Community News for Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, Northeast Phoenix, Carefree, Cave Creek and surrounding areas.
CITYSunTimes Web Exclusives June 2011 | Read the full SECTION
CITY LIFE
Perturbed By Passwords
Q. When filling out online log-ins and some forms, why do I have to type in my e-mail address and password twice? It’s not hard to do, but it’s a pain in the neck. Is there a reason for that?
A. Yes, there is. Its primary purpose is, of course, to ruin your day, and secondarily, to make sure whatever you enter is correct. There is always a chance that a finger can slip when typing something the first time resulting in an inadvertent tpyo. Typing it twice virtually eliminates that possibility.
Because we’re required to remember so many usernames and passwords, while most browsers remember them, it’s a good idea to keep a copy in a secure location in case you ever need to manually enter them. In the alternative, you might want to consider using a password manager such as Roboform (www.roboform.com).
Q. I recently started using Gmail, thanks to your recommendation. I like it a lot, but what I can’t figure out is how to -email something I copied from Excel. When I paste a portion of my spreadsheet into the body of my Gmail message, it loses its formatting. How can I avoid that?
A. I recommend sending data as an attachment rather than placing it within the body of an e-mail to avoid formatting issues such as you describe. The process of attaching a file involves little more than clicking the ATTACH button and selecting a file, so it’s not a particularly arduous activity.
Having said that, to send Excel snippets (ExSnips?) within a Gmail message, send it as Rich Formatting, not Plain Text. Directly above where you enter your message in the Compose window of Gmail, you will see “Rich Formatting” that you can click to enable. Then copy and paste the Excel data into your message.
Q. I received an alert advising that I needed to update my Adobe Flash Player if I was using an older version. I don’t know how to locate the Adobe Flash Player to check which version I have. I am feeling very dumb again. Thanks for being there, Mr. M.
A. A very easy way to determine the version is to simply play a YouTube video (www.youtube.com). Right-click the video while it’s playing and it will display the version of Flash player being used.
Subscribe to Mr. Modem’s weekly newsletter for easy-to-use computing tips and prompt, personal answers to your computer questions by e-mail. To view a sample issue, visit www.mrmodem.com.