Sunday, January 30, 2011

Tutorials for Windows Movie Maker 2.6

On these cold snowy days - why not be creative with some of the digital photos you've saved on your computer or that are sitting in your camera...

Windows Movie Maker 2.6 (which is an older version than the new Windows Live Movie Maker) but is more enjoyable to use. Movie Maker 2.6 allows you to be more creative has more options to work with your digital photos, music and video when "creating" your new movie...

The following websites at Microsoft will help you when you forget what you've learned in class... Check out each of these websites and save them to your favorites for future reference..

Let Movie Maker create a movie for you
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/movies.mspx

AutoMovie, a feature of Movie Maker, automatically creates a movie for you using a theme, title, and background music of your choosing. AutoMovie is the best way to quickly see what Movie Maker can do. This article shows you how to use AutoMovie to create an exciting movie in just a few minutes.

Create and trim video clips
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/getstarted/clips.mspx

Movie Maker can automatically split your home movies, which might be an hour long on a single tape, into smaller clips that are easier to edit. You can also manually trim your video clips to show just the most interesting moments. This article shows you how to use Movie Maker to automatically split movies into short clips and then how to manually divide those clips.

Work with Movie Maker Collections
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/collections.mspx

Movie Maker organizes your video, music, and pictures into collections. You can then drag items in your collections to your storyboard to make a movie. This article shows you how to add items to your collections, edit items, and add them to your storyboard.

Use special features to polish your movie
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/polish.mspx

Once you add video clips to your storyboard, you can make your movie more fun and professional-looking by adding transitions, special effects, background music, narration, titles, and credits. This video and series of articles show you how.

Save your movie in different formats
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/moviemaker/create/formats.mspx

Once your movie is polished, find out how to save it and share it with your friends.

Friday, January 28, 2011

How to "fix" computer "registry" problems

Information from www.ehow.com

Windows registry problems can be bothersome if you do not know how to fix them properly. Registry problems can be fixed manually, but the safest and easiest way to fix registry problems would be to use a registry cleaner. This article explains how to fix computer registry problems in Windows using a common free tool called CCleaner.
  1. Open CCleaner and get a feel for the CCleaner environment. CCleaner has a lot of options, but we will be focusing exclusively on the "Registry Cleaner" in this article.
  2. Click on "Registry" to bring up the registry cleaner and make sure all check boxes under "Registry Integrity" are checked
  3. Click "Scan for Issues" to find registry errors on your computer. When the progress bar reaches 100 percent, the "Problems" box on the right should be populated with errors that need to be fixed. If the box says "No issues were found," then your registry is error free.
  4. Click on the "Fix Issues" button to initiate the registry cleaner. A dialog box will pop up asking "Do you want to backup changes to the registry?" It will make a copy of your registry in case of problems. Always backup your registry before making any changes to the system registry.
  5. Click "Close" and your registry should now be cleaned of all errors. If another scan is initiated, the results should show "No issues were found."
Notes:
  1. Always get in the habit of making a backup of the system registry before any changes are made. This will save you a lot of headache if some unknown problem arises.
  2. CCleaner is the number-one tool for cleaning your Windows PC. Keep your privacy safe online, and make your computer faster and more secure.
  3. For their free download go to:

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Who is PayPal and why would you use them?

Wikipedia's description of PayPal: PayPal is an e-commerce business allowing payments and money transfers to be made through the Internet..

But to me: PayPal is simply an easy and safe way to pay for things that I buy online…

Many say that PayPal is:
  • the fastest, safest easiest way to pay and get paid
  • the most popular online payment source in the world today
  • lets us send money to anyone with email
  • free for consumers
  • works very easily with our existing credit cards and checking accounts
  • easy to join-it takes just a few minute to set-up your free online account

Personally, I like the fact that I can shop online and not share my financial information with the company I am buying from (credit or debit card or checking account information with anyone other than paypal). Everyone seems to agree that PayPal uses the newest and best anti-fraud technology to help protect us and our financial information… so that if a companies information is compromised my account information isn’t…

With PayPal it’s also easy to transfer money to anyone, anytime, anywhere in the world from whatever computer you may be at.

