Join us as we learn to use various small cheap computers like Raspberry Pi, Arduino, Netduino, Beaglebone, and more. We'll start by exploring what is available, how much they cost and what they can do. Then we'll explore how to program and make them do cool stuff. Later, if there is interest, I'll … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, November 2014
Moderated and reported by Jim Scheef Q – My wife and I are downsizing our home and I have some stuff I no longer have space to store. There are lots of old cables and some vintage MAC software. Is anyone interested? A – No one jumped up, but there are people who are interested in vintage … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, September 2014
Moderated and reported by Jim Scheef Q – I have a new cable modem from Charter that I cannot install. The device is an Arris TM822. When connected to the incoming cable, the modem does not get an IP address. Has anyone else had this problem? A – A member suggested connecting directly to the … [Read more...]
Pebble Watch – Mobile Devices July 2014
What is a Pebble Watch and why would anyone want one? This was the basic theme of the Mobile Devices SIG meeting in August. Jim presented his personal experiences after becoming a $99 backer of the Pebble watch project on Kickstarter, the crowd funding website. To understand the Pebble, you should … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, July 2014
Moderated and reported by Jim Scheef Q – I have a PowerPC Macintosh that is new to me but is obviously not a new machine. It boots and runs just fine on OS X 10.5. It also has Mac OS 9.2 installed in another partition, so I set it to boot OS 9.2 and it hangs as soon as the desktop is displayed. … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, June 2014
Q – A friend has a Windows 8 machine where they are using an administrator account rather than a user account. When they clicked on a PDF they received the message, “The app cannot be launched, UAC is disabled.” [UAC is User Account Control, the feature in Windows that asks your permission when … [Read more...]
Choosing a Good Camera – Kevin Rabito
Follow along here in the thought process of an obsessive-compulsive geek: For several years now, I’ve had the urge to get back into photography. This meant getting a better camera that the little Canon “point and shoot” that has served me quite well for more than fourteen years. This time I wanted … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, May 2014
Q – My Windows 8.1 machine can’t get on the Internet. I have McAfee antivirus so the machine is safe. It flashes back a message to reinstall Windows which I would rather not do. What’s wrong? A – Naturally this generated a lot of discussion. First a member asked if other computers in the house … [Read more...]
Ask DACS April 2014
Q – After receiving and installing a software program, I can no longer get on the Internet. My system is running Vista. Other computers in the house have Internet access. Can I download a new update to fix this? A – The first step is to determine what is broken. A member asked if the problem … [Read more...]
Ask DACS, March 2014
This month I was away on vacation. Bruce moderated but is unable to write up the discussion. Q – The social networking site, Meetup.com, has been sporadically unavailable over the last few days. They announced that this was caused by a distributed denial of service attack (DDoS). What is a … [Read more...]