Wednesday 12^th July 2017

Google Photos

We had some discussion on the use of Google Photos. This site explains how to use Google Photos:-

https://www.stuff.tv/features/how-master-google-photos

The key benefits of Google Photos are:-

1. It's free.
2. You can store an unlimited number of photos (provided you select 'High Quality' in Settings).
3. It works across all devices - Apple, Android and Microsoft.
4. It has some simple photo editing functions.
5. It's easy to share individual photos or a collection of photos in an Album.
6. The search function is very clever.
7. You can use it in addition to whatever you currently do.

For more extensive photo editing capabilities you could invest in Adobe Photoshop Elements. There are a number of free photo editing programs such as the ones reviewed in this article:-

http://www.techradar.com/news/the-best-free-photo-editor

How Stuff Works

We normally deal with using technology and the questions that arise from that. We discussed whether there might be any interest in trying to understand more about how various items of technology work, looking at some of the underlying principles? The consensus seemed to be that there would be little interest in spending much time on these deeper issues.

Ray raised this back at the January meeting and I referred in the blog to this site http://www.explainthatstuff.com/azindex.html which explains a whole range of topics, including computing.

Another helpful site which has tutorials on such things as Computer Basics, Word and Excel is https://www.gcflearnfree.org/. Trying clicking on the Technology or Microsoft Office links and explore from there.

Edge and Scareware

I visited a client who had been browsing with Edge and encountered a web page which announced – both on-screen and audibly – that they had a virus and should phone a number to resolve the issue. Fortunately, the client was smart enough to realise this was a scam, but they could not close the web page, so they just shut down the machine. This was just a fake message, there was no malware on the PC. The web page continuously accesses the Internet in order to prevent it being closed. Just disconnecting from the Internet – either by activating Flight Mode (aka Airplane Mode) or switching off the router – was all that was required to close the page.

As a precaution, I deleted the browsing data in Edge (except for Passwords and Form Data). I did this by clicking on the 3-dots, Settings, and then Choose what to clear under the Clear browsing data heading. Select the items you want to remove and click on the Clear button.

Windows 10 Privacy Pop-up
When the Windows 10 Creators Update is available for your PC, the first thing that happens is a window pops up asking you to check your privacy settings. Some people who have seen this are unsure if it is genuine. This Microsoft page describes the process and shows images of the windows which you will see:-
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4014916/windows-10-choose-your-privacy-settings-for-windows-10-creators-update

Editing PDFs

Ray asked about editing a PDF, perhaps from a scanned document. The essence of a PDF document is that it is ‘locked down’ and cannot be changed. This why PDF is such a useful format for distributing documents. Anyone can easily read a PDF with Adobe’s free reader or other reader, and you can guarantee that each recipient will see exactly the same thing.

Essentially, an editable document file, such as a Word document, contains a set of instructions for constructing the page letter by letter. A letter "A" will be represented by the code for that letter. A PDF or a image scan of a document, on the other hand, will represent that page dot by dot - it will not have any codes for characters, its just an array of dots.

However, it is possible to use software or services which analyse the dot array of a PDF document and attempt to identify characters so that it can convert it into a Word document which can be edited. This conversion process will not necessarily be 100% perfect. This article describes some ways which allow PDF documents to be edited for free:-

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/feature/software/how-edit-pdf-for-free-3653069/

For example, you can download and install Nitro PDF (https://www.pdftoword.com/) which allows you to convert PDF to Word free for 14 days. Alternatively, the same site allows you to upload a PDF file which they will convert to Word and send back to you as an email attachment. I have tried this latter option and it gives very good results. Obviously, if your document is confidential, you may not wish to upload it for someone else to convert.

IMAP vs Exchange

If you are setting up an email app, in most cases you should opt for IMAP. Very often, the account will be set up automatically and usually, IMAP will be the default choice. The older protocol, POP, is usually best avoided. The situation is further complicated if you use a Microsoft email (aka Hotmail or Outlook.com). Microsoft have their own protocol called Exchange Server. Not all email apps can use this, although Microsoft’s own Outlook app (on PC or mobile) obviously can. Exchange can sync Microsoft’s calendar, Task List, etc in addition to just email. Generally, assuming you are just using Microsoft email, I would set the account up using IMAP, which means you will have to set it up manually, rather than automatically.

If you want to read more on this, have a look at the How-to-Geek article-

https://www.howtogeek.com/99423/email-whats-the-difference-in-pop3-imap-and-exchange/

Migrating To Gmail
I normally advise people to avoid using the email service associated with their ISP and to use a free, independent mail service such as Gmail. If you change ISPs at some future date, you will also lose the associated email service. However, if you use Gmail, changing ISPs will have no impact on your email.

Gmail includes a feature which can fetch mail from another email account. So, if you currently have a BT mail account, you could start using a new Gmail account and have it pick up all your BT mail (assuming you have not yet cancelled your BT service). To set this up in Gmail, go to gmail.com and sign in. Click on the Cog symbol, then Settings. Click on the Accounts and Imports tab and look for Check email from other accounts and click on Add an email account. In the following boxes, enter the details of the BT account. Once set up, the mail from your BT account will appear in the Gmail Inbox along with your Google Mail. You can label the mail from other accounts so that it is clear where it is from in your Inbox. Here is a help page on this topic:-
https://support.google.com/mail/answer/21289?co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop&hl=en

Next Session

Wed 9^th August 2017 1:30 to 3:30pm.