Newsletter Comments from SCScompA

Newsletter Date: September 23, 2001

Welcome to my monthly newsletters. Well.... Once again, I delayed the newsletter to mid-month. If you have not seen the August newsletter (it had been delayed to mid-August) please take a look at it in its final format when you have a chance.

Then.... shortly after mid-September -- I was affected by the mid-Sept. 2001 computer virus. I discuss this a little later on this newsletter.

As an immediate comment: I recommend you immediately (if you are not already "protected") try to protect your PC environment with the latest anti-virus software and also upgrade your system to the latest Microsoft patches if you a Windows' user.

In any case, as a result of all this, my current-month's newsletter will be shorted than usual -- and: Late. Very late... I apologize!

I encourage you to browse earlier SCScompA newsletters if you have not already done so, and to send me any comments/questions/concerns that you may have regarding material presented in these newsletters.

Let's begin, as usual, the newsletter with a couple of scanned (I use a Microtek ScanMaker V6upl) comics.

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We Sometimes Say One Thing and Mean Another

Sometimes we say one thing -- but, we mean something completely different. In the following case, both persons probably were satisfied, at the end!

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Another: We Sometimes Say One Thing and Mean Another

And, another example of saying one thing and actually meaning another....

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I hope you have a good month of using -- and, I wish you have continued success with -- your home computing systems.

Contact me regarding any matter in this newsletter that causes you concern or you want to otherwise discuss.

Regards,
Dave Shogren
eMail to: SCScompA@aol.com

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An Important Matter

I mentioned in this month's introductory comments that my home PC was affected by one (or more...) of the September 2001 computer viruses.

This was a first, for me. And, I fully understand that my being affected by a computer virus is not important/critical as compared with other matters that came up around the world in September, 2001 and previous times.

However, a few comments follow and I will leave this matter alone.

  • I use Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional, as I have mentioned in earlier newsletters.

    I am not "naive" enough to believe that I was "protected" against computer viruses just because I was using Windows 2000. However, I was more-or-less a believer that if you did not download files/etc. from an eMail or from the Web: I was reasonably safe.

    Not true.

  • By simply "opening" (in America Online: "Read" New Mail and opening the indicated mail) -- the virus that affected me could be activated.

    In such a case, a "virus checker" would not have done me much good.

  • Even if I had a virus checker active, I would have been affected.

    However, I highly recommend: Get a good virus checker immediately. I did.

  • Use the virus checker.

    And keep the virus checker up to date. As up to date as possible! I do. Now.

  • If you are a Windows user, I recommend you Once in awhile.... Weekly? Monthly? check with the Microsoft Web page regarding security and "patches" for your Windows' operating system.

    I do this, have done this in the past, and will try to do this more often.

  • Back your user files up. Weekly? Monthly? I have mentioned this in many of my newsletters and I cannot emphasise enough how important this is. Does it take time to back up your user files? Yes. However, Please take the time to back up your user files. Today. Then, decide how often you want to back up.

None of this is easy for the home user. I understand that. I understand, as well, that other than a backup strategy/approach/implementation of your user files -- the typical home user will not take care of much of this.

Just, do what you can -- and, if you need assistance, have someone assist you. Yes, you may have to pay for that assistance once-a-month or so. In my case (SCScompA) I charge $25 per hour for assistance. How many home user customers have I assisted in anything related to this topic? Zero.

However, if any of you are located within driving distance of Raleigh, NC, and this topic is of value to you: Contact me and I believe we can work out a mutually beneficial strategy for you. Others of you: Find someone you trust and have a discussion with that person on this topic.

Again: Please back up your user files!!!!!

With regards to my earlier comments about eMail and eMail safety/etiquette:

I recommend you add to your eMail approach:

  • Do not even Open eMail from an addressee you do not know. Just delete the eMail. Perhaps, if the sender does not hear from you, he/she will try to contact you by phone.

