What are File Extensions?

File Extensions

When you create a file with a program and save it, the file name will be saved with a file type extension. The file will be saved with the icon of the program used to create it showing in your folders.

Eg. You used MS Office Word to create a document named ‘Letter’ so the file is now

Letter.docx 

Images have their own types of extensions i.e .jpg

Videos  and Audio files have their own types as well i.e .wmv or .mp3

It’s important to be aware of this for many reasons. The best reason is that there will come a time that you can’t open an attachment on an email you have been sent – it happens to everyone. to explain further…

If someone emails a file attachment or copies a file onto your hard drive from their computer, you need to have the program they used to create it (or a compatible one) installed on your computer as well to be able to open the file

Some file types (extensions) can be opened with a number of different programs and some can’t. To help you recognize files and the programs that will open them on your computer refer to the guide I have uploaded for you, (click on the links I have included to find out more…)

 

Click here for your free downloadable guide

Social Media Explained … A Real Life Analogy

When you first enter the world of Social Media it can be quite daunting. You have a list of sites that you have been told you MUST HAVE to market your business and build an interactive web presence …but where and how do you start? ? Don’t be a wall flower read on!

What is Social Media in real-life terms?

Imagine you are at a party where you know some people and not others. Your friends are introducing you around to people they know. People are chatting, passing around photos/videos on their phones and generally sharing information about themselves and their businesses.

Some you like, (others you don’t) and others you think will be good contacts for your business.

The aim is to be the ‘Belle of the Ball’ and have everyone talking about you, sharing what they found out directly from you with their friends and wanting to meet you. These people become your ‘friends’, ‘subscribers’, ‘followers’ or ‘circle contacts’.

So it’s up to you how well you present yourself and give people want they want and crave.

Why do I need more than one Social site?

Now you need to be attending multiple parties (sites) all at the same time because different people belong to different sites and have different goals and interests.

• Some are ‘Formal’ i.e LinkedIn
• some are ‘Dressed up casual i.e. Facebook Business Pages and Google+
• Some are visual e.g. YouTube
• some are short and sweet encounters like speed dating i.e. Twitter,
• Some are long conversations via a whole article i.e. Blogs
• some are for direct conversations with Instant Messaging, Audio and Video calls  i.e Skype and Messenger,
• and some are casual and mainly social i.e Facebook and MySpace

These sites can talk to one another. For example

If you ‘Like’ a video on You Tube or a blog on Blogger it is ‘shared’ on your Facebook account so all of your friends and followers can see what you have been interested in

Like wise if your followers click on the Like Button on your ‘Post’ about your product or service. Your followers (friends) can also comment on it, or share it around with others

This is viral marketing – or word of mouth – which if you recall is the most valuable form of advertising you can possibly have. Hence the sudden growth of  Social Media Sites!

So the more Social media sites you have, the more you can interact with your clients and friends. This then creates the opportunity for them to share your information to their friends and contacts

What is a Post?

Posts are the entries that display in reverse chronological order on your home page. Posts usually have comments fields beneath them and are included in your site’s RSS feed.

Here is an example of a Facebook Post:

When you finish reading this blog you will see all the Social buttons below it like this…

If you have an account with any of these Social Sites you can click on the buttons and broadcast to your followers and friends that you have read this blog and want to share it with others. What you are essentially doing is word of mouth advertising.

How do you sign up for these sites? Well that’s another story (blog) for me to spend my Sunday on!

So feel free to Like me Share me and Comment on me – (be gentle I am a sensitive soul)

Yours in Clarity

KimD.

www.kimd.com.au

Keyboard Shortcuts (Windows)

Keyboard Shortcuts with Free Download

 

Keyboard Shortcuts help you save time by allowing you to never take your hands off the keyboard to use the mouse. Keyboard shortcuts use a combination of keys to achieve a Function.

Have you ever wondered what that Ctrl key was for? Well, if you press and hold the Ctrl key down and then hit another key –  magical things will happen. For example: Hold down the Ctrl key and press the ‘End’ key now! …You should have been taken to the end of this blog!

