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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, April 27, 2003
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Microsoft Outlook: Right-Click Tips
Featured Webpage: The Right Mouse Button
Featured Computer Term: Interactive
This Week's Topic: Desktop on the Taskbar
Learning Series: Microsoft Word -Wing Dings
Featured Website: Search Engine - Google Viewer; May Day; Older Americans Month
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Using Links
A Link is a reference to a website. In this newsletter you will see links to many worthwhile, informative and fun websites. Here are the instructions on how to use links:
A link will be used one of two ways, depending on your email program.
If you see the link in blue, underlined text, all you have to do is click on it and a window with the Website in it will automatically appear on your screen.
If you see the link in plain text, you can copy and paste it into the address bar on your browser. Highlight the link with your mouse, click Edit up on the menu bar, and then click Copy from the menu that you just opened up. Open your browser (click the Start Button, point to Programs, click on Internet Explorer); click on the address bar. Click Edit up on the menu bar, and then click Paste from the menu that you just opened up. Press the Enter key on the keyboard and this will take you to the Website.
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Special Feature: Microsoft Outlook: Right-Click Tips
Outlook has a couple of right-click tricks that are handy for navigating.
When you right-click an icon on the Outlook Bar -that’s the area on the left where you see Inbox, Deleted Items, etc., (choose View, Outlook Bar if it's not on the left side of the Outlook window) or an item in the Folder List, a menu appears. On this menu are two commands that can be very useful: Open in New Window and Advanced Find.
Open in New Window
If you're working in your Inbox and you want to check your calendar, clicking on it will cause the calendar to replace your Inbox. After you check your calendar, you return to your Inbox and need to find your place again--but not if you right-click your calendar and choose Open in New Window. When you do, Outlook opens a new window for your calendar and you can toggle back and forth using the Windows taskbar. This command is also great for checking e-mail in other folders and for opening tasks and contacts.
Advanced Find
If you're working in your Inbox and you want to search for another message in another folder, instead of switching folders and searching for it manually, you can use Advanced Find.
Right-click the folder you want to search in the Folder List or Outlook Bar and select Advanced Find. The Advanced Find dialog box appears. Specify your search criteria (such as the sender or keywords in the body text) and click Find Now. Outlook will display the message or messages that match your search terms in a window at the bottom of the dialog box.
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Featured Webpage: The Right Mouse Button
Question: What does the right mouse button do?
When pressed, the right mouse button displays a context-sensitive menu. When you right click on something, you will open a menu that will give you choices or actions that you can do with the object you right clicked on. The context menu will be different depending on what you right click.
Try right clicking on everything you can see. Even a blank spot on your desktop has a useful context menu when right clicked. (To close the menu, press the ESC key on your keyboard -located top left)
If you'd like to learn more about using the right mouse button, you can view our Newsletter Archives article at:
http://stsico.com/html/rightmouse.html
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Today's Computer Term: Interactive
Interactive computer systems are programs that allow users to enter data or commands. Most programs, such as word processors and spreadsheet applications, are interactive.
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Today's Topic: Desktop on the Taskbar
When you’re working with several programs open and want to open another program, it can really slow you down if you have to minimize every window to get to the icons on the desktop.
You can have all of your desktop icons available on the Taskbar in a menu. To set this up, right-click the taskbar, select Taskbar Options or Toolbars (depending on your version of Windows), and then click on Desktop.
To use this new menu, click either on the word Desktop or the two arrows to the right of Desktop (depending on your version of Windows) that appears on the taskbar.
If you find that this new addition is taking up too much room on your taskbar, simply turn it off: right-click the taskbar and select Taskbar Options or Toolbars (depending on your version of Windows). You’ll see in the resulting menu, that Desktop has a check mark next to it. Click on it to remove Desktop from your taskbar.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word -Wing Dings
Here's a tip for anyone who’s always wanted to use the Wingdings font but couldn't think of a reason to do so. If you’re creating a To Do list, you can use a Wing ding to make the more important things on the list stand out, sort of flagging the item.
To try out this trick, enter down to a new line, type the capital letter M, a space, and then type the rest of the line. Highlight the letter M, click on Format on the menu, then Font. Choose Wingdings from the Font list, select red from the Color list, choose 18 from the Size list, and then click OK. The result is an icon that's guaranteed to catch your eye when you look at that file again and want to be reminded of that item.
Try some different letters and numbers; you’ll see that there are many different Windings characters that you can use. You’ll also notice that upper- and lower-case letters result in different Wing ding characters.
Want to learn more about Fonts? For graphical explanations and instructions, visit our website at: http://stsico.com/html/word10.html
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Today's Featured Websites:
Note: if you're not sure how to use the following links to websites, take a look at the instructions on using links at the beginning of this newsletter.
Search Engine - Google Viewer
Google is a search engine that just keeps getting better. For an interesting spin on the old, boring search engines, check out the Google Viewer, which displays the pages found as a result of your Google search as a continuous scrolling slide show. You can view your search results without using your keyboard or mouse and you can adjust the speed with which the images move across your screen. Each image of a page's contents is accompanied by a short slide describing that page.
http://labs.google.com/gviewer.html
May Day
Thursday, May 1st, is May Day. What is this observation all about? Find out at these websites:
http://www.planet.net.au/innovations/may96/mayday.html
http://www.umkc.edu/imc/mayday.htm
May is Older Americans Month. For news, events and more, visit the U.S. Administration on Aging website:
http://www.aoa.dhhs.gov/
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