Danbury Area Computer Society, Inc.

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JAN 2005 Volume 16, Issue 1 At our next meeting, Jason Canty of Verizon Wireless will help you plan your trip, tell you all the words you need to know, and provide a free road map. Is it
time to
migrate
to the
Brave
New World
of Wireless
Communications? http://www.dacs.org 2 JAN 2005 2 JAN 2005 2 JAN 2005 2 JAN 2005 2 JAN 2005 P RESIDENTIAL R AMBLINGS 2 D IRECTORS N OTES 3 H ELP L INE 3 P REVIEW - V ERIZON W IRELESS 4 R EVIEW - J OHN P ATRICK 4 S CUMWARE 5 C OMPUTERS AND C REATIVITY 6 N EW M EMBERS 6 B OOK R EVIEW - H ACKING FOR G EEKS 7 S IG N EWS & N OTES 8 C ALENDAR 9 N ETWORKING (F UN ) DAMENTALS 10 C ARS , C OMPUTERS , B LINKING L IGHTS 12 C OMPUTING OF THE F UTURE 13 R ANDOM A CCESS 14 Don Neary APCUG Liaison 203-746-5538 IN THIS ISSUE Presidents File P RESIDENTIAL R AMBLINGS V ERSION 2.7 DACS, its officers and directors assume no
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CT 06810-4430. Editorial Committee Editorial Committee Editorial Committee Editorial Committee Editorial Committee Managing Editor: Allan Ostergren Associate Editor: Ted Rowland Production Editor: Marc Cohen Technical Editor: Bruce Preston Editor-at-large Mike Kaltschnee Contributors Contributors Contributors Contributors Contributors Charles Bovaird Larry Buoy Richard Corzo Jim Scheef Jeff Setaro Richard Ten Dyke R AMBLINGS , Continued on page 13 A s I write this, Im sweating over the Christmas presents I have yet to purchase. When you read this, in all probability, the New Year will have arrived and it will all be over but the post-holiday sales and my annual predictions. Lets review my unpredictions from last year. Last January I listed ten things I wished I could predict: 1. SPAM will taper off into insig- nificance after a change in the email pro- tocol that includes a means to positively identify the sender. *** Well, well, surprise, surprise! This didnt happen, but there has been some progress. Sender ID Framework (SIDF) is a measure to more accurately determine from where an email message was sent. According to a Microsoft white paper, While this is not a final solution or silver bullet to counter spam, the SIDF represents a significant indus- try initiative to detect spoofed domains, reducing both spam and phishing attacks while increasing the reliability and deliverability of legitimate email. 2. The music and movie industries will start reasonably priced online ser- vices where music and movies can be downloaded and viewed on a variety of devices. *** Again, we are close but no cigar. Low cost web sites selling music are be- coming more common following the suc- cess of Apples iTunes. While iTunes has been a success with the iPod, these products are too proprietary to really count toward the unprediction. 3. In a fit of intelligent thinking, Congress will repeal the USA Patriot Act and work to ensure our rights to privacy. *** Score one for my keen insight.
4. Congress will repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act restoring our rights to use the music and movies we have legally purchased. *** Score two, but this is like shoot- ing barrels of fish with a bazooka. 5. IBM will release OS/2 and its source code to the open source commu- nity. *** I dont understand why IBM has not done this. Perhaps Microsoft owns too much of the code. 6. Competition among high-speed Internet service providers will become so intense that speeds increase, avail- ability becomes universal, and prices drop. *** OK, I lose on this one. Char- ter Cable bumped up speeds in reac- tions to broader DSL availability and SBC countered with a speed increase to 1.5Mbps on a standard account. I could grow to like this! High speed Internet access seems to be available in one form or the other everywhere in the DACS area. 7. As part of the final verdict in the appeals trial of Norwegian program- mer Jon Johansen, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), will be forced to apologize to Mr. Johansen and reimburse him for all legal costs. *** Yes! The Norwegian courts vin- dicated Mr. Johansen. Unfortunately, they did not force the MPAA to grovel on the courtroom floor. 8. The European Union will hold Microsoft accountable for its monopo- listic practices where the U.S. judicial system failed. *** As far as I can determine, the jury is still out on this one, and the last http://www.dacs.org JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 3 3 3 3 3 Directors Notes PRESIDENT: Jim Scheef (860) 355-0034 (dacsprez@dacs.org) VPs: Gene Minasi Jeff Setaro SECRETARY: Larry Buoy TREASURER: Charles Bovaird Officers HelpLine HelpLine HelpLine HelpLine HelpLine Volunteers have offered to field member questions by phone. Please
