"Users Helping Users"
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"Users Helping Users" BPMUG - The Computer User Group Serving Central Connecticut Since 1982 |
Past BPMUG Presentations 2001-2002
December 16, 2002, at 7:00 PM Murphy's Law? No It's O'Connor's Law Presentation by Attorney F. William O'Connor Attorney Bill O'Connor of Avon, CT will guide us through Quicken Lawyer 2003 Personal by NOLO. Business Week says, "Even if you know you should see a lawyer... Quicken's question-and-answer technique can help you sort through the options". There are blank forms to complete with a step-by-step interview process to customize the form based on your answers. Completed forms can be printed or exported to a RFT format for any word processor. From wills and estate planning to living trusts and elder care forms, there are probably some software assistance available to you. To help sort through your options, this is a meeting you won't want to miss! November 18, 2002, at 7:00 PM Opening Redship 4 Featuring our own Mort "Startrek" Fabricant Astronomy is a business, a science, and a hobby. Although computers has expanded and enhanced the realm of astronomy, even before the days of Galileo astronomy has fascinated many people with its element of the unknown. But today, as computer users, we are fortunate enough to have a variety of software programs to guide us through the universe. During a recent cameo, Mort Fabricant showed us a brief intro to RedShip 4, an astronomy program. Since there was not sufficient time, Mort has graciously agreed to expand his presentation to include showing us a tutorial within RedShip 4 as well as giving us an introduction to the SETI organization. This should prove to be a fun and exciting night. October 21, 2002, at 7:00 PM Voice Recognition - Opening The Door to The Visually Impaired Alfonse DeLucia, President Every seven minutes, someone in America will become blind or visually impaired. It is estimated that there are ten million blind individuals in the US and currently there are 1.5 million blind and visually impaired computer-users. The computer software industry has recognized the need to develop programs that will help visually impaired individuals to achieve independence, self confidence, and self respect. The concept of a voice recognition program isn't new. In a past program, we watched as the presenter ran through a program called Dragon Speaking. But the presenter did admit that it was a tedious task learning the "fussy" and very sensitive software. As President of the Southern Connecticut Chapter of the National Federation of the Blind, Alfonse DeLucia will be the presenter for our October meeting. Mr. DeLucia will discuss "Jaws" and "Kurzweil". With the increased risk of macular degeneration, the program brings some valuable information. September 23, 2002, at 7:00 PM CHAT ROOMS - WHAT MOMMA NEVER TOLD YOU Presented by Jack Sandberg, Managing Director of West Hartford's Delphi Research Group LLC Have you ever been in a chat room on the Internet? Do your kids or grandkids or others go in the chat rooms for some harmless conversations with friends or strangers? Have you ever wondered how harmless those chats are? Jack Sandberg of the Delphi Research Group, will delve deep into the world of chat rooms. You will learn those things your Momma never told you about chat rooms. You will learn about some of the people on the other end of those fun conversations that you and your friends are having. You will learn some about the dark side of those innocent chats that are taking place. This presentation is largely based on tangential information obtained by Mr.Sandberg, who this summer worked as a consultant for an entity investigating the security risks inherent in the use of today's Internet chat rooms. This presentation will provide some background about today's chat rooms, the different types, the different vendors offering products in this area, especially about the "Instant Messenger-type" products offered within the last five years. Finally, Mr. Sandberg will present vignettes representing several common chat room encounter types, along with background material on the apparent and covert contexts and risks posed by these encounters. Monday, July 15, 2002, 7PM Internet Research By Valerie Banfi, Medical Librarian at Hartford Hospital Research is described as a diligent search - a discovery with the interpretation of facts. All of us do "research" at one time or another either for personal use and/or for businesses, groups or clubs. The Internet has given new opportunities for conducting extensive research. Another great way to research is still to ask your local librarian. They are very savvy about this since a part of their job is to assist people in research projects. Good librarians will give you the tools you need in order to conduct your own research. We have combined these two effective research tools at our July BPMUG meeting to give you the power of both a librarian and the Internet! On July 15th, Valerie Banfi, a medical librarian from Hartford Hospital will show us easy ways to use good search engines and web sites to do research over the Internet. As an experienced librarian, Valerie comes to us prepared to demonstrate how to investigate and discover the unlimited possibilities of doing research using the Internet. Monday, June 16, 2002, 