Meeting Tonight - Dec 8th, 2009

Meeting Reminder - The meeting starts at 5:00 pm and will be held at:  Greeneville/Greene County Public Library 210 North Main Street, Greeneville, TN 37745, (423) 638-5034, web site: http://www.ggcpl.org/.  They have free WIFI (Internet access) and tables for us to use.

We will covering blogging at this meeting. Thanks goes out to Janet for making the suggestion. Here are a couple of links to check out that cover blogging:

• 10 reasons to blog: http://superbloggingtips.com/2008/02/blog-better-than-website/.
• Are blogs better than web sites:  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/187209/is_a_blog_better_for_you_than_a_website.html.
• Start your own free blog at blogger.com:  http://blogger.com/.
• How to create you own blog video: http://www.videojug.com/film/how-to-set-up-your-own-blog.
• Start your own free blog at Wordpress.com:  http://wordpress.com/.
• Start your own blog at TypePad.com:  http://www.typepad.com/.
• Start your own blog at SquareSpace.com:  http://www.squarespace.com/.

I would like to spend part of the meeting coming up with a list of topics for future meetings. So come with your ideas and thinking caps on.

Remember that we are only meeting once this month, due to Christmas.

I look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting.

Accessing All Your Email Accounts from one Email Account

In this world of the cell phones, the Internet, IPods, Facebook, and email, you may find that you have multiple email accounts and trying to management them all from different locations becomes a true bother.  Wouldn't it be nice to access everything from one location, from one email account?  Yeah... 

There are several approaches to accessing all your email accounts from one central location.  One approach would be to have all your email accounts forwarding all their email to one web mail account (gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc...) and then checking your web mail account to view all your email.  For me that would be gmail.  I have several email accounts that forward all their email to my gmail account and I check my emails from all of these email accounts by logging into my gmail account.  Wow!  I'm logging into one email account and viewing email from multiple email accounts.  Awesome.....

The other approach would be to use an email client locally on your PC, such as Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Outlook Express, or some other email client.  This option requires that you configure Pop3 for each of the email clients you want to access.  You would need the following information for each email account that you wanted to setup:

• Pop3 Server Address
• SMTP Server Address
• Your email id
• Your email password

You can obtain the above information from your email provider. 

Once you have this setup in your local email client (Outlook, Outlook Express, or some other email client), then you can have it download all your email to this local email client.  I did this for years and I still do it for a few of my business email accounts.

Here are some links that will help to explain how to set things up - step by step instructions:

• Forwarding all other email accounts to a gmail account:  http://www.googletutor.com/2006/06/20/using-gmail-as-your-universal-email-account/.    
• Configuring a local email client to use Pop3/SMTP for downloading email from various email systems:  http://email.about.com/od/accessinggmail/qt/How_to_Access_a_Gmail_Account_with_any_Email_Client_via_POP.htm. 
• Configuring your local email client to download gmail email:  http://www.webdevelopersnotes.com/tips/internet/configure_gmail_in_outlook_express.php3.  

Have fun.

Next Meeting Date Changed

Our next meeting date has been changed from Dec. 10th to Dec 8th.  The meeting starts at 5:00 pm.

We will also have a new meeting place.  We will be meeting at theGreeneville/Greene County Public Library 210 North Main Street, Greeneville, TN 37745, (423) 638-5034, web site:  http://www.ggcpl.org/.  They have free WIFI (Internet access) and tables for us to use.  Thanks goes out to Dianne for taking on this task of finding us a new meeting place. 

We don't have a topic to cover at our next meeting.  If anyone has any suggestions, please email me your ideas or post them on the blog.  I would like to spend part of the meeting coming up with a list of topics for future meetings.  So come with your ideas and thinking caps on. 

Remember that we are only meeting once this month, due to Christmas. 

I look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting. 

One-On-One Computer Training Starting on Nov 30, 2009

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm offering one-on-one computer training. I have gotten some requests for customized one-on-one training. If you find that you need more individualized computer training, I may be able to assist you. I will be charging a fee for this customize one-on-one training.

The computer training that I will be offering is for users running Windows on their computers. Here are some topics you may be interested in: using email, surfing the internet, burning CDs/DVDs, backing up your computer, etc.. You may have some specific need that you need one-on-one training with. Just let me know what that may be and I'll see what I can do for you.

If you are interested in one-on-one training, give me a call (423-638-5750) or email: Kay@pwcreations.net. 

I will continue doing our free computer learning meetings for the local community. These free community computer learning meetings are broad in scope and require a base level of Windows Software/Computer knowledge, in order to use the information covered in these meetings.

The free computer learning meetings require you take the training information and apply it on your own. These meetings are open to questions and I try and go over the materials when possible, but since we don't conduct these meetings in a regular computer classroom where everyone can perform the task(s) we are covering, it requires the attendee to be more independent in their own learning.

This scenario may change in the future if we are able to find a meeting place that would be more accommodating of a computer classroom sitting. But in the mean time, we are making the best of what is available to us.

Have an awesome month and I'll see you all at our next meeting - 12/10/09.  I'm not sure where this meeting will be held yet, but I'll post the details before our next meeting. 

