What’s a Browser?

Ok, I know this sounds ridiculous to anybody under the age of 30. Everybody knows what a browser is, right? Nope. I know lots of people who use their computers almost every day who go completely quiet when I ask them what browser they're using. Internet Explorer? Silence. Firefox? Silence. Safari? Silence. Trying a different tack, "what program do you use to go onto the internet?" Dead silence. "How do you go to a web page, like CNN.com or Amazon?" The answer 9 times out of 10 is "Google".

So, here's the deal. If you're going to use a computer, and you're going to be asking other people for help, there are a few basic terms you need to be familiar with. Browser is one of those.

A browser is a program that you run that lets you access web pages on the internet. There are lots of them. The aforementioned IE, Firefox, and Safari, plus Opera, Google's fairly new Chrome, and others. They all do basically the same thing, they just have different layouts and features. Pick one and stick with it.

At the top of each of these browser program windows you will usually see two places where you can enter text. One is called the "address window" and the other is the "search window".  Here's an illustration:

The arrow on the left points to the address window, the one on the right to the search window.

First, the address window. Say we're on the phone and you're complaining that you're on the American Airlines website trying to book a flight and you're having trouble. In fact, all you can see are ads for rental cars. The easiest way for me to make sure that you're on the right web page, and haven't accidentally navigated yourself out of AA entirely, is to have you read me the info in the address bar. So it's important for you to know where it is and what it looks like. Whenever you are browsing the web,  the address (also called a URL) shows up in the address window.

And if you're trying to go to a website where you know the address (URL), then that's where you enter it. Quick tip here: you don't need to type in the "http://www" any more. If you do, you'll just be wasting time. All current browsers assume that that's what you want, so you can just type the last bit, like amazon.com or google.com. In fact, most of them don't even require the .com any more. You can just type amazon or google and you're good to go.

Second, the search window. In the illustration above the default search engine is Google, but there are other search engines available, and  if you look closely at the left side of the little window you'll see a down-arrow. Clicking on that will show you a menu of other options, like Yahoo! and Wikipedia. You can always go to the home pages for Google.com or Yahoo.com, etc. by entering their addresses in the address window and entering  your search terms there, but the search window is a handy little shortcut.

Things to remember if you don't want to look like an idiot

Ever have this experience when someone is trying to show you something on your computer? Usually one your kids?  Their fingers fly around on the keyboard, something happens on the screen, you look confused, then they look at you like you're a moron? And you get the feeling that everyone in the world knows that cute little keyboard trick but you? Well guess what? Everybody else does. Computers aren't new any more. You don't get a pass by looking dazed and saying "I'm just such a klutz with these things." This stuff is here to stay, so focus, and learn a few things. You'll be glad you did.

The following skills are extremely basic. But anyone reading this who is rolling his eyes and thinking that everybody knows them already obviously never met my friends.

Selecting text and images:

You can select almost anything that you want to copy by holding down the left mouse button while dragging the cursor across the screen. As you do that,notice that the text gets highlighted. That means it's selected. When you've highlighted everything you want to select, release the mouse button, and it should stay highlighted (highlit?).

Here's a selection trick that comes in handy for making small selections and also for refining larger selections. Highlight some text, then hold down the shift key and use the right or left arrow key to expand or contract your selection. When you're done, just let go.

Copy and Paste:

You can copy text and/or images in almost any program or web page. Then you can paste them somewhere else, such as into another program. Here, there, anywhere. Very handy.

All you have to do is first select the content you want to copy (see previous paragraph) and then do one of two things (I know, there are other ways, too, but these are the easiest to remember for most people) - either click on the program's File menu and then Copy, or use a keyboard shortcut (Windows users hold down the Control key and the letter C, Mac users hold down the Command key and the letter C). At this point, nothing will happen, you just have to take it on faith that you've made a copy of the selection.

To paste, put the cursor into the space where you want the selection to go. Make sure you see the cursor blinking in the space where you want the text to go. Then do one of two things - either click on the program's File menu and then Paste, or use a keyboard shortcut (Windows users hold down the Control key and the letter V, Mac users hold down the Command key and the letter V).

So, Control-C for Copy and Control-V for Paste? What's up with that? Why not Control-P for Paste? Don't ask me, I didn't design the system. That's just the way it works. Control-P is for print. Get over it.

Copy and Paste is nearly universal among computer programs. Doesn't work with Quicken, but with almost everything else I've used. You can even use the keyboard shortcuts in situations where the window you're dealing with doesn't even have a File menu. So give it a try.

Setting your browser's home page:

A lot of people don't know that you can change the web page that opens whenever you start your browser. In fact, I know a few people who think that without the Yahoo home page they can't get to the internet. Not so. In fact, if you want, you can have your browser open to no home page at all, just a nice white blank space, which can be very soothing sometimes.

Every browser has some sort of "preferences" menu that lets you choose what page you want to see on start-up. It won't be hard to find, it's somewhere in one of the menu bars at the top of your browser window. And the directions are pretty clear. So change it to something fun, like CNN or Martha Stewart. You'll all be happier when you don't have to look at Yahoo any more.

