September 2000
News Letter
A message from the President
At least ten members were present to hear Jeff Hodson’s presentation on the database
ACCESS. I missed it but was told it was good. Thank you Jeff. I also understand Marcy Young did a great job of conducting the meeting, but she is not interested in becoming the next President. Nobody seems to be interested.
Check your mailing label, if it is highlighted in blue, your dues are due or overdue. If you
are very far behind your label will be marked "Last Issue" if this is OK with you do nothing. If it is not OK then pay your dues.
The September 14th meeting will feature Marcy Young giving a presentation on the subject of VIRUSES. Viruses affect us all so come and ask questions.
Skyenet seems to have most of their problems under control and I have been able to get to my e-mail regularly. It seems like it was a long transition.
I’m making a series of CDs called LARRY’S FAVORITES. Anything that I like qualifies to appear on one volume or another. They run 80 minutes each and I have finished Volume Number 34. It’s a good project and I love it.
Larry Thompson
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LABELS
At theAugust 10th meeting, after the presentation I asked a question about mailing labels using word and excel. I have had no trouble with labels with various persons but had a problem printing many labels with the same name. It was suggested that I buy a separate label program. I guess I'm just obstinate but I wanted to do it with windows. I just figured it out and it is very
simple.1. click on tools2. click on envelopes and labels3. click on options and select the label you want to use and click OK4. type in the name and address and click on " full page of same label"5. printWorked fine for meFred Selley
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PICTURES
I visited my son Rick in Alaska this summer and while there I took a lot of pictures. As each roll was used I had one copy made at a one-hour development center. Rick set up a web page for me and used his scanner to put my pictures on it. I added a new roll of pictures every few days. Rick also used his digital camera to add some photos.
I called my wife and gave her the web site address so she could view the pictures while I was still here. She sent the website to my children and grandchildren who are scattered across the US. They can view without downloading as on Email and shift from picture to picture with ease, as they are never downloaded on the hard drive. They are stored on the web forever without taking any space on my home computer and available to family and friends.
Rick also made a CD of the web site for me to take home so I can store it forever and view it much faster without even being on the web.
Richard Ingels
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ON-LINE HUMOR!
1. When computing, whatever happens, behave as though you meant it to happen.
2. When you get to the point where you really understand your computer. It’s probably obsolete.
3. The first place to look for
information is in the section
of the manual where you least
expect to find it.
4. When the going gets tough,
upgrade.
5. For every action, there is an
equal and opposite malfunction. Made a back up
6. If at first you do not succeed,
blame your computer.
7. A complex system that does
not work is invariably found
to have evolved from a
simpler system that worked
just fine.
8. The number one cause of
computer problems is
computer solutions.
9. A computer program will always do what you tell it to do, but rarely what you want it to do.
Richard W. Coop Sr.
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LANGUAGE OR TERMS RELATED TO COMPUTERS
An acronym here, an abbreviation there. You can’t live in the computer world without running into scores of these nuggets. And you thought the government was bad! Some of these terms are so specialized most of us can just ignore them. But here are a few that even non-geeks may want to know.
UPS. We’re not talking about brown delivery trucks here. In the computer world, this actually refers to an uninterruptible power supply. It’s a power source that keeps your computer from shutting down suddenly due to an unexpected power outage. A UPS device automatically provides battery power if AC power is interrupted keeping the system running at least long enough for a person or software routine to shut it down properly until normal power is restored.
UPS devices come in two basic types. A standby UPS switches to battery power when alternating current is interrupted, and then back to AC when current is restored. Although they’re designed to make the switch instantly, there’s a chance of a tiny gap that will cause a computer to reboot. Although this is unlikely, those with extremely sensitive systems or special needs might consider an on-line UPS, which supplies battery power at all times. Since the electricity is routed through the battery, which is continuously recharged by line current, there’s no interruption in the event of a power failure. On-line UPS systems also provide consistency in electrical current, eliminating spikes.
ASCII.
Ask and you shall receive? Actually, that may not be as simple as it sounds if you want to share text files between different software applications. But ASCII does provide an answer. An acronym for American Standard Code for information interchange. ASCII is a standard text format readable by most software applications designed to read and edit text. The beauty of ASCII files is in their simplicity. Since they contain minimal formatting, they don’t require special programs or transition filters to access them. This capability to especially useful when sharing files with someone who’s using an older computer or a less common word processor.
LED
Feeling led to turn off your computer and play golf? If so, you’ll know the power is off thanks to a LED, or light-emitting diode. LEDs are the little lights that indicate specific computer activity. The most obvious is the tiny LED that lets you know a computer has been turned on. Probably the most important is the one that blinks on when a hard disk has been activated. You should never switch off the computer while this LED is on. Floppy disk an CD ROM drives, as well as other peripherals like printers, monitors, and keyboards, have green, red, or amber LEDs to indicate various functions and/or malfunctions.
Y2K
Wait, this isn’t what you think! We’d like to offer an alternative definition for this annoyingly inescapable abbreviation: Yuck! Too much of this is going to Kill me! It seems we aren’t alone in this sentiment, either. The term Y2K, used in discussions about a much-anticipated computer glitch topped the 23rd annual list of banished words, published by Lake Superior State University in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich,
Richard W. Coop Sr.
