Vol. 31 number 5 May 2014 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 2014: Jan 8, Feb 12, Mar 12, Apr 9, May 14, Jun 11 Beginner SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Linux SIG After the OPCUG General Meeting, at the Museum. Beer BOF (Wing SIG East), after all the SIGs, at 10 p.m. Liam Maguire's, 1705 St. Laurent Blvd. at Innes Rd. Please note that unless otherwise noted, SIGs meet at 9:00 p.m. (immediately following the OPCUG General Meeting). ____________________________ Coming Up... Wednesday, May 14, 2014 There will be 2 speakers at the May meeting. Speaker: Robert Giggey Title: Program Manager for Content Design and Development, ServiceOttawa Role Description: I manage a small group that manages the City’s website, ottawa.ca, on a day-to-day basis. They look after publishing content, redesigns, creating new functionality, managing feedback, training the 100 or so web publishers from across the organization (100’s), managing user experience, design, and accessibility. We also look after the City’s OpenData program and portal. Topic: OpenData at the City The City launched an OpenData initiative in 2010. The purpose of the program, which release data in machine readable format, free of restrictions, is to spur innovation; support research, transparency, and accountability; develop creative solutions for residents; and support the local technology ecosystem. Since the launch the City has increased the data catalogue four fold, has run two successful app development contests, participated in a dozen public led initiative, and have seen the goals of the program achieved. The program continues to grow and identify new benefits. This discussion will introduce the topic, talk about what we’ve done, where we’re going, and hopefully open up an interesting discussion with the audience. Speaker: Jason Barney Title: Program Manager, GIS and Citizen Centric ProjectsRole Description: I manage a program area that supports several enterprise applications at the City of Ottawa. This portfolio includes enterprise GIS. Topic: Spatial data at the City The City of Ottawa maintains a very large inventory of spatial data used across the organization. An initiative was completed in 2012 to renew the City’s GIS (geographic information system ) enterprise architecture, and this provided a number of opportunities available to staff and the public. This discussion will describe the internal processes used to manage the enterprise GIS, as well as some of the public facing applications that leverage this information, including geoOttawa. Wednesday, June 11, 2014 5:30-7:00 pm: e-Waste event (http://opcug.ca/public/history/eWaste/2014/eWaste.html) 6:30-7:30 pm: PIZZA PARTY (free) 7:30 pm: Regular meeting in the auditorium At 5:30 pm, the OPCUG will have an eWaste collection event, in partnership with Evolu-TIC of Gatineau, and in association with Ontario Electronic Stewardship (OES). Items that can be reused will be retained and refurbished, while all other older or not-useful electronic items will be taken to the processing plant and properly disposed of safely and responsibly with respect to OES guidelines. Everyone is invited to rid their homes of items no longer required. The eWaste event will be from 5:30pm to 7pm near the big tent in the front yard of the Canada Science and Technology Museum. For more information about our meeting please check our MEETINGS web page (http://opcug.ca/public/regmtg.htm and our calendar (http://opcug.ca/public/history/calendar.htm). There will be some revenue generated, as well, at a rate of $150 per metric tonne of items accepted for disposal - so the big old heavy TVs and such are happily taken away. And at 6:30, the club will have its annual Pizza night to thank its members for their continued support. Please come early to ensure you have a choice of several popular varieties of pizzas. As usual, we will also supply several varieties of soft drinks, plus water and dessert. The food will arrive, at 6:30 pm, under the big tent in the front yard of the Canada Science and Technology Museum. Guests are welcome. At 7:30 the regular meeting will take place in the auditorium: Topic: "Web Comics" Speaker: Mark Shainblum (http://www.shainblum.com/), creator of Northguard (http://northguard.com/about-northguard/) REMINDER: Parking is a flat fee of $3 afer 5 pm. Payment methods includes coins, VISA, and MasterCard, and the proof of payment must be left in the car and be visible in the front windshield. For those who don't mind a couple of minutes' easy stroll, there is free parking just before the museum along Gladwin Crescent. ____________________________ May Raffle For the May raffle, we have a really special prize – a 7” Android tablet computer! The UbiSlate 7Ci Android