PC Community Main Meeting
7:30 - 10 pm August 7, 2015
Calvary Baptist Church 28924 Ruus Road, Hayward California
The meeting was called to order at 7:40 pm by President Chuck Horner. From Lola Hunter at the back table, get your raffle tickets, door prize tickets, and 3” x 5” cards to write questions for discussion/answers at the end of the Meeting. Get at least one $5 raffle ticket for this raffle prize, a PNY 32 GB USB 3.0 USB drive. Also, pick up informational business cards about PCC to hand out as appropriate.
Presentation: Social Networking – Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn with Abby Stokes, via YouTube.
Many people have decided that they don't like social networking without even having tried it. Some people make make unintelligent choices and then blame the devices, the internet, or social networking. Digital natives, folks over 40, have fully developed frontal lobes. Digital natives under 20 do not yet have fully developed frontal lobes, the part of the brain that is used to exercise judgment. It's understandable that they make poor choices in social media as well as in other places.
Facebook is a website that is like a bulletin board that you carry around all the time. You can use Facebook to find about organizations and restaurants you might be interested in. For example, many restaurants offer an
Abby suggests having two separate email addresses. One for friends and family, and one for shopping, social networking etc. where your address is likely to be harvested and distributed. Yet a separate address for only for banking and financial transactions is also suggested.
When you sign up for Facebook, you need to enter a real name and personal information. If you choose to fudge your birthdate (and even your gender), be sure you remember what you said so that you can verify who you are if asked. You have choices about how you participate in Facebook and how much time you spend there. But remember, no matter how careful your privacy settings, anyone can copy anything you post and forward it anywhere.
The only way to be safe with social networking, emails, or text messaging is to ask yourself if you'd be comfortable having it posted on the outside of your front door. If you're going away for a vacation, don't post pictures and other cues that you're away from your home.
Your security is about your being your first line of defense.
Lets' move on to Twitter. You can be anyone you want to be on Twitter. On Facebook, the sharing is reciprocal and by mutual agreement. With Twitter, you can follow someone but they don't necessarily follow you, and vice versa. Twitter limits the number of characters you can use in a message; therefore there are many abbreviations. The @ marks the handle, or nickname. The hashtag, #, is used to create a conversations around a specific topic. #is part of the term.
Twitter is anonymous, it's not reciprocal, you can follow anyone you want (whether or not they care to follow you). It's fast, it's brief, it can be wide-reaching. Just because you read it in Twitter doesn't mean it's true; use your filter when reading.
Social networking is an effective way to contact companies, ask for help when a letter or email has not gotten a response. Just remember, everything you post become public.
LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals. It's about connections between job seekers, employers. It's a good place to research companies. If you're looking for a job, you must have a resume on LinkedIn. But be careful in signing up that you do not give them access to your entire email address book. Uncheck that checkmark, or email your address book and apologize.
There are several useful videos on Abby's website, AskAbbyStokes.Com. She is open to suggestions for more video topics. She is open to questions and says she's willing to answer personally.
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After the break, Treasurer George Kornbluth acknowledged renewals from Bill Huston, Jerry Kaidor, and Bob Sorensen.
Door Prizes
| Malwarebytes from IObit | Yorkman Lowe |
| iLuv bag | Lola Hunter |
| Mac Booster from IObit | Bob Dunn |
| Haier bag | Andrew Tews |
| Haier bag | Mimi Tse |
| 10 Top Brands from China bag | Mary Huston |
| IObit Driver Booster | Michael Wong |
| Phatware bag | Bill Huston |
| Club Electronics bag | George Kornbluth |
Questions:
Is there in-home PC help for seniors that is safe? Chuck suggests Hayward Adult School. Paul Cooper volunteered to help a fellow member.
Are there plans to restart the Hardware SIG? Chuck volunteered space at the Church.
Paul's computer has taken to crashing randomly and coming up at the BIOS in Russian. He solved the problem by setting the correct drive boot order. But, why?
Should we upgrade to Windows 10 right now? If a computer is more than 4 years old, it's probably not worth it.
Paul likes his Windows Phone with AT&T service. There are also many inexpensive Android phones now, with excellent data plans.
Raffle Prize
| PNY 32 GB USB 3.0 flash drive | Bayle Emlein |
The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 pm.
Thank you to everyone who helped set up tables and chairs. And an extra thank you to Michael Wong for helping with signs and George Kornbluth for setting up refreshments and cleaning up after the meeting.
The next meeting will be September 11, 2015 to accommodate the Labor Day Weekend.
Respectfully submitted,
