Will EPCUG get credit for you?
For those that have signed up at iGive.com, you may have missed an important stipulation to EPCUG’s getting your $2.00 credit. You must return to the site after signing up. You can’t just sign up and then never visit them. We won’t get the $2.00.

“iGive.com defines an active member as a member who

a) receives our weekly e-mail newsletters or visits the iGive.com site (member page) at least twice a month (in two different weeks), and/or
b) has made a purchase from a vendor in the iGive mall at least once in the last 60 days.

A member must remain active for at least 60 days after his or her initial registration for any initial donation or promotion to be effective.”

The primary concern I have is that some of you signed up, and then never went back and didn’t agree to receive their newsletter. If you receive the newsletter, that appears to be fine. However, if you didn’t sign up for it, or unsubscribed yourself, then you have to visit the site at least twice a month (in two different weeks).

For those that have not signed up, remember, this is a painless way for you to generate some money for EPCUG. You can earn money without ever spending a dime. And, you can earn a lot of money, if you occasionally order things through their advertisers.

If you have not yet joined, visit our website, click the iGive.com icon on the left. You can read about this program and find the link to ensure they credit your membership to EPCUG.

$800,000 holiday bonus from iGive!
How much Will EPCUG Get?
iGive is pulling out all stops to reel in new members and get current ones to order from the merchants. I’ve noticed the list of advertisers has increased.So, apparently this thing really works. They are currently giving away mega bonuses.

iGive will give $10 to the favorite cause of every new member who joins by 11/15/99 and makes a purchase by 11/30/99. (They have also extended this to current members who have not yet made their first purchase!)

So, if you already signed up, but you’ve not purchased anything through any of the merchants, now’s the time to do so! Not only will it get the extra $10, you will then earn FOUR CENTS PER CLICK for the rest of the month and the next month! Enabling you to earn an additional EIGHT+ DOLLARS, depending on when you start! Nobody says you have to buy out the stores, and if you shop at the right stores, you might even like it! Many of them offer specials to first time customers, and several even offer free shipping and handling! What a deal!

If you are already a member, click on “the $800,000 Challenge” on your Member Page (http://www.iGive.com) to read more about it. If you are not a member, what are you waiting for? We have 30 people signed up, and I’m curious why that number is not at least 100. I really should wonder why it’s not more than 300, but I’d settle for another SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS!!! That’s what EPCUG would receive if 70 people signed up during the next month. Talk about easy dues! You can’t get any better way to support the group. No money out of your pocket, and EPCUG gets the profits.

Our money update!
A recent update on our stat page shows that they mailed us a check last week for just more than $80.00. So, it really works people, and that’s just up through the end of August, we still have about $20.00 coming. (They pay 2 months in arrears.) How much more can we earn during this next few months? Mega bucks if we really work at it!

The program for this meeting will be brought to you by one of our long time supporters, Bolt Computer Systems. They have been in business here in Michiana for quite a long time and have developed an approach to creating the office of the future.

Due to circumstances beyond my control, the computer building session we had planned for September was canceled. It turned out that neither Jon, nor the location were working out for that to be a good saturday either, so we can only hope that it was not good for you, and that the 30th of this month will be.

We hope you will dig in those cabinets and drawers and pull out all those cards you upgraded from, all those boards that are left over, those monitors that are just not as good as your new one, and maybe we will even get lucky and get some memory chips and printers, and who knows what else you might have!

Of course, everyone knows that these are not going to be the latest and greatest, and they will not be Y2K compliant, but they will be systems on which term papers and reports can be typed and perhaps a few lessons can be learned.

We are going to need software and mice and keyboards, too. So, maybe you could even check at work to see if they have any older stuff in the maintenance department that they just aren’t going to use. Hey, we might get lucky!

We will begin working on these at the Primerica Financial Office in Goshen, on the northwest corner of Main and Washington, in the basement. The entrance to the basement is right on the front corner of the building.

Gather up a few screw drivers as we will need extras, and come help us switch cards and parts until we get a match and call it a computer!

If you are not going to be able to bring your parts on the 30th, you can 1) bring them to the general meeting on the 28th or 2) contact one of the officers to arrange to get them to them beforehand. Depending on where you live, call the officer that appears to be closest to your location.

If you are experienced in replacing computer parts and deciding whether they work or not, we would really love to have you show up to help supervise. If you think you would benefit from learning, perhaps you are going to be replacing parts on your own soon, then you are welcome to come also, and we will put you to work.

On October 11, 1999 Adobe began distribution of a new software which will enable groups and families to create their own personal, private ‘sharing sites’ called eCircles. Adobe eCircles will help families and friends communicate and stay in touch. Groups can share photos, post messages on their own boards, chat online, create group calendars, and more.

Beginning with user and professional groups, Adobe will enable a free download of ActiveShare for a limited time. ActiveShare will help people share their photos within their eCircles with the click of a button. Adobe® PhotoDeluxe® Home Edition will also be available through the web site for those wanting a bit more capabilities to their program.

Adobe® ActiveShare.com will be a free site and can be a great enriching factor in the lives of many families and groups. Check for a special link from the EPCUG website to ActiveShare.com where you will be able to download for free the ActiveShare program.

The software will be free until January of 2000. So, check it out, and invite all your family and friends. Make as many eCircles as you like. Maybe we will even bump into each other there!

Well, I am now officially the President of EPCUG and I have a full board to work with. For the first time in several years only one person is filling two positions. Mark Meidel is the Web Editor and the SIG Director this year. We have Chris Fendt doing advertising, and Doyle Ramey doing Public Relations.

I have several ideas to discuss with the board and the membership. One has already been implemented, that being a special door prize for new people attending their first EPCUG meeting.

I would also like to ask that if a member brings someone to the meeting, that they introduce them to the membership. This is a small point, but by doing this simple act of recognition, they may be more comfortable coming back. Hope that other members can come up and welcome them to the meeting at the break. EPCUG needs to make sure that new people are welcome at our meetings.

Another item for discussion is how we publicize our group. As a users group, we can offer to many people a place to meet and often to help them with problems. That is what we should be doing. It is not just the job of the EPCUG Board, the Public Relations Director, or the Program Director to advertise the meetings. You can talk to your friends, put up meeting notices at where you work, and maybe even send e-mail to friends who do not attend EPCUG now. If we can get meeting attendance up to around 200 to 250 per meeting, then the program director can get even bigger and better programs.

Many software vendors do not want to send a representative to our group unless we have averaged over 200 people attending for several months. Russ has done a great job getting vendors to come even though we have only been averaging about 125 at our meetings.

Lastly, I have a special request. Before the meeting and at the break I, as president, would like to meet the new people, and take care of EPCUG business. This is very hard to do with a large number of people crowding around me asking me questions about their computer. Add those who want to just listen to this question and answer session, and I feel that like General Custer at the Little Big Horn, surrounded with everyone shooting questions.

