TheMonthly NewsletterCursor of the Washington Area Computer User Group Meeting Location Next Meeting: Fairfax County August 16, 2008 Government Center for the Office suite of programs has Presidential Bits been changed for the first time in August 2008 Meeting years. Such “opportunities” often By Paul Howard win praise from new users to these urt DeSoto’s July presenta- programs, but provide challenges to tion on the “Digital Tele- long time users. Join us on the 16th vision Transition” drew and find out Bob’s take on this and a big crowd and was very appre- other features of this latest iteration Kciatively received, as many mem- of the “standard” suite of programs bers were able to clarify the many used by business and home users. nuances of the DTV revolution, Don’t forget the program that al- and the termination of most ana- lows WACUG members to sign up log broadcasting on February 17th, for a variety of telecommunications 2009. Kurt’s presentation, and links services from Verizon, including Table of Contents to a variety of resources are available FiOS. Using a special phone num- on the Recent Meetings page of the ber and a numeric code identify- group’s web site: http://www.wacug. ing WAC, your order will result in org/recmtgs.html Bring your flash Verizon’s sending a contribution to Lloyd’s Web Sites (thumb) drive or a blank CD-R to the group. An order for a full range of The Month ............ 2 one of our WAC meetings to obtain of FiOS services - TV, internet and 50 megabytes of material from a vast telephone - will result in a $65 do- GNU/Linux Sig ........ 3 number of government and com- nation to WAC, for example. The Skype 4.0 .................. 8 mercial sources Kurt has compiled fine print notes that some other pro- TM on this topic. Neal Grotenstein dis- motional offers may not be available AutoMatting ........ 8 cussed several methods for conceal- through the donation program - but ing your email address from address we hope you’ll try this approach if collection robots, when your email you require telecom services. Call 1- Bonus Articles in the has to be posted on a web site. 888-695-5299, and use WAC’s code Download Edition Our August 16th meeting will be - 12426. - Converting CD-based Mu- held at the Fairfax County Govern- Do you have a computer or related sic to MP3... ment Center, from 12:30 to 3:30 technology interest you’d like to tell - Painter 4 Essentials a First PM. WAC’s Bob Mason will be your WAC colleagues about? We’re Impression... presenting a discussion on the latest looking for additional presentations version of Microsoft’s productivity - Recovering Files from a suite - Office 2007: What’s New See PBits page 2 Hard Drive and Worthwhile? The user interface Lloyd’s Web Sites for August, 2008 PBits from page 1 by Lloyd Johnson, WACUG Member http://www.wacug.org/ is the URL for the Washington Area Computer for the remainder of year - please User Group. Visit it for past issues of Web Sites with hyperlinks contact [email protected]. Sites for August 2008 1. Check a broker’s history – www.nasd.com also www.nasaa.org 2. Map and Driving Directions – www.us.map24.com – This site provides maps and driving directions for the USA, Canada, and Europe. 3. U.S. Postal Service Home Page – www.usps.com NCTCUG 4. Old Farmer’s Almanac 2008 version – www.almanac.com – Fun Visit our “sister” user group. and practical information for everyday life including moon calen- The National Capital Tech- dars, planting charts, recipes, weather predictions, and more. nology and Computer User’s Group meets the first and www.weather.com – 5. Weather.com – Consistently rated in the fourth Wednesday of the Top Five for News, Entertainment, and Information web sites by month. They meet in Carlin Media Metrix, www.weather.com features current conditions and Hall in Arlington at 5711 forecasts for over 77,000 locations worldwide, along with local South 4th Street. Visit their and regional radars. web site for more informa- 6. – www.guinnessrecords.com/default. tion, a map and directions: Guinness World Records http://www.nctcug.org/ aspx.Home page for the Guinness World Records. Free sign-up Meetings start at 7:00 PM required for some features. 7. How GPS Receivers Work – www.howstuffworks.com/gps.htm. –For less than $100, you can get a pocket-sized gadget that will tell you exactly where you are on Earth at any moment. As long as you have a GPS receiver and a clear view of the sky, you’ll never be lost again. 