Diablo Blue

The Newsletter of the Diablo Valley PC Users Group

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OCTOBER 1, 2009 MEETING ANNOUNCEMENT

Gene Barlow: Moving to Windows 7
Presenter: Gene Barlow, User Group Relations

Windows 7 has generated a lot of interest the past few months. While many users stayed with Windows XP and avoided going to Windows Vista, these same users are now excited to move to Windows 7. Windows 7 has cleaned up many of the problems users had with Windows Vista and has added some new and exciting features not found in Windows XP. This presentation is not a description of these new features or even a demonstration of Windows 7, but will focus on how you can get from your Windows XP or Vista system to the new Windows 7 operating system on your computer. We will even demonstrate how to do this, so that you can see how easy it is to accomplish.

This month's meeting will be especially interesting and informative, and you'll learn techniques for upgrading from either Vista or XP to Windows 7. We'll see you on Thursday, October 1, 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 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 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

The informal topic of the evening was cell phones. Old complaints were aired and new technology demonstrated. Alan took a break from his construction internship and was able to show us Google Map aerial views on his cell phone. We checked out Charlie’s home and were able to pretty well approximate the date based on the absence and/or presence of various cars and boats. The timeframe for the photo of my home was narrowed to a 4 month window based on the absence and/or presence of various large trees in my back yard.

I learned to “yelp”. This was mentioned in regards to restaurants, but I discovered you can also “yelp” shopping, nightlife, beauty and spas, active life and coffee and tea.  Basically the site is a collection of reviews of businesses offering these services. Go to yelp.com and pick a category and city, and get a list of businesses and the critiques of other yelpers. You can enter your own reviews, and information about yourself so people are more likely to trust you. I checked out a couple of local restaurants which we frequent, and found I agreed with the majority of the reviews posted. Maybe I’ll even fire up and master the technology so I can enter reviews. Maybe.

On a sadder note, I am preparing myself for the passing of an old friend. We have known each other for nearly seven years now. He has provided valuable technical support over this period as well as sound personal advice.

Many of you are aware that I am pretty much a technophobe. I am still getting comfortable with Windows XP, and am planning to skip Vista altogether. Despite a background in computer programming and software development, or perhaps because of that, I do not run out to buy the latest software or hardware. And due in part to my background I tend to second guess what the developers and manual writers were thinking, with often disastrous results. My friend has always been there to help me unravel what I did and get back on track.

But he is pretty old, and not all the parts are working as they used to. He sometimes emits strange and unusual noises these days, his memory is failing, and sometimes becomes he gets quite temperamental.

I am talking about my computer, of course. These days sending an email with a greater than 3 meg attachment takes several minutes. Try 8 megs and Outlook locks up. Running certain combinations of software concurrently can have serious repercussions. Running an Acronis backup locks the machine up if I do anything more complicated than play solitaire at the same time. The weekly AVG backup causes other programs running concurrently to run at the speed of a 300 baud modem. And what was sold to me by Fry’s as a quite fan (and never really was) now drowns out the television in the next room.

My son is going to build me a new computer. We identified hardware 3 or 4 weeks ago but have held off buying it until Windows 7 is released. He has been running the beta and says it is worth the few weeks wait. Plus, that gives hardware prices a chance to come down. His advice has proved good so far. In this short time the motherboard we were going to use has been discontinued. And I am having a hard time deciding whether to buy it anyway at a really cheap fire-sale price, or jump ahead to some really new, 2007 technology. I’m getting braver.

