Terry's Computer Tips - Newsletter
April 1, 2007

Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter
http://www.terryscomputertips.com
A computer tips newsletter for users of PC's.

Volume 2, Number 42 — Sunday, April 1, 2007

Part 1  | Part 2  | Part 3 | Part 4

IN THIS WEEK'S ON-LINE ISSUE:
   1.   Using Google Maps
   2.   Updates Last Week
   3.   Google Earth - A View from Space
   4.   Online Movie Review Site
   5.   Adobe Acrobat Reader 8
   6.   My Computer Security Software Recommendations
   7.   Did You Know? - the Video
   8.   Recommend my Terry's Computer Tips Newsletter to Your Friends

Welcome to the on-line edition of my Terry's Computer Tips newsletter.

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1.  Using Google Maps

Whenever I want to find a location, my first stop is Google Maps (http://maps.google.com).

It's so easy to find a location by searching. If you know the exact address, you can input it — and Google will show you the map with an pointer for that location. Since many cities really don't enforce a city-wide scale for street numbers, you'll probably find that the pointer is close, but not quite at the right place.

If you know the street name, the city and state, you can input those — and Google will show you the location. If you know the city, it will show you the map with a lower zoom.

Or, you can start at any point, change the zoom to your choice levels and drag the map within the browser window. That's right, not only can you use the north, east, south and west buttons to move around, you can also drag the map within the display. Google Maps sends you more information than is visible in the map. Then, it lets you move in ANY direction by the click-and-drag method. The mouse pointer (which is a hand) changes into a closed fist when you press the left mouse button. Just press and drag!

Google Maps have three basic formats: Map, Satellite and Hybrid. Map is strictly an outline map. Satellite is the same location, but a view from space. The Hybrid view is my favorite; it's the street view superimposed on the satellite view.

Zooming in the map is easily controlled. You can use the zoom indicators at top left. Or, you can use your mouse's scroll button.

Here's a good example of the Hybrid view. We'll look at Louisiana State University's Tiger Stadium. The Google maps location, supplied by the "Link to this page" link on the right-hand side of the window, is: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=N+Stadium+D,+Baton+Rouge,
+LA&sll=30.415112,-91.188626&sspn=0.024574,0.039268&layer=&ie=UTF8&z=16
&t=h&om=1

Unfortunately, this happens to be an example of a fine, old computer programming concept called "Garbage In, Garbage Out" — whomever marked the names on the map made a major mistake.

LSU's Tiger Stadium is the football stadium, bounded by N Stadium Rd, W Stadium Rd, S Stadium Dr and Powerhouse Lane.

Unfortunately, Google's map has he label LSU Tiger Stadium about 600 feet northwest, which is the Bernie Moore Track Stadium.

I guess it's the thought that counts...

 

2.  Updates Last Week

Microsoft (operating systems, email, web browser, office suites):
Microsoft releases almost all updates once per month, on the second Tuesday. There were no updates this week.

Firefox (web browser, http://www.mozilla.com, free):
Versions 2.0.0.3 and 1.5.0.11 were released on March 20, 2007.

The Mozilla Foundation will continue updating Firefox 1.5.x until April 24, 2007. That's this month! Now's the time to upgrade to Firefox v2. Firefox is free.

Opera (web browser, http://www.opera.com, free):
Version 9.10 was released December 18th. This release of Opera introduces "Fraud Protection" as well as user-interface and stability changes. Read the details.

Netscape (web browser, http://browser.netscape.com, free):
No update this week. Version 8.1.2 was released during the week ending September 30.

US-CERT issued a press-release on November 8th that recommended that Netscape users turn off JavaScript. (Mozilla Firefox, SeaMonkey and Thunderbird were subject to the same issues, but new versions were released on November 8th to solve the problem.) AOL still has not updated Netscape to the new version of the underlying "Gecko" browser.

SeaMonkey (web browser, email, HTML editor, newsreader; http://www.mozilla.org/projects/seamonkey; free): Version 1.1.1 and version 1.0.8 were released on February 28, 2007. These are security update and stability releases.

Eudora (email, http://www.eudora.com, options: paid, sponsored or free/lite):
No update last week. Version 7.1.0.9 was released October 11, 2006. This was announced as to be the last commercial version before Eudora becomes open-source in the first half of 2007.

Warning: If you're running "Sponsored Mode" in a version before 7.1.0.9, you need to update now to the current version NOW. Sponsored mode in the earlier versions will expire on March 31st — and will revert to the less-functional "Lite" mode.

Mozilla Thunderbird (email, http://www.mozilla.com/thunderbird, free):
Thunderbird version 1.5.0.10 was released on March 1, 2007. This version includes stability improvements and security fixes.

OpenOffice (office suite — spreadsheet, word processor, presentations, graphics, web design; http://www.openoffice.org; free):
NEW VERSION! Version 2.2 was released this week on March 29th.

From the OpenOffice.org web site:

OpenOffice.org 2.2 is an important new release and all should download it, as it resolves security issues and includes significant enhancements. These are both general and specific. A full list of the new features and fixes is given in our release notes, but among them:

• Enhanced text display throughout
• Better support for Pivot Tables in Calc
• Several key improvements in Base
• A more robust Mac version for X11
• ... And many more

Part 1  | Part 2  | Part 3 | Part 4

Volume 2, Number 42 — Sunday, April 1, 2007

Copyright © 2007 Terry A. Stockdale.  All rights reserved.