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Mike Klubok the Owner of Computer Concierge NY LLC has trained seniors as old as 95 to better use their computer.
The other day I spoke with a high level person in a non-profit organization that has a large senior membership about doing a technology related presentation to members of his organization. The person responded that as many of his members are in their 80s they would not find it useful. After mentioning a few items like how computers can help with health care for seniors, the social aspect, and being an enabler of life learning he suddenly became interested.

Keep in mind that when I talk about computers I am including smartphones and tablets like the iPad , Kindle Fire and others as they are computers.

I have worked with people as old as 95; Helping them to use their computer to keep in touch with friends and family, discover old friends, track their investments, and better use the features of Google search. These are some of the benefits of seniors using computers. Those I have worked with were very motivated to improve their computer skills and with good reason.

Connected seniors are more likely to be happier and healthier than their counterparts who do not use the internet. Evidence has shown that those seniors who are connected are less likely to suffer from depression. In an era where more of us live further from family and friends than ever before the internet has helped to stay connected.  I helped a woman in her 80s set up a Facebook account a while back to keep in touch with her grandchildren and see pictures of them and their travels in life. She also wanted to connect with friends she lost touch with from her childhood in Germany. I don’t know how much luck she had connecting with her lost friends but I know she was thrilled to see pictures of her grandson’s travels in Spain on Facebook that she likely would not have seen otherwise. I worked with another woman who received what she thought was a picture of her great-grandchild living in England who she had never seen and was unable to open it. When I arrived to address the problem she had opening up the file I realized it was not a picture but rather a video. Her tears of joy in seeing the video of her great-grandchild crawling was something special.  When I left she gave me a big hug and thanked me for helping her to see the video. Skype is also a great connector of friends and family that live miles and miles away.  Many years ago the phone company said that long distance was the next best thing to being there. Maybe then it was but now it has to be Skype.

The internet gives seniors better access to health care.  Communicating by email is a method used by more and more doctors. If you want to monitor what you are eating there are sites such as FitDay that allow you to do so. You also can do research.  Want to know more about a drug you are taking? Go to PDR.net.  Sites like WebMD and MayoClinic.com are just two sites that have an abundance of medical information. Both of them also have a symptom checker where you can find possible causes of your symptoms.

Studies have shown that truly lifelong learners have a better quality of life.  The internet provides the ability to quickly get information about world events, politics, sports, etc.  Wikipedia is one factor in why very few people these days have books of encyclopedias at home anymore.    

The last item I will mention is that the internet fosters independence for seniors.  Seniors are now less likely to need someone to take them shopping. I have shown seniors how to shop using Amazon.  Their orders get delivered to their door.  Groceries can be ordered from sites such as FreshDirect.

So if you think you are too old to use a computer think again.  Ask some of the seniors I have worked with how using a computer has added to their lives and don’t be surprised if you see a 90something person in the park Skyping with their friend or grandchild.

Whether you are a senior or advancing towards one day being chronologically gifted I am available to help you better use your technology.  I can be contacted at (917) 572-3468 or email me at mike@computerconciergeny.com .

Feel free to join the conversation and post comments and questions on my Facebook page at Computer Concierge NY LLC  . There also are tips there to better use your computer, smartphoneiPad and other technology you may have or are thinking of buying.

 

Computer Concierge NY LLC provides expert computer and technology services in the Queens, NY area. This includes Albertson, Bayside, Bayside Hills, Bay Terrace, Bellerose, College Point, Douglaston, Floral Park,  FlushingForest Hills, Great Neck, Jamaica Estates, Kew Gardens, Kings Point, Lake Success, Manhasset, Mineola, Munsey Park,  New Hyde Park, North Hills, North Shore Towers, Oakland Gardens, Plandome, Rego Park, Roslyn, The Bay Club, Thomaston, University Gardens, Williston Park, Whitestone and Other Areas in the Bayside NY vicinity.  Our web services are provided worldwide.

 
 
While this blog is a posting of computer related items, cell phones are in fact a computer and this is a potential life saving issue. I am doing this post that indirectly relates . 

In case of emergency (ICE) is a program that enables 1st responders to identify victims and contact next of kin in case of an emergency.  Hence the acronym ICE.  All cellphones should have one or more ICE listings should the unfortunate happen. 

That said, cellphones and particularly smart phones have password protection mechanism where your phone, ICE and all other information cannot be accessed without keying a password or drawing a pattern to unlock all of this.  What I am trying to get at here is if your phone is password protected, ICE is not able to be accessed.  Please have an alternate form of identification that lists an emergency contact(s).  Don't feel a false sense of security having ICE on your phone where there is password protection enabled.
 
