MIKE'S COMMENTARY THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE NEWS & NOTES BY SUE FOUST
MIKE'S COMMENTARY AND BITS OF WISDOM:
Welcome to D-Day on the Web, a comprehensive guide and web directory to the the allied invasion of Normandy begun on June 6, 1944. On this site you will find historical essays, images, personal accounts and other sites pertaining to D-Day, evaluated and sorted for your convenience. All together I have included some 200 sites, organized into eleven categories and numerous subcategories. For instance, I have found and catalogued some 32 personal accounts from infantrymen, paratroopers, pilots and sailors -- far more than is available on any single site. The Saving Private Ryan section juxtaposes clips and stills from the movie with reviews and analyses. My hope is that, with your help, I can bring some sort of order to the enormous quantity of information out there about this most important of events. http://www.isidore-of-seville.com/d-day/
WWII Memorial (Dedicated 05/31/04) http://www.nps.gov/nwwm/pphtml/planyourvisit.html
Other sites, many photos and good narratives. http://www.ddaymuseum.org/ http://www.dday.org/ http://www.ku.edu/heritage/abilene/ikedday.html http://www.abmc.gov/no.htm http://www.wwiimemorial.com/
KCNET CLASSES: 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 wanted to call this class "The Abusers Group", but Sue would not hear of that. Attendees are persistent in their search for computer knowledge. They ask great questions and present interesting challenges. 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 Advanced 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: Kephart Plaza Seniors Computer Lunch Bunch Tuesday June 8 -- 11:00 - 1:00 Instructor: Wayne Smith
Digital Photography Third Session - Tuesday June 8 -- 5:30 - 7:30 Instructor: Kerry Clausen
KCnet Users Group: Every Wednesday The starting time is 9:00 AM on this Wednesday May 12. We meet in Computer Lab 1 (The Big Room). Leadership is Mike Foust and anyone that wants to jump into the fray. We had a good session this past Wednesday. We covered a lot of territory. Sue started us off with dialogue about the change of Internet services and the glitches that popped up. Everything seems to be working now and working much better than before. Mike showed some short cute videos including a Superman/Seinfeld ad for American Express. We had some pictures of our folks in Iraq doing good things. Mike pointed out some updates of interest to most in the group. There is an upgrade for Netscape coming very soon. read about it: http://www.eweek.com/print_article/0,1761,a=128197,00.asp There is an update for Rainlender at: http://www.ipi.fi/~rainy/index.php?pn=projects&project=rainlendar There is a great midi site we looked at moons ago. They are offering a CD of all their midis. Cost is $6.00, well worth the pennies. http://www.rienzihills.com/SING/Index.html Mike read a review of a comparison done by Robert Vamosi Senior Associate Editor, Reviews For ZDNet's Anchor Desk Monday, May 31, 2004. The title was "ZoneAlarm Security Suite: the new one to beat" The information is very helpful and can be accessed at: http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/4520-7297_16-5137029.html The new thing for the day was a download of a tiny program that will help[ identify spoofed URLs. In other words one can tell if a particular site is phishing. The program is called Spoofstick and works with Internet Explorer and Foxfire. Download at: http://www.corestreet.com/spoofstick/
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: Bob Fenton
Genealogy New Sessions will begin in September. Instructor: David Wallace
MAC User Group New Sessions will begin in September. 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:
In the following paragraphs, I have used information from Penn State Extension and from various places on-line to explain the various types of internet connections that are available in this area. For every one of these services, it is possible to also connect multiple computers to the same internet connection, within the same building. This can be done by purchasing a router and actually connecting computers to the router with cables or, if you purchase a wireless router, you can connect computers wirelessly. Besides a router which can also serve as a firewall, you must have Ethernet cards in each computer. I’ll repeat, you can do this with any of the following types of Internet service.
A dialup connection to the Internet can be used for basic e-mail, basic web browsing, electronic banking, and Internet shopping. It can be used to access basic health care information and check or buy stocks on-line. The bandwidth (speed) for dialup modems is usually between 28.8 and 53 Kilobits per second (Kbps).
Extreme noise on a phone line can grind your connection down to 8 Kbps and you sure can’t enjoy your time on-line at that speed. Connection speed depends on your computer, your modem and your phone lines. Sometimes changing a modem, especially from internal modem to external modem, will increase your speed noticeably. Sometimes, moving your connection from one place in your home to a different jack, closer to the outside phone connection will improve your connection. Removing a splitter can make a difference, too. Even static electricity can influence modem performance.
Supposing everything is ideal inside your home and your computer, connect speed will still vary depending on the quality of the phone line and distance to your "CO" or Central Office of the local telephone facility. A pretty good line should get about a 48 to 50 Kbps connection. The telephone network was designed to carry voice traffic, not the flood of data transfer it is being used for today. It is generally claimed that people who live within 3 1/2 miles from their central office will get better than 34 Kbps connection.
Each of the following Internet connections can be used for basic e-mail, basic web browsing, electronic banking, and Internet shopping, in addition to the other uses mentioned.
ISDN and video transmission is used for distance education, business video conferencing and even government video conferencing. Ross Library and Penn State Extension occasionally offer a video conference about a particular subject that is broadcast from a remote location. KCnet offered one several years ago at their Main Street office that originated in Harrisburg’s Center for Rural Pennsylvania. This is a fairly expensive method of Internet connection but very effective for short periods such as meetings.
DSL and Satellite typically are between 200 and 400 Kbps. Besides the normal Internet service, these types of services are good for high-quality distance education, entry level Web Cam, streaming audio, limited streaming video.
Cable modems provide up to 1.4 Megabits downstream (downloads) and up to 256 Kbps upstream (uploads). Maximum speeds are not guaranteed and vary depending on the number of subscribers on the local loop and the number of subscribers downloading and uploading information at a particular time.
A T-1 (tee one) or T1.5 is 1.5 Megabits, shared use for schools, libraries, entry level for small e-business applications, streaming video to PC, telemedicine, collaboration tools, file sharing, remote access managed systems, interactive video, and web-based GIS (geographic information systems).
Wireless Broadband can be 128 Kbps to 2 Megabits, depending upon the distance from the transmitter. Some Internet Service Providers also have different levels of service for business and home use.
10 to 100 Megabit Ethernet is a term that is normally a fiber optic connection to the Internet. It is used by large business, ISPs and schools. Keystone Central School District connects all their buildings in the District – about 1,000 square miles – with 10 Megabit Ethernet fiber. This allows high speed access between buildings as well as to the Internet. Their connection to the Internet is via a DS3 or a 45 Megabit “pipe.”
When you think about an Internet connection, use a pipe to visualize the flow of information. The dialup modem will give you a 3/4” pipe-full of information in one second; a cable modem or wireless Internet connection should give you a 5” or bigger pipe-full.
I hope this tech talk has prompted some thoughts and questions. If you are inquisitive, use an Internet search engine and search for sites that explain Kilobit, Kilobyte, Megabit and Megabyte. You’ll be surprised about what you can learn!
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, Paul Korn, Amy Lapriola, Paddy O’Hara-Mays, Bob Rolley, and Rich Wykoff.
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