Reader Email of the Week: Shortcuts with Deb Austill

Posted in: Computer Tips & Tricks

Deb Austill of Breckenridge recently sent an email my way, asking a few questions and sharing some of her thoughts. I though her notes on PC shortcuts would be great to share with everyone, as it’s always so nice to receive a quick shortcut refresher, isn’t it?

Deb wrote: “The Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V and Ctrl-X [keyboard shortcuts] have to be some of the most useful tools that I teach people on the computer. There are so many [people] that don’t know about those commands and the many, many places that they work. Then Bud Robinson [of Summit Nettrekker and SherpaLink.com] taught me the Ctrl-Enter on the web address line for it to automatically enter the www and the .com.”

Were you scratching your head when Deb was mentioning Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, and Ctrl-X? Don’t be confused. Let’s walk through it all together; once you start using these shortcuts you won’t know how you ever lived without them. Here we go:

First, highlight some text (just about any text will do) with your cursor. Next, hold down the Ctrl key on your keyboard and tap the C key. All done? Nothing happened? That’s fine; you’ve just told your computer to make a mental copy of that text. Now let’s open an blank email… or perhaps a fresh Word document – and do the same thing, but this time hit the V key instead of the C key. The text you previously copied should now be “pasted” right there in front of you. Quick, painless and… easy, right?

The Ctrl-X shortcut Deb mentioned does the exact same thing as the Ctrl-C (“copy”) shortcut, except it actually removes (or “cuts”) the text you’re copying.

Some of you are likely thinking “OF COURSE I know the copy, paste, and cut keyboard shortcuts!” So the next question is: have you ever used the Ctrl-Enter shortcut? No? Let’s test it out.

To use the Ctrl-Enter shortcut Deb is mentioning, try this:

  1. Fire up your favorite web browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari, whatever you like).
  2. Place your cursor anywhere in the address bar (that bar across the top of the screen that has the current website address displayed) and left-click your mouse.
  3. The website address sitting in the address bar should be highlighted.  This is perfect; once we start typing we’ll be replacing that text.
  4. Type the word amazon into the address bar. The word amazon should be the only text in that entire bar. Done? Great.
  5. Hold down your Ctrl key, then tap your Enter key.
  6. POW! A “www” immediately appeared in front of the word amazon and a “.com” immediately appeared after it. Plus, you’ve been whisked right over to www.amazon.com.

Ctrl-Enter instantly added the www and the .com to the text you typed into your address bar. Quite a great shortcut to know, eh?

Thanks for reminding everyone of these great shortcuts, Deb!

Q & A of the Week: Moving Outlook Express Email to Windows 7

Posted in: Email

Trying to figure out how you can move all your Outlook Express emails from Windows XP to Windows 7? I’ve got just the article for you! Here you go: http://tinyurl.com/29je46c.

Grab Bag: Your Five Links of the Week

Posted in: Website Links

  1. http://tinyurl.com/25hy2ps - Having trouble sleeping? It’s possible the culprit may be your laptop. Or smartphone. Or iPad. Today’s gadgets are fabulous, but some of their by-products (such as the artificial light they emit) can actually be the root of problems we try to solve through unrelated solutions. Learn about the theory that proposes our glowing gadgets are fooling our brains into thinking it’s daytime…at night.
  2. http://tinyurl.com/ddaw3a - The web hosting industry is ugly. It’s spammy. There’s lots of deception. Though you’d like to think your research has lead you to a great decision, it’s very possible you’ve been tricked. Check this 3.5 minute YouTube video to learn more. (And yes, it’s weird, but there really is no sound in this video.)
  3. http://tinyurl.com/25b9qn - Still not clear what RSS is or why you’d ever want to use it? Then this fun 3 and a ½ minute video is absolutely a must-see for you!
  4. http://tinyurl.com/2w2jjeg - Harboring serious concerns about your privacy on Facebook? Have a look at this article to learn about ReclaimPrivacy, a simple little bookmarklet that can help you be as private as you’d like.
  5. http://tinyurl.com/2c7appv - A cool, interactive, drag-and-move infographic showing the country’s most targeted books. You know. The books that, for some bizarre reason, cause seemingly-normal people to bombard librarians with demands that they be removed from the shelves.

Reader Suggested Website of the Week: Just for Yoga Lovers!

Posted in: Website Links

Juliana in Silverthorne recently shared this link with me, explaining that she loves the awesome yoga classes offered on the site (which is run by a Denver-based company): www.YogaDownload.com.

Find music for meditation or yoga classes, shop for yoga-related products, and download free yoga videos. You can also sign up for a membership (with pricing starting as low as $2.95/week) for access to unlimited streaming videos of live classes as well as a comoplete download of a yoga class each week.

Q & A of the Week: Moving Up a Directory in Windows

Posted in: Computer Tips & Tricks

Question:
Erin, I am more of a keyboard person (using my mouse only occasionally) and know all kinds of shortcuts [for moving around Windows directories] with the keyboard. I was looking for one that would move you back up a directory when opening a file. This would be the equivalent of hitting that back arrow with your mouse.
– Deb A., Breckenridge CO
[Note to readers: A “directory” is another name for “folder”.]