Use Google to find help:

This is the biggie. Google really does have all the answers. You know when you email me and describe a problem you're having with your computer and I get back to you right away with the answer? It's not because I'm a genius. Not even close. The truth is I just googled the symptoms you gave me, and the answer was right there. Usually on the first page of results.

So the next time you run into a stumbling block, can't figure out how to do something, have an odd error message - instead of emailing me, try typing the problem into Google first and see if you can figure out the answer on your own. You'll feel so empowered.

Back in the early days of home computing you had to follow very rigid search rules. Things had to be within parentheses, in order of importance, etc. Life has gotten a lot easier since then. Now you can be pretty relaxed about the search terms you type in. Recently I couldn't remember how to type the character for a trademark. So here's what I typed into the Google search bar - keyboard shortcut for trademark symbol on a mac. Got the answer right away. No special syntax needed, just plain english. ™

PC or Mac?

You're thinking about buying a new computer and wonder whether you should get a PC or a Mac? This is an easy one to answer. Because they're both terrific options. It used to be that there was a huge difference between the two. Now, not so much. With the newest operating systems, it's pretty much a wash on ease of use. If you're used to one or the other and happy with what you have, then stick with it. You might also want to stick with what you have so you don't have to buy all new software. Your copy of Word for the PC won't work with a Mac, and vice versa.

But I do have a definite bias towards Macs. Mainly because they are less of a target for the kinds of malware  infections that PC's attract. And they come with lots of fun, nifty software already installed - their included iLife suite gives you iPhoto, iMovie, and iWeb, so you can create photo slidehows, photo albums, movies and web pages. To get comparable software on a PC you'd wind up paying quite a bit.

And you'll hear people saying that "on a Mac, things just work." And it's true. Because Apple produces both the software and the hardware, it's easier for them to control how all the pieces work together. So when you connect your new camcorder to a Mac you're able to transfer video to iMovie and start editing within a few minutes. Try that with a PC and you'll spend the next 2 hours trying to figure out how to "download a driver" from the camera manufacturer.

Bonus points also go to the Mac because you can actually run Windows on the same machine, at the same time. It's not possible to run the Mac OS on a PC. Of course you have to buy a copy of Windows to be able to do it, which will add to the expense, but I can tell you it's quite a thrill to see both running side by side on my Mac. And very handy.

But the real deciding factor should probably be - who are you going to call when you have a question or a problem? If your main technical support guru (otherwise known as one of your kids) is PC only, you know what you have to do.

Missed that last episode of Lost?

When my son was little I made a hard and fast rule. He would never be allowed to have a TV in his bedroom. And I stuck to it. No matter how many times he asked for one over the years, he's never had a TV in his bedroom. So why do I feel like I won the battle and lost the war? Because he doesn't need a TV to watch TV any more. Hasn't needed one for years now. He can watch all the shows he wants on his computer. When I think he's in his room doing his homework? He's watching Season Five of The Office.

That's the bad news. The good news is that the rest of us can do the same thing, and since we're not supposed to be studying Algebra anyway, we don't have to feel guilty.

The subject of getting TV content onto your computer and conversely, getting internet content onto your TV is way too complicated to go into in any depth here. Just know that almost anything is possible. Photo slideshows streamed wirelessly from your computer to your plasma TV? It's possible, and perhaps will be the subject of a later post. But right now let's stick to the basics.

Why would you want to watch TV on your computer anyway? Who wants to sit in front of a computer screen for an hour and watch a TV show? It's not very comfortable, and you don't want to get popcorn bits all over your keyboard.

Well, let's say you missed the last episode of Lost. You're one of the last people on the planet without a DVR, or you accidentally recorded a Judge Judy rerun instead. Now what do you do? There's another episode coming next week, and it won't make any sense unless you've seen this one. What if that damned polar bear came back and explained what he's been up to and you've missed it?

You can find it, and lots of other shows, online. There's a popular website called Hulu that showcases TV shows, and most of the networks let you watch recent episodes of their more popular shows online on their own websites. The process can be a little annoying sometimes, but it's pretty straightforward in most cases, and the quality isn't as bad as you'd think.

Two or three years ago it was almost impossible to watch anything online. First you'd have to spend an hour downloading and installing special software, then once the show got started it would proceed in fits and starts, the sound wouldn't be synchronized with the video, and eventually it would quit entirely. At which point you'd have to start over. From the beginning, because there was no way to fast forward to where you left off.

It's much, much better now. Never my first choice. I'd really rather sit back on my couch and watch the real TV. But in a pinch, online TV can be a lifesaver.

The easiest way to find a source for any show is to use a website called SideReel.com. You just go their site and type the name of your show into the "search" window and then click on the search result.

At that point you'll be presented with links for "authorized" distributors of the program - iTunes, Amazon.com, Hulu, ABC, etc.

