Websites to help verify information..

These are great websites that will help you find out if stories are true – whether it’s information about when and how often to “defrag your computer” to a scare about certain viruses and other technology stuff:

Snopes and BreaktheChain (http://www.snopes.com/ and http://www.breakthechain.org/) are great websites for tracking annoying chain letters and occasional Facebook-related scares. Before I pass stories or information on to anyone, I always check it out first at one of these websites and recommend the sites to friends & family when they send me “misinformation”…

HowStuffWorks (http://www.howstuffworks.com/) has a special "tech myths" section that deals specifically with some of the more popular misconceptions in the tech world.

PCWorld Forums (http://forums.pcworld.com/) worth visiting – a forum is a website where users with an interest in a specific topic (in this case computers) gather to share stories and advice. You ask the question and you’ll be pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of your answers.. A great resource..

WHAT IS VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE…

Voice recognition software, is application software that converts speech to text and it has reached the point where some say you can actually navigate your computer and write documents faster than you could with a keyboard and a mouse – some of the popular software on the market are..

Dragon Naturally Speaking has 2 versions

• 11 Preferred is almost universally regarded in reviews as the best voice recognition software, with potential for 97% accuracy-cost about $80
• 11 Standard edition works with AOL Instant Messenger, MS Word, Internet Explorer and WordPerfect, but not Excel and this doesn’t support portable voice recorders-cost $45

Windows Vista and Windows 7 include Windows Speech Recognition at no additional charge. Though the program was originally rife with issues, it now performs extremely well -- almost as well as Dragon Naturally Speaking

Mac Speech Dictate gets top review as the best speech recognition choice for those with Apple Mac operating systems about $150

Should you have many different passwords to get into your accounts?

NO – the more passwords you have the more likely you are to forget them. Consider having 2 or at the most 3 different passwords, but be sure they are strong (combination of numbers and letters work best). Consider

• 1 password for getting into each of your email accounts
• 1 password for getting into your financial accounts
• 1 password for getting into all other accounts you register with

TIPS:

• Keep your primary email addresses, user names and passwords on an index card with your other important papers.
• Don't share your passwords on the Internet, over email, on the phone or in the mail with something sent to you-only when you generate the contact. Internet Service Providers (ISP) and reputable companies will never generate calls, emails or correspondence asking for your password or other confidential information. If it doesn't feel right - don't respond!!!!
• Passwords are always case sensitive
• Never use your email password for anything but your email account
• Create another password (minimum 8-20 characters) a word & phrase with 3 or 4 numbers (be sure the numbers & letters are not consecutive, that you use for all other Internet accounts. If you need to change it, reverse the order (i.e. 4378david or david4378 or DAVID4378 or 4378 DAVID)

INCREASE YOUR LAPTOP BATTERY'S LIFE

Without fail, the battery on our laptops – notebooks or netbooks, always stop working and run our of juice at the most inconvenient time – in the middle of that rush report or when you are on a flight and watching a DVD movie

Laptop screens take up significant amount of power and we usually don’t require maximum brightness, so check your system and decrease the screen brightness it to a comfortable point.

Stop your wireless signal when you aren’t using it - After turning off your Laptop, right click on your WiFi control signal and be sure it is off to save a considerable quantity of battery power

Check your power plans - Windows XP has several predetermined power plans to control settings like how rapidly your laptop turns off and when your screen saver boots in. You can change your laptop power scheme by choosing Control Panel, then choose Power Options. For maximum battery life from the “Maximum Battery” option from the "Power scheme" and decline the list. Other good choices might be "Low Power Mode" and Portable /Laptop – they may not conserve as much power as Max Battery, but they still help. After choosing the power scheme, click Ok to finish the process.

How to find a lost file on your Computer?

If you are using Windows XP – this is a quick way to find lost files on your computer.

Open the “Start Menu" (either left click on the Start Button left side of the Task Bar OR tap the Windows Flag Key on your keyboard)

When the Start Menu appears, choose “Search” and the Search Dialog Box Opens, with 3 search options:

1. All or part of a file name
2. A word or phrase in the file
3. Look In

Use Option 1 when you know all or part of the document-file name, but you can also add the file extensions (for example for word file, type *.doc, Excel *.xls, Acrobat *.pdf, *.ppt and *.exe for executable files.

Use Option 2 when you don't know the name of file but know that it contains a string of text, by typing the text you want to find from any file or folder. This is time taking process but creates very precise result.

