Author Topic: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help  (Read 201714 times)

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #40 on: March 27, 2011, 05:34:25 PM »

Welcome to The Technophobe Reader



Cartoon used by permission of the artist

Confused about Ihpones, Ipods, Ipads, Itouch, Androids, or anything else electronic? Don't know what a "text" message is? Don't have a Nook or a Kindle and don't know the benefits of an e reader?   Feel left out of the rush of the new technology and wonder  what all the shouting is about?

Have a new Iphone,  Ipod, Ipad, Nook, Kindle,  or I headache or are considering same?

Ask your question here! Other sufferers may be able to direct you to a source for help or help with their own experience.

This discussion has no "expert" moderator, we  offer here no professional advice but we may be able to answer out of our own experience, like the cartoon above, the blind leading the blind, :)  or list places you CAN find help.

Quote
I have a cordless phone I keep in my purse



Ella, when you say "cordless" phone, are you really talking about a "cell" phone?  When I think of "cordless" it's an extra "landline" phone that uses the same number as my landline phone.

My NewYork girls were here this weekend.  They no longer have a landline phone, but they do have Skype which costs them about $30 a year.  Apparently when they get a call, the computer dings and then they talk.  I don't know.  When Judy was here at Christmastime, she put somethig on my laptop (which has a webcam) and we could talk to and see the Seattle family (my granddaughter had received a webcam for Christmas.  I'm totally clueless about how to use it and I missed my opportunity to learn because the girls left at noon (we were so busy doing other stuff.)

I've mentioned before, Sprint web captel, a captioned phone service, free for anyone, and available anywhere online, and works with any phone.  I usually use my cellphone with it, as my  landline isn't close enough to the computer.  I use it when I'm making a call I might want to save, like customer service or help lines.

Web CAPTEL

marcie

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #41 on: March 28, 2011, 11:14:17 AM »
Thanks very much, Larry, for the information about your plan. And thank you, Pedlen, for the link to the Web Captel site.

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #42 on: March 28, 2011, 11:19:27 AM »
Ella, no our cellphones are just like those of a monthly plan except we get charged for every minute we use them.  I just don't have to pay anything monthly, only when I want to add some minutes to my account (which must occur at least once a year or I lose my carryover minutes.)  I am sure that some months I don't use more than 10 minutes on calls.  I carry it in a case on my belt so have it where ever I am when I leave the house. If someone calls me on it and it is not an emergency or quick call I will ask them to let me call them right back using my house phone and explain I use a prepaid cellphone plan and I find folks are very understanding.  Here is a link that shows the different prepaid plans.  Initially we did get a phone with the plan but since then have changed phones by taking out the little sim card and putting it in a different phone.  http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/phones/prepaid.aspx  (PS, I don't sell T-Mobile or get a rebate by taking about them. :)
LarryBIG BOX

Ella Gibbons

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #43 on: March 29, 2011, 08:47:36 AM »
Thanks, Larry, for the information.  Yes, I was referring to cell phones; I don't know why I erroneously call them cordless phones which is a different thing.  

How much do you pay for each minute on that T-Mobile?  I don't know if it would pay for me to switch as I have two sisters that both live out of state and I call each of them at least twice a month if not more.  Perhaps you are familiar with two women talking on the phone?  Hahahaha  We must catch up, you know.

It was years ago when we got our first cell phone and we had a good laugh over the experience.  My husband and I went to a Verizon store to get it and the young salesman talked for at least a good 15 minutes describing each plan; we were so confused after listening to that sales pitch we walked out without buying one at all.   It took our daughter to go buy one for us for Christmas and decide on the plan.  I am smiling at the memory of how we both laughed coming out of that store.

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #44 on: March 29, 2011, 04:36:41 PM »
Ella, if you talk for a long period, as my wife does with her sister, it might not be the wise thing to do.  I usually purchase the minutes in $50 increments and get 460 minutes , which if I recall,  costs about thirteen cents a minute.  If you buy $100 worth of minutes your get 1,000 minutes plus the 15% when you have spent $100.  If you think about it and compare to what you pay on a monthly plan for the minutes used if provides a pretty good idea of which would be cheaper.  I can add minutes online in a hurry or call on the cellphone and add minutes. 
LarryBIG BOX

Ella Gibbons

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #45 on: March 29, 2011, 05:18:10 PM »
Oh, goodness, Larry, I barely made it through math class! 

