Computer

"Computer Help Desk Seminar" with instructor Mike Deckert will be offered at the Barr Construction Institute at Associated Builders and Contractors on North Locust Street in Hagerstown this month. The course costs $40 for ABC members and $60 for nonmembers. For more information, call Bob at 301-739-1190 or e-mail bobsimmers@abccvc.com "> bobsimmers@abccvc.com.

Tips for buying a computer Tips on buying a computer from senior computer instructors: HEIGHT="6" ALT=" "> Pick your software . Remember you just don't use a computer, you use the software running on the computer. Check to see what software has been pre-loaded on the computer. HEIGHT="6" ALT=" "> Pick your hardware . Senior computer teachers recommend a computer with a Pentium central processing unit chip; at least 4, but preferably 8 to 16 GB (gigabytes)

A 25-year-old Martinsburg man was charged Friday with two felony counts of using a computer to solicit a minor and five felony counts of failure to provide notice of changes as a registered sex offender, West Virginia State Police said. Brandon Rontae Dais, who was already incarcerated at the Eastern Regional Jail on a probation violation, is currently being held without bond on his fugitive status and on a $90,000 bond for the new charges in Berkeley County, police said in a news release.

Hagerstown Community College will hold a computer CPR clinic from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the HCC Valley Mall Center. Students from HCC's Information Technology Association club will provide consulting and repair services for home computer headaches. For a donation, student technicians will help diagnose problems on your PC related to hardware, provide advice on upgrading your current computer with new hardware, or scan your computer for problematic issues such as viruses, adware or spyware.

photo: RIC DUGAN / staff photographer enlarge By DAVE McMILLION / Staff Writer Computer education has been identified as a weakness in Washington County Schools, but the community is helping to change that, officials say. This year, Hagerstown Community College and the Washington County Board of Education entered into a partnership that provides college students with computer repair experience and gives schools...

charlestown@herald-mail.com CHARLES TOWN, W.Va. - A company that builds computer networks plans to move part of its operations into a former community center along W.Va. 9 in the Bardane area of Jefferson County, officials said Tuesday night. Concert Technologies Inc., which is moving some of its operations here as part of an expansion of its offices in Northern Virginia, is expected to employ about 30 workers at the local site, said Jane Peters, executive director of the Jefferson County Development Authority.

William Blum, the Washington County Board of Education's chief operating officer, updated the board Tuesday on the school system's technology needs and the status of a proposed cable franchise agreement that could help pay to meet those needs. The school system needs to replace its outdated computers and increase network speed for computers, he said. He proposed an upgrade which would include installing fiber-optic lines and purchasing equipment and would cost about $6 million.

Spyware, adware, viruses and worms, Oh my! If you've ever felt helpless because of computer problems, come visit Hagerstown Community College's Computer CPR Clinic at Valley Mall on Saturday, Feb. 24. Students from HCC's Information Technology Association will be providing consulting and repair services for home computer headaches. On a donation basis, you can bring in your computer to the clinic between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. for a variety of services. Student technicians will help diagnose problems on your PC related to hardware, provide advice on upgrading your current computer with new hardware, or scan your computer for problematic issues such as viruses, adware, or spyware.

by Joe Crocetta / staff photographer see the enlargement Chances are, Carroll Churchey will never be able to see again. But with the help of his new talking computer, the semi-retired pastor has been able to renew a love of the written word that had slowly deteriorated as a hereditary condition known as retinitis pigmentosis, or degeneration of the retina, took over. --cont. from front page-- "I used to read a lot, but when my eyes began to fail, it slowed things down quite a bit," said Churchey, 70. As a pastor and founder of several churches in the area, the Sharpsburg native's livelihood depended on being able to read.

By BRENDAN KIRBY / Staff Writer photo: KEVIN G. GILBERT / staff photographer Look up www.whitehouse.gov , and you get the official White House Internet site. Type the same address with the suffix ".net", and you get a virtually identical copy with a few mischievous changes. The parody site changes each time it is loaded. In one version, a picture of MTV hooligans Beavis and Butt-head replace the photos of President Clinton and Vice President Gore.

