Sept. 1, 2001;
Vol. 2; Issue #9; Mail Address: PMB 44, 12819 SE 38th St., Bellevue, WA
98006-1326
Voice Mail:
206-232-5892; Classroom: Phantom Lake Elementary School, Bellevue
For Detailed
Information, Class Schedules: www.seniornetps.org
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OK, SUMMER PLAY TIME IS OVER: NOW FOR REAL FUN: With Labor Day here and
gone, and summer activities (What? Me work?) at an end, SeniorNet is geared up for the start of
a new and exciting school year. Students, new, and those expanding their
computer skills with additional classes, are awaiting the school bell. Puget Sound SeniorNet Pres. Helen Hesketh has
issued a warm welcome to all students and the corps of volunteers who make it
all possible. The past year has
been one of continuous growth, she said, as more and more seniors are taking on
the rewarding challenge of learning computer basics, and then moving on to
sharpen their skills in the many courses now available. During the summer, many of our grand
volunteers have been busy with various projects to prepare for the new school
year. “Welcome back all.” Says Helen.
KAFFEE KLATCH TUESDAY:
Again, as in the past, the monthly informal no-host social known as the
Kaffee Klatch, will be held the first Tuesday
of September, Sept. 5, at 11 a.m., at the Food Circus in the Crossroads Mall. True, the Tuesday
follows Labor Day, which means many may still be traveling, too tired to get
up, or whatever. But as KK founder Harry
Sully noted when these socials are close to holidays, “Those that come will
come. Those that don’t won’t.” But all are invited. The laid-back social
usually winds up around 1 p.m. For newcomers: when you see several tables
pushed together and people they’re laughing and talking, or even serious, it’s
probably us.
SENIORNET COMPUTERS IN HIGH GEAR: When students return or start new classes this
month, they will be impressed with the tremendous work done this past summer by
Facilities Coordinator Ken Crandall and
his great crew of fellow volunteers.
Additional memory has been added to speed up operations, along with
other changes to help students learn and sharpen their computer skills. Plus,
Ken reports, they have changed the desktop configuration to more closely match
the layout of the instructor’s projector computer.
AN URGENT WARNING AGAINST VIRUS ATTACKS: This is a caution which
can’t be stressed enough to protect your computer and files against virus
threats. Hal Mozer has issued a
reminder for those using email or traveling the Internet. Warns Hal: “People should keep their virus definition files up to date.
Once a week is best, but at least once every two to three weeks is adequate
most of the time” And he stresses even more strongly: “Never, never open an unknown email attachment before it is
virus checked.” So serious is this
issue that Hal and Bill Bumpus will
make a presentation of the two leading anti-virus programs, Norton and McAfee,
at the Tuesday, Sept. 18TH SeniorNet Membership Meeting, at 10 A.M., at Portable 2, at the school.
GRANPALS NEEDED TO HELP KIDS WITH THREE Rs In appreciation to the
Phantom Lakes Elementary School for providing us with a fine home for computer
classes these many years, and for even more reasons, SeniorNet members have
volunteered down through the years under our Granpals program to volunteer once
a week for about 90 minutes per session, to help students there with reading,
writing, math and language. Granpals
Chairperson Pat Herzog is welcoming back returning Granpals, and welcoming
new Granpals. The new volunteers are John
Chrismer, Adella Granger, Nancy Harsh, Sylvia Kuebler, Gherry Lederman, Shirley
Lincoln, Barbara McDaniel and Rita Schaab. Pat reports teachers will be
sending in their requests for volunteers around the second week in September,
and all room assignments will be made soon after. Pat also stresses: “All
children need a positive influence to gain self-esteem and the motivation to do
well in school. Granpal volunteers play an important role in achieving this
goal, and they, as well as the students, benefit.” Others interested in becoming a Granpal (and you are needed)
may contact Pat at (425) 747-2092, or email her at: pattyherzog@msn.com.
ANNUAL SENIORNET BROWN BAG PARTY A WINNER—AGAIN: A large and enthusiastic
attendance celebrated another year of helping seniors learn how to operate a
computer at the Aug. 23rd Brown Bag social at the Phantom Lake Elementary School in Bellevue. One of the highlights was the donation
by SeniorNet of more than $100 to the school lunch program for children who
can’t afford to pay for lunches. A warm ovation was given to Delores Davis, the long-time
coordinator of the Brown Bag luncheons. In thanking everyone, she said this was
her last year as coordinator, and thanked all those who helped make the annual
combination luncheon, computer demonstrations, drawings etc., the great success
it has been. The summer festival program was held outdoors in the covered
playground area. Puget Sound SeniorNet
Pres. Helen Hesketh welcomed the throng and described the highlights of the
year’s many accomplishments, along with ambitious plans for the coming years.
This includes remaining with the Phantom Lake School when it moves to its temporary
site during the razing of the school to make way for a new, larger building on
the same site.
