Computer Terms

*Bandwidth - Bandwidth refers to the speed that data can be transferred between computers on a network. The "higher" the bandwidth, the faster the transfer speed. Regular modems would be a low bandwidth device whereas a DSL modem would be considered a higher bandwidth device.

*Broadband - You probably hear a lot about "broadband". It's in the news, scattered throughout computer magazines, and mentioned on thousands of different websites. Broadband is a term that can refer to all the high speed connections that are currently available. Stuff like cable modems, DSL, satellite, and other high speed internet connections are considered broadband connections. A 56K connection is not. It is also used to describe the type of media you might get with the afore mentioned high speed connections. Stuff like high quality video, audio, communications, or even TV.

*Browser - A browser is what you use to surf the web. There are all sorts of them out there. The most common is Microsoft Internet Explorer, but you also have Netscape, Opera, SmartBrowse, Mozilla and others. In addition, your Internet program may have a built in browser (AOL, Compuserv). Basically, if you're on the web, you're using some species of web browser. In fact, you're reading this in your web browser.  Some people confuse their web browser with their homepage. To make sure you aren't one of them, see Homepage.

*Cookie - When you hear the term cookies applied to the internet, it's generally not in reference to the gooey chocolate chip variety. A cookie used on the internet is basically a small text file that is placed on your hard drive by a web server. They are used to keep track of various aspects of your travels through the site in question.

They can be used to keep track of passwords, shopping patterns, what type of pages you like, your preferences for that particular site, and more.

For example, if you've ever "joined" any kind of site that requires a login and password, you've probably noticed a "click here to remember your login information" checkbox (not all sites have it, but most do). The site remembers this info by using cookies.

Another example would be a site that you can customize to your liking. If you have a site that "remembers" what type of news, sports ,weather or other preferences you like, they are probably using cookies to do this.

The disadvantage of course is that these sites get a little bit of information about you, especially how you are moving through the site. A cookie by itself can't read (or damage) your hard drive. They only way a site gets personal information about you is if YOU provide it. I don’t worry  much about cookies. In general they are more helpful than harmful. They don’t take up much space on your hard drive. If you're worried about your privacy, don't give out any personal information. If you delete out all of your cookies (toss your cookies?) you may find that sites you use all the time no longer recognize you or remember your password. 

*Clipboard - The Windows clipboard is used to temporarily store stuff. This "stuff" can come in the form of just about anything. Images, files, documents, etc - they can all be placed on the clipboard. Once something has been copied to the clipboard it can be pasted into another location.

For example, lets say you were working on a report in MS Word (this tip isn't just for MS Word, the clipboard works with everything) and you would like to quote some information you uncovered on the web. Rather than printing out the web page and re-typing the block of text you would like to quote, you can highlight the text on the webpage and copy it to the clipboard (highlight by holding down your left mouse button and dragging it over the section of text you would like to have. Copy it by right-clicking that section of text and selecting Copy from the menu that pops up).

Now, head back to MS Word and position the cursor where you would like to insert the text. Hit CRTL-V (or click the Edit menu, Paste), and presto, the web page text you copied has now been pasted into your Word doc. Note that the clipboard is not a regular program that you can see, it works in the background and is part of the windows system. When you copy stuff to the clipboard, it's kept in your computers memory. Bad thing about that is that if you copy a big file to the clipboard, then paste it, the big file sits there until something takes it place. If you want to free the system resources that are being taken up, copy a small piece of text or even a desktop icon to the clipboard. The big file will be purged and the new one won't bog you down.

*Copy - Copy is a command found under the Edit menu of most apps. Its function is to copy information to the windows clipboard for later retrieval while leaving the original item intact.

*Cut - Cut is a command found under the Edit menu of most apps. Its function is to take a selection, remove it from where it's at and stick it on the Windows clipboard for later retrieval (pasting).

*Desktop - The Desktop, basically, is where all your icons live (stuff like the Recycle Bin sit on the Desktop). It's the "background" area you see when your computer first boots up before you run any programs.

*DLL Files - DLL files (Dynamic Link Library), are basically "support" files for some types of software. They are generally (but not always) found in your Windows System directory.