Thanks for the comments.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #46 on: March 29, 2011, 05:36:47 PM »

Oh I  love this vibrant informative and truly interesting discussion. I am so pleased to see so many of you here, just in reading the posts I've learned a lot. I really think that if you have people who have had experiences with things their frank experiences mean a lot.

I have to tell you my heart also leapt up, Ella, when I saw Larry here. We here in the Books go way back with Larry, he's our original Father of the Books. :)  We are so glad to see you, Larry!  I would  say Larry taught me everything  I know about computers but that would embarrass him because I know nothing  hahaha, but truly Larry's the man. He keeps up as you can see with the latest stuff, most of which  I can't even pronounce.  And he's SOO patient, I will never forget him trying to teach me to FTP if I live to be 100. :) That was SOOO funny.

But oh there's Jane and Marcie, too. They also have to take the blame for my computer prowess. hahahaa Listen, if you've  got Larry and Jane and Marcie, Mary on the Droid, RosemaryKaye on the MacBookPro,  and all of you with your wide range of experiences, good AND bad, you can't miss. We need PatW back, because she's the missing link here,  and then we'll be perfect; there's nothing we can't handle together.

Pedln what did you decide to do on the NY Times "free" subscription?


Just how easy is it to READ what comes up on these phones and touches, etc?  I can read on the computer at 100%, but anything smaller would be difficult.

It's a strange thing. Here I sit with a giant monitor blown up so big the letters are truly gigantic.  My eyes are that bad.  But I like the IPhone's screen.  If you get a chance and are ever near an AT&T or Apple store or...does Walmart carry them? WalMart has the old ITouches and they are the same size as the I phone, I am forever getting them mixed up.   I'd look at them and see what you think.. I find I like the small screen, it's twice the size my Blackberry was, and have no problem reading it. You can turn the screen and the print defaults lengthwise too.   And if  I make a stretching motion over the screen with my fingers,   presto it's HUGE.

I am still learning it, but the joy of that is, it's so user friendly that you enjoy every step.

It IS true that the I Pad is a lot bigger. They are about 5x7 and I have to say that newspapers on them are fabulous looking. I just don't want to carry around something that big and clunky. And they can't call.

But I got USA Today free and BBC World News free and those will be nice for lots of situations. I have an APP called Where's My Car? which finds your car in the parking lot.  One does run the somewhat dangerous risk of having one's face in an IPhone and missing the curb or missing the mugger standing by, but HEY!

I have the 3 G and it works just fine for 49 bucks versus the several hundred of the 4G and the former price of the 3G. Works out here in the hinterland which no remote anything ever did before.

I have three Parcheesi games on it I absolutely love. I am a fool for that game and I am currently losing, which I don't like,  but it's just amazing what they are doing now with these automated games. Even makes the sound of the dice in the little cups.  Love it!

I have a dumb question but I want to know, if anybody here does.  I might not ask this at the Apple Store tho, I've already exposed my ignorance to them many times. I must say they are about the nicest people you'll meet, and so every experience is a good one. They are like the staff at Disney World.

Anyway, I just removed the App little symbol for  Text from my main page. I am not paying for  Text, which was extra..
 I don't know what TEXT is? How is TEXT different from email which I have also on the phone? It downloads my email automatically and I can send it right away.

Why do I want to text? What IS it?

OH and guess what ELSE it can do? I put OUR website  on the main screen!!!! It looks like a little App. There you are sitting on my main screen!  It gives you that choice!! Cool, huh?

Now if it would just pay my taxes I could enjoy the site even more. hahahaa



rosemarykaye

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #47 on: March 30, 2011, 03:08:49 AM »
Ginny, I had to think about this one, but I suppose the difference is that if you text someone, they receive the text on their phone, fairly instantly (though not always!  sometimes they turn up hours later) - whereas an email is sent to their computer, which they may well not have with them (unless they too have an i-phone that can receive emails.)  I do not have a phone that can receive emails unless I pay lots more for internet access, so I can only read emails on my computer, hence  I use texts all the time.  My husband, however, has an i-phone and can also read emails straight from that.

