PRINTING FROM THE INTERNET Part 2 of 2

The first two options we reviewed in Part 1, are for quick-easy printing directly from the internet. But, many times we want to be able to change/enlarge the Print style or size of what we are printing from the Internet to make it easier to read, especially with articles, directions, and other important information. So that is when this option works well…

Option 3:

• “Highlight” the portion of the Internet item you want to print & change (to copy to Word)
• Be sure pointer is on what’s highlighted then "Right click" on what you have highlighted and an action menu appears - choose/left click on "copy"
• Minimize email/internet; Open Word, NotePad, Works, whatever WP program you use
• Right click again (be sure pointer is on the blank page Word, etc), Left click "paste"
• Now in Word, NotePad or Works, make your print/font style, size changes
• To print, either left click on the printer icon on the toolbar OR
• Left click on "file" on the toolbar, then left click on "print"
• Left click “selection or current page" in page range section & "number of copies you want"
• Left click "OK" and it will now print with all your changes

To Save what you have now worked on, left click on "File", then "Save As", then be sure you are in "C" Drive, then "My Documents" or find your Flash Drive/Memory Stick and choose that - then choose the folder you want to put it in and left click on Save

TIP: try not to use the printer icon on your internet toolbar, because when you print using this ICON, you will print everything on your monitor including the ads, etc..

PRINTING FROM THE INTERNET – Part 1 of 2

When you are reading something on the “Internet” - your email, a newspaper article or something else on a website, you may want to print it for someone else or for your own future reference. There are a few options on how you can do this quickly & easily...

OPTION 1:

• Almost all email and other media websites today show a “Print” icon or “Print view” – formerly known as Printer Friendly Version) usually at the top or sometimes at the bottom of what we are reading.
• When you click on this Print icon, the website will copy what you have chosen, but eliminates almost all unnecessary info/ads from the page so that you only print the article or email – saves a lot of ink and paper.
• Now the print dialog box will appear, choose/left click "selection" in page range section (one of the "print range" choices)
• Then left click "number of copies you want"
• Then left click "OK" and what you have chosen prints without all the unnecessary ads etc.

OPTION 2:

• Another option is to “Highlight” just the portion of the email/article that you want to print
• Left click on "file" on the toolbar, then left click on "print"
• The print dialog box will appear, choose/left click "selection" in page range section (one of the "print range" choices)
• Then left click "number of copies you want"
• Then left click "OK" and "what you highlighted" will now print

TIP: try not to use the printer icon on your Internet toolbar, because when you print using this ICON, you will print everything on your monitor including the ads, etc..

What do the tags mean on websites .com, .net .org

When the world wide web was launched in 1989 the .com and .net extensions at the end of a website were used to help categorize the several hundred websites available at that time - .com meant a commercial website and .net meant telecommunication.. Now there are a growing number of “extensions” and this list will continue to grow as does the number of websites… here are just a few extensions you might recognize…

.arts - Cultural groups
.biz - Used by small business
.com - Commercial
.edu - Educational
.firm - Firms and businesses
.gov - Government
.info - Informational services
.int - International
.mil - Military
.mus - Museums
.name - Individual/personal names
.net - Telecommunication Co’s
.nom - Personal websites
.org - Non-profit Organization
.store - Businesses offering goods
.tv - Entertainment industry
.web - Entities w/ties to the web

Because of the growing use of names/websites, more "tags" are being added and in addition to the standard tags (.com; .net) you’ll begin seeing two (2) letter tags, such as .au, .uk, .de and .jp which relate to a countries & geographic locations - au = Australia; uk=United Kingdom, etc...

What is a PDF document???

PDF: Short for Portable Document Format, a file format developed by Adobe Systems. PDF captures formatting information from a variety of software application programs – including Microsoft Word & Excel, Word Perfect and others, so that it is possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended. So they are welcome to open, read, save & print the documents – but they cannot change them.. When you and I visit websites, such as the registry of motor vehicles, IRS, medical, insurance and other such websites, forms we download are often done in PDF format so that we can view them, save them, print them as we need them – we just couldn’t modify them or change any information on them. In order to view them however, we need to have the Adobe Reader, which is a free application distributed by Adobe Systems

To download the latest version of Adobe Reader go to this website:
http://www.get.adobe.com/reader/

What is a Firewall??

A firewall is a system designed to prevent unauthorized access to or from a private network. Firewalls can be implemented in both hardware and software, or a combination of both.
Firewalls are frequently used to prevent unauthorized Internet users from accessing private networks connected to the Internet, especially intranets.
All messages entering or leaving the intranet pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
Many anti-virus programs contain firewalls which you can turn on or off when you want to download authorized new programs
Your Internet provider has numerous firewalls and other security precautions to protect them and all of us when we are using their Internet services

KEYBOARD - WHAT DO ALL THOSE KEYS DO?

KEYBOARD enables you to communicate with the computer by typing information and instructions into the computer (the type of keyboard we use are used for computers and cell phones as “QWERTY STYLE).

A NUMBERIC KEYPAD is located at the right of the keyboard. It is used like a 10-key calculator.

The top row of keys are FUNCTION KEYS. They perform specific tasks in software applications – such as F5 refreshes your screen when you are on the internet; F11 gives you a full screen for more viewing area.

ESC. or “ESCAPE” on the top left of your keyboard allows you to stop a task at anytime.

The CTRL or “CONTROL” keys are on the bottom left and right corners of your keyboard. They are used with other keys to complete commands.

The ENTER key is on the center row, right side of your keyboard. Use enter to move your cursor down a line.

The BACKSPACE key is on the right end of the row of number keys on your keyboard. Pressing the backspace key moves your cursor one space to the left, and eliminates any typing as it moves.

The 4 ARROW KEYS - up, down, left and right keys on the keyboard allow you to move around your document without destroying your work.
Up = one line;
Down = one line;
Left = one character or letter;
Right = one character or letter

The DELETE key will eliminate any typing to the right of the blinking cursor.

The PAGE UP & PAGE DOWN keys allow you to move up and down on a page of your document quickly.

The HOME key takes you to the beginning of your current line of type.

The END key takes you to the end of your current line of type.

The HOME key with the CTRL key, takes you to the very beginning of your document.

The END key with the CTRL key, takes you to the end of your document quickly.

Fun websites for May

It's Memorial Day Weekend and we thought you'd enjoy checking out a favorite Memorial Day website with lots of helpful information about the holiday and th way it is celebrated.. enjoy

www.usmemorialday.org

When I want to know which websites are “Hot” – we can always check out

www.allmyfaves.com

which we’ve been talking about for a few years now and is on our favorite list..

Another favorite website to visit that lists their opinion of the top “100 websites” is:

www.100bestwebsites.org

Want to travel from the comfort of home, then check out web cams all over the world, including spring tulip farms in Holland, the oil spill in the gulf, cape cod beaches, the Eiffel Tower and many many more:

www.earthcam.com

So check them out - and if you have a favorite website you'd like us to share with everyone - just send it to me and remember to save websites you visit to your favorite or bookmark list so they are easy to visit again in the future..

