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Tuesday, June 13 |
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Keyboard Speed
Did you know that you can customize some of your keyboard settings? Does that sound like something you would like to check out?
Well, if you do, go to Start, Control Panel and click on the Printers and Other Hardware, then Keyboard (for XP). If you have an older version of Windows, go to Start, Control Panel and look for the Hardware icon or even just one that says Keyboard.
Once you click on that, the Keyboard Properties message box will come up on your screen. Under the Character Repeat section, you can choose how long, or short, you would like before a character (a letter, etc.) repeats itself when you're holding down a key. Maybe sometimes you're typing along and a double letter somehow shows up. It may have,because you held onto that one key just a little too long. Well, if that seems to happen to you a lot, you can change the repeat delay to a longer amount of time, so you will have more time to move onto the next letter or word. Just use the arrow slider to move in either direction.
Next, you can check on the repeat rate of your keyboard. If you sometimes hold down a key for soooooooooooooooooooo long, it may take forever for that one letter to repeat itself. You can fix that by moving the arrow slider to the Fast side. Or, if you like it slower, you can move the slide to the Slow side. Once you have it where you would like it, you can test the rate to see how fast, or slow, it will go.
The last thing you can do is play with the cursor blink rate. Depending on how fast you would like your cursor to blink at you when it's standing still, you can have it blink at a fast rate, a medium rate or even no rate at all.
When you've made all your changes, just hit OK and they will take effect. Pretty cool, huh?
~ Erin
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posted by ^%&^
@ 11:50 AM
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Firefox Privacy Options
If you are one of the many who use Firefox as your main Web browser, you may or may not know about the privacy options that it has to offer. Firefox has similar features to Internet Explorer, but they're all laid out a little different.
You can get to the Privacy area by opening up your Firefox browser and going to Tools, Options and click on the Privacy icon. You will then see the headings of History, Saved Form Information, Saved Passwords, Download Manager History, Cookies and Cache. All of these titles expand out to even more information if you just click on the little plus sign that is beside them.
History: The History link deals with the Web sites you have visited. It keeps track of the sites in a list for you, so you can go back to them faster the next time. In this section, you can specify how many days you want Firefox to remember the sites you have gone to. The default is set to nine days, but you can change it by clicking on the plus sign and typing in how many days you would like. It's probably best to keep the amount under 10 days, because so many sites get built up in there and it's just best to keep it as cleared out as possible.
Saved Form Information: This area has to do with any type of form you fill out on the Internet. When you enter any information into a form on a site, Firefox will remember this information and it will prompt you and give suggestions to you when you're typing it all out again. It helps the process go a little faster. If you don't want this feature on, just uncheck the box that says "Save information I enter in Web page forms and the Search Bar."
Saved Passwords: This one is pretty self explanatory. Firefox will remember all the passwords you put into certain Web sites if you want it to. They are securely stored and it saves you some time because you don't have to enter your password in every time you visit a site. You can manage all of your passwords by clicking on the View Saved Passwords button. It will show you all your passwords and you can keep and delete whichever ones you want. You can also set a Master Password or you can just turn the feature off completely by unchecking the box that says "Remember Passwords."
Download Manager History: This section keeps all of your recent downloads on file. You can use the Clear button beside it to get rid of the list and you can also choose the way you want them removed from the manager. You can either remove them manually, upon a successful download or when Firefox exits.
Cookies: As you probably know, a cookie is a file that is created by a Web site that stores information on your computer, such as your personal preferences for a certain site, etc. You can view the cookies you have by clicking the View Cookies button. You can also use the Exceptions button to allow or deny a site to store cookies on your computer. If you don't want Web sites to store cookies, uncheck the box that says "Allow sites to set cookies." Just keep in mind that some sites do not work properly if this option is disabled. There is also the option of setting the cookies from the originating Web site only, which will block any foreign cookies. There is one last option left. You can tell Firefox when you want your cookies to be removed from your system. You can either have them deleted when they expire, when you close Firefox or you have the option of it asking you each time what you want to do.
Cache: Under this section, you are able to specify the amount of disk space that you want your cache to take up. You can just type in the space amount in the white box. Remember, the cache is used to store the Web sites you view often so you can have quicker access to them.
