About Me

 For over twenty years I've been a technology librarian working with seniors and their families to teach and simplify the tech we all live with day to day.  I've learned a lot from them and hopefully they've learned something from me. Here I'll share some of that with all of you.

Popular posts from this blog

It's not really all that different, is it?

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 Most of you may remember Windows 95 or 98 as your first exposure to Windows. Thirty years have passed since then. 30 years! The baby you were holding then is probably holding your grandchild today. Windows has changed so much and you're absolutely certain it used to be better and easier, right? Sorry to tell you not that much has changed for the end user. Sure, under the hood and behind the scenes there have been an enormous amount of technical changes but barely any of those affect your experience as the end user. Windows 95/98 (30 years ago): Here we have:  a "Start" button bottom left shortcut icons on the Desktop the Taskbar across the bottom the clock bottom right a Window running a program (Welcome to Windows 95) an "X" in the upper right corner of that Window to close the program Windows XP (25 years ago): Notice anything familiar? a "Start" button bottom left shortcut icons on the Desktop the Taskbar across the bottom the clock bottom right a ...
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Where did all the instruction manuals go?

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 People love their instruction manuals. They love having something to reference. Something to return to and rely on when trouble or confusion pop up. You may have noticed they're gone. Almost nothing you buy today come with an instruction manual. There are two primary reasons for this: 1) It saves money to not include an instruction manual. You can make yourself feel a little better by also saying it saves trees but really, from a business perspective, trees are just money. 2) Software updates to your device will soon make a printed manual obsolete. These reasons also carry over to why the once plentiful market of "dummies" style books is shrinking. You, the end-user, the customer, are meant to use online resources for your instruction be they videos, blogs, messaging forums or the manufacturers own website. Trouble is you need to know specific terms and what they mean to get any helpful results in your search. If you're patient you can learn a lot even by searching t...
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You've Fallen and You Can't Get Up?

 Did you know Google Assistant and Apple's Siri can call 911 if you ask them to? If your phone or smart speakers are within range they will hear your shouts for help and contact emergency services for you. This is not an extra service or an add-on feature. It only requires a cellular or Internet connection. Set your phone assistant to listen on lock screen:  For Android phones
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