I really love English Bulldogs. Recently I became aware of a common pet scam that is based on every other over seas Internet scam. Someone from Cameroon posts a desired breed up for a ridiculously low price. He/she asks for money plus shipping. You never get the dog. Here is my recent correspondence with one such scammer. I have resorted… Read More »Fun with Cameroon Pet Scams
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 today’s topics included:
Although I buy a few things per year on eBay, I haven't sold anything on eBay for a little more than two years. I had eight items that I needed to sell so I logged into my account today and found that posting an item for sale is much easier than it was two years ago. Creating the description (some items can be automatically built from a stock description) is easier, making your posting look professional and clean is easier, adding pictures is easier (first picture is free, then only fifteen cents per picture after that), and working through pricing your item (hint: always start at $.01 to lower your listing cost AND generate interest in your item).
I am throwing this into the newsletter this week. But I will post it here because I spent too much time writing it.
The Apple iPhone came out this Friday. We have taken the opportunity to write up the disclaimer that should appear on the device, but does not.
With so many options for backing up today, people often get confused on which method is right for them.
Typically there are three methods for backing up:
1. CD or DVD
2. Flash drive
3. External hard drive
The method you choose should depend on the type of backup you are doing.
CDs hold 700MB (about 300 pictures) while DVDs hold 4,700MB. But the amount of data that they hold is not as important as what you use the disks for. CDs and DVDs are best for archiving data that will likely never change such as pictures, old word processing documents, important tax or financial records, etc. Once you write information to a CD or DVD consider that disk finished and do not try to add more to it.
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 there.
I like to use a computer timer (but an egg timer or watch alarm will do also) to remind me to stand up and walk away from the computer when I'm working on a long project. Our bodies don't like to sit stationary for too long and our eyes really don't like staring at a fixed distance for long periods of time either.
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 website where the image is found will load but you can get directly to the image itself by clicking on the thumbnail at the top of the page.
I don't know how we missed posting this tip, but somehow we did so now I'm rectifying the situation.
One of the best features of Windows XP (and now Vista) is the ability to undo many problems that we may cause ourself or the system causes through updates or other unknown situations. It is called System Restore and it allows you to roll back your system to a previous time when all was blissful without losing any valuable data like email, pictures, and other documents.
Well, it was bold for me anyway. I stated (and Adam should have the audio up soon for the exact quote) that computer users who have not learned how to Copy and Paste should unplug their computers are put them on the curb for someone else to pickup.
The statement seems a little extreme and at the time, it was meant for a giggle in the context of the show. However, the more I thought about it, the more it made sense. The ability to Cut, Copy, and Paste is an extremely useful and easy to learn tool. Tutorials can be found everywhere regarding the subject (including right here on this site). I think it is an absolutely essential tool because it can be used in almost every aspect of computing except Solitaire.
Imagine for a moment (you won't have to stretch very far) that your son or daughter comes home past curfew and you say something like, "I told you to be home by midnight." In reply your kid says, "I know I heard you say that."
Imagine for a moment that you are an engineer who builds bridges. One day a bridge that you design collapses. You confront the builders only to find that they used half of the bolts that you indicated in the design. "I heard you say that we should use that many bolts," comes the reply from the builder.
In each case, the next sentence that follows is an excuse from the offenders as to why they thought this should be an exception.