Vol. 30 number 10 December 2013 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 2013: *Sep 4, Oct 9, Nov 13, Dec 11 2014: Jan 8, Feb 12, Mar 12, Apr 9, May 14, Jun 11 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 Blvd. at Innes Rd. Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ Coming Up... Wednesday, December 11th, 2013 Presenter: Edward Lee, Field Applications Engineer, QNX Software Systems (a subsidiary of BlackBerry) Topic: QNX, what makes it an embedded software Most people do not know anything about QNX; and for the some that do, they know it as the software company that was acquired by BlackBerry, to be used in their latest BB10 smartphones. What is really unknown to a lot of people, is the fact QNX has been providing a reliable and safe operating system environment for embedded systems since the early 1980's, and it has been in use by just about everyone, just about every day, but people just do not know about it. QNX's coup de gras is its real time performance and reliability. In today's disposable society, one of the popular topics in recent years is the quality of consumable goods, and those that are manufactured in China. The maturity of consumers today has grown from not only associating the richness of features with cost, but also the quality of the product. Unfortunately, software systems are not measured by cost, but what is inside; and whenever there is a decision on which software platform to choose for a mission critical system, they always want to use QNX. Wednesday, January 8th, 2014 Presenter: Mark Shainblum Topic: My Word! Free, low-cost and specialized alternatives to that word processor. (subject to change): 1- General-purpose word processors (All free) 2- Online word processors (All free) 3- Word processors for authors and scriptwriters (Some free, some commercial) 4- Word processors for science and academia (Some free, some commercial) ____________________________ OPCUG is seeking presenters for future meetings. Could you give a presentation, or do you know someone who could, on genealogy or video gaming? Please contact Jocelyn Doire (jocelyn.doire@@opcug.ca) if you can help. ____________________________ December Raffle Courtesy of the Microsoft MVP Program, we have a Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000. This web cam can handle video at 1.3 megapixels (1280x1024) and still photos at 5 megapixels. Its wide-angle lens gives a 71 degree angle of view and you can zoom up to 3 times (digital). The built-in noise cancelling microphone provides crystal-clear sound. Note: the VX-6000 is not compatible with Windows 8. 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! ____________________________ November Prize Winners Congratulations to Steve Georgopoulos, one of our newest members via our presentations at the Ottawa Public Library. Steve won our raffle at the November meeting and took home a Microsoft Arc Wireless Keyboard courtesy of OPCUG President Chris Taylor. Thanks Chris and enjoy your prize Steve. ____________________________ 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: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/opcug President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagen, gail.Eagen@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, Brigittelord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Morris Turpin, PR@@opcug.ca, 613 729-6955 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster2@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy2@@opcug.ca Special Events Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Linux / Open-Source software SIG: (vacant) Note: We added an extra "@" to the emails to reduce spam. Parking: Ample parking is available for a flat fee of 3$ after 5pm, paid in advance. Payment methods includes coins, VISA, and MasterCard, and the proof of payment must be left in the car and be visible in the front windshield. We will refund the parking fee for our speakers. For those who don't mind a couple of minutes easy stroll, there is free parking just before the museum along Gladwin Crescent. (c) OPCUG 2013. 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.