June 1999
News Letter
A message from the President:
Even though attendance was down to 20 and we had no visitors for the May meeting on the subject of Spreadsheets 202, eight members paid dues for another year each.
Louis Saje sent a notice of non-renewal, he just lives too far to commute from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The door prize was won by Richard Coop and we decided to hold future drawings promptly at the beginning of the meeting to encourage everyone to be there on time. We start our meeting at 7 PM sharp. Richard was on the Statistics Sheet, so he won $20. Pretty neat for a guy who was against the idea.
The question and answer period ran overtime because of the several interesting questions and subsequent discussions.
Spreadsheets 202 could have been better if some of the charts had responded like we expected.
There is plenty of knowledge and experience in our users group. If everyone knew what all the others know we’d each be a lot more informed. Share your brains with us, we’ll all benefit for it’s a win-win situation. Believe me, when you try to teach something, you must understand it on a deeper level than if you just use it. See Ross Jordan and volunteer to share your knowledge with us.
Our next meeting is June 10th and we are fortunate to have room 132 again !!!
Follow the signs, bring a friend and enjoy the meeting.
If your mailing label is highlighted, your dues are due. Please pay them.
We have a peculiar problem, Charles Arthur joined our group, paid in cash and we don’t have his phone number or address, so we can’t send him a newsletter or call him to ask his address. If you know this gentleman, please give us information on him. My records also are missing phone numbers on these members: Don Adams, John Beauregard, Ron Conklin, Fred Frigo, Raymond Gerhart, Lawrence Keller, Paul Mays, Charlie McClish, Paul Sheetz, Roger Perry, Ron Rich, Ben Strom and David Uhle. If you know any of these phone numbers, and you wouldn’t be violating anyone’s privacy, please give them to me.
Larry L. Thompson
Kokomo IBM PC Users Group President
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Y2K UPDATE
This will be the last Y2K report that I will be writing. I hope it will be of some help to all that read it.
NEWS ITEMS:
Nearly all North American electric power supply systems will be ready for the year 2000, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) reported (www.nerc.com/y2k). NERC president Michael Gent said there will only be a "minimal" impact on electric systems operations because of the Y2K bug.
Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman testified before Congress that "by and large, our nation's food supply will remain viable" next year, despite his anticipation of "some glitches" due to the Y2K bug.
Pentagon officials report that all computer systems critical to U.S. national defense will be compliant by year's end.
The Senate's Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem (ww.senate.gov/-y2k) released a comprehensive report on the Y2K bug in March. The report states that Y2K -related problems will only be "a bump in the road" in the United States, but added that developing nations may face significant challenges. Among other recommendations, the report advises Americans to get paper copies of their medical records.
The FDIC has announced that those concerned about the banking system and Y2K can call 887/FDIC-Y2K for more information.
(For the very latest news on Y2k, visit www.year2000.com/y2karticles.html.)
SOFTWARE AND DOWNLOADS:
Microsoft offers a free quarterly Year 2000 Resource CD. The CD's include product guides and Y2K assessment tools. You can sign up for the CDs at http://204.118.129.122/y2kcd/y2kcd.asp
Microsoft also offers the Windows 98 Year 2000 Update to fix some minor Y2k-related glitches with Windows 98. Download it at www.microsoft.com/windows98/highlights/win98y2k.asp.
WEB SITES:
A 'Middle Path' on Y2K
www.christiany2k.com/middlepath.shtml Argues for a more pragmatic Christian response to the Y2K bug
Debugging the Y2k Story www.ghsport.com/public/y2k.htm Excellent response to misinformation about the Y2K bug
State Y2K Web Sites
www.dir.state.tx.us/y2k To find out what your state is doing about the Y2K bug, go to this page and click the "resources" link.
Countdown to 2000
www.cnn.com/specials/1999/y2k Y2K-related news in a variety of categories, as well as a look back at significant events and trends of the 20th century
Compiled by R.W. Coop Sr.
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Help Help Help
A newsletter can be a joy to put together or it can be something a whole lot less. Each month the goal is put together a six page newsletter containing something of value to club members.
When I assumed the duties of newsletter editor, I did not expect to have to write it. Listening to the question and answer period at the beginning of each meeting makes it obvious to me that members are doing some really interesting things. If only a few of you would give me a few of these things, my job would be a lot easier. It could be a program that you downloaded off the net that really made things easier. It could be how a problem was solved. It could even be an
article you read on the net or elsewhere.
Left to my own devices, it is hard telling what will transpire here. I am a rank beginner so I will be scrambling for material that I can understand and use. Consequently some of you pros may be offended by my simplicity. Answer: just help me out by writing something.
Please submit in either Word Perfect or plain text file.
Jerry Henry
Newsletter editor
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Proper Diskette Care and Usage
Lest we get sued for giving bad advice, let me stress that this is purely for entertainment value only!
1.Never leave the diskettes in the drive, as the data can leak out of the disk and corrode the inner mechanics of the drive. Diskettes should be rolled up and stored in pencil holders.
2.Diskettes should be cleaned and waxed once a week. Microscopic metal patricles may be removed by waving a powerful magnet over the surface of the disk. Any stubborn metal shavings can be removed with scouring powder and steel wool. When waxing a diskette, make sure the surface is even. This will allow the diskette to spin faster, resulting in better access time.
3.Do not fold diskettes unless they do not fit into the drive. "Big" diskettes may be folded and used in "little" drives.