Enjoy the Internet - where we can learn & explore anytime - anywhere…

NAMING & SAVING WORK

NAME YOUR WORK AND SAVE IT OFTEN

• When you open a document in Word, Works, Excel, Power Point or any type of “creation’ application software – they will have a document or project number until we give them a name of our choice
• The more “new documents, spreadsheets, power point slide show presentations” you open” the higher the numbers get all day
• You want to ALWAYS name your document, spreadsheets, power point slide show presentations, ASAP, so you can find it
• To name to the document to the Menu Bar (or the office button in the newer Office 2007 products) Choose File – Save As – It will open “My Documents” , and either choose or create the folder you want to save your work in
• In class – if you also want to save it to your Flash/Memory stick, repeat the process and once you choose “Save As” remember to go to “My Computer” and find the DRIVE that your flash/Memory stick is on–now open “My Documents” and either choose or create the folder you want to save your work in
• NAME THE DOCUMENT so you can find it in the future – Click Ok or Save

TIPS:

• Once your work is saved – in the future – you can simply click on the SAVE ICON often which will save your additions and changes to the named document you have
• If you are creating a second document, then you would repeat the steps above, giving this work an entirely new name

COPY, PASTE & HIGHLIGHTING TIPS

COPY AND MOVE FILES & FOLDERS:
Cutting, copying, and pasting are essential techniques in working with and organizing files and folders. There are several ways to copy and move objects in Windows Explorer (AND TO OPEN WINDOWS EXPLORER-USE YOUR WINDOWS FLAG KEY + E)

• Copying a file or folder by using the Standard Buttons Toolbar
• Copying a file or folder by using the Menu
• Copying a file or folder by dragging

COPYING A GROUP OF DOCUMENTS, PHOTOS OR MUSIC:

• In the left pane, choose/highlight the drive you want to add items to: C Drive; Removable Drive or CD/DVD (to see what's on it); Right click on it – choose PROPERTIES on the menu list to see how much space is used/available
• Point to the drive you are taking the work/photo’s from, "C" drive, "My Documents", "Your folder".. On the right pane you will see all the sub-folder, highlight the folder/folders (see highlighting tips noted below) you want to copy, Activate COPY command
• In the left pane, Add/create a new folder for the items in the Drive they are going to
• Once created, point/highlight the folder the work is being sent to
• Now activate the PASTE command – you will see them flying over!!
• On the left pane, highlight the new folder and you will see all the work that’s been added on the right pane

To Copy documents from one folder to another, you can select all the documents by either holding down the shift or control buttons, then holding down the left mouse button and dragging the documents into the correct folder.

HIGHLIGHTING TIPS:

• JUST ONE ITEM: Simply left click on it to highlight it
• RANDOM: To highlight “random documents, files, pictures etc.: Hold down your CTRL key on the keyboard, then left click/choose the files you want
• GROUP: To highlight “group of documents, files, pictures, etc” Left click/choose the first picture or file in the group; hold down the SHIFT key on your keyboard, then left click/choose the last photo or file in the group
• ALL: To highlight all of the documents, files, pictures, etc. at once, simply use hold down your CTRL key and the letter A (CTRL+A) or go to the Menu Bar, File, and choose Select All.

HOW TO CUT/COPY & PASTE:

1. Select /highlight what you want to Cut or Copy
2. Then activate CUT or COPY (any of 5 ways)
3. Go to Where you Want what You’ve Cut or Copy to GO-be sure to choose the correct drive, folder and or sub-folder..
4. To find your travel drive-Open my computer & find the right drive Then activate PASTE (any of 5 ways)

Speeding Up Spreadsheet "Excel" Data Entry

When you are using spreadsheet software, such as Excel, and have a lot of data entry work to do for your mailing list or budget - try to use your keyboard instead of reaching for your mouse.

Using the mouse, is the slow way of doing anything on a computer. It's fine if you have only a small amount of data to enter or if you're not in a hurry. To speed up your data entry use the keyboard. Below is a list of keys that you can use when you want to quickly enter your data.

• Enter key: enters the data and moves the active cell highlight down to the next cell in the current column
• Tab key: enters the data and moves the active cell highlight to the next cell in the current row
• Arrow keys: enters the data and moves the active cell highlight to the next cell in the direction of the specific arrow key pressed. For example, if the up arrow is pressed, the active cell highlight moves up to the next cell in the current column
• Esc key: cancels the current data entry

Using Windows Explorer

Windows Explorer is the computers “filing cabinet” allowing you to quickly & easily move and or copy item (s) from one folder and or drive to another..

QUICK & EASY WAY TO OPEN "WINDOWS EXPLORER" use keyboard shortcut: hold down the windows flag key and tap the letter E... This will always open the Windows Explorer no matter where you are on your computer (minimizing anything else you had open)

• The Windows Explorer Screen is divided into two sections/panes: Left & right and divided with separator bar.
• In Windows Explorer - whatever is highlighted on the left column, is what you are looking at on the right side of the screen
• Windows Explorer Left Pane uses plus (+) and minus (-) signs to display or close what is in a folder in older operating systems (XP & older) and in the newer vists or 7, it uses > arrows

TO CREATE A FOLDER (OR SUB FOLDERS) IN WINDOWS EXPLORER:

• Open Windows Explorer – Expand whatever drive or folder you want to put your new folder in
• Be sure on the left that you have highlighted the folder you want your new folder to be in
• In older operating systems (XP or older) you can either right click on the folder/drive you are on or go to the menu bar, File, New, then choose folder - a folder will appear and you now type in the new name for this folder
• In newer operating systems (Vista or 7) you will see on the action bar at the top of your screen - New Folder or Create new folder - again when you choose this, a folder will appear and you now type in the new name for this folder

TIPS FOR BETTER DIGITAL PHOTOS

FIRST AND FOREMOST: Visit your camera manufacturer’s website – whether they will have lots of helpful tips and suggestions specific to your camera and how to take great pictures.. Always check the flash range and how close you can get to your subjects; which vary with every camera

GET CLOSER TO WHAT YOUR ARE PHOTOGRAPHING: The most common mistake we all make is that we are too far away from the person or object we are photographing… Get closer and if you aren’t sure how close – as always check your camera to see what the manufacturer recommends so your pictures are not blurry.

TAKE PHOTOS ON THE SAME LEVEL AS YOUR SUBJECT : Hold your camera at the same levels as who y0u are photographing – whether that is an adult, children or animal… Yes that might mean stooping down – but the results are wonderful… being at eye level improves the quality of your picture…

OFF CENTER HAS ITS ADVANTAGES: Often times if we move our subject to the side of the photo – versus dead center – our photo will have more life & personality… But remember if you have an auto-focus camera you need to lock it so it doesn’t focus on whatever is in the center

LOCK THE FOUCS: You can check the manufacturers recommendations on locking your focus, but usually all you have to do is center the subject and press and hold the shutter button halfway down, then when you are still holding the button, reposition your camera so the subject is away from the center and then pressing the shutter button all the way down to take the picture.

THE MORE SIMPLE THE BACKGROUND THE BETTER: too often our subjects get lost in the back ground – so consider shooting up towards the sky at your subject or have them move so that they don’t have “objects” growing out of their bodies, like chair legs or poles.

WHAT ABOUT LIGHTING?: No doubt, this is critical to great pictures – watch for shadows and don’t hesitate to move or have your subject move and on vacation, when you are attempting to take those great landscape shots, try to take pictures early or late in the day when the light had different tints and can greatly enhance your scenery shots.

SHOOTING IN BRIGHT SUNLIGHT: Consider using your flash to help lighten your subjects faces. Some cameras have 2 choices fill-flash mode or full-flash mode. We use fill-flash mode when the person is within five feet and we use full-power mode for beyond five feet… On overcast days – try your pictures both ways with & without the flash – often times without gives your photos a soft glow..

Digital Camera Terms & Tips

Some common digital camera terms we hear and what they mean:

ISO: Traditionally used as an indicator of sensitivity for film cameras, ISO on modern digital cameras represents the camera’s sensitivity to light. Generally, the darker the scene, the higher the ISO should be set.

APERTURE: The aperture, or “f-stop” to the film purists, is the amount of light the lens lets into the camera. This can be adjusted in single-lens reflex cameras. The aperture is fixed for most point-and-shoots.

IMAGE STABILIZATION: This refers to a part of the digital camera, built into the body or the lens, that prevents “camera shake” in pictures.

DIGITAL/OPTICAL ZOOM:

• OPTICAL ZOOM refers to the manual zoom on a camera, which is located on the lens. Twisting the lens moves it closer to the subject. This is important – they higher the optical zoom the more “zoom” ability you have – 3x optical zoom was common, but today many cameras have 10x & 12x zoom..
• DIGITAL ZOOM is not used by moving the lens, rather it is part of the software of the camera. Most digital cameras – even point-and-shoots – have a form of both. Many consider digital zoom – camera hype…

CONTINUOUS PHOTO SPEED/BUFFER: Every digital camera has continuous photo speed; the number you set it on is the number of photos you can take per second. The faster the camera’s continuous speed, the more photos you can get per second.

