In this month’s group, we talked about and demonstrated how to set up a web page that can be personalized. I like to use a customized web page (portal) as my home page (first page that shows up when I start my browser). We looked at the Yahoo portal (My Yahoo) and the newer Google customized home page.
Both services require that you register and setup a user name and password. Once you register, you can customize your page to include weather information, stock portfolios, sports news and scores, news from industries or topics that you choose, comics, and even content from other web pages. Both services are free and give you the flexibility to add, subtract and edit any type of data that you choose.
After you sign in, first look for the "X" in the upper right hand corner of each content box. This "X" lets you close (remove) that section from your page.
Once you close all the sections you don’t want, look for the "edit" button on the sections you left to add, change or customize content for that area (add or subtract headlines or information for that topic area).
Next, click on the Add Content option to add additional topics to your customized page.
Use that Change Layout to customize colors, number of columns and more.
Last, both services let you drag and drop sections to arrange the order and position of your custom content.
One other way you can really add a personal touch to your custom home page (online newspaper) is by adding your own favorite content. The best way to do this is add RSS feeds to your page. Read our RSS tips for more information about this great service offered by many web sites: RSS – Part I, RSS – Part II.
Once you put all this work in to create a custom web page of information, make sure you change your browser’s home page to your new custom page (these steps will work in both Mozilla Firefox and Internet Explorer):
1. Bring up your new custom page
2. Click Tools –> Options from the menus
3. Click "Use Current" under the home page box.
4. Click Apply and OK at the bottom of the page
To see how all this is done visually, please watch our video below:
I’ve been meaning to share this great tool with you for a few years and somehow kept forgetting to do so. The Gmaps Pedometer is an easy to use tool that a runner put together using Google Maps to be able to quickly map out distances on city streets. The creator did a remarkable job of preserving the simplicity of Google while marrying it with a useful set of tools for exercise folks and tourists. I didn’t mention it in the video, but if you are touring a foreign city and want to know why your dogs are so tired at the end of the day, pull up Gmap Pedometer to see how far you walked! It works for any city in the world.
Harold (who was first because he paid a dollar), Alan, Patsy, Ceil, Rickenstien, Doris, Verlyn, Laurel, John, Richard, Jim, Tom, and Pat.
They asked questions about Gmail’s chat window, Excel, JAVA, printer problem with no details, inserting video into PowerPoint, saving photos from email, getting contacts off of iPhone to another phone, how to delete email without opening it, opening existing Word & Excel files in Ubuntu, removing browser toolbars, GoToMyPC.com security issues, Hotmail question in Firefox, and how to remove personal information Continue reading: Rick Answers His Email – Episode 075
I write about Internet security frequently because I see too many breaches of Internet security every single day. And by Internet security, I’m referring to keeping your computer free of spyware, fake security software and other annoying, time consuming, and expensive ailments that can strike your computer.
THESE TYPES OF INFECTIONS ARE PREVENTABLE.
First, I need to exempt Mac and Linux (Ubuntu) users from reading this article since they are almost entirely immune from these problems. Of course, if you are a Mac or Linux user and want to read on simply to gloat at how secure and easy your computing life is…feel free.
Back to my Windows readers. I don’t use all caps often, but I do want to reiterate that by educating yourself, you can avoid the costly and time consuming problems associated with malware infections. It is also important to know that there is not a security product on the market that can Continue reading: 7 Internet Security Tips to Save You Time & Money
After a two month hiatus, we finally got the show recorded today. And we are happy we did…tons of great calls today spanning everything from lost passwords to high speed Internet access. We squeezed in some social networking talk including the new Google Buzz, smartphone talk (yeah, we know…it’s a constant topic for us), and much more. Download the podcast or listen now!
Don’t forget to tune in live next month on March 17!
If you use a cell phone (you do, don’t you?), you should also be using your cell phone’s phone book (address book) feature. In it, you can store phone numbers, of course, but you can do so much more. Since there are a bazillion different cell phones on the market, I can’t possibly give you step-by-step instructions like I usually do.
You can keep these little hints in mind when using your phone’s address/phone book feature:
Always enter the area code for your entries…yes, even all the local people you add. When you travel out of your home area, you can’t dial from the phone book feature if the area codes aren’t entered.
Visitors who stop by HelpMeRick.com with any frequency the past 4-5 years know that I’m a huge cloud computing (using applications on the web versus installing programs) junkie. Today, I was reminded of one area where desktop applications still provide a better experience than the web…card, board, and casino games.
A client was frustrated with trying to play pyramid solitaire on a site that “used to work”. Thus one of the problems with web based gaming. Here are the other shortcomings of online gaming Continue reading: The web isn’t best for everything
Picasa made some nice changes last year with the upgrade to 3.0, then 3.5. My favorite has to be the new streamlined import feature. Admittedly, the previous import wizard was a little clunky and took a few times to become comfortable.
Not so with this newest version. To import photos using the newest version of Picasa, follow these steps:
Click Import button in the upper left corner of Picasa
Make sure the Import from box correctly identifies your device or memory card (usually does)
Make sure the Exclude Duplicates box is checked (it is by default)
Last summer, I wrote an article about a senior citizen client of mine who constantly struggled with her older Windows XP machine. Updates would cause problems, the printer would stop working, security woes plagued her. She turned out to be my poster child for using Linux (in her case Ubuntu 8.10). Check out the article (by the way, she is still doing fantastic with her computer and Ubuntu).
Today, I visited another of my Linux clients. This couple came to me about six months ago (they are both seniors as well and self-described computer newbies). They explained that computers frighten and intimidate them, but they felt compelled to have one so they could stay in touch with their kids and grandkids. They strongly desired to have a machine that was simple to use, maintain, and was safe. After much discussion, they decided to take my advice and dump their nearly 12 year old computer and Continue reading: Linux + Gmail = Computing Bliss
In this month’s group, we talked about and demonstrated how to set up a web page that can be personalized. I like to use a customized web page (portal) as my home page (first page that shows up when I start my browser). We looked at the Yahoo portal (My Yahoo) and the newer Google customized home page.
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HelpMeRick.com started as a monthly tip site for beginners in 1996, and now supports our popular call-in computer show, and hosts thousands of useful computer tips and links.