Computers and Babies

Trying to juggle a computer and a baby is an on-again, off-again affair.  Depending on the age of the kid, you may or may not be able to steal time away on the computer.

I always figured that I could get on the computer while the new baby was sleeping.  Sure, I knew that newborns only sleep for a few hours at a time, catnapping all day and night between feedings, but the average newborn still sleeps about 20 hours a day.  Average… no, my son wasn’t average.

I think I went through computer withdrawal those first months, while my son claimed every moment of my attention.  If not for escaping to work at my night job, I would have been nearly completely deprived of my computer time.

And on top of this, I didn’t even have time to install the other really neat thing I got that June: a copy of Office 2010.  Yes, I will equate new software with being as fun as a newborn baby.  Maybe more so at times, since software doesn’t cry.

Finally, my son began to grow and now I can steal some time on the computer.  My little laptop had become a very useful tool.  It’s little more than a netbook, but it’s small enough that I can balance it on my lap while racing toy cars with one free hand.  How do you think I’m writing this post, anyway?

Of course, at the toddler age, my son is very, very interested in anything that falls in either of the two categories: things that Momma is going and things that get a reaction from Momma.  My computer falls into both, since my attention is on it and, more importantly, when my son touches, pokes, or pushes it, he gets a reaction from me.

I know that my son will continue to grow.  He’ll learn more to play on his own.  Make some friends, go off to school.  My computer time will, slowly, return.  While I often miss the time I used to spend on the computer—writing, usually, or communicating with friends and other folks online—I don’t feel any desire to rush these years with my son.  My computer will always be here, in some form or another (though probably a desktop with REAL keyboard, but that’s a musing for another post), my son will only ever be this age once.

What do You do on the Computer? (A look at Netbooks)

I admit it. I'm on my (or at least 'a') computer most of the day. It's my preferred location, reinforced by events such as today's "Adventures in Lawn Mowing" wherein our hero ended up with an angry, buzzing lawn. (Okay, so my youngest bother was actually doing the mowing, but, man, there were a low of hazard-striped flying things stirred up! My lawn currently has a mohawk until the lawn does some anger management.)

While on the computer, I do a great variety of things. MSWord is my favorite and most used program. I nearly always have a document (or three) in prgress and open on my computer. Novels, assignments, scripts, and other projects are some of the things I do. I admit that mainly, I type. Not too much fancy, in spite off all the nifty things Word can do. I totally underutilize this great program. (It's worse with Word2007!)

I also use Excel, PowerPoint, and Picture Manager at least once a week. I use Outlook daily. And Media Player regularly. And a couple other programs for specific purposes.

And of course, the Internet. I love the Internet. I love Google. And I have my list of favorite haunts, places to visit, things to read or enjoy. I could spend days on the internet.

The more I use my computer, the more likely I am to do things on the computer these days.

Now, one of the big issues with computers is what you do-- this relates to what sort of computer you need. My brothers play games on their computer and thus require machinea with some guts and go power. I collect parts and cobble together a machine from "outdated" parts too slow for my brothers' gaming needs. I need something that is fast enough to multitask since I never have less than three programs running. Something with space to store my projects. And good internet access.

One of the hot new trends is "netbooks" which are small laptop-type computers. They're usually pretty small in size and guts. If you're only using the computer for Internet, email, and the occaisional Office application, very well may be the most economical choice, rather than buying a regular computer or desktop. One of the things to make sure of is, if you type a lot, that the small sized keyboard is adequate. Nothing like a crappy keyboard...

Same as the Mac/PC debate, the most important factor is whether the computer does what you need it for. It's not worth the money, even if it's cheap, if the computer isn't used regularly.

Printing Unprintable Pages

So you read a neat article or story some where and want to print it off to share with others or save or something. But when you go to print, the text doesn't show up on the page or hangs off funny or some other weird thing that prevents you from having a print off.

Well, I don't like being thwarted by a mindless collection of sand and metal. Computer... there are ways of making you print!

Method 1:
Copy and Paste
Nearly every program has the commands Copy and Paste. One method to access them is to select the text and press Ctrl-C (Ctrl plus the C keys). So to copy text from a page that doesn't print, select the text with your mouse as you would highlight text in any other document, then hit Ctrl-C. Then, open up MSWord and press Ctrl-V. Ctrl-V is the paste code.

Okay, what? C is for copy, but V is for paste! Actually, it's not random. X is cut, C is copy and V is paste. The three keys are in a row on the keyboard. And Z, if you recall, is Undo.

Now that you've copied the text and pasted it into MSWord, you can fiddle with formatting and print it. I suggest making sure you have the source in case you ever want to go back to the original document.

Method 2:
Screen shots
Some pages don't allow copying from the browser. They're trying to control access to their page. Fair enough, as sometimes people will lift content and pass it off as their own. But say you need to print a page because your Luddite of a boss doesn't visit the link you sent him. A screen shot will capture what you see on your screen.

