SENIOR NET NEWSLETTER 09/10/2000
Holy mackeral I'm tired. Sue and I just got back from the mountain where we are getting land ready for a house. We spent some time learning how to ride 4 wheelers. Then we chained tree tops and pulled them from the site area. Some of the tops were 4-5 inches in diameter and very long and bushy. Dog gone I'm tired. These bones and muscles are not ready for prime time yet. The 4 wheelin' was a hoot but the tree cutting and dragging was hard work and very hot. We'll be back up there tomorrow and I suspect that I'll be pulling trees for quite a few days. By the way if you are a grandparent then Happy Grandparent's day.. Well here is this week's newsletter.
THIS WEEK'S SCHEDULE: Monday 9/11/00 @ 6 :00 PM Monday evening Intermediates (first session of six sessions) Call KCnet to register. The cost is $12.00 for the six sessions. Some topics to be addressed include: Basics of maneuvering about the Windows Operating System, copy/paste,drag/drop, editing, saving to various drives, right mouse button options, creating folders and files, uninstalling, deleting, advanced email and browser techniques involving bookmarks, address books, forwarding messages, attachments, and HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). Dave Winkelman provides the leadership for this class. Beginner computer knowledge and beginner computer skills are necessary. A ton of info is packed into the six sessions. This course is designed for those who "think they know" and especially for those who "want to know" more.
Tuesday 9/12/00 @9:00 AM Tuesday morning Newbies (sixth session of six sessions) This is a very basic course in computer techniques for the internet. The next Tuesday morning Newbies will begin November 14, 2000. There is a $12.00 per course charge for this class. Class size is limited so participants should pre register. Skills taught in the beginner classes include mouse techniques like drag and drop, plus very beginner basics for email and browsing the Web. Dave Winkelman provides the leadership for this class. It is not necessary for attendees to have their own computers but it is very difficult to retain information without practice. You really would not try to learn to play the piano with out actual keyboard time.
Tuesday 9/12/00 @5:00 PM Tuesday Evening Newbies (sixth session of six sessions) This class is full and is a very basic course in computer techniques for the internet. The nest Tuesday afternoon class will start October 31, 2000 from 3:00-5:00 There is a $12.00 per course charge for this class. Class size is limited so participants should pre register. Skills taught in the beginner classes include mouse techniques like drag and drop, plus very beginner basics for email and browsing the Web. Dave Winkleman provides the leadership for this class. It is not necessary for attendees to have their own computers but it is very difficult to retain information without practice. You really would not try to learn to play the piano with out actual keyboard time.
Wednesday 9/13/00 @9:00 AM Wednesday morning group of Senior Net Learners: . This is an advanced group and we cover a lot of territory. We are kind of free flowing. You never know what will transpire. We will continue addressing Q&A from the group. New participants are always welcome. It is not necessary for attendees to have their own computers but it sure helps with the learning curve. Usually, Mike Foust, and anyone else who wants to jump into the fray, provide the leadership for this session. Intermediate computer knowledge and Intermediate computer skills are necessary.
Thursday 10/12/00 @ 9:00 AM Thursday morning Intermediates (first session of six sessions) Call KCnet to register. The cost is $12.00 for the six sessions. Some topics to be addressed include: Basics of maneuvering about the Windows Operating System, copy/paste, drag/drop, editing, saving to various drives, right mouse button options, creating folders and files, uninstalling, deleting, advanced email and browser techniques involving bookmarks, address books, forwarding messages, attachments, and HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language). Mike Foust provides the leadership for this class. Beginner computer knowledge and beginner computer skills are necessary. A ton of info is packed into the six sessions. This course is designed for those who "think they know" and especially for those who "want to know" more.
