• Announcements
• General Meeting-December 4th
• Upcoming Meetings
• SIG News
• Article1: Grouping of "Free Software"
• Article2: Grouping of "Vista" articles
• From APCUG members
• About KIPCUG
• KIPCUG Friends
• Thanks to Our Featured Presenters

KIPCUG Networking and Change in General Meeting Time

Beginning in December, the meeting time will be changed to 7:00 pm, with a 6:30 pm start time for networking.  In an effort to encourage the networking portion of the night, there will be SIG tables set up, along with an informal user-to-user forum table, located at the far end by the refreshment stand.  We encourage you to come at 6:30 pm, find your seat, get up and mingle with fellow members and guests, while enjoying some refreshments supplied by the church.  Proceeds from the refreshment sales will be used by the church for the computer area.  Please note that the main presentation will begin at 7:00 pm to ease the travel congestion encountered by many of our members, however KIPCUG will continue to end the meeting on time.

Holiday Idea :  Corel Software

Don't forget that Corel Corporation has offered PC users group members a 40% discount which you can find logging onto the Members Only page.  Then, go to www.Corel.com/estore and enter it in the promo code box.   If you are not a member, the savings alone could pay for your annual membership! Also, there are other discount and services available to KIPCUG members, so take a peak at  the Members Only page!

 

Presenter:  Computers Plus
                      Randy Smith, Store Manager

Topic:
"Gee Santa, I've been really good this year!"

Computers Plus will be our presenter at the December 4th general meeting. Randy Smith, the manager for Computers Plus, will talk with KIPCUG about the latest in technology as well as the hot new items available for Christmas this year. Come listen to the experts in their field speak about the technologies you love. Randy will also give information on how Computers Plus can help with your computer service needs. Of course there will be time for a Q&A session after the presentation.

Computers Plus has recently opened their third store in the Louisville area. Computers Plus is taking a new approach with retail computer industry and it is obviously hitting the mark with customers. Join us at the December KIPCUG general meeting and hear the genius of technology.

Come and bring a friend ...
 just forward this email with a personal invitation from you!

Take a peak at what we have in store for the upcoming meetings.  We hope to see you out there.

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December Calendar: please note the changes due to the Holiday Season.    KIPCUG and SIG leaders extend to you and your family best wishes for the holidays.  Please check out our SIG calendar for directions and times. If you have any questions or would like to see us host a new or different SIG, please contact Charley May at sig@win.net

Highlights of upcoming SIG meetings :

NEW Security SIG:  12/3/07 - Get your computer cleaned up and guarded!  Discussion on relative merits of various malware and virus programs available to us.

Access Basics SIG:  12/8/2007  - "Tables, Forms and Simple Queries" - Finis Gentry

Tables are where data is stored. Forms are used to display information or to enter data. Queries are a way to select and combine data from the tables that you want to display or report. Create a form to enter data in a table. Build a query to select the data to display. Build another form to display the results.

SIG Leaders - Post highlights of your upcoming meetings or highlights of past meetings here.  Please contact the editor.

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Free Software Part 1 of 2

By Ira Wilsker iwilsker@apcug.net 
Obtained from author with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Computers and internet access can be very expensive. Commercial software for our computers can also be very expensive, but fortunately there are alternatives that can save us a lot of money. There are thousands of free software products available, many of which are qualitatively competitive with their expensive commercial counterparts. In this column I will look at but a few of the high quality free software programs available, several of which I personally use.... more

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Free Software Part 2 of 2

By Ira Wilsker iwilsker@apcug.net 
Obtained from author with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

 I take a lot of digital photos, and periodically scan other photos and documents with my  scanner. Sometimes my digital  photos and  scanned images need some editing, cropping, and other enhancements. An excellent and very popular program used by over 30 million users, Irfanview can do that and much more. It is available for free download ...more

Buying A New Vista Computer?  READ THIS FIRST!

By Sandy Berger, Compukiss.com
www.compukiss.com 
sandy(at)compukiss.com
Obtained from author with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.

Windows Vista is finally ready for prime time. Over the last several months, the drivers for many devices like printers and scanners have been updated to accommodate Vista. Most software has also been updated to be Vista compatible. If you are ready for a new computer you may be ready for Vista. However, you might want to do a little homework before you make your purchase.... more

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Moving On To Vista (Part 1)

by Neil Stahfest, Shareware Librarian, Tacoma Area PC User Group, WA
 www.tapcug.org
 ncstahfest(at)msn.com
 Obtained from author with the author's permission for publication by APCUG member groups.  

I tested a pre-release version of Windows Vista last year. I thought that the eye candy was nice but there really wasn't a lot about the program to make it worth upgrading my PC to use it. Since then I've heard stories about problems with Vista that made me even reluctant to upgrade to it. But, things happen. I "needed" a new laptop to demonstrate programs for the Flight Simulator S.I.G. <wink><wink> Many of you will be buying new computers in the next year or so, so I'll share some of my experiences and impressions with you..... more

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Special thanks to Brookdale Computer Users Group, Lincroft New Jersey (www.bcug.com).

     The Kentucky-Indiana Personal Computer User's Group, from its beginning in the spring of 1983, has grown into a dynamic non-profit corporation, focused on educating and encouraging newcomers to computing as well as sharing technical information.

     KIPCUG is viewed as one of the leading groups in the nation by industry giants such as  Microsoft, Novell, IBM, and others. KIPCUG is a charter member of APCUG, the Association of Personal Computer User Groups, linking us with similar groups all over the United States.

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Special thanks to our recent Presenters:

October Presenter - Bill Carner, of the University of Louisville Photographic Archives  Department

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November Presenter - Jeff Harvey from CBTS for