Holiday Digital Photography

Nearly one out of every four homes in the United States own at least one digital camera. Chances are you are one of those households. And if you are one of those digital camera owners, you will probably be taking a few pictures this month. Following are some tips on how to take some interesting and fun photos during the holidays. * Keep your batteries charged or have extras available. “Kodak moments”...

Gaming Consoles vs. PC’s

While this gaming consoles (Nintendo Gamecube, Playstation2 and Xbox) may seem unrelated to computers, we assure you that it may have everything to do with the performance of your computer. While it many not seem practical to buy both a computer and a gaming console for yourself or your children, in the long run it will save you lots of money. A gaming console costs between $75-$250. A computer that handles the most...

Flat Panel and Laptop Monitors – Comfortable...

Flat panel monitors (those diminutive, skinny, sexy monitors no thicker than a couple of inches) now come packaged with many new computers. Their price drops over the past year make also them attractive upgrades for existing systems. Flat panel monitors use the same technology as the monitors laptops use..LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). These monitors look great and cause much less stress to our eyeballs, but sometimes the text...

Flash Memory Drives

A flash memory drive (a.k.a. thumb drive or USB drive) consists of a chip of memory (flash) mounted in a plastic case with a USB interface on one end (see the illustration for some examples). With Windows Me, 2000, XP and Macintosh computers, flash memory drives automatically get recognized as another storage drive on your computer. No installation CD’s, no formatting, just fast, safe removable storage. In addition to...

Digital Cameras

The Photo Marketing Association show was last week in Orlando, Florida and there were dozens of new cameras announced for the consumer level. If you have been putting off purchasing a new camera because you wanted to wait for the latest models, now is the time to consider making that purchase. This is also a great time to buy the older models at a closeout price. Here are the important features that you want to look...

Computer Add-ons and

Adding a few computer components or peripherals to your computer can breathe new life into your system and make you more productive at the same time. In this week’s tip, you will find some easy ‘do-it-yourself’ ideas for your computer. Cordless Mouse and/or Keyboard Lose the wires! Cordless mice make a great gift for a computing friend, and certainly for yourself. When shopping for one, make sure to get an...

CDR vs. CDRW

This week’s newsletter sparked a tremendous amount of email already about the use of CDR/W drives and their use. Specifically, newsletter readers were interested in knowing the difference between CDR and CDRW. In a nutshell, CDRW allows you to use a CD like a floppy disk and copy, delete and recopy files. CDRW’s do NOT work for music CD’s, and are not easily shared with other computer users. CDRW media also...

Why Don’t You Picasa 2?

This week’s tip is for everyone out there that says, “I have a lot of digital photos on my computer, but I don’t know where they are.” If this sounds like you, or if you would just like a way to view all your digital photos in an easy collective interface, Picasa 2 by Google just might be for you. Picasa 2 is a FREE program that scans your computer for digital photos and arranges them by the date they...

Update your virus protection

One of the best ways to protect your system and keep it running smoothly is to update your virus protection program regularly. My current favorite anti-virus program is the free addition of AVG (see our link for it on the home page). I like not only its thoroughness, but the update utility is extremely easy (in fact automatic if you spend at least an hour a day online). After all, an anti-virus program can only help if it is...

Selecting or Highlight Text Tips

Selecting Text on the web or with your word processor: Double click on a word to select it Click and drag in the margin of your word processor to select entire lines of text If you have text that you need to select that spans multiple pages, then Click once where you want to start selecting Hold the shift key down and click your mouse after the last word you want to...

Re-installing a troublesome program

First step; backup any user files that you have created in the program. Second; properly uninstall the program by either using its uninstall or remove option in the Programs menu OR using Add/Remove programs in the Control Panel. When finished, restart your computer (Start –> Shut Down, Restart) Next, reinstall the program with one small change: When the setup screen comes to the destination directory (something...

Properly Uninstall programs

Deleting files on your computer can become a harrowing experience if you accidentally delete a file vital to your computers health. This week I will outline two ways to delete programs from your computer and a safe method of deleting individual files. Removing Unwanted Programs Method One 1. Click on Start 2. Click on Programs 3. Find the application?s folder in the list 4. Inside the applications folder, look for...

Print your Word document on one page

If you have a letter or some other document you typed in Microsoft Word 97 or 2000, and you want to print it on a single page then this tip will save you some time and frustration. Before I discovered this feature, I would adjust the margins, shrink the font and make other formatting changes to make my letters fit on one page. Thankfully, one of the more useful additions to Word 97 and Word 2000 is the ability to shrink a...

Microsoft Word Users: Learn to Turn Off the Squigg...

If you have ever used Microsoft Word, you are familiar with the little red and green squiggles that crop under your words. The red squiggle represents a misspelled word and the green arrow represents a grammatical error of some kind. The purpose of these lines are to call attention to your miscues. In my opinion, they break up the flow of your thoughts as you type. I prefer getting my thoughts on paper (or the screen) and...

High Tech DVD Rental

Do you like convenience? Do you like shopping in your pajamas? Do you enjoy renting movies? Do you forget which movies you want to rent? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then online DVD rental services may be a great fit for you. My family has been using Netflix online rental service for more than two years now and enjoy it immensely. For less than $18 month, Netflix sends us three DVD’s at...