Author Topic: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help  (Read 213643 times)

maryz

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #560 on: July 29, 2012, 05:27:01 PM »

Welcome to The Technophobe Reader




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 experiences, so ask or comment  away!




Joan, I only turn my wifi on when I'm downloading.  No reason to otherwise.
"When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just learn how to go on without them. But always keep them safely tucked in your heart."

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #561 on: July 29, 2012, 07:46:04 PM »
Because it takes so long to browse through the books via the Kindle wifi, I almost always browse and order online and then turn my Kindle on to download either while I am browsing or immediately after. If the Kindle isn't on when I order a book, it is in the que and downloads when I do connect.

maryz

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #562 on: July 29, 2012, 08:37:46 PM »
That's what I do, too, Frybabe.
"When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just learn how to go on without them. But always keep them safely tucked in your heart."

HaroldArnold

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #563 on: July 30, 2012, 11:22:33 AM »
Would someone give an instructions in how to use the spell check facility when typing a seniorlearn post.  It sure don't work on this new window7 HP notebbbook.  In fact if one tries to use it after typing a post, it results in immediate loss of the intended post.

jane

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #564 on: July 30, 2012, 12:14:13 PM »
I just tried it with my Dell Win 7 laptop. I typed into the reply box (quick reply actually) and then misspelled a couple words.  I clicked on spell check and it found my words, I changed them and clicked on post.

My post did not leave during any of this spell checking.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #565 on: August 10, 2012, 07:07:48 AM »
There was a mention in the Library of how to make an app of Senior Learn. In case you missed it, here's how:


Go to http://www.seniorlearn.org

Look  on the top row for what now appears to be a page symbol with an arrow curving out of it




Click on it and you get a drop down  menu as shown

Click on Add to Home Screen if that's what  you want

Voila!~



LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #566 on: August 10, 2012, 10:13:26 AM »
Ginny, thanks for the tip.  I had never noticed that as something I could do as would just set a bookmark but with this you don't need to bookmark as that is what the shortcut is.
LarryBIG BOX

JoanP

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #567 on: August 10, 2012, 12:01:26 PM »
Ginny, Larry, the directions above look as easy as can be...but what if I don'[t see any of the icons in front of the browser window that I see in the directions...no open book, no  page symbol with an arrow curving out of it nothing to reach that drop down window.  Do you think they appear on a tool bar that I don't have open?  Can you think of anything I can do to find that drop down window with the "Add to Home screen"  option?  Thanks!  Hate to be a problem...

Wait -are you talking about looking for the symbols on the iphone or ipad - and not the computer?  Let me go try that!

Did it!  On ipad and iphone!  So cool!  Thanks!


maryz

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #568 on: August 10, 2012, 02:35:30 PM »
Thanks, Ginny, et al.  I haven't done it yet, but I've at least found it, and it's on my list of things to bookmark.  Lots to do and still to learn.
"When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just learn how to go on without them. But always keep them safely tucked in your heart."

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #569 on: August 10, 2012, 06:09:00 PM »
Right, absolutely right, and Steph called me on the name app in the Library, it's not an app, but it's nifty, isn't it? :)

JoanP

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #570 on: August 10, 2012, 06:27:31 PM »
I then created an app to my library account.  No stopping me now!

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #571 on: August 10, 2012, 06:32:12 PM »
hahaha :)

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #572 on: August 25, 2012, 10:42:22 AM »
I'm hearing a lot about the new Ipad3. The most interesting thing I've heard is the microphone. Like the Dragon Dictation, it will type your words. Unlike the Dragon, it would type the words wherever the keyboard comes up, so I'm told.

If that's true, being the execrable typist I am, I really want one. Does anybody out there have one yet?

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #573 on: August 25, 2012, 10:45:33 AM »
The new Firefox (or I blame the new Firefox) is doing things I'm not crazy about. I have clicked I don't want ads, but I am getting all kinds of popups that I've won something, screaming audios CONGRATULAIONS, etc., and new windows opening when I haven't done anything.

It's happening here, too, and I know these are not from us.

Sometimes I get warnings the "script" is holding things up, do I want to cancel the "script?" I have no idea what it's talking about.