Once you have everything within the Privacy tab chosen, click OK and it will all be set to your specifications. It's important to look through these different areas. It will help Firefox run smoother for you and also help keep your system tuned up and safe.
~ Erin
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:38 AM
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More Google Tips
Are you ready for some more Google tips. If you would like to get more out of Google, here are five more tricks for you to try out. As established in our last Google tips article, most people don’t use Google to its maximum power. I hope that article made your brain cells go Yahoo! on Google (no pun intended). If it did, then this one will make you laugh right in the face of the remaining search engines. Keep reading to find out what I've got for you today!
1.) Search the Saved Cache Page With Cache:
Goggle stores a cached copy of each page it has indexed. So, even if a Web site is down or the page has ceased to exist, you can still view the cached version of the page. This is done by using the "cache:" operator. To use this, in the Google search space, type in “cache: websitename.” For example, the following code will bring up a cached version of the worldstart.com homepage.
cache:www.worldstart.com
Similarly, if you want to highlight any words in the cached page that you are searching for, just simply include the word that you want to be highlighted after the Web site name. For example, the following search would highlight the word tips on the cached page of www.worldstart.com.
cache:www.worldstart.com tips
You can also access this function by doing a normal search in Google and clicking on the “cached” link Google inserts after every search entry.
2.) Search for Pages with Links to a Web Page
This is useful especially if you operate a Web site of your own. The “link:” operator lists links to Web pages that you specify in the search. For instance, the following will list Web pages that have links pointing to the worldstart.com homepage.
link:www.worldstart.com
3.) Search for Similar Pages
Let’s say you have a keen interest in Formula 1 racing and you have a favorite site that you always access to stock up on news and updates. Although you like the site, you do wish the site design was a little better and that the information was a bit more detailed. Wouldn’t it be better if you could find a Web site similar to the one you like without all the junk you usually get when you search for Formula 1 in Google?
For this, the “related:” operator comes to your rescue. “Related:” will list Web pages that are similar to the Web page you specified in your search. For instance, the following will list Web pages that are similar to the www.formula1.com homepage.
related:www.formula1.com
You can also access this function by clicking on the “similar pages” link on a Google search results page.
4.) Numbers Game
Google does really clever things with numbers. In fact, Google is so smart that you can tell Google that you want it to search for a range of numbers within the text. Since Google understands numbers, it finds pages that have commas and decimal points in them. It will also find numbers equal to or within the range of a given set of numbers. To do a number range search, you just need to place two periods between two numbers without any spaces. For example, 10..20 (essentially it is low number..higher number).
For instance, if you wanted to know who was president between 1920 and 1930, you would use: 1920..1930 president.
5.) Stocks
You can also get stock market updates with the help of Google. Google will treat a search query as a stock ticker symbol if you start the search string with the “stock:” operator. It will then link to a page showing stock information for the symbols you queried for. For example, to view information for Microsoft (symbol: MSFT), you will use: stock: msft
You have to type the ticker symbol name and not the name of the company. You can do a search for multiple symbols by including all those symbols after the “stock:” operator. For example,
stock: msft amd
Another way to do this is to just search for the stock symbols in Google and then click on the “Show Quotes For” link on top of the page.
Now, are you ready to give your new found Google search engine tricks a try?! Go for it!
~ Yogesh Bakshi
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:33 AM
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USB Ports in Front & Back
Some PCs have USB ports in the front and back. For best results, use the back ports for hardware such as printers, scanners, keyboards, mice, card readers, or digital camera docks—things you never or rarely unplug. Save the front USB ports for things you plug in/unplug often like digital cameras, mp3 players, "thumb drives", etc.
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:32 AM
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Mouse light on
If you have a wireless optical mouse you may notice that you still see light underneath when you shut your computer off. You won't find an off switch or anything. These mice go into a sleep mode that uses very little battery power. I'm not sure why they sleep "with one eye open"—maybe it's to watch out for cats ;-)
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:31 AM
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Free Faxing
Do you often send out faxes? Maybe you do a lot of faxing from your home and you don't want to have to go out and find a fax machine or even better yet, pay for it. Also, sometimes faxing is just a lot easier than calling on the phone, waiting on hold or going to an actual place and turning the paperwork in.