7PM Share Information with others over the Internet Presented by Len Bruskiewitz of Intuit's Quickbase Would you like to put your Little League schedule and scores on the Internet for a select group to modify and for everyone to see? Do you have a business project that you'd like to make available to others in your group via the Internet? Do you have a Genealogy list that you'd like to share with others across the globe? Do you have a business development schedule or a personal project that has several people involved that need to be kept updated? It used to be that you needed deep pockets plus a database and a degree in the related jargon to maintain any records like that. Sharing information with friends, associates and clients has been made much easier lately. One such package to do this is Intuit's Quickbase application. With it you can easily set up and maintain records for your business or personal use and share them over the Internet for certain individuals or open to everyone. Don't let the ease of use fool you though. Although their templates make it seem simple, these programs have many features that allow you the power of a full-power database program. Whether you use the Project Manager template, the Document Tracker, Fundraising Manager, Human Resources database, a customer call log, or just a free way to show off your collection of baseball cards, programs like Quickbase have made it easy and affordable. Monday, May 20, 2002, 7PM Cybercrime... The Crime of the (21st) Century! Presentation by Sergeant Andrew Russell, C.O. Connecticut State Police What is Cybercrime? Who does it? What's being done to stop it? Whether high tech fraud, consumer privacy on the Internet, kidnapping, pornography, or credit card fraud, there are numerous facets to computer crimes. During the year 2000, the CT State Police's Computer Crimes and Electronic Evidence Unit experienced a five-fold increase in the number of cases (from 103 cases in 1999 to 476 in 2000). These are not harmless computer hacks... 44% of the cases involved child pornography while only 4% involved hackers. The computer world shutters at the extent and severity of cybercrime. On May 20th, Sgt. Andrew Russell, C.O. of the Connecticut State Police will enlighten us on many aspects of this crime field and tell us what is being done to stop it. Currently, Sgt Russell works as the commanding officer of the Connecticut State Police Computer Crimes and Electronic Evidence Unit. He also serves as the commander of the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force. Monday, APRIL 18, 2002, 7PM Exploring Digital Cameras By Rich Hoyer Rich Hoyer, instructor from the Adult Education program at Manchester Community College will be our presenter and share his knowledge of digital cameras with us. If you want to wait until after April 15th to buy your camera, Rich will review the different types of digital cameras and their features. If you already have a digital camera, Rich will discuss how tomake good use of your camera and if time permits he will also discuss software programs used to enhance your digital photographs. Monday, March 18, 2002, 7PM Connecting With The Latest Broadband Internet Options! Don Robinson, SNET Should I get a cable connection for my home computer? Why can't I get a SNET DSL line run to my business? Can I hook more than one PC to my cable? Do I need a special modem for DSL? My computer guru is recommending Frame Relay... what is it and do I need it? I'm tired of slow dialup... what are my options without going broke? Broadband technology is changing all the time. There are so many questions and so few answers. Don Robinson proudly defines himself as a broadband geek with answers you can understand. Don has worked for SNET for several years and has seen and resolved more broadband issues than most of us will ever run into. As a troubleshooter for SNET, Don has access to a wide variety of ideas, solutions, and suggestions for getting the most out of your hi-speed connection. Monday, February 18, 2002, 7PM Don't let Taxes Become Taxing Presented by Cynthia Ruel, Application Training Supervisor for New Horizons Training Center The IRS has a stated goal of getting 80% of our tax returns to be electronically filed by 2007! Their statistics show that electronic tax returns have a less than 1% error rate, compared to 20% for manually prepared returns. Are you ready to make the change? If your taxes are taxing you, it may be time for you to take it to the next level. The electronic level that is. Technology has advanced rapidly and with it has come a few time-saving methods for that dreaded job of filing your taxes. There are multiple programs obtainable that will make taxes less taxing. Each software program will benefit each person in different ways. You need to find the software that will meet your individual needs. Cynthia Ruel from New Horizons Computer Learning Center will be leading you through a tour of the three major financial programs available. She will give you an overview of what the software can do and compare the similarities and differences in each of them. Although Turbo Tax, Quicken, and QuickBooks are diverse, they all have features in common. They just work at different levels. There are also some third party software programs available that will be introduced to you on this tour of tax