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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

March 2020

“Seniors helping seniors use computers and the internet”

SeniorNet Association Inc.

PO Box 559 Booval Qld 4304

Tel: (07) 3812 5034

www.seniornet.com.au

SeniorNet Association Inc.

My Newsletter Item for March 2019

reflected on the Bushfire disaster in

Tasmania earlier that year, and the

flood crisis in North Queensland. This

year we are watching fire disasters

throughout the country and once

again, flooding in the North; although

the Northern flooding is not as severe

as last year and in fact is being cau-

tiously welcomed in drought affected

areas. Maybe a return to the normal

wet season.

We live in a country of extremes and

the resilience of our people is com-

mendable. The value of our volun-

teers and professional emergency

workers from Australia and around

the world is immeasurable and as

they go back to their homes and fam-

ilies, their usual employment and way

of life, they may never know the true

value of their work for people whose

lives have been forever changed by

these events.

The new year for SeniorNet has com-

menced and we have prepared a pro-

gram of information days, training

workshops and social events. All

members are invited to join and par-

ticipate in any event that might be of

interest to them.

Greg Elmore

Social Events

Lunches March - Grand Hotel Yamanto

Meet on Friday 20th at 12. Meals from

$13 for members and seniors.

April - Jets Leagues Club

Meet on Friday 17th April at 12. Mem-

bers meals are $11

Trips with Just Friends Sunday 29th March - Cabarlah Markets

The markets are to the north of Too-

woomba and we will go on to lunch at

the Grand Old Crow Hotel in Crows Nest.

Cost including lunch $50. Pickup 8.20am

at Redbank Plaza bus station

Sunday 26th April - Australia Zoo

BYO lunch. Cost including entry $75.

Pickup 8.00am Redbank Plaza

President’s

View

Editorial

On Other Pages

Training Programme page 2

New Members page 4

Tech Talk page 5

Potty History page 7

Humour page 8

Further Information page 8

You will have seen that I regular-

ly mention the Just Friends

coach trips. Just Friends is a cas-

ual group, currently with about

80 members, whose major activ-

ity is a day trip on the last Sun-

day of each month. I am now

the organiser of the group.

We also enjoy pub/club lunches

on the other Sundays of the

month.

If you would like a full program

of our activities contact me at

3389 2950 or

kcurwen@optusnet.com.au

April General Meeting

Monday 6th April at 11am

At Northern Suburbs Leagues Club

29 Pelican Street, North Ipswich

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

NOTE: All Workshops are subject to change if Trainers are unavailable due to illness or other commitments. If possible

changes will be listed on the SeniorNet Web Site or you can contact John McVeigh–Training Coordinator – ph 07 3281 8548 –

email training@seniornet.com.au to confirm workshops are as listed. It is not necessary to make bookings for Workshops.

Cost of Workshop $5.00

Please bring your USB drive with you as it is helpful in many lessons.

* For courses and workshops involving tablets (iPads and Androids) please make sure your device is charged, that you have

your cable with you and bring your USQ username and password with you (for Eduroam access)

SeniorNet Workshop Programme: March—April 2020 Boilerhouse Training Room, University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich

Workshop Times 9-11am (the training facilities are booked until noon which allows us to extend

our sessions until 11:30 if subject matter or participant interest requires it)

Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

3rd March Family History: Queensland Archives

Barbara Bottenberg

5th March Prep Class 3

John McVeigh

10th March Word: Mail Merging

Ken Curwen

12th March Prep Class 4

John McVeigh

17th March Android: Accessibility *

Ken Curwen

18th March Scanning Photos

Phil Buchanan

20th March Social Lunch

Grand Hotel

24th March Photography: Repairing Old Photos

Ken Curwen

27th March Family History: Family Tree Photos

Bette Fritz

31st March Photography: More Re-pair Methods

Ken Curwen

1st April Windows: A Sight for Sore Eyes

Phil Buchanan

7th April Excel Basics 1

Greg Elmore

8th April

NBN (at Glebe

Uniting Church)

Ray Krebs

10th April Good Friday

14th April Excel Basics 2

Greg Elmore

17th April Social Lunch

Jets

21st April The SeniorNet News-letter

Ken Curwen

24th April Family History: Man-aging Facts

Bette Fritz

28th April Mastering Facebook

Jenny Greaves

29th April Create a Personal Website

Ken Curwen

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

Workshop Topics Described

Android: Accessibility This workshop will have a look at some of the tools built into Android which will help with failing eyesight and oth-er limitations of seniority.

Create a Personal Website Learn how to put together a simple one page website, for free, using the on-line WordPress utility.

