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How to Run Android Apps on Your PC (WINDOWS OR MAC )


 Android is not just for Android devices any more. Thanks to the BlueStacks App Player, you can run your favorite Android apps on PCs running Windows XP, Vista or 7. You can run them on a PC or even a tablet running Windows 8. If you've got a Mac, BlueStacks will let you run Android apps on it as well. This nifty player won Best of CES last year -- and it's free.

Have you got some favorite smartphone apps? Not convinced by Microsoft's new Windows app selection? Itching to see some Android action on your MacBook Pro? Don't worry, just install an Android emulator on your Windows or Mac machine and run all of the Android apps that you've grown to love.
A version is even available for Windows 8 Surface tablets. Load up to 750,000 Android apps, including games, SMS text messaging, and media apps.
The free product that lets you do this is BlueStacks App Player, and it claims more than 5 million downloads.

Here's how to go about loading and running the BlueStacks emulator:
Installation and Use
Step 1: Browse to the BlueStacks Web page on a desktop computer or laptop and click on the download button for your operating system Choose between XP, Vista and Windows 7; Windows 8; or Mac.
Follow the usual steps for installing software, opening the .exe file. Follow the prompts to allow installation and then accept the terms of the license agreement by clicking on the Welcome to BlueStacks' Continue button.
Step 2: Verify that App Store Access and App Notification check boxes are enabled on the following screen and then click Install. Allow the BlueStacks application to load.
Step 3: Click on the My Apps tile and then on the App Search button.
Search for an app that you use regularly on your smartphone or tablet. For example, I searched for Falcon Pro, a robust, paid-for Twitter client I like. Allow the in-Bluestacks search to complete and then click on the Install button adjacent to the search result.

Tip: The app doesn't install from this search. This search just tells you which store has the app you want.
Step 4: Choose an app store from the selection. I chose the Google native Play store, but there will be others listed, including Amazon.
Tip: Choose the store that you normally use on your device. It will be cheaper to migrate an app that you've already paid for.
Step 5: Add your account details if prompted. If you already have a Google account, add it here. Allow any sync to take place and then select Finish Setup. Click on any terms and conditions check boxes and then press Continue.

Step 6: Perform a second search for the app that you want to install. Allow the search to take place and then choose Accept and Download. Allow the app to install and then open the app. This search is from within the store that you may be familiar with, like Play.
Tip: Use the on-screen keyboard that pops up rather than the PC's physical keyboard if you run into keyboard mapping issues when communicating with the app.

Syncing With Your Phone or Tablet

BlueStacks includes a sync function called "1-Click Sync." This function lets you sync one way between the emulator and device.
Step 1: Click or touch the 1-Click Sync tile and then enter your Google account details in the text boxes.
Step 2: Sign in and choose the device or devices you'd like to sync with. Then from within BlueStacks, choose the app you'd like to install on your device, and click or touch the sync button on the app tile. The button looks like a smartphone screen with an arrow icon.
Step 3: Take a look at the device, and you'll see the app loading.
Tip: Ensure the device is connected to the Internet and logged into the same Google account you used in Step 1.

Pushing Apps to BlueStacks

BlueStacks also includes push functionality for getting apps from device to PC.
Step 1: Perform a search for BlueStacks Cloud Connect from within the Play store and install it to your device.
Tip: Do this independently of the BlueStacks emulator.
Step 2: Click on the Settings button within BlueStacks and choose Cloud Connect. Follow the prompts and enter the requested email and phone information. Make a note of the PIN and press Close
Step 3: Enter the PIN in BlueStacks Cloud Connect on the device and log in. Choose the apps you'd like to push to the emulator and press Sync.
Tip: Follow the texted-to prompts on your phone if you'd like to set up SMS connectivity .
THANK YOU. TAKE A DEEP BREATHE AND ENJOY YOUR LIFE .
HAVE A NICE DAY .

View two windows side-by-side using Smart Window

View two windows side-by-side using Smart Window

Smart Window or Snap, allows the user to view two windows side-by-side in Windows 7 without having to manually re-sizing either window.  This is also useful if you don't want to use Alt-Tab between 2 windows. Below is an example of what this looks like in Windows 7.
Windows 7 Smart Window
  1. Click and Drag on the top title bar of the first window so your mouse pointer hits either the left or right side of your screen. Let go of the window when you see the outline of the window re-size to ½ of the screen.
  2. Then choose the other window you wish to view on the side of the first window. Click and Drag the 2nd window to the opposite side of the screen until the mouse pointer hits the side of the screen and resizes to the other ½ of the screen.
These steps can also be done using the Windows key and the right and left arrow keys by doing the below steps.
  1. While pressing the Windows button on your keyboard, press either the Right or Left arrow.  This will move the open window to either the left or right portion of the screen.
  2. Choose the other Window you wish to view to the side of the Window in step one.  When using the Windows key for this step, as described in step one above, use the opposite (right or left) arrow button that you used in step one.
There are three different ways to get out of this view, below are some of the different methods this can be done.
  1. Click and drag the window so the mouse pointer hits the top of the screen and let go.  This will put the window back to regular size.
  2. If you just want to view one of the minimized windows that was in side by side view, click and while holding the mouse button down shake the window you wish to view and it will minimize all other widows to the Taskbar.  To reopen windows that were minimized by this step, click and shake the window you are using again, and they will re-appear.
  3. Press the Windows key on your keyboard, and at the same time, press either the up arrow or the down arrow.  The up arrow will maximize the screen; the down arrow will put the screen to minimize.

Quickly zoom in on images by hovering mouse over thumbnail

Thumbnail in Twitter zoomed with mouse hover 
Many sites such as Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Wikipedia will show a larger image of small thumbnails images when you click them. Save yourself the time of having to click the image to view it by installing a browser extension that will show you the larger image by hovering the mouse over the image. In the picture to the right, is an example of a Twitter profile icon that is enlarged when hovering over the small icon in the Following section. Click the below link for the browser you are using to open the extension that will add this feature.
Firefox users
Thumbnail Zoom
Chrome users
Install the Hover Zoom extension

Help finding lost phone

Today, most people have abandoned their landline phones for a cell phone. Unfortunately, if this is your only phone, it can be difficult to find if you've misplaced your phone. This is where the website "I Can't Find My Phone" can come in handy. Visit the below link, enter your phone number, and the free service will call your phone. This makes finding your phone easier since you can listen for your ring tone as you are searching for your phone. Of course if your phone is on silent or off this service will not be of much help.
I Can't Find My Phone


Blu-ray vs DVD

Question

Blu-ray vs DVD.

