may 2016 volume 26, issue 5 $2.00 next event: may 3, 6:30 ... · may 2016 volume 26, issue 5 $2.00...

May 2016 Volume 26, Issue 5 $2.00

Next Event: May 3, 6:30 PMJohn Patrick on his latest book,Net Attitude: WhatIt is, How to getIt, and WhyIt Is MoreImportantthan Ever

2 • May 2016 http://www.dacs.org

DACS, its officers and directors as-sume no liability for damages arisingout of the publication or non-publica-tion of any article, advertisement, orother item in this newsletter. The editors welcome submissionsfrom DACS members. Contact RichardTeasdale ([email protected]). Ad-vertisers, contact Charles Bovaird at(203) 792-7881 ([email protected])

Nonprofit groups may request permission

to reprint articles from dacs.doc orhttp://www.dacs.org by sending e-mail to [email protected]. Re-printed articles shall credit thecopyright holder and a copy of thefinal publication shall be mailed to:

Danbury Area Computer Society, Inc.65 Legion Rd,New Milford, CT 06776

MembershipMembershipMembershipMembershipMembershipInfInfInfInfInfororororormamamamamationtiontiontiontion

dacs.doc, ISSN 1084-6573, is publishedmonthly by the Danbury Area ComputerSociety, 65 Legion Rd, New Milford, CT06776. Annual subscription rates: $60to regular members, $40 electronic ac-cess (included in dues).

PPPPPostmasterostmasterostmasterostmasterostmasterSend address changes to Danbury AreaComputer Society, Inc., 4 Gregory Street,Danbury, CT 06810-4430.

Editorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeEditorial CommitteeManaging Editor: Richard TeasdaleProduction Editor: Allan Ostergren

Dick Gingras APCUG [email protected]

CopyrightCopyrightCopyrightCopyrightCopyright

ContributorsContributorsContributorsContributorsContributorsCharles Bovaird Richard CorzoDrew Kwashnak Lisa LeifelsDave Mawdsley Bruce PrestonJim Scheef Annette van Ommeren Andy Woodruff

IN THIS ISSUEPRESIDENT’S LETTER 2DIRECTORS’ NOTES 3HELPLINE 3REVIEW: DANBURY HISTORY 4PREVIEW: JOHN PATRICK: NET ATTITUDE 5WORKSHOP NEWS & NOTES 6MAY CALENDAR 7LOOKING BACK TO SEE FORWARD 8PICTURE PERFECT - POLAROID CUBE 9BUCKY MILAM CARTOON 9ACURITE PRO 5-IN-1 WEATHER STATION 10TAKING PHOTOS WITH IPAD AND IPHONE 11

FUTURE EVENTS 12

IN THIS ISSUE

President’s Letter

VOLUNTEERS ARE the roots of strongcommunities. As I read that in the email

from Judy Taylour, of the Association ofPersonal Computer User Groups (APCUG),I realized that it's true! And volunteers

live happier andhealthier lives. Inthe United States,National Volun-teer Week wasApril 10-16, 2016.So congratulateyourself for all thevolunteering youhave been doing!

With no paid staff, DACS is completely runby volunteers!

APCUG is a national organization whichprovides many services to its computerclub members. DACS, a long-time member,has been recognized by APCUG withawards for the excellence of both its websiteand newsletter. APCUG regularly hostsVirtual Technology Conferences, to whichall DACS members are invited, in whichpresentations about numerous computer-related topics may be heard.

Getting excited about the appearanceof John Patrick at our May general meet-ing? Just reviewing the article on him inWikipedia amazes me at the depth of hisinterests and affiliations. Please read AndyWoodruff's meeting Preview article for moreinformation about this upcoming event.This will be John's 24th annual appearance,speaking to DACS. Note: the meeting willbegin at 6:30pm, one hour earlier than ournormal general meeting start time. A bigthank-you to Andy for taking charge of thearrangements for this milestone on theDACS calendar.

For an amazing and inspiring perfor-mance, come to hear O FORTUNA, a

celebration of hope and joy, sung by theConnecticut Choral Society at its springconcert May 21st at Walnut Hill Commu-nity Church in Bethel. We will be joined bythe New Jersey Choral society and theiryouth chorus in a performance of CarminaBurana by Carl Orff, arguably one of thebest-loved classical works and a true choralshowpiece. The program features music thathonors our patriotic heritage, displaysempathy for a world with great humanitarianchallenges, and offers an opportunity forus to celebrate the goodwill of humankind.These ideals will be presented through themusic, a cinematic multimedia backdropand the sheer power of the human voice.

Conducted by Eric Dale Knapp, theconcert also features Megan Knapp,soprano, Nathan Munson, tenor, andPeter Kendall Clark, baritone, with LindaSweetman-Waters, piano, Ruth Draper,piano, and a percussion ensemble.

For tickets visit www.CTChoralSociety.org.

—Dave Green

Ever wanted to ask a questionand get an answer without waitingfor the next general meeting? Howabout sharing news with otherDACS members, or communicat-ing with fellow participants in a SIGyou attend?

The DACS Community Forum(http://www.dacs.org/forum/) isanother benefit of being a DACSmember, and it’s open 24/7. Onceyou register there you'll be able topost questions, answers, and com-ments. You can even set up an RSSsubscription to be notified ofupdates to the forums.

Try out the DACS forumtoday!

