SPAUG Newsletter October 2002
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Notes from the Prez
by Jim Dinkey
At an informal survey at the last General Meeting, it was interesting to see the demographics of the Club.
First of all, about 13 persons were using XP on their (probably new) machines. That means that about 37 still had Windows 98 (or Me) still going. So penetration of the XP operating system is only about 25% - even after a year of being on the marketplace in a monopoly environment. I have been tangling with XP all during that year and, while some things like first-time connecting to the net is better, finding long-standing functions and support items is quite difficult. It is all there, but my knowledge of Windows 2000 doesn't seem to help that much. The good side is that, because it is essentially NT rewarmed, it does seem to crash less frequently.
Your speaker for October, Robert Reavis, is the Project Manager of the BART Translink® ticketing operation. He was placed in the position of getting the fare collection system in and operating on essentially zero notice. It should be informative. To provide some feedback, would each of you who have been taking BART during the transition to Translink, e-mail me your experiences so I can have some questions ready to go?
The October meeting is our 20th anniversary. We are going to try to celebrate and recognize the chain of Presidents who have assured success of SPAUG over the years. We propose to honor them, if we can find them, on October 30, just before the meeting. The Presidents and their spouses will be hosted at dinner at the Crowne Plaza Cabaña across the street from the Elks Lodge just before the meeting. SPAUG members are invited to join.
At the last Planning Meeting, we discussed how to get in touch with the past presidents and the list we came up with is woefully short. If any of you can e-mail me with at least a name and hopefully additional information, I would be most appreciative.
Recently, I needed to set up PCAnywhere. PCAnywhere allows a user to operate a remote computer over phone or network lines. This means that you won't have to travel out of town each time there is some modification to be made to a machine that you have given to your relatives or friends. To get this type of program operating, one almost needs to have a laboratory setup on the dining room table to assure success whenever the true locations are miles apart. My point is that you must plan ahead whenever the need arises for this type of program. In this particular case, two phone lines were needed. Eventually, a call for help required a cell phone to be employed as a third means of communications. Part of my particular problem was a FAX machine that would intermittently get in on the act. Who would have guessed.
And finally, my perennial pitch for everyone to do their backups. All of you have heard of the companies that ceased to exist after 9-11 because their records were all in just one place. I'll settle for just a Ghost backup onto a second drive in each machine, or at least to a USB hard drive. Both ways assure that a head crash does not wipe out the backup. My recommendation is the usage of a Ghost to create your backups onto a separate drive. It is fast and well worth 10 minutes of your time. Merely grabbing your data files does not make up for the 6 hours needed to recreate and update your disk image to before the crash. Please buy your copy of Symantec Ghost AND USE IT! Remember how simple and fast Ghost was as it was demonstrated at the September meeting.
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25 September General Meeting Notes
by Stan Hutchings
- Recently there are reports of 120 GB drives becoming unbootable after a time, especially if usage is high. This happens under Win2000, perhaps WinXP and Win98. Apparently the sector tables get corrupted, and the result is a BSOD (Blue Screen Of Death) on attempting to boot. One SPAUG member reported a problem with Win98. Advice: until the problem is resolved, don't go for the 120 GB and higher drives.
- The industry standard hard drive warranty will be shortened to 1 year from 3 years. This means don't bother going to the manufacturer, buy a local "on sale" drive.
- Symantec Ghost has become Jim Dinkey's backup application of choice. He keeps a Ghost image on a separate partition. People with two physical drives (perhaps networked) are advised to keep the images on separate drives, because if the one drive is inaccessible, both partitions are, too. An external USB hard drive is another good option. None of these options is very expensive, and all are potential time- and data-savers. If you have a Ghost image on separate drives, be sure to make a disk image with BOOT. Jim demonstrated a backup of the club computer using Ghost.
- Bob Mitchell surveyed club interest in a digital video editing presentation or perhaps a SIG. He mentioned that software is available from about $100 (Pinnacle Studio) up to the high hundreds. Twenty-eight members expressed interest. Time and place will be determined.
- A poll of members Operating Systems showed: 20 use Win98, 13 use WinXP, 10 use "Other".
- Jim Dinkey surveyed club interest in a LINUX SIG. About 12 members expressed interest. Jim Dinkey has a possible leader in mind, somone familiar with LINUX.
- A member keeps getting "mailbox full" messages, and being advised to empty the mailbox. Response: this is a characteristic of the "free" online mail services like Juno, Hotmail and Yahoo! mail. They provide a very small mailbox, which is quickly filled with spam, leaving little room for new "real" email. Jim Dinkey suggested using MailWasher to discourage spammers, frequently delete unwanted mail, and download the mail to be archived from the online mailbox to your local hard drive. Use the online box only to receive, not to store, messages.