Answer

The two prominent disc media for movies and TV shows are Blu-ray and standard DVD.  Blu-ray is the newest of the two and offers several advantages over DVD.
Topic Blu-ray DVD
Storage A Blu-ray disc can hold about 25 GB of data. Dual layer Blu-ray discs can hold as much as 50 GB of data. The larger storage capacity of a Blu-ray disc is a clear advantage over standard DVDs, allowing higher quality of video and audio to be stored. A standard DVD disc can hold up to 4.7 gigabytes (GB) of data. Dual layer DVDs can hold about 8.5 - 8.7 GB of data, which is still much less than even the smallest Blu-ray discs.
Cost The price of Blu-ray players is more affordable than ever. Blu-ray discs themselves, for movies and TV shows, cost a little more than standard DVDs, but the gain from Blu-ray far outweighs the moderately increased prices. DVD players and DVD discs are cheaper than a Blu-ray disc.
Quality Because of the larger storage capacity of the Blu-ray disc, it can hold much more video and audio data, allowing for much higher quality of video and audio.  Blu-ray discs support resolutions up to 1920x1080 and frame rates up to 29.97 at the highest resolution (it is possible to get frame rates up to 59.94 at lower resolutions).  Blu-ray discs can playback in true HD format. Due to the much lower storage capacity of a standard DVD, it is not possible to have HD video quality on a DVD.
Availability Blu-ray is a newer technology than DVD, which means not all of the older movies are available yet in Blu-ray format. DVD has been around since 1996 and has had years to develop its library. Almost every movie ever made is available in DVD format and when renting movies you'll have a much easier time finding the movie in DVD format than Blu-ray.
Content Many Blu-ray movies will come with additional content not available with DVD. This content can include additional commentaries, behind the scenes, and much more and usually all on one disc. With the limited space of a DVD, you may get some DVD movies with additional bonus content. However, many times the additional content will be on a separate disc.
3D All the latest new 3D movies are now only distributed on Blu-ray. Although there are 3D DVDs all the latest movies are only coming out on Blu-ray.

Top 10 tips for keeping your e-mail inbox clean

Below is a listing of our top 10 tips for keeping your e-mail inbox clean. Following these suggestions will help allow you to keep your inbox clean and your e-mail experience more enjoyable.
Setup rules, filters, or labels
All e-mail programs and online e-mail services today have rules, filter, or label system that enables you to automatically move and otherwise organize incoming e-mail. Using this effectively can help organize your e-mail and get to what's most important first. Below are some suggestions for rules we'd suggest setting up first.
  • Move important and unimportant e-mails to a folder of their own.
  • Highlight or set priority to certain addresses. For example, a rule could be created to highlight any user that's found in your address book.
  • Filter out common spam words that get into your inbox, e.g. Viagra.
  • In programs that support it setup a rule to mark messages that may not be important as read. This can help eliminate the stress you get when opening your e-mail and seeing hundreds of unread e-mails.
  • If you're getting a lot of spam filter your e-mail through Gmail.
Don't be afraid to delete
After reading e-mail always take action on that e-mail. Don't save it for later or move it into a folder to be forgot about. If you're unable to take action on the e-mail, delegate it to someone else, or postpone it for later that day delete it. Every e-mail doesn't need a response and there is no reason to save an e-mail that's going to be deleted months later.
Automatic replies, FAQs, and canned responses
If you find yourself using the same reply over and over creating a list of your frequent replies or using a tool such as one of the ones listed below can help make replying to these e-mails even faster.
Thunderbird Quicktext - Fantastic Mozilla Thunderbird e-mail add-on.
Lifehacker Texter - Easy to use script tool that can be used in anywhere in Windows including e-mail.
AutoHotkey - Another great tool although much more advanced. However, this tool can be used to automate anything on the computer.
Keep it simple
Many times people over complicate their e-mail by creating dozens of different folders to help organize their e-mails. Keep it simple don't have dozens of different folders to organize your e-mail into.
If there is no way getting around your need for folders in e-mail use the rules to automatically filter your messages into the folders. This saves hundreds of hours you may be spending thinking about and organizing each of the e-mails you receive.
Always do quick short replies
When replying to any of your e-mails try to keep the reply as short as possible and don't spend too much time on an individual e-mail. At most we suggest spending no more than five minutes on a single e-mail and avoid anything longer than three paragraphs.
You're e-mail is not a calendar or to-do list
Many times a person’s inbox is full because they're treating it as a calendar of things that they need to do. Do not use your e-mail for this. Have a separate program or text document that keeps a list of things you need to do or that keep track of your calendar of events.
Unsubscribe from newsletters and disable notifies
Although you may have had good intentions when subscribing to a newsletter or other e-mail list these are often distracting and often clutter your e-mail. Unsubscribe from any newsletter you haven't been reading.
The same is true for notifications from social network sites such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter you may be receiving. Disable all notifications about posts made on your wall, new friends or followers, etc. Not only do these clutter your inbox they'll often distract you.
Don't reply to spam
If spam sneaks past your protection or rules never reply to it. delete it.
Keep at it but not too much
Try to read your e-mails at least once daily or every hour depending on the amount of e-mail you receive.
However, don't live in your e-mail. Create a schedule where you check your e-mail in regular intervals and then ignore it all other times. If you have any notification about new incoming e-mails disable these or close your e-mail program or e-mail web page.
Delete some more
Finally, if after following all the above steps you still have e-mails that are weeks old delete them. If you have a hard time deleting e-mails create a folder and move all old e-mails into that folder. Often after a few weeks have past the e-mail becomes too old to reply to.

Eliminate most if not all spam e-mail

Google gmail spam 
Eliminate most if not all the spam e-mail you receive by using Google Gmail as an e-mail filter. Gmail has one of the best if not the best spam filtering systems and can be used to filter your e-mails even if you're not using it as your primary e-mail client. We were successfully able to block 99% of the spam we receive daily as shown in the picture to the right. To set this up follow the below steps.
POP/IMAP users
If you're using a local client such as Outlook or Thunderbird to send and receive you're e-mail and not a webmail service. It's likely you have a POP e-mail address. To get your e-mail from a POP server follow the below steps.
  1. Create a Google Gmail account if you don't already have one.
  2. Click Settings in the top-right portion of the Gmail screen.
  3. In the Settings window click the Forwarding and POP/IMAP link.
  4. Click the Add button Under the Check mail using POP3 section and go through the steps of getting your e-mail from the POP server. You'll need to know your POP server address such as mail.yourisp.com and the password you use to connect to that server.
After doing this you can still continue to use Outlook, Thunderbird or other local e-mail client. However, instead of getting your e-mail from your ISP or other e-mail server you'll get it from the Google server, which will only download the filtered e-mail. Steps on configuring your POP client can be found on the Gmail supported POP client list.
Webmail users
If you're webmail service that is not providing good enough spam protection many of them will allow you to forward incoming e-mails to your Gmail address. Unfortunately some of these services such as Yahoo mail and other clients do not offer a forwarding option or POP option for free. For services that do not offer a free forwarding option you may wish to consider moving that account to Gmail.
Moving your webmail to Gmail
  1. Click Settings in the top right portion of the Gmail screen.
  2. In the Settings screen click the Accounts and Import link.
  3. Click the Import mail and contacts button and follow the wizard to import all your Yahoo mail contacts, e-mail, and have a notification sent to users that you're moving from one webmail service to another.
Business and corporate e-mail users
If you're trying to clean up your spam for all your employees we suggest looking into Google Apps. A very cheap and effective solution for managing e-mail.
Tip: If you're wanting the e-mail to appear as if it is coming from another address and not your Gmail follow the below steps.
  1. Click Settings in the top right portion of the Gmail screen.
  2. Click the Accounts and Import link.
  3. Add the address under the Send mail as section and that it is set as the default.
Finally, not only is this a great method of eliminating spam, but this can also be a helpful way of backing up e-mail you receive and if you're using multiple e-mail services can be a great way combining all of them into one.

