Internet Speed Tip

The Internet’s prowess for finding almost any type of information continues to grow.  Today’s tip focuses on how to get back to where we have been on the Internet. There are many times that I need to get back to a web page that I was viewing earlier in my Internet session and pushing the Back button a gazillion times seems silly and slow.  Internet Explorer (version 4.0 and greater) users note...

Internet Explorer Quick Navigation Tip

Sometimes the simple tips provide the most usefulness. Try this tip to gain a little speed when navigating to a new or favorite web site. As the title suggests, this tip only works with Internet Explorer. Do not add or subtract any steps from this tip: Click on one time in the address bar at the top of the browser Type the name of the web site in the bar (eg. for www.helpmerick.com just type helpmerick, for...

Got something to say? Tell more than 600 million p...

If you have read our newsletter, or listened to the show at any time over the past two plus years, you have heard us mention the "Castellini on Computers Blogger". Hopefully many of you’ve already benefited from our Blogger as it holds many treasures.  Simply put, a Blogger is a diary of sorts that anyone can start on the Internet. Three years ago, if you wanted to start a web page, you had to learn...

Google Yourself

I enjoy reading my morning newspaper comics. Earlier this week, I laughed and laughed at one that talked about one person "Googling" another person. Although not official yet, I’m sure that "Googling" will become Merriam-Webster’s newest verb. Googling refers to typing your name (or someone else’s name) into the Google search engine and see what comes up.  Although a somewhat...

Get Home and Back Quickly!

No, the Internet has not found a way to "beam" us hither and yonder…yet!   I’m referring to navigating around your word processing, email or other text related documents quickly. Don’t underestimate the power of the keyboard as you create your written masterpieces.  Moving quickly from one part of your document to another saves loads of time and the keyboard can help.  Try these...

Citing Internet Resources

With kid’s of all ages returning to school this month, it is important to know how to use the Internet as a research tool.  But the basic premise remains the same as with library research: give credit to the author and provide the information necessary for the reader to locate the source. The most important part of an Internet citation is its URL (web address). Using the URL, the source...

Unblocking Attachments in Outlook Express

Many computer users over the past few months lost the ability to receive attachments normally in Outlook Express for seemingly no reason. As with all problems, there is a cause. In this case, the loss of attachments starts after a Windows Update session or an upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer/Outlook Express. Microsoft decided that since attachments can bring along a virus, by default they would prevent...

The efficient way to email your digital photos

I often get emails from family or friends who have recently been on vacation or been involved in some other event and they want to share a handful of photos with everyone in their address book. Some of the email works out great, but other email doesn’t quite make it through the way sender intended. Emailing photos can be one of the most troublesome things you can do with your email for several reasons. 1. ...

Geocaching

Computers, the Internet, GPS, and Hiking for Treasure A customer of mine (Bill) introduced me to a  fast growing sport called geocaching. Geocaching makes use of Global Positioning Satellites (GPS), the Internet and hiking to find ‘treasures’ all around the world! GPS uses a series of satellites (24 to be exact) to triangulate a GPS users position. One must use a GPS receiver to utilize the system and access...

Fight Spy and Adware

Fight Spy and Adware In the last twelve months, a new menace has invaded our computers via the Internet. Different than a virus, but equally as irritating, we need to be watching out for and fighting against spy and adware. Spy and adware are little programs that install themselves on our computers and use up a great deal of our memory and processing power. Sometimes they are installed by us using some flaky software...

The efficient way to email your digital photos

by Adam Cochran I often get emails from family or friends who have recently been on vacation or been involved in some other event and they want to share a handful of photos with everyone in their address book. Some of the email works out great, but other email doesn’t quite make it through the way sender intended. Emailing photos can be one of the most troublesome things you can do with your email for several...

Does your computer get stuck?

Actually, I should say, "does your web browser get stuck?" Occasionally, we may click on a link from a web page and the browser just sits there and the page never appears. Here’s the remedy… When you experience the above symptom while browsing about the Internet, simply click on the "stop" button at the top of your browser (traffic light in Netscape, circle with an ‘X’ in it for...

Cookies…are they dangerous, harmless or do t...

Cookies are small (very small…hundreds of cookies will take up less than a tenth of a megabyte on your hard drive) text files that are deposited on our computer systems by some web sites. For example, the polling service I use for our listener poll will deposit a cookie on your hard drive to prevent more than one vote per question, but that is all it does. In the majority of cases, cookies pose no threat to you, your...

Change the Font Size of Your Browser Text

Text on certain web pages can be either too small or too big. Using either Netscape Communicator or Internet Explorer, you have control over this potential problem using the font size command. These font adjustments don’t have to be absolute. Change them as the need arises since there is a large disparity in the way web sites are formatted. In Internet Explorer, change the font size by: 1. Click on View from the...

Alternative Browser

Would you like to have your web surfing speed increased? Would you like web sites to pop-up just a little faster? Changing the web browser you use (Internet Explorer, Netscape, AOL) will do just that. This tip does NOT require you to change Internet services. If you use AOL or any other service, that does not change. And whether you connect via a dialup modem (phone line), DSL, cable or other method, this tip applies across...