Past BPMUG Presentation Notes - 2011 to
Archived Presentation
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April 15, 2013
Internet Security
By Charles Prince, IT Security Specialist with Avast
To follow last month’s program on Identity Theft, April will be about internet security. We are happy to invite Charles Prince, IT Security Specialist with Avast. He has been doing presentations around the US to help other user groups better understand the key aspects of computer security. What is malware, how does it work and what can you do to protect yourself ?
The security landscape is ever changing, and in the "arms race" between the tools to protect and the tools to infect, it is important that we stay informed on the latest threats and techniques to protect ourselves.
Today, about 19 percent of computers in the US do not have antivirus protection. Panda labs annual report noted that in 2012, approximately 27 million new strains of malware were created by cyber-crooks eager to bypass antivirus protections to increase their profits. Trojans account for most of the new threats, as three out of every four new malware strains created were Trojans.
The most dangerous part of Trojans is that most go undetected and wait for the cyber-crook to activate and use it either to send out in attack or attack the infected machine.
March 18, 2013
Identity Theft: Advice From Security Pros
By Elizabeth Maurer, Quality Assurance Specialist at Farmington Bank &
Dave
Baker, Security Officer for Farmington Bank
Today we do more and more online with our computers, smartphones and tablets. The Internet is a marvelous tool, but also presents risks. Today’s cyber criminals are not just trying to give your computer a virus to crash it, but they are seeking information to steal your identity.
A movie premiered recently called “Identity Thief” and takes a comical look at identity theft. If you or someone you know has ever been a victim, you know it is no laughing matter.
Join us to learn about the risks of identity theft, how crimes are perpetrated and what you can do to prevent becoming a victim. It is not just limited to cybercrime.
Debit card skimming, Phishing and Smishing, Telephone, Special deliveries, Email and Fax scams, And more…
If your identity is stolen, financial losses are only the beginning. Learn what to do if you have your identity stolen to minimize the impact on your life and get your identity back.
Our expert presenters from Farmington Bank have extensive knowledge and experience with identity theft prevention and rectification.
ELIZABETH MAURER is the Quality Assurance Specialist at Farmington Bank and is responsible for auditing the retail branches’ adherence to compliance, policies and procedures. She has presented Identity Theft seminars throughout Connecticut as a way to help reinvest in the communities and neighborhoods.
DAVE BAKER is the Security Officer for Farmington Bank and is responsible for criminal investigations involving bank robbery, internal fraud, customer theft, elder exploitation and other crimes against the bank and its customers. He has a background in law enforcement including being an instructor with the Connecticut Police Academy. Currently, he serves as President of the Loss Prevention Association of Connecticut, and is the former President of the International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators Connecticut Chapter
February 18, 2013
The New Microsoft Tablets
By Gabe Cardona
This month, we are excited to welcome Gabe Cardona from Microsoft for a presentation on the NEW Microsoft Surface tablets.
The IPad and Android tablets have burst into the computer scene and seem to be stealing the show. Traditional laptops and desktops are still selling, but often people are choosing a tablet over a new PC. The tablet space though popular, has its challenges. There are simply some things that you can't do as easily with a tablet.
One of the things I hear the most is, "can I use Office on it?". Though there are alternatives to Microsoft Office, it is still the go to application for document reation, spreadsheets and presentations. There is an answer for those who want the convenience and flexibility of a tablet and the power of a new PC; the Microsoft Surface line of tablets. Recently the Surface Pro was released and back in October the surface RT.
Join us Monday, February 18th for a presentation on these powerful devices. Learn what the difference is and get hands on time with the Surface RT and the Surface Pro. Stay after the presentation to see the Surface up close and ask questions of the Microsoft representatives.
January 21, 2013
Cable TV Alternatives
By John Yearsley
Cable TV has more channels available than ever, yet that comes at a price and it seems that the price continues to rise. It also seems crazy to buy a package of channels when all you really want is 1 or 2 of them. People are responding by looking for alternatives for watching tv shows and movies. This has created a new market for what are called “set top boxes” like Apple TV, Roku, Google-TV, NeoTV and more. At the same time gaming consoles now have the ability to provide movie and tv content as well, with services such as Xbox live, Sony's PlayStation Network and TVii services from Nintendo.
Now, how does this relate to computers? With a simple cable connection you can watch TV shows obtained via your computer on your TV set, including a large screen TV.
John Yearsley will be sharing with us his experience of "cutting the cord" with cable and what has been working and not working. Learn about Xbox, neo-TV, Google TV and smart TVs and learn what may work best for you. Is it worth the savings to leave cable TV and will you still be able to find your favorite show, sports or news?
