Vol. 29 number 8 October 2012 The newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group Calendar OPCUG General Meeting National Museum of Science and Technology 1867 St. Laurent Blvd. Second (*first) Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm Beginner SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Linux SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Beer BOF (Wing SIG East), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Liam Maguire's, 1705 St. Laurent at Innes (formerly Hooters) Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ Coming Up... October 10, 2012 Topic: Members' Favourites Night Speaker: Various OPCUG members This month our meeting is going to be a Members' Favourites Night where members of our club will demonstrate some of their preferred programs. Come out and enjoy the presentations. ____________________________ November 14, 2012 Speaker: Chris Simmons, Ottawa Public Library Topic: The eBook industry as it pertains to libraries December 12, 2012 Speaker: Roger Lanthier Topic: Aspects of publishing music ____________________________ October Raffle Courtesy of McAfee Canada, we have a copy of McAfee All Access 2012. "All your devices. All your stuff. All protected." That is how McAfee describes All Access 2012. This powerhouse gives you complete anti-virus, anti-spyware, anti-phishing, anti- spam, anti-bot, 2-way firewall, safe web searching, encryption, wireless network security, digital file shredding, web content filtering, URL shortening, social network monitoring, on-line activity monitoring, and more. And this one-user license will do this for all the devices you own - PCs, laptops, Android tablets, Macs, and smartphones (iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, or Symbian.) McAfee All Access 2012 is valued at $100. Tickets are, as always, a good deal at $1 for one, a great deal at $2 for three or the unbelievable bargain of $5 for ten! ____________________________ September Prize Winners Two lucky OPCUG members went home with prizes from the Sept. 12th OPCUG general meeting. Gary Byron won our raffle prize of an HP DeskJet Printer while Keith Martinsen won the door prize (a copy of the book "Windows 7 Inside & Out"). Congrats to the winners and many thanks as always to those who donated our prizes for the evening. ____________________________ 2013 OPCUG Elections We need your help! Once a year, the OPCUG holds elections for the 9-member Board of Directors. We are once again coming up to this annual event. If you would like to volunteer to be Election Officer please let Gail Eagen, Secretary, or Chris Taylor, President, know, by email or at the next meeting. The Election Officer`s duties include accepting nominations, preparing information for the Newsletter and running an election if required. We encourage all members to consider running for a board position or getting involved in some other manner in the operations of the OPCUG. If you want more information about what is involved, please talk to any current or past Board member. Names are listed in the Newsletter and on the web site at http://opcug.ca. Nominations for the Board of Directors must be received by midnight, December 31, 2012. Please get involved. Please help the OPCUG continue in its role of Users Helping Users! Gail Eagen Secretary ____________________________ Silent Auction in December Last year Jeff Dubois sent us a message saying: "Wow, I've got a lot of gadgets, bits, bytes and bobs kicking about that I no longer use but they might be, for someone else, quite usable." and then suggested we have a "charity auction". I thought that would be a good idea, so that's what we're going to do! For our December meeting we are going to have a silent auction, where all the items for sale will be displayed with a bidding sheet, on which you can write your name and your bid, as many times as you want, and the highest bidders will win the items. All the proceeds of the silent auction will be donated to the Ottawa Food Bank. So, if you have good stuff that you would like to donate, please send us an email with a description of what you want to donate to SilentAuction@@opcug.ca Also, we will have a box to collect your non-perishable food donations for the food bank. For those who prefer to give money, we'll have a box for that, too. Donations over $10 are tax deductible. With its food industry partnerships and bulk purchasing power, the Ottawa Food Bank turns every $1 donated into $5 worth of food. And furthermore, as if that were not enough, the OPCUG will give all the proceeds of the December raffle ticket sales to the food bank. So, in December, if you feel like helping others, you will have plenty of choices. Date: December 12, 2012 Email: SilentAuction@@opcug.ca Info: http://ottawafoodbank.ca/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Food- Bank-Fact-Sheet.pdf ____________________________ Product Review Office Suite Compatibility and Incompatibility? by Alan German For a number of years I have been routinely using an office suite that is not the one produced by Microsoft. Initially, I used OpenOffice but then, around 2010, when the open- source community forked this software, I switched to the newer LibreOffice. In my experience, while trying to use the open-source office suite and exchanging files with users of MS Office, there have always been incompatibilities between files produced by the two products. I decided to explore how these stack up between recent versions of MS Office and LibreOffice: (a) to identify any real show-stoppers, or (b) to see if there are merely cosmetic differences that are inconsequential for most regular users. My exploration focuses on two portions of each office suite, the word processor