DACS CommunityForum

http://www.dacs.org May 2016 • 3

DACS GENERAL NUMBER: (203) 744-9198PRESIDENT: David Green [email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT PROGRAMS: [email protected]: Bert Goff • TREASURER: Bert Goff

Officers

HelpLineHelpLineHelpLineHelpLineHelpLine

[email protected]

Richard Corzo (203) 797-1518 [email protected]

Richard Gingras (203) 426-1780 [email protected]

Bert Goff (860) 355-8895 [email protected]

David Green (203) 797-8682 [email protected]

Cathy Quaranta [email protected]

Jim Scheef (860) 355-0034 [email protected]

Andy Woodruff (203) 744-9588 [email protected]

Tom Zarecki [email protected]

CommitteesNEWSLETTER: Richard Teasdale: [email protected],

PROGRAM: [email protected]

WEB MASTERS: Richard Corzo ([email protected]), (203) 797-1518

Annette van Ommeren ([email protected]), (914) 232-0149

PRESS RELEASES: Dave Green ([email protected])

APCUG LIAISON: Dick Gingras ([email protected])

MARKETING: Cathy Quaranta ([email protected])

MEMBERSHIP COORDINATOR: JIM Scheef: ([email protected])

RESOURCE CENTER: (203) 748-4330 • WEB SITE: http://www.dacs.org

Our former telephone HelpLine has been replaced by our web-based DACSCommunity Forum at http://forum.dacs.org. We have topic-specific forums whereDACS members can post questions. Questions may be answered by Workshopleaders or other DACS members. If none of the categories fit your question, just postit to the Ask DACS forum.

Topic Forum

.NET Programming ASP.Net and C#VB.Net Workshop

Digital cameras/scanners/image processing Digital Imaging Workshop

Content Management Systems Drupal Workshop

Linux Linux Workshop

Mac and iPhone/iPad/iPod touch Apple Workshop

PC maintenance PC Maintenance Workshop

Smartphones & Tablets Mobile Devices Workshop

Virtual machine software Virtual Computing Workshop

Desktop publishing and website design Web Site Design Workshop

Windows Windows Workshop

Directors’ Notes.

Directors’ Notes, Cont. on page 11

Danbury Area ComputerSociety (DACS)

Board Meeting MinutesWednesday, April 6, 2016

The meeting was called to order at 7:05p.m. by the DACS President, Dave Green.

In attendance were board membersRichard Corzo, Bert Goff (Secretary &Treasurer), Dave Green (President), CathyQuaranta, and Jim Scheef. The minuteswere taken by Richard Teasdale.

• The Minutes of the 3/2/2016 BoardMeeting were accepted as written.

Reports• The Treasurer's report for March was

discussed and accepted. Bert pointed outthat income from membership dues wasless than last year both for the month andthe first quarter. It was agreed that post-card reminders should be sent out again.

• Membership committee: Jim reportedthat there are 97 current members + 13in-grace, making a total membership of110, which is the same as for the previ-ous month. Three new members wererecorded. 15 DACS members and 9 visi-tors attended the April general meeting.

• Press Coverage: Dave reported that apress release for the April general meet-ing was sent out on March 23. Someresponses were received.

• Website: Richard C. reported that hecreated a documentation webpage onhow to send out the monthly newsletter bye-mail to the membership.

Old Business• Programs

o Lisa Leifels will write the Review ofthe April general meeting. (The meetingtopic was changed from Genealogy toDanbury History due to the scheduledspeaker's illness.)

o Andy Woodruff is working on ar-rangements for John Patrick's presenta-tion at the May meeting. The meeting willstart at 6:30pm, one hour earlier thanusual. Dave will check with Andy onwhether he will write the Preview. Jimagreed to write the Review.

o Bert is working with the owner ofComputer Troubleshooters (Brookfield),Rick Van Akin, to have him speak at theJune meeting.

o Bert will contact a DACS memberknown to be a lawyer to ascertain whetherhe would be interested in giving apresentation about intellectual property.


April Meeting Review

Danbury’s History with Brigid GuertinBy Lisa Leifels

PULLLED OUT OF A HAT -That sumsup our pleasant surprise when BrigidGuertin came forward to substitute

for our scheduled speaker who had tocancel due to an illness. Brigid offered tofill in at the last minute and gave us theopportunity to learn about Danbury’s richhistory. Brigid is Executive Director of theDanbury Museum and Historical SocietyAuthority, where she serves as Danbury’slocal historian. Brigid holds a master’sdegree in Museum Studies from GeorgeWashington University and received herundergraduate degree from MarymountCollege. She grew up in Danbury, graduat-ing from Immaculate High School, and hasa strong connection to the city.

Brigid started off by talking about theDanbury Museum, which houses its maincampus at one of the city’s oldest structures,at 43 Main Street, also known as the RiderHouse. In 1941 there was a plan to demolishthe building and replace it with a gas station,but some concerned citizens intervened andwere able to raise enough money to purchasethe property. The Danbury Museum andHistorical Society was formed in 1947, whenthe Scott Fanton Museum and the DanburyHistorical and Arts Center merged together.The museum is composed of seven historicbuildings, including the John Dodd HatShop, the Ward House, the Charles Ivesbirthplace, two one-room schoolhouses andHuntington Hall, where other exhibits aredisplayed. Brigid told us that most historichouses are maintained by volunteers;however, the Danbury museum is unusualand has a paid staff of 24 people.

Next, Brigid told the story of how thetown of Danbury was founded in 1685 byeight men who traveled north from Norwalkand Stamford and planted a flag declaringthe new town. Many of the streets, includ-ing Hoyt, Gregory, and Taylor, are namedafter the original founders. There was adebate over what to call the town, the set-tlers preferred the name Swampfield, but thecourt of Connecticut ordered that the townbe named Danbury, after a city in England.

