Chairman’s Notes

 

Sorry no meeting Wednesday 12th July as I am away, so the meeting room is not available.

 

Small Linux

 

At www.damnsmalllinux.org you will find a 50Mb ISO file which when burnt to a CD will enable almost any PC to be booted into Linux if set to boot from the CD. (See if you can find it anyway). It seems to have drivers, which it loads on the fly, for most hardware and it cannot load specific drivers it defaults to generic.  This is small fast basic version of Linux, it will find a network adaptor and ip address and if you load Firefox you can be browsing the web in no time at all.  The problem with an operating system booted from CD is that you cannot save your settings but in this instance you can click to install to a USB flash drive and this restriction disappears.  I presume you need to be able to boot from the USB drive.  This is not the only small Linux www.slax.org has a range going up to 180Mb, prettier but not as small.

Although Microsoft claims to be working towards a fully portable version of Windows they have never been great at small and simple.

 

Mac PC

 

Apple have officially given an Apple Mac the ability to run Windows as fast as the equivalent Windows PC.  Now that the Mac contains an Intel processor Apple has released its Boot Camp technology that allows any Intel Apple running Mac OS X to run Windows.  Some resellers are selling Macs with Windows XP preloaded for the cost of the Apple hardware plus a new copy of Windows XP (£155 home £220 pro) and a £50 installation fee.  On startup you choose between OS X and Windows.  Exchanging files between the two operating systems is not all it could be. If Windows is installed to a less than 32Gb partition it can be FAT32 which OS X can read making it simple one way but OS X cannot read NTFS nor can Windows read HFS+, the Mac file system.  The simplest solution is to save a file to the Network or a USB flash drive and the reboot into the other operating system.

Installation is relatively simple, boot up an Intel Mac into OS X go to www.apple.com and download the Boot Camp installer, make sure you have installed the latest firmware for your Mac model (equivalent to the bios).  The installer then takes you through burning the latest hardware drivers to a CD, for installation after loading Windows, creating a new partition for  Windows (you need to leave a minimum of 5Gb for OS X). Pop in a full Windows XP SP2, SP1 and upgrade CDs do not work, and the installation goes to the familiar blue Windows installation screen that we are used to.

No one is too sure about the logic behind Apples’ move.  Maybe they are hoping that PC users will buy the funky Mac hardware intending to run Windows and then boot into OS X and decide that they prefer it and drop Windows or getting a foot in the windows camp before developers cease producing software for Mac.  Whatever their reason, it will be a boon to those needing to work in a mixed Mac Windows environment.

 

Widgets

 

Microsoft’s new Vista software is planning to introduce a sidebar containing tools and information.  You can get the same thing now if you want it.  A sidebar full of tools and info, hard disk life predictors, file backup utilities, games, Wi-Fi hotspot finders, IPsubnet calculators, streaming radio stations, iTunes control etc.  Desktop SideBar and Kapsules need .Net Framework and are resource hogs, and Opera Widgets only works with Opera browser.  The Google Desktop Sidebar is part of DeskTop Search and offers some effective solutions but Yahoo Widget Engine 3 appears to be even better, based on Konfabulator bought by Yahoo, offers over 2400 Widgets to choose from.

 

Blue Frog

 

Various attempts at reducing spam appear to have had little if any effect on the total volume even if with spam filters it has been possible to separate most spam from genuine emails there is still the problem of false positives.  Denial of service attacks on spammers have failed because they are good at hiding their true addresses and also fight back. US legislation, despite some very high fines, has had little impact on the most prolific spammers.  UK legislation has not led to a single prosecution or fine.  Hitting spammers in the pocket has been touted as the best solution but fines have failed to work.  Blue Frog www.bluesecurity.com have come up with an idea to hit the business whose product is being marketed by the spammers.  You register with them and then redirect spam to them, they check that it is spam and that your complaint is genuine (to avoid vendettas) and then contact the spammer advising them that they are spamming members of the Blue Community and asking them to stop.  If they agree they are sent a tool to remove such names from their list (the list is coded to avoid circulating a list of genuine addresses).  If the spammer fails to reply  or comply the then the bots search websites for avenues of complaint and send one complaint email for every item of spam received, this email comes from Blue Frog to conceal your identity.

 

Photos on the Web

 

It is the fashion to post photos on the web for friends and relatives to view.  If you have your own web server hosing account then http://jalbum.net provides a very slick performance both for uploading photos and for the viewer.  One of the simpler alternatives is Kodak EasyShare Gallery where the photos don’t show up at their best because the site makes money on selling prints and 6x4 print does not compare well with a full screen jpg

 

PC Myths

 

Hackers only ever go after big companies – false – Big companies tend to have big security.  There are specialists after industrial secrets but the average hacker is out for a bit of fun and destruction or credit card and bank details more often found on home PCs with poor security.  Use a firewall and keep your antivirus up to date and use secure passwords.

 

Overclocking will make your PC run faster – True – Overclocking is forcing PC components to run faster than intended.  The problem comes with the extra speed generating more heat, in theory you get the extra speed for nothing but in practice you need to spend extra on cooling and overclocked machines tend to crash more often and are often killed by the excess heat.  The speed gains are often no more than 10% before instability emerges.

Computer games cause epilepsy – True – Although it is not believed that computer games cause epilepsy in the first place they can induce seizures in people who have it already.  Take a 10 minute break every hour to reduce eyestrain.

 

When working inside a computer, leave its power supply connected to the mains – False – It is often suggested you leave the PC plugged in at the mains while working inside it.  This earths the case preventing static build up and the risk of damage to components but also leaves a risk of electrocution.  It should not be possible to electrocute yourself, the mains should be switched off at the socket, there is no mains voltage outside of the power supply enclosure.  It would require two faults for a problem but better safe than sorry.  Earth your self frequently on a radiator or earthed metal work.

 


Calendar 2006

No Club night Wednesday July 12th 2006 

       

 

Aug 9th 2006  no meeting

 

MCC Committee 2005 - 2006

Contact/Chairman     Robert Huggett     01628 623712

RobertVHuggett@aol.com

Treasurer       Dave Grant  

Hints & Tips:   Alan Everett     aeverett@btinternet.com

Web-site    Jim Borg-Cardona        jimbcuk@aol.com

 

Editor     All contributions to this Newsletter should be sent to: Robert Huggett, 5 The Points, Maidenhead. SL6 3AE                   Tel: 01628 623712        Email:       RobertVHuggett@aol.com

(All contributions to be received 2 weeks before the next meeting to ensure inclusion)

Contributions may be sent on:­3.5’ PC disk in almost any format, E-mail attachment, or hardcopy.

Please Note: Selected items from this Newsletter may also be published in MCC’s pages on the Internet. 

 

Internet Home Page: http://website.lineone.net/~mcchome

 

The club meets on the second Wednesday of each month at the offices of Zinsser Analytic, Howarth Road, Stafferton Way Maidenhead. Time 8.00 to 10.00pm

DISCLAIMER:  This Newsletter represents the ideas and expressions of the members of Maidenhead Computer Club, and is circulated to members only by subscription. The views and opinions contained within are not necessarily those of the Editor of the Newsletter and/or the Maidenhead Computer Club Committee. The Editor and the Committee expressly disclaim responsibility for the ideas and expressions contained in the Maidenhead Computer Club Newsletter Please note that articles in the Newsletter are copyright of the authors and the Editor, permission of both being needed for reprinting or other reproduction. (Requests should be via the Editor)