The Intermediate Group Course Content: We mess around with the desktop, rearrange icons, change backgrounds, create screen savers, learn to make shortcuts on the desktop, learn a bunch of ways to access the hard drive and discuss how our computers resemble a file cabinet in its organization. We learn a little bit about extensions like .gif, .wav, .mid, .txt, .doc, .jpeg, .exe, and dot de dot de dot... just to name a few. We discover what special programs are already installed on our computers to help us see these special extensions. We make folders and subfolders on the hard drive. We copy and paste files into these folders. We learn the difference between cut/paste and copy/paste. We learn how to copy/borrow graphic and midi files from the internet and save them to the new folders we make. Then we copy and paste files from floppies to the hard drive, we move files from the hard drive to a floppy disk. We take floppies home with graphics and midis on them to put on the hard drives to use with email. We investigate the difference between uninstall and delete for programs and files and when it is appropriate to do either. We learn how to do a "Thorough" Scandisk, Defrag. and Cleandisk. We become proficient with Bookmarks and Forwarding messages. The final week we will get into HTML in email. So look out because we will be terrorizing our friends with neat souped up emails. Yep!, we definitely learn enough to be verrrrry dangerous AND...WE HAVE FUN!!!.
OTHER SESSIONS MEETING AT KCNET: MAC Users: This is an ongoing (no start or finish date) group of Apple Mac owners/users. The group meets every 1st Thursday each month from 4:30-6:30. Each session is $5.00. The next session is August 10, 2000. Clair Falls is the group leader.
Genealogy: This is a four session program costing $20.00 for all the sessions. Sessions are second Thursdays from 6:00-8:00. A new 4 session series will start September 14, 2000. Dave Wallace is the instructor. Class size is limited so please pre register.
TECHNICALLY SPEAKING: The following tips are from Tipworld and Dummies Daily SEARCH HINT AltaVista has a sneaky secret that you may have noticed and yet not put to use. A clue: weight to uncommon words. After indexing every word in all the Web pages it crawls, and comparing that index to your search terms, the Alta ego searches for word weirdness. For example, try a search for rottweiler dog. The pages that mention rottweilers will rank higher in the final list than those that just mention dogs. By adding such specific terms, you can automatically hone in on results that take you where you really want to go.
EMAIL FACTS A Pitney-Bowes study has reportedly found that the typical worker in the US deals with 196 messages a day, 39 of those being e-mail. That's up from 27 e-mail messages on average last year. (The other messages are voice mails, written phone messages, faxes, and courier packages.) If you're not using Message Rules in Outlook Express yet to automatically sift and sort some of that mail, you probably will soon, as the volume of e-mail keeps growing. Netscape users can configure filters to automatically file messages.
USE SHIFT-DELETE TO BYPASS RECYCLE BIN More than once, the Recycle Bin will save your life, and you'll kiss the desktop it sits on. However, deleting everything twice can be a real bother, especially things you know you'll never need again in a million years. If you're sure you want to ditch something the first time around, skip right over the Recycle Bin. Just highlight whatever it is you want to get rid of, hit Shift-Delete, and kiss it goodbye. It's not as dangerous as it sounds, because you'll still get one of those polite messages asking if you're sure. (The danger is in getting so comfortable that you delete this way all the time and get hasty and...D'oh!)
RIGHT-MOUSE KEYBOARD EQUIVALENT Tired of having to reach for your mouse? You can do just about anything without it--even "click" something with the right-mouse button. The next time you need to right-click the desktop, an active window, or a highlighted shortcut, press Shift-F10 instead. Magic.
SHORTCUT TO PROPERTIES When you want to know all about an icon--file, folder, whatever--you right-click the icon and select Properties. Getting tired of dragging your pointer all the way down to the bottom of that context menu to the Properties command? Next time, hold down the Alt key as you double-click the icon. Properties dialog box, at your service.
