Computer and Web Articles

A couple friends of mine swear by mysteryguild.com to keep their bedside tables covered with the latest mystery, thriller and suspense books.

Mysteryguild.com site allows you to sign up and participate in a simple, money-saving Mystery book club. Your first six books will set you back a whopping 99 cents plus shipping. You’re then required to purchase just four more books over the course of the next two years.

The sweet part, though, is that they offer their books at up to 60 percent off the publishers’ prices (and even sweeter is the fact that they have special offers and deals in every mail catalog they send you).

Head over to www.mysteryguild.com and take a look around to see if their club would be right for you. Make sure to click the “How to Join” button at the top and then read the short bit in item No. 3 - “Membership Agreement.” It’s indeed a sweet deal for avid readers of the mystery genre.

Have you ever launched a great new website only to search Google on a daily basis and find that it’s nowhere to be found in the search results? “What on Earth could be happening?” you probably cried. “Oh, the Google Sandbox,” I would have replied.

The Google Sandbox is the well-known theory that new websites will not rank well regardless of how great their content is or how many other websites link to them. Google essentially puts a filter of sorts on new websites that acts as an initiation period and usually lasts in the range of six to 12 months. Sites focusing on more competitive keyword phrases (such as Colorado real estate) are likely to remain the Sandbox longer than sites focusing on less competitive keyword phrases (such as pink zebra sapphire necklaces).

Though it’s good to be aware of the Google Sandbox as it will usually play a role in your site’s initially low rankings, this awareness should not change the way you build or market your site. Use the time your site is stuck in the Sandbox to build incoming links, create great content and market your site directly to your target audience.

It’s not difficult to find oneself wrapped up in the trivialities of life. Genuine kindness isn’t as easy to come by anymore. Some people might even theorize that these trends are being perpetuated by the internet and the segmented “online lifestyle” it encourages.

Enter HelpOthers, a website bearing the tagline “Because kindness is contagious.” HelpOthers was created for the main purpose of spreading happiness and kindness one small step at a time - through small acts with great love.

If ever you experience the urge to do a bit of good, to give a bit back to your community, or to make another smile - yet feel unsure as to how to accomplish such a feat, visit www.helpothers.org. Yellow and cheery, the website offers inspiring stories and countless suggestions, sends out a great newsletter and encourages all acts of kindness no matter how small. Every bit counts.

Make a small difference today. You’ll not only make another person smile, but it’s quite likely you’ll feel quite good inside, as well.

Question: “I can never remember how to get to Windows Explorer on my computer (I have Windows XP, by the way). Help?”

Answer: If your keyboard has a Windows Key, then hitting that key + E brings up Windows Explorer. (The Windows key would be to the left of your spacebar with the little Microsoft flag icon on it.)

You can also access Windows Explorer by right-clicking on My Computer, then selecting Explore.

Or, if you like taking as many steps as possible, you can always access Windows Explorer by clicking your Start Menu, selecting All Programs, selecting Accessories, then selecting Windows Explorer.

Imagine more than 55 billion webpages that have been archived back over 10 years. How fun would it be to run around and explore old sites from the beginning of (internet) time?

Ladies and gentlemen, I suggest a visit to the “Wayback Machine” of the Internet archive. To get to the Wayback Machine, type www.archive.org/web/web.php into your browser and off you go.

Curious as to what Amazon.com looked like back in 1999, way before you’d ever made an online purchase? Type in “amazon.com”. What did the town of Frisco website look like in 2002? Type in “townoffrisco.com”. It’s that easy.

See how sites have changed over time, note how far the web has come in just the last five years and reminisce as you view the flashing, blinking, hot pink websites of yesteryear.

You might have a beautiful, shiny, new website with lots of pictures and animations. The website might tell visitors all about the services you offer and the history of the company. Ask yourself this, though: Does your site offer really good content? Answer honestly.

There are three main questions you can ask yourself to help you better determine if your website’s content is truly successful. No. 1) Why would site visitors ever want to return to your website? No. 2) Why should site visitors visit your website in the first place? No. 3) Does your content not only describe what you offer, but also what separates you from your competition?

Once you’re able to answer these three questions with ease, you can feel confident that your site’s content has the necessary building blocks to help make your website successful.

I love handmade things. I love looking at hand-stitched, unique, not-quite-perfect-but-filled-with-character creations - as opposed to factory created, mass-produced, far-too perfect goods.

Enter Etsy. Yes, this site allows you to sell and buy handmade goods and crafts. But I love Etsy because of how it’s built. The functionality, design, and super-spiffy bells and whistles are SO COOL that you should take a peak even if handmade treats aren’t your thang.

Check out the “time machine,” the random-sampler, the shop-by-color box, and the geolocator over on the left-hand side of the homepage. How cool is that?

Riiiiiiiiing. Riiiiiiiiing.

“timeforcake, this is eRin.”

“Um, yeah, hi. I was wonderin’ if you had any positions available righ’ now? At your company?”

“Hmmm. Well, can you tell me what kind of programming experience you have?”

“Uh, you mean, like, for computers n’ stuff?”

“Well, um, yes - this is a website design and development company …”

“Uh, oh, right. Well, I wanted to know if you had any design or, like, art positions available.”

“Well, no, not really. We are, however, always interested in keeping portfolios on file for the future in case we’re ever in need of additional help. Do you have a website where we can review some of your work?”

“Uh, yeah. I mean, um, no. I mean, like, I have a website, but you can’t, like, look at it on the internet or anything.”

“I see. OK, well, best of luck to you, and have a good day.”

My tip for the week is super easy: If you’re looking to obtain a position in the website and/or graphic design industry, know a bit about the company you’re contacting, be prepared to show your work online, and try to speak in a clear manner. It will really do wonders when it comes to getting hired!

If you ever find yourself in need of a password protecting your Word or Excel files, you’ve actually got a few options up your sleeve.

First, you can set a password for your files by going to the Tools menu, then clicking on Options, then selecting the Security tab. This option will keep most of your co-workers, nosy siblings and prying roommates out of your files.

If you’ve got some *serious* data to protect, however, and need your file(s) to be quite hacker-proof, you’ll need to use a separate program built specifically to protect your data. I’d personally recommend TrueCrypt - it’s perfect for those of you who travel or are often required to carry sensitive data with you. TrueCrypt (www.truecrypt.org) is not only absolutely great software, it’s absolutely free.