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your name to the volunteer listing? d = day e = evening Program Program Program Program Program Name Name Name Name Name Phone # Phone # Phone # Phone # Phone # Alpha Four Dick Gingras (203) 775-1102 (d e) APL Charles Bovaird (203) 792-7881 ( e) C/UNIX/ObjC Kenneth Lerman (203) 426-4430 (d e) Clipper Dick Gingras (203) 426-0484 ( e) Dbase/DOS Alan Boba (203) 264-1753 ( e) DOS John Gallichotte (203) 426-0394 (d e) Electronics Andrew Woodruff (203) 798-2000 (d e) Focus Jim Scheef (860) 355-0034 ( e) Hardware John Gallichotte (203) 426-0394 (d e) Interface-Instrumentation Andrew Woodruff (203) 798-2000 (d e) Microsoft Access Dick Gingras (203) 426-0484 ( e) Newdeal Marc Cohen (203) 775-1102 (d e) Paradox Alan Boba (203) 264-1753 ( e) PhotoShop/Dreamweaver Anna Collens (203) 746-5922 ( e) Statistics/Data Analysis Charles Bovaird (203) 792-7881 (d e) SQL Server Chuck Fizer (203) 798-9996 (d ) Viruses Jeff Setaro (203) 748-6748 (d ) Visual Basic Chuck Fizer (203) 798-9996 (d ) HTML/Java James Costello (203) 426-0097 ( e) Windows Nick Strother (203) 743-5667 ( e) Directors dacsboard@dacs.org Charles Bovaird (203) 792-7881 cbovaird@dacs.org Howard Berger (860) 355-9837 hberger@dacs.org Marc Cohen (203) 775-1102 mcohen@dacs.org Anna Collens (203) 746-5922 acollens@dacs.org Richard Corzo (203) 797-1518 rcorzo@dacs.org John Gallichotte (203) 426-0394 jgallichotte@dacs.org Bill Keane (203) 438-8032 bkeane@dacs.org Bruce Preston (203) 438-4263 bpreston@dacs.org Jim Scheef (860) 355-0034 dacsprez@dacs.org Jeff Setaro (203) 748-6748 jasetaro@dacs.org Jamie Yates (203) 746-0892 jyates@dacs.org Committees NEWSLETTER: Allan Ostergren: (860) 210-0047 (dacseditor@dacs.org) PROGRAM / WEB MASTER: Jeff Setaro (203) 748-6748 APCUG LIAISON: Don Neary (203) 746-5538 RESOURCE CENTER: (203) 748-4330 WEB SITE: http://www.dacs.org A Regular Meeting of your Board of di- rectors was held at the Resource Center on December 13, 2004. Present were Messrs. Berger, Bovaird, Cohen, Corzo, Gallichotte, Keane, Preston, Scheef, Setaro and Yates. Also present was Larry Buoy. President Jim Scheef presided and Secretary Larry Buoy kept the record. Minutes of the last meeting held on No- vember 8, 2004 were approved. Treasurer Charles Bovaird reported current cash assets of $16,148.25, consist- ing of total bank and postal accounts in the amount of $16,101.74 plus postage on hand of $46.51. Subtracting a liability of prepaid dues in the amount of $6,325.00 left a net equity of $9,823.25. He also re- ported current membership of 368. Reviewing the upcoming commitments for presentations at DACS General Meet- ings resulted in the following: Jason Canty, a Data Specialist for Verizon Wireless, on Broadband access and alternative tech- nologies for cell phones for January and Mike Kaltschnee on blogging for February. Looking beyond those two com- mitments, various possible subjects were suggested and discussed, including: Adobe products, Science Horizons projects, pop- up digital pictures, Staples Geek Squad, genealogy, astronomy, digital image expan- sion/resolution and My Favorites shareware, freeware or utilities sessions. Jim Scheef apprised the meeting of his progress in installing JotSpot on the Linux server at the DACS Resource Cen- ter and added that Jot is developing a way to make a page public, enabling his concept of making software available for reviews. Discussion followed on the in- vestigation of running Kerio software on the Resource Centers Windows server, or alternative software on the Linux server, as a mailing list server. Also discussed was the necessity of upgrades for the server to be so utilized, and it was deemed advisable to consider obtaining a commercial grade Linux distri- bution for that purpose. L ARRY B UOY http://www.dacs.org 4 JAN 2005 4 JAN 2005 4 JAN 2005 4 JAN 2005 4 JAN 2005 Meeting Review Patricks Prognostications By Marc Cohen W E HAVE SOMETHING a little different in store for the Janu- ary 4 th meeting. Jason J. Canty from Verizon Wireless will talk about cellular technology. Jasons vantage point in the in- dustry gives him a view of how the bits and bytes work to make cell phones and other wireless devices do what they do. We have been assured that this pro- gram is about wireless and not just about one company. First Jason will explain what the various protocols are and why one might be better than another. Acronyms like CDMA, GSM/GPRS, EV-DO, EDGE and others are in the news, in advertising and even in your cell phone bill. What are these and why would we want one? Which ones work together and which are key to the new high-speed 3G services? Some phones are advertised as world phones. Does this re- ally mean they work every- where? Once we have all this speed and versatility, what will we be able to do that we cant do now? How are businesses using cellular technology? Ja- son will give us some insight into various cellular data ser- vices like email, Intranet and Internet access, order entry, telemetry applications, SFA, CRM, and more. Imagine the possibilities! Now the fun stuff: which devices do what, and with which