Seniors / Boomers And Social Networking - My Thoughts

What Led Me To Write This

I read an article in the March 25, 2010 issue of the Broward, Florida edition of the Sun Sentinel newspaper, entitled "Social connections key during retirement", by Janet Kidd Stewart.

I could not find it on the http://www.sun-sentinel.com site, but by doing a Google search for her I did find the same article, albeit with a different title, for the full story go to the following link:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/yourmoney/sc-ym-0321-journey-stewart-20100318,0,7857459,full.story

In the article she talks about Penny Hall, who "when she retired about 18 months ago, the 59-year-old had plenty of savings and retirement revenue from real estate investments, but lacked a plan for a social life".

Further along in the article Hall is quoted as saying "It's hard because everyone my age is still pretty busy with work"

My Thoughts

As I read this article, it came to my mind that computer user groups, are a great way for people like Ms. Hall to generate social connections, especially with others that are already retired, or soon to be retired.

I know that I have more social connections now, even though I am not yet retired, due to my involvement with two local computer user groups, and most of those in the groups are already retired, some for a good length of time. Others I know, are also members of more than one such group.

The article by Ms. Stewart, came on the heels of a presentation made at the Boca Raton Computer Society (BRCS), which I attended on March 17th. At that presentation, we were given an overview of what social networking is all about, and as I looked around the room I noticed that I was the youngest one there. Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter were the attention getters, and the most discussed.

Conclusion

Computer User Groups are a great way for seniors / boomers, as well as those even younger, to develop social contacts, and keep up with technology at the same time. Not only are there specific meetings, most form some kind of social connection outside of the group.

So what are you waiting for, find a computer user group near you and get socially active:

Association of Personal Computer User Groups - Find User Groups <http://ugls.apcug.net/>

Smart Computing Magazine - Find A User Group <http://www.smartcomputing.com/groups/findagroup.aspx?guid=0EC9C5E5B0D04C53A37596DEF7C5C0D3>

Computer user groups keep users informed, join one and become an active participant.

Posted via email from sefcug's posterous

2011 FACUG Technology Conference Mexico Cruise Early Sign Up Incentive Ends Today!

Today is your last chance to be entered into the drawing for a free berth (1/2 cabin). See the attached flyer, for details, or go directly to http://facug.org/.
Don't miss out.

Posted via web from sefcug's posterous

FACUG 2011 Early Sign Up Incentive Deadline March 31, 2010

I received the flyer from the FACUG president, via email. FACUG has
added an incentive for booking early for the 2011 FACUG Conference @
Sea.

If you book before the end of March, you will be entered for a drawing
for a free berth.

Don't miss out! Check out the flyer, visit the site at www.facug.org,
register for the conference, and book your cruise before March 31,
2010.

I am already registered and booked. In fact, my wife and I were so
happy with the 2010 conference at sea that as soon as we were
unpacked, and I had hooked all the computer equipment back up, I
immediately went to the site, registered, and booked us a balcony for
2011.

Posted via email from sefcug's posterous

TWAIN (Not Mark)

Last night I attended the Boca Raton Computer Society, Inc. (BRCS) Hardware / Software SIG. (http://brcs.org/)

One of questions, related to scanners, was: Can someone explain what TWAIN is?

There was no internet access during the SIG, so it could not be looked up. There was a lot of speculation, the consensus being it is a machine language, used to communicate between a scanner and the PC.

I ran a Google Advanced search: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&as_q=what+is+twain+-mark&as_epq=&as_oq=&as_eq=mark&num=10&lr=&as_filetype=&ft=i&as_sitesearch=.com&as_qdr=all&as_rights=&as_occt=any&cr=&as_nlo=&as_nhi=&safe=active

Here are some of the results that made some sort of sense to me:

http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/1209

http://graphicssoft.about.com/od/glossary/f/twain.htm


http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci213232,00.html

I also found the following through Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TWAIN; they are a little more technical:

http://www.dosadi.com/twain1.htm

http://www.twain.org/

**************

I hope this helps anyone needing more knowledge about TWAIN.

If you know of any other information, that may help in understanding TWAIN and what it does, please leave a comment with a link below.

