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December’s Tutorial~!

WorldStart’s Diggs

If you're one who enjoys looking through our tip archives,

http://www.worldstart.com/tips/index.php

You may have noticed a little something new we've added to each article. I know at least some of you have, because I've been getting several e-mails from you all asking about it.

Well, a few weeks ago, we here at JS&CS decided to add a Digg marker to each of our tips so that all of you could "digg" them! I know that might sound a little confusing right now, but if you continue reading, it will all be explained in full.

 I promise! If you're not quite sure what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the Web site of digg.com (click on the link to learn more about it).

http://www.worldstart.com/tips/tips.php/2895

You may have noticed a little something new we've added to each article. I know at least some of you have, because I've been getting several e-mails from you all asking about it.

Well, a few weeks ago, we here at JS&CS decided to add a Digg marker to each of our tips so that all of you could "digg" them! I know that might sound a little confusing right now, but if you continue reading, it will all be explained in full.

 I promise!If you're not quite sure what I'm talking about, I'm referring to the Web site of digg.com (click on the link to learn more about it).

On that site, you can read through the different articles they have posted and if you like a certain one, you can digg it, which basically means you're complimenting it. And that's exactly what you can do with all of our tips now!

If you open one of our tips through the archives, you will see a little digg icon at the very top of the page. You'll see how many diggs the tip has gotten so far and right next to that is the link you can click on to digg it yourself, if you'd like. Once you click on the link, you'll be taken to a log in page for the Digg Web site.

 If you don't have a Digg account, you can quickly sign up for one by clicking the Join Now link. If you already have an account with them, just type in your username and password and click the Login button.

Once you're logged in, you will see the tip you want to digg and you can look over it if you want.

Next, under the Choose the Most Appropriate Topic section, just click on the one you think the tip best fits into, fill in the CAPTCHA test and then hit the Submit Story button. That tip will then be added to Digg's Web site where other people can comment on it as well.

You can do this for as many of our tips as you'd like. We just thought this would be something fun to add to our tips.

We hope you all enjoy it and as always, thanks for digging with us!

Happy Holidays!

 

 

=Joe’s Tutorials for February=

=============================================

Tutorial ... "Make Your Own Sound Files"

=============================================

Does your system have a sound card and speakers? Did it come

with a microphone? If yes, let's have some fun!

 

You can make your computer say anything when it starts up and

shuts down, or when you click on some item... all you need to

do is record your voice. First, let's do the recording, then

we'll set up the sounds in the next tutorial.

 

I'm sticking with the recording stuff that comes with Windows.

If you have some other sound recorder, you can use it.

 

1. Open the Sound Recorder. It's under Start, Programs,

Accessories, Entertainment.

2. With your microphone hooked up, click the red round dot

on the far right side. This is the record button.

3. Say a few words, then stop the recorder by clicking the

square Stop button next to the Record button.

4. Save the file (click File, Save As, and give it a name.)

Save it in your Documents folder, under My Recordings. If

there's no folder named My Recordings, you can create the

folder, or just save the file in My Documents for now.

 

You can record phrases, words, anything. Add music if you

want. If you're into telephone answering machine messages,

hook up your answering system to your computer. (Now that's

a tricky one!)

 

Remember, a "document" is not just a word document. It can

be a picture, a sound, a spreadsheet, whatever. In the purest

terms, a document may be written words... but in computer

parlance, it's more.

 

Note: The sound recorder has a 60 second limit. That's way

more than you'll need for simple voice work. And by the

way, 60 seconds of sound during my test took up 1.2 megabytes

of disk space. You can record a LOT of sound and still have

room to spare. So have fun with this! You can always delete the

files later if you find you aren't using them.

=====================================================

 Tutorial ... "How to Install Your Own Sound Files"

====================================================

In the previous tutorial, we used Sound Recorder to make our

own sounds. Now what do we do with them? Lets attach them to

events in the Sounds Properties window. Here's how...

 

1. Open the Sounds Properties dialog box. You'll find it as

an icon in the Control Panel, named "Sounds".

 

2. Highlight the line item named "Close program" by clicking

on it once. The "Name:" field comes alive. You can select

from pre-existing sounds there, but we're going to browse

for our new sound.

 

3. Click the 'Browse...' button, and navigate to your My

Documents folder, and select your new sound. The speaker

will appear in the Preview box if you had no sounds selected

previously.

