This project was originally funded by a Millennium Awards grant from Help the Aged

Peoples Leisure User Group - 

Information Technology

www.plugit.org.uk

News Page

In keeping with all good communications we have introduced this news page.  

News of the things which concern PLUGIT.  

If you have an item of news or an item for sale or an interesting snippet to do with the club, the members, or the internet, let this be the place to do it.

  New For 2008Diary News

25th November 2008.  A full meeting at Plugit this morning. The chairman opened the meeting and gave thanks to all the members and guests.  The weather was atrocious but still the core membership made the effort to attend the meeting.  Our secretary Aubrey, was sadly,  unable to attend the meeting due to illness, but Debbie the treasurer did an excellent job of keeping us in line and taking the minutes.  The Chairman announced that he would not be standing for re-election in the March AGM.  An excellent opportunity for members to propose new committee members or volunteer their services. Plugit is fully democratic, irrespective of  an individuals knowledge or ignorance about computers.

Part 2 of today's meeting was an interesting talk given by Taryn Johnston of "Seagull design Services" about how the internet and email system works.  

28th October 2008.  Coffee morning at the Plugit meeting, gave us an above average turnout of members and guests.  A cancellation of a presentation meant that we had to think up an alternative in a hurry.  This month Tony (H) asked how many members were using the windows Vista Operating system;  his survey revealed that only 6 members out of the 34 present actually used Windows Vista.  When asked how many members were considering upgrading to Vista we found that it was perhaps not on top of everyone's shopping list.

A quick Question and Answer session (always popular) was ended with a break for coffee.

After the break a demonstration of how to install new fonts into your pc was given. Available now as a download.

23rd September 2008  A full meeting this month where the usual format was followed and minutes of the meeting were documented.  Meetings like this are always more fun when members give their point of view of topics generated during the meeting in "Any other business" and "Matters Arising" It's good to get positive feedback and helpful on the odd occasions when we get negative feedback.  The meeting adjourned for coffee at 11am and resumed some twenty minutes later with an interactive demonstration of "The Registry" was presented by the Chairman.  Although demonstrations like this can go over the heads of some people, most people will be curious enough to "take a look" at a different area of computing.  Members and visitors were cautioned about the fragility of the registry.  A demonstration synopsis has been added to the Archive.

26th August 2008  Members had a treat this month, a question and answer session hosted by Bob Lightsey and Tony Harrison.  Both Bob and Tony presented the meeting in its entirety and scored a success with the membership. The question and answer sessions may become a regular feature of the clubs presentations.  Thanks to Bob and Tony from all the committee members and Chairman.

22nd July 2008.   A hint of summer in the air and a full meeting with all that it entails.  Amid the usual topics was an additional topic of "Coffee breaks" - Until further notice, Plugit would pay for one coffee or tea per member per meeting.  This would be reviewed after Christmas and,  if it were successful would be carried on into the new year (2009). The second half of our meeting was taken by "Andy Forde" from Handicom in Louth. Who gave a brilliant demonstration on the workings and effectiveness of Kaspersky internet security and anti virus programs.   Many thanks Andy for giving up the time for such an interactive demonstration.  A link to www.Kaspersky.co.uk can be found on the links page

24th June 2008.  Another good turn out for our monthly get together.  Pretty much an easy going meeting looking at the Control Panel and some of its intricacies.  We looked at all the sub-menu's from Accessibility to The time and date up until the break.  After the coffee break, we looked at and discussed "Display" to "Internet Options".  Surprising how may of us learned a little bit more, Which after all is what "Plugit" is all about 

27th May 2008  The first "FULL" meeting since the AGM and even though the weather had been dampened by rain, we still had a good turnout for the meeting.  As well as the usual agenda items we also had discussions about E-mail problems we were having.  We were very proud to present existing members with a celebratory Flash Drive to commemorate our 10th Year as a user group.  Picture below