Excel Basics 1 and 2 Excel is a spreadsheet programme which comes bundled with Microsoft Office. In these two basic Excel workshops, you will get a taste of the essential features of spreadsheets as you set up an association membership record.

Family History: Queensland Archives This excursion will introduce you to Queensland’s State Archives. The lead agency for public recordkeeping in Queensland, Australia. it is the custodian of the largest and most significant documentary heritage collection about Queensland and provides access to extensive indexes. The Archives require a minimum attendance for the excursion; please contact Barbara to confirm your interest (barbzee@bigpond.com or mobile 0424031045)

Family History: Family Tree Photos Learn how to download photos to your tree, attach them to people, or use as their profile picture which can be cropped to suit. Some basic editing can be done in the Dark Room in FTM. Give them new Captions or add a de-scription, note or brief story. Don’t forget to bring your laptop with your program on, whichever one it may be, and have a play.

Family History: Managing Facts Learn how to add additional facts or even create a custom fact to enhance the information in your family tree pro-

gram. Please bring your laptop with your program on it if you have one and, if possible, bring some information

you can add while at the workshop.

Mastering Facebook This session will cover how to create a Facebook page, upload posts, edit or delete posts and save photos from the Newsfeed. Also included will be checking your privacy settings, creating a group using Messenger and how to cre-ate a separate page for topics such as Family History.

NBN Ray will give you tips on how to get the maximum benefit from your NBN connection, and how to avoid scams.

Photography: More Repair Methods In this Workshop we explore more complex repair jobs and how to use the free Paint.net editor to perform them

Photography: Repairing Old Photos This Workshop follows up on the Scanning Photos session. It discusses how to recolour and repair your old printed photos using the free Paint.net editor

Prep Class 3 Introduce file explorer to manage files on the computer or external devices such as a USB Flash Drive or a backup hard drive etc. Learn how to use the SeniorNet shared folder in class, and how to save material onto your own flash drive for homework.

Prep Class 4 Overview the use of emails for communicating with friends. Learn how to find video demonstrations on YouTube

of tricky techniques such as instruction on internet banking. Introduce members to the BeConnected (Australian

government) resource as a self-learning tool.

Scanning Photos Whether you are seeking to preserve old photographs or hoping to restore damage, you must first get them into your computer. Modern multifunction printers have a scanning mode which will do the job. This workshop will demonstrate some of the basic techniques needed to ensure you get the best results for your effort.

(Continued on page 4)

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

The SeniorNet Newsletter In this workshop the process of assembling and publishing the Newsletter will be demonstrated. This exemplifies the integration of many of the Microsoft Office apps into a single project.

Windows: A Sight for Sore Eyes It is an unfortunate fact of life that as we get older our eyesight is not as good as it was. Trying to read text and dis-cern icons on a computer monitor can be particularly difficult. This workshop will have a look at some of the tools built into Windows which will help with this situation.

Word: Mail Merging Working from a list of names and details you can use Microsoft Word to generate tailored letters and envelopes for each recipient. Recent versions of Word have made the process far more user friendly than previously, although you should observe certain rules in setting up the list to get the best results. Learn how to do all this at this work-shop.

Ken

Hanson

Margaret

Brooks

Computer Courses

To see the list of courses currently offered by SeniorNet click here.

At present due to low demand for courses there are none planned for the next two months. Remember, if you

do not express an interest in a course you fancy it will probably not be scheduled.

Linda

Saunders

Paul

Jones

Lynn

Collins

Narelle

White

John

Blake

Desley

Badrick

Christine

Rudken

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

Tech Talk

Let’s talk about ‘free’ antivirus….

Everyone knows you need to have an antivirus program on your computer. There are many good commercial pro-

grams available, but they cost money and need to be renewed each year.

Many people opt for one of the free antivirus products. The protection is good and there is no cash outlay. Howev-

er, based on recent experiences and reports, I think people should exercise caution with these free products.

I have seen two instances in the last few months where access to the Internet was disabled. Tracking the problem

found that it was due to the firewall in a well-known free anti-virus product. Trying to work out how to disable this

‘feature’ proved problematic and it was far easier to simply uninstall it completely and replace with something else.

At the beginning of December 2019, Mozilla (Firefox), Opera and Google (Chrome) removed extensions from two

well-known free antivirus products from their respective add-on sites over concerns they were tracking a user's

activity as they are browsing the web. These extensions are installed as part of the program installation. The exten-

sions alert users to phishing, scam, and malicious sites when a user visits them. While these extensions would seem

to be useful, they also send a large amount of data about the user’s browser habits to the antivirus companies.

