Diablo Blue

The Newsletter of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group

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MARCH 5, 2009 MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

Genealogy
Presenter: Peggy Johnson, DVPC

This month Peggy Johnson and Mel Lundgren will tell us about genealogy and genealogical research. Peggy's presentation will be all about genealogy — what genealogy is; where to begin; how to use a genealogy database program, such as Family Tree Maker, to document family names, dates, facts and history; where information is found; and the wonders of the internet. Mention will be made of some prominent websites, some free and some requiring a subscription fee. Mel will speak of her successes at the Mormon Family History Center in Oakland.

This month's meeting will be fun, interesting, and informative. We'll see you on Thursday, March 5, 2009 at Diablo Valley College.

NOTE: Diablo Valley College has parking permit dispensers that take dollar bills as well as nickels, dimes, quarters, and dollar coins, and will at some time in the future take credit cards. Note that these parking permit dispensers do not make change.

Where and When We Meet

DVPC 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 H107 (or a nearby room) in the Humanities Building. See the campus map on the About DVPC page for driving directions, parking information, and how to get to room H107. 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. You can purchase permits at the parking permit machines marked with a red star on the maps on the DVPC website. 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

You will need the monthly 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 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. If an article is updated,the word Updated will be added in red

When we add a new article "mid-month" the entire entry will be shown in red in the Table of Contents.

DVPC Board of Directors Meeting Minutes
by Tom Krauss, DVPC

As I came off the freeway in San Ramon, on my way to the Board meeting, I found myself behind a pizza delivery car. As we sped down San Ramon Valley Boulevard the adrenaline began to flow and hope rise. Could Alan have a surprise in store for us tonight? Might the old tradition of pizza before business be on the agenda?

The delivery car turned onto Montevideo Drive with me following close behind. It was a Round Table car. Not our usual franchise, but we had used them in the past. Maybe Alan had some coupons!

I wiped a trail of drool off my chin as we turned again. Alan’s house loomed ahead. We sped up the street, the pizza in the lead and me close behind.

And he went right past Alan’s house. I honked my horn to get his attention but he never looked back.

Oh, well. I had already eaten dinner anyway, I thought to myself as I parked and walked to the front door. Not that one couldn’t always find room for a slice or two of pizza. But I would survive.

Inside I found the entire Board assembled. Barry and Richard broke away from a conversation on marble countertops to tell me that they were not going to say anything tonight for fear of my recording it in these minutes. I pointed out that whether or not they spoke had no bearing on my quotes in the minutes. They conceded the point and were quite vocal the remainder of the evening. Out of deference to their concern (and to keep from boring my readers) I will not include any of their conversation here. This time.

We discussed where to meet. Concord Police had announced that their community room, where the Windows Sig meets, will no longer be available after f8:00 p.m. We determined that we really had only anecdotal information that one or two people were unhappy with DVC as a meeting place, probably due to parking related issues. Several people had ideas of other possible meeting sites and will explore those.

Mel told a sad story of going to Fry’s to buy a power strip and then having to by a PC and a notebook to plug into it and then software to run on them. (Note to self: if you have a garage sale, invite Mel.) This truckload of hardware and software generated a long list of questions which she presented to our highly trained team of advisors. They rose to the challenge with an even longer list of answers, some of which were probably correct, or at least helpful.

As I left the meeting I decided to flag down the pizza delivery guy, but he was not to be found.

Links to Interesting Online Articles
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

Here are links to some interesting articles I've found online. Check them out!