Links to Interesting Online Articles
by Ron Ogg, DVPC

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

PCWorld.com — DHS Clarifies Laptop Border Crossing Rules
What You Need to Know: Earlier this week, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security made it clear that border crossing officials could continue to search any device that can store electronic media without any suspicion of wrongdoing...
Read more

PCWorld.com — Microsoft Staves Off Word Sales Ban
A federal appeals court late on Thursday granted Microsoft's request to suspend an injunction that would have barred the company from selling its Word software next month...
Read more

eWeek.com — Are Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader Too Expensive?
Amazon.com, Sony and others may have gained substantial publicity over the summer for their e-reader devices, but mass-market adoption of digital-book readers may be unobtainable unless these companies lower their prices...
Read more

NetworkWorld.com — The history of steganography: Hiding secret messages in plain sight
There is a wealth of methods for creating encrypted messages you can't even tell are there. Here's a short slideshow that shows the history of some of the all-time greats...
Read more

EWG.org — Limit Your Exposure To Cell Phone Radiation
Four billion people around the globe own cell phones. As the market for new devices has grown, so have concerns about the safety of cell phone radiation...
Read more

PCWorld Online — Straight to the Spam Folder: Astonishing E-Mail Messages You'll Never Open
Spamming is an underappreciated art form. In fact, "hated" may be a more accurate adjective. Like mimes in a public square, spammers seek to capture the attention of people who actively try to avoid them...
Read more

PCWorld Online — Superfast 802.11n Wi-Fi Standard Official
A new standard for Wi-Fi communication, 802.11n, is now official paving the way for faster, more reliable, and more efficient wireless networks...
Read more

InfoWorld Mobilize — Apple betrays the iPhone's business hopes
Fixing a major but unacknowledged bug in the operating system, last week's iPhone OS 3.1 update has rendered most iPhones and all iPod Touches incompatible with Exchange 2007 servers that require on-device data be encrypted, a standard safeguard used by businesses... The iPhone has been falsely reporting to Exchange servers since July 2008 that it supports on-device encryption...
Read more

CNET Cheapskate Alert — Get BioShock (PC) and other games for $5 each
Game-download service Direct2Drive is celebrating its 5-year anniversary by offering a large selection of games (all for PC) for $5 each. My top pick: BioShock, one of my all-time favorites...
Read more

Ask Bob Rankin — What is Google Books?
You may have heard that Google is trying to steal all the books ever written. You may also have heard that Google is going to give away all the books ever written. Is there any truth to either one of these rumor? Read on to find out...
Read more

Ask Bob Rankin — Can I Hide My IP Address?
I'll start by saying yes, it's possible to hide or "spoof" your IP address...
Read more

Ask Bob Rankin — Google Results By Date And Time
I'm doing some Google searches for news stories that happened several years ago. But all the top results are for the most current or most 'popular' pages on my keywords. How can I get Google to limit my search results to specific dates...
Read more

Computerworld — 8 quick tips for getting the most from IE8
Master the most useful new features in Microsoft's Internet Explorer 8...
Read more

Computerworld First Look — An amazing laptop recovery story
Using remote access software, a Miami man helps cops track down and recover his two stolen laptops...
Read more

Computerworld — Amazon starts own brand sales with AmazonBasics name
Internet retailer Amazon.com has started selling electronics accessories under the AmazonBasics brand...
Read more

AARP Bulletin Today — Scam Alert: Census Taker... or Faker?
“Anyone who comes to your door posing as a census worker from now until next spring is a fake,” Census Bureau spokesman Derick Moore tells the Bulletin Today...
Read more

cnet news — Microsoft to release free security software soon
Microsoft plans to release the final version of its free antivirus software soon, according to a note sent to testers late Sunday. "The final version of Microsoft Security Essentials will be released to the public in the coming weeks," Microsoft said in the note...
Read more

NetworkWorld — FCC’s Genachowski gives strong net neutrality endorsement
During a speech at the Brookings Institute, Genachowski proposed adding two new rules to commission policy that would bar carriers from blocking or degrading lawful Web traffic and that would force carriers to be more open about their traffic management practices...
Read more

KTVU.com — Netflix Awards $1M Prize To Fix Movie Picks
Netflix Inc. awarded a $1 million prize Monday to a seven-member international research group as part of a three-year, intensely waged contest to help the online movie rental company predict more accurately what movies its customers will like....
Read more