Top 10 free PC programs everyone should have

There are millions of free and open source projects available, many of them better than any commercially available product. Below is a short listing of what we think is the best out there, broken down into ten categories.
antivirus and malware protection
Most PC users realize that they need protection on their computer or may have an installed antivirus program from their computer manufacturer. What most don't realize is that there are free programs that are just as good and in some cases better than the commercial products. Below are our recommendations
antivirus program: Avast! or AVG
Malware and Spyware protection: Malwarebytes
Backup solutions
There are dozens of free and commercially available backup programs for computers. Unfortunately many of those backups are stored locally, meaning if your house were to catch fire, get robbed, or if you lost your backup discs all your data would be lost. This is why when dealing with important data we suggest users use online backup services.
Online backup solution: Mozy or Dropbox
Browsers
Although Microsoft Internet Explorer comes pre-installed on Windows computers. There are several excellent free alternatives that everyone should try. These free alternatives can often be faster, have more options, and in many cases be more secure than Internet Explorer.
Internet Browser: Mozilla Firefox or Google Chrome
Compression utility
When downloading files on the Internet you'll eventually encounter a .zip, .rar, or other compressed file. Dealing with these files can be easy with our below free file compression utility.
File compression utility: 7-Zip
Disc ripper and creation utility
Creating an audio or data CD/DVD, ripping the data from an audio CD, or creating a CD from a .ISO file can also be done freely using our below free recommendation.
CD burner utility: CDBurnerXP
E-mail
E-mail is yet another service that can be done freely. Most users today use online e-mail solutions like the one listed below. However, for those still using an e-mail client such as Microsoft Outlook we strongly suggest one or both of the below suggestions.
E-mail client: Mozilla Thunderbird
Online e-mail: Gmail
FTP, SFTP, and SSH Utility
Users who maintain their own web page or need to upload or download files to or from a server will have to use an FTP utility or a SSH client. There are many commercial programs capable of doing this but our below free recommendations beats them all.
FTP client: Filezilla
SSH client: Putty
Image editor, paint program, and picture organizer
There are many great free solutions for editing, creating, and organizing your images on your computer. Many of the programs capable of doing these tasks can be several hundred dollars, but all of the below programs are completely free.
Image editor: GIMP
Paint program: Paint.net
Picture organizer: Google Picasa
Multimedia
There are dozens of different multimedia programs with different capabilities and limitations. Below are our top free multimedia programs for watching video files and recording audio.
Audio editing and creating tool: Audacity
Video and DVD Player: VLC
Office Suite
An Office suite such as Microsoft Office is often one of the most expensive programs that a user can install on their computer. Why install these expensive programs when there are free solutions that are just as good.
Office suite: OpenOffice
Notepad and Source code editor: Notepad++

Top 10 terms every parent of teenagers should know

Below is a listing of what we believe should be the top terms or lingo parents of teenagers should know. Knowing these terms can help you relate more with your child as well as help identify whey they may be hiding something from you.
Term Meaning
FOS
MOS
P911
PAL
PAW
PIR
TOS
CD9
Code9		 Parent, Teacher, or other Adult watching.
ASL
MorF
RUMORF		 Age, Sex, Location. Also in chat MorF or RUMORF is used to ask if male or female.
143
459
ILU		 I love you text message code.
F2F
LMIRL
MIRL RL		 Face to Face, as in lets meet in person. May also use MIRL, LMIRL, or RL, which is short for requesting to meet in real-life.
420 Marijuana or other drug related text message code.
Sexting
8		 Term used to describe the act of sending sexual, explicit, or pornographic messages or photos over a text message. The numeric code 8 is also used as code for oral sex.
GNOC
GYPO
NIFOC		 Get Naked On Cam. Also related is NIFOC, which is short for Naked In Front Of Computer and GYPO, which is short for Get Your Pants Off.
KPC Keep Parents Clueless.
RUH Are you Horny?
S2R
STR		 Send to Receive, used when asking for someone's picture in order to get theirs.

Top 10 Firefox add-ons

Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Firefox add-ons or extensions. Part of what makes Mozilla Firefox so great is all the available add-ons and installing these add-ons can help improve your abilities and the overall feel of Firefox. Each of these add-ons can be found through the Mozilla Firefox add-ons page or through the links provided below.
StumbleUpon
Great add-on that works with StumbleUpon that allows you to browse only the best of what the Internet has to offer.
StumbleUpon link
AnyColor
Another fantastic add-on that allows you to change the color and appearance of Firefox to any color of your choice.
AnyColor link
Download Statusbar
Often one of the first add-ons we install after installing Firefox for the first time. This add-on displays the download status on the status bar instead of opening a new download window.
Download Statusbar link
TinyURL Generator
Another great add-on that allows you to click a small icon in the bottom corner of the Firefox window to quickly generate a small URL for the page you're looking at. This is fantastic if you find yourself sharing long URL links often.
TinyURL Generator link
WOT
Fantastic add-on that helps keep your web surfing secure. The add-on will display a warning screen across a web page if it's deemed insecure. A security warning could be caused when the web page is known to participate in phishing, has Trojans, scams, etc.
WOT link
Omnibar
Another great add-on that turns your URL bar into a Google search as well as the address bar. This helps save your browser real-estate space by removing the redundant Google Search box.
Omnibar link
AutoCopy
Another great add-on that allows you to quickly copy and paste text. A must for any blogger who finds themselves frequently copying and pasting text. highlighting the text will immediately copy that text, without having to right-click and select copy or using a keyboard shortcut.
Add-on link
Adblock Plus
Another add-on that's a must for users who're sick of sites that plaster advertising on their pages. This great add-on allows you to add and remove advertisements from a web page so you don't have to look at them.
Adblock Plus link
Read It Later
Another great add-on that helps eliminate the dozens of tabs some users keep open because they haven't finished or started reading that tab.
Read It Later link
Time Tracker
Finally, this little gem allows you to keep track of how much time you're spending in Firefox by displaying a little clock in the right portion of the status bar.
Time Tracker link

Top 10 new computer user tips

Backup important data
A computer or its hard drive can fail at any time and without warning. When it does all your personal documents, letters, pictures, music, video, etc. is lost and in many situations cannot be recovered or costs a lot of money to be recovered. Make sure you have backups of all your important data so it is not lost when the computer fails.
Protect the computer
Make sure to protect your computer from electrical surges, brownouts, and black outs. At the very least, every computer user should have a decent surge protector on their computer and phone line if they use a modem. Surge protectors can help protect your computer during an electrical storm and could save you hundreds of dollars in repair, if it were to get damaged. It is also a good idea to have the computer running on a UPS, which can help prevent damage to a computer during a brownout or blackout.
Keep computer and its programs updated
There is no such thing as a perfect software program or hardware drivers. After the developer has released their program they may discover errors and release updates to fix these problems. In the case of major software programs and operating systems, there can be several hundred updates and service packs released during its life time. Making sure your computer and its programs are up-to-date can help prevent problems.
In addition to updating a program, programs that use other programs or plugins may also need updates, for example, it is very important to make sure all the plugins for your Internet browser are also up-to-date.
Keep the computer safe and be familiar with viruses, spyware, phishing and spam
Every computer connected to the Internet or other network need to be protected. If you're using Microsoft Windows, we recommend having some form of antivirus program installed and running on the computer. It's also a good idea to have a malware detection program running on the computer to pickup any spyware or malware that an antivirus may not have detected. Finally, every computer user should also be fully aware of other security risks such as chain mails, phishing, and spam while on the Internet.
  • What is a computer virus? 
A computer virus is a software program that has been intentionally created to cause a user grief, spread to other computers, or destroy data on an individual's computer. To help prevent a computer from becoming infected by a virus, software developers have developed antivirus programs that stay active on the computer helping to protect it. It is important to realize that many computers do not come pre-loaded with these already installed and that if computers do come with these programs, the programs may expire within 90 days.
  • What are the current available antivirus programs?
Company Windows Apple Linux Mobile Free?
ACD Systems Yes No No No No
AntiVir Yes No Yes No Yes
AVG Yes No No No Yes
Avira Yes No Yes Yes Yes
BitDefender Yes No Yes Yes No
ClamWin Yes No No No Yes
ESET NOD32 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
F-Prot Yes No Yes No No
Kaspersky Yes Yes Yes Yes No
McAfee Yes Yes Yes Yes No
MSE Yes No No No Yes
Network Associates Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Panda Software Yes No Yes No No
RAV Yes Yes Yes No No
Sophos Yes Yes Yes No No
Symantec (Noton) Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Trend Micro Yes No No Yes No
Vipre Yes No No No No
Webroot Yes No No No No