See: https://au.pcmag.com/news/64758/mozilla-removes-avast-and-avg-extensions-from-firefox

https://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/3084749/chrome-removes-avg-avast-add-ons-data-mining

So while free products still provide effective antivirus protection, there seems to be increasing instances of intru-

sion into the normal operation of systems. These products were originally provided as a service to the computing

community but they are increasingly only a teaser for the paid product with pop-ups encouraging the purchase of

the paid product or additional ‘tune-up’ products which are not necessary. Now it seems that, at least two prod-

ucts, may be actively harvesting user data.

I am not encouraging people to ditch their current product if they are happy with it but you should be aware that

Windows Defender is provided free as part of Windows 10 (and Windows 8.1). While it does not have the bells and

whistles associated with some other programs, in its latest versions it rates well for virus and malware protection.

See: https://www.av-test.org/en/antivirus/home-windows/

https://www.av-comparatives.org/tests/real-world-protection-test-july-october-2019/

https://antivirus-review.com/windows-defender-review

If using Windows Defender, I do recommend MalwareBytes as a second line of defence.

Good commercial products will provide higher levels of protection then Windows Defender so if you feel you need

better protection take out a subscription to one of them.

As for the free options…be cautious.

Phil Buchanan

Computer Time Problems?

Without getting into the Great Daylight Saving Debate, did you notice your computer clock became one hour ahead

when the southern states changed to Daylight Saving? That’s a bit annoying and you can manually adjust it but you

will also have to manually adjust it back in April 2020 when Daylight Saving ends. There is a better way.

When Windows is first installed and is told to setup for Australia, it defaults to Eastern Standard Time which is 10

hours ahead of Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) or Coordinated Universal Time (UTC). It also often picks Canberra,

Melbourne and Sydney as the example cities.

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

The solution is to go to SettingsTime & LanguageDate & time and look for the box under Time Zone. If it is

displaying (UTC+10) Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney, click on the box and select (UTC+10) Brisbane. Your computer

will now recognise that it is in Brisbane/Queensland which does not follow Daylight Saving and your clock will not

automatically adjust. If you had previously manually adjusted your clock, you may have to adjust it again after mak-

ing this change but it should be fine from then on.

I had a computer in the workshop which thought the date was 2 October 2008. I could correct the date and every-

thing was good until I turned the computer off. When I turned it on again, the date reverted to 2 October 2008. If

you are experiencing a similar problem (where the date/time is always wrong even after you correct it), the cause is

likely to be a flat CMOS battery.

The CMOS battery is a coin-sized silver battery on the motherboard which allows your computer to hold the correct

date and time (as well as other settings) when it is turned off. These batteries do last a long time but like all batter-

ies will eventually go flat.

On a desktop computer, this is an easy fix. The battery itself can usually be purchased from a supermarket for

around $5-$8. It has a code number of CR2032. The battery is in a socket on the motherboard, usually held in place

by a small clip which you may need a small screwdriver to release. Make sure all power is turned off and the power

cord removed before opening your computer and be careful not to touch any other components with the metal tip

of the screwdriver. If you do not want to tackle the job yourself, computer shops should do the replacement for a

small charge.

Laptops can be another matter. The battery itself is usually the same as in a desktop computer but it can be ex-

tremely difficult to access and may need to be changed by an authorised repairer.

While needing to change the date and time can be a minor inconvenience, it is important to note that this battery

enables your computer to hold other settings as well. If the power in the battery becomes too low, your computer

may show an error message when you turn it on or may not be able to start at all. Therefore it is best to get it

changed when you first notice a problem with the date and time.

Phil Buchanan

Samsung Moisture in Charging Port Error

Recently my six month old tablet refused to start charging when I plugged in the charger. It announced that there

was ‘moisture in the charging port’.

This error ‘should’ be fixed by leaving the tablet to dry for about two hours.

If that does not work, try flushing the port with water and stir round with a very thin brush eg Pixter tooth plaque

brush to clean the port; dry with a tissue and wait for the tablet to dry completely.

If the problem is persistent an effective trick is to reboot the detection system as follows:

1. Reboot device with the charger to hand and powered

2. Plug in cable on first logo

3. Unplug when 1st logo goes away

4. Quickly plug in again on 2nd logo.

In my case I suspect that when holding my tablet in January’s hot weather against my chest some sweat got into

the port; and just drying was not enough because of salt etc. in the sweat. Note that I can omit step 4 with my

Samsung Galaxy Tab S5e.

Ken Curwen

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

Potty History

Genghis Khan

Genghis Kahn is unusual amongst great conquerors. First, he did not come to power until he was in his forties

(Alexander the Great was dead at age thirty three); and second his story was immediately recorded in ‘The Secret

Life of the Mongols’ (most biographies were written many years after the subject’s death). ‘The Secret Life’ was

written with imperial approval, so some matters are not detailed.

