Hello All,
This is a re-post of an anouncement that I received from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

APCUG
Wednesday Workshop
February 11, 2026
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
Fun with Fonts
Chris Taylor, President
Ottawa PCUG
 
Text to Speech for Everyone
John Krout, Member, Author, and Presenter
Potomac Area Technology And Computer Society
 
Register here https://forms.gle/bqHV92NtBntQ1yVV7
You only need to register once.
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration.
On February 10, 2026, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTIONS
Fun with Fonts ? the art and science of typography
Dive into the fascinating world of typography with Chris. He will demystify typography terminology and explore its rich history. Learn what makes a typeface readable or distracting, how to effectively combine multiple typefaces, and the emotions different fonts can evoke.
 
Whether your next project is a greeting card, poster, newsletter, business card, logo, or any other design that incorporates text, Chris can help you avoid common typographic pitfalls. Practical tips on choosing the right typeface and creating visually appealing and readable text will be shared. Whether you're a design novice or a seasoned pro, this presentation will enhance your appreciation and understanding of typography's powerful impact.
 
Text to Speech for Everyone
Text-To-Speech (TTS) is a method by which your digital device, given text, can read it aloud. TTS was introduced for Windows and Macintosh many years before generative AI. TTS is even available now on Android tablets, iPhones, and iPads.
 
TTS has long been valuable to the blind, sight-impaired, and dyslexic communities. TTS can also be useful for creating spoken ringtones, text tones, and even alarm tones. With these spoken tones, you don't even need to pull out or unlock your phone to know who called or texted, or the purpose of an alarm. If you are not entirely comfortable about speaking while delivering a presentation, then you can use TTS to attach a recorded narration to each slide of your presentation.
 
John?s presentation will show you how to choose voices and use TTS on those platforms. You can download a convenient zero-cost Windows TTS Visual Basic Script application to record any TTS you wish in an audio file that can become any of those tones or slide narrations. The zero-cost TTS apps for Android and Apple portables also record spoken text in audio files.
 

Hello All,
What follows are my Notes for the SLO Bytes General Session that I will give at 12:45 on 2/01/26
Ralph Sutter

SLO Bytes Notes for February 2026

Alan Raul Update

Explanation of USB C Cables
https://www.anker.com/ca/blogs/cables/usb-c-charging-cable-types#By%20Power%20Delivery%20(PD)%20Capability

Anker Prime Thunderbolt 5 Cable (3.3 ft, 80Gbps, 240W)  https://www.anker.com/products/a84n1 $45.99

Ending USB C Cable Confusion ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZrieRRJsuQ

USBC Cable Tester Purchase
https://www.amazon.com/Treedix-Detection-Continuity-Compatible-Lightning/dp/B0DYJL5Z67   $45.59

Linus  Sebastian USB C Cable Video ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OT_iyvOy0Tk
Link to Buy USB C Cable ~ https://www.lttstore.com/products/ltt-truespec-cable-usb-type-c-to-c
Availability of the above cables is delayed https://lttstore.gorgias.help/en-US/service-alert-delayed-truespec-cable-shipments-4438844

Three Free Video Editors
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5emDLtddo2A
Clipchamp  Part of Windows
Capcut.com Windows and Mac; www.capcut.com
Davinci Resolve; https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/event/davinciresolvedownload

10 Free Photo Editors: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=366mRyyCjLw

How to Find Products: Google Lens App on Smart Phone
Google Images Online www.images.google.com

Costco Pricing Guide:  https://www.reddit.com/r/Costco/comments/1pekuqx/costcos_secret_pricing_decoder_reddit_cheat_sheet/#lightbox

Fullbean Recipes:  https://www.fullbean.com/recipes/recipes.html
Weight Conversion Calculator;  https://www.aqua-calc.com/calculate/food-volume-to-weight

