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Keeping You Connected

September 2005  

AS Consulting's Monthly Newsletter

 
           

Must have downloads:
Refer to my downloads page to get these critical applications!

   


In this issue:


How to print what is on your screen

Filmstrip View in XP

Google offers excellent mail account

GIMPShop

Clean your computer screen

What the heck does that mean?

  When was the last time you had your computer cleaned?

Call for an appointment!
(805) 968-6366


Ad-Aware Personal SE (version 1.06)

     
   

Microsoft AntiSpyware Beta1

   

How to print what is on your screen

One of the enduring mysteries of computerdom is the Print Screen button. People very logically think that that should print whatever is on the screen. Well, don't be silly! We're talking computers here!

Actually, you can print a picture of what you see on your monitor. And, yes, you use the Print Screen key. But the process is hardly intuitive.

First, press the Print Screen key. It is in the upper right of your keyboard. You'll notice that nothing seems to happen. (It would print if you were using DOS.) But you have actually taken a picture of the screen and stored it in the computer.

Next, open a blank document in a word processor. Or use Wordpad, which is part of Windows (Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>Wordpad). Press Ctrl+V. That is the paste command. The picture of your screen appears in the word processor. Save the document. E-mail it to your friends. Or put it on the refrigerator.

This process works less well if you have more than one window on your screen. In that case, the result is hard to read. But you can avoid that. Click Alt+Print Screen. Only the active window will be copied.

You can also paste the picture into a graphics program. That allows you to edit the picture. Windows includes a limited graphics program, Paint. To find it, click Start>>All Programs>>Accessories>>Paint.


Copyright © 2005 WestStar TalkRadio Network. Reprinted with permission.
No further republication or redistribution is permitted without the written consent of WestStar TalkRadio Network. Visit Kim Komando at: www.komando.com


  Is your computer getting slower?
 
Pop-Ups driving you crazy?
 Is it just acting weird?
You may be infected with spyware. Try one of the programs to the left, and if that does not work...

Please call me!

McAfee's Stinger, downloadable virus removable tool

   

Filmstrip View in XP

When Windows ME came on the scene it featured a cool folder view called "Thumbnail View" that displays all images as little thumbnails to make them easier to manage. Win XP expanded this feature, allowing us to add a picture to a file folder icon in thumbnail view (see archive for 7/31/03). In addition, XP has another view mode for pictures called "Filmstrip View".

In the My Pictures folder, and its subfolders, you can see a "filmstrip" of images that scroll from left to right at the bottom of the window. In the upper part of the window is a preview pane where the image can be rotated clockwise or counter-clockwise.

The thumbnails in the filmstrip work just like they do in thumbnail view. This saves having to open an image file in Picture viewer or some other imaging software to see a larger version of it. In addition, you can drag the corner of the window to make it bigger (or click the "Maximize" button)—the larger you make this window, the bigger the picture in the preview pane.


This item reprinted with permission from Computer Tips & Techniques, Weekly Edition (a free email newsletter available at www.worldstart.com), Copyright © 2005 WorldStart, Inc.


  Dell & Gateway have announced that their standard warrantees are now 90 days Parts & Labor, it is expected that the other large companies will follow suit. If you want a longer warrantee, you'll have to pay for it.
AS Consulting's systems have always offered a standard 90 days labor and full one year on parts. Unlike the big boys, ASC has no plans to change our warrantee plans. 
(Did I forget to mention that ASC's tech support has always been based in Goleta, CA., not Bangalore, India?) Feel free to call for a free quote on an ASC computer system.

Other Important Downloads:

Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0

   

Google offers excellent mail account

Many people know that, if you can get access to the internet, you can have a free email account from the likes of Yahoo!, MSN/Hotmail, Juno, etc. Google has been in Beta testing for quite some time on their own offering called GMail (Google Mail). Well they are prime time now and the secret is, they have been one of the best email offerings for a long time!  The way they have been offering you an email account is that you have to know someone who is already a GMail user. The existing user can send you an invitation and then you are on board.

Why do I like GMail so much? The web based user interface is neat, clean and usable. They offer you a whopping 2.5 gigabytes of space! There are already many add on programs that let you do things like making this huge amount of space appear as a hard drive on your computer. This means that you can access these files from anywhere in the world. Lastly, Google offers a free feature that automatically forwards mail from your GMail account to your real email account! Now anytime you need to give your email to a "suspicious" company, the mail will still get to your regular email account.

OK, so how do you get an account? As mentioned before, if you know someone (yes I have a few invites I can offer, feel free to ask) they can offer you an invitation. If you have a mobile phone, you can do it yourself. Go to https://www.google.com/accounts/SmsMailSignup1 for the info.


 

If you have a wireless router, remember to enable security!
WEP is good, but WPA is way better.
Feel free to call for assistance.

 

If your web pages are not loading properly, you may need this download

   

GIMPShop

Lot's of my clients have asked me about image editing programs. In the past, my answer has always been the same, "Adobe PhotoShop Elements is the standard consumer level program by which all others are based." Well, my answer hasn't really changed, but I have some interesting points to add... There are some very good free alternatives to Photoshop. The first of which is Picasa, a newly acquired program from Google.(http://picasa.google.com) Picasa is an excellent program. The problem I have had with this and other programs is that when you are ready to advance to the next level and purchase Photoshop, you have to learn how to "do what you do" all over again. Someone has solved that problem! One of the other free programs out there is called GIMP (GNU Image Manipulation Program). GIMP is a very capable program, but it too has a learning curve associated with it that would need to be re-learned. A gentleman by the name of Scott Moschella has designed a front end for GIMP that makes it work very much like Photoshop! Give GIMPShop a try. If you like it, you will know that when you are ready to make the jump to Photoshop, you'll already know how to use it!

http://plasticbugs.com/index.php?p=244


 

Are you backing up?
These days, a good backup is a must!

     

Clean your computer screen

This is too funny! Click this link to clean the inside of your computer screen!

http://www.theslurps.com/


   
     

What the heck does that mean?

Have you ever heard a phrase (like "Pull the Wool Over His Eyes") and wondered, "What the heck does that mean?" Well, my friend, you are scratching your head over an idiom. Head on over to the Idiom Site and you can learn what all those phrases really mean!

http://www.idiomsite.com

   
 
     

AS Consulting is now offering email and website hosting. It is rather affordable and (best of all), I personally handle all of the problems associated with your site (i.e., email addresses, domain issues, etc.) click here for all the info: AS Consulting provided Webhosting

 

 

 

If you would rather not be on my newsletter list- no problem! Send me a quick email and I'll forever take you off.
If you know someone who would like to be placed on my mailing list, have them drop me a line as well.

 
The AS Consulting newsletter is brought to you by:
Andy Shapiro, Owner
AS Consulting
You can reach me at: P.O. Box 1728, Goleta, CA. 93116-1728, Voice: (805) 968-6366,
email: asc2@asconsulting.com, Web: www.asconsulting.com

 

See you next month!

 

 ©2005 AS Consulting