The Monthly Edition Of The k-Byte Newsletter

V. 28, No. 12, December 2011

Users Helping Users

Contents

•   1 What Does "Firewall" Mean?
•   2 About k-Byte
•   4 Bluetooth—Not a Dental Diagnosis or a Rare Tooth Problem
•   6 Calendar of Events
•   7 The Two Month Activities Calendar
•   8 HDTV Resolutions 720p and 1080p Explained
•   9 Photo Gallery
• 10 Tip of the Month
• 11 FRPCUG CONTACTS
• 12 Directions and Map to the Fort Collins Senior Center

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Meeting Previews on Page 6

December: Holiday Celebration



January: Computer Protection and Maintenance

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Quote of the Month

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Success. Four flights Thursday Morning. All against 21 mile wind. Started from level with eingine power alone. Average speed through air 31 miles. Longest 59 seconds. Inform press. Home Christmas

Orville Wright [December 17, 1903]

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What Does "Firewall" Mean?

by Leo Notenboom, http://articlesbyleo.com/

The bottom line is that a large class of viruses and other types of malware can be prevented simply by using a good firewall.

What's a firewall? Well, in your car it's the "wall" of metal behind the dashboard that sits between you and the engine. Its purpose is to prevent engine fires from roasting you and your passengers.

A firewall for your computer is much the same—its purpose is to keep you from getting burned.

A firewall is at its core very simple: it blocks or filters certain types of network traffic from reaching your computer.

What do I mean by "certain types"? There's network traffic you do want to reach your computer: like the pages of web sites you visit or the software you might download. And then there's other traffic you might not want like malicious people or computers trying to access your computer remotely or viruses and worms trying to infect your machine.

A firewall knows the difference. It lets the good stuff in and keeps the bad stuff out.

Firewalls can also usually be configured; they can allow you to say "this kind of connection from the outside is OK". A good example is remote desktop. A firewall may by default block any attempt to connect via remote desktop. But you can also configure the firewall to allow that type of connection to come through. Doing so you would be able to access your computer from another computer, be it across the room or across the internet. But even though you've allowed one type of traffic—remote desktop—other types of traffic like certain types of viruses are still blocked.

Some firewalls will also monitor outgoing traffic for suspicious behavior.

One characteristic of many viruses is that once you're infected they attempt to establish connections to other computers in order to spread. Many software firewalls will detect and either warn you or simply prevent those attempts.

And that leads to a very important distinction. There are two types of firewalls: hardware and software.

A hardware firewall is just that—a separate box that sits between you and the internet that performs the filtering function. Traffic that is filtered out never even reaches your computer. Even the least expensive broadband router can perform the function of a firewall quite nicely. The downside for a hardware device is that most will not filter outgoing traffic.

A software firewall is a program that runs on your computer. It operates at the very lowest level, as close to the network interface as possible, and monitors all your network traffic. While all network traffic still reaches your machine, the firewall prevents malicious traffic from getting past it and on to the operating system. The firewall prevents your system from actually noticing or doing anything with malicious traffic.

The good news is that all versions of Windows after XP have a software firewall built in, and all versions after Windows XP SP2 have it turned on by default. In fact, the security center will take steps—perhaps even annoying you in the process—to ensure that the firewall is either turned on or that you're aware of the risks in not having it turned on.

The bad news is that a firewall can't protect you from everything. A firewall is focused on protecting you from threats that arrive via malicious connection attempts over the internet. A firewall will not protect you from things you invite onto your machine yourself such as email, attachments, software downloads and removable hard drives.

But even so, protecting from those network threats is important.

In general, I recommend a hardware firewall such as a broadband router and leaving the Windows firewall turned off. However, regardless of your approach, be it a router, be it the Windows firewall, or be it some other software or hardware solution, some kind of firewall is always a necessary part of keeping your computer safe when connected to the internet.

Get more free tech help and advice from Leo Notenboom by visiting http://ask-leo.com. With over 30 years of industry experience, including an 18 year career as a software engineer with Microsoft, Leo gives real answers to real questions from ordinary computer users at Ask Leo! Subscribe to Leo's newsletter at http://ask-leo.com/leos_answers_newsletter.html

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About k-Byte

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. If you have questions about a submission, please contact the editor for information.

Copyright and Trademark Information

k-Byte is copyrighted ©2011 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 MAC, Apple Computer and other trademarks occasionally mentioned in k-Byte are registered trademarks of International Business Machines, Inc., Hewlett-Packard Corporation, Microsoft, Dell Inc., Apple Computer 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.

