Friday, September 29, 2017

Class Notes 9-28-2017



Free Office word and excel like programs. Click and a zip file will download. Unpack it and place shortcuts on your desktop to use them. Will work on USB drives, too. Abiword and Gnumeric work similar to Word and Excel.
http://rwevans.com/



About.me free web site is a good way to create a presence on the Internet for those that own a home business, are writers… check out how to set up a free page and take a look at mine.
http://tinyurl.com/y6v25d8e
https://about.me/dickevans

Send and receive texts on your computer or tablet. You will be assigned a phone number and be able to send and receive texts with people who have text capable cell phones.
http://tinyurl.com/yamcmtyf




The Ripl mobile application
Create eye-catching animated videos and share them on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram with one tap. It is completely free to download and includes access to 8 free designs, as well as one free Ripl Pro design daily that can be found in the Design Catalog. Each free design has a selection of music tracks you can use royalty-free. You can quickly create animated social media posts and customize them to align to the look and feel of your business or organization.
http://tinyurl.com/y9mm2eph

Windows 10 Indexing Options. Article showing how to control what files are indexed automatically and speed up processing by removing indexing in areas you do not have a need for searching.
http://tinyurl.com/ycyvdb29

Discussed the FreedomPop phone and using Google Voice. I had told you that I was canceling the Phone but it works fine down here in Port Charlotte. I lowered the service down to the free one with limited voice, text, and data. I can send and receive calls fine. Google Voice allows you to set up a phone number and make and receive calls right at your PC.

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, September 21, 2017

Class Notes 9-21-2017

CCleaner Compromised

CCleaner 5.35 released with new digital signature
http://tinyurl.com/ybtujk7r

32 bit version 5.33 of the CCleaner app offered for download between August 15 and September 12 was modified to include the Floxif malware.
http://tinyurl.com/y7zqdown

Florida Road Closure information and more
https://fl511.com

Using Excel and Word to print address labels using MailMerge
http://tinyurl.com/yb9x53a9

How to download YouTube videos:
There's a simple trick, just add the letters dl to the url of the video on youtube and press enter to get sent to the downloader’s page where you choose the quality of video you wish or mp3 for audio. The dl must go after the www. Here are a couple of other ways...

http://tinyurl.com/hjxb7lg MP4 Video

http://tinyurl.com/heaz7h8 MP3 Audio only

How to clean out a computer to donate it someone

Your stuff is on the hard drive. You could take the hard drive out and keep it. Let them find one to install. Or you can easily goto Control Panel > User Accounts and add a new user with another name as an administrator. Then sign off and sign back as that new user. Go back to Control Panel > Users and remove your original user and when it asks if you want to keep the files, say NO. Then run Glary Utilities and goto Advanced > Privacy >Free Space.

Create a Ninite shortcut on the desktop
After you run ninite from their website, the installer that ended up in your downloads folder can be copied to your desktop or a shortcut made to it. Then each week simply run the downloaded before you run you weekly maintenance apps. This keeps them up to date allowing you to ignore the nagging to upload each of them.

What to do with the data in the download folder
When you download from your browser, the resulting file ends up in your download folder. You do not have to keep it there and if it is a picture or a document you might want to move it to another folder. Programs that you download like ccleaner are not needed after you install them. There should be nothing in downloads that needs to be kept. Having said that, having things in there does not slow down your PC.

FreedomPop experience
We talked about this a few sessions ago and I ordered one. Had difficulty getting it setup and working in KY. This was probably due to the fact that there is no Sprint service where I live. When I went to the next large town over (Somerset) it worked fine. The smartphone is free. There is a $29.99 activation fee you pay upfront. It ships with a 30 day trial of their $29.95 plan which gives you unlimited voice and text and 2gb of data. I changed to their “free”’ plan before my trial was over. That plan has 200 minutes of voice, 500 texts, and 500mb of data all free. Yes, you pay if you go over.

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, September 14, 2017

Class Notes 9-14-2017

I had some Internet issues here in KY today. Here is the list of items I spoke of but was unable to share with you while we were online. Next week the class will be online and at the club. On another note, I am canceling my FreedomPop phone as I was unsuccessful getting it to work. I can make a call and send/receive texts. I cannot receive a call! The first month was a trial of their 2gb data plan. I can downgrade to the free plan and I will not be charged for the second month (I hope). The headphone/mic I suggested last week works great. I used it today for the class. I could hear everyone and they could hear me much better. If you are going to be using the online capability it sure helps and will help avoid the feedback issues.

Google Drive is being replaced
http://tinyurl.com/y87gyply

How To Disable Targeted Ads On Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/ycq4zwc7

How To Make Your Own Paper CD Sleeves
http://tinyurl.com/ya45mcus

Recover deleted files in Windows
http://tinyurl.com/ya84wbzs

How to delete large folders in Windows super fast
http://tinyurl.com/y85hqbcx

Avast acquires Piriform, makers of CCleaner
http://tinyurl.com/yafkyhwg

How to reset Data usage in Windows 10
http://tinyurl.com/y767284d

Tool negotiates with your cable and internet provider to lower your bill
http://tinyurl.com/y7jf6lfs

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, September 7, 2017

Class Notes 9-7-2017

WizTree: fastest large file finder for Windows
http://tinyurl.com/ydcsxsvv

Novabench: Windows benchmark software
http://tinyurl.com/yafa9ucp

17 Really Cool Google Tricks That Will Blow Your Mind
http://tinyurl.com/ybgc73m8

If you google Google Gravity in your smart phone, the screen will begin falling.
And it will make the words in the screen in Windows to fall also.
Also, Google backwards (elgoog) and you will be put in a backwards Google search engine

Secret games are hidden on Facebook
http://tinyurl.com/y7nhqx42

7 games hidden in Google
http://tinyurl.com/y7jo7n6p

Walkie Talkie App
Push the button for instant, radio-style talk on any Wi-Fi or data plan. Look for me as K1CVP
http://tinyurl.com/kz7xzpa

9v battery to charge cell phone
http://tinyurl.com/yc9o3nkk

USB Headset
http://tinyurl.com/y9ckdym2

Backups by Dick Evans a white paper on doing backups in Windows
http://tinyurl.com/y7bjwkbb

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.