|
For many users the “bells and whistles” that come with a computer can seem to be more of a nuisance then anything else, but like any new technology, you will come to embrace them, tolerate them, or ignore them. As you use the computer the vocabulary associated with it will eventually stop sounding like a foreign language, and phrases such as Cut & Paste will come to have purpose and meaning. For instance; it is customary that any word on any web page that is underlined or in a different color is a link. A link is a connector to another place and that place may be in another website or another place within the website you are on. Sometimes link’s break. Some links are toxic and should be avoided, by hovering your mouse on the link you can reveal its address, look for misspelled words, long sets of seemingly random numbers and letters, and the obvious - if you expect the link to take you to www.Adobe.com and the revealed address is www.djhguyerioonsdfjh.exe - DON”T GO THERE! In this example the end tag “.exe” stands for “executable”, you absolutely do not want to “accidentally” click on an executable file as it most likely will be an infection.
It should be noted that many, many books have been written with the idea of helping every level of computer user. Your local library, bookstore, office supply store, and especially your friends may have just the publication you need, including dictionaries for words and terms.
Using the Internet; click here
Using Outlook Express; click here - we know this is really dated technology but the description will loosely apply to Windows Mail and Windows Live Mail and even Outlook to some extent.
ACK would be happy to help you gather the answers to your computer questions. The answers can also be found on the world wide web. Which, of course brings us to - How do I (safely) surf the web?
Let’s start with access to the web; if you are reading this page from our web site then perhaps you can skip this part. Keep in mind everything from the web is suspect - whether you suspect it is good or suspect it is bad is a decision you will need to make time and time again. “Consider the source”, are words to live by in terms of trusting the information. With regard to whether a site is going to infect your computer; your Spyware and antivirus protection should be protecting you, if you do not have such protection please see our Freeware page.
Please understand this fact; any Anti-virus or Spyware vendor that claims they will protect you 100% from everything is telling you an untruth. Someday there may be perfection in this commodity but as of this writing that time has not yet come.
It is ACK’s recommendation to clients that they begin using a subscription based protection service such as McAfee or Norton, as well as a second or even third “on-demand” service (as found on our Freeware page) to augment this paid subscription service.
The information below came as a result of searching the web using Google ™ but there are many “Search Engines” available such as; AOL.com MSN.com, and Dogpile.com to name a few.
Safe Surfing has many rules but the basics are:
- Do not give out your Social Security number to anyone other then the Federal Government or your State Government and even then you might consider calling the contact number and giving it directly to an authorized person.
- Do not give out any banking or credit card information unless you absolutely trust the receiver - such as reputable on-line shopping vendors or another banking concern.
- Close those Pop-Ups by right clicking on their icon at the bottom of your viewing screen - sometimes the “X” in the corner is a way to get information from you.
- Check authenticity - Don’t download everything that just appears on your screen.
- As soon as you THINK your computer might be infected run your anti spyware, anti ad ware, or anti virus scan program - don’t wait just because it is automated.
- If it seems invasive or if you have a doubt - close it out!
- Change your passwords every so often and do not give them to anyone other then your authorized technician - like those guys over at ACK Computing ...
- Yes, you can get “hacked” even with safeguards in place but it takes a lot of effort.
- If a site asks you to enable an “Active X” control, think twice about saying yes. Most sites will allow you to see their site without the Active X being installed
- If you use a wireless connection configure the connection to be “Secure”; your wireless network should require a Password before another computer can use it.
Back to Top
As to the use of Microsoft Office; ACK can provide an overview of their usage and/or you can go on line to get more help.
* The sites below came after a search through Google ™ , these sites are for reference use only and are in no way connected to ACK Computing nor are they endorsed by ACK. We strongly suggest you do your own search for newer material.
MS Excel - * http://www.usd.edu/trio/tut/excel/
MS Word - * http://www.baycongroup.com/wlesson0.htm
If you ever wondered who puts all this stuff on the net; a lot of it comes from vendors themselves. Some content may come from University’s or other institutions but it also comes from individuals - check credentials before you BELIEVE everything you read on the net . Please remember that just being on the Internet does not necessarily make it the truth. Find the author and Google them for more information.
ACK Computing 802 485 4352
Back to Top
|
