Vol. 26 number 1 December 2009 The newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group Calendar OPCUG General Meeting National Museum of Science and Technology 1867 St. Laurent Blvd. Second (*first) Wednesday of each month, 7:30pm Dec 10 Christmas Products Presentation by Harley Bloom, BMT MicroTech Jan 14 Members' Presentation Night Feb 11 TBA Mar 11 TBA Apr 08 The Future of Home Automation: What's in-store for 2009, by Steven Totolo / tvcAutomation, Ottawa May 13 How the Web Works by Chris Taylor, OPCUG Jun 10 Pizza + Video Editing by Roger Wambolt, Corel Corp. Beginner SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. IT Pro SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Linux SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. PIG SIG (Wing SIG West), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Chances "R", 1365 Woodroffe (at Baseline), College Square Beer BOF (Wing SIG East), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Liam Maguire's, 1705 St. Laurent at Innes (formerly Hooters) Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ December Prize Winners The big prize winner at the December General meeting was Wayne Houston who won a portable DVD player. But Wayne wasn't the only winner that night as Harley Bloom from Bloom Microtek was spreading the Christmas cheer to a lot of the attendees. Optical Mice, DVD's to record and DVD wallets for storing same, Computer books, Wireless network cards, USB sticks, an MP3 Player, flashlights, IPOD cases & speakers, even Floppy disks ( remember those :-) ?? ). There was something to suit just about every taste and computer knowledge level. Why Harley even passed out a few "applause assistance devices"... it was quite a haul. Many thanks to Bloom Microtek for the prizes and don't forget to check out Harley's "cash and carry" sale coming up in the new year. $20 buys you a basket of goodies of your choosing. O yeah... we had a door prize drawing as well. Bob Walker took home a copy of Windows Live OneCare courtesy of Microsoft Canada. ____________________________ Product Review File Encryption with AxCrypt by Alan German There is an enormous wealth of free software available from the open-source community so, when you are looking for a specific utility, it's not hard to find something that will readily do the job at hand. When it comes to file encryption, one of the simpler open-source programs you can use is AxCrypt from Axantum Software AB in Sweden. AxCrypt integrates directly into Windows Explorer and, when you right click on a file, the program provides a context- sensitive menu. If the file is not encrypted, the primary option is to encrypt it. Conversely, if the selected item is encrypted, then the first menu choice is to decrypt the file. So you can very easily encrypt or decrypt an individual file. You just need to enter a password (or a pass-phrase) and remember what you entered! By default, the program adds a .axx extension to each encrypted file. AxCrypt will also operate on a specified folder, to encrypt or decrypt all of the files contained in the folder. When encrypting a file, AxCrypt demands that you enter the desired password twice in order to ensure that the two entries are consistent. The same password must be entered before the file will be decrypted. If you don't like always having to enter passwords, you can have AxCrypt remember the password for encryption and/or decryption. There is an option to clear the password from memory, but the cache is also cleared automatically when you either logoff or reboot. For even greater security, you can have AxCrypt generate a random string of characters for use as a pass-phrase, and store this as a file on a removable drive for subsequent use. An interesting option is to create a self-decrypting file using the "Copy to an EXE file" option. The resulting executable file can be sent to an individual who does not have AxCrypt installed on their computer. Obviously, you also have to send them the password to decrypt the file (presumably in a separate E-mail message). Then they just run the EXE file, give the password, and the unencrypted original file is produced on their system. AxCrypt users have some other tricks they can use. Double- clicking on an encrypted file prompts for the password, and then opens the file in its native application. This gives you the possibility of modifying an encrypted file "on the fly". For example, you could double click on an encrypted text file containing a set of userids and passwords. Respond to the prompt for the AxCrypt password, and the file opens in Notepad, displaying the plain text. You can then edit the file in order to change one of the userid/password combinations. When you save the file in Notepad, the encrypted file appears back on your hard disk. You just changed the data contents without having to specifically decrypt and re-encrypt the file. Neat! AxCrypt also has a "Shred and Delete" option that will securely remove any file from your system by overwriting the file with random