Two types of digital cameras

In general, there are two main types of cameras you can buy: the point-and-shoot and the SLR.

SLR MEANS SINGLE-LENS REFLEX, which means you are looking directly through the lens. SLR cameras often bring in a great deal more light and can be used as camcorders, Adams said. They are typically more expensive and are usually the top choice for pros and shutterbugs alike – one of the most popular is the Canon Rebel for about $750

POINT AND SHOOT CAMERA’S, this is by far the most popular type of digital camera sold today - point and shoot means that you are looking at the screen on the back which shows you what is coming through the megapixels on the lens. Some point-and-shoot cameras have their own technological advantages, however. The new Sony Cyber-shot camera, for example, can take panoramic images for you while you simply turn in a circle. It is a 10.2mp and cost about $250. So instead of having to work with, or manipulate the cameras “stitching feature” to accomplish the panoramic photos, the camera does it for you.

BUYING TIPS:
Consider the price - set your budget and stick with it - Camera technology is changing so rapidly that what is new today will be obsolete tomorrow
Consider asking to look at the discontinued models which are often much less expensive - remember yesterday they were "current" so consider buying something that has just been replaced with the newer model and save yourself some money - often as much as 50% or more

Music lovers-check out Pandora Radio – it’s free

Pandora Radio (which is free) is different from other Internet radio sites - check it out for yourself…

At: http://www.pandora.com/

According to Wikipedia.com, Pandora has two subscription plans:

• a free subscription supported by advertisements, and
• a fee-based subscription without ads.

A free account user may reach the streaming limit of 40 hours per month, and continue unlimited streaming by paying $0.99. There are also advertisements in "Pandora Mobile" for mobile phones and the "Pandora in The Home" computer appliance.

As of March 2010, Pandora had 700,000 tracks in its library and 48 million users who listened for 11.6 hours per month on average

To find out just how Pandora works, check out…

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/pandora.htm

How to Create & Printing an Envelope

If you just need just one envelope – be sure you are in a new document or if you have completed your letter: then follow one of the following – steps vary slightly depending on what level of word you may have…
For older versions of Word – Envelopes/Labels are under Tools on the Menu Bar
For newer versions of Word – Envelopes/Labels are under Mailings on the Menu Bar or Word 2007's Tab system - Many of you may have the envelope icon on your toolbar

• Highlight the address in your letter
• Click on the envelope icon (or access it from the Menu Bar or Tab)
• When the envelope dialog box is open - Click "options" to choose the envelope or label size/style you want
• Type in the info for send to (if it doesn’t appear) and return addresses
• Enter the information, Select Print Preview to be sure it is OK
• If you don’t want the return address: leave blank or check the "omit box"
• The dialog box will confirm how to feed your envelope into your printer OR
• Check the printer for the etching in the plastic-paper feed tray to out the envelope in correctly
• Be sure to use the slides in your printer tray to hold the envelope (s) snug
• Click Print

ALWAYS USE THE CORRECT-FULL 9 DIGIT ZIP CODE:
If you don't know what the correct 9 digit zip code is, go to: www.usps.com
and first red tab at the topo their page will help you find the correct zip code
We've been using 9 digit zip codes for many years now, so help your mail get delivered as quickly as possible by always using the correct 9 digit zip code

WHEN YOU USE AN ENVELOPE THAT HAS A BORDER:
Be sure to change the margins when you see the envelope on your screen so that what you have typed doesn’t get lost in the border…

What is a Word Table

A table done in word processing software (Word, Works or Word Perfect) is simply a combination of columns and rows (in excel it is called a spreadsheet) and many times using a table within a word document is the easiest way to align text... My staff has always joked that I am the "table queen" because I use tables for everything - creating questionnaires, newsletters, calendars and whenever I want to keep information aligned within a letter or document such as lists..

Aligning text in a word processing document can be tedious if you try to do it using tabs and spaces. Fortunately, Word allows you to insert tables in your document. A table will help you align columns and rows of text with ease.

If you’ve never used Word’s tables feature before, it can be intimidating knowing where to start. And even if you have used the tables feature, you can find new ways to use it more effectively.

There are many ways to insert tables in your Microsoft Word document:

• In Word 97-2003: To insert a table using this method, simply click the Insert Table toolbar button when your cursor is positioned at the place in your document where you would like the table to begin
• In Word 2007: To insert a table – go to the Insert Tab, then choose the Insert Table Button

With either of these options, a grid will now appear that allows you to select how many rows and columns you would like your table to contain. Simply use your mouse to select the number of rows and columns by highlighting the boxes (text at the bottom of the grid will indicate what your selection is). When you have specified the correct number of rows and columns, simply click once, and your table will be inserted.

While this method will create a table with uniform columns and rows, you can still customize your table after it is inserted by right-clicking on the table handle (the double-headed arrow at the top left corner of the table) and using the options on the shortcut menu to make changes. Hint: if you don’t immediately see what you need on the shortcut menu, select Table Properties for more advanced options.

It's not important to put in all the rows you need, because when you tab in the last column of the last row - you will automatically add a new row to the bottom of your table

If you decide in the future that you want to add many more columns - not a problem - you can copy your entire table to Microsoft Excel - which allows you 256 columns...more than enough to do whatever you need

TROUBLESHOOT COMMON PRINTER PROBLEMS:

Here are a variety of common printer problems and their solutions to make your printing life easier. If nothing has changed on your printer or in your printer settings on your computer then chances are that the problem is quite straightforward. QUICK & EASY:

• Check the printer cable first off.
• Check power. This sounds stupid but it happens.
• Check and make sure printer is online.
• Check paper, toner, ink. These are common to go out and need replacement.
• Try a print test page. There may be a button on the printer itself that will do a test page for you. If the page prints out you know that the problem isn't the printer itself.
• Look at your printer settings. Make sure you are sending to the proper printer. Is the right one installed?
• Be sure that your USB cable is securely connected - if you have an older printer, check the parallel switchers and inspect the cable itself; new printer cables can be faulty (but this is very rare)
• Visit your manufacturer's website-they will have specific troubleshooting advice for each specific printer - simply put in your model # and it will walk you through a troubleshooting wizard

ALTHOUGH YOU MAY THINK YOU HAVE TO USE PAPER FROM THE PRINTER MANUFACTURER, this simply isn’t true. Try various brands until you find one that you are happy with; I’ve used Wal-Mart’s “MultipPurpose” (Georgia Pacific) 20# for many years. The packaging is purple & black - it is inexpensive & works great on any printer I've used it on..

What are Internet Cookies?

Internet Cookies are preference files that store data/information sent to your computer by a Web server that you visit that then records your actions for that specific website…

Cookies are helpful, because they make it easier for you to “move around” when you revisit that same website again in the future

You can delete or change the way in which cookies and or temporary Internet files are saved by changing your Internet settings. In most web browsers (Internet Explorer for example) when your browser is open/meaning you are on the Internet, go to the menu bar, choose tools, then choose Internet options. You will now see a category for Temporary Internet Files – which contains both cookies and temporary Internet file addresses – this allows you to quickly and easily erase them…

What is Excel?

EXCEL – is the #1 spreadsheet program used in the world today - typically it is part of the Office Suite with Word, Power Point etc. Fir those of you with WORKS, yours is called spreadsheet and works very much the same way. Many icons and features seem the same as in WORD - they are and work the same. At first excel may seem intimidating, but once you learn the basics you will find countless uses for it. Excel is just a large table – having more columns (256) and rows (16,000). When a column and row meet – that area is called a “cell”

WORKBOOK VS. WORKSHEET - In Excel, a workbook can consist of any number of worksheets (similar to a word document having a number of pages). Each worksheet has a tab that appears at the bottom of the workbook window in the left corner. To activate a different worksheet, just left click on the tab. To rename a worksheet, right click on the tab, choose rename & type the new name – To change the order of the worksheets, just drag the worksheet to the location you want it.

THE MORE COLUMNS THE BETTER – whenever we are working in excel. When you work with lists/texts – such as contact lists, the more information you separate the more flexibility you will have for sorting your information later on.

