BENTSEN GROVE COMPUTER CLUB BULLETIN

Week of February 16th 2004

 

MEETINGS

MONDAY

 

ROOM 3 & 3R

BEGINNERS

PRESENTATION

9:30 AM

 

GENERAL

MEETING

10:30 AM

SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS:

If you would like to meet in a small group to discuss one of the following subjects, contact the following people.

 

PHOTOGRAPHY

WEB PAGE

INVESTMENT CLUB

 

Bill Wiese

Harold Buechly

Corinne Higbee

 

580-3184

581-3180

585-5664

If you would like to lead a SIG, discuss it with Val.

Our bulletin is also available on line by visiting http://www.bgrcc.com/ and clicking on bulletin. You may also select bulletins by its subject

NEED SOME HELP

TRY http://www.bgrcc.com/

Click on HELP

 

EMERGENCY

RESPONSE

TEAM

Val Barron…..….519-2319

Harold Buechly..581-3180

Claude Westfall 580-4042

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

Monday February 16th 2004, 9:30 AM New user lesson nine, By Corinne Higbee

Click here to get next week’s lesson, print it and bring to class.

Monday February 16th 2004, 10:30 AM General meeting special guest speaker, Ron Bormann

Monday February 23rd 2004, 10:30 AM General meeting special guest speaker, our own Bill Wiess

Upcoming demonstrations include BACKUP YOUR DATA, PUBLISH YOUR WEB PAGE, PHOTOGRAPHY

 

WOW what a meeting last week. 

 

General Meeting presented by John Abbott

Most interesting presentation and demonstration of Linux operating system and bringing us up to date on where Windows and Linux is heading. John sends the following for review.

 

Windows May Need to Pick Up Some Linux Desktop Tricks

February 9, 2004
By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols

In another sign that Microsoft can no longer simply dictate the future of the personal computer desktop, it appears as if maybe, just maybe, at least some customers won't have to wait until Longhorn shows up in 2006 … or 2007 … or …

You see, as Mary Jo Foley reports in Microsoft Watch, in Thailand, financial pressure from Linux desktops forced Microsoft to first cut its prices, and then, and this is the interesting bit, start releasing what the Bangkok Post, Thailand's leading newspaper, calls "Windows XP Lite." This is a stripped-down version of Windows Home for the Thai market.

Microsoft's corporate spokesman Mark Martin denies that this is the start of some kind of interim version of Windows, but at the same time, Microsoft is keeping a close eye on how well "XP Lite" does.

Microsoft would be wise to do so. The Linux desktop is starting to look a lot better to both home and business users.

First, it's cheap. American corporate IT buyers have more cash than their Thai counterparts, but XP Pro—since Home with its inability to use NT Domain or Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory networking renders itself essentially useless for most business desktops—is expensive. After a price search, the lowest reseller price I could find for XP Pro was $128. The highest price I could find for SuSE Linux 9 was $74, with an average price of $64. You do the math.

You can also run desktop Linux on 100MHz Pentiums with 128MB of RAM and have a perfectly decent user experience. An XP user on a similar old PC might put out his eyes waiting for XP to boot. If Microsoft really wants its 98SE and ME users to switch to another Microsoft operating system, it should take a page from Linux, and its own Thai experience, and deliver a stripped-down Windows XP that can run on legacy hardware.

Most Linux distributions also come with a variety of office productivity tools such as OpenOffice, an office desktop suite and GIMP, the open-source answer to Adobe PhotoShop. When you buy a business Linux desktop, you get a business platform, not just an operating system. I can't see Microsoft making this move. Microsoft still makes a ton of money from Office suite sales.

Next page: Customizing to the nth degree.

Linux, unlike Windows, can be customized to the nth degree. While this can be a disadvantage as well—too many choices paralyze some IT buyers—if your office wants to set up its desktop operating system to make the most of your AMD processors while running a minimum of system services, Linux is clearly your better choice.

Now, Microsoft knows that some customers want that kind of control already, since Longhorn will eventually be available as components. OEMs will then be able to mix and match components to build customized boxes. With Linux, though, you can already do that whether you're a computer manufacturer or accounting's system administrator.

As for security on the desktop, I only have three words for you: MyDoom, Blaster and SoBig. 'Nuff said.

Longhorn will, so the theory goes, be much more secure than any of its predecessors, but then so was Server 2003. And, as we all know, Server 2003 has proven to be almost as vulnerable as the rest of the NT/W2K family to attacks. Besides, Longhorn is a long way off.

As I look at the sudden flood of business Linux desktops from both big companies—Sun, Novell/SuSE and Red Hat—and small ones—Lindows and Xandros and open-source community based, like Bruce Perens' Desktop Linux Consortium—I realize I was wrong when I said recently that 2004 wouldn't be the year of the Linux desktop. With prices, Windows virus problems and the rapid advance of the Linux desktop, this will be Linux's year.

