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Welcome to the Halloween edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Monday, October 29, 2001
Below you'll find a special section on Halloween websites.
Have a scary, safe Halloween!!
In this Issue:
Featured Computer Term: Virus Hoax
Topic: Zip Files
Progressive Learning Series: Adding Vertical Lines Between Columns
Featured Website: Bankrate.com
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Today's Featured Computer Term: Virus Hoax
A virus hoax is usually transmitted in the form of an email stating that a new horrible virus is running amok and you'd better be informed, or else. The email usually ends with something like, "Send this to everyone you know."
Believe it or not, virus hoaxes are almost as bad as real viruses. Many viruses and worms clog bandwidth, slow down servers, and congest networks. The Internet chain-mail hoax unintentionally may cause the same problems. Many times people receiving these emails, unknowingly send them to 20 or 30 -- or more -- people thinking that they are doing good. Actually, they're simply placing undo burden on the servers that must handle these emails.
If you receive an email claiming to warn you about the horrors of a new virus and asking you to send it out to others, it's probably a hoax. At the bottom of this page, there is a link to the U.S. Department of Energy's hoaxbuster website that contains information on virus hoaxes. Use it to determine whether the email is legitimate. If not, put the email where it belongs - in the trash bin.
http://hoaxbusters.ciac.org/
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Today's Topic: Zip Files
The following is a question sent by a Computer Kindergarten Newsletter subscriber:
I've really been enjoying all the great information you've been sending - keep it coming!
I've been having a problem with a file a friend sent me. I downloaded the file and was able to find it in Windows Explorer (I got a lot of help with this from your email class and your website). When I try to open it, I get this baffling message:
'Click the program you want to use to open the file solitaire.zip.'
What am I doing wrong?
Answer:
You're not doing anything wrong. Notice that the file you downloaded ends with .zip. This means that the program has been compressed to reduce its size and make it easier to download.
We all know that to compress something means to squish it down and make it smaller. Files can also be squished. Since compression significantly reduces the size of a file, this helps free hard disk space and it also makes sending files via e-mail easier and quicker to do.
ZIP is an example of a compression format. A lot of Windows downloads are available in this format. With the right software, you could shrink just about any piece of data -- or unshrink it.
Now that you have downloaded the zipped file, you must UNZIP it. To do this, you need a zip program. My favorite is PKzip which you can download for free at the PKware website (look for Shareware Download).
Once you have downloaded and installed your unzipping program, just right click on any file that ends in .zip and click one of the "Extract" commands to unzip the file. You can do this in Windows Explorer.
Special Note for AOL users: AOL contains it's own unzipping program. If someone sends you a zipped file, download it, then sign off of AOL. It will unzip the file for you automatically.
http://www.pkware.com/
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Progressive Learning Series: Adding Vertical Lines Between Columns
As you already learned in the last few newsletters, Word allows you to add columns to your page layout. As part of your page layout, you may decide to add vertical lines between each column on your page. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Position the insertion point at the beginning of the material you want to appear in columns.
2. Select the Columns option from the Format menu. When you do, you will see the Columns dialog box.
3. Specify the number of columns desired, as you normally would.
4. In the Apply To box, select This Point Forward. This causes Word to apply columns beginning where the insertion point is located.
5. Click on the Line Between check box.
6. Click on OK.
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Today's Featured Website: Bankrate.com
Bankrate provides information on financial products including mortgages, credit cards, automobile loans, money market accounts, certificates of deposit, checking and ATM fees, home equity loans and online banking fees -- giving consumers the tools that can help them make the best financial decisions. Plus, there are features and stories about money matters that are sure to be helpful as you navigate the ever-changing financial market.
http://www.bankrate.com
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Halloween Websites for All to Enjoy!
For Halloween safety tips, bewitching recipes, ghostly stories and pumpkin hints, take a look at the Southern Living website.
http://southernliving.com/food/halloween.asp
To carve a pumpkin online, visit the virtual pumpkin patch at BHG.com. Lots of fun for the kids (and the grownup kids, too!)
http://www.bhg.com/bhg/files/celebrate/halloween/editor.html
For tips on giving your home and yard a haunted look, visit sunset.com.
http://www.sunset.com/Premium/Home/2001/10-Oct/GhoulishGreetings1001/GhoulishGreetings1 001.html
Visit the Pumpkin farm for tips and templates for real-life carving or their virtual pumpkin carving section for cyber-carving.
http://www.thepumpkinfarm.com/
For some gruesome makeup hints, take a look at the All Hallows Eve website.
http://www.allhallowseve.com/makeup/index.html
Have a spooky good time reading about this delightful holiday.
http://wilstar.com/holidays/hallown.htm
History and Customs of Halloween
The History Channel: The History of Halloween - provides an overview of the holiday's ancient origins and modern traditions.
http://www.historychannel.com/cgi-bin/frameit.cgi?p=http%3A//www.historychannel.com/exhibits /halloween/main.html
Feel like visiting a haunted house on or near Long Island? Check out Digital City for a list of local ones
http://digitalcity.com/longisland/halloween/?page=haunted
Want to send a Halloween card to your cyber buddies? Here's a list of virtual card sites to visit:
http://www.bluemountain.com/eng/halloween/ http://www.freewebcard.com/cards/halloween/ http://www.tcfhe.com/goosebumps/pcpick.html http://www.123greetings.com/events/halloween/
H A P P Y H A L L O W E E N ! ! ! ! ! |