Also preloaded onto the pen is our celebration icon on the right

Part 2 of this meeting was a complete demonstration on how to install and use "Skype" communication system on your computer.  Michael Wellby demonstrated the install process and how to use Skype.  Sue Wellby (Michael's wife) completed the demonstration with a live connection from home.  The Demonstration is now available as a download dated 27th May 2008

22nd April 2008  The Tour Of Windows XP  - was the theme for today's well attended meeting.  The showing of the pre-installed windows tour movie was well accepted by the membership.  Part  2 of the coffee morning was dedicated to Search engines - their pro's and con's.  It seems that much can be gained by the back to basics approach even if it serves just to "jog the memory"   Don't miss next months meeting for "Something out of the ordinary"   A brief demo of Creating a restore point was added to the Archive.

25th March 2008 was the 10th Annual General Meeting of Plugit. During the meeting it was necessary to elect the committee for the next 12 months.  All the existing committee were prepared to stand again with the exception of Founder Member Mr D Myers. All officers were duly elected and David being a Founder Member was given Honorary Membership.

In addition to the existing committee, 4 new committee members were elected bringing the total committee to 14.

An "all too brief" demonstration of the Plugit. org. uk web site was given and questions about the site were answered.  Another successful meeting with a promise of more good stuff in the year to come.

26th of February 2008 marked the start of the new year at Plugit (January being a discussion Meeting and December being Christmas )  A full meeting required the agenda to be followed to make sure the club is on the right course for this coming year. The Chairman pointed out that next months meeting will be the A.G.M. where the need to elect officers of the committee is of paramount importance.  After coffee we started with a new demonstration of how to use watermarking in word and how to insert Pictures into a text document.  Watch out for a late entry of how to create a compressed folder in Windows Operating Systems.

New For 2007

27th November 2007 A surprisingly good turnout for today's meeting.  I say surprising because many people said they would be away for this months meeting. Oh well joy and bliss.  Today we (the committee) had a chance to sit back and relax somewhat, while the members watched a presentation video about "XARA EXTREME" (clicking the link opens a new window).  Quite a few comments about its qualities and simplicity of use.   The two video's and the official members meeting agenda took up most of the first part of the meeting.  

The second part of the meeting was again handed over to Bob Lightsey who continued his session on Wireless Networking.  A more relaxed "Bob" made the necessary connections and brought home the true spirit of PLUGIT. A letter of thanks has been sent to Bob for his very comprehensive demonstrations.  That's it for this year as December of often full of Dinners, Dances and Xmas lunches we don't meet again until 22nd January 2008. So I wish all the members and visitors A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.  

23rd October 2007.  This mornings meeting was a very relaxing coffee morning event with 36 members and several guests.  The meeting started with question and answers from the floor.  It never ceases to amaze me, how quickly members raise their hand to ask about minor irritations they have about their computers or software, and how many members can answer the question and give opinions about various aspects of computing.  A momentary pause for coffee, gave members a little time to chat and introduce our guests, (prospective new members) to existing members.

The second part of the meeting was given over to (member) Mr Bob Lightsey, who gave a detailed overview of "Networking"  both wireless and wired.  Many thanks to Bob for taking the time to take away the apprehension and trepidation about the networking systems in Windows.  Part 2 of the demonstration will continue in November and should culminate in a connection to the web, live and wirelessly.

25th September 2007 was a full meeting of the Plugit membership.  After covering the essential proposals and seconds of the items on the agenda, the group discussed the pro's and con's of Windows Vista operating system.  Several members said they had tried the system and liked it (once they got to know their way around) others were a little less complimentary about its origin.  Things are moving forward, now that the support for Vista is increasing (however slowly) and members agreed that given another 6 months or so, there may enough reason for a change. Needless to say, a break for coffee was well in order.  After the break Howard demonstrated a way to create simple drawings entirely within MS Word. A copy of the demonstration is now available for download should you wish to "have -a -go".  The meeting closed at mid-day

28th August 2007. A really good turnout for the August meeting.  It seems that "coffee mornings" hold the same popularity as the full meetings. Today, in the first session we revealed the secrets of how to download pictures from a camera and burn them on to CD 's or DVDs. After the coffee break we tackled the mysteries of "Tables in Word" and moving the margins to create artificial page splits i.e., half page, quarter page etc.  The meeting, in conclusion, rounded off with some useful suggestions from the membership. - A good time seemed to be enjoyed by all.