NOW FOR THE DETAILS: The following is the detailed report of the Brown Bag luncheon written by Coordinator Davis: --
The sixth Brown
Bag was held under the covered outdoor area of the Phantom Lake. School. Many SeniorNet.
members and several new and returning students were in attendance. One of the
newer students that was registered but never had attended a class won a gift
certificate for a free class. After enjoying the friendships of new and returning members
and the many delicious desserts, the group attended the different workshops. By
the time the workshops began, more than 20 persons had been recipients of
prizes,
Before and
during the workshops an unusual quilt made by Mrs. Harry Shedd, who is active in graphics/web design, which
featured a digital display, was on display. Also available in the library were
handouts on health and the Internet prepared by Immediate Past Pres. Clif Wuesthoff. The workshops were well
attended. They included "Getting to
know Your Computer by Joe Pontecorvo; “Protecting
your data-Firewalls Zone Alarm,” by Facilities Coordinator Ken Crandall; “Transferring Information from a
Digital Camera to computers,” by Laura Wise, and “Burning CD's” by John Wise. Additional prizes were given out at
all workshops and displays.
Many SeniorNet
members were available to greet the new guests, to give information about our
programs and to keep the day humming. There was a table display on the history
of the group with articles and pictures. Marge Langley made several brown bag
grab bags and offered them for donations. The money going to help with the
lunch program at the school. $78.00 was collected!! Later the donations made by
the sale of unused and unopened desserts brought in another $45.40 for the
program. All in all a successful Brown Bag with more than 30 prizes
awarded. And none
of it would have been possible without the help of many, many hands and
thoughtful suggestions.
FOR THE BRAVE: AN INTERESTING FREE DOWNLOAD: Here is an interesting personal information program download
from Ziff-Davis Net which you may find useful. InfoStore has a four-star rating from Z-D Net Download. The
developer, MH Software describes it as follows: "InfoStore makes it easy to store
and retrieve all of your personal and business information. From a simple
repository of notes, to a collection of custom databases, InfoStore lets you
store information so you’ll find it again when you need it. Using a familiar
Explorer-like tree structure, InfoStore lets you create notes and lists. Notes
are freeform documents that can contain passwords, serial numbers, recipes,
warranty information, or any data that you want to store and retrieve easily.
InfoStore lets you create an unlimited number of notes, and the ability to do
keyword searches throughout all of the notes ensures that data will never be
lost. You can print a note with a single click, or import and export notes in
the universal RTF file format."
The URL (Uniform Resources Locator) follows:
http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,10615,81245,00.html
STILL SOME EXCITING CLASS OPENINGS AVAILABLE: Shortly before going to
press, Registrar Louise Flora reports that while a number of classes are full,
there were some other classes with a few openings remaining for students. These
include Introduction to Windows WIN-2; Keyboarding KEY-1; Word processing, WORD 5; Basic Internet NET-4; Basic Quicken Q-1; Outlook Express OE-2; File
management FILE-1; and File
Management FILE-2. For current information on signing up for classes, use
the SeniorNet voice mail, 206-232-5892; or the Website at www.seniornetps.org.
AND SOME QUICK AND SIMPLE COMPUTER TIPS: From Smart
Computing’s Book of Tips, some suggestions (1): “Make a Macro: If
there’s a routine or a series of commands you perform daily (or more often) in
Word, you may be able to simplify the process by recording your keystrokes and
assigning them to a single command.
When you’re ready, access Tools, Macro, and then Record A New
Macro. You’ll be asked if this will
be a Toolbar or Keyboard command.
Finally, you’ll be able to record the macro (a small control bar appears
that lets you pause or stop the recording.) (2) Finding a file: Word 97 offers several ways to search for a file,
including searching every word in all documents. Use File, Open, and Choose
Text or Property to search either by a word in the file (pick something unique)
or an item in the document’s Property sheet. The Advanced button opens up a world of search
opportunities, such as searching in a root folder and all the subfolders.
Begins With Phrase, Contains, and more you can also save and reuse searches.
You also can do a similar search in Word 2000. Use File, Open and click Tools,
Find. The Find dialog box lets you specify Property, Condition, and Value in
the search. With Word 2000 you also can save and reuse searches.
CAUTION NOTE: While all computer-operating tips come from usually reliable sources,
readers are reminded they use them at their own risk. AGAIN, IN CASE you have friends who are online, and may be
interested in taking more classes to expand their skills, you can forward this
newsletter to them by clicking Forward when this message is displayed. Then
enter their address in the To box, and click Send. We welcome your news items sent
to the editor at b26flyer@home.com. And
if you wish to unsubscribe, just send a message to the above email address.
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Pres.>
Helen Hesketh; Past Pres.> Clif Wuesthoff;
Vice Pres.>Bill Bumpas; Secy>Dave Lewis; Treas.>Bob Swenson;
Registrar<Louise
Flora; Curriculum. Coordinator> John Wise; Facilities Coordinator> Ken
Crandall;
Member-at-Large>Delores
Davis; Volunteers Coordinator> Delores Davis;
Online Newsletter Editor>
Phil Scheier; Publicity>Jo Hugh
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