On the Docket for the General Meeting Thursday, November 18, 2004 Intel’s Hyper-Threading Technology So You Bought a New PC: Now What? yper-Threading Technology is a and get more work done in the same Hgroundbreaking innovation that amount of time. significantly improves processor per- The November general meeting of formance. Pioneered by Intel, Hyper- the New York PC Users Group (NYPC) Threading Technology provides a signif- will feature a presentation about Intel’s Volume 11 Issue 10 icant performance boost which is Hyper-Threading Technology and how it November 2004 particularly suited to today’s business will affect your future computer purchas- computing climate, applications, and ing decisions. Using materials provided operating systems. by Intel, NYPC education chair Fred Kahn will describe the benefits and oper- How Hyper-Threading Works ation of Hyper-Threading technology. Faster clock speeds are an important As a special treat, Intel has provided way to deliver more computing power, NYPC with handouts and a limited num- and Intel has led the way with industry- ber of gifts for those attending this General Meeting Info leading processor frequency. But clock lecture. As always this meeting is free speed is only half the story. The other and open to the general public; all are When: Thursday, November 18, 2004 route to higher performance is to welcome. accomplish more work on each clock Where: PS 41, 116 W 11th Street, cycle, and that’s where Hyper-Threading Thanks to Intel west of 6th Avenue Technology comes in. A single processor We are grateful to Dave and Kathy Whit- Schedule: 6:00pm Doors open supporting Hyper-Threading Technology tle, who work with user groups for Intel, Cafeteria: Networking presents itself to modern operating sys- for arranging this informative meeting. Meet the Geeks Q&A tems and applications as two virtual Dave also arranged for NYPC to receive 6:45pm Announcements processors. The processor can work on a Pentium 4 3.06 GHz processor and 7:00pm Presentation two sets of tasks simultaneously, use mother board, which we will use to build resources that otherwise would sit idle, a new SIG machine. By Fred Kahn, Subway: A,B,C,D,E,F,Q,V to West 4th St [email protected] 1,2,3,9,L to 14th St @ 7th Ave (check with MTA) ur second presentation will be by grams will help to ensure that the Path: Take 33rd St line to 9th St Sta OMichael Horowitz, and it will be a machine is in tip-top review of tips, tricks, and defensive mea- shape. The Internet Hotline: 212-643-NYPC, code GEN sures for a new Windows XP computer. is a dangerous place You can buy a computer from and the presentation Office: (212) 643-7005 Sears, K-Mart, or Dell, but despite the covers steps to take Web site: http://www.nypc.org ads it is not yet a carefree appliance that when connecting a you just plug in, start using, and forget. new computer to the NYPC’s General Meetings are free and Well, I suppose you can, but it really, Internet. Michael will also suggest ways open to the public. really is not a good idea. of customizing Windows to your liking, To check on the NYPC General Meeting make recommendations of software to or get up-to-the-minute details on speakers, What to Do...and Not to Do install, and discuss what to ask the com- call our Hotline (212) 643-NYPC and Here is a chance to learn what to do puter manufacturer after purchase. enter the code 111, then the code GEN. and what not to do during the initial shake-out period. Free diagnostic pro- more... InsideNYPC Continued from page 1 NYPC Officers Experienced users are likely to come classes in Defensive Computing at President away saying, “Gee I did not know that, NYPC and Hunter College. His own Mary Ginsburg and better do it.” New users have even web site has a lot of useful information: [email protected] more to gain. http://www.michaelhorowitz.com/ Vice-President Michael started with mainframe Bill Ginsburg, [email protected] Leftonred Atanycorner computers and then graduated to PCs. [email protected] Join us at this exciting General Meet- He is the web master for the WBAI ing. There will be a drawing for some Corresponding Secretary page of info about the Personal Com- Robert Behm prizes. The Utilities and Knoppix CDs puter Show (Wednesday evenings at [email protected] will be available at $5 each. 8:00 PM at 99.5 FM). He teaches Membership Secretary Kathy Petruzzi [email protected] Treasurer Book Review: Windows XP Annoyances Roydel Howe [email protected] By David A. Karp (O’Reilly, 2002) s far as I can remember, the first heard myself again, back in those Other NYPC Board Members Atime I heard of Windows XP