January Computer Classes ~ Join Us

Happy New Year Everyone and we are hoping one of your resolutions this year is to continue to learn and grow. All of us at Mohave Community College are here to help you reach that goal, whether you want to master your computer, digital camera, cell phone or learn to paint, do yoga or kayacking, we are ready to help you do just that… and remember MCC offers a 25% discount to all senior AZ residents over 62, so be sure to ask for this if this applies to you!!


Based on your requests, we’ve added new computer classes and several of my classes have expanded to 12 hours instead of 8, such as our classes dealing with digital photos and creating books with your photos.. And if computers are not your thing, then MCC has many other wonderful credit and non-credit classes in a wide variety of subjects, including fitness, yoga, dance, ceramics, history, jewelry making, maintaining your motorcycle & much more...
Visit our website: www.mohave.edu ; or visit our campus at 1971 Acoma Blvd in Lake Havasu or call for more information.. Don’t forget to stop by and visit our Library at MCC and ask their staff to give you a tour and explain all the wonderful services available to you for free, including library books, using our computers to check your email or surf the web or accessing countless databases and much more..


I will be teaching the following computer/technology classes in January and we will have these and many more classes thru April.. We look forward to working with you so bring a friend along and just call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139 and we’ll save you a seat...


Feel free to bring your laptop to any of my classes or use one of our computers, the choice is yours... We do require a minimum of six (6) participants in every classes, otherwise we will sadly have to postpone that class until the next scheduled class, but typically this time of the year – classes fill up quickly….


As always, if you have any questions or aren’t sure which class might be best for you – just email me… cherie_houston@hotmail.com


WORD-CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-121: Friday & Monday afternoons, Jan 20 & 23 ~ 1pm-4:50pm, 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


FIND & ORGANIZE WHAT’S ON YOUR PC LSC062-124: Tuesday & Wednesday mornings, Jan 24 & 25 ~ 8:30am-12:20pm, Two 4 hour classes-Learn to use Windows Explorer so that you can easily and quickly find & organize everything 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..


LIST AND DATA MANAGEMENT WITH EXCEL LSC 069-121: Wednesday & Thursday afternoons, Jan 25 & 26 ~ 1pm-4:50pm, Two 4 hour classes-Learn to work with numbers & text (budget, contact lists for mail merges) Workbook vs. worksheet; cells, columns, rows, auto-formats; margins, grid lines, sorting numbers & data & print basics - Bring an address book or contact list to class


*NEW : HOW TO SKYPE OR GOOGLE VOICE LSC100-123: Thursday morning, Jan 26th ~ 8:30am-12:20pm, This new one 4 hour workshop will help you learn to use Skype and/or Google voice to make free phone calls & web calls world wide from any pc or smartphone.. lots of tips


COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC062- 121 : Friday & Monday mornings, Jan 27 & 30 ~ 8:30am-12:20pm, Two 4 Hour classes reviewing computer hardware, software (operating systems, application software, browsers and drivers), printing tips, keyboard shortcut tips, customizing desktop-changing backgrounds, create shortcuts, using quick launch bar, Start Menu, Task Bar, control panel & much more…


LAPTOP BASICS LSC100-121 Tuesday morning, January 31st ~ 8:30am-12:20pm, This one 4 Hour Fun Workshop during which we’ll review desktop/laptop-notebook-netbook differences, laptop tips, accessories needed, maneuvering around, Fn key, internet & Wi-Fi Basics, shortcuts, security & more – bring your laptop to class.


CREATE/PUBLISH YOUR OWN BOOK LSC100A-124: Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons, January 31 & February 1 & 2 ~ 1pm-4:50pm, 3/Three 4 hour classes showing you how 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-we will also work with walgreens.com to create a book & greeting cards using your photos Bring photos to class (on camera or flash drive)


SOCIAL NETWORKING, FACEBOOK & BLOGGING BASICS LSC080-121 Wednesday & Monday mornings, February 1 & 6 ~ 8:20am-12:20pm, Two 4 hour classes learning all about social networking, which includes texting, “Facebook”, blogging, “Twittering” – smartphones vs cell phones and much more… We’ll review the importance of Facebook Privacy settings-how to send private messages and post comments & photos and how to create a blog for a family or organization newsletter, learn how, why & when to post and comment and use Photos, Slide Shows, Blog Tools & more..


INTERNET AND IT’S MANY USES LSC071-121: Thursday & Friday mornings, Feb 2 & 3 ~ 8:30am-12:20pm, Two 4 Hour classes designed to help you get totally comfortable with the internet, tips& lingo, such as ISP, browser, blogger; when/why to use F5 & F11; website basics, hyperlinks, email basics, “tabbed browsing for multi websites”, using “Google & Bing” to search web, images, news; translating to & from different languages; blogging and more

and lots more classes thru April.. so check back often or stop by MCC and get a complete listing of these and all classes offered at Mohave Community College 

Automatic Operating System Updates

For those of you with Microsoft Windows Operating Systems, you can keep your computer up to date automatically with the latest updates by turning on the Automatic Update setting to make life easier…
By doing this, instead of you having to search for critical updates or reacting to those announced to you, Microsoft/Windows will download them directly to your computer when you aren’t typically using your computer, such as the middle of the night...but remember your computer would have to be on for this to happen.. If your computer is not on, the next time you turn your computer or laptop on, the “call out notice” will appear in the bottom right hand corner of your monitor prompting you to do the update…
Microsoft/Windows recognizes when you are online and uses your Internet connection to search for downloads from the Windows Update Web site.
An icon appears in the notification area each time new updates are available.
How to Turn On Automatic Updates:
• Right-click on "My Computer".
• Left-click on "Properties".
• Left-click on the "Automatic Updates" tab.
• Select "Automatic (recommended)".
• Select "Every Day".
• Select a time when your computer will be on and online.
• Left-click on "OK".

Just set it and forget it – it’s so easy.

Periodically, Microsoft/Windows will ask you to restart your computer after an update. You can restart at your convenience -- just make sure to save any data you're working on – if you have the automatic updates set, then your computer will automatically restart whenever it is needed…

Invitation from the Library at Mohave Community College

Hi there!  My name is Wendi Birkhead and I am the Librarian for the Hodel Library on the Lake Havasu Campus of MCC - Mohave Community College. The Library is open to everyone and anyone can come in and get a free Library card.

We are also looking forward to offering classes during Spring Frenzy about how to use the Library’s electronic resources to search our catalog and find magazines and newspapers online. Please consult the schedule of Spring Frenzy classes which are being held February 6th thru 10th, if you are interested.

If you have any questions, feel free to give us a call at 928-453-5809 or stop 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 Computer Building that so many of you visit when you are taking comptuer classes).

We'd love to meet you, so give us a call or stop by and let us know how we can help.

Yes Size Matters - What are Bytes, KB’s, MB’s, GB’s, TB’s, PB’s or EB’s?