  • See the chain mail, malware, phishing, spam, spyware, and virus computer definitions for further information about each of these terms.
Read, understand, and watch for tricks
One of the most common mistakes new computer users make is agreeing to dialog text boxes, agreements, or other prompts without reading the dialog text box or understanding it. Before clicking any Ok or Install button, make sure you understand what you are doing. If you do not understand the prompt, click the Cancel button or close the box.
Also, while installing any program watch for any check boxes. Often free programs, plugins, and updates have check boxes that ask if it's ok to install additional programs onto the computer. For example, when installing the Adobe Flash plugin there is often a check box to install an additional antivirus, firewall, toolbar, or other program. If left checked (often checked by default), these additional programs will be installed and may cause problems or frustration because it is not something you wanted.
Clean the computer clean
Keeping the computer physically clean can help keep the computer running smoothly, help prevent issues such as over heating, and help protect you from getting sick. While cleaning the computer, it's also a good idea to clean the data on the computer. Microsoft Windows users can run ScanDisk to check the hard drive for errors and Defrag to keep the data on the hard drive organized. It's also a good idea to go through the installed programs and uninstall anything you no longer use.
Be familiar with free alternatives
Be familiar with and know about free alternatives to popular commercial programs. For example, almost every computer user needs a word processor program installed on their computer. Instead of purchasing Microsoft Office, which is several hundred dollars use a free alternative such as Open Office that is just as capable.
Take full advantage of all the mouse buttons and wheels
Many new computer users only use the left mouse button. Use the mouse to its full potential by also using the right mouse button to access the context menu. For example, if you highlight text and then right-click that text it will bring up a menu that will allow you to copy, cut, and perform many other options that text, the same thing applies to files.
Although most users already use the mouse wheel to scroll up and down on a web page, this wheel can also often be used as a third-button by pressing down on the mouse. Some computer mice also allow the wheel to be pushed right-and-left on to perform additional features such as moving forward and back on a web page.
Finally, many computer mice also have side buttons also known as thumb buttons that can be programmed to do any number of features, including going back on a web page or opening a magnifier.
Use included help files and the Internet
Every program includes some type of online help that can often be accessed by pressing the F1 function key while in the program or through the file help menu. If the included help does not answer your questions, searching the Internet or using online help services such as Computer Hope can answer those questions.
Become familiar with and use shortcut keys
Every computer user should become familiar with and use keyboard shortcuts. Knowing these shortcuts can drastically increase your productivity on the computer and make your overall computer experience much more enjoyable.

Top 10 online services and applications

Google services
Google has a wealth of free online services and applications that everyone should use. Below is a listing of some of our favorites.
  • Google Docs - Fantastic collection of free services including a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation service, online forms, drawings, and more. Each of these services can also be viewed and edited between multiple users.
  • Google Calendar - One of the best if not the best online calendars available to create appointments and even share events between other users.
  • Google Translate - Another fantastic free service by Google that allows you to translate any text, website, or document into another language with support of over 50 different languages.
  • Gmail - By far one of the best online free e-mail services with an almost endless list of features and probably the best e-mail spam filter.
  • Google maps - Excellent maps service that not offers updated maps, directions, satellite views, and even street views of much of the world.
  • YouTube - The premier location to share and view online videos.
RescueTime
RescueTime is an excellent service that can help keep you focused while on the computer and track how much time you spend on each task. This service keeps you focused while on the computer by only allowing you to perform productive tasks and can prevent you from accessing unproductive programs and websites. In addition, the site offers a wealth of graphs and data to see where you spend your time and can even keep track of how much time you spend on each web page you visit.
Download Windows, Linux, or Mac client and visit page
WOT
An excellent add-on that can be added to any major Internet browser including Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome that alerts you to any Internet page you are visiting that is not safe. This service works by allowing any user to create a comment and rating on any web site, which WOT uses to alert a user if the site is not safe. WOT protects you from any web page with malware, reported scam sites, sites that invade privacy, or conducts other fraudulent activities.
Visit and download WOT
Dropbox
Another great tool that allows you to share and sync any file between your PC, Mac, Linux, and Mobile device. Not only is this a great tool for sharing your files but it is also a great tool for backing up your data online.
Visit Dropbox
Grammarly
Fantastic service that checks for misspellings, commonly confused words, plagiarism, grammar errors, punctuation, and will even suggest alternative synonyms. A Microsoft Office add-in can also be installed to check any document you're working on within Office. Finally, with each suggested correction an explanation about the problem, examples, and the ability to ask the community is made available.
Grammarly Grammar Checker
Flickr
The most recognized and used services for exploring, sharing, and storing photos online. Thousands of pictures are uploaded to this website every minute, making it a fantastic place for inspiration for any photographer and a great place to store, show, and print your own images.
Flickr
Skype
Another great online service and tool that allows anyone to make phone calls and video calls between other Skype users over the Internet.
Visit and download Skype
Aviary
A fantastic online suite of tools including an image editor, effects editor, screen capture, vector image editor, image markup, color editor, and even an audio and music creator. Each of these programs is online and can be used through your browser.
Visit the Aviary suite
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is an online encyclopedia that has been generated using millions of different contributors around the world. Today the site now contains over 3.5 million different English articles on almost every topic imaginable and millions of other topics in dozens of other languages.
Read and edit Wikipedia
PayPal
The number one used service for taking and sending payments without using a credit card.
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Top 10 steps in writing an effective e-mail

Below is a listing of our top 10 tips for writing an effective e-mail. Following these suggestions will get you a better response from your e-mails and make e-mailing more enjoyable for you and your recipients.
Keep your e-mails short
Less is more. The shorter you can keep your e-mail while still relaying your message or question the better. At most we suggest no more than three paragraphs of text.
Make the subject line clear and easy to read
The subject of the e-mail should contain enough information to let the recipient know what the e-mail is about.
Make the e-mail personal
Always include the name or alias of the e-mail recipient. If you want the e-mail to be even more personal include your real name in the e-mail as well.
Watch your spelling and grammar
E-mail with spelling and other grammatical errors tells the reader it's not that important. Always spell check, keep the below suggestions in mind, and proof read the e-mail before sending it out.
  • Always use proper punctuation and capitalization.
  • Never use shorthand or acronyms people don't understand.
  • Do not WRITE IN ALL CAPS; it gives the impression you're YELLING.
Don't forward jokes and other e-mails
While you may find a joke funny or find an e-mail interesting or disturbing most people don't enjoy getting forwarded e-mails. Never forward e-mails to all your friends and family.
Remember e-mail isn't private
Realize that e-mail is not encrypted and can be forwarded to other people. Never send personal or company confidential data in e-mail.
Reply to e-mails effectively
When replying to e-mails keep the below suggestions in mind.
  • Try to reply to e-mails as quickly as possible.
  • Use the "Reply to all" option cautiously. Really make sure if there are multiple recipients in the CC that everyone really needs to see your reply.
  • Keep the e-mail thread (previous messages) in the body of the message and your response at the top. This helps remind the reader what the e-mail was about.
  • Do not over use e-mail program options such as "high-priority", "automatic replies", "read receipts", etc.
Keep the CC and BCC to a minimum
When using CC to send to e-mail to multiple recipients try to keep the list to a minimum. Often when someone sees more than four in the list they'll disregard it as not important or think one of the other recipients will take care of it.
Also, use BCC instead of CC when it's not important for the e-mail recipients to see whom the e-mail was sent to and to help keep everyone's e-mail addresses private.
Use plaintext instead of HTML
Always send your e-mails as plaintext. It may not be as pretty but it does allow the e-mail to be read easier and is often less distracting.
Use a clean signature
Signatures can be an effective method of displaying your contact information at the bottom of e-mails. However, follow e-mail signature etiquette when creating your own signature.

