MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR

SOME CHRISTMAS GROANERS

What do you get when you cross a snowman with a vampire?
Frost bite.

What do you call people who are afraid of Santa?
Claustrophobic.

What do snowmen eat for breakfast?
Snowflakes.

What do you get if you eat Christmas decorations?
Tinselitis.

What do elves learn in school?
The elf-abet.

Why does Santa slide down chimneys?
Because it soots him.

Why did the elf sleep in the fireplace?
He wanted to sleep like a log.

See you all in the New Year.

CLASS INFORMATION FOR 2010

Yes Christmas is almost upon us but you need to be thinking about next year and the classes you want to do.

So here is an indication of some of the classes that will be running next year – there will be others, so please ring Jeanette if these times do not suit you and we may be able to help.

Please ring as soon as possible to book your place but remember until your payment has arrived the place is not secure. An enrolment form was sent with the December Newsletter but if you need one don't hesitate to phone/email us.

Computer Skills 8 weeks
Computer Skills using 2003 word
Monday 8th Feb 11.30 – 1.30pm
Tuesday 9th February 9-11am
Thursday 11 February 9-11am

Computer Skills using 2007 word
Monday 8 February 2-4pm
Wednesday 10 February 11.30-1.30pm

Word Processing 8 weeks
Word Processing using word 2003
Thursday 11 February 11.30 – 1.30pm

Word Processing using word 2007
Monday 8 February 11.30 – 1.30pm

Email and Internet 8 weeks
Email and Internet using XP Outlook Express
Monday 8 February 2-4pm
Tuesday 9 February 11.30 – 1.30pm

Email and Internet using Visa Mail
Tuesday 9-11am

Photo and Image Editing 4 weeks
Wednesday 10 February 2-4pm

Spreadsheets 8 weeks using 2003 and 2007
Thursday 11 February 2-4pm

Other classes for this coming term for which times and dates have still to be decided are - Trade Me and Card Making

NEW COURSES ARE -

Word Draw
Wednesday 11.30 – 1.30pm

Picasa
Time/date to be decided.

Watch out for an email giving details about these.
If you are interested please ring Jeanette now!

FEDERATION NEWS

FEDERATION NEWS – DECEMBER 2009

(An expanded version of this information has been emailed to members)

Funding: We are pleased to report the TEC officially approved our funding for 2010. The level of funding is the same as for 2009.

NZQA Quality Audit:
To ensure the Federation and the Learning Centres meet the NZQA requirements an Audit was conducted in November and we passed with flying colours!

TelstraClear Registrations and Competition:
The TelstraClear competition announced in November has now been extended. The close off is now 28th February 2010.

Retirement Commission:
We are pleased to announce a new partnership with the Retirement Commission; keep an eye out for tools tips and techniques in the upcoming newsletters and on www.seniornet.co.nz .

WARNING - AVAST ANTI VIRUS

There have been problems with the latest Avast download. Our advice is to just ignore any warning of a Trojan WIN32;Delf-MZG as it is a false warning.

Best at present is to either ignore it until a fix comes or uninstall it and put in AVG.

END OF TERM 4 AND A COMPETITION

The last Term for 2009 is coming to an end.

It has been another successful one with student numbers holding up well - maybe it is the new premises??
Preparation for the December Newsletter is underway as are arrangements for the Volunteers end of year Xmas function which this year will be held on Wednesday 9 December at 10.15 at the Angus. Invitations have been emailed to all those who have
helped during the year. If you did volunteer during the year and didn't get an email please contact us.

Want to win for you and SeniorNet Hutt City

As you will be aware TelstraClear are a terrific supporter of SeniorNet, contributing $25,000 to the Federation last year, mainly through you, our members, registering with them if you are a TelstraClear customer.

Their latest initiative gives SeniorNet members the chance to win a $150 credit on their TelstraClear account, as well as offering some great incentives for our Learning Centre!

How it works:
SeniorNet members that join TelstraClear from 12 November 2009 – 21 December 2009 will gain 10 points for their Learning Centre.

SeniorNet members that register their account with TelstraClear from 12 November 2009 – 21 December 2009 will gain 5 points for their Learning Centre.
These members will also go in the draw to win a $150 credit on their TelstraClear account! Those members who are already registered are already in the draw.

Our Learning Centre has the opportunity to win a 500GB external hard drive.

Please send an email to the Centre with your name and phone number if you are a TelstraClear or its associates customer and want to register your phone details.
If you want to join TelstraClear as a NEW customer then contact TelstraClear at
0508011 737 and don’t forget to quote :SENIORNET”

FEDERATION RESEARCH DOCUMENT

The Federation was able to gain some funding from The Lotteries Grants Board to carry out an in depth survey of members. This research has now been published. A copy of the final report is available on www.seniornet.co.nz – you will see a “Research Report” tab on the home page.