Meeting Notes from 11/12/09

We had a nice turn out of folks and a good meeting.  We went over Backups.  There were a few questions and hopefully we got them all answered. 

I just wanted let folks know what Janet's blog address is:  http://janettoney.blogspot.com/.  It is an interesting blog that I think you will enjoy.  I did. 

We talked about meetings for Nov and Dec.  Since there will be big holidays during these months, we will only meet once this month (which was yesterday) and once next month (12/10/09). 

Dianne is going to check with the Library and Tusculum College about us having our meetings there.  She will get back with me and let me know if she comes up with another meeting place for the group.  So we may have a new meeting place for our Dec meeting.  I'll let everyone if it changes.  Thanks Dianne for doing this for the group.  It is a big help. 

I created a logo for our group and it is at the top left hand side of this blog. I just felt it would be nice to have a logo for our group. I hope you all like it. I was trying to express a feeling of rising/elevating and I wanted a techie design, since our focus is on computer learning.

I hope everyone has wonderful and safe holiday season.

Backing Up Your PC and Restoring Files on Your PC

I have had a few requests asking about how folks can back up their PCs. This can be a vast topic. I will narrow the scope of this topic by focusing on Windows VISTA and Windows XP.

I'll provide information on using backup and restore programs that come with VISTA and Windows XP.  There are lots of 3rd party backup and restore solutions out there to choose from, but I want to limit the scope of this post, so I'll just cover the programs that come with Windows.

Windows VISTA Backup
If you are running Windows VISTA there is a backup and restore program included with Windows VISTA. Here are some links that provide instructions on the steps to perform:

• Backup Link 1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Back-up-your-files/  that outlines the steps for performing a backup of your PC.
• Backup Link2: http://www.vista4beginners.com/How-to-backup-your-data/
• Using Windows Link for VISTA: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/help/using/
  

Windows VISTA Restore
There is a restore program that comes with Windows VISTA. Check out these links:

• Restore Link 1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/Restore-files-from-a-backup/
• System Restore FAQ Link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions/
  

Windows VISTA System Restore
There are times when you need to perform a System Restore. A System Restore returns your system to a previous state by restoring your computer's system files to an earlier point in time. It's a way to undo system changes to your computer without affecting your personal files, such as e‑mail, documents, or photos. Here are links about a System Restore:

• System Restore Link 1: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/What-is-System-Restore/
• System Restore FAQ Link: http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-vista/System-Restore-frequently-asked-questions/

Windows XP Backup
If you are running Windows XP and you need to backup your PC, check out these links for step by step instructions and information:

• Backup Link 1: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/maintain/backupfiles.mspx  
• Maintaining Your Windows XP System Link: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/setup/maintain/default.mspx
  

Windows XP Restore
Here is a link for using Windows XP Restore program:

• Restore Link 1: http://uis.georgetown.edu/software/documentation/winxp/winxp.restore.html
  

Windows XP System Restore
Here is a link for using the Windows XP System Restore program:

• System Restore Link 1: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/306084

Other Options
You can also backup your data files (photos, word documents, music files, etc..) to a CD/DVD and then store it in a safe location.  You could backup your entire system to CDs/DVDs, but this could take a huge amount of CDs/DVDs to accomplish given the size of Windows and hard drives these days.  A better option for backing up your entire system would be to use an external hard drive. 

An external hard drive attached to your computer would allow you to backup your entire system easily, as long as the external hard drive was large enough.  You can purchase external hard drive solutions that attach using an USB connection and then you could attach this external hard drive to another computer in the event that your computer failed/crashed.    This makes this solution easy to move and connect to another computer.

Our Next Meeting - 11/12/09

Our next Elevate Computer Learning meeting will be this Thursday - Nov, 12, 2009 at the Chocolate Cafe, 665 Erwin Hwy, Greeneville, TN 37745, phone: 423-638-6221. We will start at 5:00 pm.

I'm not sure what topic we will be covering. I haven't received any feedback from the group, so we can just leave things open and cover whatever topics folks want to talk about (computer related).

I just want to remind everyone that we will only meet once this month since the 4th Thursday of the month falls on Thanksgiving day.

I also check out the library last Friday and it doesn't look like it will work out for us. The conference room doesn't pick WIFI and I was told that is strong possibility that the room won't be available after the first. It was a great idea and suggestion. Thanks.

I checked out Arby's and they have free WIFI and some electrical outlets that we can use. We could consider Arby's.

I also checked out the second location of the Chocolate Cafe that just opened up down town. They close at 4:00 pm and they don't have their WIFI setup yet. So, this won't work for us right now.

If anyone knows of another place that will work for us and are willing to check it out and report back to the group, let us know.

We need a place that has WIFI (free internet access), tables and chairs, free for us to use. If it had an over head projector that we could use, that would be a great extra for the group.

Computer Repair Service

Some of you may be aware that my computer died over summer due to a power surge, or so I thought. I took it into a local company in Greeneville to have them look it over. I knew the power supply was fried, but I wanted to make sure that nothing else was wrong with it. I had a feeling there was something else wrong with my computer.