Popular Mechanics — Microsoft's new computing paradigm
Dick Curry found this video that shows a demonstration of Microsoft's revolutionary Surface Computing platform that may change the way we use computers...
Read more

PCMag.com — Identity Theft: It's Out of Your Hands
The most important thing you have is you, right? And online, you are your identity. If xyz.com doesn't value you enough to keep you safe, then does that company really deserve your business...
Read more

PCMag.com — Facebook Tips for Fogeys
No offense intended, but if you are just getting into Facebook for the first time this article is a must-read. It helps you understand why the social-networking site works the way it does and how you can avoid the myriad pitfalls that can often lead to embarrassment — or worse...
Read more

cnet News — Still waiting for OLED TVs
The Sony XEL-1 has been on the market for a year and it still has no competitors. Why is that?...
Read more

ComputerWorld — Microsoft tweaks Experience Index for Windows 7
New performance tool better measures multicore CPUs and drives...
Read more

About.com:Windows —Top 8 Ways to Speed Up Your Computer
What You Can Do to Make a Windows PC Faster...
Read more

Adobe.com — Adobe to patch Flash vulnerabilities for three platforms
The table below contains the latest Flash Player version information. Adobe recommends that all Flash Player users upgrade to the most recent version of the player...
Read more

Microsoft — Strong passwords: How to create and use them
It is not hard to create strong passwords and keep them well protected...
Read more
Use Microsoft's Password Checker to see the strength (or weakness!) of your passwords...
Microsoft's Password Checker

IEEE Spectrum Online — Inside the Plastic Electronics Revolution
Get the lowdown on the new 7-millimeter-thick Plastic Logic electronic book, magazine, newspaper, and document reader. Look out, Kindle...
Read more

Computerworld Software — 6 timesaving tips for Word 2007
Microsoft's Word has always been an impressively powerful piece of software, with dozens, if not hundreds, of features most people never knew existed...
Read more

TechBite — Steve Bass: Hey, I've got a brand new newsletter!
You can be the first on your block to get my brand new, absolutely free TechBite e-mail newsletter...
Read more

Microsoft Download Notifications — Data Encryption Toolkit for Mobile PCs
This toolkit helps you cost effectively secure the data on Windows XP and Vista mobile PCs using Encrypting File System and Microsoft BitLocker Drive Encryption technologies...
Read more

Do Not Delete These Fonts
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

On one of my email lists a lady was saying that she had over 900 fonts installed on her computer, and was wondering if it would be safe to delete some. She asked if there were any fonts that should not be deleted. There definitely are, and the list follows. This list would be a good one to print out and keep for reference!

Do not delete the following fonts:
Arial (TrueType)
Arial Black (Windows XP/Vista)
Arial Bold (TrueType)
Arial Bold Italic (TrueType)
Arial Italic (TrueType)
Book Antiqua (Windows XP)**
Calibri (Windows Vista)
Cambria (Windows Vista)
Courier 10,12,15 (VGA res)
Courier New (TrueType)
Courier New Bold (TrueType)
Courier New Bold Italic (TrueType)
Courier New Italic (TrueType)
Franklin Gothic Medium (Windows XP/Vista)
Georgia (Windows XP/Vista)
Impact (Windows XP/Vista)
Lucida Console (Windows XP/Vista)
Lucida Sans (Windows XP/Vista)
Lucida Sans Unicode (Windows XP/Vista)
Marlett (Windows 95/98) *
Modern (Plotter)
MS Sans Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
MS Serif 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
Palatino Linotype (Windows XP/Vista)
Roman (Plotter)
Script (Plotter)
Small fonts (VGA res)
Symbol (TrueType)
Symbol 8,10,12,14,18,24 (VGA res)
Tahoma (Windows XP/Vista)
Times New Roman (TrueType)
Times New Roman Bold (TrueType)
Times New Roman Bold Italic (TrueType)
Times New Roman Italic (TrueType)
Trebuchet MS (Windows XP/Vista)
Verdana (Windows XP/Vista)
Wingdings (TrueType)
Any font with a red A for its icon.
Any font that begins with the letters MS.

* Marlett is a hidden system file and it will not show up in a search, however, it may show up in your program font lists.

A list of fonts common to all versions of Windows with their Mac equivalents is online at www.ampsoft.net/webdesign-l/WindowsMacFonts.html.

