PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
[Joe Dellosso]
A lot has happened to me so far this year that has – at times – hampered my performance at this desk. What with 3 trips to the hospital – one wonders what will happen next and when these actions will cease. I believe the Lord has all in control and will do the best for all concerned – but has not informed me to date of my fate. I will do my best to continue my work at this desk.
At the last general meeting the powers to be took a survey of what the club would like to have in presentations. The last time this was done they completed 80% of what was asked – hoe they do the same this time. They really do try to put into play what the membership asks for but many times are hampered by lack of software or other ingredients to complete the presentation. In any event give either Brent or Ray you suggestions and they will try to work it out.
While we did not have a project or subject in the Saturday SIG questions and answers provided a lively discussion period and a number of subjects were covered. It is amazing what a group of computer nerds can bring up for discussion. I suggest you attend the next SIG.
In any event here is something to think about:
HOW TO EXTEND YOUR CELL’S BATTERY LIFE
That’s all for now – see you next month.
HAPPY COMPUTING
VICE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
[Ray Jamroze]
SEWWUG Meeting Minutes
A good representation of 23 members joined us this evening. Following management reports Brent surveyed the group in an effort to find out what topics would everyone be interested in for future meetings. We came up with "Internet Searching", "Buying and Selling on EBay", "Intro to iPads, Tablets and Smart Phones", "Buying Refurbished PCs and Laptops", "Hard Drives, SATA, SSA, etc." and "Using Skype". "General Security" was also mentioned as everyone is concerned with this topic.
The presentation this evening was entitled: "Know Your CDs / DVDs" given by yours truly. This presentation was in the form of a Mac "Keynote" presentation similar to Microsoft "PowerPoint" program. Since I have a Mac Book Pro I decided to try this program.
Samples of the various media discs were displayed on the table for all to look at and any questions were answered following the presentation. Also, a handout was given to all with further explanations and information on how to use the various types of blank media for recording data, movies, pictures, etc. This handout is attached to these minutes.
We had six door prizes including two $10 gift cards from Speedway, one AM-FM portable radio, one pocket screwdriver donated by George Moe, one wired mouse and one wireless mouse.
See you next month, topic to be announced.
Know Your CDs / DVDs
There are many different types of CDs and DVDs so that you can easily get confused. I know I did!
I'll try to explain the most common ones for a better understanding.
TYPE
CD / CD-ROM Compact Disc - Usually this refers to non-writable discs.
CD-R Writable discs (or recordable) - This means that you can only burn data a single time on it, or multiple times when using multisession mode until the capacity is exhausted.
CD-RW Rewritable discs (CD Rewritable) - You can not only add data, but you can also erase all the data on the disc in order to put different data on it. Usually you can erase it a few hundred times perhaps up to a 1,000 maybe!
DVD / DVD-ROM Digital Versatile Disc (or DVD Read Only Memory) - Basically the same as CD-ROM, however, a DVD typically has a 6 times greater capacity than a CD.
DVD-R / DVD+R Writable DVDs (or DVD Recordable) - Basically the same as CD-R with greater capacity. Note that DVD-R (DVD minus R) and DVD+R (DVD plus R) is a different kind of disc. There is virtually no difference between these two but it might be the case that your DVD player/writer burning device can only burn DVD-R or only burn DVD+R. Most modern devices however will support both formats equally.
DVD-RW / DVD+RW Rewritable DVDs (DVD Rewritable) - Basically the same as CD-RW with greater capacity. Note the difference between + and - . see DVD-R / DVD+R above.
DVD-RAM Stands for DVD Random Access Memory - It is comparable to a DVD+/- RW. However, it has a much higher lifetime (approximately 30 years) and can be erased much more often than a DVD+RW (at least 10,000 instead of 1,000 times). Also, it has a higher data security than a usual DVD.
Disc Capacity
CD ... 74. 74 minutes of uncompressed audio or 650.3 MB of data (681984000 bytes).
CD ... 80. 80 minutes of uncompressed audio or 703.1 MB of data (737280000 bytes).
DVD-R (DVD-5) - 4.7 GB = 4.38 GB of data (4707319808 bytes).
DVD+R (DVD-5) - 4.7 GB = 4.38 GB of data (4700372992 bytes).
DVD-R and DVD+R Dual/Double Layer discs are known as DVD-9. Their capacity is about 8.5 GB. Some of these discs can be Double-Sided as the movie studios record a standard (or full) version of the movie on Side A and on Side B they will record the Widescreen version of the same movie.
Blu-ray Discs: A whole new ballgame! Gigabytes anywhere from 25 to 50 and up! Research is continuous. Some of these discs have a matte white surface and are inkjet hub printable.
Usage
Audio-CD for music player, etc. - CD-R with 80 minutes is the default choice. Rewritable discs will not work in every player.
Short term data storage, just for "transport" - CD-RW for small and DVD+RW for large amount of data. This allows you to use the disc multiple times.
Backups, long term data storage - DVD-RAM. They have quite a high lifetime and data security.
Movies - Usually DVD+R or DVD-R. If you want to erase and record another movie then you would use DVD+RW. Note: A movie will not fit on a CD obviously! Blu-ray discs are used to improve the quality of the movie such as HD (High Definition) and optimum sound. A little more expensive but advanced technology with 3-D available!
Photos - Those will usually fit on a CD-R or CD-RW (again, use the latter if you intend to reuse the disc for other purposes later). Use DVDs if you have a lot of photos. There are many software programs available that allow you to make slideshows of your photos along with a sound track.
The above explanations are by no means complete; there are more details on the internet. I used http://www.supermediastore.com as my resource.