MIKE'S COMMENTARY AND BITS OF WISDOM:
I Missed you all last week.
Sue and I went on a mini busdriver's holiday.  We left Tuesday evening after the monthly KCnet board meeting, which by the way produced a number of progressive decisions by the board.  Those decisions will have a positive affect on the membership.  (We'll discuss those decisions in future communications also see Sue's comments at the end of this page.)
I digressed, so back to the trip.
Sue was a speaker for the Annual Appalachian Rural Commission, (ARC), Conference held this year in Abingdon Virginia.  Abingdon is a short spit from the Tennessee border, a good
10 hours straight driving, which is what we did, except for a 2 hour nappy poo at a Rest Stop.  Most of the driving was on Interstate.  In fact the most rural driving done on the way to Abingdon was getting to Interstate 99, via our own Amish country.
Sue related the KCnet story to the 300 attendees.  ARC wanted to showcase success stories for communication programs in rural areas.  So they invited speakers from each state in their grant area.  Of course we did not represent the most rural or the poorest in attendance but we certainly represented the most successful of the grant receivers.  In other words, it appears that KCnet is known for giving the biggest bang for the grant buck.  Our attendance there is very interesting considering that KCnet has not received any grant money from ARC but our story portraying good use of grant money was intriguing to them, thus the invitation to present.
What I'm leading up to here is the explanation for no Newsletter last week.  This was only the second week that a KCnet Newsletter was not published in the past three and five/sixths years.  Almost as significant is the fact that I went a full two days without touching a keyboard, and no withdrawal!
The return trip was an exercise.  I should explain our procedure for traveling.  Sue usually drives the car.  I usually drive the truck, the back hoe, and the boat.  We checked out of the hotel at 9 AM Friday morning.  We had decided to do some site seeing on the way home and possibly spend the evening at the Inner Harbor in Baltimore and then stay the night after a very satisfying Maryland style Crab Cake dinner.  Now that  sounded like a winner.  Our first stop was the Dixie Pottery Store a few minutes further south on Interstate 81.  What a joint!  It is about 10 or more football fields in size and all under one roof.  Not much pottery by the way, but just about anything else you can imagine in the line of knick knacks, junk, and exquisite decorative items.  Prices ranged from 9¢ to $900.00 and we just stayed too long.  We blew about three hours there.
Pressing on, we headed for the "Skyline Drive" in the sunshine.  Stopped traffic on the Interstate cost an additional hour and now the skies were darkening.  We pushed on and finally turned onto the Skyline Drive a bit further north than originally anticipated.  Now this road is a commitment.  In the sunlight, this drive of a couple hundred miles atop the Appalachian Mountains, would be gorgeous and especially in the fall.  We started the climb at about 700 or 800 feet and ascended to 3500 feet.  There are many "overlooks" carved out of the mountain terrain.  The first one allowed a view of a Limestone mine, very similar to the Limestone pits at Pleasant Gap.  We got a couple of pictures.  Other pullovers highlighted views of mountain peaks reaching 5400 feet and very pointy.  The road follows the snake; very curvy, quite narrow, constantly ascending and then descending, with sheer drops on both sides.  Houses, businesses, and intersections are many many miles apart.  The speed limit is 35 MPH and rightly so.  All of a sudden it started to rain and then the fog enveloped us.  I kept telling Sue, our driver, that the 35 MPH was for nice days.  Needless to say the Oldsmobile's passenger compartment is now about six inches longer.  And the passenger side arm rest has been squeezed from three inches down to one half inch in diameter.  It is a bit more oblong too.
Sue said she thought I was in a hurry to get to the Natural Bridge.  Which we did, but too late to view.  So we abandoned the rest of the scenic route for the Interstate.  We reassessed our touring options and agreed that the Inner Harbor at Baltimore would be asleep when we would arrive so we scuttled the crab cakes and rerouted the itinerary toward Pennsylvania but not until we enjoyed a Seafood Smorgasbord at a Shoney's in Harrisonburg.  Fog and clear to fog and clear we steadily trekked.  We passed a very bad accident in the mountains of southern Pennsylvania which helped push our eyelids back to a full open position, where they remained frozen-like for the final hours.
Finally we were on route 664, four miles from home.  Sue commented how much this road resembled the Skyline Drive, curvy, foggy and up.  We came to the Swissdale crossroads and were stopped by an emergency flagperson, (a KCnet member by the way) who said the road was blocked by fire trucks.  There was a significant house fire close to the roundhouse.  We had to detour to finish the trip.  Finally about 3:45 AM, 18.5 hours enroute, we were home.  I developed a compelling urge to quote Hannibal Smith from the "A" Team, but then thought better of it.  He, at least once per week, for a couple of TV seasons uttered these words,
"I love it when a plan comes together."

