Vol. 15, Issue 3
THE CLUB CONNECTION
A Monthly Publication of the
Ocean Hills Computer Club
March, 2011
Club Website : oceanhillscomputerclub.net

Patti Kopcho,
Editor

PREZ SEZ

It's March and the Computer  Club is enjoying the new computer room for an ever increasing amount of classes/workshops and "help" sessions.  We have over 25 "certified" members who volunteer their time to assist others at learning more and more about our computers.
 
Watch for the news that the new computer room will be opened to ALL Ocean Hills Country Club residents this month.  Final security policies and procedures are being drafted and we can expect to see ALL villagers start to utilize the new facilities at hours where the computer club activities are not scheduled.
 
Remember, however, that computer club membership (only $10 a year) is still required for the member to participate in the classes or workshops.  We now have over 430 members, making us one of the largest clubs in the village.
 
Our Board of Directors will keep working hard to bring more computerized education to our members through the possibility of "outside" professional teachers and "on-line" workshops in the future.  Don't forget, we have over 20 hours of "help" sessions scheduled every month.  Check the calendar for exact times.
 
Thank you to all our instructors and volunteers and in particular to Joe Winkler and Chris Bessey of PCM in helping to make our new computer room an asset to the village.

Members of our Club are fondly remembering Terry Brown, who was always a patient and enthusiastic helper and member of our club. Rex Christenson was at the "Pearly Gates" to welcome him as help was needed at the Heavenly Computer Headquarters, located in the "Cloud" After all, who do you think dreams up all the new computer technology!  

Happy Computing, 
Dick Travis 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 


If we don't have your email address, please email it to Dorothy Miller:
dottapper@cox.net

Don't forget to put the Club's webpage oceanhillscomputerclub.net in your favorites or bookmarks.  All of the information regarding the Calendar, the Club Connection and other information is always updated on our web page. 

We have a new procedure using Sign-Up Sheets for our classes and workshops. The sign-up sheets are now available at the front desk.  Remember, we have 12  computers available for hands-on training purposes, however, the maximum number of people for most classes will be limited to 15.  If you prefer, you may bring your own laptop to classes. 

Due to budgetary limitations, delivery of the PRINTED newsletter has been discontinued. You are encouraged to print out your newsletter from the club website:
oceanhillscomputerclub.net Click on Newsletter and also calendar. Limited copies of the printed newsletter will be available at the clubhouse and in the new Computer Room  each month, if you are unable to access it on the internet.


Attention MAC Users---New "Workshop for MAC Beginners" given by Dannica Wood on Friday, March 4, 1 to 3 pm.
Also, "Windows/MAC Orientation" on Monday, March 14 at 1 pm also given by Dannica. Learn what the difference is between the two. Dannica suggests going to this link to view differences.

http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#switcher

 

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Take A Closer Look At A Loan

Problem:
I'm planning to take out a loan. (Or, more likely, you are giving a loan to a child or grandchild). Is there a simple way to calculate payments?

Solution:
The online Amortization Loan Calculator, (amortizationloancalculator.net)
quickly calculates loan payments and more.

Enter the loan amount in the Principal box, fill in the Loan Term and Annual Interest Rate information, and click Calculate.
The calculator computes your monthly payments and also spits out an Amortization Schedule. This schedule displays monthly payments on the principal and interest over time along with the cumulative principal and interest and the loan balance after each payment. So you can not only calculate payments, but also quickly determine how much you'd save on interest by paying off a loan early.

Word Shortcuts
(sometimes we forget these handy hints!)

Microsoft Word is perfectly navigable with a mouse and a few clicks on the toolbar, but it also has loads of keyboard shortcuts that you can take advantage of while you're typing away. Once learned, these can make your work significantly more efficient. Here are a few favorites:

CTRL-C copies a highlighted section of text.
CTRL-P pastes a copied section of text.
CTRL-X cuts any highlighted text; generally, the next step would be to paste the cut section somewhere else.
CTRL-D brings up the Font window; from here you can modify font, text size, character spacing, and effects.
END moves the cursor to the end of a line.
CTRL-K brings up the Hyperlink window.
SHIFT-F7 brings up the Thesaurus window.
CTRL-S saves the open document.


 

 

 




 



 

Google Earth
(Version 6)

Update: This new version of Google Earth has integrated the Street View experience (this displays real images captured by Google to let you virtually walk through an area) and historical imagery (a feature that lets you view the way the landscape looks using old aerial photographs).

For example, when we were looking for a house in Lincoln, Neb., we could look back at images from a 1993 U.S. geological survey. Some aerial images are a few decades old; there are photos of London from 1945.
Google Earth 6 has also added trees to its 3D maps, so you can virtually walk around areas with 3D buildings and trees.

Installation: To enjoy the new Google Earth features, open www.google.com/earth and click the Download Google Earth 6 button. At the following page, uncheck the Include Google Chrome, A Fast New Browser For Windows And Mac and Make Google Chrome My Default Browser checkboxes (unless you'd prefer to change your Web browser) and select the Agree and Download button. Follow the Google Earth installation wizard's prompts to get Google Earth 6.

ONLINE RADIO

If you're tired of listening to your MP3 player or the set of CDs you have lying around your desk, try an online radio station. There's a variety of free Internet radio stations, so you can select a format that's both entertaining and helps you focus on work. One of our favorites is Pandora, which suggests songs you might like based on the songs or artists you tell Pandora to play.

