History of Flag Day - June 14th

The History Of Flag Day : The Fourth of July was traditionally celebrated as America's birthday, but the idea of an annual day specifically celebrating the Flag is believed to have first originated in 1885. BJ Cigrand, a schoolteacher, arranged for the pupils in the Fredonia, Wisconsin Public School, District 6, to observe June 14 (the 108th anniversary of the official adoption of The Stars and Stripes) as 'Flag Birthday'. In numerous magazines and newspaper articles and public addresses over the following years, Cigrand continued to enthusiastically advocate the observance of June 14 as 'Flag Birthday', or 'Flag Day'.

Inspired by three decades of state and local celebrations, Flag Day - the anniversary of the Flag Resolution of 1777 - was officially established by the Proclamation of President Woodrow Wilson on May 30th, 1916. While Flag Day was celebrated in various communities for years after Wilson's proclamation, it was not until August 3rd, 1949, that President Truman signed an Act of Congress designating June 14th of each year as National Flag Day.

To learn more about the history of FLAG DAY, check out the website that was quoted above:

http://usflag.org/history/flagday.html

as well as these other interesting “Flag History” websites:

www.ushistory.org/betsy/flagpics.html

www.usa-flag-site.org/history.shtml

www.united-states-flag.com/flag-history.html

What is tabbed internet browsing?

What is tabbed Internet browsing that I keep hearing about?

Most Internet Browsers use TABS so you can open one connection to he Internet and then open multiple tabs vs. having to open your browser several times…

First of all if you aren’t sure what is an Internet Browser is – a Browser is the free software that allows us to search the Internet – the major ones are: Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape Navigator, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox – Safari for Apple Computers an Opera for hand held devices… Most of us have 3 or 4 browsers on our computers so different users have their choice of which to use..

Take full advantage of tabbed browsing on your Internet Browsers. While reading any web page if you come across a link you may be interested in open that link in a new tab so it can be viewed later. A new tab can be opened any of these (3) different ways:

• Going to the new tab and left clicking on it to open a new tab & type in the web address


• Hold down the Ctrl key and left click on the web address hyperlink (my favorite way t do it)


• If you have a mouse with a wheel click the link with the middle mouse button

What is Adobe Flash Player and do I need it on my computer?

Yes – absolutely. In essence, this is a computer language which is used when writing/creating many games, animations, and other media content on the internet – so in order for us to be able to view them, as they are meant to be seen, we have to have Adobe Flash Player on our computers or we aren’t able to view them. It’s also advisable to allow the latest update when it prompts you to do so…

• An early competitive version of Flash was Macromedia Flash,but that company was acquired By Adobe in a merger finalized in December 2005-so we now only use Adobe Flash Player.



• Some games also use a program called “shockwave” so it’s possible that you might also be prompted to have this plug-in on your computer also in order to play certain games…

Hello from the Mohave Community College Library

Hi All! I wanted to remind everyone that even though you may not be here on the Lake Havasu campus, or even in Arizona, you can still access the Library’s online databases from your home computer.

If you don’t have a library card, to sign up for one by visiting Mohave.edu/library. Click on the link on the right for “Online Library Card Application.” It asks you for your basic information (and, remember, you do not need to be an Arizona resident to sign up). If you do not have a student ID, leave that field blank. Once you submit your information, the computer will issue you an electronic library card number – write it down so you can use it whenever you need.

With a library card number, you can access almost all of our online databases such as Heritage Quest, Consumer Health Complete, and more.

If you have any questions, you can call us at 928-453-5809 to ask for more information. You can also come on by and visit with us in person at Mohave Community College 1977 Acoma Blvd. West (we’re located toward the back of the campus, not far from the 500 Building). You can also email me directly at wbirkhead@mohave.edu. Let us know how we can help.

Enjoy your summer,
Wendi Birkhead, MLSCampus Librarian

Hodel Library - Lake Havasu City Campus
Mohave Community College
1977 W. Acoma Blvd, LHC, AZ 86403
Tel 928-453-5809
Fax 928-453-8335
Toll Free: 1.866.664.2832
wbirkhead@mohave.edu orwww.mohave.edu/library

How to Burn a CD or DVD

BURNING TO A CD OR DVD is as easy as copy and pasting.. You can burn documents, photos, music or video’s to share or for back-up.. Remember CD’s can hold up to 700MB; DVD’s hold about 4.5 GB.

Open Windows Explorer: use the keyboard shortcut: Windows Flag Key + E

Windows Explorer allows you to see your entire computers filing system at once – whatever is highlighted on the left column is hat you are looking at on the right side of the screen…

• Put a blank CD OR DVD in your drive
  


• Now you can drag and drop the files you want on the CD or DVD into that area OR.
  Simply right click on the files or folder you wish to burn to a to CD/DVD and Choose send to and then choose your CD/DVD drive...
  


• Once you’ve done this, you will see a balloon message appear in the bottom right corner of your monitor, reminding you that files are ready to be written to CD. If you click on this balloon it will show the writable CD/DVD folder and all of the files and or folders that you have ready to be “burned”.
  


• If the balloon disappears and you want to see what files you are adding to a CD, simply open my computer and press on your CD/DVD drive there.
  


• Simply choose to write these files to CD/DVD D in the left menu which is under the heading of CD writing tasks or Right Click on the CD/DVD drive and choose “Write files to CD”.
  


• You can name your to CD/DVD (not necessary though) and press next until it starts to burn…

Notes:

When you insert a blank to CD/DVD into your to CD/DVD burner a Windows dialog box will appear. Here you can choose the Open to CD/DVD folder using Windows Explorer. It will open a to CD/DVD writing dialog box where you can drag and drop files into it to burn to CD/DVD

There are so many different types of to CD/DVD burning Software, but it’s just as easy to use what came with your Windows Operating System and it’s free .

Memorial Day-Thank you to all who serve

This weekend, we celebrate Memorial Day 2011, a day meant to remember and give thanks to all those serving in our military and especially those who have served and have since gone home to heaven...

