General | Crosswords | Internet | CERT / Disaster | E-Books | Programming | Sci-Fi (SIG)

General

Area-specific Details

• Crosswords: CROSSWORDS and YOU and Practicum; Constructing Crosswords
• Internet: Be Safer on the Internet; P@s$w0rdz; Internet History and Issues (aka 'Evolution of the Internet')
• CERT / Disaster: Disaster Preparedness: Almeda, Cascadia, Zombies
• E-books: E-books
• Programming: Let's Program an App
• Shared Interest Groups: Sci-Fi Movies
• Steve enjoys reading and watching Sci-Fi...

How to Set Up Zoom?

• OLLI: Basic Zoom Instructions; Instructor's Reference Guide .pdf; 11/9/2020
• Zoom: Getting Started: Mac, Windows; iOS; Android; Chrome; Phone (audio only); General;
  note: for viewing presentations/videos, a tablet or desktop screen is generally preferable to a phone
• Download Zoom (app): Mac, Windows; iOS: Apple App Store; Android: Google Play Store;
  note: it's possible to run a browser version of Zoom (without an installed plugin);
  however, see browser & feature limitations

Is Zoom Safe?

• Short answer: yes, very -- if configured and maintained properly, e.g.,
• Check for and install Zoom updates
• Install latest OS (operating system) security updates
• If hosting a meeting, supply a meeting password and enable Wating Room
• Video app privacy & security assessments:NSA; Mozilla; Steve
• "SOU Statement: Zoom Privacy and Security" --

April 9, 2020

Dear SOU Community-

Many of you have been asking questions or raising concerns about the use of Zoom.
Zoom is the primary video conferencing platform in use at SOU, and SOU is aware of the press
coverage that Zoom has been receiving. Some of this press is indeed factual, and some of the
coverage is also exaggerated. We continue to evaluate and monitor the security of Zoom as we
do all of our systems. Most importantly, Zoom cannot access information from our other systems.
...
SOU's Center for the Advancement Of Teaching and Learning has been working tirelessly to educate our
faculty on safe practices for hosting classes on Zoom. As with any technology, there are secure and less
secure ways of using Zoom, and SOU is taking the measures that it can to ensure that our faculty are using it safely.

We understand that Zoom is imperfect -- most technologies are. However, if it is used properly and
our users practice safe usage as well, Zoom provides a high-quality and safe videoconferencing experience.

• SOU’s Zoom instance does not have access to information beyond what you can see in your profile.
• Check your profile to see what information is available about you in Zoom.
• Protect your personal information.
• Treat Zoom as you would email, web-browsing or any other online platform
• If something seems suspicious, do not trust it.
• Do not click links sent in chat, unless you are sure that you can trust them.
• Do not follow instructions from untrusted sources.
• Keep your Zoom installation up to date.

Sincerely,

Thomas Battaglia; Chief Information Officer. Southern Oregon University; https://inside.sou.edu/it/cybersecurity

This Site | Articles

This Site

• These online pages will be used for course presentation & resources (including additional articles and reviews),
  and will be updated each time I offer the course. The course link (URL) is in the course catalog, will usually
  be emailed to registered students, and can be found under the "OLLI Courses" menu item at top, or directly:
  https://communicrossings.com/olli
• This online version allows you to preview the course before registering, and to explore items (articles, web sites)
  that we skim/skip or that you miss, or want to refer to later; it also allows me to update the course easily with new or revised items.
  It's scalable and mobile-friendly for smaller screens. See Navigation section: menus, search, sizing, slideshows.
• I plan to keep these pages available -- and updated for current courses -- for the foreseeable future.
  However, you should be able to locate current & earlier versions on the Internet Archive (aka Wayback Machine).
  You can also create a .pdf version to print or archive.
• For some courses, TakeControl e-books may be available at a student discount prior to the first class, e.g.,
• Be Safer on the Internet: Take Control of Your Online Privacy
• P@s$w0rdz: Take Control of Your Passwords; Take Control of 1Password