You can pay most retailers on the internet with PayPal and in some cases that is the only payment form they accept.

If it’s free than how does Pay Pal make it’s money. Easy, they charge the sellers for each transaction. So for “sellers” the rumblings are that PayPal’s fees are increasing much too high and much too quickly!!

Visit their website for more information: www.paypal.com

Sunday, January 23, 2011

What are Internet Cookies?

Cookies are helpful, because they make it easier for us to “move around” when we revisit a website again in the future..

Cookies are pieces of information that actually create a very small “text file” which is placed in a folder on the hard drive of our computer - they are generated/created when we visit a website, by the server that the web page is on. Some people say it’s like “our id card” so that when we go back and revisit a website, it tells that website that we are back – not us really, but that the computer we are using is back visiting the website again!!!

We can delete or change the way in which cookies and/or temporary Internet files are saved by changing our Internet settings. The way we change our Internet settings varies depending on the Internet Browser and level of Browser that we use…Remember there are different browsers (all of which are free) and different members of a family might use different browsers..

Some of us might use Internet Explorer 7, 8 or even 9 (Microsoft products); some might use Chrome by Google; others might use FireFox by Mozilla, while others who have an Apple Mac might use Safari.. and the list goes on…

If you aren’t sure how to change your Internet settings, for your specific browser software and level, you might want to visit this website and save it in your favorites…

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Excel 2010 - Create an "Auto Fill List" Office 2010

EXCEL 2010 - HOW TO CREATE/ADD YOUR OWN CUSTOMIZED “AUTO FILL LIST” (this has changed a little since earlier versions of Excel)

If you have a list/header row already typed on a spreadsheet – skip this step

“Type your list either in the first row or the first column” of an Excel spreadsheet

  • Highlight this customized list that you want to add to the Auto Fill Master list
  • Now, go to the File Tab & choose “Options”
  • In the Options list – in the left column, Choose Advanced
  • Bring the scroll bar on the right down almost to the bottom.. until you see the button “EDIT CUSTOM LIST” (to the right of “create lists for the use in sort 7 fill sequences”)
  • That Opens the Edit Custom List Dialog Box – toward the bottom right, left click in the button Import
  • Now you will see your list in the right column-“List Entries” and in the left list “Custom Lists” – Click OK

Notes:

  • If you have a list in another program (word, word perfect, email, etc) – simply highlight and copy the list in that program, open the Edit Custom List Dialog Box, right click and choose paste – the list will not be in the “List Entries” and when you add it – it will be added with the commas after each word/phrase.
  • To change this list in the future (add or remove titles), come back to this dialog box, left click on the custom list on the left side that you want to change – the list will appear in the “List Entries” on the right – make the change and then click on ADD, then click OK
  • You can only change “custom lists” you’ve created, not ones that came with your software..

Monday, January 17, 2011

INTERNET – EVERYTHING IS SO SMALL..

When what you are looking at on the Internet is too small – simply change the size… not just the text size.. but by “zooming” you can enlarge or reduce everything you see on the monitor including the text, photos, icons etc…

There are several different ways you can do this quickly and easily, including keyboard shortcuts:
  • TO ENLARGE: Hold the CTRL button (bottom left & right corner of your keyboard) and tap the plus “+” sign (far right of the keyboard row with the numbers)
  • TO REDUCE: Hold the CTRL button (bottom left & right corner of your keyboard) and tap the minus “-“ sign (far right of the keyboard row with the numbers)

OR

  • TO ENLARGE AND REDUCE: Hold the CTRL button (bottom left & right corner of your keyboard) and roll the wheel on your mouse up to enlarge and down to reduce
OR

For those who use Internet Explorer:
  • Use your status bar – bottom right corner of your screen, is the zoom list – which allows you to choose or customize screen – OR
  • On your I.E. command toolbar, choose Page, and when the drop down list of actions appear – choose Zoom – then choose or customize the size you want.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Who and What is spokeo.com

In the last few weeks, many facebook & myspace users have been posting the following information about the website spokeo.com in their status to make others aware of this website and their concerns…

Spokeo.com is an online USA phone book w/personal information: everything from pics you've posted on Facebook or other websites, your approximate credit score, home value, home address, income, age, marital status, names & ages of your children, etc.

