Number 254 - July 2004

UPDATE
Setting Up a New PC?    If you just bought or otherwise acquired a new or different PC and dread the prospect of reloading all your favorite programs that you have become used to using but weren't already loaded on the new machine you should read the article in the Beginner's section. It may save you some effort and possibly some grief! Internet Pests and Problems    In the article, Computer Parasites, Brian Lewis gives us the benefit of his research into those programs that invade and sometimes hi-jack our computers. He suggests a couple of solutions.    Carl Tenning reports on how he solved the problem when Symantec's Antivirus Live update seemed to stop working. Word Processing Concerns    Some common word processing problems are treated in the articles in the Word Processing section. Although most word processors allow for similarly handling these problems, the solutions given here are for Microsoft WORD. Generally speaking these are not problems with grammar or sentence structure, but relate to how computer software handles cross reference indexing, topical outlines, typesetting problems such as kerning and line spacing. Safely Troubleshooting Your System    This discussion by Siles Bateman does not solve a specific problem. It	suggests a problem-solving technique which can and should be applied to any problem you are having with your computer--or anything else, for that matter. The steps suggested apply particulalrly if you are connected to the Internet and open to chicanery by undisciplined and unprincipled individuals. Perhaps you can find something here that will aid you in your struggle against hackers and crackers. Hardware    Any serious photographer knows that enlargeing images from film gives better resolution than digital images.The "pixel-ated" digital photos develop jaggies when they are enlarged too far. But digital camera capacitiy has increased markedly in the last few years into the several megapixel range so that jaggies are not as big a problem as they used to be. In the "Decisions ... Decisions Film v Digital" article the author discusses his choice of a digital camera. Are you ready for the leap yet?    Following that are two articles (serialized in another newsletter) where the author discusses some things to consider and perhaps some things you didn't know about that faithful accessory to your computer, the printer. Program    Our guest speaker this month will be Mark Voightsberger, President of Power Quality Testing. He will give a presentation on power quality issues as they relate to computer systems. Their website is www.PowerQualityTesting.com
Number 254 - July 2004