About FRPCUG

FRPCUG is an independent nonprofit computer society, so incorporated with the State of Colorado and open to anyone interested in personal computers using any operating system: Windows, Linux or MAC, and digital hardware (such as music/video players, smart phones, etc.). Its purpose is to provide an educational and scientific forum of mutual benefit for members of the community regardless of knowledge level. FRPCUG holds a monthly meeting and conducts various special interest groups (SIGs) and seminars. Members have voting privileges, subscription to the 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.

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Bluetooth—Not a Dental Diagnosis or a Rare Tooth Problem

by Phil Sorrentino, Sarasota PCUG, http://www.spcug.org, president (at) spcug.org. Originally published in the Sarasota PC Monitor, the newsletter of the Sarasota PCUG

Bluetooth is the name given to a technology that uses short-range radio links, and is intended to replace the cable(s) connecting portable and/or fixed electronic devices. The vision is that it will allow for the replacement of the many propriety cables that connect one device to another with one universal radio link. Its boasts such key features as robustness, low complexity, low power and low cost, and it was designed to be operated in noisy frequency environments.

Bluetooth is a communications standard for interconnecting electronic devices and is defined by the Bluetooth specification. Bluetooth uses a form of data packet switching, a technology that is used to transmit digital data via a wireless communications link. Bluetooth operates in the unlicensed ISM (Industrial, Scientific and Medical) 2.4GHz frequency band, and avoids interference from other signals by hopping to a new frequency after transmitting or receiving each packet. Here is a little history, for you tech history buffs, to show how long Bluetooth has been around. Work on Bluetooth was started in 1994 by two Ericsson Corporation engineers, and the Bluetooth 1.0 specification was released May 1998. Version 1.0, with a data rate less than 1 Mb/s, had many problems, and manufacturers had difficulty making their products interoperable. Bluetooth 2.0 was released November 2004 with a faster data transfer rate (approx. 2.1Mb/s). And finally, Bluetooth 3.0 was released April 2009 with a date rate of up to 24Mb/s with improvements and new features and is the current standard.

Bluetooth uses a radio technology called frequency-hopping spread spectrum which chops up the data being sent and transmits chunks of it on up to 79 different frequencies. Bluetooth provides a way to connect and exchange information between devices such as Smartphones, laptops, personal computers, printers, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, digital cameras, video games, and others.

Bluetooth is an open, wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances between devices, creating a personal area network (PAN). It was originally conceived as a wireless alternative to the old serial RS-232 data cables. Bluetooth is a network and thus can connect many devices, unlike RS-232 which was strictly serial point-to-point. Bluetooth is primarily designed for low power consumption, with a short range. Three ranges are defined in the standard, 100 meters (Class 1), 10 meters (Class 2), and 1 meter (Class 3). Because Bluetooth devices use radio (broadcast) communications, they do not have to be in line of sight of each other. Bluetooth makes it possible for these devices to communicate with each other and transfer information as long as they are in range.

Both Bluetooth and Wi-Fi are examples of wireless technology that use the unlicensed 2.4GHz frequency spectrum. Both have many applications in today's offices and homes such as: setting up networks, printing, connecting cooperating devices, and transferring data files among computers and smart devices. Wi-Fi is intended as a replacement for cabling for general local area network access in work areas. Bluetooth is intended as a replacement for cabling among equipment in close proximity. Wi-Fi is intended for use in equipment as a wireless local area network (WLAN). Bluetooth is intended for use as a smaller, personal area network (PAN).

A PC uses a Bluetooth adapter in order to communicate with other Bluetooth devices. While some desktop computers and most recent laptops come with a built-in Bluetooth adapter, others require an external adapter, usually in the form of a Bluetooth Dongle. Bluetooth allows multiple devices to communicate with a computer over a single adapter. For Microsoft Windows platforms, Windows XP Service Pack 2, Vista, and Windows 7 all have native support for Bluetooth. (Previous versions required users to install their Bluetooth adapter's own drivers, which were not directly supported by Microsoft.)

Some of the more common applications of Bluetooth are:

• Wireless control of and communications between a mobile phone and a hands-free headset. This was one of the earliest applications.
• Wireless communications with PC input and Output devices, the most common being the mouse, keyboard and printer.
• Replacement of traditional wired serial communications used in: test equipment, GPS receivers, Medical equipment, bar code scanners, and traffic control devices.
• Between game consoles such as Nintendo's Wii, and Sony's Playstation and their respective controllers.
• Between video camera and remote monitor in Baby Monitor Systems.
• Between Garage Door Opener Motor and Remote Garage Door Opener Controller.

As you can see from this list, there are many reasons for computer devices to communicate with each other. Here is a quick computer communications concept tutorial. When any two devices need to communicate, they have to agree on a number of things before the communication can begin. The first point of agreement is physical: Will they talk over wires, or through some form of wireless signals? If they use wires, how many are required; one, two, eight, 25? Once the physical attributes are decided, additional questions arise, such as how much data will be sent at a time? For instance, serial ports send data 1 bit at a time, while parallel ports send several bits at once. And, how will they speak to each other? All of the devices in an electronic network need to know what the bits mean and whether the message they receive is the same message that was sent (i.e. checksums at the end of a message).

