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The Computer Link The Newsletter of the Northern Neck Computer Users Group
NNCUG Meetings
NNCUG General Meeting
Meets Third Saturday of every month at 10:00 A.M. Lancaster Community
Library
Genealogy SIG
Meets bi-monthly 2nd Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury
Contact Ann Thompson at [email protected] to get on the mailing list for announcements.
Photoshop SIG
Meets second Tuesday every month at 9:30 a.m. at the Lancaster Community Library.
Tablet SIG Meets at 9:00 a.m. every month before the NNCUG regular meeting on
the third Saturday at the Lancaster Community Library.
Computer Help Available
Contact
Betty Lehman – 804-435-2011 B.J. McMillan – 804-580-8666
NNCUG Officers
President Mary Stewart 804-436-9022
Vice President BJ McMillan
804-580-8666
Secretary Susan Malloy 301-518-6372
Treasurer George Cadmus 804-435-6328
Member-At-Large Bruce McMillan 804-580-8666
The Computer Link George Cadmus 804-435-6328
Website Brian Riley
804-436-2252 www.nncug.net
NNCUG Email Address [email protected]
If You Don’t Know Computers or Technology You Need Us – If You Do Know Computers and Technology We Need You
May 2017 Edition
Membership Report
The following members’ Dues are due in
June Richard Davis David Herndon Brian Riley Ann Thompson
The following members’ Dues are due in
May Willis Burton Russell Buxton
Thank you to the following members who have
recently renewed their membership
Marianne Miller Roger Fortin Linda Boyatzies
New Members
None
Membership dues are $20.00 annually. Pleas remit to:
NNCUG
150 Pine Drive White Stone, VA 22578
Coming Events
General Meeting
Saturday June 15, 2017 10 a.m. Lancaster Community Library
Tablet SIG
Saturday June 15, 2017 9 a.m. Lancaster Community Library
Photo SIG
Tuesday June 11, 2017 9:30 a.m. Lancaster Community Library
Genealogy SIG
Thursday July 13, 2017 1 p.m. Rappahannock Westminster Canterbury
In This Issue
NNCUG Annual Board Meeting Page 3 Chris Emry Guest Speaker at May Meeting Page 4 Why You Should Stop Using Public Wi-Fi Page 6 Picture Management-Something We All Need Page 7 Interesting Articles From Ask Bob Rankin Page 9 Cast Color over Black and White Like Magic Page 10 Energi Charger Station Review Page 12 Just for Laughs Page 13 Google Search Tips Page 14 Video Tutorials Page 16 Inkjet Printers Page 17 Multiple Virtual Desktops – Task View Page 20
Treasurers Report
Banking Account $4,323.32 Cash On Hand $ 55.00 Treasury Total $4,378.32
Regular Members: 48
Family Members: 13
Total Membership: 61
Submitted by Susan Malloy Secretary
The Board of the Northern Neck Computer Users Group held its annual Board meeting on May 10, 2017
at 3 pm at the Lancaster Community Library. Present at the meeting was Mary Stewart, B.J. McMillan,
Susan Malloy, George Cadmus and Bruce McMillan.
The Board reviewed the prior year’s budget and expenses and voted to approve the following
expenditures for the coming year.
1. Donation of $100 to the Lancaster Community Library
2. Donation of $100 to Rappahannock Westminster-Canterbury Foundation
3. Donation of $50 to the Northumberland Library
4. Discretionary budget of $100 to each of the Group’s three special interest groups: Tablet, Photo
and Genealogy.
There was a discussion of the need for various cables and connectors. Following the discussion, it
was agreed that Bruce McMillan will take an inventory of the Group’s current cables, connectors,
power cords etc. to identify any additional items needed and will then purchase those items. All
board members were requested to send Bruce an email advising him of the items currently in their
possession.
Susan Malloy advised that she will look into making arrangements to have an audit of the NNCUG
books.
A discussion was held of possible topics for the meetings during the coming year. Most of the
remaining month’s dates were filled with only three months remaining yet to be filled. Susan
Malloy advised she will attempt to schedule the Photo SIG, Tablet SIG and Brian Riley to fill the
remaining three months not yet scheduled. In addition the Board members will research the APCUG
Speakers Bureau and webinars, as well as online tutorials to consider other possible meeting topics.
