Announcements

Mini Computer Tip

OK, I have wanted to mention this one since one of our readers sent it in. It's too short for a regular tip, but it may be one of the most useful ones I've seen.

You know those pop up windows that are always getting in the way when you surf the web? Well, next time one pops into your life, just hit CTRL-W. Closes the last browser window opened.

Just another one to add to your arsenal. Oh, and you can test this by launching Explorer and hitting CTRL-W.

Thanks Mike!

Scrabble Anyone?

Do you like a good game of scrabble? Well, we have the CD ROM version on sale!

This was super popular in our Software Deals newsletter a couple weeks ago, so I wanted to mention it in here too. Oh, and here's a free bonus - it comes with the official Scrabble Dictionary!

One of the ladies who works with us took this title home and gave it a try. In her words "That thing is just awesome - need me to test it some more?" She (and several others of our staff) have been playing it ever since. Based on what I've seen, this thing is not only awesome but also very addicting!

Anyhow, here's the description:

The World's Best-Loved Word Game It's Scrabble like you've never played it before!

America's favorite word game goes digital! Put your tiles to the test against Maven, the games challenging artificial intelligence, or play friends directly over the Internet with complete dictionaries and full challenge capability. Once you lay down a word your tiles turn to gold!
Make a mistake and it crumbles to dust and blows away! The pull-down menus provide word definitions, champion hints, and more. It's everything you need to score!

http://www.worldstart.com/store/scabbledeluxe.htm

Head to the link above ASAP - see for yourself why it's such a hot title!

Also -

We are still selling the Photo Org software at an incredible pace. Again, this software lets you organize, modify, and create with your digital photographs. It's a great title and it's only $12.97! If you're looking for an easy to use program for digital photos, check this one out - I think you'll really like it :-)

Here's the info link in case you missed out:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/canon.htm

Computers 101

Q:
What are Folders?
(part one)

"Folders" (also known as directories) on your computer work in much the same way that folders in the real world work. You use them to store stuff and help keep organized. Without them, your hard drive would have thousands of files just floating around on it, making it more than a little difficult to find something you're looking for.

Folders can contain anything. Photos, documents, web pages, favorites, shortcuts, program files, system files ...whatever.

To see some of these little folders, right-click the Start button and select Explore.

One folder you should have on your computer is the "My Documents" folder. Most word processors (and many other programs) use this as the default location for saving information. Within this folder, you can create more folders, keeping yourself even more organized than before.

More on folders tomorrow...

Tip of the Day

Quick Printing Tricks

Web Link - http://www.worldstart.com/tips/quickprint.htm

Need to print something real quick? Most people will open the program they created the file in, open the file, click the print button, and they're done. But not you. Here's a better way, especially for documents you use a lot.

You can put a shortcut to your printer on your desktop. Then just drag & drop a document on it to print it. The associated program will open the document and it will send the document to the printer. After it's done, it will automatically close the program for you.

Another variation is to put a printer shortcut on your desktop and click the Start button, Documents. If the document was recently opened, it should be in your documents list. Just drag it to your printer icon to print it (note that XP users won't be able to drag from the documents menu).

Here's how to put a printer shortcut on your desktop (win 95/98/ME/2000)

1. Open the My Computer icon on your desktop
2. Open the Printers folder
3. Drag the icon for your printer to the Desktop. Windows will ask if you want to make a shortcut, tell it yes.

Here's how to put a printer shortcut on your desktop (win XP)

1. Hit the Start button, Control Panel, Printers
2. Drag your printer to the desktop. A shortcut will be created.

That should do it. You'll now have the little printer icon on your desktop. Just drag any document you want to print to it. Again, this works best for stuff under Start, Documents, unless you have your "My Documents" folder open.

This last trick is probably the best. You can right-click a document and select Print from the little menu that pops up to get the same effect as above. I know, maybe I should have mentioned this first, but I wanted to give you all the tricks.

So many options, so little ink.

Amanda's Cool Site of the Day

Powers of Ten

View the Milky Way and zoom down until you get to the atoms of a single cell. Each time you zoom in you see a new picture that's 10 x closer than the previous one.

Here's how it works:

Starting at the Milky Way, each picture gets 10 times closer until you are seeing our solar system, then earth, then Florida, then a tree, then a leaf on the tree, then the cells on the leaf and finally you zoom in to see the protons and electrons.

Runs in a gradual slideshow or you can use the navigation buttons to zoom in and out. Very cool. Check it out!

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/

Do you have a cool site that you want to share? Send it to Amanda! Here's her address:

amanda@worldstart.com

Oh, and we're looking for non-commercial sites. We generally don't run sites that are strictly for shopping.