Brigid explained that in 1770, Danburywas equally split between the Patriots whowanted independence and the Loyalists whosupported the British Crown. During theAmerican Revolution, Danbury was animportant military supply depot for theContinental Army, by an order from GeorgeWashington. On April 26, 1777, the British,

under Major General William Tryon burnedand looted the city, destroying everythingin sight. The British destruction went on fornearly a week before the Continental Armyleaders found out. General Benedict Arnold,along with General David Wooster andGeneral Gold Silliman, led a surprise attackon the British with more than 500 Americantroops as the British withdrew from Danbury.The American General David Wooster wasmortally wounded at the Battle of Ridgefieldby the same British forces that attackedDanbury and is buried in Wooster Cemeteryin Danbury.

Most of us know that Danbury has beennicknamed the Hat City because of itshistory in the hatting industry. The first hatshop was opened in 1780 by Zadoc Benedict,where he produced a mere three hats a day.When the hatting industry took off, manydifferent kinds of immigrants moved to thearea and lots of different languages werespoken. By 1850, Danbury was producingmore hats than any other city in the UnitedStates. The focus in Danbury was creatingmen’s felt hats which were less expensive tomanufacture since, unlike women, it didn’tbother men to wear similar hats.

Throughout history people wore hats asa necessary part of their wardrobe since theyneeded protection from the rain, snow, andsleet. After World War II there was a slowand steady decline and by 1950, men’s felthats were no longer fashionable. Peoplebegan spending more time in cars and lesstime outside, so they no longer needed hatsto keep warm. The last Danbury hat factoryclosed down in 1981. The Danbury Hattingexhibit located at the John Dodd Hat Shop isone of the Danbury Museum’s premierexhibits and gives you the ability to look atthe beautiful hats up close.

Brigid told us that one ofthe favorite parts of her job isgoing out and speaking to stu-dents at local schools, churchgroups, and senior groups.Brigid spends a lot of her timein the Danbury Public Schools,especially the 3rd grade classeswhich focus on local history.Brigid shares vintage photoswith the students showing themhow the architecture of thebuildings on Danbury’s MainStreet has changed over time.The 5th graders learn about the

Revolutionary War and Brigid teaches themDanbury’s role in it. She also talks to stu-dents at WestConn and encourages themto get involved in National History Day.

Brigid said that the museum is currentlyin the process of digitizing all of Danbury’shistorical records, but it is a constantstruggle due to all the changes happeningwith technology. The museum houses awealth of collections spanning the city’shistory and growth from colonial times tothe present day. Danbury newspapers areon microfilm, there are minutes from theCommon Council meetings, early city direc-tories, cemetery and burial records, earlymaps, and business ledgers. Brigid’s favor-ite collection is of the photos that contain allkinds of gorgeous images, each telling adifferent story. The museum uses the pho-tos in a way that is enticing, but respectfulto the sensitive nature of the content.

Over the years hundreds of people havedonated all kinds of memorabilia to themuseum such as wills, hats, and textiles.The museum has handwritten city recordsgoing back to the 1700’s so you can seewhich businesses were successful in thepast. Brigid mentioned that many ofDanbury’s residents are interested ingenealogy and the museum is constantlyadding to these records. They have acollection of city directories which are theearly versions of the phone book. Theyoffer information about the status of indi-viduals, which is useful if you are lookingup information on your family history.

Brigid said that they are always look-ing for new items to add to the museumsuch as historical pamphlets or old photo-graphs that show people living in Danbury,so please keep them in mind the next timeyou clean out your attic. The museum isconstantly creating new programs andexhibits and it certainly sounds like a placeworth a visit. If you would like to learnmore about what the Danbury Museum hasto offer you can check out their website atDanburyMuseum.org.

At the Danbury Fair (Wikipedia/public domain)


Meeting Preview

Net Attitude: What It is, How to get It,and Why It is More Important than Ever

By Andy Woodruff

WE ARE PLEASED TO announcethat John Patrick will speak toDACS about Net Attitude on

May 3. John has a long tradition oftreating us to annual presentations, andthis will be his 24th year!

John will discuss the new version ofhis book Net Attitude: What It is, How toget It, and Why It is More Important thanEver. He wrote most of this book in 2001,and he recently updated it.

John says he updated and republishedthe book because the concepts in itremain highly applicable. Back in 2001, heestimated that we were using 2% of thepotential of the Internet. Now he estimateswe are at 10-15%. “We have come a longway. But we're not there yet!”

In his presentation to us last year, Johndiscussed another book, Health Attitude.In that book, he focused on health issues.In Net Attitude, he looks at broader issuesabout how we use the Internet and howcompanies set up their websites.

John says some companies have netattitude. Others don't have it. Amazon isan example of a company that indeed doeshave net attitude. Note that Amazon'swebsite works; it is reliable and fast; and itleads to a generally positive customerexperience. This came about becauseAmazon's founder, Jeff Bezos, had netattitude; he wanted to make his customershappy.

What are the advantages of having netattitude? John says: “It makes your con-stituents happy, whether they're custom-ers, or employees, or vendors, or businesspartners, or investors.”

John thinks a lot about websites.“After all, a website is really your brand.Your brand isn't the Coca-Cola image orthe IBM 8-bar logo ... it's that homepage!That reflects your brand. And if you don'thave net attitude, it comes through.”

John goes further. He says netattitude is “a state of mind … It's

thinking about customers. It's thinkingabout the web and how it works andhow easy it can be. … It's the culturalbackground of the Internet.” John thinkscompanies would even do well to expandtheir new business vocabulary aroundnet attitude. He will tell us about this inhis presentation on May 3.

