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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, June 10, 2007
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Scam, Hoax and Virus Warnings
This Week's Topic: Mouse Tricks
Question: My Pictures Screensaver
Websites of Interest: Thursday is Flag Day; The Baseball Almanac; Cell Phone Scoop; The Food Timeline; Aircraft of the Smithsonian
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Special Feature: Scam, Hoax and Virus Warnings
If you use the Internet, you have to keep updated on scams and hoaxes. Here is a new one to watch out for:
IRS Warns Of Virus Email Scam
The Internal Revenue Service says there’s a new email scam making the rounds, masquerading as a stern warning from the tax collection agency. Those who click on an email attachment with the bogus message will unleash a nasty virus on their computers.
Read more at the Consumer Affairs website:
http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2007/05/irs_phishing.html
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Today's Topic: Mouse Tricks
Auto Scroll
If your mouse has a scroll wheel, roll the wheel up or down and you will quickly scroll through the page on the screen. But give this a try: push the wheel straight down and then release it. You will see a big double headed arrow appear on the screen. Now you can just move your mouse up and down and it will scroll for you without having to roll the scroll wheel or point and click on the scroll bar.
In a program where there is content to the left or right (ex. a wide page on the Internet or your spreadsheet program), you will see a 4-headed arrow when you press the scroll wheel. Now you can point to the left or right and quickly move horizontally as well.
When you are done scrolling, just click or give the wheel another push down.
It may take a little practice to control the scrolling, but, once you are used to it, will prove to be a very convenient tool.
Scrolling Back and Forward in Your Browser
Hold down the Shift key and roll the scroll wheel towards you. This will take you back to the previously visited page. Hold down the Shift key and roll the wheel away from you; you will move forward.
Scroll to Zoom Text Size
Hold down the CTRL key and roll the scroll wheel away from you. You will see that the text gets bigger. Hold down CTRL and roll the wheel towards you; the text gets smaller. This will not change the size of printed text; just the text as viewed on the screen.
Note: These tips will work in most Windows programs.
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Question: My Pictures Screensaver
I would like to use my pictures for a screensaver. Could you please tell me the steps to do this? Thank you for all your help.
Answer:
First, create a folder to store all the pictures you will want to include in your screen saver. If you do not know how to create a folder, read the article, Organizing the My Documents Folder, in our Newsletter Archives, for instructions:
http://computerkindergarten.com/html/092505.html
Once you have created the folder, put the pictures you want into it. The above article will tell you how to do that.
Close or minimize all open windows so that you can see the Desktop.
Right click on a blank spot on the desktop and then left click on Properties in the resulting menu.
In the Display Properties window that you now see, click on the Screen Saver tab at the top.
In the middle of the Screen Saver page, you will see a drop down list. Click the down arrow and then click My Pictures Slideshow. Click on the Settings button on the right.
Click on the Browse button and maneuver to the folder that contains your pictures; click on it. If you like, you can change some of the settings in this window such as the size or the picture and the speed at which the change. Click the OK button when you are done.
In the Display Properties window, you can change the amount of idle time before the screensaver starts. When you are done, click the OK button.
When your screensaver comes on, you will now see the pictures that you put into your folder. If you would like to add more pictures in the future, just drag them into that folder and they will be included in your screensaver.
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Websites of Interest:
Flag Day
this coming Thursday, June 14th is Flag Day. Learn more about this observation at the American Flag Day website.
http://www.flagday.org
The Baseball Almanac
Visit this site for the history of baseball and thousands of pages of facts, records, statistics and other baseball-related information.
http://www.baseball-almanac.com
Cell Phone Scoop
The Phone Scoop website is a great consumer resource for information on mobile phone specifications, user reviews, detailed side-by-side comparisons of specific phones and more.
http://www.phonescoop.com
The Food Timeline
For food lovers and history buffs, at this website you can go back 20,000 years and read about the culinary habits of the ancient Egyptians, Vikings, Romans, Mayans, and other cultures, and learn all kinds of interesting food facts.
http://www.foodtimeline.org/
Aircraft of the Smithsonian
The National Air and Space Museum has over 356 pieces of aircraft in their collection. Learn about the different planes, specifications, pilots who fly them and much more.
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/aircraft/index.cfm |
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