by Herb Van Brink, LACS

The Office Sig needs new leaders. Please contact Todd Martin (tmartin@lacspc.org) if you are interested.

Carol Theodore asked that people give her (or Charlie Semple) some notice in advance of the Hardware SIG meetings if they plan to bring problems or equipment. This way they can do some homework prior to the meeting!

The floor was opened for a technical Q&A session. Here are some of the questions and responses:

Q: After booting, I get the message "not enough memory" or "registry is corrupted" (Win 95a, 32 MB memory, 3 Gigabyte drive)

A: Suggestions included reinstalling Windows, using Win95, and pressing Ctl/Alt/Delete to see what programs are being loaded automatically.

[Author’s note: A Microsoft Utility, SCANREG, is supplied with Windows98. It works with Windows95 as well, and can be downloaded from http://allf18.virtualave.net/scanreg.zip. Boot to DOS and run scanreg /fix. This will correct many registry errors, and also make the registry smaller.]

Q: I occasionally get e-mail in HTML format or with an HTML attachment. What do I do with it?

A: Save it and then open it with your browser.

Q: How do I find out how big the cache is in Internet Explorer, and how do I change it?

A: Go to Control Panel / Internet / General / Temporary Internet Files / Settings.

Q: Quicken complains that I have too many windows open

A: Click on the tabs to select windows to close.

Q: I read in the LA Times that DSL has problems. Should I get it?

A: The article referred primarily to administrative problems at PacBell. Of course, if you’re in PacBell’s area, they are the likely supplier to other Internet Service Providers of DSL service.

Presented by Rick Reigel and Rob Laventure, Regional and Los Angeles managers, respectively.

AMD is Intel’s principal competitor for computer processors.

Rick presented the history of AMD, some processor technology and where it’s going, and an overview of the current and near future product line.

AMD is the first to market a 1 Gigahertz processor, and will be the first to enhance performance by such means as integrating L2 cache into the processor chip.

They described some of the key differences among processor generations and between their main-line products and their "value" products.

Rick and Rob kept the audience’s attention and interest at a high level by maintaining a remarkable balance among technical detail, historical and business perspective, and applicability to user needs. They also offered, as a door prize, a processor, valued at about $500.

For those who would like more detail, www.amd.com is a well-organized site with a great deal of interesting information.

November Meeting Report

by Mort Bernstein and Stephanie Nordlinger, LACS

At the November general meeting, we heard a presentation by Michael Barrera of Actiontec, the manufacturer of a hardware device (Internet Phone Wizard) that turns your off-the-shelf telephone into an Internet phone by providing an intelligent connection to your PC. The claim is that using this approach produces a better quality of sound than if you use your PC’s sound card with a microphone and earphones. Other advantages are that you can dial the call from your phone and can use any phone that is on the line, not just the one connected to your computer. The recipient of the call need not be connected to the Internet -- the call goes directly to the called party’s analog or digital phone.

The device comes in two varieties: one with a USB connection costs about $100 and one with an internal PCI adapter costs about $20 less (but look for rebates). Actiontec only provides support for Windows 98, 98SE and Me. To use its Internet Phone Wizard, you must use Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, apparently IE 5.0 or later.

The major advantage of Internet phone usage is that long distance calls are either free or cost very little per minute. Calls to Latin America cannot be free because of high local charges. Most of the free systems deluge you with ads, like other free Internet services.

The Internet Phone Wizard comes with software to easily access various domestic and international Internet phone companies by clicking on menu items. It is a full duplex device: both parties can talk and hear at the same time. However, you cannot have more than two ends to a call. A 56K modem is sufficient now, but Broadband service will be desirable in the future.

Much of the presentation was responses to questions from the audience. Internet telephony is not regulated by the federal government, and there are no taxes on your calls. The speaker claimed that millions of people use Internet telephony regularly and that his company is installing systems for businesses to serve as closed networks. He claimed the device has Chat capabilities, at least with MSN (Microsoft Network) Messenger Service. The speaker claimed that privacy was a minimal problem and that the Internet Telephony Service Providers (ITSPs) were working on this problem.

Many questions asked how Actiontec’s approach compared with other Internet Phone providers. It was agreed that Internet long distance phone call quality still leaves quite a bit to be desired. He said that you can experiment with different ITSPs as some companies give better service in some geographic areas than in others. In general, our presenter claimed that the Actiontec Internet Phone Wizard provided better quality sound and fewer delays than software plus a microphone and headset because it directly digitized the output of the phone rather than sending the digitized voice generated by the sound card. It provides echo cancellation to eliminate choppiness in a conversation. Unfortunately, he was unable to demonstrate any of these benefits. The company's Web site is www.actiontec.com.

by Herb Van Brink, LACS

Members and guests were greeted by Santa Claus (Cap Kierulff) and a lavish array of donated holiday cookies, treats and beverages.

Upcoming SIG meetings were announced, including the Genealogy SIG, which will restart in January.

Shannon Bennett, President of the e-commerce division of RussKalvinMall.com was introduced to present the Universal Inkjet Refill system.

