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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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Thursday, February 28, 2013

Make Your Own Art!

This looks really fun- and easy! I found it on one of my favorite sites, Worldstart.com:


Silk – An Amazing Way To Make Interactive Art
Posted By Amanda On February 6, 2013 @ 7:07 AM
Silk is an incredible, interactive artwork. All you have to do to use it is click and drag your mouse. 
Once you’re done creating your artwork by clicking and dragging, you can share it by clicking the Share button at the top of the page. It opens a drop down menu that offers you a way to share your art via Facebook or Twitter, as well as a link to it. 
Unhappy with how your artwork is turning out? Just click the New button to clean your screen off and start over.  Is your silk artwork taking too long to display all its various ripples and waves? Then click the Speed Up button beneath the canvas. If you’d like to replay it, there’s a Replay button next to the Speed Up button that will start your silk creation over.
Love this concept? Well there are free wallpapers that you can use to decorate your desktop with silk style art. Just scroll down the page and select one. If you mouse over the different links, the image appears on the monitor to the right of the links. So you can see what they display like before downloading them. Once you click the link it will open up the .JPEG for that image, you’ll need to right click it and select Save Image As and then set it as your desktop image through your computer settings. 
Just to warn you it’s really easy to lose track of time as you play with this site, I sure did!
http://weavesilk.com/



Article printed from Worldstart's Tech Tips Newsletter: http://www.worldstart.com
URL to article: http://www.worldstart.com/silk-an-amazing-way-to-make-interactive-art/
URLs in this post:
[1] http://weavesilk.com/: http://weavesilk.com/

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Website down? Or?

I found out about this great site on Worldstart.com, where I subscribe to free computer tips.

If you want to find out if the problem you're having with a website is on your end- or if it is on their end- go to  and http://www.isup.me/

Then, try entering the address (the part that starts http://). It will tell you if the site is down for everyone- or just for you.

Nifty!


Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Print only what you want from a web site page

This is a very cool website. You can copy/paste a web address here, or you can also download some browser "extensions" that automate this from your favorite browser.

It's called, cleverly, "Print what you like."

http://www.printwhatyoulike.com/

Sure beats having a bunch of folders and html in your My Docs!

Friday, February 8, 2013

"Please hold for the next available...AUGH!"

It probably drives you up a tree backwards too. You call a company only to be "on hold" after negotiating a complex set of voice prompts.

Here are some alternatives. Have you tried any of these?

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2023867/get-the-help-you-need-without-the-hold-time.html

Friday, February 1, 2013

Free Office Suites!

Wow- what would you pay for a way to have a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation software, and even software to help you manage your email?

How about FREE?

This link offers a selection of tested and proven alternatives to Microsoft Office. I've tried several (Open Office, Google Drive, and I run Kingsoft Office on my Nexus 7 tablet) and they really do work well. Moreover, they are compatible with official Office documents.

http://www.techsupportalert.com/best-free-office-suite.htm

Check it out!