I know that for several years, I have been somewhat the “Shell Answer Man” of the EPCUG. I appreciate that many of you feel that I can answer any question off the top of my head. Unfortunately, I do not have total recall of every article I have ever read on every subject. Recently, I have given less than complete, and in two cases wrong, answers because I did not listen to the complete question.

I also admit that I have gotten somewhat short with a few people at the last few meetings who kept coming up to me to ask new questions. I am asking that 15 minutes before the meeting and unless I have asked you to see me at the break, please let me do my job for EPCUG. I will need to talk to the guest speaker and take care of some of the small problems that crop up at every meeting.

I find that most of the questions I am asked are the same ones I answered the month before from someone else. Asking your questions during the question and answer session spreads the information to the entire group, not just to you. If you have a question you do not want to ask in front of the group, then either e-mail me at my home address, or ask me after the meeting.

Go to the EPCUG home page and click on the e-mail list link, or go directly to the signup page at:

Fill out the form and then FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS on the ThankYou page which you will be sent to after you submit the form.

The EPCUG E-Mail List is set up to aid EPCUG members in helping each other, and for occasional messages from the Board of Directors. A place to ask questions, share news, and discuss other computer related topics.

If you have JUNO or the web page does not work for you (some older versions of AOL don’t). Send an email directly to the list manager at:

Our September 11th meeting was a tour of the new LDS Family History Center (LDS) located at 930 Park Place, Mishawaka, IN 46545. Their new hours are Tuesday and Wednesday 9 AM to 9 PM, the Second and Fourth Saturdays 10 AM to 2 PM, phone 219-243-1633. (Park on the East side of the building.) Denise Kelley was our tour guide.

This new facility has more room allowing them to have more computers, equipment, books, etc. available for use. They also have a new web site at www.familysearch.org where you can do online research. (This site is very popular and sometimes difficult to get on, but keep trying.)

Most of the resources available are on film, microfiche or CD’s and include the following compiled records:

Ancestral File - a collection of pedigree and family group records submitted by people throughout the world;

International Genealogical Index (IGI) - a listing of dates and places of birth, christening, and marriage, as well as LDS temple ordinances, for millions of deceased people (early 1500’s to the early 1900’s), also gives the sources of the information;

Family Histories - Biographies, Genealogies and Histories, etc. - are listed by specific locality.

Original Records include Social Security Death Index - a listing of people who have died in the United States since 1962 up to 1997, Vital Records (for US and Canada) and Civil Registration (for other countries), Church Records (including Scottish Church Records 1500-1800’s), Cemetery Records, Census Records, Probate Records, Military Records (mostly Vietnam and Korean wars), Immigration Records, and other original documents include court, land, naturalization, taxation, business, medical, and school records.

Much of the above information was from “A Guide to Research” available at the LDS for $1.25 and it gives more details about how to go about researching at the LDS Family History Center (a very good buy).

As you can tell from the list above, the information available at the LDS is vast. There is also a Card Catalog of books that are at the Salt Lake City facility. (Sorry, they do not have inter-library loan but if you plan to go to Salt Lake you can prepare ahead of time by looking up books you want to examine when you get there). The LDS has available, FREE, a flyer “Where Do I Start?” that has good information to get you started. And for a small fee you can also get research tools like pedigree charts, generation charts (5 -15 generations), research logs, census logs, etc. to aid you with your search.

If the information you found is on microfiche, you can order the corresponding film to get a copy of the source that the microfiche was made from. (For years I didn’t know that you could get copies of the sources this information was obtained from. So, don’t forget to ask if you have found something important and want a copy of the original document.) Ask for details about how to order the corresponding film, the cost, and the time frame allowed to view it. There are also films that are on indefinite loan and they should be researched as well. Their computers have the Family Origin program that helps you research the Surname Index, Locality Index, Social Security Death Index and other compiled records available on CDs. Many of these CDs are available at other public libraries if they have access to these LDS compiled records or they can be purchased for individual use.

I want to point out a couple of good research books I found at the LDS. The first is “Township Atlas to the United States.” The second is “Map Guide to the US Federal Censuses 1790-1920”. Sorry, the LDS only has the Census Indexes on film and does not have those films at their facility (although they are available at most public libraries. So, it is best to look there before you go to the LDS if you want to research any census records). However, if you discover a census film you want to look at, these two books will help you narrow your search BEFORE you put in that big reel of film.

So, plan a research trip to this new facility and check out their new web site. Next month we will discuss what to include in your research notebook to make your next research trip a success.

If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does he become disoriented?

If people from Poland are called “Poles”? Why aren’t people from Holland called “Holes”?

Why do we say something is out of whack? What is a whack?

Do infants enjoy infancy as much as adults enjoy adultery?

If a pig loses its voice, is it disgruntled?

Why do women wear evening gowns to nightclubs? Shouldn’t they be wearing night gowns?

f love is blind, why is lingerie so popular?

When someone asks you,”A penny for your thoughts” and you put your two cents in, what happens to the other penny?

Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?

Why do croutons come in airtight packages? It’s just stale bread to begin with.

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

Why is a person who plays the piano called a pianist, but a person who drives a race car not called a racist?

Why are a wise man and a wise guy opposites? Why do overlook and oversee mean opposite things?

If horrific means to make horrible, does terrific mean to make terrible?

Why isn’t 11 pronounced onety one?

“I am” is reportedly the shortest sentence in the English language. Could it be that “I do” is the longest sentence?

If lawyers are disbarred and clergymen defrocked, doesn’t it follow that electricians can be delighted, musicians denoted, cowboys deranged, models deposed, tree surgeons debarked and dry cleaners depressed?

Do Roman paramedics refer to “IV”s as “4’s”?

One item brought to the general meeting was a question asked by at least one of our members. Even though we were pretty sure we knew how most of the members felt, based on comments we were continually receiving. We did want to bring this issue up, as we always want to make sure we are doing what you, the members are wanting done. This user group is not for the sole purpose of doing what a handful of people want done. It is for better the group-as-a-whole’s computer knowledge and experiences. The question was whether or not we should try to reduce the main expenditure of the group by reducing the newsletter down to a minimum size. By eliminating the review, help, information, etc., type of articles and only distributing a ‘what’s happening at our meeting’ type newsletter, could we save money and more easily meet the budget?

Well, my first goal is to make sure you are all aware of the cost issues involved. First let’s discuss going down to a 2-sheet/4-side newsletter, and only mailing it to members. We would still have the postage, although it would be reduced because we would be in a different mail class. Instead of $70.46 we could reduce that to $56.90 a savings of only $13.56 each month, but a start.

Next let’s look at printing costs. If we are only printing what’s up with the meeting, it’s not much of a publication for distribution to local businesses as an attention getter/publicity tool. So, we could cut down to just the number of copies we need for mailing. That would bring us down to the need for only 378 copies. Now if we went to a simple photocopy method, this would enable us to use CopyMax or Staples. Using a round figure of 400 for math sake, and the lowest figure of .05 per double sheet we come up with $40.00 (400x.05x2 sheets). Plus we have to add in $6 for folding. So we are looking at $46. Quite a reduction from the near $400 that we currently spend.

