Laptop Security at the JCC

As with any public access network, the wireless internet at the JCC is basically not secure. The following guidelines are provided to minimise the risk to users.

Essential

• Make sure your Anti-Virus program has not expired and the latest updates have been downloaded. Run a full scan if your computer exhibits any strange behaviour.

• Ensure that you have at least one Anti-Spyware program and you both update it and run a full scan every week or so. Examples of Anti-Spyware programs include Spybot, Ad-Aware 2007, Windows Defender, AVG Anti-Spyware.

Strongly Recommended

• Do not load any programs on your computer from any source, including manufacturer’s disks, unless you know what the program does and need it. Be very careful against downloading anything whilst visiting web sites.
• Switch off the wireless interface of your laptop when you are not using it. Otherwise you are potentially broadcasting not only details of the networks you have used, but also your email details.
• Always log out/sign off of any web site you have had to sign into. Otherwise your login details may be available to other people. This is not only important for banks etc, but also web mail and any site that needs your personal logon.
• Configure your wireless adapter to minimise the risk as follows:

1. Do not connect automatically to any network
2. Remove any preferred networks that you do not use, from the configuration.
3. Ensure that each network type is set to “Infrastructure” never “Ad Hoc”.

Note that the procedure for configuring the wireless adapter may vary from one manufacturer to another. In general there are two types of wireless manager. Laptop maufacturers like Dell, Toshiba and HP provide their own wireless management software, as do manufacturers of wireless adapters. In this case you may need to use their help to make the changes in step 4 above.

If however your laptop uses the Microsoft Windows Wireless Zero Configuration (WZC) service, you can make the changes as follows, having selected “Show wireless networks”. The following image depicts a portion of this window and the next step would be to click on Change Advanced Settings.

That will open a window similar to the one seen below after clicking on the Wireless Networks tab. The next step would be to click on the Advanced button pointed out in the figure below.

Finally that opens a small pop-out window where three choices are displayed. Select. the second choice Access Point (infrastructure) Network Only. By selecting this button, the ability to connect to an ad hoc networks is removed, which eliminates the chance of possibly associating with a malicious ad hoc network.

Also uncheck Automatically Connect To Non-Preferred Networks.

If you carry out the steps above yourself, you will be in better control of your computer security. However do not hesitate to ask for help from a JCC Committee member or helper if you need it.

Cool websites

Here are the links from Diane Wynne / Chris Jones presentation on Thursday April 17th

Cool Websites – mostly Flash and some take time to load. Some of these were gleaned from "Web Designer" magazine

Diane's picks:
http://www.upmforestlife.com/
About sustainable forest in Finland (all in English) very informative and interesting as well as visually brilliant. High resolution images form the backdrop for pop-open window that contain high-quality video and audio. Loads of info about the wildlife and plants sometimes just stills and sometimes videos of the animals. I found this really interesting and informative.

http://www.dupontvisual.com/dupont/energy/
Basically a site detailing what DuPont’s role in energy is but visuals great and menu links different

http://www.tvtrip.com/ (not Flash based)
Check Out Before You Check In
A video clip hotel site allows users to view various hotels so thy can gain a more accurate insight into the size of the rooms and their suitability. As well as the hotel rooms and facilities, the surrounding area is also explored to help eliminate the risk of any unpleasant surprises. Includes several places in Spain including Altea Hills.

http://www.hungrysuitcase.com/
A humorous way of analysing which holiday would suit your interests. You fill your suitcase with what you appreciate and you get an analysis of the type of holiday that you’d want to take. Great fun.

http://breakingbad.com/
New US TV series Breaking Bad
Chemistry: the study of change. Meet Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher sleepwalking through life when, boom, a terminal diagnosis changes everything. Liberates him. Empowers him to use his chemistry skills anew: to man a rolling drug lab and finance the future for his struggling family. It's an uncontrolled experiment with the American dream. And it finally wakes him up. Breaking Bad: Change the Equation.
Clicking on revolving gun unlocks opening scene of series and clicking on different things does different things. It gave me an interest in seeing this series (but then I don’t have BBC, ITV etc) and would like to know more if only I could work out how to get more info – maybe too complicated for an oldie like me!
However, a good idea for getting the public interested in a new serial. Appears to be a more entertaining series than the usual cops and robbers or hospital emergencies normally available – only time will tell!

http://www.picnik.com/
On-line image editor – simple editing but clear instructions and easy to use. Sample images available for trying it out. You can select photos from your computer and it uploads them so you can alter them and then save them back to your computer
If initial site comes up in Spanish scroll to bottom of page and select English

http://www.viamichelin.com/
Not necessarily a cool site but a must if planning a journey.
We’re going to Elche for a trip and I entered my address and a specific place in Elche. I requested the quickest route and it gave detailed instructions from our house, with maps of the route to take. We also used it last year when we went to Portugal. I never gave a wrong direction which was brilliant as far as I was concerned as my better half gets very tetchy if he isn’t warned in plenty of time where he’s got to go!!!!

