SLO Bytes Newsletter - September 2009 - PUSH Article Descriptions

Dot Crime Manifesto, by John Lundgren This is a book review of the above hard cover book, which has a subtitle (in upper case) of HOW TO STOP INTERNET CRIME.

Built it, Fix it, Own it - A Beginner's Guide to Building and Upgrading a PC, reviewed by Joe Mizer, a member of NOCCC (North Orange County Computer Club, CA) Approx. 754 words. This book, published by QUE, is a good guide to understanding a PC from the inside out. Building a PC is easier than selecting stereo and video entertainment equipment for your home; you decide on the features you want and the performance level desired. In both situations, the components inside a PC such as the mother board, memory, disk drives, optical drives, sound cards, and video cards all have standard interfaces and, when connected, become a PC inside the case you selected.

Cyber Crime Fighters: Tales from the Trenches, reviewed by Steven M Brietbart, Director, NOCCC, CA (Approx. 1,145 words). The Internet has become an entity where all of the old evils are amplified and expanded, and new evils have been created. This book explores many, if not most of the crimes committed using the Internet.

Google Docs 4Everyone, reviewed by John Krill, a member of NOCCC (Approx. 450 words). Let's be honest, I really didn't think I needed a manual to learn Google Docs. I was wrong. The first chapter alone game me information on Google accounts that I've already taken advantage of…..

How to Be a Geek Goddess, reviewed by Sandy Berger, CompuKISS (Approx. 442 words). This book doesn't advocate that a Geed goddess is someone above eve3ryone else. She says that being a Geek Goddess is "a simple matter of embracing the incredible innovation that's going on in our times and harness it for our own purposes." And, Christina understands the differences between how men and women look at, and deal with, technology.

iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind, reviewed by Bayle Emlein, Secretary, PC Community, CA (Approx. 723 words). In iBrain, Dr. Gary Small addresses the differences between the mental processes of "digital natives" and "digital immigrants." Natives are those born after 1980 who have never known the world without computers and the rest of us are digital immigrants.

"Mr. Watson Come Here, I Want to See You!," written by Lou Torraca, President, The TUG, MOAA User Group, Hawaii (Approx. 1,903 words). If only Alexander Graham Bell had known about APPS! for the Smartphone, etc.

Optimize Your PC, written by Jon Jackman, President, Fox Valley PC Association, Illinois (Approx. 821 words). Using free programs to optimize your computer.

Speed it Up! A Non-Technical Guide for Speeding Up Slow Computers, reviewed by Gordon Strickland, a member of NOCCC (Approx. 886 words). Almost anyone would like his computer to run faster. This book may, therefore, be regarded as being aimed at a very wide potential readership. It discusses measures for restoring the performance of a computer whose performance has degraded from what it was originally and hardware modifications to enhance its performance perhaps even over the original.

The Cathedral & the Bazaar, reviewed by Sean Henderson, a member of the Danbury Area Computer Society, CT (Approx. 394 words). About 10 years ago a very inspiring book was published by a famed hacker by the name of Eric S. Raymond. Now having read the book I can see where much of the book and the Revolution OS documentary dovetail.

The Electric Jalapeno: A new system via Windows 7 - Comments, written by Charles W. Evans, Reviews Editor, HAL-PC, Texas (Approx. 502 words). One of Charles' toughest, but most rewarding, responsibilities is to review a computer system. The subsystems are not as difficult because they are specific. However, with the introduction of Windows 7 he thought it was time to review an advanced system powered by the new Windows.

The Electric Jalapeno: A new system via Windows 7 - Reviews, by the Reviews Team, HAL-PC, Texas (Approx. 5,412 words). The team reviews 11 subsystems in no particular order - from CPU cooler to an existing video board and high-end hard drives and all devices in between!

The Electric Jalapeno: A new system via Windows 7 - 11 Figures

Web Video: Making It Great, Getting It Noticed, reviewed by Iris Yoffa, a member of the Tucson Computer Society, Arizona (Approx. 687 words). This book's 321 pages contain an extensive array of basic to quite-involved information, tips, online resources, explanations of relevant technologies, and production techniques, approaches in an entertaining format.

Wolverine F2D Slide Scanner, reviewed by Joe Nuvolini, Pikes Peak Computer Application Society, Colorado (Approx. 580 words). Over the years, Joe has amassed over 3,000 slides and wanted to scan them into his computer but, up to now, had not seen a scanning product that would allow me to get the job in a reasonable time. Enter the Wolverine F2D Slide Scanner.

These articles have been provided to APCUG by the author solely for publication by APCUG member groups. All other uses require the permission of the author (see e-mail address above).