December 17, 2012
Annual Holiday Party
Cameo presentation by BPMUG Vice Presdent, Lee Seidman
We will have a quick election of officers for the upcoming year and then BPMUG VP, Lee Seidman will show some cool features of Smartphones. Not to worry if you don't have a Smartphone nor desire to get one. This is just a few fun things that Smartphones are able to do. Then you can impress friends with your newly discovered knowledge!
This presentation will be short since we have a party to look forward to. Of course its not a real party without food, so we will supply punch, cups, and napkins and are asking members to bring a dessert, cheese and crackers, or whatever hors d'Oeuvers-type thing you want to share. Let's have a fun meeting.
November 19, 2012
Gadgets for Holiday Shopping
Presented by John Yearsley, Staples
November is a time when we think about holiday shopping. The tech world is constantly changing and we will have John Yearsley from Staples back for a wonderful presentation on what's new and what's improved in the world of technology. An electric generator may not fit in your stocking but there are plenty of electronic gadgets that will!
A great meeting with all the new items and gadgets available for the holiday shopping season -- so bring a visitor with you to the exciting Nov 19th meeting and stay after to enjoy snacks and networking with other members!
October 15, 2012
Windows 8 Preview
Presented by Seth Freeman, Asst Professor, Capital Community College
Windows 8 is slated for general availability on October 26, 2012. BPMUG is teaming up with a professor from Capital Community College (www.capitalcc.edu) to talk about the significant changes to this new Windows operating system. Seth Freeman, on the faculty at the college has kindly offered to give us a preview of Windows 8 and answer your questions as well. So if you've wondered what new features are in Windows 8, whether you should upgrade to it, and what all the fuss is about it, this is where you can find out.
The two main editions coming up for retail sale this month are "Windows 8" (which is intended for mainstream consumers) and "Windows 8 Pro" (which has added features aimed towards power users and enthusiasts). The graphical user interface (GUI -- or the look of it), has some new features such as the removal of that Start button that we all finally got used to. Even Windows Explorer, which has been renamed File Explorer, has some new features to it.
September 10, 2012
Speed-up, Clean-up, and Maintain Your PC
By Jim Smith, Author of Home-based Web Design Book.
Summer vacations are coming to an end and it is time to prepare our PC's for a long winter of computing. BPMUG computer user group will sponsor our annual free demonstration on how to tune-up, clean out, and gain control of your computer. We will demonstrate a bunch of ways that you can speed it up and clean out some of the clutter that is slowing it down. We will even pass out some "cheat sheets" so you can follow along and see how we do it. At the end of the evening, you'll be able to take the sheets home and put some life back into your own PC. So if you or someone you know is interested in getting more power out of that tired PC, you won't want to miss this meeting!
July & August, 2012 -- Off for Summer Break
June 18, 2012
eBooks -- Has The Future Arrived?
By Richard LaPorta from Husky Trail Press
Are you currently an eBook reader or planning to become one? If not, maybe its time to start thinking about looking into eBooks. Richard LaPorta from Husky Trail Press will be our June 18th presenter and will tell us what is coming about with eBooks. Richard will walk us through the basics of eBooks -- what they are, what features are available for eBook readers, as well as what the advantages and disadvantages are for using eBooks.
Richard will talk about how to obtain eBooks -- whether you choose to do your book shopping at home or through your wifi access to the internet. There are currently many eBooks that are free such as those from Project Gutenberg mentioned at the last meeting. Others can be purchased at a reduced price from the printed edition and many can also be rented or borrowed from libraries. Many newspapers and magazines already have digital editions. Just think, even if you are traveling, you can get your hometown newspaper and your magazines no matter where you are.
May 21, 2012
Mobile Media
By Matt Conicelli from The Wireless Zone at Bishops Corner
Matt came from The Wireless Zone to talk to us about some of the cool new mobile devices that have come out recently. He brought some demos of the wireless wifi that is the size of a business card and talked about the latest in iPads and more.
April 16, 2012
Simply Social Media -- What Is It... And Why Are There So Many?
By Jim Smith, Web Design and Author
Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, LinkedIn and more!! And Google is promoting something called Google-Plus. And now Instagram is in the news. What are they? Why should you care?
Jim Smith will explain what social media is and demystify many of the main social media components. Jim will show you what some of the major ones look like.
March 19, 2012
Genealogy -- Are Your Long Lost Ancestors Lurking Online?
By Carol Whitmore, Connecticut Genealogical Society
Certainly your great-great-grandparents did not envision that you could be using the Internet to find some historical facts about them. They had no way of knowing that many years after they departed that their descendants could electronically uncover long lost records about them.
