PUSH
Articles February 2018
A
Tale of Two Printers, Greg Skalka, Under the Computer Hood
UG (Approx. 1618 words). It was the best of times, It
was the worst of times…It was time to buy a new printer. It seems that all the
traditional computer input/output devices are falling out of favor. The rise in
popularity of the tablet computer and now especially the smartphone has played
a major part in this. The previously iconic combination of desktop computer,
monitor, keyboard, mouse and printer has not been the norm in the pc / tech
world for some time. The laptop or notebook PC, which generally eliminates the
need for a separate display, keyboard and monitor has been outselling the
desktop for some time. Printer sales are also declining….
Ask
the Pres,
Greg Skalka (Approx. 937 words). This may or may not
be the first of many question-based columns under this title. If there are to
be any more is up to you (though I reserve the right to have a say in it as
well). I received an email question from a reader of one of my Drive Light
‘President’s Corner’ columns in Space Coast PCUG’s newsletter. Our own Drive
Light has been a major contributor to the PUSH articles since many of my
columns and several articles by other members have been republished in other
APCUG-member newsletters around the country (and I think around the world—yes,
JT). This is a benefit provided by APCUG that is very valuable to our group,
providing useful content to our readers and helpful assistance to our
hardworking editor.
Any
questions you submit to president (at) uchug.org may be reprinted and
answered in future columns, if they are of general interest to our readers.
Other questions may be answered by email or read to our membership for,
hopefully, a solution, at our next UCHUG meeting Random Access session. This
article has an answer to a question sent to Greg from a member of the SCPCUG in
Florida.
Back
to the Basics – Basic iPhone Texting, Jim Cerny, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 888 words). Whoever thought
that “texting” would become such a common communication method? I mean, who
would need to TEXT someone and spend all that time using their fingers (or
thumbs) when you can just CALL the person and talk to them directly (or at
least leave a VM)???
Be
Your Own Mechanic with FIXD - Review by Bob Schultz, Lake-Sumter Computer Society (Approx.
351 words). I’m sure there are times you would like to answer your own question
about your cars performance before you take it to have work done. Well, now you
can do that.
Creating
a HomeGroup, Art Irish, ICON Technology Group (Approx. 458 words). Q1. How
do I create a HomeGroup so two computers on the same
network can interact? Answers follow….
Device
Power Options,
Jim Cerny, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 811 words). On – Off – Shutdown – Sleep – What
are all these power options? Today our computer devices usually have several
choices for “power,”….
Exploring
Android, Dick
Maybach, Brookdale Computer Users’ Group (Approx. 1428 words). The most popular
cell-phone OS, Android, is more like a tool kit than OS. Cell phone vendors
readily change not only its included applications, but also its structure, to
differentiate their products….
I
Wuz Hacked, Stu Gershon, Sun City Summerlin Computer Club (Approx.
1182 words). One Sunday morning I checked my email like I do every morning.
Nothing came through. I tried again, and it was the same. I called my Internet
provider to see if any of their servers were having trouble or down. The line
was busy…. read the rest of the article to find out what happened.
Home
Automation and Security, Don VanSyckel, Sterling Heights
Computer Club (Approx. 422 words). Don has been looking at home alarm systems
and thermostats. I guess it’s a sign of the times. Many of these have
connectivity via your home Wi-Fi and some have built-in cellular connectivity….
How
to Set Your iPhone to Remember Where You Parked, Bill Crowe, Sarasota
TUG (Approx. 886 words). It’s no fun to end your trip wandering around looking
for your car. Now, thanks to an iOS feature, you don’t have to—this article
looks at how to take advantage of the” Parked Car” reminder in iOS 10.
Looking
Back to See Ahead, Greg Skalka, Under the Computer Hood
UG (Approx. 2806 words). Another year goes into the record books, and we get a
new, clean slate ahead. We’ve said goodbye to 2017 and are writing 2018 on our
checks (hey, wait a minute; who writes checks these days?), we’ve been
confronted by this arbitrary boundary in time once again.
No
Personal Privacy, Matt Batt, The Computer Club (Approx. 590 words). Matt
wants to share (1) something to think about as we enter this time of “no
personal privacy;” (2) a very useful program for keeping our PC applications
up-to-date; and (3) a fun website for displaying street views of houses.
Tablet
SIG Overflows,
Terry Harvey, Wisconsin-All Users Computer Club (Approx. 1047 words). At the
combined Android and iPad/iPhone SIG, we discussed ‘Popsockets”
and “Cell Phone Ring holders.” We also discussed printing to your device, and
more.
The
Windows 10 Start Menu, Lee Reynolds, Boca Raton Computer Society (Approx. 501 words).
Do you talk to your computer? I don’t mean swearing at it because it doesn’t do
the thing you want it to do. How do you get your computer to find files, remind
you of a doctor’s appointment, play your favorite music…..
To
Win 10 or Not to Win 10: That was the question, Art Gresham, Under the
Computer Hood UG (Approx. 884 words). This is a true story about how a recent
upgrade to Windows 10 went on one computer….
Two
Interesting Office Tools, Nancy DeMarte, Sarasota TUG (Approx.
670 words). With two Windows 10 updates a year, it’s easy to miss the fact that
Microsoft has also been rolling out new and improved features for Office. They
arrive as automatic updates to Office 365. Nancy’s article is about the Draw
tab with pens that let you create drawings as well as draw on slides while you
are giving a presentation. PowerPoint Designer is very useful for creating
professional-looking slides. Introduced in the fall of 2015, it has been
improved and expanded through recent updates. Its purpose is to offer some
optional design layouts for PowerPoint slides, like the Title or Title &
Content slides.
Use
Speech to Control Your PC and Compose Text, Nancy DeMarte
(Approx. 809 words). Speak provides both text to speech and helps you proofread
what you have typed by listening to the computer read it aloud. Windows Speech
Recognition lets a user dictate into a microphone without the use of a keyboard
or mouse and have his/her speech translated into text.
Wi-Fi
dead spots? Try a Wi-Fi extender, or maybe a mesh network, Phil Sorrentino,
Sarasota TUG (Approx. 960 words). If your home is very large or if there are
many walls between your router and the location where you want Wi-Fi access,
you may have Wi-Fi dead spots….
Working
with Windows 10 Apps, Rosita Herrick, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 735 words). When
teaching or preparing one of the Windows Corner articles, Rosita uses a few
apps that are distributed with the OS and are available to any user….