The group will continue to notify the local newspapers of upcoming meetings and topics when
possible and the posting of flyers in post offices, libraries and other public bulletin boards.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4 pm.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 3
NNCUG Holds Annual Board Meeting
Meeting Held at the Lancaster Community Library
George Cadmus Editor
Guest speaker, Chris Emry, gave a presentation on what to look for when buying a new computer.
Should you buy a laptop or a desktop? More people are choosing laptops as their main computer. They
take up less room, they’re more energy efficient and you can move them around at will. Desktops
however, still have some advantages. They cost less for the same speed, they’re better suited to high
end gaming, and you can upgrade or repair a desktop yourself. For productivity, a desktop’s full-size
keyboard and mouse, along with better support for multiple large monitors, are often better than a
laptops smaller screen, keyboard and track pad. Chris also advised you could also add a third party
mouse, keyboard and monitor to most laptops for a similar experience.
Chris advised to be cautious when buying a new computer
and do not consider purchasing one of the least expensive
ones. Trying to save money in the short term might leave
you with a computer that’s barely unusable or breaking
down within a year. He advised staying away from purchasing
a computer at stores such as Walmart, as the computers
contain the basic elements and tends to have outdated
components and tend to be slow.
Consider what you are going to use the computer for. Any
computer you buy will be good at surfing the web, sending
emails, creating text documents and photo organizing. If you
want photo editing, video editing, gaming or similar
activities, a budget computer isn’t going to be the best.
Expect to pay more for a mid- range or high end computer.
Chris suggests you purchase the Windows 10 Home edition as your operating system. Windows 10
Home offers everything an average user needs. If you are a power user or run a small business then the
Pro version is for you for its power features.
Chris advised if you are considering replacing your old computer to get better performance, you should
upgrade to a 64 bit computer. Most computers sold today have 64 bit processors, and more and more
software is available in a 64 bit version. It is also important you make sure all of the software you need
is available in 64 bit version so you can continue to use it.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 4
Chris Emry Guest Speaker at May NNCUG Meeting
Chris Emry
Chris listed what processors or CPU’s you should consider. He reported that a Celeron processor is the
slowest. Going up the scale to the fastest is the Pentium, i3, i5 and i7 which is the fastest. He also
suggested getting 8GB or more of RAM or memory.
Chris also suggested he would recommend getting a Solid State hard drive. He advised that you should
not get a computer that contains a hard drive with 5400 RPM.
Chris mentioned there are some other things you may want to pay attention to when buying a new
computer. Should you consider obtaining a 3 year warranty? If you are purchasing a mid-level or
high-end computer, then you should consider getting the 3 year warranty. If you need an integrated
CD/DVD player you must make sure it comes with the computer as many of the new computers do not
come with this item.
If you are an accountant or need a calculator on your keyboard, you may want to purchase an external
calculator keyboard for your computer. If you need a VGA/HDMI output and your new computer does
not contain these, you can always buy adapters. If you do a lot of gaming or CAD, you may need a
powerful video card.
We Thank Chris for the interesting and informative presentation and welcome him back anytime.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 5
Page 5
May 20 NNCUG Meeting
Les Cashwell Northern Neck Computer Users Group Virginia Source: Harvard Business Review
There are dozens of online tutorials showing hackers how to compromise public Wi-Fi,
some of them with millions of views. The most common method of attack is known as
“Man in the Middle.” In this simple technique, traffic is intercepted between a user’s
device and the destination by making the victim’s device think the hacker’s machine is
the access point to the internet. A similar, albeit more sinister, method is called the
“Evil Twin.” Here’s how it works: You log on to the free Wi-Fi in your hotel room, thinking you’re joining
the hotel’s network. But somewhere nearby, a hacker is boosting a stronger Wi-Fi signal off of their
laptop, tricking you into using it by labeling it with the hotel’s name. Trying to save a few bucks, and
recognizing the name of the hotel, you innocently connect to the hacker’s network. As you surf the web
or do your online banking, all your activity is being monitored by this stranger.
