ACS PCUG - 1999-10 Meeting Report

October 1999 Meeting Report
by Howard L. Bonar
Secretary, Alaska Computer Society

The October 14, 1999 meeting of the Alaska Computer Society was held at its regular location at Providence Hospital starting at 7:08 pm.

Questions and Answers

President Gene White opened the meeting with the question and answer session.

We had several good questions with spirited discussions but they came so thick and fast this reporter couldn't keep up. What follows is the best I could do.

Who has a good source of Analyzers for checking the Y2K bug. Two good places to start searching are www.Y2K.gov and www.state.ak.us/y2000.

BIOS patches for Y2K. Check your computer manufacturer's web page for the latest information on your equipment.

Does anyone have any recent experience with AMD chips? Looking for an opinion on their suitability for an upgrade. Best guess is that they will do just fine in most cases.

A member installed a cable modem in addition to his dial-up connection and now neither one works. The easy answer is to delete or disable the dial-up and then get the cable modem working. Once that is done then reinstall the dial-up paying particular attention to interrupts and addresses. The second answer was more complex and takes some good luck in figuring it out.

What is the best way to print on canvas. One answer is the availability of a canvas made especially to run through a printer. The second option was to print the image to a special iron-on decal paper then transfer onto the canvas. (Your software has to be able to reverse the image for printing.)

Meeting

The official meeting started at 7:20 pm. President Gene White introduced the board members, SIG (Special Interest Group) leaders and volunteers present.

Howard Bonar reported on the ACS booth at the Information Technology and Business Expo at the Egan Center on Sept. 30 and Oct. 1st. Special thanks to the volunteers who helped staff the booth. They were Deanna St. Louis, Ed Stondall, Fred Erickson, Leroy Williams Pat Kapella, Matt Childs, and Dawn Scott. Ed Caldwell loaned the computer that was used and Dawn Scott prepared the slide show that was displayed on it. Gene White was in charge of the set-up and take-down. A great team effort that gave us the opportunity to meet a lot of new people and present the ACS program to a wide audience.

Winners of the ACS drawings for PC Speaker sets were: George Genco, Bob Kramer, Keith & Holly Hawkings, Lynne McCarter; Suzanne D. Baker, and Paul Ingels.

Howard Bonar introduced a new volunteer opportunity. Our member Katsumi Kenasten is a full-time unpaid volunteer for the Alaska Mental Health Association. She is the web master for their web page at http://AKMHCWeb.org and has done a great job on it.

Since that wasn't enough to keep her busy, she applied for a grant and got the money to put in nine computers and software for a computer training classroom for their clients. The organization operating the computer class room is called the Alaska Mental Health Consumer Web Inc.

It is intended to help in job therapy and also as a place where anyone can go to gain access to computers and the Internet. The computers are set up in a homey atmosphere where people can come and relax, have some refreshments, and upgrade their computer skills.

The place is open from morning until late evening. Katsumi tells me she is putting in 12 hour days and needs some more help. If anyone is looking for a place to spend some quality time helping people in need, this is a great opportunity.

You can call Katsumi at 222-2980 or stop in at the class room at 619 E 5th Ave. Suite 212. It's on the North (right) side of the street. The entrance is from their parking lot on the West side of the building. Stop in or give her a call if you are interested

Winner of the evening's door prize, a copy of SnagIt, an advanced screen capturing utility, by TechSmith Inc. was won by Al Sundquist. Couldn't happen to a nicer guy.

The Presentation

Dr. David B. Hoffman of Hoffman & Associates, an Anchorage Consulting firm, made the evenings presentation on handheld computers. Dr. Hoffman is a retired University of Alaska Fairbanks professor who has brought his expertise in business administration to Anchorage where the most action is.

At first look, it would appear to be a simple matter to select a PDA (Personal Data Assistant) or hand held computer. It turns out that there are a number of important factors which will have an important bearing on what will be the best choice for 'YOU'. There is no one easy answer.

MAKING YOUR SELECTION

First if all, you must identify what your needs are and what all you want to do with the device. Typical uses for the devices are: Calendar, Day planner, Contact Address and Phone Book, Consumer Information, Expense Tracker; Access for Corporate data bases via networks, and E-mail client. At this time, none of the PDA's have a built in browser available.

Once you have identified your needs, then go shopping and look at the following:

Look at the screen: Is the information display clear enough for you to read it in your ambient light conditions?
Consider your software needs: What kinds of programs will you want to run on the device?
Check the data input system: Does it use keyboard, stylus, touch-pad, etc.? Will you be able to easily and efficiently input your data?
Power demands: How long will it run with the kind of use you are planning for it? Will you need extra batteries or power adapters frequently?
Data storage needs: A major factor in your selection. Not only the amount but security issues are also important. Will it accept removable data storage devices? What capacities?
Interfacing with the world: Will you be transferring data between your PDA and your desktop on a frequent basis? Will you need access to a LAN or the Internet?
Video output: Will it interface with external video displays for power point presentations etc.?

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Most PDA devices use a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computing) based CPU and the Windows CE operating system. This is a stripped-down version of Windows which allows using software which require Windows. One other system available is called "Agenda".

SUGGESTIONS

Get your name on the case and on the screen - be able to identify it for certain. Get spare batteries.
Get a padded case with plenty of spare pockets for stuff.
Get plastic covers for the screen and touch-pad.
Back up you data using a FlashCard or SmartCard.
Get a spare stylus.
Consider getting some removable plug-in ROM for data security.
Be sure and reset the system clock when traveling both going and coming home.
Put together a cleaning kit to keep the case, screen, and touch pads clean.

MAXIMIZE BATTERY LIFE

One of the more troublesome constraints of using a PDA is running out of battery when you are traveling. To extend the useful life of each battery charge, try these hints.

Set the auto-dim delay and auto-off options to the lowest acceptable intervals.
Set the screen brightness to the lowest comfortable setting.
Lower the speaker volume to the lowest intelligible setting.
Use the power adapter when plugging into other devices such as the partner PC and modems.
Save to internal memory as much as possible as memory card use takes more power.
When using a PC card, select not to have it on battery power if not needed.

SO WHAT ELSE IS NEW

There are a lot of new toys out there to make your life more interesting and fun as we become a mobile planet. How about a hand scanner, a 2 meter ham radio with camera; a smart phone pager, satellite beeper to receive calls anywhere in the world; GPS and email; Casio's GPS in a wrist watch. In addition, removable memory devices are offering substantially larger capacities.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SOURCES

For articles and comparisons of the various devices check out these sites:

To check on specific products, visit the manufacturer's web sites at these addresses:

End of October 1999 Meeting Report

Page last updated 2000-09-17