You can remove yourself by first searching for yourself on their site to find the URL of your page, then going to the Privacy button on the bottom of their page to remove yourself – HOWEVER many people have commented that using this privacy button, is how spokeo and other similar companies are getting our email addresses, so be careful – Overwhelmingly the comments on the message boards and forums are indicating that the data they publish is more incorrect than accurate..

According to wikipedia.com – Spokeo.com’s headquarters are in Pasadena, CA founded by Harrison Tang and launched in Dec. 2006 and now becoming “popular”. They are a social network “aggregator” website (similar to zabasearch.com that was popular a few years ago doing the same thing). They accumulate information from a wide variety of information gathered online and offline from “public” resources (such as phone books, social networks like facebook, myspace and others, , marketing surveys, mailing lists, government censuses, education real estate listings, and business websites). This information might include demographics, education and career information, photos from on line photo albums, estimated property and personal assets, email addresses and other usernames for sites such as facebook, and much much more.. Recently they announced their ability to scan social networks, blogs, photo albums, dating sites, music networks, video sites, ecommerce stores, and other web services in real-time to help find online profiles with similar usernames..

Most information seen for free is very basic, but of course then you can sign up and pay for additional information, which again, many people report is totally inaccurate. Users report problems with removing their listings, and some independent reports verified that the removal process was "spotty."

For more information you can check them on www.breakthechain.org or www.snopes.com - Here is the direct link to snopes comments about them...
www.snopes.com/computer/internet/spokeo.asp

Thursday, January 13, 2011

HOW TO GET PHOTOS FROM YOUR CELL PHONE TO YOUR COMPUTER..

You’ve taken photos or videos with your cell phone, but how can you get them to your computer so you can print or email them… There are several ways, depending on the type and model of your cell phone – use one of the following tips or check your cell phone manufacturer’s website for their tutorial instructions for your specific cell phone..

CABLE FROM CELL PHONE TO COMPUTER: Some phones, come with cables that have a connection for the phone and the other end has a USB port connection – if you phone has this, you will copy and paste the photo’s from your cell phone to your computer, the same as you would from a flash drive/memory card to your computer.. For example, if you have a Motorola phone you can use a tool called Motorola Phone Tools-It isn't free but comes with a USB cable you can directly connect to the computer

FOR CELL PHONES WITH TEXTING CAPABILITIES: Then you can simply “email the photo’s to yourself or anyone else with an email address” just like a text message; instead of a phone number you would send it to the “email address”

FOR CELL PHONES WITH MEMORY CARDS: Before you take pictures with your cell phone, be sure you have a memory card in the slot and that your camera setting is set to save all photos & videos that you take, and other information you’d like, to the memory card. Refer to your user manual to make sure you buy the right kind of memory card for your cell phone If your cell phone didn’t come with one. Common cell phone memory card formats include: TransFlash MicroSD, MiniSD, Sony MemoryStick but, the most popular is MicroSD (remember "MiniSD" and "MicroSD" are not the same kind of cards)..

Small memory cards require a larger adapter to insert in a computer memory card reader.
Once your small memory card is in the adapter, insert the memory card adapter into a memory card reader or into your laptop/computer/printer’s built in memory card reader..

Now it is ready to be “read” - Open Windows Explorer (Windows Flag Key & E), you will then see your memory card with an assigned drive letter – typically E or F. When you left click on that drive, look to the right side of the screen and you will see the photos and or all information on the memory card.


  1. Highlight the photos you want to put on the computer

  2. Choose COPY

  3. Now go to or create a new folder for the picture

  4. Once you are in the correct folder, choose PASTE
Your photos are now on your computer in the folder you have chosen or created…

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

What is Twitter & What are Tweets!!!

Twitter began in 2006 and is a website, owned and operated by Twitter Inc. and based in San Francisco, CA, but has several other locations in the US including San Antonio, TX and Boston, MA.

