GREATER BOSTON SENIOR COMPUTER GROUP NEWSLETTER
Issue No.55, March 10, 2004
CHAIRPERSON:: Arline Ekman, AVE@alumni.unh.edu
EDITOR: Harriet Mandell, harrietd@rcn.com
WEB PAGE: Garry Ziffer, http://users.rcn.com/gbscg
LIAISON: Eve Welts, ewelts@rcn.com
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ORGANIZE THOSE PICTURES…
Free File: Photoshop Album 2.0 Starter Edition
Manage, organize, and edit your digital images with this download. Download Photoshop Album 2.0 Starter Edition
http://www.adobe.com/ and find the right format
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LEFT-HANDED ADVICE…Windows Tip: Left-Handed Mouse
To configure any right-handed mouse for your left hand in Windows XP:
1. Click Start and Control Panel.
2. Click Appearances and Themes.
3. Under See Also, click Mouse Pointers.
4. Go to the Buttons tab. Under Button configuration, choose "Switch primary and secondary buttons."
5. Click OK.
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TAKE YOUR LAPTOP OUT FOR COFFEE OR ON A TRIP…Let GOOGLE FIND WI-FI HOTSPOTS...Hotspots are places such as hotels, airports, coffee shops and more where you can get online using a wireless Internet connection. This is known as "Wi-Fi." If you need a hotspot with which to access the Web, whether at home or on the road, and your Laptop is equiped with a WI-Fi connection, just use Google's new location search. Go to http://labs.google.com/
Enter Wi-Fi in the first box, and the ZIP code in the second.
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FORCE IE (INTERNET EXPLORER) to always open a new window when you click a hyperlinked URL, no matter how many windows you already have open. When you click a hyperlink in Word or Outlook, the webpage opens in a new IE window -- unless you already have a window open. Then the new link replaces what's currently open in the browser window. When you have one window open it is easy to use the back button, but when you have several URLs open it can be annoying to have to goback. Here is the fix:
Open Internet Explorer.
Choose Internet Options from the Tools menu.
Go to the Advanced tab.
Under Browsing, uncheck "Reuse windows for launching shortcuts."
Click OK.
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HAPPY BIRTHDAY SPAM...March 5th marks the tenth anniversary of what is generally considered the first spam message. On this day in 1994, US law firm Canter and Siegel posted a message on several Usenet newsgroups advertising its services to people interested in participating in the US Green Card lottery. Curious to see the first of many spam messages ? Turn to
http://web.archive.org/web/20011214024742/math-www.uni-paderborn.de/~axel/BL/CS941211.txt
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TAXING TIMES ARE HERE AGAIN… A company is offering tax software free for downloading. http://www.taxact.com They say on their website: “ Our long-term plan is to continue to offer a superior product free of charge year after year, hoping to build a strong relationship with you. (And of course, if you choose to purchase TaxACT Deluxe and TaxACT States, we would appreciate that greatly!) As we add additional products to our software line, we hope you will find them as useful and valuable as our TaxACT offerings and continue to buy our products.”
If you surf their site, you will find some very helpful information even if you don’t care to use their services. For forms... http://www.irs.gov/formspubs/index.html
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PUBLIC LIBRARY OFFERS BOOKS…on many computer subjects as well as videos for learning. Find the Minuteman database http://www.mln.lib.ma.us /and reserve a copy of “PC annoyances: how to fix the most annoying things about your personal computer” by Steve Bass of PC World, or buy it at the bookstore. The book covers a wide range of user problems. Download the email chapter from http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/pcannoy/ You may need to upgrade your Adobe Acrobat Reader to print this and to read other electronic books.
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html
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THIS TOOL CAN TAKE CHARGE...MailWasher claims to be a powerful email checker with effective spam elimination. A safe way to stop unwanted viruses and e-mails before they get to your computer. Offered free, it also has a Pro version that comes with added features and support http://mailwasher.net
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SHARING THE BROADBAND CONNECTION....helpful information found at
http://www.microsoft.com/hardware/broadbandnetworking/10_HelpMeChoose.mspx Complete the Network Guide, and you can save or print the results. If you need help while using the Network Guide, click a topic on the right side of the page. Using information that you provide, they will recommend the appropriate type of network and give you a complete shopping list of the items you will need.
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ZONE ALARM USERS (the free firewall software) If you did not update recently, use Zone Alarm's "Check for update" function now, or http://www.zonelabs.com to download and install ver. 4.5.538.001 and protect against the bug that could allow a hacker to shut down or bypass ZoneAlarm protection.
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WANTED: URL's of web sites; Helpful hints for Mac users, Win 95/98/ME/XP. Software reviews, desired topics for future meetings. Send these items via email to the editor. Please sign your email with your name. We will publish your email address, but not your name, phone number or address without your permission