click on Allow in the future. Finally, the System Restore feature in Windows XP is worth its weight in owl feathers. It is easy to use and very effective under the right circumstances.

Larry Bothe is an associate member of CAEUG and an honorary member of FVPCA. He was President of CAEUG for a time back in the 90’s when he lived in the Chicago area. Larry presently resides in southern Indiana where he is retired from the plastics industry and currently teaches people to fly airplanes. He also performs pilot examinations for the FAA.

The Switch to Digital TV
by Sandy Berger, CompuKISS www.compukiss.com

The switch to digital is on the way. On February 17, 2009, U. S. broadcast stations, who are currently broadcasting in both analog and digital, will turn off their analog signals and will transmit only in digital. What’s this mean to you?

Most consumers who get their television from a cable or satellite provider won’t notice a difference. Cable and satellite companies are not required to make the transition, so they can continue to broadcast in both analog and digital. Eventually, though, if your cable company moves to all digital, you will not be able to get the cable straight from the wall, but will need a box from your cable company.Most cable customers already have a cable television box, anyway. Don’t worry about that now, your cable company will notify you, if and when that happens. And it may be years down the road.

The people who will be most affected by the transition to digital are those who get their television “over the air” with rabbit ears or an antenna in the attic or on the roof. Older analog televisions will not be able to pick up the digital signal. You don’t, however, have to go out and buy a new TV. You simply will need to add a digital-to-analog converter box to your television. These boxes are already available in stores like WalMark, Best Buy, Circuit City, Radio Shack, and Target. They will be priced between $40 and $70.

Luckily for those with rabbit ears and old televisions, the government has created a $1.5 billion coupon program to subsidize the cost of the converter boxes. This program is being overseen by the National Telecommunication and Information Administration agency.Each household, regardless of how they receive their television, is eligible to receive two $40 coupons.The coupons are available now. As I write this, over 5 million coupons have already been requested.

To get a coupon you can apply online at www.dtv2009.gov or call the 24-hour hot line, 888-DTV-2009 (888-388-2009). You can also mail a coupon application to P.O. Box 2000, Portland, OR97208-2000. The program itself expires on March 31, 2009. The government is trying to get everyone ready as quickly as possible, so be aware that the coupons expire three months after they are mailed to you. Since many television stations are already broadcasting in digital, you can use the converter box immediately.

If you are still asking why we are doing this, the official government explanation is that switching to digital TV will free up parts of the valuable broadcast spectrum for public safety communications such as police, fire departments, and rescue squads. The bigger reason, though, is that some of the spectrum will be auctioned to companies for advanced wireless services. This, of course, will be very lucrative for the US Government.

It may also be a good thing for consumers, as well. With the digital converter box, even your old analog television may give you a better picture. You will also be able to see more channels as some broadcasters will choose to multicast programs. Multicasting means that a broadcaster can split up its signal into several channels, each with a different set of programs. This type of programming is only available with digital broadcasting.

One thing to remember is that digital television is not high-definition television. Although high-def TVs will display digital television, you do not need a high-def TV just because of this transition .Digital broadcast television includes both Standard Definition (SD) and High Definition (HD) formats. You can watch both standard definition and high definition programming on an analog TV hooked to a digital-to-analog converter box, but the high definition won’t give you the full high definition quality that you would receive on a high definition television.

If you have a newer TV that you purchased in the last few years, it my already support digital. Look at the markings on the television to find out if it has a digital tuner built-in. Words like “Digital Tuner or Receiver”, “DTV”, or “HDTV” indicate that it will display the digital programming. However, if your television says “HDTV Monitor”, “Digital Ready” or “HDTV Ready”, you may still need a converter box. 

If you need more information on the move to digital television, check out the Federal Communication Commission’s DTV Web site at www.dtv.gov. They have done a good job explaining everything you need to know.

Electronic Waste — Where to Dispose of It
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

Here's a list of ewaste donation sites in Central Contra County County. If you know or learn of others, please let me know with the location, hours, and website URL.

Hauling Pros Recycling Center
www.dumpmytv.com
73A South Buchanan Circle
(on the left behind S&S Roofing)
Pacheco, CA 94553
925-682-8987
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Rapid Recycle
www.rapidrecycle.net
110 Second Ave., South B-1
Pacheco, CA 94553
925-671-8008
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Saturday 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.

E-Waste Events
www.co.contra-costa.ca.us/depart/cd/recycle/options/e-waste.htm
See website for dates, times, and locations of events

Recycle for Breast Cancer
www.recycleforbreastcancer.org/dropoffanytime.htm
31 Beta Court, Suite C
San Ramon, CA 94583
800-315-9580
7 days a week excluding holidays 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
A completed donation for is requested at the time of donation; this form can be downloaded from their website

e-Recycle OnUs
www.erecycleonus.com
1271 Boulevard Way
(at back left corner past East Bay Art and CTA)
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
925-934-1515
Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Photoshop Elements SIG Meeting Program
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

The Photoshop Elements SIG will be meeting the fourth Thursday, May 22, 2008, at 7 p.m. at Peggy Johnson’s home in Concord. Barry will be refreshing the uses of the basic tool bar, covering “File and Edit Image” as a start. Good time for us to show how we use these tools for purposes other than the obvious. Don’t forget to check out the Elements SIG pages at www.bkbrown.net for the latest news, information and tutorials.

Please email Peggy for further information and/or directions.

Windows SIG Meeting Program
by Walt Parsons, DVPC

The Windows SIG meeting will be held on Monday, May 5, 2008 at 7:30 p.m. Ron will try to remove the mystery that shrouds the ports in your PC.

The Windows SIG meetings are held in the Community Room at the Concord Police Station. See the detailed directions on the DVPC SIG News page.

Today's Dilbert Cartoon
by Scott Adams