INTERESTING SITES: IGRANDPARENTS.COM You may not live in the same city, state, or time zone as your grandchildren, but with igrandparents.com it hardly matters. Set up your own personal grandparent Web site (no fancy Internet knowledge necessary), learn about health and safety issues, or just pay a visit to Grandma Betty's Corner for information on everything from entertainment to fitness. Bolder souls can take advantage of the free online membership, which entitles you to electronic greeting cards and periodic birthday reminders. And because this is a site devoted to grandparents and grandparenting, there is ample opportunity for, you guessed it, shopping. www.igrandparents.com
WHATIS.COM Maybe information technology is your life, or maybe not. Either way, technology is moving fast, and you better know the lingo if you want to keep up. If words like DSL, WYSIWYG, thumbnails, ISP, DVD, MP3, and Quicktime have you confused, then have no fear. Whatis?com is an online encyclopedia that helps you keep abreast of all those obscure techno-terms. The site offers a number of options from a standard search, to lists of topics, to alphabetical listings. Registered members have access to the word of the day, words of the week, industry updates, chats, career services, and just about anything else an IT professional or novice might need to be cool. www.whatis.com
EGOSURF The Web is a wonderful place, if you can only find what you're looking for. And if you're looking for yourself, then this service is designed just for you. Egosurf.com is basically a meta search engine with an interesting hook. If you leave your email address, the site will continue searching the Internet for any mention of your name, and then email you the results, including a brief passage from the entry that contains your name. The service is free and lasts a week so you don't have to worry about continuous updates for the rest of your natural life. When you get bored with the vanity queries, feel free to look up old friends, rich cousins, ex-girlfriends, even your pet hamster. www.egosurf.com
REFERENCE DESK This site has it all-News, Searches, Dictionaries, Encyclopedias, Reference Resources, Facts Search Desk, Facts-of-the-Day, Reference Site-of-the-Day, etc. www.refdesk.com
WEB CAMSEARCH.COM Someday soon, every corner of the world will be broadcast live on the Web. Just go to Web CamSearch.com to see how close we already are. This directory lists thousands of live Web Cams. Search by geographic location (Arctic to Antarctic) or subject matter (Health/Medicine to Astronomy). Or simply type what you are looking for into the search engine. The My Web Cams feature allows you to create a custom list of your favorite Web Cams. The What's New section lists recent Web Cam finds, while the What's Popular section tells you what everyone else is watching. Who would have guessed that the "Almost Amazing Turtle Cam" would be an Internet blockbuster? www.Webcamsearch.com
www.justsaywow.com/Carnation.htm www.justsaywow.com/daisy.htm www.justsaywow.com/orchid.htm www.justsaywow.com/dandelion.htm sendafriend.com/today
This one is cute. It is a list of things that grade schoolers asked god. sendafriend.com/letters
DIDJA KNOW?: Why do freight trains with two or more locomotives often have at least one turned backwards? You've seen this on long freight trains, haven't you? How in the world did they end up with backwards locomotives? It looks as if it's a contest to see in which direction the train will move once the locomotives start to pull. Is this any way to run a railroad? A key element here is the fact that locomotives are bi-directional: they can move and pull a load just as well no matter which end is pointed forward. The other factor is that it isn't easy to turn one of them around and it's time consuming. So why bother? Of course the first locomotive at the front of the train will always face forward. Anything else would look stupid. And any engineer willing to run a train while facing the rear is probably operating with a loose caboose. Source: DO PENGUINS HAVE KNEES? By David Feldman
SO WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THIS ONE? When you study great American speeches in high school, you usually read about Martin Luther King's Mountain Top speech and also the Gettysburg Address by Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln's speech, this review showed up in the Chicago Times: "The cheek of every American must tingle with shame as he reads the silly, flat, and dishwatery utterances of the man who has to be pointed out to intelligent foreigners as the President of the United States." Ouch.
CENTRAL PARK- THE COUNTRY There are two independent nations that are actually smaller than New York City's Central Park. Both in Europe, these nations are Monaco and Vatican City.
Why do we call a bad dream a nightmare? Most people when asked to guess about its origins figure that the "mare" in nightmare has something to do with horses. I could live with that. Recently I was given a hot tip on a thoroughbred and got to the betting window at the track just as the race began and the window closed. The nag won and I did not have good dreams that night. But that's not the etymology of nightmare--not by a long shot. It comes from the Old English word "maere," which means an incubus, a tiny demon that stands on your chest during the night, suffocating you. Why would an incubus do that to you? You probably did something to upset nature's laws. Maybe you served white wine with red meat, wore a red suit with brown shoes, or did some other nightmarish thing. Source: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY
FAST FACTS: Orville Wright was quoted as saying, "No flying machine will ever fly from New York to Paris." Apparently, Wilbur got all the brains in the family.
