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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. 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?

Mozilla Thunderbird

Thunderbird was previously found only as the e-mail component of the Mozilla Firefox web browser, but is now a standalone, full-featured email program. This email program is comparable to or exceeds its competitors, with good junk-mail filters, compatibility with RSS feeds, HTML support, and multiple identities. Thunderbird handles both POP and IMAP accounts admirably. Visually ahead of the game, Thunderbird's interface is a joy to use. The layout options allow mail to be viewed in various columned arrangements. Other features include message searching, saved-search folders, import tools, smart-address completion, labels, and return receipts. Home users looking for an alternative to Outlook Express will find Thunderbird to be a first-rate choice.

Free download

SAY WHAT!?

Sound Like a Computer Wizard

HARDWARE HELPER

Top 5 MP3 Players

Many prospective MP3/PVP buyers have been waiting patiently for this compact, easy-to-use, one-stop shop for media files--looks like the Toshiba Gigabeat S was worth the wait.

Specs: Portable media center, 2.4 in x 0.6 in x 3.9 in, LCD 2.4 in - Color, Hi-Speed USB, MP3, WAV, WMA, 5.3 oz

Get the affordable, sleek, and sexy 5G Apple iPod for its audio virtues. Although video looks great, poor video battery life and a relatively small screen hamper its appeal to video heads.

Specs: Digital player, None, AAC, MP3, WAV, AIFF, Audible, Apple Lossless, 60 GB, Lithium ion Rechargeable Player batteryIntegrated, 5.5 oz

Creative Zen Vision:M (30GB)

The dazzling, DRM-friendly Creative Zen Vision:M gives the iPod a run for the money as the current high-capacity WMA champ.

Specs: Hard drive, MP3, WMA DRM, WAV, WMA, 30 GB, Rechargeable Internal, 5.7 oz

The great-sounding Cowon iAudio X5 looks like an iPod killer on paper, but this palm-size music and video player suffers from mediocre music browsing and some key design missteps.

Specs: Hard drive, MP3, WMA, ASF, WAV, FLAC, 1 x Lithium ion Rechargeable Integrated, 6.35 oz

CNET Rating: 7.3 Very Good

The stylish and feature-packed Philips GoGear HDD6330 Jukebox is the closest that a WMA-compatible model has come to capturing the iPod's design appeal, but try the touch-sensitive interface before you buy.

Specs: MP3, WAV, WMA, Lithium ion Rechargeable Internal, 5.3 oz

SOFTWARE SEARCH

Adobe Acrobat 7.0

With the file formatting in Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional, your carefully written, thoughtfully presented, and beautifully illustrated presentation will come across in a Portable Document Format (PDF) file just as you intended it, no matter who reads it on what platform. And although some other software utilities now allow you to save or convert PDF documents and even let you do basic PDF work, Adobe's Acrobat line of products remains the premier option, with the latest productivity enhancements. The latest version adds new collaboration tools, organization, and other office-related features but at a price: system performance. Those with top-end PCs or Macs should have no trouble, but everyone else will notice some performance decrease with all the new bells and whistles within the Professional edition. Also available is the Standard version, which costs $200 less and sacrifices a few of the most workgroup-critical features but still provides the most essential functionality without as much of a performance hit.

The interface is unchanged from 6.0, with the exception of new toolbar buttons for Commenting and Markup, Send for Review, Security, Signature, and the single-button Create PDF option. There are also new tabs along the left side of the document window that allow you to access reader comments and file attachments.

Adobe Acrobat 7.0 Professional introduces a host of good new features. Adobe also claims that newly generated PDF files result in smaller file sizes than with previous versions of Acrobat, which is true, allowing you to e-mail or post larger documents than you could before.

Tight integration with Microsoft Office 2003 allows you to convert most Word, PowerPoint, and Excel files within the applications themselves to PDFs. Acrobat 7.0 can also make PDFs of captured Web pages--but only in the Windows version.

Acrobat 7.0 Professional also gains security features, including custom password protection for PDF files; a thumbnail-based organizer; new commenting tools, such as virtual sticky notes; and the ability for users of the free Acrobat Reader 7.0 to review documents and add their own comments. Collected reader comments then appear in their own PDF document, which you can search and index later--handy for office collaboration on team projects.

CNET Rating: 7.6 Very Good

Read the full review, click here.

WEB WARY

Viruses, Hoaxes, and Scams

How To Recognize a Hoax Email

Probably the first thing you should notice about a warning is the request to "send this to everyone you know" or some variant of that statement. This should raise a red flag that the warning is probably a hoax. No real warning message from a credible source will tell you to send this to everyone you know.

Next, look at what makes a successful hoax. There are two known factors that make a successful hoax, they are: (1) technical sounding language, and (2) credibility by association.

If the warning uses the proper technical jargon, most individuals, including technologically savvy individuals, tend to believe the warning is real. For example, the Good Times hoax says that "...if the program is not stopped, the computer's processor will be placed in an nth-complexity infinite binary loop which can severely damage the processor...". The first time you read this, it sounds like it might be something real. With a little research, you find that there is no such thing as an nth-complexity infinite binary loop and that processors are designed to run loops for weeks at a time without damage.