So, if you're looking for a way you can fax right from your home computer for free, this tip is for you! It's amazing, but there are a couple places online where you can send faxes with absolutely no money strings attached. This feature gets even better as I go on. You do not need a fax machine in your home, you don't need any fax software taking up space on your computer and you don't have to give anyone your credit card information.
One of the best fax sites out there today is FaxZero. You just go onto the Web site and fill out the sender information and the receiver information. For the sender information, make sure you are careful when entering your e-mail address. At the end of the process, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to you, so you need to make sure your address is correct.
Once you have all of that filled out, you can browse for a document (you must have the document saved to your computer prior to faxing) or you can just type in any text you want to include on the fax. If you are sending a document, you can attach a plain text file, a PDF, a Microsoft Word document or an Excel spreadsheet. When you have all of that done, you must fill out the confirmation code. This code prevents any malicious activity from occurring during the fax process.
When you're all set, click on the Send Free Fax Now button and it will be sent. Now, with FaxZero, you can send a free fax with an ad on the cover page, but you are only allowed a maximum of three pages per fax and you can only send two faxes per day. This site also offers a Premium Fax option, which costs $1.79 per fax (that is without an ad on your cover page), but you can send up to 10 pages per fax and there is no limit to the number of faxes you send.
Now, as I said before, a confirmation e-mail will be sent to you, but your fax will not transfer until you click on the link in the e-mail. Once you do that, you will get another e-mail letting you know if the fax went through successfully or not.
It may be hard to believe that this service is free, but it is supported by advertising on the cover pages of the free faxes you send out. You don't have to buy a machine, any supplies, get a fax line or pay any long distance phone charges. So, it really is a good deal. FaxZero also has a strict privacy policy, so you don't have to worry about spam. Of course, FaxZero isn't the only free service on the Internet. You can do an online search for different places that allow you send free faxes.
Get rid of the faxing blues and go free!
~ Erin
Read This Post |
| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:29 AM
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The iPod
Q:
Okay, my kids got me an iPod for my birthday, but I do not know how to use it. Can you please give me some basics?
A:
Your kids must really be awesome, because an iPod is a very cool gift to get. I would say iPods are one of the most popular music related devices out on the market today. It seems like everyone I know is getting an iPod (except for me, of course : ). But, if you have time to listen to tons of music, an iPod is perfect for you. Or if you do a lot of traveling, an iPod can be your best friend.
To start this off, an iPod is a portable media player that was designed by the Apple Computer company. There are different sizes of iPods, with the standard being the regular model (also called the 5th generation iPod) followed by the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano.
The standard iPod comes with a built in hard drive where you can store all of your music. The iPod shuffle and the nano use flash memory as the storage device. The 5th generation model has video playback features and the nano offers a color screen. All three of these versions were released in 2005, so they are all still fairly new to the music world.
Now, the iPod comes with a bundle of software that you can use to upload your music, view photos and see videos. This software is called iTunes, which I discussed last week. iTunes works as a library of music. You can either download music from the iTunes Web site or if you have some CDs you'd like to store on your iPod, you can rip a CD onto your computer to later be put on your iPod. Once you have all of the songs you want (and iPods can hold A LOT of songs, let me tell you), you now have an iTunes library. You can then transfer the songs from your computer to your iPod, which is all done by having one end of your iPod cord plugged into your computer and the other in the iPod.
Also, once you have your songs on your computer, you can group them into different categories. If you have several different genres of music, you can separate those into groups. You can divide songs by artist, by CD title or you can make up your own fun lists. For example, my sister and I went to a concert in March and she made a playlist of songs just by the people we were seeing and she named it "Concert 2006." The iPod also automatically puts your songs into alphabetical order while they are all grouped together, so it's easier for you to find a song or an artist when you're searching through your choices.
All of the iPods (except the nano) have five buttons to work with. The basic interface is a scroll wheel right in the middle of the device. Those buttons are: the menu (allows you to scan back through different menus), the center (this selects a menu item), the play/pause button (this also doubles as an Off switch), the fast forward/skip forward button and the fast reverse/skip backwards button. There is also a hold button that you can use to prevent any unexpected button pushing.