Computerworld — Mozilla plans to 'ribbonize' Firefox
Mozilla plans to "ribbonize" Firefox for Windows Vista and Windows 7 to reduce clutter and free up space for the browser display, according to company planning documents...
Read more

NetworkWorld — FBI building system that blows away fingerprinting
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is expanding beyond its traditional fingerprint-focused collection practices to develop a new biometrics system that will include DNA records, 3-D facial imaging, palm prints and voice scans, blended to create what's known as "multi-modal biometrics."...
Read more

PCMag.com — An Even Better Way to Make the Move from XP to Win 7
XP users eager to move up to the new Microsoft OS everyone's raving about are in for rude awakening: The Windows 7 installer doesn't offer the Upgrade option to users moving from Windows XP to Windows 7. Laplink PCmover is, bar none, the best way to upgrade...
Read more

Google Docs 4Everyone — A Book Review
by John Krill, North Orange County Computer Club

Confession first: I'm a big Google fan. After two nightmare situations with Yahoo!, I went over to the bright side and got a Gmail account. Now I have four Gmail accounts. The center of my Internet existence is Google's Personal Web portal. I also use Google Blogger for three blogs. Lastly there is Picasa for organizing all my photos and the Picasa's web space for displaying the photos I want to share with others.

The one Google application that I have wanted to use but have put it off is Google Docs. This application is a word processor, spreadsheet, and presentation program in one wrapper. Why use Google Docs when Microsoft Word and Excel are fast and easy to use? The primary reason is Google Docs ability to easily collaborate and share with others.

You can't learn this stuff on your own -- can you? That's where Google Docs 4Everyone comes into play. Let’s be honest I really didn't think I needed a manual to learn Google Docs. I was wrong. The first chapter alone gave me information on Google accounts that I've already taken advantage of. If you only read about the collaboration tools (Chapters 5, 8, and 10) in Google Docs you will benefit greatly. The book covers word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and collaborating and sharing the documents you work with in Google Docs.

Remember the manual you received with your software? Well Google Docs 4Everyone is your manual for Google Docs. It's that simple. Most of you have a wealth of knowledge using word processors, spreadsheets, and presentation software and what you need is a manual that gives the basics of Google Docs, especially its limits. The important subjects are those that make Google Docs special. Primarily its collaboration tools and Google Docs ability to publish to the Web and post to blogs. It’s all covered in Google Docs 4Everyone.

This book is very much recommended. I'm now a big fan of Google Docs because of Google Docs 4Everyone. The list price for Google Docs 4Everyone is $19.99 and it can be had at Amazon for $13.59. (It also can be ordered from the publisher with a 35% discount if your group is a member of the Pearson User Group program).

Google Docs 4Everyone is authored by Steven Holzner and Nancy Holzner. 251 Pages. Publisher: QUE, 800 East 9th St., Indianapolis, Indiana, 46240.

(http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=0789739364)

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (editor (at) noccc.org).

Optimize Your PC
by Jon Jackman, President, Fox Valley PC Association, Illinois

I saw an e-mail from PC World inviting me to speed up my slow PC. This directed me to a link for a “free scan” of my computer using PC Pitstop Optimize 3.0. Recently, we had a discussion at our general meeting of slow system performance, so I decided to give it a try and document the effort here. It may postpone an inevitable Windows re-install, but we will see.

The scan yielded some interesting results and offered to do it for me if I purchased the program (for about $30.) I looked at the results and wondered how I might be able to do this manually for free? I looked around on Google and found some step-by-step guides on basically accomplishing the same things that PC Pitsop’s Optimize would do if I paid the $30. I ran the program and it began to scan my system. Interestingly it ran 3 scans of my Download speed. Not sure what that was about. It then displayed several pages of results: Junk Files, Internet Settings, Startup Programs, Registry Fixes and Performance Tweaks. When I reboot, it reminds me of what it can do to make thinks run better by displaying red messages. I will try some manual fixes and watch to see if the start-up scan gets progressively greener.

