Keyboard Shortcuts For I.E., Safari, And Firefox

Short Tutorial - Keyboard Shortcuts For Internet Explorer, Safari, And Firefox

Microsoft Corp. provides simple keyboard shortcuts for its Internet Explorer browser. Likewise, Apple's Safari browser and Mozilla's Firefox browser provide similar shortcuts. Use these easy keystroke shortcuts and you may never need to use your mouse again — well, almost never. Here are a few of the more commonly used shortcuts for each of these browsers:

Safari MACINTOSH

Shortcuts for . . .

Finding things:

* Press on the "CMD" key and the "F" key to open a "Find" box. This allows you to find words located on the web page you currently have open.
* Press on the "CMD," "Option," and "F" keys simultaneously to select the Google search box.

Moving within a web page:

* Press on the "tab" key to move forward through the items on a web page.
* Press on the "Arrow" keys to scroll up, down, left, or right within a page.
* Press on the "Option" and an arrow key to scroll in larger increments.
* Press on the "Page Down" key or "Space bar" to scroll down a screen.
* Press on the "Page Up" key or "Shift" and the "Space bar" to scroll up a screen.

Moving between web pages:

* Press on the "CMD," "Shift," and "]" keys simultaneously to select the next tab.
* Press on the "CMD," "Shift," and "[" keys simultaneously to select the previous tab.
* Press on the "ESC" key (the Escape key) to stop a web page from downloading.
* Press on the "CMD" key and the "N" key to open an additional browser window.
* Press on the "CMD" key and the "W" key to close the current browser window.

Internet Explorer WINDOWS

Shortcuts for . . .

Finding things:

* Press on the "CTRL" key and the "F" key to open a "Find" box. This allows you to find words located on the web page you currently have open.

Moving within a web page:

* Press on the "tab" key to move forward through the items on a web page.
* Press on the "up arrow symbol" to scroll up toward the beginning of a document.
* Press on the "down arrow symbol" to scroll down toward the end of a document. (You can also press on the space bar on your keyboard to scroll down the page.)
* Press on the "PAGE UP" key to scroll toward the beginning of a document in larger increments.
* Press on the "PAGE DOWN" key to scroll toward the end of a document in larger increments.
* Press on the "HOME" key to move to the beginning of a document.
* Press on the "END" key to move to the end of a document.

Moving between web pages:

* Press on the "CTRL" key and the "N" key to open an additional browser window.
* Press on the "CTRL" key and the "W" key to close the current browser window.
* Press on the "F11" key to toggle between full-screen and regular views of the browser window.
* Press on the "ALT" and "HOME" keys to go to your Home page.
* Press on the "ALT" and "Right Arrow" keys to go to the next page.
* Press on the "ALT" and "LEFT ARROW" or "BACKSPACE" keys to go to the previous page.
* Press on the "ESC" key (the Escape key) to stop a web page from downloading.

Firefox MACINTOSH and PC

Shortcuts for . . .

Moving between web pages:

Back

* (PC) Press on the "ALT" and "Left Arrow" keys to go back one page.
* (Mac) Press on the "delete" key to go back one page.

Forward

* (PC) Press on the "ALT" and "Right Arrow" keys to go forward one page.
* (Mac) Press on the "Shift" and "delete" keys to go forward one page.

Home

* (PC) Press on the "ALT" and "Home" keys to go to your startup page.
* (Mac) Press on the "Opt" and "Home" keys to go to your startup page.

Stop

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "." keys to stop a page from loading.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD" and "." keys to stop a page from loading.
* (BOTH) Press on the "Esc" key to stop a page from loading.

Close Tab

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "W" keys to close a tab.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD" and "W" keys to close a tab.

Close Window

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL," "Shift," and "W" keys simultaneously to close a window.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD," "Shift," and "W" keys simultaneously to close a window.

Next Tab

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "Page Down" keys to go to the next tab.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD," "Opt," and "Right Arrow" keys simultaneously to go to the next tab.

Previous Tab

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "Page Up" keys to go to the previous tab.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD," "Opt," and "Left Arrow" keys simultaneously to go to the previous tab.

Bookmarking . . .

Bookmark All Tabs

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL," "Shift," and "D" keys simultaneously to bookmark all tabs.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD," "Shift," and "D" keys simultaneously to bookmark all tabs.

Bookmark Current Page

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "D" keys to bookmark the current page.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD" and "D" keys to bookmark the current page.

View Bookmarks

* (PC) Press on the "CTRL" and "B" keys to view your bookmarks.
* (Mac) Press on the "CMD" and "B" keys to view your bookmarks.

Geek Daddy

Keeping your computer free of malicious software can be tough sometimes. Here is a website that helps explain clearly what you need to do and how to do it. The site also contains links to popular programs used to keep your computer running smooth.

GeekDaddy
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Unplug Your Computers/Modems/Phones - During Threatening Weather

Springtime starts off another season of electrical storms. Just a reminder from Connections, Etc. to unplug your computers, your modems (if you have an external modem), your fax machines, VCR's, cable outlets, and your phone when the weather looks threatening outside. A lightning strike to the electrical lines and/or phone lines leading to either your computer or external modem can cause serious damage - and even a fire!

