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WindowWalk Computer Education offers on-site courses and hourly training ranging from the basics to advanced "power user" features. We pride ourselves in making your computer education a fully personalized, comfortable, and convenient experience.

Visit on the web, send an email , or call 830-9336 to learn more about our effective software training or to give us your comments and suggestions.

Small Business Owners: WindowWalk Computer Education specializes in QuickBooks and Simply Accounting training to help make your and your tax preparer's task easier (and cheaper!). Take advantage of our instructor's 20+ years of small business and personal accounting experience.

Accountants: Do you have any clients whose computer files are not in the best shape? We can help. Our training is customized for each client's needs and we work directly with you to make sure the books are maintained to your requirements.

Beginners: Our Windows Foundation course gives you all the basics you need to use your computer. Learn about the internet and email with us and raise your comfort level until you are exploring on your own.

We want everyone to have a more comfortable experience with their computer. Call us today for a free assessment or consultation.

SURFIN' SAFARI

Some Useful and Interesting Web Sites

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Copernic Desktop Search 1.7

Copernic Desktop Search brings a search engine right to your computer and allows you to instantly search files, e-mails, and e-mail attachments stored anywhere on your computer. The application searches for Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files, Acrobat PDFs, all popular music, picture, and video formats, contacts, the browser history, and Favorites. It features a seamlessly integrated previewer that instantly provides you with a view of the file or e-mail you're looking for. The previewer highlights all search terms and automatically scrolls to the first use of these terms in a document, eliminating the frustration of having to read through endless text to pinpoint specific words.

Free download

SAY WHAT!?

Sound Like a Computer Wizard

HARDWARE HELPER

TOP 5 BUDGET SCANNERS

The Epson Perfection 3170 scans like a champ - and it's cheap, too.

Specs: Flatbed scanner, Desktop, 3200 dpi x 6400 dpi, Hi-Speed USB, Single-pass.

A nice buy for the penny-pinching hobbyist/amateur photographer who has moderate scanning needs.

Specs: Flatbed scanner, Desktop, 2400 dpi x 4800 dpi, Hi-Speed USB, Single-pass.

HP Scanjet 4670

HP's Scanjet 4670 is a must-have for those who want unique and stylish hardware. If you're OK with mundane, though, stick with the Epson Perfection 1670 Photo.

Specs: Flatbed scanner, Desktop, 2400 dpi x 2400 dpi, Hi-Speed USB.

Mobile professionals and students will love the low price, the portability, and the quality results of Visioneer's OneTouch 7300 flatbed scanner.

Specs: Flatbed scanner, Desktop, 1200 dpi x 1200 dpi, USB, Single-pass.

If you're looking for a portable scanner that doesn't skimp on style, you'll like the razor-thin Canon CanoScan LiDE 80.

Specs: Flatbed scanner, Desktop, 2400 dpi x 2400 dpi, Hi-Speed USB, Single-pass

SOFTWARE SEARCH

Railroad Tycoon 3

As much play as "tycoon" has had in PC game titles over the last few years, it can be easy to forget that the term had another life before defining a game genre led by mass-market bestsellers like RollerCoaster Tycoon and Zoo Tycoon. Railroad Tycoon 3 can claim an older and more authentic tycoon heritage as much because of the series' more than decade-long history as the fact that it deals directly with the cutthroat business practices of 19th-century industrialists like Cornelius Vanderbilt and his ilk. While it builds on nostalgia for powerful steam locomotives and for earlier days when the business landscape was wide open and ripe with opportunities, it's even more than that, with missions that span two centuries of railroading. Even though the impressive new 3D engine makes the trains plenty interesting to watch as they roar by, this isn't a strict simulation for train lovers so much as a strategy game of business and building challenges. But as such, Railroad Tycoon 3 is a breeze to get into and will offer anyone hours of enjoyment.

Railroad Tycoon 3 covers a lot of ground without miring you in details best left for unseen assistants. With a design that streamlines a big chunk of micromanagement, it's big-picture time and the task at hand is laying down the background for industrial progress. There's no need to have played PopTop's Railroad Tycoon 2 from 1998, but those who have will--after the shock of the major graphics overhaul wears off--quickly notice that managing cargo loads is much simpler. There are also many more industries to build in the extra time freed up by not micromanaging payloads, and structures can be placed anywhere on the map and not just in the station. These changes, plus enhancements to the economic model, work to create better pacing and a more interactive world.

Never has there been a tycoon game this visually attractive or effectively designed to minimize micromanagement. Railroad Tycoon III is surprisingly easy to learn for a game of its scope, and it has something for anyone with a fondness for trains or for making loads of money--which means just about everyone.