What is Journaling VS. Blogging VS. Twittering:

What they all have is common is a way to express yourself - but they differ because...

JOURNALING - For some of people “journaling” is a great option – when you journal, you are keeping a private journal (diary or logbook) and most people decide their own format – maybe to put in an entry or two each day of what they are doing and or thinking…And remember – journal’s are private…

VS. BLOGGING - According to Wikipedia, A BLOG (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website, usually kept up by an individual with regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or other info & graphics or videos and typically they are displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.

Our class blog is: www.saseniorpcgeeks.blogspot.com

VS. TWITTERING
Twittering is certainly the rage – and is another social networking tool users can send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

Media Player for audio & video - VLC

For years, most of us have been using “Windows Media Player” because it is built into our computer operating systems.. But what's included isn't always the best choice..

Most tech guru’s feel that the best free media player to use, whether you have Windows XP, Windows Vista or the new Windows 7 Operating Systems is: “VLC”

VLC is a highly recommended media player which plays lots of audio and video formats and be used for streaming protocols. It is easy to use; it's a very small program that doesn’t take up much disk space; doesn’t slow down your computer in anyway and of course it’s free… to download go to:

http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Is that email story true??

Don't believe every cybermyth, urban legend, hoax or virus "alert" sent to you. Ever wondered if anyone makes the money promised in those work-at-home advertisements? If that virus-scare they say was covered on major news channels is true?? Or if each forwarded e-mail will really mean a donation of 10 cents from Microsoft to an orphan's organ-transplant operation? The answer is almost always NO!!. Most of these “stories” are hoaxes, urban legends, e-mail rumors, scams or in some cases pure financial fiction.

Don’t be part of the problem “by spreading untrue information”. Investigage and check them out - before you send this type of information to family and friends take a few minutes to validate the information, just visit one of the following websites:

http://www.breakthechain.org/
http://www.snopes.com/
http://www.truthorfiction.com/
http://www.urbanlegends.about.com/

for a verbal reminder of this information, check out this link...
http://info.org.il/irrelevant/may02-smilepop-soapbox4.swf

Digital Cameras-Panoramic Stitching

Many digital cameras offer a feature called PANORAMA STITCH MODE. It allows you to create panoramic shots by combining up to three shots together into one large picture. As always, go to your camera manufacturer’s website for your specific camera model to learn the ways in which your camera performs this function.
The following are some tips from Kodak to keep in mind while using this feature..

PLAN YOUR PICTURE
• Your camera is preset to stitch together a certain number of images. Most use three.
• Compose your vision within that number to get the desired effect

OVERLAP YOUR PICTURES
• To help you stitch together pictures, panoramic stitch mode gives you a slice of the previous image in your viewfinder.
• For a seamless stitch, line up your next shot over the slice from the previous picture

WATCH THE SEAMS
• Your camera automatically edits pictures while stitching them. This works best on static objects that don’t change position from picture to picture, like background scenery.
• Try not to place subjects that move, like people, at the edges of the photograph. If they get too close, they will enter the stitching area, which could result in undesired cut-offs

Digital Cameras - Zoom: Optical vs. Digital

If you want zoom power, Only Optical Zoom Matters

Optical zoom uses the optics (lens) of the camera to bring the subject closer – 3x optical zoon was quite common on Digital Camera’s but today we often see 10x or 12x zoom – The higher the Optical Zoom, the better.

Digital zoom is strictly an invention (and in my opinion hype) of digital video cameras. It is not uncommon to see digital videocams with 300x digital zoom – so when a digital camera is advertised with 3x digital zoom, no big deal. You can achieve the same 3x (and in fact as much as you want) digital zoom effect in an image editing software, such as Picasa or Photoshop. It is much more advantageous to do your “cropping/editing” later, so that you can then decide exactly which portion to crop and how much to enlarge (3x, 4x, …). If you do it in camera, image quality is irreversibly lost and you use valuable battery power.

BEST WISHES FOR A WONDERFUL HOLIDAY

~ by Charles M. Crowe

Easter is the demonstration of God that life is essentially spiritual and timeless.

We wish you & your family a wonderful Easter & Passover Holiday!

LEARNED FROM THE EASTER BUNNY...
All I need to know I learned from the Easter Bunny
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Walk softly and carry a big carrot
Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
There's no such thing as too much candy.
All work and no play can make you a basket case.
A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.
Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
Some body parts should be floppy.
Keep your paws off other people's jelly beans.
Good things come in small sugar-coated packages.
The grass is always greener in someone else's basket.
An Easter bonnet can tame even the wildest hare.
To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell!

~ Author Unknown

Beginners QuickBooks Class-April 23rd

Announcement
MCC’S Small Business Development Center is offering a Beginning QuickBooks class on Friday, April 23 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 501 of the Lake Havasu City campus.

The class, which is recommended for the new or inexperienced QuickBooks user, will provide a practical introduction to the basic functions of QuickBooks.

Topics to be covered will include: setting up a new company file, working with items, lists and chart of accounts, as well as recording sales, paying bills, credit cards and reconciling accounts.

The cost of the workshop is $60 and preregistration is required.
To register or for more information, call the SBDC at 757-0894 or send an e-mail to lbenton@mohave.edu.

Classes will be offered in Bullhead City and Kingman in May.

All SBDC programs are non-discriminatory and are open to the public. Special arrangements for handicapped individuals will be made if requested in advance.

Email Attachments

Most email providers allow you to “ATTACH” photos and other files stored on your computer, memory sticks or other drives. Most providers utilize an ATTACH button feature, some give you multi-options, such as being able to attach files or photos.
When you activate the ATTACH button, many providers use the BROWSE feature,which opens your computer filing system so you can find & select what you want to attach. Making sure your work, photos, music and videos are properly filed in the right "drawer" will help make it easier for you to find what you want to attach.
When you activate the ATTACH feature, the computer makes a copy of whatever you are attaching, so that the original remains in the folder where you have it stored and it will UPLOAD a copy of whatever you are attaching to send along with the email.

Many providers today actually put photo’s into the body of the email message, eliminating the need to DOWNLOAD them by the viewer
When you attach something to an email or receive an email with an attachment, the computer indicates what it is – after the name… such as

• Septemberreport.doc - .doc indicates it is a document (.txt, .pdf, .xls-spreadsheet)
• Sunflower.jpg - .jpg indicates it is a photo (.bmp, .tif, .gif, png -other photo formats)
• Russianiceshow.ppt - .ppt or .pptx is a power point slide show (.pps .ppsx: full power point)
• Sallysrecital.wmv – .wmv indicates it is a video/movie
• Overtherainbow.wma - .wma or .mp3 indicates audio-music files

When you receive an attachment, you can then go to File - Save As to save it on your computers file system for future use

Word Processing Tips - Insert Lines

There are times when we need to create lines across a page and here are some WORD shortcuts to easily create a variety of horizontal lines by typing the following characters three times, followed by Return or Enter:

• Minus (-) produces a thin line
• Underscore (_) produces a thicker line
• Equal sign (=) produces a double line
• Asterisk (*) produces a thick dotted line
• Tilde (~) produces a zigzag line
• Number (#) produces three lines, a thicker middle line between two thin lines

The lines will be the width of your page, or if you are using columns, the width of your column

In WordPerfect the first three shortcuts work in all versions after and including Version 7.

CANCEL PRINT JOB

CANCEL PRINTING REQUESTS
Many printers have a cancel button allowing you to cancel a print job OR

When you give the command to print - the printer icon will appear in the bottom right hand corner in the "system tray" and remain there until your document is about 85% printed.
While the icon is there, you can cancel your print job.

• Double-click the printer icon in the "system tray"
• Choose Open Active Printer to see & cancel documents in que/line.

If you're printing a short document and background printing is turned on, the printer icon may not appear on the status bar long enough for you to click it to cancel printing

If you share a printer you can only cancel a job from the computer that sent the command (so you can't override someone else's print command - unless you are the administrator)

MOUSE SELECTION SHORTCUTS

When you "select or highlight" a word, sentence, phrase, page etc. you are telling the computer that is what you want to work with...