tablet runs Android 4.2.2 (Jelly Bean) and weighs only 320 grams. It boasts a 7" TFT touchscreen, a 1.0 Ghz Cortex A8 processor with HD video co-processor, 512MB memory and 4GB internal storage (expandable with a micro-SD card to 32GB). Equipped with WLAN WiFi 802.11b/g/n connectivity, miniUSB, built-in microphone, headphone jack, built-in speaker and a front-facing camera. The UbiSlate 7Ci will meet the average user's needs in mobile connectivity. For details see http://ubislate.ca/product.php?prodid=1 Tickets are, as always, a good deal at $1 for one, a great deal at $2 for three or the unbelievable bargain of $5 for ten. Don’t miss out on your chance to win this terrific raffle prize! ____________________________ April Prize Winner Roger Wainright was the winner of our raffle at the April general meeting of the OPCUG. We are sure Roger is going to enjoy his new Belkin Wireless keyboard. ____________________________ Spring Into Summer With OPCUG Fashion! At last month's meeting, a brief presentation was given which outlined plans to order a selection of clothing items embossed with the OPCUG logo. Anyone interested in purchasing any of the stylish items available should be prepared to do so at the May 14th meeting where volunteers will be on hand to take your order. An order form has been included in this month's newsletter to help us expedite your order. Blank forms will also be available at the meeting. It is impossible for us to know what, or if, any promotional offers will be available until we place the order. We can, however, anticipate a 15% discount from the unit prices based on anticipated volume. To keep things as simple as possible, the OPCUG will use the anticipated bulk purchase savings to offset the costs of sales tax, shipping and handling. Should any additional savings be realized, they will be directed to the OPCUG general account as a fund-raising item. Please be prepared to pre-pay your order at the May 14th meeting. Your order will be subsequently processed and available for PICK-UP ONLY at the June 11th Pizza Night Year End meeting. Men's Polo Shirts with Embroidered Logo are available in Basic White ($20) or Royal Blue, Navy Blue or Forest Green ($25 for coloured polos). Women's Polo Shirts with Embroidered Logo are available in Basic White ($20) or Royal Blue, Charity Pink or Maroon ($25 for coloured polos). Men's Signature Soft Cotton Tees or Long Sleeve shirts, white only, are $17. These are available with either large or small printed logo. Cotton Baseball Caps with Embroidered Logo are available in Light Khaki or Navy Blue for $18 and, finally, Men's Zippered Hoodies with Embroidered Logo are available in Basic Black or Navy Blue for $50 each. The product slide presentation shown at last month's meeting will, once again, serve as a preamble to the May meeting. Product samples will also be available for examination. A copy of the slide presentation (which includes sizing charts) has also been posted to The Pub in PDF format at: http://opcug.ca/public/OPCUG-Clothing.pdf. All items in all colours can be seen at http://opcug.ca/public/history/swag/index.html. Be the first on your block to sport these new fashion items! The Order Form is just below or can be printed from: http://opcug.ca/public/history/swag/swag.pdf or http://opcug.ca/public/history/swag/swag.doc Ottawa PC Users’ Group SWAG Order Form Complete this form and bring it with your payment at the May 14th meeting. Your order will be available for PICK-UP ONLY at the June 11th meeting. Name:__________________________ Phone: (____) ______________ Email:______________________________________________ (Please print clearly) Please circle the size and enter the quantity and the total. Available sizes: Small, Medium, Large, eXtra Large or eXtra eXtra Large Men’s Polo Shirts – Embroidered Logo Basic White S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $20 = $_______ Royal Blue S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Navy Blue S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Forest Green S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Men’s T-Shirts – White Signature Soft - Printed Logo Small Logo S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $17 = $_______ Large Logo S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $17 = $_______ Men’s Long Sleeve – White Signature Soft - Printed Logo Small Logo S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $17 = $_______ Large Logo S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $17 = $_______ Men’s Zippered Hoodies – Embroidered Logo Basic Black S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $50 = $_______ Navy Blue S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $50 = $_______ Women’s Polo Shirts – Embroidered Logo Basic