I received this poem a few weeks ago and feel that it's a wonderful tribute to all those whom we remember this weekend. So as we take a moment to remember and be grateful for the selfless sacarafices so many have and continue to make on our behalf, take a moment to say a prayer of thanks for each and everyone of them - and for those still serving, we thank you and pray that you all come home safely to your families.....

THE FINAL INSPECTION

The Soldier stood and faced God,
Which must always come to pass.
He hoped his shoes were shining,
Just as brightly as his brass..

'Step forward now, Soldier ,
How shall I deal with you?
Have you always turned the other cheek?
To My Church have you been true?'

The soldier squared his shoulders and said,
'No, Lord, I guess I ain't.
Because those of us who carry guns,
Can't always be a saint.

I've had to work most Sundays,
And at times my talk was tough.
And sometimes I've been violent,
Because the world is awfully rough.

But, I never took a penny,
That wasn't mine to keep...
Though I worked a lot of overtime,
When the bills got just too steep.

And I never passed a cry for help,
Though at times I shook with fear..
And sometimes, God, forgive me,
I've wept unmanly tears.

I know I don't deserve a place,
Among the people here.
They never wanted me around,
Except to calm their fears

If you've a place for me here, Lord,
It needn't be so grand.
I never expected or had too much,
But if you don't, I'll understand.

There was a silence all around the throne,
Where the saints had often trod.
As the Soldier waited quietly,
For the judgment of his God.

'Step forward now, you Soldier,
You've borne your burdens well.
Walk peacefully on Heaven's streets,
You've done your time in Hell.'

Author Unknown~

SKYPE HAVING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES

Many of us use SKYPE daily and if so, you know they are having some technical difficulties right now. They are working on the problems and hope to have a fix soon. You can check out this information for yourself as to what to do in the interim to fix it, which we copies from the MSNBC website:

http://technolog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/05/26/6722180-skypes-not-working-right-now-heres-how-to-fix-it?GT1=43001

While you wait for Skype to fix things though, you can still use the service if you're willing to do a little bit of work. The "Next Web" has helpfully provided instructions on a trick which will let you sign in through your official Skype desktop client of choice (or you can wait until Skype fixes the problems):

WINDOWS VISTA & WINDOWS 7

1. Close Skype

· a. Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at the bottom right of the screen)
· b. Choose Quit

2. Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.

· a. Click Start, type run and press Enter
· b. Type control folders and click OK.
· c. Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.

3. Locate the shared.xml file.

· a. Click Start, type run and press Enter.
· b. Type %appdata%\skype and click OK.
· c. Delete the shared.xml file.

4. Restart Skype. The shared.xml file will be recreated.

WINDOWS XP

1. Close Skype
· a. Right-click the Skype icon in the system tray (at the bottom right of the screen)
· b. Choose Quit.

2. Ensure that “Show hidden files and folders” is switched on.

· a. Click Start and then Run…
· b. Type control folders and click OK.
· c. Select the View tab and ensure relevant entry is enabled.

3. Locate the shared.xml file

· a. Click Start and then Run…
· b. Type %appdata%\skype and click OK.
· c. Delete the shared.xml file.

4. Restart Skype. The shared.xml file will be recreated.

MAC OS X

1. Quit Skype.
2. Go to the folder ~/Library/Application Support/Skype/
3. Delete the file shared.xml (it will be recreated once you open Skype again, this is fine).
4. Start Skype.

Please note on the MAC OS X that the ~ sign means your home folder. You can find your home folder by opening Finder and selecting Go > Home from the menu bar or pressing Command (Apple), Shift and H keys at the same time.

OS stands for Operating Systems

Photo Scanning Tips

Most of us have old family photos that we would like to share - either in a book or movie maker project, or in online photo albums or facebook - or just to have additional copies made.. So scanning allows us to "convert" those photo to digital and save them on our computers.. Here are a few tips when you are scanning photos and documents...

1) Be sure to remove any dirt, lint, or smudges from what you are scanning with a soft brush or lint-free photowipe. I don’t recommend “Canned air” especially for older photos that could be damaged…

2) Make sure your scanner glass is clean of all lint, fingerprints, smudges and particles-use a camera lens wipe, or if you use a glass cleaner, never spray it on the glass surface; always spray it on a lint free cloth and then wipe the glass.

3) Have clean hands, so you don’t leave skin oil on your photos or scanner glass. Many professionals wear white cotton gloves (available from photo stores and hardware stores) when they handle photos...

4) Choose the type of scan-it’s always best to scan in color, even all those old black and whites, so you have more manipulation options when you use your photo editing software, such as Picasa, Photoshop etc.

5) For the best scan resolution (quality), rule of thumb is a minimum of 300dpi (Dots Per Inch) for decent quality for enhancement and restoration techniques and 600dpi or greater if you plan to store these on CD or DVD.

6) Only scan “1” photo or document at a time. If you put multiple photos – you will have 1 scanned item with multiple photos or documents in it…

7) Once you scan your item, before you "save it" be sure the “sizing handles” are around just the actual photo and not the entire scan plate. And don’t do cropping here – save the actual photo, and then you can crop and enhance with your photo editing software.

8) Saving what you've scanned - Some scanners allow you to choose the folder where you want to name and save the scanned photo – others will automatically save it in the “My Scan Folder” and name it with a numbering sequence (the folder will have the date you did the scanning, and each scanned item will have sequential numbers, ie Scan 0001, Scan 0002, Scan 0003 – and the folder name might be: 2011-3.7 (9) – the number in parenthesis indicates the number of scans you did that day.

9) Once you are done scanning – if your scanned items are in the “My Scan” Folder, be sure to “rename” your scanned items instead of leaving them with the scan numbers – otherwise if you combine several days of scanning into one folder – multiple items would then have the same numbers which is unacceptable and you could lose photos…

It's wonderful to scan as many of our old photos and documents as possible, so that they are identified and in a format for "the future" versus sitting in boxes or closet drawers that may then be someday thrown away because no one knows who or what they are ...