software. You will also be exposed to many web sites and links that will aid you and show you what types of help are out there. Monday January 21, 2002, 7PM Investing in your Future Bob Finch, former Mutual Fund Portfolio Manager Should I invest in the bond market now? Mutual Funds? Stocks? Are there any good investments available? How can I learn more? Should I consult with a local broker or go on-line to the web? Our January meeting will feature a former Mutual Fund Portfolio Manager who will help us navigate the web for sound investment rules. Bob Finch, a BPMUG member, has offered to demonstrate the in's and out's of web investing. You may be delighted to discover that your own PC or laptop can enhance the information you are currently obtaining and maybe even reduce those sometimes expensive calls to your broker. Monday December 17, 2001, 7PM Experience WindowsXP By Microsoft Why WindowsXP will revolutionize the way you interact with your computer. Windows XP extends your experience beyond the desktop and provides you with the best of the digital age. * Help others without having to leave the comfort of your home -
With "remote assistance," users needing help can invite a
friend or support professional to connect to their computer over the
Internet to fix a problem or answer a question. If your friends need
help with their computers, you can do it from your own machine Monday November 26, 2001, 7PM EDUCATIONAL SOFTWARE FOR CHILDREN By Librarians Helen Aveline and Patricia Pearce On Monday, November 26th (a week later than usual) at 7 PM BPMUG will offer a presentation on children's educational software by two librarians from the Newington Library. Helen Aveline, Director of the children's library and Patricia Pearce, a children's librarian will present this wonderful program. They will review which software programs can enhance our children's knowledge. As we know, children learn quickly and need programs that will keep their attention. The also grasp computer skills from many of these software programs with ease. If given the right computer program, they can have a lot of fun while "painlessly" gaining skills that will serve them well in their academic paths. Monday October 15, 2001, 7PM COMPUTERS - HOW THEY'VE CHANGED THE WORLD OF WEATHER FORECASTING Bruce DePrest, WFSB's meteorologist The leaves are changing quickly and winter is coming soon. Will it be a cold, snowy winter? Will there be a major blizzard coming? We all listen to the weather forecasters to plan our journey out to work, play, travel, etc. Weather affects all of our lives. On Monday, October 15th, at 7 PM, we will be enlightened on the history of weather forecasting and how computers have changed this science. We are fortunate to be able to have Bruce DePrest, a meteorologist and WFSB Channel 3's weekday morning senior weather anchor come and talk with us on this topic. Bruce has been with Channel 3 since 1984 and before that was meteorologist for Travelers since 1979. Much like other fields, the study of weather depends heavily on computers and keeping updated with the latest technology. As many of you know from seeing Bruce on WFSB, he is a very knowledgeable, experienced and cutting edge weather forecaster. He keeps up with the latest and will be sharing the newest methods and technology with us. You can learn more about WFSB's weather on-line by going to www.wfsb.com and clicking on "Doppler 3000 Weather". So whether you are a novice weather watcher or an aspiring meteorologist or just don't want to be stuck in the rain without an umbrella, come to the October 15th meeting, meet Bruce DePrest, and find out how computers are continuously changing the science of weather forecasting. Bring a friend for this fun and informative meeting! Monday October 15, 2001, 7PM Avery Dennison - Business Solutions for Greater Productivity Seminar By Julie Murphy, Avery Avery Representative, Julie Murphy, will be coming to BPMUG to give a one hour educational seminar featuring New Products and New Ideas designed to provide greater office productivity, offer cost savings and suggest new solutions to old problems. * Organization Tips - Tools to better organize your work environment Monday July 16 , 2001, 7PM How To Find a Healthy Dose of Health-related Web Sites By Dr. Eric Secor, N.D., M.S., L.Ac. Are you worried about the health-related information you find on the
Internet? Do you wonder what web sites you can visit to get accurate In addition to his practice and his work at Saint Francis Hospital, Dr. Secor enjoys surfing the Internet for reliable and accurate health-related web sites for his patients and others. Dr. Secor will be showing us many of those web sites and offering tips on how to determine the reliability and accuracy of other sites you may have found. Dr. Secor is a naturopathic physician and a licensed acupuncturist with NCCAOM certification. He is currently practicing at the Connecticut Center for Health as a family physician with an emphasis in natural medicine and acupuncture in West Hartford, Connecticut, and as an acupuncturist at St. Francis Hospital in Avon. He is also on the board of complementary providers for Griffin Hospitals, integrative medical clinic. Monday May 21 , 2001, 7PM Online Banking By Ted Josephson, Vice President eBusiness Division of Peoples Bank Well, if you need quick cash, you might still