Questions and Answers

What’s the difference between a text-editor and a word processor?

Good question, and a tricky one as well!

At first glance, it would seem like they are both the same. They both edit text, but a word processor does it more extensively than a text editor. Let’s go into a little detail and see what we come up with.

Text editors do just that; they edit plain, basic text files. You can do basic editing tasks such as cut, copy and paste. You can also undo/redo the last thing you typed. If you want to type up some notes, use a text editor. Whichever font you use in the document stays throughout the document; you cannot change fonts within the document. When you type, your typing just keeps going and going; if you want to add another line, you manually have to hit the enter key when you want to go to the next line. You can also edit HTML (Hyper Text Markup Language) files with a text editor. In other words, you can actually build a web site with a text editor. A good example of a basic text editor is Notepad, which comes as a part of the software bundled into the Windows operating system.

Word processors edit text, too, but that’s not their only function. In a word processor, you can change the formatting in your document, using things like italic and bold fonts. You can draw and insert tables. An automatic spell and grammar check is available. A lot of word processors have “wizards” that will guide you through the creation of a business letter or a resume. You have a thesaurus available if you feel the word you’re using isn’t the right one for the sentence it’s in. Some word processors even have “Themes” available; these are pre-formatted templates to use for your documents. Some word processors now can create and edit HTML. One popular word processor is Microsoft Word (which does not come with Windows and must be purchased separately).

So where does this leave us? I finally figured it out.

When you type a document in a text editor, if you transfer that text into a word processing document, the plain text will insert special characters into the document. Any formatting that is done in a text editor does not remain when copied over to a word processing document.

In addition, you have to be careful when you save the file that was copied into the word processing document. If you save it as a text (.txt) file, then you risk having special characters inserted and making your word processing document unreadable.
Another thing that makes them different is that word processors have the capabilities to alter features such as font and tables, where as text editors do not.

Use Gmail as an extra drive

Ever needed some online space to store files before sending them as email attachments? Maybe you need a way to store your presentations, pictures, documents or even your video collection online?

Online storage services require that you subscribe to a data plan. In addition, they don’t offer a secure connection or a decent amount of storage space unless you pay a monthly fee.

If you already use Gmail, you know it’s one of the best email service providers in the world. Gmail offers powerful spam protection, enhanced security and more than 7 GB (and growing) of free online storage space for emails.

However, emails require only a small amount of space for storage, leaving the rest of the space unused. So, why not use Gmail’s free space to store other files besides emails?

Gmail Drive is a free shell extension that allows you to do just that. Gmail Drive creates a new system partition in My Computer and integrates the space offered by Google into Windows Explorer. It allows you to use the online space as if it were just another hard drive attached to your computer. You can transfer files by drag & drop or copy/paste from your PC directly into your Gmail Inbox. And, it works with any version of Windows!

As great as Gmail Drive is, it does have some limitations. Gmail itself imposes most of these limitations.

Gmail has a limit of 25 MB per file. To counteract this, Gmail Drive will automatically split bigger files into smaller pieces.

While normal Windows operations such as creating new folders and copy/paste work well, Gmail Drive does not assign an actual drive letter (such as C :) to the drive it creates in My Computer. This prevents its use by some older Windows applications and all DOS programs.

In addition, because of limitations inside Gmail, file names are limited to 40 characters.

The first step towards enjoying your new storage space is to have a Gmail account. To sign up for a Gmail account, visit https://www.google.com and click on Gmail above the Google search bar.

Then, click on Create an account, and fill in the form with your information.

If you already have a Gmail account, you can skip this step.

The next step is to install Gmail Drive.

Begin by pointing your browser to http://www.viksoe.dk/code/gmail.htm, scroll down to the bottom of the page and click on one of the two download links. Then save the file to your desktop for easy access.

Next, open gmailfs115.zip with your favorite file archiver (I recommend 7-zip since it’s free) or right-click the file and choose “Extract All” from the menu.

After you’ve unpacked the zip file, go to the gmailfs115 folder and double-click Setup.exe.

If you get an Open File – Security Warning, click on Run to give Windows permission to start the installation.