Yes, it's time consuming, but so worth the effort...Enjoy

Websites to find new font style designs - free

What’s a font you ask?? Fonts are the design style of what we type – letters, numbers, characters… and there are countless design styles to choose from and new ones being developed as we speak…

Over the years many of us have made the mistake of “purchasing” software so that we could add more font design style choices to our computers – or we have downloaded thousands and then wondered why our word processing program was running so slowly….

Personally I enjoy using different fonts when I’m creating maybe a new invitation or writing a story or new flyer or designing a new power point presentation… Instead of installing all of them to my computer, I have a list of websites in my favorites – in a folder named free fonts – that I then visit when I’m looking for a new font style design… here they are in alphabetical order.. once I find a few that I’d like to try, then I download them…

http://www.ddfont.com/

http://www.fonts.com/

http://www.fonts500.com/

http://www.searchfreefonts.com/

http://www.typenow.net/

Improve your typing skills for free

Want to improve your typing skills – get a little faster or improve your accuracy? Did you know there are many programs online available to help you do just that and that they are free… Here are some favorite websites recommended by fellow students – and as always if you know of a website that others might enjoy, be sure to let me know…

Although most of these websites teach typing for the QWERTY keyboard, which is what so many of us use – some of them also offer typing help for those who might be using a DVORAK keyboard.. not sure of the difference – check our blog posting topic list – either keyboard, dvorak or qwerty for a detailed explanation…

Like so many other things in life, it just takes a little practice.. so Enjoy…

http://www.typingweb.com/

http://www.freetypinggame.net/

http://www.alfatyping.com/

http://www.powertyping.com/

Greetings from MCC Library

Good morning everyone… Just a reminder that with the summer month’s ahead we hope you will stop by and visit us at the Mohave Community College Library here in Lake Havasu City and take advantage of all the wonderful features we have to offer you..

If we haven’t met, my name is Wendi Birkhead and I am the campus librarian of the Hodel Library on the Lake Havasu Campus of Mohave Community College.

I want to invite you to visit us and find out about all the wonderful books, DVDs, audiobooks, and electronic materials we have to offer. Many people don’t realize that we are open to everyone – students and non-students, alike – and anyone can get a library card for free. We carry bestsellers, fiction and nonfiction.

Through our website, www.mohave.edu/library, you have access to fantastic databases such as Ancestry.com, Heritage Quest, Consumer Health Complete, the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center and more. You can also use our databases to look at articles from journals such as Consumer Reports, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, PC World, U.S. News and World Reports, etc.

Please give us a call at 928-453-5809 to ask for more information. You can also come on by and visit with us in person at Mohave Community College 1977 Acoma Blvd. West (we’re located toward the back of the campus, not far from the 500 Building). Let us know how we can help.

Wendi Birkhead, MLS
Campus Librarian, Hodel Library - Lake Havasu City Campus
Mohave Community College
1977 W. Acoma Blvd, LHC, AZ 86403
Tel 928-505-3311; Fax 928-453-8335
Toll Free: 1.866.664.2832
wbirkhead@mohave.edu or
www.mohave.edu/library

System Restore & Backup for Windows 7

System restore, a great feature in earlier operating systems since Windows XP, is a little different in Windows 7, with lots of improvements, so that it quickly and easily back-ups and allows restoration for not only our system but all files & folders, so you're always prepared for the worst …

First, understand the difference between backing up the system and backing up our “files”:

SYSTEM IMAGE BACKUP: Windows Backup in Windows 7, provides the ability to create a system image, which is an exact image of a drive. A system image includes Windows and your system settings, programs, and files. You can use a system image to restore the contents of your computer if your hard drive or computer ever stops working. When you restore your computer from a system image, it is a complete restoration; you can't choose individual items to restore, and all of your current programs, system settings, and files are replaced. Although this type of backup includes your personal files, we recommend that you back up your files regularly using Windows Backup so that you can restore individual files and folders as needed. When you set up scheduled file backup, you can choose whether you want to include a system image. This system image only includes the drives required for Windows to run. You can manually create a system image if you want to include additional data drives.

FILE BACKUP - Windows Backup allows you to make copies of data files for all people that use the computer. You can let Windows choose what to back up or you can select the individual folders, libraries, and drives that you want to back up. By default, your backups are created on a regular schedule. You can change the schedule and you can manually create a backup at any time. Once you set up Windows Backup, Windows keeps track of the files and folders that are new or modified and adds them to your backup

Windows 7 can choose what to back up, or you can pick individual folders, libraries, and drives yourself. Windows 7 can back up files on whatever schedule you choose, so once you set it you can forget about it. You can also back up to another drive or a DVD.

Note-for those of you who are using Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate editions, you also can choose to back up your files to a network.

TO BACK UP YOUR FILES:

Open Backup and Restore by clicking the Start button, clicking Control Panel, clicking System and Maintenance, and then clicking Backup and Restore.

Now you will do one of the following:

If you've never used Windows Backup before, click Set up backup, and then follow the steps in the wizard. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

If you've created a backup before, you can wait for your regularly scheduled backup to occur, or you can manually create a new backup by clicking Back up now. If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

TO RESTORE FILES:

You restore files using the Restore Files wizard. You can restore individual files, multiple files, or all files in a backup. You can also restore just your files or files for all people that use the computer

System Restore for Windows XP & Vista

System restore is great feature in Windows XP & Vista that allows you to take your computer back to an earlier time to undo any harmful changes that might have occurred – and you won’t lose any recently stored work, such as emails, favorites/bookmarks, documents, photos, music etc.

Your computer automatically creates restore points (called checkpoints) or you can create your own (something many of us do prior to downloading new software or making major changes)…

START YOUR COMPUTER..

