Computer Info – June 16, 2004

 

This Week’s Meeting

            John Watkins will be hosting the meeting --- and his subject this time will be FotoSlate and show you where you can download some new games.

            The next meeting will be July 7th and Keith McDonald from Sanford is coming in to demonstrate Windows XP’s MovieMaker program.

 

FotoSlate 3.0

http://www.acdsystems.com/English/Products/FotoSlate/index.htm

 

            This is a program that is made by the people who sell ACDSee – it is used for creating printed photo layouts, calendars, CD covers and cards.  It sells for $39.99

            It has templates for over 450 printing layouts.  It has 16 calendar styles and 11 greeting card styles. 

            Stylize pictures by "cutting" them into ovals. Add drop shadows, attractive borders and frames. Fix and edit photos - without altering your originals. Add text, copyright marks and background color.

 

Korgo

                This is a virus that is aggressively stealing credit card numbers and passwords.  It is relatively new --- it debuts on May 22nd.  People who have been infected with this virus are being warn to change their passwords and cancel your credit cards. 

 

Spyware and How to Get Rid Of It

            Here is a great website that give a description of spyware and some programs that can help you get rid of it.

                        http://www.short-media.com/review.php?r=132

            The page gives you some preventive measures that you can take to try to keep your computer free of spyware and other malicious code. – and reading them will remind you of some points that we have made in the class.

            1)  Do not use file sharing applications (P2P – peer to peer)  like Kazaa.

            2)  Don’t use Internet Explorer as your browser  --  Internet Explorer is the most easily exploitable and vulnerable browser. If you don't use IE, you will not experience ActiveX exploits or BHO infections any longer.  Internet Explorer is a common source of spyware infections.

            3)  Don’t open email attachments  --  I can't stress this enough. If you would stop opening email attachments that had "funny jokes" or "cute screensavers" or "hot babes", then the virus problem would be seriously reduced. Just don't bother. And never, ever believe the sender of the email. If your Aunt Sally's computer is infected with a virus, it will send you email, and it will look as if it is coming from her. "Oh, Aunt Sally would never send me a virus" you think, and so you open the cute screensaver that she sent you. Now you are infected, and you are a part of the problem. DON'T DO IT. If you MUST open attachments, make SURE they don't have the following file extensions: .EXE, .SCR, .BAT, .PIF, .ZIP, .COM .. Also, watch out for "fake" file extensions, such as .JPG.EXE or .GIF.PIF .. The first three letters are designed to trick you. It's only the last three letters that count. If they are executable, you've just infected yourself.

            4)  Do not install any ActiveX controls  --  With the exception of a notable few such as WindowsUpdate control, Macromedia Flash, Macromedia Shockwave, products from McAfee or Symantec, or from your computer's manufacturer (Dell, Compaq, etc.) there are no safe ActiveX controls. If you don't use Internet Explorer, of course this won't be a problem. But if you are married to Internet Explorer as your browser, please observe diligence and safe browsing habits so that you aren't (say it with me now) part of the problem.

            5)  Remember to turn on your Firewall protection in Windows XP

 

ActiveX

            An ActiveX control can be automatically downloaded and executed by a Web browser.  ActiveX is not a programming language, but rather a set of rules for how applications should share information.

            An ActiveX control is similar to a Java applet.  Unlike Java applets, however, ActiveX controls have full access to the Windows operating system.  This gives them much more power than Java applets, but with this power comes a certain risk that the applet may damage software of data on your machine.  To control this risk, Microsoft developed a registration system so that browsers can identify and authenticate an ActiveX control before downloading it.  Another difference between Java applets and ActiveX controls is that Java applets can be written to run on all platforms, whereas ActiveX controls are currently limited to Windows environments. 

 

Find Your Taskbar – Windows XP

            By pressing CTRL-ESC in Windows XP – your taskbar will pop into view.  This is helpful information if you have lost your taskbar.  This handy combination brings up your Start menu (which brings up your taskbar).

           

MP4

            I noticed that Best Buy had DVD players that would play MP4 discs – so I wondered what MP4 was.  It seems that MP4 became an international standard in the year 2000 – but this was the first time that I had heard of it.

            While audio and video are at the core of the MPEG-4 specification, MP4 can also support 3D objects, sprites (??), text and other media types.

            The same folks who created MP3 developed the new Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) codec, which provides much more efficient compression than MP3 with a quality rivaling that of uncompressed CD audio.

            QuickTime 6 supports MP4 and there are many MP3/MP4 players arriving on the market.