Last night one too many of these ads crashed the entire computer, froze it up. It would come on but nothing appeared on the monitor.  If my youngest hadn't been here saying that happens to me at work, let's try this, I'd probably not be here except by ipad.

Is anybody else having this issue with the newest Firefox and if so, can you recommend how to get rid of it?


Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #574 on: August 25, 2012, 12:27:46 PM »
I've got the latest Firefox (14.0.1) and have no problems with it, Ginny. It almost sounds like you got some kind of malware that installed itself. Of course, I also have the Better Privacy and Adblock Plus add-ons installed. Recently I also added DoNotTrackThis to my arsenal.  All are freebie addons found on the Firefox/Mozilla download site.

And yes, go ahead and cancel the script. Sometimes that has to do with the ads that try to popup.

I assume you have an antivirus program. Run that and if it has a boot sector scan feature, do that too. The boot sector scan runs the next time you start up the machine. It runs before the Windows sign on.

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #575 on: August 25, 2012, 12:36:02 PM »
Oh, another great utility program to download is Secunia PSI. It keeps track of your programs and lets you know when something is out of date. Mine is set to automatically update what it can, it schedules others for update, and it lets me know when I program is no longer supported (end of life).

Make sure your Adobe Flash Player and  and Shockwave Player are up to date. Also, some Java script programs will give you script errors if you are not up to date on that.

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #576 on: August 25, 2012, 01:25:18 PM »
Has anybody bought a refurbished ipad? Since they are sold by Apple, i'm sure they are good. My son and dil want to get one for grandson.

Jean

jane

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #577 on: August 25, 2012, 06:27:12 PM »
I'm not having that problem with Firefox, and we have the IPAD 3 that we bought for my husband two weeks ago.   It's ideal for him.  He does email and surfs for info on the net. Period.  He doesn't keep folders of stuff, etc.

He can dictate his emails.  Names are the hardest thing it seems for it to get correct.  You say the punctuation you want as well.

You can also use the voice thing for notes, etc.

Very handy for those who are not touch typists.  You can, of course, manually make any corrections that are needed.

jane

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #578 on: August 26, 2012, 09:48:49 AM »
I also have the iPad 3 and have used the dictation sparingly.  There is a Dragon app that I have but haven't really used as I like to type.  However, my friend, using the dictation all the time and it works well for him.  I think you can actually train it to your voice.  I also have used the Secunia program for a long time and it does work very well.

Jean, I would think the refurbished iPad would work well. 
LarryBIG BOX

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #579 on: August 27, 2012, 01:52:43 PM »
Thank you all for the great advice, definitely appreciated.

No I don't have malware, Frybabe, and have a good anti virus program,  but I appreciate hearing about those programs like Secunia PSI. They sound interesting. There is a place you can turn off the pop up ads in Firefox 14.1 but I can't find it, they keep referring to it on the internet but I can't seem to find it. Very annoying even tho I HAVE the don't allow pop ups box checked already.

Jane and Larry, thank you for the info on the Ipad3.  Is there any heating problem like there was with 2? Do you find it overheats and how is the battery?

I love the Ipad I have,  and am going to give it to my grandson who wants one for Christmas and get the Ipad3, because the very idea of it typing for me is just beyond super. I type so much (and so poorly) I've gotten to where I can barely write a note in pen to anybody, my handwriting is absolutely unreadable. Kind of like a maiden aunt in our family years ago whose letters were much anticipated and discussed even tho it was almost impossible to make out what she'd actually said, much fun trying to figure it out. My hand  (as they used to call handwriting) is the same.

We've gained so much technically and lost so much in the area of communication.

Is the 3 the same size and is it heavier? I may go look at them tomorrow at the Apple Store in Greenville.

Larry what fantastic things are you doing on  your new Ipad? I know you are doing something interesting. I love the games but play a computer instead of a live person, tho I have been on trains where people played each other, both on their own devices, with great hilarity.

Jean, are the refurbished ones a lot cheaper?




mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #580 on: August 27, 2012, 02:17:47 PM »
Yes, $399 and $499, depending on features.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #581 on: August 27, 2012, 05:06:46 PM »
That's quite a difference!

I restored Firefox to its original settings. It was taking almost one word in every sentence and underlining it twice. When the  cursor passed over the word a pop up, usually a loud one, would appear.