When we say credibility by association we are referring to who sent the warning. If the janitor at a large technological organization sends a warning to someone outside of that organization, people on the outside tend to believe the warning because the company should know about those things. Even though the person sending the warning may not have a clue what he is talking about, the prestige of the company backs the warning, making it appear real.

Both of these items make it very difficult to claim a warning is a hoax so you must do your homework to see if the claims are real and if the person sending out the warning is a real person and is someone who would know what they are talking about. You do need to be a little careful verifying the person as the apparent author may be a real person who has nothing to do with the hoax. If thousands of people start sending them mail asking if the message is real, that essentially constitutes an unintentional denial of service attack on that person. Check the person's web site or the person's company web site to see if the hoax has been responded to there. Check hoax and scam web sites to see if it has already been declared a warning or a hoax.

Hoax messages also follow the same pattern as a chain letter. Chain letters and most hoax messages all have a similar pattern. From the older printed letters to the newer electronic kind, they all have three recognizable parts: A hook, a threat, and a request.

The Hook
First, there is a hook, to catch your interest and get you to read the rest of the letter. Hooks used to be "Make Money Fast" or "Get Rich" or similar statements related to making money for little or no work. Electronic chain letters also use the "free money" type of hooks, but have added hooks like "Danger!" and "Virus Alert" or "A Little Girl Is Dying". These tie into our fear for the survival of our computers or into our sympathy for some poor unfortunate person.

The Threat
When you are hooked, you read on to the threat. Most threats used to warn you about the terrible things that will happen if you do not maintain the chain. However, others play on greed or sympathy to get you to pass the letter on. The threat often contains official or technical sounding language to get you to believe it is real.

The Request
Finally, the request. Some older chain letters ask you to mail a dollar to the top ten names on the letter and then pass it on. The electronic ones simply admonish you to "Distribute this letter to as many people as possible." They never mention clogging the Internet or the fact that the message is a fake, they only want you to pass it on to others.

When in Doubt, Don't Send It Out.

Why People Send Chain Letters and Hoax Messages

Only the original writer knows the real reason, but some possibilities are:

To see how far a letter will go.
To harass another person (include an e-mail address and ask people to send mail).
To bilk money out of people using a pyramid scheme.
To kill some other hoax or chain letter.
To damage a person's or organization's reputation.

With thousands of viruses worldwide, virus paranoia in the community has risen to an extremely high level. It is this paranoia that fuels virus hoaxes. A good example of this behavior is the "Good Times" virus hoax which started in 1994 and is still circulating the Internet today. Instead of spreading from one computer to another by itself, Good Times relies on people to pass it along.

Test your gullibility regarding hoaxes and urban legends - click here.

To read more about viruses and scams, click here.

ASK TIZZIE

From the Email Files of our Resident Computer Monster

Question:

What are RSS feeds and how are they used?

Tizzie's Answer:

RSS is an acronym for Really Simple Syndication and Rich Site Summary. RSS is an XML-based format for content distribution. Webmasters create an RSS file containing headlines and descriptions of specific information. While the majority of RSS feeds currently contain news headlines or breaking information the long term uses of RSS are broad.

RSS is a defined standard based on XML with the specific purpose of delivering updates to web-based content. Using this standard, webmasters provide headlines and fresh content in a succinct manner. Meanwhile, consumers use RSS readers and news aggregators to collect and monitor their favorite feeds in one centralized program or location. Content viewed in the RSS reader or news aggregator is known as an RSS feed.

RSS is becoming increasing popular. The reason is fairly simple. RSS is a free and easy way to promote a site and its content without the need to advertise or create complicated content sharing partnerships.

RSS Uses

RSS started out with the intent of distributing news-related headlines. The potential for RSS is significantly larger. Consider using RSS for the following:

New Homes - realtors can provide updated feeds of new home listings on the market

Job Openings - placement firms and newspapers can provide a classifieds feed of job vacancies

Auction Items - auction vendors can provide feeds containing items that have been recently added to ebay or other auction sites

Forum Headlines - support forums can provide a listing of new forum threads

Product Sales or Specials - one look at Amazon opens the mind to the endless product sale potential using RSS. Currently Amazon is delivering a headline-view of the top 10 bestsellers in that category or set of search results.

Airlines - report flight delays

Schools - schools can relay homework assignments and quickly announce school cancellations.

Entertainment - listings of the latest tv programs or movies at local theatres

Press Distribution - feed for press with new releases

News & Announcements - headlines, notices and any list of announcements

Document listings - lists of added or changed pages, so that people don't need to constantly check for updates

Bookmarks and other external links - perfect for sharing lists of external links

Calendars - listings of past or upcoming events, deadlines or holidays

Law Enforcement - let the community know of location and status of sex offenders as they move into a community.

Search results - to let people track changing or new results to their searches

TIPS AND TRICKS

Insert a Blank Line in a Word List

Are you in the middle of writing a numbered or bulleted list and want to insert a blank line to make the list more readable? If you press ENTER, you just add another list item. If you press ENTER twice, your cursor will move out of the list, which is not what you want.

Instead, while you are in the middle of typing a list, press SHIFT-ENTER and your cursor will stay in the list and move down a line without inserting another bullet or number. Press ENTER and a new bullet or number will form. This can be useful in case your lists contain items several sentences long, as blank lines between items may make your lists more readable.