We Had A Very Good Time

Thank you Sharon for hosting a very productive and fun filled meeting. Your hospitality was greatly appreciated and the sumptuous fare were delicious.
Kudos to you.

More info and photos to come. Meanwhile, enjoy the video and photos below.

February Meeting Info

Our class meeting will be held Sunday, February 17th at Sharon Mayfield's Home.

HOST: SHARON MAYFIELD CRUZ
TIME: 5:00 PM
ADDRESS: 2024 MELSTONE DR.
VA. BEACH, VA. 23456
PHONE: 757-427-1742

SHARON WILL PREPARE AN ENTREE AND ASK CLASSMATES TO BRING SIDE DISHES.

That weekend will be a long one because of President"s Day.
There should be a good turnout because of the "QUE" Mardi Gras
being held on the 16th. Hope to see you there.

DIRECTIONS FROM LYNNHAVEN PARKWAY:

EXIT THE INTERSTATE AT THE LYNNHAVEN-PRINCESS ANN EXIT
THEN:
LEFT ON HOLLAND RD.
LEFT ONTO DAM NECK RD
SLIGHT RIGHT ONTO LONDON BRIDGE
RIGHT ONTO PINE VIEW AVE.
LEFT ONTO WINDY PINES BND
RIGHT ONTO PINEY BARK DR.
LEFT GREY FOX LANE
RIGHT ONTO MELSTONE DR.

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU!!!!!!

PHOTOS FROM JANUARY'S MEETING

Info On The Free Google Pack

Greetings All,

This will be a long post because it gives info on 13 FREE
software downloads that you may find useful. Some of you
may have some of the components in this package.
And some of these will duplicate features you already have
in other programs on your computer.

I should have given you this info a long time ago, but since
I have had some inquiries about the photo album and slide
show on our blog, now is a good time.

As you may have discovered, the slideshow and photo album is
a feature of Google's Picassa Photo album. Which, in turn,
is a part of Google Pack.

Google Pack is a collection of 13 free, very useful software
programs from Google and other companies.

The various software programs enable the user to browse the
web faster, remove spyware and viruses, organize your photos,
and much more.

You can download and install the entire Google Pack, or select
only those programs you want with just a few clicks.

Google Pack also includes Google Updater which keeps the Google
Pack software up-to-date and advises you of new programs as
they become available.

My personal favorite by far is Google Earth
(the free version, of course).
This program enables the user to view any location on the
earth using satellite imaging.

Just type in a location and click and Google Earth takes you
there as if you were flying. You can zoom in on a specific
address or an area of interest.

What you will see are actual satellite photos of the location.
Google Earth is great for viewing driving directions, trip
planning, finding a business, or house or apartment hunting.

I used Google Earth to familiarize myself with the Waldorf-
Brandywine, Md. area for Rufus Jackson's cookout last summer.

The "layering" feature allows you to view available roads,
lodging, restaurants, and schools, etc. in your area of
interest.

Google Earth is truly an "armchair adventurer's" dream.
See the all the exotic places on earth without leaving your P.C.
Check out the Pyramids of Giza, Jerusalem, the Temple of
Baalbek, Machu Pichu,Tiwanaku (Tiahuanacu), and other ancient
structures, or geographical features.

Upgrades are are available with even more powerful features
for a reasonable price. It's also MAC compatible.

If you have a dial up internet connection you may experience
slow performance. Also, the better your computer's graphics
card, the better the images will appear.

I should mention here that Microsoft has a similar program
called Virtual Earth which can be accessed through Windows Live
Search.

For your convienience, I am placing a link to Google Pack in the
links column to the right of the page.

Other programs in the Google Pack are:

Google Desktop - Desktop companion

It"s not just a screen full of folders and icons. Not only can
you quickly search your computer for files, emails, and web
history, you can view news, photos and more anywhere on your
desktop.

Google Desktop comes with Sidebar where you can get all of your
personalized information in one place.

Google Desktop is fully integrated with most of Google just add
Google Gadgets to customize your desktop and Sidebar to work the
way you want it to.

Google Desktop will even suggest new gadgets you can use based on
topics you are most interested in.

A Google Gadget is a software code that allows you to customize
your desktop, sidebar, or Google Homepage. There are gadgets for
calendars, favorite videos and movies, and adding and searching
web clips, and much more.

Picasa - Photo organizer

Picasa allows you to instantly locate and organize, edit, and
share all the photos and pictures on your computer in seconds.
You can even remove red eye and fix photos easily.

Picasa finds the pictures you forgot you had by scanning the
images on your computer and automatically sorts them by date.

Picasa will organize your entire collection while you watch.

