All in a Day's Quirks

 

So many friends say they can’t figure out Facebook, don’t know how to re-post a status or copy a photo.

There’s no magic wand, in fact, it’s REALLY simple.  I hope that I can help de-mystify a couple tech actions.  Below are the most requested action items from friends. 

Let me know if I can provide additional clues…

 

 

Copy, paste:

 

1. Select text by clicking and dragging over text you want to copy.
2. Let go of mouse button when your text/item is selected.
3. Push keyboard keys Control (Ctrl) and letter C together at the same time.  (this is keyboard shortcut for copy in all pc programs)
4. Without pushing mouse button, navigate mouse to your Facebook status bar, document, or wherever you want it placed.
5. Click mouse button                                                                            6. Push keyboard keys Control (Ctrl) and V (this is keyboard shortcut for paste in all pc programs)

Voila!

Copy/Save an image:

1. Navigate your mouse to an image or photo without pushing mouse button
2. Push opposite mouse key (yes, that other button is there for good reasons!)
3. Holding right button, scroll down to “Save Picture” and click
4. A menu will appear with your computer’s files
5. Pick a file and double click to save. 
6. Now you have it!
7.  Beware of copyright infringement.

More itty bitty tips:

Save working files often: Control (Ctrl) and S

Undo:  My personal favorite, more people should use it, lol.           Control (Ctrl) and Z

 

When all else fails…

Go to Google, Yahoo, Bing or your favorite search engine and type in your question. 

Example: 
How do I copy a status on Facebook?

You’ll be amazed at how many tutorials are at your fingertips.  

YouTube is another great place to search those questions, and you can watch a video tutorial to learn.  This method is wonderful for visual or oral learners.

 

Everything I Learned About Copying and Pasting I Learned After Design School (Tech Backstory)

Remember these archaic telephone modems?  I got into computers shortly after college when graphics started going digital.  The first computer I worked on was an ancient black and white Mac with a screen just a wee bit bigger than a slice of bread.  First project: I laid out a 200+ page tech catalog on that baby Mac.  Hilarious!  Actually, not so much.  I got carpal tunnel from all the scrolling before anyone knew what carpal tunnel was. 

Back then, Macs and Pc’s were polar opposites, and communication between the 2 was horribly glitchy.  As a result, I got to know many, many IT guys (yup, an-all male field then, at least in my experience).  I watched, asked questions and learned.  I had a tech direct hotline (not really, but it sometimes seemed that way).  Some techs groaned when I called (no caller ID then either, they couldn’t avoid me) and a couple techs I got to know so well from sheer continuity, we dated.  Very risky, thinking back on it.  I wouldn’t want to piss them off – they were my lifeline to clients, printers and media everywhere! 

A couple of firms I worked for also paid for computer training courses.  This was where I learned the most valuable long-term tricks.  These days digital graphics is a pretty seamless production.  But…if the world’s computer screens ever go black, I can do the whole process the messy, prehistoric drawing board method.  I miss those chemical smells, ink globs, rubylith overlays.  Not.  

 That’s it. 

No magic…

but feel free to say shazaam!

 

Happy Sharing!