4.Never insert a diskette into the drive upside down. The data can fall off the surface of the disk and jam the intricate mechanics of the drive.
5.Diskettes cannot be backed up by running them through a photo copy machine. If your data is going to need to be backed up, simply insert TWO diskettes into your drive. Whenever you update a document, the data will be written onto both disks. A handy tip for more legible backup copies: Keep a container of iron filings on your desk. When you need to make two copies, sprinkle iron filings liberally between the diskettes before inserting them into the drive.
6.Diskettes should not be removed from or inserted into the drive while the red light is flashing. Doing so could result in smeared or possibly unreadable text. Occasionally, the red light remains flashing in what is known as a "hung" or "hooked" state. If your system is hooking, you will probably need to insert a few coins before being allowed access to the slot.
7.If your diskette is full and needs more storage space, remove the disk from the drive and shake vigorously for two minutes. This will pack the data enough (data compression) to allow for storage. Be sure to cover all openings with scotch tape to prevent loss of data.
8.Data access time may be greatly improved by cutting more holes in the diskette jacket. This will provide more simultaneous access points to the disk.
9.Periodically spray diskettes with insecticide to prevent system bugs from spreading....
10.You can keep your data fresh by storing disks in the vegetable compartment of your refrigerator. Disks may be frozen, but remember to thaw by microwaving or briefly immersing in boiling water.
11."Little" diskettes must be removed from their box prior to use. These containers are
childproof to prevent tampering by unknowledgeable youngsters.
12.You can recover data from a damaged disk by using the DOS command: FORMAT/U or alternatively by scratching some new sector marks on the disk with a nail file.
13.Diskettes become "hard" with age. It's important to back up your "hard" disks before they become too brittle to use.
14.Make sure you label your data. Staples are a good way to permanently affix labels to your disks.
Jerry Henry
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IMMEDIATELY SCAN YOUR COMPUTER FOR THE FOLLOWING VIRUSES!
Hillary Clinton Virus: Files disappear, only to re-appear mysteriously a year later, in another directory.
O. J. Simpson Virus: you know it’s guilty of trashing your system, but you just can’t prove it.
Paul Revere Virus: This virus doesn’t horse around. It warns you of pending attack. Once if by Lan, Twice if by C.
Politcally Correct Virus: Never identifies itself as a "virus", but instead refers to itself as an "electronic micro-organism."
Government Economist Virus: Nothing works, but all your diagnostic software says everything is fine.
Federal Bureaucrat Virus: Divides your hard disk into hundreds of little units, each of which does practically nothing, but all of which claim to be the most important part of your computer.
Texas Virus: Makes sure that it’s bigger than any other file.
Congressional Virus: the computer locks up and the screen splits in half with the same message appearing on each side. The message says that the blame for the gridlock is caused by the other side.
PBS Virus: your program stops running every few minutes to ask for money.
Mike Tyson Virus: Takes two bytes out of your computer system and leaves it with no memory.
Kevorkian Virus: Helps your computer shut down as an "act of mercy."
Star Trek Virus: Invades your system in places where no virus has gone before.
Health Care Virus: Tests your system for a day, finds nothing wrong, and sends you a bill for $4500.
Jerry Henry
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FREE STUFF
Talking Box
Talking Box is a text-to-speech program. I like it because you can use it with any program or document that contains text. I have used it to read text from sites on the Internet. I have even used to read back to
me text that I have typed for an article such as this one. In order to use this program you have to select the text and then copy it to the
clipboard. Next just click the Talking Box icon located in the tray and it will start to read to you in the voice of your choice. There are four (4) different voices to choose from. Talking Box can also be configured
to talk the time or to talk messages to you.
Talking Box is free to download from
http://www.angelfire.com/yt/utilmind/index.html
The Talking Box file is tbox.zip and its size is 908Kb. As you can see this is a zip file so you will need a program such as winzip to unzip this program. It is best to have a folder available to download this file to at first. After the file is unzipped be sure to read the
readme.txt file, it will give you further instructions. The readme file indicated that three (3) other files are required, along with four (4) voice files. Actually, only one voice file is required to run the program. The above files can be downloaded free of charge from the Microsoft Internet site as described in the readme file. After all of
the files have been placed in a folder designated by you the next step is to install the program. Go to the Control Panel and click on the Add/Remove program icon and follow the procedure presented. I will try
to have several 3-1/2 floppy disk available at the June meeting for Club members who are interested in trying this program.
Rodney Malkoff
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This month’s User Bucks
Rodney Malkoff $1
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If a meeting is cancelled due to inclement weather, radio station WIOU and WWKI will be notified by 5:00 P.M. on the day of the meeting.
Membershp Dues: $10
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Larry Thompson, 457-5622
Vice-President Ross Jordan 457-4894
Treasurer Richard Coop Sr., 459-8731
Member Services Rodney Malkoff, 453-1159
Director Paul Mays, 219-626-2689
Newsletter Editor Jerry Henry 453-4144
Newsletter Distribution Ed Danley, 453-7004
Group WWW site http://www.iquest.net/kokopc/
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BOOKMARK
Any Who Reverse Lookup
www.anywho.com/telq.html
Have a phone number but no name or address? Run a reverse white-pages lookup here.
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DOWNLOAD
Perfect Keyboard
www.softwareutilities.com/pkindex.htm
Create your own keyboard shortcuts with this shareware utility.
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