January 2007

 

Another Year

by Cheryl Marshman, Editor

The Holidays were hectic but wonderful and now here it is January 2007.   Time once again to make those New Year resolutions and plans for another year.

One plan the GCCLC has for this year is to try and meet the needs of more Students.  As a pilot program, the basic computer class offerings have been revamped. Instead of two basic classes (Computer Fundamentals and Intro to Computers) there are now three basic classes offered for the first session beginning  in the January Session.

Students can start with CB1 to learn basic skills, continue to CB2 to reinforce those basic skills, and then move on to CB3 to learn additional skills.  As usual, classes have filled up quickly.

Did you know that the GCCLC offers three sessions of classes each year?  Since the 19 classes offered always fill-up, that equates to 152 Students per session or over 450 Students a year!

Plus the waiting list continues to grow with anywhere from 10-30 Students waiting to get into the next session.

One of the most popular classes, outside of Computer Basics, is Digital Photography.  See what you can do with basic Digital Photography skills and take  a look at the Photo Gallery feature on page 4.

Enthusiasm is a key component of GCCLC classes.  The enthusiasm of the Instructors, Coaches, and Students continues to be amazing.  The Students are so eager to learn and it’s so rewarding as an Instructor or Coach to help the Students become computer literate.  From a Student perspective, it’s rewarding to be able to learn something that can be shared with children and grandchildren.  Be sure to read the article Perspectives, to see what Students really think about GCCLC classes.

The GCCLC continues to strive to serve the community by bringing “Wisdom to the Computer Age”.  The Labs, Seminars, Workshops, and User Group meetings continue to be offered in addition to the class offerings.  What would you like to see offered as a Seminar or Workshop?  Your input is valuable and welcome so let us know your thoughts.  Contact information can be found on the last page of this Newsletter.

Perspectives:
Students Talk About GCCLC Classes

As GCCLC volunteers with a passion to help our Students learn, the tendency is to believe we’re doing a good job with the classes offered.  However, it’s always a good idea to get a ‘reality’ check through the input of those actually taking the classes offered..........the Students.

Recently, two Students volunteered to talk about the classes they’ve taken through the GCCLC.  Bruce Bolinger and Lu Kurani have taken several GCCLC classes including Computer Basics, Word Processing, Windows XP, and Fun Exercises with Paint.

When Lu moved to Auburn she was interested in finding classes similar to those she had taken through Senior Net in the San Jose area.  After doing an online search she found the classes offered through the GCCLC and signed up.  Although she did find some classes offered in the Sacramento area, Lu said the GCCLC classes were more for the novice which is what she was looking for.

Bruce had been using word processing in his job but wanted to become more proficient and learn new computer techniques.  Retired now, Bruce uses his computer for research he’s doing for a non-fiction book about his great-uncle’s involvement with the Belgian Resistance during WWII.

Both Lu and Bruce said they enjoyed the classes they took, especially the comfortable pace and friendly atmosphere.  Both said they liked that they could learn by doing in class and that the Instructors were very knowledgeable.  Bruce enjoyed having interaction between the Students and was able to share a document he put together of interesting Microsoft features.

Lu enjoyed the classes so much that she has become a Coach.  Not only is this a way for her to give back but it helps her to retain what she’s learned.Both Lu and Bruce said they would highly recommend classes to others and in fact already have!

If you have input you’d like to share about your experiences as a Student, Coach, or Instructor of GCCLC classes, send an email to the editor at publicity3gcclc.org

Tips Tricks: Slow Computer? Try These Suggestions

You say you haven’t done anything different but you’ve noticed your computer has started to run a lot slower than usual. Before you go and throw your computer out the window, read on to see if you can fix the problem.

When your computer is slowing down, it usually means that you require more memory. Instead of adding more memory, you can easily remove programs and stop them from consuming all of the memory you have.

The easiest way of doing this is by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Del, click,Task Manager, then click the Processes tab. This window will show exactly how much memory each program is using.

You can click the End Process button to close any program you don't think you need running. Just be careful, you may not want to close any program running under the name of “System,” because you might shut down something that Windows needs to operate correctly.

Instead of closing all of these programs every time you turn on your computer, you could use the msconfig command to stop them from starting upon booting-up your computer. Go to Start, Run and type in “msconfig.”, then click OK in the open box. On the System Configuration Utility box that appears next, select the Startup tab.   You can then uncheck the programs that you do not want to run right when your computer starts, then click OK.  You do, however, need to be careful not to uncheck any programs that are required for Windows to work as a placeholder.

Each application that starts up will have a checkmark next to it but most of these items do not have to start in the boot process. How do you know which ones to uncheck? Some are obvious, but others have confusing abbreviations so it is hard to determine what those items are. Should you leave them checked or can you remove the checkmark?  Here are a couple of websites that will explain what all those items are so you can determine if it is safe to not have that application start automatically - www.sysinfo.org/startuplist.php and  www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm 

If in doubt, just leave the checkmark there.

Photo Gallery:

Photos Submitted by GCCLC Students and Volunteers