Gizmoe

This is your June edition of Gizmoe - the third of six editions in 2013.

Gizmoe will also be posted on our website www.seniornet.co.nz

AGM and Symposium a great success!

on the 12th June.

The Federation held its Annual General meeting on the 14th May at Auckland Airport Novotel. Results from the survey undertaken suggest those who attended enjoyed the day with 87% saying it was excellent/very good. Fog at Auckland airport meant delays for some people with five who had registered unable to make it. Notwithstanding, 140 people were present at both the AGM, which was held in the morning and the Symposium in the afternoon. Just prior to the luncheon break a presentation was made to the Retiring Chairman, Ian Turner. Ian had been chairman of the Federation from its inception in 2006 and has been a terrific leader for the organisation. In appreciation of his dedication to the SeniorNet Federation Ian was presented with a glass plaque along with a gift voucher to thank him for all his hard work. We understand Ian wasted no time in using his voucher as the week following he popped into Noel Leeming and used it to buy a Galaxy Tablet. Thanks again Ian youve been a marvellous chairman. Your New Chairman is Ray MacDonald from the Eden-Roskill Learning Centre. Like Ian, Ray has been on the committee from its inception; in the role of secretary Ray has been tremendous so the organisation is in great hands for the future. The Symposium in the afternoon had presentations from Volunteering New Zealand, HP, Microsoft and our valued partner Vodafone, and then it was the turn of representatives from five different Learning Centres to share their unique ideas with the gathering. Thanks to all the presenters, you provided us all with enthusiasm, fresh thinking and motivation to embrace new concepts. Minutes of the AGM along with some of the presentations made at the Symposium have been posted on our website - here is the direct link http://www.seniornet.co.nz/usefulinfo-agm.asp . Thanks to Michael Lawrence (Palmerston North Learning Centre) for providing the audio recordings of the presentations. Grant Sidaway Executive Officer

Google Glass can you believe this! Google Glass is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display and camera that uses smartphone-like functions in a hands-free arrangement that can interact with the Internet using voice commands. Its what we have always wanted computers in our heads (brains) linked to monitors (eyes) operated by voice except as humans our interface systems are more refined, we dont need to use our voice to get answers, our operating system accepts thought patterns to enable visualisation! Joking to one side however the development of Google Glass is likely to pave the way for greater portability with computers and internet. Google Glass resembles a pair of glasses. It isn't a cell phone, but it connects to one using Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Glass looks like a pair of rimless glasses with a thick, heavy right stem and a cubic rectangle sticking out of the front. It has nose pads and an adjustable arm in the front. There's a power button, a speaker, an indicator light, a Micro-USB charging port, and a camera shutter button. The battery sits behind your right ear, and a touch-sensitive navigation pad is embedded in the right arm near your temple. So effectively, it is a small visual monitor wirelessly connected to a smartphone which then in turn connects to the internet. Glass can also be used on a Wi-Fi network, meaning you wont need a smartphone to connect to the internet (providing you are in a Wi-Fi zone). The small "screen" (the glass of Glass) measures 0.75 inch deep and 0.375 inch by 0.375 inch wide and tall, and it sits between your eyebrow and upper lid, not in front of your eye. You glance up and to the right to read the active display area, which is half an inch at the diagonal.

With Google Glass you can:

Search by using voice commands Show turn-by-turn driving, walking, or cycling directions Capture and share photos and videos through Google+ Make and accepts phone calls Send and receive text messages Deliver search results, including the weather etc. Link into third-party apps development of these apps will evolve over time as with smartphone apps

Google developers have been working hard to bring this exciting product to market for some time now. Its at the Beta stage now with tens of thousands of units distributed (actually purchased for US$1,500 each) to software and hardware developers for testing, evaluation and enhancing. A public launch date is likely to be mid-2014. The initial release of the beta product brought the Luddites out from their cave crying down the technology enthusiasts with their visions of division and the obliteration of privacy. Members of the US Congress have written to Google expressing concerns about the societal implications of Glass. So its situation normal when new technologies emerge. Remember that the PC, Macintosh, cell phone, Internet, iPhone, iPad, and many others were all initially scorned by gurus, expert users of existing products and Luddites. The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer once said: All disruptive technology passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident. This is not to say that Google Glass itself will be successful, like with most technology, the user gets to decide! Another course for SeniorNet looms! Here is a link to a You Tube video that describes Google Glass from a user perspective: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaU6DWb0yzs

Crime Watch a collaborative approach to reducing crime Developed in Nelson by John Parsons from Simulate 2 Educate (S2e) and in collaboration with SeniorNet Nelson and Nelson Police. A bi- monthly newsletter produced by Simulate 2 Educate brings focus to Cybercrime and Real World crime. It details real accounts of how people have been targeted by cyber criminals and offers advice on what do if it happens to you. Content supplied by Nelson SeniorNet members known as Sentinels describes real accounts of attempted scams and various types of scam emails they receive. Content is supplied by experts in IT security who offer advice on how to reduce risk when navigating the World Wide Web. Here is the link to the latest Nelson Crime Watch newsletter - you will find it enlightening with excellent cyber safety tips: http://www.seniornet.co.nz/NCW%20June%20July%202013.pdf New Zealanders victims of cyber crime
.Most of these New Zealanders are the targets of international scams and fraud attempts, losing up to $500 million annually due to scams1. International data suggests 133,000 New Zealanders per annum are victims of identity fraud (the majority of cases having a cyber-element).2
References: 1 Ministry of Consumer Affairs 2010. 2 Department of Internal Affairs 2010.

