General Meeting
Merriam Plaza Library
6120 Slater St.
Merriam KS 66202
Webb Family Meeting Room
Note: location change for this month.
Friday, November 8, 2024, 1:30 ~ 3:30 pm
Presentation:
APCUG Website Demo
Presenter:
Bob Bowser
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.
Mary Ann Baltuska is the Hospitality Director
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 on 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 for conferencing 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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SATURDAY SAFARI
November 9, 2024
9 am PT, 10 am MT, 11 am CT, 12 pm ET
COMPUTER BUYING GUIDE
Rob Truman, Webmaster
Computer Booters
DISCOVERING DIGITAL WALLETS
Judy Taylour, Member
APCUG Speakers Bureau
If time allows, General Q&A
ANNUAL MEETING
11:30 am PT, 12:30 pm MT, 1:30 pm CT, 2:30 pm ET
Saturday, November 9, 2024, 11:00 am CT
Registration link — https://forms.gle/
Registration closes on November 8 at 8:00 pm CT
Use SenCom’s official name when you register:
Senior Computer Users Group of Greater Kansas City
After you click Submit, you will receive a pop-up acknowledgment of your registration. You will receive the encrypted Zoom link after registration closes at 8:00 pm Central Time on Friday, November 8.
Computer Buying Guide. It’s almost time for Black Friday; are you ready to invest in a new computer? If you’re confused about the terminology and specifications, Rob will provide some basics for choosing your next machine. This presentation is for you if you want a pre-purchase buying guide.
Discovering Digital Wallets. This season, there are new ways to pay for your computer, holiday gifts, and everything else.
Annual Meeting. Discover what APCUG achieved in 2024, including election results for 2025 officers and winners of the eBulletin, Newsletter, and Website contests. Do you have any suggestions for what APCUG can offer in 2025?
We are looking forward to seeing you this Saturday. Do you have a presentation you have given to your group? Please volunteer to give it at one of the WWs. Have you seen a presentation at one of your local meetings you think would work for a WW? Let us know. Thanks, Judy & John (jtaylour@apcug.org — jkenned
Copyright © 2024 APCUG, All rights reserved.
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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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* Volunteers Needed *
SOS! NEEDED NOW! – Volunteers to help our Board of Directors fill the board positions of Vice President and Program Director. 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 →
GEEK FREE
By Joe Callison
14 October, 2024
Extra Windows Security Features
Microsoft’s Windows Security, built into the Windows 11 operating system, has evolved into a full-service security suite capable of competing with third-party antivirus/antimalware programs. Some of the advanced features of Windows Security can even be used to enhance the protection offered by alternative programs. Windows Security used to be called Windows Defender, which later became just the name of the antivirus protection component of Windows Security. Windows 11 no longer uses the Defender name in the Privacy & Security settings. Note that the antivirus scanning component of Windows Security will be automatically disabled if you are using an alternative program, and automatically re-enabled if you later uninstall the alternative program. This was done by Microsoft to always ensure there is some form of protection in place.
The following article linked below explains how to use Windows 11 settings to enable 5 of the advanced security features available in Windows that can also be used in conjunction with alternative antivirus programs. The 5 features are:
Core Isolation
Smart App Control
Controlled Folder Access
Dynamic Lock
Reputation-Based Protection
I Made These 5 Changes to Windows Security for Optimal Safety
Windows 10 security settings also have some of the above-advanced features:
Core Isolation
Dynamic Lock
Reputation-Based Protection
And some others with different names:
Isolated Browsing (Application Guard for Edge)
Exploit Protection
If you want to maximize your protection, turn on some or all of these additional features and try them out. You can always turn off any that you decide are too restrictive for your liking.
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FOR~GO
(For Geeks Only)
By Joe Callison
27 May 2024
Hiren’s BootCD Updated!
Much more than a decade ago, a favorite software tool of mine was Hiren’s BootCD. It was a bootable CD full of the most popular software utilities, some of which were pirated. The last official update was in 2012. Fans of Hiren’s BootCD have updated it, with only legal software utilities included, to a Windows 11 PE (preinstallation environment) for booting on modern UEFI computers. I have tried it out and was pleasantly surprised by the huge assortment of software utilities available. The only issue I have found is when using it on a computer with a high screen resolution (3K horizontal or higher), the icons and text can be quite small. Unfortunately, I could not find any method to change the display settings with the installed display driver, though you can add other drivers. I did find that the Accessibility settings in Windows PE could still be used to enlarge the icons on the desktop and the Taskbar settings could enlarge the icons on the Taskbar, which helped.
The download and instructions for preparing a bootable CD or USB can be found at Hiren’s BootCD PE
I used my trusty-free utility Rufus to create the bootable USB. Be sure to use the UEFI and not MBR setting and the NTFS format in Rufus for booting only on a modern computer system. The dual boot MBR/UEFI method for compatibility with older computers is much more complicated to create if not needed. Windows Home computers should be able to boot from a boot selection menu without getting into BIOS/UEFI settings to turn off Secure Boot or adding the USB drive as a trusted device in the Windows Boot Manager as may be required on computers initially set for Windows Professional. The keyboard key used to get the boot menu varies by manufacturer but is often briefly displayed on the screen during the boot process. You can also look it up for your computer or refer to articles such as Boot Menu Option Keys For All Computers and Laptops | [Updated List 2021] | Techofide
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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 the 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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SenCom gratefully acknowledges the
following organizations for their support:
Google Fiber
City of Shawnee:
Parks & Recreation Department
Johnson County Library:
Central Resource, Oak Park
SENCOM IS A NOT-FOR-PROFIT KANSAS CORPORATION
UNDER THE IRS 501(C)(3) RULES