What is the best way to protect yourself against these kinds of Wi-Fi threats? Although antivirus
protection and firewalls are essential methods of cyber defense, they are useless against hackers on
unsecured Wi-Fi networks. Consider the following seven security tips to keep prying eyes out of your
devices:
1. Don’t use public Wi-Fi to shop online, log in to your financial institution, or access other
sensitive sites ever
2. Use a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, to create a network-within-a-network, keeping
everything you do encrypted
3. Implement two-factor authentication when logging into sensitive sites, so even if malicious
individuals have the passwords to your bank, social media, or email, they won’t be able to log
in
4. Only visit websites with HTTPS encryption when in public places, as opposed to lesser-
protected HTTP addresses
5. Turn off the automatic Wi-Fi connectivity feature on your phone, so it won’t automatically
seek out hotspots
6. Monitor your Bluetooth connection when in public places to ensure others are not
intercepting your transfer of data
7. Buy an unlimited data plan for your device and stop using public Wi-Fi altogether
To see a video on Never Use Public Wi-Fi Again, click on the link below.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3SP1y96wNE
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 6
Why You Really Need to Stop Using Public Wi-Fi
Picture Management – Something we all need. By Phil Sorrentino, Contributing Writer, The Computer Club, Florida http://scccomputerclub.org / Philsorr.wordpress.com philsorr (at) yahoo.com With the advent of the smartphone, a camera is always only an arm’s length away, because your smartphone is probably in your pocket or your handbag. And having the camera so available means we take, and hence have, many more pictures (and maybe even videos). With this increased number of pictures comes the problem of organizing or managing them so we can access them when they are needed. The picture may not seem so valuable if you can’t find it when you want to show it to someone. I think it was very innovative and forward thinking of Steve Jobs at Apple to include a camera in the original iPhone. Today, the camera is probably the second most important reason why you have a smartphone (the first being the fact that the smartphone can make phone calls). The cameras, built into smartphones, have really improved in the short time that smartphones have been in use. Originally the cameras might have only been a mega pixel or so in picture size (the original iPhone had a 2-mega pixel camera); now the cameras have as many pixels as some professional cameras (the iPhone 7 has a 12-mega pixel camera). And, though the quality of the pictures from the earlier smartphones may have been only acceptable, the quality of the pictures from many of today’s cameras is only surpassed by pictures from very expensive professional cameras. So, with all these pictures, we naturally look for help to organize them, and fortunately help comes in the form of digital picture management software. Photoshop Elements is a possible solution with a price tag of around $80. Picasa has been a very popular, free, picture editor and management software application. Unfortunately, Picasa which was available from Google since July 2004 was discontinued February 2016. Google is recommending its cloud-based “Google Photos” be used in place of Picasa. “Google Photos” is not the same as “Photos” that you will find on a Windows 10 computer in the “All Apps” list. The Windows 10 Photos App is a photo viewer that provides minimal picture management. Google Photos is a cloud-based App that encourages you to upload your pictures from all of your devices to the cloud, where the photos are stored and managed. Then, using the Google Photos App, you can view all of your photos from any device with an internet connection. Google gives you 15GB of storage space (you can purchase more if needed), and then (with a setting) gives you a choice of “High Quality (free unlimited storage)”, or “Original quality (full resolution that counts against your 15GB quota)”. The “High Quality” selection produces “Great visual quality at reduced file size”, as stated on the website. (This 15GB of storage appears to be separate from your
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 7
Picture Management
Something We All Need
“Google Drive”, if you have one, because there is a setting to “Show Google Drive photos and videos in your Photos library”.) The photos.google.com website states “the photos are automatically organized and searchable”, and “the photos can be organized by people, places, or things”. The website tutorial also indicates that you can “Easily edit and share” your photos. So, it seems like once your photos are uploaded to the cloud, they can be organized by your needs, and any photo can easily be accessed. Another free photo management application is Photo Gallery, which was available from Microsoft but unfortunately had its support ended January 10, 2017. If you have a copy of Photo Gallery you will see that it can organize your pictures, but it also has a few neat features. One of these features is “Panorama”. Photo Gallery allows you to create panoramas from (overlapping) pictures that were sequentially taken of a wide scene. The picture interfaces are stitched together, resulting in a wide panorama of the original scene. If the lighting was consistent and the overlap was easy for the software to find the edges, with a little cropping the results were quite good. Panorama stitching is not that unusual a feature, but