Gizmoe Feb 2013

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February 2013

Gizmoe This is the first edition of Gizmoe in 2013.

Gizmoe will also be posted on our website www.seniornet.co.nz

What a terrific summer we are having, that’s if you like sunshine and most of

us do! Of course as soon as we mention it the sun will disappear – but hey we

have done alright this summer… yes!

We are all probably “getting a bit long in the tooth” to make New Year resolutions and anyway it

seems ages since we popped the corks on the 1st January to celebrate the dawning of a new year.

However what about making this year the year you really up-skill and learn more things to do with

technology. Step outside the normal circle in which you operate and learn something new,

something that will really enhance your life! Our Leaning Centres are keen to find out the things you

want to know more about so simply put your ideas forward.

Microsoft Office 2013

Microsoft launched their latest version of Office and with it comes some terrific tweaks to titillate us.

Once, the absolute dominant source for all our software needs, Microsoft has slipped somewhat in

this age of Apps (applications). We now have significant choice and many would say Microsoft has

some catching-up to do. The article in this edition provides an overview of Office 2013, which might

help you decide if you upgrade to the new version or venture down other paths.

National Symposium planned

The Annual General Meeting of your Federation will be held in Auckland on the 14th May. Rather

than just performing its duty of an Incorporated Society by holding a formal AGM we are also

planning a symposium. This is partly to celebrate our 21st year of SeniorNet in New Zealand but

mainly to give opportunity for representatives from each Centre to share ideas and to be inspired by

key note speakers. Planning is well underway and Learning Centres will be kept abreast of

developments in good time. We hope this event will be a success and perhaps set the scene for a

regular national gathering.

Have fun and learn something new every day!

Grant Sidaway – Executive Officer SeniorNet Federation

http://www.seniornet.co.nz/




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Microsoft Office Suite 2013 – Overview

Microsoft has recently released Office 2013. For many people Office has been the cornerstone of

their software needs in a computer with popular applications such as:

Word

Excel

PowerPoint

Publisher

Access

OneNote

Our Learning Centres have taught tens of thousands of people how to use the applications in

Microsoft Office. There is of course an on-going challenge – the happy Geeks in Microsoft love to

work away on new ideas and enhancements so every two – three years a new version gets released.

New versions means new things to learn, different ways to do basic tasks, like filing, and of course

new screen layouts! Change is good however, without changes in Office software the things we were

doing tens years ago simply look terribly dull and boring!

The designers of Office 2013 have taken into account the new environment in which we operate and

use computers. Today many of us have several devices rather than just one stand-alone PC. We

store our stuff away from the device e.g. on the cloud, in addition touch screen computers are

starting to dominate the look and feel of computers – it seems Microsoft have taken this to heart

and tried to accommodate the new environment in this version.

There are a few new features I have found that may tempt you into upgrading.

Oh and ho hum… guess what? They have discontinued the current version Office 2010, so when

stocks are gone Office 2013 is all you will be able to get. Nothing new in that!

New Style

In keeping with the Modern (previously called "Metro") style interface that you'll see in Windows 8,

Office 2013 gets a new look. Gone are the multiple shades of colour that adorned the older

interface, as well as the shadows and shading that kind of suggested three dimensions. Instead,

everything is restrained, flat and minimalistic… a bit like the tiles on the Windows 8 start screen. The

only hint of triviality exists in a watermark design in the top right corner of the screen. The idea is

that the new look will help you focus on your work rather than being distracted by the objects

decorating your screen. Time will tell if it works and we become more focused! Certainly the crisper

look makes for a better feel.

Start Screens

Each application supports a new color-coded start screen—blue for Word, green for Excel, orange

for PowerPoint, green for Publisher. Like the other applications' start screens, the one for Word

displays a list of recent documents. Though creating a blank document is the default option, you can

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alternatively select a template, search online for templates, or click Open Other Documents to search

for a document on disk or in a SkyDrive folder. The idea is these screens will help new users find

their way around more easily; experienced users may appreciate having all of their options in one

place at start-up time. The top right of the screen shows details of the SkyDrive account that you are

currently logged in to use.

The new start screens show a range of options for launching a document

Not heard of SkyDrive before?

SkyDrive (officially Microsoft SkyDrive, previously Windows

Live SkyDrive and Windows Live Folders) is a file hosting

service that allows users to upload and sync files to a cloud

storage facility and then access them from a Web browser or

their local device.

