Fairway Computer User Group

NEWS

Posted April 30, 2010 :

Meeting of April 20, 2010 --About 25 members were in attendance.

Ed announced that the staff voted to meet on the 4th Tuesday of each month beginning in September. Those evenings are available in the Clubhouse because the FSO Board meetings are held in the Conference Room. This change is being made so that Fairway CUG members can also attend the TBCS meetings on the third Tuesdays. In response to a question about some members being FSO reps and having two meetings at the same time, Ed said he had spoken to Carla Wilson, who will try to move FSO Board meetings to 6:30 pm. Perhaps Computer Club could meet at 7:30 pm, thus allowing members to attend both meetings if they so desire.

Treasurer’s Report: Membership stands at 238 plus Jan Wallace, who joined just before the meeting. $2105 has been received in dues for 2010, and our bank balance is $2046.43. Expenses last month were only $15.96 for four 4-port hubs from meritline.com

Ed Watzel announced that two new members have begun his Beginner Class on Fridays at 9 am. However, beginning in May, Ed is moving his Beginner class to Thursdays at 9 am and his “Name Your Class” learning group to Thursdays at 10 pm. Ed wishes to attend TBCS on Fridays for the hugely informative groups that meet on Fridays.

Ed announced that he has a new Windows 7 computer and was able to install his printer without any problem. Several other members volunteered the information that Windows 7 makes printer installation easy and quick.

Janet Faith discussed her blog, fairwaycomputertips.blogspot.com. This is a useful website with tons of information about computer usage and care. The topics are in chronological order down the left hand side of her blog home page. The Fairway CUG home page has a link to Janet’s blog. Ed demonstrated the blog at the projector computer for everyone to see.

Mary Blackmon gave out a 5-page handout on Tampa Bay Computer Society services:

Door Prizes:

Fran Haddad and Mary Blackmon each won a 4-port USB hub
Jan Wallace won a ream of printer paper

We will have one more meeting on the third Tuesday, May 18, 2010. After that, the club will meet on the 4th Tuesdays, starting on September 28, 2010.

Posted February 2, 2010 :

Meeting of Jan. 19, 2010 --Nearly 100 members were in attendance.

The club has replaced an old computer with a new Windows 7 computer to both update the computer room and to allow members to try Windows 7. The club also purchased a new HP color printer because the old color printer had stopped working.

Last year we had 15 members sign up for Smart Computing magazine subscriptions, so we will receive 5 free magazines. We will award these magazines as prizes at the next two meetings.

The club thanks the following members:

· Brenda Rennie for keeping the club calendar up to date all year.

· Janet Faith for working on computer surveys and tabulating results in Excel

· Wanda Hamilton for tireless work on membership and the budget.

· Ralph Fritzinger and Blaine Williams for keeping the wireless network up and running, and all the computers and printers working on the computer room.

Several classes and SIGs are available for sign up:

· Mac Caza will teach Beginners on Wednesdays

· Madolyn McMahon will hold Question and Answer sessions on Mondays

· Gloria Beek will have Genealogy SIG sessions on Tuesdays and Saturdays from 1-3 pm

Wanda Hamilton reported expenses and income for December-January, with a total cash on hand of $2,932.70. She also presented the proposed 2010 club budget. An increase in expenses of $400 was the major change from 2009. Sue Brine moved to accept the budget. Tom Schiffgens seconded the motion. No dues increase was proposed. The budget passed with unanimous approval.

Prizes given were:

· 4-port whale hub to Alice McPhee

· Wireless mouse to Ed Watzel

· Smart Computing magazines to Yvonne Mitchell and Wanda Hamilton

Ed introduced Dave (Doc) Dockery, president of Tampa Bay Computer Society. Doc spoke about advances in technology that are changing our world. Click here for the handout.

Posted November 24, 2009 :

Fairway Computer Tips Blog --Our meeting on Tuesday, October 20, 7 pm in the Clubhouse featured Janet Faith demonstrating her Fairway Computer Tips blog. She showed us how to add comments and questions, and then discussed some of her best tips for keeping your computer running well.  And she took questions from members who have problems, andcomments from members who had a problem and solved it.  She gave a handout.

Learn About Facebook--
At our November meeting we will enjoyed learning all about Facebook as Madolyn McMahon shared her tips and techniques with us. She taught a Facebook class and will have additional classes in January for anyone who wishes to sign up for hands-on instruction.

FV Historical Group forming - Mary Blackmon is trying to start a Fairway Village Historical group, asking our residents if they have any old pictures, books, or information saved from the past.  This material can be collected and featured on the Fairway Village website if the Board approves.  Mary has found old photos from the Fairway office, old newspaper and magazine articles, as well as a 1984 pictorial directory with lots of pictures. Irene Burns has already added her recollections of early Fairway Village to the Fairway Village website under Park History.  Bob Crane has researched some FV history, and his recollections and research are featured on the myfairwayfun.com website. 

Computer Use Questionnaire -  In early 2010, we hope to hand out a questionnaire asking what Fairway Village residents would like to learn about computers and see if we can interest others in joining the CUG group.  Please come early to the meeting on December 15 to pay your dues for 2010.

SIG Genealogy with Gloria Beek will continue, and Gloria will post beginning date on the bulletin board.

Fairway Village website: Blaine Williams has taken over updating of the official Fairway Village website. Find the website at www.fairwayvillage.info

Our Club Website: www.fairwaycug.com
No user name or password is needed. Navigate around the site by clicking on the names of the web pages wanted. Access our meeting handouts by clicking on their titles on the HANDOUTS page.