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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 4, 2003
In this Issue:
Special Announcement: Attention America Online Users
Special Feature: Moving Desktop Icons -Auto Arrange
Special Feature: Avoid Junk Email
Featured Computer Term: E-mail Quoting
This Week's Topic: Create a Desktop Shortcut for Your Favorite Program
Question: The Speaker Icon - Volume Control
Learning Series: Microsoft Word WordArt
Featured Website: Skeeterbites; PTA Teacher Appreciation Week; Be Kind to
Animals; Tribecca Film Festival
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ATTENTION AMERICA ONLINE USERS
Because of the large number of America Online members and the ease of harvesting their email addresses, AOL users are most frequently targeted by spammers (businesses and people who send junk email). As an American Online user, you probably receive three or four times the amount of junk email than non-AOL users.
In response to this, America Online is becoming very aggressive in trying to stop the amount of spam (junk email) sent to members. One of the ways they're doing this is by attempting to filter and block incoming spam email. While their hearts are in the right place, since everyone HATES junk email, these filters and blocks can mean that you may not receive good email - email sent to you by your family and friends.
For example, one of the programs they use to try to block spam email looks at every incoming email and checks to see how many addresses an email is sent to; if it's written to more than two or three people, that email is blocked. Here’s what that means to you: if one of your family members sends an email that is addressed to you and a few other relatives, AOL won't let any of you receive that email. It will see that it's going to several people and it will assume that it's junk mail, without even reading what's written in the email.
Because of this, you may not receive an important email. To insure that you receive all email that's intended for you, get an email service that lets YOU decide who to block and who to receive from. There are free, and reliable, email services available to use -Yahoo, Hotmail and Lycos are examples of these free email providers.
These are not ISPs (Internet Service Providers) -you will still need AOL or some other ISP to connect to the Internet. Once you connect, you can then use any email provider to send and receive your email.
How to Setup and Use a New Email Address
To create an email address in Yahoo, Hotmail or Lycos, sign on to AOL like you usually do. In the area towards the top of the screen where it says Type AOL Keywords or Web Addresses here, click once. You’ll see the text turn blue, type yahoo.com, hotmail.com or lycos.com. Press Enter on the keyboard.
Yahoo Click Email at the top of the Yahoo screen. Scroll down, if necessary, and click on Sign Up Now. Click on Sign up Now under Free Yahoo! Mail. Enter the email address that you would like to use and fill out the rest of the form.
Note: click to remove the check marks where it says Send me free offers . . . . or Send me more info . . . or you’ll be getting junk email at this address to!
Hotmail Click New Account Sign Up at the top of the MSN screen. Follow the steps to register for an email address.
Note: make sure the Share my email address .. . . . Share my name . . . options are not checked or you’ll be getting junk email at this address to!
Lycos Click the Sign Up button next to New Users. Fill out the form where you will choose your email address.
Note: click to remove the check marks where it says Send me free offers . . . . or Send me more info . . . or you’ll be getting junk email at this address to!
Once you start using your new email address, make sure you inform your friends and family (and don’t forget to tell us!) of this new address so they can start emailing you there.
You can keep your AOL address open -since your screen name is also your account name, you have to keep it open, to continue using the AOL service to sign on.
Sending and Receiving Email
Sign on to AOL like you usually do. In the area towards the top of the screen where it says Type AOL Keywords or Web Addresses here, click once. You ‘ll see the text turn blue, type in the address of the email provider that you ‘ve chosen (yahoo.com, hotmail.com or lycos.com). Press Enter on the keyboard.
You can read more about America Online's junk email policies, which includes their legal right to block any email sent to you, at this website:
http://www.aol.com/info/bulkemail.adp
There are activities online that cause junk email and that you should avoid. You can read more about ways to minimize junk email at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/spam.html
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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: Moving Desktop Icons -Auto Arrange
Questions: I used to be able to move the icons around on my desktop but I can no longer do so. When I do they zoom right back to where they were. For some reason they have all moved to the left side of my desk top and can’t be moved. Can you help me with this?