However, we’ve eliminated any room for advertising, so that $46 comes out of the door donations instead of the advertising we receive. The $56.90 postage also comes out of the door donations. The average door donations are between $75-$100. Sometimes, it will be covered, sometimes it will not. Just like the current situation where sometimes it’s covered, and sometimes it’s not. We certainly wouldn’t be any further behind, would we? But, we wouldn’t be any further ahead either. Currently we use most of the door donations on the newsletter anyway, so what’s the difference? So, if we wouldn’t save any money, but it doesn’t really cost any more to print the larger one than the smaller one, why do we print the larger one?

Let’s look at some of the reasons. We wouldn’t have a newsletter that would catch anybody’s attention in any of the local merchants. Nothing in the media racks or on the counters. Nothing for a computer store to hand a customer when they ask “Isn’t there any community organization for helping new people?” Nothing to draw in new computer users who can quickly see that this is a place to get help. They can quickly see it, because the help has already begun with the issue they are holding in their hand. There are help articles, and tips, and other information ready for them to read while they wait for the next meeting to come around.

Vendors take a very strong look at your publication also. Is it something that they can use to reach a large number of computer users? Why would they care about sending a representative all the way to northern Indiana, just to talk to 125 users? They don’t. They send someone to reach 1000 users! They don’t just tell our members who attend the meeting about their product, they tell the other 250 that didn’t attend, and they reach an additional 600+ people who pick up our newsletter and just might read the meeting or product review. That’s something that speaks to a vendor!

We also have worked to increase the newsletter to the size it is, for you. We have begun including more advanced articles for those who are beyond the new user stage. Yet, still maintain a level of information that gets the new user off the ground and onto a level of productivity that makes that system worthwhile to them. We strive to educate and inform so that you find a reason to pick it up, and maybe even read it cover to cover, as so many tell me they do.

Our hope is that each person reading the newsletter will realize that with as much as is in the newsletter, they just might receive more by attending the meetings. That it will keep them interested in reading each month, so that when there is a presentation that they are specifically interested in that they will never miss it, because they didn’t read the newsletter. How many newsletters from other organizations do you receive that are basic ‘need to know’ bulletins, and you never really read them? Some of them you often do not even open! Interest is the key. More than need to know stuff, stimulating knowledge is what we try to include. And that is why the vote taken at the meeting resulted as follows:

87 persons were in attendance
80 voted to keep it as it is
1 person voted to reduce it
6 people did not vote

If you have an opinion, we’d love to hear it. Whether it is on the newsletter or anything else. We take your opinions seriously. And if we think there is a need, we will even go so far as to take a vote. We may not always take it to the body for a physical vote as we did this issue, but we always at least have the officer’s privately poll members to make sure the opinion of the majority is being served.

In addition to the numbers above that tell you people like the newsletter, I was pleased that we received many ballots back with comments and suggestions like:

“I would very much miss the newsletter”
“Would be a shame to reduce it!”
“...You do an excellent job!!”
“Great newsletter, look forward to receiving the helpful information.”
“Club member articles should be in very front of newsletter - fill in with other club articles at end.”
“Please consider charging $15 for an annual subscription to it.”
“Have each of us donate $5 per meeting.”
“Raise cost of ads”
“Raise door donations. Suggest $2.00”

These comments and suggestions showed me that you are not only interested in keeping the group going, but are willing to give some thought to ways to help it. I would also like to address some of the suggestions.

We would rather not raise the ad costs right now. It has not been long enough since we raised them last to allow things to level out and make sure we won’t need to do it again soon.

We discussed charging dues, just recently. There were some very good arguments against it, and some very strong opinions in favor. Instead of charging dues, we made a smaller sponsorship category, for those who felt the need to support the newsletter to be able to do so. We specifically designed it for those that cannot make meetings and really rely on the newsletter. Those that attend regularly, do pay a dues/donation. They often donate a minimum of $11 per year if they attend every meeting.

The Steel Sponsorship was a way to enable those that can’t attend often to help share the costs. But, I discovered that many people don’t understand how the sponsorships work. Is it a monthly amount? How often do you pay them?

The sponsorship spots, inside the front of the newsletter, on page two, are annually based donations. One time per year, annual amounts donated to EPCUG. So, to give EPCUG a Steel sponsorship every year, you would simply give $15, once per year to EPCUG, and your name would be listed in that section. Next year, about the same time, the advertising director would call you to see if you would like to renew it.

Raising the suggested amount at the door is not a pleasurable alternative to the officers as it would cause us to ask more of those that are regularly attending, rather than an ‘across the board’ method such as dues, or voluntary sponsorships. And it would also cause us to be dictating what you donate at the door. We’d like to keep it a donation, where you are in charge. If you can’t give anything some months, that is understandable, and for some it may even be most months, and that is ok, too. We do encourage those that are interested to make more than a $1 donation at the door. You certainly will be appreciated. But, we remind those that cannot make anything at all, you are just as welcome, as our main intention is to help others with their computers!

Web Pages Lost? Check History
In Your PC or Mac Browser:
Your Web browser's history keeps a record of Web pages you've visited recently. If you forgot to bookmark a page you liked, your history can often help you find it again.

To open your history in Microsoft Internet Explorer, click the History button in the toolbar (Windows) or click the Go menu and choose Open History (Mac). In Netscape Communicator, type Ctrl-H (Windows) or Command-H (Mac).

Once the history window appears, double-click a page to view it in your browser. For more Web browser tips, go to www.earthlink.net/internet/web/browsers

Net2Phone Announces
Agreement with Compaq
Net2Phone will offer its award-winning Internet telephony services to new Compaq Presario customers in Canada, Latin America, Japan and Asia-Pacific.

Under the agreement, a button located on the Presario keyboard will connect online users to a co-branded telephony services web site. Called the Community Center button, it initially connects Presario customers to a Compaq and Net2Phone joint Website which features free downloadable

PC-to-phone software, download nstructions, and details about Net2Phone's low calling rates.

My son recently moved back home. He is 24 and was sharing a house with two other guys, but disagreed with one of the guys who was not taking care of his three cats! They had a small network in the house for playing games against each other. Now we have two working computers in our house and he brought with him an 8-port hub. My total experience with networks was logging on to the NT network at work so this proved to be an interesting educational experience. We are both running Windows 98.

For my 60th birthday, my son bought me a 10 mega-bit PCI Ethernet card. The PCI-PnP card is much easier to install since Windows does most of the work. After reading “Windows 98 Secrets” about using the network software, I had an idea of what was needed. After plugging in the card, I had to do some changes. I had to change my son’s computer to run TCP/IP and removed the NETBUI and IPX. I will explain this decision later. He had the sharing turned on for the hard drives and his printer. I had to go into my Network Neighborhood and turn on sharing. I then had to change the properties of the drives in my machine to allow sharing. “Right clicking” on the drive in Explorer and selecting Properties easily configures this. We both have full share turned on, but a password is required to access the drive. There is an option about Internet access to the drives. We have restricted it.

