Third Saturday Seminar 2010-2011
Return of the Elders, Unleash your Wisdom
Session 3
November 20, 2010 9:30 am til 12:00 noon
Room B-102, Lone Star College – Montgomery
3200 College Park Drive – Conroe, TX – 77384 – 936.273.7000
Our Brave New (Digital) World
Jungle or Playground (or Both)
Gary Valmain and Edie McRae
The Speakers for this Saturday come at the suggestion of Charlie Lindahl. Charlie is the the guy that rescues me from time to time when I get out of synch with the digital equipment at the college. Gary is a friend of his and he has rescued one on my computers and that of at least one other in the class. Edie is a friend of Gary’s.
Together they will cover two aspects of life with computers. First, Gary will talk about some of the hostile aliens that live in Cyberspace and try to take up residence on your computer and read all your personal stuff and how to keep them at bay. Edie will talk about the relatively new phenomena referred to generically as social networking. Things like MySpace, Facebook, Twittering, Blogging. “getting poked” and hacked, and a whole lot of stuff I have tried to ignore (as in stay ignorant of) even though everybody else uses this stuff to some degree. Well, if I can’t avoid it I might as well know what social networking is all about and what those strange words mean.
Gary Valmain, ComputerWurX, 281.367.8765
Computer Support Services, virus and spyware removal,
The single most significant problem facing personal computer users today is the onslaught of viruses and spyware infecting the computer. It is a never ending problem which will get worse before it gets better.
While there is no known 100% effect tool which will block the infection of your computer, there are several common sense steps which will help keep the infections to a minimum. The first step is for the user to have a basic understanding of how all of this internet, e-mail, web “stuff” works.
For those who like to read ahead …
TopTen Reviews: Current Computer Virus Threat Types
Microsoft TechCenter Security Bulletin
Microsoft Online Safety and Privacy Education
Federal Trade Commission: Protecting Personal Information
CERT Home Computer Security outline
Gary Valmain has been in the computer industry since 1972. He began as a computer operator working with IBM 360’s and IBM 370’s. While working as an operator he took advantage of programming small, ad hoc programs needed in the course of processing large volumes of data for his employers at the time.
He moved into a programming position in 1976, working on minicomputers. The minicomputer was a very hot commodity at the time and there was very high demand for programmers in the business application market.
He worked in that market until the early 1990’s when he began performing computer support services. Today he programs only specialized applications and specializes in removing viruses and spyware from computers for residential and business customers.
and Gary has been married for almost 44 years….. to the same woman; has 2 grown children; and about ½ dozen grandchildren.
Edie McRae, Social Media Networking Specialist, http://ediemcrae.com/
Social Media isn’t a Fad…it’s a fundamental shift in the way we communicate. More than 1.5 MILLION pieces of content (web links, news stories, blog posts, notes, Photos, etc.) are shared just on Facebook on a DAILY basis!
Edie will discuss: Social Media Networking Specialist
What “Social Media” Is
How to Protect your Privacy when using these tools
How to separate Personal from Business
How to have fun with this new media communication
Q&A after the presentation
Edie McRae is a native Houstonian who called New Orleans home for 20 years. Hurricane Katrina devastated her community, including her entire immediate/extended family and friends. Undaunted, she and her family moved to Houston to start a new life from scratch. It’s her “never-let-them-see-you-sweat” attitude that has driven her to constantly seek out new challenges.
A nurse by education, Edie has a great love for people. She chose to leave her nursing career behind due to the premature birth of her second child. To make ends meet, she started a business in direct sales and spent almost six years as a top consultant. This enabled Edie to gain extensive knowledge of online marketing, public relations, leadership and business development through utilizing e-business/Web 2.0 tools effectively. That is how Edie discovered her TRUE passion–empowering others to find and foster connections themselves through proper use of social media outlets. Thus, EdieMcRae.com™ was born!
EdieMcRae.com™ strives to connect small business owners to personal, financial and environmental resources for their businesses through effective use of popular social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, blogging and more! She affectionately refers to herself as a “social media paramedic” because she helps clients break through the feelings of overwhelm with hands-on application, effective techniques and strategies that bridge the gap between theory and implementation.
Yes we will do Current Events!
“Don’t touch my junk!” has now entered the national idiom. A passenger in San Diego refused to be electronically scanned and then when he found out the the enhanced “pat down” alternative involved some very intimate contact by a same sex TSA agent …
Tyner balked,”If you touch my junk,” he told the agent, “I’ll have you arrested.”
