Wishing you a very Happy Christmas and all the best for a happy and healthy 2012!
Make the most of your computer this Christmas!  Here are Mrs PC's tips for a Computer Christmas.

Computers can help you take some of the strain out of preparing for Christmas, or make your gifts and cards more personal, more of this in a moment…and if you are short of ideas, you could Google your question…”Christmas idea for father in law”.  You will perhaps be inspired!

For those who are creative, you could think about how you could use your computer to help you this Christmas!  Printing mailing labels for your Christmas cards is such a time saver.  Or you could save paper and postage by making an email card this year, and decorating it with images or photos, and writing up some news before sending it to your family and friends.

Shopping online has the advantages of no queues and you can shop any time, day or night.   You can also spend time checking out prices and comparing them.   If you are a fan of Amazon, you can create a wish list for yourself and share it with others, to give family and friends gift ideas and ask them to do the same.

It’s always good to hear from old friends- you could track down some of your friends with Friends Reunited, 123 People or Facebook.

For a personal touch for your presents, use your own photos for calendars, photo books, mugs etc. or get personalized gifts made for you at www.gettingpersonal.co.uk.

You can design your own cards, using your own or other images, and print them off yourself, or use www.bonusprint.co.uk.

Order your groceries and heavy items from an online supermarket.  You don’t need a recipe book any more- you can just Google your search e.g.: recipe for turkey curry.

The calendar function on your computer or email programme can be very useful to set yourself reminders, and you could use a spreadsheet or word document to keep track of your shopping and costs. 

If you are very busy over Christmas and miss your favourite TV or radio programme, you can use iplayer or itv player to catch up.

Or perhaps you just want to get away from it all or seek some sunshine!  You could use the Internet to book flights and hotels.  Or prefer to donate to your favourite charity- you can do this online too http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/giving/

I am sure that most of you will be looking forward to celebrating Christmas, and perhaps many of you will be hoping for a new gadget this year.

I suspect that ipads and kindles will be popular items!  Do contact me after Christmas if you need help with any of your new purchases.  I don’t just do computers, I also do most Apple products and can even teach you how to text or use your camera!

When the internet doesn't work...

 The internet provides communication, entertainment and allows us to gather information.  We feel quite lost when it won't work.

Things to try when your internet won't work:

Make sure that no one has unplugged any part of your wiring or that it hasn't come loose- push the internet wires firmly into the places where they should be!

Turn off your computer and internet hub and turn on again after a few minutes.  Give it all time to re set.

Call your broadband provider and ask if there are engineering works affecting your service.
If there are none, ask them to call and sort it out.  They can often talk you through some solutions over the phone.

Try to stay calm!

Today I had my first experience with a Linux system- (as opposed to Windows or Apple).

I really liked it!  (I was also relieved that it caused me no problems!)

Linux is not a widely used operating system, but is very interesting.  It is based on a free and open source software.

It is interesting to read about it on Wikipedia.  I very much like this approach.  

Free and open-source software (F/OSS, FOSS) or free/libre/open-source software (FLOSS, FL/OSS) is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to use, study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code. This approach has gained both momentum and acceptance as the potential benefits have been increasingly recognized by both individuals and corporations

A new academic year

September is here and for many it is the start of a new academic year, and a time to embark on a new project or learn something different.  I have been awash with enquiries from people at all stages in their life and careers, wanting to take classes with Mrs PC.  Am looking forward to meeting lots of new people and helping them with their very varied requests.
My colleague Adam Dunlop who helps me with the technical side of Mrs PC has been equally busy.  He deals with setting up new computers and laptops, putting in wifi, cleaning up/speeding up old computers and dealing with thorny problems.

Viruses and Hoaxes

Do you ever get an email that scares you?  One that tells you that your computer is doomed if you open a particular email or that there is a new and even nastier virus, or a scam in the supermarket, a way to relocate call centres to the Uk, a way to unlock your car without a key- that kind of thing...
Be skeptical! Never believe all that you read!
If you want to check, go to this excellent website www.hoaxslayer.com, and find out!
Let all your friends know it is a hoax- especially if they have emailed you to warn you about it!

Mrs PC's annual holiday

Mrs PC is taking a break from teaching and having a bit of a rest from computers over the next month!

I will have a laptop with me and am happy to help with minor queries, and Adam is on hand to cover for me and to help with technical disasters.

Thought you might like to see the attached photo, which made me chuckle!

Have a good summer, fingers crossed for a bit more sunshine!

Stop spam and learn email etiquette!

The Correct Way to Forward Email!