Answer:
You can’t move your icons where you want because the Auto Arrange feature has been enabled. You can disable it and then you’ll be able to move the icons anywhere on the desktop.
Here’s how:
Right click on your desktop. In the resulting menu, point to Arrange Icons or Arrange Icons By (depending on your version of Windows) and a sub-menu will appear.
In the sub-menu, one of the options will say Auto Arrange. You’ll see that there is a check mark next to it. Just click on Auto Arrange and then you’ll be able to move your icons.
There is an advantage to having Auto Arrange enabled. If you have many icons on your desktop and would like them to stay in neat columns and rows, on the left side of the desktop, you can turn on Auto Arrange.
To enable Auto Arrange, follow the steps above.
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Special Feature: Avoid Junk Email
Question: I just got a new email address. I would like to know if there is a way to avoid getting myself in the situation of getting an average of 25 spam emails every day as I did with my AOL account. Do you get yourself in this situation by just using the Internet or is it only an AOL problem? I haven’t received any junk email on my new address yet.
Answer:
Spam e-mails are caused by a combination of things. First of all, e-mail addresses with the more popular Internet Service Providers, AOL for example, do get more spam than private addresses will.
Here are a few suggestions on how you can avoid getting spam with your new e-mail address:
Don't post your e-mail address on websites, chat sites, message boards or discussion lists. If you want to sign a guest book, or participate in an online activity that requires an e-mail address, open a free e-mail account at one of the free sites like Yahoo or Hotmail. You don’t have to check those email accounts daily, since you won’t use that address for personal emails. When one account starts to get too much junk mail, just close it and create and use a different one.
Don't sign up for free drawings or contests online. All this does for you is get you lots of junk mail.
You can use a software program to filter out junk mail and bounce spam. If the spammers get a bounce message they will think that the e-mail address has been closed and take you off their list.
http://www.mailwasher.net is one free program that will bounce messages for you. Visit their website to learn more about this type of program and see if it would work for you and your system. (Note: these programs generally do not work with America Online email addresses)
Many spammers use computer programs that randomly generate email addresses and will send out their junk email to literally millions of addresses, most of which aren’t legitimate addresses. They usually target the big ISPs, like AOL, and the percentages are on their side -if they send an email out to 10 million addresses and even 1% gets to a real, live person, they’re getting their message to 100,000 people. Generally, emails like this will have a message in there telling you that you can unsubscribe from their list -DON’ T DO IT!!! Never respond to junk email -- that’s how the spammers determine for sure if that’s a good email address-you’ll then get put on a list and get tons of junk!
The best way to insure that you get absolutely no junk email is to get your own domain name, for example yourname.com and follow the suggestions above.
You can learn more about ways to minimize junk email at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/spam.html
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Today's Computer Term: E-mail Quoting
If you reply to an e-mail someone has sent you, it can be useful to send back their original email text with your response. This helps the person who sent you the email remember what they said, and your reply will be in context.
To use quoting, click the Reply button in an email, and then type your message. The text from the original email will be copied into a new mail message window. The text will usually be preceded and followed by double brackets, for example: << quoted text>>.
Some email programs, Microsoft Outlook, for example, will automatically quote; others, like America Online, won’t. If your email program doesn’t automatically quote, follow these steps:
Highlight what you want to quote by holding down the left mouse button and dragging your mouse pointer across the text. When the text you want is highlighted, click Reply. You’ll then see a new mail window with the quoted text in it.
Question: How do I know if my email program automatically quotes?
Answer: Send yourself an email with some text in it. Then reply to that email. When you get the email back, you will be able to see if text from both emails appear. If it does, your program automatically quotes; if not, you’ll have to highlight the text and then click reply.
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Today's Topic: Create a Desktop Shortcut for Your Favorite Program
Question: I’ve always liked to draw so I especially enjoyed your class where you showed us how to use the Paint program on the computer. You'll be happy to know that I’m getting pretty good at it, too. I was wondering though, if I can make it into one of those little icons that I can double click on to open it, instead of going to the Start button and all the way through Programs and Accessories.
