MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MEETING ON 22nd December
Viruses
Once again, the topic of viruses was raised. The best I can do is to repeat the advice I have given before.
DON'T open any attachment until you have checked its authenticity with the sender, by sending them an e-mail asking them.
DON'T view or send mail using HTML. Use plain text.
DON'T download any software from the Internet that you haven't specifically requested
DO use UP-TO-DATE Anti-virus software.
DO learn which file extensions are executable (and thus potentially dangerous) and those which are harmless.
SESSIONS IN THE SPRING
These will continue, on the 1st and 3rd Saturdays of every month. The major theme for the sessions will be basic PC theory and operation. Topics to be covered will include:
Hardware:
How a PC is constructed; how all the components work together
Disk drives - what they are, the differences, and how to use them
Memory - what is it and why aren't disks memory? Caches.
The keyboard - what do all the non character keys do?
Ports - serial, parallel, PS/2, USB, LAN
The Windows Operating System
From QDOS86 to Windows XP (via OS/2 and Linux)
The File Allocation Table. File naming conventions, especially extensions. Directories and sub-directories. Attributes.
The Command Line
The Windows GUI - the Desktop, My Computer, Control Panel, Help Files, Shortcuts.
Housekeeping (file management, defragmentation, backup).
Applications
Office software - what is a word processor, spreadsheet or database?
Web sites - how to set up your own web site.
I am hoping to give my small book, Computing for the Terrified, a facelift and bring it up to date for use in our sessions. In the meantime, if those of you who can't wait, want to download and read the previous edition, written in 1995, if only to chuckle at how much things have changed, you can do so from
http://perso.wanadoo.es/billnot/fsc.doc
Don't forget you will need to RIGHT-CLICK on the link to download it. Otherwise, Explorer will try to open it!
Sessions will start on January 19th. On January 5th, we will hold the first of our surgeries, where you are invited to ask questions about your computer, bringing it in if necessary to be looked at. If you intend to bring your computer to The Oasis, prior notice would be appreciated (but not essential). Also on 5th January we will discuss the timetable for the topics given above.
On those Saturdays when there isn't a class, there will normally be a surgery, subject to the centre (and me) being available. I will try to give as much notice as possible of those dates when there won't be a surgery.
As always, if you have anything you wish to raise with me, or any suggestions, complaints, or even compliments, please e-mail me:
billnot@billnot.com for general mail
questions@newsguy.com for questions to be answered in the Grapevine or at a session.