TO SELECT ONE WORD: Place the insertion point in the middle of the word. Double click the left mouse button.

TO SELECT A SENTENCE: Place the insertion point anywhere in the sentence.
Hold down the Ctrl Key and click the left mouse button.

TO SELECT A PARAGRAPH: Place the insertion point anywhere in the paragraph. Triple click the left mouse button.

TO SELECT A LINE OF TEXT: Place the mouse pointer in the left gutter area (the mouse will turn into a right facing arrow). Click the left mouse button once.

TO SELECT A BLOCK OF TEXT: Place the insertion point at the beginning of the block of text you want to select. Hold down the SHIFT Key. Place the I-beam at the end of the block of text and click the left mouse button.

TO SELECT THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT: Click Edit on the menu bar then choose Select All (or simply hold the CTRL + A keys).

TO DESELECT A SELECTION: Click anywhere in the white space of your document.

WORD: SAVE A DOCUMENT TO YOUR FLASH/MEMORY STICK

When you save documents to your Flash/Memory Stick – you need to know which DRIVE your Flash Memory Stick is on - So when you plug it in watch for the "info box" that will appear telling you which drive letter it has been assigned... When you plug it into the USB port, it will tell you

• Word 97-2003: Go to the Menu Bar, File, Save As, My Documents (icon on left bar) is what may appear
• Word 2007: Go to the Office Button, Choose Save As, Choose 97-2003 document, the My Document folder will open (icon also appears on the left bar)
• Now to find your flash drive - use the drop down arrow beside “My Documents” and choose the correct drive for your Flash/Memory Stick (could be Drive E - F – G – H ??)
• Select or create a folder to put your work in
• Name your Document, when you are done typing use the enter key on your keyboard OR left click on the SAVE button

WORD PROCESSING TIPS – MARGINS, PAPER SIZE, LINE SPACING

The following tips are for Word 97-2003 using toolbars and we refer to “the Menu Bar” ; for those of you with Word 2007, then you have a Tab Ribbon Layout (vs toolbars) so go to the Page Layout Tab (3rd) and on that ribbon you will find the page setup & paragraph functions-then follow the steps below..

MARGINS: TO SET/CHANGE: Go to Menu Bar, File, Page Set Up - Choose the “Margin Tab” – Then change your top, bottom, left & right margin. (For preprinted stationary-measure the furthest point & add ¼”) Gutter is routinely left at “0”; and header and footer is routinely set at half of what the top & bottom margin measurement is

PAPER SIZE, TO CHANGE: Go to Menu Bar, File, Page Setup, Choose the “Paper Layout Tab” & make your changes: Portrait or Landscape; Paper Size/style, etc.

TO CHANGE LINE SPACING:

• Select (highlight) text/list you want to change line spacing for
• Click on Format on Menu Bar-Click on “Paragraph”
• Dialog Box will appear
• Choose Line Spacing
• Choosing Multiple allows you to set spacing less than or more than single space (1), such as .9 or 1.3
• Be sure Spacing Before & After Is set at “0” (to left of line spacing)
  

More computer classes this month....

Spring is just around the corner-so spring into action and “master your computer” These are the classes being held the last few weeks in March (April classes will be posted on the blog Sunday, March 21st)… To reserve your seat, Call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139.. Consider signing up with a friend – coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice and the more people in each class the more is learned from questions....If you have any questions about a specific class or topic – email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

For those of you returning to “other locales” for the hot summer months. We hope you enjoyed your classes - have a safe trip and wonderful summer and check our class blog/newsletter often for interesting tips and ideas. We look forward to working with you again when classes begin again in the fall..

All Mohave College Campuses are Closed for Spring Break

Sunday-Sunday, March 14th-21st (re-open Monday March 22)

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-122 Mon & Wed, 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 22 & 24 - 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..

FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-223 MONDAYS, 1-4:50pm Mar 22 & 29 - Two 4 hour classes to find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

HOW TO BUY & SELL ONLINE LSC101-122 Tues & Thurs, 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 23 & 25 - 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- SEC 223 Tues & Thurs, 1pm-4:50pm, Mar 23 & 25 - - Two 4 hr classes create a data list 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..Bring an address book or contact list to class

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-123 Tues & Wed 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 30 & 31 - 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

INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071- SEC 222 Tues & Wed 1pm-4:50pm, Mar 30 & 31 - 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-222 Thursdays, 8:30am-12:20pm, April 1 & 8 - Two 4 hour classes to show you how to create a basic Slide Show presentation and enhance your presentation with text, photos & clip art, animation, transition & timing features Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

CREATE/PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK LSC100A-225 Mon & Fri, 8:30am-12:20pm, Apr 5 & 9 - Two 4 hour classes learning to create & publish your own book, using free book publishing software from www.blurb.com known as personal book making & publishing-Use your WP skills & digital photos and learn in quantities as small as just one. You decide: soft or hard cover, various sizes, all text, all photos or a combination of photos & text, story book or recipe book Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)

CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-Sec 123 Tues & Wed,8:30-12:20pm Apr 6 & 7 - 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

What is Power Point Viewer?

This is a free software application program that allows you to see Power Point Presentation (slide show) even when you don't have Power Point installed on your computer. So you can see the slide who - save it - and then be able to resend it on to someone else - you cannot however create a new presentation or change/modify any presentations you've received or saved.

To download this to your computer you can go to Microsoft.com, choose the download section OR
Left click on the link below which will take you directly to the download page - simply use the download button and follow the wizard... - your computer will put it where it belongs....

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=048dc840-14e1-467d-8dca-19d2a8fd7485

Skype - Free video & voice calls

With Skype you can make free video & voice calls over the Internet to other people anywhere in the world on Skype for as long as you like, wherever you like. Some features of Skype include free Skype-to-Skype calls, free video calls, conference calls, instant messaging, SMS messaging and the ability to forward all calls to your mobile phone when you're offline. Skype to Skype calls are totally free. Yep, absolutely nothing. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

FIRST – GO TO SKYPE.COM AND DOWNLOAD THEIR FREE SOFTWARE –. Go to the Skype website and download the Skype software application which is free. Once you have downloaded Skype, double-click on the executable file to install Skype onto your PC.

• Next, create a new username and password to create your free account so you can login to the Skype network.
• Search for your friends and family on Skype by clicking on the "Add" button
• To make a call, simply click on the name in the contact list and press the green phone icon button located at the bottom. You will see a ‘Ringing’ status on the screen until the person answers or picks up the call. On receiving the response, the connection is established; you will see the ‘call duration’ along with time elapsed on the screen; To hang up, click on the red icon
• If your friends are not online, you can send SMS messages or forward your message to their voicemail

USING A HEADSET will improve your call quality. You can make calls via Skype with the in-built speakers and microphones found on most computers but a headset gives better audio quality Headsets can be cordless or plug-in

VIDEO CALLS, LIKE SKYPE-TO-SKYPE CALLS ARE FREE, so you can see your friends & family around the world and it won't cost a thing-you just need a webcam and if your friends & family also have a webcam, you can talk face-to-face

FYI-There is a great video which explains skype “basics” - He shows you - he's actually showing his dad how to use it.. click on the hyperlink below & enjoy

www.viddler.com/explore/JustinBrooke/videos/23/

Word Processing Tips-Graphics

When you work with graphics (word art, photos, clip art, shapes, symbols) in word processing - just a few tips...

