Free Computer Q&A at Third Place Commons 

Thanks for your interest in Computer Q&A at the Commons.  .  If you have topics you think we should explore, please share it with us via email.
For Fall to Spring 2025-2026, we meet alternately online via Zoom and in-person at the Stadler Meeting Room in Third Place  Commons, just north of Seattle in Town Center at Lake Forest Park  (directions and time below).   These small group sessions are presented as a community service.  Typically sessions are on the fourth Sunday of every other month with an adjustment to the third Sunday to avoid weekends adjacent to Thanksgiving and Memorial Day.  We do take December and the Summer months (June, July, and August) off.
This season marks 15 years of sessions.  Usually the session begins with a presentation on a topic of  general interest.  Then we spend the rest of our time chatting about the questions you bring to the room or submit in advance as time permits. Details are below: 

Next Session: February 22, 2:00 PM

Topic:
Search Options: Googling, Binging, and more
In a simpler time, web search engines were just the means to an end, the web page with the content we wanted. Nowadays, with the introduction of AI-generated results, voice input, and collection of personal preferences, the search engine often becomes “the end” as well as the means. Join us explore how search as evolved, understand better to use it, and discover lesser-known and less tracked search alternatives.
Register for this Zoom session
Upcoming sessions:       
Sunday, March 22, 2026, Passwords and Passkeys: Managing Your Account Protection. In-person.
Sunday, April 26, 2026, Using Accessibility or “Ease of Access” Tools in Everyday Life. Zoom
Sunday, May 17, 2-26, General Open Forum. In-person.




 








    • If you would like to be informed about upcoming sessions as as well as additional technical insights, please join our monthly mailing list through MailChimp.



Some of the topics covered since 2011 include:
Creating/Using Wireless Networks
Web Fact versus Web  Fiction
Taming the Email Beast
Understanding Software Updates
Avoiding Malware
Cloud Computing
Traveling with Technology
Windows 10
Using Portable Devices and Public Wireless Wisely
Making Sense of Social Media
Printers in Today's Mobile Computing World
Protecting Data with Backup
Laptops, Tablets, Smartphones: What and Why to Buy?
Safe Passwording
Why is My Computer So Slow?
Web-based and Local Email
Good and Bad of Online Buying
Telling Good Tech Support from Bad
Digital Legacies - Handling an Online Life Left Behind
Five Ways to Secure and Protect Yourself Online
Bloatware and the New PC
Does a Intelligent Personal Assistant Make Sense for You?
Your Computer Questions  and  Concerns
 Either submit your questions in advance or  bring them  to the session to
share.  You can also bring your laptop to show  problem or illustrate your
question. Highly technical or system-specific  questions may be beyond the scope of the session and require a separate one-on-one session.  Submit your  question in  advance if you aren't sure whether it can be answered during the  Q&A.
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Submit Your General Topic
Have a topic idea you  think would be interesting to discuss?  Email your topic ideas to me.  Best topics are ones that are not specific to any one device but common to many or all  devices.  Defining technology, security or privacy concerns or "how to"  can also be helpful. 

Location &  Time

Normal in-person meeting space:
Third Place Commons - Stadler  Room
(The glassed-in meeting room located next to Dumpling Generation.) 

Town Center at Lake Forest Park, upper  level 
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA  98155

Typically the Fourth Sunday of each month(excluding holidays)
 2:00- 3:30 PM.
 Directions to Town Center