You can use your iPod at home, in the car, while you're working out (or anywhere) and of course, you can use it with or without earphones. In the car, it is run by a radio station. Your iPod comes with a radio remote to use to find a radio station that will play your songs. You can charge your iPod batteries by leaving it plugged in your computer and there are also many different cases that you can purchase to keep your iPod safe from any scratches or mishaps. iPods also come in various colors, which is always fun!
As you can see, the iPod is a major music device and it's pretty cool to own one. It puts all the music that you own into one spot, which makes listening to your music a whole lot easier. You can take your iPod everywhere you go and enjoy your music 24/7!
If there are any other questions about the software, installation, etc., refer to your iPod manual, as certain things will depend on the type of iPod you have.
~ Erin
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:28 AM
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Download: Primo PDF
I've always thought that Adobe's Acrobat Reader was a great document distribution program, but a little pricey for what I would do with it. PDFs (Portable Document Format) are really good for creating documents that you want everyone to be able to view as you intended.
For example: you want to create a form for a Charitable bake sale and you want people to go the church website and be able to download and distribute them. You want all the forms to not only be viewable but also it would be nice to have a little continuity and not a bunch of different looking forms because this person didn't have this font or that person doesn't have Word. All your viewers need is the Adobe Acrobat reader which they can get for free on Adobes' website (and you can even put a link on the site right to the download). Now everything will be uniform, and professional looking.
Today's free download is a little program that can take a document from literally any world processing program and convert it into a PDF document. This isn't a full functioning Adobe Acrobat (that's about $300.00) but it does have the ability to synthesize one of Acrobat's biggest components—creating PDFs.
Here's how it works: let's say your working on that form I was speaking of earlier in the article and using MS Word. You get the form exactly how you want it, with a few graphics and fields for the volunteers to fill in their information. Once everything is perfect you always save it first, and after that go to File/Print and when the printer window comes up, select the pull down arrow on the printer select field and select "Primo PDF" from the list.
What this does is send the output of your print job to the Primo PDF program, which then converts the document into a PDF. Give this to the person who does your website and post it or you could keep a copy on a local PC and print off what you need. If you intend on emailing some of these converted documents you may want to watch the size, these files tend to be a little bigger than thier true PDF counterparts.
It's a great utility to really make your documents stand out as professional and it even has support forums where you and all the other Primo PDF users can talk about install, and tech support issues.
Download it here...
http://www.primopdf.com
~ Chad
Read This Post |
| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:27 AM
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The iPod
Q:
Okay, my kids got me an iPod for my birthday, but I do not know how to use it. Can you please give me some basics?
A:
Your kids must really be awesome, because an iPod is a very cool gift to get. I would say iPods are one of the most popular music related devices out on the market today. It seems like everyone I know is getting an iPod (except for me, of course : ). But, if you have time to listen to tons of music, an iPod is perfect for you. Or if you do a lot of traveling, an iPod can be your best friend.
To start this off, an iPod is a portable media player that was designed by the Apple Computer company. There are different sizes of iPods, with the standard being the regular model (also called the 5th generation iPod) followed by the iPod shuffle and the iPod nano.
The standard iPod comes with a built in hard drive where you can store all of your music. The iPod shuffle and the nano use flash memory as the storage device. The 5th generation model has video playback features and the nano offers a color screen. All three of these versions were released in 2005, so they are all still fairly new to the music world.
Now, the iPod comes with a bundle of software that you can use to upload your music, view photos and see videos. This software is called iTunes, which I discussed last week. iTunes works as a library of music. You can either download music from the iTunes Web site or if you have some CDs you'd like to store on your iPod, you can rip a CD onto your computer to later be put on your iPod. Once you have all of the songs you want (and iPods can hold A LOT of songs, let me tell you), you now have an iTunes library. You can then transfer the songs from your computer to your iPod, which is all done by having one end of your iPod cord plugged into your computer and the other in the iPod.
