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The Monthly Edition Of The k-Byte Newsletter |
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| v. 25, n. 12, December 2008 | Users Helping Users | ||
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The Monthly Edition Of The k-Byte Newsletter |
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| v. 25, n. 12, December 2008 | Users Helping Users | ||
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Contents 1 Almost Everyone Needs a Little Help with Word 2007 - Linda Gonse 2 About k-Byte 5 Password Protection - Sandy Berger 6 Calendar of Events 7 The Two Month Activities Calendar 8 Moving on to Vista - Part 10 - Neil Stahfest 8 Web Site Update 9 Tip of the Month - How to create a sheet of labels with different information for each label using the Word "Envelopes and Labels" feature. 9 Photo Gallery 10 FRPCUG Elections 10 Season's Greetings 10 About Trading Post 12 Directions and Map to Meeting Place 12 FRPCUG Contacts Meeting Previews on Page 6:
 Quote of the Month When one teaches, two learn. Robert Half Almost Everyone Needs a Little Help with Word 2007 by Linda Gonse, Editor and Webmaster, Orange County IBM PC Users' Group, California, http://www.orcopug.org, editor(at)orcopug.org Bear with me while I quote John Dvorak from his August 2008 PC Magazine column, then I will tell you what my point is. Regarding Vista, he said: "Vista isn't completely unusable; it's simply hard to use. Menus have been reorganized for no apparent reason, features of XP appear to be missing or need to be turned on from some remote directory, and basic functions are now obfuscated. "In a nutshell, Vista manages to be more complicated than XP, performs more poorly than XP, and is more expensive than XP." Now, substitute Word 2007 for Vista and Word 2003 for XP and my point is made. Compared with Word 2003, Word 2007 is an involuntary learning experience for anyone already proficient in Word and productive with one or more of the features. To name a couple I use often, are: Mail Merge, tables, labels, and fields. But, first users have to discover where basics like Help, Save As, Print and Close are. To say Word 2007 has a steep learning curve may not scare everyone. But, to say it has a steep learning curve for experienced Word users should scare everyone, as well as be a cause for serious concern. Unfortunately, I didn't fully understand how an Office 2007 upgrade for Office 2003 functioned. If you haven't taken the step, yet, let me caution you. The upgrade wipes out Office 2003 and you cannot downgrade. I believe this step was automatically taken by the installation. Perhaps with a full version, you would be given a choice to install the newer version into another directory, leaving the older version intact. The first thing you notice when you open Word 2007 is the highly touted "ribbon." Nine tabs take the place of menu items across the top of the window. The tabs do not have the same names as the old menu items. In fact, a couple of the tab categories-Home, References and Add-Ins-are enigmatic. And as they say on "Dancing With The Stars," the tabs "are in no particular order."  Clicking on a tab opens a segmented toolbar of options across the top of the window that relate to that tab's category. Although you may want to add to or rearrange the commands on the Ribbon or change or remove a command or group on the Ribbon - as you might have done with the menu and toolbar of earlier Word versions - you cannot.  And, you can forget about being able to revert to Word's old style toolbars and menus. But, Microsoft helpfully advises that if you are fluent in XML programming code, you can add tabs to the Ribbon. In Photoshop, the ribbon concept is intuitive and natural, and actually speeds up productivity. In Word, it can be chaotic and time-wasting. Now, that you have this background in mind, you will better understand the images and steps that follow which is a short tutorial for simplifying Word 2007. My suggestion for anyone using the new Word version is to first set it up to make the features you need easy to locate.  With that in mind, I'll show you how to create a custom toolbar for the tasks that you need to perform most often. It will help to take the aggravation and time-wasting practice of hunting around and calling on Help to figure out where things are and how to use them. Incidently, speaking of Help, here's a tip. When you need to turn to Help, don't look for a tab or menu item. Just as in the old days of DOS, you must press the F1 key to make it appear! In the upper left corner of the Word window is a round Windows logo, called the Microsoft Office Button. It will remind you of the Start button in Windows. Click on this button, it is a kind of command center temporarily until you get Word customized the way you want it. Or, it's possible, you may prefer to use it, rather than the Quick Access Toolbar. (Nah.) The Quick Access Toolbar is just to the right of the Microsoft Office Button. It can be likened to the Quick Launch Toolbar in Windows. (Do you see a pattern here?)  