Open a link in a separate tab
Keep your finger on the Ctrl key when you click on the link – it will open in a new tab, leaving your previous tab just the way it was. Open a link in a separate window Keep your finger on the Shift key when you click on the link – it will open in a whole new window. Get to a website quickly Just type in the name of the website (in the address bar at the top of the browser), without the first part (http://www.) or the last part (.com). Then keep your finger on Ctrl and press Enter (usually shown as 'Ctrl+Enter'). This works for all .com domains and sometimes for other domains too, such as .co.uk. Example: say you want to get to the microsoft website, which is (at the moment) http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx, or would usually be just www.microsoft.com – just type microsoft in the address bar and press Ctrl+Enter. Make the most of YouTube You don't have to register to use YouTube, or give any information, and it's free. Just click on the search bar and enter anything you want to see. For example, if you want to see if there are any videos on recipes for, e.g., pasta, just enter “pasta recipe” or something similar. When a list of them come up (as images), just click on one to view it. You can view it in full screen by clicking on the 'full screen' icon in the bottom right of the video. To get back to a small screen, click Esc (top left of the keyboard). To pause it, just click on the image onscreen or tap the space bar, and to resume, do the same again. The bottom progress bar shows how far into the video you are, and the duration of it. Use Google Maps If you put in an address, or an area, you can see the map of it and choose to see it at street level if you want, which consists of views created from thousands (actually millions, I suppose) of photos taken by Google mapping cars over a long period of time (I'm sure you've probably seen something about it on TV at some time). It's an amazing resource. Apparently they're doing something similar for the oceans now, which sounds ridiculous, but since it's Google, don't assume it can't be done. Use Google Images If you're looking for a picture, use Google Images (find it on one of the tabs at the top of the Google page). Your search (e.g. 'funny cat', 'national flag', 'pink hat', or whatever) will bring up hundreds of pictures that have been tagged with that, or a similar keyword. You could also use Flickr, Literally millions of people worldwide upload their photographs to Flickr. As it says on the site's home page: "Flickr is home to over five billion of the world’s photos. Get a glimpse of another world by diving into the official White House photostream or the newest images from NASA. Or explore a moment in history with archived collections from the Smithsonian, Library of Congress and more in The Commons. See the world through someone else’s eyes, right here on Flickr." Assume any images on the internet are copyright protected unless you know otherwise. You can't use them for a commercial website (unless you obtain permission), but you can make use of them for some other things, such as for a greetings card you're making, for artwork, or for various other uses on your own computer. Another online photo-storing option is Photobucket, "the premier destination for uploading, downloading, sharing, linking and finding photos, videos and graphics. Host all your images and videos for free, then share them by email or on social sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace. Your free Photobucket account can store thousands of photos and hours of video ... Photobucket has a massive audience of more than 23 million monthly unique users in the U.S. who upload over four million images and videos per day ..." Use Google everything When you open up the Google page, take note of the tabs across the top. You'll see links for Maps, Documents, Calendar, YouTube, Images, etc. If you click on 'More' you'll see another long list. At the end of that there's even a link to 'Even more'! If you haven't already, you really should take a look - it's a phenomenal resource, and it's growing all the time. Be aware, though, that Google is becoming frighteningly huge and powerful. They are changing their terms and conditions so they will have much more freedom to store and use your private information. If you care about freedom, you should sign the online petition to put a stop to their attempt to gain such wide ranging power. It's getting out of hand, and if not challenged will become unstoppable. They should treat privacy issues fairly, instead of foisting a one-time decision on us by default. This might sound like scare-mongering, but it affects every single person who uses any of the many Google products. Like free stuff? Silly question, 'course you do! Well, there's loads of it on the web. Enter a search term like “free stuff” into Google and see what comes up. You'll find free programs, free tuition, free vouchers, etc, including free stuff of all descriptions made available by people like you and me who would rather recycle stuff than dump it. I'm thinking specifically of The Freecyle Network, a non-profit site made up of over five thousand groups and eight million members around the world. Sounds BIG, but actually it's local-based, so you can give and get in your own locality. Good news for everyone concerned. And there are other, similar sites, as well as all the group discount sites that have been in the news lately (notably Groupon, thought to be the fastest growing company in history). Obviously, it's worth taking care to see that there are no hidden costs involved in some of the so-called 'free' stuff that's available. Read dialog boxes, carefully, specially before you tick any boxes to agree to anything. ![]() Being a dark cat, this one has cleverly used a slice of brown bread, thus benefitting from the natural camouflage the bread affords, as well as the anti-Google effect it is thought to possess. Note that he is staying very still and employing the unblinking laser eyes technique that has so often proved effective.
|
Get rid of Internet Explorer!