Looking at what Optimize tries to do, I first decided to run CCleaner — a free program, you can download it from www.ccleaner.com.

Junk Files

The first Optimize Results screen listed the junk files that I could safely delete. In my case, Optimize listed Temporary Files, Recycle Bin and Internet Caches. Using CCleaner in the Cleaner option under the Windows tab, files for Internet Explorer, Windows Explorer and System are listed by default, so I ran the “Analyze” tool. I was reminded to close Firefox to enable the Internet Cache to be cleaned as well. After several minutes it was complete and it said that ANALYSIS COMPLETE - (526.859 seconds), 555.9MB to be removed. (Approximate size). As a comparison, Optimize indicated that 729 MB would be cleaned. I ran the “Run Cleaner” option.

Internet Settings 

The second Optimize Results screen looks at Internet Settings and explains that they may be tuned for faster throughput and may provide a substantial increase in Internet performance. In my case, my connections (HTTP, TCP/IP and Firefox) had no recommended adjustments. However, you may try using the Optimize free scan yourself and see that you have some that are recommended. In that case, you may try to Optimize your settings manually. Search Google for “TCP Optimizer”, download and run it. Select “Optimal”, then apply. Look around carefully and see what else you might optimize. You will need to reboot.

Startup Programs

When Windows starts up it automatically loads a number of programs, many of which you may not need. As you install more and more programs, this list can continue to grow. In my situation, there were several Startup Programs that Optimize considered “unnecessary.” (You could run the free scan and see what it says about your system.) The ones listed on mine were: InstallShield Update Service (2 instances), Adobe Acrobat SpeedLauncher, QuickTime Icon and Realtek HD Audio. Using CCleaner I went to Tools and then selected Startup. I looked at the programs that Optimizer 3.0 suggested and right clicked on them and chose “Disable”.

Registry Fixes

Programs sometimes leave incorrect information behind in the registry, either because they uninstall improperly or because the files associated with the entries have been moved or deleted. Cleaning the Windows registry would hope to keep your PC in working order and keep the system running at peak performance. Using CCleaner, select Registry and then “Scan for issues”. You can then choose to Fix them. Afterwards, not too many of the Optimize findings were changed.

Performance Tweaks

Optimize made some recommendations to adjust some settings in the Registry. Using the suggested tweaks I searched the Registry and made the adjustments to the keys that I could find, although not all of the ones recommended could be found. As always, back up your registry first! (CCleaner would have done that prior to fixing the registry in the step above.) Start, Run “regedit”, then Edit, Find and enter the string. Right click and adjust the value.

Additional Fixes

1. Use Auslogics Registry Defrag — Defrag your hard drive!
2. Uninstall Optimize 3.0… You might want to reinstall it and run a new scan after you have done all of these steps to see if you made progress.

You should see a faster booting, faster running machine!

Good luck!

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (jockojkj (at) aol.com).

Speed It Up! — A Book Review
by Gordon Strickland, North Orange County Computer Club

Speed It Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow Computers

Almost anyone would like his computer to run faster. This book may therefore be regarded as being aimed at a very wide potential readership. It discusses measures for restoring the performance of a computer whose performance has degraded from what it was originally and hardware modifications to enhance its performance perhaps even over the original. However, if the measures discussed in the main part of the book will not yield sufficient improvement, the author also includes a final section offering guidelines for buying a new computer. The specific discussions in the book are applicable primarily to machines running Windows XP and Vista, although some of the material would also be applicable to earlier versions of Windows. Apart from some hardware issues, there is little applicable to Linux and Apple machines.

