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Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archive

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Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
By Cate Eales
Appeared December 20, 2007 on castanet.net

Show of hands: How many of you think you have enough to do getting ready for Christmas without adding computer-related stress? I thought so. This week's tips might make your holidays a little more enjoyable. Or at least a little easier.

Where is that package?
TrackPackage is an add-on for Firefox and Thunderbird. If you have a tracking number from UPS, FedEx, DHL, USPS, CanadaPost, or Purolator, you can track your package with a right-click of your mouse. It's great. You can find out more here and you can download the extension here (Firefox) and here (Thunderbird).

If you'd prefer to see the information on a Google map, check out PackageMapping.com, Vista users can get a sidebar gadget from the site. Any Firefox user can grab the add-on here , and the Thunderbird add-on is here. PackageMapping supports UPS, FedEx, DHL, and USPS, but not, CanadaPost or Purolator.

Limit your visitors' computer access
If you are having company who will want to use your computer, you might want to restrict the potential damage they can do.

In Windows XP, you can either create a Limited User account, or turn on the Guest account. While an Administrator account can access and change anything, a Limited User account can change or remove their own password, change their picture, theme, and desktop settings, view files they create, and view files in the Shared Documents folder. They can also install some programs, but not those that change system files.

To establish a Limited User account:

	Start \| Control Panel \| User Accounts \| Create a new account
	Type a name for the account
	Click Next
	Select Limited
	Click Create
	Follow the prompts to set a password

XP UAC

A Guest account has even more limited access. For a list of limitations, see this article. The same article will show you how to enable the Guest Account in XP Home or XP Pro.

In Vista, just create a new Standard User account:

	Start \| Control Panel \|User Accounts and Family Safety \| Add or remove user accounts \|Create a new account
	Type in the account name
	Select Standard
	Click Create Account
	Select the account you just created
	Click Create a password
	Type in a password for the user account and an option password hint
	Click Create password

Now in XP or Vista, you'll see the new account along with any others on the Welcome screen.

Christmas Music Online
If you want to listen to Christmas music on your computer, it just so happens you can do that from the castanet.net home page! Click on "Christmas Music" on the right side of the page for commercial-free music around the clock. They're playing Anne Murray right now!

If you want something a little more interactive, how about downloading some sheet music? Point your browser to the Online Christmas Songbook, grab any of the 106 Hymns and Carols, and start singing.

Christmas Lights
Now for the really geeky stuff! Remember the Christmas Lights video that was so popular in 2004? It's back online, here. Read the story and see another fantastic light show by the same man here. If you have RealPlayer 11, you can easily download these (and other) videos. Check it out.

Again, thank you to everyone who sent along questions, comments, and holiday greetings. You can reach me at cate@rlis.com, and you can always browse through the past columns here. If you'd like to subscribe to this column by email, please visit this link. It's easy, and free. If you'd prefer the RSS Feed, click here.

Merry Christmas to you and yours, from all of us here at Real Life Internet Solutions!

Links
TrackPackages Extension http://www.trackpackageextension.com/
Firefox Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/908
Thunderbird Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/908
PackageMapping.com http://www.packagemapping.com/
Firefox Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/3778
Thunderbird Extension https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/thunderbird/addon/3778
Description of the Guest Account: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/300489
Online Christmas Songbook http://christmassongbook.net/
Christmas Lights http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks
Story of Christmas Lights http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/xmaslights.asp
Download videos from the Web with RealPlayer11 http://i.realone.com/product/help/rp11/en/Content/Recording_Download-Record_Web.htm
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm
Get Cate's column by email http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=20618
RSS Feed http://rlis.com/rlis.xml

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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 virus, spyware and malware eradication; personal computer training and management; digital image management; music transfer; and website design, hosting and management. Email Cate at cate@rlis.com with your comments, suggestions, or questions. To browse the column archives, visit the Real Life Internet Solutions website at www.rlis.com.

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