If you click on a link you will be taken to their website for further directions. But iTunes will charge you per episode, and so will Amazon, so beware. Hulu and the networks are free, so check there first, but they have only the most recent episodes.

Notice the link next to the magnifying glass toward the bottom. The "Search for links for...." item. If you click that you'll find even more links for places that will let you watch the show.

What kinds of shows are available? After all, not everybody is hot for Lost or The Office. Never fear, there's something for everybody:

Modern Family, Grey's Anatomy, 30 Rock, The Simpsons, Saturday Night Live, 24, Desperate Housewives, The Bachelor, Ugly Betty, Kitchen Nightmares, Bones, Project Runway, 48 Hours|Mystery, 20/20, Dancing with the Stars, Jimmy Kimmel Live, Survivor, The Amazing Race, and on, and on, and on.......

This is an even more attractive option if you have a laptop and a wireless network in your house, because then you're not tethered to your desk while you're watching. You can still sit on the couch, you just have to prop up the computer somewhere safe, and you'll probably want to use headphones, because laptop speakers aren't usually good enough for this kind of thing.

So have fun, and never miss your favorite show again.

Nothing lives in Word....Really

A common misperception among my friends is that all their documents are "inside" Microsoft Word. This leads to all sorts of confusion. For example, sometimes they will think a file has disappeared because it no longer shows up on the File menu in Word. Or they will think that they need to open Word before they can edit, copy, rename or delete a file. Recently, I realized this isn't a small issue. It's a basic misunderstanding of the way their computers work. I seem to remember that during the DOS era you needed to open the program that created a file before you could access the file (or I could be hallucinating, it's been a long time). But in any event those days are long gone, and we need to move on, people.

So listen up - nothing is in Word. And that goes for Excel and all your other programs. Here's a simple way to look at it. A program like Word or Excel is just the software that creates the files. The files are independent of the program. A file can be a document, or a photo, a video, or a sound recording. Actually there are many more, but those are the most common.

When you create a file and then choose to save it, you are usually given a choice as to where you want to save it. You may not have realized that if you've always chosen the default location (which is in your "My Documents" folder when you're working in Word). But you really can choose to save it to other places - your desktop, a special folder you've created somewhere else, or onto an external hard drive or flash drive. Your choice.

The good news here is that once you've grasped this idea you can save yourself a lot of time and aggravation when you want to use that file again. Let's say you've saved your most recent document to your desktop, something you might want to do if you plan on editing it a lot. When you want to work on it, do you have to open Word and then find the file in the file menu? No, you do not.  All you need to do is double-click on the file icon that's sitting on your desktop and Word will open up automatically and the file along with it. Le voilá.

This works with other types of files, too. If you double-click on a photo file, your photo viewing program will open it up for you. Click on a music file and your music player program will take over. Video? Ditto. Didn't life just get a lot simpler?

I want to keep this post short, so I'll write a separate post that explains how to keep track of all your files now that they've been liberated from Word.

You aren’t backing up your stuff, are you?

It's ok to admit it. Hardly anybody does on a regular basis. But you're going to be sorry. Here's why: Try this simple mental exercise. Imagine that the next time you press the power button on your computer it doesn't start up.

It's that simple. It's going to happen to everybody. Computers break. And when they do they take all of your stuff down with them. Photos, letters, email. Poof. All gone. Unless you have them backed up.

Backing up just means having copies of everything you care about.

And your files need to be copied to someplace other than  your computer. If your computer stops working it won't make any difference how many copies you have on it, they'll all be gone.

So, what should you be doing?

I think the ideal backup strategy involves having at least three copies of everything you  cherish. The following strategy is called the 3-2-1- Rule by Peter Krogh, and I first heard about it on Leo Laporte's TWIT podcasts :

3 copies, on two kinds of media, one of which is off-site

1) The original, on your hard drive.

2) A copy on external media of some sort. This could be on a flash drive (these are cheap and easy to store) or an external hard drive that you connect with a cable to the main computer.

3)  Another copy that is stored off-site somewhere.

That last item is really important. Off-site. Because if your house burns down, or is hit by an earthquake, or you get flooded out, it sure would be nice to have copies of your stuff somewhere else, wouldn't it?

You can accomplish off-site backup any number of ways. You can take your home backup copies (on drives or disks) to work and leave them there, and vice versa. You could give them to a friend for safekeeping. One of Leo's friends mails his backups to his mom every week. Or you can subscribe to any number of free web services that will let you store your stuff online: Dropbox,  Box.net,  Skydrive,  ADrive. Those of you using Macs can subscribe to Apple's MobileMe service.

But the thing to remember about any backup strategy is that it only works if you remember to do it.  So the easiest and safest thing to do is to set up a system that backs things up for you. In other words, take yourself out of the equation. There are a number of paid web services that allow you to do this. I use Carbonite, but there are others on the market that do the same thing. You set up an account online and then their software automatically uploads your files without any attention from you. If your computer ever crashes you can simply download your files from their site.

So no excuses, ok? Back your stuff up.