So, here you are, hope you enjoy!

Getting To Know My Computer – Part Two-Looking-Outside-the-Box

To kick off the series, we had a chat with John about why we needn’t be scared of computers, and we covered some of the basics of computers.

It’s all in a nice, relaxed chat – the call is about 30 minutes long.

If you’d like to listen, then please click on this link to hear the call:

Today though, we have Part One of printed series.
This section is titled:  The Computer and the Main Parts

Please click on this underlined link, to read Part One!

Then we got into a conversation about how strange a computer is. It’s made up of really mysterious parts and names that make no sense.

It got me thinking.

When you’re new to computers, it really is a strange world to be entering.

And it’s not helped by the jargon, technical terms and strange names.

I think that’s what adds to concern – nothing makes sense – well nothing that we have experience of helps to make sense of things.

And that doesn’t give us confidence.

So in a bid to overcome the mystery, we are having a Getting To Know My Computer Series.

It’s part of our member’s programs, but I think it’s really important for all people who are new to computers.

So it’s available to everyone.

I will have all the Four Parts available on our website – feel free to share with others – as long as nothing is changed, and of course, as long as the content is still identified as from The Web on Wheels.

We are going to explain what the computer is, what the parts are, and what some of those parts do.
We will have some audio – something to listen to; some video – something to show you very clearly what the parts look like, and some documents for you to read on your computer screen, or print out and keep as a reference, or just read when you’ve got time.

I hope you enjoy the series!

good luck and best wishes

Viv

John is our computer coach in the Bayside area of Melbourne, Australia.

He has taught computers for the past 11 years, and today’s chat is on the subject of ‘getting to know your computer’.

We realise that many people are nervous about using their computer, so we decided to have a chat about just what a computer is – just the basics, there’s nothing technical here. We talk about the main bits and pieces inside your computer, and some of the things you can do with your computer.

The chat is about 30 minutes long.

Please click on the link below and the recording of the call will start to play automatically.

Oh – don’t forget to turn on your speakers. :-
John Box Getting To Know Your Computer Feb 10.mp3

Here is a YouTube video that announces that Google have Street View of the action on the slopes in Vancouver.

An amazing way to see what the slopes are like. It’s also interesting to see how they’ve captured the photos.

Press the pause button and wait a minute or two for the video to ‘load’ properly on your computer.

It will show you how to purchase something at the website – Deals Direct.

I had a query from a client this week, so thought it timely to remind you to please be wary of email messages you receive.
I’m sure you know, not to open any email messages that look suspicious, or come from someone you don’t know. If it doesn’t look quite right – DELETE IT! If it really is important, that person will try to contact you again – perhaps by telephone or normal mail.
I think that emails can be a terrific way of keeping in touch, if they’re used right, (you know my saying – “use the ‘good side’ of the Internet”).
But, unfortunately there are some horrible people around – granted they’re very clever, but they’re nasty critters just the same.
One of the nasty things they do is send hoax messages through the email system.
These can take the form of asking you to donate money for a sick child, or the many varieties of messages supposedly from a bank asking you to verify your details, or the infamous ‘Nigerian Scam’. (The Nigerian scam has been around for ages – even before the internet.
One such hoax message this week was warning about a new computer virus. Now even though you might not know who sent the message to you, you might be tempted to open this one, as most people get very edgy whenever the words “computer virus” are uttered.
One great, quick and easy way to check if a message is legit or not is to go to this website: http://www.hoax-slayer.com/ (click anywhere on the underlined words – the link – to go straight to that website). There are several other sites offering a similar service, I just happen to like this one, as it’s not loaded with too many ads.

You can type into the little Search box (top right-hand corner) some words about what you’re querying.

In this particular instance you could type in the words: life is beautiful into the search box, then press enter.

A list will be displayed of all the information they have about anything to do with Life is Beautiful. From there, click on whatever article you want and read on – and see that this too is a hoax message.
Below is one of the articles that Hoax-Slayer have on their site about the Nigerian Scam.
< from Hoax-Slayer.com>
The so-called “Nigerian scam” is one of the longest running that I know about. In fact, it predates the Internet and email. The scams are also known as “419 scams” after the appropriate part of the Nigerian criminal code. The scammers still use surface mail and faxes as well as email. There are a great many versions of this scam. Although many originate out of Nigeria, hence the generic term “Nigerian scam”, it is certainly not only Nigerian based criminals that send them. In spite of the longevity of this type of scam and the large amounts of publicity that it has received, many people around the world are still being conned out of substantial sums of money. I regularly receive enquiries from Internet users who have received Nigerian scam emails and do not know what they are about.

Basically, the scam works like this. You receive an unsolicited message that masquerades as some manner of business proposition, request for assistance, notice of a potential inheritance, or opportunity to help a charity. In fact, there is a seemingly endless array of cover stories that the scammers use in order to draw potential victims into the con. In spite of this diversity, virtually all of the scam messages share a common theme. The messages all claim that your help is needed to access a large sum of money, usually many millions of dollars.

The scammers use a variety of stories to explain why they need your help to access the funds.

For example:
They may claim that political climate or legal issues preclude them from accessing funds in a foreign bank account.
They may claim that your last name is the same as that of the deceased person who owned the account and suggest that you act as the Next of Kin of this person in order to gain access to the funds.

They may claim that a rich businessman, who has a terminal illness, needs your help to distribute his wealth to charity.
The messages offer to let you keep a significant percentage of the funds in question in exchange for your assistance. This percentage is the bait that the scammers use to entice potential victims deeper into the scam. Once a recipient has taken the bait, and initiated a dialogue with the scammers, he or she will soon receive requests for “fees” that the scammer claims are necessary for processing costs, tax and legal fees, or bribes to local officials.

The scammers will warn the victim that these advance fees need to be paid before the funds can be procured. In reality, the supposed funds do not exist. The major purpose of these scam messages is to trick recipients into parting with their money in the form of these advance fees. Fraudulent requests for fees will usually continue until the victim realizes he or she is being conned and stops sending money. In some cases, the scammers gain enough information to access the victim’s bank account directly or steal the victim’s identity.

This site can be used to check all sorts of other hoaxes. When you go to the website, you’ll see all the categories there. You can click through any or all of the categories and see if you recognise anything that’s been in your Inbox before, or just keep your awareness up of what’s ‘doing the rounds’.

• Getting To Know My Computer - Part One
• Getting To Know My Computer Series
• Getting To Know Your Computer
• Articles List
• Newsletter Sept 25 Melb Show Dust Storm
• MS (Microsoft) Fix it For Me
• How to speed up your computer - Disk Cleanup
• How to Sign up for Health and Fitness Giveaway Event

• Audios List