Port Macquarie Seniors Computer Group Incorporated…. June. Newsletter.

Volume: 16

Issue: 05

June. 2017

Contacts. Port Macquarie Seniors Computer Group Inc.

P.O. Box2135, Port Macquarie. NSW. 2444.

Email: portseniors.pc@gmail.com

Web Address: www.portseniorspc.org.au

Committee.

Peggy McC.

President & Web

Administrator.

Barry D.

Secretary.

Graham C.

Treasurer.

Rosemary C.

Membership Officer.

Odette C.

Social Secretary.

Anne C.

Committee Member.

Sel C.

Newsletter Editor.

Disclaimer: This Newsletter is provided “As is.” without warranty of any kind.

Each Reader assumes complete risks as to the accuracy and subsequent use of its contents.

President Peggy’s Comments.

WELCOME

Winter has well and truly arrived. Don’t forget

your computer enjoys the same environment

as you like. Warm—not freezing cold.

Good news (of a sort)

Technology Room in the Library is being treated to new W10 All in One

computers. Not sure of the date yet. We will however, still have the problem of

updates. These are not going to be allowed thru the Library system, as they are

released by Microsoft, and as most of us have to get on and install them. The

Tech. Officer will at her discretion will decide when the updates are to be

allowed. So we will I fear have the same situation as now. Using our own laptops

where necessary. The Microsoft Office program will be updated to 2016. The

Gimp program will be installed. Apart from that we will be using our laptops for

other programs we wish to learn.

How many of you have tried out the new App 3D Paint which came in with the

last large update—1703 ?

There is more to come on that in the “Fall” update. I have slotted in a lesson for

later in the year just covering the basics.

The Printed Book lessons went really well. Class was only small, however, I am

sure there are going to be some beautiful books. Some members I know felt this

was a step backwards, having printed material. It is one very sure way of

knowing in future years grandchildren will be able to read and see the images.

There will be no fear of not having a program to open the “book”.

Animation lessons are now open for booking. We use Gimp 2.8.16 for these.

Besides learning new skills it is fun.

For our Christmas card lesson this year I thought we may visit some online

websites which have ready made cards. In today’s busy world many do not have

the time to create personal cards.

Maybe I am on the wrong track, and you would prefer to make a card. Or maybe

we could use some ready made templates.

I welcome your thoughts on this.

That’s it from me Regards Peggy

Social Secretary’s Report.

The Lucky Door Prize was won by Margaret D.

A special thanks to all the helpers at morning tea at the monthly meetings.

Regards, Odette.

Give It A Minute!

Here’s one of the most valuable pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten when dealing with technology: “You’ve got to give it a minute.” Our first reaction when we don’t see an immediate response to our click with a mouse or our touch on a touch screen is to keep clicking or tapping until we get some indication that something is happening. The problem with that is that each click or tap tells the program to perform the action again. So instead of telling your browser to open once, you’ve told it to open ten times,

giving it ten commands to process instead of one. If the program was running a little slow in the first place, giving it ten extra actions to perform is only going to make it go a lot slower. As a very wise expert in non-linear editing told me back in the late 1990s, “Your computer is fast, but not as fast as your brain. People tend to keep clicking (tapping was still off in the future then) because the screen isn’t reacting as fast as their mind is going. Truth is if clicking on it once doesn’t make it happen — clicking ten times isn’t going to make it happen either. So, if something seems to be slow and you’re tempted to click or tap in rapid succession, instead just remove your hands from the mouse or screen for at least two minutes. And I mean two actual minutes. Count them, time them. Give it the full 120 seconds. That doesn’t always help. But you will be surprised at how many times it does!

Printed with permission from: Malwarebytes.com

This month we will look at removing a USB from a computer. I have noticed that even some students who

have been coming to class for a long time still have a problem.

1.On the right hand side of the taskbar click on the arrow.

2. Click on the small USB icon

The USB will be listed. Click on Eject name of USB

3. Physically remove the USB.

A few ways to prevent malware infection.

Yes, it’s possible to clean up an infected computer and fully remove malware from your system. But the damage from

some forms of malware, like ransomware, cannot be undone. If they’ve encrypted your files and you haven’t backed

them up, the jig is up. So, your best defense is to beat the bad guys at their own game. While no single method is ever

100 percent fool-proof, there are some tried and true cybersecurity techniques for keeping malware infections at bay

that, if put into practice, will shield you from most of the garbage of the Internet.

Protect vulnerabilities One of the top delivery methods for malware today is by exploit kit. Exploit kits are sneaky little

suckers that rummage around in your computer and look for weaknesses in the system, whether that’s an unprotected

operating system, a software program that hasn’t been updated in months, or a browser whose security protocols aren’t

up to date.

Update your operating system, browsers, and plugins. If there’s an update to your computer waiting in queue, don’t let

it linger. Updates to operating systems, browsers, and plugins are often released to patch any security vulnerabilities

discovered. So, while you leave those programs alone, cybercriminals can find their way in through the vulnerabilities.

Bonus mobile phone tip: To protect against security flaws in mobile phones, be sure your mobile phone software is updat-

ed regularly. Don’t ignore those “New software update” pop-ups, even if your storage is full or your battery is low.