Every time you forward an e-mail there is information left over from the people who got the message before you, namely their e-mail addresses & names. As the messages get forwarded along, the list of addresses builds, and builds, and builds, and all it takes is for some poor sap to get a virus, and his or her computer can send that virus to every E-mail address that has come across his computer. Or, someone can take all of those addresses and sell them or send junk mail to them in the hopes that you will go to the site and he will make five cents for each hit. How do you stop it? Well, there are two easy steps:

(1) When you forward an e-mail, DELETE all of the other addresses that appear in the body of the message. That’s right, DELETE them . It only takes a second. You MUST click the “Forward” button first and then you will have full editing capabilities against the body and headers of the message.

(2) Whenever you send an e-mail to more than one person, do NOT use the To: or Cc: columns for adding e-mail address.

Always use the BCC: (blind carbon copy) column for listing the e-mail addresses. This is the way that people you send to only see their own e-mail address. If you don’t see your BCC: option click on where it says To: and your address list will appear. Highlight the address and choose BCC: and that’s it, it’s that easy. When you send to BCC: your message will automatically say “Undisclosed Recipients” in the “TO:” field of the people who receive it.

Have you ever gotten an email that is a petition? It states a position and asks you to add your name and address and to forward it to 10 or 15 people or your entire address book. The email can be forwarded on and on and can collect thousands of names and email addresses. A FACT: The completed petition is actually worth a couple of bucks to a professional spammer because of the wealth of valid names and email addresses contained therein. If you want to support the petition, send it as your own personal letter to the intended recipient. Your position may carry more weight as a personal letter than a laundry listname and email address on a petition.

So please, in the future, let’s stop the junk mail and the viruses.

Finally, here’s an idea!!! Let’s send this to everyone we know (but strip my address off first). This is something that SHOULD be forwarded.

Hope you find the above info useful and helpful and let’s stamp out spam!!

Help with websites and paperwork

I had a phone call recently from a lady wishing to set up her own website.  I do not build websites but am able to advise on them, and have a lot of expertise in getting websites seen by Google, and increasing their efficiency.
 I  have a wonderful website designer who works alongside me.  His name is Bob Jones and I recommend him highly.
Bob and this lady built a website together using Google's new free hosting and design service, and you may well be interested in her services, and take a look at her website

HELP FOR OLDER PEOPLE WITH PAPERWORK!
http://www.catherine-nile.co.uk/

Microsoft Scammers

Warning!  Several of my students have had calls from people claiming to be from Microsoft saying that there are 200 threats on their computer and hoping/trying to get hold of their bank account to rectify the problem.  Don't be taken in- it is a huge scam.
We had a call yesterday - but couldn't trace the caller.  I have contacted the local Neighbourhood watch co ordinator and asked her to pass on the information to all areas.
One student has been badly affected and can't believe in retrospect how she allowed herself to be taken in.  She has had to change her bank account and get new cards issued etc

NEW! Mrs PC news

Mrs PC now does gift vouchers! Do get in touch if you would like one for one lesson or a block of lessons. Fathers day is next weekend- it is the perfect present.

Save on the expense of a new computer!

Ten free ways to make an older computer run faster...

1. Defragment your files every few months or so

Go to Start>Programmes>Accessories>System tools>Disk defragmenter

and run it.

2. Delete unused programmes.

Start>Control Panel>Add or remove programmes-

it will tell you how often you have used them in the past to help you choose. Don’t delete any microsoft ones!

3. Download and run C cleaner- this will clear temporary files like internet files and other rubbish you accumulate- it is the best cleaner out there

get it by clicking on http://www.piriform.com/ccleaner

Alternatively go onto the internet and choose Tools on the top menu and depending on your browser there will be a selection to clear recent history- but this only cleans some of the rubbish out.

4. Empty your recycle bin.

Double click to open it and choose Empty the Recycle bin

5. Make sure you don’t have too many programmes opening up on start up

go to Start>Run> type in msconfig and hit enter. Uncheck any you don’t want to have on start up- they will still be available to you later on- then press ok

6. When browsing the internet - make sure you are using one version of your browser and use tabs to open other pages. Try not to have too many programmes open at once, or try not to make your computer do too many things at once to help your computer have enough space to operate.

7. Delete your email deleted items, sometimes called Trash.

8. Go through your documents and delete those you no longer need. Delete any photos that don’t make the grade when you upload them. Don’t just keep every photo. Be ruthless and get rid of any that are blurred or dark or don’t please you- you will free up space. Keep 15% free space on your hard drive so there is room for it to think.

10. Keep Windows up to date by installing the updates when prompted.

You should notice the difference! Don’t forget that it is possible to install more memory to help your computer a) store more information b) think faster.

