Open Days

Open Days are planned for Thursday 27^th and Saturday 29^th September from 10.00am to 2.00 pm at the Learning Centre (200 Matai Rd, Raumati Beach). This is an excellent opportunity for you to suggest to your friends that they come along to find out about our computer training courses and workshops.

There will also be a promotion day at Coastlands on Tuesday 25th September – why not drop by and say hello.

Changes to the Executive Committee

Following the Annual General Meeting, there were a couple of changes to the Committee.

David Salter retired from the Treasurer’s role after 4 years grappling with the numbers. The Committee thanks David for all his hard work. Erik Herdahl-Thorsing was elected Treasurer for 2018-19.

Elaine Hopewell, known to everyone who has booked a course in the past couple of years, has joined the Committee.

What is available to help you?

Now is a good time for you to consider how you can upgrade your computer skills. Have a look on the website at the Courses and Workshops we have available in the 4^th Term then contact Elaine 021 169 6256 or email SNKBookings@gmail.com to enrol.

Less Secure apps – what you need to do

If you are a Gmail user, there’s a high chance you’ve been receiving regular emails from “Mr Google” telling you that your email account in insecure. This will happen if you use Windows Live Mail, MS Outlook 20xx, Thunderbird or Windows 10 Mail. Many of our members report that they are receiving these messages.

This email from Google is legitimate but it’s also very very mischievous (I call it corporate politics!). If you follow Google’s instructions and turn off the Less Secure Apps switch, YOU WILL BREAK YOUR EMAIL!

We’ve written an article on our website and all Gmail users are encouraged to read it BEFORE doing anything. If you’ve already followed Google’s instructions, the article also tells you how to put things back to rights.

Go to our website homepage and click this picture/button titled Important message for Gmail Users on the right-hand side of the screen. It will take you to our article.

If you are still having problems with your email or aren’t confident fixing the problem yourself, bring your device(s) along to the next How Do I…? Workshop and we’ll help you fix everything.

In the meantime, please delete the silly email from Google about your security settings every time it appears.

New operating system for iPads and iPhones

iOS 12 will be available after 17 September and it will work on all Apple devices using iOS 11.

We strongly recommend backing up your devices to a computer or the cloud before doing a major update like this. It is also wise to wait a few weeks to make sure there are no problems.

There is no iPad Workshop in October but on 12 November at 1:30 pm we will remind you how to do a backup and look at some new features of iOS 12.

Anti-Tracking software with Ghostery or Privacy Badger

At short notice recently, Teresa our ChairPerson, gave a fascinating and very informative presentation to Q & A about two software programs which can prevent organisations from collecting data about you. It’s astounding what is being routinely collected from even the most innocuous (and often local) websites!

Ghostery and Privacy Badger are both free programs and we would recommend them to our members. Teresa’s detailed article has just been published on our website. You can read it by clicking here.

Manchester Unity Discount

If you are a member of Manchester Unity Friendly Society, you are entitled to receive a $10 discount towards SeniorNet Courses. Go to the MU website www.manchesterunity.org.nz to redeem your voucher or call 0800 101 842. When booking a course please present the voucher to claim your discount.

Message from the Chair

The new term is about to kick off at SeniorNet Kapiti and if you book early, you can be assured of a place. We have noticed a trend by our members toward preferring our workshop offerings, so this term we are scaling back on our multi-week classes and adding on some great new workshops. The old favourites in our multi-week classes will only be offered once in the term including: Managing the Data on Your PC, Email Using Windows Mail, Introduction to Computers, Smartphones and Tablets, iPads and iPhones, and Introduction to Windows 10. One new workshop offering is RealMe. We will of course be holding our Q&A sessions with interesting speakers and an opportunity for members to get questions answered, our “How Do I?” sessions where members can ask questions one-on-one and work with our excellent tutors on their specific issues, and our “Mobile devices” workshops for iPads/iPhones and Smartphones & Tablets.
Be on the lookout on our website for the new schedule, and as always to book please contact Elaine at 021 169 6256 or at SNKBookings@gmail.com