What do all these “measurements” mean that we see for both RAM (Random Access Memory) or the space on a hard drive, portable hard drive, flash drive or memory card/stick?
The smallest unit of memory storage is called a BIT. A bit either contains a ONE or a ZERO. That's it.
• Eight bits is one BYTE ("bite"). That's enough storage for about one letter of the alphabet.
• 1,024 bytes is one KILOBYTE (KB) or about one page of text.
• 1,024 kilobytes is one MEGABYTE (MB) or about 1,000 pages of text (short novel).
• 1,024 megabytes is one GIGABYTE (GB) or about 1,000,000 pages of text (pickup truck filled with books).
• 1,024 gigabytes is one TERABYTE (TB) – and that is equal to about 50,000 trees made into paper and printed
Today, the most popular form of measurement that we hear about is Terabytes (TB) but on the horizon and in some publications we are already hearing about PETABYTES (PB) and EXABYTES (EB) - we've come a long way baby since the Commodore 64's....and we wonder where it will end..

To give you an idea of how much data a TB is or how much it can hold based on a document: It is said that The U.S. Library of Congress Web Capture team claims that "As of April 2011, the Library has collected about “235 terabytes of data" and that it adds about 5 terabytes per month.

Happy New Year - 2012 - To All

On behalf of myself and everyone at Mohave Community College we want to wish you and yours a healthy, happy New Year full of happiness, wonderful health, great blessings, peace and joy ~ May this year "2012" be the best yet! Cherie Houston

One of my most favorite New Year Poems...

~ William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)

ANOTHER NEW YEAR

“Another fresh new year is here . . .

Another year to live!

To banish worry, doubt, and fear,

To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me

To live each day with zest . . .

To daily grow and try to be

My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity once more

To right some wrongs,

To pray for peace,

To plant a tree,

And sing more joyful songs!”

History of New Years Resolutions….

At one time or another, most of us have created our list of New Years Resolutions – and most of us usually can't find or remember the list by the end of January – and very few of us can accomplish all or even some of those resolutions on the list when it’s time to think of creating our new list for the next year… Then why are resolutions so important and how and why did this tradition begin..

Personally, I think resolutions are a great idea – because setting goals is always a great idea and resolutions tend to give us hope.. Yes, HOPE that we can and will become a better person than who we see ourselves to be today – you know, we resolve and hope that we will become healthier, kinder, more successful, more financially responsible, spend more time with family and friends, become a better spouse and or parent and or child and or sibling; generally better to our friends and co-workers, and maybe – just maybe, finally at peace with and accepting ourselves, just the way we are…

But before you create your new list for 2012 - check out a few of the hundreds or maybe it was thousands of websites found when we were checking out this subject...  After all, you may want to do a little research on the history of resolutions and which are the most popular in years gone by – if so, enjoy some of these websites – and trust me – there are many thousands more if you don’t like these…

In the meantime, know that we like you, just the way you are… So from our families to yours, best wishes for happy, healthy and fabulous new year ahead… and enjoy and take advantage of all the hope and possibilities of having that fresh new slate in just a few days.

www.infoplease.com/spot/newyearcelebrations.html

www.ezinearticles.com/?The-History-of-New-Years-Resolutions&id=245213

www.goalsguy.com/events/n_facts.html

www.proactivechange.com/resolutions/statistics.htm

www.goal-setting-guide.com/statistics-facts-setting-years-resolutions

Listen to Christmas & Holiday Music Online

Thought you might enjoy listening to Christmas and Holiday Music Online - check out these free sites and enjoy the musical magic of the holidays... Remember you can minimize the website and continue to work or browse the Internet...

Enjoy and remember these are just a few of the hundreds of music and radio websites available world wide.....

www.Pandora.com/ChristmasMusic

www.christmasmusic247.com

www.xmasmelody.com


www.accuradio.com/more/accuholidays

How to easily enlarge what you are looking at in a document

If you zoom in and out of your documents quite a bit, you may get tired of using the pull-down zoom control on the toolbar or ribbon.

If you have a mouse that has the wheel between the two buttons, you can do a neat trick. All you need to do is hold down the Ctrl key as you turn the small wheel.

Each click of the wheel, up or down, increases or decreases the zoom factor by 10%.

Remember the zoom does not impact/change the actual font size - it simply changes the magnification of what you are zooming up and or down on...This is true anywhere in any application or browser software (word, excel, PowerPoint, etc) that you use on your computer...

How can I replace an "X" throughout my document with a "Check Mark"

Q: How can I replace an X throughout my document with a Check Mark?

A: It’s easier than you think to replace any word, number, phrase or character in a document without doing it one at a time.  You can do it quickly and easily by using your Find and Replace Dialog Box.  In this case you will be finding the capital X in your document and replacing it with a check mark character.

ü                     Note: you can find the check mark character " ü "   that I used in the Wingdings font.

There are several ways you can go about the task, but they all follow these general steps:

1. Press Ctrl+H to display the Replace tab of the Find and Replace dialog box.
2. Click the More button, if it is available and  the Find and Replace dialog box will appear.
3. In the Find What box enter an uppercase X.
4. Make sure the Match Case check box is selected.
5. Place the insertion point in the Replace With box.
6. Click the Format button and then choose Font. Word displays the Font dialog box.
7. In the Font list, select the Wingdings font.
8. Click OK to close the Font dialog box. The insertion point should still be in the Replace With box, and the font specification you made should appear just under the box.
9. Type the character you want to use for your check mark. (More on this in a moment.)
10. Use the control buttons in the dialog box (Find Next, Replace, or Replace All) as desired to make your replacements.

The confusion sometimes occur in Step 9, so there are several ways you can specify the check mark character.

One way is to copy the check mark to the Clipboard before you start the steps. Just type the check mark into the document, as desired, and then use Ctrl+C to copy it to the Clipboard. Then, in step 9, you can either press Ctrl+V to paste it into the Replace With box or you can use the ^c characters to tell Word you want to use the contents of the Clipboard as your replacement.

Or remember that all characters, such as the check mark or any style bullet have specific "character codes" in Word, Word Perfect and other Word Processing programs..  If you can find out the character code for the check mark (it is available in the Symbol dialog box if you use that method of creating the check mark), then you can use the code in the Find and Replace dialog box. 

The character code for a check mark ü  is 252, which must be entered using four characters and a carat mark, like this ^0252 in the Replace With box. When you do the replacement, you'll see the check mark (which corresponds to the character code) appear in your document.

Think twice before rushing to buy a new computer

Before you rush out to buy a new computer you’ve seen advertised, because your PC might seem a little slow, you might want to consider a few things…

First of all, when you are on the Internet visiting various websites – are you one of those individuals who always clicks “install this toolbar” assuming it will be helpful when you visit the website again in the future..  Many experts say that more than 75% of the software that is on your computer – either pre-installed or installed by you is never used…  So be careful about what you install and why and consider removing software that you have never used - It is easy to do, but if you aren't sure how to do this, ask for help.. 

