Tuesday

Upgrading to Windows 7

Upgrading to Windows 7 ?

1.Check compatibility with your hardware-
Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor The tool automatically scans your system and provides a report of any potential issues.

2. XP Users-
XP users cannot do a straight upgrade; they’ll have to back up their files, format their hard drive and perform a clean install. Microsoft has another download for helping. Easy Transfer

3.Computers shipping with Windows 7- Here is a little tool that will help you find laptops that ship with windows 7. PC Scout

4.You can upgrade without doing a clean install if you are running Vista.

Monday

Fake security software

Avoid Fake Security Software-

Links to help you avoid fake software alerts and downloads.

Fake security software in millions of computers:Yahoo News

Rogue security software List :From Wikipedia

Fake Antivirus Attacks, Demands Ransom: PC World

Here is a list of safe and well known Antivirus you can use.

avast! Home Edition

Avg

Anti-Vir

Kaspersky Anti-Virus

McAfee VirusScan

Panda Antivirus

Norton

Free Online Virus Scan-

Trend Micro

BitDefender

Symantec Security Check




Wednesday

INTERNET PART 2

1. Google Search Tips: By putting double quotes “George Washington” around a set of words, you are telling Google to consider the exact words in that exact order without any change.

2. Search within a specific website: classes : romelibrary.org

3. Fill in the blanks (*) It tells Google to try to treat the star as a placeholder for any unknown term(s). Obama voted * on the * bill

Explore Google Search (type what is inside the parentheses in Google search )

Weather: (Weather Atlanta) or (weather: rome,ga)

Cooking Conversions: ( 2 cups in ounces)

Earthquakes: (Earthquakes:Japan)

Dictionary Definitions: (Define philosophy)

Movie Showtime’s: (movies 30161)

Time: ( time London)

Sports Scores: (Atlanta falcons)

Population or unemployment : (population Georgia)

Package Tracking: (1Z9999W99999999999)

Spell Check: (atlnta)

(Time: New York)


IE Web Browser Tips

1. Switch to Full Screen- F11

2. Hide and show the toolbars you prefer- Right click on the toolbars

3. Customize your tool bar buttons-Right click and choose customize

4. IE will type the http://www. and the .com for you- type word -ctrl+enter

5. Auto complete- tools-internet options-content-auto complete

6. Highlight the address in the address bar without the mouse- alt+ tap D


TIME WASTING WEBSITES

www.drawahouse.com

mrpicassohead.com

Heavygames.com

Addictinggames.com

Stumbleupon.com

http://chir.ag/stuff/sand/

http://members.iinet.net.au/~pontipak/redsquare.html

http://www.funtrivia.com/

http://www.pogo.com/

Wikipedia.com

Refdesk.com

http://www.handdrawngames.com/DesktopTD/Game.asp


Free Email

1. Gmail

2. Yahoo

3. Inbox.com

4. Fast mail

5. Gmx mail

6. AOL

7. EmailAddresses.com

8. Mail.com





Cooking /Recipes

1. Epicurious.com

2. Allrecipes.com

3. Foodnetwork.com

4. cooking.com/recipes

5. Topsecretrecipes.com

6. Recipezaar.com

7. Bettycrocker.com


Travel

Maps:

Google Maps: maps.google.com

Yahoo Maps: maps.yahoo.com

Mapquest: www.mapquest.com

Randmcnally: www.randmcnally.com

Travel Help:

Fodor’s: http://www.fodors.com/

Lonely Planet: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/

Trip Advisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/

Tickets/Hotels:

Expedia: http://www.expedia.com/

Travelocity: http://www.travelocity.com/

Cheap Tickets: http://www.cheaptickets.com/

One Travel: http://www.onetravel.com/

Smarter Travel: http://www.smartertravel.com/

Multilingual currency converter:

http://www.oanda.com


Watching TV on Your Computer

Most of the major networks let you watch full episodes. (ABC, NBC, CBS, Sci-fi channel)

1. Hulu.com

2. Joost.com

3. Vuze.com

4. blinkxbbtv.com

5. Youtube.com

6. Veoh.com

7. Boxee.tv

8. Netflix

Music Online

1. Pandora.com

2. Live365.com

3. NPR.org

4. Shoutcast.com

5. AOl music

6. Radio tower

7. Screamer Radio - is a freeware Internet Radio player for Microsoft Windows.


News:

CNN: www.cnn.com

MSNBC: www.msnbc.msn.com

FOX NEWS: www.foxnews.com

USATODAY: www.usatoday.com

NPR: www.npr.org

NY TIMES: www.nytimes.com

REUTERS: www.reuters.com

GOOGLE NEWS: news.google.com

YAHOO NEWS: news.yahoo.com

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS: ap.org

marumushi.com/apps/newsmap/newsmap.cfm

Downloading

1. Snapfiles.com

2. Download .com

3. Freewarefiles.com

Shopping

1. pricegrabber.com

2. bizrate.com

3. dealtime.com

4. mysimon.com

5. pricescan.com

6. shopping.com

7. woot.com

Health

1. webmd.com

2. Health.com

3. Health.yahoo.com

4. Health.discovery.com

5. Health.gov

Online Pc Health, Virus, Malware Scans

1. housecall.trendmicro.com

2. security.symantec.com

3. pcpitstop.com

4. kaspersky.com/virusscanner



Online Job Search

Online Job Search
Take advantage of social networking sites: If you aren't already using web sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, Friendster, and MySpace to re-connect with old acquaintances and make new ones, this would be a good time to start.

