What's Up with Jim and Chris - the Geeks?
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2020 - the year that Zoomed right by
The world stopped for a pandemic this year. We stayed home. The photo above is from last weekend when we couldn't stand it anymore and made camping reservations at a wonderful county park, just 4 miles from our house!
With no travels to mark the passage of time, the year went quickly. Luckily we had the Zoom meeting software to hold our Google Photos workshops, Club meetings and other workshops were also delivered over Zoom. So many people have gotten comfortable with Zoom that we are starting a new, monthly "Member Orientation" to welcome people to Geeks on Tour and answer questions about our website.
We even used Zoom for various social events, birthdays, Christmas, New Year's Eve, and a memorial service. In looking forward to 2021, we count our blessings that we are healthy, financially stable, and able to continue our work and passion for teaching technology - by using technology!
See our tutorial videos on using Zoom at this playlist page. Learn Zoom
What Does This Button Do?
Note - we took December off from our live YouTube shows. See you again on January 10.
New Tutorial Videos
We're Presenting LIVE - online and in person!
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Lots of stuff on our calendar this month!
- January 5, 7pm: Presentation for Sterling Heights Computer Club "How do I make my own custom Google Map" will be live on our YouTube Channel
- January 10, 2pm ET - Episode 204 of What Does This Button Do?
- January 10, 3pm ET - Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
- January 13-17 Florida RV Supershow Live Seminars 10am Daily
- January 18 at 3pm ET - Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
- January 20, 11am-1 ET - Google Photos Workshop 1 $49. Must pre-register.
- January 24, 2pm ET - Episode 205 of What Does This Button Do?
- January 24, 3pm ET - Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
- January 29, 3pm ET - Member orientation via Zoom
- January 30, 3-5pm ET - Google Photos Workshop 2 $49. Must pre-register.
- February 4, 9pm ET - Wisconsin All Computer Users Club Presentation
- February 7, 2pm ET - Episode 206 of What Does This Button Do?
- February 7, 3pm ET - Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
- February 10, 11am ET - Google Photos Workshop 2 $49. Must pre-register.
- February 15, 3pm ET - Google Photos Live Q&A streaming to Facebook and YouTube. Chris will demo and take questions.
- February 15, 8pm ET - Tucson Computer Society presentation via Zoom
- February 21, 2pm ET - Episode 207 of What Does This Button Do?
- February 21, 3pm ET - Backstage Pass for Members Only Zoom meeting
- February 26, 3pm ET - Member orientation via Zoom
- February 27, 3pm ET - Google Photos Workshop 1 $49. Must pre-register.
January 10th and 24th
February 7th and 21st
Stay safe. Wash your hands. Wear a mask.
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Did you notice the Google Photos workshops in our calendar above? These are 2-hour classes delivered over Zoom with no more than 8 people.
- Workshop 1 = Getting the most from Google Photos using your smartphones
- Workshop 2 = Gathering photos that were not taken with a phone. Computers, USB drives, other cameras, prints and slides.
The classes are taught by Chris Guld, a Google Product Expert for Google Photos. These 2-hour Workshops include a printed handout and several hands-on exercises. See more detail at GeeksOnTour.com/Workshops
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You can still use Google Photos for Free
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There has been a lot of outcry over the Google announcement that Free Unlimited storage for all your photos and videos will be ending on June 1, 2021.
Three things to know:
- All photos and videos uploaded in "High Quality" before June 1 are stored for free and will be grandfathered in beyond June 1. (So upload everything NOW)
- Even after June 1, Google will still offer unlimited storage for all photos and videos - there just may be a fee.
- Even after June 1, Google will still offer Free storage for all photos and videos - it just has a limit of 15GB.
In other words, even after the change, Google will still provide unlimited storage and they will still provide free storage. They just will not provide unlimited free storage. If you upload everything you have now, then starting June 1 you keep your new uploads under 15GB, it's still FREE!
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We may be old dogs, but we learn new tricks every day. And we're going to keep learning in the year to come.
How about you?! Learning keeps you young y'know. We have a long list of topics, and we want to know what most interests you.
Just click this link and then choose your level of interest for each topic. There is also a space where you can write in any other topics that we don't mention.
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Make a map for your 2021 travel plans
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Most people have not heard of Google My Maps. It is different from Google Maps. My Maps is just that – it is for your maps. The base map comes from Google Maps, but you mark the places you want to go. You can also add lines, routes, comments, links, and photos to your places. You can get to
My Maps by going to MyMaps.Google.com. Make sure you are signed in to your Google Account, then you can begin to Create a Map. You can also get to My Maps from Google Maps – click the 3-line menu at top left, select Your Places, then you’ll see a tab for “Maps” at the left. |
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Read More
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Have you learned something from Geeks on Tour?
If so, we’d love to get a review from you. Click the link below and you should see a right sidebar with all Geeks on Tour stuff, scroll down a bit and you should see Reviews and Write a Review.
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If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box - it's free. You can also visit the archives of past newsletters. If you've learned something from us along the way, we'd love a Google Review from you!
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