There are probably other aspects to this, but that's all my pea-sized brain can think of   :)

Rosemary

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #48 on: March 30, 2011, 10:16:32 AM »
Quote
Pedln what did you decide to do on the NY Times "free" subscription?

I asked my son about that, and he said companies do that all the time. "So I'm okay with that?" YES, NO PROBLEM.  So I did and was told I'd receive an email confirming.  Which I never received, but may have inadvertently deleted.  I finally found my way to my "account" page at NY Times (Judy told me they didn't make it easy to get to, she's right) and it said my subscription started 3/22/11 and that's the day I signed up, and it gave a subscription number.  So, we shall see.  At any rate, if you don't want to pay $15 every four weeks you can have 20 articles per month free.  Which means you can freely read suggestions to certain links.

 Now my problem is whether or not to sign up for Facebook.   Liz showed me hers and we spent half the morning looking at pages of several friends and family members.  My son has no "friends."  Granddaughter Lizzie allows only very select -- of which Liz and I are not.  The whole thing is very addictive.  I'm afraid it's just one more link for nosy people.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #49 on: March 30, 2011, 07:58:11 PM »
Ginny, I had to think about this one, but I suppose the difference is that if you text someone, they receive the text on their phone, fairly instantly (though not always!  sometimes they turn up hours later) - whereas an email is sent to their computer, which they may well not have with them (unless they too have an i-phone that can receive emails.)  I do not have a phone that can receive emails unless I pay lots more for internet access, so I can only read emails on my computer, hence  I use texts all the time.  My husband, however, has an i-phone and can also read emails straight from that.

Oh well of course! That makes perfect sense, you can explain to me anytime. So if you do have  email on your phone you don't need text but most people don't have email on their phones ...I see!!

Pedln, let us know how that NY  Times thing works out?  I already subscribe to the Times, I can't remember if you have to pay more or an adjusted rate to read it online, I think you do.  I haven't even read Sunday's paper yet. :) But I do like  it.
 

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #50 on: March 30, 2011, 11:06:43 PM »
Ginny, if you subscribe to the PRINT NY Times you can read it online for free, plus you can also have "Times Reader" for free.  Judy and Liz used to get the "Weekender" 3 day edition, but now subscribe only to the Sunday paper.  Supposedly they will be able to read online for free. Take a look at their FAQ.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #51 on: March 31, 2011, 01:46:18 PM »
That's good news, I'll check it out! Thank you.

A note to those of you who have gmail and an Apple product:

As some of you know I've changed my email address due to Gmail being inaccessible for  me.  Please change my email address if  you need to contact me,  that is, to gvinesc@wildblue.net, which is what I'm using now. It is  actually an old account. It works, however.

I had the Gmail account first.  I got an I phone.  Everything was wonderful. I canceled bellsouth and on that very day Gmail went down for me. First online and then on the IPHone.  It says my password or login is incorrect. Apparently there are tons of people with this problem and there is no solution.

You can elect to reset the password using the "Security Questions." The question you are asked is "temporary question." That's the question. It's  not a question, it asks:  "temporary question," so unless you recall the security question you used originally you're sunk. How would you answer this question? Temporary question_____________ fill in the answer. It's like a mad house.

There is no one to talk to or with, nobody to write. One of my phone providers DID give me the phone number of gmail and it was a woman in Ireland whose  phone rang two rings at a time and whose very cross announcement kept saying enter your...something like source code. Turned out it was for administrators, so there is a human somewhere behind it, but you can't get help.

Then you can elect to send off for another password. Here's what happens: (1) If you don't select the default email address you signed up with, for your protection you get to jump thru a million hoops. You get to fill out a long long form, list 5 people you've been corresponding with and 4 of your folders, and a million other things, and send it off.

A day later you get a cordial form automatic  letter to which you can't respond, reassuring and giving you instructions.  No password, just instructions, and you guessed it the instructions take you to the page where you can give the famous security question or you can email again, the same route,  after supplying all the info again wanted.

Around and around you go.

It's like a fun house. There are help forums and you can see quite a few people have had this problem, some of the moderators say you may never regain the email account,  and now somebody who seems to be posting from their end says there IS an issue with Apple, the I Phone and they are working on it.

