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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Saturday, September 1, 2001
In this Issue:
Featured Computer Term: Menu Line
Topic: Proper Shutdowns
Progressive Learning Series: Justification
Featured Website: Government's 50 Greatest Endeavors
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Today's Featured Computer Term: Menu Line
The Menu Line, or Menu Bar, is a horizontal line that appears on top of a window just below the solid colored bar at the top of each screen. Usually, it begins with File, and ends with Help. There is no set menu. The menu will vary from program to program.
Usually, each option in a menu bar is associated with a pull-down menu, which is a menu of commands or options that appears when you select an item with a mouse. The item you select is generally at the top of the display screen, and the menu appears just below it, as if you had pulled it down.
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Today's Topic: Proper Shutdowns
When your computer stops responding to your actions and you're stuck (clicking a button on the keyboard gives no response, your mouse won't move the pointer, or you can't close an open program), don't reach for the computer's reset or on button immediately.
The ongoing health of your Windows program depends in part on good shutdowns when you're done using your computer for the day (where you click the Start button, then Shutdown, then OK - or Yes, depending on Windows version; and then see the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" message).
Too many incomplete shutdowns can damage system files and negatively impact the performance of Windows.
Try this instead: press Ctrl+Alt+Del (hold down the Ctrl key and the Alt key with your left hand, press and release the Delete button with your right hand, release Ctrl and Alt). The Close Program dialog box opens, listing all of the programs running on your PC at the moment. Look for the program with the words "not responding" at the right of its listing. Click on the program, and then click End Task (Note: if your mouse isn't working, hold down the Alt key, press and release the E key, release the Alt key).
If it can, Windows will close the frozen program, freeing you up to save the work in your other programs. It's a good idea to then do a proper shutdown or reboot.
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Progressive Learning Series: Justification
In word processing, justification refers to the way in which text is changed in relation to the margins in which it is placed. There are several types of justification:
Left-justification. All lines in the paragraph start at the left text margin. No extra spaces are added to the line.
Center-justification. All lines in a paragraph are centered between the left and right text margins. No extra spaces are added to the line.
Right-justification. All lines in a paragraph end up against the right text margin. No extra spaces are added to the line.
Full-justification. All lines in a paragraph are expanded so they are at both the left and right text margins. Space is added, between words and characters, as necessary to fill out the line.
In Word, these four justification types are referred to as paragraph alignments. Thus, a paragraph can be left, center, or right aligned. It can also be justified, which is the same as full-justification.
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Today's Featured Website:
Government's 50 Greatest Endeavors
The Brookings Institution, a D.C.-based think tank, ranks the last 50 years of U.S. federal government endeavors by evaluating how government time and tax-payer money has been prioritized since the end of World War II. Over 400 historians and political scientists ranked governmental successes and failures in a variety of public arenas.
The top-10 list of greatest achievements is a interesting description of the 50 endeavors; it includes rebuilding Europe after the war, expanding the right to vote, reducing disease, and improving quality of life for elderly Americans.
Bonus activities: take the survey yourself, or consider the ranking scores in relation to the respondents' demographics.
http://www.brook.edu/GS/CPS/50ge/50GE_hp.htm |