24th July 2007, despite the recent rain and floods, was memorable for the little ray of sunshine which descended on the Bacchus Hotel, when 40+ members and guests turned up for the monthly meeting.  It warms the heart to see so many people just "making the effort".  The July meeting was a full meeting, with treasurers reports and reports on Equipment and Web activity, Many thanks are given to Aubrey Phillips who co-ordinates these meetings and ensures that things run smoothly.      July's demonstration was how to scan photographs into the computer and how to write them to disk afterwards.

26th June 2007 gave us another remarkable meeting.  Creating Lists, Databases and Letters was the order of the day and much fun was had both doing the presentation; and from the members point of view, a little hilarity with the mistakes and typos which were created. 

Once again proving that learning can be fun and nothing should be too serious for any of us  the down load is now available.

22nd May 2007 marked another successful meeting in the bag. This meeting was a "full" meeting where we had the agenda to flow through covering things like the confirmation of the minutes, treasurers report (including the reminder that Subs are now due) and an update on the website and a report about the equipment belonging to PLUGIT.  After the coffee break 30 plus members joined in to combine our knowledge about Microsoft Word and the menus.  The power point presentation entitled  Plugit May 2007 is available as a download. Thanks to all the members and visitors who attended the meeting we look forward to next months meeting on 26th June 2007.

The meeting held at the Bacchus on 24th April 2007 was a little different to the usual event inasmuch as Howard had to announce the departure of Terry as both Chairman and Member from the club.  The first demonstration was a continuation of the Plug-it Theme "Back To Basics" where gaining the most from the File menu was demonstrated and explained.   After the coffee break Howard described a "Boot  up" process of  Single User/Single Task computer and then a Multi User/Multi Task computer; using volunteers as the peripheral devices and processor.

The Annual General Meeting on 27th March 2007, again scored another WOW, purely for the fact we had a turnout of Approximately 84% of the membership + 4 visitors. I don't know if this is a record but it was very nice to see people relaxed and ready to enjoy what was our 9th AGM.  After the preliminaries such as reading the minutes and treasurers report, we re-elected members of the committee and elected another two persons to the committee.  After the coffee break, the Chairman delivered his annual speech giving his submission on how well the members of the group had "taken in" the information delivered in the various demo's throughout the year.   This was followed by the Chairman's demonstration on how to "Clean up" the "My Documents" Folder and any other folders which may need the same treatment. This Demo is now available in the  demo archive.

WOW again......  February 2007 meeting:- 

Another excellent turn-out by the members,  loads of feedback and some interesting points brought to the attention of the committee for further investigation.

This month was a full meeting where the first half of our session is taken up by formal requirements of the club. The main point being the announcement of next months AGM. 

The second half (or post coffee session) was dominated by "Windows Vista":  Does the club need it?

Howard used a Power point presentation (downloadable from the demo archive page) for much of his talk on the comparisons between the different versions of "Windows Vista". General discussion took place on the need for updating operating systems and, was the "NEW" Operating system, worth the money? Microsoft seemed to have missed the mark for most of us and Howard thought the cost of all the packages are a little excessive to say the least.

Next months meeting, as well as being the AGM we will see Terry continuing the theme of Back to Basics.  I hope you will join us for what promises to be an exciting year.

WOW.......January 2007 Meeting:-

 What a turn-out for the first meeting of the year plus an unprecedented 14 additional visitors. What a great meeting it was....  A triumph by any standards.

