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Tampa Bay Computer
Society Bulletin

 
2/1/2004


This document is available online.
Note:  Most hyperlinks will only
appear on the web page.

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Contents

1) General Interest
      Help
      Virus News

2) TBCS Classes
      Adobe Photoshop CS
      Windows 101
      Classroom Registration

3) SIG Stuff

4) Links

5) Educational Opportunities

Maps to our Resource Center & General Meeting:
http://tampa-bay.org/maps.htm

1) General Interest

Help

I have 2 club members who need some assistance:

bulletOne is looking for someone knowledgeable about Palm Pilots.  They got the software loaded on their computer, but they are having trouble getting the Palm Pilot to work with the computer.
bulletI also have a member who's trying to locate a copy of Computer Associate's Simply Accounting.  He doesn't care what year it is because he's not interested in the Payroll module - just a GL, Chart of Accounts, Balance Sheet, etc.

Please email Doc and I'll put you in touch.

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Virus News

New computer virus may be the biggest ever.  The Novarg or MyDoom virus was released last Monday.  It spread rapidly.  It is estimated that it infected from 250,000 to a million computers, and launched a DOS (Denial Of Service) attack on SCO and Microsoft (the original version was programmed to attack SCO, but by Wednesday a second version was aimed at Microsoft).

It comes attached to an email.  It can come to you as an EXE, BAT, PIF, SCR, and others.  The dangerous version for many of us is the ZIP form.  Both Outlook Express and Outlook will block you from having access to all of the forms except the ZIP form.  You can unzip the file to see what's inside, but if you then double-click on the file inside - you're infected.

I got this one.  I recognized it as a virus when I first saw it in my Inbox.  I opened it to see what was inside.  Then I made the mistake of thinking that I could safely take a look at one of the files inside, but I got suckered into opening a PIF file and was immediately infected.  I already had a repair tool handy, and had removed it within the next 10 minutes, but I had to laugh at how I made the mistake.  It was the virtual equivalent of, "Gee, that bear looks dead.  Let me poke it with a stick a couple of times to make sure."

You can get more info about the virus from Symantec.  There are 2 removal tools available now since the virus has mutated.

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2) TBCS Classes

Adobe Photoshop CS
Some students have requested that we hold a class on Adobe Photoshop CS.  Once again our own Stan Ashbrook has risen to the occasion to comply with that request.  Stan's latest creation will be a 6-week course that will take place on Saturday mornings beginning on February 21st.  This will be 12 hours of instruction for a total cost of $60.  This is NOT a hands-on class.

Details on what will be covered can be found at: http://computerphoto.org/pages/photoshop.html

All class sessions will take place on a Saturday from 9am to 11:30am (2-hour classes with a 30 minute break).

Classes will be held on 2/21, 2/28, 3/6, 3/13, 4/3 & 4/10.
Note: Stan must skip the last 2 Saturdays in March due to a prior commitment.  Therefore, the last 2 classes will be held in April.

Windows 101
Jan Norman's next Basic Windows class will begin the first Friday in March.  It will take place over 4 Friday afternoons from 1-3pm beginning on March 5th.  Jan's very popular class is 8 hours of instruction for $40.  Ya better sign up fast because it's half-full already.

Classroom Registration
All of our classes meet at our Resource Center in Clearwater.  We charge a flat fee of $5 per classroom hour which comes with a money-back guarantee if you're not happy with the instruction for any reason.  In order to register for any of the classes (or if you have questions), please send an email to the club secretary, Jan Norman.

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3) SIG Stuff

Our SIGs (Special Interest Groups) all meet at our Resource Center (map: http://www.tampa-bay.org/maps.htm).
All of our SIGs are free to our members.

SIGs are a great place to get more personalized attention, and get your questions answered. The following SIGs will meet this week:

Monday, February 2, 1-3pm
Beginning Embird SIG. Led by Jan Norman

Dorothy Lurati will be filling in for Jan this week.

Monday, February 2, 6:30-8pm
Computer Q&A SIG. Led by Cathy Benedict

Tuesday, February 3, 1-3pm
Novice SIG. Led by Jan Norman.
EVERY Tuesday afternoon.
AHA!  Jan is out of town this week.  Her students will be left to MY tender mercies.  That's right.  Doc is going to show up and abuse everybody in sight!  <grin>  Come on out.  We'll have some fun.

Tuesday, February 3, 7-9pm
Visual Basic SIG. Led by Tom Kiehl

Wednesday, February 4, 2-4pm
Genealogy SIG. Led by Howard T. Smith

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4) Links

Computer Manufacturers' Support Phone Numbers Here's a rather handy link to have.  Thanks to Microsoft for collating these numbers, and to Tom Kiehl for finding this page.

Using GIF and JPEG Graphics Formats Here's a short, but informative excerpt from a Dummies.com book that clearly explains these two types of graphic files.

Dictionary.com is an online Dictionary, Thesaurus, and so much more.

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5) Educational Opportunities

Hi-Tech Trading Company in Clearwater is offering a free computer clinic this Thursday.  They will analyze your computer's capability to edit video with either Pinnacle or Matrox products.

What: Free Computer Clinic
When: Thursday, February 5th
9am-Noon & 1pm-5pm
Where: Access Media Group
4400 118th Ave. N.,
Suite 203
Clearwater, FL 33762
More
Info:
727-573-9600
www.videoequipment.com

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See you at the Resource Center!

Doc (Dave Dockery)
President, Tampa Bay Computer Society

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