January news 2017

This class is taught by a Member from the Computer User’s group of Redding  http://cugr.apcug.org.  

Changes in the New Year for the Thursday Beyond Basics class
The Beyond Basics class will end January 19^th and a new Thursday class will be offered on Windows 10.  It will occur only on the 4^th Thursday of each month beginning January 26^th   

Classes by Instructor  Jane Quinn  Start January  10^th Tuesday at 12:30pm . It's a new class ; Computing for Seniors. It will be held on the 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd Tuesday of every month at 12:30pm.

The class material will cover usage and the basics for Smartphones, Tablets, iPads , iPhones , as well as Laptops .  The first lesson will be on terminology and resources for self-help. The 2nd week we will cover how to setup a smartphone for the first time. The 3rd week we will Connect the phone to a computer, Change the USB settings to photo transfer, Use Import command from a Photo App
And any questions brought by students. Tablets, and smartphones have similar if not identical solutions. So bring your new device and learn in class with others.
On the 4th Tuesday at 3pm - 5pm we will meet at the Redding Library in the Community Room 1100 Park Ave . 
This meeting is Open to the Public to join us , the Computer User's Group of Redding. ( facebook Group as CUGRmembers and FB Computer User's Group of Redding )
Tuesday dates at the Redding Library ; Jan 24th 3pm,  Feb 28 3pm,  Mar 28 th 3pm ,  Apr 25 3pm 

Send an email to one4cugr@gmail.com if you have questions about the class or something you’d like solved

Below is an example of what you can learn in the Tuesday class. This is a part of the Contact App  that exists on all smartphones.

How to make Speed dial work for a smartphone.

Make a speed­dial shortcut for someone you call frequently. 

This could be very important to set up for someone who is using a smartphone for the first time. It makes it super easy to call that one most important person! You should mark as “Favorites” all frequently used contacts. To do that, just open your contacts, tap “Favorites” at the top of the screen, then the + to add contacts to this Favorites screen. Even better, you can make a “widget” to make a one­tap shortcut to call someone. On this Samsung, the way to get to Widgets is to Long­Press on a blank area of the home screen. You should see an option button for Widgets, tap that and you get to a long list of possible widgets. Find the widget for Contacts and tap it, long press the button for “Direct Dial” then you will be presented with your list of contacts, select the one to be dialed. You should now see a button on your home screen for phone­calling that one person.

The  Windows 10 class  we will address everything you’d want to know about Windows 10.

4^th Thursday beginning Jan 26^th 1pm

·        Find the Control Settings

·        How to Use the Start tiles , the taskbar, and change the appearance of your desktop

·        How to use File Explorer

·        How to setup Accounts

·        How to Use the Photo App

·        How windows 10 works with your Smartphone or other devices.

·        Add Apps or remove them

 Here are some other tidbits from other sources;

How Does a Dashcam Work?

If the dashcam is running all the time, how does it store all that video? Does it use the Internet? No – you do not need an Internet connection, everything is handled directly by the phone or tablet. The video is stored on a loop. It’s recording all the time, but when it reaches the specified time limit, it starts deleting the beginning of the recording. Any time you want to keep a portion, just tap the screen to save and a specified amount of video, or still frames, will be stored in a separate file. If you’re in an accident, the accelerometer in the device alerts the app and it automatically saves that segment.

Some dashcams are now calling themselves “Black Boxes” because they can record not only the video out your windshield, but also audio, and diagnostic information from an OBD – On Board Diagnostic – device.  

  CaroO is another one that makes this claim.  

·        Platforms: Android

·        Cost: Free

Phishing – Not Hacking – Caused Leak

The recent release of so many hacked emails was a result of “spear-phishing,” a target phishing mail sent to marked individuals, 2 of whom were John Podesta, head of Hillary Clinton’s campaign & Colin Powell. Spear-phishing is an e-mail spoofing fraud attempt that targets a specific organization or person, seeking unauthorized access to confidential data.

The target gets a “security alert” from what looks like Google. “Someone has your password,” it says at the top, in a do-not-ignore-this red banner warning that someone has just tried to sign into your Google account.

The message provides realistic-looking details: the date the password was used, the IP address of the supposed culprit and a source location from which the account was accessed.

“Google stopped this sign-in attempt,” it reassures you, “but you should change your password.” Of course, there’s a button to do just that. “Change password,” the text reads, over a reassuring safety-blue background.

Most of us would click the button. That is what the 2 targets, Podesta & Powell did. It was that simple. That is why you need to be very careful on what you click within an email, even from those who you trust. Always try to look where the link takes you if you know how. Otherwise, go you the account in question directly, instead of through a link in your email. The bad guys in this situation used a shortened link (bit.ly) and forgot to make it private. Investigators could see that the Podesta link only had 2 clicks, both Podesta. It was definitely targeted.

To protect yourself from spear-phishing or phishing, try these tips. 1. Pick a strong password for your accounts and use different passwords for each account. 2. Use 2-factor authentication whenever you can. 3. Consider using security software that blocks malware in addition to blocking viruses.