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Technology for Communication – Connecting with and Making Friends Worldwide

Posted on February 15, 2014 by Sheila

Keeping up with family and friends AND MAKING new friends, is one of the major reasons I love the Internet and being able to use it and all the devices available to us. This video, using Zoom.us, is an example of what’s possible.

Several years ago, through groups found online and connected via email and phone only, I made quite a few friends with whom I still interact today. I especially love the Zoom.us app because it allows more direct contact and visual sharing of our own persona and photos and information from our computers, iphones, android, iPads, other tablets and even a phone only.

Periodically I offer free Q&A Mondays, from 11 AM to Noon US Eastern time, on all the ways you can use Zoom to enrich your personal life and business life. One of the things I did in preparation for this is a video showing the various Zoom controls to Morgine Jurdan. Morgine is one of my friends whom I met online about 8 years ago. She lives across the country from me. We thus find Zoom a fun and easy way to connect.

To schedule a Free Q&A Monday visit, email me at easyseniortechnology@gmail.com with Zoom Q&A Monday in the Subject Line.

See Evolving Seniors for details on how to join in.

iPads in Airport Restaurant

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Sheila

Almost daily, I hear about another creative, and sometimes necessary, use of technology. Just the other day my friend Terry shared an exciting experience she had at a restaurant in an airport. There was a weather delay, so it added to her pleasure to land up in a restaurant

where every table had an iPad!!!

Not only were the iPads there for the patrons general use, they served as the “waiters,” offering the menu, taking food and beverage selections. The final step to placing orders is swiping your credit car on the machine attached to the table.

While waiting for her food to be brought to her, Terry was able to surf the internet or play games!

Would you have been as excited as Terry if you had sat down in this restaurant?

Time Management Tools on the iPhone and the Web

Posted on December 5, 2013 by Sheila

Do you ever wonder, like I often do, “Where did the time go?”…. “How much time did I spend on…. ?”

I recently was introduced to Toggl, can be used for simple tracking of tasks for yourself:

“What are you Working on Now”, and then timing it with the built-in timer or adding, or adjusting, the start and end times manually, if I forgot to start or stop the time. It’s very easy to go in and make changes to the times. Continue reading →

Uploading Photos from iPhone to Flickr

Posted on November 14, 2013 by Sheila

(Photo to the left is from my Inspirational Sheila Flickr Photostream.)

I was recently asked if I use the iPhone (and Android) Application for uploading photos directly to Flickr.

Flickr is one of the most widely used programs, by both professional and amateur photographers, for sharing and storing photographs. The photos can be public or they can be designated for viewing by a limited audience. You select Continue reading →

iPhone for Documenting Needed Information

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Sheila

Smartphone Monopod with iPhone - Water Meter on

Recently I discovered a couple of new uses for my iPhone in documenting things I want/need to remember. Continue reading →

Using the Internet to Easily Talk with Friends, Family, Business Associates

Posted on October 4, 2013 by Sheila

My latest discovery for ways to EASILY talk to family, friends and/or clients, if you are in business, is ZOOM.us. When I read on Facebook that my friend Camara Randolph, on her iPad, had a session with a client while sitting on a park bench, I immediately went to check it out. The program she was using is ZOOM, an application which can EASILY be used on computers, iPads and other tablets, as well as iPhones and other Smart Phones. Continue reading →

Swipe Controls – Using the new Apple iOS7 for iPads and iPhones

Posted on September 24, 2013 by Sheila

I recently purchased an iPad. Very happy with it and in the interest of staying current, I immediately uploaded the new iOS7 as soon as the option for it showed up on my iPad. I hadn’t really paid any attention to the buzz and announcements on what was coming up so I didn’t know what to expect. I immediately attempted using the iPad with the familiar tapping actions and it wasn’t working. Lots of frustration set in.

(To watch, click on arrow on the far left below the video.)

My exploration for answers, as well as questions others were having, led to this blog post. The answers were so simple!! With the previous operations, “tapping” is the action that causes results. With iOS7 it is “swiping“. This post addresses a few of the most used activities on our devices and the actions for managing them.

In the above video on “How to Use iOS7 on the iPad” you’ll see the ease of the “swiping” motions that I discuss. Below you’ll see individual explanations.

1 – CLOSING OPEN PROGRAMS – To extend your battery life, be sure to regularly close applications you are not using. In the earlier systems, double clicking on the home button brings up all your open programs in a row at the bottom of your device. Tapping on one brings up minus signs in the upper left corner of each icon. A single tap on that mark closes the program/window. Apple iOS 7.0 Home Page on iPad Continue reading →

Adding or Changing Your Profile About Information in Facebook

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Sheila

One of my new habits is checking Facebook for information on friends from whom I have not heard in a while. It seems that more and more frequently people are posting their challenges and ills, as well as a small celebrations.

So when I checked with a friend, querying information I had seen in her profile, she wrote me back that she had unsuccessfully attempted making changes. For her, and anyone else with similar challenges, below are the step-by-step visuals for how to edit your information on Facebook. You can actually get at the pages you want to change from either your Profile page or the Home page.

On the Profile Page, click on either “Update Info” or “About”

Once in the About page, click on Edit in any of the sections you want to change.

You can also get to the editing from your Home Page

When in your About Page, go to the section you want to be edited.

Click on Edit. Then make the Changes you wish in the boxes that open. Be sure to Save Changes.

Have fun making your updates. Please share in the comments here, your experience of this post. Also what is it you most like about Facebook? Please leave your responses in the “Reply …” box below

Protecting Pictures of Grandchildren and Children – Hide Locations in Smart Phones

Posted on August 18, 2013 by Sheila

Protect the privacy of your grandchildren and anyone else whose photos you upload online. I was recently shocked when I learned how fully hackers are able to track locations of people from pictures posted on the Internet.

If you are interested in privacy and security, the following NBCActionNews video is a “must-watch.” I’m not sure if there is much difference in the relevant technology since this interview was uploaded in November 2010. At the time, the officer interviewed called this “hidden threat” “today’s biggest risk online.”

Watch it and you will see that locations of bedrooms, schools, where the children hangout, and much more, were all trackable Continue reading →

Use Google to Make Phone Calls from Gmail and Hangouts

Posted on August 4, 2013 by Sheila

The latest exciting Internet discovery, for me, is that you can make phone calls from your computers when in Gmail on the web. You can call land line and mobile phone numbers, as well as conference call lines. It’s as simple as clicking on a phone icon when logged into Gmail on the computer.

You can call to, or from, anywhere in the US or Canada at no charge for the call. Continue reading →