It has been a while since BPMUG offered a program on how to find our long lost relatives. Things change for computerized Internet searches so for our March 19th meeting we have a member of Connecticut Genealogical Society coming to give a presentation. Our presenter, Carol Whitmore, belongs to the genealogy group, is on their speaker list, and is also computer savvy. That all adds up to a great informational presentation!
February 20, 2012
Hoaxes and Phishes and Scams, Oh My!
By BPMUG Members, Lee Seidman and Jim Smith
Have you ever been fooled into believing an Internet hoax? Are you sure?...
Lee Seidman and Jim Smith will be discussing many of the common hoaxes and phishes (emails faked into looking like they are official), and scams that are out there. We will display some of the general methods in which scammers fool people into believing hoaxes. Many times, it just takes a pause and a second thought to realize that these are scams. But in our fast world, the scammers are hoping to get you to skip that step. Don't let yourself be taken in!
January 16, 2012
Money Goes To Google & Money Comes From Google
By Jim Smith, Blarneystone, LLC & Author of Home-based Web Design Book.
You've probably figured out by now that Google's "Free" search engine somehow makes money. Do you wonder how? And did you know that thousands of people like you make money from Google from home? Presenter Jim Smith is one of the people making money from Google. Not a lot yet but it is a nice feeling to know it can be done.
Do you want to know more about how Google makes money and how you can get into that revenue stream? Come to BPMUG's January 16th meeting and learn all about Google's Adwords where Google makes huge amounts of money little bits at a time. And learn about Google's Adsense where Google pays people to display ads on their website and pays for those ads.
This will be a real eye-opener for many people who don't understand how a company like Google grew so large by offering a free search engine. This isn't a magical get-rich-quick scheme but rather an informational presentation on how Google cashes in on the public and how many individuals get to cash in on Google at the same time.
December 18, 2011
BPMUG Annual Holiday Party
Happy Holidays to all. For our meeting we are going to have a Holiday Party! We'll have a quick election of officers for the upcoming year Then our President, Jim Smith, will share a fun website or two and then we'll open the meeting to a party with Hors d'Oeuvers and desserts provided by our members.
November 21, 2011
Holiday Gadgets for Holiday Shopping
By John Yearsley, Staples Office Supplies
November is a time when we think about holiday shopping. The tech world is constantly changing and we will have John Yearsley from Staples back for a wonderful presentation on what’s new and what's improved in the world of technology. An electric generator may not fit in your stocking but there are plenty of electronic gadgets that will! This should be a great meeting with all the new items and gadgets available for the holiday shopping season.
October 17, 2011
Back To The Basics -- All About E-mail
By Dennis Halnon with Biznuzz IT Services
E-mail has been around since 1960 in many versions. In 1971 the first ARPANET email application was introduced in which the user and host names become “user@host” that we use today. In the 1980’s the current email SMTP protocol was created. This enabled sending a single message to a domain with more than one addressee, after which the local server would locally copy the message to each recipient. Then in 1978 a system was developed to transmit emails over a telephone line for the U.S Army. By 1993 America Online and Delphi connected to the internet, and began offering email on a large scale global service. Email has come a long way with help from many to the complex package that we now use.
With that complexity comes confusion over the basics of email. How do you send attachments? How does email get to its destination? What is spam? Mark your calendars and come to our October 17th meeting and let Dennis Halnon unravel those email questions and give easy-to-understand explanations of the terms associated with email.
September 19, 2011
Speed-up, Clean-up, and Maintain Your PC
By BPMUG Vice President, Lee Seidman
Summer vacations are winding down and it is time to crank up our PC's for a long winter of computing. BPMUG computer user group will sponsor our annual free demonstration on how to tune-up, clean out, and gain control of your computer. We will demonstrate ways that you can speed it up and clean out some of the clutter that is slowing it down. We will even pass out some "cheat sheets" so you can follow along and see how we do it. At the end of the evening, you'll be able to take the sheets home and put some life back into your own PC.
July 18, 2011
The Future Of Computing: On Your Desk, In Your Pocket, Or Something In Between?
By BPMUG Members, Paul Silversmith and Barry Gordon
Desktop, laptop, notebook, netbook, tablet, smartphone! Throw in e-readers and what’s a person to do?
How many different “e-machines” do you need? Which one(s) meet your needs?
Do you need storage, power and speed, a large screen, basic portability, constant (pocket) portability and connection, special features, all of the above? More? Are there other things/terms to list? We lay out all the options.
At our July 18th meeting, Paul Silversmith will discuss this growth and change in computing. He will discuss the differences in capability and features of the different devices, the power of the smartphone and tablets. A few different models of smartphones will be compared and then the same will be done with tablets. Barry Gordon will demo the Zoom tablet.
