If you are purchasing a brand new computer this winter season, it is likely your computer will come with Windows 7 and perhaps Office 2007. If your computer is new is the past 2-3 years, you might likely have Vista and perhaps Office 2007. If your computer is a tad older than 3 years, your system would likely be XP with Office 2003. These are general guidelines--not cut and dried rules for what is included when you purchase your computer.
The library has numerous books on Vista currently and are in the process of acquiring resources for Windows 7. They will definitely help you get to know your computer better! Or feel free to check out our schedule of computer classes--we'd be glad to see you!
Also, in an ongoing effort to respond to patrons' needs, we adjust the training schedule. So, some months, you might see more of one class offered than another. For example, since we are now in the "back to school" mode, we have a class specifically designed to assist adults with their research needs. When the newness of school is over and projects are in full swing, we will open up more PowerPoint classes so students can create powerful presentations for their classes. In the colder months when going out for picnics, baseball games, and concerts to socialize isn't possible, we hope to offer classes on the world of social networking online (Facebook, Twitter, etc.)
What kinds of classes interest you?
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Keyboard shortcuts are for general computer use as well as for specific software use (such as making commands more efficient in Microsoft Word). Internet and email tasks are also included in the list of shortcuts.
This great little book also introduces how to use the keyboard to its maximum potential with or without shortcuts as well! Check it out today!
Second, the book is fabulous at one of the things I encourage most in the classes here at the library: knowing the lingo. Knowing what various computer terms are will vastly increase your confidence and ability to "speak" computers with people. For example, in the world of the computer mouse, there are commands such as right-clicking, hovering, dragging and dropping, and double-clicking. Do you know what each command will do and when to use each command? Little things like that make a world of difference in feeling knowledgeable about computers.
So, come on down for a class, and while you're here, check out our great section on computers!
While it is a little extra work to maintain strong password integrity, it is essential to preventing your identity from being stolen. So, no common information that someone could guess. That's easy enough. Now, nothing in the dictionary. What?! Yes, it is true. Nothing that a simple dictionary matching program could find. So what is left?
So, you have to be smarter than the average bear (as Yogi would say). The password strategies in your pic-i-nic basket have to outsmart the ranger--every time.
We will be running our three-part series of Job Skills Workshops throughout the coming months, so be sure to check out the schedule for updated registration information.
If you can't make it to a class, consider our
Best of luck with your job search! Make searching for a job your current full time job, be resourceful, and keep a positive attitude!
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The age old question of "do you know where your children are" when they leave the house on a Friday night to hang out with friends is now the same question you should be asking yourself when they are in their rooms using their computers. Do you know who they are talking to online? What sites they are surfing? What MySpace is? Who they might be planning to meet and for what purpose? Stay informed of the rapid change of "technological parenting" by reading Generation MySpace or Me, MySpace, and I : parenting the net generation. What you learn might help save your child's life from an online predator or cyberbully.
Learn all you can about the new world of the today's adolescent, check out one of these books (there are copies at nearly every branch and even on the bookmobile--it is that important!), and consider keeping your computers in family or living rooms so your children aren't KPC (keeping parents clueless)!
This book is brand new to KPL and isn't even quite on the shelf, so reserve your copy today by clicking on the image of the book and clicking "hold" on the left side of the screen. Have your library card number ready along with your PIN number (the last four digits of the phone number on file), and you'll be on your way to reserving this book and learning about your computer!
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People now talk about the Web more than they talk about the Internet. The World Wide Web and the Internet are not the same thing — the World Wide Web (which we call the Web because we're lazy typists) lives "on top of" the Internet. The Internet's network is at the core of the Web, and the Web is like an attractive parasite that requires the Net for survival.
The Web is a bunch of "pages" of information connected to each other around the globe. Each page can be a combination of text, pictures, audio clips, video clips, animations, and other stuff. (People add new types of other stuff every day.) What makes Web pages interesting is that they contain hyperlinks, usually called just links because the Net already has plenty of hype. Each link points to another Web page, and, when you click a link, your browser fetches the page the link connects to. (Your browser is the program that shows you the Web.)
The other important characteristic of the Web is that you can search it — all ten billion or so pages. For example, in about ten seconds, you can get a list of Web pages that contain the phrase domestic poultry or your own name or the name of a book you want to find out about. You can follow links to see each page on the list to find the information you want.
Each page your browser gets for you can have more links that take you to other places. Pages can be linked to other pages anywhere in the world so that when you're on the Web, you can end up looking at pages from Singapore to Calgary, or from Sydney to Buenos Aires, all faster than you can say "Bob's your uncle," usually. Most of the time, you're only seconds away from any site, anywhere in the world. This system of interlinked documents is known as hypertext.
Links can create connections that let you go directly to related information. These invisible connections between pages are like the threads of a spider web — as you click from Web page to Web page, you can envision the Web created by the links. What's so remarkable about the Web is that it connects pieces of information from all around the planet, on different computers and in different databases (a feat you would be hard pressed to match with a card catalog in a brick-and-mortar library).
Every Web page has a name attached to it so that browsers, and you, can find it. The name of this naming convention: URL, or Uniform Resource Locator. Every Web page has a URL, a series of characters that begins with http://. (Pronounce each letter, "U-R-L" — no one says "earl.")
Again, the US-CERT Security Tips have some valuable information to share regarding your safety when shopping online. First, knowing how shoppers get attacked online is helpful in understanding preventative measures.
So, what do you do?
To learn about staying safe on the web yourself, check out the US-CERT website by clicking here. Also, feel free to come to the KPL Computer Safety class.
Finally, to learn more about Internet commerce and how the Internet is influencing the ways consumers make choices, check out Tom Murphy's book Web rules : how the Internet is changing the way consumers make choices. The library also has many other books to help you learn about the vastness of the Internet. Enjoy!
We offer a Mouse and Keyboard Workshop that helps you understand the layout of the keyboard as well as knowledge about another input device: the mouse. In this class, there are sample tutorials and activities you can do in class as well as at home with an Internet connection. If you don't happen to have the Internet at home, just come back into any of our libraries and use our public computers to practice!
We also have a few books on typing and keyboarding that might interest you. They can be found in the non-fiction collection with the number 652.3.
The best way to make your typing skills increase? PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE! Give yourself a purpose for practicing. Pick up books, newspapers, and magazines and just type what you see. Every day you will get a little bit better!
"...attackers [ ] use your USB drive to infect other computers.
An attacker might infect a computer with malicious code, or malware, that
can detect when a USB drive is plugged into a computer. The malware then
downloads malicious code onto the drive. When the USB drive is plugged into
another computer, the malware infects that computer."
For more on this topic and how you can protect yourself, your USB device, and your computer, see the full article at http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/tips/ST08-001.html.
You can also subscribe and have such alerts sent to your email so you are constantly aware of threats in the world of computers.