Senior Techies SIG
Central Resource Library
9875 W 87th Street
Overland Park, KS 66212
Conference Room 02
Wednesday, April 10, 2024, 2:30 ~ 4:00 pm
Note: This will be a hybrid meeting. You can join in person or remotely using the Free Conference Call as referenced in the Revised Virtual Meeting Procedure shown below.
Joe Callison convenes the Senior Techies SIG
sencommember00@gmail.com
(913) 229-4684
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Revised Virtual Meeting Procedure:
We miss seeing our members. If you have been having problems joining our virtual meetings using Free Conference Call, please contact a Board Member, and one of us will work with you before the meeting you are interested in joining. Board Members’ email addresses and phone numbers are under the “About Us” tab of SenCom’s website.
QUICK ACCESS TO A SENCOM MEETING
If you have the FreeConferenceCall (FCC) app, please start the app to join our meeting with audio and video. If you do not have the FCC app and do not want to install the FCC app, please click on this link below to enter the virtual meeting, and participate with audio only (your picture will not be available to anyone):
https://www.freeconferencecall.com/wall/sencomuser00/viewer
You will still need to tell Free Conference Call to use the audio either of your computer or through a separate phone call. If you are using the FCC app on a computer, smartphone, or tablet, turn on your video by clicking on the icon of a video camera so that we can see you. On a phone or tablet, you may need to tap your screen to see the icon.
Here are the complete instructions for our virtual meeting procedure:
We are using a service called Free Conference Call that allows all of us to be on at one time through video/audio conferencing or just audio conferencing. If you have a camera and speakers on your desktop computer or a laptop computer with a camera and speakers, you will find that using your PC or Mac computer along with the FCC app will probably give you the best experience. To use your computer to conference into the meeting, follow the instructions that I have assembled in this PDF:
Using your computer to access the Free Conference Call (PDF)→ (Revised)
Also available on our Free Conference Call page → (Revised)
When using the Chrome browser to access a video conference, you may see a message that your browser has blocked access to your camera or audio. Look at the icons at the top right area of your browser for an icon with a red X like the following:
Click on the icon and then click on the button to allow access and then click the Done button. If the red X does not disappear after a few seconds you may need to refresh your browser by clicking on the icon near the top left of your browser that looks like the following:
The settings for the site will be saved in your Chrome browser Privacy and security settings so you will not need to do this the next time you access the site.
Although Chrome is the preferred browser, others have used Firefox without any problems.
For those who wish to use their Android devices (either tablet or phone), we are using an app called FreeConferenceCall that you can download from the Google Play Store (note that there are no spaces in the app name). Bob Bowser has assembled a set of instructions that you can print and follow to join the meeting:
Using your Android device to access the FreeConferenceCall (PDF)→
Apple iPad/iPhone users can find the same app (Free Conference Call) on the Apple App Store. Installing and using it should be very similar to the Android instructions above.
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SenCom is on Facebook. See the access instructions below to find our Facebook Group page (SenComKC). Check it out! Share your favorite SenCom moment or interaction.
To access the group page:
- Log into your Facebook account.
- On your computer, click “Search Facebook,” left-hand corner (to the left of the home icon, on your mobile device, in the middle of the screen on top, then type SenComKC (not case sensitive).
- Search results should give you “Groups” and under that, you will see SenComKC. To the right of your search results, you should see a “Join” button. Click the button to request to be a member of this Facebook group.
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* Volunteer Needed *
SOS! NEEDED NOW! – A volunteer to help our Board of Directors by filling the vacant board position of Vice President. If interested, please email me or another Board Member. Our email addresses are on the “Board of Directors” page under the “About Us” menu. Remember, this is your organization; please help us keep it healthy and growing!!
LITTLE OR NO COMPUTER SKILLS REQUIRED.
Lou Risley, 913-298-0575 or sencomprez@gmail.com
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CDC information on the Coronavirus Outbreak →
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GEEK FREE
By Joe Callison
13 February, 2024
Alternatives to 3rd-Party PC Utilities
I (and Microsoft) have never recommended using any of the many utility programs offered in advertisements and popups to boost, clean up, optimize, update, or fix drivers, etc. for your PC. I found them unnecessary for the most part and potentially dangerous to use. They are also the favorite types of programs produced by malware creators. The operating system already provides the ability to do any of the useful functions needed if you take the time to learn how to find and use them. Granted, that is not as convenient as a program that simplifies the tasks or even does them automatically for you. If you want this convenience, it is now available from a more trustworthy source. Microsoft has added a couple of new apps to the Microsoft Store that were originally developed for non-USA markets:
Microsoft PC Manager
This app gathers several of the built-in tools and apps available in Windows in one app to simplify the user experience. It was originally developed to be an alternative to products like CCleaner. An article detailing information on the app is:
Microsoft’s PC Manager app is now widely available to free up your system resources
Microsoft PC Cleaner
This app is also an alternative to CCleaner but more targeted to perform the file and app cleaning tasks to speed up your PC. I did not find it available on the Microsoft Store yet as of today. Information on what it includes can be found at:
If you want the convenience of these types of apps, then they are the safer ones to choose.
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FOR~GO
(For Geeks Only)
By Joe Callison
22 January 2024
Wubuntu
Wubuntu is an Ubuntu-based Linux operating system with a user interface designed to mimic Windows 10 using the Cinnamon Desktop or Windows 11 using the KDE Plasma Technology. It provides a very Windows-like experience without the Microsoft requirements for TPM, secure boot, processor, or memory. It even has Windows Edge and the Copilot Assistant. It will run Windows EXE or MSI-installed programs using WINE for translation.
I have installed Wubuntu with the Windows 11 Plasma GUI on an old Dell Inspiron with a 3rd generation Intel i5 processor, 8 GB RAM, and an SSD drive and it performs extremely well. The desktop screen and many of the settings screens very closely resemble Windows 11. The Edge browser runs very well. A trial version of Power Toys is included. You can install Linux applications, Windows applications, and supposedly Android applications though I have not tried any yet. This is the easiest way to be introduced to Linux that I have seen to date.
For more information on Wubuntu, see the video and download link on Wubuntu.
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Thank you for all that you do
Hi Joe,
We hope you and your team are achieving all your year-end appeal goals (and more!) Remember, as you use our tools during this busy time, our team and our partners are here to answer your questions and help you find the best resources to meet the moment.
Our team is in awe of how Senior Computer Users Group of Greater Kansas City Association, Inc. is making its mark on the world. We see how you are continually asked to do more with less, yet still create meaningful change in your community. It is such a joy to engage with you and the over 325,000 nonprofits around the globe who are leveraging Microsoft resources to drive this positive impact.
Your stories inspire us every day and we are grateful for your tireless work.
Thank you again for all that you do, and we look forward to deepening our collaboration in the year ahead.
Regards,
The Microsoft Tech for Social Impact Team
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