TEXT WRAPPING:
Once a new GRAPHIC is on your page, left click on the art work, then left click on the "dog/text wrapping icon" on the clip art/picture/word-art toolbar" (in Word 2007 this icon will appear in the format ribbon).
When you choose/click on the icon - an action list appears - initially while you are working with your document, choose "THROUGH" so you can work with it more easily.
Add more clip art to your computer files anytime online from MS Office Clip Art, or find other clip art sites

SIZING HANDLES:
If sizing handles disappear, just left click on the word art, clip art or auto shapes and they’ll reappear so you can now work with it
You will also see the appropriate toolbars appear OR add the word art, picture & clip art toolbars - Right click on the gray toolbar area at the top of your page and add the ones you want to stay active..
In Word 2007, the format ribbon appears when you are working with graphics-clip art, word art, photos, symbols, shapes etc

What is Windows Movie Maker

Windows Movie Maker is video creating/editing software that is included free in versions of Microsoft Windows XP & Vista; it’s fun & easy to learn to use, to enhance your photos and share them in a different way by combining photos, music, text slides and much more... It is not included in Windows 7 but we recommend going to Microsoft and downloading an earlier version used on Vista or XP, NOT the new Windows Live Movie Maker, which has none of the favorite features which allow us full editing ability…

The LAYOUT consists of a STORYBOARD VIEW and a TIMELINE VIEW, collections for organizing imported video, and a PREVIEW screen. These are the areas where you create and edit your project is displayed in two views, the storyboard and the timeline. You can switch between these two views when making a movie. All versions use “DRAG & DROP” for the effects or transitions, and titles and credits can be added as stand alone titles or overlaying them on the clip by adding them onto the selected clip.

• STORYBOARD: Where you will drag your video or pictures to, creating a project. When in STORYBOARD VIEW, the video project appears as a film strip showing each scene in clips

• TIMELINE: Shows your project & where you add your music/audio to and the TIMELINE VIEW consists of:

• one 'Video' (with accompanying 'Audio' bar)
• one 'Music/Audio' bar, and
• one 'Titles/Credits' bar

EFFECTS, TRANSITIONS, TITLES & CREDITS
Versions 2+ include a wide variety of effects, transitions, titles and credits you can easily use to add professional touches and visual interest to your movies …
• Windows XP has 60 transitions, 37 effects, 34 title and 9 credits animations-Windows VISTA has even more.

ABOUT THE MOVIE TASKS PANE
The Movie Tasks pane lists the common tasks to perform and guides you thru the process step-by-step..

1. Capture Video. options to begin a movie (capture video, import video, pictures, or audio).
2. Edit Movie. options for making a movie (view existing video, pictures, audio & add effects, titles etc.
3. Finish Movie. options to save your final movie, ie to your PC. CD, DVD, email attachment or the web
4. Movie Making Tips. Provides help for the common Movie Maker tasks.

BE SURE YOUR PICTURES, VIDEO’S AND/OR MUSIC ARE IN THE APPROPRIATE FILES SO YOU CAN FIND THEM QUICKLY & EASILY - As always, organizing your work “before you begin a project” is very important… Personally I create a project folder in each category and then sub-folders for specific projects so it is easier to find what I am looking for – in those I put “copies” of hat I am going to use, so that originals stay in their original folder…

• All editing of photos - cropping, lighting, whatever – must be done before you begin this project
• Be sure any music you might want to use is copied (ripped) from the CD and saved on your computer in a file you recognize, so that you can access them easily when you want to bring them over to the project

What's Craigs List, eBay or PayPal?

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ONLINE AUCTION SITES & CRAIGS LIST?
• Craig’s list is more like a listing service where the seller or hopeful buyer can list the specifics of what they want to buy or sell including price and other information
• On line auction sites, such as eBay – list items for a set period of time (typically 7 days) and then bidders can bid on the item sometimes far above value – EBay now also offers pricing as “Buy Now” to avoid bidding

POPULAR ONLINE AUCTION SITES: just a few or check out www.nettop20.com
• Ebay.Com
• Ebid.Com
• Epier.Com
• Onlineauction.Com
• Overstock.Com
• Oztion.Com
• Amazon.com
• Shopgoodwill.Com
• Ubid.Com
• Webidz.Com

Buying & selling items on online auctions should be fun, easy and safe and online auction sites should be easy to navigate, provide a wide selection of categories and subcategories, several custom selling options and a straightforward feedback forum. These issues are important to most of us when we consider on line auction sites…

1. User Base
2. Selling
3. Buying
4. Reliability/Security
5. Help/Support

HOW TO GET STARTED USING eBay.. It's easy and free! Registration is required in order to buy or sell on eBay. As a registered eBay member, you can shop on eBay and participate in the world's largest online community of buyers and sellers. EBay has a complete and very easy to understand Learning Center..

WHO IS PAY PAL? PayPal is eBay's preferred way to pay. It is a system that lets anyone with an email address securely send and receive online payments using their credit card or bank account. eBay members can use PayPal to quickly and easily pay for items on eBay – set up your pay pal account before you begin to shop to make buying easier. (go to www.paypal.com)

Internet Travel Tips & Websites

BOOK AIRLINE TRAVEL from 12:01AM WEDNESDAY MORNING on; all new fares are announced/posted midnight E.S.T. Tuesday for the next week

SIGN-UP FOR ALL E-MAIL NOTICES of special prices from low cost airlines that serve your city or target destination (or are near-by). Examples include: Kayak's FareAlert, Southwest Ding! Fares, Southwest Click 'n Save fares, AirTran, Frontier, JetBlue, Spirit Airline Red Light fares. The low cost airlines' special fares are much less restrictive than the high cost carriers' week-end specials - but be sure to compare accurately by adding in additional charges, such as taxes, landing fees, luggage & others...

COST PROJECTIONS? Go to www.farecast.com to see if airfare prices to your destination are expected to go up or down

DRIVING TIPS
• Go to www.fuelcostcalculator.com –enter the start point and end point to see how many gallons or call and the approximate cost of your trip based on today’s gas prices in those areas (this site is funded by AAA)
• Prices can vary a great deal in any area, so check out www.gasbuddy.com or www.gaspricewatch.com which will always show you the cheapest places to buy gas in any area

SENIOR TRAVEL WEBSITES.. (best overall site: www.allmyfaves.com)
www.50plus.com
www.aarp.org
www.independenttraveler.com
www.seniors-site.com
www.seniortravel.about.com
www.smartseniortravel.com
www.solodining.com
www.suddenlysenior.com
www.womentraveltips.com

Great site to rent vacation homes "worldwide" versus staying in a hotel... www.vrbo.com

March Computer Classes

MARCH… the month of “luck & leprechauns” – so change your luck with your computer; learn all you can and become more comfortable and more creative.. These are just some of our computer classes being held in the next few weeks - to reserve your seat, Call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139.. Consider signing up with a friend – coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice and the more people in each class the more is learned from questions....If you have any questions about a specific class or topic – email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

PICASA PHOTO EDITING LSC100A-SEC 124 Tues & Wed 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 2 & 3 - Two 4 hour classes-Learn to edit & print DIGITAL photo’s using Picasa (a free Google software); learn to upload photo’s from your camera and/or scanner to the PC & learn to order prints online - Bring your digital camera to class

BLOGGING BASICS LSC080-122 Tuesdays, 1-4:50pm, Mar 2 & 9 - Two 4 hour classes – Get a better understanding of “social networking” “Facebook” “Twittering” etc and learn to Create your Own Blog for your family, group or organization - Learn how, why & when to post, comment on posts, design features such as Templates; Gadgets, Add Ons: Links, Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more

POWER POINT LSC069D-222 Wednesday & Thursday, 1-4:50pm, Mar 3 & 4 - Two 4 hour classes to show you how to create a basic Slide Show presentation and enhance your presentation with text, photos & clip art, animation, transition & timing features Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

WORD IRON ON TRANSFER PROJECT LSC100-123 Thursday, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 4 - A 4 hour workshop using Microsoft Word to create “iron on transfer projects” using text, graphics, photos, word art and more for fun t-shirts, quilts, canvas tote bags & other fabric projects … Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

CREATE/PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK LSC100-126 Mon & Fri, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 8 & 11 - Two 4 hour classes learning to create & publish your own book, using free book publishing software from www.blurb.com known as personal book making & publishing-Use your WP skills & digital photos and learn in quantities as small as just one. You decide: soft or hard cover, various sizes, all text, all photos or a combination of photos & text, story book or recipe book Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)

EMAIL HOW TO’S LSC071-122 Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30am-12:20pm, Mar 9 & 11 - 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

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-122 Wed & Thurs 1pm-4:50pm Mar 10 & 11 - 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

Mohave College Campus will Close for Spring Break Sunday-Sunday, March 14th-21st

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-122 Mon & Wed, 8:30-12:20pm, Mar 22 & 24 - 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..