need an ATM machine rather than printing cash out on your printer, but for almost anything else, online banking can help. Whether you want to write checks, look at your last month's deposits, find out what checks have cleared, or transfer funds from one account to another, online banking might be a safe and easy solution for you. Ted Josephson, of Peoples Bank's eBusiness Division will talk about where online banking has come from 1998 (when he first gave a presentation to BPMUG) and where we are heading, as well as cover tips for safe online banking, etc. Whether you are curious about online banking or already use it, this meeting will be a great opportunity to learn more about this tool. You can get more info at www.peoples.com and then be sure to bring a friend and lots of questions and enjoy this fun and informative evening! Monday April 16 , 2001, 7PM, The Computer Lunch Gang By Joe Bray JB (a.k.a. Joe Bray) and his group of computer cronies will entertain us in the same fun style they do on their Saturday lunchtime radio show. The Computer Lunch Gang's show can be heard live every Saturday from noon until 1 PM at WMRD 1150 AM Middletown, CT and WLIS 1420 AM Old Saybrook. Their website is www.computerlunch.com. Monday, March 16 , 2001, 7PM, Watching Windows Presented by Barry Gordon Barry will be presenting a program on the Windows Operaing Systems. He will compare Windows 98, Windows Me, and Windows 2000 Professional. He will also speak on the new Windows Operating system Windows XP out later this year. For the Meeting on March 19, 2001, Barry Gordon, BPMUG's Windows SIG Host, will do a presentation on all the most current Windows Operating Systems. He will have computers running Windows 98, Windows Windows 2000 Professional and Windows Me. During the presentation Barry will demonstrate some of the best features of all and how they have changed for the better. Barry will also show some of the differences between the various built in utilities, multimedia applications and emergency recovery procedures. During his presentation a few tips or tricks for Windows will also be shown. In conclusion the presentation will show how windows is heading toward one operating system for all and he will talk about some of the features in the upcoming new Windows XP Operating system formally called Whistler due out in the second half of this year. This is a chance to bring any specific Windows problems to the forum and Barry will try to repair them. This is also a chance to see all the differences side by side. Monday, February 19 , 2001, 7PM, Disk Jockey 2000 Presented by Anthony Pereira of Clear & Simple Does a presentation on File Managers sound dreary? Wait until you see what BPMUG has coming! Anthony Pereira of Clear & Simple will show you a real power packed time-saver when he demonstrates some of the features of Disk Jockey 2000! If you recall, Anthony presented an older version of Disk Jockey some time back to an enthusiastic group at BPMUG. Now, with the most recent revisions, our members have been requesting a return visit. Disk Jockey 2000 takes over where Windows Explorer leaves off. You can not only view and sort all of your files on your computer quickly, you can also take a peek at the graphics, documents, even hear the music, as well as looking at all other files in a speedy preview window. You can zip and unzip files as well as previewing a zipped file without unzipping the entire batch. You can use the handy FTP feature to transfer files to your Internet site or to retrieve files from Internet sites. If you've used Disk Jockey before, you know what an indispensable tool this can be. If you've never used it, come to this meeting and find out why John Dvorak raved about it by insisting, "...this product is super. Don't even think about it, just buy it". Check out Clear & Simple's website at www.clear-simple.com . Mon, January 15 , 2001, 7PM Internet Telephony and Videoconferencing Presented by Wayne Aguiar, Computer Virus expert & System Administrator Would you like to call a friend or relative that lives far away and save some money or actually be able to see the person you are talking to in real-time?If your answer is yes, then Internet telephony and videoconferencing may Be for you. This presentation will include a brief history, advantages, limitations and a basic overview of system requirements and then conclude with a live or simulated demonstration of some of the IBM compatible software products available for using the Internet to place audio (PC to PC) and with some simple and fairly inexpensive camera accessories PC video to PC calls for FREE* (or for just the normal costs associated with a local ISP connection). Please come join us and have some fun learning how to potentially conference with people around the world. Wayne will include a hands-on demonstration of equipment and have on hand a variety of neat gadgets and accessories that can make it happen. This will be presented at a basic level but will include an overview of some technical information for advanced users. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the possibilities and learn something new. So bring a friend to the new location at the Jewish Community Center on Monday, January 15, 2001, at 7 PM and learn about this exciting part of the Internet.
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