Top 10 Google Chrome tips

Know your keyboard shortcuts
Like any good browser, Google Chrome has several dozen different keyboard shortcuts that can help improve your productivity. Below is just a few of our top favorites.
Ctrl + 1-8 = Pressing Ctrl and any number 1 through 8 will move to the corresponding tab in your tab bar.
Ctrl + 9 = Switch to the last tab.
Ctrl + H = Show history
Ctrl + J = Open Downloads window
Ctrl + K = Move the cursor to the Omnibox (address bar)
Ctrl + T = Open a new tab
Full listing of Google Chrome shortcut keys
Shortcut Keys Description
Alt + Home Open your home page.
Backspace or Alt + Left Arrow Back a page.
Alt + Right Arrow Forward a page.
F5 Refresh current page, frame, or tab.
F11 Display the current website in full screen mode. Pressing F11 again will exit this mode.
Esc Stop page or download from loading.
Ctrl + (- or +) Zoom in our out of a page '-' will decrease and '+' will increase. Ctrl + 0 will reset back to default.
Ctrl + 1-8 Pressing Ctrl and any number 1 through 8 will move to the corresponding tab in your tab bar.
Ctrl + 9 Switch to last tab.
Ctrl + Enter Quickly complete an address. For example, type computerhope in the address bar and press CTRL + ENTER to get http://www.computerhope.com.
Ctrl + Shift + Del Open the Clear Data window to quickly clear private data.
Ctrl + D Add a bookmark for the page currently opened.
Ctrl + Shift + O Open the Bookmark manager.
Ctrl + J Display the download window.
Ctrl + K or Ctrl + E Move the cursor to the browser address bar.
Ctrl + N Open New browser window.
Ctrl + Shift + N Open a new window in incognito mode.
Ctrl + P Print current page or frame.
Ctrl + T Opens a new tab.
Ctrl + F4 or Ctrl + W Closes the currently selected tab.
Ctrl + Shift + T Undo the close of a window.
Ctrl + Tab Moves through each of the open tabs.
Spacebar Moves down a page at a time.
Shift + Spacebar Moves up a page at a time.
Alt + Down arrow Display all previous text entered in a text box and available options on drop down menu.

Use the Omnibox to do more than just search
Google Chrome Omnibox math operationsThe Google Omnibox does more than displaying the URL and allowing you to search. It is also capable of performing mathematical calculations (as shown in the picture) and even answer questions such as "how many cups are in 2 liters?" Try adding any math calculation now in the Omnibox without pressing enter to have the results shown.
Sync Chrome with your Google account
Chrome allows you to sync your settings, passwords, and bookmarks to your Google account. This is a great feature for anyone who switches computers (e.g. work computer and home computer) and needs access to all their bookmarks and account settings. You can log into your Google Account and adjust your sync settings by going into Settings under the "wrench"  Chrome wrench icon or "Menu" Chrome Menu button icon.
Pin your frequently used tabs
Pinned tabs
Pin your favorite tabs to save space on your tab bar without losing quick access to your favorite pages. In the above picture, you can see we have eight pinned tabs, which would have normally consumed our tab bar.
To Pin a tab right-click on any open tab and click Pin Tab.
Bonus tip: You can also click-and-drag a pinned tab to the position of your choice.
Use the Autofill feature
Use the Chrome Autofil feature for automatically filling out any online form with common fields such as your name, e-mail, address, etc. To enter the Autofill values follow the below steps.
  1. Click on the "wrench"  Chrome wrench icon or "Menu" Chrome Menu button icon in the top right corner.
  2. Click Settings
  3. At the bottom of Settings, click Show advanced settings...
  4. Click Manage Autofill settings under Passwords and forms.
  5. In the Autofill settings window, click the Add new street address button.
  6. Fill out all address settings you wish to be saved and click ok.
  7. Once complete try out your Autofill using the below form. To enter the values click on any of the below fields and select the name of your Autofill.
First name: Last name:
Address:
City: State: Zip:
Phone number: E-mail:
Resize text boxes
Chrome gives you the ability to resize any text field. This can be extremely useful for when you're filling out a form that doesn't seem big enough for all the information you're entering. To resize the text field click-and-drag the bottom right corner of the box. Below is a text field that can be used as an example.
Use the Chrome Task manager
Since each open tab runs it its own sandbox to help with browser stability, it can be difficult to see the overall system resources being used. For example, in the Windows Task Manager you will see multiple instances of Google Chrome running for each open tab.
Use the Chrome Task manager to show you how much memory and CPU resources each open tab and extension you have installed is using. To open the Task manager press Shift + Esc or Click on the "wrench"  Chrome wrench icon or "Menu" Chrome Menu button icon in the top right corner, click Tools, and then Task manager. If you want to get real geeky click the stats for nerds click at the bottom of the Task manager.
Quickly close a tab
Any tab can be closed by clicking on the x on the tab. However, there are much quicker ways to close a tab. For example, if you have a mouse with a wheel pushing in on the wheel anywhere on the tab will close the tab. The shortcut keys Ctrl + W or Ctrl + F4 will also close the current open tab.
Bonus tip: Middle-clicking on any link will also open that link in a new tab.
Use Chrome commands
Use the chrome:// commands to access many hidden features of Chrome. There is a few dozen of these commands available that will allow you to do everything from viewing DNS information, GPU information, look for conflicts, setting flags, and much more. A listing of these commands can be accessed by typing chrome://chrome-urls in the Omnibox.
Install Extensions
No Internet browser will have every feature you want, therefore we suggest visiting the Google Chrome Webstore to install free extensions for your browser. Today, there are thousands of available extensions, games, and other add-ons that can be installed into your browser.