Try to be as flexible as you can: If you can possibly afford to, at least for a few months, accept what they're offering, especially if it's at a company where you see growth and the potential for bigger opportunities later.

Scour the hidden job market: dig deeper into uncovering unadvertised openings through networking, and by contacting potential employers directly. Whenever possible, register on companies' web sites to receive e-mail updates about new openings that fit your experience and skills.

Don’t spend all your time looking online: Fewer job openings mean more people are chasing the same advertised and posted positions.

What is a resume?
A resume is a one or two page summary of your education, skills, accomplishments, and experience.
Your resume's purpose is to get your foot in the door.
A resume does its job successfully if it does not exclude you from consideration.

3 TYPES OF RESUMES
Chronological Resume:
A chronological resume starts by listing your work history, with the most recent position listed first. Your jobs are listed in reverse chronological order with your current, or most recent job, first.

Functional Resume:A functional resume focuses on your skills and experience, rather than on your chronological work history. It is used most often by people who are changing careers or who have gaps in their employment history.

Combination Resume:A combination resume lists your skills and experience first. Your employment history is listed next. With this type of resume you can highlight the skills you have that are relevant to the job you are applying for, and also provide the chronological work history that employers prefer.


Resume Tips
The font should be 10-13, no smaller, no bigger, but you should be able to read it well when you print it out.Don’t trust spell check.

Have several friends to look over your resume.Proofread, proofread and proofread again.

Make a list of all the jobs you had and the dates.Even after your resume is finished, maintain this list.

Be sure your resume clearly communicates that you possess the knowledge and experience needed to perform the job in question.

Don't go overboard on fonts, colors, borders, boldface and underlining.

Avoid clip art and other graphics such as photos.

Search ads, job postings, or job listings
Where to look..
Department of labor(Online)
dol.state.ga.us
www.hotjobs.yahoo.com
www.snagajob.com
www.romega.com/job.htm
www.simplyhired.com
www.careerbuilder.com
Company websites

Email Guidelines

Read and follow email application instructions from employers carefully :Some employers might give you instructions for the format, document type or font size to use when submitting resumes via emails.

Send a separate message to each potential employer:Don’t mass email your resume to dozens of employers.

Use an email address that you will check often when communicating with employers. Recruiters hate to have emails bounce back for closed accounts or full mailboxes.

It's a good idea to email the latest copy of your resume to yourself. This way you can always pick it up in cyberspace from a web mail account like Yahoo!, MSN or Google at any time.

Avoid creating your resume in Microsoft Works or older versions of Microsoft Word which the recruiter may not be able to open if you send it as an attachment.

Thursday

Stop Junk Mail & Do Not Call Registry

National Do Not Call List- Telephone numbers placed on the National Do Not Call Registry will remain on it permanently due to the Do-Not-Call Improvement Act of 2007

Direct Mail- Sign up for DirectMail.com's Mail Preference registry to take control of your mail box. Tired of receiving unwanted mail known as 'junk mail'?

Catalog choice- The free service that lets you reduce unwanted mail & choose how you hear from merchants.

Opt out Prescreen- Optoutprescreen.com lets you opt out of pre-approved credit card offers and the risk of credit card fraud that comes with them.

Tuesday

Mouse / Keyboard

Wheel mouse or a scroll mouse- Has a wheel between the left and right mouse buttons that enables the user to easily scroll up and down using the wheel instead of having to use the vertical scroll bar.

Trackball- The onscreen pointer is moved by the trackball with a thumb or finger. A trackball requires less arm and wrist motion that a regular mouse takes.


MOUSE BASICS


Moving the Mouse
The mouse should be placed on a flat surface, preferably on a mouse pad, with the buttons facing up. The mouse pointer moves on the computer monitor when the trackball on the underside of the mouse moves.

Click
Press the left mouse button once. If you click an icon on the desktop, it will become selected. If you click inside a program like Microsoft Word, the insertion point moves to that location on the page.


Double-click
Hold the mouse firmly and quickly click the left mouse button twice. Double-clicking is used to open a program from an icon on the desktop or to select a word in a program.

Click and Drag
Press the left mouse button down and move the mouse across the mouse pad. Release the mouse button. Clicking and dragging is useful to select multiple words that are displayed on the computer screen. If you click and drag across text inside Internet Explorer, you can then copy and paste it into a Microsoft Word document.