The book is organized into an introduction, eighteen chapters, and an appendix. The chapters are grouped into six sections, with titles that I will abridge as follows: Quick Diagnosis, Simple Speedups, Power Speedups, Upgrading Your PC, Internet and Network Speedups, and Buying a Faster PC.

Under Quick Diagnosis, the author rightly notes that the perception of performance degradation can be very subjective. He describes instances where acquaintances thought that their machines were slowing down, when in fact that had not really happened. Perceptions of degraded performance are particularly apt to occur when an older machine is asked to run new, demanding software. Windows Vista and some of the newer games can be very problematical in this respect. The author then discusses various symptoms of actual performance degradation, and emphasizes the importance of doing a thorough backup before moving on to the tasks of repair and enhancement.

The Simple Speedups section deals with removing spyware and viruses, cleaning out unnecessary programs, optimizing the hard disk, and making Windows go faster. The Power Speedups section discusses cleaning the Windows registry and reinstalling Windows from scratch (“when all else fails”).

Under Upgrading Your PC, the author discusses hardware upgrades such as adding more RAM, installing a larger hard disk, upgrading the video card (perhaps particularly beneficial when going to the more demanding versions of Vista), and installing a faster CPU. This last measure is sometimes possible with machines that are of fairly recent vintage. Alternatively, the author suggests that one can provide for a new CPU by also installing a new motherboard, but this would seem to get one into the area of the final section, Buying a Faster PC.

The appendix, entitled “PC Performance Resources,” consists of useful lists of available software packages for the performance of the various optimization and repair tasks discussed in the previous text. For instance, under “Registry Cleaners,” ten different programs are listed, including a number of free ones.

Other categories of programs presented include General Performance Suites, Benchmarking, Startup Optimization, File Cleaning, Hard Disk Optimization, Internet Speedup, and others. Altogether, the appendix lists 61 programs.

By way of criticism, it is curious that there is no discussion of the possibility of reflashing (reloading) the BIOS of a machine. This procedure, admittedly only for the more courageous user, might provide important benefits where the originally loaded BIOS contained bugs, had become corrupted, or did not provide proper support for software or hardware developed since the date of the originally loaded BIOS. The author  misleadingly states (pg 166) that the BIOS is loaded into ROM that cannot be written to, but this is not true in modern machines. Indeed, some BIOS’s can be reflashed even from within the Windows operating system.

With the printed book, the purchaser also receives, for 45 days, access to a free online edition of the book. Presumably the access period can be extended for a fee, if the user desires. The object here seems to be to make the book more convenient to use when one is already working at the computer. I tend to prefer to use a printed version of a publication in such situations, if it will stay open at the page you are consulting while typing at the keyboard. Unfortunately, the book is assembled with the now near-universal “perfect” binding (was there ever a more outrageously misleading  terminology?), and therefore is quite likely to change pages, or close, spontaneously. Depending on your monitor size and other factors, the online version might be more convenient in some situations.

I thought that the book was very informative and potentially useful. The experienced user, opening up the book at random and examining a particular topic, might be inclined to say, “Oh, I already knew that,” but most should find the detailed, systematic, and thorough coverage very helpful. Even the experienced user may find that the book fills in occasional knowledge gaps.

The 2009 book is authored by Michael Miller and from Que Publishing (Pearson Education, Inc.) (312+xvi pages). http://www.informit.com/store/product.aspx?isbn=078973947X

List price is $21.99. If your group is a member of the Pearson User Group program, a 30% discount is available to members plus free shipping. It's also available from Amazon.com for $16.49 (a 25% discount).

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (editor (at) noccc.org).

Mr. Watson Come Here, I Want To See You
by Lou Torraca, President, The TUG, MOAA User Group, Hawaii

"Mr. Watson, come here, I want to see you" — If only Alexander Graham Bell had known about APPS!