Use Option 3, Look In, to Look in Specific Drives, Folders or Networks that you want to Search for what you put in Option 1 or Opiton 2 In Look in, click the drive, folder, or network you want to search.

To save time, always select the specified drive or location instead of whole computer
Click Start Button, point to Search, and then click For File or Folders, a Search Results dialog box will appear.

In Search for files or folders named, type the file name or folder name you want to find in containing text.

To specify additional search criteria, click Search Options, and then click one or more of the following options to narrow your search:

• Select Date to look for files that were created or modified on or between specific dates
• Select Type to look for files of a specific type, such as a text or WordPad document
• Select Size to look for files of a specific size
• Select Advanced Options to specify additional search criteria
• Click Search now.

How to convert older Office documents (97-2003) to Office 2007 Format

Office 2007 applications such as Word and Excel can open a spreadsheet or a document, in any of the older Office Word, Excel or other application software versions. When they open the older versions, they are opened in the Office 2007 Compatibility Mode (which you will see is noted in the title bar on the top of your screen) when you open the document.
If you want to use the new features available in your Office 2007 Software Application program on the “older document” you will first have to convert older Office documents to Office 2007 format.

The feature to covert older Office documents to Office 2007 format is very useful – one example s that now in Excel 2007 you can use 1.1 million rows – whereas the older versions of Excel only offered you sixty-five thousand rows.

Seriously though, converting to use the new features is quick and easy and worth the change. The method to convert older Office documents to Office 2007 format is the same for all applications, but we are using and example of a Word document of previous version. Again, when you open a Word or Excel document of an older version, you will see [Compatibility Mode] as part of the title on the Title Bar…So, to convert older Office documents to Office 2007 format:

• Open the Word document, which you want to convert into Word 2007 format
• Click on the Microsoft Office button on the top left
• Click on Convert on the left hand side of the menu
• Click on the OK button on the Microsoft Word Office dialog box which appears
• By clicking OK, your document is automatically converted to the Word 2007 format
• Now notice that [Compatibility Mode] is no longer part of the title bar

Internet Explorer 9 does not & will not run on Windows XP

Although you will see lots of advertisements asking you to ‘try out” the new Microsoft Internet Explorer Version 9 (which is still being Beta tested) please know that it does not now – nor will it ever – run on computers with Windows XP – so don’t even try to download it.

The following is an excerpt from an article confirming this which was published Sept. 16th, 2010 on http://www.geek.com/:

While Microsoft has tried to move on from Windows XP many times, millions of users refuse to budge, even with Windows 7 repairing a lot of the damage Vista caused.

XP users are in for a surprise though, when it comes to the next major upgrade they try to apply to their browser. Microsoft has confirmed that Internet Explorer 9 will not work with Windows XP. So all those nice new features such as hardware acceleration will not be available on the old operating system

To read the full article-click on the following link:: http://www.geek.com/articles/news/internet-explorer-9-wont-run-on-windows-xp-20100916/

Protect your mobile devices - cell phones, blackberry's etc.

We received these tips from State Farm Insurance and thought you would find them helpful…

Smartphones (iPhones, Droids, etc); Blackberry’s and other mobile devices are just “always-on computers” that can make phone calls." So how can you protect your phone and your identity from this new breed of mobile-minded criminal? Here are some tips:

Protect your phone
Use common sense in protecting your smartphone from hackers and identity thieves. Don't let strangers borrow your phone, protect access to e-mail and sensitive data with a PIN or password, don't use unofficial apps for online banking, and don't click on links from text messages. Basically, if you wouldn't do it on your home computer, don't do it on your smartphone. Be wary of free apps that aren't from established, trusted, familiar sources. Steer clear of pirated app repositories; stick to official versions for safe mobile surfing. And when you use public WiFi for Web access, don't visit sites that require you to share sensitive personal information such as account numbers or your social security number. Hackers may lurk on WiFi networks.

Watch bills vigilantly
Check your bill carefully each month. If you see downloads you didn't authorize or calls you didn't make, contact your wireless provider immediately. If you receive a confirmation e-mail when you download an app, take time to actually read through it so that you know exactly what you are putting on your phone—and where it's coming from.

Question quirks
If your home computer started doing bizarre things like shutting down without warning, sending unauthorized email messages or pulling up websites that don't match the address typed in, you might suspect a virus. But users don't necessarily make the same connection when bizarre quirks develop on smartphones. Mobile devices will usually issue similar weird warnings when they're infected with malware.