WW II Code Cracking Computer rebuilt at Bletchley Park

27 May 2011 Help

A working replica of a computer that cracked secret Nazi messages in World War II has been completed.

Engineers at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire built the Tunny machine using discarded blueprints.

Up to 15 Tunny machines cracked the German Lorenz code at the height of the war, but the British government ordered their destruction when the conflict ended.

Engineer John Whetter and 1940s Tunny operator Helen Currie explain why they believe the mechanical computer reduced the length of the conflict.

For full story from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-13571480

Magazines and new computers

Delighted to be writing monthly articles for BS9 as well as Redland and Westbury Park advertiser magazines.

My article this month for both is on how to choose a new computer.

I need a new one myself! My desktop is at least 4 years old and very slow despite my best efforts!

My son offered to build me one but he is short of time and the casing he would use wouldn't fit in my existing desk, so will have to have a look around.

Facebook

Mrs PC now has a FACEBOOK page!

Take a look.

If you like it

Click the Like button on the page!

Computer Corner

Am delighted to have been asked to write a regular piece in our local free advertising mag, The Redland & Westbury Park Directory. It will be called Computer Corner and I will have to start getting creative!

Nick, the editor thought that an image of a mouse would be fun. The pic above is my favourite.

Email Scams

Every so often an email will arrive in your inbox telling you to beware of a scam...

How do you know it is true or not?

Go to www.hoax-slayer.com and type the title of the email into the search box.

If it is a hoax it will then tell you when it originated and where from!

Scams such as:

A billing update must be performed for AOL

Sainsburies cheating customers when using cashback

Facebook publishing your photos in adverts

False virus warnings- do not open emails containing....

All these can be checked and you will be much wiser for checking rather than believing everything you see.

Microsoft

Microsoft is such a well known and trusted name. Be cautious if someone rings you from Microsoft though... it may be a scam.
This happened to one of my clients in Henleaze this week. She had a call from someone saying that they were calling from Microsoft about some computer trouble that she had been experiencing... She had in fact had some trouble with the wifi , so thought the call was genuine. The person went on to say that they would check the computer while she was online and if any red dots appeared, she should worry. Red dots appeared and she did worry and said that she would go and fetch her son in law at once. The phone then went dead, so it was obviously a hoax call.

Apples

I bought a Macbook Pro from the Apple store last summer. It is just a laptop but there are a few differences. Firstly the price- about 3 times more than a standard laptop. A different operating system, compact and light, long battery life, fast, not so prone to collapse and viruses and nice to look at. It is made out of a solid piece of aluminium.

My learning curve was steep!

If you are thinking about getting one, you are investing in something that will still work fast in 10 years, which is a real positive. There are some great aspects, but I would heartily recommend that you took up the course of lessons offered by Apple to new users. This costs £79 for a year of one to one lessons. (This needs to be bought with the Macbook or Apple computer) Needless to say there is a catch! You can only book up to 2 weeks ahead, and only book one lesson at a time. The lessons are really popular, so it is sometimes hard to get a lesson when you want. The trainers are great in general, but vary!

One word of advice learned from experience is that whilst Apple have the reputation of not getting viruses or suffering from total failure, this is not correct! They need to be backed up just like any other computer. This is made easy by their software called Time Machine which comes as standard. All it requires is for an external hard drive to be plugged in and it does the rest for you. Apple is now one of the largest companies in the world and virus writers are now targeting them ( in the past there were so few users that it wasn't worthwhile!)

I can offer lessons using Apple products, Macbooks and Apple Mac as well as ipods and ipod touch, and iphones.

Printers, Photocopiers and scanners

I have noticed a rather surprising misconception amongst many folk...
Several clients have thought they were scanning things when they are actually only photocopying.
There seems to be quite a lot of confusion about this, so I thought it worthy of a mention on the blog.
Just to clarify things...

A photocopy is simply a paper copy of something you want to duplicate. This can be done in black and white or colour (if your printer has a colour ink cartridge!)
A photocopy doesn't need your computer to be turned on and your printer doesn't even need to be connected to the computer to do this.

Printing needs a computer connection and the computer must be turned on. The printer must also have been "introduced" to the computer so they know and recognise one another. Once this has been done you can print out emails, letters or other documents and pages from the internet as well as photos.

Scanning is really printing in reverse....You can copy photos and documents onto your computer by placing them on the glass plate of the printer/scanner face down and closing the lid.
It can be a good idea to scan in your important documents so that you have a computer copy of them should you ever lose them. You can also scan in old and precious photographs and store them on your computer.
You have to tell your computer where to save the scans and you need to give them a name too.