This is a volunteer organization. Without the volunteers, we die.
The following have agreed to aid the efforts of the Club in the coming year:
One of the interesting thoughts that came out of the last Planning Meeting was the possibility of SPAUG using its incorporated status (501(c)3) to apply for a site license for SPAUG members for software. This possibly would allow SPAUG members to order software in bulk. I'd like to know your thoughts on the proposal.
The Web SIG has moved to Thursday. The SIG meets every Thursday that is not preceded by a SPAUG event. See the SPAUG website at www.pa-spaug.org/websig/web_sig.html for more information.
Recently, I have had the unenviable task of eliminating viruses in two separate locations. My only comment can be that it is in your best interests to install Norton AntiVirus and to assure that the Windows Scheduler is set up to update daily and to run daily upon starting up the computer. The latest viruses are designed to delete critical files on your computer - all for the fun of it by malicious (usually) kids.
XP is going to make the virus problem much worse. This is because Microsoft did not have its Internet routines include the ability to spoof an address (substitute an arbitrary address); hence sleuths were often able to pinpoint the origin of a virus. UNIX has always been able to do this but few kids use UNIX. Now the most popular operating system in the world is going to allow any address at all to be spoofed and the viruses will now become just that much more untraceable. For further research on the subject go to http://www.grc.com.
In order to utilize your keyboard to its fullest capability, here are a few not-so-well-known keyboard sequences that will help you in your daily efforts:
The second CD updated lots of the originals and added a many support utilities and large operating system files that literally could take many hours to download.. Now we need a committee to continue forward with the current materials and add additional suggestions. See John Sleeman, Stan Hutchings, or Jim Dinkey if interested in contributing.
A scanner is being donated by Gene Duncan. The scanner is about 9 months old. In order to assure that the scanner is made available to the primary interest persons, the Planning Committee chose to sell $5 raffle tickets to those interested. This will provide a fully-functional and current scanner (with software) for the lucky winner. All tickets will be also entered into the regular raffle. This is our attempt to assure that equipment gets distributed to those who are interested in the product. If you have items to donate and raffle, please let Bev Altman know.
Present: Bev Altman, John Buck, Gene Duncan, Mildred Kohn, Stan Hutchings, Dick Delp, Jim Dinkey, John Sleeman, Susan Mueller.
Bev reported that the last meeting was very successful, about 50 people attended. We collected about $450, including Club CD sales and membership renewals.
Jim Dinkey on forthcoming elections: the current slate of officers is up for nominations and re-election, and in addition, Dick Delp will accept nomination for vice president.
Nat Landes, Treasurer, was not present. Jim suggests we should have one or two blank signed checks on hand for those cases when he is unavailable. The current bank balance is about $5500. Thanks to Kendric Smith getting free ISP service, and Jim Dinkey getting free accommodations at the Elks Lodge, our expenses are minimal.
Our accountant, Arlan Kertz, takes care of tax matters, insuring our 501(c)(3) status. He also audits the bank account.
Jim Dinkey reported that we have no speakers scheduled for next year. A suggestion that Intuit be invited was made, and information that the Palo Alto Adult School has instructors who might be willing to make a presentation. It would be nice if we could get Microsoft, but it is very difficult to contact the "right" person.
There was discussion of the possibility of the club getting a site license for Microsoft Windows XP, which would allow club members to upgrade at an attractive price. As a non-profit, the club may even be eligible for a special discount.
Susan Mueller put together a Word Tutorial package. She distributed several copies to members present, and the WebSIG will work on posting it on the website.
The question was raised, is there a way to make General Meeting sign-in more efficient? The last meeting had a very long line of people trying to sign the registers. Bev will think about it, and ask for help if she needs it.
Jim Dinkey has the Sircam Virus remover available on a diskette, which he downloaded from the Symantec site. He warned that the virus comes in an attachment to email and affects Microsoft Outlook and Exchange. He recommends ditching the Microsoft products and using Eudora instead. Also be diligent in updating and using anti-virus programs. He noted a firewall does not prevent virus infection; you need an anti-virus application in addition to the firewall. the Club CD has ZoneAlarm, along with many other diagnostics and "goodies". The Tuneup program will tell you which of your applications need to be updated.
Bob Mitchell recommends SANDRA, a utility to adjust many of your computers attributes, similar to TweakUI. He was asked to do a review for publication.
Hank Skawinski gave an informative talk, relating his observations and experiences as a computer assembler and support person. The presentation is available on tape for those who missed it, contact Stan Hutchings to arrange viewing.
Some of the topics discussed were:
Next month, Gene Barlow of PowerQuest will be here - bring your wallets!
Getting rid of Clippy in Office 97 is not simple. Head straight to Peter Deegan's "Kill Clippy! (The Office Assistant)." (www.zdnet.com/zdhelp/stories/main/0,5594,2226725-1,00.html)
In Office 2000 you can turn off Clippy with just a few clicks. If he's not visible, choose Show the Office Assistant from the Help menu of any Office 2000 application, right-click on the Assistant, select Options and then in the ensuing dialog, click on the Options tab. Uncheck the Use the Office Assistant box and click OK.
You can permanently eliminate Clippy by using the Add/Remove Programs control panel utility. Select Office 2000 in the Add/Remove Programs list, then when you reach the Features to Install screen locate the Office Assistant item. Select Not Available from the list beside Office Assistant and click Update Now. (The How to Remove Microsoft Office Assistant Help document on Microsoft's support site is the best place for instructions on ridding yourself of Clippy.)
Office XP still includes Clippy, but he's disabled by default and won't show up unless you explicitly ask. You can use the same Add/Remove Programs approach as with Office 2000 to wipe him off the hard disk completely.