For more tips to protect your online identity and more, visit this State Farm link:
http://www.statefarm.com/learning/planning/prevent_identityFraud.asp

Internet Greeting Cards

Sending greeting cards "via email" gets easier all the time - put any/all of these addresses into your "Internet Favorites List" and pick & choose when you need to send cards – my favorite 2 are www.hallmark.com (some free cards) and www.jacquielawson.com which has an annual fee to use, but well worth it..

Many of the following websites, offer free cards - however some have recently changed and only offer a small group of free cards, but for a nominal annual fee ($9.95-14.95/yr) you can have your choice of unlimited cards - the choice is yours.

These are just a few of the many online greeting card websites. A great feature of many of these websites is the opportunity to add “gift cards or certificates”, to send flowers, and other great gift ideas done by credit card, with various partners that they are affiliated with (such as flowers.com, vermont teddy bear, bed, bath & beyond, toys & babies r us and others).. Makes shopping so much easier and you aren’t spending time or money on greeting cards, stamps and running in and out of stores…

www.bluemountain.com
www.123greetings.com
www.greeting-cards.com
www.regards.com
www.marlo.com/card.htm
www.e-cards.com
www.zworks.com/forever
www.americangreetings.com
www.gcards.com
www.egreetings.com

As you send cards, you can build your address book (contact list) in the online greeting card site; many also offer reminder services so you don’t forget important dates and most allow you to schedule cards for as much as 18 months in advance… Life gets easier all the time…

Texting Lingo - What do those letters mean?

The following expressions are often called acronyms, but they really aren’t – they are shorthand being used for text messaging (texting) and InstantMessaging (iMing) twittering (tweets) and sometimes blogging.. These are just a few of the hundreds used by kids and adults alike - some are quite innocent - some are quite graphic; check out a complete listing at this popular website..

www.netlingo.com

ADR - Address
ASL - Age/Sex/Location
BFF – Best Friend Forever
BRB - Be Right Back
BRT - Be Right There
F2F - Face To Face
FOAF - Friend Of A Friend
GYPO - Get Your Pants Off
HAK - Hugs And Kisses
ILU or ILY - I Love You
IWSN - I Want Sex Now
KFY - Kiss For You
KPC - Keeping Parents Clueless
LMIRL - Let's Meet In Real Life
LMK - Let Me Know
LOL - Laugh Out Loud
MOOS - Member(s) Of Opposite Sex
MorF - Male or Female
MOSS or MOTSS - Member(s) Of Same Sex
NALOPKT - Not A Lot Of People Know That
NIFOC - Nude In Front Of Computer
P911 - Parent Alert
PAL - Parents Are Listening
PAW - Parents Are Watching
PIR - Parent In Room
POS - Parent Over Shoulder
SorG - Straight or Gay
TDTM - Talk Dirty To Me
WYCM - Will You Call Me?
Remember these are constantly being added to, so check "netlingo.com" often…

Tips for Texting, Emailing & Cell Phones

Tips for better online and cell phone behavior (etiquette)

• Try not to use email to address problems better handled face to face – shows your maturity and respect for the other person
• Email is wonderful – but picking up the phone for a real conversation is always a better option to enhance any relationship – personal or business
• Read & reread your email messages before hitting the send button – to check for spelling & grammatical errors, but just as importantly to be watchful of the tone – emails make it to easy to misread between the lines, so always be polite and respectful
• Email, especially business related, should always be professional – not cutesy or too casual
• Be sure to respect & protect others email addresses – whenever possible – put addresses in the BCC line so that email addresses aren't’ publicized.
• Always remove others email addresses when forwarding stories or jokes.. you never know where they will end up.. (remove the FW or FWD from the subject line)
• Put something in the subject line - even 1 or 2 words (directions, hello, estimate, questions) will help the receipient know what is is and if it needs to be addressed now or later
• This is very true for business emails: don't respond to e-mail immediately – it’s too easy to hit the reply button after a quick response, but the downsides to this is you may appear to be constantly reachable to colleagues, too eager to clients or upper management so unless it’s urgent, wait a few hours and be sure you’ve thought about your response and are focused on the task at hand.
• Make sure your email messages have a purpose…
• Never TYPE IN ALL UPPERCASE. Uppercase implies that you are SHOUTING.
• By the same token, you don’t want to use all lower case letters, especially in professional e-mails. Some say that writing in all lowercase appears you don't have enough respect for your recipient to use proper capitalization.
• You should never be too busy to use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation in your e-mails (although using incomplete sentences and lists for explanation is acceptable).
• Whenever you send professional emails – whether those are to your vendors, customers, clients, organization members - use their formal titles followed by their last name unless they invite you to use their first name – remember – show respect.
• Return calls in a timely manner – ideally always within twenty-four hours whenever possible.
• Leaving a voice mail message – it helps to give your number at both the beginning and end of the message and tell them when it’s convenient for them to return your call "I’ll be home this evening" or "back in the office after 2"
• Using your cell phone – be respectful of those around you especially try not to scream into your cell phone. Cell phone speakers are very sensitive and can transmit your slightest whisper – those around us aren’t interested in our conversations…
• When you are with someone at dinner – in a meeting – at an event – give them your full attention; most people find it rude & disrespectful to have those they are with texting, accepting/making cell phone calls and the like - if they are important enough to be with, then they are important enough to have your full attention...
• When you are in public settings - restaurants, places of worship, social gatherings-work & pleasure, turn your cell phone off or put it on vibrate so as not to disturb those around you-need to take the call - then take it outside!
• Technology is wonderful, but it sure can be annoying...