John looks forward to future work onapplications of the word “attitude” tomany other areas of our lives. After netattitude and health attitude, he is now look-ing at “home automation attitude”, “robotattitude”, and even “election attitude.” Heclearly tackles some of the big problems ofour society!

Following the panel discussion, therewill be a book signing opportunity. Johnhas graciously donated 20 copies of hisbook, and we will give these copies to thefirst 20 DACS members who arrive.Additional copies will be for sale, and Johnwill be available after the meeting toautograph books.

Dr. John R. Patrick is President ofAttitude LLC and former VP of InternetTechnology at IBM. Patrick was afounding member of the World Wide WebConsortium at MIT in 1994, a foundingmember and past chairman of the GlobalInternet Project, and a member of theInternet Society and of the AmericanCollege of Healthcare Executives. He is aFellow of the IEEE. Patrick has served ona number of boards, including DanburyHospital from 2003 to 2013. He is currentlya board member at Online Computer Li-brary Center (OCLC) and a member ofWestern Connecticut Health Network'sBiomedical Research Institute AdvisoryCouncil. He has a Doctor of HealthAministration degree.

Reminder:this specialevent startsat 6:30 PM -

an hourearlier than

usual!Come ahead

for bestseating

"John Patrick is one of my favoritethinkers. John is one of the Web'soriginal wise men, a bright spiritand intellect who shares his rareunderstanding of technology andthe web, its many dimensions andlimitless potential. In Net Attitude helays out a clear path for anyone whois determined to succeed on theInternet and, as he demonstrates, itall begins with attitude." * Lou Dobbs, Host, Lou DobbsTonight, Fox Business Network

Shop atAmazon Smile

and Amazon willmake a donation tothe Danbury Area

Computer Society, Inc.

Become a member and supportDACS. Each member has ac-cess to the Community Forum,where they can post questions,the online newsletter in PDFform, group related news viaemail, SIG meetings, online fo-rums, and any group-only relatedevents, promotions, or activities.There is also an option to receivea mailed newsletter. For infor-mation on how to join DACS,http://dacs.org/joining-dacs/.

Membership hasits Privileges!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016, 6:30 PMDanbury HospitalRobilotti Conference CenterPresenter: John Patrick

Note:This event is scheduled at 6:30PM - an hour earlier than usual.


Workshops

WWWWWorororororkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOkshop NOTES:TES:TES:TES:TES: Ma Ma Ma Ma May 2016y 2016y 2016y 2016y 2016

Workshops News & Events

Apple. Focuses on all aspects of the Mac and iPhoneoperating systems.

Contact: Richard Corzo ([email protected]).

Meets 2nd Tuesday, 7 p.m. at DACS Resource Center.

Next Meeting: May 10

Drupal. Covers all things on Drupal, the open sourcecontent management system (CMS) .Contact: Jim Scheef ([email protected]).

Go to the DACS Community Forum - (http://www.dacs.org/forum/) within the Members only area.

Next meeting: Look for future announcements.

Jobs. Networking and jobs search

Contact: Charles Bovaird, 203-792-7881 (aam@ mags.net).Go to DACS Community Forum (http://forum.dacs.org for joblistings.

Linux. Helps in installing and maintaining the Linux operatingsystem. Also of interest to Apple owners using OS X.

Contact: Dave Mawdsley, [email protected] 3rd Wednesday, 7:30 p.m. at the DACS Resource Center.


PC Maintenance. Review of PC hardware and OpSysmaintenance and use.

Contact: Charles Bovaird, 203-792-7881 (aam@ mags.net).Go to DACS Community Forum (http://forum.dacs.org).

Online Business Workshop. Informal gathering of memberssharing ideas on creating an online source of income.

Contact: Steve Harkness ([email protected])

Meets second Monday in nearby Brookfield, or by Webinar

Next Meeting: Check dacs.org.

Single Board Computers Workshop. Explores small cheapcomputers like Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Netduino, Beaglebone,and more. Meets 3rd Thursday at the DACS Resource Center.

Contact: Jim Scheef ([email protected]), or go to theDACS Community Forum: http://www.dacs.org/forum/,within the Members-only areaNext Meeting: May 19

Social Media: Master the basics of Facebook, Twitter,LinkedIn, and Instagram.

Contact: Tom Zarecki 914-548-4948; email [email protected].

Meets on the 4th Wednesday of the month at 6:30pm, usually atthe DACS Resource Center, but check the monthly schedule.


Video Production. Explores all aspects of video capture andproduction including how to create good video using smartphonesand tablets as well as using professional cameras and equipment.Meets on the 4th Tuesday or 4th Thursday of the month at 6:30pm, typically at Charter Communications in Newtown.

Contact: Andy Woodruff ([email protected])

Next meeting: Check dacs.org

Web Development/Design This Workshop meets every3rd Tuesday, 7-9 pm, at the DACS resource center. Althoughwe cover many web-related subjects, most meetings willfeature WordPress (“Content Management System”). We dis-cuss its pros and cons, learn about theme editing, CSS, plugins,security, customization and more. Next meeting: May 17.

Apple. In April we answered user questions. The mainquestion was about Adobe Flash on the Mac. New vul-nerabilities are constantly discovered so that's why it'simportant to keep it up to date. There is a Flash plug-inused by Safari and Mozilla Firefox (if installed). Youcan check whether it's up to date by browsing to thiswebsite: http://www.adobe.com/software/flash/about/.

Safari does allow you to enable or disable Flash forindividual websites. Normally you will be promptedwhether to trust a plug-in when you visit a new page.You can also manage which websites are allowed touse particular plug-ins in Safari Preferences. Click onthe Security tab and click the Website Settings… but-ton next to the "Allow plug-ins" checkbox to managewhich websites are allowed to use each plug-in.

