by A week ago, I wrote an entry on my blog “Basic Computer Course in Yamuna Vihar” that began like this:
“(I’ll never forget watching a book editor at a distributing house meticulously drag over a word in a word processor to select it. After 10 minutes of this, I couldn’t stand it. ‘Why not simply double-click the word?’ She did not understand you could do that!)”
Numerous readers chimed in with other “basic computer fundamentals” that they assumed every computer user knew– however soon discovered that what’s normal knowledge isn’t the same as universal knowledge.
I’m sure the basics could fill a book, however here are a few to get you started. These are things that certain friends, family or coworkers, over the years, did *not* know. Clasp, save and go along to… well, you know their identity.
* You can double-click a word to feature it in any document, e-mail or Web page.
* When you get an e-mail message from eBay or your bank, guaranteeing that you have a record problem or a question from a buyer, it’s most likely a “phishing trick” intended to deceive you into writing your secret key. Try not to click the connection in the message. If all else fails, go into your browser and type “www.ebay.com” (or whatever) physically.
* You can hide all windows, revealing just what’s on the computer desktop, with one keystroke: hit the Windows key and “D” simultaneously in Windows, or press F11 on Macs (on recent Mac portable workstations, Command+F3; Command is the key with the cloverleaf logo). That is great when you need examine or delete something you’ve recently downloaded to the desktop, for example. Press the keystroke again to return to what you were doing.
* You can enlarge the text on any Web page. In Windows, press Ctrl and the give or take keys (for bigger or smaller textual styles); on the Mac, it’s the Command key and give or take.
* You can likewise enlarge the entire Web page or document by pressing the Control key as you turn the wheel over your mouse. On the Mac, this enlarges the entire screen image.
* The number of megapixels does not determine a camera’s picture quality; that is a marketing myth. The sensor size is significantly more vital. (Use Google to discover it. For example, search for “sensor size Nikon D90.”)
* On most cellphones, press the Send key to open up a rundown of recent calls. Instead of physically dialing, you can return a call by featuring one of these calls and pressing Send once more.
* When someone sends you some stunning e-mail and suggests that you pass it on, don’t. At any rate not until you’ve initially confirmed its reality at snopes.com, the Internet’s power on e-mailed myths. This includes get-rich schemes, Microsoft/AOL money giveaways, and– especially lately– nutty scare-strategy messages about our Presidential candidates.
* You can tap the Space bar to look down on a Web page one screenful. Add the Shift key to look go down.
* When you’re filling in the boxes on a Web page (like City, State, Zip), you can press the Tab key to bounce from box to box, rather than clicking. Add the Shift key to hop through the boxes in reverse.
* You can modify the size and position of any window on your computer. Drag the best strip to move it; drag the lower-right corner (Mac) or any edge (Windows) to resize it.
* Forcing the camera’s blaze to go off prevents silhouetted, as well dim faces when you’re outside.
* When you’re searching for something on the Web utilizing, say, Google, put quotes around phrases that must be searched together. For example, on the off chance that you put quotes around “electric window ornaments,” Google won’t waste your time discovering one set of Web pages containing “electric” and another set containing “blinds.”
* You can use Google to do math for you. Simply type the equation, like 23*7+15/3=, and hit Enter.
* Oh, yeah: on the computer, * means “times” and/means “divided by.”
* If you can’t locate some undeniable command, like Delete in a photograph program, have a go at clicking utilizing the right-side mouse button. (On the Mac, you can Control-click instead.)
* Google is additionally a units-of-measurement and currency converter. Type “teaspoons in 1.3 gallons,” for example, or “euros in 17 dollars.” Click Search to see the answer.
* You can open the Start menu by tapping the key with the Windows logo on it.
* You can change starting with one open program then onto the next by pressing Alt+Tab (Windows) or Command-Tab (Mac).
* You generally can’t send someone more than a couple of full-size computerized photographs as an e-mail attachment; those files are too huge, and they’ll bounce back to you. (Instead, use iPhoto or Picasa– photograph sorting out projects that can naturally scale down photographs in the process of e-mailing them.)
* Whatever technology you purchase today will be obsolete soon, yet you can dodge heartache by learning the cycles. New iPods come out every September. New advanced cameras come out in February and October.
* Just placing something into the Trash or the Recycle Bin doesn’t really delete it. You then have to *empty* the Trash or Recycle Bin. (Once every year, I hear about somebody whose hard drive is full, despite having for all intents and purposes no files. This is because over the years, they’ve put 79 gigabytes of stuff in the Recycle Bin and never emptied it.)
* You don’t have to type “http://www” into your Web browser. Simply type the remainder: “nytimes.com” or “dilbert.com,” for example. (In the Safari browser, you can even leave off the “.com” part.)
* On the iPhone, hit the Space bar twice toward the end of a sentence. You get a period, a space, and a capitalized letter toward the beginning of the next word.
* Come up with an automated reinforcement system for your computer. There’s no misery quite like the tired feeling of having lost pieces of your life because you didn’t have a safety copy.
