Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Upcoming Classes - Early November

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC062-124 Wed & Thurs Nov 3 & 4 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions..

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-122 Tues & Wed Nov 3 & 4 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hour classes-Intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your PC with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your PC using Windows Explorer; save photos to portable drives - Bring your digital camera to class

FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-125 Mon & Tues Nov 9 & 10 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 Hours Classes helping you find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to always find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

INTERNET AND IT'S MANY USES LSC 071-221: Mon & Tues Nov 9 & 10 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 Hour classes with lots of Internet tips & lingo, such as ISP, browser, blogger and more; when & why to use F5 & F11; understanding websites & hyperlinks, basics of email, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging

LAPTOP BASICS LSC100-121: Thursday, Nov. 12, 8:30-12:20pm,
A 4 hr. workshop to learn the Desktop & laptop differences, basic features of using a laptop, accessories needed, maneuvering around, Internet & WiFi Basics, shortcuts, security & more

EMAIL HOW TO’S – ADVANCED LSC071- 222: Thursdays, Nov 12 & 19 1pm-4:50pm,
Two 4 hour classes to enhance your basic email skills – work extensively with attachments of all types – documents, photos, videos, power point – learn to open & save, find & attach. Also learn to work with hyperlinks; learn to copy & paste to & from emails, Internet and word

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Get-Away Lodging Alternatives

Thinking about getting away and considering alternatives to a hotel.. Fellow students tells us they've had great luck renting homes - for a week or tow or even months at a time...
These are some websites referred to us by your fellow students that they have personally had good luck with..

www.vrbo.com #1 site I hear talked about in LHC, AZ-Vacation Rentals by Owners

the other three that I’ve heard that were used with good results..
www.homeaway.com
www.vacationhomerentals.com
www.vacationrentals.com

As always if you have favorite websites - tell us what they are and why we should refer them..

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Upcoming classes for the next few weeks with available seats - so join us & bring a friend...

TO BUY & SELL ONLINE LSC101-121 Tues & Wed Oct 27 & 28 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 hour classes-Buy and Sell on Line, find what you want; searching, making travel arrangements, general shopping tips, intro to online sales with sites such as eBay; eBid; craigslist & others: shortcuts, security

MAIL MERGE w/WORD & EXCEL LSC068-221 Tues & Wed Oct 27& 28 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hr classes create a data list (BRING YOUR ADDRESS BOOK) using both Excel and or Word software - Learn to enter & sort data various ways; to merge data for multiple “personalized” documents such as mailing labels, other labels, envelopes or form letters..

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC062-124 Tues & Wed Nov 3 & 4 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software, printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more… Bring your questions..

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-122 Tues & Wed Nov 3 & 4 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hour classes-Intro to digital cameras; pixels, camera lingo, basic how to’s, move photo’s to your PC with memory card & memory card reader, organize photos on your PC using Windows Explorer; save photos to portable drives - Bring your digital camera to class

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Websites to find the "least expensive" services

If you have a favorite website - share it with us and tell us why...

Cell phone plans – http://www.rateplan.com/ or http://www.billshrink.com/

Car insurance – http://www.carinsuranceratea.com/ or http://www.carinsurance.org/

Bank fees – www.mybanktracker-com/banks OR http://www.findabetterbank.com/

Airline tickets – http://www.skyscanner.net/ or http://www.efares.com/

Travelling by car – you might want to know where the speed traps are (this is for real) go to http://www.speedtrap.org/

One of our favorites for just about everything we need.. http://www.allmyfaves.com/

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Upcoming Classes

Every few weeks we'll post reminders on the blog for upcoming classes. You can always email me with questions about specific classes if you aren't sure which are right for you... There are still seats open in the following classes so join us...

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS
LSC068-121 Wed & Thurs Oct 14 & 15 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 hour classes-reviewing the basics to open, create, save documents; highlight; cut-copy-paste, set & change margins; create letters, envelopes, labels & use clip art, word art to enhance documents, create flyers & invitations & lots of printing tips

LIST AND DATA MANAGEMENT WITH EXCEL
LSC069-121 Wed & Thurs Oct 14 & 15 1pm-4:50pm

Two 4 hour classes-Learn to work with numbers & text (budget, contact lists for mail merges) Workbook vs. worksheet; cells, columns, rows, auto-formats; margins, grid lines, sorting numbers & data & print basics - Bring an address book or contact list to class

INTERNET AND IT'S MANY USES
LSC071-121 Tues & Wed Oct 20 & 21 8:30am-12:20pm
Two 4 Hour classes with lots of internet tips & lingo, such as ISP, browser, blogger and more; when & why to use F5 & F11; understanding websites & hyperlinks, basics of email, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging

POWER POINT
LSC069D-221 Tues & Wed Oct 20 & 21 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hour classes to create basic Slide Show presentation and enhance your presentation with text, photos & clip art, animation, transition & timing features

HOW TO BUY & SELL ONLINE
LSC101-121 Tues & Wed Oct 27 & 28 8:30am-12:20pm

Two 4 hour classes-Buy and Sell on Line, find what you want; searching, making travel arrangements, general shopping tips, intro to online sales with sites such as eBay; eBid; craigslist & others: shortcuts, security

MAIL MERGE USING WORD & EXCEL
LSC068-221 Tues & Wed Oct 27& 28 1pm-4:50pm
Two 4 hr classes create a data list (BRING YOUR ADDRESS BOOK) using both Excel and Word software Learn to enter & sort data various ways; to merge data for multiple “personalized” documents such as mailing labels, other labels, envelopes or form letters..