Second, organize what you have on your current computer.  Be sure that all document, photos etc. are neatly stored away in specific topic folders so that it is easy for you to find…   Once eveything is neatly organized, if that hasn't helped - consider storing all for your documents, photos, music and videos on a portable hard drive,  You can purchase a 1TB portable hard drive for under $100 – much less than a new computer will cost.  Once you have cleaned off unnecessary application software programs and documents you don’t want or need – you may be pleasantly surprised at how well your computer performs…  Also once you know where everything is it helps to control duplicates – and this especially applies to any of us who have been allowing our digital cameras or camcorders to download our digital media files…  we may have many more copies on our computers than we think, which will cause your computer to crawl…

Third, make sure your drivers are current.  Drivers are the software that allow peripheral equipment to work well with your computer, and those for your printer & scanner should be updated periodically..

Fourth, while we’re talking equipment, we also find it helpful (and healthful) to use the keyboard shortcuts as often as possible.  You want to protect your wrist, elbow & shoulder from tendinitis related issues, caused by the repetitive motion of going back & forth all day long from keyboard to mouse and vice versa… If you are hands are on the keyboard than use keyboard shortcuts to give commands and if they are on the mouse, use the menu or toolbar/ribbon icons… 

11th Annual Spring Frenzy ~ February 6-12, 2012 Join in the Fun!!

Spring Frenzy is a fun-filled week of activities and classes designed not only for fun, but for improving your quality of life as well. It is an annual event held the first week in Feburary, February 6-12, 2012...

This year Lake Havasu City Parks & Recreation is offering 192 classes featuring 14 special activities including fishing, golfing, field trip to the Bluewater Casino and to Stagecoach Trails. Happy Hour will be happening every day Monday-Thursday from 4 -  6 p.m. and on Friday there is a concert.

February 7, 8 & 9: Tuesday thru Thursday 9am-5pm, I will be offering 21 different one hour introductory computer related classes at MCC - Mohave Community College on a variety of subjects including using Skype to call worldwide no charge; how to Edit your Digital Photos with free Picasa Software; Basics of several different application software programs including Word, Excel, Power Point; How to master the Internet, Your Smart Phone; Your Digital Camera; How to Buy and Sell Online; How to Save Money by making travel arrangements online; Using your digital photos to create memory & scrapbooks & other great gift ideas; or to create a movie with digital photos and much much more…  

Call the Aquatic Center (which is located at 100 Park Avenue off Rt. 95 /south Side of town) 928-453-8686 x24 – Candie Carbone or email Candie at carbonic@lhcaz.gov

Price: $4 a class or $30 for the week

For more details on my classes or any of the hundred events being hosted throughout the city, pick up a brochure at the Aquatic Center on December 27th or go online to:

www.lhcaz.gov/aquaticCenter

Take advantage of this wonderful event - but remember space in limited and all classes and events are offered on a first come - first serve basis - so be sure to register early...

Look forward to seeing you...

And to keep current on what's happening in Lake Havasu City, be sure to visit our Tourism website often...

http://www.golakehavasu.com/

108 Stores with Senior Discounts ~ Part 2 of 2

Special thanks again to Nancy Donovan for sharing the following article with us – this is the 2nd part, continued from our posting on Wednesday this week…..

Since many senior discounts are not advertised to the public, our advice to men and women over 55 is to ALWAYS ask a sales associate if that store provides a senior discount. Most WILL NOT automatically give it to you so ASK! That way, you can be sure to get the most bang for your buck. And also remember that if you are a member of groups such as AAA, CAA & AARP in the United States and Canada you are also eligible for countless discounts, but the same applies, you have to ask.. (and yes-these groups have apps for your smartphones to help you find those discounts in specific locations).

And check out this website for more senior discount suggestions: http://www.sciddy.com/

The following list of a continuation of the senior savings we hope will help you keep more cash in your pocket. Whoever said getting older was a bad thing, obviously didn't know about these fantastic senior discounts!

Travel
· Alaska Airlines: 10% off (65+)
· Alamo: up to 25% off for AARP members
· American Airlines: various discounts for 65+(call prior to booking)
· Amtrak: 15% off (62+)
· Avis: up to 25% off for AARP members
· Best Western: 10% off (55+)
· Budget Rental Cars: 10% off; up to 20% off for AARP members (50+)
· Cambria Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Clarion: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Comfort Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Comfort Suites: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Continental Air: no initiation fee/Presidents Club & special fares
· Dollar Rent-A-Car: 10% off (50+)
· Econo Lodge: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Enterprise Rent-A-Car: 5% off for AARP members
· Greyhound: 5% off (62+)
· Hampton Inns & Suites: 10% off when booked 72 hours in advance
· Hertz: up t0 25% off for AARP members
· Holiday Inn: 10%-30% off depending on location (62+)
· Hyatt Hotels: 25%-50% off (62+)
· InterContinental Hotels Group: various discounts at all hotels (65+)
· Mainstay Suites: 10% off Mature Traveler's Discount (50+); 20%-30% off (60+)
· Marriott Hotels: 15% off (62+)
· Motel 6: 10% off (60+)
· Myrtle Beach Resort: 10% off (55+)
· National Rent-A-Car: up to 30% off for AARP members
· Quality Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Rodeway Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Sleep Inn: 20%-30% off (60+)
· Southwest Air: various discounts ages 65+ (call before booking)
· Trailways Transportation System: various discounts for ages 50 and up
· United Air: various discounts for ages 65 and up (call before booking)
· U.S. Airways: various discounts for ages 65+(call before booking)

Activities & Entertainment
· AMC Theaters: up to 30% off (55+)
· Bally Total Fitness: up to $100 off memberships (62+)
· Busch Gardens Tampa: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)
· Carmike Cinemas: 35% off (65+)
· Cinemark/Century Theaters: up to 35% off
· US National Parks: $10 lifetime pass; 50% off addt’l services(62+)
· Regal Cinemas: 30% off
· Ripley's Believe it or Not: @ off one-day ticket (55+)
· SeaWorld Orlando: $3 off one-day tickets (50+)

Cell Phone Discounts
· AT&T: Special Senior Nation 200 Plan $29.99/month (65+)
· Jitterbug: $10/month cell phone service (50+)
· Verizon Wireless: Verizon Nationwide 65 Plus Plan $29.99/month (65+)

Miscellaneous
· Great Clips: $3 off hair cuts (60+)
· Super Cuts: $2 off haircuts (60+)

Since many senior discounts are not advertised to the public, our advice to everyone over 55 is to ALWAYS ASK a sales associate if that store provides a senior discount. That way, you can be sure to get the most bang for you buck.

108 Stores with Senior Discounts ~ Part 1 of 2

Special Thanks to Nancy Donovan for sharing the following article with us, which we are posting in 2 parts - today and Friday on our blog...

Since many senior discounts are not advertised to the public, our advice to men and women over 55 is to ALWAYS ask a sales associate if that store provides a senior discount. Most WILL NOT automatically give it to you so ASK! That way, you can be sure to get the most bang for your buck. And also remember that if you are a member of groups such as AAA, CAA & AARP in the United States and Canada you are also eligible for countless discounts, but the same applies, you have to ask.. (and yes-these groups have apps for your smartphones to help you find those discounts in specific locations).

And check out this website for more senior discount suggestions: www.sciddy.com

The following list of senior savings we hope will help you keep more cash in your pocket. Whoever said getting older was a bad thing, obviously didn't know about these fantastic senior discounts!