Now the reason for the TCP/IP - it is needed to use the Internet. My son and I both have modems in our computers. I thought it would be great is we could go to the Internet using one modem. To do so, one machine must operate as a host and the other as a client. Also the host machine needed to have software, which would send the Internet packets to the correct machine. I read some more of the “Secrets” and found Wingate (www.deerfield.com/wingate/) shareware to handle the problem. But, I soon learned that I had to read some more. (A hard concept to accept - read the fine manual. Hmmmmmm.) In the help section of Wingate, after it was installed and not working, I learned that I had to configure the TCP/IP address for the TCP/IP binding to the network card on the host machine.

The help instructions said to do this before you install the software, but the install created the help file! I entered the configuration information as required and then was able to configure the Wingate dialer. Walla - we could both connect to the Internet through one modem. And the connection would be established automatically for either machine. It had a timer that would disconnect after three minutes if the network no longer needed the Internet.

Everything seemed to run smooth until my son tried to send his email from NetZero. Evidently, NetZero requires you to connect through their system to send email. He could get email OK. I could not configure the system to allow his modem to dial NetZero and still have the Wingate software running. So we have since uninstalled it. However, I can see where there is real value if you have a DSL connection. We can both connect at 50,666 consistently now with regular dial up modems. Once we get a DSL line, I can see getting mailboxes on the same server. I use Prodigy and they allow six separate mailboxes. But then I think it will be necessary to put together a firewall to try to keep hackers out! You can’t win.

Having trouble visualizing how much room is on your hard drive or a diskette?

Let’s do a few computations to put some of it into perspective for you.

The next time you think your email is what is hogging all your hard drive space and by cleaning it up, remember, your average email is only 2-7 Kilobytes. That means, if you take all your email off your hard drive and put it onto diskettes to save space, you will only save a few diskettes worth. Even if you are an email-aholic who never deletes it, and gets *lots* of it. Even if you have 135MB of email. That’s still only 93 diskettes! Which is a lot if you only have a 250 Meg hard drive, but no big deal if you have a 6.4 Gig. And unless you can absolutely remove *nothing* else on your hard drive, text is NOT where to start deleting or removing.

Graphics are one of the biggest space hogs there are. Try doing a find on some graphic file extensions (jpg, bmp, pic, jpg, etc) Check in the subdirectories of some of your programs, particularly the graphic ones. Most of those will give you examples. Another good place is any publishing program and many word processors. Microsoft and Corel Office Suites both install a great deal of unneeded graphics on an ordinary install. Check them out to see which ones can be deleted. That is where you will save room, not text files.

Remember, it is hard to find graphics less than 10 KB, whereas there are more text files less than 10 KB than over!

This is the final article in this series, and I can safely say that I will be happy when Y2K is behind us. I have had some people get very angry at me because I did not agree with their views. Many more people have thanked me for the articles. From the first article until this article, things have changed almost every day. Some of the reports and web sites listed in previous articles have been removed, modified, or replaced with a less “scary” version of what they are saying.

Why has this happened? There are several reasons. The first is that things have changed. Computer manufacturers have “seen the light” that people are checking that new products are Y2K ready. They have found that the power of the Internet is a thing to fear, and they are working hard to make sure that current computers are Y2K ready.

Jocelyne found a story on the Internet of a woman who purchased a “new” IBM computer from a large retailer last month, on sale. When she got it home, she tested for Y2K and it failed. The long and short of it, the computer had been in stock for some time before she purchased it at clearance sale prices.

The first clue was her copy of Windows 98 version #1. To get the upgrade version #2, it only cost $20 from Microsoft. Now, someone is going to jump up and down and say that you can download the upgrade for free. The woman tried several times, one time taking over 12 hours, and just before the download completed, she was disconnected from her Internet Service for inactivity. I have tried this myself at customer sites, and I have NEVER been successful in completing the download. Microsoft has not spent much (or any) money on speeding up the download, why would they when they can be paid $20 for 2 CD-ROM disks.

A second change is that the CIA pulled the travel advisories off of their web page. This was around the time of the Senate 100-Day report of September 22 that basically said that all major areas of the government have their mission critical systems ready. The report is to “calm the fears of the public about Y2K.” Several government officials said that this is to “encourage people to trust the banking and financial institutions, and the Federal and State governments.” See the report at http://www.senate.gov/~y2k/documents/100dayrpt

Less than 12 hours later, the story broke that in a random test, the Pentagon found that of the seven “Hot Lines” between Washington and Moscow, six failed Y2K tests and would have failed at the Y2K rollover. According to the Pentagon, “it will be very tight but we feel we can complete the project in time.” Who, did I forget to tell you, are supplying computers that are Y2K compliant to the Russian Government to correct this “minor glitch.” This was billed as a “minor oversight” in the Y2K testing process.

You probably have heard on the national news about the report about the nations infrastructure that was “leaked” from the Navy. It was interesting watching the report change over a 3 week period of time. Again Jocelyne kept going to the report and then printing it out. From the original report to the current, a change of direction has taken place. From the possible failures of power/utilities, to water, and sewage treatment problems the report has turned very rosy indeed and everything is right with the world when it comes to power/utilities. The water and sewage treatment possible failure, while much better than before, are still somewhat negative in tone. The Navy reports and updates are available at http://www.jimlord.to and the address is from Tonga.

It is interesting that the British government has issued a travel warning to people traveling from England to the United States. The warning is about water and sewage failures and that care should be taken in how and where you get drinking water.

Now we need to turn our attention to how well the public services can handle major emergency. We will use what happen in Hurricane Floyd. Before I continue, I feel that FEMA and the involved State Emergency Management Agencies did the correct and proper thing by ordering an evacuation. In no way do I want the following comments to be seen as discrediting the Emergency Management Agencies in any way.

During the evacuation major four lane highways were made one way roads. This allowed a doubling of the amount of traffic that can move in a single direction. This caused an unforeseen problem. As soon as people were out of the evacuation zone, the people who left early found places to stay. Those who left later had to drive farther and farther to find places to stay.

Also traffic did not move well. This caused travel times to skyrocket. One couple reported they left for an 12 hour trip to their family, took four days of continuous driving with the couple taking turns sitting at the wheel, and moving forward every now and then.

There are other stories about people who stopped at several churches along their way during the evacuation. They were refused to be able to sleep in the church, get any food from the church, and even were refused drinking water at one church.

If there is a power problem caused by the Y2K rollover, is your church ready to act as a shelter and/or a warming station? If not, you need to get your church registered with the Red Cross now. The process is easy and takes only a few days to get completed. The reason to complete the process now is that you then need to do some pre-planning so there is a course of action if something goes wrong.

No, I am not talking about spending hundreds or thousands of dollars to stock your church. Instead, I am suggesting that an appeal be put out to the congregation asking them to contribute enough dry or canned foodstuffs to feed their family for a single day. I suggested this to a church official I ran into the other day, and I got an unexpected response.

“What do we do with all the food if there isn’t any problems?” he asked, somewhat upset.