Manuals Online:  https://www.manualslib.com/

Sutter Kayaks:  https://www.fullbean.com/kayak/sutter-kayaks.html

Refill Epson ET 4850 Eco Tank Printer ~ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7kREl4tagSw

Skip YouTube Ads:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v~-tueopY6Kuo

Costco Rewards Video  (Local File Only)
Fix for Bread Knife: (Local File Only)

My Favorite Shortcuts: 
With Mouse/Trackball ~ Hold down Ctrl and roll Scroll Wheel Up or Down equals Zoom or Shrink
With Keyboard
Windows Key plus m ~ Go to Desktop
Windows Key plus - equals Zoom In
Windows Key plus + equals Zoom Out
Enter Key inserts 2 lines
Hold Shift plus Enter inserts 1 line
Hold Ctrl plus Enter equals Line Go to New Page
Ctrl plus z equals Undo
Ctrl plus y equals Redo
Ctrl plus a equals Select All
Ctrl plus c equals Copy
Ctrl plus v equals Paste contents of Clipboard
PrntSC copies screen to Clipboard
Ctrl plus f equals Find on Page
Ctrl plus Alt  plus Del brings up Task Manager
Alt plus Tab equals Show all open apps closes when released
Windows Key plus Tab equals Show all open apps and stays on screen
Ctrl plus Shift plus ESC equals Try to restart frozen screen
For MAC, replace Ctrl with Cmd
MAC Keyboard Shortcuts:  https://support.apple.com/en-us/102650
YouTube Keyboard Shortcuts:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v~sg18x45Ux3s
Expanded Hotkeys; Windows and MAC:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v~VeAK7Bv4F1o
Action Center: Windows Key plus a
Settings: Windows Key plus i
Cortana with microphone and keyboard input ~ Windows Key plus c

Hello All,
What follows is a link to manufacturer Anker's article on USB C cables and the differences between various cables.
https://www.anker.com/ca/blogs/cables/usb-c-charging-cable-types#By%20Power%20Delivery%20(PD)%20Capability
Their highest performing cable is the Anker Prime Thunderbolt 5 Cable (3.3 ft, 80Gbps, 240W)
https://www.anker.com/products/a84n1 $45.99
Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
What follows are my Notes from the SLO Bytes Photo Group of 12/14/2025

Ralph Sutter began the meeting with favorite images from Boundary Waters, the San Juan Islands, Santa Cruz Island and from atop his kitchen counter. Ralph commented that all of the photos were taken with a Fuji waterproof camera or a Samsung S22 smartphone. None of them came from his Sony A7 IV mirrorless camera.

Alan Raul chose all his images from 2025. They included black and white stylized photos of architecture and shots with intentional camera movement. When working with his Leica, Alan prefers to set the shutter speed at 1/250th of a second and the ISO set to Auto.

Kaye Raul moved between elephant seals at Piedras Blancas to Yosemite's Half Dome. She also offered images of San Francisco landmarks, wind turbines and fishermen silhouetted against the sun setting on the ocean.

Stanford Brown included lots of people in his shots, closeups of babies, silhouettes, kids on bikes, hikers fording streams and raging rivers.

John Waller shared historical photos of his mother presiding over Arroyo Grande's Harvest Festival, his favorite childhood campsite, visits to Yosemite and Disneyland. John also captured an A10 airplane flying at the Santa Maria Air Show.

At the close of the meeting, Sutter called attention to his recent post on the Links Page entitled Show Your SmartPhone Images on Google Maps Pro with Irfanview  See https://www.slobytes.org/digital/documents/exf-irfanview.pdf

The next meeting will take place on January 18th, 2026, beginning at 2:00 pm via Zoom.
Please note that this is one week later than usual
The topic will be A Different Point of View Please share new images taken from a novel angle; below, above,inside of or outside of the conventional vantage point

See the Links Page; https://www.slobytes.org/digital/links.html for tutorials and other resources

Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
This is an announcement that I received today from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

APCUG
WEDNESDAY WORKSHOP
November 19, 2025
9 am PT, 10 am, MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
 
Artificial Intelligence (AI): fun and helpful tips
Chris Taylor, President
Ottawa PC Users? Group
 
Registration Link: https://forms.gle/Fu3F86M4vVz4xGpP9
 
 After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration. You only need to register once. On November 18, 2025, after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time, you will receive the encrypted Zoom link.
 
