"I can't open your attachment- please resend"

When we send email attachments, we sometimes receive a note back asking us to resend it because the recipient could not open it. Rather than just resend it, consider that the file you sent may not match the programs on your friend's machine. What can you do?

1. Save your MS Word file as a PDF ("portable document format") making it able to be opened on most machines. Choose SAVE AS>> PDF. This works on Word 2007 and other word processing programs as well.

2. Understand the difference between Word 2007 files and Word 2003 files. Read this article- it gives you two solutions: http://ask-leo.com/whats_a_docx_file_and_how_did_i_get_one.html

3. Sometimes the easiest thing to do, if the message is not a long one, is simply to COPY/PASTE it directly into your email message rather than send it as an attachment.

What to do if your email gets "hacked"

Thanks to "Ask Leo" website for this excellent summary!

http://ask-leo.com/email_hacked_7_things_you_need_to_do_now.html

800 Front Page News from 85 countries...

That's right. With one easy website, you can read front page news each day from over 800 newspapers from 85 countries. You can also view archived pages. It's...amazing.

It's from Newseum. Flash (a free download) is required to view this on your computer. http://www.newseum.org/todaysfrontpages/flash/

Unplugged the WRONG PLUG!

Have you ever done that? Reached under your desk and yanked the wrong plug from your powerstrip?

Here are two simple, cheap (or even free) ways to prevent catastrophe. One is my own... and the other comes from one of my favorite do-it-yourself websites, www.lifehacker.com

Colored Tape to the Rescue: You can use colored tape, or even plain masking tape with a colored dot on it. Tape one piece to the end of your cord near the plug like a little "flag" and write a note or symbol that tells you what's at the other end. "P" for printer; M for modem, C for computer, etc. Now you know which you are pulling before the thing accidentally gets shut off!

Bread Tags as Cord Labels: Use those little plastic tags that hold your bread bags closed to label your cords. I used a fine-tip permanent marker. Here's a link

Free University Level Courses?

Indeed!

There are growing numbers of free sites and programs offering you ongoing education and access to learning from top universities.

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/3-best-websites-to-get-a-university-level-education-for-free/

http://www.saylor.org/about/

http://openlearn.open.ac.uk/

Organize your cables?

Yesterday, I looked under my desk because I had to unplug something. Wow...what a mess!

Here are a number of excellent, easy, FREE ways to organize your "nest" of cables. I'm using the first one already! These are all from one of my fave "do it yourself" websites, Lifehacker, so the credit really goes to them!

Binder Clips: Cable management

Shortening long cords to the right length: Shorter

Easy to Access, Easy to Use cables: Magnets!

Cord organizer for the side of your desk: Foam Rubber!

For your power strip cords: Wire basket

Geek Vocab 101

"But, I'm not a techie," said a friend as we worked on her computer. "I have no clue what all those words mean."

Here's a great summary from PC World. You can learn and use these and impress yourself with how geek-like you sound! http://tinyurl.com/6ncjmwc