President’s Message

We mention this often, but it’s really important. When you request help from our First Level Support experts, the first thing they generally ask you to do is install TeamViewer so they can remotely assist you. Please help us by having TeamViewer already installed on your Windows or Mac computer. This is a very small app that does nothing until you open it in the event you have a problem. To install TeamViewer, follow the instructions found here.

Despite the pandemic, our club is in a good financial position, thanks to your continued membership and support in TAP and other volunteer activities, plus a few TAP grants. We continue to refurbish donated computer systems at a high rate and distribute these systems to deserving youth in our neighboring communities. Every time I go to our TAP facility, I’m reminded of how important this program is, as are all the volunteers who keep it running. To read the complete 2020 TVCUC Financial Statement, click here.

HELP NEEDED. The TVCUC is looking for a finishing editor to put final touches on education articles and PowerPoint presentations. If you are a good writer/editor and have a working knowledge of Microsoft Word and PowerPoint, send us an email. This volunteer position does not require a lot of time and can be done on your schedule. Computing and technical skills are a plus, but not required.
— Larry McJunkin

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Technology Access Program (TAP)

As of April 30, TAP has placed 202 systems with qualified families in 2021. That brings our totals since 2007 to 8,547 systems, providing 12,713 children and youth with in-home access to computer technology. Using an average of 1.5 adults per household, TAP has provided computer access to over 25,000 persons. Inventories of both equipment to work on and finished product are at a good level. The heaviest demand recently has been for laptops and the supply of them to refurbish is low. TAP continues to need your contributions of equipment to refurbish. You are also welcomed to volunteer with TAP. It is not necessary that you be a computer guru. The written procedures explain the processes and are quite easy to follow. You can volunteer as much or little time as you want, based on your schedule, so why not give it a try.

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First Level Support (FLS)

We continue to have many support calls from members with Bellsouth and AT&T email accounts (including Yahoo). AT&T owns all these email services and now requires that users install a Secure Email Key for their email to function properly. AT&T based email is not the best email service option and if you’re using them, we highly recommend changing email service providers to one of the top free services below. Each has a simple method for importing your previous email and both have really great spam filters, ensuring your inbox contains only your email.

Was your browser just hijacked? We’ve been seeing a lot of issues with browser hijacking in Windows 10 recently. If you see a popup telling you to call a toll-free number for support, DO NOT call and definitely DO NOT pay! This is a simple case of ransomware that in most cases FLS can help you fix, or we’ll recommend a local repair service in some cases.

We still are not having FLS in-person meetings due to the requirement to have many people in a small room. But as we adapt to the CDC’s new guidance, we are considering a partial return to making house calls again. When we implement this, it will be in select instances and both the FLS team member and the person requiring support must both be fully vaccinated. For the most part, providing remote support with TeamViewer has worked very well and we will keep doing this in the future, regardless of the pandemic.

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Technology BYTES

New Windows 10 Update Focused on Quality
Microsoft recently stated it’s starting to roll out the latest twice-annual update to its Windows 10 operating system. It is not jam-packed with major new capabilities, but rather, it gives PCs a few more quality enhancements.

The company is continuing to take a more careful approach with its Windows business, which generates about 14% of the company’s revenue. With more than 1.3 billion devices running it, Windows 10 remains the top desktop operating system with 59% share in April, according to NetMarketShare data.

After introducing Windows 10 in 2015, Microsoft has spent the last few years bulking it up with updates, such as tools for crafting three-dimensional objects, applying photo filters and specifying parts of speech on websites. Two updates came out each year, while Apple’s MacOS and iOS and Google’s Android got just one.

Microsoft dialed back the pace of development in 2019 when it issued a normal update in the first half of the year and followed it up in the second half with an update focused on performance. In 2020, as users migrated from Windows 7, the company repeated that strategy. Now another quality-oriented update is arriving with the release of the Windows 10 May 2021 Update, also known as version 21H1, for the first half of 2021.

Get Ready for a Rush of New Silicon Macs
Are you planning to get a shiny new iMac, or are you waiting for the next wave? If you’re waiting for something even newer, here’s what to expect during 2021, though still in the rumor stages.

