PC Community Main Meeting
7:30 - 10 pm Friday September 2, 2011
Calvary Baptist Church 28924 Ruus Road, Hayward California
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm by President Chuck Horner. He encouraged everyone to buy a ticket for the raffle prize, a wireless hands-free bluetooth that attaches to your car visor for your phone. Harold Smith at the ticket table has 3" x 5" cards to write questions for discussion/answers at the end of the Meeting.
There were no new members present at the meeting.
We have been asked to leave the Clubhouse site at Hayward Adult School and do not have a new facility. Anyone knowing of a space, about 900 square feet, that the Clubhouse can use to restart operations, is asked to contact the Clubhouse crew or a member of the Executive Committee.
SIG Announcements:
The Windows 7 SIG will meet at Bud Gallagher's at 1 p.m. on the 10th. The plan is to focus on Windows trouble-shooting projects. Bud has ordered a series of videos, which may arrive in time for this month's group.
Jan Fagerholm runs the Spectacular Linux SIG, which takes place on the last Saturday of the month at 2 p.m. That will be the 24th of September. A beta of Ubuntu 11.10 is scheduled to come out in the middle of September and may be a topic. Other topics are likely to arrise and requests will be taken.
The Hardware SIG takes place the night after the main meeting at 8 pm at the Smiths'. It is really a fixit SIG for both hardware and software, since most hardware problems turn out to be software problems. If have a computer problem, bring it in and it will likely get fixed. More importantly, you'll learn about fixing it yourself. And please bring all the documentation you can find. If you don't have any immediate problems, come and enjoy learning how to fix someone else's.
Chuck noted that we need somebody to help coordinate presentations. David Graham volunteered.
Now all we need is someone help us with public relations, getting information about PCC out to the community.
Presentations:
Member Bayle Emlein presented ergonomics, with a focus on issues that concern computer users. The topic is presented in more detail with its PowerPoint elsewhere on this site.
After the break, member David Graham talked about wireless safety and securing one's bluetooth phone and password. He then moved on to discuss ebook readers. The three biggest sellers now are Barnes and Noble Nook, Amazon Kindle, and Kobo.
People tend to buy the bottom of the line, which doesn't necessarily have the power for good reading. There are 3 major formats: AZ (Amazon), Mobi, and ePub. Amazon has only 650,000 titles. The others have over a million. eBooks can be read on multiple platforms--tablets, phones, etc.
The main reason that batteries in eReaders last so long is that power is used only during page turns. But the page-turn buttons tend to wear out quickly. Before buying an eReader, check to be sure that its store has the authors you want to read. Also, check the connectivity and download strategy.
LED screens have some advantages over e-Ink but also some disadvantages such as overheating, poor visibility in bright light, and power demands. Tablets are multifunction devices and can download from any store.
Beware of free e-books. They often contain malware. Project Gutenberg is one safe source of free books, which are added as they go out of copyright and are scanned.
Door Prizes
Blick tee shirt--John Cordeniz
Bick tee shirt-- Jan Fagerholm
Edutopia tee shirt-- Bob Kiessling
Edutopia water bottle-- Chris Marston
FM auto-scan radio-- Michael Wong
Microsoft Bob, unopened with Magazine-- Verne Perry
Microsoft water bottle-- George Kornbluth
Netbook bag-- Bayle Emlein
Pepcom bag-- Sally Holt
Southwest Computer Conference cap-- Chuck Horner
Visual Basic 2005 – Microsoft Andrew Tews
Raffle Prize
Bluetooth Visor Car Kit-- Joy Somerville
A member submitted a question about a flickering laptop screen that fades. Several people suggested hardware possible problems.
Thanks to George Kornbluth for taking care of refreshments.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:54 pm.
The next meeting will take place at the same location on October 7, 2011.
Respectfully submitted,
Bayle Emlein, Secretary