SkyDrive Integration

Office 2013 is designed to integrate with the cloud and in particular with their product called

SkyDrive. That's good if you prefer to save your work online for anywhere-access, which is very

sensible, though most people still appear to still save files locally – on their hard drive, which is fine

but its “all your eggs in one basket” and if that basket breaks you could lose all your files! If you use

SkyDrive, the account details will show in the top left corner of the screen, as well as on the start

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screens. When you save a document, worksheet, or presentation, the application will default to

saving to your SkyDrive account, but you can save to your hard drive disk drive if you prefer.

Office 2013 applications default to saving to SkyDrive.

Syncing your devices

When you save your Office documents online, they’ll be available to you (and others if you allow

them) from any device at any time, via Office 2013 on a PC or tablet, or via the WebApps. Microsoft

has already upgraded the WebApps for Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint with the new look

and Office application colour coding. In addition, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint will save the last

location where you were working before you saved--down to the letter, cell, or image. This feature

makes it easier to pick up where you left off working, even if you open the file on a different device

than you last used. That is handy!

Touchscreen

Some new features are designed to make working touchscreen devices much easier. The new Read

Mode in Word opens a document in reading view, which lets you scroll through the document by

swiping horizontally with your finger. On a desktop with a touchscreen monitor, you can change this

behaviour back to the more traditional page

navigation mode if you wish. Click the Touch Mode

button on the Quick Access Toolbar—to the right of

the program logo of each application—and the

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ribbon toolbar spreads its icons further apart for easier access to fingers.

However, I have to say with my limited testing, touch integration in Office 2013 is quite inconsistent.

You can use gestures such as tap, pinch, stretch, slide, and swipe for various features. But on a 24-

inch touchscreen monitor, unfortunately, the text formatting icons seemed too small for me to use

and obtain consistent accuracy. Maybe I need to spend more time touching instead of tapping!

PDF Editing

Previously you could save a Word document as a PDF file, but

until now you couldn't edit PDFs in Word without first

converting them to Doc or DocX format. The new Word 2013

can open PDF files and you can edit them there, and then save

them as either DocX files or PDFs. When opened in Word, the

file retains the structure of the PDF file, even for elements such

as tables. This is a big plus for many of us, simply open a PDFand get straight to work – marvellous, I’ve wanted this for ages!

A Portable Document Format (PDF) file is a self-contained cross-platform document. In plain

language, it is a file that will look the same on the screen and in print, regardless of what kind of

computer or printer you use and regardless of what software was used to create it

Although they contain the complete formatting of the original document, including fonts and

images, PDF files are highly compressed, allowing complex information to be downloaded efficiently.

Your Office Account

The so called Backstage View in Office 2013 applications (accessed via the File tab) includes a

new tab called Account (or 'Office Account', in Outlook). You can log in to your SkyDrive

account or switch accounts. You will also see a list of connected services, such as Twitter and

Facebook, plus you can add services, such as LinkedIn etc. The Office Updates area gives you

information about the status of any available updates. This is a handy addition.

Options to buy Office 2013

So, keen to get the new Office 2013 version? Well there have been a few changes with the suites

you can purchase. For everyday home use the version Home and Student Office has becomepopular.

Office Home and Student (previous to 2013)

Up to and including the Office 2010 version the Home and Student suite had three licences included

which of course made the purchase worthwhile. Many people purchased one copy and then loaded

it onto three computers. The software came as FFP (full packaged product) which meant it was on a

DVD and could be uploaded to hard drives in the conventional way. The price you paid not only

allowed for three computers to have the software but also included updates at regular intervals

which of course is helpful to users in fixing bugs etc. that become evident after the software is had

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been installed. The price paid was a life time price and not a subscription requiring renewal. The

Home and student versions up to and including Office 2010 included:

• Word

• Excel

• PowerPoint

• OneNote

Office Home and Student 2013

The Office Home and Student 2013 edition is quite different in many aspects:

• The software can only be loaded onto one PC

• Microsoft do not provide updates for this product- once bought it remains in the purchasedcondition, hence if bugs are discovered after the sale of the disc to you they will remain part of the

software unless you specifically search for upgrades yourself but this would require a user to be

paying regular visits to Microsoft site to see if there were upgrades to be had – it won’t be automatic

as in the past.

• This edition is still FFP i.e. a DVD is provided for the user to upload the software

• Included in the suite is:

o Word

o Excel

o PowerPoint

o OneNote

Office 365 Home Premium

New to the market is a product called Office 365 Home Premium - clearly this is the direction

Microsoft would prefer people to take, here are the details:

• Can be loaded up to 5 PCs and Windows 8 tablets – 5 devices in the

same household!

• Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, Publisher, and Access

(NB Publisher, Outlook and Access have been added to this suite which

is terrific!)

• An extra 20 GB of online storage in SkyDrive (27 GB total).

• 60 minutes of Skype™ calls each month to phones in 40+ countries

• Annual subscription, not purchase outright, with automatic upgrades included.

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• Each user can sign in to their Microsoft account to get to their documents, applications, and

settings.

• Allow others to read your Word docs (if you allow them) in real time through a browser, even if

they don’t have Word.

SeniorNet Prices

If you are SeniorNet member you automatically qualify for significant discounts on both versions of

Office 2013 plus you won’t need to leave your home – it will be delivered to your doorstep!

Office 2013 Home and Student FFP (DVD, one licence, fixed price for life)

$209.61 (incl GST and delivery) recommended retail price $239.00.

Office 365 Home Premium (web based, five licences, annual subscription)

$150.90 incl GST and delivery (12 month subscription). The recommended retail price $189.00

To purchase go to http://www.seniornet.co.nz/specials-discountsoftware.asp

Turn the Wireless on

I have fond childhood memories of that phrase “turn the wireless on”, it echoed in our house after

dinner each night. Now wireless has a new, revitalised meaning and is modern again.

Perhaps one the most annoying aspects of technology to date have been the “spaghetti” that you

get with it, I’m meaning the proliferation of wires. Until they invent wireless power we are stuck

with the need to have power cables, albeit just for charging the battery in the portable devices. Will

somebody invent wireless power (aside from batteries) – never say never! But at least there are

some really neat wireless speaker systems which will save you the effort of dangling cables over

pelmets or having to squirm in cobwebbed basements to poke cables from the base station to a

speaker.

Perhaps the most convenient is the Bluetooth wireless system. It’s a no fuss easy to connect process.

Almost all the devices we purchase today come with Bluetooth enabled. Bluetooth is a type of

wireless system where information such as music can be sent via radio instead of connecting cables.

It’s intended to work within close proximity of the sending and

receiving devices.

There’s a huge range of Bluetooth speakers to choose from but

before you race off to Noel Leemings carry out a few checks on

the devices you want to connect to the speakers.

Our partners at Noel Leeming have “come to the party” with a

SeniorNet special on two types of Bluetooth speakers, check

them out, looks like a good deal to me.

http://www.seniornet.co.nz/specials-discountsoftware.asp




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iSound twist speaker - $77.00 normally $99.99

A2DP Bluetooth for wireless music streaming with a 30ft range

Built-in microphone with advanced noise cancellation for wireless speakerphone calls

2 Speakers and one passive subwoofer

Also connects via 3.5mm stereo input

Rechargeable Lithium-ion battery offers 5 hours of continuous playtime

Logitech Wireless Bluetooth Boombox $229.00 normally $299.99

Place it wherever you want within 33 feet (10 meters) of your mobile device

Your speaker pairs easily with iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch or other devices that support

Bluetooth wireless audio profile A2DP

Listen longer wherever you are thanks

to the rechargeable NiMH battery

A 3.5mm aux jack opens up your music

possibilities

Remember Noel Leeming offer huge discounts

to all SeniorNet members on virtually everything in all their stores – just say you are from

SeniorNet when making a purchase.

Instagram

Instagram is an online photo-sharing and social networking service. It allows users to take pictures,

and share them on a variety of social networking services, Facebook or Twitter.

A distinctive feature is that it confines photos

to a square shape, just like Kodak Instamatic

and Polaroid images, hence I guess the name.

This is in contrast to the 4:3 aspect ratio

typically used by mobile device cameras.

Instagram launched in October, 2010. The

service rapidly gained popularity, with over 100

million registered users as of January 2013.

Instagram is an app distributed through the Apple App Store and Google Play. It was originally

available for only the iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch users but in April 2012, support was added for

Android camera phones running 2.2 Froyo. Instagram has no plans to offer Windows Phone support

but maybe that will change in time.

To learn a bit more about Instagram go here: http://instagram.com/

http://instagram.com/



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A Smartphone App for seniors – Seniors Club

Seniors Club is a feature within an APP which promotes the best product and services for Senior’s

across New Zealand using Apple and Android Smartphone systems. Because Seniors Club operateson Smart phones all you need is an internet connection and you can view profiles of some of New

Zealand’s leading businesses who value and welcome Senior’s custom.

