Lon Hosford, President of HCC, opened the June 16 meeting with a brief description of the purpose of the club. The club meets once a month and is open to computer users of all age groups and levels of user skills. There is no charge to attend a meeting, but there is a fee of $25 a year for a single person to join and $30 for families. Bruce Arnold and Jim Aller can provide help with computer hardware to the club members.
Lon introduced two visitors at the meeting: Bill Smith, who previously visited the club, and Scott Crabtree, who manages the computer program at the Hunterdon Senior Center.
Q&A
Q: Since the club will be in existence 20 years next year, should we do anything special for the occasion? The first club meeting was held in July, 1988.
A:Â Suggestions would be appreciated. A picnic might be something to consider.
Q. Does anyone have information about digital picture frames?
A: Bruce Arnold said he has a 7†frame which cost about $100 which he has been running since Christmas. It takes four different size photo cards. It is easy to use, just turn it on, insert the card, and it cycles the pictures. Some even play MP3 and video.
Q:Â What software is necessary to view videos on your computer?
A: Adobe Flashplayer needs to be downloaded. Can also use Apple Quicktime player or Windows mediaplayer.
Q: Some people leave their computers running. Can you hibernate the computer instead?
A: If you hibernate, it may not come back up properly. It is not recommended.
Presentation – On-Line Virtual Desktop
In lieu of a presentation, Bob Marciniak and Jim Aller will demonstrate virtual desktop using the Internet.
Bob Marciniak discussed WebX, which is a desktop sharing service, and Yugma, also an on-line virtual desktop service. Yugma is free on-line web conferencing. You can have ten people logging into your computer through the Yugma web site. The free service does not allow file sharing or storage or taking control over the viewer’s computer. For more services through Yugma, you must upgrade to a paid service. WebX is a paid service charged on a per minute basis and is best used for formal sales presentations in business because of its many features.
Yugma allows visitors to see your desktop and is an excellent service for internal business use. Up to ten people can join a conference call free for only the phone charges to Minnesota. Go to www.yugma.com to set up an account. The host presenter starts the session. The host invites people to join the session by email or a phone call to provide the session ID number. Then the visitors go to the Yugma website and join the session by signing in and typing in the session ID number. Yugma will log the visitor in and the host will be able to see the visitor’s computer screen. All the visitors can see the host’s screen and watch the actions taken by the host but cannot interact. An instant message service is available between the host and the visitors at the same time as they are able to view the host’s screen. An upgrade to the next level of Yugma service costs $9.95 a month. This service will then allow transfer of files to viewers. With the upgraded service you can edit documents and turn over control of your computer to the host or the viewer.