Seniors Event at the Library

  FRANKSTON SENIORS FESTIVAL
  OCTOBER 3 - 14

Technology - Where do I start?


Wednesday, 12 October 2011

Join this information session to give you advice and guidance when purchasing technology such as computers or mobile phones.
 
Venue: Frankston Library, 60 Playne Street, Frankston (Melway Ref: 100A D8)
Time: 10:00am
Cost: Free
 
 
For more information: 

http://www.frankston.vic.gov.au/Aged_Services/Activities_Events_and_Awards/index.aspx

File Formats

A file format is a particular way that information is encoded for storage in a computer file.
Since a disk drive, or indeed any computer storage, can store only bits, the computer must have some way of converting information to 0s and 1s and vice-versa. There are different kinds of formats for different kinds of information. Within any format type, e.g., word processor documents, there will typically be several different formats. Sometimes these formats compete with each other.
File formats are divided into proprietary and open formats.
Generality
Some file formats are designed for very particular sorts of data: PNG files, for example, store bitmapped images using lossless data compression. Other file formats, however, are designed for storage of several different types of data: the Ogg format can act as a container for many different types of multimedia, including any combination of audio and/or video, with or without text (such as subtitles), and metadata. A text file can contain any stream of characters, encoded for example as ASCII or Unicode, including possible control characters. Some file formats, such as HTML, Scalable Vector Graphics and the source code of computer software, are also text files with defined syntaxes that allow them to be used for specific purposes.
Identifying the type of a file
A method is required to determine the format of a particular file within the filesystem—an example of metadata. Different operating systems have traditionally taken different approaches to this problem, with each approach having its own advantages and disadvantages.
Of course, most modern operating systems, and individual applications, need to use all of these approaches to process various files, at least to be able to read 'foreign' file formats, if not work with them completely.

References:

Wikipedia
The Computer School

Memory storage

Computer data storage, often called storage or memory, refers to computer components and recording media that retain digital data. Data storage is one of the core functions and fundamental components of computers.
In contemporary usage, memory usually refers to semiconductor storage random-access memory, typically DRAM (Dynamic-RAM). Memory can refer to other forms of fast but temporary storage. Storage refers to storage devices and their media not directly accessible by the CPU, (secondary or tertiary storage) — typically hard disk drives, optical disc drives, and other devices slower than RAM but more permanent.[1] Historically, memory has been called main memory, real storage or internal memory while storage devices have been referred to as secondary storage, external memory or auxiliary/peripheral storage.
Many different forms of storage, based on various natural phenomena, have been invented. So far, no practical universal storage medium exists, and all forms of storage have some drawbacks. Therefore a computer system usually contains several kinds of storage, each with an individual purpose.
A digital computer represents data using the binary numeral system. Text, numbers, pictures, audio, and nearly any other form of information can be converted into a string of bits, or binary digits, each of which has a value of 1 or 0. The most common unit of storage is the byte, equal to 8 bits. A piece of information can be handled by any computer whose storage space is large enough to accommodate the binary representation of the piece of information, or simply data. For example, using eight million bits, or about one megabyte, a typical computer could store a short novel.
Traditionally the most important part of every computer is the central processing unit (CPU, or simply a processor), because it actually operates on data, performs any calculations, and controls all the other components. The CPU consists of two (2) main parts: Control Unit and Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU). The former controls the flow of data between the CPU and memory whilst the latter is used for performing arithmetic and logical operations on data.

References:

Wikipedia
Microsoft Help

MARCH 2011 - Email

Email electronic mail. The service that allows you to send messages and more all over the world in most cases instantaneously.

Every email user will have their own email address. An email address is made up of three parts.

1 – An ID (e.g. janedoe31)

2 – An @ symbol

3 – Details about where the email account is with (e.g. Yahoo.com.au)



There are a number of free Web-based email accounts you can sign up for. For example:

Yahoo
Hotmail
Gmail



Email electronic mail. The service that allows you to send messages and more all over the world in most cases instantaneously.

Every email user will have their own email address. An email address is made up of three parts.