8 U.S. Mint 50 State Quarters Program – www.usmint.gov/mint_ programs/50sq_program/index.cfm?flash=yes&action=faq_50sq Washington Area User A series of circulating quarters being issued from 1999 - 2008. Group Partners www.kids.gov – 9. Kids.gov – Kids.gov is Uncle Sam’s family-friend- Working Together For ly site that links to over 500 websites from government agencies, schools, and educational organizations, all geared to the learning Our Members level and interest of kids. 10. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration – www.nhtsa. CPCU dot.gov – (NHTSA). Includes many driving tips and car and truck safety features. NCTCUG ACUG The Cursor — August 16, 2008 Page 2 — www.wacug.org crosoft Windows CE core 5.0 erto Rico. The built-in database operating system, has a 3.5” color has 1.5 million points of interest touch-screen, includes a vehicle (POIs), including restaurants, 12V DC cigarette lighter adap- gas and vehicle repair stations, ter, an AC adapter, a USB cable, libraries, parks, etc. The user can a suction cup windshield mount store custom POIs and frequent- and cradle, and tools and manual ly used addresses. Addresses can on CD-ROM. A built-in rechar- be entered by zip code, city name geable battery provides up to 8 or nearby POI and street address hours of continuous use. The unit using the on-screen keyboard. accepts Secure Digital (SD) me- The unit has very clear graphics mory cards (not included), which with 2D and optional 3D split are used to backup and restore window views of upcoming free- GNU/Linux SIG GPS data (address book, way- way exits. The text to speech fea- By Geof Goodrum, WAC points, tracks), MP3 files, and ture announces upcoming turns Review: Magellan Crossover photos. The unit is sealed to IPX- very clearly by street name up to GPS 4 specifications, which means it twice before the turn and with is sealed against rain, but cannot a user-selectable chime, bell, fter juggling maps and be submerged. or beep at the turn. If a turn is making unplanned de- missed, the unit is very quick to tours during an April The unit I purchased came with calculate a new route. The user trip to southern California, I de- an older version of the GPS A firmware, but Magellan provides can also select to avoid toll roads, cided it was time to buy a Global use the fastest route, the shortest Positioning System (GPS) unit a free firmware upgrade down- route, minimize or maximize use that I could use in my car and on load after registering the product of freeways, and exclude particu- travel. However, I also hike and through their web site. I highly lar roads from the recommended wanted an outdoor GPS with to- recommend checking the firm- route. Up to 20 destinations can pographic maps to help me na- ware version, as the upgrade has be added into a single trip, but the vigate, particularly in the desert a much better user interface. Ma- destinations are in user-defined with no marked trails. gellan also includes the firmware upgrade on CD with an update to order – the software does not op- In May, I found the Magellan the street maps and points of in- timize the order of the destinati- CrossoverGPS™ (eBay, factory terest on SD card (CrossoverGPS ons. The user can set a preference refurbished, $220), which com- NA Map and Software Update to automatically suggest detours bines vehicle, outdoor/hiking, V2, retail $79.99). The pre-in- if the freeway speed falls below and marine/boating navigation stalled street maps do not accu- 15 MPH for a user set period functions in a single unit. The rately represent the new Spring- of time. The unit also supports unit also features a basic MP3 field Mixing Bowl exits nor the an optional TrafficKit accesso- music player and a JPEG and Wilson Bridge project. With the ry (retail $99.99) with a built-in BMP format image viewer. The major road projects currently un- FM receiver for real-time traffic GPS modes, MP3 player, and derway in the Washington, DC information, which the GPS can image viewer are mutually ex- area, I believe it is better to wait use to find the quickest route to a clusive functions – you cannot for a future map update. destination. The TrafficKit inclu- listen to MP3s while using GPS des three months of service; an or view topographic maps while For vehicle navigation, the Cros- annual subscription is available routing in GPS vehicle mode. soverGPS includes street maps for $60. The coverage area inclu- The CrossoverGPS uses the of Canada and the US, inclu- SiRFstarIII GPS chipset, Mi- ding Alaska, Hawaii, and Pu- See Crossover page 4 The Cursor — August 16, 2008 Page 3 — www.wacug.org Crossover from page 3 movable green rubber covering runs on Microsoft Windows to protect the case, though the 2000 or XP) is required to upload des major metropolitan areas in display is still exposed.