Articles

• For most topics, I generally provide a References section (and more specific subsections), with links
  to many articles; these are good starting points, though certainly not the only ones, for further exploration.
• Besides hovering your cursor over a URL to see the address, you can see the source of the link
  via a short text label on most articles; below are most of those labels you may see
  -- in case you have favorites, or want to avoid certain sites:
• 538: fivethirtyeight
• AARP
• ADT: Ashland Daily Tidings
• Ars: ArsTechnica
• Atl: The Atlantic
• BBC: British Broadcasting Corp.
• CNet: CNet
• CSM: Christian Sci. Monitor
• EFF: Electronic Frontier Foundation
• Giz: Gizmodo
• HSW: How Stuff Works
• Krebs: KrebsOnSecurity
• LAT: Los Angeles Times
• LH: LifeHacker
• MB: MotherBoard
• MT: MailTribune
• MW: Mac World
• NPR: Nat. Public Radio
• NYT: New York Times
• OSXD: OSX Daily
• PBS (and some other TV networks)
• PC: PC World
• Reut: Reuters
• TB: Tidbits
• TC: Tech Crunch
• USA: USA Today
• Verge: The Verge
• WaPo: Washington Post
• Wikipedia
• Wired: Wired
• WSJ: Wall St. Journal
• ZD: ZDnet
• Some sites may limit article access, e.g.,
• require login or subscription
• impose a monthly quota -- you may be able to bypass some quotas or a 'paywall' temporarily
  by using private browsing, a 2nd browser, "Reader" view, or by clearing cookies.
• require you to disable your adblocker i.e., allow their site,
• recognize & discourage private browsing.
• Any images or other media provided on this site are for instructional/personal use and should not be copied or redistributed.
• Images on this site are either 1) created by me
  or 2) accessed via public sources, e.g., Creative Commons or WikiMedia Commons, with attribution & license in caption.
• Newest articles usually appear at top of Reference sections
• Some older articles may be less useful / relevant for more recent versions of systems or apps, and will periodically be pruned.
• I usually recheck validity of links prior to teaching a course.
  However, the web is in constant flux, so if you encounter an error or 'broken link', please let me know
  the article name or link -- and the course page where you found it. Or, it might be available in a web archive,
  e.g., Internet Archive aka 'Wayback Machine'; Library of Congress; archive.is,
  perma.cc submit individual pages (similar to the “save page now” feature at the Internet Archive);
  webrecorder.io create personal web archives;
  Los Alamos National Laboratory Time Travel Service: query multiple web archives
• Browser Extensions for Bypassing Paywalls
• How to Get Past a Paywall to Read an Article for Free
  Copy the headline and paste it into the search bar on Google
  Redirect via https://facebook.com/l.php?u=
  Open the link in an incognito window
  Disable JavaScript in your browser; edit HTML elements on page
  Try browser add-ons
  Use https://12ft.io/
  Archive the page to bypass the paywall: https://archive.ph/
  Check out paywall bypass shortcuts on iPhone; LH; 8/7/2023
• If You Want To Know Why Section 230 Matters, Just Ask Wikimedia: Without It, There'd Be No Wikipedia TD; 10/8/2021
• How to Get Past a Paywall to Read an Article for Free LH; 10/5/2021
• Incognito no more: Publishers close loopholes as paywall blockers emerge
  deleting cookies, using multiple browsers, copying the URL, incognito mode/private browsing; 5/14/2019

Top of page | Bottom of page | Page Size | Image Size | Links | Search within page | Slideshows | Crosswords

Top of page

• menu bar: Home | OLLI Courses | Software | Enneagram
• e.g., "OLLI Courses" from dropdown menu
• to select a main section, select its same-named subsection
• 'finger scroll' for long menus
• Home > Home: return to home (main) page
• Home > Search: locate pages within site; specific words yield best (fewest) results
• Home > Contact: send me a message using a form
• left ("breadcrumb trail"): Home >> OLLI >> All Courses: Introduction
• i.e., menu path: site (home page) >> main 'book' (e.g., all OLLI courses) >> current chapter (usually course) >> current section > ...
• click on a title to navigate to 'higher' element in hierarchy

Bottom of page

• left; '<': previous section (or on section pages, 'chapter')
• center; 'Up': up a level
• right; '>': next section
• right: Printer-friendly version: see print a page

Page Size

• To increase the size of page elements (menu, text, images), use your browser's Zoom command:
• macOS: Safari > View > Zoom In or: cmd-+; decrease: Zoom Out / cmd--
• macOS: Firefox > View > Zoom > In
• macOS: Chrome > View > Zoom In
• iOS: Safari -- stretch/pinch gesture, though this can require scrolling to view an expanded page
• iOS: Select "reader view" icon (to left of URL address) to display a plainer version of page (with somewhat larger text)
• However, this omits top menu, 'breadcrumb' trail, and bottom book navigation links.
• Toggle same icon to exit reader view, and navigate to other course pages.
• [2] iOS: Add your own "+/-" commands to the bookmark bar area
• How To Make Web Pages in Safari for Mac Easier To Read 3/20/2018