FALL BACK Reset your timepieces this Saturday evening or Sunday morning  or you will be very early for any Sunday happenings! Hey, and while you are at it, change all batteries in smoke alarms and any other battery operated safety warning device.

Halloween is an annual celebration, but just what is it actually a celebration of? And how did this peculiar custom originate? Is it, as some claim, a kind of demon worship? Or is it just a harmless vestige of some ancient pagan ritual? The word itself, "Halloween," actually has its origins in the Catholic Church. It comes from a contracted corruption of All Hallows Eve. November 1, "All Hollows Day" (or "All Saints Day"), is a Catholic day of observance in honor of saints. But, in the 5th century BC, in Celtic Ireland, summer officially ended on October 31. The holiday was called Samhain (sow-en), the Celtic New year. One story says that, on that day, the disembodied spirits of all those who had died throughout the preceding year would come back in search of living bodies to possess for the next year. It was believed to be their only hope for the afterlife. The Celts believed all laws of space and time were suspended during this time, allowing the spirit world to intermingle with the living. Naturally, the still-living did not want to be possessed. So on the night of October 31, villagers would extinguish the fires in their homes, to make them cold and undesirable. They would then dress up in all manner of ghoulish costumes and noisily paraded around the neighborhood, being as destructive as possible in order to frighten away spirits looking for bodies to possess. Probably a better explanation of why the Celts extinguished their fires was not to discourage spirit possession, but so that all the Celtic tribes could relight their fires from a common source, the Druidic fire that was kept burning in the Middle of Ireland, at Usinach. Some accounts tell of how the Celts would burn someone at the stake who was thought to have already been possessed, as sort of a lesson to the spirits. Other accounts of Celtic history debunk these stories as myth. The Romans adopted the Celtic practices as their own. But in the first century AD, Samhain was assimilated into celebrations of some of the other Roman traditions that took place in October, such as their day to honor Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit and trees. The symbol of Pomona is the apple, which might explain the origin of our modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween. The thrust of the practices also changed over time to become more ritualized. As belief in spirit possession waned, the practice of dressing up like hobgoblins, ghosts, and witches took on a more ceremonial role. The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates. The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called souling. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven. The Jack-o-lantern custom probably comes from Irish folklore. As the tale is told, a man named Jack, who was notorious as a drunkard and trickster, tricked Satan into climbing a tree. Jack then carved an image of a cross in the tree's trunk, trapping the devil up the tree. Jack made a deal with the devil that, if he would never tempt him again, he would promise to let him down the tree. According to the folk tale, after Jack died, he was denied entrance to Heaven because of his evil ways, but he was also denied access to Hell because he had tricked the devil. Instead, the devil gave him a single ember to light his way through the frigid darkness. The ember was placed inside a hollowed-out turnip to keep it glowing longer. The Irish used turnips as their "Jack's lanterns" originally. But when the immigrants came to America, they found that pumpkins were far more plentiful than turnips. So the Jack-O-Lantern in America was a hollowed-out pumpkin, lit with an ember. So, although some pagan groups, cults, and Satanists may have adopted Halloween as their favorite "holiday," the day itself did not grow out of evil practices. It grew out of the rituals of Celts celebrating a new year, and out of Medieval prayer rituals of Europeans. And today, even many churches have Halloween parties or pumpkin carving events for the kids. After all, the day itself is only as evil as one cares to make it.

SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD A group of students were asked to list what they thought were the present "Seven Wonders of the World." Though there were some disagreements, the following received the most votes: 1. Egypt's Great Pyramids 2. Taj Mahal 3. Grand Canyon 4. Panama Canal 5. Empire State Building 6. St. Peter's Basilica 7. China's Great Wall While gathering the votes, the teacher noted that one student had not finished her paper yet. So she asked the girl if she was having trouble with her list. The girl replied, "Yes, a little. I couldn't quite make up my mind because there were so many." The teacher said, "Well, tell us what you have, and maybe we can help." The girl hesitated, then read, "I think the 'Seven Wonders of the World' are: TO SEE TO HEAR TO TOUCH TO TASTE TO FEEL TO LAUGH AND TO LOVE The things we overlook as simple and ordinary and that we take for granted are truly wondrous!  A gentle reminder -- that the most precious things in life cannot be built by hand or bought by man. From a many times forwarded email

EBAY  EBAY  EBAY  EBAY  EBAY EBAY EBAY We are exploring the interest level for a new KCnet Course called EBAY.  Course Content will include:  Registering with EBAY, The techniques in selling, The techniques for bidding, How to find items for bid, How to determine the reputation of the seller, Different types of sales, How to pay, How to collect payments, fees involved, etc. If interested please contact KCnet at 893-8111 or email Kerry Clausen, KCnet Education Coordinator.  kclausen@kcnet.org

Internet and Email
 4 session course
Topics include using the browser to find information on the Internet, web and email addresses, sending and receiving email, forwarding and replying to email, bookmarks, using the address book, and more. There is always time for questions and general exploration.

Beginner Windows 9x/XP
 4 session course
Topics include an introduction to all parts of the computer, learning about the desktop, mouse features and operation, and features and operation of the keyboard. Also creating shortcut icons, using recycle bin, wallpaper and screen savers, toolbars and taskbars, drag and drop, using window features (minimize, maximize, resize, etc), control panel, accessing the different drives, and more. There is always time for questions and general exploration.

Intermediate Windows 9x/XP
 4 session course
Topics include organization of windows programs, creating and organizing folders, file extensions, saving files from Internet, folder and file views, formatting floppy disks, installing programs, download programs from Internet, HTML email, uninstall vs delete, scandisk and defrag, email attachments, and more. There is always time for questions and general exploration.

Advanced Windows 9x/XP
 4 session course
Topics include a review of the management of folders and files, an introduction to photo manipulation, introduction to web page creation, using the sound recorder, attaching recordings to emails, introduction to eyeball cams and Internet transmission, and an introduction to burning your own CDs. There is always time for questions and general exploration.

KCnet Users Group:  (formerly know as  "Senior Net Learners" most recently called "Advanced Class").  I told the group this past Wednesday that I wanted to call them the "Abusers Group", but Sue would not hear of that.  The cost for this class is $0.00 for members of KCnet and $2.00 per session for non KCnet members.  There is no set format for the sessions.  Occasionally we will take a specific subject and do a detailed study over a period of successive weeks.  Don't be afraid to ask questions.  The folks that have been attending for awhile are always happy for a review and in most cases new or better ways to do things will surface.  Questions stimulate in-depth exploration with the usual result being an understanding of how and why.
We welcome new attendees from the Intermediate sessions and our forever growing KCnet membership.  This is an advanced group and we cover a lot of territory. We are kind of free flowing.  You never know what will transpire.
It is not necessary for attendees to have their own computers but it sure helps with the learning curve.
KCnet Advanced Class computer knowledge and Advanced Class computer skills are necessary.

OTHER CLASSES:
CLICK HERE FOR ORIENTATION - BEGINNERS - INTERMEDIATE - ADVANCED
CLICK HERE FOR SCANNING - MAC- GENEALOGY - WEB PAGE - EXCEL - WORD - DIGITAL PHOTOGRAPHY - PHOTO MANIPULATION - OTHER SPECIALTIES

THIS WEEK'S CLASS SCHEDULE:
Advanced
Mondays & Wednesdays, 1:00-3:00 pm
First & Second Sessions - October 27 & 29
Instructor: Mike Foust
Intermediate
Tuesdays & Thursdays,  9:00-11:00 am
Second & Third Sessions - October 28 & 30
Instructor:  Paul Breitenbauch

KCnet Users Group:  Every Wednesday
The starting time is 9:00 AM on this Wednesday October 29.  We meet in Computer Lab 1 (The Big Room).  The leader is Mike Foust and anyone that wants to jump into the fray.  This class often becomes idea swapping and we learn by sharing experiences.

Digital Photography
Thursdays 5:30-7:30 pm
Fourth  Session - October 30
Instructor:  Kerry Clausen
Walk-in registrations are welcome still on the 16th.

