The HCC meeting began with Lon Hosford, President, opening a discussion of New Club Business. The club members were concerned primarily with how well the club monitors blog commentary coming through the club’s Group’s mail box on Yahoo.
Lon said that the commentary is open, but members should not send anything political, religious, sexual, or otherwise inappropriate to the club’s email list. Monitoring can be done by having all emails going to a club monitor who will have to approve it before it is released to the club members. Monitoring of email messages will be instituted if any inappropriate emails are received in the future.
Moving on, Lon read an article on a proposed crack down on the use of broadband. In summary, it stated that Internet users may have to pay for their high use of broadband. Some Internet providers are trying to restrain usage with tier pricing. Because of individuals high use of broadband, it is slowing down the Internet. In order to restrain broadband usage, Internet providers, such as Comcast and others, are contemplating a usage payment plan.
Q&A
Q: How does the protocol work on the Internet so that the packet gets marked to show when it is forwarded to the next node?
A: Warrior of the Net web site, http://www.warriorsofthe.net , can be accessed on the Internet to explain how it is forwarded. There is a very interesting video on that site that gives a detailed explanation. Click on the link included above to see the video.
Q. How can you determine the speed of your router?
A. Broadbandreports.com, http://www.dslreports.com , can give information about the speed of the transmission of your messages. You can access this site as a free member. Click on the web site link given above, go to Tools, Speed Tests, select what part of the country you want to review, and the web site will analyze the traffic speed for you. Or, you can check the Embarq web site if you use Embarq for information. Other sites that may be helpful are Speakeasy.com, http://www.speakeasy.com , or Lookingglass.com. You can also call the provider of your Internet service to have them check your speeds.
Q. AVG did not find a virus on my computer, but another software program did. What is the problem with AVG?
A: There may be a difference in the programs. You need more than one program to catch all viruses. The AVG free version downloads updates only once a day. There may be a delay in discovering the problem or new viruses.
Q. Sometimes when opening a web site a red notice window appears that says this is a dangerous site. What is happening?
A: This may be a result of a security setting on the computer. Vista will pop up these windows, especially if it recognizes a message as part of a mass mailing.
Peter Czerwinski came across a solution that he wanted to share with the club. Peter did not want to invest in a lap top, but he wanted the ability to have access to the programs and files on his computer when he was away from home. An article in the May, 2008, issue of PC World, page 112, “Carry a Portable Computer in Your Pocket†gave him the answer. The article suggested using a high speed USB flash drive which could be used in any computer. Go to Google and type in “portable apps†to find the web site, or click www.portableapps.com, which is the link here. From this web site you can download the free portable applications software onto your flash drive. When using it on another computer, a menu will open that allows you to use your own programs. It is ready to go, using your own programs, and leaves no personal data behind on any computer you use.
Presentation: The Scope, Evaluation and Operation of the YouTube Web Site– John Gbur
Keeping in touch with family members and friends becomes even easier with the use of You Tube. You Tube allows you to share home videos with family and friends over the Internet. Although there are several steps in the process, it is simple to do and free.
- Begin by taking video with your digital camera.
- Then transfer the video from your camera to your computer or laptop by using the appropriate USB cord. When the camera is connected to the computer, go to “My Computer†on your computer menu and select “camera†and then select the “mvi†file which is your video.
- Copy the “mvi†video file to the “My Videos†file on your computer. Then disconnect your camera from the computer.
- Click on “My Videosâ€, select your video file and play it to be sure it has loaded correctly onto your computer.
- Go to http://www.youtube.com/ and log in.
- Upload the file from your computer to You Tube, following the directions.
- Click on “My Videos†on You Tube and your video will be processed and uploaded. You can choose to make the video available as public or private, which will restrict viewers. You can share the video with the viewers you choose by choosing individuals from your contact list.
That’s all there is to it. Although there is a limit on how large the video can be, it is a terrific way to share family videos or other informational videos you take with a large or small audience.
This was a excellent presentation, John, and gives us lots of ideas and opportunities to share with our family and friends. Thanks for a great job.