Quick Launch in Windows 7

By Default - the Quick Launch Bar is disabled in Windows 7. To "enable it" or turn it back on...

• Right click on the Task Bar
• Choose New Folder
• In the folder name: copy in the following:
  http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/888-quick-launch-enable-disable.html
• You will now see the Quick Launch added to your Task Bar - BUT it now appears on the right side of the screen, versus the left side

When your applications are open - you will see the multiple sites and/or documents - side by side, when you left click on the application/software

To add to the quick launch, you simply drag as you did before

What is the Fn key on my laptop?

Small portable computers (laptops, notebooks, netbooks) have fewer keys than larger desktop keyboards, but most come with a special function key, the Fn key, which when used in combination with other keys, like the Shift key, give those keys multiple purposes.

In some of the newer laptops/notebooks, the Fn key is used primarily to activate special laptop functions. These functions share other keys on the keyboard, typically the Function keys. They're marked by special icons, and these icons are color coded to match the Fn key.

THERE IS NO STANDARD LIST FOR THESE FN KEY COMBINATIONS - But many laptops do use Fn key combinations to do the following – so when you find the combination that works create your own “reference list”:

Fn +UP ARROW increases the brightness of the screen (decreasing battery life)

Fn +DOWN ARROW decreases the brightness of the screen (increasing battery life, but also increasing how much you need to squint to read the screen).

Fn +ESC suspends your computer, switching it to a mode where the hard drive and screen are disabled in order to save battery power. (Usually closing the screen accomplishes the same task, but sometimes you want to leave the screen open.)

Fn +F2 toggles your wireless on and off. (Practice it a few times so you can recognize how the icons in the system tray appear, so you’ll know to switch it back on if you ever disable it by accident.) If you’re on a plane or in a hospital, you should disable your wireless receiver. Or suppose you’re riding in a train or car and you know there’s no wireless signal, you’ll increase battery performance if you disable the wireless receiver.

Organize Files & Folders on your Computer

WINDOWS EXPLORER shows you where all your files are on your computer – an easy way to access this is to hold down the Windows Flag key + Tap “E” on your keyboard using the same “folder system” you would in a “filing cabinet”. Folders and sub-folders are "containers" to store files (documents, picutres, videos, movies, music etc). Every item named on a computer is a file and files are sorted into foldder, sub-folders and sub-sub-folders, which you create and name.

Some of the standard folders/drawers that Windows creates are: My Documents, My Music, My Pictures & My Videos. In Windows Vista & Windows 7, the word “My” has been dropped….They get their names from the fact that you use them as follows:

• My Documents: Use this folder to store other types of documents you save, such as typed text or spreadsheets
• My Music: Use this folder to store music you copy to your computers
• My Pictures: Use this folder to store pictures, such as those you get from a camera or scanner, or from the Internet
• My Videos: Use this folder to store videos, such as those you get from a video camera, emails or from the Internet

WINDOW EXPLORER BASICS:

• Windows Explorer Is The Computers “Filing Cabinet” Allowing You To Quickly & Easily Move And Or Copy Item (S) From One Folder And Or Drive To Another
• The Windows Explorer Screen Is Divided Into Two Sections/Panes: Left & Right And Divided With Separator Bar
• Windows Explorer for Windows 95 thru XP Uses Plus (+) And Minus (-) Signs To Display Or Close What Is In A Folder; Windows Vista & Windows 7 use the common Arrow signs
• Whatever Is Highlighted On The Left Pane Is What You Are Looking At On The Right Side Of The Screen

THE LEGEND OF SAINT VALENTINE

Happy Valentines Day Everyone

According to legend the Valentine takes its name from a young Christian priest who lived in ancient Rome. Like so many of the early Christians, Valentine had been imprisoned because of his faith.

Often and longingly he thought of his loved ones and wanted to assure them of his well-being and of his love for them. Beyond his cell window, just within reach, grew a cluster of violets. He picked some of the heart-shaped leaves and pricked them with the words: “Remember Your Valentine,” and send them off by a friendly dove. On the next day, and the next, he sent more messages that simply said, “I love you.”

Thus did the Valentine have its beginning. And so it has been through the ages- those who love, remember – and send Valentines to express their love.

Search the internet or visit these websites for more information on Valentines Day - enjoy:

www.history.com/content/valentine

www.theholidayspot.com/valentine

Internet Tips - Cookies, Online & Offline

WHAT IS A COOKIE? Cookies are preference files that shore data/information sent to your computer by a Web server that records your actions on a certain website… They make it easier for your to “move around” when you revisit websites in the future

IS THERE AN EASY WAY TO DELETE COOKIES? When you are on the internet – go to the menu bar, tools, internet options – you will see a category for Temporary Internet Files – which contains both cookies and temporary internet file addresses – this allows you to quickly erase them…

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO WORK ONLINE? – OFFLINE?
ONLINE – is work done on your computer when it is connected to another computer or network, including the internet
OFFLINE – is work done when you are not connected to another computer, network or the internet..
To turn this feature on & off – When you are on Internet Explorer go to Menu Bar, File, and you will see a toggle command in the menu list that switches between Work Online & Work Offline

Word Processing Tips

MICROSOFT WORD – is the #1 word processing program used in the world today – remember once you learn the feature commands and corresponding icons for these commands, they are the same in any other software you might learn
Special Note: All Microsft Office 97-2003 Program (including Word) use toolbars; whereas Office 2007 Programs, incuding Word use the new Tab/Ribbon Format

SELECT TO EFFECT (highlight)
When you want to edit/change text (add Bold, Italic, Underline, Delete, change color, cut, copy, past, change font size or style and lots of other "formatting options") remember to "select the text first/highlight it" and then click the button of your choice.. TIP: To highlight everything in a document, whether 1 page or 100 pages: use SELECT ALL of CTRL + A

BASIC SCREEN: Insertion Point “I” vs. Work Bar, Title Bar, Menu Bar, Toolbars, Ruler, Scroll Bars (right & bottom), Status Bar & Task Bar

BOLD, ITALIC, UNDERLINE: B – I – U Highlight text, then use icon on formatting toolbar OR Menu Bar, Format, Font

DON'T PANIC WHEN YOU MAKE A MISTAKE - Use your "Undo" & "Redo" buttons

FONT STYLE: The design of your characters – letters – numbers

FONT SIZE: the size of your characters – letters – numbers

STANDARD BUSINESS FONT & SIZES
Times New Roman - 12 pitch
Arial-14 pitch
Note: 72 pitch always = 1" high

WANT THE RULER ON OR OFF YOUR SCREEN?
Click "View" - Activate or deactivate the ruler.. choice is yours

Quick Launch

The handy “QUICK LAUNCH” toolbar is available in Windows XP, Vista & 7 (Operating System Software) allowing you “one click” to start a program (application software) without having to “minimize” the program you are currently using and going back to the desktop to activate it, and this is typically located to the right of the START BUTTON on the TASK BAR.

To be sure you can work with the QUICK LAUNCH or see it, you must UNLOCK the taskbar in order to work with it. Simply right click on blank space in the TASK BAR, you will see an action menu, be sure “Lock the TASK BAR is not checked off” – if it, highlight & left click on it, which removes the lock.

TO DISPLAY THE QUICK LAUNCH BAR
Right click on the taskbar – You must click on an empty spot on the taskbar or you get a different menu-so don’t click on an icon already on the taskbar
• Left Click TOOLBARS
• Left Click QUICK LAUNCH from the pop-up menu

TO ADD NEW ICONS TO THE QUICK LAUNCH BAR
Simply CLICK and DRAG them from your desktop to the Quick Launch Bar, assuming your TASKBAR is not locked (if you want you can remove the icons from your desktop-it doesn’t affect the software in any way)

TO SEE THE QUICK LAUNCH BAR DISPLAY LARGE ICONS
• Right click the Quick Launch Bar
• Left Click VIEW
• Left Click LARGE from the pop up menu

Many use the QUICK LAUNCH area only, so that they have NO ICONS on the desktop.. In addition to application icons, you can also add Internet Logos to the QUICK LAUNCH, when you have a website on the monitor, simply Click & Drag the website logo to the Quick Launch.