and the spreadsheet, since I consider these to be the most useful - and most used - parts of the package. So, we are going to compare the basics of LibreOffice Writer and Calc against those of Microsoft Word and Excel. My starting point was to create a word-processing document containing simple text, bold-facing and italic, a table, embedded graphic images, some drawn-in lines, and a couple of hyperlinks. For the purposes of this exercise, the file was a list of tasks related to OPCUG's meeting programme and newsletter. The file was produced using Writer from LibreOffice Version 3.5.4.2, and was stored as help_wanted.odt (Open Document Text - the native text file format for Writer). The first incompatibility was identified when I tried to open this ODT file with Word from Microsoft Office 2010. Although, nominally, Word supports the ODT file format, trying to open the file produced the error message: "The file help_wanted.odt cannot be opened because there are problems with the contents." And, viewing the details of the error displayed: "Details - The file is corrupt and cannot be opened." A subsequent message stated: "Do you want to recover the contents of this document? If you trust the source of this document, click Yes." Now, my problem was that I trusted the source of the document implicitly. What I didn't trust was Word's ability to maintain the content and formatting of my original file. I saved a copy of the original file as help_wanted2.odt and had Word open this file. The file displayed correctly, so I re-saved the file as an ODT file from Word. However, the second time I opened this file in Word the two lines drawn across part of the first page had been truncated to appear as long dashes. Opening this revised file in Writer displayed the two lines correctly; however, the two graphics in the file were displayed larger than they should have been so that they crowded the text somewhat. The work-around for these formatting issues turned out to be very simple. In LibreOffice, store the file as help_wanted.doc [in the Microsoft Word 97/2000/XP/2003 (.doc) (*.doc) file format] and then open the DOC file in MS Word. However, this whole situation is rather bizarre. Word can create an ODT file that both it and Writer can open (I tested this!), but Word refuses to recognize an ODT file initially created by Writer. So much for document standards in Redmond! Other than the above-noted glitch, the two files seem to display identically. So, the conclusion from this rather simple test is that you can use LibreOffice and exchange your files with MS Word users. Just be sure to use .doc for the file format! The test for LibreOffice Calc consisted of opening the current summary of the club's financial accounts, the file opcug.ods (an Open Document Spreadsheet). Once again, when trying to open this LibreOffice file, Microsoft's program reported that: "Excel found unreadable content in 'opcug.ods'" and offered to "recover the contents of this workbook". Allowing Excel to undertake this task proved to be pretty much a disaster. At first glance the spreadsheet appeared to display correctly, with two minor exceptions. Dates (e.g. 2012-01-01) formatted in Calc (Cell A8) to display as Jan-12 were displayed as Jan/12 in Excel. Also, Excel suggested that there was an error in Cell I8 in that the "Formula Omits Adjacent Cells". This cell is calculating a running balance (previous balance + credits - debits) for the accounts for the month of January. For some reason, Excel seemed to think that Cell A8, which is actually the month, should be included in this total. Clearly, this "error" could be safely ignored. Now, these issues would have been acceptable, but there was a much worse problem. When I tried to change one of the amounts in the spreadsheet, I noticed that the associated total didn't change. A little exploration determined that the conversion process had maintained the cell values, but it had eliminated all of the underlying formulae! Now, the "recovered" spreadsheet looks pretty, but since it no longer has any potential for calculations, the resulting file is basically useless. Interestingly, some of the cell formatting remained in place. For example, the yellow highlighting for the sub- totals in Column M were displayed, and a conditional format for testing the account balance in Cell G28 was still set. This cell compares the running total of the accounts (Cell B19) to the current totals of the bank accounts (Cell B28). If these amounts match, Cell G28 displays CORRECT in black but, if there is an imbalance, the cell displays INCORRECT in red. The conditional formatting was in place in Excel but, of course, with no calculations being made in the spreadsheet, Cell G28 was permanently fixed as CORRECT. This is an admirable situation for the club's Treasurer, but it is unlikely to inspire much confidence from the Board of Directors when they review the monthly summary of the club's accounts! Once again, the "solution" is to open the ODS file in Calc and save it as an XLS file [Microsoft Excel 97/2000/XP/2003 (.xls) (*.xls)]. Excel will then open the XLS file and maintain all of the spreadsheet's attributes. So, as before, the moral of this story is that you can use LibreOffice Calc to create and exchange files with MS Excel users but be sure, in this case especially, to use the .xls file format. The final outcome is therefore that there remain some inconsistencies between Microsoft Office and LibreOffice. In particular, it depends on which module you are using (word processor or spreadsheet), and which file format (native Microsoft or Open Document) with which you wish to create your file, as to how serious these inconsistencies affect the final product, and hence the ability