That is simple. If there is no emergency, then give all the foodstuffs to the local homeless shelters, women shelters, The Window, La Casa, or the Salvation Army. Do you think the needs of those less fortunate decrease after the holidays? If anything they increase and those agencies are always in great need after the holidays.

Now, I come to the part of this series that I have been looking forward to writing. Jocelyne and I have been asked over and over what we think is going to happen and what we are going to do for Y2K.

First, I want to state one last time I do not believe that Y2K will be the end of the world as we know it. Are we going to have problems? YES. Will people have to be adaptive and plan ahead for problems? Yes. Will society fall apart and financial institutions fall apart plunging the world into chaos? NO. So what do I expect? I will try to cover this in an organized fashion.

Power and other utilities will be unreliable for the first 72 hours. I do not believe that power will go out at local midnight. I expect that the power utilities will have problems as people get up in the morning and begin using more electricity. I believe the automatic systems will shout down unneeded systems. The process of shutdown is much easier than the startup process.

I do not believe that we will have a true worldwide blackout. I do think that there will be local blackouts, brownouts, and voltage fluctuations. Even if there is a broad area blackout, there is enough “black start” power plants (hydro-electric plants, oil and coal-fired electric plants) to keep emergency and critical systems operating. Add this black start capacity to all the portable electric generators that have been purchased and/or rented by government officials to run other critical systems, and there is a good chance that critical systems needs will be temporarily met. Again in the United States and Canada, I expect all these power problems to be corrected within 72 hours.

Natural gas will continue to work for up to 72 hours after all electric power is lost. The problem is if there is no electricity, how do you run your furnace. The answer is you can’t. It is better to save the gas for cooking and boiling water anyway. Boiling then filtering, and/or using chlorine bleach in drinking water will help protect you from contaminated water sources.

The telephone system should be able to solve any problems again within the first 72 hours. If you have an emergency, you should be able to place the call. One thing to consider is that you should not add to the load by calling everyone you know to see if they have any problems. I plan now not to call anyone for the first few days. Jocelyne and I are both amateur radio operators, so we will use that medum to communicate. If you can not live without using the telephone and the Internet for a few days, then you need to do a check of your life’s priorities.

There is worry about food distribution. If you have been following this series of articles, then you have been purchasing a small amount of extra food every week for some time. Jocelyne and I will have about two to three weeks of extra food on hand. There is no need to purchase months or years of food. On January 2, 1999 we had a small blizzard and people went nuts at the grocery stores. I do not plan to be anywhere near a grocery store after December 28 myself. Even if every computer in the world were to die at the rollover, the food distribution industry could still deliver products the old fashioned way using paper that is, by the way, Y2K compliant.

In the area of finance have the most people disagreed with me. Will there be some problems with their computers? Yes. Will you lose every dime you have invested? Only if you draw everything out, convert it into gold, then tell everyone you did it. Why? Because someone out there will get the bright idea to take it away from you, by force if necessary. Is it really worth that? I plan to have some extra cash on hand, but not a huge amount.

The last area I want to discuss is fuel. The US has a reserve of fuel on hand all of the time. Unlike what Hollywood says, even if every oil tanker and every oil pipeline stops at the Y2K rollover, there will be fuel for between 60 to 90 days in the distribution system.

It doesn’t seem possible that two years have flown by since I clicked on “Send” to launch the first Ken’s Korner column into cyberspace. Yet, when I stop to think, it’s equally incredible that so much has happened in just 24 months.

In September, 1997, that first article (Prehistoric DTP, or Publishing in the Stone Age) went out to just 11 editors, all of whom had signed up at the Southwest Regional User Group Conference in San Diego a month earlier. Now 225 editors and webmasters subscribe. In addition, the list of computer pros who have asked to receive the column has swollen to more than 50 since I started adding individuals some 10 months ago.

Several Ezines (electronic magazines) feature Ken’s Korner regularly, as do such differing Websites as the North Carolina Dept. of Education, Australia Seniors Online and the Mac-oriented User Group Network. (I think I’m UGN’s token PC person.)

Practically all of the early subscribers were from California and Arizona. Now almost every state is represented, including Alaska and Hawaii, plus Australia, Canada, Costa Rica, Great Britain, Greece, Japan, New Zealand and Panama.

What makes this growth surprising is how it happened. Most subscribers have come aboard as a result of word of mouth, or seeing the column in other group newsletters of Websites. APCUG Reports, official publication of the Association of PC User Groups, has run several articles about Ken’s Korner and its availability. Fred Showker at UGN has been another booster. I have written to acquaint some groups with the column after learning about their publications while surfing the Net. Of course, the fact that articles are free doesn’t hurt! But still, a 25-fold increase in 24 months is impressive.

The growth also indicates that my two main premises in starting the column were on the mark. First, having been “volunteer” editor of many newsletters over the years, I knew that many editors have to scratch for good material. Second, I felt the mainstream computer press was so focused on corporate computing and “enterprise solutions” that it often failed to provide information for grassroots computers, the area on which I concentrate.

New projects are born
Ken’s Korner gave birth to a major new offshoot early this year: the User Group Media Workshop project. It resulted from reading hundreds of group newsletters and journals over the past two years. Most editors comply with my request that they send me a copy of any publication in which one of my articles appears.

From two to six newsletters arrive every day, either via snail mail or e-mail (usually in PDF format). I don’t claim to read every word of every one but I do go through them all, and I do read many of the articles. A lot of editors can testify to that because they’ve received e-mail from me commenting on their newsletters and/or specific articles.

(Many a cyberspace friendship has developed as a result. I started with one “UG Column” mailbox, added one for “First Contacts” as requests for the column began coming in. Then I opened folder in the UG Column mailbox for individual editors and groups after I had corresponded with each one several times. Now I have about 110 folders in the UG Column mailbox!)

I also visit group Websites regularly, checking out their design and just generally trying to keep up with what’s happening in various groups.

I do this to keep in touch with grassroots computing, to get ideas for future columns and quite simply to learn from many of the great articles I find.

Quality of the newsletters and Websites is surprisingly good, given that most editors and webmasters are volunteers (or draftees!) with little or no publishing background. My correspondence revealed that these volunteers, particularly the least experienced ones, are eager to improve and welcome any help they can get.

This, and some discussions with Rick Altman, founder and host of CorelWorld, led to planning of what was to have been the first User Group Media Workshop, during October in Orlando, FL. Another conversation soon after that with Judy Taylour, one of the Southwest Regional organizers, resulted in the first Media Workshop being presented in August. (You can find more details on Workshop history at my new Website: www.zyworld.com/wordsmithken.)

The Website is the latest project from Ken’s Korner. Started in late August, it is still very much a “work-in-progress.” I do invite you to visit it, and will appreciate your feedback. Be forewarned: don’t expect music, animated GIFs, abundant graphics or other gimmicks. And you definitely won’t find blue type on a black background! My goals are to provide easy readability and navigation, plus reasonably fast downloading.

