Towards the end of his talk on WordPress last week, John had a few words about Google Photos. I said that in my experience with my Android devices, they automatically synced with Google Photos in the Cloud. That is to say that if I take a shot with my phone it is automatically uploaded to Photos, and then downloaded to my tablet. And it’s the same from tablet to phone obviously. So I can view the images when I’m offline. This facility is already installed when you buy an Android device. However I said I wasn’t sure what happened with my Windows laptop.
It turns out that you have to download the ‘Backup and Sync’ app, which I had actually done. However it seems I should also have created a ‘Google Photos’ folder in my Google Drive folder, which I hadn’t done. I have now, but not all the older photos have been downloaded, for some reason. The other problem I had was that I couldn’t see the icon for the app, to check the settings, because it was in the ‘hidden icons’ section of my task bar (at the bottom of the screen).
The plot will thicken next month though, when Drive will no longer automatically sync with Photos, they will be separate apps. I’m not totally clear about how this affects backups, except that if you want a photo in Drive to be backed up in Photos, you will have to do it manually, and presumably vice versa.
Maybe someone else can clarify the situation better than I have.
Android Keyboards
A couple of meetings ago I mentioned that a Facebook friend of mine had commented that it was odd that most people still used a QWERTY keyboard on their touch-screens, when others are available. The story being that that keyboard layout was deliberately designed to slow typists down, so that the metal letters of old-fashioned typewriters didn’t stick together.
It’s not quite the same thing, but I had a reason to type a dollar sign with my tablet last Monday, only to find that it wasn’t available on the keyboard. Yesterday I worked out how to access a US keyboard with it, without downloading an app. However it wasn’t intuitive.
My Nexus 7 came with the Gboard keyboard already installed. Going to Settings – Language & input – Gboard – Languages, gave me the opportunity to add a keyboard from a large list, which included nine versions of English. What wasn’t explained, and as I’ve said wasn’t intuitive, is that to switch from one keyboard to another I have to hold down the space bar, and then pick one of the options I’ve added.
To go back to my original point, another option is a Dvorak keyboard layout:-
“Dvorak proponents claim the layout requires less finger motion and reduces errors compared to the standard QWERTY keyboard arrangement. It is claimed that the reduction in finger distance traveled permits faster typing while also reducing repetitive strain injuries, although that claim is controversial.” (Wikipedia)
Worth a try?
Starting to Trace your Family Tree (meeting notes from 10th Oct 2018)
Start by writing down what you already know of your family history.
Gather together any birth, death and marriage certificates your already have for the family.
Talk to other family members about their knowledge of the family.
Take copies of any certificates or family pictures they may have.
Then you are ready to start using online resources to help expand that knowledge.
Most important sources of information:
- Births, death & marriages cartificates
- Census information 1841 – 1911
Useful Websites
- Ancestry.com – subscription site / free at library
- Find My Past – subscription site / free at library
- General Register Office – Free – needs registration
- https://www.gro.gov.uk/gro/
- Births up 100 yrs ago, deaths up to 50 yrs ago
- Can order certificates via this site
- FreeBMD – Free
- https://www.freebmd.org.uk up to 1983
- Family Search – registration
- https://www.familysearch.org/
Accessing ‘Find My Past’ and ‘Ancestry’ in Cardiff Libraries
- You will need your library number and a library PIN number.
- Log into one of the computers in the library – note you may have to reserve a computer at busy times. At other times you will be able to walk in and start using one.
- Double-Click on iBistro Library
- Double-click on e-Reference
- Double-click on either Ancestry or Find My Past
Recording your Family Tree
As you build up your family tree you will start to want to record all the information you have. There are various ways of doing this:
The various websites (subscription and free) now enable you to record your family tree e.g. Ancestry.com. You can sometimes choose to share that information with others but sometimes it is the default setting to share the information so take care. Some sites automatically make information on living members confidential, others do not.
Many people purchase a bit of family history software to record their family tree. I personally use Family Historian.
I also sketch out my family tree in Excel.
Floppy Disks
Just a bit of trivia for you. When I started using computers at work, over twenty years ago, I would store my files on a 3 ½” floppy disk. These had a capacity of 1.44 megabytes, which means that these days I wouldn’t be able to store just one of my photos on one.
If I have managed to insert a photo from those days there, it is 600×480 pixels, and a mere 37 kilobytes.
(How did I type “½”? I didn’t, as I don’t have that key on my keyboard. I clicked on ‘Insert’ in the toolbar, and then on ‘Special character’.)
New Mobile Phone
This photo comes under the heading of Digital, rather than Computing, for three reasons.
I am holding my first mobile phone, a Samsung Galaxy J3. I haven’t felt the need for one until recently, and even now I use it more as a small tablet.
I had just ridden a bicycle for the first time since I came to Cardiff. As you may be able to tell, it is one of the new nextbikes which have appeared in the city. I used their app on the phone to hire it at Pontcanna Fields, and then rode it to Llandaff via footpaths. The app read a QR code on the bike, and then provided a code number to unlock it.
I am using the phone to remotely control my camera, a Lumix TZ200. I can do things like adjust the exposure, zoom in and out, and obviously click the shutter, while seeing what the camera sees on the phone’s screen.
I hope some of that is of interest.
Windows 10 Update
My laptop was running slow, so I decided to restart it. It then took an hour to configure the update it had obviously been downloading. You have been warned!
Sat Nav
I have recently bougt a Tom Tom Go 6200 Sat Nav, does anyone else have one of these ?
Amazon Echo one year on.
Hi,
After being an enthusiastic Amazon Echo user for the past year, I have to admit that I’m simply not enjoying her company so much any more.
As an enthusiastic user, I took out an extra subscription with Amazon so that I could upload my music to their servers so that I could access my CD collection through the devices. Recently I’ve had an email from them to tell me that they are discontinuing that service. Hours of wasted effort.
It was kind of cool asking Alexa to play certain tracks and certain tunes however once you realised that your success rate was only about 40% my enthusiasm soon waned.
I took out the extra Amazon Prime Unlimited subscription for a while so that I could listen to just about any track ever recorded. Thing is; and you old folks might relate to this ….trying to think of something inspiring out of fresh air isn’t all that easy any more. It is far easier to see your albums displayed on a tablet screen, offering some suggestions as to what you might like to listen to.
However, the most infuriating problem that I experienced was what I’ll call “The Tuesday Phenomenon.” My wife babysits on Tuesdays. Theoretically that gives me free time with my music collection. Often, on a Tuesday I’d ask Alexa to play a certain album only to find that it had lost network connection. It would then take about 30-45 minutes to get back into the groove by which time I’d often need some calming music to tend to my fraying nerves.
Amazon Echo. Great for asking for spellings. Pretty good at sums. Turning lights on and off is really cool but the music player simply isn’t anything but frustrating.