CyberCoyote -- January 5, 2006

NEWS

The "User Group" people from Smart Computing were here today to tell us about all the resources you get when you subscribe to one of their magazines. Their publications are written in "plain English" and there is a minimum of advertisement to clutter access. All their back issues and special publications are readily accessible online and they offer several ways to get help with computer questions, including free English-speaking phone support. Check them out:
http://www.smartcomputing.com/

If you decide you'd like to subscribe (they have a 100% money back guarantee) please use the user group page so that our club will get credit. Click on "Subscribe or Renew, and when you get down to the dropdown list for "User Group", scroll down and select "Happy Trails Computer Club" so that we get credit.
http://www.smartcomputing.com/groups -- home page for user group subscriptions

NOTES and NOTICES

Computer Kindergarten is starting next Thursday on January 12. It will have a more "hands-on" approach this season, so bring your laptop if have one. The fee is $2.00 per session, with no signup required.

Chuck Hardy will conduct a 3-day Photo Manipulation class on January 9, 11 and 13 at 1:00 - 3:00 PM. Phil Spohn will hold a 3-day Online Security class on January 16, 18 and 20 at 9:00 - 11:00 AM. The fee for either of these classes is $6.00.

Gail King will conduct two sections of the acclaimed Windows XP class. The first is scheduled on February 6, 8, 10, 13 and 15, and the other on March 20, 22, 24, 27 and 29. Both are at 1:00 - 3:00 in the computer room. The first one is full, but you might take a chance and see if somebody doesn't show up. The fee is $10.00.

TIPS and TOPICS

A tip for our budding website builders. :-) Something was missing from our class notes -- cheat sheets. They may be just what you need to remind you how to get what you want from HTML and/or CSS. I've added links to the cheat sheets under "More Sources" in the updated class notes.
http://cybercoyote.org/classes/website/class-notes/index.html

SECURITY

Be careful out there: Anti-malware programs are like people. They fall along a continuum that ranges from magnificent, to average, to phony, and ending in malicious. The offensive ones are often loud as well. Here are examples of both kinds.
http://cybercoyote.org/url/153.html -- the bad stuff
http://cybercoyote.org/url/154.html -- the good stuff

INTERNET

You probably know that "Google Maps" work much better than old-style online maps do. Well, I think Yahoo! has done them one better. You'll see things there that you won't find anywhere else. Be sure to try some of the options off on the left-hand side when you get there. Hint: you can minimize the mini-map (upper-right corner) by clicking the right-pointing arrow in its left margin.

Yahoo! Maps is built on the new MacroMedia Flex platform for Flash. (You'll need Flash 7 or greater.) Yahoo!'s source for the underlying cartography seems to be the same as Google's. Not that there's anything wrong with that. BTW: If you have it installed, the "Adblock" extension will keep Yahoo! Maps from loading in Firefox. :-(
http://www.ysearchblog.com/archives/000209.html -- announcement
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta -- Yahoo! Maps Beta
http://cybercoyote.org/url/143.html -- description
http://maps.yahoo.com/beta/features -- features

DIVERSION

Snowball Fight! Pack 'em tight and let 'em fly (and don't hit Santa).
http://www.elfmovie.com/swf/snowball_fight/index.html?

Scores of 360 degree panoramas from a helicopter and on the ground. "Click and drag" to rotate the view. Zoom in on areas of interest. [broadband - a Larry Stanford find]
http://www.bigeyeinthesky.com/

Dumbest dog you'll ever see.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8689366181727845562