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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, October 20, 2002
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Ergonomics (Staying Healthy in Front of Your Computer)
Special Feature: Tips & Tricks: Quick Select; Quick Enter Username and Password
Featured Computer Term: Typeface
This Week's Topic: Outlook Express Contacts
Question: Checking America Online Email Away from Home
Featured Website: The News: World News Network; News is Free; New York Times -Ask a Question. Health Education Week. October is National Pizza Month!
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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: Ergonomics (Staying Healthy in Front of Your Computer)
Spending time using your computer can cause strains, muscle pain, chronic headache, and repetitive strain injuries. Here are some tips to make time spent in front of the monitor a little easier on you and your physical well being:
Adjust your chair. When you slouch forward, problems occur with your back, neck, shoulders, and legs. Make sure you have enough padding not only for comfort, but also for support. If you move a lot, get a chair that swivels. Padded armrests will help if you do a lot of typing.
Adjust the height of your chair so your feet rest flat on the floor and your legs have enough room under the desk or table. Make sure you don't hunch forward and lift your shoulders. You may want to get a footrest as well. Just lifting your feet a bit can make work more pleasant.
If your keyboard is too high, you lift your shoulders in a constant shrug during the day. This causes muscle aches in you neck and shoulders. If you drop your wrists in an attempt to rest your arms and shoulders, you can stretch tendons and ligaments, and press on nerves in the hands. Position your keyboard directly in front of you, and as close as possible. The most natural and comfortable position is right on your lap. This may not be practical, however, but getting it right down low really helps.
Sit up straight; don't slouch! Keep your elbows near your body and your forearms parallel with the floor.
Use a light touch on your keyboard. Stay relaxed throughout your entire upper body.
Your monitor should be at a comfortable height. You'll find that a poorly positioned monitor causes more fatigue than anything. The top edge should be at eye level when you sit up straight, so your eyes have to look just a little bit downward when viewing the middle of the screen. You should be able to see the screen without tilting your head or using your back muscles. Additionally, make sure the monitor is about an arm's length from your eyes.
Glare off your monitor's screen can be reduced by angling it 90 degrees to the source of light, or getting an anti glare filter. These filters make viewing a lot easier on the eyes. You may want to change the brightness or contrast of your screen if you have problems seeing it.
See your optometrist and have your vision checked. You may find that glasses make things easier.
If you type from printed notes, try to keep the material as close to the monitor as possible. There are devices made to hang your notes to the left or right, so you can focus easily without moving your head constantly.
Don't forget to move at least every 20 to 30 minutes. Do stretching exercises and take frequent short breaks instead of long, infrequent breaks.
If, after working at your computer for a few hours, you experience headaches or your eyes seem to be bothering you, you might have your screen resolution too high, or your monitor's refresh rate might be incorrect. The refresh rate is how often your monitor will replace the images on your screen.
Right-click your desktop and bring up the Display properties. Click the Settings tab, and check your screen resolution. Try lowering your resolutions to make the icons and words bigger. Also, click the Advanced button and check the refresh rate for your monitor. Check with your monitor's manufacturer and find the optimum refresh rate for your monitor. If your setting differs, you may want to change it to the recommended rate.
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Special Feature: Tips & Tricks
Quick Select
In just about every program, if you press Ctrl and the A key at the same time, it will automatically select everything in the document. This can be helpful if you want to work with a large amount of text without having to select words, sentences or paragraphs individually. If you don’t want to select everything except a few paragraphs, follow the above procedure, and while still holding the Ctrl button, click on the paragraphs that you do not want to work with, and they will be unselected.
Quick Enter Username and Password
When you access a site that requires a user name and password, you can simply type the whole thing into the Address line. As an example, suppose you want to access www.domainname.com using a name and password. You would enter:
http://YourUsername:YourPassword@www.domainname.com
and press Enter.
If you need to access the same site frequently, you can save the address as a URL and place it in the Links bar for easy access or create a bookmark to the site.
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Today's Computer Term: Typeface
Typeface is a design for a set of characters. Popular typefaces include Times Roman, Helvetica, and Courier. The typeface represents one aspect of a font. The font also includes such characteristics as size, weight, italics, and so on.
There are two general categories of typefaces: serif and sans serif. Sans serif typefaces are composed of simple lines, whereas serif typefaces use small decorative marks to embellish characters and make them easier to read. Helvetica is a sans serif type and Times Roman is a serif type.
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Today's Topic: Outlook Contacts
Question: I have been receiving your news letter for a few months now and find them very helpful. I am self taught and I feel proud whenever I can advise someone on something that I have read in your newsletters. I have forwarded your letters to many. Here’s my problem: I use Outlook Express for my email. On the left hand side, there are local folders with my inbox, outbox, sent and deleted items. Until today I had a list of contacts below this but I accidentally clicked on the X and now it is gone. Please tell me how to renew it. I thank you in advance.
Answer:
There are quite a few people who accidentally close the contacts list or any of the other lists. To view them again, click on View on the menu and then Layout.
In the layout window, you will see a list of components that you can show in Outlook Express if you want to. Click to put a check mark in front of Contacts and click OK to display the contacts in your window.
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Question: Checking America Online Email Away from Home
Question: In a few weeks, I’m going to Florida for the winter. Can I get my email while I’m there? I use America Online.
Answer:
Yes, you can. If you bring your own computer with you, change your access number to a local number. In the sign on screen, click the Access Numbers button, type in the area code, and you’ll see a list of local towns and numbers. Choose the ones you want and you’ll be prompted to set up a location for that.
If you don’t bring your computer with you, you can check your email on any computer that has Internet access, for example, the ones at the library. Open the browser (Internet Explorer or Netscape), and go to AOL’s website, www.aol.com. There, you’ll be prompted for your screen name and password.
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Today's Featured Website:
Get the News Online
World News Network
On the World News Network site, you can find news and photos from places all around the world. You can also read news from a large variety of categories. The site has major world news along with niche news designed for your particular interest.
http://www.wnnetwork.com/
News is Free
Stay informed. This site features news from over a thousand sources; you can pick the ones you want to see on a regular basis.
http://www.newsisfree.com/
New York Times -Ask a Question
A free service of the New York Times is a knowledge network in which you post your question. According to their claim, 80% of the questions are responded to within one day.
http://www.abuzz.com</A>
This week is Health Education Week. Learn more at the National Center for Health Education website.
http://www.nche.org
October is National Pizza Month! Visit the Learning Resources website for fun pizza facts, pizza history, recipes and more.
http://www.learningresources.com/activities/ideas/2002ideas.asp |