"Aerophobia" is the fear of flying. "Splatterphobia" is the fear of crashing. Source: USELESS KNOWLEDGE
The female Australian red kangaroo is a veritable milk bar. She can feed her young (they're called "Joeys") different kinds of milk from adjacent teats - simultaneously! This is useful because a newborn needs a different formula than one of its older siblings. I'm not impressed. If she were really talented, she would be able to dispense chocolate milk. Source: READER'S DIGEST BOOK OF FACTS
WHEN WAS THE GREAT FIRE OF LONDON? It happened in September 1666. The worst fire in London's history, it destroyed many civic buildings and churches, along with 13,000 houses.
WHY DID PRESIDENT WOODROW WILSON KEEP SHEEP AT THE WHITE HOUSE? The sheep were part of the war effort. In 1917, during World War I, President Wilson arranged for a small flock of sheep to graze on the White House lawn, thus freeing up the regular gardeners for military service. Although the sheep began eating more of the White House grounds than the lawn, the Wilsons continued to defend them-citing, among, other things, the vast amounts of "White House wool" the sheep generated for the Red Cross.
HOW DID INEXPENSIVE HANDGUNS COME TO BE CALLED SATURDAY NIGHT SPECIALS? Detroit lawmen coined the term in the late 1950s and early 1960s when they realized that Saturday night holdups were committed with handguns purchased in quick one-hour trips to Toledo, Ohio. There, guns could be bought at filling stations and flower shops for $5 or $10, without time restrictions.
WHAT BECAME OF LEOPALD AND LOEB? Two young men from Chicago - who fired with the idea of committing the "perfect murder," killed fourteen-year-old Bobbie Franks in May 1924 - were sentenced on September 10 to life imprisonment for murder and 99 years for kidnapping. Richard ("Dikie") Loeb was slashed to death in a brawl in January 1936 in Northern Illinois Penitentiary near Joliet. Nathan ("Babe") Leopald was paroled in March 1958. Claiming he wanted "a chance to find redemption for himself and to help others," he moved to Puerto Rico to work as a hospital technician. He died on August 30, 1971.
WHAT PRODUCT WAS FIRST INTRODUCED IN 1906 AS BLIBBERBLUBBER? Bubblegum. Developed and marketed by the Frank H. Fleer Corporation, it was soon abandoned because it was too sticky and brittle. In the 1920's the company came up with the winning formula, which is marketed under the name Double Bubble.
WHO WAS FEATURED ON THE COVER OF THE VERY FIRST ISSUE OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE? John Lennon
WHAT BEVERAGE DID POPE CLEMENT VIII OFFICIALLY RECOGNIZE AS A CHRISTIAN DRINK IN AN EDICT ISSUED IN 1592? Coffee, which had been introduced to Europe by Arab traders and was considered by many Roman Catholics to be the wine of infidels.
WHO WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT TO THROW OUT THE FIRST BALL OF THE SEASON AT A BASEBALL GAME? William Howard Taft, in 1910. The Washington Senators beat the Philadelphia Athletics in the one-hit shutout pitched by baseball great Walter Johnson. .
