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PUSH Articles - January 2016

Black Fridays Matter by Greg Skalka, Under the Computer Hood UG (Approx. 1761 words). The holiday shopping season is over. Now stores are crowded again, this time with people trying to return gifts they received. Of course, there were also after-Christmas sales, New Year's sales and every other excuse for a sale that the merchants can come up with between now and next November. Still, Greg believes the sales that matter most in terms of discounts to consumers, especially for computer and technology items, occur on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving.

Brokestuff Mountain by Greg Skalka, UCHUG (Approx. 1579 words). One of his greatest fears is broken stuff. As an engineer, his days are filled with problem solving, which often involves trying to figure out why something does not work as expected. At home, he's looked upon as the builder and fixer of the family. Read about Greg's experience 'fixing' things at home.

Choosing the Right Computer by Melanie Birnborn, Century Village Computer Club (Approx. 391 words). Choosing a computer can be a daunting task, especially with the large range available in the modern market. In this article, Melanie tries to narrow down your choices, making it easier to find a product that will best suit your needs.

Designing and Maintaining Websites by Dick Maybach, Brookdale Computer UG (Approx. 1549 words). Many organizations, including BCUG, can no longer justify the costs of printing and mailing newsletters, and as a result they rely on a website to keep their members informed. Individuals also use them to communicate their activities to families and friends, as they allow more presentation flexibility than say Facebook. As a result, you may be decide (or be asked) to design and maintain a website. What approach should you use, and how can you get started?

Digital Photography Tips and Tricks by Spike Smith, North Texas PCUG (Approx. 1658 words). Avoid the "Let me do it for you," as the perpetrators of these schemes cannot see what you see, simply because they are not you. Lean how to avoid the pitfalls of following arbitrary sequences that will be messy to overcome later.

Downloading vs. Streaming - What's the Difference? by Phil Sorrentino, The Computer Club (Approx. 1020 words). Downloading is something most of us do, almost without thinking about it. Streaming is something we rarely do, unless we watch a lot of movies from YouTube or another such video streaming service. Read about info on both of these topics.

Enliven Documents with Themes by Nancy DeMarte, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 805 words). If you often find yourself creating documents in Word or spreadsheets in Excel, you probably use the same font and layouts most of the time. Do you create a Theme? Find out how with this article.

Google and TP-Link are introducing a new router for the smart home by John Pearce, Pikes Peak Computer Application Society (Approx. 339 words). As you might expect from Google, the OnHub TGR1900 is not your average router……

How to manage passwords and use Dropbox, Meeting Review by Mike Hancock, Golden Gate Computer Society (Approx. 834 words). LastPass is a powerful and flexible password manager that keeps your login information secure without your having to memorize all of it. He also covers how to use DropBox.

How to save money on accessories by Bart Koslow, Channel Islands PCUG (Approx. 337 words). Bart doesn't spend much money on accessories - find out how.

Insert and Sign…no need to Swipe - EMV Credit Cards by Phil Sorrentino, The Computer Club (Approx. 1189 words). By now, we have all heard of credit cards with chips. In fact, you may even be carrying one in your wallet or purse. The nationwide shift to these new credit cards is well underway.

Interesting Internet Finds- September by Steve Costello, Boca Raton Computer Society - 323 words

Interesting Internet Finds- October by Steve Costello, Boca Raton Computer Society- 297 words

Interesting Internet Finds- November by Steve Costello, Boca Raton Computer Society - 339 words

Internet Browser Tools by Jim Cerny, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 935 words). The Internet is a tremendous resource for everything. It is probably the number one reason for having a computer - to get to the internet.

Mac Tips by Ernie Cox, Computer Club of Green Valley (Approx. 82 words). As usual, some great tips from Ernie.

What to Expect in Microsoft Office 2016 by Nancy DeMarte, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 807 words). Amid all the hype about Windows 10, another Microsoft product has been released: Office 2016…..

Musings of an Apple Tyro - October Lorrin Garson, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society. Lots of Apple tips - 863 words

Musings of an Apple Tyro - November by Lorrin Garson, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society. Lots of Apple tips - 937 words

Musings of an Apple Tyro - December by Lorrin Garson, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society. Lots of Apple tips - 828 words

My Chrome Away from Home by Greg Skalka, UCHUG (Approx. 1670 words). Greg wrote this article while on his summer vacation and he is really enthusiastic about his Chromebook.

New Year, New Predictions by Greg Skalka, UCHUG (Approx. 1091 words). Greg made some predictions last year and thought he should be held accountable for his prognostications from 2015. He also has some predictions for 2016.

Organizing Digital Photos by Jim Cerny, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 1231 words). Many people have been using digital cameras and computer devices to take photos and you probably take your Smartphone with everywhere anyway, so you always have a camera with you. But, how do you keep your photos organized?

Record Your TV Shows - How-to Options by Phil Sorrentino, The Computer Club (Approx. 1004 words). It seems like TV shows are rarely aired at a convenient time, or they have so many commercials, during which you could easily lose the story line. Hence the tremendous market for Digital Video Recorders - there are options.

Streaming Media by Len Nasman, Bristol Village Computer Club (Approx. 365 words). Streaming Media refers to the process of receiving either audio or video files on a computer, TV, or a portable device. If you have watched a YouTube video on your computer, you have used streaming video….