Computer Free Weekend #2

I started 2010 off with another computer free weekend. (See my previous post: http://bpcablog.blogspot.com/2009/09/computer-free-weekend.html)

New Years Eve morning was the last time I accessed any of my computers, until I reached work this morning. Although I have a lot of emails and RSS feeds to catch up on, I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my granddaughter, as well as the rest of the family here in Florida, reading, doing a little fishing, and just generally relaxing.

Now I have to get back to the regular routine once again, but I do intend to find another weekend in the next few months to be computer free once more.

How do you recharge?

Do you also set aside a computer free, or  even technology free, weekend every once in a while?

The Babbage Engine

Download now or watch on posterous

babbage.flv (5144 KB)

While driving to work this morning, I was listening to my local NPR (National Public Radio) station. I caught the tail end of Morning Edition's story:

A 19th-Century Mathematician Finally Proves Himself
<http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=121206408>.

I then went to the The Babbage Engine page, at the Computer History Museum site: <http://www.computerhistory.org/babbage/>, which is where the video comes from.

I found all this very interesting and hope that you do too.

Posted via email from sefcug's posterous

Geek And Poke: Geeks In The Cloud

via geekandpoke.typepad.com

Where do they come up with their ideas?

Posted via web from sefcug's posterous

Good Quote

"Computers make it easier to do a lot of things, but most of the things they make it easier to do don't need to be done." - Andy Rooney

Computer Free Weekend

I left work on Friday, September 4, 2009 and returned to work this morning September 9, 2009. During the time I was away, I had no computer access, and I found it to be very refreshing.

I had lots of time to spend reading, relaxing, fishing, talking with my wife, as well as just vegetating. I read five books, watched two movies on DVD, and took a nap each afternoon.

FYI, the books read were:

• Undone by Karin Slaughter
• Storm Cycle by Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen
• Killer Summer by Ridley Pearson
• Vanished by Joseph Finder
• Fire and Ice by J. A. Jance
  

Sometimes I just need to get away from it all. Usually, I am on the computer all day at work, working on editing two newsletters for computer user groups, and even sometimes cruising the internet strictly for pleasure.

I liked this so much, that I intend to try to schedule a weekend, or long weekend each quarter, to refresh and recharge.

How about it, is this something you have done? If so, how often do you have to recharge? Leave a comment and let me know.

DSL Problems

I have not been able to access the internet since July 1st, until late this afternoon.

I tried rebooting the DSL modem, router, and computer, numerous times. I tried connecting directly to the DSL modem from the computer itself. I contacted Earthlink numerous times. Nothing solved the problem. Finally, I decided to try replacing cables, starting with the phone connection. Lo and behold, that was the problem, once I connected a new phone connection, everything worked fine.

This has been a good lesson for me, to practice what I preach. I have always told others check all the simple things first, such as making sure everything is plugged in correctly, and swap out cables first. If I had followed my own advice, I would have saved days of aggravation.

If something like this happens to you, remember check the simple things first.

Microsoft Guide for Aging Computer Users

I was browsing through older posts at Aging In Place Technology Watch, shown under my links listing, and found Laurie's October 6, 2008 post: http://www.ageinplacetech.com/content/microsoft-guide-aging-computer-users.

As I am aging, and finding myself looking for more accessibility options, I decided to follow the link in her post to the Microsoft page. Once there, the following statement, at the top of the page, intrigued me enough that I had to read they whole thing:

Baby boomers can use Microsoft Windows XP to customize their computers and counter the effects of age-related difficulties with vision, hearing, and dexterity.

I enjoyed the illustrations, by Brian Basset, that were next to each section also.

All seniors/boomers, using Microsoft XP or Vista, should check this out, as the more we age the more likely these tips can help us. I also recommend subscribing to the Aging in Place Technology Watch RSS feed, for more information on aging and technology, not only for yourself, but for others in your life.

Aging In Place Technology Watch Blog

I recently discovered the RSS feed for the blog for this site.

There is a lot of great information regarding technology, specifically as pertains to seniors and boomers.

I have even left a comment on the "Simplifying computer usage with easy-to-use software...and other musings" post of March 25, 2009, suggesting "computer user groups would be a great place for these kinds of vendors to get good feedback by providing copies of their software, which after review would be published in the group's newsletter and/or website, thus reaching like minded people, rather than the general public".

If you are a senior, boomer, or caregiver of a senior, or boomer, interested in technology at all, I recommend this blog, and associated website.