When you first open Word, the Quick Access Toolbar is empty. Click on the down arrow a slight distance away from the Microsoft Office Button. A dropdown list appears, similar to the ones you saw at the end of toolbars in Word 2003. It contains many of the general commands that you might use frequently. Click on the commands that you want to be on the Quick Launch, er... Quick Access Toolbar. The icons will be added to the bar and available to you with one click. It's almost too easy isn't it? Well, keep in mind that with this Word version, whatever effort you save in one area, you are going to earn by working harder somewhere else. You may want to fill in the basic commands on the Quick Access Toolbar with different commands not on the dropdown list. In that case, right click on the down arrow for the dropdown menu and go to More Commands... at the bottom. There are five categories, so click through them to see what they offer. You'll be surprised. In each category, there are dozens of commands for just about any task and circumstance.   When you find a command you want to use, click to select it in the left window (see screenshot at right) and click on the Add button with the arrows to move it to the right window. Alternatively, you can click on the Microsoft Office Button. At the bottom of the dialog box click on Word Options. Then, in the list that appears on the left, click on Customize. A familiar box with a double window will open. It is the same box that you can open from the down arrow next to the Quick Access Toolbar. My Quick Access Toolbar has several preset command buttons and one macro that I recorded (to add the pathname to the bottom of documents). Without intentionally doing so, I nearly recreated the Standard Toolbar offered in earlier versions of Word. The commands that I found useful to add were Open, Blank Page, Save, Undo, Redo, Page Setup, Print Preview, Print, Show/Hide, PathName (the macro), and Close.  Although a couple of the commands are available by clicking on the Microsoft Office Button, it is still faster and less distracting to have them at the top of the window and only one click away, rather two or more. This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).  Published monthly, k-Byte is the official newsletter of the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group (FRPCUG): our mailing address is PMB 152, 305 W. Magnolia, Fort Collins, Colorado 80521. Opinions expressed in k-Byte are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the group or its members. Publication of information in k-Byte constitutes no guarantee of accuracy. Use of any information found in this publication is at the sole risk of the user. Neither k-Byte, nor its officers, nor its editors or contributors assume any liability for damages resulting from use of information in this publication. Submissions Articles, letters and short items of interest on computer-related topics are welcome and encouraged. All items submitted for publication are subject to editing. Send your contribution to the editor via e-mail attachment or submit on disk. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the editor for information. Copyright and Trademark Information k-Byte is copyrighted ©2008 by the Front Range Personal Computer Users Group. The k-Byte logo and the Front Range PC Users Group logo are Trademarked by the Front Range PC Users Group. Unless otherwise noted, other nonprofit users groups may reprint or quote from any articles appearing in k-Byte without prior permission, provided that: a) proper author and publication credits are given; b) that a copy of the publication in which the article appears is sent at no cost to k-Byte at the above mailing address, or emailed to contact(at)frpcug.org; and c) any additional instructions/restrictions contained in the article are followed. User groups wishing to exchange newsletters with FRPCUG are invited to send a copy of their newsletter together with an exchange request. Disclaimer IBM PC, OS/2, Compaq, HP, Dell, UNIX, Windows and other trademarks occasionally mentioned in k-Byte are registered trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Microsoft, Dell Inc., or their owners respectively. Neither FRPCUG nor its newsletter k-Byte are connected in any way with any manufacturer or seller. Acceptance by FRPCUG of donated products or services from suppliers, or inclusion of a supplier in the FRPCUG Partner list does not imply that any continuing financial support is received or expected by FRPCUG. Nor do such activities imply an endorsement of either the supplier or product or service. Such information is made available to members as a service. Use of any product or supplier found in this publication, or any FRPCUG publication, is at the sole risk of the user. Advertising Classified advertising is free to members for non-business ads. See "About Trading Post" for pricing for camera-ready display ads. Charges for ad makeup from sketches, etc., are available on request. Deadline for camera-ready and classified ads is 45 days prior to the month of publication. For example, ads for the March newsletter must be submitted by January 15th. For pricing and schedules for ad design, connect to contact(at)frpcug.org or kbyte(at)frpcug.org. About FRPCUG FRPCUG is an independent nonprofit computer society, so incorporated with the State of Colorado and open to anyone interested in Windows, or UNIX/LINUX microcomputers. Its purpose is to provide an educational and scientific forum of mutual benefit for members of the micro-computer community. FRPCUG holds a monthly meeting and conducts various special interest groups (SIGs) and seminars. Members have voting privileges, subscription to k-Byte newsletter, and access to SIGs and selected seminars. Annual dues are $25 for individual/family membership ($20 for students) and $50 for corporate/group membership. by Sandy Berger, Compukiss.com, http://www.compukiss.com/, sandy (at) compukiss.com When technology is good, it is very, very good, but when it is bad it can be truly atrocious. So it is