    If you have a business (such as I do) this is difficult to control. In many cases we want to hear from people/users we do not know. Up until September, 2001, I felt comfortable opening eMail from users I do not know. Now? I delete the eMail. Even this, however, may not be sufficient -- but, I recommend you take this "delete without opening" approach for now.

  • Do not even Open an eMail that has obviously been forwarded to you -- even if that note is from an eMail address/person/contact you know! Delete the message without opening it. If the forwarded note was important the person can contact you by phone, etc. sometime -- or ask you in person "Did you get the note I forwarded you"? Then, you can say "No! I tossed it away" but, please tell me now in person what the note said.

    This sounds "impossible". However, do that.

If you do not have a virus checker now active on your PC, get one.

Keep your virus checker up to date. Daily? Weekly? Monthly? You decide.

Back up your user data.

Even if you are a home user.

Contact SCScompA regarding the above discussion: I am interested in your comments and in knowing if the topic fits your needs. I also have lab exercises that assist you in better understanding the approaches used if you have need of such assistance.

This Month's Example of Viewing Scanned and/or Digital Camera Pictures using HTM (Web page) parameters.

In many of my newsletters, I show a few examples of using an HTM-type approach at sharing photographs or other material including scanned images with family/friends.

This month I discuss/show examples of:

  • The results of taking pictures-of-pictures, inside, using a digital camera and natural light.
  • Multiple, anotated pictures using PaintShop Pro to build the resultant image.
  • An example of scanning something using "RGB Colors" and RGB Colors 48-bit".
  • This month's Great Golf Hole.

To see this month's example click on: This Month's Photograph Examples from SCScompA.

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Don't hesitate to contact scscompa@aol.com with any comments on the above or for any related discussion. -----------------------------------------------------------------

Don't hesitate to contact scscompa@aol.com with any comments on the above or for any related discussion.

Miscellaneous Comments Regarding Home Computer Use Matters that Came Up in August/September

  • Miscellaneous matters.

    This month, I will leave this matter alone. Please see the above comments and comments from previous SCScompA newsletters if you have not followed their progress.

Have a good, maintenance-free time until we talk again.

Contact SCScompA if you have any comments or questions about the above.

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Freecell Game/Deal of the Month
We continue, in our household, doing Freecell deals from 1-to-32000! We will NOT accomplish this task. We know that. However, as we go along in our for-fun-effort, yet frustration... I will mention once in awhile specific Freecell deals we find challenging.

Note: If you are running your PC on Windows 98, it is possible you have to specifically install Freecell. Just install Accessories/Games.

Let me know if this Freecell game and the number of times we had to restart to solve the deal is about what you find. If you are going to attack deals 1-to-32000 and want to interact with us in that regard, let me know what thousand-or-so you are going to start with. We have completed deals through 2000. Now, we are attacking 2001-to-3000 and I would recommend you start with 3001! At the rate we are going (a little more than 100 deals a month) it will only take us 22 more years to complete the 32000 deals without your help. If you let us know what you have completed, it will take us less time!

I am adding to this column in the newsletter a few "special" games that we found during the month.

  • Deals we completed in one start and view as "easy"-but-still-fun games this month:
    Freecell Deal Numbers: 2007, 2015

  • Other deals we found interesting-and-not-too-hard this month (number of times to restart is in parentheses):
    Freecell Deal Numbers: 2001(0), 2017(1)

  • A different type of deal was:
    Freecell Deal Number: 1996.
    Number of times I had to re-start to complete in lost-count moves: 5

  • Deal 598 continues to be the most difficult one we found in deals 1-2000.

  • Deal 1123 is the easiest deal, in our opinion, that we have found so far.

Let me know how YOU do!

If you want to see our list of Freecell Deals 1-thru-what we are working on now and our comments on how many times we had to restart the deal to find a solution, let me know -- or click on: SCScompA Freecell Table of Completed Deals

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To contact me about anything on this Web page, please: send mail to: SCScompA@aol.com

Or send snail-mail to:

SCScompA
P.O. Box 58223
Raleigh NC 27658
USA

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