Welcome to the March 2009 edition of the HAL-PC/HALNet monthly eBulletin. If you wish to stop receiving these bulletins, send an email to e-bulletin-off@hal-pc.org. This month: HAL-PC MEMBERSHIP SURVEY, Amazon.com Associates Program, Email Authentication, Coming Events, Clear Lake, SIG News, Party, Magazine.

HAL-PC MEMBERSHIP SURVEY

You can help HAL-PC with less than 5 minutes of your time. Members completing this survey have a chance to win an iPod shuffle! Survey deadline March 15th. Our new president Mary Ann Mitscherling, as of January 17 2009, is undertaking a campaign to improve HAL-PC’s financial situation.  As you may be aware, our club’s current dues were set in 1994.  While dues have not been raised since then, expenses have increased considerably.  We want to bring expenses in line with revenues. The purpose of this survey is to find out which alternatives you, the HAL-PC member, prefer regarding possible changes in dues and services.

Click Here to take survey

HELP HAL-PC WHEN YOU ORDER FROM AMAZON.COM

If you use the search box on the HAL home page to get to the Amazon.com website, 6% of every purchase you make during that session will go directly to HAL-PC!
The Amazon Automotive Store has launched a brand new tool that enables customers to find car parts for a specific year, make and model in just one click. When customers enter their vehicle data into the Amazon Automotive Part Finder Widget, they’ll be taken to a categorized list of parts and accessories that fit their specified vehicle.

BE SURE TO TURN AUTHENTICATION ON IN YOUR EMAIL PROGRAM!

HALNet support is receiving questions from some users who are having difficulty receiving email. Please be sure you have authentication turned on in your email program. Most email clients have this setting correct by default, but Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express do not. We have provided instructions on setting these programs up correctly in the Support section of our HAL-PC website. You can find them here for Outlook and here for Outlook Express

COMING EVENTS

Basics 101 -- This month: Scanning, and How To...
Saturday, March 7 - 1:00 - 3:30 pm
Bob DuVernay presents what you need to know about scanning. No registration fee is required: first come first seated. Public is welcome, but door prizes are for members only!

COMING AT CLEAR LAKE - Senior Learning Center

Visit the SENIOR LEARNING CENTER  Clear Lake Branch of HAL-PC for information about their upcoming classes

FILES AND FOLDERS
March 2 to 25 (Monday/Wednesday), 1:00 PM - 2:30 (Eight Sessions)
Gil Good, Instructor

PHOTOS - FROM CAMERA TO COMPUTER AND BEYOND
March 10 and 12 (Tuesday/Thursday), 9:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Liz Lunden, Instructor

FUNDAMENTALS OF PHOTO EDITING (Formerly Basic Photo Editing)
March 17 to 26 (Tuesday/Thursday), 1:00 PM - 3:30 (Four Sessions)
Liz Lunden, Instructor

DATABASE MANAGEMENT
March 24 to April 9 (Tuesday/Thursday), 10:30 AM - 12:00 (Six Sessions)
Mac McNeely, Instructor

SIG NEWS

The following Special Interest Groups have provided program notes for their upcoming meetings. Please refer to the SIG Calendar for a complete listing of HAL-PC SIG meeting dates and times. If you are interested in starting a Special Interest Group that is not currently on our calendar, contact the Vice President for SIGS.

COMPUTER INVESTING SIG: Fridays -- 10:00 am
Our Friday AM investment sig will continue to meet Friday at 10am. Our goal continues to offer programs to help investors deal with a difficult market using and demonstrating programs designed for the individual to assess and make thoughtful decisions. We use four different programs to accomplish this and they are demonstrated on a regular basis. We also maintain a refined market web site that is open to all.

MULTI MEDIA SIG: Saturday, March 7 -- 10:00 am
We continue to explore all the elements that can be used in videos, including music, sound effects, still images with panning, voice transformations, edit tricks, etc. There are also many animations that can fit into even live action, including game footage captured with the very affordable and capable FRAPS. Plus there is even a free program titled "Movie Storm" specifically designed to allow creation of movies using pre-animated sequences. Join us to explore these and other applications.

LINUX WORKSHOP: Wednesdays -- 6:00 pm
Installations & hands-on problem solving every Wednesday except when HAL is closed. This is an informal meeting where knowledgable HLUG members help each other & beginners one on one. Dinner after at 9:30pm at:
Byzantio Cafe Bar
403 W Gray St
Houston, TX 77019
(713) 520-6896
www.byzantiohouston.com
You don't have to attend the meeting to come eat with us.
SIG Leader e-mail: linux@hal-pc.org

Party

Let's have a party

HAL-PC hasn't had a party for almost 3 months. On Friday, March 27, Rick Archibald will be "40" ... in programmer years (base 16). In normal decimal that's really 64, but it sounds much less scary the other way.  Come celebrate & catch up with your HAL friends.

The menu will likely be Greek, Mexican, or even Greek and Mexican. The location will be determined by the number of people who accept this invitation.

RSVP to this dedicated e-mail address: ricks40@hal-pc.org

HAL-PC MAGAZINE

Look for informative articles in the HAL-PC Magazine online