Meetings Jul-Aug 2022

A few more attended Meeting 18, but surprisingly we soon ran out of questions and we finished much earlier than usual. We did review quickly how to create a new WhatsApp group.

We resumed ToC meetings again now that Michael's eyes are done. We started by discussing various scams that had happened since the previous meeting and how we are all getting more capable of spotting and avoiding them.

Michael started by showing some developments that he thought were key to the ever-changing face of tech over the last few weeks.

In questions from the audience we reviewed the creation of WhatsApp groups and how to capture screenshots on the iPhone.

A few people had to leave after this photo was taken at the end. Bill announced that the Residents Committee (RC) are recommending that the Tech over Coffee be recognised as an official RC activity. A form of words will be adopted to that effect with a view to preventing ToC being taken over in the future for nefarious purposes.

The current name of the WhatsApp group intended for all residents contains the words 'Cypress Gardens'. This might give the impression that it comes under the auspices of Tricare. Since the group has been created for and managed by a voluntary group of residents, a change of name has been suggested. Suggestions were sought from the attendees. The name change will be put to the RC for a final decision. Await developments.

Update, Saturday 6 August. I published the WhatsApp groups invitation links on our public web site to make joining the group more convenient. I did this knowing it was possible for someone outside our community to discover the links, but I felt the benefit outweighed the potential problems. Fate intervened today and a person exploited our invitation links to leave an obscene photo. As soon as I was aware I deleted the offending media and message and changed the invitation links to prevent a repetition of this problem. Nevertheless, some members of the CGR and ToC groups will have seen the offending media, for which I apologise profusely. Of course, the new invitation links will no longer be available on a public forum. The Group Admins will need to be contacted directly to manage new members wishing to join which can be done without using invitation links. I believe I have deleted all instances of the old invitation links (which are now harmless) from this site. Let me know if you discover otherwise.

Our photo lacks Michael as his remote control for taking these photos had insufficient power. Again WhatsApp figured a lot in our discussions and we covered creating new WhatsApp groups. In the process new groups for Line Dancing and Aqua aerobics were created.

Tony also brought along an article about the new laws that have come into effect to force mobile phone suppliers to be aware of misinformation in text messages and to take steps to reduce unsolicited texts. See the Contributions page.

We spent time discussing problems people were having with their phones and the pros and cons of using the cloud. As always the use of WhatsApp was raised, particularly with our friends and families outside our two WhatsApp groups, Cypress Gardens Residents and Tech over Coffee. With COVID beginning to appear among our village residents again, we thought the general village group might be used by all to report when test positive to COVID as this information stays with Tricare if reported to the office.

A question concerned how we might store any images that appear in WhatsApp messages. We find if you tap on the image in WhatsApp and select the ... menu you can copy the image to your phone photo app, include in an email or text and save it to your phone in the Downloads folder.

Tony showed us an interesting article from The Australian about Telstra's Blue Tick Testing Lab. Check it out in the Contributions page.

A small poster for ToC is now up on the noticeboard with a QR code that takes readers to our site. We spent time on reviewing QR codes use our photo apps and adding text to photos with the built-in editor. A constant discussion point is the security of our phones and how to spot scams.

Kevin had reported a problem of a friend's daughter apparently being impersonated on WhatsApp. Any mention of money and new bank accounts should be a red flag that a message in not genuine.

Our thoughts turned to additional meetings where Michael and anyone else present might offer one-on-one assistance to those with specific issues with their phones. An outcome was to experiment with such a meeting in the Bar Lounge. The meeting was tentatively entitled Nespresso Coffee Meeting and set for Thursday at 2.30 pm. It was advertised on our ToC WhatsApp group. In the event only Bill was able to attend and we solved some of his problems.