Photo Gallery also has a feature called “Photo Fuse”. This feature allows you to correct many unwanted things in a picture. To use this, you have to take multiple pictures of a scene that has some unwanted movements, like people moving in the background, or children turning their heads at inconvenient times. Once you have a number of images (maybe 5 or 6) of basically the same scene, you’re ready to use Photo Fuse. Photo Fuse lets you choose which picture will be used for a given selectable rectangular area. If there is a person in the background in picture 1 but not in picture 4, then you can use picture 4 for the rectangle that shows the unwanted person. Similarly, you can customize many rectangles with sections from other pictures. When you are finished, all the unwanted people or unwanted movements may be eliminated. This type of feature is typically only found in some very expensive software packages. It reminds me of “Layers” in Photoshop Elements, but “Photo Fuse” is not nearly as powerful. Photo Gallery may still be available from the Microsoft Download site, but without support from Microsoft it may not be something you want to be dependent on. But if you have a copy, Photo Gallery certainly has a lot of really great features, and is fairly easy to use. There still are a few free Photo Editing and Management applications available. A quick check finds Zoner Photo Studio Free, StudioLine Photo Basic Free 3, Jet Photo Studio 5, XNView MP, Faststone Image Viewer, and DigiKam, but I haven’t tried any of them yet. A quick look at the features makes me wonder if there will be a replacement for Photo Gallery. If you are willing to spend a few dollars, there are a few possibilities that may be a good replacement. Photoshop Elements, Magix Photo Manager, and Acdsee come to mind. Keep in mind that Picture Management software typically does not re-arrange or move your picture files or folders. Picture Management software just acts as a lens viewing all the pictures in the picture folders that you let it use, usually with an “Include folders” setting. So, in my opinion, the only way to really manage your photos is to create a hierarchical arrangement of folders using File Explorer and then manage that set of folders yourself, again using File Explorer. And then let your Photo Management software use all of those folders. Depending on the size of your picture collection, this may take a big effort and a firm commitment to create, organize and maintain the folders. But whatever method or software you decide on, do it quickly, because your picture collection is probably increasing, even as we speak.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 8
Solid State Drive (SSD) technology has been taking over the mass storage
market rapidly. But there's always been uncertainty about the useful lifespan
of a solid state drive, as compared to a traditional magnetic drive. Will your
SSD conk out suddenly, or will it last for years? Click on the link below to find
out more.
http://askbobrankin.com/ssd_drives_how_long_do_they_last.html
Microsoft has done it again - rolled out a new “paradigm” that makes the whole world say “Why?” The company has released Windows 10 S, a seriously crippled version of its latest operating system. Even stranger, it simultaneously released the long-awaited Surface Laptop with this oddball OS installed on it. Click on the link below to find out what you need to know...
http://askbobrankin.com/what_and_why_is_windows_10_s.html
Amazon introduced its first Alexa-enabled digital speaker in June 2015.
In 2016, the Amazon Echo was joined by Amazon Tap and Echo Dot.
Now, another Alexa product has debuted in May 2017. Will this new
personal digital assistant become a central part of your life, your family
and your home? Read on for the scoop...
http://askbobrankin.com/can_you_live_without_this_new_gadget.html
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 9
SSD Drives: How Long Do They Last
What (and WHY) is Windows 10 S
Can You Live Without This New Gadget?
Amazon Echo Show
By Les Cashwell Northern Neck Computer Users Group Virginia [email protected]
This tool, Interactive Deep Colorization, is an intelligent deep-learning AI-powered application that
automatically adds color to black and white photos. It is based on an algorithm that studies the tinting
patterns of millions of images.
Try colorizing a black & white photo using Photoshop and you will understand the time-saving value of
using this tool.
I have a number of old black and white photos that I would love to convert to color. This tool might be
my solution. I would assume that some members of our photo group might also be interested in this
tool. I like the quality of the black & white to color conversion examples. A good test would be to
convert some color photos to black & white and use this tool to convert the photos back to color. The
resulting color photos in some cases may be better than the originial color photos.
We need to continue to track this development.
http://designtaxi.com/news/393135/Incredible-Tool-Casts-Color-Over-Black-White-Photos-In-Seconds-
Like-Magic/
http://colorization.eecs.berkeley.edu/siggraph/legacy_photos/?utm_source=DesignTAXI&utm_medium
=DesignTAXI&utm_term=DesignTAXI&utm_content=DesignTAXI&utm_campaign=DesignTAXI
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 10
Incredible Tool Cast Color over Black & White Photos in Seconds, Like Magic
Another Example of Colorizing one of my B&W Photo (from the mid-50s taken in Holland) using a Deep-
Learning AI Tool. Currently, the tool that I'm using requires no input except the B&W photo.
