It’s a rare computer user who hasn’t been bothered by Spam at some stage. By Spam, we mean unsolicited emails that try to sell you things of a dubious nature that you certainly didn’t ask for and, in all probability, don’t need. Everybody hates spam. It can clog up your email box, threaten the security of your PC, try to trick you into opening dangerous attachments, and even render the mail box entirely unusable. You can defeat spam (well, most of it). Here’s a few ways.

• Don’t post your email address on a web page, unless you’re disguising it in some way. As an example, an email address in this format is very difficult for a Spider to read, but quite easy for a human: firstBit @ co. uk. homeandlearn (re-arange the ending)
• Be wary of giving your email address to websites. Ask yourself, is there a privacy statement anywhere on the site? Can you easily opt-out if they send an email or newsletter to you? Do you trust them?
• Never reply to a email sent to you by a spammer. If you do, you’re telling the spammer that the email address is live and active – the very thing that he was looking for! (Remember: the spammer probably bought his list off someone else, and has no idea whether an address is active or not.)
• Careful when opening attachments. Save the attachment to your hard-drive first, scan with your (up-to-date) Anti Virus software, and only then consider opening it. If you weren’t expecting an email with an attachment, it’s safer to just delete the entire email!
• Set your email software to view message as text and NOT as HTML. In Outlook Express you can do this by clicking Tools > Options from them menu bar. From the Options dialogue box, click the Read tab. Put a tick in the box “Read all messages in plain text”. The reason you’d want to do this is because HTML emails can be very helpful to spammers. They insert an image that tells them the email has been read, and thus that it’s a live email box.
• Consider getting some Anti-Spam software. The best of these are very good at detecing spam from the genuine emails.

Does your home office have papers, photos, and documents littered all over the floor? Most of us organize our office by creating a file system where everything is labeled and neatly put away so we know where to find them. You also need to get your computer organized. I’m sure you’ve seen those computer desktops with a bajillion shortcuts on it. That’s no better than leaving papers all over your office. There’s a reason geek-speak calls them files and folders. Treat them like their real world companions and they will be easier to find, work with, and be more secure all at the same time.

To start, go ahead and create a folder on your desktop. I named mine “Carol’s Stuff”. To do this, right-click onto an open space and select >New >Folder from the menu. Then drag-and-drop everything that clutters up your desktop into that folder. Don’t worry, we will attend to the contents in Part 2 next month.

Drag-and-drop refers to moving objects on a computer by using the mouse. Drag-and-drop objects by following these steps:

1. Move the mouse pointer until it is directly over the object you want to manipulate.

2. Hold down the left mouse button.

3. With the left mouse button held down, move the mouse to where you want to drop the object (your new folder). Notice how the object moves with your mouse pointer.

4. Drop the object by letting up on the left mouse button.

Next month I’ll cover what to do with the stuff in that file.

Back to HELP!

I love keyboard shortcuts to quickly and easily maneuver around my documents. Keyboard shortcuts are combinations of two or more keys that, when pressed, can be used to perform a task that would typically require a mouse. Keyboard shortcuts can make it easier to interact with your computer, saving you time and effort as you work with Windows and other programs.

Here are some of my favorites. Simply hold down the Ctrl key while pressing the second key.

For the Copy and Cut shortcuts, be sure to highlight the text first by holding down your mouse key and sweeping across the text. To Paste, put your cursor where you want the new text.

The Ctrl+A shortcut will highlight all the text in a document or area so you can copy, cut, or delete it.

There are many more shortcuts. For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, visit this website…Microsoft Keyboard Shortcuts.

Back to HELP!

Can’t open your emailed MESSAGES? Your emailed newsletter comes to you as a PDF attachment which keep the content of the attachment from being changed. The attachment is the little symbol that looks similar to the picture below, or sometimes they’re a symbol in the main part of the email. To open your attachment, simply click the name of the attachment.

If this doesn’t work, it could mean that your Adobe Reader is missing or outdated. Adobe Reader is the little program that opens PDF attachments so you can read them. This is a safe and free program that most computers should have, since so many attachments are sent in PDF form. To download or update your Adobe Reader program, go to Adobe Reader Download.

If this tip didn’t help you, or if this doesn’t make sense, we offer technical help, one-on-one. Contact GeorgiAnne Campbell (303-499-2798; campbellgeorgie@yahoo.com) or Carol Etges (720-207-3980; 5etges@comcast.net) for assistance.

Back to HELP!

Having trouble printing your emailed MESSAGES? Remember, if you don’t want to print the entire newsletter, or don’t want to print it in color, you can make choices when your printer window comes up on your screen.

Start here: Go to “File” > “Print”. To print only part of the document, under “Print Range”, look for the choice “Pages”. Select that choice and enter a number, for example, enter 8 if you only want to print the Membership Form. Or enter single page numbers separated by commas, for example, 2,6,8 if you want to only print the current Lecture Luncheon, Interest Groups, and Membership Form.

To print in black and white, click on “Properties” and look for “Color”. In the color window, you will see “Print in grayscale” or “Print in black and white” as a selection choice. After you make your selection, click “Apply” or “OK” until you get back to the original printer window where you can click “OK” or “Print”.

If your printer doesn’t work this way, or if this doesn’t make sense, we offer technical help, one-on-one. Contact GeorgiAnne Campbell (303-499-2798; campbellgeorgie@yahoo.com) for assistance. She’ll be able to help.

Back to HELP!