Keyboard “Shortcuts” that will Make You a Power User!

Commands for all computer programs are usually tied to buttons on a graphical toolbar or drop-down text menus at the top of the application window. However, did you know that most of these commands can also be executed by pressing a quick combination of keys on the keyboard? While many of these “keyboard shortcuts” change from program to program, there are a few universal shortcuts that are shared by virtually ALL programs. Memorizing them can dramatically improve your productivity and dazzle your friends.

Select It All
It’s fairly common to need to select everything on the screen. For example, before you print a letter you might want to change the font for the entire document. You could scroll to the top of the document, click and hold the left mouse button, then drag the mouse across every paragraph and sentence. Sounds like a lot of work when you can simply press Ctrl and A together (Ctrl A) to do the same thing!

Copy and Paste
Let’s say you see a news story on a web page and you’d like to quote part of the story in an e-mail message you’re sending to a friend. Of course, you can re-type the text. However, unless you are trying to practice your typing skills, there’s a much faster way to accomplish this:

First, triple-click the desired paragraph in the news story to highlight the text, then press Ctrl C to copy the paragraph the Windows “clipboard.” (The clipboard in an invisible temporary storage location in memory.) Next, create a new, blank e-mail message and click inside the body of the message. Finally, press Ctrl V to paste the paragraph from the clipboard into the e-mail message. Note that the paragraph remains in the clipboard memory area until you restart Windows or copy another block of text.

Undo is Your Friend
Have you ever wished you could rewind your life a few seconds to undo something you said or did? Unfortunately, we can’t help you there but we can tell you how to quickly reverse a mistake while writing a letter, editing a spreadsheet, composing an e-mail message or using just about any computer program. It’s known as the the magical “undo” command.

Imagine you used the Ctrl A shortcut to select all of the text in a 10 page document that took you four hours to create. You mean to change the font but you hit the Del key instead and everything vanishes. Before you panic, simply press Ctrl Z to undo your last change. Presto! Everything comes back.

Some programs, like Microsoft Word, can actually undo multiple changes – each time you press Ctrl Z, the next most recent change is reversed. Other programs can only “remember” the most recent change.

Social Networking: New Phenomenon, New Risks

Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock the past several years, you have probably heard of the extreme popularity of Social Networking websites. Some of the most popular examples of these websites are Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn. According to Wikipedia, social network sites focus on building online communities of people who share interests and/or activities, or who are interested in exploring the interests and activities of others. Most … provide a variety of ways for users to interact, such as e-mail and instant messaging services.

The popular news media has focused lots of negative attention on social networking in recent years. For example, MySpace was targeted by a few prime time investigative journalism programs. According to these special reports, MySpace was attracting pedophiles, allowing them to hide their identity and potentially lure kids into compromising situation. To prove this point, the producers of these shows hooked up with local and federal law enforcement agencies to conduct sting operations – footage of pedophiles being caught red handed gave the networks some tantalizing programming material and, yes, contributed to higher ratings.
 
To be sure, MySpace does allow malicious people to conceal their intent and identities. However, to be fair, it’s important for all to understand that the people behind MySpace never intended for their service to be used in this manner. In fact, MySpace was originally launched as a service for independent music artists to promote themselves on the Internet.

Furthermore, there are lots of online services that promote themselves as “family friendly” – such as America Online – which provide similar social networking opportunities and offer the same safe haven for bad people. Unfortunately, these services seem to fly under the radar of the TV networks and the rest of the popular media.

The point is, social networking is not necessarily a bad thing and the associated risks are certainly not limited to MySpace. So, the service itself is not the problem – it’s the small percentage of deviants who use it. That being said, careless behavior online and ignorance of the dangers can have far-reaching consequences, ranging from personal injury and financial loss, to violations of your privacy (and the privacy of others).

It is critically important for computer users to enter into the social networking environment with both eyes open. The blogging features offered by these sites, combined with the powerful capabilities of search engine technology leaves a “bread crumb trail” that can be followed by just about anyone on the Internet. In a recent article called Online Stalking Made Easy published on PCWorld.com, columnist Dan Tynan talks about the dark side of a specific social networking search engine called Spokeo.com. Spokeo allows users to upload their e-mail address book entries and uses this information to scour the host of online social networking services to collect whatever tidbits it can find. “In other words,” says Tynan, “Spokeo gives you the ability to stalk near-total strangers in new and fascinating ways.”

Employers are using similar technology to perform background checks on applicants. If there’s an embarrassing photo out on the Internet, and it’s somehow associated with you, it’s a safe bet a cursory search will locate the image and you will be passed you over for another candidate.

Here are some general, common sense guidelines to follow when joining and surfing social networking websites:

• Never post anything about yourself or someone else that you would not want public – remember, there is nothing private about social networking services! This includes (but is not limited to) compromising photos, account numbers, phone numbers and private e-mail addresses.
• Always remember that it's easy to leave embarrassing "footprints" on the Internet that can not only be tracked by malicious people but also by potential future employers conducting background checks. High school and college students should be especially mindful of this fact as they near adulthood. It's difficult enough to find employment in this lousy economy without these self-destructive land mines!
• Refrain from posting anything that can even be remotely construed as sexually suggestive. Parents, this is especially important for your kids to understand. Pedophiles are attracted to this content – it could invite potentially dangerous activity.
• Tell your kids never to arrange a meeting with a stranger they encounter on a social networking website. The number one goal of any pedophile is to figure out a way to meet the victim face to face.
• Also be aware of information you publish that can provide clues about where you live or work. For example, a photo of your house that shows the street number could easily be used with other information (home town, last name, etc.) to locate you or your family members.
• Be careful about what you write about others when posting blog entries. Remember, you have a responsibility to protect the privacy of other people too. Bullying and extortion are commonplace occurrences on social networking sites and they can have dangerous consequences.

Again, we remind you that social networking is not inherently bad. There are plenty of good, smart and rewarding uses for this technology. An artist, band or enterprising entrepreneur wants certain information to be freely available to public. The operative phrase here is “certain information.” A little common sense can go a long way toward protecting the safety and privacy of yourself and the ones you know and love.

AVG Free Edition, Version 8.5 Released

AVG Free Edition is, as its name suggests, completely free for non-commercial users. The most recent release of this popular anti-malware program is Version 8.5. This version is more stable than the 8.0 release. It provides enhancements to the automatic update process and the AVG Security Toolbar (an installation option).

We recommend that all existing AVG users download and install the latest version. If you enounter difficulty installing the update, try completely removing your existing version of AVG from your computer before installing 8.5.

Refer to our February newsletter for additional tips and advanced configuration options. Of course, if you need help installing the update, don't hesitate to call us to schedule an appointment.

Frequently Asked Question

Question: What is "flash memory?"

Answer: Flash memory is a solid state type computer memory that can be electrically erased and re-written. It is primarily used in memory cards and USB flash drives for storing data and transferring this data between computers and other digital products.

Flash memory is non-volatile, which means no electrical power is required to maintain the data stored on the chip. In addition, flash memory offers fast read access times and better kinetic shock resistance than hard disks. These characteristics explain the popularity of flash memory in portable devices such as PDAs, certain late model laptop computers, digital audio players, digital cameras and mobile phones. This technology is enormously durable. It withstands intense pressure, extreme temperature and even immersion in water.

Source: Wikipedia contributors, "Flash memory," Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flash_memory&oldid=278211505 (accessed March 24, 2009).

Copyright © 2009, Computer Homecare & Small Business Solutions • All rights reserved