Monday, February 28, 2011

Skype - Version 5

With Skype you can make free video & voice calls over the Internet to other people anywhere in the world on Skype for as long as you like, wherever you like. Some features of Skype include free Skype-to-Skype calls, free video skype to skype calls, conference calls, instant messaging, SMS messaging and the ability to forward all calls to your mobile phone when you're offline. Skype to Skype is totally free.

Skypes “free software” must be downloaded on the computer you are using, to use Skype to make free calls or video calls.

The newest version of Skype is their 5.0 version, and the main feature that I can see is allowing group video calls. I've used Skype for more than 6 years but originally it was just a voice service for free calls from one computer to another..

We are also seeing that Skype and Facebook are working together so if friends and family have Facebook, you can make free Skype-to-Skype calls and send them “text” messages to their cell phones.

To download skype or check them out, go to www.skype.com

Skype was launched in August 2003 and it’s reported that Skype has almost 15% of the international voice market and 40+% of the video call market – so they seem to be doing something right. On Skypes Blog, they’ve stated that the word Skype is a Chuvash word ... meaning "The whole world can talk for free"

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Working With Bookmarks/Favorites In Chrome by Google

FOR THOSE WHO USE “CHROME" GOOGLE'S WEB BROWSER, use the bookmark manager to organize your bookmarks and folders. Remember "Website Favorites" are called "Bookmarks" in Chrome & other browsers.. To open the manager, follow these steps:

  1. Click the wrench icon (in the upper right hand corner of your chrome web page screen) on the browser toolbar. Mac users: If you don't see the wrench icon, go to the menu bar at the top of your screen and click Bookmarks.
  2. Select Bookmark manager.

Here are a few tips for using the manager:

  • Move bookmarks or folders around
    Simply click the item you want to move and drag it to its new destination within the folder list on the left.
  • Edit the name or web address of a bookmark, or a folder name
    Select the item you'd like to edit, click the Organize menu, then select Edit. You can also easily edit bookmarks and folders from the bookmarks bar by right-clicking the item in question and selecting Rename.
  • Search bookmarks
    Use the search box at the top to quickly find a bookmark within the manager.
  • Add a new bookmark folder
    In the folder list on the left, right-click the location where you want the new folder to reside and select Add folder
  • Delete a bookmark or folder
    Right-click the item and select Delete.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

WORKING WITH FAVORITES IN INTERNET EXPLORER:

To organize your list of Favorite Websites:

If you have added to your list and didn’t put addresses into specific topic related folders you can do it anytime to make it easier to find items of similar interest… To do so…

· Left Click on FAVORITES

· Left Click on ORGANIZE and your list will appear

· To move a web address to a folder, left click on the site which highlights it

· Then left click on “MOVE TO FOLDER”; then left click on the FOLDER to put it in, OR

· “CREATE NEW FOLDER” and then repeat the process and “MOVE TO FOLDER”.

· When you are finished left click OK

To alphabetize your Favorite List:

· Left click on FAVORITES on the menu bar (not the toolbar icon)

· Point to and highlight any item on the list – then RIGHT CLICK on that item

· A menu will appear – toward the bottom of the menu – choose “SORT BY NAME”

· Left Click “SORT BY NAME” - all items in your Favorite List are alphabetized

· Addresses not put in specific folders are always at the bottom of the list

Sunday, February 20, 2011

President’s Day & February School Vacation

Remember - no computer classes this coming week: Feb. 21st thru 25th for February School Vacation; classes resume again a week from Monday on, Feb. 28th… spring is just around the corner – Yeah!!!

A little trivia about President’s Day, which is celebrated Monday, February 21st this year and Presidents in general.. Did you know that:

THE THIRD MONDAY IN FEBRUARY is designated in the United States as Washington's Birthday, but now commonly known as Presidents Day.

1885 IS WHEN WASHINGTON’S BIRTHDAY BECAME A FEDERAL HOLIDAY – although many across the newly formed United States celebrated Washington's Birthday in the 17th century while George Washington was still alive, it didn’t become a federal holiday until 1885 when Chester Arthur signed the official bill

BARACK OBAMA IS OUR 44TH PRESIDENT, but there actually have only been 43 presidents: Cleveland was elected for two nonconsecutive terms and is counted twice, as our 22nd and 24th president.

EIGHT PRESIDENTS WERE BORN BRITISH SUBJECTS: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J. Q. Adams, Jackson, and W. Harrison.

NINE PRESIDENTS NEVER ATTENDED COLLEGE: Washington, Jackson, Van Buren, Taylor, Fillmore, Lincoln, A. Johnson, Cleveland, and Truman. The college that has the most presidents as alumni (seven in total) is Harvard: J. Adams, J. Q. Adams, T. Roosevelt, F. Roosevelt, Kennedy, G. W. Bush (business school), and Barack Obama (law school). Yale is a close second, with five presidents as alumni: Taft, Ford (law school), G.H.W. Bush, Clinton (law school), and G. W. Bush.