They called me and said that it was fixed and that it was just the power supply. I drove into Greeneville and picked it up. When I got home and hooked it up, it wouldn't power up. I called the company and asked if they powered it up after they fixed it. They said they had and that it came up. I knew this wasn't the truth, so I told them I was bringing it back in and I wanted to see them power it up while I was there.

When I got there, they hooked up my computer and powered it on and it wouldn't come on. They looked it over and said that the mother board was fried. They told me it would cost me 4 or 5 hundred dollars to fix it.

My computer was 5 + years old, so I said I would just take it home and think about what I wanted to do. They tried to sell me one of their custom built computers, but I didn't like any of them and they offered to keep my computer, but I said no. I told them I would take it home and figure out what I wanted to do.

I decided to buy a new computer, since I do a lot of work on the computer and it is how I make my living. I got a new HP computer and I just love it.

I still had my old computer sitting in the corner of my office and I couldn't stand the thought of taking it to the dump. So I thought I would donate it to a guy who works on computers. I have been seeing a sign for his services when I drove into town to run errands. It is Jean's Computer Repair Service on the Asheville Hwy.

I called him up today and spoke with him. He said he would take my computer and use it for parts. So, I dropped it off with him today. By the time I returned home, I had a voice message from him saying to call him.

I called him and long story short, my mother board was not fried, it was just a video card and they (the first place I took it) knocked one of the memory chips loose, so the computer wouldn't start up. Jean put in a new video card and put the memory in tightly and my computer started up just fine.

I could have had my computer fixed for about $100.00, instead of buying a new one. I'm happy with my new computer, but my old computer is a really good one and is worth about a $1000.00 fixed, Jean said. I don't need another computer now and I don't have room for a second computer, so someone will end up a good computer.

I would highly recommend Jean's Computer Repair Service - 423-636-8449, if you need your computer fixed. He seemed really knowledgeable and his prices are reasonable. I know some of you have been looking for someone who can work on computers. You may want to check out Jean the next time you need someone to work on your computer.

Oh, and if you need a good used computer, Jean has my old one. You can call (423-636-8449) him to purchase it. He said he would let anyone from our group buy my old computer for just the cost of parts and a new version windows software, which comes to about $225.00.

Next Elevate Computer Learning Meeting - 11/12/09

Our next computer learning meeting will be Nov, 12, 2009. We are thinking about having it at the library in town. The library has free internet and I'm told by one of our members a better meeting place. Better tables, etc. I haven't gotten by the library yet to check it out. I'm sure it is fine, but I would just like to see the layout first, before giving it a try. So stay tuned for more details.

We are only going to have one meeting this month, because the 4th Thursday of this month falls on Thanksgiving.

I'm also looking for suggestions on what topic to cover at our next meeting. You can post you suggestions on this blog or email me.

Let me know if you can attend, so we have an idea of how many seats to set aside for folks.

I look forward to seeing everyone at our next meeting. Until then, happy computing..

Notes from our 10/22/09 Meeting

We had a good meeting. Instead of going over Twitter, we went over topics that Dianne and Hattie wanted to cover, since they were the only two that showed up.

Dianne was having trouble accessing the documents that I posted in the Google documents area. I fixed her issue, but just as a reminder, you will need a Gmail account to access the Google documents area for our group. I usually send out the document as an email attachment (in .PDF format), and then I upload the .pdf file to Google documents area. One of the reason I upload the documents to the Google documents area is to have all the documents in one centralized place.

If you are having trouble accessing the .pdf file I send out in email, make sure you have the latest free version of Adobe Acrobat Reader installed. You can find it at Adobe's web site, http://adobe.com/.

We also talked about methods of backup and will cover this at a future meeting.

We decided that we need another place to meet. We love the Chocolate Cafe, but the tables there don't work for us and it can be loud at times and we have the weather to deal with.

Dianne has checked with the local library in Greeneville and they said we can meet there. They stay open until 8:00 pm and they have free WIFI. This sounds like an option worth trying.

Dianne is also checking with a local computer store in Greeneville that said they may be able to help us out. I'm waiting to hear back from Dianne regarding details about this option. I do want to send out a "Thank You" to Dianne for taking on the task of finding us another meeting place.

I want to say "Thank You" to Howie for running the meeting for me while I was out of town. It was a big help.

I hope everyone has a great week and I'll keep you updated on the status of things.

Today's Meeting

We are going to cover Twitter today.  We'll go over the basics and I sent out a document on how to use Twitter with cell phone.  You can have twitter messages sent to cell phone in the form of text messages. 

Here are couple of links for adding Twitter widgets:

• For Windows Computers:  http://twitter.pbworks.com/WindowsApps
• Web Site Widgets:  http://twitter.pbworks.com/WebApps

Have fun with Twitter. I'll see you this evening.

How did things go?

I got back into town late last night. My husband and I went to Poway, CA and performed at a benefit concert for the Kumeyaay-Ipai Tribe. To see a poster for the concert click on this link: concert poster.  The concert went well and we had a great time performing and meeting new folks.  The weather was beautiful and the day of the concert it was 100 degrees.  It didn't seem like it was that hot.  Then we returned home and we needed our coats, but it was good to be home again. 