around you

Technology is wonderful, but it sure can be annoying...

PRINTING TIPS

TO PRINT A PORTION OF AN INTERNET ARTICLE OR EMAIL RECEIVED:

• Highlight the portion of the article or email you want to print
• Go to the Menu Bar or Office Bar and choose “Print”
• When the Print Dialog Box Appears, on the left side choose “selection”
• On the right side, choose the number of copies you want
• Choose OK and that is what will print..

TO ENLARGE THE PRINT SIZE OF A PORTION OF AN INTERNET ARTICLE OR EMAIL RECEIVED OR TO SAVE EITHER IN A FILE ON YOUR COMPUTER..

• Highlight what you want to copy & enlarge
• Give the command to copy (Go to Edit – choose Copy, Right Click on what you’ve highlighted & choose copy, or use the action key on your keyboard and choose copy)
• Open your Word processing program: Word, Word Perfect, Word Pad, Note Pad
• Put your cursor on the blank document when your WP program opens
• Activate paste (Go to Edit –choose Paste; Right Click on the document and choose Paste, or use the action bar on your keyboard and choose paste)
• What you copied is now on the document
• Highlight what you want to enlarge (to do the entire text – use the CTRL Key + A or go to Edit & choose “Select All”
• Once text is highlighted, change font size & text
• To print, Go to the Menu Bar or Office Button and choose “Print”
• When the Print Dialog Box Appears, on the left side choose “selection”
• On the right side, choose the number of copies you want
• Choose OK and that is what will print....

TO SAVE THIS NEW DOCUMENT ON YOUR COMPUTER IN A FOLDER:

• Go to the Menu Bar or Office Button and choose “Save As”
• When the Save As Dialog Box Appears, on the left side choose “My Doucments/Documnets”
• Choose or create the folder you want the document saved in
• Name the document at the bottom of the dialog box
• Choose OK and that is what will print....

TO PRINT TWO OR MORE PAGES OF A DOCUMENT ON ONE SHEET OF PAPER

PAGES:

• Go to the Menu Bar or Office Button and choose “Print”
• Under Zoom, click 2 OR more pages in the Pages per sheet box
• Choose OK and that is what will print

A few Labor Day Trivia Facts.. Did you know…

The changes made due to Labor Day and the American labor force in the 1880s proves there is much to be appreciated. Without this day and those who created it, eight-hour work days and a minimum wage would not be possible. Weekends also came to be because of these fearless fighters, and most notably the last long weekend that rounds out the summer.

So enjoy your long weekend and remember to give a toast to those who made it possible and when you do here are some interesting facts & figures to consider..

• Labor Day, a true working man’s holiday, is celebrated in the US on the first Monday every September
• The first Labor Days was celebrated in New York City on Tuesday Sept. 5th 1882
• Labor Day became a federal holiday in September 1894, a bill signed by President Grover Cleveland
• Labor Day is also celebrated in Canada
• Labor Day is the only holidays not resulting from a person, religion or war/battle…
• Labor Day was founded when many in America worked 16 hour days in harsh work environments.
• The first Labor Day was really a rally for the adoption of eight hour work days and other more suitable working conditions
• To most, Labor Day signifies the end of summer and a time when schools reopen
• Many other countries celebrate May Day a holiday very similar to our Labor Day, dedicated to workers' rights
• The 1930s was the era that saw the most laws written to protect workers rights and we can all thank Walter Reuther for paid vacation and paid sick leave; he campaigned tirelessly for these rights in the 30s
• Traditionally no one ever wore white (except brides) after Labor Day – but this fashion trends has changed in recent years…
• In 1962, the Work Hours Act provided time and a half pay for days worked over eight hours or weeks worked over 40 hours
• For many decades, Labor Day was seen as a day for workers to voice their complaints and discuss better working conditions and pay
• The origin of the word labor is from the Anglo-French word labur and the Latin word labor. It was first used in the 14th century

