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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 12, 2002
For all the Moms, all of us at Sharper Training Solutions wish you a very
Happy Mother's Day!
In this Issue:
SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Another Email Hoax to Watch Out For
Special Feature: Find Old Friends Online
Featured Computer Term: Title Bar
This Week's Topic: Using Credit Cards on the Internet
Question: Netscape Navigator vs. Internet Explorer
Learning Series: Adding a Box Around Selected Text
Featured Website: Mother's Day
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT: Another Email Hoax to Watch Out For
A new email hoax has been circulating recently. According to this email, the sender has an address book infected with a virus and has inadvertently sent this virus to you. The email claims that the virus is called jdbgmgr.exe and goes on to tell you how to find and delete this.
This is not a virus. If you search for this on your computer, you will find it. This is a file that is on your computer, is supposed to be on your computer and is needed by your computer in order for it to operate optimally.
This email is a hoax. Be aware of any emails you receive that warn you about viruses, tell you about giving away money or vacations, ask for money for children, talk about unlikely news events, or any other unbelievable phenomena.
You can usually find out if these types of e-mails are real or not by checking one of several virus hoax sites. The addresses of these sites are listed at the end of this newsletter in the links sections.
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Special Feature: Find Old Friends Online
The following question is from a newsletter subscriber:
I'm always hearing about people who find old friends online. How can I do that?
Answer:
It's true; the Internet is bringing together thousands of people who have lost touch over the years. The ease of searching the Internet allows it to act as a sort of a huge phone book, with information for millions of people all over the world. There are, however, still plenty of people who aren't on the Net.
The first place to try would be a White Page listing. Take a look in the Website Links section towards the end of this newsletter; we’re including some White Pages links.
If you get no results there, you can do a Web search. Use your favorite search engine and type in your friend's name. You may want to enclose the name in quotes (e.g., "John Smith"), as this will help some search engines eliminate unrelated matches. If the name you're looking for is unique enough, you might find online references to your friend. You may not turn up anything as specific as an address or a phone number, but with a little extra browsing around, you might be in luck.
Also check out the Web sites of schools and organizations that your friend may be associated with. Many high schools and colleges maintain alumni directories and online message boards. A link to a very popular alumni site is included in the Website Links section towards the end of this newsletter.
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Today's Computer Term: Title Bar
Look at your email program right now. Up there at the top of your screen, there's a colored strip, probably blue, with some words in it. The very top of all program windows is called the Title Bar. This is where the title of the program you are using is shown. The Title Bar is a valuable provider of information -it tells you what program you’re in and what you’re looking at, or using, in that program.
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Today's Topic: Using Credit Cards on the Internet
The following question is from a newsletter subscriber:
Would you recommend giving out credit card information over the Web?
Answer:
Keep two things in mind when deciding to use credit cards on the Net:
First, make sure that the site you're dealing with is using a secure server. That means the computer hosting the online form will encrypt the data so that only it can read the submitted information. Browse around a little throughout the site for information on their server and privacy. While no online system is completely impenetrable, using a secure server is no more risky than giving your credit card to a waiter in a restaurant.
Second, make sure that you know exactly who you're doing business with. Just because a business has a Web site doesn't mean it's a reputable business. While most online sellers are honest, you'll still need to use a little extra effort to determine a site's reliability.
Does the seller have real-world stores with permanent locations? If there's a store at the local mall or a shop in your town, you know it's not a fly-by-night operation that will take your credit card number and go.
Have you ever heard of any problems with this seller? It might be worth it to pay a visit to the Better Business Bureau's website. We're including a link in the Website Links section towards the end of this newsletter for the Better Business Bureau's website.
How did you hear about the site? If it was through an unsolicited email message - junk email, or Spam - you may be better off avoiding this seller.
These are the kinds of things to think about before making a purchase with your credit card.
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Question: Netscape Navigator vs. Internet Explorer
The following question is from a newsletter subscriber:
I hear a lot about the Browser Wars, but when I look at the two main competitors, Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer, I don't see much difference. Am I missing something?
Answer:
Netscape's Communicator and Microsoft's Internet Explorer have many similar features--bookmark systems, email, newsreaders, Java and HTML-editing capabilities. The differences are mainly in the details, with each program offering its own set of bells and whistles.
This means that deciding which browser is right for you is most likely a matter of personal preference.
The best way to choose a browser is to spend some time using each one. If you can spare the disk space and the download time isn’t too overwhelming considering how you’re accessing the Internet, you may want to compare the programs side by side on your own computer. Or, try to find a friend with the other browser on their system and see if you can take a look there.
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Progressive Learning Series: Adding a Box Around Selected Text
You may already know that Word allows you to quickly and easily add borders around paragraphs of text. You can also add borders around words or characters within a paragraph. The process is easy:
1. Select the text you want to box.
2. Choose Borders and Shading from the Format menu. Word displays the Borders and Shading dialog box. Make sure the Borders tab is selected.
3. Use the controls in the dialog box to specify the type of box you want to appear around the selected text.
4. Click on OK.
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Today's Featured Website: Mother's Day
Take a look at Mother's Day at Biography.com for profiles of famous moms, such as Notorious Moms and Royal Moms, along with links to motherly advice. http://www.biography.com/features/mother/
Taken from the Congressional Record, this website has the 1998 speech made by Senator Byrd as a tribute to mothers. http://www.senate.gov/~byrd/speech-mothersday.htm
For history of the holiday, tips on how to make it a success, poems, pictures for kids to color and more, visit Holidays on the Net. http://www.holidays.net/mother/ |
