SENIORNET OF PUGET SOUND
COMPUTER LEARNING CENTER NEWS
March 1,
2004, Vol. 5; Issue #3
Mail
Address: PMB 44, 12819 SE 38th St., Bellevue, WA 98006-1326
Voice Mail:
206-232-5892; Email: senior@seniornetps.org
Classroom
at Phantom Lake Elementary School, Bellevue
For
detailed Information, Class Schedules: www.seniornetps.org
By Helen Hesketh, Interim Editor
YOUR HELP NEEDED WHEN CHANGING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS
Please advise us at senior@seniornetps.org
if you are changing your email address. You
will not receive the Newsletter if we do not have an accurate address. If
you were formerly an attbi.com customer and that address has changed to
comcast.net - let us know that also.
UPCOMING ACTIVITIES
MARCH 2 - KOFFEE KLATCH
MARCH 6 - OVERLAKE
HOSPITAL ACTIVE SENIOR FAIR
MARCH 9 - OPEN LAB
ASSISTANCE
MARCH 16 - ANNUAL
MEMBERSHIP MEETING
MARCH 23 - OPEN LAB
ASSISTANCE
MARCH 30 - OPEN LAB
ASSISTANCE
KOFFEE KLATCH
Tuesday, March 2, at 11:30 am at Crossroads Bellevue (note
change in name). Old and new come out and meet and greet as we look forward to
the sun and spring warmer weather. Have a bite to eat and socialize with all of
the wonderful people that tag themselves "SeniorNet".
HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY
TO ALL
SENIORNET OF PUGET SOUND
ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING
Tuesday, March 16, at 9:30 am at the New Hope Ministries
Church, 15760 NE 4th, Bellevue, (Take 156th Ave to NE 4th
and the church is across from the Jewish Temple and school) the same place
December registration was held) the annual meeting will begin with a
continental breakfast and the meeting starts at 10:00 am. On the agenda, in
addition to food, is election of officers, annual reports, and door prizes.
Jill McLeod, Principle of Phantom Lake School will be bringing us up to date on
the happenings of our school.
FREE
LAB ASSISTANCE CLASSES
Our Instructors are available to assist you
with your questions, problems and concerns on Tuesday, March 9, 23, 30 from
9:30 am until Noon. You do not have to be a member of SeniorNet to attend and
participate.
CALLING ALL
AUTHORS/WRITERS
of YOUR LIFE
HISTORY OR STORIES:
Are you close to completing your document - or know what your plan is to
be?
Would having more information about organizing this story, creating outlines or indexing it be helpful? Would you like to learn how to place those special pictures in the book?
OR have you considered having this special book published?
Then you are the person that should consider taking "The Next Steps." A class offered for those who are ready to take these next steps in organizing and completing that precious (family) book.
The
"Next Steps" class starts Monday March 1st at
WE NEED YOUR
INPUT
During late April and May we expect to have some open time available, and we need student input. What type of class would you like to see SeniorNet offer during this time period - ever mindful that both an instructor and minimum number of students would be necessary for us to offer a class.
If you have some ideas, call the voice mail 206-232-5892 or email senior@seniornetps.org
NEW CLASSES OFFERED
Due
to popular demand SeniorNet of Puget Sound has added two classes that are not
listed in the catalog.
Introduction to Windows XP - Intro 5
Wednesday, March 3 thru March 17 - 10:00 - 12:00 (3 sessions) Cost $20.00
Using Windows XP - Using XP-6
Wednesday, May 12 thru June 9 - 1:15 - 3:15 (5 sessions) Cost $30.00
Call the voice mail 206-232-5892 or email - senior@seniornetps.org
READ ON FOR MORE AVAILABLE CLASSES
Spring may not be with us yet but SeniorNet Spring 2004 classes are filling up fast. Already we have added 2 Introduction to Windows XP classes, the first filled within a week. The second class will begin Wednesday, March 3 at 10:00.
There is still time to register for some classes - Genealogy which begins May 21 thru June 11 is for anyone interested in using the computer to set up and maintain genealogy records. There are programs are available for management and generation of family, trees, descendant listings, etc. Several computer programs will be reviewed. Family Tree Maker version 11.0 will be used for hands-on practice.
