TERM 1 OPEN DAY

About 2 weeks before the start of every term we hold an Open Day so that any of your friends, or the public, interested in learning computers, whether Mac or PC, can visit us for information on courses and membership. As a member, you can also come along to find out about a particular course, though it should not be confused with a Help Clinic where we look at your computer-related problem. Our Term 1 Open Day is at 2.30 p.m. on Thursday, January 19th . Suggest to your friends or neighbours that they consider our Open Day to gather their information.

MONDAY WORKSHOPS FOR TERM 1:

Term 1 starts on Tuesday February 7th 2012.

The following Monday Workshops are planned for Term 1. Although it is not absolutely essential that you register for a place, it certainly
helps us greatly with our administration. You can contact Judy on Ph. 422 3728 (preferably in business hours) and leave your name and a contact number, and the name of the workshop you wish to attend.  The cost is $5.00 for each participant, payable at the learning session, and we expect that you will wear your name badge, proving current membership and your entitlement to be there.

All workshops start at 2.30 pm.

TERM 1 2-HR LEARNING MODULES (‘Bite-sized pieces’ of learning)

TERM 1 HELP CLINIC. Make use of the free help facilities as it may potentially save you big money. This Term 1 the Help Clinic is scheduled on Tuesday February 7th at 2.30 p.m. Remember, the computer-related problems need not only be of a technical nature. Maybe you are having problems with email, the Internet, downloading photos, doing a particular activity in word processing, or looking at buying a new program, computer or peripheral and need some advice – that’s what we are here for – whether PC or Mac.

From the Technical Manager

 2012 promises to be particularly interesting as the manufacturers produce a huge range of Gee-Whiz tablets, eReaders, all-in-one computers, smartphones, Smart TVs.  Are they just toys?  Will you buy one?  Maybe when the prices come down.

TVs are probably the devices we use the most, and if you have not gone digital with SKY, Telstra Clear, or Freeview, then your days of watching analogue TV are drawing to a close.  In our area the switch over occurs on 1st December 2013, so you have some time left.

If you already have Sky you can sit back and ignore it, but some Freeview customers may need to retune channels depending on where you live. However most set top Freeview boxes will automatically retune themselves, or so they say.  Around 86% in the major urban and provincial centres of New Zealand are able to watch high definition digital TV - Freeview HD - using a UHF rooftop aerial. This is because the signal has recently been extended to cover most regional cities.  However there are no plans to extend it further.  Many in the Warkworth area can not receive Freeview HD, but you can get standard definition Freeview digital television with a satellite dish, as this service covers the whole of mainland New Zealand and the major offshore islands. For this you will need a set top box, even if an HD one is built in to the TV. The Freeview website has a coverage map where you can check what options are available in your area.

You can connect multiple televisions to a single set-top box, but because you select the channel you want to watch using the set-top box, all the TVs will show the same channel at the same time. If your family wants to watch different programmes at the same time you will need to buy extra set-top boxes. No matter how many televisions and set-top boxes you end up with, you’ll only need a single aerial or satellite dish.  A Sky dish works OK with either system, and it is possible to have Sky running in one room and Freeview in another, both using the one dish, though you may not get all the Freeview channels.  We will talk about the other options MySky, MyFreeview, and the new Igloo service in the next newsletter

What does smart TV mean?

Like a smartphone, a smart TV offers a number of "internet connected services" that normal televisions can't offer. It has the equivalent of a computer built into it, giving you a greater number of services. These televisions offer apps, media streaming, web browsing, games and, perhaps most importantly, Internet Protocol Television (IPTV). This is a specific type of internet video standard, but is now also used as shorthand for any video streamed via the internet to your TV. It can take the form of short clips or continuous "live" channels.

While these features aren't new, and have been a part of some televisions and set-top boxes since 2005, the term "smart TV" has given them a name.

Why do I need a smart TV?

While smart TVs have plenty of whizz-bang features, there is one that promises to revolutionise how we use our televisions. Just as Personal Video Recorders (PVRs) brought with them the idea of "time shifting" — where you no longer had to watch a program when it was aired — IPTV allows you to watch TV programmes and movies via the Internet on a smart TV (or computer) when it suits you.  Available in other countries this is not yet beyond the start up stages here.

Not only that, but smart TVs use a system called DLNA that lets you stream media from computers or phones to your TV. If you currently download a lot of video or music from the net, then the right smart TV can access that content directly without you having to copy it onto a disk or USB stick!

 And what about 3D TV?  

At this stage 3D is only available or practical in cinemas.  For home use the active shutter glasses are quite expensive, and with glassless Auto 3D the viewing angle is about 40 degrees so you need to sit right in front of the TV,  so there are a few technical issues to overcome.  The major drawback is the availability of 3D content. Very few commercial movies are available in 3D as yet.  Many were shot in 2D and converted to 3D for cinemas, so what is available on Blu Ray is only 2D. Throw into the mix plasma TVs versus LED LCD TVs, WiFi enabled TVs, and home theatre – it all gets too complicated.   Are you glued to your TV?

As for me, I think I will stick to my old fashioned LCD TV and Sky decoder.   

Neville Fursdon

Term 1 Mac Workshops  

The cost for a workshop is $5.00 for each participant, payable at the learning session, and we expect that you will wear your name badge, proving current membership and your entitlement to be there.

All workshops start at 12.00 pm.

Contact our Course Co-ordinator, Judy Wane (ph. 422 3728, email juwan@clear.net.nz) for details of courses and Workshops.

Even PC users learn a lot at Mac Workshops – come along!

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Hello Mac users.

Apple (and the Mac) continues to go from strength to strength. One share in Apple Inc. in December 2000 cost $US13. Today that one share is worth $US400.  Whilst the recent focus has been on iPhones and iPads, Mac sales today are five times what they were in the year 2000.

Looking back at 2011 we held 36 workshops of 2 hours duration covering a wide variety of Mac topics with the emphasis on specific Mac applications such as iPhoto, iMovie, Pages, Numbers, Mail and the Microsoft Office for Mac suite.  We also ran, on several occasions, the "Getting Started with Macs" - 4 lesson course - and the four lesson "Microsoft Word for Mac" course.

In 2012 we'll be repeating some of the topics but also addressing a number of new ones.The 2 hour Workshops will run from 12noon to 2pm on Wednesdays. The 4 lesson courses will run from 9am to 11am on Wednesdays.

In term 1 we'll have 2 hour Workshops on a variety of topics - including how to run the Windows operating system for those of you who still have Windows software and would like, or need, to access Windows applications from time to time.  There are a number of ways of doing this and we'll look at the pros and cons of the various options.

In term 1 we also plan to try out a couple of experimental Workshops which we have titled "Mac Interest Group" - MIG for short.  We plan that these would involve an introductory talk and handout on items of particular interest to Mac users.  This will include such items as:

• tips and tricks

• news of the latest software and hardware developments in the Mac world

• the latest software updates which you should be aware of

• developments with iPhones and iPads

• interesting Mac websites

• advice on where to purchase Mac software and hardware

After the introductory talk we'll continue the MIG session by answering any questions you may have, and sharing experiences concerning our Mac laptops, desktops, iPhones or iPads.

If the two MIG sessions in term 1 prove to be of value then we will look at continuing to offer these in subsequent terms throughout the year.

Mel Woodley

Mike Behan,  Jan Scott,  Jenny Chadfield,  Gordon Cooke, Marilyn Cooke, Graham Ardern, Kaye Ardern, Joyce Marshall, Geoff Johnston, Barbara Johnston, John Levorsen, Dorothy Cooper, Ann Locke, Kathy Katavich