Friday, October 9, 2009

CAN YOU SEND CELL PHONE TEXT MESSAGE FROM YOUR COMPUTER?

Absolutely – many of us don’t have “text” ability on our cell phones or if we do, we don’t know how to text..

But you can send a text message to anyone who uses “texting” as long as you have their cell phone number. There are several websites – all are free – that offer us the ability to send family and friends text messages to their phones.
Here is how they work...
  • You type in the persons cell phone number
  • Now type in your email address
  • Now type in your message (actually it is a tweet because it has a 140 character limit and counts down as you type so you know what you have left) or they have lots of “quick messages to choose from so you don’t have to type”
  • You're done, so now click on the SEND button..
The message appears as a text on their cell phone and if and when they respond, their message will come back to your email account…
Again these services are free – like email it’s their advertising that allows them to stay free. Most of these services also offer you the ability to set-up a free account, which will then confidentially save the cell phone numbers you send to and save your email address so you don’t have to type them in every time - very much like your address book in email..
So give it a try and start texting/tweeting – it’s all free!!!
www.textem.net
www.txt2day.com
www.text4free.net
www.onlinetextmessage.com

Sunday, October 4, 2009

INTERNET UPDATES

Just a few reminders to help you enjoy using the internet...

When you visit a website you enjoy, be sure to save it to your favorites, so you can access it again easily... How????When the website is on your monitor:

  • Go to the Menu bar, choose Favorites
  • Top of the list that appears choose "add to favorites"
  • Now "choose your folder" or create and name a new folder
  • Now "be sure you are happy with the name" or type your own for the website
  • Now click ADD and it's added to your favorite list

Next time you're on the Internet, go to Favorites, find your folder and websites you've saved will be there without having to remember the web address - just left click on it and another connection to the Internet will open and connect you to the website....

A few other reminders....

  • Use the F5 function key to REFRESH any page on your monitor
  • Use the F11 function key to get a FULL SCREEN (and eliminate all the toolbars) to get them back, just tap the F11 key again...

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Some fun & interesting websites

Looking for an interesting website – we have something for everyone –
enjoy puzzles, check out jigzone!!
great site to find just about anything is allmyfaves;
want to watch what’s happening all over the world then check out camcentral!
for those wanting to relax and see some beautiful photos-check out calsgallery...

Hope you’ll enjoy these websites…. If you have a favorite website – share it with us so we can share it with everyone……

www.jigzone.com
www.allmyfaves.com
www.camcentral.com
www.calsgallery.com

And of course - computer classes begin next week at Mohave Community College, so be sure to check out all the classes I'll be teaching as well as a myriad of other wonderful subjects - remember learning something new everyday is a great way to keep going and thriving... see you soon...

www.mohave.edu

As always - we hope you enjoy your classes and never hesitate to ask questions -that's how we all learn...

Friday, October 2, 2009

HELP YOUR PC LAST LONGER

In response to the question we are asked most often - how to speed up your computer and extend your computer life... these are our tips...

1.) Install spyware and antivirus programs and be sure to keep them updatedWhether you use Norton, McAfee or AVG they are only successful if and when you keep them updated. And be sure you also have a program to eliminate spyware, such as Lavasoft’s Ad-Aware or Microsoft’s Windows Defender that detect & remove spyware from your pc...

2.) Run diagnostics. Most PCs have maintenance tools built into your system and on a schedule. To find them in Windows PCs, go to Start, Accessories and you'll find them in “System Tools”. Its recommended that at least once a month (or better yet once a week) we should:
a. back up
b. run disk defrag, and
c. run the disk cleanup tool
If your diagnostics are scheduled to run during the night and your computer is off, the diagnostics cannot be done, so you must do it the next time you turn your computer on, when it will remind you....

3.) Increase RAM. The quickest way to increase the performance of our computers is to add more memory - RAM (Random-access memory). All of us should have at least 2GB or worse case at least 1GB. This is especially important for those of us running software made in the last year or two.. you can get 1 GB for less than $50; 2 GB for under $100 - a very worthwhile investment..

Thursday, October 1, 2009

Welcome to Your Blog

Welcome to "Your" Blog - A place where we will be sharing ideas about this ever changing technology that we are all attempting to keep up with...

We will share your questions and the answers we find for you, as well as information about the computer classes being offered at the Mohave Community College, which I teach...

So join in the fun - save this BLOG to your favorites and check in often or become a follower so that you will receive notices whenever a new POST is written.. We look forward to sharing this with all of you and the more questions you ask the more information we can all share and learn..

We will be adding various links that we hope you will find helpful about Lake Havasu City, Mohave Community College so that registration for returning students will be easier, and others that are helpful to full time residents and returning or new winter visitors...