They work like this. Let's say a program needs to perform an operation.

Rather than all the coding being built into the program, it uses a particular DLL file that, with a simple call, can perform the operation for it. Saves lots of programming time, especially since many of the common DLL files are installed with Windows.

I've also had lots of people ask about deleting these files. Well, the best advice is not to, since many of your DLL files are used by more than one program. Going through and deleting the ones you *think* aren't being used anymore is a lot like getting under the hood of your car and yanking wires that don't look important.

If you're really concerned about stray DLL files, make sure you run uninstall programs. Most programs include an uninstall program that will (should) take out all the extra DLLs

*Drag & Drop - Drag and drop is a procedure where you grab something (selected text, a file, a picture, or whatever) and drop it into a new location.

To drag and drop, click the item you want to drag to the new location with your left mouse button. Now, keeping that mouse button pressed down, move the item to where you want it to be. Once you're hovering over its new home release the left mouse button and it'll be "dropped" into place.

*E-Mail Attachment - An e-mail attachment is a file you include with an e-mail. For example, let's say you have a text document you want to share with someone. You can "attach" this document to an e-mail and send a copy of it off to them (usually you do this by clicking a "paper clip" icon somewhere on the new message screen). A word of caution though. Keep an eye on the size of the file you're sending. Your recipient may not appreciate downloading a 3 meg file

*Explorer (Internet Vs. Windows)- What's the difference between Windows Explorer and Internet Explorer? The Internet Explorer program is for surfing the web. The Windows Explorer is used for exploring the files, folders, drives, and directories on your computer.

They work very much alike. For example, click the Back button on Internet Explorer and you go back to the previous web page. Click the Back button on Windows Explorer and you go back to the previous folder (or file).

*File Associations - A file association is an association between a file and a program.  When a file type is associated with a program your computer knows what program to open in order to view or modify a file when you double click on it even if the program is not open.  For example:  If you have a letter file or some other document on your desktop and you double click the icon your computer will open your word processing program (usually Word or WordPerfect) to access the file.  If you click on a file which is a photograph or picture your computer will open a picture viewer or photo editor.

*File Extensions - File extensions are the three letters that come after the dot in a file name. For example, a setup program might be called something like setup.exe. The ".exe" is the file extension.

Extensions are used to let the computer know what type of file it's dealing with. For example, if it's a ".jpg" file, the computer knows it's an image file. If it's an ".exe" file, the computer knows it's a program.

In “windows explorer” you can view the file extensions by clicking on “tools” then “folder options”, click on the “view” tab and uncheck the box in front of “Hide extensions for known file types”

It's important not to change file extensions unless you have a compelling reason to do so. Changing the extension can (and usually do) make the file unusable.

*History - History generally refers to your browser's history. Every time you visit a web site, your browser stores the site address (and all the pages visited on that site) in a history file. This comes in real handy when you're trying to remember the cool site you were visiting the other day.

To access it in Internet Explorer, hit the little "history" button (looks like a sundial) on your toolbar (or hit the View menu, Explorer bar, History). A little panel will pop up on the left side of the screen to display your history.

If you want to check your history in Netscape 6, hit the Tasks menu, Tools, History. A new window will open with a list of all your recently visited sites.

*Homepage – This one can be confusing. It is the page that first displays when you open your web browser. It can also refer to the first page of a website.

Most of the time, you can change your browser homepage. For example, if you want to change the page using Internet Explorer, you would click the Tools menu, Internet Options, then type in the web address you want in the address window. Or browse to the page you want to use, then go to Tools, Internet Options and click on “use current”, hit ok and you’re done.

*Paste - Paste is a command found under the Edit menu of most apps. Its function is to take information from the Windows Clipboard (the information was placed on the clipboard via a Cut or Copy command) and place it into the current document, folder, etc you're working on

Web Browsing Tips
Want to see more of a webpage and less of the Internet Explorer tool bars? Just hit F11 on your keyboard to toggle between full screen and normal views. You can also control which options you have in the toolbar by right-clicking on the blank area of the toolbar then left-clicking on customize. In the Window which opens, you can add or remove option for the toolbar. In the full screen mode the task bar (usually on the bottom of the screen) is in auto-hide mode. You cannot see it unless you move your mouse pointer over it. You can also set the toolbar to auto-hide in the full screen mode by right-clicking on a blank area of it and selecting “auto-hide” by left clicking on it.