Retail and Apparel
· Banana Republic: 10% off (50+)
· Bealls: 20% off first Tuesday of each month (50+)
· Belk's: 15% off first Tuesday of every month (55+)
· Big Lots: 10% off
· Bon-Ton Department Stores: 15% off on senior discount days (55+)
· C.J. Banks: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
· Clarks: 10% off (62+)
· Dress Barn: 10% off (55+)
· Goodwill: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
· Hallmark: 10% off one day a week (date varies by location)
· Kmart: 20% off (50+)
· Kohl's: 15% off (60+)
· Modell's Sporting Goods: 10% off
· Rite Aid: 10% off on Tuesdays & 10% off prescriptions
· Ross Stores: 10% off every Tuesday (55+)
· The Salvation Army Thrift Stores: up to 50% off (55+)
· Stein Mart: 20% off red dot/clearance items first Monday of every month (55+)

Restaurants
· Applebee's: 15% off with Golden Apple Card (60+)
· Arby's: 10% off (55+)
· Ben & Jerry's: 10% off (60+)
· Bennigan's: discount varies by location
· Bob's Big Boy: discount varies by location (60+)
· Boston Market: 10% off (65+)
· Burger King: 10% off (60+)
· Captain D's Seafood: discount varies on location (62+)
· Chick-Fil-A: 10% off or free small drink or coffee (55+)
· Chili's: 10% off (55+)
· CiCi's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
· Culver's: 10% off (60+)
· Denny's: 10% off, 20% off for AARP members (55+)
· Dunkin' Donuts: 10% off or free coffee (55+)
· Einstein's Bagels: 10% off baker's dozen of bagels (60+)
· Fuddrucker's: 10% off any senior platter (55+)
· Gatti's Pizza: 10% off (60+)
· Golden Corral: 10% off (60+)
· Hardee's: $0.33 beverages everyday (65+)
· Hard Rock Café: 10% off food, non-alcoholic beverages & merchandise with AAA
· IHOP: 10% off (55+)
· Jack in the Box: up to 20% off (55+)
· KFC: free small drink with any meal (55+)
· Krispy Kreme: 10% off (50+)
· Long John Silver's: various discounts at participating locations (55+)
· McDonald's: discounts on coffee everyday (55+)
· Mrs. Fields: 10% off at participating locations (60+)
· Shoney's: 10% off
· Sonic: 10% off or free beverage (60+)
· Steak 'n Shake: 10% off every Monday & Tuesday (50+)
· Subway: 10% off (60+)
· Sweet Tomatoes 10% off (62+)
· Taco Bell: 5% off; free beverages for seniors (65+)
· TCBY: 10% off (55+)
· Tea Room Cafe: 10% off (50+)
· Village Inn: 10% off (60+)
· Waffle House: 10% off every Monday (60+)
· Wendy's: 10% off (55+)
· White Castle: 10% off (62+)

Grocery
· Albertson's: 10% off first Wednesday of each month (55+)
· American Discount Stores: 10% off every Monday (50+)
· Compare Foods Supermarket: 10% off every Wednesday (60+)
· DeCicco Family Markets: 5% off every Wednesday (60+)
· Food Lion: 6% off every Monday (60+)
· Fry's Supermarket: free Fry's VIP Club Membership & 10% off every Monday (55+)
· Great Valu Food Store: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
· Gristedes Supermarket: 10% off every Tuesday (60+)
· Harris Teeter: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
· Hy-Vee: 5% off one day a week (date varies by location)
· Kroger: 10% off (date varies by location)
· Morton Williams Supermarket: 5% off every Tuesday (60+)
· The Plant Shed: 10% off every Tuesday (50+)
· Publix: 5% off every Wednesday (55+)
· Rogers Marketplace: 5% off every Thursday (60+)

Dealing With Error Messages

From time to time, we all have error messages appear on our monitor that we don’t know what they mean. Next time this happens this tip will help:

First:
I always save the error message in word for future reference. To do that easily:

· Use your CTRL Key – Print Screen Key together (this will take a copy of the error message & all that is on your monitor at the time)

· Now open your WP software (Word, Works, Word Pad) and use your PASTE command-now the error message is on a clean piece of paper-Now Save it so once you know what this means, you can type the answer on the same page for future reference

· And print the message so you can see it easily

Next:

· Type the error message into Google Search.

· You are not the first (and won’t be the last) to get this error message.

· Personally I read a few answers, to be sure I am getting an answer I understand and resolution I can work with

Last:
Once I have the explanation and resolution I need, I use my copy and paste skills:

· Highlight the information

· Activate your copy command

· Open the document that has the error message copy on it

· Put my cursor on that document and activate the paste command, which adds the answer and resolution

· And save it once again

Now in the future if the error message comes back up, I have my answer.

In Picasa - what’s the difference between Folders and Albums?

Q: In Picasa - what’s the difference between Folders and Albums?

A: Folders actually contain photos and they use space on your hard drive; whereas Albums, only exist within Picasa.

Lets say you name your folders by date & event, like I do. You might have a main folder for a specific year, then within that year you might have sub-folders by months or events - then within a specific event folder you might have additional sub-sub-folder... For example, you went to California for 2 weeks, so inside a California Trip folder, which is inside your 2011 Folder, you have 3 sub-folders for: 320 pictures in a San Diego sub-folder; 120 in a Hollywood sub-folder and another 280 in a San Francisco sub-folder. Your family and friends might love you, but showing that many pictures to anyone would probably not be a great idea, so we want to “choose some from each city sub-folder, to create a “synopsis” folder or album, to create a slideshow, a book, or other project..

That’s where your Picasa Albums can come in very handy - but it's important you understand albums versus folders....

Folders actually contain photos.
The folders you see in Picasa are the real folders you see when you are looking in your Picture drawer on Windows Explorer (what I call my vault).

• If you delete a photo from a folder in Picasa, the real photo in the real folder on your hard drive, will also be deleted.
• And, when you delete a photo from a folder in your Picture drawer on Windows Explorer (what I call my vault) it will no longer be in the Picasa view.

Albums, on the other hand, only exist within Picasa.
Albums "point to" photos in folders, they don’t actually have their own copies of photos.

• Albums let us create multiple ways to view and organize the photos in your folders.
• If you add a photo to an album, the photo remains in its original folder and Picasa adds a reference to that photo to the album.
• If you delete a photo from an album, the photo remains in its original folder and Picasa removes that album's reference to that photo.
• A photo exists in exactly one folder, but the photo can appear in (be referenced by) several albums.
• If you delete a photo from a folder, the photo will be removed from the folder AND any albums it appears in (because the albums no longer have a photo to reference).

Some of us organize our photos using Windows Explorer by creating a main Project folders in the Picture "vault" for our “copies”, but another way to do that is to create Albums in Picasa, to organize your photos.

Main difference is, if I put copies in a folder in the Main Picture drawer using Windows explorer they are truly copies; whereas albums are not true copies…

So when you use albums in Picasa, you are not using actual space on your hard drive

How to convert music to MP3 format?