Navigate to the page you want to capture. Then press the Print Screen button. You won't see anything happen, but buried deep in the wires and capacitors fo your computer, the machine has taken a picture of the screen at that exact moment you pressed the Print Screen button.

Now, open MSWord or Paint. Either progam will work. Pain will save it as apicture and Word will save it as a document. It depends on how you want the picture. Then, his Ctrl-V to paste the screen shot into the open program. This is how I get all those handy screen shots of my comptuer to show you how things are done. It's also a way to preserve things that can't be printed, such as locked webpages or the Internet History files.

Your Computer's Make and Model

I get requests to trouble-shoot MSWord from time to time. I'm always happy to help, but first we have to be on the same page. Preferably the same page in the same book...

So I ask what version of MSWord you are running. With the release of Word2007, it is imperative to know the version. Commands and instructions that are good for Word2007 are meaningless for Word2003, as well as other issues. No big deal-- I have both versions. I just need to know whether to give instruction set A or instruction set B.

You answer: "Vista."

Vista is a version of Windows.

Windows Vista runs your computer. Microsoft Word is what you type your document into. One's a plant and one's an animal. You wouldn't ride a tulip into town any more than you'd type a document with just Windows.

Your operating system maybe Windows. It will usualy say which version it is while booting, but you can also go to My Computer, right click and select Properties from the Menu. Hey, looky there, it tells you what version operating system you are running. And other neat details.







Okay, so, we still need to figure out what version of Word you have.
Method #1, find the Icon. Whatever you double-click to open the program. Does it say... Microsoft Word 2003?




Method #2: Open Word. Go to Help... About Microsoft Word. The top line will tell you what version you are running. My desktop has Word 2003.

So... what version of Word are you running? What operating system do you have? If you're going to get the right help, you need to ask for the right information. Luckily, the computer knows what it's using, and is happy to tell you.

Getting Around

Your computer has files and folders. Depending on what sort of user you are, you may store everything in the My Documents folder. Or maybe, on your work computer, you save everything in the network folder.

There's more than one way to get around a computer's folders. And once you get that down, you'll have all sorts of new ways to save and sort things on your computer.

First, open up My Documents or My Computer. By default, the My Documents displays only the folder. The left side of the window gives you some options for the folder or the things in it. Great. Now, let's change the settings. If you've never played with this, it's going to look huge and scary and overwhelming at first. Relax, do as I tell you (heh, that's always good advice!) and it'll be okay.







On the top of the My Documents window, there's a button labeled Folders. (BTW: You are using Windows Explorer to view My Documents.) Click the Folder button. Now, the left side of your window will show ALLLL the folders and drives and everything on your computer.

Deep breaths. Lets look at the list-- what are we really seeing? Well, at the top is Desktop. As far as Windows Explorer is concerned, the Desktop is the root of everything. If you clock on "Desktop" you will see everything on your desktop, but as little icons inside the Explorer Window. See-- it's just a different way to see the same stuff.

Okay, what else do we have here. Under Desktop is My Documents. See the little plus sign next to it. Squint! Ah, there it is-- circled in red. This plus sign lets us Expand the folders. So, if you click it, the folders that are inside the My Documents folder will expand. You won't see any files on the left-- only folders (and drives, which are like giant folders.) Click the expand button.

(An expanded folder has the inner folders showing and a minus sign, circled in blue)

Notice how the view on the right didn't change? Why make the computer load all the images... this is one way Explorer is faster for getting around.

Now, you can see the folders. You can select a folder or another plus sign. When you get to the folder you want, you can select it by clicking on it once, and the contents will load in the right side of the screen.

You can nest folders almost limitlessly. And name them anything you want.

And, another bonus, if you need to go to another folder, you can simply click on it on the left. You don't have to go "Up" or "Back." Just find it and click. Quick and easy. Try it, click around. And if you think you've moved or clicked something wrong, you can always Undo.

In the Beginning...

There was the Computer Mama. Elizabeth is "too young" for bifocals, has racing stripes in her hair, and loves all things computers. If she's not too old to learn computers, than neither are you.








But what happens when a Computer Mama has a daughter? Well, that's were Computer Kids come from. Clair is happiest at any one of her computers with a glass of Diet Pepsi at her side. She actually likes troubleshooting computer problems.










We're both longtime residents of Livingston County, Michigan. Where is that? Well, hold out your right hand...
















... right about here. More or less. (This is one of the best parts about living in Michigan. ;-)

Welcome to the Computer Mama Blog, part of the Comma Project. Here, we'll talk about the things we love best-- computers and Livingston County. But no techno-babble. We want you to enjoy as much as we do. Okay, okay. Maybe half as much as we do.