The meeting started off with the usual welcome to all who attended today's informal coffee morning, and a brief overview of what 2007 would mean to Plugit members.  We focus on the absolute beginner, those who have only recently been "dragged" into the world of computing by their children and grandchildren.  The committees aim for the year is "Back to Basics"  

Today's meeting taught the use of the mouse and how to get the most out of the mouse buttons an the menu's which they produce.  

We showed how to change the "Desktop" to the way it suits you, and how to cut down the "Clutter" which accumulates on the desktop over a period of time. 

We showed how to "Add"  shortcut icons to the desktop and the demonstrated the importance of the start menu. 

One of the many practical demonstrations was how to add a "user account" to the computer so that when the Grand children come to visit they don't upset all your settings.  

The mystery of "How to change the font size" on your desktop was unveiled and after considerable "wailing and gnashing of teeth", we were able to change it back to its original size.

The first meeting of the year was hailed a success by those who attended and (we hope) we will have even more members and visitors on 27th February's meeting.

You don't need to be a member to come along to our meetings but we do encourage visitors to show their commitment by joining as a full member. 

Regards Plugit member

A. Unfortunately you seem to have some "Spyware" on your computer.  You can uninstall the spyware if you know what the master file is called.  Alternatively and more permanently you can install some anti-spy-ware software.   Microsoft have a Beta version out at the moment called "Windows Defender" this will eliminate any and all spyware from your computer and protect you against future attacks  Click on the link below for full details.  

www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/about/faq.mspx

Q. Hi Webmaster,

Does anybody using dial-up for Internet and Outlook Express access know how to reduce the volume when the modem is dialling up the ISP? I've tried the sound icon on the taskbar to reduce the speaker volume, but it doesn't make any difference. Where am I going wrong?                 Signed  Plugit member

A.  Your looking in the wrong place.  Although the sound control panel  governs the general sounds from the PC, the modem has its own unique sound system  - usually found in an attachment to the device management settings under "Sound Video and Game Controllers" as Half duplex audio for modem. 

To Lower the volume on your modem card.  Open the "control panel" and  select "modems".  Open the tab at the top called "General" and from there you can adjust the volume between  "Off", "Low", "Medium" and High.  Apply the settings and Close all windows.

Q.  Hi  does anybody know why graphics/clipart only appears as an outline without the image when pasted into a Word document? Then when you click on the outline you only get the handles of the outline?  Plugit Member

A. One possibility I think is ... if you have office XP, you may have word set to display 'place holders' rather than the picture ... try tools> options> - On the view tab have a look at the 'picture place holders' check box ..If ticked you'll just see an outline. Click and un-tick it. It’s similar in office 2000, but it says something like display pictures or something similar .. it will still be under tools > options etc. 

In passing I would like to congratulate you on the excellently designed site. Very impressive. Practical, nicely laid out, interesting and easy to navigate.  Personally I find the majority of sites on the net irritatingly “noisy” and confused.

Best Regards

Don (Full Name Supplied)

Q. Can anyone tell me how to use Red Eye Removal in Paint Shop Pro 6?  Cheers. Plugit Member

A. There are no tools available for the removal of Red Eye in Version 6 of Paint Shop Pro. Version 7 was the first version of  Paint Shop Pro to have this tool.  With Paint Shop Pro X (10) now available it wouldn't be too expensive to upgrade your software to a more modern version.

Q. I have recently gone onto Broadband, and I still get the dial up connection box when my computer starts up.  How can I stop this box from appearing every five minutes. Regards   Plugit Member

A. Right click your internet explorer icon on your start menu and look for the tab called "Connections".  In the centre of the page you will have three choices, 

They are:-   "Never Dial a connection"  "Dial if no connection is present" and "Always Dial my default connection".  

Change the selected box to be Never Dial a connection  With broadband your ISP software will connect rather than Internet Explorer.