Sunday, January 28, 2018

Class Notes 1-25-2018

We spent most of the time discussing how to sell something on eBay. The following paper was written a few years ago when we spoke about the same topic.
http://rwevans.com/cccgc/SellingoneBay.pdf


No bids so far… click above to view

Found a few how to guides that might be of interest:

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/guide-google-tools-tips-tricks-cant-live-without/

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/how-to-use-facebook/

https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/windows-shortcuts-101-ultimate-keyboard-shortcut-guide/

Next week we will take a look at images and how to use a Microsoft program called Photo Story.

In addition to my own research, I want to give thanks to Harold at the Club, Ghacks.net Newsletter, and DavesComputerTips.com for the useful ideas we take a look at each week.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

Class Notes 1-18-18

Data Usage
Sometimes it is useful to know how much internet bandwidth you are using.
http://tinyurl.com/y9xtuzkt



Should I Remove It?
Ever wonder what some of those programs are for? Her is a tool that scans your computer and shows you what is running and allows you to see what it used for and allows you to remove it.
http://www.shouldiremoveit.com/



I saw this advertised on Facebook. Plug it into your USB port and boot from it. An instant PC that runs fast and on older laptops turning them into usable computers. I bought one and demonstrated it in call today.
https://www.xtra-pc.com/




Then we took a look at Cloudready that will take your old computer (XP and up as long as it can boot from a USB drive) and turn it into a Chromebook! For free! I will build the stick and we can see how it works next week.
https://www.neverware.com/freedownload/



We looked at whatsup, a social networking application for cell phones and computers that lets you text and talk and video with anyone having the app.
https://www.whatsapp.com/


Using a WiFi extender to bring your WiFi signal to the far end of the house. This is the one we use at the club.
https://www.securifi.com/rg/almond

In addition to my own research, I want to give thanks to Harold at the Club, Ghacks.net Newsletter, and DavesComputerTips.com for the useful ideas we take a look at each week.

Friday, January 12, 2018

Class Notes 1-11-2018

A big crowd today. Had to find more chairs. It was a very active group. We even came up with some topics for future classes:

  1. Build a Chromebook out of an old PC
  2. Buy and sell on eBay
  3. Create a slideshow using Photo Story

So next week on 1-28-2018 we will look at taking an old XP laptop and making it into a working Chromebook. The week after that we will look at eBay and in three weeks we will build a slideshow with animation and background music.

Everyone liked the Echo Silver video I shared. Here is a link to it on YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eMwz487yG9I

Run android apps on your PC. This does not replace your existing OS. It is a program that emulates an Android allowing you toaccess the Google Play Store and run apps on your PC.
www.Noxplayer.com

Convert Hardcopy Document Into Editable Digital Document. There are a number of programs and online applications you can run to take a picture and convert it to a Word document to be edited on your PC. This is the first one we tried and it worked giving us a Word file we could modify.
http://tinyurl.com/y8eappe7

Convert Online Scanned Image or PDF to Text and Word. This was the second one we tried. It worked much better than the first one. The first one took our image and made every line a text box. Much more difficult to use than this one which gave us a clean word file with no text boxes.
http://www.convertimagetotext.net/imagetotextconverter.php

NoBot is a portable malware scanner for Windows. I have not tried this one but it says it can run from a flash drive and scan the hard drive for issues.
http://tinyurl.com/ydba4dmu

How To Rename Files/Folders In Sequential Number Order. I like to use this technique to rename a group of picture files. When my camera takes them it assigns a name like img0316.jpg and the next one as img0317, etc. Instead I can select all the files in the grouping and give them the name associated with what they are about. For instituance these two might have been taken at Disney and when I use this method they would be named disney (1).jpg and disney (2).jpg.
http://tinyurl.com/y744fzbc

Keeping icons from moving around on the screen

Right-click on any empty space on your Desktop
In the context menu, choose View
In the menu that appears, make sure that Auto arrange icons is not checked

In additions we looked at how to change the background, change the overall size of items on the screen, and more on that right-click menu.

Copy Linux distributions to bootable USB drives is a neat article but only interesting to those desiring to use Linux
http://tinyurl.com/ybc375r6

GPU performance in Task Manager is a new column in the Task Manager performance area. It gives you details about the Graphics Processor.
http://tinyurl.com/y8a58n89



How To – Facebook Posts To Specific Friends. In addition to posting to the world (Public) or to your friends (Friends) you can post to specific people. Nobody but those you list will ever see your post.
http://tinyurl.com/lh5f3zw

In addition to my own research, I want to give thanks to Harold at the Club, Ghacks.net Newsletter, and DavesComputerTips.com for the useful ideas we take a look at each week.

Saturday, January 6, 2018

Class Notes 1-4-2018

Here’s a link to a Comcast page with their policy regarding email addresses if you quit Comcast. (Thanks Fran R) You can keep your email address as long as you use it.
http://tinyurl.com/y8em7zzg

The question came up about having to reset everything when coming down to Florida in the winter and back up north in the summer. The SSID and password is different in both locations for WiFi and all devices have to be set to the correct ones. This true but the way I handle it is to make the WiFi SSID and password the same in both locations. Then when I bring equipment like my cell phones, laptops, and printers there is nothing to do but plug them in. They look fo the same credentials in both locations. But, you say, my internet provider assigned me the SSID and password. Yes they did but you can log in to your account with them and change both to your liking. Just remember what they are!

Free books for you Kindel and other eReaders. You choose the genre and an email will come into your inbox daily with a list of a half dozen or so free books to download.
https://www.ereaderiq.com/

Custom Logo Designs for those who want to create a logo for your club, church group, personal letterhead or business cards. Easy to use and free.
http://tinyurl.com/y75qrw6w

Voice Commands in Windows. By turning on text recognition, Windows can learn your voice and you can speak commands into it instead of using your keyboard or mouse.
http://tinyurl.com/yc3mm66w

Do you need antivirus other than Defender? This article upholds our thoughts on using Defender plus the free tools we suggest to keep your Windows PC working virus/malware/spyware free.
http://tinyurl.com/ybyghqt3

Get Free Unlimited Google Drive Storage. All you need is a working .EDU email address. If you are a student at college or an employee/retired at a college, you may be eligible for free Google Drive space… and maybe a low price for Microsoft software as well.
http://tinyurl.com/y839xql4

Data Loss --It Doesn't Have To Happen-- Ever! Backup. Backup. Backup. And the software is free. We recommend EaseUS and Macrium Reflect as good image backup programs.
http://tinyurl.com/y9lvp4dx

MailStore – Your eMail Backup Solution. Great to use when switching from one email carrier to another. Like from Comcast to Embarq or visa versa. When you cancel your old account all your emails go away; you no longer have access to them.
http://tinyurl.com/ya4hflgk

How to use the Command Prompt. This goes back to the 1980’s. Yes, the command prompt is still there and you can still type commands such as DIR, CLS, CD… You can even create batch files to execute a string of commands from one place. - a .BAT file.
http://tinyurl.com/y9s7dvno

In addition to my own research, I want to give thanks to Harold at the Club, Ghacks.net Newsletter, and DavesComputerTips.com for the useful ideas we take a look at each week.