Google earth.
This has been updated to include Javea – maybe I’m the last to know this but our house is now viewable. Last time I looked it was just a fuzzy blur. Useful for finding the backstreets to avoid the summertime traffic jams. (My house is still a fuzzy blur! - CBJ)

_____________

Chris B-J picks

http://food4thought.bhf.org.uk/
3d Educational tool from British Heart Foundation. The website is designed to educate you as well as entertain as you are taken through an urban jungle to take up the various challenges that await you.

http://www.coca-cola.com/HF/index.jsp
The Happiness factoryCoca Cola promotional game type site.

http://www.jonathanyuen.com/
This is Jonathan Yuen's on-line portfolio. It is very creative and beautifully crafted.
It is minimalist - if you are in to Zen, this is the site for you. Very soothing!
To navigate, hold the mouse pointer over the red buttons with a cross on them
and click on the tiny red arrows.

Crafting Greetings Cards - stockists

This from Marjorie Jowett
List of Card Crafting Stockists (Updated April 2008)

La Rulla, Javea Old Town:- near church in main square. Turn right instead of going down steps near Information.
Card, envelopes, A4 papel vegetal, A4 acetate for ink jet printers, some peel offs and bits to stick on, glue-sticks etc. Good prices and good selection of envelopes..

La Rulla, Javea Port:- In the arcade (near the Oasis Centre). They stock similar lines to the above.

Botella Office Stockists, Javea:- Downhill from Correos on right. It is bigger than it first appears.
Card (probably the best for card prices), handmade paper and envelopes, good quality paper and envelopes, labels, glue-sticks etc . Good prices.

Javea Craft Centre, Jesus Pobre Road, Javea:- On right going uphill after the bodega. Parking not good. I park at the bottom and walk up.10am to 5pm. English.
All craft items needed for card making. Good for peel offs. Good prices. This shop has changed hands, but the stock is the same (or more varied).

Art y Facts Arenal, Javea:- In same block as Cam Bank, opposite Spec Savers.
All craft items for card making. Fair prices. Very helpful. Monday to Saturday from 10 am to 1pm. English.

Fiesta Crafts, Javea:- round corner in the new building near to Wok restaurant at roundabout near Barclays Bank.
Interesting stock increasing all the time. Helpful. Monday to Friday 10am to 6pm, Saturdays from 10am to 2pm. English.

Aladdin’s Cave, Pedruguer:- On N332 on right just before Denia turnoff.
All craft items. English hours. English. I went recently and found it not as well stocked as previously.

Scrapbook Shop, Arenal, Javea;- Almost opposite Art y Facts. In service road near Pit Stop and Yorkshire Linen.
Interesting selection of card and scrapbooking items. A bit pricey for some things. Dutch owned, English spoken. Open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 11am to 3pm.

Links from "Tarting up Your Blog" talk March 20th 2008

Pages and links from the Blogspot Presentation by Sylvia Winterbottom

•Club Information
http://javeacomputerclub.blogspot.com/

•Special Interest Group Info
http://jccvideo.blogspot.com/

•Tutorials
http://jccvidedtutorials.blogspot.com/

Events Calendar
http://wegroupcal.blogspot.com/

Help or Information Notes
http://wegroup.blogspot.com/

•Share Photos
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/group.we/Fallas

Holiday Diary
http://duosafari.blogspot.com/

Promotional
http://casamirande.blogspot.com/

Google Items for Download.. Picasa, Video Uploader
http://www.google.co.uk/intl/en/options/

Macromedia Flash Download page if you cannot view Videos
http://www.adobe.com/shockwave/download/download.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash

Project for the Presentation
http://wegroupfallas.blogspot.com/

Receiving streamed video and downloading video

Links relating to the forum held at the Club on March 13th 2008

RECORDING STREAMING VIDEO

Youtube Downloader
http://www.download3000.com/download_19063.html

All about recording streaming video
http://all-streaming-media.com/record-video-stream/

GUIDES TO ON-LINE VIDEO

Online Video Guide
http://www.ovguide.com/

This one for a list of streaming video sites
http://www.blinklist.com/tag/streaming%20video/

WWitv Guide to Internet TV - 2674 online TV stations listed.
http://wwitv.com/portal.htm

STREAMING AND VIDEO DOWNLOAD SITES

Miro
Small, open source application for viewing, managing and saving on-line videos. (Elegant, featured in PC Plus Magazine March 2008)
http://www.getmiro.com/

