Colorado River Computer Club Meeting-Tuesday, April 2nd-6pm

We wanted to remind all of you in Lake Havasu City and surrounding communities that the Colorado River Computer Club meets at 7:00 pm on the first Tuesday of every month in Community Room B of the Mohave County Library in Lake Havasu City, AZ.

The New Users Group meets at 6:00 pm with a presentation for people new to computers.  

This Computer Club is a non-profit organization established to aid members in achieving better results from their computers. It is not connected with any commercial or private business.  Each month there is a guest speaker and you will have an opportunity to ask questions...


This month, April 2nd, Cherie Houston from Mohave Community College will be speaking about Social Media, such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Blogging (handouts will be available)


For more information, visit their website: http://crccaz.com/- , which we have listed on the left column of our blog under "Student Favorites" for future reference...

How to Use our Class Blog

We hope you find our “CLASS BLOG” helpful as you continue to learn your computer more effectively, because no doubt as soon as you learn something – it will change and there will be something new to learn. We hope our Class Blog helps with the ever changing technology… Feel free to become a follower, to comment, and to share this website with family and friends. And feel free to ask questions – your questions become the topics we cover on the blog and we continue to learn from each other.. ~ Cherie Houston - email me at: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

 

WHAT IS A BLOG AND HOW DO I USE IT?
All BLOGS are intended to be "informational" like any newsletter you might receive. But in addition to reading the "posts-otherwise called articles" that we publish on our BLOG, you can also copy any of the "post/articles" and save them to your word processing files so you can then print them and you can comment on what we've said in a specific "post/article" - The how to's are noted below..

 

TO COPY A POST/ARTICLE to save or print for yourself or to change the size and/or print: highlight any portion of the post/article - activate the paste command, now open or go to your word processing program and on a clean piece of paper - activate the paste command. What you highlighted is now on the page. Change the font size & style, and you may want to change the color of the entire post/article to BLACK because most blogs use a light gray print (even though it may look black)... To save it on your PC, go to File, Save As, Open or Create a folder you want it saved in - remember to give it a name that will make it easy for you to find in the future - Now print it...

 

TO COMMENT ON A "POST/ARTICLE" we’ve added, beneath each "post/article", left click on the word “comment” , which takes you to a dialog box, so you can type your comments about the "post" article that you have just read...

 

HOW & WHY TO FOLLOW A BLOG? For our blog or any blog you read often, become a follower, to easily keep track of the blogs via your Reading List on the Blogger dashboard - On our Blog, at the bottom of the right column, you will see a "Follow" button under the "Followers" widget, and when you left click on it, a popup window appears asking if you want to follow the blog publicly or privately

• EMAIL: Most blogs have an “email signup” so simply type in your email address and you will receive anemail whenever a new post is added
•  FOLLOWING PUBLICLY: Your profile image will appear in the blog's Followers widget. You will also be subscribed to updates for this blog which will appear in your Reading List on your Dashboard and following a blog creates a listing in your Google Reader account.
•  FOLLOWING PRIVATELY: Your profile image and will NOT be displayed in the blog's Followers widget, but you’ll be subscribed to updates for this blog which will appear in your Reading List on your Dashboard and following a blog creates a listing in your Google Reader account

What’s happening with “social networking websites” online..

There are several types of websites where everyday people communicate socially - we hope these definitions will help you understand them a little better...

A wiki is a Web site that allows anyone visiting to contribute (add, edit, or remove) content. Wikipedia, for example, is a virtual encyclopedia built by user’s providing information in their areas of expertise. Because of the ease of collaboration, wikis are often used when developing group projects, or sharing information collaboratively.

A Blog is an online journal (short for weB LOG) that may be entirely private, may be open to select friends or family, or available to the general public. You can usually make settings so that visitors to your blog may or may not be allowed to comment on your entries – our class blog that you are visiting now is set for public viewing and commenting so that you or anyone else who visits the blog is welcome to comment…. Many families today are creating their own family blogs, so that information, photos, videos etc. can be shared and accessed more easily by family members anywhere in the world...

