The FTC estimates that as many as 9 million people have their identity stolen each year.

Identity theft is serious and costly to repair. But now you can be proactive and stop identity theft BEFORE it happens.

Nationally recognized leader of identity theft protection, LifeLock, will provide the guest speaker at the July meeting of the Quad-Cities Computer Society.

Come learn more about the services they offer to protect your good name. Don't be the next victim!

Recent Presentations and Special Events

Google made its mark on society by making Internet searches easier. But are you aware of all the things Google does now? News, images, maps, shopping, calendar, mail, photos, document sharing, group mailing lists, blogs, 3-D drawing software, art contests and more.

These tools are all FREE from Google and many of them can make your life easier. Our guest speaker will demonstrate some of these applications that you may want to include as part of your daily routine.

May 14th, 2008, Wednesday - 7 PM
Selecting a New Computer
Presentation by Dale Wells, Computer Repair Center, Bettendorf, IA

Is it time for a NEW computer or laptop? Should you choose one custom-built by a local reseller or one from a national manufacturer sold by the "Big Box" stores? This is a very good question that may be answered differently depending on YOUR needs and preferences. Dale will share many tips for buying your first or next computer and how to choose the one right for your needs.

Guest speaker on topic of Microsoft Access
Office SIG special event held May 5th, 2008

Wanda Cross (center) volunteered her time to give the Office SIG participants a great introduction to Access, Microsoft's powerful relational data base program. She described the advantages of Access over MS Excel if you have a large number of data sets which you have to sort, filter, group, and calculate values. Wanda has taught college courses on this and several other MS Office applications, so she is a terrific resource for information.

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January 9th, 2008-- A Board Meeting Worth Mentioning! ..........

After the regular January session, QCS Board members were in for a treat. They had a chance to see and try two of the new "XO" computers, compliments of Rex Felsman, who brought them to Moline during the holidays while visiting family. Rex is the brother of board member, Sue Peterson, and is a calibration tech from Worcester, Massachusetts.

The XO computers are inexpensive, durable laptop computers designed for children of developing countries through the "One Laptop Per Child" program.  (See http://laptop.org/laptop/ ) During their initial "Give One Get One" offer in 2007, you could donate one to the world program and also receive one for yourself. Rex was intrigued by the concept and made the donation twice in order to receive two of the laptops. He wanted to learn how the devices operated and communicated with each other to satisfy his own "techie" curiosity. QCS board members had a great time checking them out.

The City of Moline has always known how important a library is to its community. They opened their first library in downtown Moline in June 1873, less than a year after becoming a city,  The Southeast Branch located on 41st Street Moline was added in 1983 and in August 2006  replaced with a brand new 68,000 square foot facility with an estimated 20 year growth space. At 7:00PM on August 8th a representative of the library will describe to the Quad-Cities Computer Society the resources available to its patrons.

For more information about the library, see their website: http://www.molinelibrary.com/

Among the topics to be discussed are the following: Resources available to Genealogists The electronic card catalog and how to access it from home Volunteer opportunities for QCS members

. Jane Swanson was asked to speak at this QCS general meeting after impressing members of the digital SIG in May with her wonderful photos and her creative energy. (See May 16th below) She will share additional worthwhile tips for both the beginner and serious photographers at this session. Our presenter holds a BFA from the Columbus College of Art and Design, Columbus, Ohio, where she majored in commercial illustration. She has worked in all aspects of the creative printing and publication fields, with photography playing an important part in her career. As the art director/associated editor for an international business magazine, she guided that publication into the digital era while that invention was still in its infancy.

Jane currently heads her own business, Creativity Communications, which provides graphics, design, creative writing and editing as well as digital photography for a variety of clients.

Special Event at Digital Media SIG
May 16th, 2007:

Guest speaker on digital photography

Jane Swanson, freelance photographer and graphic designer, shares tips on buying a digital camera and getting great photographic images. Her business, Creativity Communications, provides layout, design, photography and photo retouching, illustrations, cartoons, Web sites and promotional writing/editing for individuals, small businesses and corporations.

April 11, 2007 Wednesday - 7 PM:
Genealogy and 'RootsMagic' presented by Bruce Buzbee, Software Developer
Tracing your family history? Planning a family reunion? Don't miss this meeting!

The QCS is privileged to offer this presentation by a nationally-known authority on genealogy and its software. Buzbee has authored several family genealogy programs, including Family Atlas and Family-Reunion Organizer. He is also the webmaster of a popular reunion planning website, www.Family-Reunion.com, and another website for his current software products, www.rootsmagic.com.

"The best genealogy program we've seen" is how Smart Computing magazine summarized 'RootsMagic' in a recent review.

Puzzled about what happens in computer club SIG’s?
QCS offers six Special Interest Groups; each one aimed toward a particular interest. You can learn about all of them when the leaders each give a brief introduction to what is covered in Web Design 101, Genealogy, Digital Media, Beginners, Internet, and Windows.

Did you miss the March General Meeting? See the Beginner SIG PowerPoint presentation (180KB download) by using this link: www.qcs.org/beginnerSIG.pps

February 14, 2007 Wednesday - 7 PM: ProShow Gold Presented by Suzie Wanner

ProShow Gold permits you to add motion effects to still photos and incorporate them with videos, music and transition effects, then save it to CD, DVD, flash drives and other forms of media storage.

Read a review by Joe Durham about this presentation.

Larry has been testing the beta versions of Microsoft's new systems. He will detail his observations and advise about computer requirements necessary to run them properly.