After the installation program finishes making changes to your computer, close the help window.

If you go to My Computer ("Computer" for Windows Vista and 7) you will see a new drive in the Other category.

Double-click the GMail Drive to open the login window. Then, in the Username field input your Gmail id (ex: johndoe21) and in the password field input the password you chose for your Gmail account.

Check the Auto Login box to make sure that next time you double-click the drive you’ll be logged in automatically.

Before you click OK to connect to Gmail, click the More button to reveal some advanced options.

First, make sure the “Preserve Filenames” option is checked.

Second and this is very important, check the Use Secure HTTP option. This will make the connection between your computer and Gmail secure.

Lastly, check the Use Draft Folder option. This will send files to your draft folder instead of cluttering your inbox.

The other option, Use Proxy Authentication is only useful if you connect to the internet using a proxy server.

Now that you’ve checked all the important options, click OK to connect to Gmail.

Then you can drag & drop or copy/paste any files to Gmail Drive, and it will send them as email attachments to your Gmail Drafts folder.

The speed at which you can copy files to and from Gmail Drive will depend on the speed of your internet connection

http://newsroom.redvcross.org/

A Sticky Highlighting Key

I'm sure you're aware of the wonders of the Shift key when it comes to mouseless highlighting, but are you one who isn't so great with key combinations? I mean, all those keys at once is just not something you're good with, but on the other hand, you'd still like to use your keyboard more and the mouse less.

If that's an accurate description for you, I may have an alternate to the Shift key that gets the job done just as well!

Instead of the old Shift + arrows (or whatever key you're using to move around the file), try the F8 key instead.

Yep, that's the whole trick: the F8 key.

Once you hit this key, the highlighting function is active and you don't need to keep holding down the key.

Here's how it works:

Place your cursor at the beginning of the section to be highlighted

Hit the F8 key once and let it go

Use the directional keys (arrows, home, end, page up and page down) to highlight

The highlight is "anchored" to the location of the cursor when you hit the F8 key and from there, you can highlight in any direction.

When you no longer need the highlight or need to move the "anchor" position, just hit the Esc key.

Instantly, the highlight feature will be turned off and you're back to work as usual!

Google Buzz Tips

If you are still uncertain on whether to use Google Buzz or not, I have compiled some Tips and Tricks on using and integrating Buzz with your other social networking sites.

1.Turn off Google buzz

First off, if you are a Gmail user who has no interest in using Google Buzz, Google has made it easy for you to turn Google Buzz off right on the bottom of your Gmail account page. At the bottom of the web page click the link that says "turn off Buzz" and Google Buzz will be removed from your Gmail account.

2.Remove Buzz messages from Your Gmail Inbox

Buzz automatically adds new Buzz messages to your inbox, along with all the other email subscriptions hitting your inbox daily - which is one of the chief complaints about Google Buzz.

First, at the top of the screen, right next to the search box, click the link titled "create a filter". Second, the filter tool contains a text box identifiable by "has words" where you would enter the word "buzz". Third, you will receive a warning when you click "Next Step" saying that the filter search you started will not work because it needs more information, but I have tested that theory and found that it does work for Buzz messages, so you can click OK. Fourth, make sure the box next to "Skip the Inbox" is checked and click on the "Create Filter" link.

3.You Can Tweet and Buzz

Why wouldn't your Twitter friends want to have your Buzz links, too? Google Reader is already connected via Twitterfeed for you to send things to your Twitter account, but that's not the only way to share. The Shared Items section on Google Reader allows you to grab the Atom feed link and past it directly into Twitterfeed. Once you press the "go" button, Twitter can then sync the two accounts together.

4.Using text markup language in Google Buzz

As long as you are using simple text markup language, Google Buzz will be able to recognize it. So, you can Buzz with style as you highlight words that you want to stand out in italics, bold, or strikethrough font options. How you use it:

The keystroke code for making text bold is surrounding the word or phrase with an asterisk.

*word* = word

Underscores surrounding the text tells Buzz that the word(s) should be italicized.

_word_ = word

If you want to strike out the text, then putting dashes at either end is the command used by Buzz.

-word- = word(strikethrough)