Top 10 computer mouse tips everyone should know

Mouse click 
Most computer users don't take full advantage of the computer Mouse. Below are computer mouse tips and secrets that help you get the full potential of your computer mouse and increase your overall productivity while on the computer.
Shift key and mouse click
Many text editors and programs allow you to highlight all or portions of text using the Shift key and the mouse. For example, place the cursor at the beginning of a paragraph in a text editor, hold down the Shift key and click at the end of the paragraph to highlight the full paragraph.
Bonus tip: Holding down the Alt key while dragging and highlighting text in a text editor will allow you to selectively highlight text. This can be useful if your paragraph or other text is in a column.
Take full advantage of the scroll wheel
Today, everyone is familiar with a mouse wheels ability to scroll up and down on a page. However, this wheel can also do so much more, below are just a few examples.
  • The mouse wheel is not just a wheel, it can also be used as a button. Pressing down on the wheel will act like a third mouse button. This can be used to open a web page in a tab by clicking the wheel on any link and can also be used to close a tab by clicking the wheel on any open tab.
  • Holding down the shift key while scrolling up or down in a Internet browser will quickly go back and forward between web pages.
  • Zoom in and Out on a web page, word document, excel spreadsheet, etc. by holding down the Ctrl key and scrolling up to zoom in and down to zoom out.
  • Move forward and backwards while browsing the Internet by holding down the Shift key and scrolling up and down. Scrolling down goes back and scrolling up goes forward.
  • Some mouse wheels can be pushed left or right to also move back and forward on a web page.
Select with double and triple click
Any word can be selected by double-clicking the word. If you want to highlight the whole paragraph, click the mouse button three times on any text in the paragraph.
Tip: If you double-click you can also double-click and then drag your mouse to select one word at a time.
Use the right-click
Take full advantage of the right-click any time you highlight text or wish to view the properties of an object. For example, if you highlight a file or text, you can right-click that highlighted item copy it and then right-click anywhere else to paste it.
Tip: If you right-click on any file or text and drag it while continuing to hold the right button, when you let go you will be given the option to move or copy that file or text. This saves you the extra step of having to right-click where you want to paste the item.
Tip: While in a browser pressing and holding Ctrl while clicking on any link will open that link in a new tab.
Ctrl key and mouse click or highlight
While holding down the Ctrl key you can left-click to select multiple objects or highlight multiple sections of text. For example, in Microsoft Windows you could hold down the Ctrl key and click to select multiple files at once. If you wanted to highlight different parts of a paragraph or web page, you could also hold down the Ctrl key and select each section you wanted to copy.
Tip: Mozilla Firefox users can also hold down the Ctrl key and individually click on each cell in a table they wish to copy or drag their mouse down a row to select just that row or text without selecting any of the other text in that table.
Use the mouse side buttons
Many new computer mice have buttons on the side of the mouse. These buttons can be programmed to do anything, however, by default the left-thumb button can be used to go back on a web page. This makes browsing the Internet more enjoyable since you do not need to move the mouse cursor to the browser back arrow button in order to go back a page.
Use the Windows Snap To feature
Take full advantage of the Windows mouse Snap To feature, which will automatically move your mouse to buttons that appear in a dialog box. For example, if you delete a file or close a window you may get a prompt asking you if you are sure you want to perform the task. With the Snap To feature enabled, the mouse cursor automatically moves to the Ok button, so all you will have to do is click the mouse button if you agree. This saves you the time of having to move the mouse cursor over to the Ok button and then click Ok. To enable this feature open the Mouse properties under the Windows Control Panel and check the Snap To check box under the Pointer Options tab.
Tip: While changing this feature we also suggest looking at other available options in the Mouse settings. For example, increasing the Motion speed can also help increase your productivity while using the mouse.
Manage the open window with the mouse
Double-click the top title bar of any window to maximize a window or if it is already maximized resize it to a window. You can also double-click the icon for the window in the top-left corner of the window to close that window.
Move the mouse with your keyboard
Instead of using the mouse that came with your computer you can also enable Windows to use the number pad as a mouse.
Customize your mouse
Finally, if you have a mouse with more than two buttons, installing the included mouse software will allow you to customize the mouse even more. For example, if you don't use the side buttons to move back and forth in a web page change it to something you do more often, such as switching between open windows or opening the calculator.

Top 10 Internet tips and tricks

You don't need the http:// portion of a web page
When typing an Internet address you do not need to type http:// or even www. in the address. For example, if you wanted to visit Computer Hope you could just type computerhope.com and press enter. To make things even quicker, if you're visiting a .com address you can type computerhope and then press Ctrl + Enter to type out the full http://www.computerhope.com address.
Quickly move between the fields of a web page
If you're filling out an online form, e-mail, or other text field you can quickly move between each of the fields by pressing the Tab key or Shift + Tab to move back a field. For example, if you're filling out your name and the next field is your e-mail address you can press the Tab key to switch to the e-mail field.
Tip: This tip also applies to the buttons, if you press tab and the web developer has designed correctly the button should be selected and will allow you to press the space bar or enter to push the button.
Tip: If you have a drop-down box that lists every country or every state you can click that box and then press the letter of the state or country you're looking for. For example, is a drop-down box of States in the United States you could press u on the keyboard to quickly scroll to Utah.
Use Internet search engines to their full potential
Make sure to get the most out of every search result. If you're not finding what you want try surrounding the text in quotes. For example, if you were searching for 'computer help' this actually searches for pages that contain both computer and help and not necessarily pages that have computer and help next to each other. If you search for "computer help" with the quotes around the search query this will only return pages that actually have computer and help next to each other.
Tip: Many new computer users also don't realize that in every search box you can press enter instead of having to move the mouse button over to the Search button.
Protect yourself and avoid bad web sites
  • How can I protect myself while online?
  • Avoid Internet phishing.
  • Protecting children from harmful material and people on the Internet.
Know your Internet browser shortcuts
There are dozens of different shortcut keys that can be used with Internet browsers. Below are a few of our top suggested Internet browser shortcuts.
- Pressing Alt + D in any major Internet browser will move the cursor into the address bar. This is a great way to quickly enter an Internet address without having to click the mouse cursor in the address bar.
- Hold down the Ctrl key and press the + or - to increase and decrease the size of text.
- Press the backspace key or hold down the Alt key + left arrow to go back a page.
- Press F5 to refresh or reload a web page.
- Press F11 to make the Internet browser screen full screen. Press F11 again to return back to the normal view.
- Press Ctrl + B to open your Internet bookmarks.
- Press Ctrl + F to open the find box in the browser to search for text within the web page you're looking at.
Take advantage of tabbed browsing
Take full advantage of tabbed browsing in all Internet browsers today. While reading any web page if you come across a link you may be interested in open that link in a new tab so it can be viewed later. A new tab can be opened by holding down the Ctrl key and clicking the link or if you have a mouse with a wheel click the link with the middle mouse button.
Try alternative browsers
Most computer users use the default browser that comes included with the computer, with Microsoft Windows this is Internet Explorer. There are several great alternative browsers that are all free to download and use and may have features your current browser does not include. Below are a few of our favorites, try one or try them all.
Install plugins and add-ons
Each of the above alternative browsers also have a large community of volunteers who develop add-ons and plugins that can be added into the browser. Each of these browsers have hundreds of thousands of these add-ons that can do such things as giving you live weather in your browser window, changing its color, and adding additional functionality.
Make sure your browser and its plugins are up-to-date
Each Internet browser can have several additional plugins that give it additional functionality. For example, Adobe Flash is a great way to bring movies and other animated content to the Internet. Keeping these plugins up-to-date is vital for your computer stability and also security. Using the below tool you can quickly verify if your plugins are up-to-date and get links to where to download the latest updates.
Use online services
There are hundreds of free online services that can help make using your computer easier, more productive, and more enjoyable.

Top 10 Facebook tips

Below is a listing of our top 10 tips for the popular social networking website Facebook.
Hide users, games, polls, etc.
It quickly gets annoying seeing some users posts, game invites, polls, etc. Hovering your mouse to the right of the post and clicking the Hide button as shown below can hide any post. Once this button is pressed you'll be prompted with the option to hide that user or in the case of a Facebook application the option to hide that application from ever showing up on your profile.
Hide Facebook users, games, polls, etc.
To unhide someone or unblock an application click the Edit Options link in the bottom right corner of the news feed as shown below.
Facebook unhide friends
Greasemonkey and FB Purity
Although Facebook does not allow the ability to hide friends getting new friends messages, friends becoming fans of something, and some application messages they can still be hidden with browser add-ons. If you're running Mozilla Firefox, Chrome, Opera, or Safari we suggest installing the Facebook Purity add-on.
Update your privacy settings
Click Account in the top right corner of the Facebook window and then click Privacy settings to adjust who is capable of seeing what on your Facebook profile. We highly recommend going through all the privacy settings to verify your privacy is properly protected.
Anything that is not set to friends only or friends of friends can be seen by anyone searching on the Internet. Below is a few things we recommend for most users.
  1. Under Search in Privacy settings uncheck Public Search Results. This will prevent users from finding your account and profile picture in search results such as Google
  2. Under Application settings, make sure you're only allowing applications you want to have access to your information. Applications that you grant rights to can have access to your Facebook profile information.
Use the Facebook top bar for navigation
Facebook navigation
Knowing how to properly navigate is vital if you want to get the most out of Facebook. Below is a brief description of each of the available options in the top bar as shown above.
Home (facebook logo) - Clicking this logo will take you to your wall (News Feed) that shows all friends recent posts.
Friend requests - If any friend requests are waiting to be approved this icon will show a notification of how many friends are waiting for approval. This icon can also be clicked when you want to view any friend recommendations or search for friends on Facebook.
Messages - This section allows you to send and receive private messages between one or more people you're friends with.
Notifications - Any time a friend or Facebook application creates a new post you'll be notified in this section. Clicking this icon will show all recent notifications. If you wish to change what is capable of sending you notifications including any Facebook applications or games click the See All Notifications link at the bottom and check or uncheck what you want to be notified on.
Search - Finally, the search box in Facebook can be a powerful tool that can be used to quickly find any current friends or people on Facebook. In addition searching for terms such as a company name, product, sports team, music band, etc. will find fan pages and groups that can be joined.
Modify your account notifications
Keep your e-mail and your cell phone clean by updating or eliminate Facebook notifications or keep more up-to-date by adding new notifications. Facebook notifications can be added and removed by clicking Account link in the top right corner, then Account Settings, and then clicking the Notifications tab.
Top News and Most Recent
Facebook News and most Recent
By default Facebook will display your wall postings in the News format, which means it only displays posts it believes are most relevant to you. These results are based on your past interaction with your friends. If you want to see every post made by all your friends that are not hidden click the Most recent link in the upper right section of your news feed as shown in the above picture example.
If you want to adjust who shows up manually click the Edit Options in the bottom right corner of your news feed.
Facebook unhide friends
View High School work friends
If you've added your High School or previous Work locations to your profile, quickly see all classmates and co-workers on Facebook by clicking the link in your Info tab under your profile.
Quickly change profile picture
Your profile picture can be quickly changed to any other picture by visiting your profile, hovering the mouse over your current profile picture, and clicking the Change Picture link that appears in the top right corner of the picture.
Don't post private information on friend's walls on in comments
When you make a post on a friend's wall or in any of their comments realize that any of their friends are going to be able to see that post. If you wish for something to remain only between you and a friend send them a Facebook message instead.
Suggestions and random friend invites
As you get more friends on Facebook it will begin making friend, groups, and fan suggestions. These are suggestions made by Facebook and not your friends. Unless these are something you're interested in they can be ignored.
This same rule can be applied to people who may want to be your friend that you don't know. If you don't know someone don't accept his or her friend invite. Once someone becomes your friend they'll have access to any information your friends are capable of seeing.
Tag your Facebook friends in your photos
Always make sure to tag any of your Facebook friends that are in pictures you upload. However, never tag someone who is not in the picture. When someone is tagged in a photo that picture is automatically added to that persons profile and is a great way to share pictures with all friends.

Top 10 Windows 7 tips

Top 10 Windows 7 tips

Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts
Use the below Windows 7 keyboard shortcuts to make the most of your Windows 7 experience.
Windows key and the arrow keys
Pressing the Windows key and Left or Right arrow keys will dock the window your viewing to the left or right-hand side of the screen. Pressing the Windows key and the Up arrow will maximize a window and pressing the Windows key and the Down arrow will resize and then minimize the window.
Use Shift: To stretch a window vertically, press the Windows key + Shift + the Up arrow. If you have multiple monitors use the Windows key + Shift + the Left or Right arrow keys to move the window to another monitor.
Windows key and plus and minus keys
If you ever need to zoom in or out of what is being displayed on your screen press the Windows key and the + (plus) or - (minus) keys. Pressing the plus zooms in and once zoomed in the minus will zoom out.
Clear all background programs
If you are not viewing a window in full screen and have other windows open in the background clear all background open windows by pressing the Windows key + the Home key.
  • Full listing of computer shortcuts
Use the Windows 7 search
Find and run anything in Windows by using the Windows 7 search box. Click the Start orb or press then Windows key and type the name of the program you wish to run or file you wish to edit. Windows 7 will usually do a good job at finding an exact match and simply pressing enter will execute that program or open that file. If more than one match is found, use the up and down arrow keys to select the file you wish to open and then press Enter.
Windows 7 search box
Running as administrator: Some programs may require administrator mode in order to function properly. You can run any program as administrator from the search box by typing the name of the program you want to run and then instead of pressing Enter to run the program press Ctrl+Shift+Enter to run as administrator. If you want to click and run a program as administrator hold down the Ctrl+Shift and then click the icon.
Take full advantage of the Taskbar
Pin programs to the Taskbar
All programs can be pinned to the Taskbar and allow easy access to your favorite programs without having to use the Start Menu. To Pin a program to the Taskbar right-click on the program or shortcut to the program and in the menu choose the Pin to Taskbar option. Alternatively you can also drag the icon to the Taskbar.
If you want to remove a pinned program, right-click on the Taskbar icon and click Unpin this program from the Taskbar. Alternatively you can also drag the icon off of the task bar and then click Unpin this program from the Taskbar.
Move the icons and pinned programs
Any pinned or opened program on the Taskbar can be moved and arranged. Left-click on any icon on the Taskbar and drag it to the location you want it to remain.
Windows key and a number
Pressing the Windows key and a number on the top row of your keyboard will open the Window corresponding to the open program on your Taskbar. For example, in the below picture of the Windows 7 Taskbar, Firefox i the first icon, Control panel is the second icon, and Adobe Photoshop is the third icon. If the Windows key + 3 was pressed, Adobe Photoshop would become the active window. To make it even easier arrange your icons (as mentioned above) from left to right by most frequently opened.
Windows 7 Taskbar
Pin your favorite folder
If you frequently access the same folder (e.g. your favorites, my documents, Dropbox, etc.) pin the folder to the Windows Explorer icon on the Taskbar. To do this drag your favorite folder to the Taskbar until you see Pin to Windows Explorer. Once pinned, right-click the Explorer icon to access that folder under the Pinned section.
Open a second instance
If you want to open a second instance or window of a program that is already open, press and hold the Shift key and then click the program icon on the Taskbar.
Get to the Desktop
Click the Desktop button on the far right edge of the Taskbar to get to the Desktop.
Windows 7 notification area aka systrayCustomize the Notification area
Windows Vista and Windows 7 allow the Windows Notification area (aka Systray) to be modified. By default, many of the icons shown in the past are now hidden and give Windows a much cleaner look. Customize this area to make icons show or not show by clicking on the up arrow next to the icons and selecting Customize, as shown in the picture to the right. Once in Customize you can choose what programs show, don't show, or only show notifications.
Improve the quality of your text
Use the Windows ClearType Text Tuner to improve the overall quality of all text you read on your screen. To start the ClearType Text Tuner click the Start Orb and type cttune.exe and press Enter.
Enable and disable Windows 7 features
Turn on and off Windows features by clicking Start, typing features and press enter. In the Programs and Features window on the left-hand column click Turn Windows features on or off and in the Windows Features box check or uncheck the features you want enabled or disabled.
Use the Reliability and Performance Monitor
View the reliability history of your computer by using the Reliability Monitor. Click the Start orb and type reliability and press enter for View Reliability History. In the Reliability Monitor, you'll be able to view the overall reliability of your computer and be able to identify any past problems your computer has had.
If you want to view the performance of your computer in real time use the Performance Monitor. Click the Start orb and type performance and press enter for the Performance Monitor. In the Performance Monitor, you can view your computers performance in real time or view a log of your systems performance.
Re-enable underlined keyboard shortcuts
File menu underlined shortcutsBy default, Windows 7 has the underlines for keyboard shortcuts like those shown in the picture to the right disabled. To re-enable these underlines in all Windows programs follow the below steps.
  1. Open the Control Panel
  2. In the Control Panel click Ease of Access
  3. In Ease of Access click Change how your keyboard works
  4. Finally, check the Underline keyboard shortcuts and access keys and then click Ok.
Rename multiple files at once
To change the name of multiple files at once highlight all the files you wish to rename in Windows Explorer and press the F2 key. Type in the new name you wish to use for all files and press enter. Once done all files will be renamed to the name entered followed by a unique number.
Install Windows Essentials
Install missing Windows software by installing the free Windows Essentials software package that includes: Windows Live Family Safety, Windows Live Mail, Windows Live Messenger, SkyDrive for Windows, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Photo Gallery, Windows Live Writer, and Microsoft Outlook Hotmail Connector.