This means developing a set of commands and responses commonly known as a Protocol. Bluetooth is essentially a networking standard that defines these two levels, physical and protocol. Bluetooth protocols simplify the discovery and setup of services between devices. Before any communications can take place between two Bluetooth devices, they have to be paired. In order to pair two Bluetooth wireless devices, a password (or PassKey) has to be exchanged between the two devices. A Passkey is a code shared by both Bluetooth devices, which proves that both users have agreed to pair with each other.

A very brief description of Bluetooth pairing is as follows: Bluetooth Device A looks for other Bluetooth devices in the area. Bluetooth Device A finds Bluetooth Device B. Bluetooth Device A prompts you, the user, to enter a password (or PassKey). Bluetooth Device A sends the Passkey to Bluetooth Device B. Bluetooth Device B sends the Passkey back to Bluetooth Device A. At this point, Bluetooth Devices A and B are paired and able to exchange data. Data between the devices will be accomplished wirelessly, over-the-air, a great boon to those who dislike the "rats nest" of wires typically found behind electronic devices.

So, although dentists probably cringe when they hear the term, with all the computer devices you may have or are thinking of getting, there's probably a Bluetooth in your future.

The Front Range PC Users Group Board of Directors wishes all members and their families a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday season.

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Calendar of Events

To check on FRPCUG events in 2012 using a familiar graphical calendar format, connect to the 2012 Graphical Events Calendar

See you at the meetings!

Get full membership benefits. If you are not a current member, download and complete a Membership Application. Mail the completed application and your payment to the address listed, or better yet, bring the application to the next meeting.

Future General Forum Meeting Notes

The activities for the December meeting are the election of officers and the holiday celebration. Sandwiches, (non-alcoholic) drinks and probably some traditional holiday treats will be available.

The January meeting presentation will focus on aspects of computer protection and maintenance from the perspective of paranoia and fact. Protective strategy and software ratings will also be considered. Aspirins will be served as needed.

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.

Technology SIG

The 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 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.

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The Two Month Activities Calendar

For a view of all FRPCUG activities in 2012, in a traditional graphical calendar format, connect to the Graphical Events Calendar

Calendars created with HTML Calendar Maker Pro

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HDTV Resolutions 720p and 1080p Explained

by Sandy Berger, CompuKISS, http://www.compukiss.com, sandy@comupkiss.com

If you go into the store to purchase a new television these resolutions will be prominently displayed. However they might not be as important as you think.

This is especially true if you are moving into the world of HDTV for the first time. Compared to an old standard TV, just about any HDTV will look spectacular, no matter what the resolution. Many experts in the field will tell you that they consider things like contrast ratio, color saturation, and color accuracy to be more important than resolution.

That said, when you choose a HDTV, the resolution will be the first thing you see when you start shopping. The resolution is the number of pixels on the screen. All other things being equal, more pixels will produce a better, sharper image. A 720p television has 1280 horizontal pixels and 720 vertical pixels. A 1080p television has the same number of horizontal pixels (1280) but has 1080 vertical pixels, essentially giving you more detail in the picture. The "p" stands for progressive scanning which is superior to another scanning technique called interlaced scanning, which is represented by an "I". You don't have to worry about the "I" or the "p" because most televisions sold in the US today use progressive scanning.

1080p is the best resolution available today and you will pay a premium to get it. Having a 1080p TV, however, is only good if you have 1080p content to show on the TV. Unfortunately, currently there are no over-the-air television broadcasts in the United States that are transmitted in 1080p. Although television stations and cable and satellite providers have the ability to transmit in that resolution, few are willing to take that step because 1080p transmissions take up a lot of bandwidth. At this time there are only a few satellite provider that utilize the 1080p format and these are strictly limited to their pay-per-view movies.

So most people will find that the only way to enjoy the full details of a 1080p television is to purchase a Blu-ray DVD player. Blu-ray disks are formatted in the full 1080p resolution and will show off the full potential of a 1080p TV.

Whether you purchase a 720p or 1080p television, standard-definition content won't necessarily look any better. Although, depending on the television, the signal may be upconverted to make it look better. In some geographic areas, you can get hi-def signals over the air. You can also get hi-def stations through cable and satellite providers.

If you don't want to purchase a Blu-ray player, you can still use your old DVD player and your old movies will look better than ever. Standard DVDs, which are 480p in resolution, will be upconverted by a HDTV and will look noticeably better on a HDTV, whether it is 720p or 1080p.