Plans for the future
I hope to do more Workshops and to keep updating and improving the Website. Beyond that, I am researching several subjects for future columns, and could use your help in that respect.

’ll list the subjects I have in the works below. If you have any experiences, suggestions or comments you care to contribute, I’d love to hear them. Reader letters and input have often been a big help in the past, and I hope that continues in the future.

AOL censorship - The Irish language, American Civil Liberties Union and various other groups have been the target of Steve Case and company in recent months. In addition, serious security breaches allegedly have occurred on AOL. I will welcome any experiences, pro or con, you have had with the service.

Net conferencing - We’ve been working on this for some time, but new developments keep appearing. If you use this technology, I want to hear from you.

Digital web cameras - We have two units installed now in Ken’s Korner: Kodak’s DVC323 and Vista Imaging’s VICAM. Each has excellent features, which we will be reviewing soon.

Broadband Internet Access - This is a complex, fast-evolving subject. I’ve started an article on it at least four times in recent months, only to have new developments change the picture. I think I have a handle on it now, but would like to hear any experiences you have had with cable, DSL, wireless of ISDN.

Opening Cable Access - This deserves its own separate treatment. Cable companies have valid arguments against opening access through their expensive new cable infrastructure. Proponents of opening cable access to other providers have their own arguments (often hypocritical ones, I might add). I’ve studied the situation carefully and will give you my in-depth take on it ASAP.

Personal Ancestral File Genealogy Software
Free download of Personal Ancestral File 4.0.2 (updated September 99 new Windows release). Personal Ancestral File 4.0.2 includes several “bug” fixes and some new features, including the following: search and replace place-names and multimedia file names, include multimedia when exporting GEDCOM files, edit Ancestral File numbers (AFNs), ditto personal names and dates, search FamilySearch Internet, and merge duplicate source citations. http://www.familysearch.org/OtherResources/Other_Resources.asp

SalesCircular

Compare prices in retail stores every week. Shows what’s on sale in your state by collecting data from Sunday newspapers and other ads, and allows you to compare them all and decide where to buy things. Has an excellent section on ‘What’s Free after Rebate’ This site includes anything on sale, or with a rebate, not just computer related items. http://www.salescircular.com

WorldNetDaily Exclusive Commentary “A non-nerd leaps to Linux”
Here’s a great linux article for non-geeks, and well worth mentioning a link to. http://www.worldnetdaily.com/bluesky_cwolfe/19990909_xccwo_a_nonnerd_.shtml

LinuxMall
Here’s a good site for anyone interested in linux. http://www.linuxmall.com

SCREEN IT!
An excellent site if you are concerned about what your teenagers watch at the movies, or for your own screening if you’d rather not see or hear the violence and vulgarity. Detailed listings of contents. Includes descriptions of what you will see and hear in the categories of: Alcohol/ Drugs, Blood/Gore, Disrespectful/Bad Attitude, Frightening/Tense Scenes, Guns/Weapons, Imitative Behavior, JumpScenes, Music(Scary/Tense), Music(Inappropriate), Profanity, Sex/Nudity, Smoking, Tense FamilyScenes, Topics ToTalk About, and Violence http://www.screenit.com/

BookCloseOuts.com - Millions of books! Thousands of Authors!
You won’t find the latest best sellers here, but you will find best sellers! It won’t be last week’s best sellers, but you won’t pay last weeks best seller prices either. My whole family took a turn at going through the list of books on sale for $2.99 and we all came away with excellent choices. Some of them are softcover, but most of them are hardback! Wow, where else can you get new hardcover books for $3 each! Be sure to check out all the categories. They are all covered! http://www.bookcloseouts.com/

Galt Wallpaper, free downloads of color pictures for your desktop
I have always felt Galt was a great place for shareware, it’s in any listing I have. However, I recently had the pleasure of visiting their site devoted entirely to WALLPAPERS! And it is every bit as good as their shareware site. I was very impressed. If you are looking to add to your wallpaper collection, or looking for pictures to add to your full-screen screen saver, this is a great addition to your URL list.

Galt Wallpaper Pro utility lets you set up playlists for all your favorite wallpaper images, set timers to automatically change wallpaper, stretch images to fill the screen, and instantly change wallpapers with a single click. Manage and control all your favorite wallpaper files from your system tray. http://www.galttech.com/wallpaper.shtml

Worldprints.com - One World. One Source.
Click the link on the right side for their free screen saver and wallpaper changer. After you sign up, and download Image Catcher you will enter a one of the greatest worlds of wallpaper, with links to hundreds of other sites that contain photos suitable to be used by IC. I think I found every category imaginable, for everyone in the family! http://www.worldprints.com/

WorldPrint.com: Splash Page
Another goodie from WorldPrint! Fill out a survey, decide whether to participate in a couple other surveys or mailing lists, then go to your truly awesome full screen graphic wallpapers! A week at a time is presented to you, and you come back each week for new ones. The selections varied to satisfy different tastes. I really like the ones I picked from this week’s selection. The really cool thing is you don’t need to know anything about graphics to covert these to the proper format for Windows wallpaper, just right click and select ‘set as wallpaper! http://wallpaper.preferences.com/start.html?REF=&BIT=

Union of Concerned Scientists
Working for A Healthy Environment and A Safe World. Contains information on Global Warming and Resources, Agriculture, Arms Control, Energy and Transportation. Information under each heading ranges from government issues to scientific background. http://www.ucsusa.org/

National Hurricane Center/Tropical Prediction Center
More than just a weather site, this site strives to teach you about tropical cyclones and bring more awareness about them. Besides graphics showing current and forecasted tropical weather, there is a great deal of history data on them. Even if we aren’t directly affected by them, they do play a role in the weather across the globe. http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

Understanding Color and how it affects your world
Deals with the properties, theories, meanings, and effects of color in the areas of art, psychology/sociology, and science. Click on the Lesson Plans to get some full information on these areas. Very interesting. http://library.advanced.org/50065/colorj/index.html

Space Corner - What’s News in Space
Updates on what’s happening with all the spacecraft and programs. Complete with links to other sites to give you a full picture of what’s happening out there. This is an excellent site for keeping up with space. http://www.magicnet.net/~ronklair/space/spacecorner.html

This meeting has traditionally been “Games Night”, and games will still be there, but, at last year’s meeting we discovered there were not as many gamers as we have seen in the past. So, we have added some great new features to spark your interest.

I know from talking to many of you, that there are goodies tucked away in your bottom drawer such as a 5 1/4 inch drive, or perhaps a monitor you would like to trade for a motherboard. Here is your chance. Remember, one person’s junk is another person’s treasure.

There will also be a setup with a nice background, where your picture can be taken with a digital camera, and put on a disk so you can use it for an avatar or anything else you want. (No nudes please. We don’t want to break the camera!)

A scanner will also be available for you to bring in a document or photo, scan it, and create the file on disk to take home.