White S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $20 = $_______ Royal Blue S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Charity Pink S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Maroon S M L XL XXL Quantity: ____ x $25 = $_______ Baseball Caps - Embroidered Logo Light Khaki One Size Quantity: ____ x $18 = $_______ Navy Blue One Size Quantity: ____ x $18 = $_______ Total Amount Included: $_______ ____________________________ Article Imagine Space at the Ottawa Public Library by Chris Taylor Did you come to the April, 2013 OPCUG general meeting? Did you drool a little over the 3D printer demoed by Andrew Plumb? Did you go home, and after a little research came to the conclusion that, when choosing between your kid’s college fund and getting a 3D printer, your spouse just didn’t seem to understand priorities? What if I told you that, soon, very soon, you don’t have to buy your own printer? I was scheduled to give a presentation at Nepean Centrepointe branch of the Ottawa Public Library (OPL) and I was told I couldn’t stay overtime because they were hosting a 3D Printing Roadshow. That piqued my interest and I hung around to find out a bit more. It turns out that the OPL and the United States Embassy are planning an Imagine Space at the Nepean Centrepointe branch. I had a chance to chat with some people as they were setting up for the Roadshow. The Imagine Space will be at the Nepean CentrePointe branch and will open later this spring. It is going to host some impressive equipment that will be available to library patrons. My understanding is that users will only have to pay for the cost of materials. They plan to have; Two Makerbot Replicator 3D printers with resolution of 1/10mm 3D scanner Laser cutter Photo, video and audio editing Green screen and video gear Hand tools and electronics Wall-to-wall whiteboard They also promise “lots of other stuff.” If the crowds at the 3D Printing Roadshow are any indication, this is sure to be a popular facility! ____________________________ Article Recovering from a Microsoft Surface Pro 2 Hang by Chris Taylor March 11th. Patch Tuesday. So I was not surprised when I started my Microsoft Surface Pro 2 and there were security updates available. But there was an extra this month – a firmware update. Firmware updates are pretty low-level and I always get nervous that I will end up with a very expensive brick if something goes wrong during the update process. I used another computer to read up a bit on the firmware update. Unlike a firmware update last year that caused problems for some Surface owners, I wasn’t seeing any complaints of problems with this update. So back at my Surface, I clicked on the option to restart the computer and install the firmware update. I was a little surprised to see it download the security updates first but I let it proceed as it saw fit and restarted when prompted. The Surface restarted and a familiar screen appeared saying it was installing update 1 of 15 and cautioning not to turn off the PC. And it sat there. And sat there. An hour later it was still saying it was installing update 1 of 15. Remember when computers came with manuals? The 5-page, 14cm x 8cm pamphlet that came with the Surface does not include any troubleshooting info. Maybe that’s because they didn’t have room on the 5 pages, given that they have 3 languages to cover in the one pamphlet. When I first got my Surface, I searched for a full manual and found a 99-page PDF manual on a Microsoft site. Unfortunately, the troubleshooting section is limited to advising you to go to surface.com/support, or the Surface Community forum at answers.microsoft.com. I used my desktop computer to Google for problems installing a firmware update on Surface tablets. It took a few tries, but I eventually found a page from back in February titled “Surface Pro hangs when trying to install latest system update” at answers.microsoft.com that addressed the issue - http://preview.tinyurl.com/pv8amee The suggested solution, from a forum moderator was; - Power off your Surface Pro - Press and hold the Volume Up and Power button for 15 seconds then release both buttons. The screen may flash the Surface Logo, but continue to hold the buttons for the full 15 seconds. - Wait 10 seconds after the buttons have been released - Press the Power button to turn your Surface back on Once your Surface Pro is powered on again, please go to Control Panel, then to Windows Update and check for updates and install any remaining updates. A couple of people responded saying it worked for them, so I gave it a try. And it worked. Whew. A Surface tablet probably makes a lousy doorstop anyway. ____________________________ OPCUG Free Software Guide - Part 48 Compiled by Alan German and Chris