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Why do some links open in a new window which pops up?
Sites normally open in a new window so you don't lose the web page in the original window you clicked in. It's important for many sites because they often want you to look at an advert while keeping you in their site at the same time but it can be very annoying for you because you can get flooded with windows.
Imagine that a site kept opening three windows every time you clicked on a link - after ten clicks you would have 30 pages fighting for your attention!
So, if that site contains a link to another site, then they would be encouraging their users to leave and stop looking at their own advertising.
How do I stop pop-up windows popping up?
A pop-up is another window that appears in your browser while you are surfing the web. It is usually an advert for a product or service and it just keeps reappearing even when you try to close the pop-up.
What can we do to prevent these ads from popping up all over our browser? Software is the key but finding which software to use is another matter.
StopZilla has a trial version of its pop-up killer, it will take about 15 minutes to download with a 56k modem. This software is available for Windows 98 and above. Popup Killer is another site dedicated to stopping pop-up ads.
Free Software
Zero Popup is free and allows you to control pop-up windows. This software is available for Internet Explorer and Netscape.
WebWasher is also free and helps you stop unwanted pop-up ads as well as killing the cookies that enable companies to monitor your browsing habits.
What does 404 error mean?404 is an error message that means that the page you asked for has moved or been deleted, or that you have typed the address incorrectly.
Basically, it's netspeak for telling you that you have taken a wrong turning.
There are some easy things you can do to try and find your way to the page you want.
What it looks like?
The 404 error can sometimes look a little different.
Sometimes it will say "404: page not found" or sometimes it will give a nicer reply, in plain English like "The page cannot be found. The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable."
Some websites have tried to make life easier for you by making friendlier easy-to-understand error pages. We have! Try visiting this link and then clicking the back button to come back here. BROKEN LINK!
A little tip
If you get a 404 but know that page you want is on the site you have visited but are not sure where, try deleting all the part of the website after the .com.ca or .com part of the address.
This will take you to the homepage for the site and
if you are in luck you'll find they have their own site
search engine where you can try and find the page you want.
What is broadband?
Broadband is the term used to describe internet services that are much faster and more powerful than home connections. Until now, these 'dial-up' connections have been the most available and affordable forms of internet access, but now there are broadband options in many areas so it is worth knowing what is out there to decide when to make the switch. New services using your existing telephone lines, for example, can allow you to access the internet and make a telephone call at the same time, meaning your friends don't have to get an engaged tone when they try to ring you any more just because someone in the house is always on the internet!
How fast is fast?
OK, so we all know broadband internet means fast internet. But how fast is fast? Is it just as good simply to buy a whizzy new modem and carry on dialling up, for example? While there is no single precise definition of broadband or broadband speeds, there are some generally accepted features. First, however, you need to understand how internet speed is measured. A standard home computer modem these days operates at a maximum speed of 56k (precise speeds can vary due to congestion on the internet and other factors, but that is what it is capable of in perfect conditions). 56k (sometimes seen as 56Kbps) means 56 'kilobits per second'. What's a kilobit? Just over 1,000 bits. What's a bit? It's the most simple element of digitised data - a 1 or a zero, which are the building blocks of all computer data. So, a modem can send around 56,000 bits of data every second down the line. This might sound like a lot, but as users of dial-up modems know, it can seem awfully slow as one waits for the 50th photograph on a page crammed with images to download just as someone else in the house is waiting to use the telephone.
Why does understanding the difference between kbps, KBps and baud rate reduce stress?
As KBps and kbps are different ways of measuring the speed of your internet connection you could get confused and think your connection's really slow when actually it's not doing too badly. By knowing the difference between them you'll be able figure out whether you're getting the best from your computer, modem and ISP. So, next time you're tempted to scream by the slow speed displayed for a download, check your kb and KB!
How computers transfer data?
Computers understand everything as 'bits'. Each bit is made up of zeroes and ones. zeroes and ones are like the letters of the alphabet to computers.
Data as zeroes and ones.Your computer uses these small data bits to build everything you see on your screen, and they are the building blocks for all digital information.
Modems can send thousands of bits at a time.A thousand bits are called a kilobit (kb) and internet connections are normally measured in 'kbps' which stands for kilobits per second.