Initially I thought Google Chrome used the sameMac plug-in that the other browsers use, but it turns outit has its own copy (https://helpx.adobe.com/flash-player/kb/flash-player-google-chrome.html). Chromeautomatically updates itself and the built-in plug-in.

If you are using an iPad or iPhone then Flash is notsupported, which makes it much safer to browse theweb from those devices. Fortunately a lot of websitesthat use Flash on the desktop version of the website,serve up an alternate version for iOS devices. Instead ofusing a mouse or trackpad to manipulate the Flash gameor video, you use your finger on the touchscreen. Forany website you are unsure of, I recommend using aniPad or iPhone, if you have one.

—Richard Corzo

.


May 2016Danbury Area Computer Society

Linux7:30 -9:30 PMDave Mawdsley

[email protected]

Apple 7:00 PMRichard Corzo

[email protected]

MembershipCommittee

7:00 PMJim Scheef

860-355-0034

Single BoardComputers Workshop

7:00 PMJim Scheef

860-355-0034

General Meeting6:30 PM

Board ofDirectors7:00 PM

DACS.DOCDeadline

Web Developmentand Design

Annettevan Ommeren7:00 - 9:00 PM

[email protected]

Social Media

Tom Zarecki6:30 - 8:00 PM

[email protected]


Technology Trends

Looking Back to See ForwardBy Greg Skalka

WITH 2015 IN THE rear view mirror, one starts to wonder whatkind of year 2016 will be for

computers and technology. We hadbetter figure that out quickly, as almost1/4 of the year is gone already, and be-fore we know it Christmas decorationswill be appearing in the aisles of HomeDepot once again. I now prefer to avoidmaking New Year's predictions. A lot ofinteresting things happened withtechnology in 2015, and I'm now so goodat guessing. Perhaps by considering theevents, milestones and trends of lastyear, some useful conclusions can bemade about what is likely to happen toour tech items in 2016 and further intothe future. A lot of tech topics were inthe news in 2015; looking back at themnow may provide insight into what wewill face going forward.

Automobiles. Quickly name the mostpowerful computing device you own. Formost of us, it is probably our car. Mostnew cars have more than 40 embeddedprocessors, running everything from theemissions to the entertainment system.Luxury cars may have 100 processors each.Car makers are now packing 200 lbs. ofelectronics in a new vehicle; though theytry to shave weight from the vehicles to in-crease fuel mileage, the added electronicstypically saves fuel by replacing heaviermechanisms. Today's cars are safer (airbags, electronic traction control andbraking, tire pressure sensors, backup cam-eras, collision avoidance), more efficient(electronic engine control) and morecapable (GPS navigation, cruise control,self-parking, Wi-Fi hub), due in a large partto electronics.

Along with all those processors come100 million or more lines of code. That soft-ware can do great things for an automaker,or it can be their undoing. The VW dieselemissions scandal that was revealed lastyear, in which they admitted configuringsoftware to cheat on emissions testing, hurtVW sales and its stock value and resultedin fines, lawsuits and recalls. There were, infact, a record 51 million vehicles recalled in2015, many resulting from the other majorauto scandal and the problem of airbag in-flators made by Takata firing shards ofmetal at car occupants when they inflate.In general, however, more complex vehiclesand short design schedules will lead to

more design problems and more recalls.Autonomous or self-driving cars are

being developed by most majorautomakers, including Tesla, as well asGoogle, Uber, Lyft and Apple. Unfortu-nately, the state and federal regulationsto deal with this new vehicle paradigmare also still under development. Mean-while, many automakers are introducingsemiautonomous driving features incre-mentally. Vehicles with automatic brak-ing and steering for collision avoidance,as well as self-parking capabilities arealready available. Will the automakersget a self-driving car in the public'shands (or under their behinds) first byadding autonomous features piecemeal,or will Google and the government regu-lators get their vehicles and laws com-pleted first?

Though 2015 set a record for auto sales,low fuel prices sent sales of electric carsdown 17% from 2014. While new plug-inelectric and hybrid models continue to beintroduced, consumers are reluctant to paythe $8K to $10K premium for these vehicleswith gas prices so low. Only 400,000 out ofthe 1 million electric vehicle sales goal setby the Obama administration by 2015 hadbeen achieved.

Going forward, consumers can expectmore electronics in their cars and trucksand more electric cars in general, espe-cially if oil prices increase sharply. If fuelprices stay low, auto makers will beconflicted, having to choose betweenselling bigger vehicles that consumerswant and smaller, high mileage gas andelectric cars that allow them to meet themuch tougher 2025 average fuel economystandards. Though adding electronicstends to increase reliability, look for morerecalls as the complexity of the productsincreases. Autonomous vehicle develop-ment has become "too big to fail"; withso many players in the market, the carscould be available in just a few years,and then the regulations will have to beresolved. This will be great for the dis-abled and inebriated, but devastating forbus, taxi and truck drivers.

Drones. The FAA (Federal AviationAdministration) finally released someregulations for small unmanned aircraftor drones in 2015, requiring registrationfor some and specifying flight rules. Aswith their wheeled autonomous cousins,

regulations have not kept up with thetechnology and popularity of personaldrones. Aerial firefighting efforts forwildfires last summer were interfered withby drones in a number of cases. A num-ber of new laws relating to drones wereproposed in California but none wereenacted. Meanwhile, small quadcopterscontinue to drop in price and becomemore available. Fry's has several aislesdevoted to drones and their accessories.