When you drag icons to the QUICK LAUNCH area – watch for the black insert line before dropping the icon, remember you cannot put one icon on top of another.

February Computer Classes

February – they say it’s the month of love, so learn to love your computer and all that you can do with it… These are some of the computer classes being held in the next few weeks - to reserve your seat, Stop by or Call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139.. Consider signing up with a friend – coming to class with someone else gives you the motivation to practice and the more people in each class the more is learned from questions....If you have any questions about a specific class or topic – email me: cherie_houston@hotmail.com

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-122 Monday & Friday 8:30am-12:20pm Feb 8 & 12 - 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

EMAIL HOW TO’S LSC071-223: Monday & Tuesday, 1-4:50pm, Feb 8 & 9
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

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC 062-122 Tuesday & Thursday, 8:30-12:20pm, Feb 9 & 11 - 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..

LAPTOP BASICS LSC100-121: Wednesday, 8:30am-12:20pm, Feb 10
A 4 hour workshop to help you become more comfortable with the differences between desktop & laptops; helpful hints on using a laptop, accessories needed, maneuvering around, internet & WiFi Basics, shortcuts, security & more

MOVIE MAKER LSC100A-223 Mondays, 8:30-12:20pm Feb 22 & Mar 1
Two 4 hour classes during which you will create movies with your photos, including music and other special effects: transitions, titles/credits, audio tracks with your favorite music, timeline narration, and much more. This software is free with Windows XP, Media, Vista and/or the new Windows 7 operating systems… Great fun & easy to learn - Bring photos to class (on your camera or flash drive)

INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071-121 Mondays, 1-4:50pm, Feb 22 & Mar 1
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

HOW TO BUY & SELL ONLINE LSC101-121 Tues & Wed, 8:30-12:20pm, Feb 23& 24
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

WINDOWS EXPLORER-FIND/ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC 062-222 Tues & Thurs, 1-4:50pm Feb 23 & 25 - Two 4 hour classes to find what you’ve saved on your PC; organize your work, files & photo’s to find them quickly & easily. Learn to back up your pc, photo & documents with portable flash & hard drives, memory cards and memory card readers..

WORD-CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-SEC 121 Thurs & Fri 8:30-12:20pm Feb 25 & 26 - 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

SPECIAL NOTE-We are excited to announce our newest class: CREATE & PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK LSC100A-Sec 126, Monday & Friday, 8:30am-12:20pm, March 8 & 12 - Two 4 hour classes to teach how you can create and publish your own book, using free book publishing software known as personal book making & publishing. Use your WP skills & digital photos, you can order in quantities as small as "1"-You decide soft cover, hard cover - various sizes-al text, all photos or combine both... Great fun... remember to bring your memory sticks or camera photos to work with..

JOIN US: 25th ANNUAL WINTERFEST FESTIVAL

LAKE HAVASU CITY 2010 WINTERFEST is a wonderful way to get outside and enjoy our wonderful weather... It takes place on McCulloch Blvd between Smoketree Ave and Acoma Blvd this coming weekend, Saturday February 6 9:30am-5pm & Sunday, February 7 9am to 4pm (so everyone can be home in time for SuperBowl..)

Take a few minutes to stop by and say hello at the Mohave Community College Booth. If you have questions about a specific class, I will be helping out in the MCC Booth Sunday morning from 10am-1pm; and they will have schedules available for all programs offered, including our computer classes...

So come on down and enjoy the wide range of entertainment, events, food, and merchandise to appeal to people of varied ages and interests. This wonderful event, hosted by the Lake Havasu Chamber of Commerce, is entering its 25th year

What are Minimize, Maximize or Restore?

The following commands allow you the ability to "work and manipulate open items on your monitor"
They are 3 icons located in the upper right hand corner of what we call the TITLE BAR on every application or website we visit ... The middle icon changes and will either be the RESTORE icon or the MAXIMIZE icon)

• MINIMIZE (icon resembles _ ) -"get out of the way" to work on another program
• RESTORE (icon resembles 2 pages) - allows you to see every thing "open" - multiple windows at one time so you can see other open applications behind the current or
• MAXIMIZE (icon resembles 1 page) - fills the entire screen with the one program
• CLOSE (icon is an X) and this will close out the program entirely

TIP: If you have a lot of applications open and want to return quickly to the DESKTOP, use your keyboard shortcut: Windows Flag Key + M key (which minimizes all open applications at once)

What is Social Networking?

JOURNALING VS. BLOGGING VS. TWITTERING, FACEBOOK & MY SPACE - All of these are various aspects of "social networking" - since we were children, we've networked with other people in various groups - today, because of the internet, our social networks are unlimited by geography... These are some common terms and what they mean...

JOURNALING - For some of people “journaling” is a great option – when you journal, you are keeping a private journal (diary or logbook) and most people decide their own format – maybe to put in an entry or two each day of what they are doing and or thinking…And remember – journal’s are private…

VS. BLOGGING - According to Wikipedia, A BLOG (a contraction of the term weblog) is a website - resembling "newsletters" usually kept up by an individual with regular entries of comments, descriptions of events, or other info & graphics or videos and typically they are displayed in reverse-chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Many families today create their own BLOGS to share information throught the family - they can add photo slide shows, videos, calendars with important dates to family members and much more - TIP-most families set the privacy settings at private so that only those family members invited can see what is on their blog.. Whomever established/created the BLOG can also invite others to "author articles - known as "POSTS" so that information can come from different sources...

Our class blog is: www.lhcseniorpcgeeks.blogspot.com

VS. TWITTERING
Twittering is certainly the rage – and is another social networking tool users can send and read other users' updates (known as tweets), which are text-based posts of up to 140 characters.

POPULAR BLOG SITES:

• www.blogger.com
• www.thoughts.com
• www.livejournal.com
• www.xanga.com
• www.typepad.com
• www.worldpress.com
• www.diaryland.com
• www.pitas.com

Such as FACEBOOK & MYSPACE… very popular with younger people - with all social networking sites - be sure to check your settings often - as the technology changes so do the privacy setting options, making it easier for you to protect yourself and your family...

COPY (OR MOVE) FILES AND FOLDERS TO A CD or DVD

1. Insert a blank, writable CD/DVD into the CD/DVD burner.
2. Click the files or folders you want to copy (or move) to the CD/DVD. To select more than one file, hold down the CTRL key while you click the files you want.
   Under File and Folder Tasks, click Copy (or Move) this file, Copy (or Move) this folder, or Copy (or Move) the selected items.
3. In the Copy (or Move) Items dialog box, click the CD/DVD burner drive, and then click Copy (or Move).
4. Open My Computer and double-click the CD/DVD recording drive. Windows will display a temporary area where the files are held before they are copied to the CD.
5. Verify that the files and folders that you intend to copy to the CD/DVD appear under Files Ready to be Written to the CD/DVD.
6. Under CD/DVD Writing Tasks, click Write these files to CD/DVD.
7. Windows displays the CD/DVD Writing Wizard.
8. Follow the steps clearly outlined in the wizard.

Notes:

• For Audio Files - Music - we recommend using CD-R's
• Do not try to copy more files to the CD/DVD than it will hold. Check the CD/DVD packaging to see the capacity of each CD/DVD.
• For photo or Video files too large to fit on a CD, you can copy files to a recordable DVD.
• Windows XP does not support copying to a DVD, so you have to use DVD authoring software (such as Windows Media Player, Picasa 3, Roxio or others).
• Windows 7 has DVD maker software built in
• Make sure you have enough disk space on your hard disk to store the temporary files that are created during the CD/DVDwriting process. For a standard CD, Windows reserves up to 700 megabytes (MB) of the available free space. For a high-capacity CD, Windows reserves up to 1 gigabyte (GB) of the available free space
• After you copy files or folders to the CD, you can view the CD to confirm that the files have been copied.