Joost
Application - 20,000 TV shows; 400+ channels P2P (peer to peer, Highest ranked site in PC Plus magazine March 2008)
http://www.joost.com/

Revision 3
Website rather than application. Content made for the site. For the techies.(featured in PC Plus Magazine March 2008)
http://www.revision3.com/

Livestation TVLivestation delivers a range of live radio and television news channels to your computer over a broadband network.(Trial service using Microsoft's Silverlight for streaming Video)
http://www.livestation.com/

LiveTV Toolbar
http://livetvtoolbar.media-toolbar.com/


STUFF WE WANT but CAN'T GET

BBC iplayer - so far only UK, but they say they will soon be launching a worldwide service
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/

Channel4 4Od - only in UK like iplayer
http://www.channel4.com/4od/index.html

ITV Streaming and catchup - only in UK
http://www.itv.com/

FORUMS on attempting to get UK Internet TV

This forum has quite a bit to say
http://www.englishforum.ch/tv-internet-telephone/1772-internet-tv.html
and something here about using Firefox "foxyproxy" to view US and UK video streams http://proxy.org/forum/1199890897.html

PIRATES

This one is a website from which you can buy movies in several formats including ipod and DVD (illegal of course! - but looks professional - must be Russian!)
http://www.zml.com/
...and this one for streaming and recording 17 UK TV channelsfor 25 pounds (49 dollars) per month . It has a number of samples which can be watched for free.
http://www.liveuktv.com/ Definitely illegal - but looks professional.

TORRENT SITES

http://www.mininova.org/
"The ultimate bit torrent source"
Some of the torrents found lead to
http://www.thebox.bz/ which specialises in torrents of UK TV programmes.You need to have an account. Free, but limited users at any one time

SLINGBOX - an alternative

The Slingbox takes the picture (signal) from your (or your family's) freeview box, cable box, satellite, DVR, or DVD and rebroadcasts (aka “streams”) it to wherever you are using the Internet. You “dial-in” to your broadcast over the Internet from a computer or cell phone which has the Slingbox software (called the SlingPlayer) installed. You can change channels remotely.

http://www.slingmedia.com/
Main website with fun intro video (changes if you visit more than once!)
http://uk.slingmedia.com/
UK site
http://www.slingboxguide.com/
All about it

FREEware Links (from talk on 10th Jan 2008)

Scottie's freeware:
http://peteringata.googlepages.com/scottiesfreestuff

CB-J 's selection
CCCleaner
Clean up your PC of junk http://www.ccleaner.com/ Windows XP and Vista including 64 bit

VLC
VLC Media Player - Play many types of media file and lots of clever stuff http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ Windows XP / Vista 32 bit and 64 bit/ MacOs and Linux

MWSnap
Capture and save areas of screen http://www.mirekw.com/winfreeware/mwsnap.html Windows XP and Vista (32 bit)

FoxitReader
Fast reader of PDF files http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php Windows and Linux

DVD Shrink
Compress and Back up DVDs http://www.dvdshrink.org/what.html Windows

DVD Fab Decrypter
Decrypt encrypted DVDs http://www.dvdfab.com/free.htm Windows

Portable Apps
Run applications off a memory stickNo data goes on the host computer http://portableapps.com/ Windows

Avidemux
Video editor designed for simple cutting, filtering and encodingImports many file types (including VOB). Ideal for YouTube clips http://fixounet.free.fr/avidemux/ Windows, MAC and Linux

MAJOR FREEWARE YOU PROBABLY ALREADY HAVE

Open Office
Complete Office suite http://www.openoffice.org/ Microsoft Windows (98 - Vista), GNU/Linux ("Linux"), Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (under X11), and FreeBSD.Multilingual

Firefox
Internet Browser http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/Windows, Mac OS X, LinuxMultilingual

Thunderbird
E-mail Client http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/thunderbird/Windows, Mac OS X, LinuxMultilingual

Picasa
Photo managerhttp://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/products/thunderbird/Windows Multilingual

Irfan View
Media Viewer http://www.irfanview.com/Windows 9x/ME/NT/2000/XP/2003/VistaMultilingual

AVG Anti Virus Free Edition
Anti Virus http://free.grisoft.com/Windows, Linux

AVG Anti-Spyware Free Edition
Anti Spyware http://free.grisoft.com/doc/20/us/frt/0Windows

Ad-Aware Free
Anti Spyware http://www.lavasoftusa.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

Spybot Search and Destroy
Anti Spyware http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/index.htmlWindowsMultilingual

Chairman's Report for 2007

The Javea Computer Club is now 23 years old. For the first time our membership fell over the year from 650 to around 550. This could be related to the fact that beginners’ courses are now run as small group affairs, rather than taking up the whole room….or perhaps PCs have been around long enough and are now so easy to use that people do not need help any more? Perhaps members who previously joined just to use our broadband connection, now have their own at home?…….perhaps our Club is at last returning to be what it started as: a group of computer enthusiasts who want to learn about computing in general.