Personal drones usually have a lotof autonomous flight capabilities, butmost still require some human control,as with a radio-controlled plane. A newproduct to be released this summer calledLily promises to make drone photogra-phy easy for everyone (www.lily.camera). This quadcopter with built-incamera is very easy to use; it is launchedby simply throwing it in the air. It tracksand follows you via a small trackingdevice and takes video and stills. It is inpre-sales online for $800. This kind ofdevice could be the next Go-Pro Hero ofaction cameras. If the price could comedown further, it could be a big hit.

Computers. Sales of laptop anddesktop computers fell slightly in 2015,continuing a trend started in 2012 whentablets began to compete with them.Tablet sales rose for several years, butwere flat last year, probably because bythen almost everyone that wanted a tab-let had finally gotten one. Microsoft'srelease of the Windows 10 operating sys-tem was supposed to spur sales of newcomputers, but by the end of 2015, it hadonly a 10% market share (less thanWindows 8.1 at 10.3%, XP at 11% andWindows 7 at 56%). This was in spite ofMicrosoft offering it for free to existingWindows 7 and 8 users. For tablets, 57%used the Android OS at the end of 2015,while iOS had 35% of the market.

The main competition for computersand tablets at this point is the smartphone. While computers (desktops andnotebooks combined) had around300,000 shipped in 2015, and tablets anadditional 300,000 units, nearly 2 millionmobile phones were shipped worldwide.While smart phones and tablets may begreat for web surfing and emails, mostfile creation work is still best done on aconventional PC, with a larger screen andfull keyboard. Tax return filing season ishere, and while a few may file using atablet, I would guess the majority of fil-ers will do so on a desktop or laptop PC(with practically none on a smart phone).I can't see editing spreadsheets or writ-ing large documents on a smart phone.Even online shopping is more difficult on a


smart phone's small screen. Thus I feelcomputers will continue to hold their per-centage of market share for quite a fewyears into the future. It will also take afew years for Windows 10 to become themost used computer OS, but it will getthere.

Smart Phones. Smart phone sales mayhave peaked simply because it is gettingharder to find anyone that does not alreadyhave one. There are some that own nocomputing devices other than a smartphone, but those people are primarilycontent consumers, not creators. In thesmart phone arena, Android is the king ofthe OS with 83% of the market; Apple's iOSonly had 14% in 2015.

What started out as mobile device thatcould only make voice calls has turned intoa mobile computer, web browser andinstant (text) messager. An interestingphone prediction says that one quarter ofphone users won't make a single voice callin any given week this year. I would guessthat trend will continue. Almost everyonewill have a smart phone, but fewer peoplewill use it as a phone.

Wearables. Activity trackers like Fitbithave been growing in popularity, with Fitbitalone selling 4.5 million units in the 3rdquarter of 2015. The Apple Watch was notfar behind in sales. Still, I see the activitytracker as a useful device, while the Watchseems little more than an extension for theiPhone's ability to call. The Watch displayseems far too small to be useful for readingtexts.

I thought Google Glass was a cleverdevice, though expensive. I read recentlythat Google may be reintroducing it or asimilar product. A wearable computer likethat would be useful; it just needs the rightuser interface. We will probably see moremedical-related wearables introduced in thefuture.

Social Networks. Facebook is still thetop social network spot on the web, with45% of users in 2015. You Tube is thenext most popular destination at 22%.All the others are in low single digitseach, including Twitter, Reddit, Pinterest,Tumblr, LinkedIn and Instagram. Thesesites will remain popular, and though itwill continue to have new competitors,Facebook will probably remain on top forsome time. Tastes can change quickly inthis category, however. Who remembersMyspace?

GREG SKALKA is president, Under theComputer Hood User Group, CA.This articlewas published in the February 2016 issue,Drive Light, and is distributed for reprint byAPCUG member groups. (www.uchug.org;president (at) uchug.org)

THE NAME pretty much describeswhat you see for this product. It's aphoto cube with things on four of

the six sides.On top is the multifunction button. It con-

trols On/Off and, when On, whether you aretaking a still or a movie. The front has thecamera and a small aperture for the micro-phone. The company says the lens captures124° of field, although my tests show some-what less. Still, that's a pretty wide angle.The bottom has an embedded magnet forstable attachment to any metal object. Thisis an easy, but not very useful, wayto step away from the camera formotion pictures or stills.

On the back inside a com-partment sealed with a slotteddisk are: a slot for a microSD cardof up to 32 GB; a switch to shiftfrom720mp to 1080mp; a microUSB slot for the included cable usedto attach your laptop or computer.

The laptop or computer connectionallows charging the Cube while displayingthe stills and movies contained on themicroSD card. You can access the datathrough your laptop, but there is also anapp available that allows a few othercontrols.

Light Frequency switches from 60 Hz to50 Hz to eliminate flickering that may bepresent when taking movies in artificial light.

Timestamp whether or not to beincluded in stills and movies and to be dis-played when viewing same.

Cycle Recording records over existingmovie files to save storage.

Date & Time to set the date and time towhatever you want.

Sync with Computer, so the time anddate are whatever your laptop or computerhas at the time the still or movie is taken.

Camera Buzzer Volume Multifunctionbutton presses generate one or more beeps;this control makes them more or less au-dible.

The User Guide includes basic infor-mation, but is rather short on details.

The device is pretty simple when youunderstand how to do it. There are a number

of accessories available for use withthe Cube. The tripod mount may be

one of the most useful. Pointingthe camera at the target you wantis not easy and the mount wouldmake it much easier.