1 – An ID (e.g. janedoe31)

2 – An @ symbol

3 – Details about where the email account is with (e.g. Yahoo.com.au)



There are a number of free Web-based email accounts you can sign up for. For example:

Yahoo
Hotmail
Gmail

*What are the basic rules?
How you use Internet communication tools will leave an impression on others. Although we all make the occasional typographical error now and then, misspelling every other word you type can be irritating to others if they have to constantly try to figure out what it is you're saying.

There are some basic netiquette rules that you should follow:

Use sentence case - that is the normal combination of upper and lower case letters used in sentences. When you capitalise words you are yelling and NO ONE LIKES TO BE YELLED AT! On the other hand, typing in all lower case is considered to be mumbling.

Keep your messages short and to the point. For many Internet users, time is money, keeping messages short means they will download faster.

Do not use abusive, racist or offensive terms. Remember the Internet is a public place, accessed by millions everyday and what may seem quite tame to you may offend others.

When first entering a chat room, it is a good idea to just simply type the word 'hello' and then wait and read the conversation for a few minutes. This gives you an idea as to what the current conversation is about, before you start adding your own comments.

Always stick to the subject of the newsgroup. People join a newsgroup because the topic interests them, they don't want to read off unrelated topic postings.

Be forgiving of others' mistakes. If someone makes a mistake, do not bombard them with messages about the mistake.

The written word can easily be misunderstood. Use emoticons to display emotions.

* Source http://www.westone.wa.gov.au/intotheinternet

Microsoft Word Hints and Tips - September 2010

Menu Bars and Toolbars

The Menu Bar
A Menu displays a set of commands. The Menu Bar is located at the top of an application window and it contains the menus for that application.

To use the Menu Bar, click on one of the menu titles. A dropdown list will appear from which you can choose a task. For example, by clicking on File, a dropdown list of tasks will appear.

To open a file that is already stored on your computer, from this menu you can click Open. If you wanted to save the document you are currently using, you can click Save.


Toolbars
In contrast to the Menu Bar, a Toolbar is a combination of menus and buttons that perform actions when clicked. The most common toolbars used in Microsoft Word are Standard Toolbar and Format Toolbar.
To be able to use the toolbars in Microsoft Word efficiently, you will need to learn to recognize the images and what task each one performs when clicked. In the meantime, however, letting the mouse pointer hover over the icon will provide you with an indication, in words, of what the icon will do.

To perform the task represented by a toolbar icon, simply single click with the left mouse button on the toolbar image.

Open and Save a Document

Now that you are familiar with the Menu Bar and have your Toolbars set as you like them, we need to learn how we can start to use Microsoft Word to type up a document. To make effective use of Microsoft Word, you will need to learn how to save the document you are working on for later use and be able to retrieve it. Basic file management is, therefore, the focus of this section of the module.

Open a New Document

1. Click on the File menu.
2. Select New from the dropdown list. This will open a New Document window.
3. Click Blank Document.

Note:
You can also click the New Blank Document icon from the Standard toolbar.

Save a New Document

1. Click on the File menu.
2. Select Save from the dropdown list . It will open a Save As window for you.
3. In the Save In field, select the location where you want to save your file.
4. Type the name of the file, in the File Name field.
5. Press the Save button.

Note:
To save a copy of your file, repeat this procedure, but you will have to save your document with a new name, otherwise it will overwrite the original document.

Save an Existing document

Once you have saved a document with a certain name, if you make some changes in it, you will need to save the document again. To do this, click on the File menu, click Save. Alternatively, you can click the Save Icon on the Standard toolbar, or, hold down the Ctrl key and the S key on the keyboard at the same time.

Open an Existing Document

1. Click on the File menu.
2. Select Open.
3. Click on the drop down arrow in front of the Look in field and find the file that you wish to
open or the folder that is located in.
4. Click on the file or folder that you wish to open. (When you click on a folder, the name of the
folder will be displayed automatically in the File name field).
5. Press the Open button.