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ANONYMIZER http://www.anonymizer.com With all the "cookie" technology out there, Webmasters can track your movements within their site and recognize you (or at least your Web browser) when you return. Want to learn exactly what they can find out about you? Then visit the Anonymizer and check out the "Who Are You?" section. Up pops a Privacy Analysis detailing the information a Web site can find out about you the second you view its home page. If this has you concerned, then visit the up-to-date news section covering Internet privacy. Then, if you're concerned enough, you can use the Anonymizer to cloak yourself (just like a Klingon) and surf other Web sites anonymously. Just type a Web address into the box, and Anonymizer will take you there, and no one else has to know.
Jerry Henry
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CHANGING DEFAULT BROWSERS You can't easily change your default browser at will without editing the Windows Registry manually. Since editing the Registry is never a good idea unless you know exactly what you're doing, we offer the following suggestion: To stop Windows from asking you constantly if you wish to make Netscape or MSIE your default browser, you can change the Control Panel setting. Click the Start menu, then select Settings, Control Panel. Open the Internet Options applet in Control Panel. Under the Programs tab in the Internet Options window, uncheck the box next to Internet Explorer Should Check To See Whether It Is The Default Browser. Windows should ask you one last time and accept your answer as gospel from then on--that is, of course, until you recheck the box. If in the past you set MSIE as your default browser, a quick reinstallation of Netscape should take care of the problem. The installation won't overwrite your settings, and at the end of the process it will ask if you wish to make Netscape your default browser. Answer Yes and browse to your heart's content.
Jerry Henry
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CLEANING UP THE COOKIES "Can you delete the cookie file in Netscape, or will that mess up the program?" It's not a good idea to delete the whole cookie file. If you want to delete certain cookies, I suggest getting a third-party program to help you do so. I prefer CookiePal for my cookie needs. For a list of available Windows applications for dealing with cookies, browse to http://winfiles.cnet.com/apps/98/webtools-cache.html
To download CookiePal, go to http://www.kburra.com
Jerry Henry
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E-MAIL ARCHIVING A reader asks: "Is there any way to archive e-mail? I have organized my e-mail into many folders in Messenger, and I save all correspondence. Obviously, over time these e-mails take up a lot of disk space, and I'd like to archive older messages. I want the ability to retrieve these e-mails as needed, but I'd like to get older messages out of my current set." Here's a simple answer--make use of Netscape's ability to compact your e-mail folders. This removes redundant information from the actual files on your hard drive and archives them while still keeping them in a usable form. In Messenger, click File, Compact Folders. This instantaneously reduces the disk space your Netscape messages take up. If you still don't have enough room, your only recourse is to save each message to a text file and archive the various text files into a compressed format. ZIP and RAR are two popular compression formats--you can download the appropriate utilities free. This method makes your messages a little more laborious to get to in a hurry, but they'll take up much less space while remaining available for later access. For a list of popular compression utilities, browse to http://winfiles.cnet.com/apps/98/compress.html
Jerry Henry
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FORCED RELOAD "Is there a way to force a Web page to load from the host server, rather than from the copy cached on my ISP's servers?" To my knowledge, no ISP caches copies of Web pages. Any cached copy is on your computer in the cache folder of your Netscape directory. However, to answer your question, you can hold down the Shift key as you click the Reload button on your toolbar to force the page to download again from the Web server
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TAKE IT TO THE MAX "When I open my Netscape Communicator, most of the time it appears maximized on the screen; other times, it appears in a smaller configuration. After several sessions I see it maximized again. How can I keep it that way?" Usually Netscape remembers its last window state and opens the next time using that state. But sometimes wires get crossed, and Netscape opens in a smaller window size rather than maximized to full screen. One way to ensure that Netscape always opens maximized is to edit the shortcut you are using to start Netscape. Find the shortcut in question and right-click it. Select Properties. Under the Shortcut tab of the Properties window, select Maximized in the box next to Run. This causes the Profile Manager to run maximized as well, which looks odd but causes no harm. You could bypass the Profile Manager by using the command line switch from last month's tip. Add this to the end of the shortcut's command line: -P"your profile name" Make sure to use the quotes and the capital P. Then you won't have to worry about the maximized Profile Manager--Netscape will load whatever profile you write in the quotes
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THE SHIFT-CLICK "You've mentioned that one should delete Sent mail. How can one empty the entire folder at once?" This involves making use of a little-known but infinitely useful Windows feature: Shift-Click. Open Messenger and click your Sent folder. You'll see a list of messages you have sent in the past. Single-click the top message in the list to highlight it, then scroll down until you can see the last message. To delete all these messages at once, hold down the Shift key and single-click the last message in the list. This should highlight all messages. Now simply press the Delete key. You can also use Ctrl-click in a similar way. By holding down Ctrl and clicking messages, you can highlight only the ones you wish to delete. These two features come in useful in almost all areas of Windows computing, from file management to bookmark organization.
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SHORTCUT KEYS TO ALL APPLICATIONS There are shortcut keys to access all the parts of Communicator quickly. These easy-to-use shortcuts can reduce your online time, but many people ignore them. So here they are, in all their convenient splendor: - Navigator: Ctrl-1 - Messenger: Ctrl-2 - Composer: Ctrl-4 - AOL Instant Messenger: Ctrl-9 Many users find it convenient to use a combination of mouse clicks and keyboard shortcuts for their everyday Netscape needs.
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Larry Thompson, 457-5622
Treasurer Richard Coop Sr., 459-8731
Member Services Rodney Malkoff, 453-1159
Newsletter Editor Jerry Henry 453-4144
Newsletter Distribution Marcy Young
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Fred Selley $1
Richard Ingels $1
Richard W. Coop Sr $1.
Jerry Henry $1
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