 

4. Preview the sound by clicking the right arrow button in

the Preview area. Like what you hear? Okay!

 

5. Click the Apply button. Select another Event, attach

a new sound, click Apply, until you've set up all the sounds

you want.

 

6. Click the OK button to put the dialog box away.

 

The Details button will give you additional details on the

sound file you select. In the Schemes field, you can choose

from existing sound schemes, if they exist on your system.

 

Someone I know hears a 'Clear Off' sound when he closes down his

computer each day. Funny guy!

===============================

==========================

Joe’s Pause For Thought ...

==========================

"When you have a great and difficult task, something
perhaps almost impossible, if you only work a little at a
time, every day a little, suddenly the work will finish itself."

.............. Isak Dinesen

==============================

======================================

 Tutorial...  "About Special Characters"

=======================================

Add special characters to enliven your communications, such

as email, with ease. Just follow these simple steps, and use

whatever code you desire. It's a very cool way to create a stir

amongst your friends. "Hey, how'd you do that?!" It's a secret,

of course. <smile>

 

Special characters are created by pressing certain number

combinations on the numeric keyboard in conjunction with the

Alt key. For example, holding down Alt and pressing "0169"

(without the quotes) will yield the copyright symbol: ©.

 

The symbol is not created until you've pressed the last

numeric key! So, while holding down the Alt key, press zero,

one, six, nine, and voila! You'll see the copyright symbol "©"

appear.

 

One more interesting point...

 

If you select a font other than Arial, Courier New, or Times

New Roman, you'll get even more options. You may have

noticed there are two additional fonts in Windows that are

kind of interesting. "Wingdings" and "Symbol." Let's say you're

using Word or WordPerfect. Change the font to Wingdings.

Then type the codes, and you'll see a totally new way of

expressing yourself.

 

The code is called the "ANSI character set" by techies. ANSI

stands for American National Standards Institute. Yea, it's

exciting stuff!

 

 

 

==============================

 

 

 

 

 

=Joe’s Tutorials for December=

===========================================

 Tutorial.... "How to Copy Images Off A Web Page"

==============================================

Let me first make one thing very clear ...

You can NOT just help yourself to an image from a website without

heaping a whole lot of trouble on yourself.

Business websites are subject to copyright laws and before you

copy an image you must make sure that it is not copyright. But

there are many occasions when you can do so - for instance if you

have purchased some reprint rights and you want to use the sales

page image for your own use, or maybe you want to use an image

from a public access site or from a friend's site etc.

 

Now although you can't just copy anyone's picture and think you

own it, there are many sites you can go to that offer Copyright

Free images.

 

Just try your favorite search engine and type in 'Free Images'.

 

Downloading - or copying - a picture from a Web page, is easy.

Yeah right. Everything's easy once you know how!

 

So, when you spot a picture or graphic you fancy ...

 

Right-click on it.

 

From the menu box that pops up ...

 

Left click on 'Save Image As' or 'Save Picture As'

 

A window pops up ...

 

In the 'Save In' box, drop down the menu and locate the folder on

your hard drive where you want to save it to ...

 

Give it a name in the 'File Name' box - or leave the name already

in there.

 

Click 'Save'.

 

Done!

 

I told you it was easy. All you have to do now is find it

afterwards:-) Hmmmm.

 

Of course, I should have advised that you make a note of where

you saved it to. Some people have a folder called 'My Pictures'.

But you can save it wherever you wish.

=====================================

Tutorial ... "I Give Up - What's An Active Window?"

======================================

Your computer was created by super geeks who didn't really

give a lot of thought to the understanding of their jargon.But

where does that leave you?

 

Reading these tutorials for a start!

 

Most non-geek people aren't impressed with Windows' ability

to multi-task. That is, its ability to do more than one thing at

a time.

 

In fact, doing one thing at a time is enough. At least for me

anyway!

 

That said, I think you should know about one feature of

Windows that might make life easier for you. And that just

happens to be what's known as "multi-tasking." And of course,

this includes the concept of the "active window."

 

Boring, (yawnnnn) who cares, why do I have to read this

anyway?

 

Well, you don't. But in case you decide to, here's the rest of

the story...

 

When you open a program, such as AOL or a word processor,

that program is "active." Anything you do with your mouse

or keyboard will be aimed at that program. Now, let's say

you open another program WITHOUT closing the previous one.

You now have TWO programs running. TWO windows to deal

with. Any more than that, and it gets a bit draughty around

the nether regions of your keyboard:-)

 

So how do you know which one is active?