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The Google Art Project
Online at googleartproject.com
(The Week Magazine, February 25, 2011)

 


Sometimes it's appropriate to question whether it's appropriate to question whether beholding a famous work of art in person truly is an irreplaceable experience, said Tim Adams in the London Guardian. The unveiling of the Google Art Project earlier this month raised the possibility that online encounters with painting's greatest masterpieces soon will become a legimate substitute for "the real thing." Google has, after all, created an art site capable of generating "genuine wonder."

In the project's first phase, 17 great museums in Europe and the U.S.--from Amsterdam's Rijksmuseum to New York's Frick Collection--have opened their doors to Google's cameras, letting the search engine create interactive, visitor's-eye tours of their galleries. While not every painting in the museums' collections has been reproduced in detail, those that have been--WOW! Google's high resolution images allow you to view Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night or Pieter Brueghel's The Harvesters "in finer detail than if you were standing in front of them."

Google is giving us a unique chance to study paintings closely "as made things," which is "great practice for looking at actual works." Photographic reproductions have been "the next best thing to being there" for generations. Now, the next best thing has become a mesmerizing, world-expanding" experience.

 

 

Computer finishes off human opponents on 'Jeopardy!'

(CNN) -- Start the "computers are conquering the world" jokes now. "Jeopardy!" master Ken Jennings already has. The IBM supercomputer Watson won the "Jeopardy!" game series, completing a sweep of its two human opponents, including Jennings, who acknowledged mankind's trivia inferiority before the match was even over.

"I for one welcome our new computer overlords," Jennings wrote under his correct Final Jeopardy! solution, prompting laughter from the studio audience.

The "IBM Challenge" match was spread over three days, with the first game taking two days so that host Alex Trebek could take time explaining what Watson is.

A massive machine represented at the studio by a tablet-like avatar, Watson was in development for years and has the processing power of 2,800 "powerful computers." IBM trumpets Watson as a machine that can rival a human's ability to answer questions posed in natural human language.

For the games, the computer -- stored in a separate building in New York -- received clues through digital texts and buzzed in against the two other contestants like any other player would.

Watson was often quicker to the draw than its opponents and usually correct when it was. It breezed through clues relating to geographic nicknames ("Coyote State" is an unofficial nickname of South Dakota, Watson knew) and legal terms ("esquire" is a title added to the name of American attorneys). Watson came out the winner, earning a $1 million prize. IBM said it would donate all of Watson's winnings to charity.

Watson's advances in deep analytics and its ability to process unstructured data and interpret natural language will now be applied to humanity's most vexing problems. If we can teach a computer to compete on Jeopardy! what could it mean for science, finance, healthcare and the future of society?

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March Calendar
(Most classes will be in the New Room)!

Thursday, March 3, at 10 am, "Genealogy" with Hal McCawley.

Friday, March 4 at 1 pm, "MAC Beginners Workshop", with Dannica Wood.

Wednesday, March 9, at 1 pm Joint Photography/Computer Club Meeting (Ladies Club Room) with Bud DeMaris, followed by: "Digital Photography Workshop" with Bud DeMaris.

Thursday, March 10 at 1pm, "Microsoft Word Printing & Formatting " with Dorothy Miller.

Friday, March 11 at 10 am, "Google Earth Workshop " with Dick Travis.
Friday, March 11 at 3 pm in the new Computer Room, Board Meeting.

Monday, March 14 at 10 am, "PC Beginners Training" with Bob Weber. "Windows/MAC Orientation" with Dannica Wood at 1 pm.

Tuesday, March 15 at 1pm, "EXCEL, Basic Elements" with Dorothy Miller

Wednesday, March 16 at 1pm, "Facebook Workshop", with Robin Ryan.

Thursday, February 17 at 1 pm, "Microsoft Word Printing & Formatting", with Dorothy Miller.

Friday, March 18 at 10 am, "Skype" with Dick Travis.

Monday, March 21 at 10 am, "Microsoft Word Basic Elements", with Dorothy Miller.

Wednesday, March 23 at 1 pm, Club General Meeting, in Abravanal Hall, ""Apple Computer Training", presented by guest speaker, Chris Ridzon. Open House in the New Computer Room follows.

Thursday, March 24 at 10 am,"IPAD Workshop" with Linda Strohm in the Ladies Club Room.

Friday, March 25 at 1 pm, "Smilebox Animated Cards", by Rona Cole.

 

 

 

 

 

2011 Officers

PresidentDick Travis724-4091
Vice Pres.

Hal McCawley

941-4716
SecretaryClarice Magnusen 726-9648
TreasurerPatti Kopcho726-4086
NewsletterPatti Kopcho726-4086
HardwareBoard Members  
Computer Rm.Cornell Jaray
295-1523
MembershipDorothy Miller
Patti Kopcho
630-5720
726-4086
SoftwareBoard Members 
WebmasterDick Travis724-4091
Instructors Dorothy Miller ( Head of Instruction Services), Don Raun, Larry Eaks, Bud DeMaris, Robin Ryan, Hal McCawley, Linda Strohm, Bob Weber and Don Wirth.
Mac UsersDannica Wood 941-0015
HospitalityHarriet McCawley
Ruthe Barnudy		 


Open Help Sessions for March
10:00am & 1:00pm
(formerly called Open Computer Lab)


The HELP SESSIONS are being expanded in the new Computer Room from Fridays to Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 1 to 3 pm for MOST weeks, limited only by the availability of our "volunteer Helpers"...If you want to help out and be "certified", contact any Officer and we will train you in our new procedures...Ten sessions are planned for March...check the calendar for exact times...

Calendar, continued,
Wednesday, March 30 at 10 am, "Computing in the Cloud Workshop", with Don Raun.

Thursday, March 31 at 10 am, "Website Workshop", with Dick Travis.

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