Answer: Yes, you can create a desktop shortcut (Icon) for any program that’s in your start menu.
Here’s how:
Click on the Start button and point to Programs or All Programs. The Programs menu will display on the side.
Find the program you want in either the Programs menu or by maneuvering through sublevels of menus, for example, into Accessories to find the Paint program.
Point to the program, hold down your RIGHT mouse button, and drag the program to your desktop. (If you use your left mouse button, you will remove the program from your start menu, and you’d like to leave it there as well)
When you get the program to your desktop, release the mouse button. A small menu will appear. Two of your choices will be Copy Here and Move Here. Click on Copy Here; then you’ll have an icon on the desktop for the program and it will still be in your Programs menu.
Now all you have to do is double click on the desktop shortcut to open the program. However, if you’re working in a program and can’t see the icons on your desktop, you can still open the program by going into the Start button menus.
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Question: The Speaker Icon - Volume Control
I used to have a little picture of a speaker at the bottom right of my screen next to the clock. I’d use it frequently to adjust the volume on the computer, since some programs or websites have sounds with levels that vary. Suddenly that icon is gone -since it’s so useful, could you tell me how I can restore it?
Answer:
The speaker icon resides in the lower-right corner of the screen right next to the clock -that area is called the System Tray. This icon enables you to adjust the volume on your computer by clicking on it and dragging the slider to increase or decrease volume.
If it is not there and you’d like it displayed in the system tray, here’s how:
Click on Start, point to Settings and click on Control Panel. Double click to open the Multimedia or Sounds window (depending on your version of Windows).
Click on Show Volume Control on the Taskbar. That will put a checkmark in the box. Click the OK button.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word WordArt
WordArt is a program that allows you to treat text as a graphic. You can use the program to add special effects and flourishes to text, and then insert the text in your document. It is useful for creating special text elements such as logos or titles. How you access WordArt depends on the version of Word you are using.
Word 97 includes WordArt 2.0, although it is not automatically installed when you install Word. You can tell if WordArt is installed by trying to access WordArt. If it is not installed, then you can run the Word Setup program again and install WordArt on your system.
To use WordArt in Word 97:
Choose Object from the Insert menu. You will see the Object dialog box. Choose Microsoft WordArt 2.0 from the Object Type list and click on OK. You will see the WordArt dialog box.
In Word 2000 and Word 2002, follow these steps:
Make sure the Drawing toolbar is displayed. On the Drawing toolbar, click on the Insert WordArt tool.
You then see the WordArt Gallery.
Select a general appearance that you want used for your text, and then click on OK. You then see the Edit WordArt Text dialog box. Enter the text you want used by WordArt, and click on OK.
At this point, the WordArt graphic is created and added to your document. You should also see the WordArt toolbar, which includes commands specific to working with WordArt objects. To hide the toolbar, simply click a different place in your document, so that the WordArt object isn't selected.
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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.
Skeeterbites It's still a little early in the year, but you may want to note this website. Using local air temperature, precipitation, humidity, and more, Skeeterbites forecasts mosquito activity throughout the U.S. The 3-week forecast is updated weekly and predicts your probability of being bitten. Also, mosquito and tick defense tips and West Nile Virus information is provided.
http://www.skeeterbites.com/
PTA Teacher Appreciation Week Since 1984, the PTA has encouraged all citizens to show their appreciation to teachers during the annual National PTA Teacher Appreciation Week. You can learn more about this at the PTA’s website:
http://www.pta.org/parentinvolvement/teacher/
Be Kind to Animals May 4th through May 10th is Be Kind to Animals Week. Visit the Humane Society’ s website for more information.
http://www.americanhumane.org
Tribecca Film Festival The Second Annual Tribeca Film Festival, now in progress, was founded last year in part to contribute to the recovery of New York City. Get information, schedules, maps and more at the Film Festival’s website.
http://www.tribecafilmfestival.com
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