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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, May 16, 2004
In this Issue:
Keyboard Shortcuts: America Online Instant Messages
Featured Webpage: Firewalls
Tips & Tricks: Change Mouse Pointer
Featured Computer Term: PDF File
This Week's Topic: Arrange Desktop Icons
Featured Webpage: Block Internet Pop Up Windows
Websites of Interest: May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month; News
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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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Keyboard Shortcuts: America Online Instant Messages
Open an Instant Message, type in the screen name of the person you want to chat with and type your message in the box. Instead of clicking the Send button, hold down the Ctrl key, press and release the Enter key, and then release the Ctrl key.
This will let you send the Instant Message without having to reach for the mouse each time you want to send or reply.
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Featured Webpage: Firewalls
A new virus called the Sasser worm has been out since the beginning of May.
This virus can infect computers running Windows 2000 and XP that do not have the latest Microsoft updates installed or do not have a firewall to protect themselves.
It is estimated that over a million computers have already been infected with this virus. To insure that your computer does not become infected with the Sasser Worm, you should set up a firewall for your internet connection.
Visit our website to learn about firewalls and how to set one up with Windows XP.
http://stsico.com/html/firewalls.html
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Tips & Tricks: Change Mouse Pointer
My mouse arrow on my new computer is very small and hard to find. Can I make it larger?
Answer:
Yes, you can.
Click on Start and then Control Panel. If you are using Windows XP, make sure the upper left hand area of your windows says Classic View; if not, click on Switch to Classic View.
Double click on Mouse and then click the Pointers tab.
Next to Schemes, click the down arrow and click on a scheme. You will be able to preview its pointers in the pane below.
Click OK to apply the scheme to your desktop.
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Featured Computer Term: PDF File
Short for Portable Document Format, PDF is a file format developed by Adobe Systems.
PDF files are very common on the Internet because the Acrobat reader is free. If someone has a document that they want anyone to be able to read, no matter what kind of computer, software, or Internet connection, they save it as a PDF file and then anyone can install the free reader and view that document.
PDF captures formatting information from a variety of desktop publishing applications, making it possible to send formatted documents and have them appear on the recipient's monitor or printer as they were intended.
In order to open a PDF file, you need a free program from Adobe called Acrobat Reader. Acrobat reader is a program that will allow you to read files saved in the Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. Websites that use PDF files will generally provide a link to download the Acrobat Reader.
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: Arrange Desktop Icons
Question: I used to be able to move my icons anywhere I wanted on the desktop by just dragging and dropping them. Now, when I drag and drop, the icon jumps back to the left side of the screen. What am I doing wrong?
Answer:
You aren’t doing anything wrong. There is a setting called Auto Arrange that you must have inadvertently turned on.
To turn off the auto arrange setting, right click on a blank spot on your desktop. From the resulting menu, point to Arrange icons and another menu will open. In this menu, you will notice a check mark next to Auto Arrange, left click to remove the check mark.
Now you will be able to drag and drop your icons wherever you want.
If you prefer to have all the icons on the left side of the desktop, you can turn on Auto Arrange:
Right click on a blank spot on your desktop. From the resulting menu, point to Arrange icons and another menu will open. Left click on Auto Arrange.
Now all the icons will remain neatly lined up on the left side of the desktop.
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Featured Webpage: Block Internet Pop Up Windows
Stop those annoying pop up windows. Visit our website to learn how.
http://stsico.com/html/noads.html
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Websites of Interest:
May is National High Blood Pressure Education Month
Visit the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website:
http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
News
Create custom pages of news from your choice of almost 8000 sources.
http://www.newsisfree.com/
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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