3 Word Tools That Provide Quick Help by Nancy DeMarte, 1st VP, Sarasota Technology Users Group, FL (approx. 1,010 words). Nancy tells us how Show/Hide, Margins, and Format Painter work.

10 Tips for Online Shopping Safety by Sandy Berger, compuKISS.com (approx. 657 words). Amazingly, in today’s topsy-turvy world, because of vulnerabilities in the processing of credit and debit cards used at retail stores and the hackers who are focusing on those vulnerabilities, right now shopping online can actually be safer than swiping your card at a local store. Sandy gives us 10 rules we should follow.

A New Android Tablet – Now What? by Phil Sorrentino, Staff Writer, The Computer Club, Inc., FL (approx. 1,299 words). You just got a new Android tablet. (Isn’t the look of a brand new tablet wonderful, it is so shiny and lacking finger prints.) Phil takes you through setting up your new Android tablet.

Book Review: Galaxy S4 – The Missing Manual by Steve Costello, President / Editor, Boca Raton Computer Society, FL (approx. 315 words). Steve finds O’Reilly’s Missing Manual series of books very informative and finds this book no exception. It’s well worth the investment of time and money to get the most out of your Samsung Galaxy S4.

Could You Save By Changing Fonts? by Ilona Merritt, Editor, The Journal of The Computer Club of Sun City Center, FL (approx. 712 words). Did you know that the more fonts that are used in a document the more the eye has to adjust and causes one’s eyes to tire easily – perhaps the person stops reading and your work going into the waste basket. Ilona researched Times Roman, Century Gothic, Garamond and Minion. Each font described is written in that typeface and all are at 12 point. Perhaps you will change the font(s) you are using.

Disable Images in Browsers (PC and Android) by Carol Picard, Webmaster / Newsletter Editor, Midland Computer Club, MI (approx. 436 words). When low-speed Internet connections were the norm, turning off images in web browsers was often done so pages would load faster. With high-speed connections more common, there may not be as much concern about images in web pages but there still might be times when you don’t want to have the images display. Carol gives us the steps to disable images in Firefox, Google Chrome, IE, as well as some of the Android browsers.

The Economics of XP Conversion by Russ Merritt, Secretary, The Computer Club, Inc., Sun City Center, FL (approx. 773 words). With the Microsoft decision to drop all support of their XP operating system, those still using XP face the decision of what to do. Do nothing? Convert to Windows 7? Or to Windows 8? Or buy a new computer. This article covers various scenarios for your members’ XP computers.

Back to Basics – Finding Programs on Your Computer by Jim Cerny, 2nd VP, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 977 words). When you turn your computer on, Windows (the maser supervisor program, also called the “operating system”) starts and, after a few moments your start screen called the Desktop. This is where you begin using your computer and decide what you want to DO with your computer – that is, select what program you want to run.

“Free Speech” on the Internet, and More by Diane Fahlbusch, President, ICON PC User Group, Long Island, NY (approx. 1,376 words). Social networking has allowed people to express themselves to either select people or to the public. Unfortunately, many posters do not exercise restraint, claiming it is their “right.” Diane quotes the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and asks – But does this give one the complete freedom to say whatever, whenever and however one wants?

Google Voice by Dick Orenstein, Member, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 918 words). Google Voice is a free telephone number you can direct to forward calls to any other telephone number. In addition, you can block calls, receive transcribed messages, and do numerous other activities.

Helium Backup, a review by Frank Ramsey, Editor, Akron Canton PCUG, Ohio (approx. 1,678 words). The Helium of this review is a backup program for Android phones and tablets. It’s available in the Google Play sore, both free and paid editions. An Android device can have multiple objects to backup: phone history, phone contacts, SMS messages, system settings, customizations (Wi-Fi networks, etc.), and applications and application date. Are you backing up your Android device?

The Hidden Tabs in MS Office by Nancy DeMarte, 1st VP, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 738 words). Unless you are a frequent user of programs in MS Office version 2007 or later, it’s easy to become overwhelmed by all the commands on the Ribbon. Nancy has news for us – the tabs along the top of the ribbon contain only the tools that were determined by studies to be used most often for everyday tasks. There is a whole other group of tabs in Office programs which appear only when needed. Called Contextual tabs, they are one of the most useful additions to the newer Office versions.

How Safe Are Wi-Fi Hotspots? by Larry McJunkin, The Retired Geek Tech Tips for the Non-Tech “Over 50” Crowd (approx. 711 words). Many of us travel a lot, whether for business or just to visit our families and friends. We use our computers, smartphones and tablets in hotels, restaurants, and other places, but are these Wi-Fi “Hot Spots safe?

