CLUB CORROBOREE NET

Editor: Annette Stuckey : westlake@bigpond.net.au No. 441

7 February 2010

Hi Silver Surfers,

Most of you already know that we have three club teams in the High Rollers league at Warners Bay Ten Pin Bowling alley. We have a great fun afternoon ( Monday 2.15pm). You don’t have to be bowler, none of us were, we learnt as we went along. If you are interested in joining us please email me. The more the merrier.

Its is just the start of a new season so it will be easy to start a new team.

The following information is from the Lake Macquarie Council.

NSW Rural Fire Service – AIDER Programme; Assistance for Infirm,

Disabled and Elderly Residents

The AIDER Programme is designed to reduce bush fire hazards on bush fire prone property of infirm, disabled and elderly residents. The programme is a one off free service designed to support residents to live confidently on their bush fire prone properties.

Residents can receive assistance with many services, including;

· Clearing gutters

· Thinning vegetation

· Removing leaf or tree debris

· Trimming branches

· Mowing grass

To find out more information about the AIDER Program or to have an assessment of your property contact the AIDER Program Coordinator on (02) 8741 4955.

CUSTOMISING THE START MENU

Did you know you can pin your favourite Programs to the Start menu and remove the ones you don’t want?

Well you can!

1. Right Click on the Start Button and choose Properties , then Customise, On the Start menu tab you can decide how many programs to appear on your Most used Program list. Six is a good number.

2. Underneath the Program section is Show on Start Menu. By clicking the Down arrow you can choose the Internet and email program of your choice.

3. Your pinned items could look something like this.

4. If you want to delete a program from the list just right click the item and choose Unpin from Start Menu.

5. If you want to add a program to the list go into All programs or Programs and right click the Program icon and choose Pin to Start Menu

Now you are in control of your P.C. That feels good don’t you think!

~Annette

COOKIES (Part 1.)

(used with permission from: Cloudeight Information Avenue)

Few things stir up heated and spirited debates more than Web cookies. Anti-spyware sites like to hammer cookies because, well because; it gives them something to hammer on. But, are cookies really in the same league with spyware, adware, malware and hijackers? Hardly; They don't contain any mechanism to download software on your computer, they don't contain hidden apparatus to spawn pop-ups on your computer, and they don't infect, modify, change, or rewrite your registry. Simply put: they don't have the capacity to "run" (execute). So regardless of what the gurus of the Web tell you, cookies are not something you should fret over. If you want to worry about cookies, worry about whether to make chocolate chip or sugar cookies!

Cookie Facts:

Cookies are text files and cannot "run" (execute) and therefore don't deserve the appellation "ware". No matter what.
Cookies cannot normally track you from site to site. They can only normally track your movements within a site or group of sites.
Cookies are limited in the information that they give.
Cookies are ubiquitous. Cookies allow sites like MSN/YAHOO/GMAIL and other customizable portals or Start Pages to save your preferences.
Cookies, unlike Spyware and Adware are easily removed without using any special program. You can simply delete them.
Many Spyware removal programs flag "tracking cookies'. Well, if you were a spyware removal company you'd want to detect as many "things" as you could. After all you'd want whoever is using your software to think you're getting some bang for their buck. And one thing's for sure: while computers might not always have spyware on them, they'll always have some cookies on them. Ding! Given that then the anti-spyware program will always detect something - and you'll always think its working!
The suffix "ware" as in spyware, freeware, shareware, adware, malware indicates a program. A cookie is a text file only and not a program. It does not run or "execute".
Cookies do not consume your computer's system resources nor use your computer's Internet connection's bandwidth like adware, hijackers, spyware and malware do.

(Part 2 next week “What are Cookies used For”)

Backing up your data in XP

It is a very good idea to back up your files and settings from time to time in case you ever need to reformat your computer.

However if you are using XP there is a Back-up option there.

First of all I suggest, if possible, you get yourself a portal Hard drive or a flash drive. You can do your back on to C.D but depending on how much stuff you have on your computer , it could mean using a number of C.D’s

For some unknown reason the default setting in XP, for back-up, is floppies. However you can use the ‘Browse’ option to decide where you want to save your back-up to.

To back-up in XP:

1. Go to Start/Accessories/System Tools and click on Backup

2. A Wizard widow should appear click on the Next button and follow the prompts. Click the Next button

3. The first window to appear gives you two options, one to backup files and settings and the other to Restore the files and setting. (The Restore option is the one you use to restore your data after the reformat.)

4. Choose the “Back up files………” and click the Next button the following window appears. Here you can choose what you want to back up. If you are the only user of the computer choose My documents and settings. Click the Next button

5. In the resulting window click the down arrow and choose “Let me choose a location……” Then hit the ‘Browse” button. Here make your choice – you can choose a Portable Hard Drive or maybe your hard drive is partitioned you can also choose to save to C.D. or DVD.

6. Follow the prompts and your Back-up procedure should start immediately.

N.B Once you have made the initial choice of the Back-up destination the next time you do a back-up your choice will be the default.

Well folks that’s it for another week.

Until next time this is your Secretary signing off

Annette

Club: www.wscclub.com.au

ASCCA : http://www.ascca.org.au/

Mangrove Mountain Computer Club www.mmcc.ctcmm.net.

DISCLAIMER :The Corroboree Is Issued “As Is” Without Guarantee Of Any Kind. Any Use By The Reader Of The Tips, Suggestions, Or Advice Is At Your Own Risk.

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