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Delete Browsing History
Several readers have asked about deleting the browsing history in Internet Explorer. Open IE and click on Tools>Delete Browsing History. Firefox users do this by clicking on Tools>Options>Privacy. IE users can delete "cookies" by going to Control Panel>Internet Options>Delete, where "delete browsing history" options are also available.
Delete Google Search Results
Others have asked how to delete Google search results. Go to
Google.com, click on the down-arrow next to "Sign In" and choose "Manage Web History."
Early Forerunner of the Computer?
 My first civilian job after returning from Korea in 1952 was as a draftsman for the Metropolitan Water District of Southern California in downtown Los Angeles. I worked in a large room on the 10th floor, surrounded by engineers and other draftspersons.
On a table in the middle of the room was a "pinwheel" calculator that the engineers used for doing their heavy-duty mathematics. Most of their computing was done with a sliderule and a book of logarithm tables.
What I remember most about the clunky, clattering device is that the engineers would stand in line waiting to use it - often for half an hour or more. How I wished I had been an engineer so I could try using the machine. I found it quite fascinating; but all I could do was stop and look at it once in a while. As a high school dropout, I was lucky to get a job there as a draftsman.
Making a "Screen Shot"
Gary Bacon asked how to save an image of his Desktop (background and icons) as a picture.
This is what the PRT SC (print screen) button on your keyboard is for. Press it and it will appear that nothing happened. However, an image of your Desktop will have been placed on the "invisible Windows clipboard," where it waits to be pasted somewhere, such as in Windows Paint, where it can be saved as a JPG picture.
You can also paste the image onto a blank word processing page. However, I prefer pasting screen shots into Irfanview (free from
Irfanview.com) where cropping and resizing tools are easy to find and use.
If you happen to have multiple items open on your Desktop, pressing ALT as you press PRT SC will cause only the topmost window to be copied.
Speaking of Irfanview, it's my default image-editing program because it is so easy to use. When installing the program you will be asked if you want JPGs and other images to open automatically in Irfanview when double-clicked. Say Yes. You can always change the settings by clicking on Options>Set File Associations.
Joe Priebe wrote that he has problems using Adobe Photoshop Starter Edition 3.0. Well, this is a program with a long learning curve; and rather than explain the fix to each problem, I recommend using Irfanview, where such problems basically don't occur.
Copy an Image from an Email or a Web Page
A number of readers have asked how to save a copy of a picture that arrived in the body of an email. Well, some emaill programs offer a "download picture" option, but you can right-click nearly any image and choose Save Picture As...
This is also the usual procedure for copying a picture from a Web page. Easier yet, you can usually drag an image directly onto your Desktop. If neither procedure works, you can press your PRT SC key to make a "screen shot" of the image, whereupon it can be pasted into an image-editor.
Be aware, however, that a screen-shot's resolution will be equal to your monitor's resolution (usually 96 DPI), whereas images downloaded from the Web will be at whatever resolution was in the uploaded image (often much higher than 96 dots per inch).
Improving Text Legibility
Speaking of Facebook (as we were in recent newsletters) many of us use it mainly because of children and grandchildren who post there frequently. Arlene Hampton, though, said she wishes Facebook would use larger fonts with more legible contrast.
I agree. However, Internet Explorer users can enlarge the text by clicking on the "zoom level" tool in the lower-right corner of a page. Also, those who use a mouse with a center roll wheel can enlarge text by pressing CTRL while rolling it forward.
Also, regarding low contrast, it can be improved by simply scrolling over the text, whereupon it changes to white on a blue background. Yes, it's a nuisance, but it works.
© Donald Ray Edrington – All Rights Reserved
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