Imagine Processing Software, Part 2 by Dick Maybach, Brookdale Computer Users’ Group, NJ (approx. 1,359 words). Dick’s first article discussed photo retouching using GIMP. This one covers why you need a program for raw files such as RawTherapee.

Imagine Processing Software, Part 3 by Dick Maybach, Brookdale Computer Users’ Group, NJ (approx. 1,274 words). This part covers two specialized techniques, panoramic and high dynamic range (HDR) images. Both involve combining several separate images into one.

Interesting Internet Finds 6-14 by Steve Costello, Boca Raton Computer Society, FL (approx. 332 words) – June, July and August 2014.

Interesting Internet Finds 7-14 by Steve Costello

Interesting Internet Finds 8-14 by Steve Costello

IoTMT (Internet of Too Many Things) by Greg Skalka, President, Under the Computer Hood User Group (approx. 1,599 words). The Internet of Things (IoT) describes a situation in which everything is networked together on the Internet. All that interconnection holds the promise of greater efficiency, knowledge and control in our lives. At that point, however, will humans get to use the Internet anymore, or will we have reached the Internet of Too Many Things? Is there too much stuff on the Internet now?

Open Source Lab – KGeography by Cal Esneault, former President of the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA and leader of many Open Source Workshops and SIGS (approx. 421 words). For those who use KDE (K Desktop Environment), a very popular set of Linux software, there are many useful application available through the KDE Community website. In KGeography, you first choose the country map you want to investigate. After selecting the map of the desired country, a larger map is displayed along with a side panel consisting of several categories for you to test and build your geographical knowledge.

Looking for an MP3 Player with Wi-Fi? by Carol Picard, Editor / Webmaster, Midland Computer Club, MI (approx. 747 words). Carol has been using a Samsung Galaxy Player 4 for a music player and also for a few apps, e.g., calendar, contacts, shopping list, etc. It had access to Google Play Store; recently the battery started discharging completely every couple of days. Replacing the battery didn’t help. Carol takes us through her journey to find a device for her music, etc.

The Mac Corner – May / June 2014by Danny Uff, Lehigh Valley Computer Group, PA (approx. 819 words). This is really Danny’s Mac column but he did something that he swore he would never do again…he bought a Windows 8.1 computer. He ran into a brick wall with the Mac and had to go back to the “enemy” again. He tells us a little bit about having to use a Windows PC again.

Back to Basics – Many Ways to Get Help by Jim Cerny, 2nd VP, Sarasota Technology User Group, FL (approx. 686 words). As with any tool with so many options, computers offer us so many applications that it is easy to become confused and need help. Fortunately, many of these “options” that computer have available are those that are supposed to help us. He has some ideas for us for getting help when we get stuck.

Merging Photos by Larry Piper, President, Midland Computer Club, MI (approx. 399 words). Ever see a row of photos at the top of a Facebook or website page? I’ll bet it crossed your mind that this would be a good idea for one of your own projects and that it will take a powerful photo editing tool, most likely Photoshop. Enter IrfanView that Larry uses as a fast image resizer.

Music and Video Files: Modify Them to Your Needs by Phil Sorrentino, Staff Writer, The Computer Club, Inc., FL (approx. 1,116 words). Music and video files that you produce with your video camera, or voice recorder, are not always exactly what you want. Why not try Movie Maker to modify your video clips?

OTG Cable/Adapter (On-the-Go) by Frank Ramsey, Editor, Akron Canton PCUG, Ohio (approx. 228 words). How do you accomplish the transfer of files between a mobile device and your PC? There are a number of methods and Larry writes about a couple of them.

PhotoScissors 1.0 by Teorex, Synopsis and Meeting Review by Jim Fromm, Editor, The TUG, MOAAA Computer User Group, HI (approx. 897 words). PhotoScissors is a utility that lets you remove portions of a photo. Jim gives us an overview of the program as well as how it was demonstrated at their meeting.

Ramblings – Uninterruptible Power Supply by Jack Fischer, Director/Communications, The Computer Club, Inc., FL (approx. 172 words). Do you need a UPS? Might be a good idea.

Review of the WOW! Computer by Jon Mazur, President, CPUser Group, PA (approx. 782 words). How many of you think computers are still hard to use? Jon thinks he has the answer for you – the WOW! Computer from FirstStreet.

Safe Travels, a proof-of-concept project lets you boldly go where you’ve never been before by Gabe Goldberg (approx. 1,127 words). Proof-of-concept (POC) demonstration projects can blaze a trail, doing something on a small scale, for the first time, but perhaps changing basic assumptions and potentially influencing an industry or the world. One recent example was the privately launched Dragon supply capsule reaching the International Space Station; the early mainframe Linux implementations represent another.

