Twitter: Annoying but Maybe Useful

2Jour Computer Coaching for Seniors Toronto, Ontario

Karl's cellphone beeped again. It was probably another tweet from Charlie. He missed him and the conversations he had with him in Ottawa, but to follow his dear mad friend on Twitter was, well, insanity. Karl received about 100 tweets a day from Charlie and they were either about a great computer sale or the latest scoop on Céline Dion.

At this point, Karl really hated Twitter and as he entered the Toronto Metro Zoo and discovered that Dwayne the Shark was also on Twitter, he knew that the world was CRAZY.

Twitter, essentially, is a website (www.twitter.com) that allows anyone to sign up and post simple and short messages about anything which are called Tweets. If your Tweets are interesting, then people will want to follow them. Tweets can range from being mundane to being useful like transit cancellations or weather updates and they can be transmitted to your phone as text messages.

Please note, Twitter does not do any verification on their users. This means anyone can assume any identity and their Tweets can be unreliable. So bear that in mind when you follow a particular user. Although, I think Dwayne the shark is on the up and up :).

Here are some interesting Twitter links

2Jour - Tweets from us :)

Red Flag Deals - Tweets about sales within Canada

WestJet

CBC News

Dwayne the Shark - Shark News, why not?

WeFollow.com - Ideas for other Twitter links

Alerts: Power of the Cellphone

2JOUR Computer Coaching for Seniors Toronto

The news from the television or radio can tell you about all the important cancellations like a trip to Fiji cancelled due to snow or the Yonge Sheppard subway line cancelled due to signal malfunctions. 

What if, you are outside and you have no access to television or radio? Wouldn't it be great to know what the status of the subways en route so you can plan accordingly?

In comes alerts. TTC and other services like airlines have set up a system called alerts where they e-mail you any delays to their service. If you have a cellphone, you can get the alert via a text message to your phone.  All you need to do is use the email provided to you by your cellphone provider. Please note, you should find out what your cellphone provider charges for incoming text messages before you consider subscribing for an alert with your cellphone.

To set up alert with TTC go to the TTC Alert Subscription website

To set up an alert with Air Canada go to the Air Canada Mobile Notification

Next we will talk about getting the status of services like TTC using Twitter

Bluetooth? On Cell Phones?

Computer Coaching for Seniors Toronto Canada

965 AD Jelling, Denmark

Haraald Bluetooth, the king of Denmark and the new King of Norway, sat next to the Jelling Runestone that honoured his mother and father. With a deep sigh he wondered, "Will people remember me after I am gone?"

Present Day, Ottawa Tim Hortons

"Bluetooth??? What's that?" You ask Charlie after he describes all the features of his new cell phone.

"Oh Karl, its the latest thing in phones," Charlie replied.

"OK Charlie, I still don't know what it does."

"Karl, I can't explain it to you. It is too complicated for you to understand."

"Sooo Charlie," you pause looking at him straight in the eyes, "you don't know either."

"Darn you Karl, you found my weakness!!!!!!!"

Bluetooth gives your cell phone the ability to transmit wirelessly to hands-free headphones or even to your hearing aid (if you have the proper accessory).

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/bluetooth-hearing-aids.html

If your computer is able to transmit and receive Bluetooth signals, then you can also transfer pictures, video and other data stored on your cellphone to your computer. However, Bluetooth has a short range, so your phone and your computer have to be close in distance to transfer data between them.

Security: Skyping more privately

Computer Coaching for Seniors, Ottawa Canada.

The stormy night would not let Charlie sleep. He decided to turn on computer #1 (in total he had 5) and check out how the Canadian dollar compared with the other currencies. As his mouse pointer hovered over his Canadian Exchange Rate bookmark, thunder roared outside his window and a chat window from Skype popped up.

(Chat window means you are communicating through typing and not through voice or talking like on a phone)

"Hi, this is Cindy, Charlie Keiko."

"Cindy, who is this Cindy?" Charlie thought.

He decided to ignore the intrusion, but again the Skype chat window popped up.

"Hey Charlie... why won't you talk to me? I am your long lost cousin Cindy Keiko. We should have a family reunion. I just moved to Ottawa. If you give me your address and phone number, I'll give you a call."

"I do have some relatives on the west coast that I haven't talked to in years. Could this Cindy be related to them?" thought Charlie.

.............

A lot of the information that "Cindy" got about Charlie was from his Skype profile. Charlie signed up for his Skype account using his first name, last name and city. Therefore, there is a big chance that Cindy may not be his long lost cousin.

Although Skype is a wonderful way to communicate, you still need to be cautious as to how much information you share. Here are some ways to Skype more securely:

1. Try creating a Skype userid that gives no information about you personally. For example, Charlie should create an account like 123Chucky rather than 123CharlieKeiko.
   

   You can let your friends and family know about your Skype userid through e-mail or by phone.

2. When you sign up with a Skype account, give as little information as possible. Try not to supply your first name or last name or even the city and country.

   If you have entered in that information, you can remove it by going to "file/edit my profile" and change it there.

3. You can set the privacy option on Skype to get only calls or chat from people on your contact list.

   Go to "Tools/Options" and select "Privacy" on the side panel. Check mark "Allow calls from my contact" and check mark "Allow chats from my contacts".

   You can also block people from calling by adding them to your blocked list ("Contacts/Advanced/Managed Blocked User".

Talk and SEE your Grandkids with Skype

Computer Coaching for Seniors, Ottawa Canada.

Charlie's eyes were bright and shiny when he finally showed Karl the last photograph.

"And that's little Melinda, who is now almost one month old," Charlie concluded with pride.

"They're adorable grandkids, Charlie! You must have had a great time visiting them in Japan."

"I sure did," he agreed. And then he added, after a pause, "If only there was a way I can continue to see and talk to them."

Karl smiled, knowingly.

"But there is, Charlie. It's called Skype, and it's completely free!"

* * *

Skype is a free computer program that turns your computer into a video telephone. It uses your internet connection to communicate with any one else who is also running Skype. As long as you have a microphone (for talking) and/or a web camera (for video capture), then you are all set!

In our next thrilling episode, we'll discuss how to safely and anonymously use Skype.

Transfering Cell Phone Pictures to your Computer

Computer Coaching for Seniors Ottawa Canada

You just got a brand new cell phone and it takes pictures. All week long you take some really great photos but there is a problem. How do you get these pictures to your computer?

Well there is a great article on the microsoft website which explains quite well how to transfer photos from your phone to your computer. Please read "Camera Phone Options" for more information.

Call Loved Ones within North America For Free: SKYPE

Computer Coaching for Seniors Ottawa

Skype is a program that lets people talk (voice conversation) to other people over the internet. This is what's known as Voice Over Internet Protocol or VOIP. You can talk with people all over the world for free if you are calling from your computer to another computer. But, you can also call from your computer to a phone for a given charge.

Skype currently has a promotion where you can call from your computer to a phone anywhere in North America for free until Dec 30 2006. What is nice is you don't have to supply any credit card. You dial the number and it connects you.

Here is where you can download Skype.