How can I change my iTunes or other music, to MP3 format so that I can insert them when I am creating a photo video in Movie Maker or Picasa Movies?

This is very easy and a very common question - whether your are using a PC with windows software or a MAC. When we purchase and download music from various vendors or when we rip them CD's, they typically come over the “fullest” version.

However when we want to create a project, using software such as Picasa Movie and or Windows Movie Maker, many of these application programs will not allow us to use the “fullest” version of the music because it is too large.

So when we open the music files from these programs, although we know the songs are there, we don’t see them - the file appears to be empty; so we need to change/convert the music to MP3 format, which all these programs accept - follow these steps:

• Simply open your iTunes or media player
• Be sure on the left you have chosen music as the media folder you want to see, and then find the album or individual song you want to convert to “MP3 format”..
• Highlight the song/songs that you want to convert in the playlist
• Go to the menu bar: in Windows choose Edit and on a Mac/iTunes – Choose iTunes
• When the menu bar drops down, choose Preferences,
• When the Preferences Dialog Box Opens, be sure you are on the General tab
• Now Choose Import Settings (about the center of the dialog box-right side)
• When the Import Settings Dialog Box opens, Change AAC Encoder to MP3 Encoder
• Also be sure High Quality is chosen and then click OK

Now, be sure your songs are highlighted that you want to change

• Right Click on the songs and when the action menu list appears, choose MP3 Version
• You’ll see the songs being converted
• You are done..

Notes:

• Next time you open the music folder from Picasa or Movie Maker you will see the songs as MP3 format and be able to include them in your video..
• You will now have 2 versions of every song – the original “full” version and the more condensed MP3 version

Happy Thanksgiving everyone

When I was trying to decide what might be appropriate for our posting today for Thanksgiving, I found the following and thought it something you might enjoy.. From our families to yours, have a happy, healthy and very blessed Thanksgiving... Cherie Houston

Thanksgiving Quotes:

We are taught Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate the Pilgrims and the Native Americans who came together in peace, but this national holiday is actually a day of celebrating God's bounty. In 1789, George Washington, first President of the United States of America, proclaimed Thanksgiving as a national day of celebration to herald and celebrate God and the abundance He has given us.

The day Thanksgiving was assigned to is, and almost always has been, the fourth Thursday in November. The date was changed once, to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, but was changed back two years later.

Because of the formality that surrounds this holiday, it's only natural to think of quotes from noteworthy citizens to mark the occasion. Below are a few famous people who have offered quotes that might be included in a Thanksgiving celebration.

• On Thanksgiving let us gather in sanctuaries dedicated to worship and in our homes blessed by family affection to express our gratitude for the glorious gifts of God; and let us earnestly and humbly pray that He will continue to guide and sustain us in the great unfinished tasks of achieving peace, justice and understanding among all men and nations, and of ending misery and suffering wherever they exist. -- John F. Kennedy

• There is one day that is ours. Thanksgiving Day is the one day that is purely American. -- O. Henry

• Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday. People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year. And then they discover once a year is way too often. --Johnny Carson

• Let us remember that as much as has been given us, much will be expected from us, and that true homage comes from the heart as well as from the lips, and shows itself in deeds. --Theodore Roosevelt

Use Word 2007 or 2010 to make Greeting Cards

Making greetings cards has never been easier than it is now if you have Word 2007 or 2010.

Whether you need a card for congratulations, new baby, get well or for any holiday imaginable, and both Word 2007 and 2010 have lots of templates to choose from – all of which you can modify for your very specific needs and occasion...

Reminder about Word 2007 & 2010: Office/Word 2007 uses an “OfficeButton” in the upper left corner; whereas Office/Word 2010 has gone back to the tab “File” the same phrase used in earlier versions of Word and other Office programs

• So in Word 2007, click on the Office Button – and in Word 2010, click on the File Tab
• Now Choose “New” and the New Document window will open.
• You will now see a vast variety of templates to choose from
• In Word 2007 it is a column list on the left side of the page
• In Word 2010 the bulk of the screen will show you various Templates
• Now choose Greeting Cards.
• You can choose the option you want from under the Greeting Cards section – check them all out and remember you can modify any of these to your liking for your specific needs
• You will be connected to the Microsoft Office Online site. You can select from hundreds of templates or you can go to this website in the browser and download the templates from there.
• You can preview every template in Word and then click the Download button
• The Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) validation dialog box will appear. (Once I’ve read this once, I click the check box in the bottom left corner asking that I not be shown the message again in the future) – I’ve heard, but it hasn’t happened to me, that you might have to download the updated version of OGA to be capable of downloading a template.
• You can customize the downloaded card by changing the colors, fonts etc or adding your message before printing it.
• Now you can print the card
• You can make your holiday and other greeting cards even more personal – just insert your own photos..

About the card stock: cards will always be more professional if when you use “greeting card paper stock” either 60 - 80lb. (versus standard 20lb. printer paper)

Many stores that carry computer supplies (such as Wal-Mart, Staples etc.) carry Card Stock paper and matching envelopes, and you can also find great deals online with companies such as:

www.desktopsupplies.com

www.thepapermillstore.com

How to Record Audio Narration in PowerPoint 2010?

Q: I've just prepared a power point slide show for Thanksgiving but want to add narration about our family on the slides, instead of having music - how can I do this - I'm using PowerPoint 2010.

A: This is much easier than you might think (just a little more time consuming but well worth it) and although it is something we've been able to do for many years in PowerPoint, it's so much easier now in Office 2007 & 2010.. Just follow the following steps:

First, be sure that your microphone is working and I always set my volume to the highest setting, because I know I can always slide it down when I'm actually doing the presentation - but if I record it too "low" I can't increase the volume. move it up... If your microphone isn't built into your computer or laptop, be sure that the plug is in securely.

Next:

• Open you PowerPoint Presentation (either one you've done that is completed or finish a new slide show).
• Go to “Slide show” tab, then choose “Record slide show” under the “set up” section.
• Choose 1) entire slide or 2) select the individual slide where you want Audio “Narration” to begin, from “Record Slide Show” options to add narration..
• Select “Narration and Laser Pointer” check box, when Record Slide Show Dialog box appears (versus Slide and Animation Timings)
• Whether you want slides to move forward automatically with a specific time that you have chosen and asset or move to the next slide manually, either of these simply select or deselect “Slide and Animation Timings”
• Now choose “Start Recording” button and speak clearly into your microphone – If you need to stop in between for any reason, click “Pause” and then when you are ready to continue, click “Resume”
• And if you are going to insert “narration” on individual slides, (versus across all) then you would simply to have repeat these steps on each and every slide...
• When you are done, right-click on the slide, and click “End Show” to end the slide show recording..

Now when you preview your presentation you will hear the “Audio Narration” you have added to your slide/slides - Success...

Microsoft Help And How To Links

Still not quite comfortable using your windows operating system to it’s full potential to do things like your system maintenance, or would like to know how to improve your computers performance, and other great tips, then take some time and visit Microsoft’s Help and How to for your specific Operating System – just click on the link below for your operating system & begin learning… nice part is you can continue t come back to this site as often as you'd like so you can learn in "small doses"...