PRESENTATION DESCRIPTION:
Artificial Intelligence (AI): fun and helpful tips.  Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools have exploded over the last few years. They can supercharge your web searches & help you find the most relevant information, generate images & videos from text prompts, summarize web pages, meetings, YouTube videos, & PDF files, assist with tasks in your programs, and help with creative writing, among other things. Chris Taylor from the Ottawa PC Users' Group will demonstrate how easily it can be done and how to avoid the dreaded "AI hallucinations." And you can do it all (well, most of it) for free.

Hello All,
This is a repost of an announcement from APCUG
Ralph Sutter

ANNUAL MEETING
11:30 am PT, 12:30 pm MT, 1:30 pm CT, 2:30 pm ET
 
Registration link -- https://forms.gle/n3F7rLA1dkVWb5dA6
 
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration. You will receive the encrypted Zoom link after registration closes at 6 pm Pacific Time on Friday, November 7.
 
DO YOU REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU?RE AGREEING TO? UNPACKING PRIVACY POLICIES AND PROTECTING YOUR DIGITAL AUTONOMY, Al Williams
Every time we click ?I agree,? we may be handing over more than we realize. This presentation explores how privacy policies?often overlooked or misunderstood?can quietly compromise our personal information, safety, and autonomy.
We all want to protect our data, yet many of us unknowingly consent to its collection and use in ways that can lead to unwanted exposure. When our personal details are misused, it can erode our sense of privacy, limit our choices, and even influence our behavior.
By understanding what we?re agreeing to, we can take back control. This session will highlight the importance of managing what?s known about us, maintaining personal boundaries, and making informed decisions free from manipulation.
 
A WALK-THROUGH OF THE LATEST CHROMEOS, Bill James
Chrome OS has steadily evolved from a browser-centric lightweight platform into a full-fledged computing environment that blends web app agility, native app support, powerful cloud sync, and sleek device management. This latest version of ChromeOS continues that trajectory, with a focus on making your Chromebook feel faster, smarter, and more in tune with how you work, play, and connect.
 
While official public-release notes for this exact version are still sparse, we know from Chrome OS update tables that version 141.0.7390.134 has rolled out across a broad range of hardware platforms, signaling Google?s confidence in this build.
 
During our live walkthrough, you will see a very mature OS and how closely ChromeOS resembles and functions like a Windows computer.
 
USING GEMINI'S STORYBOOK TO ATTRACT PROSPECTIVE MEMBERS TO YOUR MEETINGS, Bob Gosticha
What a novel idea, creating storybooks to tell the story of your tech group or information about your typical general meetings, SIGs, etc., and uploading them to your home page. Joe Nowak demonstrated how easy it is to create a storybook at his AI-Assisted Storytelling workshop, "Discover a whole new way to create," on Wednesday, October 8, 2025. Perhaps you would like to feature a series of storybooks on senior scams, or a series about the browsers that now incorporate AI? Bob will share his "Arthur and the Pesky Fly" storybook, which addresses pop-ups and Malware for seniors.
 
ANNUAL MEETING
11:30 am PT, 12:30 pm MT, 1:30 pm CT, 2:30 pm ET
 
Annual Meeting.
President?s report
Treasurer?s report
Election results for 2025 officers.
Member benefits
Discussion about member benefits
We will take a short Zoom survey about how APCUG can assist your group in 2026 and what its three major problems are.

