Phone: 250.764.7043
Email: help@computercarekelowna.com

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Getting  Along With Your Computer Column Archive

Happy Halloween
by Cate Eales

Appeared October 29, 2009 on castanet.net
 

This week I have a couple helpful tricks and a few Halloween treats for you.


It’s about brains
Watch the video “Zombies in Plain English” from the folks at Common Craft and learn how protect your brain this Halloween. You’ll learn how to identify zombies, survive and attack, and what to do in case of a zombie bite.


Food for thought
You won’t have to share any of these treats with zombies. You can get instructions for everything from popcorn haystacks to jack o’ lantern cake at the Halloween Recipes site, here. Perhaps my favourite is the “Frozen Hands for Punch” recipe. Fun for the whole family!


“Stay in the box for the show”
There might still be time to get a Balloon Boy Hoax Kit. This Globe and Mail article about a Saskatoon-based company that has launched (sorry!) a Balloon Boy costume tells you how to get one, and provides some suggestions on how you can make one yourself.


Desktop Treats
I found some spectacular Halloween wallpaper for your desktop at VladStudio.com. “Gathering Storm” is spooky and wonderful, and available in seven different resolutions...for free. (More choices if you want to pay.) You can grab it here. The "Ghosts" wallpaper is also great. You can see all the Halloween collection here.


Desktop Tricks
Here comes the useful portion of the column! In Vista and Windows 7 (especially in Windows 7) the desktop icons are BIG in comparison to Windows XP. People have different reactions to this. Some people say, “Wow, I can see the icons now.” Others say, “Holy smokes! How can I make these doggone things SMALL again?!?”

If you are in the second category, here’s good news: It’s easy.

Method 1:

Method 2:

That works in Vista and Windows 7.


Give me back my thumbnails!
No, I’m not back on the zombie kick again. I mean the kind of thumbnails that are small pictures of larger pictures on your computer.

When I moved from XP to Vista, I could not for the life of me figure out why I could only ever see an icon instead of thumbnails in my Pictures folder. I hate that.

But there is an easy way to change that, once you know the answer, and it works the same way in Vista and Windows 7.

Now you can see what your pictures look like without having to open each one.


Have a happy and safe Halloween!



Links
Zombies in Plain English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bVnfyradCPY
Common Craft http://www.commoncraft.com/
Halloween Recipes http://www.halloweenrecipes101.com/halloween-recipes.html
Frozen Hands for Punch Recipe http://www.halloweenrecipes101.com/halloween-recipes-frozen%20hands.html
Globe and Mail article: Balloon boy proves a Halloween hit http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/balloon-boy-proves-a-halloween-hit/article1334516/
Gathering Storm wallpaper http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpaper/?halloween_gathering_storm
Ghosts wallpaper http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpaper/?ghosts
Vladstudio.com Halloween Wallpapers http://www.vladstudio.com/wallpapers/?kw=halloween
Computer Care Kelowna http://computercarekelowna.com
Getting Along With Your Computer Column Archives http://rlis.com/column.htm
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Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna, a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to help@computercarekelowna.com.

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