Windows XP www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows/help/windows-xp

Windows Vista www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows-vista/help

Windows 7 www.windows.microsoft.com/en-US/windows7/help

Invitation from MCC Library

Hi All! 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 in the community – students and non-students, alike – and anyone can get a library card for free. We carry bestsellers, fiction and nonfiction.

Through our website, 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.

So please 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). Or give us a call at 928-453-5809 to ask for more information.

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, Lake Havasu City, AZ 86403

Tel 928-505-3311

Toll Free: 1.866.664.2832

Email: wbirkhead@mohave.edu

Library Website: www.mohave.edu/library

Veteran's Day Prayer

I want to thank Jan Amarda from Birmingham, Alabama for sending me the following prayer honoring all of our veterans...

VETERAN’S DAY PRAYER
By Joanna Fuchs

Dear Lord, Today we honor our veterans,
worthy men and women who gave their best
when they were called upon
to serve and protect their country.

We pray that you will bless them, Lord,
for their unselfish service in the continual struggle
to preserve our freedoms, our safety,
and our country’s heritage, for all of us.

Bless them abundantly for the hardships they faced,
for the sacrifices they made
for their many different contributions
to America’s victories over tyranny and oppression.

We respect them, we thank them,
we honor them, we are proud of them,
and we pray that you will watch over these special people
and bless them with peace and happiness.

Amen.

How to manage what photos are in Picasa

I DON’T WANT ALL MY PICTURES IN PICASA – I WANT TO CHOOSE WHEN AND WHICH PHOTOS ARE IN PICASA?

This can be done, but remember you cannot disable the initial scan for photos after installing Picasa – after you have downloaded Picasa to your computer, it will ask you to make one of 2 choices:

• Scan your My Documents, My Pictures drawer OR



• Scan your entire computer, which would mean all drive’s plugged in

But once this is done, you can use the Folder Manager to specify which folders on your computer Picasa should scan in the future.

• Once the initial scan begins in Picasa, click the Tools menu.



• Select Folder Manager



• In the Folder Manager, exclude all folders that you don't want to include in Picasa



• Once you have made your selections, click OK

So, for those of you who only want pictures or folders in Picasa when you want to edit those specific folders or pictures; simply remove all folders from Picasa. Now when you want to work on a specific photo or folder, simply drag the photo (s) or folder (s) to Picasa to the Picasa editing screen once you have opened your Picasa…

We don't change our clocks this weekend in Arizona

But for most of the country, this weekend, on Sunday at 2AM, Daylight Savings Time will end until March...

Just a reminder this weekend on Sunday morning, November 6TH at 2am, Daylight Savings Time will end and most states in the US will revert back to Standard Time. Before you go to bed Saturday evening, set all clocks, watches and other time pieces BACK 1 HOUR. Most computers, cell phones and cable boxes will make this change automatically without our help..

We will then move them ahead to begin Daylight Savings Time when we put the clocks ahead "1 hour" at 2am on the second Sunday in March, March 11th 2012..

Several states, including Arizona (except some Indian Reservations), Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa have chosen not to observe Daylight Saving Time so they do not change their clocks at anytime during the year.

Next year… Daylight Saving Time begins on Sun, Mar 11, 2012 and ends on Sun, Nov 4, 2012

How to Scan Photos Using Picasa

In our last blog posting, we described how to scan photos and documents to your computer using Picasa. Picasa is Google’s Free photo editing software – if you don’t have this on your computer, you can go to www.picasa.com and download it)..

Scanning allows us to save our photos and/or documents onto our computers in “digital format”. Most all-in-one printers today have built in scanners, but we often hear they are confusing to use. So, for an easy option, Picasa might be the right choice for you…

Once you get going, you'll find that you can easily scan 50-60 or more photos in an hour (and this is true whether you use Picasa, your scanner's software or your operating system software such as Windows Photo Gallery, so it’s a great winter or rainy day project… And it’s wonderful to know that those old family photos won’t be lost.. Here's how:

• Be sure your computer and printer/scanner are on
• Open your “Picasa” application software program
• Always scan just one “1” photo or one “1” document at a time
• Put the photo on the glass of the scanner – face down
• In Picasa, click ‘Import’
• Click the arrow for the drop down list of devices. You'll see your scanner listed, select it
• Each scanner shows a different screen, but I beleive all have an option to "Preview"
• Click the "Preview" option and now you'll see your photo
• If you want to crop the photo you can do it now or save the entire photo & crop later
• Once you're happy with, Click the button to Scan
• When it’s done scanning, you’re back at the standard Picasa Import screen
• Click Import all
• Select or create a folder to put it in
• I usually name mine: "Scan & today's date - i.e. Scan 2011.11.2"
• Now my first and subsequent photos scanned today will go in that folder
• Tomorrow I would create a new folder & name it with the correct date
• This way I can either name each individual photo or number them 1, 2, 3 etc..
• Once the photos are in the folder you want, you can certainly export them to your 'My Picture/Picture drawer - in whatever folder you want them in"

Tip: Once you have completed your scanning for the day, some of the Picasa forums recommend that you use Picasa’s Batch Edit command, and choose “I’m Feeling Lucky” and “Sharpen” to all of the photos in the “Old Photos-Today’s Date” that you just created… you can always open this again later to do individual editing of each photo you’ve now saved on your computer..

How to Scan using Windows Photo Gallery

One way to SCAN a photo or document to a computer with Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7 Operating Systems, is to use the free Windows Photo Gallery that is part of these operating systems. This will allow you to scan, edit, and organize pictures and the pictures you scan will automatically be saved Pictures folder, in a My Scan/Scan folder.

Scanning allows you to create and save a "digital" copy of your photo or document on your computer.

Most printers today are also scanners. Be sure to turn your scanner on and be sure to always scan one "1" photo or document at a time; otherwise you will have one "1" scan of multiple photos or multiple documents - Now:

• Open Windows Photo Gallery by clicking the Start button , clicking All Programs, and then clicking Windows Photo Gallery
• Click File, and then click Import from Camera or Scanner
• In the Import Pictures and Videos window, click the scanner that you want to use, and then click Import
• In the New Scan dialog box, click the Profile list, and then click Photo. The default settings for scanning a picture are automatically displayed
• If you're using a scanner with a document feeder, click the Paper size list, and then click the size of the picture that you've placed on the scanner or click the size that most closely matches the picture
• Click the Color format list, and then click the color format that you want the scanned file to display
• Click the File type list, and then click the file type that you want to use to save the scanned file – for pictures .jpg is the most popular, especially if you are going to be using 3rd party software for projects, such as Walgreens, Cvs, Snapfsh etc. to create gifts such as books or mugs..
• Adjust the brightness and contrast settings or type the values that you want to use
• To see how the picture will appear when it is scanned, click Preview. If needed, modify the scan settings, and then preview the picture again. Repeat these steps until you're satisfied with the preview results
• Click Scan. When the scan is complete, Windows Photo Gallery prompts you to tag/name the picture so that it's easier to organize or find later
• In the Tag These Pictures (optional) list, type a tag name, and then click Import. Windows Photo Gallery displays the picture so you can view, fix, or organize it.
• Once the photo is in your Picture/My Picture Library/folder-you can move it to whatever folder you want it in and you can now use your Photo Editing software to make changes to the original..

