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Computer Training: Resources for learning computer skills

Where can someone with little or no computer experience go to learn about the Internet and other software applications without spending thousands of dollars for classes? Check out this helpful list of resources to help you locate free or inexpensive ways in your neighborhood.

  • At Work

Skilled employees are an asset to an organization, which is why many employers offer tuition reimbursement for courses completed by employees. As an added bonus, larger organizations have in-house training departments with computer labs or contractual agreements with online learning centers to offer computer training to employees for free.

  • Libraries

Have you checked out the library lately? They have shelves full of software and books available to teach users everything from application basics through computer programming; all it takes is a library card and a few hours of time. Materials can be checked out for up to three weeks allowing the patron the opportunity to utilize the materials at their own pace.

While at the library, don’t forget to check the computer lab calendar. Many libraries offer free or minimal fee courses to patrons ranging from basic computer skills such as the Internet and email to advanced classes in Microsoft Word and Excel.

  • Career Centers/Temp Agencies

Are you unemployed or underemployed? Most local state unemployment offices have career centers that offer classes in resume writing, interviewing skills, and computer skills for free. If you sign up with a temporary agency, they too have career centers offering courses in computer training to make candidates more marketable.

  • Schools

Check out the local school district and community calendars. You can often find classes offered in the evenings or on weekends in the school’s computer lab or community center instructed by licensed teachers for minimal fees.

Also consider contacting your local community college or alma mater. Many colleges have job centers that offer to students and alumni free skills and computer training to help them obtain jobs during and after graduation.

While at the community college, check out the recent course catalog. Computer courses are offered for in-state tuition prices or less when taken for credit or audited.

  • Online

Type in the words “free computer training” in any search engine and thousands of results will appear including hits from Microsoft to HP. However, a trusted and favorite site worth mentioning is offered by Goodwill Community Foundation called GFC Learning.org. They offer over 750 free online lessons and 250 videos which allows computer users advantage to learn at their own pace.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: , , , ,

Instant Messaging: Free services to chat with friends

Individuals spend more than half their days on the computer. To keep in touch with associates, friends, and family many users utilize Instant Messaging applications to chat via their computers.

What is Instant Messaging? IM is a form of real-time communication via direct text between two or more individuals using a computer or other device, along with shared software clients. IM is an effective and efficient form of communication that allows for immediate acknowledgment and reply.

Many companies have their IT administrators block the access to IM services such as Yahoo , Skype, or MSN via the network, as they believe employees are spending less time working and more time chatting. Most IM clients require a download client in order to be accessed, however it is only good if you are chatting with other members on the same network.

To chat without any hindrances, consider utilizing one of the following free web-based online IM services:

  • Meebo

Meebo is the popular web IM service as it supports and works with Yahoo, MySpace, Facebook, MSN, AIM, and Jabber. Its features include group chat, applications for iPhones, and support for file-sharing, video chat, and more.

  • Nimbuzz

Widely known as a client for cell phones and iPhones, Nimbuzz features include calls, group chats, file-sharing, video chat, and more IM options. The best feature is network information sharing; Nimbuzz allows you to access all your IM networks using only one username and password.

  • imo.im

imo.im shares the same features as Meebo and Nimbuzz, but currently is the only web-based service to support Skype. Besides great support for voice and video chat, it also features buddy chat options including starring frequent chat buddies, renaming and reordering buddy lists, and search buddy list options.

  • KoolIM

Known as the web-base service for small networks, KoolIM supports the standards plus Gadu-Gadu, ICQ, Jabber, Xfire, and more. Its key features are embedded client chat, popup client chat, and the ability to function behind a firewall.

  • eBuddy

eBuddy supports a large number of IM services including Facebook, MSN, Yahoo, MySpace, GTalk, and ICQ. Its features include new window chat, tabbed contacts and chat lists, plus chat history.

As you can see, there are many free web-based IM services available.  Still unsure as to which one will meet your needs, then why not give them all a test drive.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: , , ,

Staying Connected

People can be connected in so many ways these days. Whether You like to text message, email, or use chat online, it’s really easy to keep in touch with those you love. Here are a few great tools you can use, just in case you need any more options.

1. Email Chatting
One of the easiest ways to keep in touch with someone is by using the chat function through your email. First, you need to make sure that you are using the same email program that the other person is. Whether it’s Yahoo mail, Gmail, or any other email program, you have access to the chat function. Once you log into your email, check your contacts to see if anyone you know is online. If they are, just send them a quick chat and you are on your way. It’s a really simple and quick way to talk to someone. Social network sites like Facebook also have similar chat functions. Once you log in, you can see which of your friends are online, then it’s as simple as sending a message to strike up your conversation.

3. Chatting With a Cell Phone
One of the great features that the Android phones have on them is the ability to use your email chat. By utilizing this function, you can send unlimited chats to someone logged into their email account, and you won’t be charged for texts. It’s a great way to keep in touch with those who might not have an unlimited texting cell phone plan.