The Mongols were one of many tribal pastoralist people in Central Asia. The various tribes were constantly at war

with each other, which honed their military capabilities but prevented them from conquering their neighbours

(particularly as the Chinese played divide-and-rule policies between the tribes). They were superb horsemen

(interestingly although the horse originated in North America the native Americans killed them all for food; but the

nomads of Central Asia domesticated them instead. When the conquistadores re-introduced the horse the native

Americans rapidly learnt how to use them).

When Genghis was born in 1162 his father named him Timujin after a captive Tatar chief; the name means ‘man of

iron’ (smith) which proved prophetic. But when he was nine years old his father was poisoned by the Tatars while

on the return journey from betrothing him to Borte, his lifelong love. Timujin attempted to claim his father’s posi-

tion as chief of the Mongols but unsurprisingly was rejected; so he and his siblings and mother were forced into

poverty, surviving on whatever they could find in the wild. His mother brought them up in the belief that unity is

strength and was furious when Timujin and his brother killed the oldest brother in the family for stealing some fish

from them.

At age 15 a neighbouring tribe kidnapped Timujin in a raid, restraining him with a cangue (a device like a wooden

vice, or the headpiece of a stocks). He managed to charm one of his goalers and escape, hiding in a nearby stream.

He then went to the friendly gaoler’s house, where the cangue was removed and burnt, and he hid in a cart full of

wool when the soldiers came looking for him. Those who helped him eventually became his right-hand men.

Soon after his marriage to Borte in 1182 fate dealt him another blow: she was kidnapped in a raid by another near-

by tribe, the Merkits, while Timujin fled to the slopes of a nearby mountain. Timujin then rescued her with the aid

of his friends (when the Merkits were routed he raced among the fleeing enemy calling out for Borte; she replied

and they fell into each other’s arms). Borte bore a son, Jochi, but after this captivity Jochi’s paternity was uncer-

tain. However Jochi died before Genghis and his son Batu was made Khan of the Golden Horde (Russia). Borte’s

next three sons were Chagatai, Ogedai and Tolui, each of whom ruled part or all of the Mongol Empire.

For the next twenty years Timujin slowly gained power. A major source of his influence was that he delegated au-

thority based on merit, not on family background. He also was passionate about loyalty and would even punish

men who were disloyal to his enemies. He also maintained a high-quality spy network and was always ready to

employ any expert into his service, no matter what country the expert hailed from. If he defeated an enemy, he

would invite their soldiers to join his army. Unlike the khans of other tribes, he did not go in for gratuitous violence

(one, after defeating Timujin in battle, had 70 captives boiled alive – even his followers were aghast). He was also

tolerant of all religions and races (an equal-opportunity slaughterer, you might say).

By 1206 Timujin had united the whole of the steppes under his rule, with some support from the Chinese (who

probably regretted their policy later). At a grand council he was entitled Genghis Khan (Fierce Ruler).

Next month we will see how he went on to conquer Asia.

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Sponsors: The University of Southern Queensland, Ipswich City Council,

the Queensland Government and Microsoft.

Humour

Typos

I just remembered a book I own, ‘Just My Typo’ compiled by Drummond Moir.

Here are some memorable examples from it.

First from the London Times newspaper reporting that Queen Victoria had opened the Menai Bridge:

The Queen Herself Graciously Pissed Over the Magnificent Edifice

A double misprint:

Erratum - in our last number, in speaking of General P---, we called him a ‘bottle-scarred veteran’.

The printer should have made it ‘battle-scared’.

Unfortunately both errors were only too true; the general was a drunkard and a coward.

And another from a New Zealand newspaper:

When we said ‘Mr. --- was a member of the defective branch of the police force’ we should have referred to ‘the de-

tective branch of the police farce’

Erratum from the Dublin Journal: ‘In our last issue, for ‘His Grace the Duchess of Dorset’ read ‘Her Grace, the Duke

of Kent’

Preface to the second edition: The second edition is substantially the same as the first, except for a number of

mispronts which have been corrected.

Finally some valuable household advice from the Albany Journal: Keeping all food under cover is the first step to-

ward ridding the house of aunts.

Disclaimer: While we have made every effort to give accurate information and tips in this Newsletter, we cannot

guarantee that their use will provide the desired results in all circumstances. In no event will the Editor or SeniorNet

be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental or consequential damages arising out of the use of URLs and tips giv-

en in this newsletter. We recommend members verify details before acting on information or suggestions contained

herein. The Editor would appreciate being informed of any erroneous information so that it may be corrected.

Ken Curwen. Newsletter Editor.

Further Information

SeniorNet Committee

The listing of the 2019-2020 committee can be found here.

Computer Repairs

A listing of repairers who our members have found satisfactory can be found here.