protocols? Jason will give us the low down on PDAs, Black- berries, Smart Phones, and not so smart phones. Then there are Air Cards and Wireless Modems; what are the differ- ences and which device does what you might want? Lastly, Jason offers a Wireless Data Road Map that can fit all this into all the other types of wireless like Wi-Fi, Wi-Max and the seemingly endless wireless solu- tions seeking to solve your problems. Jason J. Canty is a ten-year veteran of the telecommunications industry with ex- perience at Global Crossing, and Cervalis in addition to Verizon Wireless where he is a Data Solutions Manager responsible for supporting all wireless data services here in Connecticut. As usual, the meeting will be held at Danbury Hospital Auditorium. Events begin at 7.00 p.m. with computer ques- tions and answers and brief club an- nouncement. The main presentation will start at 8.00 p.m. All general meetings are free and open to the public. Do not hesi- tate to invite a guest with you. For more information on the meeting, please check DACS web site at DACS.org. J IM is president of DACS Meeting Preview Cellular Wireless - Its not just Voice and Pictures By Jim Scheef J OHN PATRICK MADE his 12th ap- pearance at DACS at our December meeting. Each year John has pre- sented his image of the ever expanding view of the future of the Internet, and once again the saga contin- ued. Johns vision of the upcoming genera- tion can be summed up in few words and matches his personal- ity and work ethic fast, always on, every- where, natural, easy, intelligent, and trusted. 1. FAST From its development as a defense research project to develop an uninterruptible communication system during the cold war, to a university re- search data sharing device, and on to the current broadband Internet as we know it. Accessed through phone lines and with broadband through DSL lines, cable, sat- ellite, and in the near future through the power grid, the quest for speed continues. ALWAYS ON With broadband access, most users have be- come accustomed to having networks and systems available on line 24/7. EVERYWHERE Now, desktops, laptops, palms/PDAs, bluetooth devices and cell phonesall can be wirelessly connected to public networks, your home, your car and almost every object. Millions of busi- nesses, billions of people, trillions of de- vices, everything and everyone con- nected, secure and private. NATURAL The use and availability of the Internet is rapidly becoming as natu- ral to use as the telephone. Instant mes- saging is no longer for the kids, and is now becoming a major business tool. EASY Expanding Open standards, Linux, business and public involvement are changing the game. INTELLIGENT Content is what its all about. News,weather, sports, applications, movies, music, all the worlds libraries, bloggers, and more, await your fingertips. TRUSTED Security is constantly im- provingconstantly. Spam control, digi- tal and biometric identification, secure business transactions and privacy are all converging in this endgame. John, alwaysttrue-to-form, brought to life his visions about the power and poten- tial of the Internet and how it will advance to meet the expectations of the demanding world. He also described opportunities that are just beginning to emerge, and some of the potential limitations that may stand in their way...Limitations that are more politi- cal than technical... Unlimited free world- wide long-distance phone calls are chang- ing the thinking of the telecoms, redefining usage of copywrite material for personnel use. As always, the Q&A following Johns presentation leaves all eagerly awaiting his next appearance..... M ARC C OHEN is a member of the board and production editor of dacs.doc. He considers himself a perpetual novice, soon to join the digital revolution You can reach Marc at marco10684@aol.com. http://www.dacs.org JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 JAN 2005 5 5 5 5 5 O NE OF THE MOST frequent top- ics in this column in the past has been about the spyware which threatens our computers and the safety and secu- rity of our personal infor- mation. We should all be aware that spyware is rampant, existing on as many as 80% of our com- puters, according to me- dia reports. While it has been written here in the past that there are several excellent, reliable, and sometimes free, anti- spyware products on the market, there are also some less reputable prod- ucts pretending to be anti-spyware software. More than coincidently, many of these same dis- reputable products are marketed using meth- ods that users may consider unethical. On my office computer, which lacks the popup blocker on my home computer, I re- cently received a popup which gave the dire statement, WARNING! This computer is infected with dangerous SPYWARE which is stealing your personal informa- tion. CLICK HERE to run a free spyware scan. I am not so na

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