I think Microsoft knows that too. So, I, for one, won't be surprised if by year's end we don't see an XP Lite that will run on older hardware, incorporate the best of Microsoft's security work and, last but never least, cost less than a $100. If the Linux desktop grows the way I think it will this year, I don't see that Microsoft will have any choice in the matter.

 

Thanks John for the fine presentation.

 

FREE Zone Alarm??? Over the years I have been told that there is no longer a free Zone Alarm. When you download it or install it you are given opportunities to send in money. It is free to use on home (non-commercial) computers if you are careful when you select the answers while downloading and installing. Commercial use of Zone Alarm pays all the bills for the operation of their business. The most recent opportunity to pay is after you install the program and are presented with 2 columns to select the features you want. The left column list +- 8 features plus Zone Alarm. The right column list Zone Alarm only. If you select the left column, you will be given an opportunity to send in $15.00. The right column is for Zone Alarm. That is all you need.

 

Beginners Lesson by Corinne Higbee is just that. It is for beginners that may have questions and may not understand computers and there operations as well as some others. I received a complaint that the same question was answered several times the last few weeks. That will happen often in the beginner’s session, if someone does not understand something. During the General Meeting beginning at 10:30 there are fewer interruptions during the presentation but often time to answer questions after the presentation.

 

 Barron’s Bytes

By Val Barron valbarron@att.net

 

Responsible Computing for Everyone

Now that you have received a computer virus or worm from a relative or friend, or maybe you just know someone who has; it may be time to have a talk with him or her about Responsible Computing. As I began to think about writing a column on responsible computing, I soon realized that it would take more than the 750 to 1000 words that I like to have in a Barron’s Bytes column. I soon decided to write just briefly on the subject and find a more comprehensive article on the web to which I could provide a link. The February 5th New York Times provided just such an article and even though it is sort of a rambling rant it seems to say just about what I have in mind. But before I turn it over to the Times Amy Harmon I’ll put my two cents worth in.

 

1) Use an anti-virus, update the definitions weekly, like, you know Every Week. Plus whenever you read about a new virus threat.

2) Check for Windows critical updates Every Week unless you get automatic notification. Install them as soon as available.

3) Use a firewall.

4) E-mail attachments: Don’t open them, don’t send them—unless the purpose of the attachment is clearly explained in the body of the e-mail.

5) Now here’s the really important part, if there is any part of the above that you really don’t understand, for goodness sake talk to someone who can explain it to you.

 

The article Geeks Put the Universe on Alert: Learn or Log Off is located at:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/05/technology/05VIRU.html?th=&pagewanted=print&position=

or just click here .

 

You can help all of your less experienced friends if you will explain some of this to them.

 

Old Business

At a recent meeting someone mentioned a great site for finding good shopping deals; coupons, rebates, and other consumer materials. That site is:

http://www.fatwallet.com

Many of you have listened to the radio on Saturday and heard Dr. Dean Edell. He has an interesting site at:

http://www.healthcentral.com/home/home.cfm

 

Happy computing,

Val Barron

 

 

Dear Friends and Neighbors,

    I love computers and I love helping people understand them.  The four years that I've been in the park I have probably worked on 80% of the computers. That's good because I got to meet a lot of people that way.  But a problem has come up that I can't work around.  My diabetes has left me a victim of stress.  No one person is responsible other than me and my bad body.  The constant demand on my time has begun taking its toll.  Each person has no awareness of the others that are also waiting for my time so its not an apparent problem.  But trust me -the physical effect is breaking me down.

   Because of this, I will no longer be available as a help desk, or as a field service tech for computers of any nature. I have been spending half of each day for the past three weeks working on computers - and during that time my health has gone down, and I am unable to tend to some of my own affairs.  So it is to that end that I withdraw from the wonderful world of computers.

Thanks for understanding.

John Abbott

 

This week’s program presented by Ron Bormann. You may remember Ron’s presentation last year. Ron will bring us up to date and demonstrate several programs you can use to help keep your computer protected. 

Ron is operating his own business “The Computer Doctor” (956)451-1389 and makes house calls for ailing computers. He has many years of experiences with computers and is a very interesting speaker.

 

Submit Your article; deadline for next bulletin is wed. evening of each week.

Share your computer experiences with other members. We need articles to publish in the BGRCC Bulletin each week. Simply click here EDITOR AT BGRCC and paste your write-up to submit it.

 

UPDATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP Change your e-mail address, unsubscribe to this bulletin, etc. Use link below.

UPDATE YOUR MEMBERSHIP