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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, September 22, 2002
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Online Lingo
Featured Webpage: Display Properties
Featured Computer Term: Bookmarks
This Week's Topic: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Programs
Question: Is Online Purchasing Safe?
Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Alphabetizing By Last Name
Featured Website: Banned Books Week; American Business Women’s Day; Volunteers; Statue of Liberty
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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: Online Lingo
Question: I receive emails from my grandchildren with abbreviations that they type in. I know they stand for something but I don’t know what any of them mean. Can you help?
Answer:
Here’s a list of commonly used acronyms that you’ll see in emails, instant messages, chat rooms and on messages boards:
AFK = Away From Keyboard
BAK = Back At Keyboard
BRB = Be Right Back
BTW = By The Way
GMTA = Great Minds Think Alike
IMHO = In My Humble Opinion
LOL = Laugh Out Loud
OIC = Oh, I See
ROFL = Rolling On Floor, Laughing
TTFN = Ta-Ta For Now
WTG = Way To Go
These are used to save the time it takes to type the whole phrase. Take a look at these; after awhile, you’ll be using them, too.
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Featured Webpage: Display Properties
The Display Properties Sheet contains several pages of commands that help you adjust the look of Windows on your screen. Learn more about this Windows feature at our website:
http://stsico.com/html/display_properties.html
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Today's Computer Term: Bookmarks
Bookmark means to mark a document or a specific place in a document for later retrieval.
Nearly all Web browsers support a bookmarking feature that lets you save the address (URL) of a Web page so that you can easily revisit the page at a later time. Bookmarks are also known as Favorites or Favorite Places.
If You're Using Netscape Navigator
When you have come to a site on the Internet that you would like to come back to on another day, go up to Bookmarks in the menu bar and drag down to Add Bookmark. This will place the title of the site you bookmarked in your list of bookmarks.
To use the bookmark at a later point, go to Bookmarks in the menu bar and click on the bookmark you want.
To sort and organize your bookmarks
1. Go up to Window in the menu bar and drag down to Bookmarks. A Bookmarks window will appear.
2. To create a new folder for common subject bookmarks go up to Item in the menu bar and drag down to Insert Folder.
3. To place the bookmarks in that folder, click on the bookmark and drag it to the folder. (You can select more than one bookmark at a time by holding down the shift key).
4. Select (by clicking on) the folder you would like to sort. Go up to Item and drag down to Sort Bookmarks. This will sort your bookmarks alphabetically within the selected folder. If you want to sort all folders and bookmarks select the top folder before going to Sort Bookmarks all folders and bookmarks within those folders will sort alphabetically.
Saving Bookmarks to a Disk
1. Go up to Window and drag down to Bookmarks.
2. Go up to File and drag down to Save Bookmark file as.... Name your bookmarks and navigate to where you want to save the file.
Opening your saved Bookmarks on another Computer
1. Put your disk into the computer.
2. Open Netscape
3. Go up to File and drag down to Import Bookmarks. The computer will prompt you to select a file. Navigate to where your file is; either your disk or server.
If You're Using Internet Explorer
Once you get comfortable with Microsoft's Internet Explorer, you will most certainly find sites you really like or you visit quite often. Given the length of some of the URL's out there, the typing can get pretty long, and the longer the URL, the more likely you are to either forget it or mistype it. This is why the Favorites feature is included in Internet Explorer.
Favorites are just bookmarks you can create that will contain the entire URL of the sites you want or need to remember. You can add, remove, and organize the Favorites however you choose. With that in mind, let's tackle this simple concept of adding, removing, and organizing your Favorites.
Adding Favorites
By learning early how to add Favorites you will quickly compile a good sized list of useful shortcuts to points of interest.
To add a Favorite is easy. When you have reached a site that you will want to return to, notice the icon of a folder on the main toolbar. If you click that once, a window will appear, giving you the option to Add to Favorites which you'll want to move over to, and click once again. This will bring up a window asking you what you would like to name it. You can name this anything you like, and the URL will remain the same. It's always safe to accept the default given and click OK.
