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General Meeting
by By Eric Saca - December 02, 2000 at 01:23:57:
In the afternoon, after Jeff Levy completed his live radio broadcast from Irvine Hall, he provided us with a hilarious and interesting computer discussion during the Main Meeting.First, we had Random Access. A member asked if we from NOCCC could receive discounts on the hard drive defragmentation program VOPT. (Cathy Margolin had reviewed the new version in the October Bytes, page 16.) George said to e-mail the company (from the VOPT website) and tell them you were referred by George and Cathy Margolin. They’ll give you a discount.
George noted that Marian, wife of Jim Karsjens for 53 years, had recently passed away. Those of us who knew her as a marvelous person and long time Orange Bytes Proofreader helping her husband publish the Bytes for the last few years, will miss her.
The main raffle items were noted – a USB scanner and a 250 MB USB Zip drive. Alan Pearlman had donated the Zip drive, since his birthday was coming up. (Alan tries to give for his birthday, while others are just content to receive.)
When Jeff Levy came up for his discussion, George offered him the microphone. He declined because of his natural ability to project enough for everyone to hear.
Jeff said that he loves user groups and will do whatever he can to support them. He is even putting up a link to NOCCC on his website. He also mentioned that on this website, there are pages and pages of computer discounts.
He opened up the floor to the audience so.the discussion would be driven by member questions..
These are some of the questions our members asked Jeff (along with his answers):
Q. How did you get started with computers and radio?
Jeff explained that he started with computers in the early 1980s with the TRS-80, then the Apple II, then CPM machines before he moved on to IBM PCs and compatibles, using DOS and Windows operating systems. Then he described how he worked with the people at KFI and convinced them that he could put on a successful radio show on computers.
He wants people to get one important concept out of his show— that it’s okay to say you are a beginner.
With that, Jeff also mentioned an interesting website—www.ask.com – where you can type in any question and the people responsible will attempt to answer it.
Q. What do you think about the Internet?
It is a reflection of our society. We may not realize it, but the Internet’s content reflects our interests and concerns as a society.
Soon, access to the Internet will be entirely free.
Q What are your favorite types of PCs?
Gateway, Dell and especially Micron. Jeff had asked all three vendors, in the capacity of a researcher, if he could take a tour of their facilities. Micron was the only one that took him seriously.
When he arrived in their city— Boise, Idaho—they picked him up from the airport. Then he toured their manufacturing facilities and got a first-hand look at the steps they take to ensure quality in their computers. (These all come with a 5-year warranty on the processor and a 3-year warranty on everything else.)
They sold him a PC, with the condition that if he wasn’t satisfied with it, he could send it back in a few months to get a full refund. He never took it back.
Q. What do you think of the Internet security issue?
There are actually two main Internet security issues: keeping your personal computer safe from the wrong people accessing it and keeping your credit card safe when performing a financial transaction over the Internet.
The first issue, keeping your computer safe, is a firewall issue. The better your firewall is, the better protected you are.
As for the second issue, keeping your credit card safe, there are no guarantees. Criminals are becoming more and more clever about intercepting credit card information on-line. If you are not comfortable with the thought of risking your credit card information, do not use the Internet to make purchases. Go to the nearest store or phone in your orders instead.
Q. What types of computer technologies do you think people will be using in the future?
People will have glasses that are monitors. They will just put them on to see what they are doing on their PC.
Voice-recognition systems will be widely used. Despite the voice-recognition mechanisms built into the Pentium IIIs, that technology is still not quite ‘ready for prime time.’
People will also be using cell phones and cordless modems more prevalently in the future.
Q. What types of flatscreen monitors do you recommend?
Sony and NEC are the best. Other good ones are Viewsonic and Mag.
Q. When did you get started with your Q&A article in the Los Angeles Times?
April 2000.
Q What is mainly responsible for the price difference between desktop and laptop computers?
Miniaturization. The special flat-screen LCD monitor is also pretty costly.
Q What do you think is the best notebook computer – on a budget?
Fujitsu.
Q. How do you keep up with the latest technology and the computer industry in general?
No life! Jeff spends quite a bit of his time researching – reading magazines and newspapers, surfing the Internet, attending conventions and seminars, playing with new equipment.
Q. What do you like better – Internet Explorer or Netscape?
Both are good web browsers. They get the job done. Jeff prefers I.E. because it works well with Microsoft Outlook, his e-mail program.
Q. What do you think of Linux?
It is Unix on steroids. People speculated that it would take over the industry and end up replacing all other operating systems because it is free. That will never happen. Linux won’t take off unless Bill Gates adopts it.
Bill Gates earns $500 a second, Every second, by the way.
Q. How can we improve the efficiency of Internet Explorer?
Work on how much hard drive space is used for its temporary files. Come up with an optimum percentage. Also, ensure the Windows swap file is the right size.
Q. What do you think is a good Internet phone program?
DialPad is all right. Internet telephony is a technology still in its infancy.
During the discussion, Jeff mentioned a good website for kids—www.studyweb.com.
He completed the discussion with two big suggestions on improving Windows 98 performance. First, he suggested turning off Desktop Animation – Windows will come up much faster. Second, he suggested reducing the recycle bin size from 10% to 1% and thus, conserving hard disk space.
In the course of the discussion, it was noted that Jeff often performs a special service – at times when he can’t solve PC problems over the phone during his radio show, he has been known to go out and actually visit listeners homes to help them solve their problems.
For the remote radio broadcast, George mentioned that the cost of Jeff’s technical staff that day was donated by his advertisers. However, NOCCC paid the very reasonable amount required for the installation of the ISDN line that was required.
In the middle of Jeff’s discussion, we had our very first silent raffle. The winning ticket numbers were written on the board and people claimed their prizes in silence. This happened because an unfortunate member became ill and had to be taken to the hospital by paramedics. To keep things running, we had the raffle silently while the paramedics did their work. We’re happy to report the member recovered later that day and returned home from the hospital that afternoon. She’s feeling well now.
Next Meeting—We’re expecting a great meeting with our friend Randy Wittle of MGI. He’ll be showing us the latest PhotoSuite 4 software AND the new VideoWave software for editing Video Tapes. Good stuff and Always — great NOCCC special discounts on this excellent software. Great Raffle Prizes, too!
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