Month: March 2010

Customize your Web Print Size

Customize your Web Print Size

1X1When printing from the Web, components of a webpage such as headers, side menus or ads can take up a large portion of the printed page.  In some cases, the text font-size on a webpage may be too small for printing.  With Aardvark, a Firefox add-on, you can easily clean up a webpage for easier viewing and printing.

Once you install the add-on to Firefox, to get started, just right-click on a page and select Start Aardvark. With your mouse, you can select areas and use simple keystrokes such as R – to remove, I – to isolate or W – to widen the area.
For pages with small text,  follow these steps to isolate a portion of a webpage and increase the text-size for printing:

1. Right-click and select Start Aardvark.
2. Use the red rectangle to select an area.

aardvark_reds_quare1

3. Use the keystroke “I” to isolate the selection.
4. Once you have customized the webpage, make sure to move your cursor off of  the page (so you do not print any red rectangles) then select File > Print Preview.  In Print Preview, adjust the scale to a higher percentage to increase the text size.
5.  Select Print.
Note: Your computer might save the print preview scale setting for future printing. Also, Aardvark is not being supported anymore. If you’re running an old version of Firefox (10 or earlier) it will still work. It is not available for later versions.

Adjusting Auto-Save in Office 2007

Adjusting Auto-Save in Office 2007

1X1If you’ve ever lost your work due to a computer freeze or power loss then you know how frustrating it can be.  In Microsoft Office, there is a way to help prevent such a disaster. All you need to do is adjust the auto-save interval time so that you know how often and where your documents will be saved. Here are the steps in Microsoft Word to set up this option; note that the steps are the same for PowerPoint and Excel:

  • 1. Click on the Microsoft Logo in the top left corner.
  • 2. At the bottom of the screen, select Word Options. 

    word-options-button

  • 3. Go to the Save tab. Here you can select an interval time and location for auto-saving your documents.word-auto-save-options2
Backing up your Firefox Profile

Backing up your Firefox Profile

1X1If you have personal settings, bookmarks and extensions added on to your Firefox Web browser, it is helpful to know how to back-up your profile folder that contains all of this information.   If you are backing up your computer system or you would like to add your Firefox profile to another computer, follow these instructions to locate and restore your profile:

Locating your Firefox Profile Folder

Windows and Mac: Firefox 3.6

(For older versions of Firefox, click here for instructions)

  • 1.  Click on the Help menu at the top of the Firefox browser and select Troubleshooting Information….

firefox_troubleshooting

  • 2.  Under Application Basics, click Open Containing Folder. This will open your profile folder in a new window.

Backing up your Profile

  • 1. Locate your profile as noted above.
  • 2. Close the Firefox browser but leave the profile window open.
  • 3. Go one level above your profile folder.

firefox_up_level

  • 4. For a PC, right-click on the folder and select Copy.
    For a Mac, control-click on the folder and select Copy.
  • 5. Paste the folder to the appropriate location where you store  your back-up files, such as a USB stick, external harddrive or CD/DVD.Restoring your Profile

     

  • 1. Locate your profile as noted above.
  • 2. Close the Firefox browser but leave the profile window open.
  • 3. If your existing profile folder and profile backup folder have the same name, simply replace the existing profile folder with the profile backup, then start up Firefox.
    Note: The file names must match exactly for this to work. If they have a different name or you are saving to a different location, you can find additional instructions here.
News in Pictures

News in Pictures

1X1With the increasing amount of information available on the Internet, means for consuming online resources are constantly evolving and becoming more image driven.  Many sites use images to represent news from around the world. Seeing an interesting picture  may expose you to a topic that you wouldn’t have otherwise noticed.

BBC News posts a daily slideshow in the Day in Pictures section.

bbcnews

Google News offers the option to put the top news stories into an image view.

googlenews

Visit the  News in Pictures website to see a comprehensive  listing of websites that feature pictorial news.