• Log on to Windows as an Administrator



• Click Start, the click All Programs, then click Accessories, then click System Tools



• Now when the list of Tools appear, choose/left click on "System Restore"



• The "Welcome to System Restore page/dialog box opens"



• You will see three options: 1) Restore my computer to an earlier time, 2) Create a restore point, 3) Undo my last restoration



• Choose/click on “Restore my computer to an earlier time” - click Next



• The calendar will appear – dates that are bold are dates when restorations “checkpoints” were created and are saved for you to "restore to"



• Choose/click the date you want and in the left side of the screen you will now see the date & time of that restoration



• Click Next, restoration will be done and it will confirm that it was successful

Happy Mother's Day

First of all as we celebrate "Mothers Day" this weekend, on behalf of everyone at Mohave Community College and me, we want to wish all our students who are moms, grandmothers, aunts, godmothers and those of you who fill these rolls without the official titles – a very wonderful Mother’s Day Holiday and thank you for all that you do for those around you…Cherie Houston

Mother’s Day is and should be a time to celebrate, not just by buying gifts, cards and flowers (now don't get me wrong those are very nice gestures) but ask any mom and she'll tell you that more important than gifts are the hugs, phone calls, the touches, being included, remembered and thought of throughout the year, not just on Mother's Day. Now those are the "gifts" that are more important than anything purchased…

A poem that might just say it all:

UNSAID

~ Author Unknown

Somehow we always say the least

to those we love the best

And hope our thoughts are understood,

Although they're unexpressed.

That's why it means so very much,

when days like this are here

To say how very much you're loved

each day throughout the year.

Happy Mother's Day

Not sure why and how the "Mothers Day" holiday began, you might want to check out a few websites we found…

http://womenshistory.about.com/od/mothersday/a/early.htm

http://www.biography.com/womens-history/mothers-day.jsp

http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/about-mothersday/history/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother's_Day

What do Internet Error Messages Mean?

From time to time when you are browsing on the Internet and trying to open a website or e-mail you might get “an error code” – The following is a list of the most common Internet error codes and what they mean so that you know what to do and why you received them…

Common Internet Error Codes/Messages and what they mean:

Error codes/messages, number #400-499 tell us that the web server cannot find the content/web page or that we don’t have the correct permissions to access it.. The most common error messages received are:

• 400 - This means the Internet address you typed in was incorrect and the server couldn't understand your request. So be sure you haven’t made a typing error and spelled the web address incorrectly
• 401 – This means the page/web address you were trying to access can not be loaded until you first log on with a valid user ID and password, so double check that you aren’t making a mistake when you are typing in your username and/or password
• 402 – This is a “Payment Required” Error
• 403 – Means you are trying to open a website or page that is “forbidden” and you are being blocked by that domain (web address)
• 404 – The host server can’t find the “website” at the web address/URL you typed in. Either you have mistyped the URL, the website no longer exists, or you’ve been given the wrong URL/web address. This browser error message also often appears as “The page cannot be found”.
• 408 - This is time out error – it simply means you didn’t send the request within the allotted time that the server set for you.

URL stands for Universal Resource Locator

Domain/Domain Name is the “core” of identity on the Internet. It is the web address that is used to find your website. This web address name is yours entirely and there is only one website (web address) with that name, because once you register a “domain name-web address” no one else can use it – much like a telephone number.

QR CODES (Quick Response)

While in Las Vegas recently, we stopped at the Hard Rock Café and noticed throughout the hotel, almost all of the countless items on display worn by various entertainment artists had these little squares.. . These little squares were new – they were black & white, probably 6-8” sq. tiles – quite similar to sections of what we call “bar codes” but different. I couldn’t find any explanation as to what they were…

I’d intended to “Google” them, but hadn’t done that yet and when I mentioned them during one of our classes here in AZ a student solved the puzzle. By the way Harley-thank you… Harley is keeping current on technology and had recently read an article which explained they were QR Codes. Harley was kind enough to send me an article he’d read, some of which I've included below.. So combined with what he sent me and a little more research here’s an “English” explanation of how & what they are for…

They were initially designed and used for tracking parts in vehicle manufacturing, but now these QR codes are used everywhere both commercially and residentially. One use growing in popularity is that which was intendd at the Hard Rock Café – in the display cases, they encourage/allow Smartphone (cell) users with the right app (called mobile tagging) to aim their Smartphone at the code, which in turn display all the info & a photo of what’s in the case OR it can compose an email or text message for use later… Users can also generate and print their own QR codes for others to scan and use by visiting one of several free QR code generating site – WOW…

Here’s the article quote from March 28, 2011|By Umika Pidaparthy on CNN News
“A confused crossword puzzle. A psychedelic postage stamp. A bar code on drugs. This is how a QR, or Quick Response, code may appear to most people. You may have noticed these black-and-white squares showing up in subway ads or in pages of magazines. Thanks to our growing addiction to our Smartphone’s, you'll likely be seeing more of them. QR codes are showing up in more and more places: posters, storefront window displays, TV advertisements, business cards, websites and even on T-shirts. When accessed with your phone, a QR code takes you to a landing page where you'll usually find special promotional content” The QR code was invented by a Japanese company called DENSO Corp., a subsidy of Toyota, in 1994. The codes have been used in Japan for years and are quite common there. But only now are they becoming mainstream in the United State”

Now that I know what they are, I’m seeing them everywhere – Amazing how this technology continues to change…

Facebook - Photo Tagging Safety

One of the most popular features on Facebook is "photo-tagging" but it's also an easy way for companies to "send advertisements" by tagging their products with your name & your friends. Hopefully these tips will help you to avoid that from happening and also show you how to protect your privacy and your friends...

The privacy settings on Facebook allow you to limit who sees photos tagged with your name, and you can even prevent your name from showing up in your friends' photo-tag suggestions. But you can't opt-out of photo-tagging completely, and you can't stop third-party applications from tagging your friends' names on photos on your wall once you've accidentally given the apps access.

It's important to be careful and to make sure your privacy settings are “secure” so that you don't inadvertently allow advertisers and/or spammers to see your profile and get to your friends to spread their advertisements via your Facebook wall, for all your friends to see! across Facebook

How it's done: When you click the link to the photo album, thinking you're about to see a photo album of your cousins wedding or your friends birthday party, instead, it's something like a photo album full of the amenities at some hotel or the latest menu specials from a local restaurant chain and they are tagged with many names of people who don't appear in the picture but have simply been “tagged”. When you first see it, if you don’t see your cousin or friend – don’t go any further, because if you do click on the photo to find out more and go too far, you might just be agreeing to give the application access to your account and your friends on Facebook will begin to receive notices that you’ve been tagged in a photo – and the unfortunate cycle has begun!!

