Update 6th December 2017 Today
we looked at using Dropbox as a way of sharing files. This followed an
email received by Vera from a friend in South Africa containing a link
to Dropbox. We were able to view several documents and videos on Dropbox
relating to a birthday party. We also tested uploading and sharing an
image from Cathy's computer to Keith's Dropbox account.  There will not be a meeting in three weeks time on Wednesday 20th December. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all group members. The next meeting will be on Wednesday 3rd January 2018 starting at 2pm. Update 16th November 2017 We discussed changes needed after replacing a router, concentrating on how to set up a WiFi printer. Various methods of sending multiple emails with similar, but not identical, content were also investigated. As there are five Wednesdays in November the next meeting will be in three weeks on Wednesday 6th December starting at 2pm. Update 2nd November 2017 Secondly the problem of avoiding both Avast Anti Virus and Malwarebytes directing unsuspecting users to the paid version of their programs, rather than allowing them to use the free versions, was discussed. We ended the afternoon looking at Android phones and ways to free up memory space. The next meeting will be at Keith's house on Wednesday 15th November starting at 2pm. Update 18th October 2017
Thanks to Christine for helping run this afternoon's session. The next meeting will be at Keith's house on the first Wednesday 1st November, starting at 2pm Update 8th October 2017 The second meeting in October will be at Keith's house on the usual third Wednesday of the month, 18th October, starting at 2pm
Update 25th September 2017 Please note that the next computer group meeting will now be on Thursday 5th October and not Wednesday 4th October as
previously advised. The meeting will start at the usual time of 2pm at
Keith's house. The second meeting in October will be on the usual third
Wednesday of the month (18th October.) Update 17th August 2017 
Update 2nd August 2017 Six of us squeezed round Keith's kitchen table for our meeting on 2nd August despite, or maybe because of, terrible wet weather. We drifted away from our usual discussion about
using Windows PCs and also covered Smart TV sets and Android phones.
The main topics investigated were as follows:-
  The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 16th August starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house.
Update 20th July 2017 Three main topics were discussed yesterday:- 
The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 2nd August starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house.
Update 6th July 2017 The lure of Andy Murray playing at Wimbledon this afternoon, combined with very sunny weather, resulted in reduced attendance at yesterday's meeting.  We also reset the password and re-validated the BT on-line billing system for Jenny. Janet wanted to know how to prevent unwanted calls on
her Skype account and we reset preferences so only people already on her
contacts list can get in touch using Skype.
Update 7th June 2017 A couple of topics were covered today- Firstly we made some changes to the way Ann's new
computer was set-up, removing the pre installed McAfee antivirus and
replacing it with a free version of Avast anti-virus. Ann is familiar with using the Chrome browser on her
previous computer. We downloaded Chrome onto the new PC and set it up
as the default browser, adding various popular sites to the bookmark
toolbar. Secondly we looked at how Cathy could download and
complete an application form in word format, add some images and then
attach finished document to an email. During this part of the afternoon
we explored the various ways of accessing and renaming files from
different directories on Cathy's PC.
There will not be a meeting on Wednesday 21st June.
Update 18th May 2017
A full house at yesterday's meeting as six people set up
their computers round the kitchen table with everyone connected to
Keith's wifi.Topic covered included:-
The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 7th June starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 4th May 2017
Owing to various conflicting engagements there were only two people at the Computer Group meeting yesterday. We looked at changes Microsoft have made to their web-based Outlook email system by the introduction of a Focused Inbox. After delving into the SETTING MENU we changed the display view on Janet's computer back to the earlier, preferred, appearance. The remainder of the meeting was spent dealing with methods for transferring and emailing photos taken using an Andriod based mobile phone onto a PC which stored files on Microsoft's one-drive and used the associated outlook.com email system. The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 17th May starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 19th April 2017
A particularly frustrating Computer Group meeting today!
Janet wanted to register the guarantee for a new item of electrical
equipment from a well known supplier. However the layout of the website
was so bad we spent ages trying to reach the correct page on the site,
but it proved to be impossible. We also looked at the web based email system provided by TalkTalk and were faced with yet more badly designed software showing poor compatibility between the contacts list and the email program. The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 3rd May starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 6th April 2017
The imminent start of activities at
Lostwithiel Bowling Club was the catalyst for many of the topics
discussed yesterday. Christine and Carol worked on updating spreadsheets
for the club and formatting the output so details could be easily read
once the spreadsheets were printed out. We also looked at linking albums
of club photos held on Google Photos to the Bowling Club website.
Jenny and Carol practised using the new U3A Beacon management system for sending group emails.
Janet set up a payment transfer from her on-line banking account and verified the transfer via her mobile phone.
The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 19th April starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 18th March 2017
Transferring photos from a camera to a pc, either via a cable or directly by plugging the camera's sd card into a pc, was discussed at Wednesday's Computer Group session. We also started the mammoth task of sorting several hundred photos previously located on the camera into folders on the pc! Various ways of backing up important photos on external devices were also covered. The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 5th April starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 2nd March 2017   Keith demonstrated how the
new U3A Beacon management system has simplified the sending of group
emails and allowed subscriptions to be collected by PayPal.
There was a brief discussion about EU Cookie policy and we looked at http://www.cookie-checker.com/ a website that allows you to check which cookies are contained on other websites.
The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 15th March starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 15th February 2017 Today we updated an anti-virus program for Cathy,
looked into how to use BT Wifi Hot Spots with Janet's new mobile phone
and continued with the seemingly never-ending task of mastering
TalkTalk's email for Carol.
At the end of the meeting we briefly looked at using Skype.
The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 1st March starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. Update 9th February 2017 Yesterday's meeting was delayed by one week as Keith was not in Lostwithiel on the first Wednesday of February.
Janet told the meeting how helpful Lloyds Bank had been in helping her to set up internet banking for the first time. We looked at various transactions that can be carried out using internet banking, and discussed how banks have set up sophisticated log-in procedures. We also considered the advantages and disadvantages of android based mobile phones compared with iPhones and talked about making sure that large data downloads to mobile phones are carried out using wifi rather than via 3g / 4g. The next Computer Group meeting will take place in just one weeks time on Wednesday 15th February 2017,
our usual meeting day of the third Wednesday of the month, from 2pm at
Keith's house. We plan to discuss the use of Skype at this meeting.
Revised 24th January 2017 Update 19th January 2017 The first meeting of a new year and two new members joined the group for the first time.
We discussed the advantages of the pdf format for
saving documents, and looked at various ways of editing and adding
information to pdf files.The next computer group meeting will be on Wednesday 8th February (not Wednesday 1st February as previously advised) starting at 2pm at the usual venue of Keith's house. |
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