Additionally, some programs have fonts that are required for that program to display properly. Those fonts that are not listed above are listed here along with the program:

Corel Draw
Avant Garde Book BT (TrueType)
Avant Garde Oblique BT (TrueType)
Avant Garde Medium BT (TrueType)
Avant Garde Medium Oblique BT (TrueType)
CommonBullets (TrueType)
FuturaMedcondBT (Corel's # TT0201M.TTF)

Print Artist
Palisade

Windows Draw
Swiss921 BT
(Also see page 4 of the manual for Windows Draw 6 Print Studio, and page 27 of the manual for Complete Publisher '99 for a list of fonts that must be installed for the text styles and templates to appear properly.)

Create-a-Card
Swiss721 BT
Create-a-Card also has fonts that begin with CAC — these can be removed, however, some of the included projects may not display correctly.

Internet Web Browsers
Webdings

Office 97 (including Outlook 98)
Tahoma

QuickBooks
Four fonts that all start with "Quicktype"

MS Bookshelf
Three fonts called Bookshelf Symbols 1-3

Picture It
Comic Sans and Comic BD

A list of fonts installed on Windows XP and Vista, Mac OS X Tiger and Leopard, Microsoft Office 2003 and 2007 for Windows, Microsoft Office 2004 for Mac, Acrobat 7, and Adobe Creative Suite CS2 and CS3 is online at http://media.24ways.org/2007/17/fontmatrix.html.

Windows Preview Thumbnail Problem
by Ron Ogg and Walt Parsons, DVPC

Walt sent me an email about a problem he's having with Windows Vista:

I apparently did something to prevent the “preview” thumbnail that appears when you put the cursor on something in the task bar.
I went to the personalize window and the line for the preview is grayed out.  It used to work but I don’t remember when it stopped working.
Any clues?

Here are my suggestions:

Make sure the taskbar is unlocked and that you are using Windows Aero before trying to change the taskbar thumbnail previews setting. If this doesn’t solve your problem, try these tips which are listed in order starting with the least invasive/least complicated:

1. www.vistax64.com/tutorials/73720-thumbnail-cache.html
2. www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/workaround-for-vista-taskbar-thumbnail-previews-not-showing-correctly/
3. www.vistax64.com/tutorials/118399-thumbnail-previews-taskbar-enable-disable.html (scroll down to Method 2 which works with Vista 32-bit versions).

Here's Walt‘s response:

My problem was cured in your first sentence. Somehow or another Windows Aero got turned off in favor of Windows Classic.

Streaming Netflix
by Alan Mildwurm, DVPC

Netflix (www.netflix.com) has been around for quite some time. Their model of DVD rental distribution is probably responsible for the demise of many “brick and mortar” DVD rental shops. Some time ago, Netflix began a new method of distribution- streaming. This is available at no extra cost with any of their plans providing for at least one unlimited DVD per month (you can exchange the one DVD as many times as you want per month). The cost is $8.99 per month.

Netflix has about 12,000 DVDs available for streaming out of their total library of over 100,000 titles.

Setting this up is very easy. On your computer you select as many movies as you want for your queue. Download a viewer from Netflix and your movie begins playing on your computer. With a high speed connection, the quality is superb. We have watched at least a dozen movies and TV shows without a glitch or sputter.

Netflix also has partnered with several companies to allow you to view the streaming material without your computer and stream to your TV.

These devices include:

XBOX 360
$199 MSRP

The Xbox 360 is the only game console that lets members instantly watch movies & TV episodes streamed from Netflix on the TV. This is available to Netflix members who are also Xbox LIVE Gold members for no additional Netflix fee.

• Plays video games and standard DVDs
• Connects to the Internet via an Ethernet cable, or optional WiFi adapter (additional purchase required)

Already have an Xbox?

To watch instantly on your Xbox, you need the following:

• A high speed Internet connection
• An Xbox Gold LIVE membership
• A Netflix unlimited plan

If you have these, go to your Xbox menu, download and install the Netflix application from within the Video Marketplace, then gowww.netflix.com/activate to activate your device. It's that simple.