I surrender! I have for a very long time been ignoring the smart phone craze. Mostly because I just can’t see myself doing everything, and I mean everything on a phone! But I have to admit, the proliferation of “apps” via a bazillion storefronts on the web, has me fascinated, from a business point of view that is, so I have spent a considerable amount of time researching what I call the “app phenom” and consequently, I have at least as many pages of stuff on the topic as there are app storefronts…I think! So, I confessed this to a colleague and he immediately said:” so do a column on it already.” After a bit of soul-searching, I decided what the heck, why not and I began to organize the plethora of info I have accumulated. Early on it became obvious I had not been very discriminating in what or how I filed away app stuff and I was about to pick another topic, when my friend, Andy Marken came along with the solution to my problem, so sit back and read a most insightful dissertation on the subject of “apps”

Open for Business – Apple wasn’t the first to build a Smartphone or the first to offer apps. They were just the first to make them real, real fun/interesting. Offer the right merchandise, the right mood and most people will take the bait. Source – Screen Gems

Guess when you have $56 billion and change in the vault in today’s economic environment you must be doing something right. Just wish our kids would quit contributing to the stash Apple is using to buy GPU (graphics processor unit) technology and game designer talent.

A few years ago Apple decided all Smartphones sucked (they’re not too hot on netbooks either). So they announced the step up from the iPod (they didn’t like those other MP3 players!)… the iPhone.

Make a Call Too — When Apple introduced the iPhone it was more than a Smartphone. Actually it was everything else first and then a phone. Good move because the company set its solution way apart from everyone else and the rest of the market scrambled to catch up…still are.
Source — Apple

Changing the Game

Then they did something really dumb… gave AT&T a two-year exclusive on the phone. They decided eCommerce was no longer cool and that iCommerce is so much better.

Goes well with:

• iTunes
• iPod
• iPhone
• iMovies
• iStore
• iApps

Instead of keeping a closed ecosystem as they did with the Mac, they encouraged others to make products they would sell in their store.

Sure it’s Apple which means:

• works on their devices (iPhone and iPod Touch), their way
• works in their closed environment
• sold only in their store

It also means:

• you use their SDK (software development kit) but heck it only costs $99
• they determine which apps fly and which don’t make the cut (sure fire rejection is something that competes with their stuff!)
• you agree to the 70/30 split (70% for you, 30% for them – seems retail fair)

Developers’ Dream — The new Apple developers kit makes it fast, easy for people to produce applications they can make available to iPhone/iPod Touch customers (once Apple gives its stamp of approval). Source — Apple

Cripes, it seems to work!

Mega Store

The iPhone apps store looks like a Wal-Mart mega store. The store has been open less than a year, product is stacked to the rafters, people are mobbing the aisles. They’ve got 30,000 (give or take a few thousand) apps to choose from. Some free… some $1-$5… some $20-$30… some heftier ones for businesses. In less than a year they recorded some kid making the billionth download.

Number 1 Billion — Some kid really racked up the loot after being the one who grabbed the one billionth download from the iTune apps store. Lucky stiff – 10 grand in booty without even trying. The store has been open less than a year and has averaged 3.5 million app downloads a day and the iPhone/iPod Touch users have grabbed an average of 33 apps…each! Source — GizModo

That’s:

• 3.5 million downloads a day
• Average of 33 apps per device

That’s an attach rate any company would kill for! Suddenly they don’t look that stupid! Carriers and other “interested” parties seem to agree. Little apps stores are popping up all over the iNet.

Stores Everywhere — Big and small there are Smartphone app stores everywhere. Some richly stocked, some sparsely. The challenge for developers is to be found on the shelves. The challenge for users is picking the ones they’ll need and/or enjoy the most.
Source — NYTimes

Google, Microsoft, Nokia, RIM (Research in Motion – Blackberry), all the carriers.

Who did we miss?

Oh yeah… Palm will eventually introduce its Pre counterpunch with powerhouse Sprint. While everyone else has their app store shelves well stocked visiting Palm’s store is… depressing. Looks a little like a grocery stores in St. Petersburg Russia in WWII… We can see why OS folks want an app store.

