| 18 Dec |
Review of and Impressions from the APCUG Meeting and Comdex 2000 in Las Vegas (Bernhard Krevet) - Holiday Party - Elections - Surprises! Review by Bruce McFarling: George Heller opened the December meeting with a short discussion of voting technology preliminary to the evening’s election of new officers. George announced the committee had selected a slate of officers for 2001. The members approved the nominating committee. George presented Bernhard with a finger monster in recognition of his efforts in keeping the Club’s programs going this year during times when George was occupied elsewhere. The floor was opened for nominations. Hearing none, it was moved and seconded that the slate be affirmed by the members, which carried unanimously. George reminded us that only paid-up members might participate in the drawing. Bernhard asked to stay out of the immediate loop of arranging presentations, since he fills that function for the Napa Valley group, and it has been a point of confusion in the past. He also asked for ideas for future programs. JB said he had acquired an Epson 1240U scanner, which would handle slides and negatives (up to 4x5) for $268 including shipping. He reported that the failure of his home-built PC last month was due to the power supply going bad. Bernhard gave a short demo of PhotoVista, which will stitch multiple photos together to generate a 360-degree panorama viewable on a browser. (Cost: about $20.) ACPCUG & COMDEX Bernhard attended the ACPCUG in Las Vegas as the representative of his Napa Valley group, (It met for the three days preceding COMDEX.) The ACPCUG attracted about 350 people. Most attendees pay there own way there, but various companies "sponsor" meals in return for a chance to make their pitches to the attendees. Microsoft’s Vice President of Technology spoke at one such occasion—more seriously than the marketing types—about Microsoft’s view of the future. Most PC users groups report the same issues our club has. (Eg. "Metallic" membership: Gold in the teeth, silver in the hair, lead in the bones.) Activities to encourage interest from younger people have included programs on gaming. Some who find socializing plays a primary role have meetings where discussion of PCs is forbidden. Programs on cyber-crime prevention may be effective. (Not only can your files be stolen, but also your identity may be used for unscrupulous activities.) JB noted that www.grc.com offers a discussion of personal firewalls and a free personal firewall for download. Bernhard said some of the issues other clubs face do not affect us. For example, our sponsorship by IBM insulates us from the need to deal with things like taxes and insurance. And our "member pool" means we don’t have to "manage difficult people". Some clubs are experimenting with publishing their newsletters on-line (mostly using PDF), but find some resistance among those who are more comfortable with a paper copy. Some have tried to address the problem of recycling older computers. It was noted that NewDeal builds DOS-based, 286-oriented office suites to keep those older boxes useful. .John Matthews noted that www.crc.org (Computers & Education Computer Recycling Center) accepts all computer equipment (and software) for restoration or recycling (to keep them out of the landfill). Restored equipment is loaned to schools. Peter Hirsch has an original PC with a virus. If anyone has tools to fix it (on 5 ¼" diskettes), he could use them. Bernhard related that COMDEX was reseller-oriented, and offered lots of imports from China. Lots of LINUX offerings, with Microsoft (expectedly) absent. Red Hat LINUX was given to the audience after their presentation. JB reported that he has installed Caldera eDesktop LINUX on a disk partitioned using PartitionMagic, accessed by BootMagic. George reported that he has installed multiple versions of LINUX. The most recent was graphics-based even during the installation. A member expressed concern about the lack of application code to run under LINUX. Bernhard noted that Corel has a LINUX-based suite. JB reported that his Caldera LINUX came with StarOffice suite. Bernhard reported that several LINUX magazines were available, and that there is even a publication "Extended Attributes" published in Pheonix for OS/2 users. (OS/2 is reportedly "more alive" in Russia.) COMDEX also had representatives of the emerging "Cordless Internet" providers present. (Eg. Ricochet and BlueTooth.) BlueTooth is a short-range, radio-frequency communication method for in-home device communication. Challenges for this technology include lack of standards across national boundaries. Handheld devices, including PDA’s, Palms, and HandSpring were also well represented. Microsoft was pushing Windows CE, which has the more "Windows" feel, but needs more resources to run. (Including more juice from the batteries.) Handspring is notable for its "interface-ability" to many other devices, such as GPS. JB noted that he is happy with the 2 HandSpring devices in his family. Bernhard noted that the "Smart Computing" (LINUX) magazine is available on-line. A member noted that China is encouraging LINUX development in the fear that Microsoft might "spy" on them through a Microsoft-supplied operating system. Bernhard gave a quick review of the offerings purchased for the drawing. George announced that the next meeting would be on Corel 10. The winners of the drawing were:
Respectfully submitted, |
| 20 Nov |
Built your own PC. From scratch. J.B. Burke "I've worked with PC's since '81 - when the IBM PC was introduced. But I'd never built my own PC. From scratch. Now I have, and the learning curve was steep and long. I've said many times that you shouldn't build your own PC to save money. I stand by that statement. If I added in the cost of my own time, I'd be broke. But I've learned a lot and I will pass it along. There are some REAL gottcha's to be aware of. Many errors can be made. Lots of problems can arise. And I firmly believe that I have experienced all of them now. But the final result can be really cool. If you plan on building a computer, or already have, or swear you never will ... this is the program for you. If nothing else, come along to laugh at how many times I messed up." Review by Bruce McFarling: After being inspired by a Systems Engineer former co-worker, J.B.’s saga began last June, when he went to a computer show and bought several of the parts he would need. He waited on an Athlon processor, because the one he wanted was not available. When he was able to order the 900 Mhz processor, the one he received wouldn’t plug in to his motherboard. It took a while to iron that problem out. Lesson 1: Always buy all your parts at the same time. Lesson 2: Know what you want to do with your system. If you’re a game player, you will want different graphics and sound support than someone who will only be working with spreadsheets! Lesson 3: Know your budget. And know that you will not necessarily save money by "rolling your own". Especially if you place a value on your time! Lesson 4: Be ready to put your system together right away, since policies limit how long you have for returns for either defective parts or parts you that determine (too late?) will not work in your application. Notes:
Regarding SCSI vs. IDE, know your requirements. One suggested guideline from the audience: If more than 3 drives, better with SCSI. Otherwise IDE is better. Check what comes with your motherboard. Make sure all parts will fit together. Even parts that come together in a kit sometimes don’t. (J.B. received a case—and the faceplate didn’t match the frame!) Always create a backup for the system you are replacing. One that you can restore (as appropriate) to the system you are building. Lesson 5: When you are troubleshooting your system, while building it or when it fails at a later date, the "Support Person" you call is yourself! And sometimes, problem determination can be elusive! Respectfully submitted (December 12, 2000), |
| 16 Oct |
IBM Announcement of the rebranding of all servers, by J.B. Burke. Essentially every computer IBM produces (except the PC's - IntelliStation, NetVista desktop and ThinkPads) is now branded as "Series" of the main brand, which is eServer. There are 4 series - where the Netfinity becomes the xSeries. S/390 becomes zSeries, AS400 is iSeries, RS6000 is pSeries. The focus is on IBM name rather than differences between brands, and competes better with Sun. |
| 18 Sep |
eGems by Gemteq Software Inc. presented by Russell J. Jacobsen. eGems is a software tool that helps the user organize and
maintain facts, quotes, graphics, or any type of electronic information
into a simple, graphical application…and it even tracks
the reference source where the information came from so you can
always go back to the source if you need to. |
| 21 Aug |
