Our favorite photo organizer program is Picasa…and has been for a long time! We wrote our first article about Picasa in 2005 and then went on to write many more articles, created still relevant video tips, help Picasa classes, and even published a how-to CD at one point. In fact, today (May 2019), Picasa still graces my desktop computer and… Read More »Picasa no longer supported by Google, but…
These techniques should be standard tools for any computer user. However, many computer users find these techniques elusive.
The ability to move (cut) or copy information from one computer program to another sets you free to do so much more with your computer. Cut, Copy and Paste function by temporarily storing the information, cut or copied, into a temporary holding spot of memory known as the clipboard (Click here for the Webopedia definition).
The information held in the clipboard stays there and is available to Paste until either the computer is restarted or another item is cut or copied. Make special note of this fact when using the "Cut" command, because if you cut or copy another item before pasting the first item, the first one is lost.
Before choosing Cut or Copy, the computer needs to know what you want to cut or copy. This is done by using the mouse to
One of the computer’s greatest weaknesses is filling in forms…until now! For a long time, I have recommended using FoxIt Reader as my PDF (Adobe portable document format) reader of choice. On and off, they have offered tools to help you fill in forms or annotate documents, but with their newest version, the form filler or typewriter tool is now… Read More »How to type on a PDF or scanned form – Video Tip
Although we now have 19″ and larger monitors on most new desktop computers, the text seems to shrink. Why is that? It has to do with screen resolution (how much information can be displayed). Screen resolutions on today’s monitors are up to 3X that of monitors we used just 6-8 years ago. We can see a lot more information, but often the text is too small to view for some computer users.
Never fear. Using this week’s tip, you can easily and quickly enlarge the text of any web page using only your keyboard and mouse. This tip will work with any web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Opera, Safari, etc) and any operating system (Windows, Ubuntu, Mac OS X).
All you need is a mouse with a scroll wheel and your keyboard. This tip can be performed without the mouse as well, but I’ll touch on that later. First, when you are reading a web site, particularly news web sites and blog type sites like mine, look for an indication of a printer friendly page. Often designated as Printer Friendly, Print this article, or simply Print, clicking this link brings up a version of the article you are reading that is much less busy and cleaner than how the article presents on the web page itself. This alone may make enough difference for readability.
However, you can quickly increase the size of the text you are reading by holding down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and spinning your mouse scroll wheel away from your body (towards the computer monitor). Amazing, no? Holding down the Ctrl key and spinning towards your body (away from the monitor) will shrink the text again.
The same result can be achieved by holding down the Ctrl key and pressing the “+” or “-” keys as well. I think the mouse method is a little more intuitive and elegant.
Watch the short video below to see this tip in action and see the web as never before!
One common problem I help solve every day is the recovery of passwords. For some reason, tracking passwords and usernames becomes a daunting task for most computer users. The advice I dispense most often when asked how to track all of the usernames and passwords we accumulate these days is to simply write it down. Not just anywhere, however, but… Read More »Start your password tracking system today!
I know I’m late for this year’s Christmas season, but you can learn and start using this tip TODAY to make next year’s Christmas card mailings a breeze.
Too many computer users have no idea what a database is, how to use it, and how to merge it with another program to create labels. Since printing mailing labels is only a once per year activity for many of you, learning how to do it again every single year requires too much time and frustration.
Thanks to long time listener and web visitor, Daniel, for suggesting this week’s tip. I have been using this technique for more than ten years, but in order to learn it, you really must see it in action. Thus, it was a natural for our Video Tips, which are now almost 18 months old!
For Ubuntu and Windows users, you can quickly switch between open programs by pushing Alt+Tab on your keyboard. Macintosh users have a key called the “Command” key on their keyboards. By holding down the Command+Tab key, Mac users can switch between their open programs.
Why use the keyboard instead of your mouse? Time. I didn’t run any official tests, but I’m willing to bet that it takes at least three times longer to look at your task bar or dock (how many of you know what that is?), hunt for the application you need to switch to, then click on that program than it does to use the Alt+Tab or Command(Apple key)+Tab technique.
I know this doesn’t make much sense reading it, so click the play button on the video below and watch it in action! I show the Windows technique first, Ubuntu second, and end with the Macintosh tip. All told it’s about 2.5 minutes…2.5 minutes that WILL change your computing life. Pass this tip on to ALL of your computer buddies.
Unfortunately, Google has not updated Picasa for Linux in almost 18 months. However, it remains a solid product for Linux users who want to easily manage their photos. I’ve tried F-Spot, but it just doesn’t seem intuitive or robust enough for everyday use. Anyway, I was helping one of my many clients using Linux Mint as their only operating system,… Read More »Burning CDs with Picasa for Linux
Microsoft released Windows Vista a little over three years ago, and it hit the market (and customers) like a rock right between the eyes. Hardware configurations were too underpowered, hardware support was horrid, and tons of third party software did not work with it (including some of Microsoft’s own).
Supporting this abomination was even harder.
Out of the clouds, however, came sunlight because being enormously frustrated with what users were stuck with, I looked into options. The best option I could come up with was Ubuntu. Ubuntu is an Open Source (click link to read definition) and free operating system. The first version I discovered in 2007 was Feisty Fawn (7.04). It impressed me immediately. It loaded fast, looked usable (simple), and didn’t try to wow you with too much fluff…it just worked, and worked well. Sure, it wasn’t as refined as Windows, but it also blew the doors off of Windows in performance andRead More »Ubuntu 10.04 released tomorrow, manual today
Ubuntu released their newest version this past October. In addition to cleaning up the code and making it boot faster, look better, and run faster, I think one of the nicest additions (particularly for beginners) is the Ubuntu Software Center. This tool allows users to easily search for and install programs and utilities with just a few clicks. Prior to… Read More »New Ubuntu Software Center – Video Tip