A Little Bit of This;
A Little Bit of That
By Cate Eales
Appeared September 29, 2005 on castanet.net
Here are a few tips that might help you get along better with your
computer. None of them warrants a column on its own, but I think each of
them is worth a mention.
Shortcuts are a great timesaver. Windows creates shortcuts for you,
sometimes without you realizing what's going on. The best example is the
Start Menu. All those things you click on to start a program --- those are
shortcuts to the program. Some of the icons on it have little arrows
pointing to them. Those are shortcuts, too.
You can create your own shortcut to a frequently used folder, program, or
document. There are several ways to do this. One way is to navigate to the
folder, program, or document you want to create a shortcut for and
right-click on it. When the context menu opens, choose "Create Shortcut"
and drag the shortcut to the desktop or to the folder where you want it.
Why would you do that? Well, you probably have a folder called "My
Pictures". That's buried in your "My Documents" folder. In the "My
Pictures" folder, maybe you have another folder that's called
"Grandchildren" or "Vancouver Trip" or something informative. If you
frequently want to get to pictures in the "Grandchildren" or "Vancouver"
folders, you have to click on "My Documents," then "My Pictures", then the
folder you want. By creating a shortcut, you can more readily access the
folders that are most important to you.
It is possible to end up with too much clutter on your desktop. Windows XP
contains a Desktop Cleanup utility that will identify desktop shortcuts
that are not used, and move them to a safe place. You can decide later
whether or not to put them back on the desktop. To use the utility, click
on Start | Control Panel | Appearances and Themes | Display | Desktop |
Customize Desktop. Near the bottom of that window is the Clean Up Wizard.
Bug Me Not (http://www.bugmenot.com/)
lets you view websites that require a login and password without going
through the process of creating an account. (This works on FREE websites,
like the New York Times, not on websites where you have to pay for
content, like Salon.com). When you click on a link and are transported to
a page that asks you to set up an account instead of the page with the
story you are trying to read, use Bug Me Not to view the page. There is a
brief "How To" here: http://www.bugmenot.com/tutorial.html.
Gmail is now available to all. Gmail from Google is a web-based email
program. That means that instead of storing email on your computer, it is
stored remotely, on Google's servers. You can access your email with a
browser such as Internet Explorer or Firefox from anywhere you can find a
working connection to the internet. You don't have to worry about
configuring your email program on your computer. This is just great if you
travel or if you want to access your personal email in your workplace or
at someone else's home.
Like so many Google products, Gmail was in a "beta" phase for a long time,
and you had to get an invitation to try it. Recently, Google declared the
trial phase over and has made it available to anyone who signs up for it.
The catch? (You knew there would be one, didn't you?) You have to provide
them with a US cell phone number.
Fear not. I still have some Gmail invitations left. If you want one, be
among the first ten people
send me an email
asking for one, and I will send you an invitation that does not
require you to provide any kind of cell phone number. You can read more
about Gmail here:
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html.
Do you have a favourite tip you'd like to share? Let us know and we'll
mention the best ones in the column.
---
Cate Eales has been helping people make online computing safe,
accessible and fun for over 20 years. She lives in Kelowna with her
husband, Eric, and her dog, Sandy. Cate is a partner in Real Life Internet
Solutions , helping individuals and small businesses with viruses,
spyware, personal computer training and management, digital image and
music transfers, and websites. Email Cate with your comments, suggestions,
or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet
Solutions website.
Related links:
Bug Me Not:
http://www.bugmenot.com/
Bug Me Not Tutorial:
http://www.bugmenot.com/tutorial.html
Google Mail Description:
http://gmail.google.com/gmail/help/about.html
Real Life Internet Solutions: http://rlis.com/
© Cate Eales 2005 - All Rights Reserved