Internet Explorer Tips
Want a new homepage? Grab the little blue “e” at the left side of the address bar window by placing your mouse pointer on it and holding the left mouse button down. Drag it to the “Home” icon and release it. You will get a pop-up message asking if you want to set your homepage to the page you have open. If you do, click on yes. You’ve now changed the page which will open when opening Internet Explorer.

Files Associations
Do your .jpeg picture files open in your web browser instead of your photo editing software? Or maybe you just installed a new program and have decided you like and old one better but your computer opens the new program every time you click on a file of that type.

Windows uses file associations to link specific file types to specific programs. Once a file association has been created, Windows will always open the associated program when opening a file of that type by clicking on the file in an email attachment or from Window Explorer or “My Computer”.

To open a file or picture with a different program if you use Windows XP, right click on it and then select the option “Open with”. Another window with each available program should open. If you want to change the file association so it always opens with the program you want instead of the current one, click on “Choose program”, highlight the program you want, check the box that says “Always use the selected program to open this kind of file” and click “Ok”.

If you use Windows 98 and want to open a file with a different program, you will need to left click once to select the file, then hold the “shift” key down while right clicking the file. “Open with” is an option in the pop-up menu.

Computer Tips
Ctrl/left click,  Any of you who have taken my basic computer file management classes should remember that left clicking while holding down the ctrl key can be used to mark multiple files for deleting, copying or moving when using windows explorer or ‘my computer’.  Did you know this also works for highlighting complete paragraphs when working in ‘Word’ or when viewing web pages in internet explorer?  In ‘Outlook Express’ it selects all of the text in the open message readying it for copying to clipboard so you can paste it into a new message or into a ‘Word’ document.

Special symbols, Do you need to insert special symbols like ‘infinity’(∞), ‘square root’(√) or currency symbols (€,₤)? In ‘Word’ just click on “Insert”, then on “Symbol” to open a special window allowing you to select the symbol you need, highlight it and click on “insert” then close the window.  For you keyboarders who don’t need to use a mouse hold the “alt” key and type ‘i’ the ‘s’ to open the symbols window.

If you don’t use ‘word’ or can’t find the symbol you want try going to Start>Programs>Accessories>System Tools>Character Map.  You can copy any symbol from this window to clipboard for use in another word processor or email program. Would you have looked under “System Tools” for that!! I know I would not have until someone told me! I thought “System Tools” was for things like ‘scandisk and defrag”

Backup! Backup! Backup!  Whether you are running a multi million dollar business or just saving digital photos to a personal computer backing up your data is something you need to be doing regularly.  Having your photos, documents, spreadsheets and other data backed up can make recovering from a virus or a hardware failure relatively easy and painless.  Floppy disks, usb drives, zip drives, tape drives, cd’s and dvd’s all work as backups. For most people writeable cd drives is the way to go. They are cheap and easy to use.  Most newer computers come with a cd/rw (cd rewrite drive). If you don’t have one you can add an internal cdrw for $40 to $50. An external cdrw will run about $100 but can be used with multiple computers or with computers that don’t have space for an internal drive.  A cd won’t work for backing up a complete hard drive but at 650 mb will hold a lot of photos, documents and spreadsheets.  If you are looking at backing up mp3 or music files, a cd will normally hold about 24 songs.  If you use rewritable cd (cdrw) rather than a recordable cd (cdr) you can rotate between 2 or 3 cd’s so if something would happen to ruin one during backup (virus or hardware failure) you would only lose what had been saved to your harddrive since your last backup. Even if you want to just make double backups or use a new cd every time the cost is low. Cdr’s cost about 25 cents per cd. Cdrw’s cost about 75 cents each.