An electronic surge protector which includes a built-in phone line protector is a great idea, but it does not provide a 100% guaranteed protection. So, unplug, unplug, unplug.


- The Connections, Etc. Internet Team

Ask The Help Desk - What is an RSS Feed?

Question: I've heard about people getting Web content via RSS feeds? What is an RSS feed?

Answer: RSS, which stands for "really simple syndication" or "RDF site summary," is an Internet-based information delivery system to which you can subscribe to have news and other information delivered to your computer, much like a newspaper delivered to your front doorstep.

RSS allows news website developers to distribute their news and information to customers who gather it in software known as "RSS readers." This information usually includes the news website's headlines and article summaries that you click on for more information.

If a website offers RSS subscriptions, it's usually indicated with some descriptive copy and an orange button labeled "XML" or a blue button labeled "RSS." Just click this button, then copy and paste the appropriate web address URL into your reader to visit the site and retrieve headlines and article summaries you have requested.



- The Connections, Etc. Internet Team

Short Tutorial - How To Speed Up Slow E-Mail

Granted, e-mail is much faster than snail mail. But even e-mail software can slow down if you don't keep up with maintenance on your database. Have you noticed any of these symptoms?

* Slow launching of your e-mail program
* Slow opening of links contained in e-mail messages
* E-mail messages not showing up properly or not showing up at all

If this sounds familiar, it may be time to do some maintenance on the database where your messages are stored. The best maintenance you can do is to delete old messages you no longer need and then "compact" your database. To do this, follow the steps below.

Cleaning Up and Compacting Outlook Express 6.0 When Using Windows XP Home Edition

1. With Outlook Express open, click your cursor arrow on the "Tools" menu and select "Options."
2. When the Options window appears, click the "Maintenance" tab.
3. About half way down the window you will see the "Clean Up Now" button. Click on it and the "Local File Clean Up" window will appear.
4. Click on the "Compact" button.
5. Click "Close" and then "OK."
6. Quit Outlook Express and then reopen Outlook Express.

Cleaning Up and Compacting Entourage 2004 When Using Macintosh OS X

1. While opening Entourage, hold down the "Option" key on your keyboard.
2. Select "Compact Database" by clicking on the radio button.
3. Click "Continue."

If compacting your Entourage database does not improve its performance, repeat the process. However, this time select "Rebuild Database" from the choices.



- The Connections, Etc. Internet Team

Ask The Help Desk - Why Can't I See Graphics In My Incoming E-mail Messages?

Question: Why can't I see graphics on incoming e-mail messages anymore? I used to be able to see them. I use Microsoft's Windows XP and Outlook Express.

Answer: Microsoft Corp. developed and released software called Service Pack 2 (SP2) for Windows XP users in the fall of 2004. Its purpose was to "patch holes" in some of Microsoft's software programs to help reduce the threat of e-mail viruses, e-mail worms, and hacker attacks. SP2 most specifically eliminated many of the vulnerabilities within its Internet Explorer browser and Outlook Express software programs. Most Windows XP users have since downloaded SP2.

One of SP2's protective measures for Outlook Express is to block images from being displayed within incoming e-mail messages as a default setting. Microsoft had discovered that some virus/worm threats arose from malicious code within the graphics of e-mail messages. Microsoft's solution was to prevent users from seeing any graphics within e-mail messages. This is probably the reason you are no longer able to see graphics within your e-mail messages.

Luckily, Microsoft provides an easy option to allow images to appear within messages, either on a per e-mail basis or for all e-mail messages. To see graphics within messages on an e-mail-by-e-mail basis, with your Preview Pane open, follow these steps:

1. Click your cursor arrow on the gray bar located just below the subject line of the message. It will say, "Some pictures have been blocked to help prevent the sender from identifying your computer. Click here to download pictures." If you click anywhere on this gray bar, the pictures for that particular e-mail will appear for as long as you have that e-mail open.

2. If you go to a different e-mail and then come back to this message, you will need to click on that bar again to see the images within the message.

Note: If you don't see the gray bar, open the message in its own window and follow steps one and two above. Otherwise, click your cursor arrow on the "View" menu and drop down to "Layout." When the "Window Layout Properties" window appears, make sure "Show preview pane header" is checked.

If you want to be able to see all pictures on all incoming e-mail messages that contain images, you can disable SP2's default blocking feature by following the steps below.

1. Go to the Outlook Express "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." When the "Options" window appears, click on the "Security" tab. About half way down the window you'll see an item titled "Download images." You will see a checkbox next to the words "Block images and other external content in HTML e-mail." If you uncheck this box, it will allow images to be viewed again just as it was before your SP2 update.

2. Click "Apply" and then "OK" to save your new settings and close the window.

Why you should Blog using Firefox.