Twitter is another free social networking site (like facebook) where users can send and receive “tweets”.

A “tweet or tweeting” is a text message/post with up to 140 characters and all you need to use Twitter is an Internet connection or a mobile phone. You can follow many different tweets and followers can follow you..

You must join Twitter - which is free and you will be required to “sign up” and create a username and password as you do with all Internet accounts..

Twitter is used world-wide by individuals, celebrities, businesses from breaking world news to updates from friends …

Check it out for yourself at http://www.twitter.com/ - Twitter website makes it easy to join and offers lots of helpful tips for those of you who are learning to use their service. And again, it's free and simply another new way to "stay in touch"

Friday, January 7, 2011

We will certainly miss Bill Wing

It saddens us all to hear that Bill Wing has passed - he will be greatly missed. He certainly loved his family and his extended family at Union Tower... We want to be sure that everyone was able to read the wonderful notice about Bill published in the Patriot Ledger.. our sympathies and prayers are with his entire family - there is no doubt he is in heaven and smiling down on us all... It was our privelege to have known and worked with him.

Out of respect to Bill, no classes will be held at Union Tower on Monday, January 10th.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

William Michael Wing, 66 years of age, passed away at his home on Thursday, January 6 after a year of failing health. Bill was born in Boston and moved to Braintree when he was five years old. He was a 1962 graduate of Braintree High School. He graduated from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy with a BS in Marine and Electrical Engineering in 1967. Bill served with the Merchant Marines during the Vietnam Conflict delivering tanks for five years. After his service, he joined the Naval Reserves and was honorably discharged attaining the rank of Lieutenant.

Bill went on to work for the Stone and Webster Company of Boston for Thirty-one years as an electrical engineer retiring in 2005. He then was appointed as Executive Director of the Union Towers, Senior Housing of Weymouth, a position he has held until his death.

He was a long time active member of the Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree where he served as Deacon, the Dean of Totland College, and several other boards at the church. He had served on the Board of Directors of the Union Towers for several years before being appointed Executive Director. Bill was a 32nd Degree Mason belonging to the Delta Lodge of Braintree. He had been a Past Master and was currently treasurer of the Lodge. He had been a Father Advisor for Rainbow Assembly #30, Braintree. Bill was also a member of the Braintree Eastern Star.

Bill has summered at his home in Laconia, N.H. for the past forty years where he enjoyed boating on Lake Winnipesaukee. Bill and his wife Linda traveled to India, Europe, and enjoyed several visits to Disney World with his children and grandchildren. He is survived by his loving wife of 44 years Linda Lee (MacDonald) Wing. He is survived by his three devoted children; Bonnie L. Kirby married to Stephen P. Kirby of Hanover, Lorrie E. Daly married to Peter J. Daly of Braintree and Michael Wing and his friend Nicole Greene of Weymouth. Bill is the loving grandfather of Abigail F. Kirby and Ian P. Kirby both of Hanover and Aidan G. Daly, James M. Daly and Matthew P. Daly all of Braintree. He is the son of Joseph Maholtz of Mt. Pleasant, PA and the late Charles and Marjorie E. (Doherty) Wing. Bill is also the loving brother of Marjory Caldeira of Winner, S. Dakota, Stephen Wing of Stoughton, Charles Wing of Foxboro, Edward Maholtz of Acme, PA, Jo-Ann Maholtz of Mt. Pleasant, PA, Dr. Michele Maholtz-Larson of Vero Beach, FL and the late Richard Wing formerly of Abington.

A Funeral Service will be held at the Union Congregational Church of Weymouth and Braintree, 74 Commercial St., E. Braintree at Weymouth Landing on Monday, January 10, 2011 at 11:30 a.m. The Reverend Michael Halcomb will officiate. Burial will be private at a later date.

Visiting hours will be held at the Mortimer N Peck-Russell Peck Funeral Home, 516 Washington Street, Braintree on Sunday from 4 to 8 p.m. Delta Lodge A.F. & A.M. will conduct a Masonic Service at the Funeral Home Sunday evening at 7 p.m. Relatives and Friends are invited to the Masonic Service as well as the Church Service and visiting hours.