I just wanted to check in and see how things went with the last meeting (Oct 8th) that I wasn't able to attend?  Leave your comments here on the blog or email me.  Let me know what you would like to see covered at future meetings. 

Since I have been gone and I don't have much time to prepare for our next meeting, I will be covering Twitter and any remaining time left I thought we could just leave it open to what ever computer topic or computer question someone may have. 

Let me know if you can attend.  I would love to see everyone. 

Have a wonderful evening.

Next Computer Learning Meeting is on Oct 8th, 2009

I will be out of town, so Howie has offered to run this next meeting for everyone and Dianne has offered to help Howie. Thank you Howie and Dianne.

Class will start at 5 pm, Thursday Oct 8th at the Chocolate Cafe in Tusculum. There is no charge for the class and the Chocolate Cafe has graciously allowed us to use their facilities for free so please order something even if it's just a cup of coffee. Be kind to the servers and remember to leave a tip, I'm sure it would be appreciated.

I'm sure this will be a good and fun meeting. Enjoy the meeting.

Google's Chrome - A New Web Browser

I just wanted to create a quick post this morning. In case you haven't heard of the new web browser from Google, called Chrome, check out the links in this post for information about Chrome and a link for downloading Chrome.

I haven't been running Chrome (about 2 weeks) very long and it isn't the only web browser I use (I mostly use Internet Explorer), but I thought I would mention Chrome in case you are looking for a new web browser, or maybe you are just wanting to try something new. Whatever your reasons may be, I think you'll find that Chrome is fast, simple and sleek.

If you download Chrome and use it, let us know what you think about it. Post your thoughts on this blog our give us your feedback at one our regular Computer Learning meetings.

Here are the links for Chrome:

Chrome Information/features link:  http://www.google.com/chrome/intl/en/features.html
Chrome Download link: http://www.google.com/chrome

Have fun playing with Chrome.

Follow Up Notes from Sept 24 Meeting

We had a good meeting yesterday evening.  We also had a down pour of rain show up and we played musical tables some. 

Some of the subjects we cover were Picasa, Defrag, Scan Disk, Firewalls, Anti-Virus software and a bit on Craigslist. 

Our next meeting will be on Oct 8th.  I won't be able to organize this meeting or attend it. I'll be out of town. Howie kindly agreed to fill in for me and two other members (Dianne and Michelle) offered to help her. Thanks ladies.

I'll see everyone at the end of the month.  Have a wonderful month.

Our next meeting is Sept 24, 2009

Location and Time of Meeting:  Chocolate Cafe in Greeneville, TN and meeting starts at 5:00 pm.

Meeting Topics

I'm planning on covering some basic tips with Craigslist and Picasa 3. I was going to go over Outlook, but Outlook is a full blown electronic organizer. Before going over Outlook, I need more feedback from Larry before I put together something on Outlook. I need to know if he is just interested in learning more about email side of Outlook or all the major functions of Outlook (Contacts, Calendar, etc..). After I receive feedback from Larry, I'll schedule Outlook for one of our future meetings, unless Larry decides after watching the video links in this post, that he doesn't need to go over Outlook at one of our meetings. Here are some YouTube video links for using email in Outlook:

• MS Outlook E-mail Email Sorting and Grouping Messages: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znlqspkkskw
• MS Outlook E-mail Email Advanced Sorting Capabilities: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YOYZj0-yewg
• MS Outlook E-mail: Creating Moving Managing Folders and Subfolders: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EOdGQ6GVW8&feature=related
• MS Outlook Creating and Using E-mail Signatures: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzfRTWhAZrE&feature=channel
• MS Outlook E-mail: Creating a Group Distribution List: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fwT-9rJstw&feature=channel
• MS Outlook Setting and Using E-mail "Rules": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRn4LCMfV-o&feature=channel

CraigsList

I hope you guys had a chance to read my previous post and the online article about Craigslist. If you didn't, here is a brief description of what Craigslist is. Craigslist was created by Craig Newmark and it has become one of the most popular sites on the Internet. It was started in San Francisco in 1995. It offers job listings, personal ads, ads for cars, pets, and all sorts of other choices. The website is built around communities. Craigslist estimated worth is over 10 million dollars.

Here are some video links I found on YouTube:

• What is Craigslist: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--_5VCRGcl0  
• Craigslist Humor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpj7ORQhwDk&feature=related
•  Craigslist Posting: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NTbhRkSomw&feature=related
•  Craigslist Tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_AW7GUpTGQo

I was having a hard time finding Craigslist videos that I thought would be good for our computer learning meeting. These were the best that I found. Maybe you can find some better ones.