If you clicked on this link which was not one, you'd open in the pop up's website. I have no idea how this happened. I've also lost my colorful banner on top but I think I'll leave it off a while and see if this stays.

Can't imagine what that was but it's not there now.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #582 on: August 27, 2012, 05:15:44 PM »
Apparently it's a known problem. It was raised on Firefox's help forums.



Quote
Did you guys put Text Enhance in the Firefox browser?

I now have really annoying green underlined text with pop ups all over the place, did you guys put this into the browser? i didn't want such a stupid annoying thing. how is this supposed to enhance firefox?



Quote
remove toolbar that is installed by Vuzedownload software. and all undeline text disappears :-)


Quote
I can't see how to delete that toolbar. None of my toolbars refer to Vuzedownload software. Any advice on how to find which toolbar to delete? --Sorry by the way if I'm asking an obvious question

David



this conversation and a lot like it occur on :

http://support.mozilla.org/en-US/questions/871383#answer-242947



This is recommended as a very complicated set of solutions:


https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/troubleshoot-extensions-themes-to-fix-problems?redirectlocale=en-US&redirectslug=Troubleshooting+extensions+and+themes

Maybe this will help somebody along the way, it's maddening, it really is.

There is an opt out page as well which I just did for good measure:

http://optout.textsrv.com/optout.php

Frybabe was right, too, one of the suggestions is to scan for malware.




LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #583 on: August 28, 2012, 12:22:44 PM »
Ginny, I have had no problem with the iPad 3 overheating.  It does get warm as has a very large battery but not a problem, especially since I have it in a cover.  It runs 6 to 8 hours without a charge or longer depending on what you are doing.  I always recharge it every night as I do my smart phone.  I believe there will be a new iPad out before Christmas, perhaps next month.  I don't know how they can make the device any better than it is and it soon will have Siri available on it as will get the new operating system that will be on the new iPad.
LarryBIG BOX

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #584 on: August 28, 2012, 12:34:14 PM »
Ditto what Larry said, Ginny.

jane

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #585 on: August 28, 2012, 12:35:47 PM »
I've also heard that a new, smaller IPAD is due out soon...maybe this is the same one Larry is speaking of. 

Ray's IPAD3 hasn't overheated.  He did buy a new case (not cover) that Apple brought out in the last month.  We had a friend who had grabbed his by the magnetic cover, and it slipped out, crashed into the corner of a coffee table and the glass shattered.    The new case holds the IPAD in it and has the folding magnetic cover that turns the IPAD off when it's closed, opens it when you open the cover.

jane

maryz

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #586 on: August 28, 2012, 03:21:54 PM »
Jean, our daughter got a refurb iPad 1, and loves it.  Doesn't have all the bells and whistles, but does what she wants.
"When someone you love dies, you never quite get over it.  You just learn how to go on without them. But always keep them safely tucked in your heart."

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #587 on: August 28, 2012, 05:27:54 PM »
Thnx for the info Mary.

Hope all of you in the Miss area are doing o.k.

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #588 on: August 29, 2012, 08:48:24 AM »
This just in from Kim Kommando's newsletter: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2012/08/28/unpatched-java-exploit-spreads-like-wildfire/

Because there isn't a fix for this malware secuity flaw yet, I've just removed the JRE7 from my computer as recommended. JRE6 is not affected.

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #589 on: August 29, 2012, 11:38:36 AM »
Thank you, Jane, and Larry and Jean. I think I'll wait till nearer Christmas and see what's coming out then also, I'm glad to know about these things and the battery.

I guess I have Ipad2. I am confused over the numbering system.

Thank you  Frybabe, that was scary, I ran to look and I have 6, thank goodness for not upgrading like I should. hahahaa

I went to the default firefox and lost my pretty heading (can't recall the word they use so you can customize the top of firefox, I had daffodils), but there's another one there which seems blueish (which I like) and which has what appear to be blobs of pink flowers, but it's very hard to see. But the bookmarks line is now legible so I think I'll leave it. Is this some kind of seasonal thing put out by Firefox? I didn't choose it.

