The year is drawing to an end and some will say ‘where did it go?’, others might be happy to see an end to it. We here at Kapiti SeniorNet tend to belong to the former category for it has been a busy year, time has flown, and it is not quite finished yet.
We hope you have taken advantage of one or more of the courses and workshops presented during the year and have made good use of the added knowledge.
To celebrate your accomplishments we have our annual Christmas get-together on
Wednesday, 11. December, starting at 4pm until 6pm
At the Learning Centre, 200 Matai Road, Raumati Beach
We hope to see all our members and partners there. If you are planning to attend, please RSVP to Elaine by Friday 6 December so we can get our catering right. Call Elaine now on 021 169 6256
That almost brings us to next year, 2020, with yet another full program of courses and workshops and if your friends are not yet members, or you think it might be worth reminding them that we are here to help them to improve their tech skills, or learn new nifty knowledge, they should take advantage of our Open Days to enrol. Please take a note of the dates:
28. January at Coastland where once again we will be in attendance for anyone needing answers or wishing to enrol, or come to the Learning Centre on 1. February from 10am to 2pm.
Whilst we are in the Christmas mood a little reminder that Kapiti SeniorNet is a Charity and we do accept donations which are tax deductable for the donor. What’s more, it is now easy to claim your tax credit, though it does require you to register for a “myIR” account with Inland Revenue.
First make sure we give you a receipt for your donation. We must make sure it has your name on it, the amount donated, and the date of the donation. The receipt must also make it quite clear that it is a donation and show that it is for Kapiti SeniorNet and show our IRD number, but that of course is our responsibility.
Once you have registered with ‘myIR’ you then upload the receipt to your account and at the end of the tax year [31.March] you won’t have to fill in forms to get a refund from the tax department, instead the good people at the IR will automatically calculate the credit and pay it into your bank account within 3 weeks of the end of the tax year.
See also: A donation? What is that?
Now a word or two from the Chair:
This will be the last Newsletter for 2019 so I’d like to take the opportunity to wish all our members a very happy Festive Season. I hope you all get a chance to spend time with family and friends and we look forward to seeing you firstly at our Christmas Function on Wednesday 11th December and then again at one (or more) of our classes or workshops in 2020.
There are still a few places left in classes for Term 4, 2019 but you need to be quick and speak to Elaine on 021 169 6256.
I was recently asked to give a presentation to our Q&A Workshop that was part of Cyber Week in October. While the timing of Cyber Week didn’t quite fit our pre-planned schedule, the message I was asked to convey is a universal one and something we all need to think about all the time.
Entitled “Make Sure of it”, the presentation was about staying safe and preventing a cyber attack. Cyber Week and the presentation package / posters were sponsored by CertNZ (a government agency) and you can see a short summary by clicking (or tapping) here.
There are 4 key messages;
- Update your devices
I can’t stress enough the importance of this. All your devices should be running the latest software version (esp Windows, Android, iOS & your anti-virus software) and your key applications should also be kept up to date. This is the only way that the software suppliers can help you keep ahead of the hackers! - Use a Password Manager (and use strong passwords)
A Password Manager is a very good idea if you have a lot of passwords to keep track of. However, if you still use a “password notebook”, please keep it safe and up to date. More important though, is to use strong passwords that can’t be guessed. - Check your Privacy Settings
If you use Social Media (esp Facebook, Twitter etc) spend some time going carefully through their rather long-winded and confusing settings and make sure that you restrict things like “who can see your posts” and “who can write on your pages” and “who can comment on your posts”. You don’t have to be posting for all the world to see. It’s very easy to restrict the scope of your influence/opinions to just people you have accepted as “friends”. - Turn on Two Factor Authentication
This is already used by most of the Internet Banking sites (eg a verification code is sent to your phone when you make a large payment) and it’s use is encouraged for critical sites where you manage money or assets.
The underlying message of the presentation is that everyone is potentially vulnerable but everyone is capable of protecting themselves by taking a few simple precautions. The riskiest thing you can do it to think that this can’t happen to you!
If you need any assistance with any of the things mentioned above, why not drop in to our next How Do I…? Workshop and one of our competent Tutors will assist you in full confidence.
Until next time, Happy Computing and enjoy the summer break. Remember to support our sponsors too! We’ll see you again in 2020.
Peter Bunkall
Chair SeniorNet Kapiti Inc.
Finally another few news bits of note:
We are going batty. That is to say the missing insulation batts in the ceiling of the Learning Centre which should have been replaced when the roof was replaced are finally about to be installed at the end of November. That means more comfort for members both summer and winter in the coming year, yeah!
Good news also is that the review/upgrade of the ‘Managing and Editing Photos’ course has been completed by our hard working experts and the course will be added to the curriculum next year.
From us all at Kapiti SeniorNet we wish you a wonderful Christmas Season and a great summer holiday.
P.S. Do we have among our members a Property Valuer or Quantity Surveyor who may be willing to help us obtain a valuation of the Learning Centre for insurance purposes? Please contact Barry Bailey [298 8251] if you can help.
Kapiti SeniorNet 
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