I liked Gmail. I had the account for some time. Now that I have the I Phone and have canceled bellsouth,  neither password works.  I don't know which one is at fault. I had not thought of the I Phone/ Apple connection until they mentioned it in the help forums themselves. I had written the passwords  down (I've come to do that lately, there are so many) and I know they are correct, and now that account and the emails in it are  lost to me.

I guess the moral is, if you have gmail  and you have changed the original email you signed up with, be sure to change that setting the minute you cancel the account  or even before while you still can get in,  or you may never be able to access that account again.

As for me, I'll keep trying to get whatever's on gmail,  but wildblue works just fine,  and like bellsouth was, there are real people to talk to who will help. Of course Gmail is free and they are not.  The I Phone guy himself suggested changing my mail and now everything works like a charm. I hate I will never see that Gmail account or  those letters or get them back again but I would also never trust gmail again after this.

Just FYI.

JoanK

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #52 on: March 31, 2011, 03:33:48 PM »
Just marking my place.

rosemarykaye

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #53 on: March 31, 2011, 05:54:10 PM »
Ginny - I am so glad you told me this, as I have a yahoo email address but this does not work with the "mail" key on the Apple Mac.  You can still access your yahoo emails, but you have to enter them via the yahoo website, ie you can't use the shortcut that says "mail".  My husband told me that I should just set up a new g-mail address, and the only reason I haven't done so is my usual procrastination with anything technical.  now I'm glad I haven't, as all that stuff you have been through would drive me demented.  I hate these sites where you can't contact anyone and all you can find is gobbledegook.  I had enough trouble with the WH Smith website telling me my credit card had been rejected when I hadn't even entered it.

Thanks again - I will stick with yahoo (which is still free so far)

Rosemary

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #54 on: March 31, 2011, 08:25:50 PM »
Hi everyone. 

Ginny, I well remember those early days in Books and putting up the new topics every few days.  I think I didn't do a very good job of training if I didn't suggest that you keep a little notebooks with all the passwords, usernames, secret questions and answers.  I still have mine that is pretty well marked up but I still refer to occasionally, although I use a wonderful program called LastPass where I can keep all of my password information and control it with one master password.

Ginny, I am really confused as to the problem you have with your Gmail account.  I take it that when you go to the Gmail website and put in your username and password it just doesn't work anymore.  I would be lost without my Gmail account and I also use the Google online documents to keep a lot of my files.  Changing ISP's should not have anything to do with the Gmail account.

With regard to texting did I mention the program for the iPhone (iPod Touch) that is free texting.  It is called Text Free Voice and you can also make telephone calls from that app with the little microphone. 
LarryBIG BOX

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #55 on: April 01, 2011, 07:58:24 AM »
:) Larry, I'm sure you did in 1996. Note that I do write down the passwords, so that much stuck. Who knew they would not ask the question itself? That part seems to have gone in my mind, the writing of the security question itself, to the great grey beyond where so many of my brain waves have presently gone.

I've never had a problem till now. I got complacent. I took a lot of things for granted. I don't now. I hope this experience will be of some use to somebody and a warning, if nothing else:  don't be as I was, naive.

Ginny, I am really confused as to the problem you have with your Gmail account.  I take it that when you go to the Gmail website and put in your username and password it just doesn't work anymore.  I would be lost without my Gmail account and I also use the Google online documents to keep a lot of my files.  Changing ISP's should not have anything to do with the Gmail account.


I can see why, reading that post.

 hahaha

Yes it does not recognize the password.

 So everybody tells me, they keep saying it's nothing to do with the bellsouth changing. Wildblue tells me that, AT&T tells me that, Apple tells me that. You're in good technical company.

I guess the reason  I think it does have something to do with it  because that's the only thing that changed.

Get this, if you want to really be confused, I was logged in to both the Apple gmail and the online gmail server when this happened!!

Can you believe that? You can if you have an IPhone.

  I was online on the gmail server looking at the mail, through the computer and  playing a game on the I Phone. The I Phone had just downloaded 30 messages, which  it does if you are on.  And THEY are still there. I clicked on one to answer it and it said your password is wrong.

I said so much for you, I'll do it online. I turned to the monitor and hit reply.   It would not let me reply saying my password was wrong. I was IN the account and it had just downloaded mail!!