It would be helpful if therewere a way to access the

camera's function with anapp for your smartphoneSince Cube is not Wi-Fi ca-

pable, the app would not work for it. Theirsuccessor product the Cube+ is Wi-Fiequipped and available at a higher price.

GEORGE HARDING is treasurer, TucsonComputer Society, AZ. His article appeared inthe January 2016 issue, TCS eJournal:www.aztcs.org; georgehardingsbd (at)earthlink.net, and is distributed for reprint byAPCUG user groups.

Picture Perfect

Polaroid CubeBy George Harding

About: Polaroid CubeVendor: Polaroidwww.polaroid.comPrice: $99


Word for the Wise

AcuRite Pro 5-in-1 Weather StationBy Jerry Grommes

I RECENTLY RECEIVED an email from"Score Card Rewards" telling me howmany points I had accumulated

(purchasing with my VISA earns pointswhich can be used to purchase merchandisethrough Score Card Rewards). I thought whatbetter way to get a new gadget than to burnsome points. Looking through the Score CardRewards online catalog I came across some-thing I had wanted for some time, but did notwant to spend money on, a personal weatherStation. I promptly added it to the cart &checked out.

The AcuRite Pro 5-in-1 Weather Sta-tion with PRO+ 5-in-1 Sensor, PC Connect,Wind and Rain arrived 3 days later. I was a"Happy Camper" and had it setup and run-ning in just a couple of hours. http://www.acurite.com/pro-5-in-1-weather-sta-tion-with-pro-5-in-1-sensor-pc-connect-wind-and-rain-01035p.html

The weather display with AcuRite Con-nect plugs into your computer to store, trackand share your weather information. You canview your sensors from virtually anywhereon a smartphone, tablet or computer withthe AcuRite app and myAcuRite.comwebsite, or you can easily publish yourweather reports on Weather Underground.

GoodSupportInitially I had

an issue addingmy device to theAcuRite website,so I placed a call tocustomer supportwhich the auto-mated call service

stated that I was in a que with 8 ahead of me.It then offered me to stay on hold and wait inline or to give a call back number and theywould call me back when it was my turn. Iopted with the call back and received theircall about 45 minutes later.

The support person was very wellversed, easy to understand and took careof my problem in a matter of minutes. Thecontact us support page lists the Company(Chaney Instrument Co.) as being locatedin Lake Geneva, WI. That's almost local.

AcuRite Pro 5-in-1Weather Sensor

• Measures temperature, humidity,

wind speed, wind direction and rain

• Two solar panels power the internalfan to maximize ambient temperatureaccuracy at all hours of the day (stan-dard 5-in-1 includes only one solarpanel)

• Strong wireless range up to 330 feet(100 meters)

• Transmits data every 18 to 36 seconds

• Automatic self-emptying rain collec-tion cup

• 2 year battery life

• Durable, all-weather construction

• Easy installation includes mountinghardware

Pro Weather StationIncludes:

Digital Display with PC Connect for 5-in-1 Sensor Data, 5-in-1 PRO+ WeatherSensor, USB cable, mounting bracket,mounting hardware, AC power adapter, in-struction manual

Display with PC Connectfor 5-in-1 Sensor

• 12 to 24 hour weather forecast

• Patented Self-Calibrating Forecast-ing pulls data from a sensor in yourbackyard to give you the most accu-rate forecast for your exact location

• Weather Ticker™ streams real-timeinformation and alerts

• Programmable weather alarms: tem-perature, humidity, wind, rain, dewpoint, h• Measures rain precipitationand rainfall history (inches or milli-meters)

• Wind speed: current, peak, and aver-age (MPH or KPH)

• Indoor and outdoor temperature (de-grees Fahrenheit and Celsius) withtrend arrow

• Indoor and outdoor humidity (%RH)with trend arrow

• Heat index, wind chill, dew point and"feels like" calculations

• Daily, weekly, monthly and annualhigh and low records

• Barometric pressure with trend arrow

• Time and date (month/day)

• Bright blue backlight

• Bilingual English or French display

• Tabletop or wall-mountable design

• Indicator for wireless sensor signalstrength

I am currently publishing my weatherdata on Weather Underground and you canview it at: http://www.wunderground.com/weather-forecast/zmw:60545.1.99999

Weather Underground was founded in1995 as the first online weather service,Weather Underground supplies weatherdata solutions to the many of the leadingmedia companies and millions of usersacross the globe through their mobile appsand website wunderground.com. Withover 180,000+ personal weather stationsworldwide, Weather Underground is ableto provide meaningful and reliable weatherdata to people in real-time. Weather Un-derground is part of The Weather Companyand is based in San Francisco, California

JERRY GROMMES is editor, Sandwich ComputerUsers Group, IL. www.scug.org; ggrommes(at) live.com.

This article is authorized reprinted by APCUGmember user groups


o Topics covered recently by meet-ings of the Trumbull user group were re-viewed for general meeting ideas. Jimsuggested a presentation on RSS, andRichard C. offered to look into the possi-bility of an Apple Store presentation.

• Renovation of the Resource Center (RC)

o Cathy pointed out that the presenceof mold is a problem in the RC. She andpossibly others have suffered allergic re-actions while in the RC. The nature of theproblem, other needed renovation tasks,and possible solutions were discussedbut no conclusions were reached.

• Mail that comes to the RC and keysfor the RC were discussed.

• The location of the greeter's box be-tween general meetings was discussedat length. In conclusion, the existing ar-rangement was left unchanged, i.e. thatCathy will keep the box at her house andbring it to meetings.

• At Jim's request, a new Gmail accountwill be established, to support the sign-inform at general meetings.