Picasa 3

Picasa is free software from Google that helps you manage all of your digital photo collection. You can organize and view all your photos in one place. You can even create online photo albums for your family and friends and it is all free. How cool. Let's take a look at some YouTube videos to give us an idea of what Picasa can do for us. Here are some links:

• Overview of Picasa: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rskC6c_5L1M
• Picasa Web Albums: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teeGF-w5Cpw&feature=PlayList&p=4E95A9A720187FD2&index=7

If you are interested in learning about Picasa 3 and downloading the software for free, go to Google's web site: http://picasa.google.com/. I hope you enjoy using Picasa. I haven't been using it for long myself, but I really like it and it is nice having all my digital photos managed in one place. Have fun exploring Picasa.

See you all at the meeting tomorrow evening.

Tid Bits on a Friday

New Computer
It has been a busy week. My main computer had died on me about a month ago, due to a power surge. The mother board and the power supply got fried. My computer was 5+ years old, so it was time for a new one. But like a lot of things, it came at a bad time. But I managed to work out a trade for a brand new computer, and I really love my new computer.

I have my new computer about 90% setup at this point. So, I'm able to do most of things I did before and a few new things. My new computer is running Windows VISTA Ultimate, which so far I really like. I haven't really used VISTA very much. My old computer was running Windows XP Media Center, which I also really liked. It worked great for me.

So, I'm learning new and fun stuff with VISTA, which not only helps me to accomplish what I need to, but I plan on sharing some of the things I learn with you all. So, stay tuned for those tips, because I'll start posting some of the tips and maybe we can go over some of them at our meetings.

Once I got my new computer and started setting it up, I decided that I wanted at least one good reference book on Windows VISTA, so I drove into Johnson City one day this week and I picked up a book at Books-a-million. Here is the title of the book I picked up: "Windows Vista Inside Out" by Ed Bott, Carl Siechert, and Craig Stinson. It is a big reference book and should make good reading on those nights I have trouble sleeping..

CraigsList
I also picked up a couple of magazines. One of the magazines I picked up was "Wired". There was a really interesting article in it about Craig Newmark, the creator/founder of Craigslist. I would highly recommended reading it, since a lot of us are using Craigslist and it may be one of the topics at our next meeting. To read the article online, go here: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/magazine/17-09/ff_craigslist.

Creating Your Own Handwritten Font
I picked up another Magazine, "Windows Magazine" the Fall 2009 edition and found several interesting articles in it, but one that I thought the group might be interested in was titled "Turn Your Handwriting Into a Font You Can Use" by James Stables. This sounded interesting and fun.

In this day and age when so much is typed and not handwritten, you can find yourself longing for a more personal touch and maybe to stand out a little in the pack.  I read the article and the process for creating your own handwritten font, and it is simple. 

There is a web site called yourfonts (http://www.yourfonts.com)  and they have a simple process for creating your own font.  All the instructions and the process is on their web site, so I won't go over them here. 

I would like to say that once you have created your own handwritten font and installed it on your computer, remember that if you create an email using your new handwritten font and you send your email out to a friend, your friend won't see the text displayed in your new handwritten font, unless they install your new handwritten font onto their own computer.

What would work just fine is if you type up a letter in Word using your new handwritten font and then printed out your Word document.  It would be printed using your new handwritten font, since you have it installed on your computer. 

If you play around with creating your own handwritten font, let us know by posting something on the blog or emailing us your new handwritten font so we can install it and check it out.  Have fun.

Bing.com, Finding Work, and Business Networking Tips

What is Bing.com

I thought I would share a few tips of interest this morning. First, have you heard of bing.com? It is a new search engine by Microsoft.  One of the cool features to bing.com is that everyday the back ground image for the bing.com web page changes and if you move your mouse cursor around the image, you'll find easter eggs (bits of information about the image appear with links).  It is a fun way to learn about places all over the global.  Check it out.  Here is a link for more information and videos about bing.com:  http://www.discoverbing.com/behindbing/about.aspx.

Finding Work

The next tip I want to mention is about finding a job.  There are lots of web sites out there, and it is hard to know where to begin.  As many of you know, I'm currently looking for work.  I recently posted my resume on Monster.com and I have to say that most the inquiries that I have received about potential work have come from Monster.com.  So, it worth taking the time and setting up a resume on Monster.com.  Consider setting your resume to public viewing, so that any potential employeers can contact you.  I have mine setup to be viewed by anyone. 

Business Networking

The other tip for finding work and making good business contacts is professional networking.  There is a service out there called LinkedIn.com.  This service is like a social network for working professionals.  They offer two types of services, one is a free service and the other is a paid service.  You can sign up for a free account and start networking right away.  You can always upgrade your account to a paid service when you are ready.

LinkedIn.com has a feature called "groups" and you can join groups.  It is good to try and join a group that is related to your field of business.  I actually joined a group called "Linked Asheville".  I went to one of their meetings and I had a really good time meeting and talking with other business professionals in the Asheville area.  I passed out a lot of business cards that evening. 

The groups inside of LinkedIn have discussions areas, job postings sometimes and general news.  You can start your own discussions in the groups you are a member of.  It is a good way to network on a professional level and to let people know about your business. 

You can also setup your resume so that it is displayed as part of your profile.  You can ask that other folks to write up recommendations for you.  LinkedIn is a great business tool.  You can look at my LinkedIn profile to get an idea of what one looks like.  Here is my link:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/kaylittlejohn and you can sign up for a LinkedIn account by going to this link:  http://www.linkedin.com/. 