![]() Just a suggestion, but IE is known for security loopholes, and many other problems. For example, website designers have to make a lot of special allowances when designing sites so that they will display properly in IE. It's an outdated browser and Microsoft keep updating it, when really it should be ditched in favour of one of the other major browsers.
My recommendation is to get Firefox. It's safer, faster, more modern, and not connected with Microsoft (which is a good thing!). Choice of over 6,000 add-ons cover every eventuality. Also, it's open-source, which means that the program is out there in the public domain and available to any designers who have the skills and the commitment needed to improve it. Consequently, over time it undergoes improvements by the very people who use it and know what issues need to be addressed, rather than by workers in some company who are looking to make money from the program or to make you 'need' costly upgrades and newer versions. But that's only a recommendation - why not try a few and choose whichever browser you like best.
Use Wikipedia It's a massive online encyclopedia, free for anyone to use, and also free for anyone to make additions to. If anyone feels they are qualified to write an article on a pet subject, they're encouraged to do so. Consequently, Wikipedia has grown to enormous dimensions, and is widely recognised as an authority well worth consulting. But be aware, some articles are junk, and usually they are flagged as being in need of editing, so just be aware some stuff is not worth depending on – if it's something important, always double check. A whole team of ordinary computer users (like you and me) are constantly working to keep it up to a decent standard. Some contributors practically make it a full-time job apparently, and have hundreds of entries to their name. Create a blog If you fancy keeping a diary online, you can. There are loads of blogging sites, but one of the biggest, and probably the first major one, is Blogger, now owned (inevitably) by Google. If you want to read more, go here. Another very widely used option is WordPress, which is actually used by such high profile companies as CNN (the CNN PoliticalTicker), Time Inc (The Page), and People Magazine (StyleWatch). If you fancy blogging with WordPress, you'll have over a hundred different templates (or 'themes') to choose from. And, as usual with a blog, you can publish it or keep it private, just as you choose. The name 'blog' comes from web log, in other words an online log, or diary, but you can use it for anything you like. It can be a diary, or you can start one for a project, or for keeping notes on anything you like. For example, say you wanted to keep details of some renovations you're doing to your house … okay, so you start to make entries whenever you do things, including photos, costs, plans, whatever … and they're automatically dated. Then, if you want, you can give someone details of the blog so they can call in and see how things are going. Importantly, you can always choose to keep a blog private, or you can make it public, or just pass the address to anyone you want to invite. Your blog will only ever be published with your consent. Lost of people keep blogs for pet subjects, e.g. to keep lists of their favourite films, music, etc. People also use blogs to advertise their stuff, or just to make money by signing up with Google for ads, so that relevant ads automatically appear on their blog pages … then they make sure their blog is about something people are already interested in (e.g. a particular sport, or dieting, or make-up, a type of music, or whatever). The idea behind it (and it works) is that you can generate a lot of interest (i.e. get a lot of 'traffic' [visitors] to your blog) and some of them (probably a tiny percentage) will inevitably click on certain ads, thereby generating income for you. Never tried it (yet!) but it certainly does work. Online Bookmarks One major advantage of keeping your bookmarks online is that you always have access to them, even if you're using a friend's computer, or a public computer (e.g. in a library or cyber café). Another is that the bookmarks are safe – if you just use the Bookmarks facility of your browser, you run the risk of losing all trace of them if you have a computer disaster (a virus attack, for example, or a hard disk failure). This might not seem much of a problem, but when you've built up a whole long list of bookmarks, losing them all can seem like a disaster. There are lots of bookmarking sites (Google will list them for you), but a couple I've found useful are Aboogy and Xmarks. Aboogy - strangely-named but well put together interface. You can also change the layout to suit yourself, and the colours (to an extent). Sign up here. Xmarks - sign up for xmarks here if you like the look of it. In either one of these (or any others probably) you can create folders to suit yourself, which makes it easy to keep the screen clear, since you only need to keep the folder open that has your most often-used links in it. Once you've decided to use a bookmark site to