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #590 on: August 29, 2012, 02:52:58 PM »
Persona, Ginny. There are tons of them, but they aren't always compatible with the latest and greatest Firefox, which I am told has just released 15. Sigh, I just updated to 14 a few weeks ago.  Lost my Cool Iris add-on because it wasn't compatible with 14; don't know if they ever updated it.  I haven't checked out 15 yet.

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #591 on: August 30, 2012, 07:57:44 AM »
Here is another article from Kim Kommando about the malware and Java7. This one gives some instructions on how to find and get rid of or disable the Java 7 (JRE7) if you have it. Includes Mac OS.

http://www.komando.com/tips/index.aspx?id=13191&utm_medium=nl&utm_source=notd&utm_content=2012-08-30-article&utm_campaign=end-b

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #592 on: September 01, 2012, 08:50:18 AM »
Wow. Frybabe, you seem really up on this stuff. Would you know what an AMD Catalyst is?

I keep getting prompted to upgrade from 11.5 to 12.8. I don't know what it IS, and I would prefer not to implement something that was causing some of the problems I have.

Right now I have a strange problem about the going to sleep mode thing. It won't wake up. Nothing you do causes it to come back.

If I then turn it off completely, make it shut down, wait a bit and restart it, even if I unplug it, it returns to the page I was on. That is, instead of opening as it normally does, it opens in full prior operation, opening web pages and email pages, and not the starter page.  Sometimes does not want to start back at all and does not: blank screen.

 I am not sure what's going on, does this sound like something anybody has going on or does anybody have any advice on this?

LarryHanna

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #593 on: September 01, 2012, 09:21:50 AM »
Ginny, I did a quick Google search on the AMD Catalyst and found a lot of information.  You might find this link helpful:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Catalyst  It appears there is nothing to be afraid of as it is just updating the driver on the video card you have in your computer.
LarryBIG BOX

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #594 on: September 01, 2012, 10:04:22 AM »
Ginny, I had a similar problem with a computer years ago. I don't remember if I ever got it fixed. Seems rather common.

I found this eHow article which addresses sleep mode problems. I don't know how helpful it will be. It mentions a key with a half-moon on it. I never heard of such a thing, looked at my keyboard, and sure enough, there is one (F2 on my keyboard). Huh! http://www.ehow.com/how_7251784_computer-wake-up-sleep-mode.html

The battery they are talking about is probably the computer clock battery. It's in there somewhere, never looked for it, never had to replace one. Oh, I did buy one once thinking I would need to, but never did. It looks like one of those flat disc shaped camera batteries.

Here is another one which reminded me that I did in fact turn off the sleep mode function on one of my old computers (the one with the problem, maybe?) just as this article suggests. I don't think sleep mode is a necessary item, it just is a power saving device while you are not using the computer. http://www.whatthetech.com/2009/07/02/computer-wont-recover-from-sleep-mode/
 

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #595 on: September 01, 2012, 10:35:27 AM »
Oh my, thank you Larry. It looks as if I could have just looked that up myself instead of following their link to their page which absolutely made no sense at all, who knew? Thank you so much.

Perhaps the video card is what's messing up my computer. I'll upgrade it!!


Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #596 on: September 06, 2012, 08:51:04 AM »
Interesting information posted at the World Wide Web Foundation. You can mouse-over the map or check out the chart below. http://thewebindex.org/

ginny

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #597 on: September 06, 2012, 09:17:05 AM »
Frybabe, I totally missed your post for some reason on the sleep mode thing but I am SO grateful to you!!! Yesterday it did it again, what a bother. Thank you for that info, I have printed it out and sure hope it works, the only thing getting a good night's sleep around here so far is the computer. hahahaa

Frybabe

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #598 on: September 06, 2012, 09:54:16 AM »
 ;D ;D ;D

mabel1015j

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Re: The Technophobe Reader - Technology Help
« Reply #599 on: September 06, 2012, 03:08:55 PM »
From my History Channel newsletter.....

Today is Natl Read a Book Day!  Imagine! Here's the page, scroll down to see links to Books That Changed America and Best Selling Authors of All-time.

http://recp.mkt32.net/servlet/MailView?m=7595003&r=MTIyMzE5MTA2OTcS1&j=MjA0NzE3NDI5S0&mt=1


I think reading a book on an ereader qualifies also. :D

Jean