Donations in Bills memory may be sent to the Union Congregational Church, 74 Commercial St. Braintree, MA 02184

Thursday, January 6, 2011

Free Typing Websites

Ready to improve your typing skills – there are plenty of wonderful websites that offer you “free” tutorials to test and improve your typing skills..

The following are just a few online “free websites” that can help you with your speed and accuracy.

For those of you who are accomplished typists, take a typing test on any of these to see how your skills are..

Try several of them until you find one that you enjoy – and then use it often – even a few minutes a day can make a big difference… Enjoy

www.learn2type.com

www.typingweb.com

www.powertyping.com

www.freetypinggame.net

www.learntotype.org

Wednesday, January 5, 2011

BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER AND INFO? Part 2 of 2

Our last blog posting stressed the importance of "backing up" our computer hard drive - losing a document or one photo can be upsetting - but if your computer crashes and you lose everything that can be overwhelming and costly... Believe me it's not pleasant - as much as I preach the importance of backing up, I know how busy we can all get and it's easy to forget, so the last time I lost information I decided it was time to do something where I don't even have to think about it... So for me - an outside company - was the best choice and I choose carbonite.com which offers unlimited storage...

HOW CARBONITE WORKS – IT’S EASY & GREAT ADVANTAGES..
Install Carbonite – then your Back-Up is done each time you are on your PC/Internet ; Relax it’s secure; Restore lost files easily & Remote Access

WHAT CARBONITE IS AND WHAT IT ISN'T...
Again, with Carbonite you get unlimited backup of the irreplaceable files on your computer. That said, your Carbonite subscription does NOT include some services often confused with backup.
  • Online/offsite file storage. Carbonite is NOT a place to move files from your hard drive, to free up space on your hard drive. If you remove any file from your hard drive, Carbonite waits 30 days for you to recover it, and then we delete that file from our servers, too.
  • Program or system backup. Carbonite backs up the irreplaceable files on your computer – user-generated content such as photos, documents, music, etc. Carbonite does not back up software programs, temporary files or system files
  • External Hard Drive backup. Carbonite consumer products does not allow you to back up your external hard drive, unless you purchase their external hard drive support with as a small business
  • Archiving. Carbonite does not keep every version of every file you’ve ever created. Carbonite's PC product offers versioning, which allows you to recover some versions of your files, going back up to 90 days

Check them out www.carbonite.com

Monday, January 3, 2011

BACKING UP YOUR COMPUTER AND INFO? Part 1 of 2

A great New Years Resolution when it comes to your computer – is to “back-up” your information on a regular basis so that no matter what happens – all your data is protected…

Whether you back-up using CD’s, a Large Flash Drive, Portable or External Hard Drive or use a company like I do “carbonite.com” or Mozy.com or use your internet provider (many offer back-up services) – Backing up on a regular basis is critical. This is especially important for those of us with older computers or if you have large document, photo, music or other media files…

If you use one of the services – remember to ask how much space is included and what the charges are for additional storage (personally that’s why I like carbonite.com-it offers unlimited storage)

If you decide to use an external hard drive – there are many on the market, so watch the sales flyers – this one was recently advertised and has more storage than most of us would ever use… so a great investment:

  • Office Depot’s “Clickfree" HD1035 Backup External USB Hard Drive, 1000GB”, which Automatically backs up your computer without any confusing software to install
  • Back up your computer in just 1 step-No software to install or set up and incremental backup lets you save only the files changed since the previous backup – About $135.00

Our next blog will talk about using a company, like I do… www.carbonite.com

Saturday, January 1, 2011

HAPPY NEW YEAR - 2011

On behalf of Bob Donovan, Jean McCarty, Jack Bowes, Kevin Bachelder, Mike Guerino and myself, we want to wish you and yours a healthy, happy New Year full of blessings and joy ~ May this year "2011" be the best year of your life! Cherie Houston

~ William Arthur Ward quotes (American dedicated scholar, author, editor, pastor and teacher)
ANOTHER NEW YEAR

“Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
I have the opportunity once more
To right some wrongs,
To pray for peace,
To plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”