PartitionMagic by PowerQuest, presented by Don Ferguson, IBM Create, format, resize, move and copy partitions without loosing your files; convert file systems in your partitions, boot multiple operating systems. Minutes by Bruce McFarling (24 August 2000): George Heller opened the August 21st meeting, as Bernhard Krevet was delayed by car trouble. George introduced Don Ferguson as presenter. He reports to the IBM CIO in New York, and works out of his home here keeping track of new technology developments in Silicon Valley. The presentation of PowerQuest's PartitionMagic 5.0 product started with a "hard drive orientation" to bring all up to speed. Basic concept were covered as well as constraints imposed by operating systems. Since most operating systems must reside on (and can only see one) primary "C:" drive, a disk management tool such as PartitionMagic's "BootMagic" must be used to switch between operating systems. Because disk space is allocated by sector, and sector size must grow as partition size grows, larger (especially FAT) partitions can result in significant waste of disk space when files do not fill sectors. PartitionMagic helps the user analyze and optimize disk utilization. Of course, one may always resize partitions by backing up everything, using FDISK, and reloading everything. (How many diskettes would THAT take?) But PartitionMagic, can do it without destroying your data. PowerQuest recommends making a backup copy. And, of course, we all have current backups. Don't we? Don's demonstration was done on a ThinkPad 600E -- running MS Windows 2000. He resized his D: and E: drives, which involved moving all the data on E:, and may have involved reorganizing data on D: Some of the features in PartitionMagic include: A User Group Order form was provided offering PartitionMagic 5.0 for $30 (vs. 69.95). Other PowerQuest products offered at special prices included: DriveImage 3, DataKeeper 3, SecondChance 2, Lost & Found, OpenLinux 2.4, and OpenLinux eServer. The demo seemed to get into difficulty at the end of the presentation, because the monitor power was shut down after a period of inactivity, and the display went blank. After the meeting was over, and system activity stopped, Don restarted the system and it cam up with the intended changes made. So, while the symptoms were disconcerting, the product did move and resize partitions successfully. Moral: turn off power management before you do something like this. Fortunately, Bernhard arrived in time to present
a bottle of wine to Don in appreciation for his presentation. P.S. I have used PartitionMagic at home and at work for years, starting with 3.0. Upgraded to 5.0 when upgrading from DOS 3.1 to Win 98 on a new computer back in January. (PM 3.0 failed without data loss, and then gracefully after applying available updates in the unanticipated environment.) I have never lost data, and am very impressed with 5.0's ability to "batch" changes and make them "unattended". |
| 17 Jul |
EMail Shoot-Out, First in a series of email programs reviews. Overwhelmed by options in Outlook Express? Frustrated by the limitations of Eudora? Can't handle multiple email accounts in AOL or Compuserve? Totally annoyed by the steady stream of junk email? Or just unsure as to how best to handle the ever increasing flow of emails? This month will be the begin of loosely scheduled demonstrations and reviews of email packages. Come and hear club members rave about their favorites. Today's presentation will be "PMMail" by Bernhard Krevet. The choice is yours! |
| 19 Jun |
Inspiration! "The Premier Tool to develop ideas and organize thinking" by Karen Takle Quinn. Inspiration 6 integrates an expanded range of visual learning and thinking techniques with the latest standards in graphics and Internet technology. Use it to brainstorm, organize thoughts and communicate ideas! Minutes for IBM PC Club Meeting, Monday, 19 June 2000; by John F. Matthews JB, "President for Life", although he claims a 20 year term limit, opened the meeting and introduced our guest speaker Karen Takle Quinn. Karen took a few moments to review her impressive educational background, including UK Institute in 1985, 1995 Masters in Organizational Development, 1996 PhD in Organization, and since 1997, she has been instructing at Notre Dame. She has done all that and still kept producing at IBM. Karen presented "Inspiration", a premier tool to develop ideas and organize thinking. It is a MAC or PC based program that is used from kindergarten though 12th grade, in business schools, and in industry. Much of her presentation was done using the Interactive Demonstration on the Version 6 Evaluation CD, which she distributed to those present. The evaluation CD includes a 30-day trial version. Pricing for Inspiration varies. For example at a Junior Colleges you can find it for $65. Karen uses it in her classes in Notre Dame since it is easy to learn, runs on a MAC with OS 7 or higher, PC using Windows 95, 98, or NT 4.0. Inspiration helps with non-linear thinking for the left side of the brain. You can use Inspiration to brain storm, create diagrams, then convert them to outlines, which can be used to write a paper or report. It is most effective to communicate without words. Karen explained how she uses it in her "Person Machine Interaction" class. 16 students are broken into four teams to evaluate certain interfaces and prepare a report. Karen uses "web ct" for presentations, since it creates graphics. |