You tell me? The only thing that had changed in the last 10 minutes was bellsouth eradicated the account on the phone which they don't normally do but I insisted.

It gets better: in  the last two months I have replaced two HP harddrives, one printer (also HP) and this day o days Clipmate went down.

The difference is Clipmate (without which I would truly be dead, it has Latin headings and info back to 2004) , has somebody who will help. Turns out the blobpng files were corrupt. They told me how to get rid of them and bingo it's back.

That's the difference.


I can say that up until now I've never had the need to reference a blobpng file. I did absolutely nothing different from all the previous years with Clipmate.

Nor do I know what blobpng files  are.

Suddenly the blobpng file did not work, it had become corrupt.

And I am sure if something else goes wrong,  they could fix in a heartbeat.  It's true I was remiss in not writing down the question for gmail,  but usually they are the same questions over and over, your mother's maiden name, your first pet, etc., etc. (Tho I hit a strange one with wildblue, your childhood super hero. I didn't have a childhood super hero. The helpful phone attendant gave me the first letter). THAT was a puzzler, indeed. (Obviously I had not written that one down, intending never to use it). Mistake.

That's the difference, I got it from that, but there is no helpful phone person or anything beyond a form response at gmail. That surprised me.

Oh Larry, yes, I did see your great post on the free Text thing and that you can also make phone calls on it, that's amazing. Since I have the I Phone I don't need it and so wanted to know the difference in text, that's all you hear about. I like the sound of your LastPass! I now just put them in the  old timey (looks like a card catalog the libraries used to have) Rolodex. If the computer hackers who break into my house can wade thru an eons  year old Rolodex they  can figure out my passwords. hahahaa


Rosemary, I would never trust gmail again. I know a lot of you use it, and are perfectly happy as was I,  and have not had the first problem. If you currently use gmail, while you can, go in there and make sure you know all the security stuff and be ready because since AT&T has flooded the market with the new cheap Iphones there IS an incompatibility with Gmail which is one of the email programs the IPhone is happy to download instantly at a click for you, one of the choices on the mail page. And more of this may happen.

I lost author email addresses, which I've had since 1998 and some important (to me)  letters, but if I have to choose between any program with real help in some form and one without, hands down I'm going with the one who will respond individually.

The only reason I put this here is as a warning.  Whether or not I will prove to be a Cassandra we'll soon see.

And in other  Learn by my Pitiful Experiences Dept: the computer geek who came out said they are replacing HP hard drives (they aren't made by HP) by the score. If you get any product from HP including a printer which is new, DO take out the warranty service thing, and then extend it, on the PC,  it's cheaper (despite Consumer Reports saying you don't need it) than replacing a hard drive (if you need help to do so).   With HP you'll be glad you did.

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #56 on: April 01, 2011, 11:40:58 AM »
Yesterday the subject of the WSJ's Walt Mossberg technology  article was the new version 4 Mozilla Firefox that is now available for free download.  The article gave a pretty positive review ranking it generally favorable or superior to Google's Chrome and the new Microsoft Internet Explorer.  I went ahead and downloaded it, a decision that at first I much regretted.  Wow the look and feel was quite different from the previous 3.xx version that I have been using for the past 2 1/2 years.  I couldn't even find my bookmarks.  The Mossberg article had mentioned that its look and feel would be different but I was not prepared for the difference that left me unable to navigate to or through the internet .

To day things do look better as I have founded my bookmarks and figured out the basics of navigating with the new program. also it seems faster than the old version.  I think the chances are good that I will end up liking it.

I really have little other options .  The most likely would be the Google Chrome browser that Mossberg also rates very favorably.  I know I can't use Internet Explorer because there is an old inoperable version already on this machine that I can't remove.  Microsoft has a very complicated procedure for removing it, but it would not work for me.  The new I.E, version can not be installed until the old one is removed.  So I must use either Firefox or Chrome.  

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #57 on: April 01, 2011, 02:11:36 PM »
Harold I too must keep internet explorer on my computer as an older version - I have some old very expensive software that will  not operate with the newer versions of any browser - and so I elected to add Firefox and I have been quite satisfied - wish there was an easy way to bring over all my bookmarks but this forced me to clean them out.