To learn more about this new initiative follow the link: www.simulate2educate.co.nz/crimewatch Cybercrime isolates both the victim and the criminal so it is vital that we have opportunity to share our cyber stories with each other.

3D Printing Its been labelled the next Industrial Revolution. The introduction of machinery revolutionised manufacturing and heralded huge changes in workforce skills and employment. Is 3D printing about to do it all again? 3D printing or more accurately defined additive manufacturing is a process of making a
three-dimensional solid object of almost any shape from a digital model. 3D printing is achieved using an additive process, where successive layers of material are laid down in different shapes. 3D printing is different from traditional machining techniques, which mostly rely on the removal of material by methods such as cutting, slicing or drilling, which is known as subtractive processes.

Additive manufacturing takes drawings from computer aided design (CAD) or animation modelling software and "slices" them into virtual cross-sections for the machine to successively use as a guideline for printing. Depending on the machine used, material or a binding, material is deposited on the building bed or platform until layering is complete and the final 3D model has been "printed." It is a WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get) process where a digital model produced on a computer and the physical model are almost identical.

Currently almost all of the items produced are made from plastic, simply because the layering process used can only handle plastic being injected through the delivery nozzle. 3D printers are being put to use in many ways with most design students in Universities and Polytechnics being able to create models from designs they craft on computers. Prototype designs can quickly be produced along with customised one-off items of almost any shape or intricacy. Perhaps the most amazing adaptation is in the area of medical science where work is well underway to construct human body parts by using cells taken from the recipients body. Stem cells, those magical cells that can develop into many different kinds of tissue in the body, can now be printed, at least in the lab. In a study published Feb. 5, 2013, in the journal Science, researchers from the University of Edinburgh describe a valve-based cell printer that spits out living human embryonic stem cells.

The cells could be used to create tissue for testing drugs or growing replacement organs, the scientists report. This may well be the start of the bionic man coming true? Yet another piece of science fiction/ comic strip once mocked by many now about to happen in our lifetime! Never say never!!!

Health Insurance still affordable for many You have just been to your GP and have been told you probably need an operation, but first you need to see a Specialist. Weeks pass, and then, a month. You become increasingly worried and anxious, and seem to be feeling worse with each passing week. You contact your GP again, who says, It shouldnt be much longer. Two more months pass. Finally you receive a letter in the mail to let you know you have been booked to see a Specialist in four weeks time. Your Specialist confirms that you do indeed need surgery, but there is a waiting list of 2-3 months. What if I went Private? How long would I have to wait and what would be the cost? You are told, done privately, your operation could take place the following week, and the approximate cost is $21,000. You decide to pay from personal savings and have the operation now. You cant wait any longer. For many people, this is the story they tell. A long wait, anxiety, increasing pain, and often more waiting, with increased worry. The Government is doing what it can to reduce waiting times for Specialists and elective surgery, but for many, it can still be difficult to even gain consideration to be put onto an often long public waiting list for treatment. Recently a survey amongst a group of older New Zealanders showed that most knew of people waiting for surgery and that the wait for hip replacement ranged from 2 months to 2 years, knee replacement ranged from 3 months to as long as 10 years, and cataract removal from 1 month to 3 years. Health Insurance can solve much of this waiting and pain, and can still be affordable. There are options available from quality insurance companies, for those aged 60-75 years from $2-$4 per day, and for those aged 75+, options are available from $4-$5 per day. These policies allow for hospital admission in a private hospital and limited cover for Specialist consultations and diagnostics. All policies are from highly respected insurers. Pre-existing health conditions can be a stumbling block for some. However, upon review of a completed application form, some conditions may be covered, as everyone is taken on a case by case basis. Even if you do have some exclusions, you will still be fully covered for hundreds of medical conditions you may have in the future, and for this reason health insurance is still worth having and still provides long term peace of mind.

InsureToday, based in Wellington, is a specialist health insurance broker, having

agencies with most of New Zealands top health insurance providers, and have a nationwide service. Contact them via phone or email and they will provide you with a customised report containing a number of options for your consideration. As a Special Offer for SeniorNet Members, once your Health Insurance policy has been in place for 12 months, you will receive a 10% rebate of your first years premium*. SeniorNet will also receive a donation for each policy completed. *This coming from InsureToday

Contact John Devery: admin@insuretoday.co.nz

Ph (04) 460-5246

Two popular Apps for Smartphones (excluding games!!!) 1. Viber Viber allows you to text, call, and send photos and video messages worldwide for free to over 200 million users using 3G or Wi-Fi. Viber is available for Android, iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Phone and many more devices and platforms. On Viber, your phone number is your ID. The app syncs with your mobile contact list, automatically detecting which of your contacts have Viber 2. Evernote Evernote is an easy-to-use, free app that helps you remember everything across all of the devices you use. Stay organized, save your ideas and improve productivity. Evernote lets you take notes, capture photos, create to-do lists, record voice reminders and makes these notes completely searchable, whether you are at home, at work, or on the go.

Support our supporters and save money Be sure to visit our website before you go shopping. Our supporters offer tremendous discounts to SeniorNet members. Here is the direct link to the members specials page: http://www.seniornet.co.nz/specials.asp Our supporters include: