If you have been online or used a computer for very long, you've probably heard the terms "swipe your mouse to highlight something and then cut and paste it to wherever you want it." For some reason, no one explains exactly how to do that. So, here are the step-by-step simple and easy directions:
1. When you find some text you want to copy, perhaps to paste into an email to share with someone else, click your mouse pointer just to the left of the first letter of the first word you want copied. If you have a mouse with two buttons, right and left, click the left one.
2. Holding that left mouse button down, drag your mouse pointer acrossed and down the length of the text you want to copy. All of the text should be highlighted in blue.
3. You do not have to drag across every line, each time you move the mouse down, the full line of text in the row above will be highlighted. Don't let up on the mouse button, be sure to keep it pressed down until you get to the end of the text.
4. Drag your mouse all the way to the last letter of the last word you want to copy.
5. Let go of the mouse button.
6. Everything you want to copy should be highlighted.
7. There are two ways to copy the text. If you click on the word "edit" on the left side of the very top bar of your screen, you will see the word "copy" in the drop down box that appears. To the right of the word copy you will also see ctrl+C. To copy your text you can either click on the word "copy" in that drop down box or skip opening the edit box completely. Instead you can click and HOLD the control key down (marked Ctrl and found on the lower left corner of your keyboard) while you press the letter C.
8. You have now copied the text you highlighted onto an invisible clipboard that resides in the computer's memory. You can now open any program, word document, email, anything that allows inputting of text, and paste your text there. This is an important point, you can not add text to anything that does not allow for the input of text. You could not add text to someone else's website, for example, unless it was a comment box that allowed people to add comments to a webpage.
9. Once you've opened the program you want to paste your text into, click your mouse pointer on the spot where you want the text to be.
For example, if you wanted to copy some text off a news report you read on the CNN website and email it to someone, you could copy the text right off the screen as outlined above, and paste it into the body of your email.
10. After you click the mouse pointer on the place you want your text to go, go back up to the word "edit" on the top bar of your screen. Click on "edit". In the box that opens, click on the word "paste". Or rather than bother with the edit box, you can simply click and HOLD the ctrl key again and this time click on the letter "V". If you have been online or used a computer for very long, you've probably heard the terms "swipe your mouse to highlight something and then cut and paste it to wherever you want it." For some reason, no one explains exactly how to do that. So, here are the step-by-step simple and easy directions:
1. When you find some text you want to copy, perhaps to paste into an email to share with someone else, click your mouse pointer just to the left of the first letter of the first word you want copied. If you have a mouse with two buttons, right and left, click the left one.
2. Holding that left mouse button down, drag your mouse pointer acrossed and down the length of the text you want to copy. All of the text should be highlighted in blue.
3. You do not have to drag across every line, each time you move the mouse down, the full line of text in the row above will be highlighted. Don't let up on the mouse button, be sure to keep it pressed down until you get to the end of the text.
4. Drag your mouse all the way to the last letter of the last word you want to copy.
5. Let go of the mouse button.
6. Everything you want to copy should be highlighted.
7. There are two ways to copy the text. If you click on the word "edit" on the left side of the very top bar of your screen, you will see the word "copy" in the drop down box that appears. To the right of the word copy you will also see ctrl+C. To copy your text you can either click on the word "copy" in that drop down box or skip opening the edit box completely. Instead you can click and HOLD the control key down (marked Ctrl and found on the lower left corner of your keyboard) while you press the letter C.
8. You have now copied the text you highlighted onto an invisible clipboard that resides in the computer's memory. You can now open any program, word document, email, anything that allows inputting of text, and paste your text there. This is an important point, you can not add text to anything that does not allow for the input of text. You could not add text to someone else's website, for example, unless it was a comment box that allowed people to add comments to a webpage.
9. Once you've opened the program you want to paste your text into, click your mouse pointer on the spot where you want the text to be.
For example, if you wanted to copy some text off a news report you read on the CNN website and email it to someone, you could copy the text right off the screen as outlined above, and paste it into the body of your email.
10. After you click the mouse pointer on the place you want your text to go, go back up to the word "edit" on the top bar of your screen. Click on "edit". In the box that opens, click on the word "paste". Or rather than bother with the edit box, you can simply click and HOLD the ctrl key again and this time click on the letter "V".
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Friday, August 7, 2009
Aging Worker Initiative
Good news for workers over age 55 in Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin! On August 6,
2009, the US Department of Labor announced $10 million in new funding to help older workers update their job skills in what the department calls "high demand industries".
When I saw that headline I thought: Wow, that's perfect. Fund some training centers where older workers can go and catch up on all the technology skills that have become necessary in the workplace.