Ginny your email phone escapade sounds like the saga of the century - good grief...
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

jane

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #58 on: April 01, 2011, 03:52:33 PM »
Harold, I, too, have Firefox4, and while it works OK, I'm not fond of where the Favorites, etc. are located.  I guess I'll have to see if it can be customized at all.

jane

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #59 on: April 01, 2011, 08:32:35 PM »
I have used Chrome from about the time it was made available and really like it.  You just have to get use to the layout of the various browsers since they all have about the same things just located in different arrangements.
LarryBIG BOX

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #60 on: April 02, 2011, 04:21:27 PM »
I had Chrome on the Blackberry, they recommended it when I was overseas and could not pull this website up,  it and it was fast. We are finding that Firefox seems to be very fast on this site, Jane's the one who told me about it. I see a huge difference in it and IE.

I do notice some differences in Firefox4, but the customization of Firefox is something I have become addicted to, as I write this I have bright yellow daffodils  on top of the page and pretty green stalks below the page. Very bright and spring like. I had Christmas decorations in December and snow in January. I'm addicted, it's so colorful.

Barbara, yes, last week was quite the  experience. Happily it's over.

I keep thinking about Harold and his remarks on the fast thumb typing  he saw demonstrated. I swear my oldest can type on  his Blackberry as fast as I can on a keyboard. I think of this while painstakingly picking out letter by letter on the IPhone,  because if you have big hands the Iphone or I Touch might cause you to make more mistakes than the I Pad. I still like it. I like the sounds it makes when you type just as if you were typing a real typewriter. I'm hooked. :)

We live in such a brave new world, technology wise. I am amazed that even at my age I can do so many things I want to with the IPhone. Now I have a new APP on it which synchronizes all my travel reservations, all you have to do is put in the flight number and it enters everything in. Should there be an alert or a delay, it notifies you. (Should you want to know about the subway system in London I can tell you  every 15 minutes. hahaaha)

Absolutely love it and am so glad we here are keeping up with the new  things out there.

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #61 on: April 04, 2011, 12:14:56 AM »
Learned something new today. A young cousin and her family drove up from Ga yesterday. He has an ipad which they used to keep track of where they were on their journey. She said "we'd pull in behind a truck and get online." apparently most truckers are wired these days and you can piggy- back on their wifi while traveling!?!..... Jean

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #62 on: April 04, 2011, 10:59:01 AM »
I have a 2 year old version of Microsoft Chrome on my desktop.  I downloaded it after I had already started using Firefox 3.xx.  I too was impressed by its speed, but Firefox seemed fast enough; I liked its look and feel and I understood its navigation techniques so I never used Chrome.  Mossberg in his last week's wsj article also rates the new Chrome very favorably (even better than Firefox 4.0).  I think I will download Chrome  for a look.

Hey Ginny one thing seniorlearn techies might do to make the Nook more friendly to seniorlearn browsing is to relocate the amazon.com links from their present position quite close to the left margin all the way to the right margin.  In its present position near the left margin all the screen area to the right and below the link is interactive.  The slightest touch anywhere on about 85% of the touch screen will immediately switch the screen to amazon.com.  It would seem that if the link were against the right margin only 5 % of the screen would be effected.  I think this much of the screen could be avoided.  

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #63 on: April 04, 2011, 11:15:15 AM »
Mabel, that is interesting.  I had no idea that 18-wheelers had WiFi.  Also I'm surprised that in is open to piggyback access  without a a security password.  The more expensive I-Pads include 4-G access which requires an AT&T or Verizon contract to use but would provide internet access most anywhere.  

BarbStAubrey

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #64 on: April 04, 2011, 11:42:34 AM »
"18-wheelers had WiFi" a moving Starbucks without the coffee??
“A man should hear a little music, read a little poetry, and see a fine picture every day of his life, in order that worldly cares may not obliterate the sense of the beautiful which God has implanted in the human soul.” ~ Goethe

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #65 on: April 04, 2011, 04:26:19 PM »
Barbara,    :-X

All this new technology.  Has anyone seen one of these new combination monitor/TVs.

From my brother's email .    .     .   .

 
Quote
My old monitor  failed. Mark suggested that I get a combination monitor and TV. I didn't know they made such devices.

