Information Technology

The IT Group meets formally on a monthly basis and informally whenever members wish to discuss matters.

Meetings are chaired by the Group Leader covering a wide range of subjects, including Presentations, Question and Answer and Open discussions with an Agenda circulated in advance.

Recent subjects include:

  • Cyber fraud
  • Broadband Costs
  • Photography
  • Movie Making
  • Banking
  • Access to Digitised Mapping (including use of our extensive archive of digitised walking maps)
  • Performance/ experience of desk tops, laptops, tablets, smart phones and, ancillaries.

Recently the group has expanded its interests into some of the non-computer electronic devices that are now part of our lives such as smart phones, dash cameras, TV sound systems and Sat Navs.

Regular notes will be added to this page to help members with relevant issues.

Antivirus Software Advice

Antivirus

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Age Concern Spam Awareness Bulletins

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Age Concern scams-awareness-update-bulletin Issue 40 July 2024

IT GROUP REPORT FOR 2023

There were nine meetings of the IT group in 2023. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month before the normal Club meeting. There were no IT meetings in June, September and December. At the end of 2023 there were 19 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 5 and 10.

I was unable to lead the meetings in June and September, but to compensate I included some IT advice in the emails cancelling the meetings. The start of the December Club meeting was brought forward to 10.00 which made it impractical to fit in an IT meeting beforehand.

Topics covered at the meetings in 2022 included:

how to cope with the monthly updates to Microsoft Windows; how to transfer the email address book (contacts list) from an old computer to a new one; how to read Apple format documents on a Windows computer; potential problems in selling cars online; how to connect printers to a computer or smartphone by Wi-Fi; problems raised by the forthcoming switch-off of 3G and 2G mobile phone networks; the effect of inflation-linked increases in broadband and mobile phone tariffs; advance warning of the April 2023 test of a new Government system of alerting people of imminent danger by sending a simultaneous alarm by text to all tablets/mobiles; how to avoid  a proposed price increase for Virgin broadband by telephoning the company; removing unwanted programs (apps) from a new computer or smartphone; use of a battery pack to back up a mobile phone; warning of a scam in which an apparent friend requests help in obtaining gift cards for a relative; advice to use ‘blind copy’ (bcc) to send emails to multiple recipients; advice to use ‘mobile data’ (3G, 4G or 5G) rather than public WiFi to carry out financial transactions by smartphone when away from home; demonstration of useful new features in Microsoft Windows 11; how to use the ‘print screen’ (prt sc) key to quickly capture information from the computer screen; the advantages and disadvantages of ‘QR codes’; an explanation of different sizes and aspects of images in PowerPoint presentations; annual costs of charging battery equipment and leaving mains equipment on standby.

The aim of the IT Group is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members in the half-hour sessions, and suggestions for topics are always welcome. Discussions are summarised in the minutes of the main Club meeting.

Jim Flett, IT Group Secretary, December 2023

IT GROUP REPORT 2022

There were nine meetings of the IT group in 2022. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month before the normal Club meeting. There were no IT meetings in January, August and October. At the end of 2022 there were 20 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 4 and 10. I am grateful to Mike Hargreaves for deputising for me at the February meeting, and to Derek Empson for guidance on the use of Microsoft Excel®.

The January Club meeting was an IT event in itself, in that the meeting was held at Mere, but was also transmitted on Zoom. The speaker gave his talk on Zoom; some members attended at Mere and some members participated in the meeting on Zoom.

Topics covered at the meetings in 2022 included:

high-capacity digital storage for data and images; fraud issues and unsolicited emails; digitising of transparencies; on-line and smart phone banking; how to set up  the Club projector; the need to record passwords or their location in wills; the wisdom of using the Russian “Kaspersky” anti-virus program following the invasion of Ukraine; the pilot scheme to combat email/telephone call scams by calling your bank on 159; the “hackability” of internet-linked home devices; new digital ticketing systems for large venues; how to do calculations in Microsoft Excel® spreadsheets; how to prevent automatic links between events mentioned in Google Mail messages and Google Calendar; how to deal with accumulated dust in elderly computers; useful features of the Gmail email program; the financial benefits of “ink tank” printers over cartridge inkjet printers; use of dictation in composing documents in iPads and Microsoft Word®; the pros and cons of laptop versus desktop computers; how to prevent the unwanted diversion of genuine emails to “spam”; use of the “WeTransfer” program for sending large files over the internet by email.

The aim of the IT Group is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members in the half-hour sessions, and suggestions for topics are always welcome. Notes of some of the presentations are uploaded to the Rex Probus website.

Jim Flett, IT Group Secretary, December 2022

IT GROUP REPORT 2021

There were 12 meetings of the IT group in 2021. Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month before the normal Club meeting. Between January and July they were held online on Zoom because of Covid-19 restrictions, but from August onwards they were resumed at Mere and Tabley Community Club. At the end of 2021 there were 20 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 6 and 13.