with the hacking of Sarah Palin's Yahoo email account. The bad guys are out there using technology for their own advantage. Whether they are serious hackers who want information for devious purposes or young students who just want to show their technological prowess, this theft shows that everyone is vulnerable. The recent hijacking of Sarah Palin's email account is also a great example of how a hacker can gain access to an email account and how email accounts need to be better protected against such penetration. We currently rely on passwords to protect most of our online activity. Professional hackers often use "password crackers" to guess passwords. Anyone can easily find these hacker tools on the Internet. They can even be purchases on CD. There are wordlists for common passwords and dictionary combinations of possible passwords in a variety of different languages. These tools are all aimed at giving a person all the technical tools that they need to guess passwords. In Sarah Palin's case, however, the perpetrator didn't even have to use tools like this. A hacker identifying himself as "Rubico" claims to have been able to change the password on Sarah Palin's Yahoo Mail account quite easily. All he had to do was use her email name to log into the Yahoo Mail's interface and select the option to reset the password. Yahoo then asked him to provide her birth date and zip code, which have become public knowledge. He then had to answer her self-chosen security question which was where she met her husband. After several television interviews of Sarah and her husband, the answer to that question also became public knowledge. Sarah Palin was thrown into the public arena quite quickly, but even those of us who are not public figures may find that their passwords and answers to security questions can be easily guessed. Do you use the name of your spouse, children, pet, favorite sport, birthday, or wedding date as your password? Have you entered security questions like place of birth or favorite color that are easy to guess? Privacy as we knew it before the Internet is now a thing of the past. With the Internet, more of our lives are online than most of us realize. Many people use blogging as a past time and post information on MySpace, Facebook, and other social networking websites. Once posted, all of that information is publicly known. And the Internet is archived, so even when you remove current information, previously posted information can still be found in Internet archives. That information can be used to guess passwords and access personal information. So here are a few ground rules that may help keep your private information a little safer online: 1. Use passwords that are not easy to guess and cannot be easily cracked. (Look for more on how to choose good passwords in next week's column.) 2. Choose a security question that others will not be able to guess the answer to. Or answer the security question with an answer that you create which is not necessarily the true answer. 3. Use unique passwords, especially for important services and websites like banking sites and email. 4. Keep your passwords private. Don't leave them on a sticky note on your computer screen or keep them in an unencrypted file on your computer. 5. Change your passwords often. 6. Do not change your password by clicking on a link in an email from someone claiming to be a system administrator, bank representative, or other seemingly reputable party. They may not be who they say they are. When you want to change your password, always type in the address yourself so you know you are at the real website rather than a bogus one. 7. Use one credit card for all online purchases. This will limit your financial exposure. 8. Keep your operating system up-to-date. 9. Use a good anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. 10. Consider using an encrypted password manager program. Check the Compu-KISS website at http://www.compukiss.com/ for more information on choosing good passwords. http://www.compukiss.com/basics/passwords-how-to-choose.html This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above). 2008 Graphical Events Calendar December General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, December 2nd 7:00 PM Meeting Agenda: 7:00 to 7:15 Announcements 7:15 to 8:00 Open Forum 8:00 to 8:15 Break 8:15 to 9:00 Annual Holiday celebration, plus FRPCUG elections January General Forum Meeting We will meet at the Fort Collins Senior Center on Tuesday, January 6th 7:00 PM Meeting Agenda: 7:00 to 7:15 Announcements 7:15 to 8:00 Open Forum 8:00 to 8:15 Break 8:15 to 9:00 Screen capture/recording software See you at the meetings! Get full membership benefits. If you are not a current member, download an application from http://www.frpcug.org/memberap.htm Future General Forum Meeting Notes December is also the month for the annual Holiday celebration. Join your fellow members for an evening of conversation about computers - or any topic of interest. Coffee, tea, sodas and snacks will be provided. At the January meeting, member Rick Mattingly will demonstrate screen capture (SnagIt) and screen recording (Camtasia Studio) software from Techsmith. Screen capture utilities provide a snapshot of exactly what you see on the screen. Screen recording utilities record on-screen activity. Both can be used for training, presentations and much more. Plan to attend the meeting to find out just how useful this software can be. Future SIG's, Seminars, and Other Meetings Digital Imaging SIG The Digital Imaging SIG is a forum for discussion of digital