Other KCnet Classes Starting Soon:
Orientation to KCnet
One-Session Class – No Charge for KCnet Members
Third Wednesday of Every Month 6:00 – 8:00 pm
Instructor:  Ron Fenton

Internet and Email
Internet / E-mail - Kerry, 1:00 - 3:00 PM
Tuesdays & Thursdays
November 4, 6, 11, & 13
Four Session Course - $20.00 KCnet Members; $25.00 Non Members
Instructor: Kerry Clausen

Beginner
Tuesdays & Thursdays,  9:00-11:00 am
November 10, 12, 17, & 19
Four Session Course - $20.00 KCnet Members; $25.00 Non Members
Instructor: Wayne Smith

Intermediate
Tuesdays & Thursdays,  9:00-11:00 am
October 23, 28, 30 & November 4
Four Session Course - $20.00 KCnet Members; $25.00 Non Members
Instructor:  Paul Breitenbauch

Advanced
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:00-3:00 pm
October 27, 29, November 3 & 5
Four Session Course - $20.00 KCnet Members; $25.00 Non Members
Instructor:  Mike Foust

Microsoft Word
Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday,  5:30 - 7:30 pm
November 17, 18, & 19
Three Session Course - $25.00 KCnet Members; $30.00 Non Members
Instructor: Kerry Clausen

Genealogy
Meets the Second Thursday each month 6:00-8:00 pm
Starting November 13 & Ends February 12
Four Session Course - $20.00 KCnet Members; $25.00 Non Members
Instructor:  David Wallace

MAC User Group
First Wednesday each month  4:30 PM
$5.00 per session
Instructor:  Clair Falls

For more class details and to register visit: http://www.kcnet.org/class/
Registration can be done online, simply click on the course you are interested in and enter the information requested.  Registration can be done via phone 893-8111.

NEWS AND NOTES WITH SUE FOUST:

Lots of good news for KCnet members!   First we have a new member of the KCnet Board of Directors.  Two members threated to resign due to demands in their personal lives and work.  In the end, one did.  The dedication required by members of the board is extensive.  Keeping up with technical information, deciding what and when upgrades should be done, contracting with vendors for Internet service and phone lines for members – all these topics must be researched before decisions are made.  The genuine commitment by members of the board guarantees that KCnet will provide the best service possible. Rich Wykoff is the new member of the KCnet Board.  His duties will begin at the next board meeting which is scheduled for November 18 at 7 PM.  These meetings are open to the public.  Board members are listed at the end of my weekly note – you can contact them with suggestions or concerns about KCnet. Failure of a UPS (uninterruptible power supply) caused service disruptions in the Sugar Valley area during the last 2 weeks until Network Administrator Rob Harrington solved the problem.  Who would’ve guessed?  The phone lines were fine. He replaced and reprogrammed the modems, but these were not the problem, either.  Then, he discovered that the UPS was malfunctioning and the replacement solved the problem.  You have to be part detective to be a network administrator. Members will benefit from several upgrades to the KCnet system.  A bigger “pipe” to the Internet will be installed next month, resulting in increased speed for large uploads and downloads.  In addition to that, the addition of another server in the network operations center will produce a little more speed.  Then, for those that want to see a big difference, an accelerated connection can be purchased for $4 additional per month, $48 per year in addition to the regular $132 per year.  Equipment has been ordered and the contract is signed for KCnet to install this speed-enhanced “turbo” service.  Work should be completed by December. Last week, Mike and I attended the Appalachian Mountain Region Commission’s annual conference in Abingdon, Virginia, on the Tennessee border.   KCnet was the featured success story for Pennsylvania.  We were glad to be able to be there and proud to tell our story.  The Appalachian Mountain Region extends from New York through the Carolinas, I believe.  The Appalachian Trail is more than 2,000 miles long.  It is beautiful, but we live in the best place in all the world.  It’s great to be home.  Until next week… Ray McGill, owner of Nittany Travel, is the President of KCnet; William Raco is Vice-President; Judy Yoho is Secretary and Donald C.  Miller of North Bend is Treasurer.  Other members of the board are Fred Bierly, Donna Gebhardt Lannan, Earl Keen, R.  Keith Kelly, Amy Lapriola, Paddy O’Hara-Mays, Bob Rolley, Dave Winkleman, and Rich Wykoff.

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