|
Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, March 21, 2004
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Scam Emails
Special Feature: Internet and Email Hoaxes
Tips & Tricks: Make the Most of a Slow Internet Connection
This Week's Topic: Save Files on a CD
Questions: Change Font Size in Outlook Express; Turn Off the Screen Saver
Websites of Interest: Pavement Art; Test Your Anatomical Knowledge; Hubble Photos; Calorie Burn Rate Calculator; Lowest Gasoline Prices
***********************************************************************
Special Feature: Scam Emails
You just received an email that you suspect may be a scam. What should you do?
-- Never respond to an email that is from someone you do not know. Some emails tell you to respond in order to remove your address from their mailing list. Do NOT do it! It is just their way of confirming that your email address is a live address – and will get you even more junk and scam mail.
-- Never click on a link in an e-mail from someone you do not know. It will probably do something you do not want to do. Best case scenario: it will open a website advertising junk you do not need.
-- Never download any files attached to an e-mail from someone you don’t know. (And, think twice about downloading files from people you do know!)
-- Delete the e-mail from your inbox. If you are using an email program that puts deleted emails into a Deleted Items or Trash folder, go into that folder and permanently delete the emails in there.
***********************************************************************
Special Feature: Internet and Email Hoaxes
A friend sends you an email with a story that you suspect is a hoax. How can you find out for sure?
Check the CIAC Hoaxbusters website before you forward that email on to anyone else. This is a great Internet hoax resource that lists just about every e-mail hoax that ever crossed the Net.
The CIAC (Computer Incident Advisory Capability) is part of the U.S. Department of Energy. This website was originally created for its own use, but over time, more and more people all over the Internet began to use it.
If an email offers you a great deal, warns you of a virus, asks you to send money to someone in need or just tells some questionable story, do a little research at this site before passing it on to someone else.
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
***********************************************************************
Tips & Tricks: Make the Most of a Slow Internet Connection
If you have a slow Internet connection, use two browser windows at the same time. While you're waiting for the page to come up in one window, you can read the page that is in the other window.
Here is how:
America Online
If you are using America Online, open it up and sign on. Navigate to whatever website you want to look at. While that one is loading in your America Online window, open Internet Explorer (Start, Programs, Internet Explorer).
In the Internet Explorer window, go to the next website you are interested in. While that one is loading, switch back to America Online (click the AOL button on your taskbar) and the first website should be there for you to read. When you are done with that one, switch to Internet Explorer, and that website should be there and ready for you.
Internet Explorer
If you use Internet Explorer, you can open two IE windows.
Open Internet Explorer and navigate to your website. While that is loading, hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and press the letter n. That will open a second Internet Explorer window.
In that window, go to the next website you are interested in. While that one is loading, switch back to the first IE window (click the first Internet Explorer button on your taskbar) and the first website should be there for you to read. When you are done with that one, switch to the second Internet Explorer window, and that website should be there and ready for you to read.
***********************************************************************
Today's Topic: Save Files on a CD
Question: How do I put my files onto a CD? I use Microsoft Word and Windows XP.
Answer:
If you are using Windows XP, you do not need to buy expensive CD-recording software. If your computer has a CD-RW or DVD-RW drive, Windows XP comes with built in CD burning software that will do the job for you.
When you insert a blank disk in your ROM drive, Windows XP will ask you if you want to open a writable CD folder. click OK.
This folder is where you will temporarily store files that you want to put on a CD. You can copy files to this folder by dragging and dropping them or open Windows Explorer, copy the file and paste into the temp folder.
When you have all the files you want to put on the CD, you are ready to write to the disk. Click on Write these files to CD, which you will see on the left side of the CD folder window. All the files that you put into the temporary folder will be copied to the CD.
Note: files can be copied to a CD-R disk only one time while a CD-RW disk can be used over and over. If you are using a CD-R disk, make sure that you put all the files you want to copy into the temporary folder. Once you have put these files on the CD-R, you will not be able to add any more.
***********************************************************************
Question: Change Font Size in Outlook Express
When I compose an email in Outlook Express, I like to use a larger font to make it easier for me to see. I know how to do this; what I would like to know is if I can permanently change to this font so that I do not have to change it each time I create a new email.
Answer:
Yes, you can permanently change the font. Here is how:
Click Tools on the menu bar, then Options. This will open the Options dialog box.
Click the Compose tab. In the Compose Font area of the dialog box, you will see Mail. To the right of that will be the current font, ex. 9 pt. Ariel. Click the Font Settings button on the right. This will open the Font dialog box.
Chose the font, font style, size and color that you want. When you are done, click OK to close the Font dialog box and again to close the Options dialog box.
When you open a new e-mail message, you will now type in the new font and size.
***********************************************************************
Question: Turn Off the Screen Saver
When I stop using my computer, the screen saver goes on. It’s very annoying because I just turn away for a moment and the screen saver starts. I have to press a key or move the mouse to get my screen back. I would like to stop this – would you tell me how?
Answer:
You can turn the screen saver off completely or you can increase the time it takes to start it up.
Right click on the desktop. From the resulting menu, left click on Properties. Left click on the Screen Saver tab in the Properties dialog box.
In the Screen Saver drop down box, click the down arrow. At the top of the list you now see, click None. This will turn off the screen saver completely.
If you prefer instead to change the timing of the screen saver, increase the Wait time. Right below the Screen Saver drop down box, you will see numbers next to Wait. Increase the number by clicking the small up arrow next to the current number.
Click the OK button when you are done.
Learn more about screensavers at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/screensavers.html
***********************************************************************
Websites of Interest:
Pavement Art
Remember drawing on the sidewalk with chalk when you were a kid? Well, we never did anything like this! Take a look at some amazing sidewalk art at this website:
http://users.skynet.be/J.Beever/pave.htm
Test Your Anatomical Knowledge
How much do you know about the human skeleton? Here is a website where you can test your knowledge: drag and drop to reassemble the skeleton – lots of fun and a bit of a challenge.
http://sv.berkeley.edu/showcase/pages/bones.html
Hubble Photos
The Hubble Telescope photographs put to music. Look at some pretty spectacular images at this website.
http://wires.news.com.au/special/mm/030811-hubble.htm
Calorie Burn Rate Calculator
Enter the information this website asks for and it will calculate the rate at which you burn calories.
http://stevenscreek.com/goodies/calories.shtml
Lowest Gasoline Prices
WOW! Have you seen the price of gas lately? Gasbuddy.com will give you a list of the gas stations in your area offering the lowest prices in the last 72 hours. Take a look.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/
|