This is often called the 'bit rate'.Most standard modems are around 56 kbps which means they can send 56kb in one second.
Broadband connections, for example, are up to ten times that fast, at 500 kbps and some cable companies are even offering 1 mbps connections. 1 megabit is a thousand kilobits!
How do you download a file?
Downloading an image
What are 'plug-ins'?
Plug-ins are small computer bits of software that let you view a document, interact with an image, listen to music or watch a video. If you did not have the right plug-in on your computer, you would not be able to listen to your favourite song or see animations and video on screen. So, if you want to play a game that uses Shockwave and you don't have it on your computer you'll be prompted to install it.
Getting plug-ins
They are called plug-ins because they 'plug in' to your browser the first time you download them onto your computer, generally installing automatically.
When you go to a site that needs a plug-in your browser will automatically know and ask you whether you want to download the plug-in needed.
After that they start themselves whenever they are required - that is, whenever you visit a website designed to be viewed using a particular plug-in.
Typically, plug-ins add 'multimedia' functions which
enable you to receive information in more powerful
ways than the normal text and image - such as animation,
sound or video.
How do I send an e-mail to more than one person?
You can e-mail more than one person simply by adding their address in the TO: line.
It's a useful way of letting lots of people know what's going on without writing separate e-mails.
So, next time you want to invite people to your birthday party it won't take you a moment.
How to do it?
After you write the first e-mail address put a comma or semi colon and a space and then write the next address.
It looks like this:
persona@yerbala.com, personb@yerbala.com, personc@yerbala.com
If you select the names from an address book, don't worry.
The comma or semi-colons are usually added in automatically.
Make a group
When you are sending all your family the latest news it's really useful not having to type the message and addresses over and over again.
If you repeatedly send e-mails to the same group you can create a group in your address book.
Rather than add just one name to your address book you add as many as you want and then group them.
Instead you just tell your e-mail program to send a
message to 'Family', for example, and it will send
it to all the addresses you have put in the family group.
Are there any search engines for kids?
There are quite a few good search engines for kids and you can also use filters on many other search engines to block certain sites.
As many search engines generate the answer to your search requests automatically they may include links to adult sites unsuitable for children.
These search engines use editors to make sure that the lists of sites that they have, for example, about photography only include sites that kids will like.
How do I narrow my search?
Typing exactly what you want in the search box and also using special characters like + and - can really help narrow your search.
Unless you narrow your search you'll get swamped by thousands of irrelevant results - and maybe miss the link to the site you do want!
For example, if you type in 'cinema' on Google you'll be given over seven million results!
The best tip to getting good results from search engines is to know what you want.
Most search engines are pretty similar but they can have small differences.
It's useful to know about these differences so you know best how to use your favourite search engine.
So, for example. if you put a '+' sign before a word on most search engines they will only include pages with that word but on 'LookSmart' that doesn't work.
What is a firewall?
A firewall is a barrier between your computer and the rest of the internet, there to make sure you are as safe as you can be from hackers, worms, viruses and all the other nasty people and programs out there.
In real life, if you look at the roof line of a row of terraced houses you will often see them, sticking up a few bricks above the tiles between each house.
A firewall on a computer does the same job, and if you have a broadband connection to the internet then you need one for your own protection.
What a firewall does?
At its simplest, a firewall stops anything you don't know about passing between your computer and the internet.
So if you're using the world wide web only web-related data, like requests from your browser and pages from a server, should be moving back and forth.
And if you're e-mailing then only outgoing and incoming messages should be allowed.
How it works?
When your computer is connected to the internet it can send data to and receive data from other internet-connected computers.
This data might be an e-mail message, a web page, a music file or any other sort of net content. A firewall program runs on your computer and monitors all of the data passing between you and the network.
It does this by sitting between the programs you use, like your web browser or e-mail client, and the network connection you set up when you connect to the net.
Microsoft XP comes with its own firewall It keeps a list of 'rules' saying what can and cannot pass between you and the net. You decide what the rules are.
When you first install your firewall it will block everything. Each time you use a new program, like a web browser or chat client, the firewall will ask you if you want this program to be able to connect to the internet.
If you say 'yes' it will set up a rule to let this
application go ahead, now and in future.
Contact us at:
(416) 833-2307
Or send an email to:
sales@yerbala.com