data prior to permanently removing it. The program is released under the GNU General Public License (GPL), and uses the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) with 128-bit keys. Axantum's web site indicates that AxCrypt will run under most versions of Windows, from Windows 95 through XP; however, I can confirm that it will also run just fine under Vista. So, using AxCrypt, you can easily encrypt and decrypt your sensitive files. Just don't forget your password. There is no undo function! Bottom Line AxCrypt Version 1.6.4.4 (Open source) Svante Seleborg Axantum Software AB http://www.axantum.com/AxCrypt/ ____________________________ OPCUG Free Software Guide - Part 2 Compiled by Alan German This guide features an annotated list of free computer programs. The software mentioned has not been reviewed (except where noted) nor have any tests necessarily been conducted. Consequently, no guarantees are provided that the individual programs will perform as described. Rather the list of available software is provided for the information of our members who may find one or more of the programs useful. If you try one of the listed items, you are encouraged to share your experience, good or bad, by providing a brief review of the program for a future issue of the newsletter. DoubleKiller DoubleKiller searches single or multiple directories for duplicate files by comparing any combination of file name, size, modification date and content. When the scan is finished a list containing all duplicates found is displayed and you can manually or automatically select the files to be removed. DoubleKiller does not need to be installed, just extracted from the downloaded ZIP file and run. It does not alter the system in any way without the user's prior permission. The basic version of the program is free for private use. Current Release: Version 1.6.2.82 Web Site: http://www.bigbangenterprises.de/en/doublekiller/ OpenOffice.org This open-source office software suite includes word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages. It stores data files in an international open standard format, but can also read and write files from other common office software packages. For example, the current version supports the new docx file format used by Microsoft Word 2007. OpenOffice can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose. Current Release: OpenOffice.org 3 Web Site: http://www.openoffice.org Previous Reviews: Another Day at the Office (Review of OpenOffice 2.0), Alan German, http://www.opcug.ca/public/Reviews/openoffice20.htm CCleaner CCleaner is a freeware system optimization, privacy and cleaning tool. It removes unused files from your system - allowing Windows to run faster and freeing up valuable hard disk space. It also cleans traces of your on-line activities such as your Internet history, and contains a fully featured registry cleaner. But the best part is that it's fast (normally taking less than a second to run) and contains no spyware or adware. Current Release: Version v2.14.763 Web Site: http://www.ccleaner.com/ Previous Reviews: CCleaner, Jocelyn Doire, http://opcug.ca/public/Reviews/ccleaner.htm Gimpshop Do you need a powerful photo-editor? Would you like it to work just like Adobe Photoshop? But, do you want the program to be free? Look no further. GIMPshop is a modification of the free/open source GNU Image Manipulation Program (GIMP), and is intended to replicate the feel of Adobe Photoshop. Due to the changes to the interface, many Photoshop tutorials can be followed in GIMPshop unchanged, and most others can be adapted with minimal effort. GIMPshop is available for many different operating systems, including Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, and Solaris. Current Release: Version 2.2.8 (Windows) Web Site: http://www.gimpshop.com/ Edison Produced by Verdiem, this utility is billed as the PC energy management tool for everyone. Edison will let you choose the level of energy savings you want to achieve from your PC, implement appropriate power management policies, and calculate your estimated savings in electricity costs. The program runs under Windows XP or Vista. Web Site: http://www.verdiem.com/edison/ PDF ReDirect This free PDF writer from EXP Systems lets you create universal, standard, reliable and secure PDF files from any Windows application by simply selecting "Print" and choosing the PDF reDirect virtual printer. You can optimize quality and file size, extract pages from existing PDF files, merge PDF files, encrypt your files, create clickable hyperlinks, set permissions to lock a PDF file, and much more. Current Release: Version 2.2.8 Web Site: http://www.exp-systems.com/ Vista Transformation Pack Are you running Windows XP but wish you had the new look of Vista? You need the Vista Transformation Pack. Cnet.com says that this program "has loads of little details that can make your XP computer look as if it's running Vista, without the hassle (or cost) of upgrading." Current Release: Version 9.0.1 Web Site: http://www.windowsxlive.net/ Gspace Do you use Firefox? Do you have a G-mail account? If you have unused storage capacity in your G-mail account, Gspace will turn the available 2GB of disk space in your Gmail account into free on-line storage. Gspace is a free Firefox extension, and is available for use with Windows, Linux and OS X. With this web-based utility, you can transfer files between your computer and Gspace at any time and from anywhere! Web Site: http://www.getgspace.com/ Image Resizer This Windows XP PowerToy, free from Microsoft, enables you to resize image files. Select a single image, or a group of image files, click on the right mouse button, and specify one of four sizes (from 240 by 320 pixels to 1024 by 768 pixels). The program will make copies of your pictures in the new size, leaving the originals intact. Web Site: http://www.microsoft.com/windows xp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx FileZilla Both a client and a server version of this free FTP utility are available for multiple platforms. FileZilla is open source software distributed under the terms of the GNU General Public License. Current Release: Version 3.1.6 Web Site: http://filezilla-project.org/ Previous Reviews: FileZilla - Open Source FTP, Alan German, http://opcug.ca/public/ Reviews/filezilla.htm Process Explorer Is your system slowing to a crawl? Do you wonder what your computer is doing - when nothing seems to be happening - except for a lot of disk activity? Process Explorer from Windows Sysinternals can provide some of the answers by showing you information about the handles, DLLs and processes that are running. Current Release: v11.3 Web Site: http://technet.microsoft.com/en- us/sysinternals/bb896653.aspx ____________________________ OTTAWA PC NEWS Ottawa PC News is the newsletter of the Ottawa PC Users' Group (OPCUG), and is published monthly except in July and August. The opinions expressed in this newsletter may not necessarily represent the views of the club or its members. Member participation is encouraged! If you would like to contribute an article to Ottawa PC News, please submit it to the newsletter editor (contact info below). Deadline for submissions is three Saturdays before the General Meeting. Group meetings OPCUG normally meets on the second Wednesday in the month, except in July and August, at the National Museum of Science and Technology, 1867 St. Laurent Blvd, Ottawa. Meetings are 7:30-9:00 p.m. and Special Interest Groups go until 10 p.m. Fees: OPCUG annual membership: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagan, gail.Eagan@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, brigitte.lord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.)Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Morris Turpin, PR@@opcug.ca, 613 729-6955 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy@@opcug.ca Director without portfolio Don Chiasson Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 IT-Pro SIG: Vacant Linux / Open-Source software SIG: Don Chiasson Special Events Coordinator: Don Chiasson Note: We added an extra "@" to the emails to reduce spam. (c) OPCUG 2009. Reprints permission is granted* to non- profit organizations, provided credits is given to the author and The Ottawa PC News. OPCUG request a copy of the newsletter in which reprints appear. *Permission is granted only for articles written by OPCUG members, and not copyrighted by the author. ____________________________ Newsletter by email: To receive the newsletter by e-mail, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "subscribe NewsletterTXT" or "subscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes) in the body of the message. No subject line is required. Cancelling the Paper Newsletter: You can help the environment and save us some costs by sending an email to Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca asking to cancel the delivery of the paper version of the newsletter (or ask him in person - Mark is usually at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings). Announcements Mailing List: To subscribe to the Announcements List send an email to listserve@@opcug.ca, leave the subject blank and in the body of the message put "subscribe announcements" (without the quotes). Within a couple of minutes you will receive a confirmation message from the list server. OPCUG clock/calendar/calculator and mug: Check out the clock/calendar/calculator and thermal coffee mug sporting our club logo at the back of the auditorium at General Meetings! OPCUG insulated mugs are $15 and OPCUG clocks are $20. Reuse, recycle: Bring your old computer books, software, hardware, and paraphernalia you want to GIVE AWAY to the general meetings, and leave them at the table near the auditorium's entrance. Please limit your magazines to publication dates of less than two years old. If you don't bring something, you may want to TAKE AWAY something of interest, so look in on this area. Any item left over at the end of the meeting will be sent to the... recycle bin.