Emergencies happen. Life throws curveballs. Murphy’s Law goes into effect at the worst possible moment. Planning For the Rough Spots What do you do when you or a loved one has a medical emergency (or worse)? Life doesn’t stop for anyone, so we talk about keeping things going while trying to navigate a tough situation.
It’s the Scammiest Time of the Year (11/19/22 Part 1)
Do you like shopping? Sure you do. And it’s shopping season. Which means shopping frauds and scams! Season of Scams The bad guys are hard at work trying to separate you from your hard-earned money. Oh, and we have a big tangent on Twitter (sorry). https://consumer.ftc.gov/scams https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/ https://www.cbsnews.com/minnesota/news/heres-how-to-avoid-online-holiday-shopping-scams/ https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/mystery-shopping-scams https://www.fdacs.gov/Consumer-Resources/Scams-and-Fraud/Online-Shopping-Scams
Ready to fix those holiday photos? (11/5/22 Part 1)
When the holidays hit folks will take photos. Photos and your Computer! Lots of them. Maybe you want to adjust the lighting, perhaps get rid of red-eye, or just sharpen it a little. Getting those photos ready for printing and framing, making cards or calendars and just sharing around is a great thing but doesn’t require Photoshop! So we’re talking about alternatives to Photoshop that are better suited to normal folks like us! Photoshop Elements is the Diet Coke of Photoshop meant for consumers. https://www.adobe.com/products/photoshop-elements.html Windows Photos and MacOS Preview are included with your operating system and can do many basic tasks. Even your smart phone has built-in tools in its photos apps. GIMP is a free, open-source program but has a bit of a learning curve. https://www.gimp.org/ Paintshop Pro is a longtime alternative. https://www.paintshoppro.com/ Corel offers a whole suite of graphics tools, including a photoshop alternative! https://www.coreldraw.com/en/ Affinity Photo is a professionally aimed program with a budget friendly price. https://affinity.serif.com/en-us/photo/ And do you want better photos? Starting with how you take them will help! https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/10-quick-tips-to-fix-your-bad-photos https://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/how-to-take-good-photos-with-your-phone/ https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/10-easy-tips-and-tricks-for-better-smartphone-photos
It’s always Phishing season, so beware! (11/5/22 Part 2)
We’re getting into the holidays but it’s also Cyber Security Month! Phishing Scams Are you akamai about phishing? When the baddies try tricking you into giving you all your information? Be it through email or text message or anything you need to be vigilant. https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-recognize-and-avoid-phishing-scams https://www.cisa.gov/cybersecurity-awareness-month https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-two-factor-authentication-app/ https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-password-managers/
Need a Social Media get-away or vacation? (10/29/22 Part 1)
Are you burned out on social media? The constant negativity, drama, insane conspiracy theories and multi-level marketing invitations from friends? Perhaps you need a break or need to make an escape. We talk about doing that on Facebook and Twitter! Escaping Social Media Facebook How to temporarily deactivate your Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/help/214376678584711?helpref=faq_content How to delete your Facebook account: https://www.facebook.com/help/224562897555674/ How to download your Facebook information: https://www.lifewire.com/back-up-your-facebook-data-2655254 Twitter How to backup and deactivate your Twitter account: https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2022/10/how-to-download-a-backup-copy-of-your-twitter-data-or-deactivate-your-account/ The official how to deactivate, delete, and download your Twitter account: https://help.twitter.com/en/managing-your-account/how-to-deactivate-twitter-account Effects of Social Media and Mental Health https://www.cnet.com/health/mental/heres-how-social-media-might-be-hurting-your-mental-health/ https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/it-or-not-social-medias-affecting-your-mental-health https://www.unicef.org/stories/social-media-bad-teens-mental-health https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/becoming-resilient/202108/how-social-media-affects-mental-health-in-adolescents
Migration is no fun. (10/29/22 Part 2)
At some point of your computing life, professional or personal, you’ll need to migrate from one computer to another. Migration Woes Guess what? It’s not necessarily fun or easy. So Jonathan will fill us in on troubles, pitfalls, and more that can come up in the process!
Writing the Great American Novel or term paper. (10/22/22 Part 1)
Have you ever had a story stuck in your head? Something you wanted to get out but never got around to? Or you wanted to write your memoirs for your family. Well, next month might be the opportunity you’ve been waiting for! National Novel Writing Month has been helping folks write their first novel since 1999! Some Words… And what do you want to use for this endeavor? Well, a word processor! Microsoft Word: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/word Scrivener: https://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener/overview Google Docs: https://docs.google.com LibreOffice: https://www.libreoffice.org/ And links for writing! Hawaiian diacritical marks: https://www.hawaii.edu/askus/1767 https://www.nanowrimo.org https://blog.nanowrimo.org/post/33839278502/hidden-nanowrimo-resources-at-your-local-library https://www.dictionary.com/ https://www.merriam-webster.com/
All chips, no dips! (10/22/22 Part 2)
Ready for some brand-new chips? New Processors for 2022! Intel and AMD have offerings for the upcoming holiday season. And who is the value leader this time? Who is driving the lower prices? And why does this matter? Well, join us as we talk about that! For further reading you can go to these sites! www.tomshardware.com www.anandtech.com www.arstechnica.com
Ergonomics Basics! (10/8/22 Part 1)
Desktop computers, laptops, tablets and phones all have something in common: YOU! Ergonomics! The way you use them and the way you hold your body while using them matters! That’s why ergonomics matters. Tired of that pain in your neck or crick in your back? It might be how you’re using your technology. https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/office-ergonomics/art-20046169 https://www.cnet.com/how-to/how-to-set-up-an-ergonomic-workstation https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/adult-health/in-depth/standing-workstation/art-20088544 https://rmi.colostate.edu/ergonomics/officecomputer-ergonomics/laptop-tablet-and-smartphone-ergonomics/ https://www.uhs.umich.edu/computerergonomics https://www.thoughtco.com/setting-up-ergonomic-computer-station-1206666 https://ergo-plus.com/office-ergonomics-position-computer-monitor/
Can You Say That? (10/8/22 Part 2)
The Supreme Court has a big case coming up. Section 230, and Why it Matters And geez, we have to talk about it. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/10/scotus-weighs-first-case-testing-big-tech-liability-for-recommending-content/ https://www.eff.org/issues/cda230 https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/06/section-230-the-internet-law-politicians-love-to-hate-explained/ https://theweek.com/supreme-court/1017215/the-supreme-court-and-the-internets-future-explained https://news.yahoo.com/how-the-supreme-court-could-break-the-internet-as-we-know-it-161539011.html https://publicknowledge.org/two-years-later-broadband-providers-are-still-taking-advantage-of-an-internet-without-net-neutrality-protections/