Review: San Disk Ultra Dual USB Drive – Android file transfers made easy by Frank Ramsey, Editor, Akron Canton PCUG, OH (approx. 385 words). Your first questions might be -- what is a dual USB drive and why might it be useful? Frank explains both questions.

Open Source Lab – Software Management for Mint by Cal Esneault, former President of the Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA and leader of many Open Source workshops and SIGS (approx. 351 words). For convenience, most Linux distributions pre-compile source versions of programs into binary form so they will run immediately on your PC. They will typically provide a software manager program with appropriate links to the repository. Cal covers his Linux Mint Software Manager.

Strolling Down Memory (Core) Lane – Museums and online resources help preserve computing history by Gabe Goldberg, APCUG Advisor, Region 2 / Gabriel Goldberg Computers and Publishing, Inc. (approx. 1,260 words). Gabe had very mixed feelings the first time he saw computer technology he’d used in his career exhibited as museum artifacts. It’s interesting and instructive touring real-world and virtual computing museums, lovingly created and maintained by generations of professionals—many of whom designed, built and used the equipment written about and show. Gabe provides us with many resources for us to tour.

Book Review – “Talking to Siri: Mastering the Language of Apple’s Intelligent Assistant” (3rdEdition) reviewed by Gilbert Ialongo, Webmaster, Los Angeles Computer Society, CA (approx. 667 words). Siri is an intelligent voice-controlled personal assistant which works on Apple iOS and OS X devices. Siri accepts spoken commands and provides answers and recommendations using a natural language or showing results from web searches.

Book Review – “Talking to Siri: Mastering the Language of Apple’s Intelligent Assistant” (3rdEdition) reviewed by Cheryl Wester, Program Chair, Temecula Valley Computer User Group, CA (approx. 322 words). This is a really fun book to read and play with. It shows you how to use and take full advantage of Siri and all of the features it has. Cheryl had no idea that Siri was capable of doing much of this and had been using it for quite some time. She’s a high school math teacher and often used Siri for simple match problems but found it can also graph!

The Tip Corner – June 2014 by Bill Sheff, Chair, Grants Committee and Co-leader, Novice SIG, Lehigh Valley Computer Group, PA (approx. 1,805 words). IE Script Errors, Disk Imaging, File-based Backup, or Synchronization – which one should I use?, Disk Imaging, File-based Data backup, File Synchronization, and some programs to consider.

The Tip Corner – July 2014 by Bill Sheff (approx. 1,515 words). You don’t need the Http://www. Portion of a web page URL plus A Few Windows 8 Tips.

Open Source Lab – Tomboy Note-Taking Software by Cal Esneault (approx. 419 words). Searching the Internet you can find unexpected pages while looking for other specific topics. Later, when you try to find the accidental discovery again, you often can’t find it. Enter Tomboy for Linux.

Back to Basics – Using Menus and Ribbons by Jim Cerny, 2nd VP, Sarasota PCUG, FL (approx. 775 words). Computers give us choices – way too many choices. No matter what program you are running, it probably comes with many options. Jim gives a list of things about menus which, in his view, are helpful to know.

What Exactly is Linux? by Stuart Jones, MD, Member, Lehigh Valley Computer Group, PA (approx. 1,622 words). Everybody who has used a PC knows about Windows; however, a very small group of very well-educated computer people had complained very loudly for decades about how Microsoft dominated the OS business, and how poorly various versions of Windows have worked. In 1991, this crowd was joined by a computer science major from the University of Helsinki, Finland, named Linux Torvalds. He had written a personal version of an OS, modeled on UNIX. He spread his new program over the Internet to a worldwide group of similarly inclined programmers, who dubbed the results ‘LINUX’ in his honor.

Windows 8 Tablet – A tablet for all reasons by Phil Sorrentino, Staff Writer, The Computer Club, Inc., FL (approx. 1,200 words). Well, maybe not “all” reasons but it certainly has some good points in its favor. Phil has used an iPad, an Android tablet, and now finally a Windows 8s tablet. He says they are all great tablets and any one would be a good addition to one’s computing inventory. But, as similar as they are, they are all very different in the details, and, in his opinion, that is where the ownership decision lies.

Windows Lab – Adware by Phil Chenevert, member and instructor for Computer Lab Workshops, Cajun Clickers Computer Club, LA (approx. 288 words). Adware defined and a couple of programs to search for and remove suspected spyware programs.