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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, March 16, 2003
This Monday is St. Patrick's Day
An old Irish blessing for you:
May your troubles be less and your blessing be more,
And nothing but happiness come through your door.
Happy St. Patrick's Day!
from all of us at Sharper Training Solutions, Inc.
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Deleting Favorites
Featured Webpage: Print Only Part of a Page
Featured Computer Term: WYSIWYG
This Week's Topic: Power Surge Protection
Question: Eliminate Internet Interruptions
Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Selecting an Entire Paragraph
Featured Website: St. Patrick’s Day
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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: Deleting Favorites
Question: I have a lot of things in my Favorites. Many of these websites are no longer there and many I’m not interested in visiting anymore. Is there a way I can remove them? I love your newsletter!
Answer:
All you have to do is right click on a favorite and then, from the shortcut menu that appears, click on Delete.
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Featured Webpage: Print Only Part of a Page
Would you like to print part of this newsletter? Visit our website to learn how: http://stsico.com/html/printemail.html
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Today's Computer Term: WYSIWYG
Pronounced WIZ-zee-wig, WYSIWYG is an acronym for What You See Is What You Get. In a WYSIWYG program, you can see on the screen exactly what will appear printed page. Some word processors, for example, cannot display different fonts and graphics on the screen even though the formatting was done in the document.
WYSIWYG is especially popular for desktop publishing.
Originally, for a word processing program to be considered a WYSIWYG application, it had to accurately show line breaks on the screen. Later WYSIWYGs had to be able to show different font sizes, even if the screen was limited to one font. Now, a word processor must be able to display graphics and many different fonts to be considered WYSIWYG.
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Today's Topic: Power Surge Protection
Question: My neighbor says that I should have a UPS on my computer instead of a surge suppressor. Can you please explain?
Answer:
UPS stands for uninterruptible power supply. Most people just use a surge strip/suppressor with their computer. These strips are good for protecting the computer from normal spikes in the AC line, but are not very good at protecting you from larger surges like those caused by lightening in the area. Surge strips also do not protect you at all from power outages.
If a power surge is strong enough, it can cause your computer’s drive to crash. That’s when the read heads inside the drive crash into the disk and damage the disk where your data is stored.
An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) allows your computer to keep running for a short period of time when the power goes out. It also provides protection from power surges.
A UPS contains a battery that kicks in when the device senses a loss of power. If you are using the computer when the power goes out, you have time to save any data you are working on and shut down the computer before the battery in the UPS runs out. When power surges occur, a UPS intercepts the surge so that it doesn't damage your computer.
An important point to remember is this: nothing is going to protect you from a direct lightening strike. If there’s an electrical storm or if you know that one is coming, take a moment and unplug your computer.
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Question: Eliminate Internet Interruptions
Question: When I’m on the Internet, I seem to lose the connection frequently and then I have to sign back on again. Do you know why this would happen? Is there something that I’m doing wrong? And can I do something so this doesn’t happen?
Answer:
If you have call waiting and a call comes in, this could interrupt your connection.
You can disable the call waiting option on your computer when using the modem. You will need to check with your phone company to find out what your code is, but usually it's something that starts with either * or # and then two numbers, usually #70.
To disable Call-Waiting, you’ll have to access your sign on settings. This varies from program to program, depending on what you use to access the Internet. This is done where you originally setup the phone numbers for the computer to dial. Have your Internet dialup begin with #70 then the phone number, for example #70555-1234.
If you are using America Online, you can setup your sign on to automatically dial up to reconnect if the call is interrupted. Here’s how:
1. On the Sign On screen, click Setup. On the Edit America Online Setup window, click Edit Numbers.
2. On the Edit Location window, click Edit.
3. On the Edit Number (Connection) window, click the check box next to Automatically reconnect me and ignore interruptions when using this connection.
4. Click OK.
5. Click Yes when prompted to change your reconnect settings for all numbers.
6. Click OK.
You will now be reconnected automatically whenever your dial-up connection is interrupted.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Selecting an Entire Paragraph
Word provides several quick ways to select an entire paragraph. You can simply triple-click anywhere within the paragraph. This is perhaps the fastest and most common method of selecting an entire paragraph.
Or, you can move the mouse pointer to the left of the first character in any line of the paragraph you want to select. The mouse pointer turns into an arrow pointing up and right. Double-click the mouse, and the paragraph is selected.
If you prefer to use the keyboard instead of the mouse, move the insertion point to the beginning of the paragraph and then press Ctrl+Shift+Down Arrow.
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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.
St. Patrick’s Day They’re planning a week-long celebration in Dublin this year that promises to be the best ever. You may not be able to be there but you can read all about it on the web at:
http://www.stpatricksday.ie
Although not much of it is actually substantiated, much Irish folklore surrounds St. Patrick's Day. Learn about traditions, customs and history at this website:
http://wilstar.com/holidays/patrick.htm
Lucky Leprechauns, kissing the Blarney Stone, shamrocks, Erin Go Bragh . . . what does it all mean? Find out here:
http://www.marvelicious.com/stpatrick.html
Want to learn how to make a great Irish stew or potato soup or, better yet! Irish coffee? Visit this website:
http://www.christmascarnivals.com/stpatrick/recipes/
Send your Irish (and non-Irish) friends an e-card.
http://www.freewebcards.com/cards/stpatricks/ |
