COMPUTER CORNER #1040 – 04/10/08<br />

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COMPUTER CORNER #1040 – 04/10/08

Apr 10, 2008

At the same time that the computer world is getting more complex, the amount of data available is increasing exponentially. This sounds like just words on my part, but the knowledge explosion has a tendency to leave mature computer users in the dust. Most of us have learned to ignore all the ads that flash on screen while watching the news on television. Occasionally I might actually pay attention. This leads us to the fact that all news networks are now pushing Web sites where the same information, pictures and movie clips are available 24 hours a day on our computers. If you want, you may even download them to your portable iPod, to hear or watch while commuting.

This boggles the mind. Before my days, all information had to be recorded manually by quill until Gutenberg came out with his movable type printing press. Not quite so long ago, I remember watching my mother-in-law handling molten lead while employed as a lithographer for a newspaper.

When I first started using the Internet, there were only about 2,000 Web sites; now they are added at the rate of tens of thousands a day.

There is a lot of redundant data, but it seems that everything ever spoken or filmed is now dumped into it. Just remember, though, that just because it is there does not mean that it is true. On the other hand, the average mortal may now find out things that force politicians to prevaricate ever more gingerly.

To support all the expenses of providing and storing that material, you are subjected to extra advertising, typically 20 seconds before any news clip. No way to avoid it. I will stick with the daily newspaper, unless I am enticed to see “breaking news.” I bring up this possibility because I had ignored this resource for too long. Having had a digital video recorder for the last few years (a TiVo), I was able to evade all commercials.

USB drive warning

Late last evening I read your March 27 column about removing a thumb drive, and first clicking the “Safely remove hardware” icon on the taskbar. I've looked for that icon but cannot find it. So I went into the control panel and made a shortcut to the desktop of the Add or Remove button. But that may refer only to software, not the thumb/flash drive. Just what am I missing? Thanks! Roxane W.

Dear Roxane: When you plug in your thumb drive into a USB socket, there should be a dialog box that briefly shows on the bottom right of your screen. Then when you look at the icons in your tray (lower right) and slowly go over them with your mouse cursor, one should reveal the words “Safely remove hardware.” That is the one you would click on, and it will list the drives that are open.

You may know this already, but the Windows XP task bar has an option to hide unused icons. So the reason some icons are disappearing might be that you haven't used them for a while and Windows has decided to do you a favor and hide them. To resuscitate them, rightclick Taskbar | Properties | clear the check box “Hide inactive icons.”

In Vista the procedure is similar. Note that you may have to first “unlock” the taskbar. This is just a checkmark that can be toggled.

Mass mailings

We are once again in the midst of an e-mail problem at our club. Our provider has restricted our e-mail capacity as it is cracking down on spammers and we are labeled as one. This is in spite of the fact that our recipients wish to receive our e-mails. Technical support has suggested software that can automatically send our e-mails over a period of time. It would take 30 hours for this software to send out to our list and I don't want to divulge member addresses to a third party. Any suggestions? Bob S.

Dear Bob: As you probably know, the level of spam (unwanted e-mails) has reached crisis proportions. And users are encouraging their providers to help filter out that garbage. Unfortunately, companies are not very imaginative and do not seem to be able to differentiate between real spammers, who send messages by the million, and legitimate clubs. What other users have done is to place a delay in excess of about a minute between messages, but this is not practical when people have to be notified in a timely fashion.

One obvious answer is to hire a communication consultant who is familiar with other providers in your area. Your complaint is not unique, as I have heard similar complaints. There are providers willing to work with you, but there is no guarantee that they will continue to do so. The Office of Emergency Management is using some automated system to notify all people in a town. When I have to do a mass mailing, I send the same message to multiple groups of 30 members, a number that my provider will allow, without discussion. I would recommend that you speak to local senior centers that probably have faced the same problem as you have.

Word 2007 Help

I am working with Word 2007. I like it but have trouble finding the “Help” on my toolbar because of the multitude of icons on the “ribbon.” I am sure I just overlooked it. How can I find or reach it? Thanks. Herb S.

Dear Herb: There is the old-fashioned way of just pressing F1 (the function key) or a more modern graphic way. Take another close look on the menu bar. All the way to the right, there is a small circle with “?” in it. That is it. Microsoft probably thought that the word Help on the menu bar was too confusing for us users. Remember that the Help window will appear at the location where it was when you last closed it. I tend to drag it out of the way, and thus it may not reappear in an obvious position.