For those of you looking for work or just wanting more exposure for your business, I hope these tips are of some help. 

Have a great day.

Notes from our Sept 10, 2009 Meeting

We had a really good turn out. We had 9 people showed up (10 counting me) and 8 of them were new members. This is great.

We talked about many things, Skype and web cams, what is WIFI, what new computer to buy, email, Internet service and some topics for future meetings.

I'll try to setup a poll of topics for our next meeting, so everyone can vote on what they would like to see cover.

I had my main computer crash and die on me and I just received my new one on Friday, so I'm in the process of setting it up, so bear with me. I'm running a bit behind.

I'm really excited about the turn out at our last meeting and I'm looking forward to our next next meeting on Sept 24, 2009.

Sept 10th is our next Meeting

Our next meeting is on Sept 10, 2009 starting at 5:00 pm.  We will be meeting at the Chocolate Cafe in Greeneville, TN. 

We will be going over how to use a Web Cam with Skype.  Skype is a free service for using video and voice on the internet.  It is a great tool for staying connected to family, friends and for business meetings/conferences.  We could even use it for our group if we wanted. 

To get a head start, please check out this good video I found on youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=466Ra0s6RUY.  This video will explain the basics for installing Skype, creating an account and basic usage.

You can also check out Skype’s Help web page for more details about how to use Skype. Here is the link for Skype’s Help web page: http://www.skype.com/help/guides/.

After watching the video tutorial on Skype, make note of any questions you may have and we'll try and answer them. 

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening.  Until then, happy Skyping - smile.

Making your own movies/videos

Hi. You know, it is good to learn the computer things that we need so that we can perform all the tasks required by us to get by, but all work and no play can lead to a pretty boring day. Life hopefully contains a good balance between work and play.

On that note, I was doing a little playing this morning. Microsoft has a new software tool called "Windows Movie Maker". It was really easy to use. I made a quick movie from photos on my hard and I even added a song as background music.

You can also add movie clips that already exist on your hard drive to the movie you are creating. You can even edit the movie clip you have added to your new movie. Pretty cool stuff.

Once your movie clip is created, you can publish (make it available) it to YouTube or burn it to a CD/DVD.

If you want to learn more about Windows Movie Maker (WMM), check out the video clip from Microsoft that shows an overview of WMM. Here is the link: http://www.moviemakerpreview.com/. There is also a link on this web page for downloading the software.

If you are looking for something fun and easy to learn that you can dazzle your family and friends with, check out Windows Movie Maker. If you make a movie, consider sharing it with group.

Happy movie making..

Documents for Emailing Attachments

I have updloaded the documents that explain how to email an attachment using GMAIL or Hotmail. I have uploaded these documents to my GMAIL docments area. I have setup these documents so that you don't need a login ID for GMAIL.

These documents are the same documents I emailed the group, but I wanted to put them out on the internet so that we have them in a central location.

Here are the links:

• Email attachments using Hotmail: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzLD5kNjIMyMYWZhM2M3ZjUtZWNkOC00ZjQ0LWIwNWQtY2I5MjMwNzBiMjky&hl=en
• Email attachments using GMAIL: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0BzLD5kNjIMyMZGJkN2ZhNmYtMGYyYi00YWY2LWJhNzktYjE1NGVlYjk3NTM3&hl=en

Have a fun day..

August 27th Meeting on Emailing Attachments

I wanted to post an update on our meeting last night. I brought my laptop and we went through the steps for emailing an attachment in GMAIL. This went very well. I was able to answer questions and we had good dialogue regarding GMAIL and its features.

We also discussed some future topics for upcoming meetings. Here are some of the topics that were suggested: Using a Web Cam with Skype, Facebook basics, and Twitter basics. If you have a topic suggestion, why don't you add a comment here on our blog or email me your suggestion.

The food, service and free WIFI was great at the Chocolate Cafe.

Our next scheduled meeting will be on Sept 10, 2009 at the Chocolate Cafe in Greeneville, TN and will start at 5:00 pm. I look forward to seeing you there.

Video Tutorial Links for Sending Email Attachments

We are scheduled to cover emailing resumes using Gmail or Hotmail at tomorrows meeting. To help jump start your learning I went out and found some youtube videos that should help give you a basic understanding. We can always go over any questions you may have tomorrow at our meeting.

Gmail Tutorial Links:

• Overview of Gmail – Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvWsYk531mo
• Organizing your Gmail – Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lErySsL-Kwg&feature=related
• Settings in Gmail – Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sk058WJpDL4&feature=related
• Composing email in Gmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovbLwjiME1M
• Using the Calendar feature in Gmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqcM_hhiMlI&feature=channel

Hotmail Tutorial Links:

• How to send an attachment in Hotmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIWNmJq6VQA
• How to send email attachments: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jGRBzGTiSc&feature=related
• Retrieving/viewing an attachment that was sent to you in hotmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnW4mmqH7AM&feature=related
  

Windows XP File/Folder System Basics Links:

• Detailed instructions of working with Windows XP file system: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-j0yF7E43s
• Search your computer for files: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4fCXfpkoQM

You can always go out to youtube.com and perform a search for other tutorials, but these are the ones I found that I thought would be helpful for the group. This will help you to have a better understand of how to email a resume.