As regards equipment, we bought a lot this year. Four new computers have been built by Vic and the Hardware group. These have been installed with different flavours of Windows Vista, including Vista Ultimate 64 bit. We have a range of flat screen monitors, with ever increasing screen areas and more wide screens. We also branched out and bought a beautiful Apple Mac. We now have a printer able to print on CDs and DVDs and a brand new DLP projector which gives a much brighter image than the old one.

Mondays as ever were busy Club Days. Tuesdays are now devoted to Special Interest Groups. The most active groups are: Genealogy; Flight Simulation; Digital Imaging; Video Editing; Linux; Desktop Publishing; Long Distance Wireless Networking and Hardware. The Special Interest groups received continued financial support from the Club in the form of the purchase of specialised software, hardware and magazine subscriptions. The Hardware group has been busy building some of our new PCs as well as refurbishing old ones for auction and sale to raise money for “Cancer Care Javea” which is the Club’s chosen Charity for this year (June to June). To date, we have raised over 1000 Euros from the sale of old computer bits and pieces. Our thanks to all who have donated their old kit, and contributed to this fund raising.

The Beginners’ course is changing with the times. Early last year we tried small group lessons, but now feel that formal courses are no longer necessary. With the use of self teaching aids, online help and one to one tuition we are trying a different approach. Once members have gained confidence and an understanding of the basics they can hone their skills by joining a special interest group. We also carried out some small group advanced tutorials on scanning, Excel and wordprocessing . Our thanks to all volunteer tutors.

Thursdays have seen our usual array of talks from members and guest speakers. Topics included Freeware, Vista, Google, Social Networking, computing in the near future, video editing, image editing, Wikipedia, Photostory, voice diagnosis using computers, and Wireless Internet. We also ran two Computer Fairs to which local computer shops and service providers were invited.

Club activities were totally disrupted for a couple of weeks by the flooding in October. I would like to extend my personal thanks to all members who gave their time and effort in the several cleanups (there were three!). We had the foresight to raise equipment off the ground after the first inundation and were lucky (and showed initiative) in rescuing flooded equipment. We used hairdryers and members took equipment home to dismantle and dry it. It was a case of “all hands on deck”, and the Club survived the crisis having lost only the A3 printer and one drive in our CD duplicator, plus our old network server and keyboards. Well done team!

The “Mesh” project to share Internet connections by long distance wireless continues, though we are hoping gradually to wind this down as Telefonica improves its reach of ADSL and commercial service providers move in to cover the need. Last year we made a surplus of income over expenditure of 2977.08 Euros which will be used for shared equipment. We had five uplink hosts and 74 clients. I would particularly like to thank Fredrik Wengelin, Ron and Gwen Rickett, Leif Christensen, Peter Bayliss, Andreas Wernli and Jim English for their work and cooperation in running this project. Also thanks to Harold Krol of Computer Care for his invaluable technical help.

There have been several administrative changes. We changed our bank from CAM to Bancaja (to get better service), and changed the Club’s ADSL connection from Ya to Telefonica (same reason, and to save money). The switch from Ya meant moving our Club website to a new host, and this coincided with the launch of a new web page design created by webmaster, Diane Wynne. Thanks to Diane, and apologies for any inconvenience in the switch over. The Club's service of delivery of UK Computer magazines to Spain continues through David Dales Removals, subsidised by the Club. Our thanks to David Dales for their cooperation and to Jacki Pamflett for collecting the magazines for us each week.

As usual I must thank the non-Committee people who have helped out in various ways: Cynthia Cutts, Jaqui Bayliss and Elaine Wareham who do the cash desk; all our tutors and everyone who has helped anyone to solve a computer problem, or just been friendly to a new member over the past 12 months.

Finally : Thanks to my hard working Committee: - Reg Cutts, Richard Wareham, Ann Jones, Diane Wynne, David Reed, Peter Bayliss, Derek Mawson, Win Jones, Mike Easter, Scotty, Fredrik Wengelin, Vic Tattersall, Cyril Greaves, Rob Westlands and Huw Griffith. Special thanks to Dave Reed who is leaving the Committee this year after his two year term of office. He has contributed much in organising the Beginners on Tuesdays. Thanks for your help and support Dave.


Christine Betterton-Jones February 2008