MAY 2003 - Vol 19 - Issue 05

Newsletter - Internet Edition

Bruce Von Deyelon will be the key presenter for this month's program. He will be giving us tips and information on how to protect our computers from both natural (lightening) and man-made electricity. Read some of his information, in advance, inside this month's newsletter.

In Part 1 last week in the EXAMINER, I discussed the different types of CPU chips commonly available in new computers (I personally recommended the AMD Athlon chips over the comparable Intel Pentium and Celeron Chips), memory (generally the more the better), and video cards (AGP is better than "on-board" with shared memory). Some of the other factors that influence both usability and cost are the hard drives, CD and DVD drives, modems, network cards, and other items.

Recently, when comparing desktop computers at several local stores, the smallest installed hard drive I found was a 20-gigabyte, with 40 to 80 gigabyte hard drives common. Now that hard drives have become relatively inexpensive, large hard drives are becoming the norm rather than the option. One of the classical rules of computing is "Whatever size hard drive you have, you will manage to fill it with clutter." This is as true today as in the past. Almost any hard drive installed in a new computer will be adequate for normal use, but if the child is involved with downloading MP3 music files, ripping music CDs, or into video editing, then a larger hard drive would be preferable. Another hard drive consideration is the speed of the drive. Often they will be labeled as ATA-66, 100, or 133 speeds. This is a relative comparison of the speed when reading or writing data. Within a similar price range, faster is better.

Last summer I built a computer for one of my daughters before she went off to the University of Texas at Dallas (Richardson). I put in a 20-gig ATA-100 speed drive, which I thought would be adequate. With the broadband access available in her dorm, she downloaded many MP3 music files, and videos. Her 20-size drive quickly filled up, and I recently gave her a new ATA-100, 7200 rpm, 40-gig drive to install in her computer as a second hard drive. Almost all new computers can handle an additional hard drive at a later date, if more storage is necessary, as most computers can support, without additional hardware, up to four hard drives, CD drives, and DVD drives.

CD-RW (rewritable CD drives) drives have become ubiquitous as their prices have plunged, and in some new computers, are even intended to replace the traditional 3.5" floppy. I would not recommend an old style CD player (play only) in a new computer, unless it is used in addition to a CD-RW drive for making copies. CD-RW drives are listed with three sets of numbers, such as 32x10x40. The numbers represent the relative speed when writing a CD-R disc, writing a CD-RW disc (a slower process), and reading a CD. The faster the better, but when comparing computers, the differences in CD-RW speed are not significant unless the user intends to "burn" many discs. The discs themselves have plunged in price, with bulk spindles of the one-time writeable CD-R discs often advertised as "free after rebate." The more expensive CD-RW discs are rewritable, and can also be used to supplement a hard drive, as they can be written to over-and-over again.

Also, as prices have plunged, DVD drives (players) have become common. On some computers, they are integral with the CD-RW drive, and in some computers DVD players are a separate drive. If the child already has a separate DVD player, then the computer DVD drive is redundant, although it can often be used as a "host" drive when copying CDs. When DVDs are played on a computer, the quality of the video and sound is often superior to being viewed on a TV, because most new computer monitors are far higher resolution than all but the newest digital TVs. Becoming more common on the market are DVD writers. They and the blank DVD discs they use are currently expensive, and there are several competing but non-compatible formats on the market. While some manufacturers are starting to produce "universal" DVD writers that can read and write most of the competing formats, they are quite expensive.

Until standards are decided in the market place, and the price of blank DVD discs inevitably drop, I would not recommend a DVD writer on a new computer unless the child just has to make DVDs. Be aware that some formats of computer burned DVD discs may not be playable in conventional DVD players, just as some computer burned music CDs may not be playable in conventional CD players.

While broadband internet is becoming more common, a telephone modem is still often an inexpensive necessity. While most factory built computers now come with the inexpensive, and less desirable "controlerless", "Winmodems", or "softmodems", if a computer is custom built, a real modem, with its own processor, is generally superior, but slightly more expensive. Almost all new computers now come with an industry standard "Ethernet" 10/100 network card installed. While there are some differences between the brands, they have become so standardized that they will generally work fine with any network or broadband service.

As integral items on most new computers are a variety of connectors for external peripherals. USB and Firewire are becoming the universal standards. Typically there may be two or more USB ports, and one Firewire port. For peripherals, Firewire is much faster (and usually more expensive) than the older USB 1.1 standard, but the new USB 2.0 standard, which is also downwardly compatible with the older USB standards, is a direct competitor to Firewire. There are many peripherals, such as printers, digital cameras, MP3 players, and scanners that generally come with USB connectors. Inexpensive external hubs can be used to increase the number of USB ports. Firewire, and the newer USB 2.0, is commonly used for recording and editing video and other high-capacity uses.

A rule of thumb is that locally built computers are typically easier to maintain and upgrade then the name brands, and can be readily customized for the child's use, and should be considered. As with all big-ticket items, shop around, and compare. An informed shopper is a wise shopper.