Presentation
Matt Berg of Microsoft gave a very interesting presentation on Windows XP and some of the applications and hardware that work with it. Stan Hutchings has a tape of Matt's presentation. If you missed the meeting, or would like to review the presentation, contact Stan and he'll lend you a cassette.
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Wednesday 2 October Planning Meeting Notes
by Stan Hutchings
Wednesday 2 October 2002 the Planning meeting was held at Jim Dinkey's home. Attendees: Jim Dinkey, John Sleeman, Dick Delp, Patricia Corrigan, John Buck, Stan Hutchings.
- We need someone to take over picking up mail at our Post Office Box from Mildred. John Sleeman kindly volunteered. All membership checks and information go first to Bev Altman, who will then extract the relevant information and forward any checks to Nat Landes. Non-membership checks or request for payment can go directly to Nat Landes.
- Financial position: we're in good shape
- Backup of SPAUG data: we need to insure we have full backups of SPAUG membership, financial, mailing list, etc. We cannot afford to have a loss of critical data. Possibilities include burning a CD, backing up files to floppy, emailing copies to the appropriate officers. Bev and Nat should discuss with Jim Dinkey what alternatives make the most sense.
- Programs, Speaker list and alternates: The proposal to make Wednesday 30 October Past President's Night was approved. Past presidents and their spouses will be invited to have dinner at the Cabana prior to the General Meeting. This will be our celebration of SPAUG's 20th Anniversary. Following the dinner, the general meeting presentation will be Robert Reavis from BART.
Larry Magid has volunteered to be "on call" if our scheduled speaker cannot make the meeting. Thanks, Larry!
Wednesday 11 December is the Club Social at the Cabana.
The November meeting will be Wednesday 4 December to avoid conflict with Thanksgiving. Maury Green is the scheduled speaker, unless he can obtain an outside speaker. Elections will also be held.
Dick Delp will invite V-Com to speak at our 29 January General Meeting.
- Setup of Video Editing SIG - review of facilities required for 27 hands raised. Bob Mitchell wil coordinate this effort. Jim Dinkey may be able to negotiate use of an Elks Lodge room, if Bob cannot find an alternate venue. SPAUG will support a kick-off meeting, but not an on-going expense for a SIG.
- Review of refreshment decisions: Patricia Corrigan volunteered to take over the General Meeting refreshments, including providing the cookies, cups, sweeteners, napkins, etc. The coffee will still be provided by the Elks Lodge, for now. Susan Mueller is the alternate, when Patricia Corrigan is not available or needs backup.
- Review of Linux interest in SPAUG vs. Linux group in San Jose. Can we provide value added? Appointment of coordinator (not necessarily technologically strong in Linux) will be necessary. Dick Delp volunteered to show the installation of a Linux operating system. Jim Dinkey knows a SUN employee who is knowledgeable in Linux, and has expressed interest in speaking.
- The next WebSIG meeting will be at Jim Dinkey's Tuesday 8 October at 7:15 PM; major task will be to complete (if possible) the Club CD.
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HOW TO AVOID IDENTITY THEFT
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If you find that your good name and stellar credit rating is being dragged through the mud, here's what to do.
- Report the theft with each of the three major credit bureaus (they all have fraud centers). Ask that a "fraud alert" be placed on your file. Also request that no new lines of credit be granted without first seeking your approval. You'll be asked to record the incident(s) in writing, and include copies of any documents (e.g., a police report, correspondence with your bank or other creditors) to be used as evidence. Here's contact information for each major credit bureau:
- Equifax, P.O. Box 740241 Atlanta, GA 30374-0241; report fraud by calling (800) 525-6285 www.equifax.com
- Experian (formerly TRW), P.O. Box 1017 Allen, TX 75013; report fraud by calling (800) 301-7195 www.experian.com
- Transunion, Fraud Victim Assistance Division, P.O. Box 6790 Fullerton, CA 92634; report fraud by calling (800) 680-7289 www.transunion.com/index.jsp
- Close accounts that have been fraudulently accessed or opened. To do so, contact the security departments of the appropriate creditors or financial institutions. If you open any new accounts, put passwords on them (and don't use the obvious ones like your mother's made name, your Social Security number, or the first six digits of your deceased great aunt-in-law's phone number).
- File a report with local police, or the police where the identity theft took place. Be sure to get a copy of the report (or report number) in case the bank, credit card company, or others need proof of the crime.
- Be a tattletale. The FTC provides an ID Theft Affidavit that can help you organize and accurately record your complaint. All three major credit bureaus and most of the large lenders accept this form as notice from you. You can also call the ID Theft Clearinghouse tool free at (877) ID-THEFT (438-4338) to report the theft. For more information on how to deal with credit-related ID theft, check out the ID Theft website. If the crime involves your Social Security number, call (800) 269-0271 or visit the Social Security Administration website. www.consumer.gov/idtheft/affidavit.htm