Organizing Favorites Into Folders
If in the last step you noticed the button Create in then you are on your way to organizing your Favorites. A good idea is to index your favorites into different folders based upon subject or importance.
By selecting the button Create in a new drop down menu will appear, listing the available Favorite folders already present. If there are none at this time, which is likely, and you had one in mind, select New Folder. Suppose you found a page on Classical French Cuisine, you might want to put that Favorite in a new folder named Cooking. You would need to click Add to Favorites, then name the book mark French Cuisine, then click Create in, which would give you the option to click New Folder, which you would name Cooking. After you have named the folder, be sure you are in the Cooking folder, and once again, click OK to finalize your addition of a new Favorite.
Supposing you decide a particular Favorite or even an entire Folder needs to be moved into a different Folder, you'll want to use the move button, from within the Organize Favorites windows. By selecting a one or a Folder of Favorites, this button is enabled. With your selection made, click the Move button. This will bring up a new window listing, once again, all your Folders. Select the one you want to move to, and click OK.
Removing Favorites
If at some point you find that you no longer need a particular entry in your Favorites, or perhaps an entire Folder of Favorites, then you'll want to remove them. If you recall, when you clicked the Folder icon, there was an option to Organize Favorites. If you select this, a window appears listing all your Folders and the Favorites contained in them.
To remove a single entry, browse through the folders you have by double-clicking the folders one at a time. Each time you do this, you narrow down the list to only the Favorites contained in the Folder you selected. When you find the particular entry you want to remove, click once on it. As you do this, the option to delete the Bookmark is enabled. When this happens, click Delete, and you are all set.
Removing whole Folders follows the same steps. Browse through the folders, and find the one you want to remove. When you are in that folder you will see the contents of it and no other folder. Keep in mind though, there may be folders within folders. If you remove one, and there are folders within it, those folders will be removed. When you are sure you want to remove, click Delete.
If You're Using America Online
As you explore America Online, you're going to find places that you enjoy and want to visit again. When you encounter an area that you'd like to return to, add it to your Favorite Places. You can even add an e-mail to your list.
To add a Favorite Place to your list
1. Navigate to the site you want to mark as a Favorite Place.
2. Click the heart icon at the top right of the window.
3. In the dialog box that appears, click Add to Favorites.
To return to your Favorite Places
1. On the Favorites menu on the AOL toolbar, click Favorite Places. The Favorite Places window appears.
2. Scroll through the list and double-click the Favorite Place to which you want to return.
You can organize your Favorite Places by creating folders in your list and grouping your favorites into those folders. You can also modify your favorites as needed.
To create a new folder in Favorite Places
1. On the Favorites menu on the AOL toolbar, click Favorite Places.
2. Click New.
3. Click New Folder.
4. Type a name for the folder, and click OK.
5. Select an item and drag it into the new folder.
To edit a Favorite Place
1. On the Favorites menu on the AOL toolbar, click Favorite Places.
2. Select the item or folder you want to change.
3. Click Edit.
4. Type the new name for the Favorite place and/or update the Internet Address.
5. Click OK.
To edit a Favorite Place folder
1. On the Favorites menu on the AOL toolbar, click Favorite Places
2. Select the item or folder you want to change.
3. Click Edit.
4. Type the new name for the Favorite place.
To move an item in Favorite Places
1. On the Favorites menu on the AOL toolbar, click Favorite Places.
2. Drag the item to the new location in the list box.
To share your Favorite Places
1. Navigate to the online area that you'd like to revisit.
2. Click the heart icon at the top right of the window. A dialog box appears.
3. Do one of the following: Click Insert in Instant Message to put a hyperlink to the area in a blank Instant Message note. or Click Insert in Mail to put a hyperlink to the area in a blank e-mail note.
To read about creating and using Bookmarks in Microsoft Word, take a look at the article on our website:
http://stsico.com/html/wordbookmarks.html
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Today's Topic: Create a Keyboard Shortcut to Programs
In Windows, you can give your computer commands with the keyboard instead of with the mouse. Sometimes this can prove to be a quicker way to give commands.