to exchange the file between the two office suites. For my part I see the main problem as Microsoft Office not properly supporting the Open Document standard. This is regrettable, but I have to say not unexpected! Bottom Line LibreOffice version 3.6.1 (open source) Website: http://www.libreoffice.org/ ____________________________ Product Review Digital Image Editing with GIMP by Alan German Sure, you could go wild and buy Adobe Photoshop CS6 for around $750 (or perhaps the Extended edition for more like $1050). Or, maybe you would be satisfied with their baby brother, Adobe Photoshop Elements, at around $100. Then again, you could get most of the power, with none of the cost, by trying GIMP - the GNU Image Manipulation Program. Currently at Version 2.8, this open-source software, is available for both Windows and Linux. Its current claim to fame is that the program will run in a single window, rather than the separate image window and floating tool bars that were used previously. Of course, having the program run in a single window isn't the default, and making it do so isn't necessarily intuitive. While one might think it would be necessary to find a setting under Edit - Preferences, the "Single-window mode" toggle is actually located under the Windows menu. Once enabled, the program window contains a display of the current image being processed, various tool bars and, of course, the main menu. There is an array of image selection tools, a wide range of pencils and brushes, the ability to add text in various fonts, dozens of image filters, and many more options. While these provide a bewildering range of features, some frequently-used image editing items are readily implemented. For example cropping an image is simply a matter of clicking the mouse on the Rectangle Select Tool (the rectangle icon in the top-left corner of the first tool bar), then clicking on the image at a point marking the top-left corner of the area to be cropped, holding the mouse button down and dragging the cursor to the bottom-right corner of the area to be cropped. The selected area is now outlined by a rectangle. Making the cut is as simple as selecting Image - Crop to Selection from the main menu. To adjust the brightness and contrast of an image, select Colors - Brightness/Contrast from the main menu. Adjusting the slider bars creates an instant preview of the potential changes. Once you are satisfied, simply press the OK button. Red-eye removal may be even easier. From the main menu, select Filters - Enhance - Red Eye Removal. It is quite likely that the software will correctly identify - and fix - the subject red eyes. Magic! However, sometimes, the red-eye removal process doesn't work too well automatically. One issue can be if the young lady with the red eyes is wearing a red dress. Automatic red-eye removal will fix the eyes, but will also change the dress to black! As the dialogue box states: "Manually selecting the eyes may improve the results". So, it's clearly time for a little manual processing. (It turns out all that is necessary is to select each of the subject's red eyes in turn, using the Ellipse Select Tool, before applying the red-eye removal filter.) Such usage details are readily available in GIMP's help system. However, the user manual isn't part of a regular download of GIMP. A language-specific (e.g. English) version can be obtained in a separate download process. But, this may not be necessary since, for most users, the on-line manual is readily available over a high-speed link, and the context of the help request leads directly to the required information. And, the official documentation isn't the only source of assistance. There are many web sites that provide GIMP tutorials, tips and tricks, and even video tutorials on YouTube to show you how to do specific tasks. I found one new program feature that I don't much like when it came time to save my modified image. In the past, this was as simple as File - Save; however, this option now brings up a warning that the file can only be "saved" in GIMP's native XCF file format. One now has to use File - Export to save a JPG file as a JPG. This isn't a show stopper, but for past users of the program it is certainly a minor annoyance. GIMP is an extremely powerful image editor, but using the program can be as easy or as complex as you might wish. The good news is that the software, being an open-source product, is available at no cost. So, you can download it, try it, and determine if GIMP fits your digital image editing requirements. Bottom Line GNU Image Manipulation Program (Open-Source) Version 2.8 http://www.gimp.org/ ____________________________ ARTICLE What the heck are hiberfil and pagefile? By Linda Gonse, Orange County PCUG, California One day, while purging unnecessary and unused files on my Windows XP computer, I spotted two massive O files on the C:\ drive that perplexed me. One was hiberfil.sys at nearly 3.5 gigabytes! And, the other was page-file.sys at 2 gigabytes! I did not delete them right then and there. First, I checked them out on Google. As it turns out, both of the system files serve a purpose. Hiberfil.sys is a file the system creates when the computer goes into hibernation mode. Windows uses the file when it is turned back on. If you don't need hibernation mode and want to delete the file you need to turn the hibernation option off before Windows will allow you to delete the file. The file size depends largely on the size of active RAM in the computer as the contents of the file are basically a RAM im-age. That explains why the file was so large. My computer has 4G of RAM - although it only recognizes 3.25 gigabytes. I couldn't see a need to have hibernate enabled on my com- puter so I