The Shift and Alt keys can be used this way as well as well.

What can you do with shortcuts?

As with all things ‘computer’ there are multiple ways to achieve a goal such as ‘Cut’, ‘Copy’, ‘Paste’ or Navigate your cursor around a document. When you are typing (or there is a lack of ‘menu’ present) it is sometimes more expedient to use your keyboard rather than your mouse to do things. I also find that by taking your hand away from the keyboard to find your mouse to either click a Menu about your document or right click to find the ‘Options’ menus, you can distract your focus on the task at hand.

 

Keyboard shortcuts are also immensely handy for those of you who use a lap top ‘track pad’ (naughty) instead of a mouse, so….

Step 1 is to locate certain keys on your keyboard (as a lot of keyboards differ from one another)…

Remember that you need to master Selecting (or highlighting) techniques first.[see the Selecting Text shortcuts]

Ctrl (Control) -  usually the first and last keys on the bottom row

Shift -  usually the first and last key of the second bottom row

Navigation Keys - usually grouped together or in a row downwards on the right hand side

Arrow Keys - Bottom right

F Keys - Very Top Row

Alt Key- usually either side of the Space Bar

Step 2. Now you have located the Ctrl, Alt, Shift, F, Arrow and Navigation Keys you are ready to begin! These keys are used with others to help you perform the functions. You can Download a printable version of this Keyboard Shortcuts guide and keep it by your keyboard until you learn them ‘by heart’.

Remember that keyboards can be different so these shortcuts are a guide only. After you have printed this open up a word document and type some text. Then go through the shortcuts and make sure they work for you.

It’s always good practice to ‘say’ the commands as you perform them…(all geniuses talk to themselves) For example;

Copy Command=  Ctrl+C

Say …‘hold Control and press C’ out loud

Here are a few to get you started…

MOST USED

Cut selected text     Ctrl + X

Copy selected text     Ctrl + C

Undo last edit               Ctrl + Z

Paste selected text  Ctrl + V

Redo last action      Ctrl + Y

Task Manager (to stop a process when its stuck and taking forever to think about it or your computer is ‘frozen’)
                             Ctrl + Alt + Delete

SELECTING TEXT

            Select All the text in a doc               Ctrl + A

          Select a Word at a time              Shift + left/right arrow

            Select a Sentence at a time           Ctrl + one click of mouse


To Download your free Keyboard Shortcuts Guide Click here


Yours in Shortcutting
Kim-Denyse

 

www.mycomputertutor.net.au

What is LinkedIn?

The more LinkedIn connections you have, the more you will be found

So What is LinkedIn?  LinkedIn is THE place to find and be found. LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 120 million members and growing rapidly. LinkedIn connects you to your trusted contacts and helps you exchange ideas, knowledge, and opportunities with a broader network of professionals.

Think of LinkedIn as a large database of professionals.  You can connect with people through their information entered into predefined categories i.e. ‘Profile Headline’, ‘Summary’, ‘Education, ‘Company’, etc. In addition to this huge database of information, LinkedIn can be used as an awesome search tool to allow you to find the person you are looking for depending on a number of very specific factors.

 

Why Should You Join?

The 3 biggest reasons to join LinkedIn are…

1. Getting in Touch - (Finding & Being Found)

The difference between getting in touch with people on sites like  Classmates.com and Facebook to using LinkedIn is LI’s search functionality. Its easier to find people there than on other social networking sites.  And because it is easier to be found on LI, many are finding me too!

2. Acquire & Share Expertise

There are more than 900,000 LinkedIn ‘Groups’ for you to join.  Each group has its own News Board, Discussions Board, , and Jobs postings.  You will even find ‘ Answers boards’ that have more than 2,000,000 answers to a variety of questions for you to discover.  Both Groups and Answers cover a wide variety of topics that there is value for everyone to be participating.

3. Career Management

Social Networking is must have Career Insurance. The advice is the same whether you are job-seeking or fully employed: a network should be your insurance for your future career growth. Companies’ needs change; they do not and cannot promise you a guarantee that your job will be there 10 years from now, next year, or even next month. That is why you need to be on LinkedIn so that you can both find potential companies and recruiters as well as be found by them. Even if you are happy in your job, it can’t hurt to have a minimal profile on LinkedIn and receive contacts from recruiters in your industry or specialty who may be able to help you out in the future, can it?