When Apple announced its own system on a chip (SoC), the company said it would be a two-year process to completely switch its Mac lineup from Intel processors to Apple silicon. The switch started last November and continued with the announcement of the 24-inch iMac last month. But Apple is going to be putting the “pedal to the metal” on the transition by introducing a spate of new Macs across its lineup throughout the rest of 2021.

Apple will introduce a completely “redesigned” MacBook Pro this summer with 10-core CPUs
(eight performance cores and two efficiency cores), 16 or 32 graphics core options, a maximum of 64GB of memory, and an “improved Neural Engine.” The MacBook Pro will be available in 14- or 16-inch models with a MagSafe charger, an SD card slot, an HDMI port, and “more Thunderbolt ports” (the current 13-inch MacBook Pro has two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports; the current Intel-based 16-inch MacBook Pro has four Thunderbolt 3/USB-C ports.) Apple is holding WWDC in early June, so we could get a look at the new MacBook Pro during the keynote on June 7.

As for the MacBook Air, that will likely follow the release of the MacBook Pro this summer and be offered in a new design in a variety of colors. Apple’s M1 Mac mini is in for some updates as well and Apple could be putting the improved SoC from the MacBook Pro in the Mac mini, which could end up being a model that replaces the current Intel-based $1,099 Mac mini. This new Mac mini would also have four Thunderbolt/USB-4 ports, up from the two on the $699 M1 Mac mini. The Mac mini’s release is less certain than the MacBook’s and could be delayed or even canceled. Read more here.

We Need Your Help!

The Tellico Village Computer Users Club (TVCUC) is very focused on helping you with your technology needs. We do this with our First Level Support (FLS), Technology Access Program (TAP), our Education Program, our website, newsletter and with other resources. This month we would like to ask for your help.

If you use Nextdoor, you’re part of a large community of Tellico Village property owners who use this social media network to find a good painter, handyman, plumber, or a contractor. But Nextdoor is equally as important for helping its users find and learn more about the TVCUC. For existing members of the club, it’s easy for us to forget there are many other residents in Tellico Village who don’t know about our club, and Nextdoor is a great way to tell folks about us and the ways we can help them sort out their technology issues.

The TVCUC has its own Nextdoor business profile, so the next time you’re on Nextdoor, please take a few minutes and search on ‘TVCUC’ and recommend us. All you need to do is click on the red heart. Alternatively, you can just click the following link to go directly to the TVCUC page on Nextdoor. Thanks so much!

Larry McJunkin, President

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Technology Access Program (TAP)

As of March 31, TAP has refurbished and donated 8,490 computers to deserving children and families in the local area. These computers have served 12,633 children, considering others in the household. We could not continue to do this without help from our members, grantors and the volunteers who give so freely of their time to refurbish donated computers.

TAP also hosted some board members of the United Way of Lenoir City for a tour of our facility and firsthand look at how we process donated equipment into the updated systems that are donated. TAP and United Way has a long-standing relationship and we’re proud to be one of their partners.

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First Level Support (FLS)

First Level Support fielded 55 calls during March. This is a little on the high side, indicating either more technology use by members during the pandemic, or it’s time to buy a new computer! FLS continues to use TeamViewer to help members solve technology issues remotely, but we need members to proactively install the TeamViewer software “before” a problem occurs.

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Education

We’ve created new education articles on Windows File Explorer and Hearing Loss Options, so check them out! We are working on a Password Manager presentation that explains the benefits and shows you how to use a password manager. Our First Line Support (FLS) team highly recommends using a password manager and their favorites are listed in this article. If you choose one of these Password Manager options and set it up on your computer, we will offer another Zoom presentation three weeks later to answer your questions and show you some of the advanced features of a password manager. If you have an idea for another type of useful app – let us know.

Margie Krafft, Education Chair

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Mac Users Special Interest Group (Mac SIG)

The Mac SIG held its 3rd Zoom presentation on its regular meeting day, March 22 and a final one before the summer break will be presented April 26. The SIG has grown to 199 households, more than 350 individual members. It’s great to see so many folks moving to a Mac—in fact, if you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to make this switch, please join us at one of our Zoom meetings.

