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Sydney PC User Group Incorporated ~ Members helping Members for over 22 Years ~ Visitors are always welcome
WEEKLY SIG MEETING UPDATE 26 APRIL - 2 MAY 2009
1st Floor Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts 280 Pitt Street, Sydney http://www.sydneypc.com   Upcoming SIG'S   3 May - 9 May 2009 Friday Seniors Communications   PMA Australia 2009 Imaging Technology Expo Register on line to save the $20 entry fee.   Firefox Add Ons   Thunderbird Add Ons           Spacepilot 3D Pro Fancy Mouse Maker Connexion A mere $499 - from Logitech	Hello and Welcome, Once again it is time for the Annual General Meeting, at which time the elections will be held to elect your Committee Members. It has been a good year with the SIG Leaders giving their best efforts in keeping the members up-to-date on the challenging aspects of computers. The Main Meetings have consisted of high calibre presenters and the raffle prizes have been generous.  No Club would exist if it were not for the volunteers who work quietly behind the scenes, all-in-all it has been a great year. After the elections we will  have a short break for a cup of tea, then return for the Microsoft presentation of Windows 7. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tuesday 28 April - Main Meeting - 6 pm - 8 pm Microsoft's "IT Pro Evangelist", Jeff Alexander, is coming to give us all a good look at Microsoft's next Windows operating system, Windows 7.  Having enjoyed brilliant reviews thus far, unlike the much maligned Windows Vista, Windows 7 builds upon all the important foundational changes that Vista made, but brings back a lot of the performance goodness XP users have enjoyed for years, delivering the 21st century operating system Windows users have been waiting for.   Jeff will start by giving us a demonstration of a Windows XP machine being easily upgraded straight to Windows 7, and while that is happening, we'll learn about several Windows 7 features, including the brand new Win 7 task bar, the jump lists, Aero Peek, Snap and Hover, the new Action Centre and the advances in Internet Explorer 8.  Jeff will also explain some of the business oriented features including Federated Search, Libraries, Direct Access, Bitlocker To Go and the very nifty "Problems Steps Recorder".  Jeff will naturally also answer any of our questions and, as usual, there will be some great prizes to win on the night through the raffle, which should include some Microsoft software and/or hardware. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Saturday 2 May - Penrith - Frank Bowman - 3 pm - 6 pm St Clair High School, Endeavour Avenue, St Clair This afternoon we will start with the usual Q and A session around the table, where we share problems and tips. Then we will experiment with Paragon Partition Manager in creating and removing hard disk partitions. As well, we will also start constructing a simple website using only HTML coding, including adding a basic guest book. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Firefox is given a thorough workout Colin Bolton put Firefox 3 through its paces at Tuesday's Seniors SIG, leaving no one in doubt as to why it has recently become the browser of choice for increasing numbers of users around the world. Many agree it is far more secure and versatile than either Internet Explorer 7 or 8 while weighing in at half their file size. Having used Firefox for a number of years, Colin was well able to explain its many practical features . He also demonstrated some of the plug-ins he has installed on his laptop to make browsing suited to his needs. Colin said there are hundreds of plug-ins available which can easily be down-loaded for trial, then either enabled for use, disabled for future use or deleted. Colin then answered a number questions about Firefox before being given a warm round of applause by the very appreciative members. For more insight into Firefox 3, check out the 12 must-have add-ons for Firefox 3  -  The Download Blog - Download.com. jl ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tip of the Week On Screen Keyboard There can be a security risk when one uses the keyboard to enter banking/credit card and other confidential information, especially if your computer has been infected by a keylogger - a program that records your keystrokes. The risk can be minimised, by using Microsoft’s Onscreen Keyboard, by holding down the Windows key and tap 'r' to launch the run box, type in 'osk' and click OK, the above keyboard appears on your screen and stays in the foreground. Using the Onscreen Keyboard to enter your private information by using mouse clicks instead of keystrokes, as you are not using your keyboard, keyloggers cannot track what you are doing.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Please remember if your e-mail address is changed for any reason at all, unless you tell me your new address then you will not receive these weekly updates! Any change of address should be notified to changedetails@sydneypc.com So until next week,  Cheers Elaine   Please e-mail this newsletter to all your friends. Simply click Forward, add their e-mail addresses. Then click Send
Information for Members and Visitors:    Sydney PC User Group's FREE newsletter:     Subscribe          Send to Friend          Un-subscribe   Go to Sydney PC User Group's:   Website         Events Calendar        Please note that all Meetings, except where specifically stated, are held on the 1st Floor, Sydney Mechanics' School of Arts, 280 Pitt Street, Sydney.