Meeting 12 September 2000


MervC started the meeting at 10am - 29 attended. JohnS volunteered to
consolidate E-mailed notes.

I have indicated the subjects discussed below - if there are no notes for an
item it means that no-one sent them to me {:-))

1. Phone4Free - TedT

2. TedM - Mentioned a 1.1 megabyte exe file. It is a funny animated cartoon.
The URL is www.joecartoon.com Also "Ego surfing" at www.egoserf.com or at
www.dogpile.com

3. Cannon refill vs New - RodB
The Cartridge Factory does a great job of economically refilling cartridges,
but do be careful to handle them properly afterwards. I had a problem with
severely streaky output on my Canon BJC4310SP soon after fitting a refilled
cartridge. The problem vanished with a new cartridge. I am fairly sure,
though, that the refilled cartridge had been lying on its side in my
cupboard. After the meeting I went to TCF and explained the problem and that
it was probably my fault. Even so, after checking the cartridge they gave me
the money back on the refill. Excellent service! Hat's off to TCF.

4. Cannon printer problem - RodP
BJC 210SP Printer not printing:
            Symptom:  Printer prints ok on a self test but not when driven
                          from computer.
             Suggestions:  Check connections -  Do self test
                    Check page settings.
             After meeting a more thorough check of connections revealed
                     a poor connection.
      MORAL:  Check your computer connections thoroughly after you've been
                      away for a couple of weeks.  Your kids may have been
at your gear in your absence.

5. CacheSentry - TrevorF

6. Digital camera +++ GrahamM
Gave a great presentation of his Kodak Digital camera, Laptop, & other
goodies including a GPS receiver with connection to display Lat/Long + on
the Dig camera "photos"!

7. Backup Media - Gavin

8. VISE Concert - JohnS has tickets for distribution, and better news of
Neville A.

9. Lockup on W98 - BobS

10. Win98SE - no Shutdown - KrynV

11. MSIE 5.5 Cookie patch - PeterH
Microsoft has just released a patch for Internet Explorer 5.5 which can help
protect your privacy from web sites that use cookies. The update lets you
configure your browser  to differentiate between cookies that originate from
a web server you're intentionally visiting, and cookies that originate from
web sites other than the one you are looking at.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.5 Advanced Security Beta for Windows
95/98/NT/2000 is available from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/download/preview/privacy.htm
Although the patch is only 500 KB it is necessary to download IE 5.5 again
after receiving the patch. The minimum custom download is about 8 MB taking
about 1 hour at 28.8 kbps.
I have installed the new version and am surprised at the frequency with
which I get warnings about sites, other than the one that I am looking at,
wanting to read or to install cookies on my computer. As an example when I
log onto the ANZ Bank site I get the following message:
www.investorweb.com.au, a different web site than you are currently
visiting, would like to read a cookie on your computer. Will you allow this
cookie to be read?  When I click 'No' a similar message follows from the
www.travel.com.au site.
Ed Notes: We should all boycott ANZ! Also M$ has cranked up it's "Passport"
system to allow access to it's E-book reader and other applications. This
does all that cookies do plus lots more.... The more cynical among us are
not surprised that M$ is beefing up cookie security.

12. HDD allocation - GregB
A good URL for old HDD info.
http://www.lisa.univ-paris12.fr/electronik/Disques.htm

13. The new virus - MervC
Merv passed around a cautionary tale from JimT who found that "web3000.com"
had infested his computer with software which constantly refreshed header
and footer adverts on his MSIE - not just during one on-line session but for
all subsequent sessions. It took Jim large amounts of time and effort
including registry editing to remove this garbage. So far his computer is st
ill working.....
Ed note: OptOut software (described at the previous meeting) might have
helped - but avoid the Web3000 site like the start of a new plague that it is.


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