You can see a complete list of participating agencies and their plan for using the money on page 2 of this web site document:
http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/AWI_One_Pagers_Fact_Sheet.pdf
As I look over the initiatives outlined by each receiving agency, a common thread appears. There is an awful lot of "develop programs" "study needs" "establish worker resource centers" and "create employer resource material". Here's a quote from one grantee's proposal:
"The Vermont Older Worker Demonstration will establish a statewide model coordinating “innovation assets”: people, institutions, capital, and infrastructure. It will synchronize existing training resources and create new opportunities for older workers who are disadvantaged, unemployed, incumbent workers, and retired to increase their workforce participation and technology efficiency."
I don't see anything here about actually training anyone. Each agency is receiving 1 million dollars, plus additional monies from private groups yet the most ambitious program sites a goal to have a whopping 270 older workers participate in their program and enter employment. 270 people! That's almost $4000 in grant money spent per person. There's no measurable outcome listed for the participants, no actual improvement in skills or employement prospects to be demonstrated.
The majority of the stated goals are about increasing awareness, expand skill-developement opportunities, or advocate for older workers. Not a whole lot of actual, useful, providing of skill training going on here.
The point is not to beat up on government programs. This a fairly typical example of how our tax dollars are spent and this is not a political blog anyway, so I won't belabor the pros and cons of entitlement programs. The point is this: waiting for Uncle Sam to pony up and help, when all is said and done, is not going to help us on an individual basis. You have to go out and find the training you need and put in the time and effort to benefit from that training.
Sometimes that is not as easy as it sounds. The more I dig through the internet looking for help with computer skills, the more I realize everyone seems to assume you have a certain level of understanding and knowledge already. They throw around terms like: "select with your mouse" or "hit enter", assuming everyone knows what those words refer to.
I'm going to try and not assume anything. The goal of this blog is to contribute some very simple, basic computer instruction that takes the time to explain even the most common terms. In the days to come there will also be a new resource available, a library of computer training tutorials, all on easy-to-access videos, that will cover the basics of computer use.
I'll post straightforward, uncomplicated how to instructions here. In the meantime, if you have specific questions, feel free to post a comment. I might even create a video tutorial just for you!
2009, the US Department of Labor announced $10 million in new funding to help older workers update their job skills in what the department calls "high demand industries".
When I saw that headline I thought: Wow, that's perfect. Fund some training centers where older workers can go and catch up on all the technology skills that have become necessary in the workplace.
You can see a complete list of participating agencies and their plan for using the money on page 2 of this web site document:
http://www.doleta.gov/pdf/AWI_One_Pagers_Fact_Sheet.pdf
As I look over the initiatives outlined by each receiving agency, a common thread appears. There is an awful lot of "develop programs" "study needs" "establish worker resource centers" and "create employer resource material". Here's a quote from one grantee's proposal:
"The Vermont Older Worker Demonstration will establish a statewide model coordinating “innovation assets”: people, institutions, capital, and infrastructure. It will synchronize existing training resources and create new opportunities for older workers who are disadvantaged, unemployed, incumbent workers, and retired to increase their workforce participation and technology efficiency."
I don't see anything here about actually training anyone. Each agency is receiving 1 million dollars, plus additional monies from private groups yet the most ambitious program sites a goal to have a whopping 270 older workers participate in their program and enter employment. 270 people! That's almost $4000 in grant money spent per person. There's no measurable outcome listed for the participants, no actual improvement in skills or employement prospects to be demonstrated.
The majority of the stated goals are about increasing awareness, expand skill-developement opportunities, or advocate for older workers. Not a whole lot of actual, useful, providing of skill training going on here.
The point is not to beat up on government programs. This a fairly typical example of how our tax dollars are spent and this is not a political blog anyway, so I won't belabor the pros and cons of entitlement programs. The point is this: waiting for Uncle Sam to pony up and help, when all is said and done, is not going to help us on an individual basis. You have to go out and find the training you need and put in the time and effort to benefit from that training.
Sometimes that is not as easy as it sounds. The more I dig through the internet looking for help with computer skills, the more I realize everyone seems to assume you have a certain level of understanding and knowledge already. They throw around terms like: "select with your mouse" or "hit enter", assuming everyone knows what those words refer to.
I'm going to try and not assume anything. The goal of this blog is to contribute some very simple, basic computer instruction that takes the time to explain even the most common terms. In the days to come there will also be a new resource available, a library of computer training tutorials, all on easy-to-access videos, that will cover the basics of computer use.
I'll post straightforward, uncomplicated how to instructions here. In the meantime, if you have specific questions, feel free to post a comment. I might even create a video tutorial just for you!
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