If you have been using XP and generally feel comfortable, register for the Tweaking Windows XP class - April 22 thru May 6. If you are now "fine tune" your computer, this class is for you.
One of the most useful classes we offer is Where's My Stuff (File Management). Ever wondered where did I put that file? This class will help you locate all the "stuff" that you have created on your computer. File Management usually fills but there are still a few openings in File-2 offered April 23 thru May 14 - 10:00 - noon.
For these and any other classes offered by SeniorNet of Puget Sound call the voice mail 206-232-5892 or email senior@seniornetps.org.
OVERLAKE HOSPITAL ACTIVE
SENIOR FAIR 2004
On Saturday, March 6, 2004 from 10 am to 3 pm you will
once again find SeniorNet displaying the computer at the exhibit booth under
the able direction of Joe Pontecorvo. In addition, Joe and Helen Hesketh will
be presenting "Computer Fun and Excitement" from 12:15 to 1:00 pm.
Come, stop by our booth, join in the fun by visiting all the other vendor
booths, relaxing with the entertainment and treat yourself to a free massage
and foot reflexology. No registration required however $5.00 is a suggested
donation to support Senior Care's community education programs.
TROUBLE ACCESSING THE
INTERNET?
At our February Membership
meeting I discussed an article from the Langa List that was very useful for me.
Every once in a while (I have had it happen several times in the classroom)
your computer will no longer be able to access the Internet using your browser
or e-mail program. I had this happen with my Windows XP connection using
a Comcast cable connection. I tried re-booting the computer but to no
avail. Then I remembered the following Langa List article and the free
program mentioned saved me.
In the 2004-02-16 Langa List newsletter
(available at www.langa.com under past issues" at the left side of the web
page) in article 9, Langa has a WinSockFix link that allows you to download a
free software program. I had recently downloaded this program because of
the past problems that I had encountered in the classroom. So when my
computer failed to connect, I ran the program (first using the included option
to save my registry) and presto!, I could re-connect to the Internet.
SPAM ZOMBIES
I also discussed a news article from the King County Journal (Poorly guarded
PCs becoming 'spam zombies'). I was unable to find a link to this article
on the www.kingcountyjournal.com Internet web site, but I have posted the
article in the classroom. This article emphasizes the need for Internet
security as we have mentioned in several special workshops. Further searching
the Internet with Google produced the following link to this article:
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/tech/news/2405287
Internet and
Spam Submitted by Ken Crandall
An Anti-Spam filter for POP3 mail
programs
(I am sorry, AOL and on-line e-mail clients will not work)
In last months SeniorNet of Puget Sound news letter, I detailed an excellent Bayesian Anti-Spam e-mail filter for those who use Microsoft Outlook" as their e-mail program. I promised to outline a more general Bayesian based filter, called POPFile, for those people using standard POP3 e-mail programs (e.g. Outlook, Outlook Express, Eudora, Pegasus, and others) {Yes, this program will also work with Microsoft Outlook. Unfair isn't it?}
A manual with specific step-by-step instructions for installing POP is available at http://popfile.sourceforge.net/cgi-bin/wiki.pl (click on "The Original Manual" under the "Quick links" heading. However, I have also included a step-by-step set of instructions for those using "Outlook Express" because the installation is more automated and therefore more easily accomplished by the normal user. (If you use any of the other POP3 e-mail programs and are comfortable manually setting up an e-mail interface, the manual is easy to follow. I believe it is easy to follow even if you have never manually setup an e-mail program).
First you will need to download the popfile-0.20.1a-windows.zip file. Go to the following web site:
http://sourceforge.net/project/showfiles.php?group_id=63137
Under heading "1. POPFile for Windows", you will find the above file name.
- Click on this filename to initiate the download process.
- You will be asked to select a preferred mirror, I selected "umn(US)" but any will do.
- Once the mirror has been selected a normal download will proceed. I select the "Save" option (note where you download this file).
- This is a "zip" file so it will have to be un-zipped. Double click on the filename to un-zip in Win XP (for other versions of Windows {Win 95, Win98, WinME, & Win2000} you will need a special program such as WinZip to un-zip the file).