| 15 May |
Intuitive Digital Video by Apple Presenting the next revolution: Desktop Video. With the iMac DV models, it’s easy to bring out your inner Spielberg. Just connect your digital camcorder to iMac’s built-in FireWire port and launch iMac’s new iMovie software. Next, digitally transfer your video footage into iMac (with zero loss of quality) and start directing: Re-arrange scenes. Trim out the boring parts. Add transitions, special effects, scrolling titles—even your own soundtrack. Minutes for IBM PC Club Meeting, Monday, 15 May 2000; by John F. Matthews George Heller opened the meeting and introduced Oliver Krevet, to demonstrate iMovie, a simple video editor which runs on an Apple iMac. Apple is now giving away iMovie software for free. Just download it from the net. (It does not run on IBM PCs.) Hard disk requirements for iMovie is 1 MB for the program, 11 MB for the resource folder, and 160 MB for the tutorial. The idea behind iMovie is to convert raw video footage into short easy to view presentation, such as turning two hours of wedding video into 15 minutes of the highlights. 5 minutes of viewing takes about 1 GB of hard disk to store. Oliver had a Sony 120x Digital Zoom video camera connected to his iMac via a FireWire. It has a large colored, fold out, viewing screen. The battery, which is good for about 1 hour, is mounted on the back which allows you to get more operating time. Video tapes for the camera come in 30 minute or 1 hour capacities. This camera was a consumer quality camera. Digital video cameras come in three categories.
Since these cameras use the NTSC standard at 640 x 480, they do not give the higher resolution found in digital still cameras. The digital video camera was connected to his iMac via a FireWire. The iMac was a DVSE, 400 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 13 GB hard drive. iMovie takes 1 MB and needs at least a GS3 processor. In addition, the Resources folder requires 11 MB and the Tutorial needs 160 MB. The Tutorial can help you produce a video. You can select clips (first frame of each clip) and re- sequence them to create a video. Only the Pro version of iMovie can deal with frames. However, you can crop out segments within a clip. There are several layers of UNDO. You can "Save Frame As" to create a still picture in JPEG format. The file formats on a Mac and a PC are different. FireWire can connect two hard drives using IEEE 1394 as the standard. For example, FireWire can connect a portable 6 GB hard drive with an iMac.You can import files that are JPEG or P.C. files formats. With laptops, can get a PC card to handle the FireWire. Windows 98 has FireWire option for hard disk and media. You can hook a camera to a PC via FireWire. To make the video more interesting and easy to view, you can add "transitions" and titles. The Apple web site has downloadable transitions. On the clipboard (used to create the video), transitions are separate items, but get integrated into the entire video. You can create several types of titles, including flying letters or words and rolling credits. iMovie does real time rendering. You can add sound bites for designated times within each clip. Each clip has time of display, such as 7 seconds. Can record and capture a CD for sound onto the single audio track. Or if you prefer, you can do voice overs. The video can be saved as a QuickTime movie. If you send by e-mail, use media format. Sorrenson is the best compression with quality. Oliver ended his presentation by "showing" the video he created before our very eyes. |
| 17 Apr |
Edge of Network (EoN), IBM Innovative solutions
for new ways to connect, Summary by Bruce McFarling: Lou Gerstner has been talking "Pervasive Computing".
The 6 key technologies:
In the next 12 months, there will be several
interesting introductions from IBM. Many will exploit technology
from other successful IBM Scott Maiden mentioned that the DISH system plans to have 2-way satellite network access available in September. (Beta sites are running now.) This is a significant improvement over current "satellite" systems that rely on the phone system for the upload side of the communication link. |
| 20 Mar |
Scanners - an empirical overview, by Pat McMahon, IBM
Pat will demonstrate every one of these functions and entertain questions for a pretty fast-paced session. |
| 21 Feb |
A guided tour through MS Office 2000-Premium by Peter Hirsch:
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| 17 Jan |
Corel Office/2000, by Heather McAfee, Corel Product Specialist. We will show the different features of our products as well as productivity tools. The demonstration will include an overview of Corel's Office Suite and the print products Print Office 2000 and Print House 2000. Review |