I expect the possible use of color suggestion markers in a future version of the AI tool. Use of color
suggestion markers would greatly improve the color selection process by the AI tool. For example, the
tool would start by taking its best shot at colorizing a black and white source image it’s been fed, and in
the process it creates a small palette of suggested colors. I can then refine the colorization process by
adding simple color markers to the source image. For example, I can specify a plant is a certain shade of
green, or choose a specific skin tone color for a person, just by placing tinted dots right on the source
image.
All I had to do was provide the attached black & white photo. No other input required except the
photo. The resulting colorized photo is attached. The result was better than I expected. I will try a few
more test cases.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 11
by George Harding Treasurer, Tucson Computer Society www.aztcs.org georgehardingsbd (at) earthlink.net Here’s a handy charger for you. It can charge five devices at once! It senses your device capability for charging and adapts to it. It works with small and large devices. It has a removable external charger. Tylt offers this product to their long line of innovative tools. I have an external charger for my iPhone that is both a case and a charger. The case provides the usual protective features. The charger fits around the case and connects by the built-in lightning connector. Pretty slick!
Energi is another example of innovative engineering for consumer devices. The main unit connects to a standard wall outlet and provides five USB slots for charging your devices. Each is capable of charging either a smartphone or similar device or a tablet.
Each slot has what the Company calls SmartDetect technology to provide maximum rapid charging. That means both fast charging and no over-charging. The latter benefit is important in today’s environment of concern for fires caused by over-charging.
The four standard USB slots provide 2.4 amps of power while the fifth slot can provide 3.5 amps for even faster charging.
A unique feature of this charging station is the removable battery pack (the fifth slot). It can be easily removed and carried in a pocket or purse for on-the-spot use. No need to find a wall socket when you run out of charge.
The fins on the top of the unit can be used to organize your cables whether because there are too many or they are too long.
The unit comes with a start-up guide which is very short, with diagrams as well as text in several languages.
The unit comes with a one year warranty after you register your unit.
Energi Charging Station by TYLT Price $80 www.tylt.com/charging-station
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 12
Energi Charger Station
Just For Laughs
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 13
By Melanie Birnbaum, Teckspert Talk, Century Village Computer Club, Florida http://www.cvcomputerclub.com/
You use Google Search every day, but still all you know is how to search. However, the search engine has
plenty of tricks up its sleeve.
Here’s an overview of some of the more useful Google search tricks:
Use quotes to search for an exact phrase. Searching a phrase in quotes will yield only pages with the same words in the same order as what’s in the quotes. It’s especially useful if you’re trying to find results containing a specific phrase.
Use an asterisk within quotes to specify unknown or variable words. Here’s a lesser known trick: searching a phrase in quotes with an asterisk replacing a word will search all variations of that phrase. It’s helpful if you’re trying to determine a song from its lyrics, but you couldn’t make out the entire phrase (e.g. “imagine all the * living for today”), or if you’re trying to find all forms of an expression (e.g. “* is thicker than water”).
Use the minus sign to eliminate results containing certain words. You’ll want to eliminate results with certain words if you’re trying to search for a term that’s generating a lot of results that aren’t of interest to you. Figure out what terms you’re not interested in (e.g. jaguar -car) and re-run the search.
Search websites for keywords. Think of the “site:” function as a Google search that searches only a particular website. If you want to see every time TIME.com mentioned Google, use the search “Google site: TIME.com”.
Search news archives going back to the mid-1880s. Google News has an option to search over 100 years’ worth of archived news from newspapers around the world. The address is https://news.google.com/newspapers?hl=en
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 14
Google Search Tips
Compare foods using “vs”. Can’t decide between a burger or pizza for dinner? Type in “rice vs. quinoa,” for example, and you’ll receive side-by-side comparisons of the nutritional facts.
Filter search results for recipes. If you search your favorite food, and then click “Search Tools” right under the search bar, you’ll be able to filter recipes based on ingredients, cook time and calories. It’s the perfect tool if you have certain dietary restrictions.
Use “DEFINE:” to learn the meaning of words—slang included. Streamline the dictionary process by using, for example, “DEFINE: mortgage.” For words that appear in the dictionary, you’ll be able to see etymology and a graph of its use over time alongside the definition. Google will even sift the web to define slang words or acronyms. Try out “DEFINE: bae” or “DEFINE: SMH”.