One other thing needs to be taken into consideration when talking about resolutions. In order to see the extra detail that a 1080p TV provides, the screen size must be quite large. That is why HTDVs are generally quite a bit larger than the old standard definition televisions. Also, you need to site close enough to the TV for your eyes to actually be able to see the extra details.

This is where it gets a little confusing. Basically, unless you have a very short distance between you and the TV, you will need a larger screen with 1080p than with 720p. That's one reason why most televisions in smaller screen sizes will be 720p rather than 1080p. Even with 1080p Blu-ray disks, the 1080p quality only begins to become noticeably better as the screen size increases.

You can see from these details that although 1080p is the premium resolution, 720p TVs are a lower-cost option, and may be perfectly fine depending on your needs.

Besides the options like plasma, LCD, LED, 720p and 1080p, there are plenty of other specifications that you can look at when purchasing an HDTV. Higher end televisions will also have things like better contrast ratios, extra HDMI ports for attaching additional equipment, and Internet connectivity. Higher ends LCD and LED TVs will also have higher refresh rates and better backlighting.

If you want the best hardware, look at the 3-D TVs. You may not want 3-D in a television. If you are like me, you may not even like it, but 3-D TVs have higher hardware requirements and will, in effect, be the best televisions, even without the 3-D.

Not everyone will want or need the best or costliest HDTV. Fortunately there are sizes and models available to suit the needs of almost everyone.

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Photo Gallery

This month's featured photographer:

Bert Broekstra using a Nikon D7000 camera

Longs Peak Panorama

Camera Settings:

Mode = Auto/Aperture Priority, F Number = 18, Exposure time = 1/30 seconds, Focal Length = 40.00 mm., ISO = 160,
White Balance = Manual/Cloudy, Stitching Program = Hugin, HDR Program = Luminance HDR

Copyright © 2011 by Bert Broekstra. All rights reserved. Send requests for copies/reprint permissions to kbyte(at)frpcug.org.

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Tip of the Month

by Allen Wyatt, Sharon Parq Associates, http://www.sharonparq.com/ and http://www.tips.net/

Capturing a Screen in Word 2010

I can't tell you the number of times I've needed to add a quick screen shot to my documents. I'm apparently not alone, since Microsoft has added a new screen capture function directly into the Word 2010 ribbon. There are actually two ways that you can insert a screen capture: an entire window or just a portion of the screen. Regardless of which type of capture you want to do, you should prepare your screen show that it shows what you want to capture. To capture an entire window, follow these steps:

1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
2. Click the Screenshot tool, in the Illustrations group. Word displays small thumbnail images of all your open windows.
3. Click the window you want inserted.

That's it; Word displays the captured screen in your document. If you don't want to capture a whole window, you can grab just a portion of the screen by following these steps:

1. Display the Insert tab of the ribbon.
2. Click the Screenshot tool, in the Illustrations group. Word displays options you can choose, including the same small thumbnail images mentioned earlier.
3. Click Screen Clipping.

At this point the Word window is minimized and a "gauze effect" appears over the screen. The mouse pointer also changes to a crosshairs. You can click at the upper-left corner of the screen portion you want to capture and then drag the mouse to the lower-right corner. When you release the mouse button the captured image appears in your document.

There are a few instances where the new Screenshot tool is not that handy. For instance, if you need to capture a screen (or portion of a screen) that shows the screen state during the middle of an operation, then it isn't great. The tool gives you no "setup time" to prepare, say, dropped-down options or a menu prior to making the capture. In those (and a few other) instances, a dedicated screen capture program may be a better choice.

Copyright © 2010 by Sharon Parq Associates, Inc. Reprinted by permission. Thousands of free Microsoft Word tips can be found online at http://word.tips.net.

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FRPCUG CONTACTS
Telephone Area Code 970
Title	Name	Work Phone	Home Phone	E-mail
FRPCUG Officers
President	Mike Morris		461-2002	twriterext(at)gmail.com
Vice President	Mike Loughlin		416-5824	mlough(at)frii.com
Treasurer	Chris Ingham		226-9055	chris.ingham(at)hotmail.com
Secretary	Chuck McJilton		493-2987	cdmcjs(at)gmail.com
k-Byte Staff
Editor-in-Chief	Mike Morris		461-2002	twriterext(at)gmail.com
Features Editor	Mike Morris		461-2002	twriterext(at)gmail.com
Other Contacts
Membership Coordinator	Jack Linder		663-2151	jack(at)frpcug.org
Technology SIG Leader	Chuck McJilton	491-1011	493-2987	cdmcjs(at)gmail.com
Digital Imaging SIG Leader	Mike Morris		461-2002	twriterext(at)gmail.com
Publicity	Mike Morris		461-2002	twriterext(at)gmail.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

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Directions and Map to 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.

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