Kokomo PC Users Group
Volume 19 Issue 11...November 2001
Presidents Message
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It sounds like our last meeting was a big success. A special thanks to Jane Ober and Gene Sturdevant for making sure we had a great meeting with a great presentation while I was out of town. As far as I can tell, I will not need to travel for the rest of the year.
Our upcoming meeting will be the second in our series of experiments with laid back presentations. We will have a discussion of Word Processors. We may try to construct a history of the evolution of Word Processors. We will talk about uses for Word Processors and tips and tricks to make them easier to use or get specific jobs done. We will need everyone’s help and participation to make this a successful meeting. I am looking forward to hearing all the different viewpoints.
Well, Windows XP is here. It should have us all flying through the clouds in no time. I was a little shocked when I saw the minimum hardware specifications. Looks like both my computers will be staying on good old reliable Win98.
On my way back from Detroit I heard a show on National Public Radio where they discussed WinXP. In a nutshell, they said anyone that met the hardware specifications and was on Win95 or WinME should probably go to WinXP. Anyone on Win98 would have to think about it and decide what they wanted to do.
It is also interesting to guess what will happen with the merger of Hewlett Packard and Compaq. Compaq has a great retail presence (you can buy them everywhere) and HP probably has a stronger business consulting and back end server business. It will be interesting to see if Compaq survives as a brand name, or if it just rides of into the sunset like the DEC brand did when Compaq acquired them years ago.
Mark Pendergast
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Hard Drive Clean-up
I used a trick to clean up the hard drive on my kid’s computer. It’s not much but it might help someone else get rid of some stuff.
I used the advanced ‘find by size’ feature of the Windows Explorer.
To use this feature select Tools > Find > Files or Folders from the Windows Explorer menu bar. Select the drive that you want to look in. Leave the file name blank.
Then select the ‘Advanced’ tab. In the two fields labeled ‘Size is’ select ‘at least’ and type in ‘500’ KB. This will cause the Find command to look for files that are bigger than 500K (ie: Half a megabyte). Then press the ‘Find Now’ button.
The Windows Explorer will display a window that shows the results of the search. There are many files that you should not touch. EXEs, DLLs, CABs, or SWPs would be bad to mess around with. Look for files that you have created with extensions like DOC, XLS, PPT, JPEG or GIF.
We had one of the kid’s applications that was cranking out 5MB to 12MB files for blank files or simple graphics. I was able to double click to view and press ‘X’ to delete, all from the search window.
If you have any tips or tricks, even as simple as this one, I would like to hear them. Please send them to me so I can include them in the newsletter. You will increase your participation in the Group, help the rest of us who could use a good tip and you can earn User Bucks to help pay off your dues.
Mark Pendergast
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Some Interesting Web Sites
www.drudgereport.com
Matt Drudge is a News addict who maintains a web site with links to all his favorite news. Matt spends his time reading all the news he can find on the internet and then displays the ‘greatest hits’ as links on his web site. There can be anywhere from half a dozen to two dozen links to interesting news. They range from the profound to the ridiculous.
Through the fame ‘or infamy’ of his web site Matt has developed a number of contacts in politics and entertainment. He provides his own ‘news’ stories based on interviews with these contacts. You may recall he was the first reporter to break the Monica Lewinski story.
Matt Drudge has a national radio show. He was on TV for a while, but he quit over issues with the censorship of a photo that the network thought was too pro-life.
Matt also has a "News Alert" mailing list that you can join. (I have not joined, because I get too much e-mail already.) When he gets a hot story he will send out an e-mail to everyone who has subscribed so you get it right away without having to go to his site and check.
The site has an incredible list of links to all the major newspaper sites in the world. It also has a large list of syndicated columnist links. These links alone are worth the visit.
If you have any favorite sites that you would like to share with the Group, please send me a short article describing the site and why you like it. I would be happy to publish it in the newsletter and send you some User Bucks. It would also allow you to contribute your talent to the Group while allowing you to write about something you feel is important.
Mark Pendergast
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What to do with your old computer now that Windows XP has made anything under 300MHz obsolete
2. Sell it to Afghanistan as a Super-computer.
3. Use it to press flowers or leaves.
4. Use the CD ROM drive as a retractable cup holder.
5. Give it away as a White-Elephant gift at a bazaar.
6. Use it as a boat anchor.
7. Use it to start an Antique Shop.
8. Use it as a space heater for the long, cold winter.
9. Use the monitor as a night light.
10. Use the monitor as a fish bowl.
11. Use it as a door stop.
12. Use it as a white noise source to help you relax.
13. Use it as a music CD player.
14. Use it to hold down the tarp over your pool.
15. Use it as the puck in a giant’s hockey game.
16. Use it to crack open walnuts.
17. Use it as a very large, auto open Jewel Case for a CD.
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Aug - C. Hanna $1, M. Pendergast $2
Sept - R. Malkoff $1, M. Pendergast $2
Oct - M. Pendergast $3
November 2001
| MEETINGS: Second Thursday of each month at 7:00 PM at IVY Tech, 1815 East Morgan Street. Look for a notice of the room assignment as you come in the main East entrance. If the meeting location is changed, it will be announced on Page 1 of the newsletter. If a meeting is canceled due to inclement weather, radio stations WIOU and WWKI will be notified by 5:00 PM on the day of the meeting. | |
| MEMBERSHIP: Annual membership fee is $10. Checks should be made payable to the Kokomo -PC Users Group and mailed to: Mark Pendergast., 3705 Sugar Lane, Kokomo, IN 46902 (or pay at the meeting). Persons interested in joining the Group may receive two free issues of the newsletter. Contact the editor at the return address of this newsletter. | |
| BENEFITS: 2. Great presentations on interesting topics at each meeting. 3. Question and Answer session at each meeting. 4. HELP from other Group members who have been down the road before, and with whom you can share your experiences. |
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| President Vice-President Vice-President Treasurer Membership Services Newsletter Editor Newsletter Distribution Group WWW site |
Mark Pendergast, 455-2229 Richard Ingles, 459-9260 Gene Sturdevant, 675-7628 John E. Haynes, 457-1867 Rodney Malkoff, 453-1159 Ben Sturm, 883-5343 Jane Ober, 455-1583 http://www.geocities.com/roood/pcusers |
| NEWSLETTER ARTICLES: Articles may be submitted on diskette or in hard copy to the return address of this newsletter or dropped off at the monthly meeting. Please submit articles two weeks before the meeting. | |
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