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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Friday, March 30, 2001
In this Issue:
Today's Featured Computer Term: Spider
Today's Topic: Contacting Customer Support
Progressive Learning Series: Restore Communication With Your Printer
Today's Featured Website: Find-It! Consumer Protection Information
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Beware!! Tomorrow is April Fool's Day.
Remember that clown back in high school who used to think it was the funniest thing in the world to put a KICK ME sign on someone's back? Well, he's still around; and he's still got his bad sense of humor. Only now he's sitting in front of his computer, sending out computer jokes, hoaxes, and who knows what. Just a reminder - watch what emails you open and what links you click on!
Here's a good site to learn about the history of April Fool's day: wilstar.com/holidays/aprilfool.htm
For ideas on practical jokes and cranks, visit prank.org, a website "dedicated to the promotion of pranking sciences." www.prank.org/
To send a virtual April Fool's Day card, visit one of these sites: 123greetings.com/events/aprilfoolsday/ rats2u.com/calendar_a/calendar_april_fool.htm freewebcards.com/cards/aprilfools/
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Today's Featured Computer Term: Spider
A spider is a program that automatically fetches Web pages. Spiders are used to feed pages to search engines. It's called a spider because it crawls over the Web. Another term for these programs is webcrawler.
Because most Web pages contain links to other pages, a spider can start almost anywhere. As soon as it sees a link to another page, it goes off and fetches it. Large search engines, like Alta Vista, have many spiders working in parallel.
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Today's Topic: Contacting Customer Support
Most computer manufacturers offer phone support for their products. There will usually be a warranty for a specified period of time when you purchase a new PC. Some manufacturers offer extended warranties, and, in some cases, you can get support for a charge.
When contacting support, here's a list of the information you should have available:
The name of the manufacturer. IBM, Packard Bell, Sony.
The name of the PC. For example, Hewlett Packard Pavilion, Dell Latitude, Compaq Presario.
Model number and Serial number. These are usually found in the most inconvenient place on your computer like underneath or on the back. When you get a new computer, write these down and put them someplace easy to get to.
The operating system that you're running. Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE, Windows ME.
The date you purchased the computer.
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Progressive Learning Series: Restore Communication With Your Printer
If you ever receive an error message saying something like "The computer has lost communication with the printer," don't panic. Restoring communications is not usually a big problem if you follow these steps:
1. Close all programs and shut down the computer. Do not turn it back on yet.
2. Turn off your printer and unplug its power cord from the electrical outlet.
3. Check your printer cable; make sure all connections are secure at both the computer and the printer.
4. Plug your printer's power cord back into the electrical outlet.
5. Turn on your printer.
6. Turn on the computer and try to print again.
If the printer still does not work, you may have to reinstall it. Use the same steps as in the original installation.
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Today's Featured Website: Find-It! Consumer Protection Information
http://finditconsumer.wa.gov/
Let the buyer beware. Let the buyer also search for free information at the Find-It! Consumer site.
Search by keyword or browse by topic to find consumer-protection information from a variety of government agencies. You'll find information on everything from safe seafood buying info to winter-driving tips. The "Top Searches" button takes you to the most sought-after information on topics such as complaining about your bank and getting rid of junk mail. |
