I had a “funny” with my charity this morning.
They offered courses on mental health, to volunteers. Might be useful, I thought, so I booked myself on. I made sure I asked, Is any specific software required? No response.
The meeting happened this morning. Last week, they sent out details. I learned that it was to be a Zoom meeting. I have never used Zoom, and I remember, when everybody was going Zoom-crazy at the start of lockdown, seeing an article in a reputable UK newspaper, listing issues with Zoom that were as long as your arm.
So I made a mental note to be cautious of it, to look at these issues in more detail if the time ever came.
I was a bit cheesed off last week when I received this Zoom request. Why hadn’t they responded when I had asked? To allow me some time to look into it and form an opinion? So, I backed out of the meeting.
Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to install anything, they replied. That’s funny, I thought, I had heard that you do. I request clarification. You just open up your browser and away you go. As they had obviously used Zoom before, and I hadn’t, I said that I would attend.
This morning, the day of the meeting. Fifteen minutes before, I’m on my PC, I dig out the email and hit the link. The very first thing it does is to ask me whether I want to install some software! Exactly what the charity had said wouldn’t happen.
So I hurriedly fired up the tablet. The meeting is getting close now. Guess what was the first thing it said? That’s right, install some software.
So, basically, that’s where I had to leave it. I’ve sent an email to the charity explaining that this is the reason I didn’t attend their meeting. I left out the bit about them telling me a complete pile of nonsense. Because, what’s the point?
I did do one more thing. I tried to find that Guardian link I saw all those months ago. I couldn’t, but I did find this, written just a week ago, which shows that some people, at least, still have issues with Zoom.
We did a meeting like this, not in Zoom, for a family graduate. I didn’t enjoy it, everyone either talking at once or not at all.
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In Zoom, the host has the ability to mute participants.
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😄
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I’ve done 2-way chats on Facebook but never a group thing. I have no objection in principle, but I like to satisfy myself that everything is kosher.
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I’m not into video chats. A phone call is nice if
it can’t be an in person visit.
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I also get some issues with zoom.. the app acts funny sometimes so I always resort to using the browser. In May, we had a memo that we must refrain from using zoom for financial meetings since it’s not secured. Same month, we bought a corporate account and suddenly, it’s safe 😀 😀 😀
I have more issues with WEBEX though.
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I use Zoom for both of my jobs, and while nothing’s perfect, it does work well enough.
-David
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Oh, I have no doubt that it works, I’m worried about its security.
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how secure is anything nowadays?
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My daughter put a zoom app on my ipad so I could join in her friends’ weekly quiz group and I also used it for our camera club Zoom Xmas party and won the Bingo. No break ins or security issues, but is it safe for important stuff?
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A large number of people now “running things” fall into two groups. One, younger people (and old gaffs who like to consider themselves youthful adopting sloppy habits) who have not learned what “?” means in a written communication. Two, idiots.
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It was kinda interesting, these people do not even realise that they installed software to get the thing to work!
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My wife and I just had an hour long Zoom call yesterday with our daughter and her significant other. We have used it regularly since the pandemic started and have never had any issues with it.
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That post I linked to concludes that it is okay to use, but you shouldn’t use it for anything confidential or medical. Which implies to me that it is not very secure. I suppose in the context of this meeting, it didn’t really matter. But I was pissed that, if they’d told me this a month ago, I could have looked into it properly, but they didn’t give me the chance.
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I’ve avoided Zoom for the very reasons you mention in your post.
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The struggle is real!
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There is usually an associated phone number that lets you just call into the meeting.
I use zoom every week.
They have fixed a lot of the privacy issues.
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I’ve just found no less than 5 of your comments had been trapped in my Spam folder. They’re all now approved but I might not be able to find them again!
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Ha. Spam. I have not checked mine lately.
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