- The un-zipped file will place a "Setup.exe" file in the folder. Double click on this file to begin the installation process.
- You do not need to read the release notices unless you are upgrading from a previous version of POPFile. Therefore select the "No" option.
- Select "Next" to go to the License Agreement page, then check the "I agree" box and click "Next" again.
- I un-check the "Skins" and "Language" options then click "Next".
- I accept the default installation location by clicking "Next".
- I accept the default POP3 port (110) and user interface port (8080). These are the standard ports for e-mail. Unless you know that your setup has used non-standard ports, these are probably correct. Click "Next" to continue.
- You are given a chance to choose the "Buckets" that POPFile will use to categorize your mail. I suggest at least two buckets ({spam and personal}, {good and Bad}, {delete and inbox}, or any choice that you believe describes acceptable e-mail from spam). I use 'spam' and 'personal' since they are already setup. If you normally have your e-mail sorted into a number of folders, you may want to setup a bucket to correspond to each folder. Once the program has been "Trained" to understand which incoming mail items belong in each "Bucket", POPFile will automatically add a bucket category to the subject line of your e-mail. Thus an e-mail with the subject of "Slimy Spam" {truth in advertising assumed} would have the subject changed to "[spam] Slimy Spam" and an acceptable e-mail subject might be changed to "[personal] Letter from Mom". These added categories can make to latter sorting into folders very easy. Once you have selected the "Buckets" that you want, click "Yes".
- During
the installation process, POPFile will detect active Outlook Express
accounts. Place a check mark
in the box "Reconfigure this account to work with POPFile" and
click "Next".
POPFile will automatically setup the account parameters. Manual instructions are
available for other e-mail programs.
- I then select "Run POPFile in background (no window displayed)". This insures that POPFile is active when you want to receive e-mail.
- If you are using a firewall, you will get an alert as POPFile starts. Two files will need to have access to the Internet (remember that you have previously had to allow your e-mail to have access to the Internet to get mail). POPFile is written in the Pearl language (something that you don't really care about except that allowing POPFile to have access to the Internet will allow all programs written in Pearl to have Internet access. Since you are unlikely to have any other Pearl programs running on your PC, this is not a significant issue but it could be for Linex users). If you are using ZoneAlarm, just click on "Remember this answer the next time I use this program" and click the "Yes" button to allow access for each alert. If you are using McAfee firewall, place a check mark in the "I recognize this program, in the future do not alert me" and then select "Yes". You will have to do this twice (once for each program that needs access). With ZoneAlarm you are through. With McAfee, the next time you access e-mail you will have to select the "Allow this program to communicate in any way it wants".
You are now ready to receive e-mail but the POPFile program has no idea what mail belongs in each bucket. Therefore it will not add the "Bucket" category to the subject line the first time it is used. After a little training the program will automatically add the correct category with an extremely high probability (When I used this in the past it was 97% correct).
So how do I train this thing anyhow? Once you have downloaded you e-mail, click on the "Start" button, then click on "Programs or All Programs", find the "POPFile" program folder and select "POPFile user interface". This will open an Internet Explorer window that lists all of the e-mail messages that you have received. On the right side of the window, there are two columns (Reclassify and Remove). Initially you will click on the down pointing triangle for each reclassify item and select the correct category. After you have properly classified each category, click on the "Reclassify" bottom to complete the reclassification.
Wow!, this seems complicated. Why would I want to do something so difficult?
I believe that in about two weeks, the program will correctly classify you new e-mail and you will not have to resort to reclassifying unless you find a message that was not categorized or one that has the wrong category. Once the program can correctly identify "spam", you can have it automatically place it into the "Delete" folder. Personally, I preferred to place it into a "spam" folder so that I had a chance to find the one error in sixty or so "spam" categorized messages that where "non-spam" e-mail but were classified as "spam". Usually I just deleted the whole contents of the "spam" folder since it had been correctly categorized.
This eventual automatic sorting, using the Outlook Express Mail Message Rules and the added Bucket category, greatly simplified my use of e-mail and the separation of spam.
Submitted by Ken Crandall