• Discussion of the search for a Vice-President (and other DACS leadershippositions) was deferred.

New Business• Snacks for general meetings:

o Andy (drinks) and Lisa (snacks) willmake the arrangements in May.

o Richard C. (drinks) and Cathy(snacks) will make the arrangements in June.

• Bert will follow up on the ad from Alli-ance of Nonprofits for Insurance.

• Jim will add Dave as backup recipientfor the Treasurer's e-mail address.

• Cathy will update the Membership Appli-cation form to remove the interests section.

• Further discussion of how to organizea Music workshop was deferred. Andy isexpected to follow up with Chris Aher.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:05pm.

—Richard Teasdale

BACK TO BASICSTaking Photos with Your iPad (and iPhone)

By Jim Cerny

Peripherals

YOUR IPAD TABLET device (andyour iPhone) are excellent devicesfor taking photos and videos. We

will discuss taking and working withphotos in this article, but taking videos issimilar. All iPads and iPhones have a"Camera" app to TAKE photos, and a"Photos" app to VIEW your photos.

THE CAMERA APP -- Tap this app tobegin using the iPad built-in camera. Im-mediately you will see an image of whatyour iPad camera is seeing through its lens.Move your iPad to see on the screen whatyou want to take a photo of, wait a momentfor the image to focus (you will see a smallyellow-outlined rectangle on the image asit adjusts the focus). You may tap on theimage anywhere to move this focusingrectangle to another place if you wish, thentap the large white button. You will hear a"click" and your photo is now saved onthe "camera roll" on your iPad. (Before tak-ing your photo, you can "zoom in" bytouching the screen with two fingers andspread them apart.)

When you are using the camera, youcan tap on the small white camera outlineicon to switch between the front or rearlens of your device. The front lens (facingyou) is best used during Skype or videocalling. Some settings for your camera canbe changed in the "Settings" app, such asturning a grid pattern on or off. The "HDROn" option (just touch to change to "HDROff") will allow your iPad to take threephotos at almost the same time andprovide one best photo using the threeimages. (I have noticed no significant dif-ference whether HDR is on or off). In addi-tion to the "photo" option, there is the"video" option (to take videos, obviously)and a "square" option for taking square(i.e. not rectangular) photos. Scroll tochose. Your most recent photo will beshown at the bottom corner of the screenand you can touch this photo to open the"Photos" app.

THE PHOTOS APP -- Touch this appto open and view your photos. You canscroll through all your photos in your iPadmemory and they are already sorted by date.To delete a photo, touch it to open thephoto on the screen, then touch the littleblue garbage can in the bottom corner ofthe screen. Touch on "Delete Photo" whenit appears to confirm the delete. Your

photos can be used in various ways,printed (if you have a printer that workswith your iPad), sent to other places, etc.You can also organize your photos intoALBUMS. You can think of an "album" asa "folder". You can create a new album bytouching the "album" icon at the bottomof the screen which opens your list ofalbums, then touch the "+" to add a newalbum and give it a name. At this pointyou will see your collection of photosand you can "select" the ones you wantto "copy" into that album. A photo youhave "selected" will have a blue circlewith a checkmark in it on the photo. Youcan copy the same photo into multiplealbums if you want. If you DELETE aphoto from an album you are only delet-ing the copy you put in that album. Ifyou DELETE a photo from your"photos" (that is, you are NOT in view-ing albums) then that photo will bedeleted from your device including allthe albums you copied it into.

FUN TIP: To take a photo of whateveris on your iPad screen at any time, just hitthe "home" and the "power" buttons atthe same time.

You can download any number of freeand low-cost apps that will work with yourphotos and allow you to edit and enhancethem. However, the Photos app that comeswith your iPad can do some editing. Touch"Edit" at the top right of the screen whenyou have selected a photo to see youroptions - such as rotate, enhance, filters,red-eye removal, and crop.

The camera of your iPhone will workthe same way. The iPhone will have a flashbuilt-in, whereas the iPad does not.

More Tips:• It is a good idea to backup your pho-

tos somewhere else for safekeeping. Youcan do this when your iPad (iPhone) isconnected to your computer or you couldsave your photos to some memory in the"cloud".

• Take photos and experiment with them.Learn how to find them and organize theminto albums.

• Learn more by using Google andYouTube - ask questions such as "How doI delete a photo from my iPad?"

• Review your photos on your device

on a regular basis and DELETE thephotos you no longer want. (If you canNOT delete a photo then the photo wasmost likely put on your device from some-place else.)

• Having your iPhone with you meansthat you have never forgotten your cam-era at home or in the car!

JIM CERNY is a Columnist, Sarasota TUG, FL.His article was published in the January 2016issue, Sarasota Technology Monitor (www.thestug.org / jimcerny123 (at) gmail.com). Thearticle is reprinted by permission for APCUGmember user groups.

Directors’ Notes, Cont. from page 3

Future Events:

dacs.docDanbury Area Computer Society65 Legion RdNew Milford, CT 06776

Voice forJoanie

Help give thegift of speech

Call Frank Ruizat 203 770-6203

and become aVoice for Joanie

volunteerwww.voiceforjoanie.org

JJJJJulululululy 5y 5y 5y 5y 5TBA

JJJJJune 7une 7une 7une 7une 7Rick Van Akin and/or

“ComputerTroubleshooters”

May 3May 3May 3May 3May 3John Patrick

When you come to the next DACS meeting,why not bring a friend?

August 2August 2August 2August 2August 2TBA

may 2016 volume 26, issue 5 $2.00 next event: may 3, 6:30 ... · may 2016 volume 26, issue 5 $2.00...

Documents