A survey of Mac SIG members yielded 48 responses, which we consider a good return (seeking 100% would be unreasonable, right!). Important in the survey was that Mac SIG members definitely want to continue with Zoom meetings and presentations, rather than in-person meetings. Also, we’ll continue with our schedule of six meetings per year (Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, Sep and Oct).
Karen Brown

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Finance

First quarter financial results are positive. Expenses are below the budgeted levels, and are less than revenues, which means that cash reserves are increasing.

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Technology BYTES

Inside the Glass Fiber Connecting our Digital World
All modern means of communication rely on glass, from the Gorilla Glass on our phones to the navigation screens in our cars. Most of the time, the glass is right in front of us, but when it comes to the Internet – whether it’s 5G, satellites, or WiFi – it’s easy to miss the 750,000 miles of fiber optic cables currently running under our oceans.

These tiny strands of glass carry our photos, emails, and video chats from our phones to data centers to friends and family all across the world. It’s through these hair-thin strands of fiber that we are able to instantly communicate to almost anyone, anywhere, and it all relies on a 5,000-year-old technology: glass.

Very little has changed in the way we use glass throughout its long history. It has always been a transparent and durable material through which light passes. And since light can travel quickly and at high frequencies while carrying loads of encoded information, a cable made of near-perfect glass is a secure medium to send all of our communications.

Microsoft Cloud PC Service
According to a new report from ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley, Microsoft is apparently gearing up to launch its Cloud PC service, which could arrive as soon as this summer. Foley states that she’s hearing the tech giant may be aiming for a June or July launch of the service. Reports on Microsoft’s Cloud PC service date back to last year, when the Azure-powered project was first rumored to be coming as soon as spring 2021. Now that spring 2021 is winding to a close, summer is the next best bet for any big announcements and service launches.

Details on the service are scarce, but ZDNet mentions that Microsoft plans to sell its new cloud service at a “flat per-user price.” It will be a managed Microsoft 365 experience, which makes sense given that its core functionalities are reportedly giving users remote access to a Windows desktop wherein they can utilize software such as the suite of useful programs that fall under the umbrella of Microsoft Office. The goal of this service is to provide users with an always accessible, always up-to-date Windows experience that will enable productivity from anywhere.

Apple’s Spring-Loaded Event
Apple’s special “Spring Loaded” event took place on Tuesday April 20, 2021. The show was streamed from the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California. If you missed the big event, here’s what Apple announced:

• A stunning purple finish for iPhone 12 and 12 mini — The first thing to debut at the Spring-Loaded event was a new color option for iPhone 12 devices. Purple will now join black, white, red, green, and blue as the available color choices for iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini phones. Along with the new color, Apple also unveiled a new batch of cases for iPhone devices that work with MagSafe wireless charging. The new purple iPhones can be preordered on April 23 and will begin shipping on April 30.

• Latest lineup of iPad devices — The new iPad Pro models will come with the same 8-core M1 chipset as the most recent MacBook Pro and newly announced iMac family. They will also be available with increased internal storage capacity – up to 2TB – plus Thunderbolt and USB4 support for the USB-C port – and 5G connectivity.

• A brand-new iMac desktop (finally) — It has a larger 24.3-inch display with a 4.5K retina display. The new iMac also runs on Apple’s all-new M1 chip. Best of all though, is the wide variety of colors available for the new iMac. The new iMac has two different price levels: $1,299 in four colors and $1,499 in all seven colors. Like the MacBook Pro 13-inch, all models feature the 8-core M1 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB storage but have either 7 or 8 core graphics. It also has a new wireless keyboard with integrated Touch ID.A new Apple TV 4K, that comes with the A12 Bionic chipset, as previously found in the iPhone XS and 2020 iPad. It also improves on the 2017 original by including support for high frame rate (HFR) video in 60fps. There’s also a new feature that works with your iPhone to calibrate the color settings on your TV by using the iPhone’s Face ID camera – and there’s a new remote. The new Apple TV 4K will be available to order from April 30 for $179 (32GB) or $199 (64GB).

• Apple AirTags — Apple finally launched its long-awaited AirTags to track your bag or purse…or anything. AirTag allows users to locate lost or stolen items. The existence of these devices has been widely reported on by the media and leakers for a couple of years now, but Apple’s held off on debuting them until now. They’re small circular discs, featuring Apple’s ultra-wideband tech, and they work with Apple’s Find My app, which is built into iOS and iPadOS.