 

The window that looks bright, colorful, non-gray or non-dull

is the one that's active. And it's usually the one that's on top,

too. (The active window always wants to be on top.)

 

The inactive window may be on the taskbar, too. If you

minimize a window, it heads straight for the task bar, and

turns itself into a button. You can then sew that button on

your shirt, and say you've been "computerized."

 

All humor aside, the taskbar is the place to look for windows

that have been minimized. And that leaves only the active

window on your screen. So, next time you think you're lost,

just look at the taskbar.

 

Are there any buttons showing? If so, click one. (They open

with a single click.) And if you haven't minimized a window (do

this by clicking on the "minus" button in the upper right hand

corner of any open window) it'll be right there "in your face."

 

One at a time, two at a time, three at a time or more. You can

have open as many windows as your computer has memory

for. They just keep opening. So no matter how many windows

are open, you'll know which one is the one that you're really

working with.

===================================

Joe’s Pause For Thought ...

===================================

"If you don't like something change it.  If you can't change it,

change your attitude.  Don't complain."

- Maya Angelou, Author

==============================

===============================

Tutorial .... "How To Automate Tasks"

===============================

 

There's no reason to stare at your computer while it cleans

house. Unless you like watching it work! Once the novelty has

worn off, you can set up a scheduled task to be performed while

you are busy with other things, like sleeping. That's the genius

of automation-- make the machine take care of itself on its own

Schedule!

 

Let's take defragmenting for example. This is a task that can

take up to an hour or more on one of today's big hard drives.

Here's how to create an automatic defragmentation program.

 

Like most tasks in Windows, there's more than one approach.

===========================================

==============================

Tutorial ... "What Is File Compression?"

==============================

 

This will not help you to use your computer any better, but it

will help in your general understanding of computer jargon and

all things techie:-)

 

Assuming you download anything new to your computer, you'll no

doubt come across a "zip file".

 

That's simply techie-talk for taking a file and squeezing the

space out of it, making it smaller. And smaller files mean less

time moving them from computer to computer.

 

When you see "pictures.zip" you know a couple of things.

 

1) The file is compressed, and

 

2) it contains pictures.

 

Let's say you have taken some digital photos and want to send

them to someone... doing so one by one would take a long time.

But if you were to zip them up into a "zip file"... they'd be

compressed and all in the same package together. You could then

send that single package off by email to whomever.

 

In order to unzip, or un-compress a zip file, you must have some

software installed on your computer that knows how to unzip.

There's a little note below that talks about "unzipping with

confidence". Follow the link, and learn more about the Unzip

Wizard. And you'll know more about file compression, too.

 

File compression is like a kind of computer shorthand. When

you attempt to compress a file, the compression software that is

being used looks for a series of repeating characters or bits in

the file. The software then replaces these blocks of repeated

characters with symbols or shorter words or phrases, which are

called 'tokens'.

 

For example, it takes less space for a computer file to be

structured:

 

"10101000110101[insert 73 zeroes here]11011010010"

 

Than this... 

"1010100011010100000000000000000000000000000000000

000000000000000000000000000000000000011011010010"

 

When you apply a decompression program to a compressed file,

the software reads the file and replaces the tokens with the

original data, inflating the file back to its original size. 

***** 

Ah, that's how it works. As long as you have software that will

Handle the unzipping chore, you've got it made. 

===============================

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

=Joe’s Tutorials for October=

===================================

Tutorial ...."Browsing Around"

===================================

Little buttons are found on every window in the right side of the

Explorer Browser Title Bar. The minimize button is commonly

referred to as the "minus sign" but that's a kind of symbolic

reduction of the item's significance. The Close button is called

the "X" button by some, and could be correlated with the X-File

if you want to be imaginative. The buttons reside in order:

Minimize, Maximize, and Close.

----- "Minimize Button"

Clicking the minimize button will fold up the window into a neat

little package that resides in the taskbar in button format. Try

it. Click the minimize button on this e-book right now, and

watch it transform itself via the magic of animation.

------ "The Maximize Button"

This cutie is next to the minimize button, and its sole purpose

is expand the window to full screen. No matter how small or to

what size you've adjusted a window, clicking this button will

dramatically increase your view.

After expansion, the button looks like a double set of maximize

buttons, one layered on top of the other. Click again, and the

window returns to its previously un maximized state.