Image Size

• To view larger version of an image, open it in a new tab or window
• macOS: Safari > (ctrl-click image) > Open Image in New Tab/Window
• macOS: Firefox > (ctrl-click image) > View Image
• macOS: Chrome > (ctrl-click image) > Open Image in New Tab
• iOS: Safari > (press image) > Copy; "+" (new tab) > Paste (address)
• Win: right-click image (for menu)

Links

• external links (prefixed with arrow icon), e.g., Apple
  
• internal links (cursor change, status bar), e.g., Top section
• quotes, jokes: click on "..." (or "=" on some pages) to reveal more,
  e.g., "I may not have gone where I intended to go, ...but I think I have ended up where I needed to be."
  ~Douglas Adams, "The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul"
• If you plan to print a page, expand any of these that you want visible.

Search within a page

• To find text within the current page, use your browser's Find command
• macOS: Safari > address bar: enter text; popup menu (end): Find "text" on This Page
• macOS: Safari > Edit > Find > Find or: cmd-F
• macOS: Firefox > Edit > Find
• macOS: Chrome > Edit > Find > Find
• iOS: Safari > address bar: enter text; popup menu (end): On This Page > Find "text"

Slideshows

• Several courses have "slideshows", i.e.,
• CROSSWORDS: Puzzle Sources: Applications (=4)
• CROSSWORDS: Authoring (=1)
• E-Books: iPad (=3)
• E-Books: Authors (=1)
• However, due to a recent site software upgrade and lack of a suitable, simple slide show module,
  screenshots are displayed as just a sequence of captions and images that can be scrolled normally
  -- no special navigation currently.

Crosswords

• This site contains some interactive crossword puzzles.
• Clues/direction can be chosen via tapping or cursor keys
• Use keyboard to enter answers
• The top of each puzzle page lists any special buttons, i.e., Check, Reveal

Browsing | Printing

Browsing

• You can review the 'slides' and references for this course by browsing these web pages.
• Since these course web pages are dynamic (and lengthy), there are no paper handouts.

Printing

• You can make your own offline version: for printer, or a .pdf for computer, tablet, or eReader.
• However, a recent .pdf link on main course page (if available) has some advantages:
• internal links (between pages on this site): open that page in a browser (unfortunately, does not scroll within the pdf viewer)
• external links (to other sites): open that page in a browser
• quotes, jokes, clues, etc. -- all already expanded
• images: lower resolution, for smaller file size
• Note: after each (sub)section's title, there's currently an extra line with a link to the (sub)section page.
• To save space, some pages may have been omitted, e.g., "interactive" (blank) crosswords and some (older) galleries
  -- you can access these online by click on their (sub) section header link.
• Page width & portrait vs. landscape layout affects line wrapping and images (abutted or split across pages).
• Unfortunately, there's no easy way to have a section automatically start a new page.
• If you want to take notes, print just the upcoming sections prior to a class (since later sections might yet be updated)
• If you want an archival copy of entire course, best to wait until end of course (after all updates)
• To print a particular page or section, e.g.:
  [via menu] OLLI Courses > Be Safer on the Internet > Introduction > Topics
  [via URL] https://communicrossings.com/safer-internet-introduction-topics
• Click on "Printer-friendly version" (link at bottom right of page) to create a simpler page format
  without header, menu, footer; it includes any subsections -- this may take a little while to generate
• (browser) > File > Print
• If you want only the presentation part of the topic -- and not all of the References,
  or other subsections (in a higher-level section), review / adjust page range before hitting the Print button!
• To print the entire course (maybe at end when most updates have occurred), go to the main (top) page for the course, e.g.:
  [menu] OLLI Courses > Be Safer on the Internet
  [URL] https://communicrossings.com/olli-course-keeping-safer-internet
• Click "Printer-friendly" link at bottom right -- this will include all pages in the course
• (browser) > File > Print
• Depending on your skill and OS, you might be able to select "PDF" as your print destination
• macOS: (print window) > PDF (menu at lower left) > Save PDF
• iOS: (share icon) > Save PDF to iBooks