Seattle FilmWorks Adds Sound
To Photos Devliered via Email

Seattle FilmWorks, a long-time discount photofinisher now largely Internet-based, has joined forces with VStream, a leader in Web-based communications, to bring audio commentary to email-delivered photos. The new service allows FilmWorks customers to add a personal narrative to their photos, using of VStream's Internet-based messaging service, Beep.

"This is a marriage of two convenient services with high customer appeal," said Paul Berberian, VStream president. "We're blending Internet-enhanced communications with multimedia and the result is a visual and audio service that is fun and personal."

Using VStream's voice-to-email technology, Seattle FilmWorks customers can add narration to a photo with a simple phone call to VStream's automated messaging center. The audio file, produced through VStream, accompanies the photo whenever a customer emails photo links to friends, family, and business associates.

"We know our nearly two million customers enjoy sharing their visual memories with family and friends over the Internet, and now using VStream's technology, they can enhance those memories with audio descriptions," said Gary Christophersen, president and CEO, Seattle FilmWorks.

A Seattle FilmWorks customer, while viewing an online image of a photos, can now add a personal message at the click of a button.. After selecting "Send a voice message" option, you receive an identification code and phone number. You then dial the number, enter the ID code and record your private messages and captions for specified photos. The audio file accompanies the photo, so anyone who views the photo via email has the option of also hearing the audio caption.

For more information, visit Seattle FilmWorks http://www.filmworks.com or VStream http://www.vstream.com

Apple Files Suit Over
iMac Look-Alike

Apple Computer has filed a lawsuit against eMachines, charging that the $799 eOne PC copies the iMac. This is Apple's latest attempt to prevent rivals from cashing in on its innovative iMac design. Apple filed similar lawsuits on July 1 against Daewoo Telecom of Korea and Future Power, Daewoo's joint venture that sells PCs in the United States.

I received the following in an email:

This NEWS.COM (http://www.news.com/) story has been sent to you from jonslough@tln.net

Microsoft: Y2K email fix a hoax
By Erich Luening
September 20, 1999, 7:45 a.m. PT

Microsoft today warned customers that a series of email messages offering quick fixes for year 2000-related problems contain virus-infected software that can wreak havoc on personal computers...

...(Read the rest of this story at the below address if you did not receive it thru the email list: http://home.cnet.com/category/0-1009-200-121317.html)

Just so everyone knows, it was nice to receive a *real* notice for a change. I, and many others, get notices all the time about various threats to our computers and our daily living. From hypodermic needles in coin slots to spiders under toilet seats to ‘do not open’ email virus alerts.

Even though this came from a very reliable source, and quoted an authentic publication, I still checked it out when I received it. I received one just recently from a friend that I know is really apt to check first, and she missed one and sent it out! Which just goes to show, check it for yourself, even if you think your source is reliable.

To check out Jocelyne’s tip, I first went directly to the web page that was so courteously included and found that it really was a legitimate article. Then, I went straight to Microsoft, clicked on their Y2K resource link, and sure enough, there was a note right up front about the issue. Now, if I can do that with something that I really believe will pan out, why don’t others take a moment and check a couple places before forwarding all these warnings to others?

Mind you, I’d just as soon they sent them to me to check out, as to sending them to others and clog up *everybody’s* email, but unfortunately, they are always ALSO forwarded to others simultaneously. I can’t say I’ve ever had to look more than 2-3 minutes to find the hoax or truth. So, it really doesn’t take long to check them out.

The other thing to remember is that it’s not just new users and new surfers that are doing this. Some very veteran, experienced Internet users have been known to propagate some of this stuff. Shoot, even high executives in a well-known computer company did it once! None of us are immune to the occasional giving in to the instinct of wanting to help others in any way we can. But PLEASE folks, let’s try harder to keep your friends email boxes clean and the cyber-highways free of useless clutter by checking out anything that says “Pass this on”

Once again, here’s my favorite list of places to go for information:

(I like to go to the last three just for fun reading every so often!)

FYI: It’s a little-known fact that the Y1K problem caused the Dark Ages...

An atmosphere close to panic prevails today throughout Europe as the millennial year 1000 approaches, bringing with it the so-called “Y1K Bug,” a menace which, until recently, hardly anyone had ever heard of.

Prophets of doom are warning that the entire fabric of Western Civilization, based as it now is upon monastic computations, could collapse, and that there is simply not enough time left to fix the problem.

Just how did this disaster-in-the-making ever arise? Why did no one anticipate that a change from a three-digit to a four-digit year would throw into total disarray all liturgical chants and all metrical verse in which any date is mentioned?

Every formulaic hymn, prayer, ceremony and incantation dealing with dated events will have to be re-written to accommodate three extra syllables.

All tabular chronologies with three-space year columns, maintained for generations by scribes using carefully hand-ruled lines on vellum sheets, will now have to be converted to four-space columns, at enormous cost.

In the meantime, the validity of every official event, from baptisms to burials, from confirmations to coronations, may be called into question.

“We should have seen it coming ,” says Brother Cedric of St. Michael’s Abbey, here in Canterbury. “What worries me most is that ‘THOUSAND’ contains the word ‘THOU,’ which occurs in nearly all our prayers, and of course always refers to God. Using it now in the name of the year will seem almost blasphemous, and is bound to cause terrible confusion.

Of course, we would always use Latin, but that might be even worse — the Latin word for ‘Thousand’ is ‘Mille’ - which is the same as the Latin for ‘mile.’ We won’t know whether we’re talking about time or distance!”

Stonemasons are already reported threatening to demand a proportional pay increase for having to carve an extra numeral in all dates on tombstones, cornerstones and monuments. Together with its inevitable ripple effects, this alone could plunge the hitherto-stable medieval economy into chaos.

I took advantage of the opportunity to attend the Southwest Regional User Group meeting in San Diego on July 9-11, 1999. One of the best presentations I attended was by Terry Rankhorn, Special Agent, Cybercrimes Unit, FBI San Diego. His presentation was fascinating and scary. Below is some of the information he presented.

The FBI has developed a hacker profile based on their experience. The following description of a hacker lists the most common attributes first. The hacker is usually a student who uses the Internet every day, especially IRC. If the hacker has a job, it usually involves computers. He is usually quite knowledgeable of Unix. As a matter of fact, you will usually find several books on Unix in a hacker’s room. The typical hacker is an adolescent, white male.

Many things motivate the hacker. His curiosity pushes him to learn how to get around the Internet, firewalls, and whatever else he happens to encounter. Hackers gain prestige and bragging rights when they are able to break through a firewall or other obstacle. There is even a web site where they can post their accomplishments and gain a following. Some hackers are motivated by revenge for some perceived injustice, which they feel they have experienced. They may get the IP of the person causing the injustice and knock them off the Internet every time they get on. Because of their age, hackers are usually not motivated by politics or profit.

One of the most common targets of hackers is Internet Service Providers (ISP) because they are easy to hack and have numerous user accounts. A hacker will break into an ISP and get one or more accounts and passwords. He may sell or trade the account information to other hackers. Unless the subscriber of the account reports a problem with the account, the hacker usually does not get caught. Most ISPs assign a different IP addresses every time you sign on which allows anonymity for the hacker. Therefore, it is unlikely the Internet will ever be truly secure.