Hopefully we’ve warned you in time, but if not it’s easy to remedy-just remove the application from accessing your profile by:

• >Immediately remove any contents (posts, photos etc) that the “company/spammer” has posted on your Facebook wall about the phony event
• Now, go to your Account Settings in the upper right side of your screen
• When the drop-down menu appears, click/choose Privacy Settings
• On the bottom right side of the Privacy Settings Page, click/choose the Apps & websites link
• Now choose "Edit your settings."
• On the App page, next to "Apps you use," select "edit settings"
• Now you will see the third-party apps that have access to your Facebook profile. Delete any applications you don’t want and try to check this setting regularly to protect yourself and your friends
• Apologize to your friends who might have been tagged by this company and remind them to do the same thing to protect "your name" - together, if we are all diligent about our privacy settings, we can help to minimize these problems....

PowerPoint Tips: Slide Background choices

Adding color to the background of your slides makes them more interesting. Simple is better so step back and review your presentation and think twice before using “wild colors” that detract from your slides.. Doing this in earlier versions of PP (2000-2003) is a little different from the newer PP 2007-2010, so we've given you notes for both...

To add color to your slide backgrounds:

If you have PP 2000 OR 2003:

• Select "Format" - "Background".
• A "Background" dialog box appears and you can left click on the pull-down menu to choose from one of a few selected colors, "More Colors", or "Fill Effects"

More Colors

• If you choose "More Colors" it opens a dialog box with several tabs which shows you different standard colors or you can choose “custom colors” which shows you the color prism and the colors RGB values if you are trying to match a specific shade of a color
• When you are done, click "OK" to close the dialog box.

Fill Effects – This option opens another dialog box with several tabs for different fill types:

• Gradient – One – two and preset multicolor gradient fills and there are different fill type, colors, transparency, shading styles, and variants.
• Texture – There are a variety of textures, or click "Other Texture" to import a texture graphic of your own
• Pattern – There are different pre-made patterns and you can adjust the pattern foreground and background colors
• Picture – This allows you to select your own photo for your presentation background
• When you are done, click "OK" to close the dialog box.

Apply your Changes:

When you are happy with your changes, decide if you want the background graphic to appear on printed slides (doing so increases print time and requires more toner/ink), but if not – you can check "Omit background graphics from master".

Then click "Apply" to apply the changes to the current slide only, or "Apply to All" to apply the changes to all slides.

If you have PP 2007 or 2010:
As with earlier versions, backgrounds can be applied to individual slides or to all the slides in a presentation - choices in 2007 & 2010 are located on the Design Ribbon. To access the Design Ribbon:

• Click on the Design Tab and you will see the Design ribbon options & features
• Hover your mouse over any of the design themes shown
• The design is reflected immediately on your slide
• Click the design theme when you find one that suits your needs

To change the Background on an individual slide:

• Click on the background button on the right end of the Design ribbon
• This opens the Format Background dialog box
• If you want to apply your choice to all the slides in your presentation, once you make your choice, be sure to choose the “Apply to All” button at the bottom of the dialog box

Like earlier versions - you now have choices of colors and effects, but the newer versions have more choices in easy – such as the Gradient Fill now has multiple choices to play with:

• Linear - the gradient colors flow in lines which can be from preset angles or a precise angle on the slide
• Radial - colors flow in a circular fashion from your choice of five different directions
• Rectangular - colors flow in a rectangular fashion from your choice of five different directions
• Path - colors flow from the center out to form a rectangle
• Shade from title - colors flow from the title out to form a rectangle

Be careful using Background Textures: they can be very busy and make text difficult to read, which can detract from your message. If you do use a textured background, choose a subtle design and be sure to choose a text color that will stand out from the background.

A great feature in the new PowerPoint 2007 & 2010 is DESIGN & COLOR THEMES

• This changes not only the backgrounds but totally coordinate the colors, font styles and sizes used for a total look… These are similar to the design templates which were available in earlier versions of Power Point.

What I like, is that when you are choosing a design theme in the new PP 2007 & 2010, you will immediately see the effect on your slides, so you can decide before making your decision final…

Have a wonderful Easter holiday

Just a quick note to wish you and your families a blessed and enjoyable Easter holiday.. Cherie Houston

Thought you might enjoy a little trivia about Easter, which as we know is considered the holiest of days for all Christians, commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus after his Crucifixion. Like the origin of this celebration, the precise date of Easter Sunday too has been a matter of contention. However, there is a general acceptance of the proposition offered by 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, according to which, Easter owes its origin to the old Teutonic mythology

Just like Passover which is dependent on the phases of the moon and has different dates each year, Easter is also a movable feast and doesn’t fall on a fixed date in the Gregorian or Julian calendars but Easter always falls between March 22 and April 25. This year “2011” Christians around the world will celebrate Easter today, on Sunday, April 24^th..

