Skip to content

Mac

Email Preview Button in Outlook Express – Video Tip

This tip evaded me for many years, but now you can benefit from its use. The tip works in any versions of Windows including Windows Vista's Windows Mail.

When asked how to delete a message without opening it in Microsoft Outlook Express, I traditionally answered by directing the computer user to the View menu (See Tip #156). This works, but if you want to turn the Preview back on you have to go through the same number of steps.

Why would you want to delete emails without opening them? A couple of reasons include not wanting to open an email that advertises how to enlarge certain private parts or see an ad of Jolene's sorority web site and you may not want to open a potentially dangerous email that might have a virus.

Adam beat me to the punch

I knew I should have written my article yesterday! Actually, it was fun to read Adam's post today about Vista. We were obviously studying the big box store prices on the "new" Vista machines using the same calculator. Since he did a great job explaining the pricing, I just want to echo his final statements; DO NOT buy a Vista machine with less than 1 GB of RAM and you really should consider 2 GB of RAM (or more) for better Vista performance.

Lastly, I wanted to share this great quote from a CNET newsletter I received today: "That $200 Windows XP service pack called Vista" . WOW! Pun intended. 

Change Windows Vista’s Theme

Windows Vista is here and we can't change that so let's learn how to work with it. Much of the new Windows is visual eye candy. The new visual layout will intimidate many users and certainly get in the way of using the computer as we once did. To get around the initial shock of this different looking Windows, I recommend changing the theme to make it look a little more familiar.

  1. RIGHT Click the Desktop
  2. Click Personalize
  3. Click Themes
  4. Click the theme choices pull down menu and choose "Classic"
  5. Click Apply and OK

To make the Start menu work in Classic mode:

  1. RIGHT Click the Start button
  2. Click Properties
  3. Choose Classic Start menu
  4. Click Apply and OK

To watch these steps, watch the video below. (if the video doesn't start right away, be sure to click "Read More")

Does anyone remember easy printer installs?

One trend happening in technology over the past three years or so is bloated printer software. By bloated, I mean printer installations that require nearly one gigabyte (yes almost 1000 megabytes) of hard drive space! Call me old or nostalgic, but I miss the days where printers could be installed from a floppy disk and took less than three minutes ton install. The worst offender today seems to be HP. Their popular all-in-one printers can take up to thirty minutes to install on a NEW computer and even longer on old computers. And after spending all that time, it may still not work correctly! 

Run, don’t walk, to buy a new computer

One of my favorite Sci-Fi movies of the past few years was iRobot. The film was so loosely based on the Isaac Asimov book that they had to put "inspired by" rather than "based on" in the credit.

The film took place in the near future in a time where every home had a robot.

One main corporation was responsible for supplying most of the robots. As a new line of robots was introduced, the corporation gladly exchanged everyone's existing robots for free for a brand new model.

What no one suspected was that the new robots were rigged to take over the world.

Is the iPhone another Newton?

iphoneFor those of you who don't remember the Newton, it was Apple's first and last foray into the handheld computing market back in 1993. Although it was ground breaking and unique, it was a little ahead of its time and definitely too expensive. The Newton was a little too big to be called a true handheld computer and only worked with a heavy, built-in rechargeable battery. Just three short years later, a small company just down the street from Apple called Palm, introduced the Palm Pilot. It was less than one-half the size of a Newton, ran on a single AAA battery, had an ingeniously accurate handwriting recognition system, AND could synchronize data easily with a PC or Macintosh computer.

Fast forward to this week. Steve Jobs gave his usually raucous key note address at the annual Apple convention known as Macworld Expo. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a device slightly smaller than the Newton, but bigger than a Palm Pilot, and he pronounced it as the iPhone (already in legal trouble with Cisco who claims they own the rights to the name). Apple has been on a tear for about six years now the introduction of the iMac all-in-one computers, the iPod, and iTunes. Trying to capitalize on their recent successes, they decided to enter the "smart phone" market.

A smart phone is defined as a cellular phone that can also be used to synchronize contact, calendar, to do lists, and documents with a computer. They also have a full QWERTY keyboard built into them. These types of phones are extremely popular amongst the geek sector and the 'wanna be' geek sector. Blackberry handheld email devices made email mobile, then Palm introduced the revolutionary Treo smart phone and remains the top vote getter in this market. One problem plagues the smart phone market; there aren't that many geeks. Despite seeing how incredibly useful and versatile a Treo phone can be, most people scoff at it's size and say, "It's too big! I could never carry that thing." Treo's tip the scales at just over 5 ounces and measures: 4.44" H x 2.3" W x 0.8" D. One other factor hinders large scale smart phone sales; many computer users barely understand their computers let alone try and use a smart phone.

Back to the iPhone. Let's start with its dimensions. It weighs about

Broadband Bliss

During the holidays, I helped a friend buy and setup a new computer. After looking at his current bills, we determined that his family would save money going with our local cable company for their TV, telephone, and Internet setup. They dumped MSN (dial-up), AT&T long distance, and Qwest in the process. Now they have a better TV plan, unlimited long distance telephone calls, nice phone package, and of course the high speed Internet. Once we finalized the setup, I introduced them to some of the things they could do with broadband. They were amazed at the speed of the new machine and connection speed, but also very pleased that their phone would no longer be busy when they used the Internet.

Create a new toolbar in Windows – Video Tip

Desktop icons are great to access commonly used programs and files, but I have found an even faster way to access those commonly used programs and keep my desktop a little cleaner at the same time.

After following the outlined steps below, you will have an orderly toolbar that contains easy one-click access to your favorite programs or files:

  1. RIGHT Click on your Taskbar (next to the Start button)

  2. Click Toolbars

  3. Click Quick Launch (or make sure there is already a check mark there)

Picasa Picture Manager Video Tip – Part 2

In Part 1 of our Picasa Video tip , we discussed how to use many of the editing and organizing tools available in Picasa. In this tip, you will learn about:

  • Transferring your digital camera photos to your computer with Picasa
  • Selecting photos from multiple folders
  • Creating a web album
  • Printing your photos
  • Ordering prints from your photos
  • and more!

Click the Read More option below to start the video if it has not already started, and be patient as the video loads.

Picasa Picture Manager Video Tip – Part 1

Picasa , from Google, has matured into a phenomenal digital photo manager. Not only is it easy to use and contains tons of great features, but it is also free to use. In the upcoming week, we will present you with a series of video tips explaining how to get the most out of Picasa.

This video may take a few minutes to get started (even on a broadband connection), but be patient, and you will be happy you have seen the video.