Went to Fry's and got a 23" (diagonal) monitor/TV by LG. View-wise, it's like sitting in the front row at the movies. Now I can flip from PC to TV and back(from e-mail to Law and Order and back) just by hitting a button on the remote.

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #66 on: April 04, 2011, 10:12:42 PM »
 Amazing!

rosemarykaye

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #67 on: April 05, 2011, 03:54:50 AM »
That really is amazing - although in our house that would mean buying 5 new TVs   :D

Rosemary

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #68 on: April 05, 2011, 11:00:22 AM »
In searching for more info about a tv/pc monitor, I found a how-to article about using a special "box" to turn a PC monitor into a TV monitor at http://www.cnet.com/1990-7387_1-6341848-2.html?tag=dh;dh_m

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #69 on: April 05, 2011, 12:18:12 PM »
I had my Dell17 inch notebook Media computer purchased in 2006.  It had an external TV tuner and used the Window XP Media center software.  It would record TV broadcasts off air and store the program on the hard disk drive for future transfer to DVD.  It made extremely good near HD DVDs.  I still ever so often run some of my now 4 year old off air symphony recordings for a real visual and audio treat.

I used the past tense in the above paragraph because alas the Dell notebook fell to a careless cup of coffee that I spilled over it last month.  It would take some 4 plus hours to burn a 2- hour DVD but the product was truly approaching High definition quality.

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #70 on: April 05, 2011, 02:34:15 PM »
Our pc is almost full and apparently has viruses that we can't clear. It at least 8 yrs old, so as i write, my DH is at Staples buying a new one. They are so much cheaper than they were when we bought the first three over the last 30 yrs. I'm writing on my ipad, since he took the pc to transfer files. I'm so dumb abt these things that i didn't know i could use the ipad if the pc is undone. Guess as long as the web is coming to the router i can keep working on the ipad.?!? ..... Jean

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #71 on: April 05, 2011, 04:29:28 PM »
I read that article Marcie.  Interesting.  From what you and Harold say, it doesn't like that combo monitor/TV is anything new.  Harold, could you play recorded TV right from your hard drive or did you have to put it on a DVD?  Sounds like that might be one way to get a DVR.

You can't find a DVR to buy and I don't want to pay the cable company megabucks just for the privilege of recording a TV program.  Just looking ahead to when the VCR dies.

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #72 on: April 05, 2011, 07:23:26 PM »
Pedin, yes I could play back the recording immediately after the recording was completed from the hard drive.  Of course it was most desirable to make the DVD so it could be deleted from the hard drive.  The 2006 hard drive was measured in gigabytes but a much lower number that hard drives today, meaning it was necessary to make the DVD so the file on the hard drive could be erased to make room for others.  

I now have a DVD player/recorder that records directly from the TV.  Again the new DVD can be played immediately after completion from that devise.  In order to play it on other DVD players it is necessary to go through a simple finalizing operation that closes the Disk for other recording and makes it playaable on other players.  .  

pedln

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #73 on: April 05, 2011, 08:27:02 PM »
Harold, how many times can you record on one disc?

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #74 on: April 06, 2011, 10:11:28 AM »
Pedin:  The disks I have been using I don't believe can be add to or written over at least not after I go through the finalizing routine that makes them playable on other players. 

ANNIE

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #75 on: April 12, 2011, 10:41:13 PM »
Before I tell my latest tech problem or problems, I must say----HELLO LARRY HANNA!Its so great to have you posting again with us.  Its been too long.  Hope you are making this a habit.  Is your wife still reading all those quilting magazines that I sent to her?? Hahaha!

Ginny, what a great idea!  I haven't had much time to be on my MacBookPro lately but I just finshed reading all of the posts and I can certainly connect with them.  Seems we all have our technical problems but I love the sense of humor that everyone has about all this stuff that has invaded our lives like gangbusters!  Its sometimes overwhelming to all of us but now we have company!