Roku Digital Video Player
$99 MSRP

The Roku digital video player makes it easy to instantly watch movies and TV episodes over the Internet on your living room TV, or anywhere you have a TV and an Internet connection. Compact and lightweight, inexpensive but powerful, simple to set up and use.

• Netflix Members' Highly-Rated Digital Video Player
• Connects to the internet wirelessly or via Ethernet cable
• Easily connects directly to your TV

LG BD300 Network Blu-ray Player
$349 MSRP

• Introducing the world's first Network Blu-ray Disc Player that streams from Netflix instantly. Enjoy Blu-ray Discs in Full HD, watch standard DVDs in near-HD up-scaled to 1080p, gain access to over 12,000 select Netflix movies and TV episodes in standard definitions and take advantage of interactive experiences, exclusive downloads and tons of extra features with BD-Live.

• Plays Blu-ray movies, standard DVDs
• Supports BD-Live Connects to the internet via Ethernet cable only

SAMSUNG BD-P2500/BD-P2550
$399 MSRP

The ultimate interactive experience is here. The Samsung BD-P2500 is BD-Live 2.0 Ready so you can enjoy special interactive features, download extra content from the internet and more. You'll also enjoy bold color and crisp details with full 1080p resolution. Movie night just got even more exciting—with the highest-quality audio and an incredible picture.

• Plays Blu-ray movies, standard DVDs
• Supports BD-Live
• Connects to the internet via Ethernet cable only

Of course, you could always use the PC2TV I wrote about last month!

We are really enjoying this new method of delivering content. I just read that Netflix may institute a streaming only subscription. Try the 2 week free trial. You’ll love it.

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. Be sure to check the websites to determine what they will accept. We've included sites where you can recycle single-use and rechargeable batteries

Computers and Electronics

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 form 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.

Electronic Waste Management
www.noewaste.com
E-Waste recycling events at Diablo Valley College
321 Golf Club Road
(in DVC overflow parking lot across from north side of main campus)
Pleasant Hill, CA
866-335-3373
First Saturday of every month (except holidays)
9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Where to recycle Batteries

Single-Use Household Batteries
Longs Drugs
www.longs.com
Alamo, Blackhawk, Danville, Lafayette,
Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, San Ramon
Right Aid Drugstore
www.rightaid.com
Orinda, Walnut Creek
Radio Shack
www.radioshack.com
Danville, Walnut Creek
Check websites for store hours

Rechargeable Batteries
Right Aid Drugstore
www.rightaid.com
1997 Tice Valley Boulevard
Walnut Creek, CA 94595
925-932-0568
7 days a week
Check website for store hours

Photoshop Elements SIG Meeting Program
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

The Adobe Photoshop Elements SIG meeting will be held on Thursday, March 19, 2009 at 7 p.m. at the home of Peggy Johnson in Concord, CA.

We cover and discuss the Adobe Photoshop Elements and Premiere Elements software programs, along with other photo and video manipulation programs. As usual, check out the Elements SIG pages at www.bkbrown.net for all the latest news, information and tutorials.

The Photoshop Elements SIG usually meets on the third Thursday of each month; note that this day may change from month to month. Be sure to check back here for each month's meeting day.

Please email Peggy for further information and/or directions.

Windows SIG Meeting Program
by Walt Parsons, DVPC

There will be no Windows SIG meeting on March 2, 2009. Due to budgetary constraints, the Community Room at the Concord Police Department (and the department lobby) will close at 8 p.m. on Monday through Friday. We have two choices:

1. Hold our meetings at the Concord Police Depatment, but change the meeting to 6:00 or 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. on the first Monday of each month.
2. Find an alternate meeting location where we can meet from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. We might have to change the day of our meeting depending on the location that we select.

We have confirmed with the CPD that the Community Room is available on the first Monday of each month.

We are talking to an alternate location, and expcet to hear back the first week of March. We'll keep you updated by email.

The Daily Dilbert Cartoon
by Scott Adams