Dear BGRCC Member

This is your weekly bulletin for February 6, 2012

Be sure and invite your neighbors and all of the new people to come to the meetings. There should be something for everyone at the meetings. Dues are five dollars for the season. Coffee and cookies are free. 

Set up time for laptops 8:30-9:00  Coffee cookies and meet your neighbor. Wear your badge for identification.

9:00- 10:20 Beginners Meeting by Gary Bernier. Gary will begin with the beginners in session to explain the usage of the computer. Gary will continue the beginners lessons for the rest of the season.

We will plan for our computer luncheon on February 13, 2012.

Save this date on your calendar.

For those new to the park there is a computer set up for emails upstairs in the west hall. Instructions are on the bulletin board there.

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10:30-11:30 general session to follow:Doug is going to show how to transfer your pictures from your camera or phone to your computer. He will then show how to get them to email or Facebook. This program should be of interest to all.

You may come on Friday's and take advantage of the web during single instruction.Time is 3:15 in West room 3R

We appreciate the volunteers who are helping others at these sessions.

Chris Mayes, a computer specialist that works in our park, called me yesterday to say that the Internet is being over run with viruses that have been seen previously in years pass. They are being worked over and released back at such a rate that your anti virus may not have a current update to protect you. Do not download from unfamiliar web sites. Chris said many of these are coming from China but the shear volume is increasing.

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You can check your Window's Firewall by going to START, Control Panel, and have the icons set on the category. Click on Windows Firewall. It should be green to show it is working and your computer is protected. If it is red then try to turn it on. If it will not turn on then go to our web page at www.bgrcc.com and click on Top Downloads. I found that Comodo works well as a Firewall with our browsers. Download Comodo Firewall and run the updates. You can use two firewalls on your computer and if the Windows Firewall is compromised then you should have the added protection of Comodo.

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If you would like to have a way to get on the Internet in case you do get a virus you can install a live Linux CD on your computer. Linux is a free operating system.  I have downloaded Ubuntu 11.40 on my computer and it runs in an easy manner. You will have Firefox Browser installed with it so you can easily access the Internet. You can surf the Internet and not worry about picking up rogue viruses. It comes with its own firewall. You can download at http://www.ubuntu.com/

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John Abbott on Live CD usage.

Well let me begin with an apology for not getting this information into the bulletin as Corinne had promised.  I am forever forgetting that the whole LiveCD concept is peculiar to Linux, since no other OS can pull it off.    A LiveCD simply means that the OS image can be booted from the CD on powering up and it then lives in Memory until the computer is powered off again - at which moment it disappears leaving no trace behind that it was in use.

For the average computer user the task of downloading and then burning (convert the ISO image to a CD) it to a CD is a bit daunting.  However, it certainly merits your time to do so.

Let me begin with why you might want to use a LiveCD, taken from a well written Ubuntu article posted in the Ubuntu Community.  Each link is another article on how to apply that particular principle. 

LiveCD sessions are good to:

• give a 'demo' session on a machine before installing or upgrading

  • checks hardware works as expected

  • check the look & feel of the distro

• repair or preparation for awkward installations

  • repair/replace/install grub perhaps after (re)installing Windows

  • fix Windows problems on a machine that doesn't have a dual-boot

  • anti-virus problems on a Windows system

  • data recovery

  • resizing partitions to give Ubuntu more (or less) room

  • adding a new partition(s) to your hard-drive for other distros or for a new Windows

• preparing a machine for installing Ubuntu, if you are shy of using default or automatic settings or if the hardware is too unique or awkward

• 'showing off' Ubuntu to people on their own machine

• using on a random computer where access is limited

• a familiar desktop environment on an unfamiliar machine

• safely using a computer which seems to have poor security or lacks privacy. This is particularly good if you have a Usb stick or something to save your data and settings on (see 'persistent image')

  I personally prefer a more basic distribution than Ubuntu which is however based on Ubuntu.  Zorin is much more spry than Ubuntu and the menu far easier to use.   In Zorin you may type into a search block on the menu the name of a program or its function to evoke it.  But all of the principles detailed in the documentation applies equally to Ubuntu, Kubuntu, Linux Mint and Zorin - like everything in Linux the choices are all yours. 

  I downloaded the ISO for all of the above mentioned distributions and have made LiveCD's and a few USB stick versions.  I prefer the USB stick because it automatically provides you with a persistent home file so that changes made will be present when next you use it.

  LiveCD, LiveDVD or USB-drive the method is the same. Insert the Live device and restart the machine. The system will now boot from the live device and you will have access to a very secure OS to use as you choose. 

  I will repeat my earlier offer to make life easier for you. If you will come by A9 I will be glad to demonstrate the system and then make the device of your choosing.  I have CD and DVD blanks but ask that you bring your own USB device (8gb preferred but 4gb will suffice).   The whole process takes about the same amount of time it will for you to drink a cup of good coffee or tea.

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Computer Tips:

This site will help keep your computer updated. This is a free program. www.hippofile.com

This site sells Printer Ink. http://www.psinkmaster.com/

SPEEDTEST | Toast Speed test | TestMySpeed  | Speakeasy |  PCPitstop  |TraceRT  |  Speed Guide  |  Broadband Report  |  Speedtest  |

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Tutorials for Window's 7.

Sites for beginners lessons

http://www.top-windows-tutorials.com/windows-7-superguide.html

This is for the new computers with Windows 7.

http://bgrcc.com – This is the computer clubs home page. Save in your favorites or bookmarks.

Click on lessons by Corinne Higbee and select a

lesson for reference.

http://www.bcot1.com/ -these are for desktop XP -65 lessons on many computer subjects

http://bestnetguru.com/computerhelp/ -General

reading for seniors on any operating system

http://learnthat.com/2007/08/free-microsoft-windows-

vista-tutorial/2/ - For Vista Users

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For Linux information: http://linux-tutorial.info/

http://faraday.physics.utoronto.ca/GeneralInterest/Harrison/LearnLinux/

http://www.eanswer.com/computer/

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A big Thank You to the volunteers. We are averaging between 40-50 people at the sessions and your help is very much appreciated. The wirelessweb has extended the time for our club usage.