Play Atari Breakout by searching it on Google Images. The legendary brick breaker game is available for easy access on Google. Just search “Atari Breakout” (without quotes) on Google Images and enjoy.
Search images using images. Ever come across a photo that looks strangely familiar? Or if you want to know where it came from? If you save the image, and then search it on Google Images (with the camera button), you’ll be able to see similar images on the web.
Press the mic icon on Google’s search bar, and say “flip a coin” Google will flip a coin for you when you don’t have one on hand.
[ALERT] Latest Ransomware Threats
http://askbobrankin.com/alert_latest_ransomware_threats.html?awt_l=De54Y&awt_m=Jxir9Xdo
FeP6SL
Ransomware seems to be the darling of bad guys these days. It’s a very direct, powerful technique for extorting hundreds of dollars from a single victim very quickly, or millions of dollars when there are thousands of victims. Click on the link below to take a look at the latest ransomware campaigns and how you can protect yourself from them...
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 15
Video Tutorials
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JTwIV4NZO8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXb0DmtSH4k
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGB34ZDVN54
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 16
Learn How to Remove Backgrounds in Photoshop Elements 13
How to Use Google Chrome to Identify Old Photos and Images For Genealogy and Family History
5 Amazing iPad Tips You Are Probably Not Using
By Dick Maybach, Member, Brookdale Computer Users’ Group, NJ December 2016 issue, BUG Bytes www.bcug.com n2nd (at) att.net
The inkjet is the most common type of printer used at home. These are inexpensive (although the ink is
relatively costly), and they print color, including photos, with high enough quality for most users. The
other common type for home use is the laser, which is more expensive (although the per-page costs is
lower because toner is less expensive than inkjet ink) and require more power. For example, most UPSes
won't power them.
Typically, inkjets use four inks, cyan, yellow, magenta, and black, with separate cartridges and print
heads for each. The ink is ejected, one drop at a time, by either thermal or piezo-electric means.
Thermal heads heat a tiny amount of ink and the resulting steam propels a single drop, while piezo-
electric ones change shape slightly to propel an ink drop mechanically. The great majority of consumer
printers are thermal, but they require compromises in the ink design, since it must endure high heat.
See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inkjet_printing for a good introduction to the technology.
If you print only on letter paper, use Windows, and connect to a PC's USB port, almost any inkjet will
give satisfactory service. Linux and Mac users and those networking their printer or printing on other
media have to be more careful.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 17
Inkjet Printers
Printers are remarkably inexpensive, but my experience is that they have fairly short lives, and a printer
is the PC component most likely to fail. Expensive models don't appear to last any longer than cheap
ones, so unless you have special needs, buy something cheap. My inkjets always wait to fail until I've
purchased a large supply of ink cartridges, which are never usable in the replacement, even a similar
model from the same manufacturer. The defense strategy is obvious; keep only a small supply of
cartridges on hand. Although a set of ink cartridges will often cost more than the printer, you should buy
a replacement set soon after you get a new printer, as many printers are shipped with only partially-
filled cartridges.
The quality of off-brand cartridges varies, and some I've used tended to clog or fail in other ways. Refill
kits seem to be disappearing, probably because printer manufacturers have devised schemes to
discourage their use. You can buy refilled cartridges, but here too the quality varies. Considering the low
cost of printers and the high cost of name-brand ink, you may wish to explore here. Using other than
your printer manufacturer's cartridges usually voids the warranty, so it would be wise to wait until the
printer warranty has expired to experiment; after that you have little to lose. I do relatively little
printing, and the frustrations of dealing with cheap cartridges
are not worth the savings for me.
Be careful when buying other than letter paper, such as
business cards or labels, as many are printer specific. Using
laser stock in an ink-jet guarantees smearing. Download the
manual before you buy a printer and check that it will do what
you need, especially if you will be using other than 8 ½ by 11
letter paper. Despite what the manual says, non-standard
paper sizes may not feed properly. I recently tried to print
name-tags that came in 4 ¼ by 11 inch sheets. Although
envelopes of about the same size printed fine, the name tags sheets would not feed. I had to fashion a
custom guide, and even then, the feeding was far from reliable. My printer also would not feed card
stock when I first got it, but this improved after a few days. Apparently, the feed rollers needed to be
roughed up to work properly. Some printers don't like mixed paper in the tray. I've had problems mixing
card stock and letter paper, even though both were the same size, but the manual warned against this.