A social networking site allows people to build and maintain an online Web page and create networks of people they are somehow connected to –their friends, work associates, other members with similar interests, and so on. Most social networking sites, such as Facebook and My Space also host blogs and have social networking functions that people allow people to view information about others and contact friends. And of course we’ve all seen the results of hitting the wrong button when you send a tweet via Twitter and it goes to everyone/anyone who follows you and not just to an individual… now being referred to as the Rep. Anthony Weiner tweat fiasco…

Note:
Posts are the actual articles or updates put on blogs, facebook and myspace websites by the owner/author of that site...
Comments are the comments made by others who read a blog or facebook posting about a specific post
Tweet is the short (no more than 140 characters) message sent via a twitter account to someone or everyone who follows you or someone else on twitter.

Sharing Photos Safely on the Internet

Today more and more of us are sharing our photo’s with others online. This can be done today using our digital cameras and cell phones as soon as the events happen.. No doubt, these options are another wonderful way of using technology but it’s important to be sure you are sharing your photos safely..

Almost all cell phones today have cameras, and because most of us carry our cell phones with us all the time - and the quality of the cell phones cameras have and continue to improve almost daily - they are becoming a popular way to post photos as soon as we take the picture...We may post them to our online photo-sharing accounts (such as Picasa Web Albums, Walgreens, Snapfish, PhotoBucket etc accounts, our blogs, mobile blogs (called moblogs); personal Web sites; or share them via our e-mails and IM - no doubt sharing our photos and videos has never been easier.

But it’s important to carefully manage who sees your digital images, from photos to videos, is critical to avoiding the potential exposure of private or personal information to people outside your trusted friends and family. The same pictures and videos you want to share with friends and family may contain information that also has value to criminals.

Only use reputable sites (such as Picasa Web Albums, Walgreens, Shutterfly, Snapfish and others we’ve discussed in class) and only share photos that contain identifiable information with people you trust.

To make photos with identifiable information safer to share publicly:

• Use a photo editing tool such as Picasa that we work with in our classes, or Windows Photo Gallery to cover up or crop out information that could put you or the people in your photos in harms way, such as house or apt. numbers, street names, name of your school or business, etc – Photo Editing sites allow you to blur small sections of your photos, so you can then put them online safely.


• Remove metadata from the photo. Some sites allow viewers to see the settings used to take the photo, the time and date when the photo was taken, and even show the geographical coordinates of the place where the photo was taken if the camera or camera phone documents this information. The last thing you want "just anyone" being able to see is the actual address of your home, school or day care center when you took pictures of your kids or grandkids...


• Change/reduce the resolution of the photo – because lower resolution makes it less likely that others will copy the photo.

More about Internet memes - such as "I like it on..."

Further to our blog posting, about what is an "Internet Meme", the following is the article that was on MSN that provoked my curiosity... This particular Meme is intended to raise Breast Cancer Awareness...

'I Like It On': Sexy Status Updates Sweep Facebook
Suggestive Status Updates Intended to Raise Breast Cancer Awareness
~ By KI MAE HEUSSNER - Oct. 7, 2010

Want to know where women "like it"? Check out your Facebook newsfeed. In status updates across the social networking site, women around the world are going risqué with suggestive messages saying, "I like it on the floor," "I like it on the kitchen counter" and even "in the back seat of my car." Despite the naughty-sounding notes, they're not referring to places to pucker up, but rather places to leave their purses

Despite the naughty-sounding notes, they're not referring to places to pucker up, but rather places to leave their purses. The origins of the viral campaign are unknown, but over the past few days potentially millions of women across Facebook have posted the messages in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Though the purse reference itself doesn't seem to bear any direct relationship to breast cancer and has left many men (and maybe women) scratching their heads, crowds of women continue to rally behind the viral message.

This latest Internet meme is similar to the bra color status update that swept Facebook in January. As part of that campaign, women on Facebook randomly posted the color on their bras on their status updates to raise awareness for breast cancer research.

