March 2005 Newsletter

Volume 1, Number 1

Greenville High School Forms Computer Club

Second-year computer teacher Mr. Myers recently formed a new Computer Club at Greenville High School. The club introduces students to new technology and shows them how to sell items on Ebay. It also provides a way to raise monies to help students pay for their professional Microsoft Office Specialist Certification exams.

The club members have also created a website, under the direction of webmaster Alan Hogan, and a newsletter, under the direction of Chris Grasinger, as a way to keep Greenville High School and the community apprised of club events and information. To learn more about the website and newsletter, read on!

Computer Club Website Launched

It’s only natural that the computer club has a website, and have one it does. The website officially launched on February first.

Online, you’ll find information about the club, a posting of upcoming meetings, an archive of newsletters, and some tips & tricks the members want to share. There is also a question-and-answer page. Anyone who has a question about computers or technology, be it technical or basic, can ask it there.

Finally, the site is ‘skinnable’. This means that the whole layout and design of the site is easily changeable at the user’s choice. As of now, there is only one real skin. Members are in the process of creating new skins for the website. If you have an idea for a skin you would like to see or if would like to just write content for the site, contact webmaster Alan Hogan for more information, or go to the online contact form.

Computer Club Newsletter 1st Edition

This issue constitutes the inaugural 1st Edition of the Computer Club Newsletter. The newsletter will be available monthly in both print form and in an online version at the Computer Club website. It will include articles about Computer Club events and information. There will be previews about new technology and a section on computer tips and tricks. Don’t forget to check out the monthly quotes and sites of the month sections. If you have an idea for an article you would like to see in the newsletter, contact editor Chris Grasinger for more information or email us at newsletter@ghscc.com.

Latest Technology

Protect your documents with your own thumbprint!

The Lexar JumpDrive TouchGuard is a new product that allows you to protect all your important documents and touchy website login information, without having to remember a username or password. It uses a USB flash drive and installs a finger print scanner. With the touch of a finger, you can login to up to two hundred websites. You may think that you would have to install a million software components and drivers, when actually you do not have to worry about any of that. It comes loaded with the drivers already in it, but you will have to install some software on one computer, if you want the auto-login feature.

It also features a My Favorites list, which allows you to import your favorites list from your browser. You may also use the encrypt/decrypt function that fingerprints and password-protects files using 256-bit AES encryption on either the host computer or the drive itself. The JumpDrive TouchGuard also uses a standard USB flash drive and will show up under the next available drive letter on your computer. You can drag and drop files onto the drive, and a meter on the Dashboard (the TouchGuard’s software interface) will let you know how much space you have used. Lexar claims it reads and writes at speeds of 12MB per second and 6MB per second.

Unfortunately, for the people who love Mac, and hate IE explorer, you are not going to get very far with this. It requires windows XP/2000, IE6 or greater, and sells for around $80 (Cheapest is around $50). The Lexar TouchGuard is quite an amazing tool used for protecting your computer, and your documents.

Tips and Tricks

Are you tired of the same old annoying windows startup and shutdown screens? Do you wish you could change them into something amazing, something magical?! Well now you can! Here’s how. There are three files that makeup the startup and shutdown screens. They are:

• LOGO.sys – The startup screen located in your C:\windows directory.
• LOGOW.sys – The “PLEASE WAIT…” screen located in your C:\windows directory.
• LOGOS.sys – The “ITS NOW SAFE TO TURN YOUR COMPUTER OFF” screen usually located in the C:\windows directory.

These files are standard windows bitmap files with the dimensions 320 pixels wide × 400 pixels high. You can use almost any image editing program to change them, as long as the program supports .BMP Files. WARNING - You must be sure to make a backup copy of all three files. (LOGO.sys may or may not exist already.)

Latest Virus Threats (sidebar)

W32.Stang

Worm virus that spreads through MSN messenger and lowers your computer’s security systems.

Trojan.StartPage.I

Trojan Horse program that modifies explorer and redirects the home page by copying itself to your computer.

W32.Mydoom.AX@mm

Mass mailing worm that sends infected email to other computers.

Go to www.symantec.com for more information on these and other viruses.