 
CCleaner is a product developed by Piroform. It is used to clean unwanted files and invalid Windows registry entries from a computer. It is an application for Windows and not for Macs. However the Piroform webite which is responsible for CCleaner notes on its website that it soon will be making CCleaner for Macs as well.  It is free and a valuable program to have. One of its applications is the removal of cookies. For those who may be unfamiliar with cookies per Wikipedia they are "a piece of text stored on a user's computer by their web browser". What this piece of text does is that it stores various information on it. This information can be site preferences, shopping cart contents and an identifier.

Yes you can use the Disk Cleanup program in the System Tools of your PC. However CCleanerdoes a better job. As mentioned it can be used to delete invalid registry entries from your computer. It is not a sophisticated program for doing this but for those unfamiliar with registry files, it will do the job without harming your computer. It also is very good for cleaner your internet browser's cookies, history, temporary files and form history and download history. 

Having said all this I will add that you can customize the settings. For example should you not wish to delete anything related to MS Office you can. This is important because if you select MS Office your history of recently opened documents will be deleted. 

CCleaner also removes from your PC temporary files, listing of recent documents opened and clears your recycle bin. In addition it also removes unnecessary information from various third party programs. These include MS Office and Adobe Acrobat. If you like your computer to save your passwords (not recommended) or browsing history you have that option. Should you wish not to delete selected cookies, there is an option for that as well.

You also can uninstall programs using CCleaner instead of going into your computer's Control Panel.  The ability to wipe your hard drive also exists by going into the Tools option and selecting "Drive Wiper" then selecting "Entire Drive"  in the drop down menu to the right of "Wipe" so you do need to exercise some caution.

In all this is a desirable program to have on your hard drive. It is free and is a good way to get rid of unneeded files as well as being user friendly. I have found the settings to be easy to use.

UPDATE:  CCleaner is now available to Mac users as a free beta download.  http://lifehacker.com/5808168/ccleaner-for-mac-clears-personal-data-in-one-click-for-safari-and-firefox

I would like to add here that if anyone has a suggestion for a subject, please let me know. Also please feel free to comment.  All comments are welcomed.
 
 
Google is the #1 search engine going. Almost 75% of internet volume of searches as noted in http://www.hitwise.com/us/datacenter/main/dashboard-10133.html for the 4 weeks ended May 29 are made through Google. That said, this blog are ways to make your internet searching easier using Google. The underline phases are the verbatim ways to enter the search terms in Google:

• Crossing delancey – the words crossing and delancey

• “Crossing delancey” – the exact phrase Crossing delancey

• Crossing –delancey - the word crossing but NOT the word delancey

• define:crossing/definition:crossing – definitions of the word crossing. Both define: and definition: are acceptable when searching in Google for definitions.

• phonebook: Joseph Torre NY – phone listings of all those named Joseph Torre in New York.

• stocks:pfe – find Pfizer’s current stock price.

• movie: the blind side 11360 – show show times in or near zip code 11360 for the blind side

• weather:11360 – weather and forecast for zip code 11360

• Site:cnn.com obama – search cnn.com for all information on obama. This can be done for all websites. “Site: “ only searches on the website or domain indicated in the search parameter.

• Crossing#or#delancey – the words crossing or delancey

• Crossing#and#delancey – the words crossing and delancey – this is another way to search for the words crossing and delancey. Using “#and#” in your search is great for searching where you are more than one phrase, term, etc. For example “Tom Seaver”#and#”world series”. Google will search for where the terms “Tom Seaver” and “world series” occur. It is not case sensitive.

Did you know you can do arithmetic calculations using the Google search bar?

Using + - / * keys, you can do basic adding, subtraction, division or multiplication functions. In the search bar put in “2*3+5” and your search will return the correct value of 11.

You can also use Google to convert units in measurements. For example typing “3 tbsp to cup” and hitting the enter key gives a result of 0.1875 cups.


Google is a very good search engine and by following some of the suggestions noted can speed up what you truly are searching for.

 
 
On the web there are many good sites for learning to put it mildly. But did you know you can take college courses online for free? For some of these you can listen online to prerecorded lectures/discussions. http://www.ocwconsortium.org/ has a listing of courses online.  MIT has courses there as well on  http://ocw.mit.edu/index.htm . Another good site is http://www.apple.com/education/itunes-u/whats-on.html. The latter has mainly courses on audio. Among other colleges having open courseware are Tufts, Notre Dame and Yale a pretty good selection to say the least.  Just do a google search for "opencourseware".  Best of all they are free! A lot also have downloadable handouts as well. You also can search on youtube.com for lectures and courses.  Type the name of the college or university followed by lectures or courses and see the selection available. A good way to continue your lifelong learning with no admissions application, tuition, fees or other costs.
 

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