Tips for Printing a PowerPoint Presentation by Nancy Demarte, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 602 words). Nancy shows us the various ways we can print our PowerPoint presentations.

Upgrade to Win 10 - or Not? by Don Coon, Computer Club of Green Valley (Approx. 349 words). If you haven't already upgraded to Windows 10, what should you do?

A Twisted View by Geof Goodrum, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society (Approx. 273 words). When you are using your laptop with its landscape-view monitor, have you thought of using another monitor in portrait mode? See how Geof does it.

Website Technology by Dick Maybach, Brookdale CUG (Approx. 1175 words). As you browse websites on the Internet, the processes that produce the screens on your computer are much more complex and interesting than you probably think and require ongoing conversations between local and remote software.

What to Expect in Microsoft Office 2016 by Nancy DeMarte, Sarasota TUG (Approx. 807 words). Amid all the hype about Windows 10, another Microsoft product has been released: Office 2016…..

Word Preview Pane and Cursor Size - ICON Computer Users Group Q and A by Mary Phillips (Approx. 371 words). Mary gives us two tips to make using Word easier.

Apple and Amazon to Vie for Best Streaming Device by Sandy Berger (Approx. 401 words). Amazon's Fire TV with Alexa, the voice assistant of the Amazon Echo built-in. Siri provides an intelligent voice serch for the new Apple TV.

Backups are needed for all devices by Bart Koslow, Review Chair, Channel Islands PC Users Group, CA The most important single maintenance action you can take to protect your computer is to make regular, at least weekly, image backups to an external hard drive - 621 words.

808 Thump Bluetooth Speaker by George Harding, Tucson Computer Society (Approx. 348 words). This is an amazingly small Bluetooth external speaker. But what a sound!

Acronis Disk Director has many new tools by Bart Koslow, Channel Islands PCUG (Approx. 1270 words). Past versions of Acronis Disk Director that Bart had used were programs to create and manage disk partitions of basic Windows hard drives. He was pleasantly surprised to see that ADD has been expanded in scope to the point that it has become a powerful set of tools to optimize your disk data and protect it.

Acronis True Image Cloud a major advance by Bart Koslow (Approx. 1168 words). Acronis True Image Cloud is the latest update of the Acronis Back Up and Recovery program. Bart has used it for many years and in the past found it to be the best program of its type available. This update is a major advance…..

AUD Mini6 Party by George Harding (Approx. 539 words). When you have a party, you want music. And how do you get it? Not with your iPhone, at least not if you want to hear it above the party noise. Instead, you use the AUD Mini6 Party external Bluetooth speaker.

FreeCast and RabbitTV by George Harding (Approx. 270 words). Last year, George received a card for free registration for FreeCast. It's a source for free TV, movies, radio, sports, games and more.

Jam Audio Transit Earbuds by George Harding (Approx. 305 words). The Jam Audio earbuds have a few features that make them outstanding.

My Digital Photography for Seniors by Charles Flum, Boca Raton Computer Society (Approx. 481 words). There are many seniors who are technologically challenged as they did not grow up with all the gadgets available to us today. This book is an introduction to the wonderful world of digital photography, aimed at seniors, but applicable to anyone just starting out.

Open Source Software of the Month - October by Geof Goodrum, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society - October (618 words), November (811 words), December (369 words). Geof provides information about many OSS programs.

Open Source Software of the Month- November by Geof Goodrum, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society - October (618 words), November (811 words), December (369 words). Geof provides information about many OSS programs.

Open Source Software of the Month- December by Geof Goodrum, Potomac Area Technology and Computer Society - October (618 words), November (811 words), December (369 words). Geof provides information about many OSS programs.

National Association of Broadcasters by George Harding (Approx. 628 words). NAB is an interesting show. If you've ever wondered how they do that stuff on TV, this is the place to find out.

ScreenGuardz with The Crown by George Harding (Approx. 306 words). So you bought a new smartphone and want to protect the screen from scratches and other damage. Consider ScreenGuardz for this.

The Dark Net: Inside the Digital Underworld by Jim Scheef, Danbury Area Computer Society (Approx. 1893 words). Cyberspace is often divided into distinct parts. The news media does this every day, providing convenient compartments into which they stuff everything from politicians to television programs to even criminals.

Topaz Review, Part 2 by Mark Mattson, Computer Users Group of Erie From Mark: If some editors can't use entire parts of this series, they are perfectly welcome to use individual parts of it broken up over longer periods of time... such as doing one plug-in for a single issue, or doing several over random issues. I try to write them so they can stand alone if need be, so if someone wants to go that route, that's fine by me.

Topaz Review, Part 3.zip by Mark Mattson, Computer Users Group of Erie From Mark: If some editors can't use entire parts of this series, they are perfectly welcome to use individual parts of it broken up over longer periods of time... such as doing one plug-in for a single issue, or doing several over random issues. I try to write them so they can stand alone if need be, so if someone wants to go that route, that's fine by me.

Topaz Review Part 4.zip by Mark Mattson, Computer Users Group of Erie From Mark: If some editors can't use entire parts of this series, they are perfectly welcome to use individual parts of it broken up over longer periods of time... such as doing one plug-in for a single issue, or doing several over random issues. I try to write them so they can stand alone if need be, so if someone wants to go that route, that's fine by me.

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