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Welcome to today's edition of the Computer Kindergarten Newsletter.
Today is Sunday, November 10, 2002
Monday is Veteran's Day. Celebrate your freedom by thanking a Vet.
In this Issue:
Special Feature: Tips and Tricks: Selecting A Word; Replacing Text
Featured Computer Term: Root Directory
This Week's Topic: Changing Window Size
Question: Send To
Featured Website: November is Great American Smokeout Month; Monday is Veteran's 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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Special Feature: Tips and Tricks: Selecting A Word; Replacing Text
Selecting A Word
If you are using a mouse, there’s a shortcut you can use to select an entire word. To do this, follow these two steps:
1. Using the mouse pointer, point to the word you want to select.
2. Double-click on the mouse.
If you want to select additional words, don’t release the mouse button after the second click; just drag the mouse across them. You'll add one word at a time to your selection. Once the words are selected, you can do any other editing function on those words.
Replacing Text
When you need to replace text in a document, the usual procedure is to select the text, press Delete (or Backspace), and then type in the new text. Here’s a great shortcut: you don't have to erase the text at all. All you have to do is start typing and your new text will automatically replace the selected text.
These techniques work in most programs.
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Today's Computer Term: Root Directory
Question: I’ve seen the term root directory used. What does this mean?
Answer:
The root directory is the lowest point of your folder structure. It's actually your C drive, without any folders. It's known as the root, because if you compare the folder structure to a tree (called a folder tree or directory tree) then you'll understand the analogy: the root is the base of the rest of the tree.
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Today's Topic: Changing Window Size
Question: What are those three little buttons on the top right corner of the window?
Answer:
Those are called the Control Buttons. The one on the left is the Minimize button. This button will shrink the window down and off the screen. The application is still running, but it is invisible. All that you will see of the program is the taskbar button (a button on the grey bar on the bottom of the desktop screen). To bring the program back up on the screen, click its taskbar button.
The middle button is the Maximize/Restore button. This button will make the window as large as it will get, or if already maximized, will put the window into restore mode, which allows you to shrink or increase the window size. If this button has one square on it, it is in restore mode, which is partial screen. In this mode, you can point to an edge of the window and drag it to make the window larger or smaller. If you click on the maximize button, you will make the window as large as possible. You’ll now see that the middle button has two squares on it; this is the restore button.
The button on the right, the X, is the Close button. This will close the window and the application. Always save your work before using this button.
If you'd like to see a graphical explanation of this topic, visit our website at:
http://www.stsico.com/html/windows_intro.html
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Question: Send To
Question: When I right-click on a filename in My Documents, one of the choices in the menu that comes up is Send To. What does this mean?
Answer:
Send to will allow you to move, copy or put a shortcut to that file someplace else. It’s a quick and easy way to, for example, put a shortcut to that file on the desktop or put a copy of that file on a floppy disk.
For intermediate and advanced users who are familiar with Send to and use it all the time, you can change the options that appear in the Send to choices menu.
To do so, just place a shortcut to the desired action in the SendTo folder by going to c:\windows\sendto in Windows Explorer. Once there, right click in the right Explorer pane and select New and then Shortcut. In the command line window, browse to the application to add that option in the SendTo menu. For example, you might like to add Notepad to the SendTo menu. Then, you'll be able to open files in this program. Simply add Notepad with the procedure above by browsing to c:\windows\notepad.exe and building the shortcut into the SendTo menu.
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Today's Featured Websites:
November is Great American Smokeout Month. Make plans to quit! For help on quitting, visit the American Cancer Society homepage.
http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp
Monday is Veteran’s Day.
The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a site that includes events, the history of the day, annual proclamations, educational materials and more.
http://www.va.gov/vetsday/
To learn about the origin of Veteran’s Day, take a look at the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) site.
http://www.vfw.org/amesm/origins.shtml
Want to know how Veteran’s Day was named? Take a look at this site:
http://www.crk.umn.edu/newsevents/notices97-98/veteran/veterans.htm
Teach your children and grandchildren about Veteran’s Day. You’ll find lots of information for them at this site:
http://www.surfnetkids.com/veteransday.htm |