Taylor 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. AIMP3 This fully-featured music player is designed with sound quality and customization in mind. Thirty audio file formats are supported. The player has 32-bit audio processing and an 18-band graphics equalizer. Extend the existing functionality with plug-ins, convert between file formats, and grab sound from any audio device. Current Release: Version 3.55 Web Site: http://aimp.ru/index.php?do=lang&lng=en Speccy An advanced system information tool for your PC. Need to find out what's inside your computer? No problem! Speccy will give you all the information you need. Current Release: Version 1.25 Web Site: http://www.piriform.com/speccy HDDerase This utility, from the Center for Magnetic Recording Research at the University of California, San Diego, securely erases ("sanitizes") all data on ATA/SATA hard disks in Intel architecture computers (PCs). HDDerase is a 16-bit app that runs under any 32-bit version of Windows. Current Release: Version 4.0 Web Site: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ne76ek8 ZoomIt Yet another utility from Mark Russinovich of Sysinternals. This presentation tool activates with customizable hotkeys to zoom in on an area of the screen, move around while zoomed, and draw on the zoomed image. Current Release: Version 4.5 Web Site: http://preview.tinyurl.com/2m7g48 Hotshots Hotshots is a screenshot tool for both Windows and Linux with some built-in editing features. The program supports multiple monitors and can save screenshots in a number of image file formats. Current Release: Version 2.0.0 Web Site: http://preview.tinyurl.com/ko9nar3 Depeche View Lite Load all the text files from a folder and show all the content in one window. This utility is used to search and analyze huge amounts of text (source code, CSV data, log files or documentation) at high speed and with the smallest possible effort. Current Release: Version 1.5.8.3 Web Site: http://depecheview.com/ Partition Logic This free hard disk partitioning and data management tool can create, delete, erase, format, defragment, resize, copy, and move partitions, modify their attributes, and can even copy entire hard disks from one to another. Partition Logic boots from a CD and runs as a standalone system, independent of your regular OS. Current Release: Version 0.72 Web Site: http://partitionlogic.org.uk/ America’s Army: Proving Grounds A move, shoot, and communicate system within a fun gaming experience that echoes teamwork-based training. This program comes to you direct from the US army! Current Release: Version 3.3 Web Site: http://www.americasarmy.com/ ____________________________ 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: $25 per year. Mailing address: 3 Thatcher St., Nepean, Ontario, K2G 1S6 Web address: http://opcug.ca/ Bulletin Board - PUB II (BBS): http://opcug.ca/default.htm Follow us on Twitter: http://twitter.com/opcug President and System Administrator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Meeting Coordinator: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Treasurer: Alan German, alan.german@@opcug.ca Secretary: Gail Eagen, gail.Eagen@@opcug.ca Membership Chairman: Mark Cayer, Mark.Cayer@@opcug.ca, 613 823-0354 Newsletter: Brigitte Lord, Brigittelord@@opcug.ca Email: (Mr.) Jocelyn Doire, Jocelyn.Doire@@opcug.ca Public Relations: Jeff Dubois, PR@@opcug.ca, 613-366-7936 Facilities: Bob Walker, 613 489-2084 Webmaster: Brigitte Lord, opcug-webmaster2@@opcug.ca Privacy Director: Wayne Houston, privacy2@@opcug.ca Special Events Coordinator: Bob Gowan, bob.gowan@@opcug.ca Beginners' SIG Coordinator: Chris Taylor, chris.taylor@@opcug.ca, 613 727-5453 Linux / Open-Source software SIG: (vacant) Note: We added an extra "@@" to the emails to reduce spam. Parking: Ample parking is available for a flat fee of 3$ after 5pm, paid in advance. Payment methods includes coins, VISA, and MasterCard, and the proof of payment must be left in the car and be visible in the front windshield. We will refund the parking fee for our speakers. For those who don't mind a couple of minutes easy stroll, there is free parking just before the museum along Gladwin Crescent. (c) OPCUG 2014. 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. To cancel e-mailing, send a message to listserve@@opcug.ca with the plain text "unsubscribe NewsletterTXT" or "unsubscribe NewsletterPDF" (without quotes). To change your e-mail address, cancel using the old e-mail address and re-subscribe using your new e-mail address. 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. Please note: If you bring anything for the recycle table, you are responsible to check on your way out and if the items you brought are still there, you must take them home with you.