4. Face to Face…or Rather Screen to Screen
There are loads of programs out there that allow you to video chat. All you need is an account with the provider and a webcam. With services like Skype, you have the option to use their free service, or you can pay a couple of cents per minute for their other plans. It’s a great way to keep in touch.

Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: ,

Online Gaming

There is a plethora of time wasters and games out there on the internet today. It’s extremely hard not to get sucked into them, but as long as you are able to reign yourself in and control time spent online, then there’s no harm in enjoying yourself by playing some online games. Here’s a few tips to help get you started.

1. Downloading Free Trials
When you are starting out playing computer games, you might not know what types of games catch your interest. So, one of the best sites you could visit is popcap.com. Here you will find a huge variety of different games, and you can try them all out for free. All you have to do is download the game, and you get a 60 minute trial for free. If you don’t like it, simply remove the program from your computer. If you happen to like it, then you can pay for it. It’s a really simple way to get to know what games you enjoy.

2. Online Free Play
If you don’t want to download anything to your computer, you could also select a game from PopCap’s online selections. These games are always free, and you don’t have to make any commitments or changes to your computer to be able to play them. Granted, there’s a lot less selection when it comes to online only games, but it does save you time trying to download games.

3. Play Against Others
One of the really fun advantages to playing games is you can play against people from all over the world. Whether it’s a card game like poker or blackjack, or a classic game like Yahtzee or Uno, there’s a lot of fun to be had playing games against other online players. This is also really helpful if your family tends to get a little heated while playing the actual games together. You won’t have to worry about family fights online!

Filed Under: Hardware, Internet, Operating Systems Tagged With: , , ,

Internet Safety: Guidelines for teen chatting

Teens are social beings that like to chat with others via phone, text, IM, and social networking sites. Chat rooms and social networks can be a fun way to chat with other teens that share the same interests, but they can also be harmful. Sometimes the online world harbors unstable individuals such as child predators, bullies, thieves, and hackers.

Follow these guidelines for user and computer protection:

  • Establish Internet ground rules with your parents that include permitted sites to visit, how much time can be spent on the computer, and what you are approved to do or say
  • Create an online ID that does not use your real full name. Instead create an online ID that is a nickname, hobby name, or even a pet name such as Fluffy123
  • Create a profile that has minimal information. Never share your birth date, address, phone number, or real name with online chatters
  • Be aware of who may be in the chat room with you. Never give out where you go to school, locations of favorite hang outs, or local destinations.
  • Never share a picture of yourself or anyone else
  • Leave the chat if you see or read anything that makes you feel uncomfortable.
  • Do not share your email address to chat privately with anyone
  • Report any offensive, unwanted, mean, or threatening messages to a parent.
  • Be suspicious of anyone asking too many personal questions and discontinue chatting with them.
  • Never agree to meet or meet with someone that you have met online
  • Treat others with the respect that you would like to be treated with
  • Remember that any information you share online on social network sites can be viewed by others.  It can affect you in the future when trying to gain entrance into college or obtaining a job.

Social Networks are wonderful places to meet fun and interesting individuals from all over the world. Just remember to proceed with caution for it to be an amazing experience.

Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: ,

The Internet: Online shopping basics

Say good-bye to finding a parking space at a crowded mall, waiting in long lines with temperamental customers and cashiers, and discovering the product you were looking for is out of stock. Online shopping makes purchasing products convenient and easy.

Before you make a purchase, here are a few things to consider:

  • Read reviews and compare products

If you are making a purchase of an item that you are not familiar with or there are many selections take the time to read reviews. Product reviews usually list product features along, side-by-side comparison of similar products, pros and cons, and consumer ratings.

  • Compare prices

If you know what product you want to buy, consider doing an online search to compare prices. There are many consumer sites such as PriceGrabber that will not only compare prices from over thousands of merchants, but also list shipping costs and taxes, product information, customer reviews, and merchant ratings.

  • Locate discounts & deals

Can’t decide which merchant to purchase from as price and rankings are the same? Why not look for unadvertised merchant deals, coupons, or discounts. A popular site to check out is Deal of the Day which offers coupons and discounts available for hundreds of web merchants.

  • Check out auctions

Merchants are not the only places to find great deals on products. Check out online auctions such as eBay which offers new and used collectibles, books, and other merchandise.

The advantages of buying online vs. shopping in the store include:

  • 24/7 shopping convenience
  • Ease of comparison price shopping
  • No pressure to make a purchase
  • Large selection of items
  • Instantly know when an item is out of stock or backordered
  • Online merchants supply consumers with full product descriptions, dimensions, and pictures, product reviews, consumer ratings, and other supplemental product information.

The disadvantages of buying online include:

  • Risk of fraudulent purchases
  • Potential of identity theft or computer hacking if making purchases through unsecure sites
  • Lack of personal attention from experienced sales personnel
  • Mistakes when placing an order or when an order is shipped
  • Lack of full cost disclosure until the final checkout process

Online shopping can be a lot of fun, just make sure you make purchases from merchants you can trust and check terms and conditions of sale before committing to make a purchase.

Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: ,

Blogging: Boosting traffic to your site

A blog simply is a chronological published journal of personal thoughts, ideas, and links. More than just an online diary, a typical blog combines images, texts, and links to other media related to its topic.

Many bloggers want to get out a message, share useful information, or try to sell products and services which require traffic to the blog site.  Here are a few proven ways to increase traffic and obtain followers for a blog:

Search Engine Optimization

Search engine optimization is a process for improving the prominence of a blog or website in search engines using unpaid search results.

  • Make sure your blog is search engine optimized by using keyword rich content. This means identifying a few keywords about the article that have a high chance of being indexed by Google or other popular search engines.
  • Setup the blog to repeat the keywords that you want to target in order to setup a pattern that will establish a theme. Keywords should be included in blog names, post titles, the page URL name, and category names. Don’t forget to use blog tags for additional optimization.
  • Update or ping during optimal times by checking your website statistics.
  • Make sure your site feed is turned on and you are using them to promote your blog
  • Interlink your site by utilizing the site map option and features
  • Make frequent blog posts with content rich information

Social Media Optimization

Social media optimization is executing changes to enhance the effectiveness of a site so that it is effortlessly linked to, extremely noticeable in social media searches via custom search engines, and often included in relevant posts on blogs and other communication resources.

  • Increase link ability to your blog by having both static and non-static information
  • Make sure site is easy to tag and bookmark with the use of quick buttons, relevant list of tags, and using suggested notes for a link.
  • Create permalinks to reward inbound links
  • Submit content to other relevant sites to help content travel
  • Encourage others to use your content or share content using RRS feeds
  • Consider offering RRS feeds through email for those who prefer email over blog posts
  • Make useful comments on other blogs and they will allow you to include your name and blog for linking
  • Submit your blog URL to all the different search engines

The most important things to do is to keep posting, work on quality content, buzz about your site, and have patience.

Filed Under: Internet Tagged With: ,

Great Internet Explorer Addons

If you are using the basic version of Internet Explorer, you’re probably happy with what you have. But, there are so many different addons that will make Internet Explorer even better. Here’s a list of a few you should really check out.

1. ShareThis
This is a really great addon that lets you share webpages through email, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, etc. Now, many websites already have a similar function on them, but you will always run into those that don’t. And, as luck would have it, those are probably the websites you want to share.

2. ieSpell
Now, if you aren’t the best speller in the world, than this is the addon for you! This allows you to spell check your entries on any website that you want to enter text on. It’s a great way to prevent a spelling blunder and the subsequent embarrassment.

3. Videoronk
If you are one of the many people that love searching for videos online, this will be a great addition to your browser. Videoronk allows you to search eight of the top video sharing websites at the same time. It will save you time and frustration trying to find that laughing baby video you love so much.

4. IE7Pro
This is the be all, end all of Internet Explorer addons. This addon allows you to do a variety of different things that will make your browsing so much easier. It also contains a few of the features mentioned in the previous addons in our list. First, a powerful AD blocker. This is great if you just can’t stand all the pop-ups that seem to filter through other pop-up blocking programs. Another great feature is Grab&Drag. Here, you are able to navigate through the webpage by simply holding the left click button, and dragging the webpage around. It’s a great way to avoid the overused click-wheel.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: , ,

Troubleshooting Internet Connection Problems

Picture taken in 2005 from a Motorola conventi...
Image via Wikipedia

When you are having trouble connecting to the internet, it can get extremely frustrating. We use the internet for so many different things that when we lose access to it, we are really in a bind. Everything from checking email, doing homework, or even will come to a screeching halt when we lose an internet connection. So, here are a few different things to check out before you completely panic.

1. Are the cords plugged in?
It sounds like a stupid thing to check, but sometimes a loose cord is all it takes for you to lose connection. Check all cords on your computer, modem, and router. By doing this first, you could save yourself a lot of hassle and embarrassment later on.

2. Check multiple sites
Sometimes the actual problem isn’t your personal internet connection, but it’s the website you are trying to visit. Websites go down for maintenance all the time, so it could easily be the root of the problem. To avoid this, make sure that you check quite a few websites before you start to worry. Also, try to use more than one internet browser. Some pages load better in Firefox than they do in Internet Explorer, and vice versa.

3. Check the Router and the Modem
The router and the modem are the two most likely culprits if you are having a connection issue. So, be sure to take a look at both. Check to make sure that there are lights blinking on both devices. If you don’t see lights on one or the other, that is most likely where your issue lies.

4. Is anyone else having trouble?
Sometimes, internet service just goes out. It could be anything from a power outage to problems with the service provider. So, if you have checked and adjusted everything and just can’t figure out what’s wrong, check with your neighbors. If others are having the same issues, it’s time to call the company.

Filed Under: Computers, Internet Tagged With: , ,
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