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Welcome to this week's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 17, 2004
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Alphabetize Email
Tips & Tricks: Customize Toolbars in Outlook Express
Featured Computer Term: Plug and Play
This Week's Topic: Automatic Updates from Microsoft
Question: Virus Threats
Websites of Interest: Eye Witness to History; Time Capsule - Your Birthday; Candy USA; Just Move Fitness Center; How Far Is It?
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ATTENTION OPTIMUM ONLINE USERS
Optimum Online has a spam blocking feature on your account that stops you from getting all of your email. While the intention is to block junk emails from making their way into your mailbox, this feature can also block emails from your family, friends and others from whom you want to receive email.
With the spam blocking feature active, the Optimum Online computer is scanning all of your incoming email and deciding which is junk and which is email that you want to read. If you would rather make this decision for yourself, turn this feature off. If you find that you receive more junk emails, use the spam-blocking tools in your email program to block them yourself.
To turn the spam blocking feature off, follow these steps:
Open Internet Explorer and go to the optonline.net website.
Click the Support button found at the top of the page.
Click Account Management found towards the top right of the page.
Input your User Name – that is your email address - and your Password; click the Login button.
If you have multiple email addresses, click to select the account you want to change.
Click the Modify Spamaway button on the left.
Click the Disable Anti-Spam button.
Note: The editors of this newsletter feel that Optimum Online offers the best Internet access available at this time. However, spammers (people who send junk email) tend to target email addresses at large ISPs such as Optimum Online. Using Optimum Online to access the Internet and a free email address such as Yahoo will minimize the amount of junk email received.
To create a free email address at Yahoo, visit yahoo.com and click the Mail button found at the top. Click the Sign Up Now button to start up your account.
Remember, if you change your email address, let us know so we can continue sending this newsletter to you. Send an email to:
computerkindergarten-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
There are many things that you can do on the Internet that can cause an increase in junk mail. Visit our website to learn how to avoid Spam magnets and minimize the amount of junk email you receive:
http://www.stsico.com/html/spam.html
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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: Alphabetize Email
If you have a lot of email in your mailbox, it may become time consuming to find a particular email. To find things faster, try sorting your email.
You can sort your messages by clicking any column heading in the message list.
In your America Online mailbox, you will see Type, Date, Email Address and Subject at the top of the list of email. Click the column heading to sort by that column. For example, clicking the words Email Address will sort your messages by who sent the message.
Click it again and you will sort in reverse order.
In Outlook Express, you will see From, Subject and Received. You can sort by any of these.
In Yahoo, you will see Sender, Subject, Date and Size. Point to the column headings and you will see that they are links – click to sort by that column.
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Tips & Tricks: Customize Toolbars in Outlook Express
You can customize the toolbars in Outlook Express. Right-click on any toolbar. From the resulting menu, left click Customize.
In the Customize Toolbar window that you now see, you can add buttons to the toolbar, choose whether or not to display text, and change the size of the buttons.
Scroll up or down in the Available toolbar buttons area to find the button you want to add. When you find the one you want, click it; then click the Add button. You will now see the button in the Current toolbar buttons area. You can change its location on the toolbar with the Move Up or Move Down buttons.
You can remove buttons from the toolbar. Current toolbar buttons area, click a button you want to remove. Click the Remove button.
Open the Icon Options list box to choose large or small buttons. Open the Text Options list box to choose with or without text labels.
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Featured Computer Term: Plug and Play
Question: I am thinking about buying a scanner but am afraid that I will not be able to connect it correctly. My grandson said that they are all Plug and Play and I would not have any trouble setting it up. What does that mean? I just wanted to tell you that I love your newsletter. When I receive it, I forward it to my daughter in Indiana, and to a friend in London. They both love it, too.
Answer:
Plug and Play means that all you have to do is plug a device in and it will start to play (or work). The setup of a plug and play device is simple; connect the device to the computer and the operating system (Windows) detects its presence without you having to tell it. It then installs the hardware without any help from you; although occasionally it will prompt you to insert the CD-ROM.
Is there a computer term or phrase that you'd like to see an explanation of?
Email it to info@computerkindergarten.com and we'll put the term and its
definition in an upcoming newsletter.
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Today's Topic: Automatic Updates from Microsoft
Question: Just about every time I turn my computer on, I get a message that there are updates to install. Can I remove this message? It can be very annoying. Thank you for sending your computer email. I have found so much in it that has helped me with my computer.
Answer:
You can turn off Auto Updates but please read the warning below from Microsoft.
To turn off Auto Update, follow these steps:
Click the Start button. Open Control Panel.
In the Control Panel window, click the Performance and Maintenance icon. Click System; this will open the System Properties window.
Click the automatic updates tab found at the top. Click the circle to the left of Turn off Automatic Updates. Click the OK button and close any open windows.
Warning from Microsoft:
If you turn off Automatic Updates, you will never be notified when important updates are available for your computer, and you will never be asked to download or install them. This means that your computer can be vulnerable to security threats and harmful viruses that can damage your computer or your files. Viruses can also spread over the internet to other people with whom you exchange e-mail, share files, or work with on a network.
New viruses and security threats are continually developed by attackers, so helping protect your computer is an ongoing process. If you do not turn on automatic updates, we recommend that you regularly install updates from the windows update web site (http://www.microsoft.com/).
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Question: Virus Threats
I get emails telling me that I sent an email with a virus in it. I do not recognize the address the email is from so I never sent an email to that person. Could I have a virus and not know it?
Answer:
These emails are false messages. These are emails usually created and sent by someone's infected computer (not yours) who has your email address in their address book. As long as you keep your virus protection software updated and are very careful about what you download, you shouldn’t have any problems with viruses.
These emails can be deleted.
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Websites of Interest:
Eye Witness to History
Read articles about historical events written by people who were there. This website has information, articles, and photographs about important people and events throughout history, taken from newspaper articles and eyewitness reports.
http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com
Time Capsule - Your Birthday
What was happening the day you were born? Enter a day from 1900 to 1997 and you will see some of the top headlines and songs for that year, academy award winners, prices and income, and famous people born on that day.
http://www.dmarie.com/timecap/
Candy USA
Don’t buy the Halloween candy yet – you won’t have any left to give the kids! Take a look at this website for candy facts and trivia, recipes; history of candy, chocolate, candy canes and jelly beans and nutritional information.
http://www.candyusa.org/
Just Move Fitness Center
From the American Heart Association, you can find health facts, information on exercise, diet, cholesterol, cardiovascular health and more. Learn about your own fitness level and use the online fitness diary to keep track of your own exercise activities.
http://www.justmove.org/home.cfm
How Far Is It?
The site calculates the distance between any two places on earth.
http://www.indo.com/cgi-bin/dist |