Emoticons
What are emoticons?  (:I   Emoticons are those little groups of symbols you sometimes see in email messages, chatrooms or in the text of some webpages. :-)  When we speak to someone face to face we “read” emotions through facial expressions, body language and voice tone.  When emailing or chatting through text emoticons can be used to let the recipient know our emotions.  Some email programs and some chatrooms and bulletin boards have smiley faces or other icons to choose from on a toolbar in the program.  Others don’t have that option but will convert emoticon symbols into smiley faces when viewed by the recipient.   If you would like to know what the emoticons you’ve seen mean or would like to learn them so you can include them in your next email or chat, here is a website for you.

http://www.windweaver.com/emoticon.htm

Eyewitness to History
Ever wonder what it would have been like to witness the destruction of Pompei by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius?  Or what it was like in the Whitehouse with President Theodore Roosevelt and his family?

The website Eyewitness to History  is an indexed and cataloged site of eyewitness accounts of many events through history.  Many of the accounts are diary entries or letters written to friends or relatives describing the events.  This is a neat site for those interested in history in general or just in a particular event. It is also a good site for students who need a first hand insite into an historical event for a school project.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/

Sharing Printers
Have you got more than one computer and would like to use the same printer or scanner on each of them without setting up a network or switching cables each time you want to use it on the other computer?  If your printer or scanner is relatively new it probably uses a USB cable to connect to the computer.  USB hubs are readily available to connect multiple USB devices to a single USB port. I use one at home to connect a printer and a scanner to the same port on my computer. By locating it beside my monitor on my desk it also make a convenient place to plug in my digital camera when I want to download pictures.  The problem is that while this allows me to connect multiple usb devices to one computer it does not allow me to connect them to more than one computer except by networking.  You can now purchase a USB switch which works opposite of a hub allowing you to plug two computers into one USB device. For individuals who do not want to network the computer on which they keep their financial information this would be a great way of sharing printers and scanners without worrying about security and hackers.

Free Software?
It’s often said “There’s no such thing as a free lunch.” That is mostly true for “free” software too. Most free software is now supported by “ad-ware” or “spyware”.

Ad-ware and spyware are programs which track your internet surfing and allow companies to send you pop-up ads which are at least somewhat related to your web surfing habits. In many cases if you identify and close or remove the ad-ware or spyware, the original program you downloaded for free will no longer work. In addition to providing you with annoying pop-ups, many of these programs can overload your computer making it run extremely slow.

Many internet service providers recommend installing Ad-Aware or similar anti-spyware software. Northwest Communications Cooperative offers a download link for Ad-Aware on their webpage at www.nccray.com.

Some others are Spy Sweepers, Spyware Eliminator, Antispy, Spy Hunter and Ad-Aware Pro. Most cost round $30, some have annual subscription fees. Many offer free demo versions, which work fine but do not automatically update to stop new spyware programs.

A good website to check out the features of various anti-spyware programs is http://www.anti-spyware-review.toptenreviews.com. Another good site for similar information and virus removal tools is www.pchell.com

How Old is A Web Page?
Ever find a webpage with exactly the information you’ve been looking for and then find out later the information was 2 or 3 years old?

Here is a little code which you can type into the address window of your web browser (Internet Explorer, Netscape or other): javascript:alert(document.lastModified). Hit enter or “go” and a window pops up giving you the date the page was last modified.

Instead of typing this every time you want to use it, you can add it to your favorites then just click on it whenever you visit a webpage where you would like to know the date. To add this to your “Favorites”, click on “Favorites”, then click on “Add to Favorites”. You will see the title of the currently loaded web page in the name box. Change the name to “Date”. Click “OK”. You’re almost done! Click on “Favorites”, then on “Organize”. Find the favorite titled “Date” and right click on it, then left click on “Properties”. Change the URL: to the code show above and click “OK”. Try it out on a couple of your favorite websites.

I’ve tried this using several different web browsers on quite a few different websites and multiple pages of the sites. It works great unless the page has java script built into it providing either today’s date or the last date you visited it (information the site reads form a cookie it previously left on your computer).

Dan Folske
Extension Agent/Burke County
Soil Conservation Technology Specialist
PO Box 280
Bowbells, North Dakota 58721
dfolske@ndsuext.nodak.edu
701-377-2927