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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, September 23, 2001
In this Issue:
Featured Computer Term: Block
Topic: Internet Connections
Progressive Learning Series: Move or Remove Toolbar Buttons
Featured Website: Bob Hope and American Variety
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Today's Featured Computer Term: Block
The term Block has several definitions.
(1) In word processing, a block is a group of characters that you have marked to perform some action on them. For example, to move a section of text, you must first block it. This is sometimes called a block move.
To specify a block of text, you press special function keys at the beginning and end of the block (or choose with a mouse). The function keys differ from one word processor to another. Word processors usually display blocks by highlighting them on the screen.
(2) In data management, a block is a group of records on a storage device. Blocks are manipulated as units. For example, disk drives often read and write data in 512-byte blocks.
(3) In communications, a block is a fixed-size chunk of data that is transferred together. For example, the Xmodem protocol transfers blocks of 128 bytes. In general, the larger the block size, the faster the data transfer rate.
(4) In word processing, to block text means to specify a section of text. Also known as selecting.
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Today's Topic: The following is a question from a Computer Kindergarten newsletter subscriber:
What sort of Internet connection do you recommend?
It really comes down to what is available in your area, the cost and how much you think you will be online.
A permanent connection, such as Cable or DSL is the way to go. It may cost a bit more but think of the real costs of dialup connections. Firstly you tie up the phone line, or you need a second line (more cost!). Secondly the speed is not great so you cannot surf the Web or download files quickly, hence you waste your time.
Also think of the convenience of being able to go to the computer and search for a recipe or find a telephone number quickly. With dialup you have to logon to your provider, and then wait to connect. Once you're on, more waiting.
Cable (Optimum Online, if you're on Long Island) and DSL costs about the same for the upfront costs and monthly fees. Since cable is much faster than DSL, that really seems like the best choice.
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Progressive Learning Series: Move or Remove Toolbar Buttons
To help you work more efficiently, Word enables you to customize toolbars by creating new toolbar buttons, removing toolbar buttons you don't use, and moving existing toolbar buttons to more convenient locations.
When you need to move or remove a toolbar button, you can open the Customize dialog box by selecting Tools from the menu bar, then Customize or by selecting View from the menu bar then Toolbars, then Customize.
While the Customize dialog box is open, you can move a toolbar button by dragging it to a new location on a toolbar, or you can remove it by dragging it to the document area.
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Today's Featured Website: Bob Hope and American Variety
The Library of Congress presents this impressive look at the first half of the American 20th Century.
This isn't just about Bob Hope's comedy career, it's about American immigrants at the turn of the century, Vaudeville, the glory days of radio, the Great Depression, the advent of sound in Motion Pictures, World War II, and early live television, among other things.
It's also loaded with fascinating primary documents: original Vaudeville showbills, movie publicity stills, and letters from POWs. All this from the man who claimed "I have performed for twelve presidents and entertained six."
http://lcweb.loc.gov/exhibits/bobhope/ |