Many printers include a duplexer that implements double-sided printing. However, these often work
only with standard-weight letter paper.
The most common problems are clogs and paper jams. Clearing an ink clog generally requires no more
than running the printer's cleaning routine. (Again, see the manual.) This can sometimes be started by
the proper dance on the printer's buttons, but may require a maintenance utility that you can install
from the CD supplied with the unit. Unfortunately, these may not be available for OS X and are never
available for Linux. Many Mac and Linux users have Windows available on a virtual machine or can dual
boot to it. If you don't, do your research before you buy.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 18
If you do experience a paper jam, don't yank, as this will almost certainly break something, and printer
repairs are seldom economical. Instead, get on the Internet and find how to clear it. Similarly, do some
research if you begin to experience paper misfeeds; often, this can be cured by a proper cleaning of the
feed mechanism.
Some years ago, Windows-only printers were common. These had non-standard interfaces and required
proprietary drivers, which were available only for Windows. The switch to USB has eliminated most of
these, except for Canon. My experience is that no new Canon printer is usable with Linux. After a while,
Linux developers may manage to reverse-engineer the interface, so that many older Canons are usable,
but each new model requires a repeat of the process. At the other extreme, HP has traditionally been
Linux friendly. If your operating system is not Windows, you may not have support software to do such
things as checking ink supplies and trouble-shooting. However, printers are now beginning to include
status displays and control panels to make them more OS agnostic.
All-in-one models that combine a printer with a scanner and a fax are common. Fax is quickly going the
way of the dial telephone, which makes it, at least for me, a useless feature. I also prefer a separate
scanner as I use this much less than the printer, and I feel it adds enough mechanical complexity to
make an already failure-prone device even more so. Again, scanners are a problem area for Linux, and
finding a compatible printer-scanner is more difficult than finding just a printer.
With respect to the interface, USB is almost universal, but many models also include Ethernet and/or
wireless ports. The last two allow more than one computer to share a printer; however, the
configuration is sometimes not trivial. In particular, encrypted Wi-Fi can be troublesome (and you are
foolish if you use non-encrypted Wi-Fi). WPS can make this easier, but be sure to disable it after you
configure your printer, as it makes your network less secure. These networking ports are cheap to add
and are unlikely to present a reliability problem, but unless you have some network configuring
experience, you may find them unusable.
Again, read the manual, even if you print only on standard paper. For example, many printers must be
shut down with their power switches. Turning off using the outlet strip into which they're plugged may
lead to problems, such as ink clogs.
The promise of a paperless world has proven to be false, and few of us would be comfortable without a
printer attached to our computers. However, their mechanisms are complex and subject to malfunction
and failure, and they require more care than most other computer components. Spending a few minutes
with the manual can extend the life of yours and will probably reveal new abilities.
The raffle winners for the month of May were Brian Riley who
won a Polaroid wireless speaker, Linda Boyatzies who received
a USB travel charger and Susan Malloy who walked away with
a 32 GB flash drive and 2 4GB character flash drives.
Congratulations to all our winners.
May 2017 The Computer Link—Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 19
By Phil Sorrentino, Contributing Writer, The Computer Club, Florida http://scccomputerclub.org / Philsorr.wordpress.com philsorr (at) yahoo.com
One desktop is all most of us need, most of the time, but Windows 10 has included a new feature that
allows you to create multiple “virtual” desktops. Virtual desktops aren’t new. In fact, Xerox PARC (the
creator of Ethernet, Laser printers, and the Graphical User Interface using a mouse) created one of the
earliest virtual desktop experiences called Rooms, back in the 1980s and subsequently made a version
available for Windows 3.x. (Desktops are Virtual in that your one monitor provides the display for
multiple desktops, which are created by the Operating System, in RAM. That being said, the number of
desktops that can be created is only limited by the amount of RAM in your system.) More than one
desktop can be helpful in organizing multiple activities. You can dedicate a desktop to a specific activity.