Note:
If you know the name of your file, you can type the name directly into the File Name field. You can then select the Type of file, for example select all word documents and finally click Open.

Highlight, Delete and Insert Text
In the process of typing a document, you may need to Insert or Delete text. Being able to highlight text will help to make inserting and deleting text a speedier process.


Highlight Text

Highlight text by using the Mouse

1. Place the cursor by clicking the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is in the area where you want to start deleting.

• To highlight a single character, place your cursor in front of the letter and drag the mouse over the letter.
• To highlight a single word, place your cursor in front of the word and drag the mouse over that word or double click your mouse on the word you wish to delete.
• To highlight a whole paragraph, move the cursor to the beginning of the sentence and drag the mouse over that paragraph or triple click the mouse. The whole paragraph will be highlighted.

Highlight Text by using the Keyboard

1. Place the cursor by clicking the left mouse button when the mouse pointer is in the area where you want to start deleting.

• To select a single character , place your cursor in front of the letter hold the Shift key down and press the right arrow key on the keyboard.
• To select a word, place your cursor in front of the word and press Ctrl, Shift and the right arrow key at the same time on the keyboard.
• To select a whole sentence, place your cursor at the beginning of the sentence that you wish to delete. Hold down the Shift key and press the down arrow key on the keyboard.
• To select a whole paragraph, place you cursor at the beginning of the paragraph, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press the down arrow key on the keyboard.

2. By holding down the Shift key and using the arrow keys you can highlight any portion of the text that you wish.

Delete Text
Once you have highlighted the text that you wish to delete, press the Delete key on the keyboard. You can also use Backspace key.

Insert Text
1. Place your cursor where you want to insert the text by clicking the left button of your mouse.
2. Type the text that you want to insert.

What's out there?

What is out there?

Blog

A blog (a portmanteau of the term "web log") is a type of website or part of a website. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.


Flickr

Photo sharing websites have been around since the 90s, butit took a small startup site called Flickr to catapult the ideaof “sharing” into a full blown online community.Within the past couple of years, Flickr has become the fastest growingphoto sharing site on the web and is known as one of the first websites to use keyword “tags” to create associations and connections between photos and users of the site.



RSS feed

You’ve heard of RSS? You’ve seen those small funny tags on websites?

In the information world, RSS is not only revolutionalising the way news, media and content creators share information, but it also is swiftly changing the way everyday users are consuming information.RSS stands for “Really Simple Syndication” and is a file format for delivering regularly updated information over the web.Just think about the websites and news information sources you visit every day.
It takes time to visit those sites and scour the ad-filled and image-heavy pages for just the text you want to read, doesn’t it?

Now imagine if you could visit all those information sources and web pages in just one place and all at the same time … without being bombarded with advertising… without having to search for new information on the page you’d already seen or read before… and without having to consume a lot of time visiting each site individually.



Facebook

Facebook is a social networking* website launched in February 2004 that is operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc., with more than 500 million active users in July 2010. Users can add people as friends and send them messages, and update their personal profiles to notify friends about themselves.
Users can create profiles with photos, lists of personal interests, contact information and other personal information. Communicating with friends and other users can be done through private or public messages or a chat feature. Users can also create and join interest groups and "like pages" (formerly called "fan pages" until April 19, 2010), some of which are maintained by organizations as a means of advertising. To allay concerns about privacy, Facebook enables users to choose their own privacy settings and choose who can see what parts of their profile.
The website is free to users and generates revenue from advertising, such as banner ads. By default, the viewing of detailed profile data is restricted to users from the same network and "reasonable community limitations".

*A social network service focuses on building and reflecting of social networks or social relations among people, e.g., who share interests and/or activities. A social network service essentially consists of a representation of each user (often a profile), his/her social links, and a variety of additional services. Most social network services are web based and provide means for users to interact over the internet, such as e-mail and instant messaging.


Windows Live Messenger (formerly named MSN Messenger)

Windows Live Messenger (formerly named MSN Messenger) is an instant messaging client. In June 2009, Microsoft reported the service attracted over 330 million active users each month.
Instant messaging (IM) is a form of real-time direct text-based communication between two or more people using personal computers or other devices. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet. More advanced instant messaging software clients also allow enhanced modes of communication, such as live voice or video calling.