PRESIDENTS WHO WOULD BE CONSIDERED "WASHINGTON OUTSIDERS" (i.e., the 18 presidents who never served in Congress) are: Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Taylor, Grant, Arthur, Cleveland, T. Roosevelt, Taft, Wilson, Coolidge, Hoover, F. Roosevelt, Eisenhower, Carter, Reagan, Clinton, and G. W. Bush.

MOST COMMON RELIGIOUS AFFILIATION among presidents has been Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.

ANCESTRY OF 42 PRESIDENTS is limited to the following seven heritages, or some combination thereof: Dutch, English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Swiss, or German.

BARACK OBAMA IS THE FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN to be elected president of the United States. He was also born in Hawaii, making him the first president not born in the continental United States.

OLDEST & YOUNGEST PRESIDENTS: The oldest elected president was Reagan (age 69); the youngest was Kennedy (age 43). Theodore Roosevelt, however, was the youngest man to become president—he was 42 when he succeeded McKinley, who had been assassinated.

THE OLDEST LIVING FORMER PRESIDENT: was Gerald Ford, who was born on July 14, 1913, and died on Dec.27, 2006, at age 93. The second oldest was Ronald Reagan, who also lived to be 93 years.

TALLEST & SHORTEST PRESIDENTS: The tallest president was Lincoln at 6'4"; at 5'4", Madison was the shortest.

EIGHT LEFT-HANDED PRESIDENTS: James A. Garfield, Herbert Hoover, Harry S. Truman, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama

These trivia facts were from the following websites:

http://americanhistory.about.com/od/holidays/tp/presidents_day.htm


Saturday, February 19, 2011

Warning-Phone Numbers on Facebook!

Do you, your friends or family have a facebook account?? Then it's possible your home, cell, work and other telephone numbers are listed on Facebook?

Yes that's right - If you or your friends or family, has a friend on Facebook that posts or reads posts on Facebook using their iPhone app (on any smartphone) to access Facebook, then it ‘s more than likely that your private phone numbers (home, work, cell and any others they have noted in their contact list) and those for everyone else in their contact list that has a Facebook accounts - will all be matched up and listed on Facebook!

How & Why?? Because Facebook's "Contact Sync" feature, which synchronises friends' Facebook profile pictures with the contacts in their phone. So it imports/uploads all the names and phone numbers you have on your (smart)phone, uploads them to Facebook's Phonebook app and then matches them up with all users on your account and so on & so forth...the implications are overwhelming on our personal information being shared..

Be sure to check your friends & change your Privacy Settings:: When you are on your Facebook Account, go to the top right corner of your screen, click Account, then Edit Friends. Go to the left side of your screen and click phonebook. Everyone's phone numbers are now being published.

Let friends and family know this, so telephone numbers can be removed.

To change privacy settings: go to Privacy settings, then to phone, then to customize and choose "only me"

Remember - options change in your privacy settings, so check them often to be sure of what is and isn't activated...

Friday, February 18, 2011

Tips to use your mouse effectively

USING YOUR MOUSE CORRECTLY

· Left ClickMakes something happen “gives the computer a command”

· Right Click – Will always show you an action menu list of commands to choose from, based on whatever your mouse/cursor is on…

MOUSE SELECTION “HIGHLIGHTING” SHORTCUTS

TO SELECT A LINE OF TEXT: Place the mouse pointer in the left gutter area (the mouse will turn into a right facing arrow). Now left click the left mouse button once.

TO SELECT A BLOCK OF TEXT: Place the insertion point at the beginning of the block of text you want to select, Hold down the SHIFT Key, Place the I-beam at the end of the block of text and left click the left mouse button.

TO SELECT THE ENTIRE DOCUMENT: Left click Edit on the menu bar and Choose Select All, OR Hold CTRL Key + A

TO DE-SELECT (or unselect) ANYTHING HIGHLIGHTED/SELECTED: Left click anywhere in the white space of your document.

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

How to change what programs run at Start-up

How & why to change what programs run at “start-up” when you turn your computer on..Many of the programs installed on your computer, automatically “RUN” as soon as we start our computer each time and stay running the entire time our computer is on – Most run with or without our permission and can slow our computer down considerably…

We can control which programs run and which don’t when we start-up our computer and it’s easy to do this… When you want to see what is running at Start-Up, Open your Start Menu (Windows Flag Key) and you can then modify ~ add or delete ~ the programs in your Microsoft Configuration Utility…
  • Open the Start Menu (either click on Start or the Windows Icon, or Tap your Windows Flag Key on the keyboard)
  • At the bottom of the start menu, type "msconfig" into the search bar.
  • Press "Enter" and then open the "Startup" tab of the window that appears. Programs that run at startup have checks next to their listing.
  • Uncheck the boxes next to programs you don't want to run at startup.
  • Check the boxes next to programs that you do want to run at startup.
  • Click "Apply" and "OK."