What is an Internet meme????

I read an article this week about a comment that has been "floating" around facebook this last week or so and in the article, the writer used the word "Internet meme" or "meme" several times and I had no idea what she was talking about and assumed I wasn't alone - I know I'd seen the word used before, but now I was curious and determined to learn what it meant....

After a little research on countless sites, I’ve learned that the word "meme" when pronounced rhymes with “dream” or “cream”, but they say that some pronounce it so it sounds like ‘mem’ (from mem-ory)

What it means, seems to vary, but it seems to reference items in blogs or other social networking sites, such as facebook and/or myspace – but the various definitions seems to be:

• An idea that, like a gene, can replicate and evolve.
• A unit of cultural information that represents a basic idea that can be transferred from one individual to another, and subjected to mutation, crossover and adaptation.
• A cultural unit (an idea or value or pattern of behavior) that is passed from one generation to another by nongenetic means (as by imitation); “memes are the cultural counterpart of genes”.

In our next blog posting, I will post the article about the "Internet Meme" ~ "I like it on..." comments that are prevalent this month on facebook (referred to as memes) Why, to raise awareness about breast cancer...

What is Journaling VS. Blogging VS. Twittering:

What they all have is common is a way to express yourself - but they differ because...

JOURNALING - For some of people “journaling” is a great option – when you journal, you are keeping a private journal (diary or logbook) and most people decide their own format – maybe to put in an entry or two each day of what they are doing and or thinking…And remember – journal’s are private…

VS. BLOGGING - According to Wikipedia, A BLOG (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website, usually kept up by an individual with regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or other info & graphics or videos and typically they are displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Our class blog is: www.saseniorpcgeeks.blogspot.com

VS. TWITTERING
Twittering is certainly the rage – and is another social networking tool users can send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

March Computer Classes

MARCH… the month of “luck & leprechauns” – so change your luck with your computer; learn all you can and become more comfortable and more creative.. These are just some of our computer classes being held in the next few weeks - to reserve your seat, Call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139.. Consider signing up with a friend – coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice and the more people in each class the more is learned from questions....If you have any questions about a specific class or topic – email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

PICASA PHOTO EDITING LSC100A-SEC 124 Tues & Wed 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 2 & 3 - Two 4 hour classes-Learn to edit & print DIGITAL photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring your digital camera to class

BLOGGING BASICS LSC080-122 Tuesdays, 1-4:50pm, Mar 2 & 9 - Two 4 hour classes – Get a better understanding of “social networking” “Facebook” “Twittering” etc and learn to Create your Own Blog for your family, group or organization - Learn how, why & when to post, comment on posts, design features such as Templates; Gadgets, Add Ons: Links, Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more

POWER POINT LSC069D-222 Wednesday & Thursday, 1-4:50pm, Mar 3 & 4 - Two 4 hour classes to show you how to create a basic Slide Show presentation and enhance your presentation with text, photos & clip art, animation, transition & timing features Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

WORD IRON ON TRANSFER PROJECT LSC100-123 Thursday, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 4 - A 4 hour workshop using Microsoft Word to create “iron on transfer projects” using text, graphics, photos, word art and more for fun t-shirts, quilts, canvas tote bags & other fabric projects … Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

CREATE/PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK LSC100-126 Mon & Fri, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 8 & 11 - Two 4 hour classes learning to create & publish your own book, using free book publishing software from www.blurb.com known as personal book making & publishing-Use your WP skills & digital photos and learn in quantities as small as just one. You decide: soft or hard cover, various sizes, all text, all photos or a combination of photos & text, story book or recipe book Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)

EMAIL HOW TO’S LSC071-122 Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 9 & 11 - Two 4 hour classes to enhance your basic email skills – work extensively with attachments of all types – documents, photos, videos, power point – learn to open & save, find & attach. Also learn to work with hyperlinks; learn to copy & paste to & from emails, internet and word

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-122 Wed & Thurs 1pm-4:50pm Mar 10 & 11 - Two 4 hour classes-intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your pc with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your pc using windows explorer; save photos to portable drives - bring your digital camera to class

Mohave College Campus will Close for Spring Break Sunday-Sunday, March 14th-21st

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-122 Mon & Wed, 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 22 & 24 - Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions..