The report confirms the Federation and its Learning Centres provide an extremely valuable service to the community of New Zealand with the quality teaching it performs and sets out a platform on which to move forward.

We encourage members to read - or at least glance through the topics. As it is an extremely thorough report of some 50 odd pages a quick summary is provided by a short PowerPoint presentation which highlights the key points. We have a hard copy at the Centre for anybody interested but please leave this at the Centre for others to read.

A REGIONAL MEETING, AND EXPO AND A TIP

FEDERATION REGIONAL MEETING

A Federation Regional Meeting was hosted by Porirua SeniorNet this week to which 50 people attended including 9 from Hutt City. It was as usual a very interesting day with another great presentation from Grant Sidaway and many topics discussed and debated. A full report will be in the next newsletter.

EXPO

We were again present at the Hutt Valley Health and Well Being Expo along with 40 others. We thank those members who volunteered to help us on the day to highlight SeniorNet to those in the valley. It was a well attended day and we look forward to another Expo next year.

A TIP <> WHERE'S THE MOUSE POINTER?

Do you sometimes have trouble finding your mouse pointer on the screen?
Well, here’s how to make it stand out when you press the CTRL key.
It suddenly comes up with some rings around it and shows you where it is on your screen.

This works in XP and Vista

1. Click Start then Control Panel

2. Click on the Mouse Icon

3. Choose Pointer Options

4. Select "Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key."

5. Click Apply

Now to reveal the whereabouts of your mouse pointer just press the Ctrl Key

LATEST NEWSLETTER AND TUTORS DE-BRIEF

Newsletter: The latest Newsletter is in the process of being emailed/posted. Again we ask if you have an email addres and are getting the paper copy let us know. Use of email is not only a tremendous cost savings but it makes a huge difference to our volunteers workload and with the email version you get the colour version.

Tutors Meeting: We had a meeting with some tutors last Monday when we discussed the set up of the new rooms, manuals, the upcoming Expo, an upcoming Regional Meeting, the coming Term and various other matters. It would seem the current rooms set up is satisfactory but we will be looking at curtains if the sun starts to cause problems with viewing the screens.

WINK:The Tech Team took the opportunity to demonstrate a new teaching aid called WINK and we discussed ways of using this and providing copies of the programs produced through it, for students.

LATEST CLASSES FOR TERM 4

Several new classes have been added - so get in early >>>>>>>>>>>

Computer Skills 2007 - 8 weeks

Monday 12 October 2-4pm

Thursday 15 October 11.30-1.30pm

Computer Skills 2003 - 8 weeks

Wednesday 14 October 11.30-1.30pm

Wednesday 14 October 2-4pm

Word Processing 2007 - 8 weeks

Wednesday 14 October 2-4pm

Word Processing 2003 - 8 weeks

Thursday 15 October 11.30-1.30pm

Email and Internet - 8 weeks

Outlook Express (XP)

Tuesday 13 October 11.30-1.30pm

2 places available

Monday 12 October 11.30-1.30pm

Windows Mail (Vista) - 8 weeks

Tuesday 13 October 9-11 am

Spreadsheet - 8 weeks

Thursday 15 October 2-4pm

Photo & Image Editing - 4 weeks

Level 1

Wednesday 14 October 9-11am

Level 2

November

Day and time to be advised

Trademe - 2 weeks

Tuesday 11.30-1.30pm October

Blogging - 2 weeks

Monday 2-4pm

Scanning and CD Burning - These are 4 weeks and 3 weeks respectively.

Tuesday 2-4pm

Phone Jeanette NOW!!!

TERM 4 VACANCIES

Classes for Term 4, 2009

Term 4 starting 12 October is coming up fast! We now have a timetable available. Please ring Jeanette as soon as possible to book your place in the class at the time that best suits you. If there are no suitable times listed please ring her as we still have tutors available and we may be able to arrange a class at a time that suits you.
Remember that places are not secure until we have received your payment.

Computer Skills 2007 - 8 weeks

Monday 12 October 2-4pm

Thursday 15 October 11.30-1.30pm

Computer Skills 2003 - 8 weeks

Wednesday 14 October 11.30-1.30pm

Wednesday 2-4pm

Word Processing 2007 - 8 weeks

Wednesday 14 October 2-4pm

Email and Internet - 8 weeks

Outlook Express (XP)

Tuesday 13 October 11.30-1.30pm

2 places available

Windows Mail (Vista) - 8 weeks

Tuesday 13 October 9-11 am

Spreadsheet - 8 weeks

Thursday 15 October 2-4pm

Photo & Image Editing - 4 weeks

Level 1

Wednesday 14 October 9-11am

Level 2

November

Day and time to be advised

Trademe - 2 weeks

Tuesday 11.30-1.30pm October

Blogging - 2 weeks

Monday 2-4pm

Scanning and CD Burning - These are both 2 week Courses

Tuesday 2-4pm