The more apps on the shelves the more device manufacturers they attract, the better they look to carriers, the more app developers they attract and the popularity courting continues.

But carriers?

Dialing for Dollars

Selling apps won’t really impact their bottom lines. Lots of the apps are freebies, most sales are $1-$5; they only get 20 or 30% out of the sales. The developers drink from the same cup. They’ll jump on the iTunes bullet train with their neat app. The power of Apple will sell their music program, video games, direction/people finder, weather tracking, restaurant/store finding friends tracking (stalking), whatever app and they’ll instantly get rich.

Assuming people can figure out how good your thingy is and how much he/she needs it — awful tough without good articles/reviews — the apps dude/dudette will make a whole 70 percent on each of those $1-$5 sales.

But for carriers it’s all about selling more connection time, more bandwidth. Their bucks come from:

• your data communications over their pipes
• making sure you stream music, TV, video to your third screen.
• connecting you with other gamers, friends.

The carrier sells you airtime for days, weeks, months, years on end.

Someone needs to ask the carriers almost the same question Beth asked Derek, “She was naked in your hotel room?”

Then quickly add what Derek told Sharon, “You need help.”

It’s the money play folks!

Our kids are like the millions of other iPhone, iPod Touch users around the globe. They love muddling through the Apple iTunes app store …just to see what’s new, what’s hot, what’s fun, what’s available.

Apple Apps — 30,000 iPhone/iPod Touch apps and counting. Serious developers, kids in class, techs in their spare time (or at work) are all busy developing business, personal entertainment, game, audio/video applications they hope will rack up big sales on the iTunes site and profits for them. Move them to other platforms and even more money if they look as good on the other devices. Source — Apple

Too bad there aren’t any aisle (category) signs or sampling stations along the way. Since there isn’t, they see something they think they’ll like and BAM !!! easily download from iTunes (we get billed).

Then they suck up more minutes from AT&T!

Sure Google, MS, Nokia and Blackberry are adding apps as fast as they can but it’s just way too easy for folks to buy from iTunes.

Our son — who has an “I can make it better” mind — was thinking about some apps that he knows people are eagerly waiting to buy. He coughed up the $99 for Apple’s SDK.

Next Round

He got real excited when Apple announced the iPhone OS 3.0 SDK…100 new visual features, 1,000 new APIs (Application Programmer Interface), the thinly veiled promise of doing stuff that would run beautifully on three screens – TV, computer, iPhone.

Next Generation — One thing you have to admit is that Apple makes a big deal out of every announcement and the unveiling of the iPhone OS 3.0 software and new SDK was no exception. The event said a lot about the company’s three screen plan without saying a lot and opened new doors for more powerful, more graphically intensive iPhone games and applications. Source — Apple

That got his mind racing.

All we saw with the new developer’s kit was that Apple had raised the bar again with their closed environment. That means:

• people will develop more, richer, more intensive, more intrusive apps for Apple to sell so they dig their hooks even deeper into those poor Kool-Aid drinking folks
• more people will get excited about buying/using/playing with the iPhone and Apple might — just might — become the #1 Smartphone producer (something they totally ****ed up with the all-inclusive Mac)
• AT&T will sell more 2-year contracts, more on-air minutes

Sure Apple may do an iPhone Lite for Verizon (huge whisper campaign going on) but who wants lite when you can have a real iPhone? And an overly stuffed/easy to use iTunes store. Lite just doesn’t seem to have the panache! Suddenly a Smartphone is so much more than an e-wallet (iWallet).

Really smart kids, doodling program developers and idea folks see their road to riches! First they’ll supplement their income making fun, neat, useful, relaxing, whatever apps. Then they’ll rent Steve’s grounded jet.

The mobile apps market may reach $214 billion by 2014 but it’s a market made up of tens of thousands of inexpensive apps developed by thousands of people.