If you don't have Windows Photo Gallery on your computer - go the following link and download it for free:

http://windows-live-photo-gallery.en.softonic.com/download

Tomorrow's blog posting will explain how to Scan your Photo's using Picasa Photo Editing Software...

What do the Social Security Numbers (SSN's) mean in the United States?

SSN's are not assigned consecutively; the first was not the lowest number, and the most recent is not the highest. They are assigned regionally and in batches.

SSN's are nine-digits and has been issued in more than 400 million different sequences. SSN's are divided into three parts:

1. Area numbers
2. Group numbers
3. Serial numbers

Area numbers - The first three numbers originally represented the state in which a person first applied for a Social Security card. Numbers started in the northeast and moved westward - Since 1972, the SSA has assigned numbers and issued cards based on the ZIP code in the mailing address provided on the original application form. Because most people today receive SSNs as infants, the area number indicates the state we were born in.

Group numbers - These two middle digits, which range from 01 through 99, are simply used to break all the SSNs with the same area number into smaller blocks, which makes administration easier. (The SSA says that, for administrative reasons, group numbers issued first consist of the odd numbers from 01thru 09, and then even numbers from 10 through 98, within each area number assigned to a state. After all the numbers in group 98 of a specific area have been issued, the even groups 02 through 08 are used, followed by odd groups 11 through 99.)

Serial numbers - Within each group designation, serial numbers -- the last four digits in an SSN -- run consecutively from 0001 through 9999. Although SSNs are issued in some order, there is no simple way to tell a person's age based on his Social Security number.

Here is a listing of how the Area Numbers are assigned:
001-003 NH
004-007 ME
008-009 VT
010-034 MA
035-039 RI
040-049 CT
050-134 NY
135-158 NJ
159-211 PA
212-220 MD
221-222 DE
223-231 VA
691-699 VA
232-236 WV
232 NC
237-246 NC
681-690 NC
247-251 SC
654-658 SC
252-260 GA
667-675 GA
261-267 FL
589-595 FL
268-302 OH
303-317 IN
318-361 IL
362-386 MI
387-399 WI
400-407 KY
408-415 TN
756-753 TN
416-424 AL
425-428 MS
587-588 MS
752-755 MS
429-432 AR
676-679 AR
433-439 LA
659-665 LA
440-448 OK
449-467 TX
627-645 TX
486-477 MN
478-485 IA
486-500 MO
501-502 ND
503-504 SD
505-508 NE
509-515 KS
516-517 MT
518-519 ID
520 WY
521-524 CO
650-653 CO
525,585 NM
648-649 NM
526-527 AZ
600-601 AZ
528-529 UT
646,647 UT
530,680 NV
531-539 WA
540-544 OR
545-573 CA
602-626 CA
574 AK
575-576 HI
750-751 HI
577-579 DC
580 VI
580-584 PR
596-599 PR
586 GU
586 AS

For more information about Social Security Numbers - how and when they began and how the use of the numbers have changed over the years, check out this website...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_Security_number

What is clip art & how do I use it?

Holidays are coming and you might want to use clip art or photos to enhance your documents - invitations, holiday letters and more.... First of all ~ always insert graphics into your documents vs. copying them, so they react the way you want or need them to...

Clip art is a picture or graphic that can be inserted into various documents, such as those you might create in word processing, power point, excel or publisher to name a few...
You don’t have to purchase clip art software (as we did years ago) - There are thousands and thousands of different CLIP ART options built into various documentation programs and you can continue to build your own clip art collection from a variety of sources such as Microsoft online or Google images…

When you are in your word document, put your cursor/insertion point to the specific location in your document where you want the clip art, picture or symbol to be “inserted”.

• In Office 2007-2010 Word, Excel, etc.. go to the Insert Tab
  
• In Office 2003 or older versions, go to Insert on the Menu Bar and then to Pictures, Clip Art, etc.

You will now choose what you want to Insert - Picture, ClipArt, Symbol, Text Box, Word Art etc..

For clip art you will now see the gallery and/or the gallery search bar, so that you can search for or choose the image you want – if it is a picture, then open the folder or sub-folder the picture is in and choose the picture – one it is highlighted choose insert.

The image will now be inserted into your document…

When the graphic is on your page, the Picture Formatting Toolbar appears (in older versions of Word 2003 and prior-you can right click on your toolbar and turn this on or off) in Word 2007 & 2010 it appears as a new/additional tab, after the View tab..

When you insert graphics into your document, always go to the Text Wrap Icon (looks like a little dog in a postage stamp) and when the list appears choose Through. This allows you to easily work with both your text and graphics. Later, you can then change your choice of text wrapping – tight, square, behind text, in front of text (choices vary depending on your version of Word, Excel, PowerPoint etc 2000-2003-2007-2010?)…

Use your sizing handles around your graphic to change the size of your graphic – personally I like to use the sizing handles in the corners so that I change the height and width of my graphic all at once to be sure I don’t distort the graphic making it too tall/short or too wide/narrow…
Use the four headed arrow on the graphic to move the graphic around on your page to where you want it…

If your sizing handles boxes aren’t there or you don’t see the picture formatting toolbar, simply click on your graphic again – you must have the sizing handles around your graphic in order to see the picture formatting toolbar…

Clip Art & other graphics are a great way to enhance your documents - remember: one picture can be worth a thousand words... have fun & enjoy

Which is faster – cable, telephone or wireless internet??

This is a question that comes up all the time. The following two links are to articles on ehow.com, that we thought might help you better understand this ever changing technology:

www.ehow.com/info_8260618_fios-vs-cable-internet.html#ixzz1ahQZA7JP

www.ehow.com/about_4587185_dsl-cable-wireless-faster.html

According to “ehow.com” FIOS might be the fastest, but FIOS (“fiber optic service”) a product from Verizon, is not available everywhere. Here are some of the differences according to “ehow.com” FiOS potentially offers a lot more bandwidth than cable modems do, and both FIOS and cable offer more download speed than a typical DSL connection.

All Internet providers rate their Internet speeds with two numbers -- download speed and upload speed, where the upload speed is lower – here are the major 3:

• Verizon advertises its top FIOS bandwidth as 20/5 -- 20 megabits per second (Mbps) download speed, and 5 Mbps upload speed
• Comcast digital broadband typically runs at 5 to 7 Mbps download speed and 2 Mbps (or less) upload speeds
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) are typically 1.5 Mbps download speed and 0.7 Mbps upload speeds

Each has advantages and disadvantages:

• Verizon’s FiOS service is offered in a limited set of areas and the fiber optic cable has to be run to your home once it is available in your area
• Cable Internet, such as Comcast’s digital broadband, typically has the widest general reach and is available anywhere there's a coaxial cable connection, over the same wires
• DSL (Digital Service Telephone Lines) have somewhat wider coverage, but your home has to be within a certain distance of the telephone switching station

So although Cable Internet may offer higher maximum speeds than DSL or wireless connections, remember that DSL lines belongs only to the person paying for it – whereas, cable connections are usually shared with others in our area, which is why cable users often have fluctuations in the download speeds. So again, according to some, DSL – although slower – might offer more consistent speed..