Ira Wilsker is a member of the Golden Triangle PC Club, on the Board of Advisors for APCUG, on the faculty of the Lamar Institute, and writes a column each week for the Examiner, along with other things. You can email him ira@apcug.org

There is no restriction against any non-profit group using the article as long as it is kept in context, with proper credit given to the author. This article is brought to you by the Editorial Committee of the Association of Personal Computer User Groups (APCUG), an International organization to which this user group belongs.

What exactly do I mean when I say file management? And, I can hear you saying "Who needs to fool around with that stuff." I have too many real things to concern myself with. My computer takes care of all those things anyway, doesn't it?" Well, the answer is yes and no. If you went into a restaurant to dine, would you rather select your own choices from the menu, or just have the waiter bring you what he feels like bringing? Very few of you will answer with the latter. But, most people don't bother to establish/customize their file preferences on the computer. It's easier to just take what the computer has been set to do. And, they don't have to learn anything (they think) if they just accept all the defaults.

Please note that I'm making the assumption that you know how to use a mouse, and right or left click on things. And, when I say "scroll down" or drag, you know what to do. If you haven't reached this point yet, I think it's time to take a very basic beginner's course before proceeding.

The simplest way to understand the way your computer stores things is to consider the following. Suppose you saw a line of text as follows -

USA\Florida\BocaRaton\123 Broadway\2nd floor\room 24\gray file cabinet\top drawer\3rd folder\2nd document.

I'm sure that everyone would understand exactly where to look for the document in question. The line is actually a descriptive path to get you there. Well, computer hard drives store things in a very similar way. A path to get to a document in your computer might be -

c:\My Documents\Letters\Personal\ Aunt Emma's Birthday.doc

This path states that the filename is "Aunt Emma's Birthday.doc", and it is in a folder named "Personal". That folder is a subfolder of "Letters", which is a subfolder of "My Documents", which is a folder on the hard drive C. To define paths in computer language a "\" is used to separate the various elements of the path. Note that this information is not case sensitive. That is, upper or lower case makes no difference. Just having learned this already puts you well on the road to understanding file management.

File management includes things such as establishing certain folders which will be the storage areas for your documents, and other files. You direct where files will be stored in various of your programs by saving your files in folders you establish or define. This makes things easier when you want to do backups also. Many programs allow you to specify what those folders are. So, when you go to save a file, that folder comes up as the default. A common cry from beginners is "I saved the file, bit I don't know where it is."

Within a folder you can have sub-folders. For example, if you had a folder c:\letters, you could put in subfolders for business, personal, club, etc.. This way, you have an organized filing system. If you have a file drawer that you use for filing things, most people will have separate folders or hangers for different categories. Throwing everything in the same area make it much more difficult to find things, just as putting all your different socks into the same drawer, unpaired, and mixed up, makes life tougher also.

Most people are intimidated by their computers. Remember, it's only a machine, and you should be the boss, not the computer. The way to keep things, including computers, from intimidating you is to become more familiar and proficient with them. The more you understand, the more in control you will feel. But, that doesn't just happen. Like all things in this world, you must make it happen. Reading these articles, and doing the practice can help you along the road to that end.

Once you become reasonably proficient in the subjects to be presented, you will be prepared to move files around, copy them to a floppy or ZIP disk to back them up, or delete them. The exercise below should help you in this area.

Please note that the protocols used here are applicable not only to PC's, but also to Mac's. These protocols are very logical once you understand them. The term "Windows" will be used throughout the article. This means that all versions of Windows, 95, 98, ME, or Windows 2000 will follow the same procedures

EXERCISE NUMBER 1

With thunderstorm season now upon us, it is appropriate to consider how you can protect your computer from things like lightning strikes, power surges and blackouts. This subject will be the focus of my presentation during the Elkhart PC Users Group's May 22 meeting at High Dive Park in Elkhart. The meeting begins at 7 p.m. and all members, and those who would like to be members, are welcome to attend.

While thunderstorms are a major concern at this time of year, many of the measures and devices I am going to discuss can also help in times when the electricity is blinking on and off and if you live in an older home where the wiring is not as good as it could be. Important devices in the power protection battle are surge protectors and uninterruptible power supplies (UPS). Surge protectors, or suppressors, protect your computer from damaging voltage spikes. On the other hand, surge protectors do nothing to help when the power goes out all together. For that, you need an uninterruptible power supply.

The next time you watch television news accounts describing dramatic damage caused by the latest batch of thunderstorms, I would ask you to consider the story that does not make for dramatic video. Each time a severe thunderstorm passes overhead, dozens, perhaps hundreds of computers across Michiana are killed by lightning. I know this because I've seen a fair number of these storm casualties over the years.