Herding Cats

It doesn’t have the formula to appeal to VCs. It’s tough for them to sell these “businesses” to the public or some other company so they can rack up a huge return. It’s too much like herding cats. But that’s ok.

Can’t wait for the kid to release his iPhone apps and starts collecting the dimes and quarters. Then he plans to modify them for Android, Windows Mobile… maybe even BlackBerry.

Think Man, Think — Apple’s enclosed ecosystem has executives at other OS and hardware firms scheming on how they can outdo the fruit company and have the same unfair advantage with carriers and consumers. Individuals with serious and funky application ideas see the locked system as a great opportunity to earn fame and fortune. Source — Screen Gems

If we’re lucky he may be able to replenish our devastated 401K.

Apple may have gotten it right this time.

Key question is how quickly, how comprehensively, how successfully will the other players — Google, MS, RIM, Nokia/Symbian — get their acts together.

So, the key question for me is, will I now take the leap to the app world and get a smart phone?

This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author’s permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (af06hi (at) gmail.com).

Reviewers Needed and Book Discount Code
By Marsee Henon, O'Reilly Media

We're always looking for book reviewers, especially on our new releases. Titles we're excited about include The Art of Community, Living Green: The Missing Manual, Mobile Design and Development, Netbooks: The Missing Manual, and Programming the iPhone User Experience. If you'd like to write a review of any of these books for Amazon, Slashdot, or your blog, please send an email to your user group leader with the book title and where you'll review it.

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

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

Here's a list of ewaste donation sites in Central Contra County County. We've included sites where you can recycle single-use and rechargeable batteries, and to dispose of unneeded pharmaceuticals and over-the-counter medications. Be sure to check the websites to determine what they will accept. If you know or learn of others, please let me know with the location, hours, and website URL.

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.

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
CVS/Longs Drugs
www.cvs.com
Alamo, Blackhawk, Danville, Lafayette,
Moraga, Orinda, Walnut Creek, San Ramon
Right Aid Drugstores
www.rightaid.com
Orinda, Walnut Creek
Radio Shack
www.radioshack.com
Danville, Walnut Creek
Check websites for store hours

Rechargeable Batteries
Right Aid Drugstores
www.rightaid.com
Check website for store hours

Where to Dispose of Unneeded Pharmaceutical and Over-the-Counter Medications
Walnut Creek City Hall
www.walnut-creek.org
1666 North Main Street, Walnut Creek
Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Look for the green Pharmaceutical Disposal bin
Please don't flush your drugs!

How and Where to Recycle or Dispose of Other Household Waste Items
Central Contra Costa Sanitary District
The CCCSD has a two-page Disposal Guide for Central Contra Costa County brochure that can be viewed online or printed. This handy guide tells how to dispose of common household waste in safe, simple, and environmentally healthy ways. Click on the link below to access the brochure.
www.centralsan.org/documents/Brochure_Disposal_Guide.pdf

This brochure requires Adobe Acrobat Reader; you can download and install the latest version of Acrobat Reader by clicking the icon below.

Photoshop Elements SIG Meeting Program
by Peggy Johnson, DVPC

The Adobe Photoshop Elements SIG meeting will be held on Thursday, October 22, 2009 at 7 p.m. at a different location (see below).

This month Barry Brown will demonstrate the new Photoshop Elements version 8. 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 will meet at a different location this month only. Mel and Jim Lundgren have graciously offered to host the meeting at their home located at 1009 Overlook Dr., San Ramon, CA, 925-355-0646. Directions can be found by clicking here to go to Google Maps.

Windows SIG Meeting Program
by Walt Parsons, DVPC

The Windows SIG meeting will be held on Monday, October 5, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. We'll discuss some issues that you might encounter when moving from Windows XP or Windows Vista to Windows 7, and some new utilities that offer capabilities that haven't been available previously.

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.

The Daily Dilbert Cartoon
by Scott Adams