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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 13, 2002
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Set Up Your America Online Address Book
Featured Computer Term: Software Piracy
This Week's Topic: Techniques for Better Internet Searches
Question: Reboot
Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Viewing Document Statistics
Featured Website: October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month; Monday is Columbus Day.
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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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Important Reminder!
Be aware of email hoaxes. Don't believe everything you read in an email.
Many innocent people have believed information they received in an email to the detriment of their computers and sometimes even their finances. In past newsletters we've discussed email hoaxes, how to spot them, and how to avoid them. To review these articles, take a look at our website at:
http://www.stsico.com/html/hoaxes.html
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Special Feature: Set Up Your America Online Address Book
1. In the Mail menu on the AOL toolbar, click Address Book. 2. In the Address Book window, do one of the following: -Click Add Contact to add a new contact -OR- -Click an existing contact once to select it, then click Edit to modify the information for that contact 3. Type (or edit) the information under the Contact, Home, Work, Phone, or Details tabs. 4. When you have finished, click Save.
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Today's Computer Term: Software Piracy
Software Piracy is the unauthorized copying of software. Most retail programs are licensed for use at just one computer site or for use by only one user at any time. By buying the software, you become a licensed user rather than an owner. You are allowed to make copies of the program for backup purposes, but it is against the law to give copies to friends and colleagues.
Software piracy is all but impossible to stop, although software companies are launching more and more lawsuits against major infractors. Originally, software companies tried to stop software piracy by copy-protecting their software. This strategy failed, however, because it was inconvenient for users and was not 100 percent foolproof. Most software now requires some sort of registration, which may discourage would-be pirates, but doesn't really stop software piracy.
An entirely different approach to software piracy, called shareware, acknowledges the futility of trying to stop people from copying software and instead relies on people's honesty. Shareware publishers encourage users to give copies of programs to friends and colleagues but ask everyone who uses a program regularly to pay a registration fee to the program's author directly.
Commercial programs that are made available to the public illegally are often called warez.
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Today's Topic: Techniques for Better Internet Searches
The web is a muddle and mess of websites unless you learn to specify exactly what you're looking for. Cut through the confusion with these search tips. They'll work in many search engines (Yahoo, Google, Altavista, etc.).
To find words that must be together, put quote marks around them. For example, "apple pie." Otherwise, the engine may return all instances of apple and pie.
Try narrowing down your search with a plus sign or a minus sign. Use a plus (+) sign to indicate you want only Web pages that contain a specific word. Use a minus (-) sign to indicate you want pages that do not contain a specific word. For example, +recipe +"apple pie". Let's say you wanted a recipe for apple pie without cinnamon. You could type +"apple pie" +recipe -cinnamon and you'd be returned the appropriate pages.
Each search engine may have specific parameters for searching, so look at the advanced search menus for their specifics.
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Question: Reboot
Question: I'm new to your website, and very computer illiterate. What I would like to know is how to reboot.
Answer:
Rebooting your computer is just a technical term for shutting your computer down and then starting it back up again.
When you first turn your computer on, it goes thru a process known as booting during which it runs a hardware check, looks for a bootable disk (usually your hard drive) and once it finds one, loads the operation system on that disk.
The term booting came from the old saying of pulling yourself up by the bootstraps.
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Progressive Learning Series: Microsoft Word - Viewing Document Statistics
Word keeps track of statistics about your documents. These statistics include such items as the file name, directory, template, and title. But you can also find out who last worked on the document, when it was last printed, and the total editing time spent on the document
If you want to view the statistics for the current document, follow these steps:
1. Click File on the menu bar; click Properties. You will then see the Properties dialog box for your document.
2. Click on the Statistics tab. The dialog box then displays the statistics for your document, as already described.
3. Click on OK when you are done reviewing the statistics.
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Today's Featured Websites:
October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
You can help those affected by family violence by donating your old wireless phone at your local police station, wireless phone store or any Body Shop location. Visit the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence for more information on this program.
http://www.ncadv.org
Monday is Columbus Day.
Take a look at the Library of Congress website for Today in History, October 12, an overview of Columbus's legacy and a history of the holiday commemorating his landing in the Americas.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/oct12.html
Interested in the History, Navigation, and Landfall of Christopher Columbus? Go to The Columbus Navigation Homepage.
http://www1.minn.net/~keithp
Help the kids learn more about Christopher Columbus at the Kids Domain website.
http://www.kidsdomain.com/holiday/columbusday.html
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