September 15, 2007 Mtg. – Picasa2 and Garmin GPS

Presentation –  Video on the Web Using Picasa2 and Garmin GPS
Lon Hosford shared with the club some video clips of his recent vacation to Mesa Verde, Utah.  He took a variety of pictures of the places he visited and put the clips together in albums.  The pictures and video were put into Windows Movie Maker.  The video was imported as clips so it could be edited for pace and content.  Then the clips were exported and saved to the computer.  Using Picasa2 with albums, the video could be put on the web to be shared with friends.

Picasa2 is free software, which can be downloaded from Google that can help locate, organize, edit, and add effects to all the photos on your computer.  It can help you share your photos and videos through emails and on the web.

Another great item that Lon shared with the group was his new Garmin GPS unit.  This was purchased for the trip to make traveling easier and to help him find his destinations.  The portable unit adheres to the front windshield of the car.  The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based navigation system.  It was originally intended for the military, but the government made the system available for public use.  It works in any weather and there are no set-up charges or continuing subscription fees to use the system.

There are a few other manufacturers of portable GPS systems, such as Magellan and TomTom.  GPS systems are now available as an added feature built into new cars.  They are very handy, especially when driving in towns or areas that are unknown to you.  In addition to giving directions to your destination, they can help find gas stations, airports, hotels, places of interest, and much more.  Lon said it was especially useful driving through traffic in unfamiliar towns to find areas he wanted to visit.

Lon Hosford, President of the club, opened the September meeting by reviewing the goals of the club and reminding everyone to use the club’s blog for meeting information.  He suggested using the club’s group email for questions to club members.  One visitor joined the meeting, Richard Graper; and Lon introduced him to the group.
Ilene asked if nominations could be made in September and October for club officers since the election of officers is held in November.  Lon said nominations could be made at this time.  Ilene nominated Carmella Vowinkel for President.  The nomination was seconded.  She then nominated John Gbur for Vice President.  The nomination was seconded.  Carmella nominated John Warsinski for President.  John declined the nomination. 

Q&A
Q.  Member has a Spanish language program.  There is no music or voice coming from the program, but there are pictures.  What can be done to get sound?

A.  Try another computer to see if it works or try an Ipod.  The program may be very old and not able to be played.
Q.  How can I bring back tools that an Administrator disabled in XP?

A.   Re-enable them by going to Start, Control Panel, User Accounts.  Right click on Reg edit and click on Permissions.  As Administrator, you can change them and enable the tools you wish.
Q.  At a gathering people had gizmos on which they were able to check the football score.  What could the gizmos have been?

A.  They could possibly have been an IPhone, a Blackberry, a Palm Treo or some other device, or it could have been an application put on their cell phone. There are software programs that can be downloaded to provide football scores on these devices.
Q.  Win32 folder has a host file under drivers.  The computer gives a warning that someone is trying to change the host file.  What should I do?

A.  Could run Hijackthis.DE to see what they suggest.  You create a log and send it to the website.  They will analyze the log and suggest a solution.
Could also rename the host file to see if further changes are made.  Can also check the IP address of the changes and check on Google to see where the changes are coming from.  Go to www.broadbandsupport.net  for forums and reports and frequently asked questions.
Q.  Do I have to change anything on my computer to go from Earthlink to Embarq?

A.  Your DSL router was Sprint, it is now Embarq.  The company changed the router information.  Nothing needs to by done by you.
Q.  I am running Vista on a new Dell computer.  I get a message that Site Advisor has shut down and I have to click to start it again.

A.  Part of McAfee checks sites to see if it is a legitimate site and McAfee was temporarily down.  McAfee Site Advisor changes color if it approves the web site.

The next meeting is scheduled for October 20.