Customize Your Google/Chrome Homepage

For those of you who use Google/Chrome as your homepage, you probably have noticed that Google changes the picture/background on it to suit your local holidays.

Just above you can see the graphics they chose for yesterday for computers, tablets, whatevers they "sensed" to be in Israel. There's an Israeli Flag, because yesterday was Israel's Independence Day, Yom Haatzmaut.

If you look on the lower right hand corner, you'll see a very convenient and helpful tool.

Click it, and you'll discover a host of possibilities to customize your homepage.

Above is from today's homepage, and Google has changed the graphics.

Don't be afraid to click the options/choices.

• They give you a choice of their own "Chrome backgrounds"
• You can upload any of your own images.

After playing around with it, experimenting, you can always click the "Restore default shortcuts."

I hope this simple "how to" post helps you. Don't be afraid of your computer. The neighbor who first taught me how to use one said one word to me in the early 1980's:

"Play."

When I asked him what would happen if I "broke" anything, he replied that he's fix it. Then programming was much more complicated, and very few programs available did very little. There wasn't even an "undo" button. I had to call him only once. Now I can teach people, even younger than me, how to use their computers, tablets, smartphones etc.

Instructions are in the "menus" that pop up when you click. If you have anything to say about this, please ask in the comments, thanks.

Modern World: Tech Updates for Old Fogies

The other day my smartphone got very stubbornly dumb on me. Suddenly Chrome didn't work. Instead of going into all of the programs, weather reports etc. it had a "snap" message. My mail was still working, as was whatsapp plus the camera, but that was about it. I couldn't even check the weather.

I tried restarting the phone, but it didn't help at all. Of course, I began to panic. I was also embarrassed, considering that I'm considered an "expert" and even teach my peers how to use their phones and computers. So for me to be stymied was really bad.

Of course, I read and reread and read yet again all of the suggestions the phone gave me for fixing this problem. And I tried to follow instructions.

The few hours I was without internet on the phone felt like months, especially since I wasn't home and had no wifi as backup. Why do these things always happen when in transit?

Finally I tried something which seemed a bit "risky," since the instructions said that I may lose information/connections/whatever if I do it. I figured I had no choice. I started trying to uninstall Chrome. Now, that ended up a lot more complicated than I had expected. Apparently, Chrome is not your ordinary app. But I reached a stage in my quest that offered me a way of updating it, so I went for it. And then like magic, Chrome functioned. Whew.

And then... the very next day, my phone sent me a message that "it" was going to perform a major update. And it offered me some options as to when the "procedure" would happen. I opted for "sleep time," from 2-4am if I remember the numbers correctly. In the middle of the night, I woke to see that my phone was all lit up. I grabbed it to check if there had been some sort of emergency, but instead, even sans glasses, I could make out a message that it was updating.

In the morning, I found all sorts of changes. There are messages about some new options, and some icons have changed. Also the camera works differently. It's almost like having a new phone. But at least it was free.

I really don't mind learning new ways and things. Gd willing, the challenges will keep senility away...

Just Switched to Google Chrome, B"H, What an Improvement!!

For the past week or more, I've been suffering from slowdowns and delays using this computer.  I finally realized that the other computer in the house is fine, so it can't be our internet connection.  And what is was the big difference?  The other one has been using Google chrome, while this one was still with windows explorer.

So, I did the obvious intelligent thing.  I installed Google chrome.  I quickly sent out an SOS to Facebook and a neighbor speedily replied with the link.

And now, B"H, my computer is working like a teenager on speed, totally hyper.  I feel like I've been reborn. And it's free, of course.