You might have one desktop for messaging; that could include your email apps like yahoo mail, along
with your texting apps like Messenger, and even Skype for video conferencing. Another desktop might
be dedicated to social networking Apps like Facebook and Twitter. One desktop might collect your
browsers like Chrome, Edge, Firefox, and Internet Explorer to be used for exploring the internet and
taking advantage of on-line shopping websites like Overstock, Monoprice, and Amazon. Another
desktop might be used for working on your picture collection using Photo Gallery and/or Photoshop
Essentials. Another desktop might be dedicated to writing letters or articles with Word. (Right now, I’m
using Word on Desktop4 for writing this article; desktops 2 and 3 are set up for picture editing and
spreadsheet creation.) You might even dedicate one desktop to be used for a guest. I know you can
create a guest account, but if you don’t need it often enough to go through the trouble of creating a
guest account, a “guest desktop” might just satisfy that temporary need. Desktops are easily removed,
so you might want to set up a few to help organize some short-term activities and then remove them
once you no longer need that particular type of organization. The more you think about it, the more you
might find reasons to use Task View.
Task View is accessed by clicking the “Task View” icon. That’s the icon on the Taskbar that looks like a
square with square ears as shown here. If the Task View icon is not on your Taskbar, right click on an
empty space on your Task Bar and select the Icon.
Multiple Virtual Desktops – Task View
May 2017 The Computer Link – Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 20
Click “Task View” and you will see a blank screen with only one control in the lower right side of the
screen. (If you had any open windows when you clicked Task View, they would be shown as thumbnails
towards the top of the screen.) Click Task View again or press escape to get back to the original
desktop. After clicking Task View, new desktops can be created using the “New Desktop +” button at the
far right of the screen, just above the taskbar. Click the +, and a new desktop will be created as desktop
2 and it will be shown, towards the bottom of the screen, as a desktop 2 thumbnail, along with a
thumbnail representing the original desktop, desktop1. Now you have two desktops with identical
capabilities. (The only difference might be the open Apps on desktop1 if you had any open Apps when
you clicked Task View.) Subsequent clicks of the + will create desktops 3, 4 and so on. Each new
desktop will have all the capability of your original desktop. (Unfortunately, until you open something on
a new desktop, they will all look alike; they will have the same background, and icons (shortcuts). There
is no desktop number on the actual desktop. It might have been nice if each one had a different, maybe
selectable, background so they would be noticeably different.
You can create as many desktops as you need, probably no
more than a handful, but that depends on how you want to
organize your work. New desktops can easily be deleted by
clicking the “X” above the appropriate desktop when you hover
over that desktop. If there were any open Apps on the desktop
that is being closed, those Apps would be moved to another
desktop. So, don’t worry, you can’t delete any Apps that are
open. In addition, you can’t delete the original desktop. Once
you close desktop 2, the desktop 1 thumbnail is removed and
you are back to only one desktop; just the way you started.
Once the desktops are created, you can use them
independently and open the Apps needed on the particular desktop, or you can move an open App to a
desktop where it is needed. Click Task View and the desktops are shown as thumbnails at the bottom of
the screen, and the open Apps, for the desktop chosen, are shown as thumbnails in the middle of the
screen. In order to move an open App, just drag the open Apps to the desktop where it will be used. You
can go back and forth between desktops just by clicking the Task View icon and choosing the desktop of
interest. (There are also keyboard shortcuts using the Windows key, shown here:
Hold down the Windows key and the Ctrl key and then tap the left or right arrows to move to the next
or previous desktop.)
Even if you don’t think you have multiple activities to organize, give it a try to see how it works. Once
you see what it is and how it works you might, sometime in the future, come upon a use for the multiple
desktop operation of Task View.
May 2017 The Computer Link – Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 21
Do you like to write or have a favorite hardware or software product you want to let others know about? Do you have some interesting website others should know about? Sig leaders submit an article and let the rest of the membership know what your group is doing. It may even spur some members to join your group. We are always looking for some home grown articles for the newsletter. You do not have to be an expert, and you don’t have to be an experienced writer. Submit your article, review, or commentary to [email protected].
We want to make sure you are getting the latest newsletter and information concerning NNCUG/APCUG. Contact George Cadmus at [email protected] if you have any questions about your membership or change your contact information –
The Northern Neck Computer Users Group is not a part of or representative of any manufacturer, product, reseller, dealer, consultant, or business. Information appearing in this newsletter is for the use and information of the members and friends of the group. Permission is granted to reprint any or all of the material found here by similar non-profit, non-commercial publications provided credit is given to the author of the article and “The Computer Link” is given as the source of the information.
Opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not reflect those of the organization.
May 2017 The Computer Link – Northern Neck Computer Users Group Newsletter Page 22
