Come along, meet the Tutors and learn about the Courses we are running next term. Maybe it’s been a while since you attended a course and the Open Days will give you the opportunity to see what is on offer and to sign up for a course. You should also try to encourage your friends to come along.

If you’re affected by the termination of email services by Vodafone in New Zealand on 30 November 2017, check out our special Workshop discussed below

COURSES FOR NEXT TERM- starting 16 October

We are offering a full range of Courses and Workshops for next term, click on these links for details and times. Please note that Elaine (04) 905 3744 is now the person for Members to contact regarding enrolment for Courses.

For example, the course ‘Introduction to Computers’ is free and is well suited to get into the basics of computing. Please pass this information on to friends and family. Remember that we also have reduced charges for any member wishing to repeat a course.

The ‘Excel Spreadsheet’ workshop is ideal for those who wish to know more about the “king” of spreadsheet programs. Perhaps you can use it to keep track of your financial information, be it for the home budget or for your business. Make sure you enrol early by phoning Elaine to book a place for this workshop.

Regular Workshops

Regular Workshops are $5.00 per session (except Q&A which is a large gold coin).

The current regular workshops are Q&A, iPad-iPhone/Android tablet Workshops each month and no prior booking is required. Click to see our Workshop and Special Interest Group (SIG) Timetable. If you have already completed a Course and need some additional help to clarify a few points we are, as always, delighted to help at one of our How Do I..? workshop sessions, where the charge varies depending on how long we spend helping you (max $10 per hour).

The current ‘Workshop on Scams’ is proving to be very popular but places are limited and you need to enrol quickly when you get the details of the next one by email to you.

Special Vodafone Email Migration Workshops

In response to Vodafone’s recent announcements regarding the termination of their email services (predominantly @paradise.net.nz, @clear.net.nz and @ihug.co.nz), we are organising a series of one-off, single-session Workshops to assist affected SeniorNet members. During this half-day workshop, we will help attendees set up a new email address, add the new account to their email client (eg Windows Live Mail or Thunderbird) and register the redirection with Vodafone. In addition, we will discuss and help members prepare for a total migration away from their Vodafone email address and they will leave with checklists of people and organisations they need to contact as well as guidance on how to get newsletter senders to use their new address.

All affected SeniorNet members will be contacted directly (based on their email address in our membership list) with details and an offer to register their interest in this Workshop which will run between now and the Vodafone-imposed deadline of 30 November. If you want to take part, you should get in early and contact
Elaine (04) 905 3744 to register your interest. If you have friends who also need assistance but are not members, please send them along to our Open Days where they can join SeniorNet and register for the Workshop at the same time!

Given the short notice we have had following the Vodafone announcement, these Workshops are not our Term 4 Timetable. Classes will be kept very small to ensure everyone gets sorted on the day. Once we have a clearer idea of the demand for this special Workshop, we will develop a timetable (including during the upcoming school holidays) and those who have registered will be contacted to pick a date that suits them.

The charge for the Workshop will be $15. Attendees will need to bring their laptops to the Workshop. For those with desktop machines, we can do most of the steps on our student desktops at the Learning Centre. However, desktop owners may not be confident changing settings in their email client themselves. We are therefore offering a home visit service after attendance at the Workshop to complete desktop setup. A separate charge will be made for these home visits, which will be discussed with those needing the service during the Workshop.

Please Note: We will not be handling Vodafone Email Migration issues at How Do I…? Workshops other than fixing small technical problems that may occur. Anyone coming to How Do I…? asking for us to perform the migration for them will be directed to register for these Workshops.

Tutors and Assistant Tutors Wanted for next term

It may appear that we are always requesting for tutors and assistant tutors to join SeniorNet and that’s because we are! So please contact Sue at sues.connor@gmail.com and she will discuss the options with you. Join our friendly and supportive group and bring your ideas forward for discussion. Experienced senior/lead tutors are there to train you to become assistant tutors and this is also a great opportunity to keep up with all the latest advances in the computer world. Tutors also need to keep themselves updated so enrol in a course or go along as an assistant tutor.

Are you receiving all our emails?

At SeniorNet, we love technology and as you’ll have noticed we use email for all our communications. It’s easy and convenient for us to keep in touch with our members and especially great for sending out reminders of our workshops. The effectiveness of email communication was driven home to us recently when we forgot to send out the How Do I…? Workshop reminder notice………..and only one member turned up on the day !!

More worrying to us is the ongoing risk that our mail-outs end up in your SPAM folder and never get read. We have reason to believe that an over-exuberant Gmail Spam filter dumped our regular newsletter into many people’s spam folder last month. We do everything we can to prevent this sort of thing happening (mainly by using the .bcc option for mailings) but we can’t control Google and their Gmail Spam service!

If Gmail is overreacting to your inbound emails and putting things into the Spam folder when it shouldn’t, there is a solution – teach it right from wrong! Here‘s how;

Using your browser (MS Edge, Chrome, Firefox, Safari) log into your gmail account at http://www.gmail.com. You will need your gmail password!
Locate the Spam folder (on the left), click it and then locate the email that shouldn’t be treated as Spam in the list of the right. If you can’t see the Spam folder, click more first.
Click the tick box beside all the incorrectly-spammed items and then click the
Not Spam button at the top. This will inform the Spam “engine” of your preferences and place the selected items into your in tray.
Normally this is enough but sometimes you have to repeat this process a couple of times (think of it as hammering the message home!). Google will soon learn that items from this sender are acceptable as emails in your in-tray
BTW, you can do the reverse by clicking the Spam button in the Gmail in-tray!

Note from the Chair

One of my children recently had an article published in the magazine of the environmental organization she works for and, for this article, she interviewed a well-known New Zealand environmental activist. She was impressed by his humility, knowledge, willingness to share his knowledge, and his very can-do attitude. But she made a special point of telling me that he was also technologically savvy, referring her to his Facebook page and sharing files via the cloud. “And Mom, he’s 80 years old!”

Well, we are all fully functioning adults, not old dogs who can’t learn new tricks! We are intelligent, engaged in our communities, active, and fun. We are more than capable of understanding computers and using them effectively. SeniorNet is the resource used by savvy adults to manage their computing requirements.

Coming up in the fourth term for SeniorNet Kapiti are two new workshops that address concerns that some of us may have. The first is “Is Your Computer Hard to Use?” this workshop should help uncover the mystery and provide at least some of the answers. The second workshop is coming right before the Christmas holidays. The “Are You Thinking of Buying a …?” Workshop explores the devices available and offers practical advice on buying that computer, tablet, or smartphone. Please note that you will receive an email about two weeks before each workshop that provides a description of the workshop and information on booking. Don’t delay in booking, these workshops are very popular and fill quickly. Ring Elaine (04) 905 3744 to book.

Sponsorship

Please support our sponsors: Noel Leeming, Vodafone, Westpac Bank and Grey Power. Remember to take your SeniorNet card with you as substantial discounts are given on most items at Noel Leeming (not just computers!).

Have fun computing