If you still have questions about LinkedIn’s value and why you should join please comment and let me know how I can help you

Related articles

• LinkedIn Is Gearing Up For A Redesign: Bigger Pictures, Anchored Menu (And A Life Less Tweeted) (techcrunch.com)

Twitter: What is it and Do I Need it?

  To Tweet or Not to Tweet

Twitter is an internet phenomenon with over 500 million users. It is different from Facebook in that people use it for just one purpose; to let others know what they’re doing right this second. Many people use mobile phones with internet access, meaning they can update their information every hour.

Is Twitter Just for Fun?

Twitter seems frivolous but it can play an important role as well: that of citizen journalism. In the recent riots in Iran, Twitter provided a vehicle for Iranians to share their experiences with the world, when other websites were blocked by the Iranian government.

Who Uses Twitter?

One study showed that more people over 45 were using Twitter than those under 45. Celebrities, companies and average Joes use the service to tell their friends in a short 140 character message what they are doing now.

The beauty of Twitter is that it brings acquaintances and friends closer together by letting them know the little things about people who you wouldn’t normally read about in an email or talk about over the phone.

Twitter is generally a safer forum than Facebook because it doesn’t collect as much personal information. However there are settings that restrict who can see your tweets in the settings section of your profile.

DEF: Twitter is an online social networking service and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, known as “tweets”. Since its launch, the Twitter website has become one of the top 10 most visited on the Internet, and has been described as “the SMS of the Internet. Unregistered users can read the tweets, while registered users can post tweets through the website interface, SMS, or a range of apps for mobile devices.

REF http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twitter

Twitter for Business

Businesses use Twitter as a way to promote, connect and brand their company. If your business is not using twitter yet, then you are going to be left behind. Why? Here are some very good reasons…

You will be able to connect with your customers because they themselves are using twitter. Connecting with customers is the main reason why you should use twitter for your business. Twitter has become part of your customers’ daily routine. Some people log onto it every single day, or even the first thing in the morning before breakfast. If you have an unsatisfied customer you will hear them on twitter. This will help your company to help them.

You can market your product or services to more people and the best part about that is its FREE. You don’t have to pay

Once you have connected with your customers you will be able to ask for feedback on how you can improve your product, your services and maybe even improve your customers service. Listening to them will help you in the future.

You can also tweet about new specials and coupons codes to help give your company the extra boost. What everyone loves is a bargain

If your business is not a well-known brand then just use a personal account and brand yourself as an expert constantly pointing people towards your business. People like to connect with people not a logo

If you’ve have succeeded gaining some popularity with your twitter account you will know how viral twitter can be.

Twitter can help you increase sales and make PROFIT

At the end of the day, once you have engaged, helped your customers (your followers) on Twitter. They will be loyal to your brand for a long time.

How Do I Check Twitter Out?

Many people ask me, ‘where do I find Twitter’. My suggestion is that you start with my Twitter site https://twitter.com/kimdenyse. Yes I want you to ‘Follow Me’ but it’s also a good way to see how it works and what it is all about.

For example. When I finish writing this blog I will ‘Tweet it’ by pressing the Tweet this button on the bottom of this Blog Page. All my Followers (zillions) will receive a notification that I have written a blog via a ‘Tweet’ that includes the link to this page. If they are interested in reading why they are Tweeting (just in case they weren’t sure) then they will click on that link which will bring them here

Yours in Twitter and Tweets,

Kim-Denyse Dip BusMark. CertIVTAA

www.kimd.com.au

Related articles

• Why Your Community Should Be on Twitter (apartmentguide.com)

What is Google Plus?

Google Plus is Google’s new Social Network.

Google says its ‘New ways of sharing the right things with the right people’

Google has a range of free products that you can use with your Google Account. Have you been using or heard of Google

Chrome, Picasa, Gmail, Blogger, Maps, Translate, Books, Reader, You Tube etc?