Also, once you have your songs on your computer, you can group them into different categories. If you have several different genres of music, you can separate those into groups. You can divide songs by artist, by CD title or you can make up your own fun lists. For example, my sister and I went to a concert in March and she made a playlist of songs just by the people we were seeing and she named it "Concert 2006." The iPod also automatically puts your songs into alphabetical order while they are all grouped together, so it's easier for you to find a song or an artist when you're searching through your choices.
All of the iPods (except the nano) have five buttons to work with. The basic interface is a scroll wheel right in the middle of the device. Those buttons are: the menu (allows you to scan back through different menus), the center (this selects a menu item), the play/pause button (this also doubles as an Off switch), the fast forward/skip forward button and the fast reverse/skip backwards button. There is also a hold button that you can use to prevent any unexpected button pushing.
You can use your iPod at home, in the car, while you're working out (or anywhere) and of course, you can use it with or without earphones. In the car, it is run by a radio station. Your iPod comes with a radio remote to use to find a radio station that will play your songs. You can charge your iPod batteries by leaving it plugged in your computer and there are also many different cases that you can purchase to keep your iPod safe from any scratches or mishaps. iPods also come in various colors, which is always fun!
As you can see, the iPod is a major music device and it's pretty cool to own one. It puts all the music that you own into one spot, which makes listening to your music a whole lot easier. You can take your iPod everywhere you go and enjoy your music 24/7!
If there are any other questions about the software, installation, etc., refer to your iPod manual, as certain things will depend on the type of iPod you have.
~ Erin
Read This Post |
| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:25 AM
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The difference between DVD-R and DVD+R
Q:
I wanted to add a recordable DVD drive to my computer. What is the difference between DVD-R and DVD+R?
A:
As DVD recording comes of age and the prices come down, more of us will likely be adding DVD writers to our computers. But what gives with these dueling formats?
Anyone who was around twenty years ago might remember the battle between the two video tape formats: VHS (Victor Home System) and Betamax (Sony). Fast forward to the twenty-first century and we have a similar battle of the formats with DVD.
The disks are pretty much the same, but the writing process is different. DVD+R is a bit more advanced, but the disks often cost more than the older DVD-R format.
Another thing to consider is what format your DVD recording software works best in. I had a friend that couldn't get his software to work and it turned out he needed to use DVD-R. Now he's a regular DVD pirate—Arrgh, just kiddin' matey!
My suggestion? Pay the extra bucks for a writer that supports both formats or wait until the dust settles.
~David
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:24 AM
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Windows Vista
Windows Vista is going to be a huge step up from Windows XP. Microsoft claims that it has over 100 new features. Amazing, isn't it? I found that the main focus of the new operating system is going to be improving the security. Microsoft has included new services to stop hackers, viruses and scammers.
Other new features include a completely revamped interface featuring sleek windows and more "eye candy." It will also include a new sidebar for easy access to your links and programs. There will also be new versions of programs, such as Windows Media Player, Internet Explorer, etc. there will be new search options offering a fast way to search your computer. Another cool thing will be new Windows gadgets, which will simply be small applications that are placed on your desktop that will allow you easier access to information such as stock quotes and the weather.
There is a lot more information available on Windows Vista and you can read all about it here: http://www.windowsvista.com.
The new Windows Vista is estimated to be released on December 7, 2006, so get ready!
~ Neil Patel
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 11:17 AM
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Computer Tips & Techniques Newsletter
Are you looking for a better, smarter way to run your Windows PC? Don't you hate it when it takes forever to do something that you know should be easier? Well, this is the newsletter for you.
Computer Tips & Techniques will give you practical advice, great tips, a few tricks, and a cool web site every weekday. Computer Tips & Techniques will give you practical advice, great tips, a few tricks, and a cool web site every weekday. This newsletter is sent out every Monday through Friday and is designed for those who love "eye candy." You'll get screenshots, easy to read content, humor, and so much more!
In addition to the "regular" advice and tips, each issue has a Computers 101 section that helps folks who are new to computing to understand and learn the basics. This newsletter is designed so that no matter what your current skill level, beginner or advanced, you'll get something useful out of every issue.
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| posted by ^%&^
@ 9:23 AM
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