Annoy- days. & Volunteers ances was within the last year on the Whatever your level of proficiency in, Past President/ WBAI Personal Computer Show. So or love of, computers, I recommend Volunteer Coordinator when I saw the book at NYPC, the whis- Windows XP Annoyances to you Len Ginsburg tle went off in my head, and I became [email protected] without any reservation. Not only anxious to see what was in it. that, but make this book a member of Program Chair Other than the title and subjects, William Ginsberg your tool kit. many other factors attracted me to the [email protected] Now, while I click love and acceptance of this book. Publications on close, you may turn 1. The font size was the exactness of Inside NYPC - Kathy Petruzzi to page 1 in this book [email protected] what my union eyeglasses loved. to see for yourself what Webmaster 2. The printing double-spaced constitutes an Leftonred Atanycorner format coupled with the font style: annoyance. [email protected] bold, italic, etc.plus the diction Additional note. Education made it easy to read. Fred Kahn Perhaps additional editing might be [email protected] 3. The layout of the chapters, head- applied to the following three lines: Marketing ings, and sub-headings, made it easy (i) Page 5, 4th paragraph, 5th line to follow, provided good references, Murray Strelitz “...any of which are likely solve a few 212-691-7788 and a solid source of on-the-job help. existing...” [email protected] If you encounter a particular problem, (ii) Page 518, 6th line from the bot- Hotline Sysop you can turn to a particular page for tom, “...In explorer, you can Stan Silver resolution. right-click a a file or group...” [email protected] 4. I also learned about some new util- (iii) Page 521, 2nd paragraph, 2nd SIG Chair Representatives ities, vocabularies, and some BIOS line “...since the ren command sees is Ashod Kassabian (Stream settings language that I always won- that you’ve typed...” Media) [email protected] dered about, but never had that firm Roydel Howe, Certified NetWare a grasp. Administrator (CNA), Microsoft Mike Ostrowe (Comp Passport) [email protected] Certified Professional (MCP), A+ 5. The appendix on DOS made me Mahesh Chhatlani, (XML) feel young again. Remember at the Certified [email protected] onset of the 1990’s when DOS was Laura Balsam(Photoshop) the biggest thing we wanted to learn? “By following some of the solutions in [email protected] The more complex and difficult it was this book, you can make your experi- Kevin Raguette (Hardware) to grasp, the more we worked at it ence with Windows a lot more [email protected] and talked about it. “When DOS pleasurable, reducing stress and your ruled the night, and sleep was on This newsletter produced in recurring urges to toss your computer Ventura. Design by Allison hold....” In this appendix, I saw and out a window seven stories off the Moore/Database recipes by ground.” (From Chapter 2 of the book) Robert Leuze. 2 InsideNYPC NYPC Classes To register or to request specific classes, phone 212 for in a machine, one of our experts will help you look at specifics 643-7005, x2 or e-mail [email protected]. on vendors' websites. Sunday, December 5, starting at 10am. For complete descriptions, click on class name at Only $39 for this individualized course! http://www.calsplus.net/nypcmeetings. Unless otherwise specified, classes are hands-on. We welcome walk-ins for seminars, but please phone to confirm that the class is / Finding Medical Information on the Internet being held. One advantage of NYPC computer training is our flexi- There are millions of health-related sites on the Internet! How can bility. If there’s a topic you want to learn, let us know. If we have at you find the ones with the reliable information you need? In this least three students, we’ll try to tailor a class to your needs. seminar, we’ll take a look at how to structure effective searches, Prices below are for NYPC members; if you are not a member, how to separate the valuable information from the questionable, please add registration fee of $45; as a bonus, you will receive a and what to do with the information you find. We’ll also look at one year membership. some excellent sites. Each person attending will receive a CD with hyperlinked resources. / Getting Started with QUICKBOOKS Monday, December 6, 6:00pm-9:00pm. Seminar, $29 QuickBooks is perhaps the most popular bookkeeping application for small businesses. It has powerful capabilities, but effective use / MS Word: Advanced Formatting and Page Layout depends on proper set-up and getting to know the ins and outs of Learn how to use tables to format text.