disabled it by unchecking the Enable Hibernation box in Power Options in the Control Panel. (The procedure for turning hibernation off is significantly different between Windows XP and Vista.) The next time I rebooted, though, my UPS scolded me for not having hibernation enabled. The UPS unit used that as storage space in case the power goes out and battery power has to kick in. I was careful to research pagefile.sys before taking any kind of action that might compromise it. Good thing, too. Page-file.sys is the virtual memory file Windows uses. Typically, when installed, Windows sets the size of the file at around 1-1/2 times the physical memory size. However, the size may vary depending on the amount of free disk space when the file is created and other factors. The default size generally works fine but it can be changed. Windows uses this file for its normal operation, but if you really need the space you can delete it after turning the virtual memory option off. Just be aware that this can cause extreme instability in Windows - even causing it to stop working. Yikes! Back in the old 3.11 Windows days, a file like this was called a swap file. Windows used the hard disk space even then to simulate extra memory. A swap file helped when printing large documents, among other uses. Not surprisingly, experts advise leaving pagefile.sys alone and to look elsewhere for files to delete! This article originally appeared in the February 2012 issue of Nibbles and Bits, the newsletter of the Orange County PC Users Group (http://www.orcopug.org) and is reprinted here with permission. Nibbles & Bits is electronically published and distributed by Orange County PC Users Group to its members and vendors. Opinions expressed herein are the writers and are not reflective of the Orange County PC Users Group position, nor endorsed by inclusion in this newsletter. ____________________________ OPCUG Free Software Guide - Part 34 Compiled by Alan German This guide features an annotated list of free computer programs. The software mentioned has not been reviewed (except where noted) nor have any tests necessarily been conducted. Consequently, no guarantees are provided that the individual programs will perform as described. Rather the list of available software is provided for the information of our members who may find one or more of the programs useful. Smart Defrag 2 This free tool provides extremely fast and efficient defragmentation of your hard drives for quicker file loading and high disk performance. With an "install it and forget it" feature, the software works automatically and quietly in the background, keeping your hard disk running at top speed. Current Release: Version 2.4 Web Site: http://www.iobit.com/iobitsmartdefrag.html LastPass Your LastPass master password is the only password you'll ever need. Never forget a password again and log into sites with a single mouse click. Protect yourself against phishing scams, online fraud, and malware. All of your data is encrypted locally on your PC and only you can unlock it! Current Release: Version 2.0.0 Web Site: http://lastpass.com/ LightBox Image Editor LightBox 2.0 Free is a limited version of Sagelight that features the same user interface and easy-to-use Quick Edit Mode. The program includes simple tools to correct red-eye, crop and re-size your photos. and uses slide-bars for adjustments to items like colours and tones. Current Release: Version 2.0 Web Site: http://www.sagelighteditor.com/downloadfree2.html RunScanner This Windows utility scans your system for all running programs, auto-start locations, drivers, services and hijack points. You can use RunScanner to detect changes and mis- configurations in your system caused by spyware, Current Release: Version 2.0.0.60 Web Site: http://www.runscanner.net MusicBee If you are looking for an application geared toward managing extensive music collections, easy to use and with a comprehensive feature set - look no further. MusicBee makes it easy to organize, find and play music files on your computer, on portable devices and on the web. Current Release: Version 1.4 Web Site: http://getmusicbee.com/ World of Tanks This team-based, massively multiplayer on-line action game is dedicated to armored warfare in the middle of the 20th century. Throw yourself into epic tank battles with other steel cowboys all over the world. Your arsenal includes more than 180 armored vehicles from America, China, France, Germany and the Soviet Union. Current Release: Version 7.4 Web Site: http://worldoftanks.com/ ? PolyEdit Lite This free word processor is lightweight, reliable, easy-to- use, and extremely fast, yet has all of the standard capabilities that you would expect. Current Release: Version 6.0 Web Site: http://polyedit.com/free.html ____________________________ OPCUG PRESENTATIONS AT THE OTTAWA PUBLIC LIBRARY by Chris Taylor Following are upcoming presentations currently scheduled (for complete list and updates visit http://www.opcug.ca/public/OPL.htm). October 2 to December 6, 2012 How to Secure a Home Wireless Network Tuesday, October 2, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, North Gloucester Branch Most wireless routers do not default to the most secure configuration. Make sure you are not the "low hanging fruit" that someone will decide to attack. It is surprisingly easy to make sure your network is secure. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you just how easy it is. Basic Digital Photo Editing Wednesday, October 3, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Orleans Branch It is easy to take dozens or hundreds of photos with your digital camera. But then what? Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help you discover some easy ways of fixing up your photos to correct many basic flaws so you will be proud to display them. How to Buy a Digital Camera Thursday, October 4, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Elmvale Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. How to Buy a PC Thursday, October 11, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Rosemount Branch When buying a PC, you are faced with a lot of choices, laptop or desktop, dual or quad core processor, AMD or Intel, how big a hard drive, how big a monitor, is it better to buy a faster processor or more memory ... Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help sort out the choices so you can buy the computer that is right for your needs. Protecting Your Computer Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, North Gloucester Branch The average time it takes for an unprotected computer to be compromised after connecting to the Internet is under 15 minutes. Don't let it be yours. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you the simple steps you need to take to keep your computer from being hacked. Basic Digital Photo Editing Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, Alta Vista Branch It is easy to take dozens or hundreds of photos with your digital camera. But then what? Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help you discover some easy ways of fixing up your photos to correct many basic flaws so you will be proud to display them. Basic Digital Photo Editing Saturday, October 20, 2012, 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM, Nepean Centrepointe Branch It is easy to take dozens or hundreds of photos with your digital camera. But then what? Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help you discover some easy ways of fixing up your photos to correct many basic flaws so you will be proud to display them. How to Buy a Digital Camera Monday, October 22, 2012, 1:30 - 3:30 PM, Carlingwood Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. How to Buy a PC Tuesday, October 23, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, St. Laurent Branch When buying a PC, you are faced with a lot of choices, laptop or desktop, dual or quad core processor, AMD or Intel, how big a hard drive, how big a monitor, is it better to buy a faster processor or more memory ... Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help sort out the choices so you can buy the computer that is right for your needs. Protecting Your Computer Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Ruth E. Dickinson Branch The average time it takes for an unprotected computer to be compromised after connecting to the Internet is under 15 minutes. Don't let it be yours. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you the simple steps you need to take to keep your computer from being hacked. How to Buy a Digital Camera Tuesday, November 6, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, St. Laurent Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. Basic Digital Photo Editing Wednesday, November 7, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, Cumberland Branch It is easy to take dozens or hundreds of photos with your digital camera. But then what? Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help you discover some easy ways of fixing up your photos to correct many basic flaws so you will be proud to display them. How to Buy a PC Thursday, November 8, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Carlingwood Branch When buying a PC, you are faced with a lot of choices, laptop or desktop, dual or quad core processor, AMD or Intel, how big a hard drive, how big a monitor, is it better to buy a faster processor or more memory ... Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help sort out the choices so you can buy the computer that is right for your needs. Protecting Your Computer Thursday, November 15, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Elmvale Branch The average time it takes for an unprotected computer to be compromised after connecting to the Internet is under 15 minutes. Don't let it be yours. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you the simple steps you need to take to keep your computer from being hacked. How to Buy a Digital Camera Wednesday, November 21, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Orleans Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. How to Buy a Digital Camera Thursday, November 22, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, Sunnyside Branch When buying a digital camera, you are faced with a bewildering array of choices. Chris Taylor, Ottawa PC Users' Group President will help "focus" your search for the ideal digital camera. Clicking, Flicking and Tweeting: Social Networking Controversy Saturday, November 24, 2012, 2:00 - 4:00 PM, Greenboro Branch The explosion of social networking websites such as Flickr, Facebook, blogging sites and Twitter has raised more than privacy concerns. Join the discussion with Chris Taylor and Andrea Wells from the Ottawa PC Users' Group. Andrea will describe the value of social media sites, while Chris will give the cautions about using these tools so that you don't compromise your computer, your job, your identity, or worse. Clicking, Flicking and Tweeting: Social Networking Controversy Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 6:30 - 8:30 PM, Nepean Centrepointe Branch The explosion of social networking websites such as Flickr, Facebook, blogging sites and Twitter has raised more than privacy concerns. Join the discussion with Chris Taylor and Andrea Wells from the Ottawa PC Users' Group. Andrea will describe the value of social media sites, while Chris will give the cautions about using these tools so that you don't compromise your computer, your job, your identity, or worse. Basic Digital Photo Editing Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Beaverbrook Branch It is easy to take dozens or hundreds of photos with your digital camera. But then what? Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help you discover some easy ways of fixing up your photos to correct many basic flaws so you will be proud to display them. How to Secure a Home Wireless Network Thursday, November 29, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Rosemount Branch Most wireless routers do not default to the most secure configuration. Make sure you are not the "low hanging fruit" that someone will decide to attack. It is surprisingly easy to make sure your network is secure. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you just how easy it is. Protecting Your Computer Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Rideau Branch The average time it takes for an unprotected computer to be compromised after connecting to the Internet is under 15 minutes. Don't let it be yours. Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will show you the simple steps you need to take to keep your computer from being hacked. How to Buy a PC Thursday, December 6, 2012, 6:15 - 8:15 PM, Blackburn Hamlet Branch When buying a PC, you are faced with a lot of choices, laptop or desktop, dual or quad core processor, AMD or Intel, how big a hard drive, how big a monitor, is it better to buy a faster processor or more memory ... Chris Taylor, President of the Ottawa PC Users' Group will help sort out the choices so you can buy the computer that is right for your needs. Presentations are scheduled as they are arranged with the Ottawa Public Library. This list will be updated in coming newsletter issues as things change (you can also visit http://www.opcug.ca/public/OPL.htm for updates). For more information about these presentations, you can check the Ottawa Public Library web site: http://biblioottawalibrary.ca/en/main/program Free registration is required. ____________________________ OTTAWA PC NEWS Ottawa PC News is the newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group (OPCUG), and is published monthly except in July and August. The opinions expressed in this newsletter may not necessarily represent the views of the club or its members. Member participation is encouraged! If you would like to contribute an article to Ottawa PC News, please submit it to the newsletter editor (contact info below). Deadline for submissions is three Saturdays before the General Meeting. Group meetings OPCUG normally meets on the second Wednesday in the month, except in July and August, at the National Museum of Science and Technology, 1867 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa. Meetings are 7:30-9:00 p.m. and Special Interest Groups go until 10 p.m. Fees: OPCUG annual membership: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagen, gail.Eagen@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, Brigittelord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Morris Turpin, PR@@opcug.ca, 613 729-6955 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster2@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy2@@opcug.ca Special Events Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Linux / Open-Source software SIG: (vacant) Note: We added an extra "@" to the emails to reduce spam. (c) OPCUG 2012. Reprints permission is granted* to non- profit organizations, provided credits is given to the author and The Ottawa PC News. OPCUG request a copy of the newsletter in which reprints appear. *Permission is granted only for articles written by OPCUG members, and not copyrighted by the author. ____________________________ Newsletter by email: To receive the newsletter by e-mail, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "subscribe NewsletterTXT" or "subscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes) in the body of the message. No subject line is required. To cancel e-mailing, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "unsubscribe NewsletterTXT" or "unsubscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes). To change your e-mail address, cancel using the old e-mail address and re-subscribe using your new e-mail address. Cancelling the Paper Newsletter: You can help the environment and save us some costs by sending an email to Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca asking to cancel the delivery of the paper version of the newsletter (or ask him in person - Mark is usually at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings). Announcements Mailing List: To subscribe to the Announcements List send an email to listserve@@opcug.ca, leave the subject blank and in the body of the message put "subscribe announcements" (without the quotes). Within a couple of minutes you will receive a confirmation message from the list server. OPCUG clock/calendar/calculator and mug: Check out the clock/calendar/calculator and thermal coffee mug sporting our club logo at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings! OPCUG insulated mugs are $15 and OPCUG clocks are $20. Reuse, recycle: Bring your old computer books, software, hardware, and paraphernalia you want to GIVE AWAY to the general meetings, and leave them at the table near the auditorium's entrance. Please limit your magazines to publication dates of less than two years old. If you don't bring something, you may want to TAKE AWAY something of interest, so look in on this area. Please note: If you bring anything for the recycle table, you are responsible to check on your way out and if the items you brought are still there, you must take them home with you.