At the meeting on Saturday, Lon Hosford, President of the club, welcomed everyone. Twenty-five members attended and one guest. Lon reminded everyone to respect the hospital premises where we meet, especially when there are other events in progress. If we run into any problems, take them up with the hospital administration, but be respectful.
One member commented that he received an email supposedly from Evelyn Stewart. Someone hacked her email address book. He wanted everyone to take care when receiving emails supposedly from her since they may not be legitimate.
A discussion followed on how to contact club members. A suggestion was made that a list of members names and emails be prepared and a request be sent to our membership person if the information is needed so requests can be approved. More on this later
Q&A
Q. Is there a preferred way to back up my hard drive?
A. Cobian software is very efficient and can be scheduled to run every night. It can be used with an external hard drive or USB. It is a backup system for Windows. It is free, easy to use, and can be scheduled manually. For more information, go to http://download.cnet.com/Cobian-Backup/3000-2242_4-10071828.html .
Acronis is another Windows backup program for business and home use. Again, you can use an external hard drive or online backup. This software is not free, but one license will protect up to three computers. More information on this software can be found at http://www.acronis.com/homecomputing/products/backup-security/#benefits . Paragon is another software package for backing up your home or business computer. This can be used with Windows or a Mac. This software is not free. Your information can be backed up to an external hard drive or a bootable CD. More information can be found on http://www.paragon-software.com/products/home/ . Window Home Server is another solution to be used if you need to back up several computers. A router is needed to use this software. Information on this backup method can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/windowshomeserver/default.mspx . Also, Paul Weeks, a member of our club, gave a presentation on this topic back on January 26, 2010. A summary of his presentation can be found on our club website. Type in “Windows Home Server” in the Search Box on the main page and it will find Paul’s presentation.
Also, if you use Windows, be sure to activate the Backup and Restore Center by clicking on the Control Panel on your own computer and going to this selection. Under this area, you can also backup your computer to an external hard drive or to the internet. It also allows you to go back to a previous date and restore your computer to how it was configured at on that date.
Presentation: Facebook, Turn On, Tune In or “Opt Out”, Scott Crabtree, Presenter
Scott’s presentation gave an overview of Facebook, how it came to be, and its good and bad features.
While a student at Harvard, Mark Zuckerberg and others first developed “facemash”, which used pictures of Harvard students and compared them to one another. Although Harvard shut down this attempt, the concept was sold. Zuckerberg then launched a new concept, Thefacebook.com, to connect and socially network Harvard students. It grew and then was designed to service other university students, high school students, and others 13 years or older. This service continued to expand and the name was changed in 2005 to facebook.com when Zuckerberg bought the domain name.
Facebook has continued to grow and now is used all around the world. There are 600 million estimated users worldwide and 70% of users are located outside the U.S. Although offers were made to purchase Facebook, Zuckerberg refused all offers saying he wanted to keep Facebook independent. No IPO is under consideration either.
Facebook makes its money from banner ads, virtual goods, referral marketing, investors and other ways.
Facebook is free. Facebook requires a first and last name, a profile photo and your gender to sign up. When signing up, you need to choose your privacy settings which determines who will be able to read and access your information. The settings are very general and include “everyone”, “friends of friends”, and “friends only”. “Friends of Friends” is recommended by Facebook. It is better to use “Friends Only” and limit your exposure on the Internet. Under the Privacy Controls settings on Facebook, there are descriptions of what each category includes. Choose carefully. Also, be aware that at times when Facebook changes its structure or updates how it works this may change your privacy settings without your knowledge. It is incumbent on the user to be diligent and maintain the correct privacy settings.
Also, be aware that by clicking on a “like” button or even photo and video “tags” on web pages, you are allowing a relationship with others. You are giving information about yourself to those sites and advertisers. Identifiable data about you can be shared with third-party advertisers. What you “liked” will be added to your profile on Facebook under the Info tab so others can see what you liked and you will be able to see what others friends have recommended or “liked”.
Recently Facebook has become part of the news when it was used in the civil unrest in Egypt and to connect people and provide information during the recent earthquake in Japan. It also has aided police departments in finding criminals and has helped in spreading political information.
Some of the problems that have occurred when using Facebook are harassment, searches by employers or schools, identity theft, and predators. These situations can cause considerable harm to careless users. Using Facebook can create a false sense of security, builds trust in contacts and exposes our needs for belonging and self-esteem.
Once you have signed up on many of these social networks, it is very difficult to remove your personal information and close your account. A member suggested going to Google and typing in “How to cancel my Facebook account” to get the details and to follow them.
Be very careful how you use Facebook or other social networks. Have a strong password, assume that everything you put on the site will be permanently stored, and be careful of any pictures used so personal information about you is not identified. Don’t trust public internet access or unsecured WiFi and don’t use for anything personal. Make sure you know the privacy policies of web services and think carefully before you put anything on the site. Think who might read it and who will see it and the possible repercussions of your actions. There have been many cases where the information can and will be used against an individual in their employment, school, or with others when least expected.
Scott was not positive on the use of Facebook or any other social network site. The risks are great and the benefits are minor.
Thanks, Scott, for your information and cautions