The idea is to make existing Google ‘products‘ socially compatible, making your life on the net with Google easier! This means that once you have a Google+ account, you won’t  have to sign into different sites and accounts to share and update your activities, as all the information and functions from all of these will be integrated into the ‘Google+ experience’

Why have a Google Plus when I already have a Facebook?

Facebook was developed on the premise that everyone is your ‘friend’, which isn’t how your social circles work in real life.

Google Plus is built so that you can group your connections into “circles” and treat each circle separately – Sharing some things with one circle and not others.

Google Plus has a lot of cool features, but the biggest reason to open a Google Plus account is that if you use a lot of Google products you will inevitably have to have one some-day, so why not now.

You will need a Google Account

If you already have a Gmail address or use Google Apps with your domain name email then its almost automatic that you have a Google+ Account. You just sign up using your email address.

Each Google+ profile will center around the Stream, which is essentially the same thing as Facebook’s News Feed – where all of your info and updates from your friends are rounded up and constantly updated. The Stream will be joined by four core elements – Circles, Hangouts, Huddle and Sparks – with Google hinting that these are the starting block for future developments.

Circles

Google wants to make sharing online more like sharing in real life – different things with different people. For example, you might want to catch up with your friends about your Saturday night out, but you don’t necessarily want your parents in your chat. You can keep your conversations separate by putting your contacts into ‘circles’ such as ‘Work crew’, ‘Uni mates’ and ‘Parents’.

To sort your nearest and dearest into online categories all you have to do is click and drag them into the relevant circle and then they’ll only get the information that is meant for them. If only real life were that simple

Do I Need it?

Google+ looks good and the new features, especially circles, could just make the difference between it being a Facebook killer or another Google social failure. But do you really need another social network and do you really need as much control of who we share what with as Google thinks?

Getting people to shift over from Facebook is not going to be easy.

My thoughts are that if you are in business then do both. Google will like that! Its not that difficult to share your stuff around so with a few clicks its done.

 If you would like a complete guide to Google+ download it here

Facebook: Personal vs. Business Accounts

Profiles vs. Pages

Many of my clients are asking me for help with their Facebooks. They are confused as to whether they should have a Facebook for business page or just stick with a personal profile [Refer to my Blog 'Why Use Facebook for Business' ]

The one thing that bothers them most is what the difference is between a Profile and a Page!

On Facebook, Profiles are for People, and Pages are for Businesses. To fully engage and leverage Facebook’s features, you should first create a personal profile. You can balance business and personal contacts through your profile’s security  and privacy settings and by using Friends Lists which are a way of organising your friends into relevant groups. [contact me for more information on How to do this]

Facebook has built significant functionality specifically for businesses, and all of this functionality is only available for Pages.

• A Page is similar to a Profile except that it is, by default, public, and users can Like and become a ‘fan’ of your Page without first requiring approval from the Page‟s administrators. Creating a Page is completely free but will require your time to build and maintain.
• Pages allow you to designate multiple administrators so you can have more than one person help manage the account. In addition, if one of your administrators leaves the company, you can still have control over the Page.
• Pages are, by default, public, and are starting to rank in Facebook and public search results.
• Pages are split into different categories (local businesses, brands, musicians) that help you get listed in more relevant search results.

Personal profiles have friends, which require mutual acceptance, whereas anyone can become a fan of your Page without needing administrator approval.

So start with a personal profile and become familiar with that first. Collect your friends and then Create a page. Invite your friend to become Fans to start you off and then you are on your way!

PS: I have a ‘How To Facebook Quick Reference guide’ so let me know if you need it

Why Use Facebook for Business? – Facebook Pages

You have heard of ‘social media’ and maybe you’ve looked at Twitter and checked out your kids’ Facebook profiles, but why does any of this matter to you or your business? Social media and in this case, Facebook Pages are becoming increasingly important for businesses to get found by and engage with potential buyers who are increasing their activity on the web.

Think about the way you find information about products and services you want…

For example:

• are you watching TV ads?
• Going through your junk mail?
• Or are you consulting a search engine or
• Asking a friend?

