January 21, 2010 by Bob Stallings.

Ever need to reset your watch, only to discover that every clock in the house displays a slightly different current time?  Find out the correct time by going to the Web site, www.time.gov, a public service of the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the Naval Observatory.  In the address line of your browser, simply type “time.gov.”  (No need to type “www,” for World Wide Web; it is assumed.)  When the map of the United States appears, left click on California, and soon the exact time in the U.S. Pacific time zone will appear.

Now that you know what time it is at your own house, you can find the current time in other parts of the world by visiting the Web site, timeanddate.com/worldclock.  (As before, adding “www” is not required).  Click on the name of a city to see more information such as current local weather conditions.

* This post originally appeared in the “Senior Cyber Tips” column of the USC Retiree Community Newsletter 28:1 (March 2009)

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January 20, 2010 by Bob Stallings.

If you have a computer and a high-speed Internet connection (via DSL, cable, or satellite), then you might be interested in Skype.  Skype is a free downloadable application that allows you to make (free) voice calls over the Internet to anyone who is also running Skype on her/his computer (including multi-party conference calls), (free) video calls, and (inexpensive) calls to landlines and mobile phones almost anywhere in the world.  With an inexpensive Webcam and headset (or Webcam with a built-in microphone), you can see and hear—and be seen and be heard by—anyone with a similar setup.  Skype runs on all three major operating systems (Windows, Mac OS X, Linux) as well as selected mobile phones.  Note that, like all VOIP (voice over Internet protocol) applications, there is no 911 capability through Skype.  Check out Skype and its numerous features at: www.skype.com.

* This post originally appeared in the “Senior Cyber Tips” column of the USC Retiree Community Newsletter 28:3 (September 2009)

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January 20, 2010 by Bob Stallings.

At least once a year, USC’s Information Technology Services (ITS) requires that you change your university computer account password.  This is easy to do, provided that you know your 10-digit university ID number.**  If you don’t remember your number—or didn’t know that you had one—Maricela Hinojosa (213-740-8169) at the Emeriti Center can get it for you.

To change your password, use your browser to go to USC Web Mail (email.usc.edu).  Under “Help With Email” on the right-hand side, click on “Password Change.”  Then simply fill in the information requested and click on “Change Password.”   In creating your new password, make sure that it is a secure password (i.e., one that is not a word found in the dictionary, contains both upper and lower case letters, and contains both letters and numbers).

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*     This post originally appeared in the “Senior Cyber Tips” column of the USC Retiree Community Newsletter, 29:1 (January 2010).

* *  For security reasons, the university has instituted a system of unique 10-digit numbers for students, staff, and faculty—past and present—in place of your 9-digit Social Security Number and your 7-digit Employee ID number.  While it is still possible to change your password using your Social Security or Employee ID number, you are strongly discouraged from doing so.

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January 20, 2010 by Bob Stallings.

I’m back!  Well, actually, I didn’t go anywhere.  I just haven’t posted anything on this blog in five months.  That will change.  From now on, I plan to blog regularly, sharing tech tidbits that I pick up along they way (from podcasts, other people’s blogs, Web sites, etc.).  To begin, I will be adding updated posts based upon columns that I have written for the Emeriti Center’s Retiree Community Newsletter.  If there are specific topics that you would like me to blog about, send an e-mail to <helpsquadbob@rstallings.com>.  See you here again soon!

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August 17, 2009 by Bob Stallings.

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