Economist Paul Krugman has questioned whether the economic malaise of the last five years could correctly be labeled as “the Excel Depression.” The short version of this theory is that a spreadsheet coding error led a couple of respected economists to inaccurately conclude that there is a threshold at which growing public debt will take down an economy. Subsequent economists discovered the bug and ran the data again and discovered that this so-called tipping point in fact does not exist.

Potomac Computers, owned by Ken Jordan and Cesar Hernandez, is open at 21 N. Conococheague St. In addition to computer sales and service, it offers free computer diagnostics, laptop screen and jack repair, cell phone repair, and recycling of electronics (such as televisions, computers, etc.). It also buys, sells and trades laptops. The office manager said the store is featuring daily specials for April. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; and closed on Sunday.

“Hello darkness, my old friend.” That's the first line of Paul Simon's 1964 hit, “The Sound of Silence.” Recently, the phrase “Dear Emptiness” appeared on my computer screen as I tried to compose a message to a friend. No, I wasn't trying to add a new verse to the iconic song. The young man's name is Antonis - not emptiness. I was trying to thank him, my computer scientist adviser, for recommending that I upgrade my laptop's operating system so that I would have access to built-in voice recognition.

An electrical failure in a computer printer started a fire that caused $30,000 in damages to a home on Friday at 345 Emmert Road near Funkstown, the Maryland State Fire Marshal's Office said. The owner of the home reported the fire at 4:41 p.m., according to a fire marshal's office news release. A smoke alarm was activated, and no one was injured. Authorities said the fire, which started in a converted garage, caused $25,000 in damage to the one-story structure and $5,000 in damages to the contents.

A male entered a computer repair shop on East Franklin Street Thursday morning and tied up a store worker before robbing the business, according to a Hagerstown Police Department spokesman. The robbery was reported two minutes after the Susquehanna Bank at Salem and Rhode Island avenues was robbed. The male entered Tekflash at 61 E. Franklin St., and made a threat that he had a weapon, according to Lt. Tom Langston. The male then tied the workers' hands behind his back with a nylon rope and told the worker to sit on the floor, Langston said.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said it wants residents to be aware of a new telephone scam. Deputy 1st Class Carly Hose said the sheriff's office recently received a report from a resident who said he received a call from an impostor claiming to be a representative of Microsoft. “They call residents and say they've seen some sort of error message or something along those lines,” Hose said. She said the caller then asks for information to gain access to the victim's computer.

The Washington County Sheriff's Office said it wants residents to be aware of a new telephone scam. Deputy 1st Class Carly Hose said the sheriff's office recently received a report from a resident who said he received a call from an impostor claiming to be a representative of Microsoft. “They call residents and say they've seen some sort of error message or something along those lines,” Hose said. She said the caller then asks for information to gain access to the victim's computer.

The Continuing Education and Business Services division at Hagerstown Community College will offer two beginner-level, senior adult computer courses beginning in October. “Computer Basics” will be held Tuesdays and Thursdays, from Oct. 23 to Nov. 27, from 9 to 11 a.m., at HCC's Valley Mall Center. In the course, participants will learn about the components of a computer, how to buy a personal computer, and the basics of the Internet and Windows XP. The cost for the course, textbook and registration is $129 for senior adults and $179 for all others.

With hundreds of thousands of Internet users in danger of losing their online access Monday, the Better Business Bureau is urging all consumers to run a diagnostic test to see if their computers are infected. The FBI's DNS Changer Working Group can detect the malware and explain how to fix infected machines. “A few minutes of your time today could save you the headache of losing your computer's Internet access at home or work come Monday,” Angie Barnett, president and chief executive officer of Better Business Bureau Greater Maryland, said in a news release.

Shepherd University hosted NASA Day on April 11. Several students received fellowships from the West Virginia Space Grant Undergraduate Fellowship Program and presented their research. The recipients include: • Matt Alt, a computer engineering major from Baker, W.Va. • Jessica Cain, a biology major from Inwood, W.Va. • David Chelf, a mathematics major from Inwood • Kelsey Fry, a secondary education major from Kearneysville, W.Va. • Rebecca Furby, a chemistry major from Charles Town, W.Va.