Tip: Double click the Title Bar to maximize or return a window

to its previous size.

-------- "The Close Button"

This will terminate your program or application. If you haven't

saved work, you'll be prompted with a message, so don't worry

about losing your valuables. If you see two sets of "X" buttons,

such as are common to word processing programs, the lower set

will close the document without exiting the word processing

program.

-------- "The Resize Handle is Special"

What? What's a resize handle? It's that little area in the lower

right corner of a window that lets you, well, resize the

window! Vertical and horizontal dimensions can be changed

simultaneously using this handle. Pass your mouse cursor over

the resize handle, and it turns into a double-headed arrow.

Left click and drag the window to the size you desire.

-------- "Check Your Status With The Status Bar"

This is an overlooked part of a window that displays statistical

and other information. Things like the time, the size of a

selected file, and any other detail oriented info the designers

want to include can be found here.

Turn the Status Bar on if you want to see it. The bar makes

up the bottom portion of an active window.

Windows comes out of the box with the status bar turned off.

Seems someone thought you'd be overwhelmed with

information, and decided to make Windows as plain as

possible. There are a lot of nice features that are turned off

by default. The Status Bar is one of them.

Check any window's View menu to see if an option for using

the Status Bar exists. Also, try right clicking the status bar

itself to see if any user configurable options exist.

 

Still confused? Don't worry it's not as difficult as it looks.

Just take your time and go through these actions one step

at a time. Pretty soon it will become second nature to you.

====================================

================================

Tutorial ..."Exploring Your Browser"

================================

 

---------- "How To Change Your Default Start Page"

 

Are you bored with the appearance of your Explorer page?

You can have a different page if you wish - maybe even show your

favorite Website each time you launch your browser .

 

Or worse still, has someone (even Microsoft do it) highjacked

your Browser by installing their Web page into your browser?

 

Click 'Tools' in top toolbar (in older browsers click 'View')

Click 'Internet Options'.

Click 'General'

Under Address, type in the URL you wish to have as your new

default start page.

 

OR

If you're already on a Website you wish to use as your default,

Click on 'Use Current' button.

 

OR

To show a completely blank page each time you open Explorer,

Click on 'Use Blank'.

 

Click 'Close'.

 

---------- "Are You Using Explorer In 'No Graphics Mode'?

 

Some people do this so that graphics don't show in a Web page

They’re visiting. This helps to load the page faster, especially

if you have slow Internet connection, but you sometimes miss out

on the purpose of the Website - especially if it is using

Graphics as navigation links etc.

 

To view a single picture while working in a no-graphics mode.

without having to turn on all graphics do this:

 

RIGHT click on the placeholder icon (that's the blue, red, and

green shapes that show where a picture is normally shown).

 

Click 'Show Picture'

 

------- "How To Avoid Getting Lost While Browsing"

 

This is handy because sometimes when you click a link to another

site you end up getting lost, and lose the original Website.

 

RIGHT click on the link.

 

Click 'Open in New Window'

.

Or, Simply hold 'Shift' on your keyboard while clicking the link.

This will open a separate browser window with the original page

directly beneath it.

 

When you're finished, just close the new window, and you end up

back on the original page.

===================================

Joe's Pause For Thought ....

===================================

 

"When you have a great and difficult task, something perhaps

almost impossible, if you only work a little at a time, every day

a little, suddenly the work will finish itself."

.............. Isak Dinesen

==============================

===================================

Tutorial ... "Is Your Browser Up To Date?"

===================================

 

How would you know?

 

By taking a peek under its hood, of course. This peeking business

applies to any program on your computer.

 

Open your Browser and click the Help menu item.

 

Then click on About. That bit of information will tell you

all you need to know about the program you are curious

about.

 

You should be using a browser in the 6.0 upward or 7.0 upward

model range, or later, if you're using Internet Explorer or

Netscape. Firefox edition should be 1.5 upward. There are many

other browsers out there, but these are by far the most popular.

 

Why use a later model? They're more versatile. They'll display

pages and the stuff on them easier and faster. And if you're

into printing web pages, Internet Explorer has a great

printing feature that lets you preview your printed page first.

 

Here's a few tips:

 

**To open a new browser, hold down the Ctrl key and press

'N'. A New window will open. You can have a bunch of browser

windows open at the same time.

 

**To visit a site you've typed into the address bar in the

past, click the drop down arrow to the right of the address

line. There will be a list of your visited sites there.

