What's this?

Irregularly posted tips, gleaned from all over the internet, for beginning and medium level computer and technology users. Feel free to subscribe to get these by email if you wish (below, right). Or,come to this site anytime. We update it about twice a month with new tips and links.
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Friday, August 31, 2012

Do you have a Kindle?

Or, do you use the free Kindle application on your computer or smart phone?

Here's a source for literally thousands of free Kindle books:
http://www.techsupportalert.com/free-books-kindle

Have fun reading!

Friday, August 24, 2012

A good reason to have a second email address

... or a third.

I use a separate email address for when I register new products, enter contests, or sign petitions. This allows me to manage my inbox clutter in my main email account and reduce the amount of spam considerably! About once a week, I log in to my other accounts and quickly check to see what, if anything, is important. Works great!

Yahoo has free email; so does Gmail. And, there are many others as well.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

What is RSS and how can it help me?

You probably have a whole bunch of favorite websites that you like to keep up on. Some of them may offer email newsletters but after a while, you may realize your inbox is cluttered with lots of newsletters. If there's no newsletter, well, it can be a pain to visit every website to see what's been updated. What if there was an easy way to have the website tell YOU what's changed? Well, there is!

You can sign up for ("subscribe") a free "feed" from a website. It's fast, anonymous, and totally under your control. Once you are signed up, you can go to one single location on the internet and skim or read all your "feeds" in one place. You don't have to deal with spam, and you are under no obligation to read anything- you can pick and choose, read at your own pace, or even ignore feeds.

How do you read the "feed"? There are several ways. I like to use Google's Reader, because I can get it on any web browser and on my smart phone. But there are many other ways to do it. Here are some links, and I'll also highlight a few in articles in the weeks ahead.

Intro to Web Feeds: http://cybercoyote.org/news/feed-intro.shtml

Best Feed Readers: http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-rss-reader-aggregator.htm

Friday, August 17, 2012

Is your email box a file cabinet?

This might be a really bad idea. Find out more with this article, which also explains how to manage an overflowing email box.

http://unclutterer.com/2012/05/31/your-email-inbox-is-not-a-filing-cabinet/

Friday, August 10, 2012

Get Real Money for Old Electronics

I came across these two sites that allow you to exchange old/un-needed laptops, phones, etc. for real money. I am sure there are more.

Amazon trade in (gives you credit on Amazon.com): here

Cash for Laptops is for... laptops, obviously. Here

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Make it a PDF

Portable document format (PDF) files can be opened by almost all computer users. They generally can't be edited, which makes them good for newsletters, etc. They are also often smaller in size (amount of data), so they are easier to send as attachments.

There are many ways to make PDFs from word processing or other files. Here are two of the easiest:

PrimoPDF is a program you install on your computer. You use the print command to create a PDF of almost any document. http://download.cnet.com/PrimoPDF/3000-18497_4-10264577.html has a review and a free download link. I use this one all the time.

PDFOnline is an online service that converts documents to PDF for free, and then emails them back to you. I use it when I am on a library computer and have the pdf sent to my own (or someone elses) email address. http://www.pdfonline.com/convert-pdf/


Friday, August 3, 2012

Make your own E-Card

You can use a picture you've taken yourself and saved on your computer to create an electronic postcard or E-card for free! This site features making e-cards with your own dog's photo, but hey, you can use any photo and it still works. Then, you can email the ecard to a friend for a special occasion, or just for fun!


http://www.dogbreedz.com/dogecards/PersonalEcard.cfm