imaging hardware and software. The meetings are held every 2nd Tuesday of the month at 7:00 PM in the Senior Center Lobby. The meeting format is informal, using the Shop Talk sessions as a basis. For more information, contact Mike Morris at twriterext(at)gmail.com. New Technology SIG The New Technology SIG provides advance support for all PC related operating system and telecommunication issues. The meetings are held at 7:00 PM on the third Thursday of each month at Bluebird Manufacturing Inc., 1421 Webster Avenue, in Fort Collins. For more information, contact Chuck McJilton at 970-493-2987. Shop Talk One-on-one assistance. Drop in to the Senior Center lobby on any Saturday (holidays excepted) from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM Board Meeting FRPCUG's executive board meets on Wednesday of the week following the General Forum meeting. All members are welcome and are encouraged to attend. These meetings are held at 7:00 PM in the Staff Board Room of the Fort Collins Senior Center. December 2008 1 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00 PM 6 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 9 Digital Imaging SIG Meeting 7:00 PM 10 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00 PM 13 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 18 New Technology SIG Meeting 7:00 PM 20 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 25 Christmas 27 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM January 2009 6 Happy New Year 3 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 6 FRPCUG General Forum Meeting 7:00 PM 6 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 13 Digital Imaging SIG Meeting 7:00 PM 14 FRPCUG Board Meeting 7:00 PM 16 New Technology SIG Meeting 7:00 PM 17 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 24 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM 31 Shop Talk 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM by Neil Stahfest, Librarian, Tacoma Area PC User Group, Washington, http://www.tapcug.org, ncstahfest(at)msn.com Most of us who upgrade to Windows Vista from an older version of Windows encounter compatibility problems. Vista doesn't want to recognize some programs as valid or authorized Windows programs even though they worked with Windows XP. Does this mean that you have to abandon them or upgrade to a new ? Vista version of your favorite programs? I wish I could say no but the real answer is maybe not. Microsoft has included something called a Program Compatibility Wizard with Vista. The idea is that, if you have an older program that doesn't work with Vista, you can use this program to automatically make some modifications to make it compatible and make it work. To access the wizard, go to Start, Control Panel and then click on Programs. Next, under Programs and Features, click on ?Use an older program with this version of Windows. This will start the wizard. Now follow the step-by-step, on-screen instructions. When you finish, try to run your program. I'm told that most programs that worked with Windows XP will work after you do this but programs that worked with older versions of Windows may not. You shouldn't try to use the wizard with disk utility programs, system programs and anti-virus programs. They usually won't work and may actually cause damage to your computer's system. While we're on the subject of compatibility and changes, let's look at the Start button, or jelly bean as some call it, in the lower left corner of your screen. Place your mouse on the right hand side of the task bar at the bottom of the screen. The box next to Hide Inactive Icons is checked by default. If you click on the Customize button to the right you will see why. You'll probably see dozens of icons listed here. Most are turned off. If you make changes and don't like the results, click on the Default Settings button and then click on OK. We're almost done with the Notification Area box. The bottom half of the box shows which system icons will show. This is a personal preference (well, so is all of this). If you are using Vista's Clock gadget you can probably uncheck the Clock function because it is redundant. I like to leave Volume checked. Its a convenient place to turn sound on and off and control the volume. I also leave Network checked. It makes it easy to see if my network connection is working. The Power option is useful if you have a laptop computer, otherwise turn it off. I think we've covered enough for this month. Are you getting comfortable with Windows Vista? I am. For those of you still using Windows XP, don't be in a hurry to change! Wait for Windows 7 if you can (coming in 2010). This article has been obtained from APCUG with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups; all other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above). FRPCUG Web Site Update Are you looking for affordable Holiday gifts? Don't forget to check the special offers on the Members Only page of the FRPCUG website. There are two new additions to the list.  The Software and Knowledge Resources page has been separated into 3 new pages: 1. Software Resources, with substantial and significant new content. 2. Hardware Resources, with new content. 