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

New Computer Class Series Begin Next Week-November 1st

Just a reminder that our new series will begin next Tuesday, November 1st at 9am at Union Tower I - 11th floor . This series will continue thru January 2012..

For those of you who attended the current series, please know that your seats will be held for you on the same day and time for the upcoming new series, unless you make changes with Denise...

Other than a few new students who are just beginning their classes, we will be discussing a lot of great topics that you've askedfor during this new series, including:

• Updates on changes using Internet & Email
• Helping you get comofrotable using our class and other blogs
• Reviewing Word Processing Basics, using clip art, creating labels and tables & more
• Using our Flash Drives & organizing what’s on your flash drive and in your computer folders
• Social Networking including Facebook and
• A favorite topic we’ll cover after the holidays: tips on using your new holiday toys..

If you know of someone who may be new to the world of computers (or new to the Union Tower Family) be sure to encourage them to talk to Denise and join in... It's always enjoyable to register with a friend so you have someone to motivate you to use your new skills

And of course, keeping the classes full always help to ensure the continuation of the program

For those of you at Union Tower II, next month I will schedule time in early December to review the Skype with anyone who is interested, so for those who want to join our classes can without having to drive in the cold weather.. we will work out the specific details for this in the upcoming weeks..

As always, if you have ideas or suggestions for topics that you would like us to be teaching, be sure to let us know… These are your classes and we want to be sure you are learning the skills important to you…

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.

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...