 

**If you remember a site, but can't remember its address, you

can check your history. IE has a nice history feature. Just

click the History icon to start.

 

**To pop Internet Explorer open to full screen, press F 11.

Press again to put it back where it was.

 

There are lots of things you can do with your browser. The

best thing you can do is explore its features by clicking the

buttons and menu items.

Just click and see what happens.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

=Joe’s Tutorial for August=

 

Popup Blocker Techniques

Advertisers are constantly trying to draw attention to their products. Popups are now used to thrust an ad in your face that you have no choice, but to at least acknowledge. Regardless of the nature of the ad, popups are a nuisance and there are now many options available for keeping them off of your computer screen all the way around. Listed below are five ways to block popups on your computer.

1. Internet Explorer on Windows XP with Service Pack 2

The Service Pack 2 for Windows XP has brought about a few significant changes to the operating system. One of the most noticeable is the addition of a popup blocker to Internet Explorer.

The popup blocker is integrated into the browser and can be customized by browsing to the Tools menu at the top of the program. Like many popup blocker applications, personal preferences can be set to allow/block popups from certain Web sites, as well as, providing customization for how the user is alerted to the fact that a popup has been blocked.

For those using Windows XP, upgrading to Service Pack 2 is an excellent idea for your system’s security as a whole, but specifically for the additional convenience of an integrated popup blocker. For those with a Microsoft operating system other than XP, I'm sorry, but this one is not available to you.

2. Alternative Web Browsers

There are other choices for Web browsers available and many have included a popup blocker long before Microsoft decided to include one with Internet Explorer.

Mozilla Firefox has already received a great deal of acclaim and has become quite popular as an alternative to Internet Explorer. Firefox is a highly customizable Web browsing application that includes an effective popup blocker, tabbed browsing and many other features.

Crazy Browser is another option that was released in 2002, which is not as much an alternative browser, as it is a skin for Internet Explorer. In order for Crazy Browser to run, a system must have Internet Explorer 5 (or greater) installed, along with Windows 95 (or greater) installed as the operating system. The Crazy Browser application then takes the base functionality of Internet Explorer and adds features similar to Firefox, such as the popup blocker and tabbed browsing.

3. Browser Toolbars

A growing trend is for Web sites to offer a downloadable toolbar for use with Internet Explorer. Many of these toolbars offer unique features intended to enhance the user’s Web browsing experience in different ways, but they generally also include a popup blocker. Although there are toolbars available from dozens of Web sites, Google, MSN and Yahoo! are some of the more reputable names with one available.

The installation of these toolbars is quick and easy. The most difficult part may only be reading the fine print in the license agreements.

Although these toolbars may do an excellent job blocking popups, they may also be retrieving data on your Web surfing and search habits. If you feel a toolbar may be the right solution for you, stick with one from a trusted name and just be sure to read the fine print.

4. Popup Blocker Software

Stand alone popup blocking software is available from hundreds of different sources. With various interfaces and prices ranging from free to $30 (and higher), choosing one can be a difficult task. Many of the programs that are not available for free do come with a free trial download, so you can at least get a sense of whether the program is right for you before committing. Some of the options in this category include STOPzilla, Secure IE, Zero Popup and Pop Swatter, just to name a few.

The main drawback to this type of popup blocking solution is that you now have another independent application running on your computer. Although they are generally not resource intensive, why run a program to do something that can be handled by one that is already running anyway? Additionally, with so many reliable solutions available to eliminate popups for free, spending money on one is hard to justify.

5. Internet Access Software from Select ISPs

Some ISPs (Internet Service Providers) now incorporate a popup blocker with the software they provide to subscribers for accessing the Internet. Earthlink, Optimum Online and AOL are just a few of the larger providers that add value to their packages by adding a popup blocker. Bundling this functionality with the ISP’s base software definitely makes things easy for the subscriber, as there may be no need to find one elsewhere.

In general, these blockers are effective, but are not the most feature rich and may have limited options for customization by the end user. One draw back with ISP provided popup blockers is that some only work with their service. So, if you ever switch to a new provider, you’ll need to be prepared to switch to a new popup blocker as well.

Popups are a fact of life on the Internet, but that does not mean you need to put up with them. Among the five general solutions presented above, there are literally hundreds of options available for eliminating the clutter of popup ads, allowing you to enjoy only the content you intended to see in the first place!