Other popular targets for hackers are Universities because many have powerful number crunching computers like the Cray. This number crunching capability helps the hacker more quickly find the key that they are looking for. The university setting provides a perfect opportunity for the hacker. Many times (especially in smaller schools) the security is lax and there are numerous user accounts.

Government and military sites are also popular targets among hackers because of the challenge, prestige, and publicity. If a hacker breaks into one of these sites, he gets big bragging rights and will probably post his accomplishment at attrition.org. Recently, it was reported that a hacker broke into the pentagon. Terry said that what actually happened is that security was alerted that someone was trying to break through the firewall. When the hacker tried a different approach, security decided to take the system down. No breech of security was made.

If a person is denied service or experiences a perceived injustice, he may want to hack for revenge. This may require a low skill level and use of pre-made downloaded tools. This type of hack could be called “Internet Road Rage”. With wiretapping (sniffer) type hacks, a hacker uses a password sniffer to collect passwords and personal information. There are internal intrusions where the biggest threat is from within. Whereas, in classic external intrusions a remote intruder breaks into the computer.

All of the frauds that work through the mail work just as well, or perhaps even better, when using a computer. This is partly because of the feeling of anonymity on the part of the person committing the fraud and partly because people are sometimes embarrassed to admit that they were ripped off (especially at x-rated sites). Terry told a story about a man who advertised a projector for sale at one of the Internet auctions. Several people bid on the projector and the auction site gave the seller the contact information for the top bidders. The seller then contacted each of the prospective buyers and told them that the person above them had dropped out of the bidding and that they had won the bid. The seller received checks from several people but none of the buyers received a projector. Was there ever a projector for sale? Who knows? The good news is that the seller was caught.

Pyramid schemes are a popular type of fraud on the Internet. You put your name at the bottom of a list and send each person on the list above you $5. There is almost no chance that you will recover your money. Plus, you may have provided your email information to a hacker. The same threat holds true for advance fee schemes. For example, you send $19.95 to have your credit history repaired. You do not need to pay a fee to repair your credit and you may have given a hacker access to your email.

Hackers can be prosecuted for mail fraud (Title 18, Section 1341) or wire fraud (Title 18, Section 1343). Wherever hackers or anyone else goes on the Internet, they leave a trail that can be followed by a savvy investigator. However, the investigator has to be alerted that there is a crime before he/she can investigate.

If you use a cable modem or are connected to the Internet all the time, be aware of who is accessing your computer. Terry gave an example of a friend who has networked two computer in his home and uses a file server. Terry was easily able to look at the files on his friend’s computer and could have caused major damage. Instead, he sent a message that appeared on his friends monitor. What a scary wake up call.

This only scratches the surface of what Terry covered during his presentation. The bottom line is - use good common sense when using the Internet. If you feel you are at risk, you can download a shareware firewall from nukenabber.com. Happy surfing!

I purchased my first digital camera 12 years ago. It was a closeout model that I paid $90.00 for on an online auction. The highest resolution it was capable of was 320 pixels by 240 pixels, thus creating a 76,800-bit picture. The camera came with a .5-megabit memory, so I am able to take about 8 pictures before the memory is full. There is no flash available. The size of the pictures when I print them is about 1 1/2 inch by 1 inch, and they actually look pretty good, until I try to enlarge them, then they look pretty bad. The camera is excellent for sending pictures via email since their small size makes them fast to send and receive. There is no way to display the picture I have taken, without sending them to a computer first, so I always have to wait to see how they look. I have never had to replace the batteries that came with the camera.

Today’s cutting edge consumer digital cameras cost $700-$1000, and take picture resolutions of 1800 by 1200 bits, creating a picture with almost 2 megabytes of pixels. They come with flash memory cards that have between 4 and 32-megabyte capacities and have software that compresses the images so that you can take between 6 and 80 pictures before having to download the pictures to a computer. If no computer is available, just snap in a new memory card just like you would put in a new roll of film. For the ultimate in capacity, some cameras are now starting to support the new IBM 170 and 340 MB Microdrives, and Sony cameras will soon support a 200 MB floppy Disk that will allow for an almost unlimited number of pictures.

Most new cameras come with a 1 to 2 inch LCD panel on the back so that you can preview the picture to see if you wish to keep it, that’s a real money saver over film cameras. Many of these cameras have glass lenses and come with optical zooms that magnify up to 12 times. Flashes are standard and rechargeable batteries are required to keep you from going broke! Printing pictures from these camera’s results in 8 by 10 inch glossy pictures that are indistinguishable from those created by 35 mm prints!

As you can imagine, in-between my camera and the cutting edge cameras, there are a great many other digital cameras that are priced between $200 and $700. However, while there are many good cameras, there are some that will disappoint. Let me tell you what to look for when buying a digital camera.

1. The best quality cameras come with a glass lens. While several good cameras come with plastic lenses, they will be prone to deteriorate much more quickly than ones made with glass.

2. Look for a camera with an optical zoom lens. Most people take pictures of the great outdoors, and it is difficult to get close enough to get good detail in your pictures without an optical zoom. Many cameras advertise a digital zoom lens, just remember that a digital zoom just crops the current view and uses software to make the remaining image larger. Many cameras come with both kinds of zoom, for example a 3X optical zoom with a 2X digital to make it seem like a 6X zoom.

3. Examine how the camera downloads the pictures to the computer. The amount of time can vary dramatically depending on the method used. The slowest way is to have a serial port connection; a better way is via a USB connection and even faster is using the new Firewire connection that is starting to appear on computers. Another fast option is to use a floppy disk, or a memory card reader that can be plugged in to the floppy disk drive.

4. Check and see how visible the LCD panel is in sunlight. A washed out screen will make it harder to see what you are shooting. The LCD also takes up battery power, and does not update very quickly. A regular see-through optical viewfinder is always nice to have in your digital camera.

5. Cameras that accept other lenses give you more flexibility. There are several cameras out there that allow you to screw on a wide angle or telephoto lenses. Putting in a filter also helps with special effects.

6. Always look for a camera that will output to a TV. This will not only allow you to see a much bigger picture to share with others, but by using a VCR you could make a tape of your favorite photos or an easily viewed slideshow of a trip or vacation.

7. Nice optional features include Picture delay, audio imprint, burst mode, thumbnail images and panoramic mode.

Digital cameras are definitely the wave of the future. But if you are not quite ready for the cost of a good camera yet, remember that you can always ask for your regular photos to be put on a CD. Kodak does this for a nominal fee, and each disk includes the software the will let you view the photos right from the CD.

Lastly, always do your research when buying a major item of this nature. My favorite research sites for digital cameras are www.zdnet.com and http:/photo.askey.net. Both sites let you see reviews and comments about many of the cameras that are available for purchase. If you are looking for a bargain, be sure to check out www.onsale.com or www.ubid.com and look for digital cameras that are being auctioned under the computer category.