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Computer Questions

Computer Questions

 

The goal of this group is how to make the computer work for you. Make communication easier. Find information faster. How to deal with spam/malware/email. How to communicate and share information using your computer/device. In the past we have covered such topics and specialized programs such as One-Note, Word, Christmas labels/letters, Excel, getting started, using YouTube and backup. Guest speakers are welcome to share a topic or experience in how they use the computer.

 

Rich is available during the day for one-on-one computer consulting or just discussions.

  • Home Phone: (608) 845-6639
  • Cell Phone: (608) 212-4011

March Meeting:

 

Friday, March 20, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: What to look for in buying a computer?

February Meeting:

 

Friday, February 21, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: Come and learn about our website. https://www.Friendsofveronaseniorcenter.org

January Meeting:

 

Friday, January 17, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: Sending Video (Large Files)

Click here for a comparison of major cloud vendors (PDF)

December Meeting:

 

Friday, December 20, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: Text Messaging (texting)

November Meeting:

 

Friday, November 15, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: Text Messaging (texting)

 

October Meeting:

 

Friday, October 18, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: Power Point & Sway: How this program to help make a storyboard of your pictures.

 

 

Meeting Notes:

 

New finds:

Clipboard settings. You can now copy and paste from a history of copy, not just the last item copied.  To do this you will need to change a setting in the Windows setting area to enable the copy history.   Start>  Settings> System > Clipboard.  Then turn clipboard history on.   To access the history, press and hold the <windows key> then press “V”.  You will then be able to chose to paste any past copy elements into your current document.

 

On Topic:

Both PowerPoint and Sway allow you to include your story along with the pictures.

Both are free with a Microsoft account.  The full desk-top versions of the programs are available with a MS subscription to Office 365.

 

Power Point:

This has all the bells, including fonts, pictures, transitions and special effects that one would want.  This is excellent for a slide show with text.  The downside is that it is intended to be displayed on a screen to multiple people. Frequently this isn’t convenient if family is in another state or half way around the world.

 

Sway:

This has limited functionality compared with Power Point, but the big item is that SWAY is cloud-based which allows you to send a link to your picture collection and story in an email-link to anyone with email access.

By limited functionality, I mean that there are fewer options for transitions, less font choices, less control of each slide. This is because the person receiving the link has the ability to change how they choose to view the story you send them.

September Meeting:

 

Friday, September 20, 10 – 11 AM
Leader: Rich Bartlett
Topic: OneNote: Learn how this program can help you research a topic or event.

 

Meeting Notes:

New Functions with Windows 2010 ver 1903

  • The version 1903 had some performance problems 2 weeks ago, a minor upgrade since fixed the majority of the performance issues. The tech-media is just getting around to saying the upgrade has problems.
  • One of the programs (Movie Maker – that was left out with Windows 10) is back under a new name “Video Editor”.  I had a chance to try it out in the past week and it does the basic video editing that I needed. It is a very capable video editor. What I like is that it does not have all the power and complexity of professional video editors, but it will do the clipping necessary to save just what you want out of a video clip.
  • Another one is “Your Phone”.  This syncs your phone to your computer so you don’t have to unlock your phone to read a text message or to respond to a text message if you are already on your computer.
    • One of the questions that came up was related to security.  I have been able to find an answer to that and more information on how the “Your Phone” app works.
    • The idea of syncing your phone to your PC, or rather, mirroring aspects of it, could be a security and privacy concern, especially if all the data is being synced to the cloud.But that is not what happens with Your Phone.Your Phone relies on local connections through Wi-Fi (the iPhone also needs Bluetooth), but the system never takes your data and stores it on Microsoft’s servers. When disconnected there is no maintained data, but rather a local cache on the user’s PC for some items. Because of this technique, Microsoft will be in full compliance with the new European Union General Data Protection Regulation (GPDR) out the gate.Your Phone only retrieves the last month of text messages and the most recent 25 photos, but it is not an exhaustive system to mirror your phone’s entire contents.
      From <https://www.windowscentral.com/5-things-about-microsoft-your-phone>
  • There are other new usable functions with Windows 10 that I’ll research and present at future classes.

 

Back on topic:

We went over how to use OneNote to copy information from web-sites and create a new page for each topic and sub-topic.  As an example, we started with a Florida vacation planning event. The first step was Narrowing down where to stay, then what to do in the area.  When you find one, copy it out and stick it in a page or sub page in your OneNote Notebook – the links of where you found it are saved and you can get back to it easily from OneNote.

It was difficult at times to talk about OneNote without taking side-trips into OneDrive which is the home user’s version of the corporate SharePoint program.

 

 

 

August Meeting:

 

  • Friday, August 16, 10:00 to 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic:  How to set up a computer filing system

 

Meeting discussion: Click here for the handout on computer filing.

 

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July Meeting:

 

  • Friday, July 19, 10:00 to 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic:  To learn a new skill or review an old skill.

 

Meeting discussion: We talked about many resources, mostly free on the internet. How to tie a bowline knot. How to sew up leather.  How to pass the time. (One that came up here is a “paint by number” game that works well on cell phones.)

 

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June Meeting:

  • Friday, June 21, 10:00 to 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic:  Open Forum – Bring your questions

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May Meeting:

  • Friday, May 17, 10:00 to 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic:  PUBLISHER!!

 

Meeting references and notes:

 

The introduction to Publisher covered the basics of getting into Publisher and what makes it different than a word processor. I’ll provide the links I used in preparing the presentation:

 

 

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April Meeting:

 

  • Friday, April 19, 10:00 to 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic:  Digital Cameras
  • After Topic writeup:

 

First off, my computer decided to do a 2 1/2 hour update of the operating system as I was setting up this morning. So, no computer. We talked through two ways to get photos from the camera or smart-phone to the computer, we didn’t cover the “cloud option” which you can find with the Google video or OneDrive below.  For any given situation one of the following should work to get your photos on the computer. Click on the links below and use the return arrow to come back to this web page. Note, there are lots of other videos you might want to explore regarding this topic.

 

How to import pictures to PC video.

How to import photos with windows 10. Text document.

How to transfer files using Google video and part 2 is using a USB connection. Video

How to transfer files using Microsoft OneDrive also works from a smart-phone. Text document.

 

Once the pictures are in the computer, use file-folders to organize the pictures. Once the pictures are on the computer, and safely backed up, I will delete them from my camera’s memory or cellphone to make room for new pictures. On the computer, I tend to organize my pictures by year, then by event or subject within the year folder. While we didn’t get to see that online during the meeting, I’d be happy to help with organizing the photos into folders. Call me at 608.212.4011 and we can set a time to meet at the Senior Center or anywhere you are comfortable to work on these steps.

 

Knowing how to make folders and store your pictures there. The next step (for me) is to plug in a USB drive and copy the pictures I want to make hard-copies of to the USB drive. A quick trip to Walgreens with the jump drive, and you are ready to print just the picture(s) you selected 3×5, 4×6 or 8×10 …

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March Meeting: 

  • Friday, No meeting in March
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic: No meeting (Check out past meeting notes below. ⇓ )

 

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February Meeting:

  • Friday, February 15, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic: Senior Center Online Capabilities (including the Friends Web Site).
  • Classroom Setting

{Meeting notes will go here when available:}

 

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January Meeting:

  • Friday, January 18, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic: What is streaming?
  • Classroom Setting


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December  Meeting:

  • Friday, December 21, 10:00 – 11:00 AM
  • Leader: Richard (Rich) Bartlett
  • Topic: How to get started with Facebook
  • Classroom Setting


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updated 10/04/18

click here for prior class notes.