People are becoming better and better at ignoring traditional advertising. Instead they visit Google and social networks for answers to their questions. The question for you is, will you be there to answer it?

Instead of seeing Facebook as a time-waster see it as a tool for connecting people with those around them - an opportunity to use Facebook to expand your online presence and directly engage with your customers and prospects.

There are a number of good reasons for businesses to participate in and maintain a presence on Facebook. Here are a few:

• Get found by people who are searching for your products or services
• Connect and engage with current and potential customers
• Create a community around your business
• Promote other content you create, including webinars, blog articles, or other resources
• Generate leads for your business

5 Facebook for Business Best Practices:

1. Be interactive, fun and helpful. When people go to your Facebook Page, they are looking for some kind of interaction. Don’t disappoint them. Offer your Facebook fans things that they can use and enjoy such as links, applications, and engaging information

2. Embed videos on your Facebook page. There is no reason why you should send people to YouTube to watch your videos. Keep ‘em right on your page with embedded videos!

3. Create a connection between your Facebook Page and the outside world. I recently read a case study about how sales reps worked with local retailers to promote their events through Facebook updates and photos. Consider something similar.

4. Create contests on Facebook. Contests are a fun and engaging way to encourage participation from fans and even generate new fans. For example, in order to enter a contest, one company asked people to comment on a thread announcing a giveaway in Facebook.

5. Integrate traditional advertising with Facebook. The Facebook icon/logo is well known. Add it to your print ads to promote your Facebook

So if you need help setting Facebook up for your business and someone to help you out then…just ask!

www.kimd.com.au

visit the KimD Facebook page – its new so you can like it to watch it grow

IS THIS EMAIL FACT OR FICTION?

Is This Email Safe

Have you ever wondered if an email is safe to open? You receive heaps of emails per day –some are just business and some are from trusted friends who are sharing a laugh or supporting a ‘good cause’. But can these emails be harmful?

The answer is – YES they can!

Email Tracker Programs

Email tracking programs are designed to track the *cookies and email addresses of the contacts you forward messages on to.  These Host senders don’t care how they get your email addresses – just as long as they get them.  Ignore them and don’t participate!

*Cookie; a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in your web browser while you are browsing. When the you visit the same website in the future, the data previously stored in the cookie can be retrieved to notify the website of your previous activity

Guilty or Not Guilty?

  Any time you see an email that says…

• “forward this on to ’10′ (or however many) of your friends”,
• “sign this petition”, or
• “you’ll get bad luck” or “you’ll get good luck” or
• “you’ll see something funny on your screen after you send it”
• demand you “send the email on if you’re not ashamed of God/Jesus”
• talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease “how would you feel if that was your child”

Or anything similar playing on our conscience  - that is email tracking

These types of emails almost always has an Email Tracker Program attached to it.

This means that the ‘host’ sender (the people who attached the program originally)  is getting a copy each time the message gets forwarded. The host is then able to steal lists of ‘active’ email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other Spammers.

Petitions

Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others have a tracking program attached.  Email petitions are NOT acceptable to government or any other organisation – e.g. Social security, etc.  To be acceptable, petitions must have a “signed signature” and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email trackers.

For Example : a mass letter sent years ago, asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards.
 All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and ‘cookie’ tracking information for telemarketers and Spammers – to validate active email accounts for their own profitable purposes.

By Signing a petition you may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT! Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly with a virus attached!  Plus, you are helping the Spammers get rich!  Do not make it easy for them!

So… STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing regardless how inviting they might sound!

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t! It’s all about getting email addresses and nothing more.

Yes! You Can forward This Message On!

You can do your friends and family members a terrific favour by sending this information to them.  You will spreading the word and also reducing the thousands of spam emails you are receiving now and  in the future!

What else can I do if I am not sure?