And...Did you know that in 2009:

• 155.1 million people were in the nation’s labor force
• Approximately 7.2 million people identify their occupation as a teacher; 1.7 million are chief executives, 751,000 are farmers and ranchers and 773,000 are hairdressers, hairstylists and cosmetologists
• There are 15.7 million labor union members in the United States, which is about 12 percent of wage and salary workers. Alaska, Hawaii and New York have some of the highest rates of the states. North Carolina has one of the lowest
• In New York, the average commute time is 31.5 minutes. Not surprisingly, this is the most time-consuming commute in the nation. The national average is 25.3 minutes and that more than 3.4 million workers have an at least 90-minute commute to work each day (and then repeat it to go home...
• Roughly 7.7 million people have two jobs. Of those people, 288,000 work two full-time jobs
• There are about 5.7 million people who report they work from home
• About 28 percent of workers 16 or older work more than 40 hours a week.
• At least 10% (15.5 million) workers work more than 65 hours a week

What are keyboard keys called & what do they do

These are the different types of keys on our Keyboard and what they do..

• Alphanumeric Keys: sets of letters and numbers
• Arrow/Navigation Keys: move the cursor
• Function Keys: F1-F12, etc – functions vary on programs
• Numeric Keys: separate keypad to enter numbers
• Text Editing Keys: used in word & document processing
• Window Keys: activate the start menu & other shortcuts

The keyboard enables you to communicate with the computer by typing information and instructions into the computer (the type of keyboard we use are used for computers and cell phones as “QWERTY STYLE").

A numeric keypad is located at the right of the keyboard. It is used like a 10-key calculator.

The top row of keys are function keys. They perform specific tasks in software applications. We don’t need to be concerned with them.

Esc. or “escape” on the top left of your keyboard allows you to stop a task at anytime.

The Ctrl or “control” keys are on the bottom left and right corners of your keyboard. They are used with other keys to complete commands.

The Enter key is on the center row, right side of your keyboard. Use enter to move your cursor down a line.

The Backspace key is on the right end of the row of number keys on your keyboard. Pressing the backspace key moves your cursor one space to the left, and eliminates any typing as it moves.

The arrow up, down, left and right keys on the keyboard allow you to move around your document without destroying your work.
Up = one line; Down = one line; Left = one character or letter; Right = one character or letter
The Delete key will eliminate any typing to the right of the blinking cursor.

The page up, page down keys allow you to move up and down on a page of your document quickly.

The Home key takes you to the beginning of your current line of type.

The End key takes you to the end of your current line of type.

The Home key, used with the control key, takes you to the very beginning of your document.

The End key, used with the control key, takes you to the end of your document quickly.

The Windows Flag Key, used with other keys, will give your various results - such as the Windows Flag Key alone brings up your start menu; the Windows Flag Key with the letter will Minimize all open windows; the Windows Flag Key and the letter E opens Windows Explorer

TERMS: MENU BAR, ACTION BUTTONS & TITLE BAR

Title Bar
Located at the top of the screen, your Title Bar always shows you where you are and what software program you are using. For example, when you open a new document, your Title Bar would display “Document 1 – Microsoft Word.” After you save the document the display will read (for instance) Weekly Schedule – Microsoft Word” – if you are visiting a webpage such as “All My Faves”, your Title Bar would display "All My Faves – Windows Internet Explorer".

Action Buttons
Located to the far right of the “Title Bar” there are three action buttons: minimize your screen ( - ), maximize your screen ([_]/Box ), or close/shut down the program ( X ).

Menu Bar
Located below the Title Bar, the menu bar allows you to access various menu selections by using your mouse and clicking. Certain commands & functions are always in the same "menu" such as you will always find Cut-Copy-Paste-Find-Replace in the Edit Menu..
Note: Newer versions of some software - such as Office 2007 & 2010 - no longer use the toolbar system with the Title & Menu Bars, but have replaced those with the newer Tab & Ribbon format...