I have an IpodTouch which I am not too sure about. It seems to have its problems.  I miss having my link bar at the top and the Aps.one at the bottom that is always there on my laptop.  I also am not too good at texting but am trying the free text site that Larry mentioned. I have lost my connection to it because I forgot to text every 25 days and
THEN
Yahoo email decided to better their email program and now they take away any post that they think I am done with it because I read it; plus the check box tells me I have no unread email in my box when there is a bunch in there for me to deal with.  I am afraid not to deal with each one as I read it, because Yahoo is going to remove it from the box as soon as i go to the next one and they haven't revealed where they are holding it.

Now, having said that, because I have the Apple mail program which I cannot rid myself of, all that lost mail can be found there.  In fact, in that program, I can't get rid of anything. Nor can I send any mail from that program with any promise of it arriving where i have tried to send it!
I know, look at your preferences, but I did!  And they are all correct according to each program.  And, to make this even more fun,  Yahoo has decided to place these huge unremovable ads right in the middle of my mail display and its can't be removed.  You can slide it over to the far right to hide for the time being.
 
Have any of these things been happening to anyone here?
 
OH, somewhere in my Password book, I have the telephone 800 for Yahoo and I have talked to them.  That was when I had them cancel the Yahoo Plus that I was paying for and not getting anything for my money.  Hmmmmmm, maybe this is payback time for Annie!! Nothing would surprise me anymore!!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

rosemarykaye

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #76 on: April 13, 2011, 02:13:13 AM »
Hi Annie - I have a MacBook Pro but not an i-pod.  Are these problems occurring with the MacBook or the i-pod?  I have a yahoo mail a/c (free) on the MacBook and yahoo have not so far removed any messages - although i do have to put up with annoying waits while some of their mindless adverts play (notably the especially mindless Jackpot thing).  I do also find that the message counter is unreliable - sometimes it says you have no messages, then when you open the inbox you have several.

I was going to set up the Apple mail account, as there are some things you can't do with the yahoo one, but someone - I think it may have been Ginny?- posted on here about the problems they had been having with that, so I thought better of it.

Sorry, that is not much help, but I thought I would share my experiences.

Rosemary

ANNIE

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #77 on: April 13, 2011, 09:50:55 AM »
Hi Rosemary,
My problems are happening on my MacBook Pro and probably on the IpodTouch,too.  I don't use my yahoo.com very often on it.
As to the adverts, why are we getting them at all if we are blocking all popups in our preferences?  Anybody know?  And its more than a long wait---they just won't go away!  So I slide them over to the right, almost off the page and try to read around them but sometimes can't make sense of the emails.  I was going to try gmail but after reading of the Apple owners' problems with that, I decided not to complete the forms for that.  Its still waiting for me to finish--its been two weeks!
Why am I texting or learning to text??  My grans who live here in downtown Gahanna don't and won't use their email ever again since they go their own phones on which they do nothing but text or talk.  Even their parents text most of the time. Its the pits!
"No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each other's worth." Robert Southey

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #78 on: April 13, 2011, 05:27:14 PM »
Two weeks ago I said here that I was going to download the current Google Chrome browser package to compare it with the New Firefox that I was using then.  I noted then that based on a previous 2 year old comparison  I doubted that I would find it better than Firefox.  Well I was wrong and I have been using Chrome ever since.  I really think it is materially faster than Firefox.  Also I had no trouble in navigating through the Web with it or with saving my bookmark that are are easily accessible when needed.  In total I like it and plan to use it until something better comes along.

rosemarykaye

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #79 on: April 14, 2011, 01:50:57 AM »
Adoannie - yes, it's the same here, the only way my teenagers and their friends communicate is (a) in grunts (esp. boys) and (b) by text. 

Actually no, they also IM on Facebook, which is a way of having an instant conversation if you are both on line and on Facebook - it's a bit weird (at least to me), as a line of text suddenly appears, you answer (and sometimes while I am still composing the answer, the rest of the first message appears because you can't tell if they have finished or not).

When they get bored, they just disappear - very like life really!

The only people I know who still email are all 40+.  My son sees it as the kind of effort we maybe used to feel we were obliged to put in to write Christmas thank you letters.

Posting a real handwritten letter is such an oddity to Freddie that, when he had to post a cheque to us the other day, he actually phoned to see if it had arrived - when I said no and asked him when he had posted it, he replied "This morning - but I sent it first class"!

I still prefer email, but most of all I prefer handwritten letters, which I still do write, and love to receive.

Rosemary