Computer Info – December 17, 2003

 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

To Everyone

 

This Week’s Meeting

            John Watkins will be hosting the meeting this week – it will be lots of Christmas fun.

            The next meeting will be January 7th, 2004.

 

Networking

            Wireless – Choose the right technology.  802.11a and 802.11g provide up to 54 Mbps of throughput while the older version 802.11b offers up to 11Mbps.  Which one to choose?  802.11b has been around for nearly 10 years and has a solid product base to choose from.  802.11b can cover a much greater area, punch through walls better and handle radio frequency interference better.  But with 802.11a and 802.11g device compatibility isn’t an issue and most will work with 802.11b devices and access points.

 

Word 2003

Change Views

            In the lower-left corner of your document are four tiny icons for switching among various display options.  Normal View keeps your text contiguous by omitting the page margins. Print Layout View displays your text with the margins intact.  Web Layout View displays a document as it would appear in a Web browser without page breaks.  Outline View is helpful for organizing a document with multiple headings and subheads.

Split Your Screen

            Need to work on two parts of your document at the same time?  See that skinny handle just above the vertical scroll bar’s UP arrow?  Grab it with your mouse and pull it down.  A gray line follows along to mark the split-zone – release the mouse when the two sections are sized the way you want.  Now each section has its own scroll bars and arrows, so you can move them independently. 

            To undo the split, drag the handle back to its original location, or choose REMOVE SPLIT from the Window menu.

Default Font

            Whenever you open a blank document, Word’s default is Times New Roman – 12 point.  To designate a different font for your everyday work, go to the Format menu and select Font.  In the dialog box, choose your preferred front from the menu.  Click the Default button in the lower left corner of the dialog box, then Yes in the confirmation box.

Special Font Effects

            You can apply special effects to your font – by highlighting the words that you wish to apply it to – choosing FORMAT from the top menu and then FONT.  In the effects section, place a checkmark in front of the effect that you wish – which include SMALL CAPS, ALL CAPS, SHADOW, OUTLINE, EMBOSS, ENGRAVE.  Shadow, outline, emboss, engrave work best with larger size font so that you can see the effect. 

Drop Cap

            A drop cap is an oversized capital at the beginning of a document or section.  Highlight the first letter and select DROP CAP from the FORMAT menu.  The dialog box lets you set how many lines down the letter will drop and whether it does so within the paragraph or out in the margin.

Splice Two Documents Together

            If you have two or more documents that you want to combine into one, you can do this while remaining exclusively within the primary document.  Place your cursor where you want the secondary document to begin.  From the INSERT menu, choose INSERT FILE, and then select the file and click the INSERT button.  Your document will be inserted without altering the secondary document’s original file.

 

Internet Explorer 6

Home Page

            Home page is the first web site that appears every time you open Internet Explorer 6.  This may not be what you want.  You can change it by choosing TOOLS – INTERNET OPTIONS.  On the GENERAL tab, locate the Address field and type the URL (uniform resource locator or web address) of your preferred home page.  Click OK.

Toolbar

            You can customize the toolbar.  Open the VIEW mneu, click TOOLBARS, and select CUSTOMIZE.  In the dialog box, add new buttons to the toolbar by dragging icons from the list of available toolbar buttons on the right.  You can also specify whether you want large or small icons or the order of the icons on the toolbar.