What is Social Networking?

JOURNALING VS. BLOGGING VS. TWITTERING, FACEBOOK & MY SPACE - All of these are various aspects of "social networking" - since we were children, we've networked with other people in various groups - today, because of the internet, our social networks are unlimited by geography... These are some common terms and what they mean...

JOURNALING - For some of people “journaling” is a great option – when you journal, you are keeping a private journal (diary or logbook) and most people decide their own format – maybe to put in an entry or two each day of what they are doing and or thinking…And remember – journal’s are private…

VS. BLOGGING - According to Wikipedia, A BLOG (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website - resembling "newsletters" usually kept up by an individual with regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or other info & graphics or videos and typically they are displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many families today create their own BLOGS to share information throught the family - they can add photo slide shows, videos, calendars with important dates to family members and much more - TIP-most families set the privacy settings at private so that only those family members invited can see what is on their blog.. Whomever established/created the BLOG can also invite others to "author articles - known as "POSTS" so that information can come from different sources...

Our class blog is: www.lhcseniorpcgeeks.blogspot.com

VS. TWITTERING
Twittering is certainly the rage – and is another social networking tool users can send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

POPULAR BLOG SITES:

• www.blogger.com
• www.thoughts.com
• www.livejournal.com
• www.xanga.com
• www.typepad.com
• www.worldpress.com
• www.diaryland.com
• www.pitas.com

Such as FACEBOOK & MYSPACE… very popular with younger people - with all social networking sites - be sure to check your settings often - as the technology changes so do the privacy setting options, making it easier for you to protect yourself and your family...

How to use a Blog

How do I use a BLOG?? this recent question from a student is one we are sure many of you may be asking..

All BLOGS are intended to be "informational" just like any newsletter you might receive. But in addition to reading the "posts-otherwise called articles" that we publish on our BLOG, you can also copy any of the "post/articles" and save them to your word processing files so you can then print them for your books, and you can comment on what we've said in a specific "post/article" - The how to's are noted below..

• To copy a post/article to be able to change the size and/or print: highlight any portion of the post/article - activate the paste command, now open or go to your word processing program and on a clean piece of paper - activate the paste command. What you had highlighted will now be n the page and you can change the font size and style and note - that you might want to change the color of the entire post/article to BLACK because most blogs use a light gray print (even though it may look black)... Once it is the way you want it, you can go to File, Save As, Open or Create the specific folder you want it saved in - remember to give it a name that will make it easy for you to find in the future.. and you can now print it off to add to your computer book...
• To comment on a "post/article" that has been written - note that beneath each "post/article", you will see the word comment - and when you left on the phrase "comment" it will take you to a dialog box, that you can then type your comments about the "post" article that you have just read...
  

January Computer Classes Begin Jan 12th

Happy New Year Everyone – Imagine – 2010!!!

My Computer classes at Mohave Community College will resume in another week – there are seats available in many of the classes, so call to reserve your spot and join us..
Call Registration 928-453-1139 ..

We have lots of wonderful classes scheduled January thru April, so sign up early to reserve your seat and bring a friend. Coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice more people in class means more questions and we all learn from questions..

The following are our January classes - many of which will be repeated in February, March & April and there are classes in other topics during those months also.. Remember-February Classes fill up quickly due to Spring Frenzy so reserve your seats early..

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-Sec 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING, 8:30-12:20PM, JAN 12 & 14 - Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions.. The following classes are all 8 hours - held in 2-Four Hr. Sessions.

