10 Tech Basics You Think Everybody Knows (But They Don't)
As a software company, we take great pride in making things easier, so we thought we would share these basic tech tips to help you use the web, your computer, and your smartphone more efficiently. New York Times tech columnist: David Pogue recently presented this TEDTalk about basic tips & tricks that can help you use technology more effectively.
1. Scrolling
Instead of using your mouse and dragging the scroll bar on the right, you can simply click the space bar to scroll down a page. Likewise, you can click Shift + Space to scroll up.
2. Quickly Complete Forms
Use the Tab key to quickly move to the next box on an online form. This is a great deal quicker than moving your cursor & clicking on the next box. Also, when entering your state from a drop down list, all you need to do is click the first letter of your state repeatedly.
3. Zoom In / Out
If you are having trouble reading small text on a screen, you can use Ctrl + to Zoom In and Ctrl - to Zoom Out. the + or - can be pushed repetitively to make the text bigger or smaller.
4. Typing on Smartphones
Pressing the space bar twice will automatically end a sentence with a period, add a space, and capitalize the first letter or the next sentence.
5. Quick Dialing
On any mobile phone you can quickly call the last number dialed by tapping the Call or Dial key.
6. Interrupt Voicemail
Since we all know how to leave a message after a beep, you can skip the process of listening to the instructions by pressing the carrier's interrupt key.
- Verizon: *
- AT&T, T-Mobile: #
- Sprint: 1
7. Google Tricks
- Google can also be used to Define any word by simply typing the word "Define" in front of any word.
- If you need to track an upcoming Flight, you can search a flight number to find whether or not it is on time, what terminal it is arriving at and even the gate number.
- Google is even a currency & Unit Converter if you need to convert Dollars to Euros, tablespoons to cups, and much more.
For another fun Google trick, try Googling the phrase: "Do A Barrel Roll"
8. Text Basics
- Double-click to highlight a word
- Don't waste time clicking delete. Just highlight something & type over it.
- Double-click & Drag to highlight one word at a time.
- Triple-click to highlight an entire paragraph.
9. Enhance Your Digital Camera Skills
To eliminate the shutter lag on your digital camera, you can half press the shutter button to pre-focus the lens before taking a photo. This trick works for any digital point & shoot camera to calculate focus and exposure.
10. Presentation Tips
While giving a PowerPoint presentation, you may notice your audience loosing focus. You can attract more attention to yourself by clicking the B key to blackout the slide while you are presenting. This does not close the presentation, it simply changes the screen to black. To return to your presentation, you can click B again. Similarly, the W key can be used for a whiteout effect.
1. Scrolling
Instead of using your mouse and dragging the scroll bar on the right, you can simply click the space bar to scroll down a page. Likewise, you can click Shift + Space to scroll up.
2. Quickly Complete Forms
Use the Tab key to quickly move to the next box on an online form. This is a great deal quicker than moving your cursor & clicking on the next box. Also, when entering your state from a drop down list, all you need to do is click the first letter of your state repeatedly.
3. Zoom In / Out
If you are having trouble reading small text on a screen, you can use Ctrl + to Zoom In and Ctrl - to Zoom Out. the + or - can be pushed repetitively to make the text bigger or smaller.
4. Typing on Smartphones
Pressing the space bar twice will automatically end a sentence with a period, add a space, and capitalize the first letter or the next sentence.
5. Quick Dialing
On any mobile phone you can quickly call the last number dialed by tapping the Call or Dial key.
6. Interrupt Voicemail
Since we all know how to leave a message after a beep, you can skip the process of listening to the instructions by pressing the carrier's interrupt key.
- Verizon: *
- AT&T, T-Mobile: #
- Sprint: 1
7. Google Tricks
- Google can also be used to Define any word by simply typing the word "Define" in front of any word.
- If you need to track an upcoming Flight, you can search a flight number to find whether or not it is on time, what terminal it is arriving at and even the gate number.
- Google is even a currency & Unit Converter if you need to convert Dollars to Euros, tablespoons to cups, and much more.
For another fun Google trick, try Googling the phrase: "Do A Barrel Roll"
8. Text Basics
- Double-click to highlight a word
- Don't waste time clicking delete. Just highlight something & type over it.
- Double-click & Drag to highlight one word at a time.
- Triple-click to highlight an entire paragraph.
9. Enhance Your Digital Camera Skills
To eliminate the shutter lag on your digital camera, you can half press the shutter button to pre-focus the lens before taking a photo. This trick works for any digital point & shoot camera to calculate focus and exposure.
10. Presentation Tips
While giving a PowerPoint presentation, you may notice your audience loosing focus. You can attract more attention to yourself by clicking the B key to blackout the slide while you are presenting. This does not close the presentation, it simply changes the screen to black. To return to your presentation, you can click B again. Similarly, the W key can be used for a whiteout effect.
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