Here are some interesting Easter trivia facts you may not have known:

• Easter is known by different names across the world. Some of them are: English - Easter, French - Paques, Spanish - Pascua, Italian - Pasqua, Albanian - Pashke, German - Ostern, Greek - Pascha, Norway - Paaske, Holland - Pasen and Swedish - Pask
• The name Easter owes its origin from Eastre, the Anglo-Saxon goddess who symbolizes hare and egg.
• Apart from English and German, the name of 'Easter' has been derived from Pesach, the Hebrew name of Passover festival
• According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the largest Easter egg made till date, was just over 25-ft high and was made of chocolate and marshmallow. Weighing at 8,968 lbs., the egg was supported by an internal steel frame
• The Easter Lilly symbolizes the resurrection of Jesus because the shell represents the tomb of Jesus and the flower that blooms represents life after death.
• The maiden chocolate eggs recipes were made in Europe in the nineteenth century.
• Vegreville, Canada is the site of the largest Easter egg in the world.
• Pysanka is a specific term used for the practice of Easter egg painting.
• Most children (74%) eat the ears of their chocolate bunny first. 13% eat the feet first, and 10% eat the tails first.
• In 1878 U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife Lucy officially opened the White House grounds to the children of the area for egg rolling on Easter Monday. The event has been held on the South Lawn ever since, except during World War I and World War II.
• The initial baskets of Easter were given the appearance of bird's nests.
• By tradition, it was obligatory (or at least lucky) for churchgoers to wear some bright new piece of clothing - at least an Easter bonnet, if not a complete new outfit
• From the very early times, egg has been considered to be the most important symbol of rebirth
• Hot cross buns, made by European monks, are counted amongst the earliest Easter treats. They were given to the poor people, during the month of Lent.
• Red jellybeans qualify as the most favorite food stuff for kids on Easter

PowerPoint Tip: Stop the Black Screen at the End

Typically when we watch any slide show made with PowerPoint, it ends with a “black screen that shows a message at the top: “End of slide show-click to exit”.

If you don’t want to see this screen, just stop it from happening by changing a setting. Note thought, that this setting only applies to the PowerPoint software running on your computer. It is not a setting that is saved with the slide show presentation file itself.

So if you create a slide show presentation and take it to another computer, you’ll want to change this setting again on that computer.

If you have PowerPoint 2000-2003:

• Choose Tools |Options.
• Choose the View tab.
• Uncheck the box for the option End with black slide.

If you have PowerPoint 2007 or 2010:

• Click on the Office button in 2007 and File button in 2010.
• Choose the PowerPoint Options button (at the bottom of the window).
• Choose Advanced from the left side of the next panel.
• On the right side find the Slide Show section.
• Uncheck the box for the option End with black slide.

So remember, if you make this change it's on your computer only - if you take the slide show to another computer, you would have to change the setting on that computer also..

What is OCR Software?

Typically when we “scan” something into our computer – whether it is a photo or a document, the end results is a “digital picture” of whatever we scanned. But, OCR software (OCR stands for Optical Character Recognition) allows us to EDIT what we have scanned.

Simply “scan” your document into your computer and the OCR software converts it to an "editable file" that can be edited in most word processing and spreadsheet software programs. What types of documents can you scan? Basically any printed material –such as notes, letters, documents, spreadsheets, magazine or newspaper articles, books etc.

The quality of the OCR conversion process will largely depend on the quality of the scanned image and the clarity of the characters of that image.

Today – many of the printers for the home market, especially “all-in-one” multi function printers and “photosmart” printers include OCR software capabilities included with the software or you can visit the manufacturer’s website and download it for free.

So your current printer maybe OCR ready- not sure? Once again, go to the manufacturer’s website – put in your model # and it will give you the specifics on if the OCR software is available, if so how to download and use the OCR software.

OCR software is a real timesaver so we don't have to retype documents to be able to edit them. OCR software is also available as “freeware” and for purchase if it doesn’t come with your printer…

Excel – Counting “X’s” in a Column

A question that comes up quite often with respect to Excel spreadsheets – is how to create a formula that will add up/count the number of cells in a column containing "X’s":

If you have a specific column or columns, that you have put an X in and want to count the total # of X’s in a specific column, for example for attendance or other criteria, the formula you would enter in the “total cell” is noted below. Be sure however to enter the correct column & line ID’s…

Example – In your excel spreadsheet – Column C, you have put several X’s in Rows 1 thru 28, and want to now count the # of X’s in Column C, the correct formula that would be noted in the total cell C29 would be:

=COUNTIF(C1:C28,"X")

Facebook - Privacy for Photo Albums

A question raised quite often about FACEBOOK is how to set privacy settings for photos and photo albums that you put on your FACEBOOK account.. Again remember that in your Account Tab, there is a help button to answer this and many other questions about using FACEBOOK…

HOW TO EDIT THE PRIVACY SETTINGS FOR YOUR PHOTO ALBUMS in FACEBOOK? It’s important to edit the privacy settings for your photo albums, especially when there are photos of children-changing the settings is easy:

1. Go to the photo album.
2. Select the "Edit Album Info" button in the lower left side of the screen.
3. On the "Edit Info" tab, select the "Privacy" drop-down menu to customize the privacy settings for your album.
4. Your choices will be: Everyone; Friends of Friends; Friends only and Customize
5. Customize option allows you to be very specific: naming those you want to see the album or even block certain people from seeing the album or choosing that only you can see the photo

Remember-only the owner of an album can adjust the album privacy. This may affect the visibility of photos you are tagged in when your friends look at them. Also, if you share a high resolution photo or album with someone, that user will be able to download those photos.

You can also access privacy settings for photo albums by doing the following:

1. Click on the "Account" menu and select "Privacy Settings" from the drop down menu.
2. Click "Customize settings."
3. Choose "Edit album privacy for existing photos." Alternatively, you can click the "Album Privacy" link on the "Photos" tab of your profile next to your albums.

What is a smartphone?

We are all hearing the phrase “smartphone” – but how is a “smartphone” different from a cell phone?

Typical cell phones allows us to make and receive telephone calls; text messages and to take, send and receive photos and videos…

Smartphones offer greater functionality than regular cell phones, so that you can...

• use a full “qwerty” keyboards for easier typing
• have access to the Internet to access your email, Facebook and Twitter accounts
• work with all your Office documents, such as word & excel,
• sync data with personal and business computers
• send & receive instant messages
• play music
• show streaming video
• edit photos
• get driving directions from the GPS
• play countless games and
• work with hundreds of other “applications referred to as “apps”

All of this is in addition to making phone calls of course.. And many of the smartphones have touch screens..