• Make it a practice to always delete all previous names from your emails before forwarding!
• Send emails via the BCC field -then everyone after you doesn’t get your friend’s email address
• Open up a Gmail account – Gmail is a Google product and serves as a fabulous spam filter

You can read more about how in the My Computer Tutor blog on How to Reduce Spam

If you need help with any of this please do not hesitate to contact me

Yours in Email Safety and dedication to spam reduction,

Kim-Denyse

My Computer Tutor

http://www.mycomputertutor.net.au  kim@mycomputertutor.net.au

REF: snopes.com

IS THIS EMAIL SAFE? – FACT OR FICTION

Have you ever wondered if an email is safe to open? You receive heaps of emails per day –some are just business and some are from trusted friends who are sharing a laugh or supporting a ‘good cause’…. But can these emails be harmful?

The Answer is – YES THEY CAN!

Guilty or Not Guilty?

Some emails you see are not legitimate but ‘look’ as if they are. Most of these emails will come from a trusted friend so you think ‘this looks like a good cause or I’d like to share the good luck too so I’ll just forward that on to all of mine’. Then you click into your ‘To: field’ and add all of your friends there – so the whole world can see them! Then you hit Send. Unfortunately what you have just done is NOT GOOD – not good at all!

How Can I Tell?

Any time you see an email that says…

• “Forward this on to ’10′ (or however many) of your friends”,
• “Sign this petition”, or
• “You’ll get bad luck” or “you’ll get good luck” or
• “You’ll see something funny on your screen after you send it”
• Demand you send the email on if you’re not ashamed of God/Jesus
• Talk about a missing child or a child with an incurable disease “how would you feel if that was your child”

Or anything similar playing on our conscience  - that is ‘Email Tracking’

These types of emails almost always has an Email Tracker Program attached to it.

This means that the ‘host’ sender (the people who attached the program originally)  is getting a copy sent back to them each time the message gets forwarded. The host is then able to steal lists of ‘active’ email addresses to use in SPAM emails or sell to other Spammers.

*Cookie; a small piece of data sent from a website and stored in your web browser while you are browsing. When the you visit the same website in the future, the data previously stored in the cookie can be retrieved to notify the website of your previous activity

Email Tracker Programs

‘Email tracking programs’ are designed to track the *Cookies and email addresses of the contacts you forward messages on to.  These Host senders don’t care how they get your email addresses – just as long as they get them.  Ignore them and don’t participate! They love to take advantage of your good heart and one of their most effective methods is to send out Petitions.

Petitions

Almost all emails that ask you to add your name and forward on to others have a tracking program attached.  Email petitions are NOT acceptable to government or any other organisation – e.g. Social security, etc.  To be acceptable, petitions must have a “signed signature” and full address of the person signing the petition, so this is a waste of time and you are just helping the email trackers.

For Example : a mass letter sent years ago, asked people to send business cards to the little kid in Florida who wanted to break the Guinness Book of Records for the most cards. All it was, and all any of this type of email is, is a way to get names and ‘cookie’ tracking information for telemarketers and Spammers – to validate active email accounts for their own profitable purposes.

You may think you are supporting a GREAT cause, but you are NOT! Instead, you will be getting tons of junk mail later and very possibly with a virus attached!  Plus, you are helping the Spammers get rich!  Do not make it easy for them!

So… STOP adding your name(s) to those types of listing regardless how inviting they might sound!

Don’t feel guilty if you don’t! It’s all about getting email addresses and nothing more.

What else can I do if I am not sure?

• Make it a practice to always delete all previous names from your emails before forwarding!
• Send emails to your entire address list BCC then everyone after you doesn’t get your friend’s email address
• Open up a Gmail account – Gmail is a Google product and serves as a fabulous spam filter

You can read more about how in the My Computer Tutor blog on How to Reduce Spam

You Can Share This Blog

You can do your friends and family members a terrific favour by sending this blog to them by sharing it either by email or Facebook or Google+.  You will spreading the word, helping others and also reducing the thousands of spam emails you are receiving now and  in the future!

If you need help with any of this please do not hesitate to contact me

Yours in Email Safety and dedication to spam reduction,

Kim-Denyse

My Computer Tutor

http://www.mycomputertutor.net.au  kim@mycomputertutor.net.au

REF: snopes.com