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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, July 28, 2002
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Free Up Disk Space
Featured Computer Term: Default
This Week's Topic: Double Click Problems
Question: Font Styles
Learning Series: Word Processing - Increasing Font Size
Featured Website: BizReport; Crossword Solver; CopyKat.com; Currency
Converter; TV Episode Guide
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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: Free Up Disk Space
You can quickly free up wasted disk space with the following:
Disk Clean Up
Click the Start button; point to Program; point to Accessories; point to System Tools; click Disk Clean Up. Clean the C: drive by checking off all the boxes that says It Is Safe To Delete. Also To Free Up More Space You Can.
Clear the Documents Menu
Right Click on an empty space of the taskbar (the grey bar at the bottom of the screen). Click Properties, then the Start Menu Program Tab. Click Clear under Documents Menu. (Depending on your Windows version, you may have to click the Customize button in the Start Menu window).
Temporary Internet Files and History
Clearing the History Page in your browser will free up disk space. History keeps a record of websites visited over the previous several weeks. To remove, click Tools on the menu in your browser, look for and click on the Clear History button (location of which varies depending on browser and version).
Temporary Internet Files are stored on your computer to enable you to revisit websites quickly. To remove, click Tools on the menu in your browser, look for Temporary Internet Files and click the Delete Files button.
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Today's Computer Term: Default
Computer manuals or instructions often refer to something being the Default.
This is a term meaning that if you choose nothing when presented with different options, the program will automatically choose the option labeled as Default for you.
For example, your Word Processing program will set left and right margins at one and one quarter inches without you having to tell it to do so. That is the default setting for margins in that program. If you don’t want those settings, you can change to different size margins.
In some cases, a program will allow you to change the default settings. For example, if your Word Processing program’s default size for Fonts is 10 points, and you find that too small, you can change to a larger size.
When a program allows you to change default settings, you’ll find that this can usually be done within the dialog box where the particular settings are changed.
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Today's Topic: Double Click Problems
If you're finding that you are having to double-click over and over to get Windows to perform an action, you may have your double-click timing too high.
Go to the Control Panel and double-click the mouse icon. Once within this option, select the Buttons tab and move the slider more toward the slower end. You can test the speed by double-clicking the Jack-In-The Box (or the folder icon, depending on your Windows version) to get the right speed. Click Apply and try again. If it's still too fast, or now it's too slow, adjust it.
Note: to get to Control Panel, click the Start button, point to Settings and click Control Panel.
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Question: Font Styles
The following is a question from a newsletter subscriber:
I do the newsletter for my ladies golf league on my computer. The printer told me that I shouldn’t be using a sans serif font but I didn’t understand what he meant. Can you explain?
Answer:
Pronounced san-serr-if, this refers to a category of typefaces that do not use serifs - small lines at the ends of characters. Popular sans serif fonts include Helvetica, Avant Garde, Arial, and Geneva. Serif fonts include Times Roman, Courier, New Century Schoolbook, and Palatino.
According to most studies, sans serif fonts are more difficult to read. For this reason, they are used most often for short text components such as headlines or captions.
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Progressive Learning Series: Word Processing - Increasing Font Size
Word provides a way to quickly increase the point size of a selection. To do this, follow these steps:
1. Select the text whose point size you want to increase.
2. Hold down the Ctrl key and press ].
Every time you press Ctrl+], the point size of the selection will increase by one point. If you want more precise control over the point size (for instance, making something 11.5 points), you must use the Font dialog box by choosing Font from the Format menu.
For graphical instructions on fonts, take a look at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/word10.html
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Today's Featured Websites:
BizReport
If you’re interested in news about the world of internet-related business and law, BizReport is the website to check out. You'll find daily updates on stories, media reports, and more. You can also sign up for their email newsletter.
http://www.bizreport.com/
Crossword Solver
AllWords.com provides assistance to crossword puzzle lovers. Just enter known letters and this helper fills in the rest, even provides the definitions if you want.
http://www.allwords.com/solver.php?v=957034509
CopyKat.com
This site offers recipes that are close to some of your favorite restaurants' most popular dishes. Search by category (dessert, candy, casseroles, etc), alphabetically, or by keyword. There's a large choice of recipes and they are written in an easy-to-follow format.
http://www.copykat.com
Currency Converter
If you're about to go on a vacation and want to know how far your dollars will get you, this easy-to-use currency converter lets you find the value of your own money, or anybody else's, as measured against the world's other currencies.
http://www.oanda.com/converter/classic
TV Episode Guide
This site offers episode lists for almost 2,000 TV shows. Each list contains titles and airdates and more than 500 shows have a detailed episode guide containing guest stars and plot summaries.
http://www.epguides.com
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