November SLO Bytes General Session Notes
by Ralph Sutter

PDF Splicing Tools- PDF-TK free
https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-the-pdf-toolkit/

PDF TK-pro https://www.pdflabs.com/tools/pdftk-pro/

Kevin Stratvert PDF Splicing Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmY1Z95Hthk

Macmost - How to Merge PDF Files on Your MAC:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKhTaPEqNDI

Leo Notenboom USB Cables, Devices and Chargers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jD54dscsefw

Windows Phonelink; Copy images from a smarthone to a Windows 11 Computer - https://youtu.be/GAjQ3MINdoY

Making Greeting Cards with Word
Download my file, sutter-greeting-card-file.docx from https://slobytes.org/sutter-greeting-card-file.docx
You may see a warning that you shouldn?t open files from the Internet.  While this is good advice, the file is innocuous.
Open the file. 
For the faint of heart, I have added a .pdf version.  Get the file at
https://slobytes.org/sutter-greeting-card-template.pdf
Save the downloaded PDF where you can easily find it.   
Then open it with Word; (Open with/choose another application/Word). 
This tedious process worked for me but was certainly not necessary.
Now, in Word, select an image to insert on the front of the greetings card.
Insert that image into the document, placing it in the right-hand box.  Resize as necessary so that it fits
If you want to add a Created by tag, type it in the left-hand box.
Go down to the second page of the document.
Write your greeting on either or both boxes, editing as you would any other Word document
Save your work.
Print the two pages.  If your printer offers Print on Both Sides (duplex printing), choose that option, selecting Flip Pages on Short Edge.
If not, print the first page then reinsert it in the paper tray and print the second page on the back of the first page
If you would like to keep a digital copy of your work, save it to a known location as a .docx file.Trim the document and fold it in half.  Insert it in an envelope.  I sized it to fit snugly in an A2 envelope measuring 4.375"x5.75".

Irfanview:  https://www.irfanview.com/main_what_is_engl.htm
Download Irfanview:  https://dappcdn.com/download/graphic-apps/irfanview          
Also download Irfanview All Plugins for the same version: 
To expand Irfanview?s viewing capabilities, download the freeware program K-Lite Codec; https://codecguide.com/download_kl.htm

Sutter Irfanview Tutorials
Batch File Resizing in Irfanview  https://www.fullbean.com/tutorials/batch-resize.mp4
Adding Borders to an Image    https://youtu.be/ddv0AmKs_rE
Creating a Video Slideshow with Irfanview    https://youtu.be/7EEkHF8Uik0
Showing Thumbnails in Windows for RAW Files with Irfanview https://youtu.be/__Yb-pYlcQ8
Inserting Text in an Image with Irfanview  https://www.fullbean.com/tutorials/Irfanview-Add-Text.mp4
Configuring Irfanview to Play .mp4 Files  https://www.fullbean.com/tutorials/irfanview-play-mp4.mp4
Some Irfanview Features Explored  https://www.fullbean.com/tutorials/irfanview-features.html

Change the Order in Which Irfanview Opens Images
 https://www.fullbean.com/tutorials/irfanview-display-order.html

Ralph Sutter

Hello All,
Here is my Photo Group Report that took place on 10/12/2025

Ralph Sutter began the meeting by sharing several images of the deer herd on his property.   
Sutter commented that the experience convinced him that he needs to get a longer lens.

John Waller captured images of animals in Upper Huasna Valley before heading to the Santa Barbara Zoo. 
He then headed north to the Central Coast Zoo in Atascadero and to Piedras Blancas for the Elephant Seals. 
Waller ended his presentation with several shots of his dogs.

Stanford Brown chronicled wildlife in Paso Robles including squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, deer, hummingbirds and feral cats before adding dogs and domesticated cats. 
Like John, he also photographed the elephant seals of Piedras Blancas.

The next meeting will take place on November 9th, 2025, beginning at 2:00 pm via Zoom.
The topic will be Present a New Skill and Show How You Use It
The final meeting of the SLO Bytes Photo Group will take place on December 14 at 2:00 pm