QUOTES: "The one important thing I have learned over the years is the difference between taking one's work seriously and taking one's self seriously. The first is imperative, and the second is disastrous." --Margaret Fontey
"Distance doesn't matter; it's only the first step that is difficult." --Marquise du Delfand
"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence." --Helen Keller
"Enthusiasm for one's goal lessens the disagreeableness of working toward it." --Thomas Eakins
"Fear nothing, for every renewed effort raises all former failures into lessons, all sins into experience." --Katherine Tingley
The next three are suggestions for successful public speaking. "A speech is a solemn responsibility. The man who makes a bad thirty-minute speech to two hundred people wastes only a half hour of his own time. But he wastes one hundred hours of the audience's time -more than four days - which should be a hanging offense." --Jenkin Lloyd Jones
"If you haven't struck oil in your first three minutes, stop boring." --George Jessel
"My father gave me these hints on speech-making: Be sincere . . . be brief . . . be seated." --James Roosevelt
"There is a passion for perfection which you rarely see fully developed but . . . in successful lives it is never wholly lacking." --Bliss Carmen
"If you count all your assets, you always show a profit." --Robert Quillen
The next two belong in the don't be fooled by appearances catagory: "It is not only fine feathers that make fine birds." --Aesop
"Everything you see I owe to spaghetti." --Sophia Loren I always knew spaghetti was a great invention!
THIS WEEK'S CUTIES: Science Ideas that Deserve More Recognition: But then again probably not! When a cat is dropped, it always lands on its feet, and when toast is dropped, it always lands with the buttered side facing down. I propose to strap buttered toast to the back of a cat; the two will hover, spinning inches above the ground. With a giant buttered cat array, a high-speed monorail could easily link New York with Chicago.
If an infinite number of rednecks riding in an infinite number of pickup trucks fire an infinite number of shotgun rounds at an infinite number of highway signs, they will eventually produce all the worlds great literary works in Braille.
Why Yawning Is Contagious: You yawn to equalize the pressure on your eardrums. This pressure change outside your eardrums unbalances other people's ear pressures, so they must yawn to even it out.
The earth may spin faster on its axis due to deforestation. Just as a figure skater's rate of spin increases when the arms are brought in close to the body, the cutting of tall trees may cause our planet to spin dangerously fast.
Birds take off at sunrise. On the opposite side of the world, they are landing at sunset. This causes the earth to spin on its axis.
The reason hot-rod owners raise the backs of their cars is that it's easier to go faster when you're always going downhill. The quantity of consonants in the English language is constant. If omitted in one place, they turn up in another. When a Bostonian "pahks" his "cah," the lost r's migrate southwest, causing a Texan to "warsh" his car and invest in "erl wells."
Bumper stickers: These gems from my sister Pat Hughes. Dain bramaged Eat Well, Stay Fit, Die Anyway Body by Nautilus; brain by Mattel Boldly going nowhere CAUTION - Driver legally blonde! Heart Attacks...God's Revenge for Eating His Animal Friends He's not dead, He's electroencephalographically challenged Honk if you've never seen an Uzi fired from a car window! How many roads must a man travel down before he admits he is lost? Axe me about Ebonics CATS The other white meat Don't be sexist - broads hate that I'm an imbecile and I vote Money Isn't Everything... But it Sure Keeps the Kids In Touch If you lived in your car, you'd be home by now Saw it... Wanted it... Had a fit... Got it! WARNING! Driver only carries $20.00 in ammunition If you can read this, I can slam on my brakes and sue you! Your gene pool needs a little chlorine. You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me not you! I'm running out of places to hide the bodies. You are depriving some poor village of its IDIOT Grow your own dope, plant a man All Men Are Animals, Some Just Make Better Pets Some people are only alive because it is illegal to shoot them. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke. WANTED Meaningful overnight relationship. BEER It's not just for breakfast anymore. I need someone really bad...Are you really bad? Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder. All men are idiots....I married their king. The more you complain, the longer God makes you live. IRS We've got what it takes to take what you've got. Hard work has a future payoff. Laziness pays off now. Reality is a crutch for people who can't handle drugs. Out of my mind...Back in five minutes. Hang up and drive. Smile, it's the second best thing you can do with your lips. I took an IQ test and the results were negative. Where there's a will...I want to be in it. It's lonely at the top, but you eat better. We are born naked, wet, and hungry....Then things get worse. Consciousness That annoying time between naps. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again? Be nice to your kids...They will pick out your nursing home. Always remember you're unique...Just like everyone else. "Deserve's got nothin' to do with it."