Drag and Drop
Select an object either by clicking or clicking and dragging. Click and drag the selected object to another location.This moves the object to a new location. Click and drag an icon on the desktop to move the icon to
another location on the screen.

Right-click
Press the right mouse button once and a shortcut menu appears that relates to where the mouse pointer is pointing. You can use this menu to select formatting options for text in Word or to cut and paste text.



Holding the Mouse
Hold the mouse firmly in your right hand. Rest your pointer finger on the left mouse button and rest your middle finger on the right mouse button. Use your pointer finger to turn the wheel between the buttons.


When to use the-

Single-Click
Is used with both the left and right mouse buttons.
The Left Button
Is used to select items or insert a cursor when typing.

The Right Button
Is used to bring up an options menu.To bring up a menu of the options, click once on the right mouse button. A menu of choices appears.

Use the left button (single click) to choose from the options. If you do not want to select an option, merely click anywhere else on the screen with the left mouse button(single-click).

Double-Click
Is used for opening or starting items. Use the mouse to position the arrow at an object on the screen, then click the left mouse button twice in rapid
succession.


Mouse Tutorial

Exercise: Slowly move the mouse on the mouse pad to the left, right, up, and down. Watch the arrow on the screen respond to your movements. Place your hand on the mouse so that your pointer finger is on the left button and your middle finger is on the right button. The bottom of your hand should be resting on the desk and should stay on the desk as you move your mouse around. This gives you more control of the mouse.



* The mouse normally has two buttons - a left button and a right button. Today we will only be using the left button.

* A single click of the left mouse button selects an item; it will turn blue. Double clicking (two quick taps) on the left mouse button will open a window.

* Click on the Internet Explorer icon. It will turn blue. Make sure you click on the picture and not the words.

* Now double click on Internet Explorer. The Internet Explorer window will open.



1. Pointing - Sliding the mouse on the mouse pad moves the pointer on the screen. Rest your hand on the mouse, move it slowly around the mouse pad, and see what happens to the arrow on the screen.


2. Clicking - Gently pressing & releasing the left mouse button, while keeping your hand on the mouse, is one way to give the computer a command.


3. Scrolling - Scrolling means moving up and down within a web page or other computer window. This is done by using the mouse to move the "elevator" up and down within the scroll bar at the far right of this screen. You can do this in three ways:

* To move one line at a time, click on the Up Arrowarrow at the top of the scroll bar or the Down Arrowarrow at the bottom.
* To move one screen at a time, click on the empty space within the scroll bar, above or below the elevator.
* To move anywhere within the document, point to the elevator itself. Press and hold down the left mouse button. Now you can slide the elevator up or down by sliding the mouse on the mouse pad. Release the button when you are in the desired location.

Monday

Digital Camera Basics


The first rule is the most obvious and also one that many of us ignore. Read the manual! The manual will always tell you something about your camera that you wouldn’t discover on your own.

You can also go to your cameras company website to find the online manual if you don’t have yours.

The most important thing is that you get a camera you are excited about, one that you want to take pictures with, and one that you can take everywhere.


The best camera for you is the camera that does what you want it to.


What is a digital camera?

A camera that creates a photograph in digital form and records on digital memory rather than film.

A regular film camera.

You aim at a subject, press a shutter button, and the shutter inside the camera lens opens to expose light to film inside, capturing the image onto the film. You fill up the roll of film, take it to a lab, they develop it, and you have photos!

A Digital camera.

You aim at a subject, press a shutter button, and the shutter inside if camera lens opens to expose light to a small sensor inside, capturing the image onto a memory card, instead of film. You fill it up, transfer your images to your computer, and can save them, alter them, print them, email them, and more! Even better, you can take your memory card to the local drug store photo lab, and insert them into a machine and have photo lab prints made from them, too!"


Pixels-Digital images are composed of thousands or millions of tiny squares called picture elements, or pixels for short. Each square has its own color assigned to it, and the compilation of all of these little colored squares allows for images to appear smooth when viewed at original size. If an image is magnified several times, the appearance of the pixels can become more obvious, and at high magnifications each colored pixel can be distinguished individually.

Megapixel-Basically, the term megapixel means one million pixels (MP), and it is used to describe the maximum number of pixels found in an image produced by a digital camera.

MP is generally the criteria used to classify cameras, when you are purchasing digital cameras they are all sorted into ranges of megapixels (MP).

Many people assume that because cameras are marketed so heavily by their megapixel specification, that this is the single most important criteria when choosing a camera.

More megapixels do not necessarily equal better images, they mean larger images.

The more megapixels a camera has, the larger size photos you'll be able to print and still maintain fine detail. Keep this in mind when purchasing a digital camera, particularly if you want to print large photos.
Here are the recommended number of megapixels based on print size.