store your links, it's probably just as well to make it your home page. Then, whenever you connect, you instantly have access to your favourite links. And since each one will open in a new tab, you will still have your home page open. Radio If you're interested in classic dramas, plays and comedies from the past, tune in to them on Radio 4 Extra. If you haven't got a digital radio you can listen in at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio7/ (Radio 4 Extra was called Radio 7 till recently) And if you want to, you can use the 'listen again' feature and catch up on anything you see on the schedule that you might have missed. If you want to record any of it, you can use a free program called Freecorder, which allows you to record any audio you can hear on your computer, or any video for that matter (so it's useful for keeping YouTube videos, for example). Get it from here. BBC iPlayer The BBC iPlayer gives you access to the whole panoply of BBC TV and radio channels. If you're at all interested in the media, it's worth taking a look at this impressive range of channels and what they have to offer. I begrudge paying the licence fee the same as virtually everyone else, but I can't help but be impressed by the BBC's range of interests and its incredibly high production values. You can 'listen again' to programmes you missed, and you can even record them, using a third-party recorder such as Freecorder. As well as all the BBC channels, stacks of other channels are listed on the BBC site. This really is the one-stop shop for TV and radio. ![]() Old Movies
If you enjoy old movies (or old TV series), there are plenty of sites, such as: http://www.bnwmovies.com/ and http://emol.org/movies/ where you can select and watch them online, or, more usefully, download them and watch them when you feel like. They're all public domain now (i.e. out of copyright) so you needn't worry about the legality of it. The Internet Movie Database If you're into films, this is the site. Virtually every film ever made, from the very earliest silent movies right up to movies planned and those currently in production, is listed on this monumental site. There is a paid version, but unless you're in the film or TV industry you're unlikely to need the extras the paid version will provide. IMDB really is a fascinating site - it lists everyone involved in a film, from the director down, including all the cast, all the crew, facts about the film, storyline, locations (sometimes) reviews (sometimes hundreds of them), photos, fun facts, trivia, anachronisms, etc, etc. It also has TV programmes, listing, full episodes to watch, and so on. 'Monumental' doesn't cover it. 'Phenomenal' gets a bit closer in some ways, but still misses out on some aspects of the amazing multi-levelled entity that is IMDB. All Recipes The key to this site, if you didn't gather it from the name (allrecipes.com), is recipes, of course. There are lots and lots of recipes for every kind of food under the sun, provided by cooks all over the planet. There's more stuff listed on this site than even I could ever eat - but I'm willing to give it a shot. SeeClickFix It's not just a name, it's a call to action. This site is all about communities getting involved. If you see something out of the ordinary, report it online, so the government and media and watchdog groups can do something about it. Make sure your neighborhood is on the list. Report neighbourhood issues and see them get fixed! You Are Not So Smart
You might think you are, but this site has news for you. This site, a "celebration of self-delusion" likes to spell out common misconceptions (such as "opposites attract" or "your opinions are the result of years of rational, objective analysis") and then uses science and research to tell you why that's not the case…at all. Dummy. Mmm ... ![]() BBC The official site for the world's largest broadcasting organization offers a fittingly comprehensive multimedia look at the world of news, entertainment, and sport coverage.
We might tend to ignore the scale and quality of the BBC because it's home-grown and it charges us an arm-and-a-leg for a licence fee, but apart from all the channels (there's more than you thought, including all the local radio channels!) the BBC online site is astonishing. There's a vast range of pages on a mind-numbing array subjects (click on 'Full A-Z' on the home page). Calcmoolator
Financial calculators aren't necessarily fun, but they're a necessary evil as you navigate the waters of credit, mortgages, and more. Calcmoolator aggregates many, including tools to figure out if it's best to rent or lease, auto loan estimates, how to pay off debt, lifetime earnings, and more. Spend some time figuring out your finances for a better tomorrow. With tools to help users do everything from manage their mortgage payments to compare job opportunities and pay off debt, this website aggregates more than 175 financial calculators. |
Home | Security | Definitions 1 | Definitions 2 | Software 1 | Software 2
Passwords | Shortcuts | Tips 1 | Tips 2 | Other Stuff
Passwords | Shortcuts | Tips 1 | Tips 2 | Other Stuff