No matter what – you have to do your homework and be sure you are comparing apples & apples and with technology changing as rapidly as it is, it’s another reason it’s never a good idea to sign a long term contract for any type of service…

Your personal budget should also be a major consideration before making any choice – are the extra few seconds worth hundreds of $$$$ every year??

What is the NUM LOCK key on my keyboard?

NUM LOCK is just an abbreviation for numeric lock.

The NUM LOCK key is usually located in the upper left corner of the numeric keypad on your keyboard and enables and disables your numeric keypad.

When you turn the NUM LOCK on you can use the numbers on the keypad; when you turn the NUM LOCK off the keys now perform other functions such as using the keypad as an arrow pad (typically the “other” functions are noted right on the numeric keypad keys).

On most keyboards, when the NUM LOCK key is enabled, there will be an LED light indicator, so that you know the the NUM LOCK key is turned on (just like the CAP LOCK) light indicator…

How and Why's of Setting Up Users Accounts (with Windows 7)

How to set up different User Accounts on your Computer..
Windows Operating Systems have always allowed us to set up different user accounts for different users of the same computer, so that when each user signs in they will see the desktop icons/software – wallpaper, screen savers and of course files & folders that are just theirs…

Although it’s a little different in each of the operating systems – Windows 7 makes it easier than ever to do this…

Note: Whenever two or more user accounts are created, one of them MUST BE an administrator account. It is then the administrator account that is able to set restriction on what additional user accounts can and can’t do…

• Go to Start, Control Panel, User Accounts, then left click “Manage another Account”
• Now left click on “create a new account”
• Choose an account type, enter a name and then left click, create account
• To password protect the account, click that choice. You will see different account options in addition to creating a password

Remember passwords are always case sensitive, so be sure to note what the different passwords are that you assign to each user

Why set up different user accounts? I’ve found it helpful to have a user account with my name on it and another user account that says “kids” for the grandkids to use and another user account for “guests” which allows anyone else to use the computer… This way, the grandkids and guests can use our computer, and I'm never concerned that any of our personal and/or work information will be compromised - it remains private and can’t be accessed by anyone else using the computer…

October Computer Classes

Seats are still available in the following October computer classes .. and remember MCC offers a a 25% discount for senior AZ residents over 62 – so be sure to ask for this if this applies to you!!

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....So call Registration 928-855-7812 or 453-1139 and join us ~

DIGITAL CAMERA BASICS LSC100A-221: October 14 & 17, Friday & Monday mornings, 8:30am – 12:20pm $32 - 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

WORD-CREATE GREAT LOOKING DOCUMENTS LSC068-121: October 18 & 19, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings, 8:30am-12:20pm $32 - 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

HOW TO BUY & SELL ONLINE LSC101-121: October 18 & 19, Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons, 1pm-4:50pm $32 - 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 - great way to get comfortable before you begin shopping for the upcoming holiday season...

COMPUTERS FOR THE FUN OF IT LSC062-122: October 25 & 26, Tuesday & Wednesday mornings, 8:30-12:20pm $32 - 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…

POWER POINT SLIDE SHOWS: LSC069D-121: October 25 & 26, Tuesday & Wednesday afternoons, 1pm – 5:40pm $32 - Two 4 hr. classes Two 4 hour classes to create basic Slide Show presentation and enhance your presentation with text, photos & clip art, animation, transition & timing features, music and more…

Hello from the Mohave Community College Library

“Hi everyone! It’s finally October and everyone is still looking for ways to beat the heat here in Lake Havasu. With more than 63,000 books, we’ve got the latest bestsellers from James Patterson, Nora Roberts, Stuart Woods and many others. Swing on by the Library and see what new books we have for you. And we also have 36 computer workstations for students and 6 additional computer workstations for community users - so check us out...

The Hodel Library, which is open to the entire Lake Havasu City community, is located towards the back of the Mohave Community College – Lake Havasu Campus at 1977 Acoma Blvd. West. We look forward to seeing you.”

We are open Monday thru Thursday 8am to 8pm and Friday 8am to 5pm.

So call us at 928-453-5809 to ask for more information or email me directly at wbirkhead@mohave.edu. Let us know how we can help.

Looking forward to seeing you all, 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

Using Facebook's top bar for navigation

It's helpful to know how to "navigate" around Facebook and an easy way is to use the Navigation Bar which is located at the top of your Facebook page - to the right of your profile photo...

Here are brief descriptions of each of the available options on this navigation top bar..

Home (facebook logo) - Clicking this logo will take you to your wall (News Feed) that shows all friends recent posts.

Friend requests - If any friend requests are waiting to be approved this icon will show a notification of how many friends are waiting for approval. This icon can also be clicked when you want to view any friend recommendations or search for friends on Facebook.

Messages - This section allows you to send and receive private messages between one or more people you're friends with.

Notifications - Any time a friend or Facebook application creates a new post you'll be notified in this section. Clicking this icon will show all recent notifications. If you wish to change what is capable of sending you notifications including any Facebook applications or games click the See All Notifications link at the bottom and check or uncheck what you want to be notified on.

Search - Finally, the search box in Facebook can be a powerful tool that can be used to quickly find any current friends or people on Facebook. In addition searching for terms such as a company name, product, sports team, music band, etc. will find fan pages and groups that can be joined.

Facebook - Update your privacy settings

Despite all the bad press Facebook gets about their site and the privacy issue, one of the basic reasons there is a problem is that we, the users, don’t pay close enough attention to our privacy settings, which we should carefully and often..

As technology changes, Facebook has also changed and continually is adding more privacy options for us to use to help protect ourselves –but we have to use them…

Not sure how and what to do – then see what’s news:

Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.

Understand, that anything that is not set to FRIENDS ONLY or FRIENDS OF FRIENDS can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Some good tips for most of us…

• Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as Google


• Under Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.

Error Message: Windows-No Disk

Question: I am getting a error message a lot lately: “WINDOWS-NO DISK” pops up on the monitor and it makes no difference what I’m working on or have open and it happens several times a day…

Answer: Tech support forums and sites (including Microsoft) indicate that this is common (more so with Windows XP & Vista) than Windows 7. THe following is the solution, copied directly from Microsoft’s website at the following link:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_xp-system/windows-no-disk-exception-processing-message/b1a67525-d5e8-46ae-9801-6b169547e656

"The answer lies in the words "Windows: No Disk", your PC is looking for a USB device - e.g. a USB stick or a cell phone - that you've recently plugged in and have removed without using the "remove hardware safely" option in the right hand bottom corner of your screen. Put the last USB device you used back into the USB port and then use the "remove software safely" option.

The pop up message will disappear."

In my case, I didn't have to plug the USB device in, I just needed to click on the "Safely Remove Hardware" icon in the system tray, and tell it to remove the device that is no longer plugged in.