Posts Tagged With ‘ baby boomers technology ’

The holiday gift shopping and giving season is here again…how did that happen? We often participate in gift exchanges, sometimes called Yankee swaps, with family and friends. One never knows who will end up with which mystery gift, so we’re always on the lookout for fun, interesting, and inexpensive gifts appropriate for whomever might end up with it at the end of the whole process. Here’s a list of 6 techie Yankee swap items that we at BoomerTECH Adventures wouldn’t mind ending up with at the end of the exchange. It is getting chilly outside. How about a way to stay warm and enjoy your... Continue Reading

Some of the best gifts to give are those you’ve made yourself! Here is an opportunity to use your tech skills to offer unique and valued gifts this year. These ideas use technology you already have (or can easily borrow) to make thoughtful and well-regarded gifts using that most precious commodity, your time! As thoughtful as they are, you can have tons of fun putting these gifts together. None of these ideas are platform dependent and can be done on whatever type of device you have—smartphone, tablet, or computer. The best thing is that these ideas are as applicable for children as adults,... Continue Reading

Here are some age-related statistics related to our vision: 1 in 10 people over 50 have an early form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). 3 in 10 folks over 80  have an early form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Glaucoma affects over 3,000,000 Americans. By 2030, it is estimated over 4,000,000 American will suffer from glaucoma symptoms. Older adults (over 60) are six times as likely to have glaucoma. 24,400,000 folks over 40 have cataracts. By age 75, 50% of Americans will have cataracts. Sources:  https://ece.hsdm.harvard.edu/news/glaucoma-awareness-essential-health-aging-population Prevalence... Continue Reading

Yesterday at breakfast in a small cafe in Eastport, ME (the easternmost city in the continental U.S.) a gentleman at an adjacent table was fidgeting with his new smartphone while his tablemates were giving him all sorts of suggestions on how to make it work. Not wanting to intrude on their conversation but wanting to offer some help, I suggested that he watch a YouTube tutorial on his computer and learn how to use his new phone from the tutorial. If his new phone was an iPhone I would have suggested a number of resources that BoomerTECH Adventures have made for our friends and clients with a focus... Continue Reading

I was ready to hit the road home. The rains had stopped, and it looked like smooth sailing across New Hampshire and Maine. Until…I punched in my destination on my Maps app. Four out of five possible routes had flood warnings.  Deciding not to chance being turned back half way home, I took the one that was clear. I saw parts of New Hampshire I had never seen. Luckily it’s a beautiful state so the extra time quickly passed as I wound around lakes and hills. Warning the driver of potential hazards ahead is just one of the many cool features of the Maps App. Here are seven more.     Multiple... Continue Reading

Sometimes my devices do the most bizarre things; it’s almost as if they have a mind of their own. Is artificial intelligence at work or simply an unintended tap or click? Who knows? But, invariably I learn something new. Here are several recent conundrums that vexed me and made me chuckle out loud. My pooch Sammy suffers from a food fixation and often whines persistently for treats or a meal. I was trying to cajole him into stopping his high-pitched nagging by saying, “I love you.” My Apple Watch through Siri responded, ” That’s so sweet.” What? How did that happen? I still have no... Continue Reading

  The news has exploded with stories about AI or artificial intelligence. One app that is getting a lot of attention is ChatGPT. It seems it will generate all types of writing.  I was in the process of writing an article for the Times Record and thought I would try it out. A friend and colleague from the days of the Maine Technology Learning Initiative, Jim Moulton, said he had asked ChatGPT to write a poem about Maine in the style of Emily Dickinson. So, I appropriated the idea and asked ChatGPT to write a sonnet about Maine.  Here it is–what do you think? Sonnet # 1 There lies a state with... Continue Reading

Why do I update my iPhone on a regular basis? It’s all about the camera app. Each upgrade provides a new feature that makes taking pictures more fun and offers the potential for exploring creative ways to edit and use the images. For example, the picture at the top of this blog was originally just a quick shot of the pooch. Then I opened it in the Clips2Comic app and turned it into a cartoon-type of image. Here’s another example of a fun transformation of a picture using Clips2Comic; you may recognize my BoomerTECH Adventures colleague Chris. Clip2Comic is a free app that you can use with... Continue Reading

  Anyone who cooks, bakes and saves recipes has a file or box of recipes that are hand-written or clipped from newspapers. Often these recipes are family favorites that have been handed down through the generations. Yes, you can find almost any recipe by googling it, but somehow the results just aren’t quite as tasty as great-grandma’s potato salad or dad’s barbecue sauce. A much stained recipe card holds the magic ingredients and process and may be on its last legs. It’s time to digitize!     I can think of two ways to digitize these old recipes–take pictures of them or scan them.... Continue Reading

  Social media certainly has turned out to be a double edged sword. Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, etc. are great ways to keep in touch with family and friends, learn new stuff, and be entertained. Yet, it has been weaponized by unscrupulous people who use it to spread disinformation, hateful messages, and discontent. Their purpose might be political power, financial gain, personal fame, or disruption of community norms or the common good. These amplifiers may be home grown or foreign. When we share a meme on Facebook, we really have no way of knowing where or why it was generated or even if it’s... Continue Reading