Move and re-name a picture or a group of pictures in seconds
by simply dragging and dropping pictures from one folder in
Picasa to another.
Then make a label for your photo or groups to make viewing
and sharing easier, and for making slide shows, movies,or
for emailing.

You can even give your photos a gold star rating to easily
find your favorites, and you can password protect those photos
you want to keep private.

Google Pack Screensaver - Photo screensaver

After you have organized your photos from your personal
collection with Picassa, load them into the Google Pack
Screensaver - Photo screen saver and view pictures full screen
or as a collage, or turn photos from your personal collection
into a screensaver.

Configuration is easy and you can set the selection, transition,
and timing of the rotation of your images.

Google Toolbar for Internet Explorer - Search toolbar

This program installs in seconds and enables you to search from
any web page, autofill forms with one click, and block annoying
pop-ups.

View the button gallery and add buttons to the Google Toolbar to
search your favorite sites, bookmark frequently visited pages and
access them from anywhere,and translate pages into English instantly.

Add the spell checker button for your email.There's even a button
for sharing web pages with friends using a blog, email, or SMS.
Google Toolbar is available in Enterprise Edition and Firefox
versions

Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar - Web browser

Google touts Mozilla Firefox with Google Toolbar as a
"A Better Web Experience".
Firefox is easy to install and import your favorites.

It comes with many useful features like tabbed browsing,
Live Bookmarks, an integrated Search bar, quick page loading,
and easier navigation for everyone, including those who are
visually or motor-impaired.

Firefox delivers Web pages faster than ever and keeps you more
secure when you’re browsing the Web by blocking viruses,worms,
spyware, and popup ads.

The new Software Update feature makes it easy to get the latest
security and feature updates to Firefox which are automatically
downloaded in the background and prompts you when they are ready
to be installed.

The above is just a small list of features Firefox has.

StarOffice 8

Now you can have a full-featured office productivity suite that's compatible
with Microsoft Office at just a slice of the cost.

StarOffice 8 is a complete office productivity solution for up to $300 less! Save on software so you can invest where it counts: in your business.

StarOffice 8 offers superb compatibility with other office products. Microsoft Office users will find a familiar interface that allows you read, edit and write Office file formats. One-click output to PDF is an easy way to
share printable documents in a universally recognized format.

StarOffice 8 runs on multiple platforms: Solaris, Windows, and Linux.

Enjoy the same editing experience on your workstation as on your laptop.


Spyware Doctor® Starter Edition - for Google™ Pack users

In association with Google™ you can now download a FREE
copy of Spyware Doctor Starter Edition as part of the Google
Pack.

Detects, removes and blocks all types of Spyware and Adware
threats.
Easiest to use with intelligent automatic protection.

Norton™ Security Scan

Norton™ Security Scan is a free, easy-to-use tool that scans your PC
for viruses, spyware, and other threats. » Download Google Pack.

Key Features of Norton Security Scan
Scans for threats residing on your PC
Detects and removes viruses, worms, and Trojan horses
Warns you of spyware and unwanted adware
Schedules regular scans
Automatically receives updates**

Skype for Windows

Make calls from your computer – free to other people on Skype,
cheap to phones and mobiles across the world. And the sound quality
is great too – keep it running all day, and it’s like you’re in the same
room as the person on the other end.

Features
Free Skype-to-Skype calls to people anywhere in the world.
Free video calls - plus get more detail than ever before with High Quality Video.
Call phones and mobiles at pretty cheap rates per minute.
Instant message when it’s not a good time to talk.
Forward your calls and get text messages when you’re not online.

Adobe Reader 7 - PDF reader

Adobe Systems' PDF (portable document file) reader allows you to
view, print, and search PDF files and launches up to 50% faster
than Adobe Reader 6.0.

There are optional software programs you can add to Google Pack
such as:

Google Talk - Voice and IM application- Call or send instant
messages to your friends for free. All you need to make free calls
is an Internet connection, a microphone, and a speaker.

Google Video Player - Video player- Play videos purchased and
downloaded through the Google Video website.

RealPlayer - Media player - Play popular media formats, organize
music and videosand transfer music to iPod and other portable media
players.

GalleryPlayer HD Images - acquire, organize and display the world's
finest art and photography from the world's finest museums and galleries.

For as little as $0.99 per image, you can bring great masters like
Monet, van Gogh, Degas and Andy Warhol into your home or office.
Perfect for your screensaver or desktop.

Well, there you have it , an overview of Google Pack and it's
components.
This is truly a great value for anyone seeking to enhance their
web experience,or add to their computer's capability for free.
Remember, you don't have to download all the programs, just the
ones you want.