How to Configure Popup Blocker Settings in Internet Explorer

The following popup blocker settings can be configured:

Allow Web Sites List

You can allow popup windows to open in a Web site by adding the Web site to the Allowed sites list. To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs and then click Internet Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, point to Popup Blocker and then click Popup Blocker Settings.

3. In the Address of Web site to allow box, type the address of the Web site and then click Add.

4. Click Close.

Block All Popup Windows

To block all popup windows, including the popup windows that are opened by a user, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs and then click Internet Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, point to Popup Blocker and then click Popup Blocker Settings.

3. In the Filter Level list, select High: Block all popups [Ctrl to override] and then click Close.

Override Key

To open a popup window yourself, even though you have set the filter level to High: Block all popups [Ctrl to override], keep the Ctrl key pressed, and then open the popup window.

Configure Sound

To play a sound when a popup window is blocked, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, point to All Programs and then click Internet Explorer.

2. On the Tools menu, point to Popup Blocker and then click Popup Blocker Settings.

3. Select the Play a sound when a popup is blocked checkbox and then click Close.

And there you have it. Several easy ways to stop those popups from invading your computer!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



=Joe’s Tutorials for July=

 

 

There's an awful lot of buzz these days about down-sizing,

Redundancies, early retirement and how many people are now

turning to the Internet to either supplement their income or

even earn a full time income so that they can sack their boss.

 

But it's not as easy as most think. Yes, it's doable - and

Thousands of people are doing so - but the abundance of wild

Promises of easy money and high incomes for little work are the

Results in much discontent and discouragement.

 

So I have included 2 Tutorials this Month about building a Website,

One of which was written some time ago, but which is still as fresh

and as relevant as it was when it was written.

===================================

 Tutorial Revisited: "Why Newbies Are Afraid To Build A Website"

===================================

 

Can you remember when you first decided to build a Website? I

can. And my toes curl up every time I think about it.

 

What a mammoth task!

 

I started out in my innocence and designed a stunning site with

Microsoft Publisher. 'Hey this is great' I thought. "Just some

Desk Top publishing, save it in HTML format (whatever that is)

and then figure out how to get it up onto the Web".

 

Dear oh dear, oh dear. What an absolute disaster!

 

If you have your own Website, you know exactly where I went

wrong. BUT, if you're a Newbie you WON'T!

 

So I searched the Internet for help. Here, there, and everywhere

I went, printing out mountains of techie stuff, instant-build it

stuff and HTML tutorials. Man, I couldn't even understand WHY I

needed to learn HTML. Why not a WYSIWYG instant Web Builder?

 

So off I went again and collected all the advertising promises of

'No HTML knowledge required' etc, etc, etc. What a complete waste

of time! The truth is that had I not been absolutely determined

to build a Website to promote my existing offline Copywriting

service, I would have given up.

 

I needed all this mystifying hype, lies, and confusing techie-

talk, like a hole in the head. Because the biggest problem was

that I didn't know where to look for the *impartial* advice I was

desperately seeking. Hey, I didn't even know WHAT advice I was

looking for! Everyone shouted "Buy Me!" Know the feeling.

 

Some said I needed a WYSIWYG Website builder, but they didn't

warn me that I still needed to know some HTML. Some advised me to

learn all sorts of Techie stuff that left me totally confused.

Others said they'd show me how to start from scratch, but their

instructions left me more frustrated than before I started.

 

Sheesh!

 

I ended up with a shopping list of tools and software that would

Break the bank ...

 

An HTML course costing $40.

 

A Graphics program setting me back $250 and a learning curve

steeper than Everest.

 

Subscription to a graphics site - another $30.

 

A graphics optimizer for $40 - another learning curve.

 

A Scanner to copy my own pictures for the Site.

 

And a host of other expensive 'Techie' stuff, with no-one to

advise me which was best. Or even if I really needed it! And of

course I learned later, that most of it wasn't needed.

 

Heck, my bookshelves were groaning under the weight of all the

information and tutorials I had printed out. And of course I was

worrying about how to 'upload' it to my ISP's server, and which

software to use to do it.

 

It's only since The Newbie Club was created that I've come to

realize that ...

 

-------- Every Newbie has exactly the same problem

 

And unfortunately the vast majority are so confused and

frustrated that they never even make the attempt. The truth is

that most of them are downright SCARED to make a start.