Origin of Seniors Club

Kapiti Coast has one of the highest senior’s population of all local districts in New Zealand. Afterbuilding a successful app for the Kapiti Coast a request was made for the mykapiticoast APP to offer

a Seniors Section and to make it available across all of New Zealand!

On December 15th the Seniors Club category became Live Nationwide within the mykapiticoast App

and plans are well under way for the development of a dedicated Seniors App on both Apple and

Android. (Simply download the mykapiticoast app and look for the Super Gold, Specials icon).

Anyone over 50yrs and their family and friends can benefit from the many products and service

providers promoted on the Seniors Club. Once you’ve downloaded the App onto your Smart Phone

simply tap into it daily to see the latest additions and updates.

Go here to find out more: http://www.mykapiticoast.com/

We can expect more and more dedicated Apps for senior smartphone users as the seniors sector is

the fastest growing sector of all age groups – good on us we say!

http://www.mykapiticoast.com/




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Tripadvisor – another sharing facility

TripAdvisor.com is a travel website that assists people in gathering travel information, posting

reviews and opinions of travel-related content and engaging ininteractive travel forums.

Tripadvisor claims to be the most popular and largest travel

community in the world, it has more than 32 million members and

over 75 million reviews and opinions of hotels, restaurants,

attractions and other travel-related businesses.

Well worth a look http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Ransomware – a new online threat to deal with!

Well it had to happen – not only do we have to deal with viruses, malicious software and the like

thereof buts another nasty - Ransomware!

Ransomware - also known as cryptoviruses,

cryptotrojans, cryptoworms or scareware (don’t you

just love the names given!!)- is a type of malware

(abbreviation for malicious software) which restricts

access to the computer system that it infects.

However its speciality is that it demands a ransom

paid to the originator of the malware in order for the restrictions to be removed. Some forms of

ransomware convert files on the system's hard drive, others may simply lock the system and display

messages intended to cajole the user into paying. Modern ransomware attacks were first popular in

Russia but in recent years an increasing number of ransomware attacks have targeted other

countries including Australia, Germany and the United States and yes even good old New Zealand.

Things can get really nasty with Ransomware; messages may appear on an infected computer

accusing you of having illegal copyright material or even child pornography on your computer.

Ransomware started to show up in New Zealand late last year in particular many cases were being

reported in the Central North Island. Some people saw convincing messages appear on their

computer with New Zealand Police logos.

Typical ransoms being asked are just a few hundred dollars at a time, but like most such schemes the

scammers are on track to be billionaires inside 12 months due to the small percentage of people

tricked into paying up.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/




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How do I avoid ransomware?

There are several free ways to help protect your computer against ransomware and other malware:

Keep all of the software on your computer up to date. Make sure automatic updating is

turned on to get all the latest Microsoft security updates.

Keep your firewall turned on.

Don't open spam email messages or click links on suspicious websites.

Download Microsoft Security Essentials, which is free, or use another reputable antivirus and

anti-malware program. If you run Windows 8 or Windows RT, you don’t need Microsoft

Security Essentials.

Scan your computer with the Microsoft Safety Scanner.

What should I do if I have ransomware on my computer?

To detect and remove ransomware and other malicious software that might be installed on your

computer, run a full-system scan with an appropriate, up-to-date, security solution. The following

Microsoft products can detect and remove this threat:

Windows Defender (built into Windows 8)

Microsoft Security Essentials

Microsoft Safety Scanner

Windows Defender Offline

(Some ransomware will not allow you to use the products listed here, so you might have to start

your computer from a Windows Defender Offline disk.)

TelstraClear offer continues

Doro PhoneEasy 410GSM – A very easy to use Mobile Phone!

Special price $115.00 (RRP: $249) call to order: 0508 888 800

Features include:

• Easier to read display (large font and characters)

• Easier to understand and use

• Larger separated buttons

• Easier to hear (HAC – Hearing Aid Compatibility)

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No one ever said on their

deathbed, 'Gee, I wish I

had spent more time alone

with my computer'.

Danielle Berr

Freeview – timely reminder

With Hawkes Bay and the West Coast of the South Island successfully switched onto a digital

Television service, the rest of the country gets its turn during 2013.

Want more information? Go to http://www.freeviewnz.tv

Classic Quotes – How very true!

It's hardware that makes a

machine fast. It's software

that makes a fast machine

slow.

Craig Bruce

The good news about

computers is that they do what

you tell them to do. The bad

news is that they do what you

tell them to do.

Ted Nelson

http://www.freeviewnz.tv/


