The Chronicles
May 2007
Salutations dear readers and fellow Laurentian neighbors,
If you happened to follow last month’s article, then you may very well have taken your computer out of the cupboard, hooked it up and pushed the on button … congratulations!
“What now?” I hear you say …
Let’s discover the “Start” button, found on the bottom left hand corner of the screen on the Tasks Bar. Let’s imagine for a moment that we are an airplane pilot: the Start Button represents the “Dashboard” By clicking on this button, you get access to ALL that can be found in your computer, all the programs and accessories. One day, this button shall also give you access to the documents, correspondences, photos and music which you will have added. By the way, the “Start” button is also used to turn off the computer. Now, even if it seems faster to click on an icon on your desktop (we name the screen the “desktop”), for the moment I suggest that you get in the habit of using the Start button so that you may discover your new friend. Go ahead, click with the left mouse button on Start and look at your “Dashboard”. (You’ll notice that if you click with the right mouse button a menu appears … we’ll get back to this in a future article. For the moment, make it disappear with the “Esc” button found in the top left hand corner of the Keyboard.)
This brings me to my next point: the mouse. Just like the “Joystick” for the pilot, the mouse is used to direct the computer. Wouldn't it be better for it to operate at your will rather than the set parameters? To do this, click on the Start button / Control Panel “click” / Printers and other hardware “click” / Mouse (“double-click” on the picture of a mouse). A window opens and offers you many different options: the Tab “Pointer options” to regulate the speed at which the mouse moves, the “Buttons” Tab for the speed of the double-click or to configure the mouse for a left-handed person, etc… It’s fun isn’t it?
Now that we’ve begun discovering the Keyboard (April article), the Start button and the Mouse (I suggest that you practice with each 10 minutes every day), let me offer you a couple of presents to help you practice: * Click on Start / All Programs “click” / Games “click” (and then choose one) you’ll find this is an excellent way to learn your mouse. * If you’re feeling more adventurous here’s a great Web site offered by Google to obtain a road map to get from point A to B as you rediscover the great outdoors after a long winter: http://maps.google.ca/?ie=UTF8&hl=eng .
Take good care of you and “happy computering” …
DID YOU KNOW:
The Mouse was invented by Douglas Engelbart in 1963. At the time it was called the "X-Y Position Indicator for a Display System". It was made of wood. Apple first used the Mouse as we know it today in 1983-84 for its Macintosh.
This article originally appeared in Main Street – The Laurentians' English Language Community Newspaper.
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