Mozart keeps on tickin! When Mozart passed away, he was buried in a churchyard. A couple days later, the town drunk was walking through the cemetery and heard some strange noise coming from the area where Mozart was buried. Terrified, the drunk ran and got the priest to come and listen to it. The priest bent close to the grave and heard some faint, unrecognizable music coming from the grave. Frightened, the priest ran and got the town magistrate. When the magistrate arrived, he bent his ear to the grave, listened for a moment, and said, "Ah, yes, that's Mozart's Ninth Symphony, being played backwards." He listened a while longer, and said, "There's the Eighth Symphony, and it's backwards, too. Most puzzling." So the magistrate kept listening; "There's the Seventh...the Sixth...the Fifth..." Suddenly the realization of what was happening dawned on the magistrate; he stood up and announced to the crowd that had gathered in the cemetery, "My fellow citizens, there's nothing to worry about. It's just Mozart decomposing." All together groan, groan, groan!
Food for Thought: * There are three kinds of people: those who can count & those who can't. * Don't use a big word where a diminutive one will suffice. * I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead. * Mental Floss prevents moral decay! * Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change ready. * Be nice to your kids . . . they'll be the ones choosing your nursing home. * Proofread carefully to see if you any words out. * There can't be a crisis today, my schedule is already full. * I'd explain it to you, but your brain would explode. * Did you ever stop to think . . . and forget to start again? * A conclusion is simply the place where you got tired of thinking. * I don't have a solution, but I admire the problem. * Don't be so open minded that your brains fall out. * If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished! * Diplomacy is the art of letting someone have your way. * It's not hard to meet expenses, they're everywhere.
My girlfriend's weird. One day she asked me, "If you could know how and when you were going to die, would you want to know?" I said, "No." She said, "Okay, forget it." -- Stephen Wright
I'm not going to apologize for this, but I have my own personal psychic. He doesn't predict the future, and he can't tell you much about your past. But he does a really fantastic job of describing the present. For instance, he can tell you exactly what you're wearing, but he can't do it over the phone. -- George Carlin
Jim Rockwell sent this one and it is true. Once upon a time there was a shepherd looking after his sheep on the edge of a deserted road. Suddenly a brand new Jeep Cherokee screeched to a halt next to him. The driver, a young man dressed in a Brioni suit, Cerrutti shoes, Ray-Ban glasses, and a YSL tie gets out and asked the sheperd, "If I guess how many sheep you do have, you give me one of them?" The shepherd looked at the young man, then looked at the grazing sheep, and said, "All right." The young man parked the car, connected his notebook and his mobile, entered a NASA site, scanned the ground using his GPS, opened a data base and 60 Excel tables filled with algorithms, then printed a 150-page report on his high-tech mini-printer. He then turned to the shepherd and says, "You have exactly 1586 sheep here." The shepherd answered, "That's correct, you can have your sheep." The young man took the sheep and put it in the back of his jeep. Then the sheperd looked at him and asked, "If I guess your profession, will you return my sheep to me?" The young man answered, " Yes, why not?" This one should certainly bring a smile - The shepherd said, "You are a consultant!" "How did you know?" asked the young man. "Very simple," answered the shepherd. "First, you come here without being called. Second, you charged me a sheep to tell me something I already knew. Third, you do not understand anything about what I do,because you took my dog!"
Another Jim Rockwell. FULL STOP A man was driving and came to a stop sign. He slowed down long enough to check if any cars were coming, and then proceeded through the intersection. A police officer saw it happen, and pulled the guy over. The man asked, "what did I do, officer?" "You ran that stop sign over there," the officer said. "No, I slowed down!" the man said. "But you didn't stop," said the officer. "Slow down, stop, what's the difference?!" asked the man, getting agitated. The officer took out his nightstick and started to poke the guy in the chest. "Now," said the officer, "do you want me to slow down or do you want me to stop?"
OK! That's a Wrap. See ya next week! I hope you enjoyed this communication and can attend one or more of the sessions scheduled for this week.