Computer Info – January 12, 2000

This Week’s Program

This week – silly questions – not so silly questions – requests for programs in the future.

Files (Part 1) – Where Are They Stored???

        This might seem like a strange place to start learning about files – but we must first learn to recognize which storage media the files are stored on. They could be stored on ----
                Floppy disk drive (usually called A:)
                Hard drive (usually called C: -- this is the internal or main storage location inside your computer)
                                You may have additional hard drives.
                Removable storage devices (Zip drives or others)
    So step one in opening a file or saving a file is to determine which of these devices it is on and then be able to locate that device

                                Practice Lesson -----

                                    Open WORDPAD.
                                   From the FILE menu – choose OPEN.
                                  Click on the small folder icon (the one with the bent arrow in it) to the right of the
                                  Look in box until it shows you all of your drive choices.

                                 When all of your storage devices are listed ---
                                     MY COMPUTER will be listed in the white box
                                        to the right of the words LOOK IN.

Moving between multiple open documents

        Many programs have a choice on the main top menu of WINDOW. When you bring this menu down, you will find listed on the bottom of it the name of the document (or picture – or greeting card – or spreadsheet) that you are working on. If you open more than one document, then you can use this menu to toggle between the open documents. Notice that the one that you are working on has a check mark in front of it.

The Windows Key on your Keyboard

        The Windows key on your keyboard (the one with the Windows flag on it – usually there is one to the right and the left of the space bar) can provide shortcuts to various functions.
        When you push the Windows key, the START menu opens.
        The Windows key and the E key – launches Windows Explorer
        The Windows key and the F key – launches the FIND FILE screen
        The Windows key and the M key – minimizes all the open windows
        The Windows key and the R key – launches the RUN dialog box.
 
 





Web Pages That Don’t Work

        Here’s a web page that will look like many others that you have seen; but when this page is visited with Netscape 4.7 (and maybe the other versions of Netscape) the program will stop working and you will receive an Illegal Function error message. Visit the same page with Internet Explorer 5.0 (and maybe the other versions of Internet Explorer) and the page will work as intended.
                                    http://www.justsaywow.com/tiger.htm
        While you are in your browser, you can choose VIEW from the top menu and then choose SOURCE PAGE. This will show you the programming for this particular web page. In the case of this page, I thought I would share with you a portion of it.

                Written with Microsoft FrontPage –<script language="javascript"><!--
                    if ( navigator.appName == 'Netscape' ) {
                            document.write( '<embed src = "http://www.justsaywow.com/tiger.mid" autostart="true" hidden="true"
                            loop="true" ></embed>' );
                    } else if ( navigator.appName == 'Microsoft Internet Explorer' ) {
                            document.write( '<bgsound src = "http://www.justsaywow.com/tiger.mid" loop="-1">' );
                    } else document.write( '<bgsound src = "http://www.justsaywow.com/tiger.mid" loop="- 1"><embed src=
                            "http://www.justsaywow.com/tiger.mid" autostart="true" hidden="true" loop="true" ></embed>' );

        Notice how it looks at which browser you are running to decide which set of instructions to run. This shows you that each one of these programs sometimes require special programming. And if the creator does not test it in all browsers, then the results are like this page.

Preventing Spam
(from How to stay anonymous online by Wayne Cunningham – Access Magazine – Jan 9-15,2000)

        Posting your e-mail address on the Net can trigger an avalanche of unsolicited e-mail (spam). That's because spammers employ bots (programs that copy all the e-mail addresses they find). To foil bots, put a word in your address that doesn't belong: Instead of name@isp.com, use name@REMOVE.isp.com.
        Never respond to spam, even if it's to ask spammers to take you off of their mailing lists. Responding lets them know that somebody is actually reading e-mail sent to your address, and you're bound to get more.
        Create an alias and use it consistently in sites where you are required to register. Re-using the same alias makes it easier to remember the user name and password.
        Open a free, Web-based e-mail account through a service like Mail.com (www.mail.com) or Yahoo! Mail (mail.yahoo.com).
        Contests always look enticing. One big reason contests are set up is to get information about you. For the companies that hold contests, the registration information of thousands is much more valuable than the award offered. You may miss out on the prize by not signing up, but you will retain your anonymity.

Preventing Your Dialer From Always Appearing

        If your dialer keeps popping up even when you are not trying to get on the Internet and you are running Windows 95, try this solution.
        From the START button, choose SETTINGS – then CONTROL PANEL. Double click on INTERNET CONNECTION – and choose NEVER DIAL A CONNECTION.