The best advice I can give you is, if you do nothing else, log off the Internet and turn off your computer when you hear thunder in the distance. The next most important thing you can do is to unplug your computer both from the wall outlet as well as the telephone cable that connects to the back of the computer. Doing those two things costs you nothing and will prevent a power surge caused by lightning from frying your computer's innards.

Surge protectors

UPS (not the guy in the brown truck)

The April 24th meeting's program was presented by Anthony Parrott of Goshen. Anthony is 16, and a high school sophomore with home schooling. He has been take music lessons now for 3 years at Goshen College. Anthony has written about 25 songs.

In order to let the computer talk to an electronic keyboard, the MIDI interface is used.

MIDI stands for Musical Instrument Digital Interface. The MIDI interface is part of the sound card / game controller port. The cable comes with 2 DIN connectors and a joy stick connector. The DIN connectors are the MIDI in and MIDI out. They are easily recognized because they are round and have 5 pins. The MIDI connection is 15 pins, but don't confuse it with a monitor connection. The pin lay out is different. The MIDI standard includes 150 instruments. There is a new standard called XM which expands on the number of instruments.

Anthony demonstrated two different software packages. They were Voyetra and Finale. He felt that Voyetra was easier to learn and good for the beginner. After connecting the computer and keyboard, Anthony played a song. He turned on the metronome while he was playing in order to maintain a proper timing of the sequence being recorded. The software automatically measured the time a key was depressed and knew from that whether an eighth note, quarter note, etc. was intended.

Using the track view, Anthony selected the track to record to sequence. There are 16 tracks available. When selecting the track, it is also important to select the instrument the track represents. By playing and recording at the same time, it is possible to create a full orchestra of sounds. The first track could be a piano. The second track could be a cathedral organ. The third track could be kettle drums, the fourth track a piccolo trumpet. Since you can hear the track previously recorded while playing the subsequent track, the artist can keep the score in sequence. If something is messed up, the recorded sequence can be edited to correct the error.

Anthony then showed the piano roll view. Using Voyetra, on the left side of the screen was image of the keys on the keyboard. Scrolling across the screen were lines representing the time the related key was being depressed. The line could be moved up and down to change the note or lengthened to change the duration of the note. Anthony could also change the volume of each of the tracks. (I have a Yamaha Clavinova. It has a velocity sensitive keyboard. The harder the key is depressed, the louder the note. I will have to look for software that can recognize that feature.)

After Anthony was satisfied with the notes and time relationship, he presented the transcribed view. There was the score he had played, on the screen, with the notes properly displayed to anyone to use to play any instrument. The score could be printed if desired.

The Finale software was similar to Voyetra, but the music was played by a line that advanced along the score. There was no piano player roll representation. In this version, it may have been possible to capture the key velocity which would have created different marks to indicate the volume of the section. Anthony did say that Finale is a professional tool and has much more than Voyetra.

But there is a big problem for anyone who wants to learn to use either of these tools. They can be very frustrating trying the intuitive approach of most "hackers." You need to REALLY READ THE MANUAL!

I checked out the Woodwinds and Brasswinds web site. www.wwbw.com They have Voyetra and Finale as well as other music sequencer software. Prices ranged from $25 to $600 depending on your level of experience. Woodwinds and Brasswinds is located near the Indiana toll road and the 31 bypass, west of South Bend. If you like music and musical instruments, you better leave your credit card at home. It is a real candy store. The Finale software indicated that it had OCR software in it to convert a score to a MIDI sequence. I will have to check it out.

All of this software involves Digital Signal Processing. If you would like to learn more about DSP, go to http://www.dspguide.com/. You can download the entire book, (18 meg.) a chapter at a time or one large file. You can also order the book. It is $65. It is free to download. I have been reading it to learn more about DSP as it relates to the ham radio hobby.

Update from John: I went to The Woodwind and Brasswind yesterday. I bought Finale for $59.99. I thought I had a game port on the back of my new laptop, but it is on the old one. I am going to stop today and pick up the USB to MIDI adapter. Good to know if someone does not have a game/MIDI port on their PC. The USB adapter is $49.99. My desktop has the port, but it is not as convenient as the laptop.

Update from Anthony: There is software that will OCR into the computer typed scores of music and convert it to MIDI. Not sure on the cost, but it is available in Lite form as a plug-in to Finale or a full stand alone version. Smartscore from Musitek will allow you to scan AND EDIT sheet music (plugin only scans, does not allow editing).

About the Author: John T. Fleming, CPA (W3GQJ@attbi.com) retired from National Steel Corp in 2001. John worked in various accounting jobs until 1981, when he began doing systems work by installing a property accounting system, followed by installing a general ledger system. Systems work continued until his retirement. First licensed as an amateur radio operator (W3GQJ) in 1956. John's first computer was an Apple II+, in 1981 and he's been addicted ever since. John is very active in his church choir(which practices on Thursdays) and has had some serious health problems, both of which have kept him away from EPCUG for sometime. We are happy to have him back and delighted that he decided to review this meeting for us as he is an excellent writer.