BLOGGING BASICS – OUR NEW 8 HR. ENHANCED LSC080–SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 1-4:50PM, JAN 12 & 14 - Review blogging basics, “social networking” “Facebook” “Twittering” etc.. Learn to create a blog for yourself or your group, we’ll show you how, why & when to post – comments; Use templates to change designs and layouts, Add Ons: Links, Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more – great fun

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-SEC 121 WEDNESDAY MORNINGS 8:30-12:20PM Jan 13 & 20 - Intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your pc with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your pc using windows explorer; save photos to portable drives - Bring your digital camera to class

MAIL MERGE USING WORD & EXCEL LSC068- SEC 221 WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS, 1PM-4:50PM, JAN 13 & 20 - create a data list using both excel and word software learn to enter & sort data various ways; to merge data for multiple “personalized” documents such as mailing labels, other labels, envelopes or form letters..Bring an address book or contact list to class

LIST AND DATA MANAGEMENT WITH EXCEL LSC 069-SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS 1PM-4:50PM, JAN 19 & 21 - Learn to work with a spreadsheet for numbers and list management “text” (budget, contact lists for mail merges) Workbook vs. worksheet; cells, columns, rows, auto-formats; margins, grid lines, sorting numbers & data & print basics - Bring an address book or contact list to class

INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071- SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM, JAN 19 & 20 - Learn to maneuver & surf the Internet, lots of Internet tips & lingo: ISP, browser, blogger and more; when & why to use F5 & F11; understanding websites & hyperlinks, basics of email, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging &lots of great websites...

FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-SEC 124 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY MORNINGS, 8:30-12:20PM JAN 25 & 27 - Find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

PICASA PHOTO EDITING LSC100A-SEC 222 MONDAY & WEDNESDAY AFTERNOONS, 1PM-4:50PM JAN 25 & 27 - Learn to edit & print DIGITAL photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring your digital camera to class

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-SEC 121 TUESDAY & THURSDAY MORNING 8:30-12:20PM JAN 26 & 28 - Learn the basics to open, create, save documents; highlight; cut-copy-paste, set & change margins; create letters, envelopes, labels & use clip art, word art to enhance documents, create flyer's & invitations & lots of printing tips

MOVIE MAKER LSC100A-SEC 223 TUESDAY & THURSDAY AFTERNOONS, 1-4:50PM JAN 26 & 28 - Learn to create movies with your photos, including music and other special effects: transitions, titles/credits, audio tracks with your favorite music, timeline narration, and much more. This software is free with Windows XP, Media, Vista and/or the new Windows 7 operating systems… Great fun & easy to learn - Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

If you have questions about a class or topic, email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

November Computer Classes at MCC

We hope you'll join us for a class in November, before we take our break for the holidays... as always if you have questions about a particular class just email me..

EMAIL HOW TO’S – ADVANCED LSC071- 222: Thursdays, Nov 12 & 19 1pm-4:50pm,
Two 4 hour classes to enhance your basic email skills – work extensively with attachments of all types – documents, photos, videos, power point – learn to open & save, find & attach. Also learn to work with hyperlinks; learn to copy & paste to & from emails, Internet and word

BLOGGING BASICS LSC080- 121 & 122, Monday & Wednesday, Nov 16 & 18, 8:30am-12N
Two 4 hour classes What is “blogging” & “social networking” “Facebook” “Twittering” etc.. How, why & when to post – comments; Set Up Your Own Blog; Templates; Add Ons: Links, Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more

DIGITAL PHOTO EDITING W/PICASA LSC100A-123, Monday & Tuesday, Nov 16 & 17, 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hour classes where we learn to edit & print photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-122 Tuesday & Thursday, Nov 17 & 19, 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 hour classes-reviewing the basics to open, create, save documents; highlight; cut-copy-paste, set & change margins; create letters, envelopes, labels & use clip art, word art to enhance documents, create flyers & invitations & lots of printing tips –

WORD IRON-ON TRANSFER & SANTA LETTERS LSC100—122, Monday November 30th, 8:30am-12N
Fun 4 hour workshop using Word for creative projects using text, graphics, photos, word art and more) to create fun iron-on transfer for t-shirts, quilts & other fabric projects OR create letters from Santa Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)