He first addressed people’s primary concern regarding the refilling of cartridges: Will it void the printer’s warranty? The answer, directed primarily towards those printers such as HP’s, where the printhead is part of the cartridge, was simply no, it would not.

Some of the common mistakes that are made when users refill inkjet cartridges include waiting until they have an old dried-up cartridge and inserting the refill needle in the wrong place. Shannon demonstrated appropriate methods for refilling various types of cartridges, including both those with reservoirs and those (like almost all color cartridges) that store the ink in sponges.

He suggested refilling before a cartridge runs completely out (particularly for HP and Lexmark), and then refilling only about half-full.

There are some cartridges that are factory sealed and have no apparent filler hole. It may be there, but hidden, or there may in fact not be one. In the latter case, simply drill a hole!

They have a solvent available to help clean the ink outlet holes and print heads. It’s a very pure alcohol, and distilled water will also work. Drugstore alcohol or tap water is not recommended because they may contain impurities that will clog the jetts.

The inks distributed with the Universal Inkjet Refill system are all dye-based, have about a three-year shelf life if unopened, or one year for opened ink bottles. It was noted that with color, the yellow always runs out first; simply refilling the yellow chamber only can provide a substantial savings.

Asked if they support printers that use a six-color process, he said yes, inks were available for all such printers except a "light yellow" pigment supposedly needed by Canon’s 6-color process.

Kits and inks were made available at a discount at the meeting. They can also be obtained at retail stores and on-line at www.kalvins.com and russkalvinmall.com. I happened to see them this week at Bed Bath and Beyond (No, it didn’t make sense to me either!)

At the request of the LACS President, Cap Kierulff produced 41 Certificates of Appreciation for those members who served LACS as VIP-Volunteers during .2000.

President Stephanie Nordlinger presented the Certificates to each of the following VIP-Volunteers As an additional token of LACS Appreciation, each VIP-Volunteer present was then awarded an item of software.

During the ensuing Member-Name-Tag drawing, members present were able to choose an item from the remaining lot of Software.

by Herb Van Brink, LACS

Todd Martin said that there were copies of the 2001 edition of The Secret Guide to Computers available for purchase at the meeting for $15.

Charlie Semple still has copies of the APCUG utilities CD-ROM available for purchase ($5).

The Genealogy SIG, hosted by Leah and Joe Clark, will meet quarterly. Call (310) 677-2792 or send e-mail at lclark@ucla.edu for time and place.

The Investment SIG has changed its meetings to the 3^rd Wednesday of the month. Contact Cora Kamerman for information.

A substantial number of new attendees were at the meeting. Many of them said that they found out about the LACS through notices that have appeared in the L.A. Times.

He never got to the Pocket PC Video or Picture It! portions, and some attendees may have questioned whether he covered very much of Windows ME.

He described the salient features of ME as: (1) It supports digital
media, (2) Improved User Experience, (3) Enhanced Home Networking, and 4) A rich Internet
experience.

Windows ME has built-in support for direct connection of digital cameras and other "WIA" compliant devices. This new acronym stands for "Windows Imaging Acquisition." This support includes two-way communication and control, image viewing and storage facilities, and other features. He also gave a demonstration of the new Windows Movie Maker – a minimalist version of Adobe Premiere or Macromedia Director. As Doug Mechaber wrote in the January issue of User Friendly, "I’m pleased that … Microsoft … took to heart the federal judge’s finding … and stopped integrating features that we thought were separate."

Johnston also spent a good deal of time describing two Windows ME features that are already available for older versions of Windows: The Windows Media Player (a free download from MS) and enhanced home networking with shared Internet access (included in Windows 98 Second Edition).

He also described and demonstrated some of ME’s fail-safe operation, including self-repairing of lost or damaged system files and relatively easy restoration of the system (but not data) to how it was at an earlier date.

The overall emphasis was on features of extreme disinterest to many LACS members — creating and playing CD’s of popular music and playing games.

Here are some of the questions and his answers:

Q: I have a Sandisk. Will ME support it? [Reviewer’s note: Sandisk is a device used to read memory cards from digital cameras without having to connect the camera to the PC, thereby avoiding a heavy battery drain on the camera.]
A: You can always use your existing drivers. [Note: I don’t think he had the slightest idea what the question was.]

Q1: Why does ME take so much disk space - 450 to 550 MB - when NT only takes about 120 MB?
A1: You can customize it to make it smaller.
Q2: No, at its smallest it’s still twice as big as NT.
A2: Yes, but it does more.

Q: You said that the network facility supports both MACs and PCs on the same network.
A: They can’t share files or peripherals, only an Internet connection.

Q: What’s Microsoft’s "dot-net" strategy?
A: Software services on subscription. [Note: for a more thorough description of the strategy go to
http://www.microsoft.com/net/]

Q: When’s the NEXT version of Windows due?
A: Currently code-named "Whistler," it’s scheduled for the end of this year or early next year. It will be a consumer version of Windows 2000.

Q: Is Windows 98 still available?
A: Yes.

Q: Will ME support DOS programs?

A: You can run DOS if you boot from a System floppy, but not directly with ME.