Skype

Skype (pronounced /ˈskaɪp/) is a proprietary software application that allows users to make voice calls over the Internet. Calls to other users within the Skype service are free, while calls to both traditional landline telephones and mobile phones can be made for a fee using a debit-based user account system. Skype has also become popular for its additional features which include instant messaging, file transfer, and video conferencing. The network is operated by a company called Skype Limited, headquartered in Luxembourg and partly owned by eBay.


Wiki

A wiki ( /ˈwɪki/ WIK-ee) is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used to create collaborative wiki websites, to power community websites, for personal note taking, in corporate intranets, and in knowledge management systems.
Wikis may exist to serve a specific purpose, and in such cases, users use their editorial rights to remove material that is considered "off topic." Such is the case of the collaborative encyclopedia Wikipedia. In contrast, open purpose wikis accept content without firm rules as to how the content should be organized.
The essence of the Wiki concept is as follows:
A wiki invites all users to edit any page or to create new pages within the wiki Web site, using only a plain-vanilla Web browser without any extra add-ons.
Wiki promotes meaningful topic associations between different pages by making page link creation almost intuitively easy and showing whether an intended target page exists or not.
A wiki is not a carefully crafted site for casual visitors. Instead, it seeks to involve the visitor in an ongoing process of creation and collaboration that constantly changes the Web site landscape.


You Tube

YouTube is a video-sharing website on which users can upload, share, and view videos. Three former PayPal employees created YouTube in February 2005.[3] In November 2006. It uses Adobe Flash Video technology to display a wide variety of user-generated video content, including movie clips, TV clips, and music videos, as well as amateur content such as video blogging and short original videos. Most of the content on YouTube has been uploaded by individuals, although media corporations including CBS, BBC, VEVO and other organizations offer some of their material via the site, as part of the YouTube partnership program.
Unregistered users can watch the videos, while registered users are permitted to upload an unlimited number of videos. Videos that are considered to contain potentially offensive content are available only to registered users 18 and older.




Twitter

Twitter is a social networking service, owned and operated by Twitter Inc that enables its users to send and read other user messages called tweets. Tweets are text-based posts of up to 140 characters displayed on the author's profile page. Tweets are publicly visible by default; however senders can restrict message delivery to their friends list. Users may subscribe to other author tweets—this is known as following and subscribers are known as followers.
While the service is free, accessing it through SMS may incur phone service provider fees. The website is based out in San Bruno, California near San Francisco (where the website was first based).
Since its creation in 2006 Twitter has gained notability and popularity worldwide and currently has more than 100 million users worldwide. It is sometimes described as the "SMS of the Internet."


Library Thing

Library Thing is a social cataloging web application for storing and sharing personal library catalogs and book lists.
Based in Portland, Maine, Library Thing went live on August 29, 2005. As of September 2009 it has 920,000 users and nearly 45 million books catalogued.
Users can:
· Join the world’s largest book club.
· Catalogue your books from Amazon, the Library of Congress and 690 other world libraries. Import from anywhere.
· Find people with eerily similar tastes.
· Find new books to read.
· Free Early Reviewer books from publishers and authors
While it is possible to keep a library catalog private, most people choose to make their catalogs public, which makes it possible to find others with similar tastes. Users can browse the entire database by searching titles, authors, or tags generated by users as they enter books into their libraries.

Meeting held on Monday 3rd May 2010

Unanimous decision to continue the club with a mixture of set topics and days with one on one help with individual issues.

Suggestions for future topics:

- Email, customize
- What's out there...Skype, Facebook, Twitter, Flicker e.t.c.
- Internet safety, financial transactions over the Internet
- Mobile phone use and customizing
- Photos resizing and emailing
- Memory and storage, different formats
- Microsoft word basic
- Clean up , defragmenting, cookies
- PC troubleshooting, E.g. My PC is frozen what can I do?

Email topic for June.