Top 10 Twitter tips and tricks

Twitter 
Below is a listing of our top 10 favorite Twitter tips and tricks. These tips will help make your Twitterexperience more enjoyable and can help increase your followers.
Customize
  • Change your profile picture. Use a picture of yourself to make it seem more personalized if this is your personal Twitter account.
  • Utilize as much of the 160-character limit Twitter BIO space allows. Include keywords your followers or potential followers may be searching for.
  • Create your own background image. However, do not make the image too much like an ad or sales pitch. The background image must be less than 800k and we recommend a size of 1600x1200 for a large image or smaller if you plan on tiling the image or just having it on the left-hand side. Finally, keep in mind that smaller resolutions and monitor sizes will hide much of the background.
Third-party tools
Take advantage of the hundreds of different third-party online tools and services that enhance your Twitter experience. Below are a few of our favorites.
  • TwitPic - Take advantage of TwitPic to post pictures on your tweets. If you want to post pictures while away from the computer, use the Twitterific app.
  • Qwitter - Great service that sends an e-mail any time someone unsubscribes from your Twitter profile and mentions a possible Twitter post you made that may have caused them to leave.
  • Manageflitter - Fantastic site for managing your followers and getting an easy to read overview of people not following you back, quiet users, and inactive users.
  • WeFollow - Great website that allows you to add yourself to a listing of Twitter users by tags you find interesting.
  • SocialOomph - Another great service with a collection of free Twitter tools including the ability to schedule when a tweets gets posted.
  • Tweetbeat - An excellent site that takes the trending topics on Twitter and gives you a clearer explanation of present and past trending topics.
  • TwitterMeme - Another great location to find the hottest links on Twitter.
  • Twitter Grader - Great service that grades any Twitter account and gives you additional details and ranking information.
  • Twitter Fan Wiki Apps - Finally, this wiki has a listing of several hundred different Twitter applications and tools for users wanting more.
Use Twitter search
Take full advantage of the Twitter search tool. Below are just a few tips that can help improve your search capabilities on Twitter.
  • Search for your website or blog URL and see if others are mentioning your page.
  • Search for anything near you by adding near:"city state". For example, typing near:"Salt lake city Utah" club would return current tweets that have happened in Salt Lake City, Utah with the keyword club in them.
  • Find people who you may enjoy following by searching for keywords that interested you.
  • If you do not want tweets with links add ? -filter:links at the end of your search query.
  • Need more options, use the Advanced Twitter search.
  • Any time you get excellent results click the "Save this search" button to save that search. These searches can then be found under "Saved Searches" on the right-hand part of your profile on the old Twitter interface or under the "Searches" tab next to your timeline on the new Twitter interface.
Followers
  • Engage followers.
  • Do not follow too many people. No one is going to follow someone who is following thousands of people but only has 10 followers.
  • Retweet interesting posts.
  • Retweet and participate in conversations with people with a lot of followers.
  • Realize it is impossible for anyone to read every tweet.
  • When first joining do not follow hundreds of people, doing this may mark you as a bot.
Create useful and interesting tweets
  • Try making all your tweets informative, useful, or funny.
  • Do not post mundane posts, e.g. eating a bowl of cereal.
  • Add hastags to your tweets. For example, if your tweet is about computers, consider adding #computer in the tweet.
  • Tweet frequently. No one is going to follow someone they do not know who has not tweeted in months. Try at the very least to tweet a few times a week or daily if you can manage.
  • Do not whine or complain. Everyone will unfollow anyone who constantly whines or complains.
  • Try making your valuable tweets during the times people will most likely see them.
  • Keep some space available in your tweet in case someone retweets your post.
  • Use special characters in your tweets.
Know the lingo
Know the Twitter lingo, these are just a few examples: @reply, Direct Message (DM), Follower, Hashtag, Retweet (RT), Trending Topics, and Tweet. See the Twitter description for a full listing of Twitter terms and Lingo and related terms.
Follow the masters
Following a few of the masters of Twitter and Social Networking will give you an understanding of how to tweet better, posts to RT, and inspiration for tweets of your own. Below are the top ten Twitters we recommend following.
@GuyKawasaki
@Scobleizer
@jeffbullas
@briansolis
@tonyrobbins
@kevinrose
@timoreilly
@donttrythis
@zappos
@brainpicker
  • Twitaholic - A full listing of the top users on Twitter based on Followers. This is a terrific service to find and follow the top users and possibly incorporate some of the ideas they are doing on their account.
Tip: Many of the first few hundred people are celebrities on Twitaholic, if they do not interest you skip the first page.
Create and use lists
Twitter list iconTwitter lists are an excellent method of filtering filter through the people you follow. To create a list, click the Lists link and then Create a list. After creating a list visit the persons profile page you wish to add and click the list icon.
Go Mobile
Apple iPhones, Blackberry phones, Android phones, Windows phone 7 phones, and most of the other smart phones have Twitter applications. Take full advantage of these applications. For users who do not have smart phones Twitter also has extensive support for SMS, which can send tweets over a text message.
Advertise
  • Mention your Twitter page as many places as you can, e.g. your business card, e-mail signatures, web page, blog, Facebook, etc.
  • Create a tweet button or at least your Twitter name on your pages, similar to the below examples.

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