Annual General Meeting Wednesday 26^th June

Please make a note in your diary to attend our AGM at The Learning Centre on Wednesday 26^th June at 1.30pm.

We are very privileged to have Grant Sidaway, the Executive Director of SeniorNet Inc as our Guest Speaker. Grant is retiring at the end of this year so this is probably your last chance to hear him speak.

New Executive Committee Members

We are looking for several new people to join the Executive Committee this year.

This is a very rewarding role working with a  motivated and supportive group of people. If you would like to help steer SeniorNet Kapiti, please ask a friend (member) to nominate you. An Online Nomination form is available for you to use on our website if you click here

Communications and Promotions Support

Our current Marketing and Newsletter Coordinator will be leaving the Committee at the AGM this year after many years of faithful and exemplary service across a number of roles at SeniorNet Kapiti.

This is a critical role for our organisation and involves some interaction with organisations outside SeniorNet in the course of promoting our activities. If you have ever been involved in this type of work (paid or voluntary) and are interested in helping SeniorNet Kapiti to maintain effective communications with members and to promote SeniorNet to the wider community, we would be very interested to speak with you.

As mentioned above, we are seeking nominations for our 2019-20 Committee and this role is one we need to fill. If you are interested or know a member who might be, please contact Peter Bunkall 021 034 1374 for further details.

Vodafone Forwarding Emails

As from 21 August Vodafone will no longer be forwarding Paradise and iHug emails despite their earlier promise to undertake this function on an ongoing basis.

If you are still receiving a lot of re-directed emails (via Paradise or iHug), you need to act URGENTLY – time is fast running out! All the necessary instructions and paperwork were passed out during our Vodafone Migration Workshops and are all still current.

If you are struggling with this and need additional help to ensure that you can continue to receive emails, please urgently attend a How do I…? Workshop so one of our Tutors can assist you

This is important and time is fast running out – The deadline is 21 August 2019 – after that date, Vodafone will terminate their forwarding service.

Attention all Windows Live Mail users

It has come to our attention that some members may be unclear about the purpose of our Email Using Windows Mail Course and who it is targeted at….

If you are still using Windows Live Mail, you should be thinking now about migrating to Windows (10) Mail. This course will help you do that.

It doesn’t matter whether you use Xtra, Gmail, Outlook.com or some other email Service Provider, Windows (10) Mail will work.

Here are some facts for you to consider

• Windows Live Mail was never meant to be run on Windows 10 (or 8!)
• Windows Live Mail is not supported by Microsoft on Windows 10
• One or two features of Windows Live Mail have already stopped working
  – we expect this trend to continue!
• Windows (10) Mail is free and already installed on Windows 10
• You can run Windows Live Mail and Windows (10) Mail in parallel on your computer while you get used to the new program and complete the migration process
• Migrating to Windows (10) Mail does not require any change to your email address, nor will you need to tell anyone else that you’ve migrated!

Our Email Using Windows Mail Course is here to assist you to plan a migration away from Windows Live Mail before Microsoft forces you to move!!

Contact Elaine on 021 169 6256 and discuss putting you name on the waiting list for this course next Term.

New Ideas for our Smartphone Workshop(s)

Our excellent tutor who leads the monthly Android workshops (3rd Thursday @ 1:30) recently compiled a list of topics that our workshop participants would like to see covered in the future.  While we may not get to all of them, this kind of feedback from our members is very much appreciated.  So in no particular order here is the list… see if you can relate.

• How to use Bixby (on Samsung devices) – Bixby is a virtual assistant that can help control the functions on your phone, things like setting alarms, changing settings on the device, setting reminders, connecting to other devices like speakers and TVs. Bixby is a part of the Internet of Things (IOT) beginning to be a part of our lives and it would be fun to know more about them.
• Mobile security – do you need it and if so what should you have.
• Maps and direction apps– most Android devices come with Google Maps and there are other apps available like MapQuest, Here We Go Maps, and Map Factor Navigator. Just a quick note that in Term 3 there we are offering a workshop focused on Google Maps.
• How to connect to a PC to download information, we get this one a lot especially for how to get pictures from a mobile device to a desktop or laptop computer.
• How to email (both send and receive) on a mobile device
• Just what apps are useful on a device and how to disable or delete those apps no longer wanted or needed
• How to move files around in the device
• How to (Chrome)cast or mirror from a mobile device to a TV (or Android TV box).

So while this list was specifically compiled for our Android-based Workshops, many topics are just as relevant to iPad/iPhone users too. Apple and Android are in a commercial battle so any fancy feature you see on one, you will almost certainly find it’s way onto the other competing device (sooner rather than later!). As Tutors, we are always curious to see which “camp” makes a better job of each particular new feature – sometimes it’s Apple, sometimes it’s Android.

The real point here is this – please tell us what you want.  We are always looking for new topics to cover and we want them to be relevant to our members.

Message from the Chair

Please watch for our emails reminding members about the upcoming workshops and classes and be sure to check out our schedules online (courses here and workshops here) to see what’s being offered over the term. Remember Elaine is just a phone call away to book at 021 169 6256. 

It’s also timely to remind all members that, by June, your annual membership will be  overdue for renewal ($30 for individuals and $50 for couples). You can renew by cash, cheque or Internet Banking. If using the latter, please pay to our account at the ANZ Bank 06-0501-0746900-00 and remember to include your name in the Payee field and your membership no. in the Reference field so the Treasurer can work out who’s paying us!

I found the following information interesting – it is taken from the Agewell website and is just too good not to pass along.

Benefits of being on-line can include:

• The internet can make tricky but for mobility-dependent tasks it’s much simpler: there’s no need to go out and post a letter when you have e-mail.
• There is a wealth of information available on line
• It is available 24/7
• The internet helps make and maintain vital relationships
• The internet can save you money e.g. postage, taxis
• The internet levels the “disability/age” playing-field – who knows how old you are, or which bits of you don’t quite work anymore, when you’re on the web?
• It’s “personal” – no one else creates your communication world but you. Too often older people can become dependent on friends, family and even strangers for transport, letter-posting, bill-paying, or meeting new people, after a lifetime of independence and control.
• Introduced correctly, learners “cross a fear-barrier” and one good learning experience can lead to another, and another, and another.
  Ed. Think SeniorNet Kapiti!
• Improved personal contacts can ease depression / isolation.
• It can enhance your sense of value within your community by allowing participation via email/online polling/voting which can make your small voice “louder”.

Happy computing
Teresa Urutia
Chair SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.