 

Why do we experienced people make it so darned difficult for

Newbies? Why is it that as soon as we start becoming 'successful'

we immediately develop amnesia and forget the problems we all

went through? Why do we deny the millions of Newbies the benefit

of our experience and actually make it EASY for them to learn

from our mistakes? In short ...

 

Why do so many of us treat Newbies with so much contempt?

 

Lack of gray matter - that's why!

 

Doesn't it make business sense to make our products, software and

courses Newbie-friendly? Doesn't it make business sense to talk

in language that they can actually understand? Doesn't it make

business sense to explain HOW to download your ebook? Because if

it's your customer's first download, why risk losing a sale for

the sake of a few instructions.

 

I don't know about you, but if I read instructions that are basic

and clearly written, I don't feel offended or 'spoken down to'.

In fact I respect the Webmaster for it. At least I don't get

lost!

 

It's because of most Web business owners negative attitudes

toward Newbies, that has made Our Society so outstandingly

successful. Yet all we do is practice the age old sales idiom ...

"Find out what they WANT, and GIVE it to them." Well, Newbies

WANT to be treated as 'normal adults' so that's what we GIVE

them.

 

And isn't trust the essential ingredient of doing business?

 

So if you want to increase your business - no matter how

technical your product - have your Website copy, help files and

tutorials read out loud by a Newbie. You'll be amazed at what you

learn! And perhaps even realize why some Newbies may actually be

scared of doing business with you.

 

===================================

Joe's Pause for Thought

===================================

"The state of your life is nothing more than a reflection of your

State of mind."

------------ Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

"When you find peace within yourself, you become the kind of

person who can live at peace with others."

------------ Peace Pilgrim

==============================

===================================

Tutorial ... "Why So Many People Ruin Their Websites"

===================================

 

We live in a technologically-exciting world. Even brand new

webmasters today can make use of easy to master web design tools

that add functionality only a web programmer could have dreamed

of just a couple of years ago.

 

And that is great, right? Wrong! Quite the opposite is true.

 

The accessibility of such web mastering tools has resulted in

hundreds of "junk" Websites that have so much going on at every

page that the web surfer is completely overwhelmed.

 

Some of these web pages have as many as 7 or 8 distinct content

areas contained on an 800 by 600 pixel screen... a flashing

header graphic, several paragraphs of text, an opt in form,

Google ads, Amazon ads, affiliate links, audio and/or video

buttons to push, and sometimes even more.

 

Don't be tempted to make such glaring mistakes. It is unlikely

that most web visitors will successfully navigate such a site.

There are too many decisions to make, too many distractions. And

the content is completely lost among all the technology and

advertising.

 

------- What's the answer?

 

Most successful webmasters today--that is webmasters who have

Visitors coming back over and over to their site and who are

Making money and/or getting some other desired response--will

tell you that the answer is clean and simple web design.

Usability is the key.

 

-------- Great website designs focus on 3 basic values:

 

....... Simplicity, clarity, and speed.  In other words, you need

a site that is visually appealing, but at the same time downloads

Quickly and is easy to navigate.

 

To design a site that has visual appeal, you can make use of

simple graphics, color, and graphical text. At all costs, stay

away from flashing animations and busy backgrounds. In fact, a

white, cream, or light yellow background with black or dark blue

text is best, if you want the majority of visitors to be able to

read your text easily.

 

It isn't necessary to be an accomplished graphic artist to design

a visually pleasing content site. Grab a photo or two from a free

stock photo site such as www.sxc.hu, add some colored text and a

tagline using a graphics program like Windows Paint or Paint Shop

Pro, and that's all that is needed for a header.

 

-------- Navigation

 

...... Should be simple text links or buttons, either across

the top, right under the header, or down the left or right side

of the screen. Make sure the text labels clearly indicate what

the user will find when he or she clicks on them.

 

-------- An optin form

 

.......  and one or two simple ads can also be placed in the left

or right panes, with your content in the main center panel.

 

------- Your content pane

 

....... should be the largest area on the screen, so that it

draws the reader's focus.

 

------  Clean and simple web design

 

........ extends to the layout of your content too. Text is most

readable when it is in "chunks." This means short sentences and

paragraphs of no more than 2 to 4 sentences each. Make liberal

use of colored subheadings and bullets. Sprinkle a graphic or two

per page to break up the text and add visual interest. Use

margins (padding) around your text, so that it doesn't bump up

against the edges of your navigation and ad panels. Lots of white

space is crucial.