Enable click-to-play plugins. One of the more devious ways that exploit kits (EKs) are delivered to your computer is

through malvertising, or malicious ads. You needn’t even click on the ad to become infected, and these malicious ads can

live on prestigious, well-known sites. Besides keeping your software patched so that exploit kits can’t do their dirty work,

you can help to block the exploit from ever being delivered by enabling click-to-play plugins. Click-to-play plugins keep

Flash or Java from running unless you specifically tell them to (by clicking on the ad). The bulk of malvertising relies on

exploiting these plugins, so enabling this feature in your browser settings will help keep the EKs at bay.

Watch out for social engineering Another top method for infection is to scam users through social engineering. Whether

that’s an email that looks like it’s coming from your bank, a tech support scam, or a fishy social media campaign,

cybercriminals have gotten rather deft at tricking even tech-savvy surfers. By being aware of the following top tactics,

you can fend off uninvited malware guests.

Read emails with an eagle eye. Check the sender’s address. Is it from the actual company he or she claims? Hover over

links provided in the body of the email. Is the URL legit? Read the language of the email carefully. Are there weird line

breaks? Awkwardly constructed sentences that sound foreign? And finally, know the typical methods of communication

for important organizations. For example, the IRS will never contact you via email. When in doubt, call your healthcare,

bank, or other potentially-spoofed organization directly.

Bonus mobile phone tip: Cybercriminals love spoofing banks via SMS/text message or fake bank apps. Do not confirm

personal data via text. Again, when in doubt, contact your bank directly.

Do not call fake tech support numbers. Tech support scams, the bane of our existence. These often involve pop-ups from

fake companies offering to help you with a malware infection. How do you know if they’re fake? A real security company

would never market to you via pop-up saying they believe your computer is infected. They would especially not serve up

a (bogus) 1-800 number and charge money to fix it. If you have security software that detects malware, it will show such

a detection in your scan, and it will not encourage you to call and shell out money to remove the infection. That’s a scam

trying to infect you. Don’t take the bait.

Do not believe the cold callers. On the flip side, there are those who may pick up the phone and try to bamboozle you the

good old-fashioned way. Tech support scammers love to call up and pretend to be from Microsoft. They’ve detected an

infection, they say. Don’t believe it. Others may claim to have found credit card fraud or a loan overdue. Ask questions if

something feels sketchy. Does the person have info on you that seems outdated, such as old addresses or maiden

names? Don’t confirm or update the info provided by these callers. Ask about where that person is calling from, if you

can call back, and then hang up and check in with credit agencies, loan companies, and banks directly to be sure there

isn’t a problem.

Practice safe browsing

There’s such a thing as good Internet hygiene. These are the things you should be doing to protect against external and

internal threats, whether that’s losing your device, walking away from your computer, using public wifi, or shopping

online Printed with permission from: malwarebytes.com

Meeting Agenda.

9.30am. Registration & Class Bookings.

10.00am. Monthly Meeting Starts.

Club Business & Prizes.

11.00am. Morning Tea & Class Bookings.

Presentation by C.B.A.

12.00pm. Meeting Ends.

Tea/Coffee (Optional) : $2.20/Member.

(Bowls Club receives revenue.)

Next Monthly Meeting at Port City Bowling Club, on: 31st.July.2017.

Class Venue.

Classes will be held at:

Port Macquarie Library

Tech. Room.

Class Information.

Visit our Website :

www.potrseniorspc.org.au

click on “Classes” select a class of

interest and click on “Contact Us”

if you wish to enroll.

Class Fees.

Individual Classes : $5.00

“Get to know Win10” -$20.00

(4 Week Course)

Payable in advance!

Refreshments.

Tea/Coffee and Biscuits are

included in class fees.

Remember!!

Wear your current Name Tag

to all Classes and Monthly

Meetings!

If using a Library Computer or

Group Laptop

bring a USB Flash Drive to Class!

July. 2017 Computer Classes. 3/7 Mon.1.30pm - 4.00pm Getting to know Win10 Lesson 1 Peggy

6/7 Thur.9.30am - 12.00pm M/S Power Point Lesson 3 Peggy

6/7 Thur. 1.30pm - 4.00pm Introduction to M/S Word Lesson 1 Peggy

10/7 Mon.9.30am - 12.00pm Getting to know Win10 Lesson 2 Peggy

13/7 Thur.9.30am - 12.00pm M/S Power Point Lesson 4 Peggy

13/7 Thur. 1.30pm - 4.00pm M/S Word Lesson 2 Peggy

17/7 Mon. 1.30pm - 4.00pm Getting to know Win10 Lesson 3 Peggy

20/7 Thur.9.30am - 12.00pm Advanced GIMP Lesson 2 Peggy

20/7 Thur. 1.30pm - 4.00pm M/S Word Lesson 3 Peggy

24/7 Mon. 1.30pm - 4.00pm Getting to know Win10 Lesson 4 Peggy

27/7 Thur.9.30am - 12.00pm Computer Maintenance. Peggy

27/7 Thur. 1.30pm - 4.00pm M/S Word Lesson 4 Peggy

August. 2017 Computer Classes. 24/8 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm GIMP Animations Lesson 1 Peggy

31/8 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm Win10 Folders & Files Peggy

September.2017 Computer Classes. 7/9 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm GIMP Animations Lesson 2 Peggy

14/9 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm GIMP Animations Lesson 3 Peggy

21/9 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm M/S 3D Paint Introduction Peggy

28/9 Thur. 9.30am - 12.00pm Advanced Power Point Peggy

I’m Sorry. If you were right, I’d agree with you …Robin Williams .

I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. … Fred Allen.

There is no pleasure worth foregoing just for an extra few

years in the geriatric ward…. John Mortimer.