The TSA agent contacted his supervisor who further explained that if he didn’t want the pat down he could be escorted out of the airport and would not fly that day.
Tyner told the agent, “I don’t understand how a sexual assault can be made a condition of my flying.”
The supervisor rebutted that the pat down was not a sexual assault. He was also heard saying, “By buying your ticket you gave up a lot of rights.”
There’s more at: http://www.examiner.com/city-buzz-in-memphis/don-t-touch-my-junk-john-tyner)
Some estimate your chances of being involved in a hijacking or terrorist attack are about 1in 10,000,000 (I suspect the number is made up, but it it’s not an unfair illustration.) how many people is that worth groping?
Draft Proposal from the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform if all recommendations are followed would reduce the national debt 60% by 2024, below 40% 2037. Why am I not feeling energized? http://documents.nytimes.com/draft-proposal-from-the-national-commission-on-fiscal-responsibility-and-reform?ref=politics#p=1
Our President is home from the G-20 meeting which included a reality check; finding not many people outside the Whitehouse Staff feel the Quantive Easing II scheme has much merit. Perhaps it has something to do with the hundreds of billions that have already been been injected into the economy and haven’t improved anything, and the threat of cheap dollars diluting other economies. I have yet see the Administration’s rationale why another 600 billion would help. When so many are without incomes, and others worried about losing theirs, those who have jobs are doing the work of 2 or 3, that is not an expanding economy. Apparently China was polite, but pointed out they will do with their currency what they think is best for China. There was apparently some expectation that Korea who has resisted reciprocal trade agreements with us, was ready to open up their borders to our products, but it didn’t happen Maybe it’s time to bring our troops home from there. This is certainly not the end of the world, and we now have the advantage of knowing how other countries actually feel about us, so we won’t waste time and energy on unrealistic pursuits. Sure is different that when it was the G-6, and even when it was the G-8. Something has changed.
And of course there is more
Come,
Public Service Announcements:
1. The old Coffee Pot is dead
And, we haven’t had anybody volunteer to become the next “Director of Coffee Services” so for this next meeting may we suggest that there are three excellent sources of very good coffee not far the college.
- Starbucks on the north side of Hwy 242 just east of Woodforest Bank.
- Caffe’ Diem and/or Brooklyn Cafe, both on the south side in the College Park Plaza shopping center.
- There is also a McDonald’s on the south side east of the shopping center and next to the Tradition Bank.
I will continue to bring donuts.
2. The ALL Open House is Saturday January 22nd, 2011 from 11 am – 1 pm in the Commons
Course Information – (Note there is no session scheduled for January – Classes won’t have
Third Saturday Seminars (Spring Semester)
To refer to an ancient Chinese saying, our world is in interesting times and individual citizens are assaulted with a blinding array of propaganda from every conceivable source. The Third Saturday Seminar is about demystification of what is going on around us. Time will also be spent on current events. (Class will meet on 2/19, 3/26, 4/16, 5/21. Note that March date was adjusted for Spring Break). 4 Sessions. No fee.
Lone Star College-Montgomery B102
Sa 2/19 -5/21 9:30 a.m. – Noon Gibby
DIRECTIONS:
From I-45 N
Take exit 79 toward TX-242/College Park Dr/Needham Rd, 0.2 mi
Turn left (West) at TX-242 W/College Park Dr, Destination will be on the right
I suggest you take the West Parking Entrance (After the Main entrance and University Center)
Turn right and right (East) into the parking area. Drive up the rise and down to park close to Building B (between building F and the brand new Parking Garage see map: http://www.lonestar.edu/maps-montgomery.htm
B-102 is the teaching Theater on the first floor just inside the entrance to the left.
My Cell Phone is .
Here is the link to the complete ALL Fall Catalog for LSC – Montgomery: http://www.lonestar.edu/departments/ce/FALL_2010__SCHEDULE.pdf Registration Information is at http://www.lonestar.edu/14613.htm.edu/ALL-Montgomery or call 936.273.7446
Next Time! February 19, 2011 (No meeting in December and January because of proximity to the holidays.) We will see if we can understand the nature of jihad, a little better perhaps than our leaders.
See you Saturday
Curt Gibby
Director, Third Saturday Seminar
(cell)
fax 281-288-8230
gcgconsult (at) n-star.com