Answer:
Hi there Deb. I’m not sure which version of Windows you’re using, so here are the answers for XP, Vista, and 7. (Oh – and keep in mind that yes, many times your previous folder is the same as the folder directly up from where you are—but not always!):

  • Windows XP: Hitting the Backspace key will move you up one level. Alt + left arrow key moves you back to the previous folder.
  • Windows Vista & Windows 7: Hitting Alt + up arrow key will move you up one level. Alt + left arrow key will move you back to the previous folder. [Note: This information was pulled directly from Microsoft.com; I do not run Windows Vista or 7 myself.]

Facebook Tip of the Week: Reordering Facebook Photo Albums

Posted in: Online Tools, Web Info, Tips & Tricks

Wouldn’t it be lovely if Facebook allowed you to reorder your Photo Albums as easily as it allows you to reorder the photos inside your albums? Poking around account options and scouring through settings proves fruitless. Upon first glance it looks like there’s no way to circumvent the problem; it appears there’s no way we can order our Photo Albums exactly as we’d like.

But as always, appearances can be deceiving.

It’s doable. Honestly.

The first option you can look into is an app called Photo Album Strip. Some people love it. Some people don’t. Some can’t get it to work. (Note: it doesn’t offer support for Business pages.)

If the Photo Album Strip app doesn’t take care of your needs, it might be time to consider a manual-labor workaround. This solution is neither elegant nor straight-forward, and if you have lots of albums it definitely won’t be quick. But it’s doable.

Here’s what you need to know:

  1. Facebook sorts your Photo Albums based on which ones have been most recently updated with new photos.
  2. Therefore, if you’d like a specific Album to show up first, you’ll simply need to upload a photo to that Album. The Album will instantly zip straight to the first spot in front of all your other Albums.
  3. If you’d like a specific Album to show up first yet you don’t wish to add a new photo to that album, go ahead and upload any photo at all to that Album, confirm that it’s been bumped into the first position, then delete that photo.

Yes indeed it’s quite tedious if you have more than ten or so albums. But it does work.

Good luck!

Grab Bag: Your Five Links of the Week

Posted in: Website Links

  1. http://tinyurl.com/254j7l6 - This great Fast Company article will teach you how to setup a more effective email autoresponder (I’m away from my office until…).
  2. http://tinyurl.com/y4mw5vg - A fantastic, artsy pixel invasion. What an absolutely *delightful* work of video art! (YouTube video: 2.5 minutes) Thanks to Jordan P. for the link.
  3. http://tinyurl.com/28nx7um - Already using Facebook as your primary company website? Thinking about using Facebook as your primary company website? You might want to think again.
  4. http://tinyurl.com/2c7ljjc - Trying to figure out how you can cancel your Yahoo account? Not as straight-forward and simple as you’d assume it would be, eh? Find a walkthrough of the process right here.
  5. http://tinyurl.com/23mt74p - Your keyboard may be getting a tad lonelier in the not-too-distant future. Google is now working on integrating speech recognition functionality into all browsers. Imagine being able to have Google search the web for you just by… telling it what it is you’re looking for.

Should We Fear Tiny URLs?

Posted in: Software Downloads and Tips, Web Info, Tips & Tricks

A few months ago Tommy Ryan of Fairplay emailed me a section of a great Q&A article he’d come across in a (then) recent issue of Popular Mechanics.

A reader had asked the article’s author: “Are there any dangers to using URL-shortening services such as bit.ly or TinyURL?”

The author’s response included the following comments:

  • URL shorteners are potentially hazardous
  • Clicking on a shortened URL is like opening an email attachment sent by a complete stranger
  • There’s no guarantee that shortened URLs will stick around; they would break if the service that generated them shut down
  • People who currently use URL shortening services should consider using full-length versions of their URLs
  • The author would love it if websites moved away from long URLs and used shorter ones instead

Here are my thoughts on the author’s response:

  • As a general rule, it’s not smart to click on any link that’s been posted online or emailed to you by a person or company you don’t trust. What appear to be absolutely valid, normal website links can whisk you off to bad websites just as easily as shortened URLs.
  • There’s no guarantee that any URL, whether shortened or not, will stick around. Sites come and go. Site content and pages get updated. URLs change. The web is a dynamic creature with broken links playing an inescapable part in its reality. (However, if you truly fear that a URL shortening service will someday close its doors, causing all its shortened URLs to break… then it probably wouldn’t be very wise to use that service.)
  • Asking people to use full-length versions of URLs is not the most realistic of requests. (How many of you are thinking, “How would I fit URLs containing more than 140 characters into my Twitter posts?”)
  • Websites use long URLs for reasons; they don’t do it just for kicks. Lengthy URLs often play important roles in providing secure, encrypted browsing sessions. Including keywords in URLs is an effective strategy for those looking to achieve great search engine rankings. Including variables in URLs allows some websites to generate dynamic pages (pages that don’t permanently exist in a website but instead contain content generated on the fly). As I see it, suggesting that the web “move away from long Web addresses” is kind of like saying, “Everyone should move toward driving scooters, and scooters only.”

Here are my thoughts in a nutshell: Don’t feel terrified about using URL shortening services. And don’t be scared of clicking a shortened URL if you trust the person or company that gave it to you/posted it online (which is the same basic rule that applies to just about all links on the web).

And with that being said, if you’d like, you can view the original Popular Mechanics Q & A article in its entirety right here: http://tinyurl.com/23smp8k.

Thanks again to Tommy Ryan for sharing this article!