There are Yahoo Groups for seniors, religion, politics (don’t join a political Group if you are easily offended), and if you don’t find a Group for the subject you are looking for, well you can create a Group for that subject.
Yahoo Groups have so much to offer folks. If you have a hobby, there is probably a Yahoo Group for that hobby. You can join the Group and converse with people who have the same hobby.
There is a large number of computer help Yahoo Groups. If you have a computer problem of almost any kind, there are members who can help you solve your problem. All of this help is available to members totally free of charge. You can ‘lurk’, (meaning you don’t post) and learn lots of stuff about computers, or you can post questions if you have a specific problem. Sometimes it takes awhile to get the answer you need, but usually you will get the answer fairly soon.
Now for my warning. When you join a Group, check to see if it is public or private. If you want to contirbute to the Group by posting messages, DON’T join a public Group. Why not? Because everything you post could end up on a very public blog or website. This includes your email address, all nicely displayed for (gasp) spam harvesters! In case you don’t know about spam harvesters, it is a program that scans the web for email addresses to add to spammer lists.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t need any more spam!
Martha
I wonder about a lot of things. Anyone would think that at my age I should know at least some of the answers. There are a lot of things I do know, even about stuff not computer related. But of course there is more I don’t know about everything.
For instance, I wonder about blogs. I guess what I mean is, I wonder about the Blog writers. Do they really pour their heart and soul into an online journal on the Internet for the entire world to see and read? Or do they just make up stuff because they think it sounds good?
I have had a blog on blogger for a long time. Most of what I posted there was of a ‘gripe’ nature, about rebates, hotlinking and just general computer stuff. I wrote most of those posts because I was upset or mad about events in my life. Some I wrote because I thought it might help someone else that could be having a problem with their computer.
I like to read other people’s blogs. Some of them are written by people I have met through online Yahoo Groups. Some are helpful blogs and some are just entertaining. There are blogs that tell about their lives, like Ross’s Blog. Others are sort of like mine, a bit of rant and rave. I think some blogs are just a way to vent and get stuff out of ‘our systems’. I know some of my blog posts are like that. (Think rebates!)
One of the things I have been wondering about is how long will a blog stay on the web? I came across a blog earlier this year that was written by a man who has reached the ripe old age of 90+. Don is an incredible writer and has one of the most interesting blogs I have read. He thinks a lot about life and death and I certainly understand that! While I am not that old yet, I am not a youngster either, so I think about life and death as well although I try not to dwell on those subjects too much, especially death.
Getting back to Don’s Blog; he hasn’t posted anything since March. Given his age, you have to wonder “Is he still with us? Has he quit posting because of ill health or is he ‘gone’?” I hope he is just taking a break from blogging.
That made me start wondering just how long a blog will exist on a site like Blogger? Anyone know?
Martha
I have a new email address. It really isn’t new, because I have had it awhile, but didn’t use it. I checked it today and there was nothing there except two emails that were very old. No spam, no new messages and the spam filter was turned off. Oh boy!
I am so tired of all the Phishing emails! A new phish is introduced at least one a month and there must be a cajillion zombie computers out there, sending all of the phishes on command from whoever is running that malware scheme! I am so tired of all those emails trying to sell me stuff; especially for parts of anatomy that I don’t have!
I don’t expect the clean in-box to last very long, but I will enjoy it while it lasts. Someone (or several someones), on one of my many email lists has one of those Zombie computers! The sad thing is, that someone has no idea what is a zombie computer and is just wondering why the computer is so slow.
I am working on a plan to keep this email clean for a while, but it probably won’t work. Still, nothing ventured, nothing gained! Anyway, I am enjoying it now!
Martha
Have you ever heard of a ‘lemon’? Not the kind you eat, but a product. It could be a car, a kitchen appliance or in the case of this article, a computer. A lemon in this aspect is a particular item in a line of mostly very good products, but this item has many problems that just can’t seem to be fixed. One problem after another occurs.
There are not as many ‘lemons’ these days, as quality control is much better than in the past. However, there are still the few ‘lemons’ that manage to get sold to a frustrated consumer.
Most people don’t buy a computer every year. When they buy a computer, they usually are influenced by what friends who already own a model of the computer they are thinking about, ads they may see on TV, etc.
If someone has had a bad experience with a particular computer, they will tell the prospective computer buyer, “Don’t get a XXXX computer!”
This may or may not be good advice. There are a lot of reasons why a computer may cause problems, just like there are a lot of reasons why a car, or an appliance might cause problems. It could even be, a lemon!
Unfortunately, a lot of ‘lemons’ are not the fault of the manufacturer, but are caused by the owner of the ‘lemon’. A computer, just like any other appliance requires maintenance. The problem is, computers require more maintenance on a regular basis than just about any other appliance. Depending on how a computer owner uses the computer, this maintenance may be required as often as daily.
A computer is much more susceptible to power fluctuations than most other appliances. A power surge that won’t affect other appliances can cause damage to a computer. A very strong surge protector should be used with every computer item that is plugged into an electrical outlet. An even better option is to use what is known as a ‘UPS’ or Uninterruptible Power Source. This can not only prevent damage to a computer, but can also give users a chance to save their work in the event of a power failure. (Just because you use a laptop doesn’t mean you are safe, if you have the laptop plugged into an electrical outlet your laptop is a risk of a power surge.)
A surprising number of computer users do not use security programs. An unprotected computer can be infected with virus, worms, trojans and spyware. This can cause data loss, an immense slow down of processing power and general all round havoc.
Martha