Blogging, using Internet Explorer is wasting your time. "Time is money" We all know this. Firefox allows you to easily flip between many sites using "Tabbed Browsing" I know "Tabbed Browsing" has been talked about sooo much that it's getting old. Now IE is adding it, they're "keeping up with the Jones". So what. This is all about the extensions available in Firefox. Where to begin...

Extensions important to Blogging as I know it.

1. IE View This allows you to see how your site looks in IE with one simple click. The click opens the current page in IE so you can easily compare how it looks in the two browsers. Why this is important...approximately 15% of internet users are using Firefox so you want your site to look good there as well.

2. Context Search This allows you to highlight any word or phrase on any page and search it with your choice of search engines or even del.icio.us if you want.The results open in a new tab for your convenience. This saves many clicks and/or time typing into an address bar. "Time is money"

3. Session Saver This allows you to resume where you left off. What that means is you can reload all the pages you lost when you accidentially closed your browser or restore a single page that you accidentially closed. One click simple. This saves alot of time...I thought I would never use but it I have and I was thankful for it.

4. Just Blog It This allows you to highlight text on the net and post it right to your blog. 2 to 3 clicks and you have a new post. This works with an extensive list of blog hosts such as: Blogger, Movable Type, Drupal, Journalspace etc. The Blog host doesn't matter because you can input your own if it isn't in the list.

All told I think that using Firefox to do your Blogging could be an important step towards more enjoyable Blogging.

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Google talk/Gmail home made smily's

Just messing around with the new Gmail Google talk function and found out that if you type the old venerable smily :-) it spins upright so it is an actual smily face so to speak. The winking smily works also ;-) so does the frowning smily :-( but the winking, frowning smily does not. I would like to see how many other smily's and/or other simple emoticons work. If you find new ones please post them here and let everyone know. These only work if you are chatting through the Gmail interface. I haven't seen them in the Google talk pane yet.
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I guess I was a bit slow. 2 days slow in fact. Thats ok though, I'm not in someones hip pocket for the 411. Thought I had a good one though.
"D"

Turn Off E-mail Sound Alerts When Receiving Incoming E-mail

Most e-mail software programs are set as a default to check for incoming e-mail messages every ten minutes. If a message or messages have been received, an e-mail sound alert notifies the computer user that a message or messages are available for him/her to read. However, it can become somewhat annoying to hear these e-mail sound alerts going off every ten minutes. To turn off the audio on these e-mail sound alerts, follow the steps below.

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Outlook Express When Using Windows XP:

1. With Outlook Express open, go to the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." The "Options" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" tab.
3. Look for "Send/Receive Messages" and uncheck the box next to "Play sound when new messages arrive."
4. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Thunderbird 1.0.7 When Using Windows XP:

1. With Thunderbird open, go to the "Tools" menu and drop down to "Options." The "Options" window will appear.
2. Click your cursor arrow on the "General" icon.
3. Find the settings for "When new messages arrive" and uncheck the box next to "Play a sound."
4. Click "OK."

Removing E-mail Sound Alerts In Netscape 7.2 When Using Windows XP:

1. With Netscape Navigator open, go to the "Edit" menu and drop down to "Preferences." The "Preferences" window will appear.
2. Under "Category," click your cursor arrow on "Mail & Newsgroups."
3. Click on "Notifications."
4. Uncheck the box under "When new messages arrive."
5. Click "OK."


Or...You can have some fun and change the default notification sound to something fun, like the "you got mail" AOL bit.
Click here for a search on that file You got mail !

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Getting rid of an Unwanted toolbar

Have you noticed an extra toolbar on your Internet Explorer? Have you wondered what it was for? Did you think someone else who uses the computer installed it?
Chances are that what that toolbar really is, is Spyware/Malware and it's causing you to see more pop-ups than usual. Not to mention it's slowing your computer down.

Get rid of it!

#1 Ask all of the users of the computer if they installed it and why or if they really need it.
#2 If no one knows or wants it...dump it...now.
#3 Try to uninstall it from an uninstaller located in the programs list (good programs have these).
#4 Try to uninstall it using the add/remove programs located in the control panel.

If these don't work...You will need to download and install a few programs to get rid of this "infection"

#1 Go to Lavasoft and download Adaware SE then install and run this program...sit back and relax until this program has run it's course. When it is finished you will be presented with a list of files it considers to be Spyware/Malware. Right click on this list somewhere and select "check all". Then select "fix problems" or "delete problems" or similar option to rid yourself of these infections. You may be required to reboot your computer afterward.

#2 Now go to Javacools software and download and install Spyware Guard. This blocks Spyware/Malware from entering your computer. (Doesn't stop everything)

If you are running MS windows XP sp2 Go to Step #3 if not Go to step #4

#3 Go to MS Anti-spyware an download this product and install it. This will automaticaly search for Spyware on your computer everyday and it will also block spyware.
or
#4 Go to Safer Networking and download Spybot SD. Install it and then run it. You will need to run this periodicaly as it doesn't have an auto run feature that we like.

#5 These programs are FREE but some of the developers do take donations so if it works for you send them a buck or two or click on the ads on their site.


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