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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, January 4, 2004
Happy New Year!
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Screensavers
Tips & Tricks: Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express - Compose Email in Word
Featured Computer Term: Temporary Internet Files
This Week's Topic: Highlighting Text
Questions: Copy Internet Favorites to a New Computer
Websites of Interest: Put Another Nickel In, In The Nickelodeon; Radio Lovers; Etymology; Crafts
Great News!
This newsletter once again has been nominated for a Golden Web Award. We
have received this award twice – for 1999-2000 and 2001-2002 – and we’re very
proud to be a nominee and recipient of this prestigious Internet honor.
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Special Feature: Screensavers
If I stop using my computer for just a few minutes, a picture comes on that goes flitting across the screen. I asked my granddaughter about it and she said that it is the screensaver. It’s very annoying. She told me how to stop it but she spoke so fast that I did not understand what she said. Can you help me?
Answer: When you don't use your computer for a few minutes, the screen saver produces an image that moves across the screen.
The screensaver is a program that replaces the image on the screen if the computer is not used for a specified amount of time. Screen savers were originally used to prevent something called ghosting, the permanent impression of a pattern on a screen. On older monitors, this would happen if the same image was displayed on the screen for too long. Screen savers would prevent this by either blacking out the screen or by displaying a constantly moving image.
Due to improvement in technology, new monitors do not have this problem. now screen savers are used just for fun.
Screensavers can be changed and customized in Windows. If you get bored with the same old images, you can change it to something different or turn it off completely.
Here’s how:
Right click on any area of your desktop. From the resulting menu, left click on Properties.
Click on the Screen Saver tab. Below the words Screen Saver, you will see the name of the screensaver you are currently using. If you click the small down arrow to the right of screen saver name, you will see list of the available screen savers on your computer. Choose the design you want by clicking on it.
If you don’t want any screensaver at all, click None. If you change your mind in the future and decide you want a screensaver, you can always go through these steps to turn it back on again.
Click OK.
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Tips & Tricks: Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express - Compose Email in Word
There are advantages to creating your email message in Microsoft Word: generally a better Spell Check and Grammar Check, access to Word’s Thesaurus and Auto Correct feature.
If you do prefer to compose your email message in Word, you can copy and paste the text into your email program. However, there is a quicker way to do this.
Click File on the menu bar, point to Send To and click Mail Recipient. This will open the document in your default email program. Input the recipient’s address and send the email.
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Featured Computer Term: Temporary Internet Files
Question: I was told that if you delete temporary Internet files it will speed up the computer. What are temporary Internet files and is it advisable to delete them? And how do I do this?
Answer: Every time you view a web page, the information on that webpage is stored in your computer. The Windows operating systems stores this material in what are called Temporary Internet Files.
The purpose of Temporary Internet Files is to speed up your access to the Internet sites that you revisit. However, these files accumulate pretty quickly and in a few days of using the Internet, your computer can collect hundreds of these files. At that point, they are really not speeding things up anymore. They are just taking up room on your hard drive.
It is a good idea to delete your temporary Internet files once every few weeks. To do this:
In Internet Explorer
Click on Tools in the menu bar, then Internet Options. This will open the Internet Options dialog box. Choose the General tab.
In the Temporary Internet Files section of the window, click the button that says Delete Files. Click OK to complete the process. If your computer has accumulated a lot of files, this might take a few moments to complete.
In America Online Version 8.0
Click Settings on the toolbar, then Preferences. Choose the By AOL Feature tab. Click Internet Settings.
This will open the Internet Options dialog box. Choose the General tab.
In the Temporary Internet Files section of the window, click the button that says Delete Files. Click OK to complete the process. If your computer has accumulated a lot of files, this might take a few moments to complete.
In America Online Version 9.0
Click Settings on the toolbar. This will display the AOL Settings window. Choose the Essentials tab. Click Internet (Web) Options.
This will open the Internet Options dialog box. Choose the General tab.
In the Temporary Internet Files section of the window, click the button that says Delete Files. Click OK to complete the process. If your computer has accumulated a lot of files, this might take a few moments to complete.
Is there a computer term or phrase that you'd like to see an explanation of? Email it to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll put the term and its definition in an upcoming newsletter.
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Today's Topic: Highlighting Text
Before you can perform tasks that impact text, for example, copy text, format text, delete text, you will need to highlight the text. This is how you select the text that you want the computer to work with.
There are several ways to highlight text:
Move your mouse to the beginning of text you want to select, hold down the left mouse button and slowly move the mouse to the end of the text. When the text you want to use is highlighted, release the mouse button.
With your mouse, click once at the beginning of your text. Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and click once at the end of the text. Everything between the first click and the second will be highlighted.
Using the arrow keys move the cursor to the beginning of your text, hold down the shift key while using the arrow keys to move to the end of your text. (Depending on which email program you are using, this method may not work in an email that you received.)
If you want to highlight only one word, double click on it.
If you want to highlight an entire paragraph, click three times anywhere in the paragraph. (Depending on which email program you are using, this method may not work in an email that you received.)
Hold down the ctrl key, press and release the a key, release the ctrl key. This highlights the entire document.
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Question: Copy Internet Favorites to a New Computer
I got a new computer for Christmas and would like to know if it is possible to get my Internet Explorer favorites onto the new computer. Thank you very much for all the help and information you give in this email.
Answer: Yes, you can do that. Here's how:
On the old computer, open Internet Explorer. Click File on the menu, then Import and Export. This will open the Import/Export wizard. Click Next and then select what you want to do; in this case, Export Favorites. Click Next.
In the next window, you can choose to export your entire Favorites folder, or individual sub-folders. Since you want to export everything, click Favorites at the top of the list. Click Next.
You will want to export to a file, so make sure Export to a File or Address is selected, and then click the Browse button to choose the location you want to export to. The floppy drive would work well for this; select 3 1/2 floppy A: from the Save in drop down list. Click Save.
Click Next, and then Finish.
To put your favorites on your new computer, insert the floppy disk in the drive. Open Internet Explorer and follow the steps above, choosing Import instead of export.
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Websites of Interest:
Put Another Nickel In, In The Nickelodeon
If you like the old songs, you will love this website! Here, you can listen to hundreds of songs, some dating back as far as the 1800’s. click on The Old Songs and scroll down for the list.
http://www.rienzihills.com/SING
Radio Lovers
At this website you can listen to old time radio shows. You can hear classics from Bob Hope, Boris Karloff, Benny Goodman and hundreds more.
http://www.radiolovers.com
Etymology
Etymology is the study of word origins. Take a look at this site for interesting explanations of the origins of words and phrases.
http://www.wordorigins.org/
Crafts
For the creative or those looking for something to do inside during the cold winter months, visit these websites for all kinds of craft information and suggestions. Lots of things to do with the kids.
Visit GetCrafty for project instructions, suggestions and more.
http://www.getcrafty.com
Craftown has free projects, patterns, and links to more resources.
http://www.craftown.com
Craftster is a bulletin board where the creative trade tips and ideas on current projects.
http://www.craftster.org
If you have a favorite website that you think might be of interest to members of this newsletter, email the address and a short description to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll spotlight it in an upcoming newsletter.
Does your business, club, organization or group have a website that you think would be interesting or useful to members of this newsletter? If so, email the address and a short description to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll spotlight it in an upcoming newsletter.
Do you know of any holidays or observations coming up that you'd like us to spotlight in this newsletter? If so, let us know; we'll research them and list some websites here. Send an email to info@computerkindergarten.com.
Questions? Send an email to info@computerkindergarten.com.
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