Smartphones are actually mini-computers with an OS-Operating system (such as the BlackBerry OS; Palm OS or Windows Mobile OS); Smartphones have internet access so that you can download countless applications, including GPS systems, you can link to your social networking & email accounts; many smartphones give you the ability to not only take photos but edit them; you can view, update & edit Office documents and they can be synchronized with your computer for all the updates you make, as well as synchronizing your address book, calendar and tasks list quickly and easily – similar to what a PDA used to do – only faster and more easily… And of course the applications allow you access, via the internet, to hundreds of games, music, video and other sites…

This, like all other computer related technology, is changing almost daily so no doubt, as soon as you buy a new “smartphone” it’s going to be outdated and topped with a newer version with more bells & whistles… leaving us all to wonder where it will end…

Computer Maintenance Tips

Just about everything needs to be “maintained” on a regular basis to stay “healthy” including our computers… Here are a few simple things to do, to be sure that your computer lives a long healthy and happy life and stays out of the “computer hospital”…

1. First and foremost, make sure you back-up your computer system and data on a regular basis. This is critical in case your system ever crashes or is infected with a major virus… Whether you back-up manually or automatically, whether you use a 3rd party (such as carbonite.com or mozy.com) or you back-up to a DVD, CD, flash drive, portable hard drive or external hard drive, making sure your system is totally backed up is one of the most important maintenance steps to ensure that you don’t lose valuable information including your data, photos, videos, music etc.


2. Make sure your computer is up-to-date on it’s “shots” which means making sure that your computer is protected with anti-virus & spyware software. And just as important, you want to be sure this software is “current” meaning you must accept and allowing the updates for your anti-virus, adware, spyware and malware program on a regular basis. It’s also highly recommended that you protect your privacy by using a firewall… Together, all of these help to protect your computer, the information on it as well as your personal information.


3. Updates are important not only for your anti-virus, but also for your operating system – application programs and drivers for your peripheral hardware, such as your scanner, printer and other hardware…


4. Know the specifics about all your equipment and programs – it helps to create a list of your equipment including mfg, model #’s, serial numbers, when they were purchased, and other important data, such as cartridge #’s; specifics about your digital cameras, camcorders, cell/smart phones and programs – and in one place along with the receipts, so that you can quickly and easily access the information when you are talking to a technical support person. It also helps to keep the basic information for all on a small card in your wallet, that you can refer to when you are shopping or asking for technical advice


5. Protect your computer (and all electronics in your home) from “power surges and drops”.. Use a surge suppressor, which contain technology that prevent excess amounts of electricity from entering your computer – Computers especially, are highly sensitive to electrical fluctuations a surge protector that help “even out” power spikes… So whether you have a desktop or laptop, you need surge protection…If you have a home office, you may want to consider also using a UPS (uninterrupted power supply) which often times has a built in surge suppressor/protector.


6. For those of you who carry around laptops, notebooks or netbooks – portable devices should be carried in “protective/padded cases” and if you are leaving your desktop for a long period of time, consider covering it when it is off and not being used……


7. Ventilation is important. It’s never a good idea to cover the back of a desktop – the vents & fans - with anything that could prevent airflow. Some people, often those with pets or live in areas that tend to be dusty, thinks it’s beneficial to protect their computers and stop animal hair, dander & dust from entering their fans & vents, by covering them with pantyhose, cheesecloth etc., but they only cause more problems by preventing proper ventilation.. Laptops, notebooks and netbooks should be raised slightly from the surface-many new ones have small feet built in, or just add little Velcro furniture tabs under each corner, or use a small rack like those used in kitchen cabinets...


8. For many years when your system began to run slowly the first recommendation made was to “clean out your cookies and temporary internet files” – although this isn’t as important now that the computer hard drives are so large, but there are still advantages to cleaning them out periodically..…


9. Before you just hit the power button, be sure you have properly and completely closed all programs. Shutting down your operating system properly will ensure that you don’t corrupt any of your files, making them inaccessible in the future…


10. Find a good technical support person that you trust – so that when you aren’t sure – you can call them. The last thing we want to do is touch something that could void our warranty or further damage our system…

How to fix a list with numbers in WORD

Often when we create multiple lists in a word document, and choose to number the multiple lists (versus using bullets) Word sometimes get confused and will use “continued numbers” versus starting each list with a new series of numbers and/or letters.

So instead of each list having it's own independent set of numbers and/or letters, the numbers or letters from the previous list continue with the next new list we create: for example, one list contains items numbered 1-4 or a-e, and then your next independent list starts may start numbering at 5 instead of restarting at 1, or letter f instead of a)

When this happens and you want different numbering for each new list:

1. just right-click inside the second list and choose "Restart Numbering" from the pop-up action menu that appears OR
2. at the end of your first list, go to the your toolbar or ribbon and "turn off" the numbering command

Sorting Data in Excel

Excel makes it very easy to sort data that is entered in multiple columns, by using the SORT buttons (A-Z or Z-A)… So be sure when you are entering your data, to put information in as many individual columns as possible – In my opinion you can never have too many columns to sort data with..

Make sure before you give the command to SORT that you have highlighted the active sheet, so that all information in the columns and rows will then “move” when the information is sorted…

Excel Sort Data by One Column:

• Select all the cells in the list
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select the column you want to sort. Note: If the dropdown is showing Column letters instead of headings, change the setting for My list has, from No header row to Header row.
• Select to sort in Ascending or Descending order

Excel Sort Data by multiple Columns:

Such as when we are entering data for our contacts to prepare a mailing list – we might want to sort by Last Name, First Name and then Spouses Name which are in 3 three columns. So we will sort it all at once, but giving different levels 1 would be Last Name; 2 would be First Name and then last the Spouses Name…starting with the most important sort.