Monday, February 14, 2011

Valentines Day Trivia & Fun & Recipe websites…

Happy Valentines Day everyone… What a wonderful holiday to break the long winter months…

Every February we celebrate Valentine's Day by giving flowers, candy and cards to those we love and we all remember those days when we were young and eagerly awaited the valentine celebrations when we first started school.

This celebration is in honor of Saint Valentine. But here are a few trivia facts you may not know…about Valentines Day and St. Valentine"?
  • The history of Valentine's Day — and its patron saint “St. Valentine” are shrouded in mystery. But we do know that February has long been a month of romance. St. Valentine's Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition
  • According to the Greeting Card Association, an estimated one billion valentine cards are sent each year, making Valentine's Day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year. (An estimated 2.6 billion cards are sent for Christmas.)
  • Approximately 85 percent of all valentines are purchased by women. In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day is celebrated in Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, and Australia
  • Valentine greetings were popular as far back as the Middle Ages (written Valentine's didn't begin to appear until after 1400), and the oldest known Valentine card is on display at the British Museum. The first commercial Valentine's Day greeting cards produced in the U.S. were created in the 1840s by Esther A. Howland. Howland, known as the Mother of the Valentine, made elaborate creations with real lace, ribbons and colorful pictures known as "scrap.
  • Another valentine gentleman you may be wondering about is Cupid (Latin cupido, "desire"). In Roman mythology Cupid is the son of Venus, goddess of love. His counterpart in Greek mythology is Eros, god of love. Cupid is often said to be a mischievous boy who goes around wounding both gods and humans with his arrows, causing them to fall in love.

www.allrecipes.com//Recipes/holidays-and-events/valentines-day/Main.aspx

www.foodnetwork.com/valentines-day/package/index.html

Sunday, February 13, 2011

You know more than you think about computers...

I want to thank one of our students in AZ, Patti W for sharing these-thought you'd enjoy them...they might just make you feel better about your computer skills!

Tech support: What kind of computer do you have?
Customer: A white one...

===============

Customer: Hi, this is Celine .. I can't get my diskette out.
Tech support: Have you tried pushing the Button?
Customer: Yes, sure, it's really stuck.
Tech support: That doesn't sound good; I'll make a note.
Customer: No, wait a minute. I hadn't inserted it yet... it's still on my desk... Sorry...

===============

Tech support: Click on the 'my computer' icon on to the left of the screen.
Customer: Your left or my left?

===============

Tech support: Good day. How may I help you?
Male customer: Hello... I can't print.
Tech support: Would you click on 'start' for me and....
Customer: Listen pal; don't start getting technical on me! I'm not Bill Gates.
===============

Customer: Hi, good afternoon, this is Martha , I can't print. Every time I try, it says 'Can't find printer'. I've even lifted the printer and placed it in front of the monitor, but the computer still says he can't find it.

============== =

Customer: I have problems printing in red..
Tech support: Do you have a color printer?
Customer: Aaaah.....................thank you.

===============

Tech support: What's on your monitor now, ma'am?
Customer: A teddy bear my boyfriend bought for me at the 7-11.===============

Customer: My keyboard is not working anymore.
Tech support: Are you sure it's plugged into the computer?
Customer: No. I can't get behind the computer.
Tech support: Pick up your keyboard and walk 10 paces back.
Customer: OK
Tech support: Did the keyboard come with you?
Customer: Yes
Tech support: That means the keyboard is not plugged in. Is there another keyboard?
Customer: Yes, there's another one here. Ah, that one does work.

===============

Tech support: Your password is the small letter 'a' as in apple, a capital letter V as in Victor, the number 7.
Customer: Is that 7 in capital letters?

===============

Customer: I can't get on the Internet.
Tech support: Are you sure you used the right password?
Customer: Yes, I'm sure. I saw my colleague do it.
Tech support: Can you tell me what the password was?
Customer: Five dots.

===============

Tech support: What anti-virus program do you use?
Customer: Netscape.
Tech support: That's not an anti-virus program.
Customer: Oh, sorry... Internet Explorer.

===============

Customer: I have a huge problem. A friend has placed a screen saver on my computer, but every time I move the mouse, it disappears.
===============

Tech support: How may I help you?
Customer: I'm writing my first email.
Tech support: OK, and what seems to be the problem?
Customer: Well, I have the letter 'a' in the address, but how do I get the little circle around it?

