Ubuntu – Day 4

I’m going to do a short written update to my Ubuntu trek, but record my first official “Shotgun Podcast” here shortly. After only three days, I gave up on Evolution email as my email program. I like the program a lot, but unfortunately, I get way too much spam not to have a better anti-spam solution. So, I downloaded and installed Thunderbird today which while not perfect and far from my Cloudmark Desktop...

Creating a Life Poster with Windows

In yesterday’s computer users group, a question came up about printing photos, and after answering the question somehow the conversation came around to a project I embarked on a few weeks ago. I stumbled on a popular web site blog for Mac users called “Creating a Life Poster” by Mike Matas. I immediately became enamored with the idea of creating a “Life Poster” for my home. The thought of...

Sadly, dial-up Internet is still alive and well

The majority of people I have seen this week have been dial-up Internet users. In every case the appointment lasted longer and cost more money than if they would have been on broadband. In other words, the appointment could have taken only a few minutes. Instead the appointment took so long that it cost as much as three month’s worth of broadband service. I carry most of the tools for fixing computers on my flash drive...

All Q&A Session – July 2007

I don’t do it too often, but this month I decided to hold an all Q&A (2 hours) user group meeting. It truly is amazing how many questions 30 or 40 ravenous computer users can generate. Sometimes one question leads to another, and an entire “topic” can take up a half hour. You have to be at one of the meetings to truly experience the type of knowledge and information that gets shared and explored. Some of...

Everything you need to know about PowerPoint

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New virus – what took them so long?

There is a new virus going around that pretends to be a postcard from a friend, family member, schoolmate, etc. Within the email are links to where you can download the "postcard." In reality you will not be getting a postcard, you will be getting a virus. How sneaky. While this method of spreading viruses usually doesn’t work well because the host site is taken down quickly, I thought this one was worth...

Quickly resizing photos with Windows Vista –...

Web designers, eBay sellers, and other folks who need to quickly and painlessly resize large digital photos had an excellent option in Windows XP. (See our tip: An Easier Way to Resize Your Digital Photos). However, that little utility doesn’t work any longer with Windows Vista. I’ve devised a little workaround that works, albeit not perfect. Here’s how: Open the folder where the photos you want to resize...

How to know if you have spyware

If the popups and sudden system slowdown aren’t sufficient indicators, here are two other ways to tell that you have spyware. 1. Tons of toolbars in Internet Explorer 2. More than 10 items in the system tray by the clock Special thanks to my client who unknowingly contributed material for this video which I recorded with my cell...

10 Things you should know how to do with your digi...

Here is what we will discuss at tonight's digital photo user group:  1. How to find information in the Manual If your camera didn't come with a manual, it is likely on the disk that came with the camera. You may also download it from the manufacturer's website. 2. How to insert and remove the camera memory 3. How to set your camera on full auto mode – this is the setting that lets the camera do all of the...

Missing Control Panel icons

Kathy has some missing icons in her Control Panel of Windows Me. I would suggest downloading Microsoft's Tweak UI and then under the Control Panel section, check the "Rebuild Icons" and Repair button. Here is the link for the Tweak UI program for Windows Me: Download TweakUI ...

Windows Vista’s Open and Save Dialog Box ...

Windows Vista has brought us many changes…some good, many not so good. One change that takes some getting used to is the new open/save dialog box. It takes a little getting used to, but with some practice and tips in my video tip below, you will be in harmony with Gates' new monster. In the video, I include how to create shortcuts to your most used folders, explain the new Vista file hierarchy, and demonstrate how...

Magnifying Your Screen

With today's higher resolution screens, some computer users have trouble making out some items on the screen. Microsoft has a built-in screen magnifier that works OK, but isn't perfect or necessarily intuitive. Recently, I found a great application, called the Torian Screen Magnifier , that magnifies any portion of your screen by simply moving the on-screen magnifying glass over the area you want magnified. It is...

Ubuntu on the road

I continue to experiment with the Ubuntu operating system. This past weekend, my family and I made a quick trip to the South Dakota Black Hills and I took my Ubuntu laptop along for the ride. My Ubuntu laptop is an older Compaq (almost six years old) that was destined for the trash heap by its previous owner. It no longer performed well for them and required reformatting and upgrading to run Windows XP and other software at...

Take a break …. Physical Therapy Advice

Many of you know that I started out as a Physical Therapist, but switched careers almost twelve years ago. I notice that many computer users (including myself) can get absorbed in reading online news, working with pictures, researching, learning a new computer program, or just playing a game. Unfortunately, when we get absorbed, we also lose track of time and thirty minutes can quickly become two hours! We have all been...

Easy, safe, fun (and useful) Google Images –...

Google offers hundreds of features and most of them go unused by the average computer user. Google Images is one of the coolest features that the monster search site has to offer. Google Images allows you to search the web for graphics or pictures related to any search topic. It's so easy to use: 1. Visit Images.Google.com 2. Type in a word or phrase that you want to search for 3. Hit ENTER key on your keyboard 4. The...