CNET Rating: 8.7 Excellent

Read the full review, click here.

WEB WARY

Viruses, Hoaxes, and Scams

Email Spam Types

There are a large number of email spam and scam messages that bombard our inboxes every day. These messages fall into several broad categories that can be your guide to help you know when it is legitimate advertising or a spam/scam message. The following categories of messages arrive by the dozen daily in our inbox, thanks to "email harvesters" that compile lists of email addresses found on web sites.

"Quick Fix" Drugs

Viagra, Cialis, and Hoodia are, by far, the most proliferate of the messages we receive daily. These messages usually include a link to a web site. The web site may contain viruses or may entice you to give personal information and money. At the best, it would simply verify your email address as "live".

Mortgages

You are guaranteed a very low rate for a mortgage on your home regardless of your credit rating. These messages have strange subject lines and are from different senders each time. We have yet to find a business or contact name anywhere in the message and haven't been tempted to click the web site link.

Fake Products

People will try to sell anything via email because the cost to send millions of messages is virtually non-existent. If even one person responds to these messages, it is well worth the effort for the spammer. The most common products we see are fake Rolexes and Gucci handbags.

University Degrees

Yes, you can get a degree from an "accredited" university by simply paying a low fee. Colour printers can produce very authentic-looking degrees and this is what you will get, if you receive anything at all.

Cheap Software

All of the most expensive and sought-after software, including Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop, is available in these messages. Again, if you receive anything, it would be illegally copied CDs which the software companies do not support.

Penny Stocks

Would we all be millionaires by now if we had only invested in these "hot" email stock tips? The trick to these is that when people buy stock the price does rise, then the originator of the scam sells a large amount of stock bought at no or little cost and the price plummets, losing all of your money. Of course, many of these emails are just simple scams to get your money.

Scams

By far, the most popular scam email that we receive are variations of the Nigerian Scam. A banker or lawyer somewhere in the world has access to millions of dollars due to someone who died in a well-documented plane crash and left no will or next-of-kin. They are willing to share the money with you if you will present yourself as the deceased next-of-kin and claim the money. These are dangerous scams and have costs lives as well as large amounts of cash.

Another scam we've seen a lot lately, is a message asking us to represent a foreign business to collect and send money from their customers. We are always amazed that anyone would fall for this considering the ease of international banking.

Lotteries

We win "foreign" lotteries nearly every day. In fact, one day we won five times in five different lotteries. You are told that your email address was attached to a number and entered in a lottery. Various reasons are given for why email addresses would be collected and entered in a lottery for free. Your number always wins staggering amounts of money. What amuses us is how they always ask you not to tell anyone about your winnings until they can contact you and "verify" that you are the winner.

What To Do

We are frequently asked how to stop the spam from coming and, unfortunately, can only tell you that the best defense you have is your delete button. Do not respond to these messages for any reason. "Remove from list" and "unsubscribe" links will often only increase the number of these messages you receive.

Unfortunately, the "bad" spammers are making it very difficult for legitmate email marketing messages to get through to you. Much as flyers arrive in your mailbox, local businesses (like this one) offer newsletters and promotions via email. Legitimate email will have contact information and real subscription options that give you control over what you receive in your inbox.

To read more about viruses and scams, click here.

ASK TIZZIE

From the Email Files of our Resident Computer Monster

Question:

What programs do I need to create and/or edit a basic web site?

Tizzie's Answer:

Beginners should probably start out with free programs to design and publish their first web site. Netscape Composer (available in versions prior to Netscape 8) is a good way to get familiar with designing a web site. Composer is very user-friendly and doesn't require a lot of knowledge of HTML code (the language used to write web pages). Once you have designed your site, you can publish it very easily with a simple program called CoreFTP. You can view and manage both the files that are viewed on the internet and the files that are stored on your computer. You will need a web host (server) to store your files for viewing online. We use Nitrotek, a very good local web host.

TIPS AND TRICKS

Select Multiple Items in Windows Programs

Once you have multiple files selected, you can perform any file management task on all of them at once. For example, you could delete all of the selected files with one click of the mouse button. There are two ways to select multiple items in any Windows program:

To select a list of consecutive files: Click the first item in the list and move to the last item in the list. Hold down the Shift key on the keyboard and click the last item. The entire list is selected with two clicks.

To select multiple files that are non-consecutive: Click the first item and move to the next item. Hold down the Ctrl key on the keyboard and click each item that you want to select.