It is a good idea to try and practice emailing a file to someone as a test before tomorrows meeting. This way you can see if you are able to do so, and what questions may arise.

I look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow evening.

Emailing Attachments - Resumes and Photos

Hello. I want to get a jump start on the topic for our upcoming meeting, "Emailing a Resume". Which is also known as emailing an attachment.

Attachments can be lots of different types of files. Here are a few of the most common type of attachments:

• Resumes (Word documents, Works documents, PDF files, etc..)
• photos (jpg files, gif files, tiff files, png files, bmp files, etc..)
• videos (Flash files, Widows Media, MPE4, etc..)
• music files (mp3 files, wma files, wave files, etc..)
• zip file (these are files that are generally compressed so that the file size is reduce for sending/emailing)
• just plain old text files (no formatting, just straight text).

We are going to focus on emailing Microsoft Word documents, since that is what one of our members needs to do

Now there are lots of different email programs and email service providers out there. We are going to focus on hotmail and gmail for this meeting.

I have gone out on youtube.com and performed a search for some video tutorials that cover how to email an attachment. Here is a list of the links that I found:

• Resume tips: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8QNiZxcvpg
• Sending photo attachments in hotmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOeaIs5jDko
• Sending attachments in hotmail, yahoo mail, and gmail: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jGRBzGTiSc&feature=related

Video tutorials are nice. They allow you to see the process being done step by step. They don't allow you to ask questions, but it is a really good tool for getting started or as a review on how to do something. So check out these video links and see if you are able to send your own resume or photos. You can practice sending stuff to a friend or family member.

I also performed a Google search and found some web sites that have written instructions on how to email an attachment. Here are some of those links:

• Emailing Hotmail attachments: http://www.ehow.com/how_2064426_add-attachment-hotmail.html
• File size limitations with Hotmail: http://email.about.com/cs/hotmailtips/qt/et061202.htm

If you have specific questions that you would like to cover in our next meeting, please email me or call me ahead of time so I can make sure I can cover your question(s) and provide any resources (links to video tutorials, web sites with the information you need, etc..) that may be helpful.

Of course I would invite you to go out to your favorite search engine (Google, Yahoo, Ask, or Bing) and search on this topic and see what web sites you find that may be helpful to you and the group. Also consider searching Youtube for other tutorial videos that may be helpful. If you find anything, let the group know by posting the links to our blog or emailing me the links.

I look forward to seeing you all at our next meeting.

Become a Follower of this blog

Some of you have expressed that you don't know what it means to be a follower of this blog and how to perform the steps in becoming a follower.

A Follower of a blog is someone who basically is showing their interest in the blog and is hopefully reading the blog. Think about it like a subscription to a newspaper, with two big exceptions: the blog is a free subscription (becoming a Follower of the blog) and not a paid subscription (newspaper). The newspaper company knows it has x amount of subscribers and they hope that all the subscribers are reading their newspaper, but there is no way of knowing that sure. A blog is also on the internet (online content) and not in printed form, like a newspaper.

You can clearly see the advantages of a blog. It is free and it is in an electronic format so it is not being printed on paper that uses a lot of vital resources, that we can use for other uses.

Now, I'm not against newspapers at all. I actually love newspapers and I love holding them in my hands and reading them and smelling the paper. I even use them in my garden. But the world is changing, and this one of the changes.

I have written a simple Tech Note (Technical Note - A document explaining the steps/procedure for accomplishing a certain task) that outlines the basic steps for become a follower of this blog. You can view this document by going to the link on my web site: http://pwcreations.net/Elevate/PDFs/BlogFollower.pdf.

Upcoming Meeting

Just wanted to post a quick note about our next meeting. It will be August 27, 2009 at the Chocolate Cafe in Greeneville, TN at 5:00 pm. Remember they are the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.

I'm trying to put together what topics we'll be covering and learning about at this meeting. Once I have the details together, I'll post them. Stay tuned..

Facebook Sharing

For those of you who have facebook accounts you can now share one of my blog posts on your facebook with ease. I added a facebook sharing link to the bottom of each blog post. Go to the bottom of the blog post you want to share and just click on the link the "Share on: facebook". A facebook permission window will appear. Grant permissions and the blog post will be shared on your facebook wall/account. Now, that is pretty easy. Have fun.

Meeting Notes - Our First Meeting - 08-13-09

We had our first meeting yesterday evening. It was a small group (4 people), but this gave us the opportunity to do a lot a sharing about who we are, what are the goals of the group, what we are looking to get out of these meetings, how often to meet, and a question and answer session about some computer technology.

First, I want to cover the business stuff regarding our group meetings. We decided that we would meet twice a month. The 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month. The time will be 5:00 pm, and the place will be "The Chocolate Cafe", where we held our meeting yesterday evening. We all agreed that we really like The Chocolate Cafe. The food is really good, service is great and the place is clean, nice decor, and it has a really nice atmosphere.