Topics covered in 2021 were as follows:

Microsoft Windows operating systems and updates (including release of Windows 11); smart speakers (e.g. Alexa) and their applications; spam emails and phone calls; scam and phishing awareness; online meetings using Zoom; coping with printer failures; use of “digital wallets” for banking and payment; online passport renewal; missing channels on smart TVs; smart watches; satellite navigation (“SatNavs” for cars); email faults in Microsoft Outlook;  smartphones, including use of a smartphone in an emergency situation; working with two screens simultaneously; backing up data; choice of desktop or laptop computers; improving broadband signal in the home; the relative merits of different internet browsers; how to access Facebook; laptops slowing with age; faulty keyboards; how to remove unwanted files from hard drives.

The aim is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members, and suggestions for topics are always welcome. Notes of some of the presentations are uploaded to the Rex Probus website.

Jim Flett, IT Group Secretary

IT GROUP REPORT FOR 2020

There were 7 meetings of the group in 2020. Meetings were held at 9.15 at Mere and Tabley Community Club on the morning of the first Rex Club meetings in February and March. Meetings between April and July were cancelled because of Covid-19 restrictions, but were resumed in August using Zoom computer software on what would have been the normal meeting days. At the end of 2020 there were 22 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 6 and 14.

Topics covered in 2020 were as follows:

Microsoft Windows operating systems; spam emails and phone calls; file storage in the cloud; passport renewal online; Virtual Private Networks to improve computer security; online meetings using Zoom; broadband signal in the home; staying secure online (based on advice from Which? magazine); scam awareness; printer ink prices; linking IT devices (smartphones, personal computers and tablets – do we need to pay for more than one processor?); how to create strong passwords; the relative merits of different internet browsers.

The aim is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members, and suggestions for topics are always welcome. Notes of some of the presentations are uploaded to the Rex Probus website.

Jim Flett

IT Group Secretary

IT GROUP REPORT FOR 2019

There were 12 meetings of the group in 2019, held at 9.15 at Mere and Tabley Community Club on the morning of the first Rex Club meeting in each month. At the end of 2019 there were 23 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 10 and 14.

Topics covered in 2019 were as follows:
Wifi in the home, the new Mere and Tabley Community Club’s projector, the avalanche of digital information reaching us, new security measures for credit cards etc., internet fraud, applications (“Apps”), use of “bcc” (blind copy) for group mailings, cost of broadband services, mapping systems, computer operating systems (e.g. Microsoft Windows 10 updates), defragmentation, digital home security systems, smart meters, Ordnance Survey, passwords, computer privacy and surveillance (cookies and advertising).

The aim is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members, and suggestions for topics are always welcome. Notes of some of the presentations are now uploaded to the Rex Probus website.

Online Privacy and Surveillance Capitalism Notes compiled by Jim Flett 12th Dec 2019

Privacy

Click “Privacy” link.

SPAM Attacks – Notes compiled by Jim Flett – 22nd Nov 2019.

Spam Attacks

Click “Spam Attacks” link.

Windows 10 Update – Notes compiled by Jim Flett 16th Nov 2019

Windows Update Bulletin

Click “Windows Update Bulletin” link.

Password Management – Screen grabs from Jim Flett presentation 14th Nov 2019.

Passwords

Click “Passwords” link.

Examples of Broadband Costs – submitted by members.

Broadband costs 

Click on “Broadband Costs” link.

USEFUL MEDIA TO PROTECT FROM FRAUDULENT COMMUNICATIONS

IF YOU HAVE BEEN A VICTIM OF WHAT YOU MAY THINK IS FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY OR WISH TO VIEW THE LATES SCAMS VISIT:- [click on link]

ACTION FRAUD

USEFUL VIDEOS

IT Group Report for 2018

There were 12 meetings of the group in 2018, held at 9.15 at Mere and Tabley Community Club on the morning of the first Rex Club meeting in each month. At the end of 2018 there were 19 Club members on the distribution list for the emails notifying the topic for each meeting. Attendance at the meetings fluctuated between 12 and 20.

Topics covered in 2018 were as follows:

Satellite navigation (SatNav) systems for cars; Dashboard cameras (DashCams) for cars; TV catch-up systems; Threats to data security on phones and computers; File transfer including backup and restore; Aspects of Microsoft Windows 10; Real-time tracking of planes, trains, ships, traffic and power supplies; Telephone scams and online fraud; An online system comparing old and new maps; Members’ questions and answers; Care of rechargeable batteries; Regular backup, crisis recovery and current scams.

The aim is to stimulate sharing of experience through discussion. Many useful ideas come forward from the members, and suggestions for topics are always welcome.

Jim Flett