3. Knowledge Resources, still your source of links to web sites that exercise the mind. Also, the Book and Software Reviews page, the Computer 911 page, the Meeting Topics page and the Partners page all have new information. How to create a sheet of labels with different information for each label using the Word "Envelopes and Labels" feature. by Mike Morris, Front Range PC Users Group, http://www.frpcug.org It is very likely that you will need to print labels with different information on each label. The need for printing a sheet of identical labels is rare (return address labels is one case). You can use the Envelopes and Labels feature to enter different names and addresses into a sheet of labels manually. From the Envelopes and Labels dialog box, select the label type you want, but DO NOT enter any information into the Address field.  Click on the New Document button. A new document is opened, with a table automatically inserted. This graphic shows a part of that document:  If you don't see the lines, click on Table/Show Gridlines. The default location of the cursor is the first table cell, in the case of this example, the top left cell (or label). Type in the information you want. You navigate to the next label using the Tab key. CAUTION: Examine that last graphic carefully. Note that there is a small space separating the two columns of blank labels. That is not always the case-it depends on the label product you choose. For this example, in order to move to the second label in the first row, it is necessary to press the Tab key twice (you can use the mouse to move from one label to the next, of course). OK. You have entered data into all the labels (14 of them in our example). Now what? There is no OK button, no Close button, and no Print button. Well . . . you just print the labels. Use File/Print, or use the Print tool on the Standard toolbar, or use Ctrl+P, whichever method you like. The document is nothing more than a Word document with a table. For a detailed, step-by step tutorial on three other ways to create labels using Microsoft Word, connect to http://frpcug.org/presentations/mailing_label_tutorial.pdf. |
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Photo Gallery This month's featured photographer: Mike Morris, using the FRPCUG GE A730 Mode = Auto F number = 4.72 Exposure Time = 1/753 seconds ISO = 80 Focal Length = 6.10 mm. Shadows at a November Noon. Copyright © 2008 by Mike Morris. All rights reserved. Send requests for copies/reprint permissions to kbyte(at)frpcug.org |
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Election season is not quite over. Elections for FRPCUG officers will be held at the December General Forum Meeting, Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008. The existing slate of officers have been renominated: |
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President: Rick Mattingly Vice President: Don Anderson Secretary: Jim Bragonier Treasurer: Virginia Febinger |  |
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Best wishes for a happy holiday season, and a happy, healthy and prosperous (a specially compelling wish this year, considering the troubled economic times in which we live) New Year.Join your fellow members at the December meeting for the annual Holiday celebration. Coffee, tea, sodas and snacks will be provided. Noncommercial Advertising k-Byte runs classified ads in Trading Post for three consecutive issues. $ - Trading Post ads up to 10 lines (or 70 words) long are free to FRPCUG members and only $10 for non-members. - $ To place an ad in Trading Post contact Rick Mattingly at 970-613-8968 or e-mail to rickmatt(at)q.com. Commercial Advertising Specifications (Per Issue) Full Page (8.5" x 11")*$50.00 Half Page (5.5" x 8.5")*$30.00 Quarter Page (4.25" x 5.5")*$20.00 Business Card (2" x 3.5")*$10.00 We ofer a substantial discount for repeat ads and continuing contracts. For an additional charge we will design your ad for you. Contact Rick Matingly for more information on this service at 970-613-8968 or email to rickmat(at)q.com. *Allow for 0.5 inch margins  The Fort Collins Senior Center The Fort Collins Senior Center is located at 1200 Raintree Drive. This site is situated at the northwest corner of the Shields and Raintree Drive intersection, on the north side of the Raintree Shopping Center, and just west of the bank building on the corner of Shields and Raintree (see map at right). Check the marquee at the main entrance for directions to the specific meeting room. |
| FRPCUG CONTACTS | ||||
| Telephone Area Code 970 | ||||
| FRPCUG Officers | Name | Work | Home | |
| President | Rick Mattingly | 613-8968 | rickmatt(at)q.com | |
| Vice President | Don Anderson | 498-3534 | 482-0943 | doande(at)gmail.com |
| Treasurer | Virginia Febinger | 498-2127 | gingercln(at)comcast.net | |
| Secretary | Jim Bragonier | 484-9061 | james.bragonier(at)comcast.net | |
| k-Byte Staff | ||||
| Editor-in-Chief | Mike Morris | 461-2002 | twriterext(at)gmail.com | |
| Features Editor | Mike Morris | |||
| Other Contacts | ||||
| Membership Coordinator | Jack Linder | 663-2151 | jack(at)frpcug.org | |
| New Technology SIG Leader | Chuck McJilton | 493-2987 | cdmcjs(at)gmail.com | |
| Digital Imaging SIG Leader | Mike Morris | |||
| Publicity | Mike Morris | 461-2002 | twriterext(at)gmail.com | |
| Door Prize Coordinator | John Goldey | 221-0877 | johngoldey(at)juno.com | |
| FRPCUG Fax Line | 493-1408 | |||
| FRPCUG Home Page w/E-Mail | http://www.frpcug.org | |||
| FRPCUG Officer E-Mail | board(at)frpcug.org | |||
| Library Request E-Mail | library(at)frpcug.org | |||
| Membership in the Front Range PC Users Group is $25 per year for individuals and $50 per year for companies. | ||||
| Mail your completed application and payment to: | ||||
| FRPCUG | ||||
| PMB 152 | ||||
| 305 W. Magnolia | ||||
| Fort Collins CO 80521 | ||||
| or join in person at the monthly meeting on the first Tuesday of each month. | ||||