===============

A woman customer called the Canon help desk with a problem with her printer.
Tech support: Are you running it under windows?
Customer: 'No, my desk is next to the door, but that is a good point. The man sitting in the cubicle next to me is under a window, and his printer is working fine.'

===============

And last but not least...

Tech support: 'Okay Bob , let's press the control and escape keys at the same time. That brings up a task list in the middle of the screen. Now type the letter 'P' to bring up the Program Manager.'
Customer: I don't have a P .
Tech support: On your keyboard, Bob .
Customer
: What do you mean?
Tech support: “P” - on your keyboard, Bob
Customer: I'M NOT GOING TO DO THAT

Thursday, February 10, 2011

How to get better digital photos & videos

First ~ be sure you have visited the specific website for your camera – this is the quickest and easiest way to learn all the specific features of your digital camera and all that it can do. Most camera manufacturer’s websites have tutorials that will teach you- via video – all the specific features unique to your camera; once there, save it to your favorites and visit the site often…

Second ~ go to your favorite search engine - Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc.. and search for your digital camera or camcorder model + tutorial, many times tutorials are created by users like yourself, who love their camera and have wonderful tips to create better photos and make the most of your new camera and all that it has to offer.
Third ~ The following are some popular websites to help you improve the quality of the photos and videos that you take and to learn more about “digital photography” from the comfort of your home… explore and enjoy:

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Puzzle & game websites

Free Puzzle Websites, including crossword and word search puzzles and if you are looking for more games – remember to use www.allmyfaves.com for great websites on any topic you can think of…

www.webcrosswords.com

www.wordgames.com

www.puzzles.about.com/popular.htm

www.nytimes.com/pages/crosswords

Sunday, February 6, 2011

OUR NEXT SERIES BEGINS THIS WEEK


What an incredible winter this has been!! And we are only beginning the month of February… And no I didn’t get to miss all the fun entirely – our 9th grandchild, a little boy “Liam Robert” was born January 19th to our youngest son Sean & Mandy, so I was at home with our children from January 25th until last night!!! WOW – it snowed all but 2 days I was here so I didn’t get to do as much as I’d hoped…

Our apologies to those of you whose classes couldn’t be made up due to this weeks storms; fortunately due to Bob & Jean’s dedication, most students weren't affected and I know they hope to cover the topics missed when the new series begins…

So, tomorrow, Monday, February 7th our new series will begin every day this week and continue thru April.. We have lots of wonderful topics planned for the new series and we hope you will enjoy all of it…

And have you heard???" We are due to have an early spring – here is the official announcement in case you missed it!!! Enjoy and stay safe… Cherie Houston

Phil's official forecast as read February 2nd, 2011, at sunrise at Gobbler's Knob in Punxsutawney, PA:

Here Ye, Hear Ye, Hear Ye - Groundhog Day, February 2, 2011

Punxsutawney Phil was raised from his burrow
By the call of President Bill Deeley.
He greeted his handlers, Ben Hughes and John Griffiths.
After casting an inquisitive eye towards thousands of his faithful followers,
He proclaimed that the Steelers are going to the Super Bowl!
Back to the business at hand...

He surveyed his surroundings carefully and found that there was no shadow around, So:

An early spring it will be!

Friday, February 4, 2011

GREAT WEBSITES FOR SUPER BOWL SUNDAY….

This coming Sunday, February 6th, 2011 is "Super Bowl" Sunday. No doubt this is a fact known by every die hard football fans and everyone around them... Thought you'd enjoy checking out the NFL's 45 Super Bowl Website and we also found some great websites for Super Bowl Recipe ideas... Enjoy...

And for all of us who enjoy our New England Patriots - No, they didn’t make it to the super bowl this year (there's always next year), but we all have to agree they had a wonderful season. And special congratulation to the Pat’s coach – Bill Belicheick, who on February 2nd was named the National Football League's Coach of the Year by the Associated Press. Did you know this is the third time that Belichick has earned the honor. He was also named coach of the year following the 2003 and 2007 seasons – for more patriot news go to:
45th NFL SuperBowl Website:
Super Bowl Recipe Idea Websites:

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Tutorial for Picasa's many features

There are so many wonderful features to use in Picasa ~ a great free software program from Google, that allows you edit and be creative with your digital photos..

If you don't already have Picasa on your computer, just go to their website and download the free software - it's easy and only takes a minute... you may be pleasantly surprised by all the photos it finds on your computer that you knew you had but couldn't find!!
For those of you who do have Picasa and are confused or not sure how to use some of the many features - such as their new picnic editing; name tags which recognizes faces; creating a movie; using web albums to share entire photo folders, geotagging and much much more - Google has a great tutorial website that will work with you on all these wonderful features... This is definitely a website that should be in your favorites...

So if you are bored on these cold winter days... experiment with your digital photos and videos and you'll be amazed at all you can do and how easy it is...