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Our gurus are Hummmmmmming at the moment...

Q:    From our May Poll:  Rank your satisfaction with your FRPCUG Programs:

A:     We have had many interesting presentations.

Q:   What are your interests? (Not actually on the Polll, but implied)

A:  My computer interests are technical:  

Q:    How to hook up an Ethernet hub or switch and what Ethernet settings do I need to modify on my computer? 

 A:   The setup of your Ethernet switch or hub is generally clearly detailed in the instructions that come with your device.  The Ethernet settings for your computer depend in part on how many computers you anticipate connecting to the Web and each other, or if you want a wireless connection.  If there is only one computer and it is a wired installation, then setup of the internet connection wizard with DHCP (automatic IP assignment) is pretty straight forward.   Setting up static IP addresses for a LAN is not difficult, but is worth some additional discussion.  Individual computers, mostly portables, sometimes have "switches" that need to be turned on for wireless  connections.  Since the setup of computers is dependent on the operating system, hardware used and desired configuration, it would be my suggestion that this issue be handled on a case-by-case basis at the Saturday morning Shop Talks, or at the Technical SIG.  Both venues are described on frpcug.org.   -- Jim B.

Q:   What purpose do different operating system files have, like *.ini or *.vxd. 

A:   *.ini files are initialization or configuration files used by nearly all Microsoft applications to setup the operation environment.  These are Windows file extensions and should be described in the Microsoft knowledge base, but they're not.  Windows search sends you to the following:  Specifically, check  http://www.computerhope.com/dosext.htm and follow links to find what, if any user input is allowed.   The *.vxd file extension is for "Windows system driver file allowing a driver direct access to the Windows Kernel, allowing for low level access to hardware."  Check out the whole list.  It must number in the several hundreds. 

Q:   What is TCP/IP stack and how does it work?

A.    There were multiple pages of references to a "google" of "TCP/IP stack" starting with the following page of sites:

Q:   What freebie or low cost shareware is out there?

 A:   Check out the "Links" link in our frpcug.org for sites, again with evaluative listings of software, and extensive documentation on Linux operating system distributions.  I highly recommend that you try Open Office suite of applications.  It is free, s product of SUN systems and has nearly all the functions of Microsoft Office suite, and is compatible with the *.DOC, *.xls, and *.ppt files of MS.  There's nothing out there that is better, as a suite or stand-alone applications.  And it runs in Linux and MS Windows OS.

Q:   How do video cards work and is the pci express slot any faster than the AGP slot?

A:   Googling "PCI express vs AGP interface"  rendered "This video illustrates the system and graphics performance gained with PCI Express graphics solutions, versus previous AGP solutions (2MB .wmv). ...   http://www.nvidia.com/page/pci_express.html  which should answer your  questions  about the benefits of PCI Express interface. 

Q:   Is firewire any better than usb?

 A:   Google the following for cursory and extremely detailed evaluative statements and test results:   "Firewire vs USB"

Q:   Where can a person find cheaper older versions of good software applications and operating systems?

 A:   Check out the "Links" link in our frpcug.org for sites, again with evaluative listings of software, and extensive documentation on Linux operating system distributions.  It is my belief that you can operate nearly everything more safely and with more stability in Linux, but there are not many people who seem to be interested.  All your questions about Windows use are answered in very extensive forums and "How To's" in the Linux community.  You can chose your level of involvement in "command line computing" or not, but the really big thing is that at no time are your held back because the information that you seek is proprietary, and therefore, not available. 

Q:   What are some good PC diagnostics programs in case my computer crashes?

A:   I'll let someone else deal with this.   I have a diagnostic CD that is used by a local big box retailer and left in a used computer that I acquired.  You're welcome to have a copy of that...  (JB)

 Q:   Where is the best place to ask these questions?  (Question implied by member suggestion.)

A:   Maybe these questions are best asked at the technology sig or on Saturdays at the Senior Center. 

Q:   I found navigation on the web pages and wiki a little confusing. 

            Q (a):    Are the menu options for the web site visitor,  

            Q (b):     or are those menu options part of the web programming compiler and meant for the web site builder? 

A (a):   Yes.  But I can understand your confusion about frpcug.org because it is a work in progress.  The navigation panel is complete, but the site content is not fully developed.  Over time it should be fully developed.  The framework allows much easier updating of the content than did the old design.

A (b):   The frpcug.pbwiki.com is also a work in process and the user pages are found listed in the "Side Bar" tab of the side bar on the right side of the page.  That setup of the page should be saved when you exit the wiki.   Beyond that, I would like your continued comments about the wiki and the home page.  Your "confusion" was something of a surprise to me.  I haven't had others mention that as a problem.  The format is a "free" offering of the pbwiki.com folks and I can't be too critical of the template that they have provided... for free to us.

Q:   Also I could not change my password once I had logged in [to the smf BBS.]   Maybe I am not doing it right.

 A:   Thank you for pointing this out.  I found the same glitch when I did a non-administrator log-in.  I don't know why that is, but I'm working on it.

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