We also talked about the name of the group, "Elevate User Group". Most people don't know what a user group is, so we decided that we should make the name more descriptive. We decided on "Free Computer Learning" (Leigh came up with this name. Thanks Leigh). We not only wanted to be clear about the fact that the meeting is focused on computer learning, but that is also a free meeting for our local community.

We also discussed ways of making more people aware of what we are doing and hopefully get more people to attend our meetings. We feel that there may be other people who would not only enjoy attending these meetings, but would also find these meetings helpful in learning more about the computer. We wanted various ways of reaching people that involved the internet and non-internet (such as newspapers, newsletters, flyers, etc..). A lot of the people we are trying to reach, may not use the internet very much or at all.

Here are some of the ways we discussed: letting the local Moose Lodge know about what we are doing and see if they would put something in their newsletter (Larry said he would take this task on), seeing if the Greeneville Sun would do a write up about what we are doing (this was a great suggestion offered by David), and putting something on Craig's List (my suggestion).

Our question and answer session covered these topics: what is twitter, what is a blog, how to email resumes, computer hardware failures and software scanning.

Some topics for future meeting would be: covering the basics for Microsoft Word (MS Word), Microsoft Excel (MS Excel), Microsoft PowerPoint (MS PowerPoint), how to email a resume or other files, how to find information on the internet, GMAIL, and navigating Windows XP folder system.

I let everyone know that I could cover the basics on these topics to get folks started, but they would really need to continue their learning at home or somewhere else. I also expressed to everyone that there are free tutorials on the internet and there are a lot of video tutorials on youtube.com that are free and very helpful, but they would be required to follow-up on this on their own time. I can provide some links for everyone as part of the meeting when we cover various topics.

One of our goals was to get everyone using this blog. We talked about how to access it and how we could use this blog as our online repository of information, but also as a way for the group to communicate between meetings. So, hopefully everyone at the meeting last night is reading this – smile.

All in all, I feel that this was a really good start. I'm not sure where we are going with this, but the journey has begun.....

Reminder - Our First Meeting is this evening

Come join us this evening for our first Elevate user group. This is a local community minded group that will focus on sharing Information Technology and building a local community group.

Come share your thoughts around what you would like to learn more about or share with the group at future meetings. We can cover topics like: email, surfing the internet, blogs, twitter, using Word or what ever we are interested in learning more about.

Chocolate Cafe & Coffee Co

665 Erwin Hwy

Greeneville, TN 37745

Phone: 423-638-6221

Time: 5:00 pm.

Come out and network with us and be a part of building some new.

I'm looking forward to seeing everyone this evening.

Have a great day!

Linked Asheville - Monthly Face-to-Face

Yesterday evening I attended my first Linked Asheville meeting. I really enjoyed myself. The group was an interesting and lots of fun. They were open and interested in talking about what they do for a living. We exchanged business cards and shared a few interesting and funny stories.

I have gone to other meet and greet type meetings; they were no where as interesting or fun as this group. So, if you are looking to network with other business people and enjoy doing it, consider checking out the Linked Asheville group. You can join LinkedIn.com for free and then join the Linked Asheville group. They have discussion areas and they post up coming meeting here.

Have a great day!

What is a User Group

I have been putting up flyers around town about the upcoming "Elevate" user group meeting and I have had a lot of people ask me "What is a user group". I thought I would offer some kind explanation here.

User Group meetings are usually public meeting/events that are focused on a topic. Usually they are computer topics. People come together at these meetings and learn more about the topic. There is usually someone giving a presentation and maybe even demonstration.

The user group (Elevate) that I'm trying to start will focus on computer skills. Such as using Word or maybe surfing the internet, etc.. I'm looking at these meeting as an educational event. A way of sharing computer information. It is my hope with this first meeting that we can come up with a list of topics to cover at future meetings.

To see a definition of the word "user group" on Wikipedia web site, go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User_group.

I hope this helps some.

I'm looking forward to seeing you at the first Elevate user group meeting

Some Things of Interest ??

I went to a user group meeting in Johnson City, TN about a week ago. The user group is called Geek South. Nice group of folks. They had one of their members (Ben Collins) do a presentation on High Dynamic Range (HDR) Images. It was really interesting and he did a good job. He posted some HDR related links on the Geek South web site (geeksouth.com) and one of the links was to Dave Hill's web site. Dave creates some amazing digital photos. Here is a link to his web site: http://www.davehillphoto.com.

Kick Off Meeting - Our First Meeting

This will be our first meeting for our newly formed Elevate User Group (EUG) meeting. At this first meeting I want everyone to get a chance to meet one another and to talk about what people are looking to get from this user group and hopefully come up with a list topics to cover at future meetings.

The meeting will be held on August 13th, 2009 at 5:00 pm and we'll be at the Chocolate Cafe & Coffee Co, 665 Erwin Hwy, Greeneville, TN 37745. Phone: 423-638-6221.

WIFI is available.

If you have any comments or questions, leave a post here.