• Select all the cells in the list.
• Choose Data>Sort
• When the Sort Dialog Box opens, be sure to check off that your list has a “header row” so you will see the data – not the column ID letter
• From the Sort by dropdown, select Last Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select First Name.
• From the Then by dropdown, select Spouses Name.
• Click OK

Note about Excel 2007 and 2010

• The SORT BUTTON is on the HOME TAB to the far right in the Editing quadron and also in the DATA TAB in the Sort & Filter quadron
• When the Sort Dialog Box Opens you will see one SORT field, but you can add as many levels for sorting as you would like.…

Configuring iTunes for Music Downloads

Before you can start downloading and/or converting songs in your iTunes library, you need to select an audio format to convert to: To do this:

1. Be sure you your iTunes library/account open
2. Click edit (from the main menu at the top of screen) and then click preferences.
3. Select the advanced tab and then the importing tab.
4. Click on the import using drop-down menu and select an audio format (such as mp3 which is my personal favorite to use in most free movie making and other project software or wav).
5. To change bitrate settings, use the settings drop-down menu .
6. Click the OK button to finish.

Note-many of the songs we purchase today are downloaded in mp4 or another format and are often too large to be used in some project software, such as Picasa's movie making; Windows Movie Maker, Power Point and some mp3 players - so personally I always download all music to my computer using the mp3 format, so I can use it just about anywhere anytime...

Picasa "free download" for Digital Photo Editing

PICASA** (a Google product) is a FREE award-winning software used for working with photos, on your PC, from emails, disk, CD-Rom and digital cameras. It works on PC’s and MAC’s and can be downloaded in just minutes from the Picasa or Google website.. Note that Picasa's newest version #3, can only be used with Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7. If you are using an older “Operating System” such as Windows 98, 2000, ME, then you will continue to use Picasa Version 2

Picasa helps you find and organize all your pictures – once it is on your computer and you start/open the program it will scan your hard drive to find and automatically organize all your pictures.

PICASA FINDS THE FOLLOWING IMAGE AND MOVIE FILE TYPES:

• Image file types: JPG, GIF, TIF, PSD, PNG, BMP, RAW (including NEF and CRW). GIF and PNG files are not scanned by default, but you can enable them in the options dialog.
• Movie file types: MPG, AVI, ASF, WMV, and MOV.

Try it today - not only is this an easy to use "photo editing program to brighten, crop, change colors to sepia and/or black & white and lots of other great editing tools, but you can create slide shows, save your slide shows easily to gift cd's & dvd's, order photos from various vendors, post complete photo albums on line using Picasa Web Albums - that can be then added to your BLOG, turn your photos into movies including text slides and music, label your photo's with the newest Picasa name Tags and GeoTagging and much much more - and Picasa has a wonderful tutorial help section to make it easy to learn the program and again, it's all FREE..

To download it, go to their website: www.picasa.com

April Greetings from MCC Hodel Library

April Greetings from the Hodel Library on the Lake Havasu Campus of Mohave Community College!

The weather is beginning to turn warm and lovely, so it’s a perfect time to take your reading outside. Come to the Library and check out a Danielle Steel or a Ken Follett to read on the patio.

For those of you who are getting ready to head north, remember that you can still use the Library’s online databases from wherever you are. Through our website, Mohave.edu/library , you have access to fantastic databases such as Heritage Quest, Consumer Health Complete, the Hobbies and Crafts Reference Center and more. You can also use our databases to look at articles from journals such as Consumer Reports, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance, PC World, U.S. News and World Reports, etc. The best part – it’s all FREE!

Please give us a call at 928-505-3311 to ask for more information or you can email me at wbirkhead@mohave.edu.

Thanks, Wendi Birkhead, Campus Librarian

Hodel Library - Lake Havasu City Campus

Mohave Community College - 1977 W. Acoma Blvd - Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Tel 928-505-3311; Fax 928-453-8335; Toll Free: 1.866.664.2832

Happy April 1st

Today is April 1^st – for some it’s cause for celebration & dreams, because it is opening day for America's favorite pastime - Baseball so time to cheer on our favorite ball teams and dream of winning a world series – and of course, we also think of April 1^st as April Fool’s Day. So we thought we’d try to find where & why this “holiday” originated…

I checked out countless sites and the one that made the most sense was the following which I found on this website- so enjoy....

www.april-fools.us/history-april-fools.htm

The history of April Fool's Day or All Fool's Day is uncertain, but the current thinking is that it began around 1582 in France with the reform of the calendar under Charles IX. The Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved from March 25 - April 1 (new year's week) to January 1.

Communication traveled slowly in those days and some people were only informed of the change several years later. Still others, who were more rebellious refused to acknowledge the change and continued to celebrate on the last day of the former celebration, April 1.

These people were labeled "fools" by the general populace, were subject to ridicule and sent on "fool errands," sent invitations to nonexistent parties and had other practical jokes played upon them. The butts of these pranks became known as a "poisson d'avril" or "April fish" because a young naive fish is easily caught. In addition, one common practice was to hook a paper fish on the back of someone as a joke.

This harassment evolved over time and a custom of prank-playing continue on the first day of April. This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French.

This tradition eventually spread elsewhere like to Britain and Scotland in the 18th century and was introduced to the American colonies by the English and the French. Because of this spread to other countries, April Fool's Day has taken on an international flavor with each country celebrating the holiday in its own way:

• In Scotland, April Fool's Day is devoted to spoofs involving the buttocks and as such is called Taily Day. The butts of these jokes are known as April 'Gowk', another name for cuckoo bird. The origins of the "Kick Me" sign can be traced back to the Scottish observance.
• In England, jokes are played only in the morning. Fools are called 'gobs' or 'gobby' and the victim of a joke is called a 'noodle.' It was considered back luck to play a practical joke on someone after noon.
• In Rome, the holiday is known as Festival of Hilaria, celebrating the resurrection of the god Attis, is on March 25 and is also referred to as "Roman Laughing Day."
• In Portugal, April Fool's Day falls on the Sunday and Monday before lent. In this celebration, many people throw flour at their friends.
• In India, The Huli Festival is celebrated on March 31 when people play jokes on one another and smear colors on one another celebrating the arrival of Spring.

So, no matter where you happen to be in the world on April 1, don't be surprised if April fools fall playfully upon you and if not, start cheering for the Arizona Cardinals and their winning the World Series as they begin that quest today playing the Colorado Rockies in Colorado at 1:05pmm......check out their website..

www.arizona.diamondbacks.mlb.com