 

------- In summary

 

....... many beginning webmasters (and even some more experienced

ones!) think that squeezing as much functionality into every page

as possible is the right approach. It is not. What will keep

people on your site and keep them coming back as well, is a

clean, simple, easy to navigate design.

 

 

 

 

 

==================================================

 

 

 


 

=Joe’s Tutorials for June=

MS POWERPOINT TUTORIAL FOR JUNE

More Watermarks, Please

How about we take a look at watermarks in PowerPoint?

!Yes, I thought you might like that, so let's get right down to business.

For a watermark on a single slide:

The first step is to either navigate to a pre-existing slide or create a blank slide. Now, insert the "perfect" picture for your watermark. (Insert menus, Picture sub-menu, choose the appropriate option to get the picture you need).

The picture toolbar should open, but if it doesn't, simply go to the View menu, Toolbars sub-menu, Picture choice.

You're looking for the Image Control button, Watermark choice from the pull down menu.

From there, you can use the other buttons to adjust brightness and contrast.

When you've got the picture as you want it, right click over it.

From the pop up menu, you need the Order sub-menu, Send to Back choice.

Poof!

Your slide should now appear with the information in the front and your picture as a watermark in the background.

What's that I hear you asking?Did you say, "But, what if I want the watermark on all of my slides? I don't want to repeat this on every slide!"

That's what I thought I heard. (And I must say that I agree. I wouldn't want to repeat this on every slide either!)

Fortunately, the answer is "No problem."

 Instead of going to a particular slide to add the watermark, go to the Slide Master.Go to the View menu, Master sub-menu, Slide Master choice.

Now, that you're in the Slide Master, simply follow the rest of the steps to create the watermark.

When you're done, click the Close button on the Master toolbar that opened when you went into the Slide Master.

And, just like magic, every slide of the presentation has the watermark!

 

TUTORIAL NO 2 for JUNE:

Excel Dates Done Your Way

Okay, so you're frustrated with the standard Excel date formats and you're looking for a way to meet your needs.

Well, don't be frustrated any longer!

Today, I've got just the information you need to make Excel do things your way.

First, you need to select the cells that should be in the date format.

Now, go to the Format menu, Cells choice. (Both Ctrl + 1 or right click and choose the Format Cells choice will work too).

You're looking for the Number tab.

On the left side, you'll find the list of categories

Choose Custom from the list.

You can scroll through the Type choices on the right just to see if your needs can be met with what's there, but if not, don't worry. I've got the info to get exactly the formatting you need.

At this point, you probably need to know the symbols for date formats. (After all, you can't create custom formats if you don't know the "lingo").

 So, let's take a look at the Excel date "lingo."

Date codes:

d will give a day number (i.e.  1, 2, 3, 4 ...  30, 31)

dd will give the day number as a two digit number (i.e.  01, 02 ...  30, 31)

ddd will give the day of the week, abbreviated (i.e.  Mon, Tue, etc.)

dddd will give the full word for the day (i.e.  Monday, Tuesday, etc.)

Month codes:

m will give the month number (i.e.  1, 2, 3 ...  11, 12)

mm will give the month as a two digit number (i.e.  01, 02 ...  12)

mmm will give the name of the month, abbreviated (i.e.  Jan, Feb, etc.)

mmmm will give the full name of the month (i.e.  January, February, etc.)

mmmmm will give just the first letter of the month name (i.e.  J, F, M, A, etc.)

Year codes:

yy will give the year in two digits (i.e.  06, 07, etc.)

 yyyy will give the year as four digits (i.e.  2003, 2004, etc.)

Okay, so we've got the codes to create our custom date formatting, but what do we do with them?

Well, when you clicked into the Custom category, you might have noticed that on the right, under the word Type, a field appeared which will allow you to enter your formatting.

All you have to do is put in the field a combination of codes that will give you a date the way you need it.

For example, if I enter dddd, mmmm d, yyyy into the Type field, data entered as 5-26-06 in a cell will be displayed as Friday, May 26, 2006.

Did you notice that the commas I inserted into the code showed up in the date?

Yes? Good.

 (That's just a handy little tidbit of info that might come in handy some day).

You also might want to notice the preview box located just above the Type field.

If there was data in a selected cell when you started, you can see how it's coming along as you're entering your custom code. It lets you check your progress so you don't find out after you've left this window that you have a wrong format.

When you have everything set, click OK.

You're returned to your worksheet where all of the dates in the selected area are just the way you want them!