To create a keyboard shortcut to a program that you use frequently, right-click on the program in your Start menu. From the resulting menu, select properties (go back to using the left mouse button again). A dialogue box will appear on the screen with a tab at the top called Shortcut. If not already selected, click on this tab. This option has several fields, but the one we want is labeled Shortcut key. Left-click in this field and select a keyboard sequence of buttons (which will automatically be preceded by Ctrl + Alt.)
This will allow you to start that program using your chosen sequence. For example, you may want to start your Solitaire game by pressing Ctrl + Alt + S. To set this up, select Solitaire, follow the procedures above and when you click in the field labeled Shortcut key, type the letter s.
Now, when you press these buttons together, your program will automatically start.
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Question: Is Online Purchasing Safe?
Answer:
Yes, it can be, if you purchase from a secure website.
When you use a secure web site, your card information is scrambled so much, nothing can read it except the descrambler on the other end. This is called encryption.
When you bring up an order page, it should begin with https and not just http. And there should be a padlock on your browser that should be locked. (Look in bottom right hand corner of your browser)
Test this. When you get to a secure order page, double click on the padlock in your browser's status bar at the bottom. It'll open an interesting window of information about the security of the web site you're visiting.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Alphabetizing By Last Name
It is not unusual to have a list of names in a document, and then need to sort those names. The format in which the names appear can be bothersome, however. For instance, if the names are in the order FIRST LAST, then it can be more challenging to sort them than if they are in a LAST, FIRST order. There are several ways you can accomplish the task, however. One way is with the use of tables. All you need to do is follow these general steps:
1. Convert the text to a table, using the space between the first and last names as a separator between columns.
2. Sort the names based upon the second column, which contains the last name.
3. Convert the table back into text.
This process might sound difficult, but it can go very quickly and allows you to easily see what Word is doing during the sorting.
Another approach that doesn't require messing around with tables is to simply sort the text by words. You can do that by following these steps:
1. Make sure the names in your document are arranged so there is only one person per paragraph.
2. Select all the paragraphs containing names.
3. Choose the Sort option from the Table menu. Word displays the Sort Text dialog box.
4. Click on Options. Word displays the Sort Options dialog box.
5. Select the Other option.
6. Erase whatever is in the box to the right of Other, replacing it with a single space. (You are telling Word that you want to consider spaces as the dividing point between sort fields.)
7. Click on OK to close the Sort Options dialog box.
8. Use the Sort By drop-down lists to specify the word by which you want to sort. For instance, if you want to sort by last name (the word after the first space), you should choose Word 2 in the Sort By drop-down list.
9. Click on OK to sort your names.
You should note that this approach only works properly depending on the construction of the names in your list. If there is only a first and last name for each person, then the sorting works fine. It will also work fine if there is a first, middle, and last name for each person--the only difference is that you would select Word 3 in step 8. Problems creep in, however, if there are two names for some people and three for others. In those instances, even the convert-to-table approach first mentioned will not work properly. In that case you must do something to make sure that Word treats first and middle names as if they are a single word; for instance, by separating them with a non-breaking space.
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Today's Featured Websites:
This week, the American Library Association recognizes Banned Books Week. Celebrate your freedom to read by reading a banned book. To learn more about this, visit the ALA site:
http://www.ala.org/bbooks/resource.html
September 22 is American Business Women’s Day. Take a look at the American Business Women’s Association for more information.
http://www.abwa.org/
If you have a little extra time on your hands and would like to use it to do some good, look at the global volunteers website for some suggestions. There are plenty of opportunities for those who wish to volunteer both in the US and abroad.
http://www.globalvolunteers.org/
Millions of people coming to our nation were greeted by the Statue on Liberty Island. At this website you can take a virtual tour of the Statue of Liberty and learn a little history, too.
http://www.nyctourist.com/liberty1.htm
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