Some Interesting Questions and Suggestions from Readers
Free Internet Music Stations
Charles Monica wrote to tell me about www.theradio.com, a new online radio station that lets you choose the kind of music you want to hear. It's similar to my personal favorite www.pandora.com and they are both free.
Missing Reading Pane (Message Pane) in Outlook
Paul Halpin called to say his Outlook Inbox "Reading Pane" had disappeared. I told Paul to click on View>Reading Pane for display options. The same is true for enabling or disabling this pane in Windows Live Mail. In Outlook Express thes options are at View>Layout>Show Message Pane. The Reading/Message Pane is a handy feature that allows one to preview a message without opening it.
Downloaded Music Files Don't Play on CD Player
Ralph Kuhn wrote that he downloaded several of the oldies from this site's music pages and that they played beautifully on his computer. However, after being burned to a CD they wouldn't work on any of his CD players.
This is because music such as MP3s, WAVs, WMAs, and MIDIs are created as digital files and will only work on computers and iPod-type media players. Boomboxes and car stereos are designed to play CDs whose songs were recorded in an analog format from live performances. Nonetheless, some of the newer CD players do work with both types. Check the label carefully before buying a CD player.
Ralph also said can't drag emails from his Outlook Express Inbox to his Desktop (as described in a recent column) because the Inbox fills the entire screen.
I told Ralph to click the solid square button
in his screen's upper-right corner. This makes the OE window moveable by mouse-grabbing the top blue bar, as well as reshapeable by mouse-grabbing any edge or corner. Adjust as needed to view Inbox messages along with the surrounding Desktop area.
Angela Bennett called to say her Internet Explorer 7 browser had always showed a separate tab for each open window, but that it had changed to having all sites open in a single window. I told Angela that tabbed window settings could be adjusted at Tools>Internet Options>Tabs.
Convert Image Files from one Size to Another and/or from one Format to Another
Chuck Kogge asked about reducing the file size of a JPG photo inserted into an outgoing email. There are many methods, but my favorite is to use Irfanview (free from www.irfanview.com) and its Image>Resize/Resample options. After choosing a "physical" size (height and width) Chuck would click OK and then go to File>Save As. Here he can select the image type (JPG in this case) and choose a percentage of the existing byte-size with a sliding scale button.
Smaller byte-sizes take up less disk space and are faster on uploading and downloading. Be aware, however, that reducing image's size also reduces an its quality. The quality loss is often not noticeable when viewed on one's monitor, but may be quite evident on a print-out. It pays to experiment.
Downloading a YouTube Video to Your Own Computer
Mo Rosser asked if it's possible to download YouTube videos to one's own computer. Yes, but it's rather tricky. Here's an explanation given in a recent Kim Komando newsletter:
Kim has added a handy tool to her site. Click the link to see Kim's instructions.
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Free Internet Music Stations
Charles Monica wrote to tell me about www.theradio.com, a new online radio station that lets you choose the kind of music you want to hear. It's similar to my personal favorite www.pandora.com and they are both free.
Missing Reading Pane (Message Pane) in Outlook
Paul Halpin called to say his Outlook Inbox "Reading Pane" had disappeared. I told Paul to click on View>Reading Pane for display options. The same is true for enabling or disabling this pane in Windows Live Mail. In Outlook Express thes options are at View>Layout>Show Message Pane. The Reading/Message Pane is a handy feature that allows one to preview a message without opening it.
Downloaded Music Files Don't Play on CD Player
Ralph Kuhn wrote that he downloaded several of the oldies from this site's music pages and that they played beautifully on his computer. However, after being burned to a CD they wouldn't work on any of his CD players.
This is because music such as MP3s, WAVs, WMAs, and MIDIs are created as digital files and will only work on computers and iPod-type media players. Boomboxes and car stereos are designed to play CDs whose songs were recorded in an analog format from live performances. Nonetheless, some of the newer CD players do work with both types. Check the label carefully before buying a CD player.
Ralph also said can't drag emails from his Outlook Express Inbox to his Desktop (as described in a recent column) because the Inbox fills the entire screen.
I told Ralph to click the solid square button
in his screen's upper-right corner. This makes the OE window moveable by mouse-grabbing the top blue bar, as well as reshapeable by mouse-grabbing any edge or corner. Adjust as needed to view Inbox messages along with the surrounding Desktop area.
Angela Bennett called to say her Internet Explorer 7 browser had always showed a separate tab for each open window, but that it had changed to having all sites open in a single window. I told Angela that tabbed window settings could be adjusted at Tools>Internet Options>Tabs.
Convert Image Files from one Size to Another and/or from one Format to Another
Chuck Kogge asked about reducing the file size of a JPG photo inserted into an outgoing email. There are many methods, but my favorite is to use Irfanview (free from www.irfanview.com) and its Image>Resize/Resample options. After choosing a "physical" size (height and width) Chuck would click OK and then go to File>Save As. Here he can select the image type (JPG in this case) and choose a percentage of the existing byte-size with a sliding scale button.
Smaller byte-sizes take up less disk space and are faster on uploading and downloading. Be aware, however, that reducing image's size also reduces an its quality. The quality loss is often not noticeable when viewed on one's monitor, but may be quite evident on a print-out. It pays to experiment.
Downloading a YouTube Video to Your Own Computer
Mo Rosser asked if it's possible to download YouTube videos to one's own computer. Yes, but it's rather tricky. Here's an explanation given in a recent Kim Komando newsletter:
Kim has added a handy tool to her site. Click the link to see Kim's instructions.
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