June 20, 2011
On-Line Selling Simplified
By Jim Smith, Blarneystone Internet Services
Have you thought about setting up a web site to sell something you've made? A book? Sweaters you've knitted? Bird feeders you build in your garage? Are you uncertain where to start? Or have you started to delve into it only to have more questions than answers?
For our June 20th meeting, Internet guru Jim Smith will demystify online stores. He will demonstrate how to add a free online ecommerce service to your web site. He will also demonstrate how easy it is to make PayPal buttons to add to your web site.
May 16, 2011
On-Line Courses
By Capital Community College Professor, Michael Ligon
Universities and colleges have been offering on-line courses for a long time now. This is an easy way to earn credits if you are too busy or unable to physically go the school. Also larger schools offer a wide variety of courses. Additionally, if you are out of work or in a dead-end job and want to train for a new career, this might be your answer. Long distance learning has come a long way over the years and it's available to all us.
Michael Ligon, from Capital Community College, will show how online courses work and what is available to us. Michael will demonstrate an actual on-line course that the college offers and what you can expect in a virtual class. He will also address what computer equipment you will need to participate in an on-line course. Being a local community college, the college prices are very reasonable but Michael will also talk about other on-line courses that you might find interesting.
April 18, 2011
Fat-Free, Calorie-Free Easter Eggs on your PC
By Jim Smith, Blarneystone Internet Services
It is Spring and for some, Easter Eggs conjure up pastel colored hard-boiled eggs. However, for many computer techies, Easter Eggs are something completely different. They are harmless messages or games hidden deep within software that developers use as an inside joke or a way of personalizing an otherwise mundane composition of computer code. Whether you have known about Easter Eggs are or not, this meeting will be a fun way to see some popular and not-so- popular Easter Eggs.
Our presenter, Jim Smith, proclaims to eat Easter eggs instead of embedding them but will discuss what embedded Easter Eggs are, what they are not (they are not viruses or malware), and how to find some. Jim will show you how to enjoy some on your PC software such as Microsoft Office and Open Office as well as in the popular browsers.
March 21, 2011
Secrets Your Printers & Copiers Are Keeping
By Paul Sheridan, CDIA+, with Flo-Tech Imaging Systems
Printers & copiers have been with us for a long time in various forms from laser to desktop to portable. They have improved over time to the extent that many have their own memory and computing power built in. If you send a print or copy job to your printer from your PC, and your PC indicates it is complete while your printer is still printing, that is because your PC downloaded that print file to the printer memory. Your printer remembered that document and depending on its memory, likely many more documents you've sent.
Seems very convenient right? It is a nice thing until that printer goes back to the leasing company or you sell or ditch it to get the newer model. Remember all those documents your printer got? Your printer may still be remembering them. And the person who gets your printer next, can download all of your tax returns, your doctors' medical records, etc.
Paul Sheridan, a printer and copier guru from Flo-Tech, will discuss how you can protect your privacy when you get ready to get rid of your printer or copier. He will also give a handout with tips on questions you should ask your doctors office and others to assure that your medical and personal records are secure and will not leave their office when the copier or printer lease term expires.
February 21, 2011
Facebook For The Rest Of Us
By Jim Smith of Blarneystone Internet Services
Are you still baffled by Facebook? Do you feel it is just for kids? Then you won't want to miss this presentation! It is now time to discuss Facebook for the rest of us! Presenter and long-time Internet user, Jim Smith, will talk about why Facebook has also come of age for "grownups".
Jim will touch on privacy and security issues with Facebook but won't dwelled upon it. There is much more to Facebook for you. With over 40% of the US population having a Facebook account, it is no longer a fringe toy. With February being the 7th anniversary of Facebook and with it having 600 million active users, it is time to take another, more serious look at what Facebook has evolved into.
You will learn what Facebook is... and more generally what social networking is. You will see what a Facebook page looks like. You will discover reasons you might have for creating your own Facebook page. And you will find out how easy it is to set up your own free Facebook page to try it out.
January 17, 2011
Webinars and Related Technology
By Rebecca Bridges from RB Production Services
The term "webinar" is short for "Web-based seminar". In the "old days" we had teleconferencing with a phone line but no video. Today these webinars are truly wonderful and have the ability to inform and educate many people at the same time all over the globe. Unlike a webcast that was just a one-way web presentation, most webinars are done with a live feed and can be dynamic with interaction with the listeners. The users can participate through chats, file sharing, or by asking questions with a built in microphone or via their phone.
For our January 17th meeting we will have Rebecca Bridges from RB
Production Services as our presenter. She will take us through all
the basic aspects of this new mode of "show and "tell".
Archived Presentation
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