September started out at our favorite 'driveway camping' spot at a friend's house in Long Beach Island, New Jersey. Then we were off to Ohio to do our seminars at the Gypsy Journal's 'Gypsy Gathering' rally. Our pre-rally Computer Boot Camp was so well received that we held an encore post-rally hands-on class.

Our summer rally and travel schedule is now complete and it's been fabulous. We presented our seminars to over 2500 attendees. 30 people learned about their computers in a hands-on way in our Boot Camps, and 220 people have become members of our website so they can learn from the tutorial videos there. Many others have purchased the videos on DVD so they can watch and learn even without an Internet connection.

I think we're in business! And we're loving it.

Now we're headed to Florida where we'll be spending the winter season. Our next scheduled rally is the Datastorm Users rally in Tampa on November 9-15.

In this newsletter

• Geeks on Tour Articles and Links
• Desktop, Icons, and Quick Launch
• Read the manual ... what manual?
• Custom Google Maps

Geeks on Tour Articles

If you've never perused the Geeks on Tour 'Articles and Links' page, I encourage you to do so. That is our catch-all page. It is full of links to other pages, mostly to articles we've written, but there are links to other computer help resources as well.

For example, I've been writing an article every week since January of this year for RV.net blog. I've created a page with a link to every one of those articles. You can find a link to RV.net Blog Articles: A list at the top of the Articles and Links page.

The articles written for Family Motor Coach (FMCA) magazine are also linked here. All of our seminar handouts are linked in to this page as well. Scroll down to the bottom and you will see a heading for Current Seminar Handouts. They are in .pdf (Acrobat) format and a link to the free Acrobat reader is provided in case you don't already have it.

Last, but not least, at the very bottom of the Articles and Links page, you will find a link to 'Computer Boot Camp Resources.' Our Computer Boot camp is a hands-on class that we teach over a two-day period. It is for novices, but not complete beginners. If people need some basic instruction with the mouse, they will find a link there to a wonderful 'mousing around' tutorial made by the Palm Beach County Library. If you're a hunt-and-peck typist and want to learn 10-finger typing, there's a link to a fun game that will teach you how. It's by the BBC.

Desktop, Icons, and Quick Launch

On the home page of our website, we are spotlighting the tutorial video about how to make desktop shortcuts and Quick Launch shortcuts. This is an older video but one that I find is very appreciated among computer users. It is in our 'Essentials' group of tutorials, yet most computer users do not know how to do this. While this video is in the spotlight (a couple weeks) it will be free, it is normally for members only. Just go to our homepage at www.geeksontour.com and click on the play button.

Although this tutorial was recorded using Windows XP, the instructions for Vista are almost exactly the same. The only difference is that, after you right-click-drag a program to the desktop in XP, you must still select the 'copy' option to make the shortcut. In Vista, it's done as soon as you 'drop' it.

If you're tired of having to navigate through menus anytime you want to run a program, you'll love this tip. And, the Quick Launch bar is wonderful. I put a shortcut to the calculator there - so now I always have a calculator at my fingertips. Go watch the video now!

Your Computer's Manual

There was a time, not so long ago, that a book would come with any piece of equipment, including computers. Those days are gone, but the book is still there.

Where?

Online.

This is a good thing for travelers. No need to lug around more books! Just go to the website for the manufacturer of your computer. In my case, that's Toshiba.com. My laptop is a model identified as Satellite A135-S4487 and I was able to find a page devoted to just my model. On that page I see a link to 'support bulletins, downloads, and a User's Guide. One page of the Users' Guide Contents is pictured here. The manual is in Acrobat (.pdf) format, so you can print it out if you really want to.

Jim has a Sony Vaio VGN-FZ430E. To find his manual, I'll go to www.sony.com. From Sony's home page, I use the Search box to look for 'Vaio VGN-FZ430E.' The results include a link to Computer Support so I click on that and get to the VAIO support home page. I see a link to 'Manuals-Specs-Warranty' which takes me to a screen where I can type in the exact model number. Now I see a link to 'User Guide.' Once you find the page for yours, make sure to set a Favorite, or a Bookmark, so you can go straight there in the future.

If you need to learn how to make a Favorite or a Bookmark, check out the following two tutorial videos on our Essential Computer Skills page. You will need to be a member to view these.
Web Basics Part 2 (using Internet Explorer)
Web Basics Part 2 (Using Firefox)

Custom Google Maps

Google just keeps adding more and more features to Google Maps. I've been having much fun maintaining a map of our travels this year. The blue line begins the year out west and goes east. The pink line starts from south and goes north, then east and all around. Clicking on any part of the line will tell you the date we drove on that route and how far we traveled. Clicking on any balloon will tell you where we stayed, there may even be a link to our blog entry about the place, or a photo. Along the left of the screen is a text link to every element on the map. Click on the map below to go to the interactive web page.

That's all for now. Thanks for reading. Your next issue will be next month. Any questions, please email us. If you like this newsletter, please forward it on to your friends! If you received this issue forwarded by a friend you can subscribe to get your own copy delivered to your in box - it's free. To see the archives of past newsletters, go to www.geeksontour.com/newsletters.

Chris Guld
www.GeeksOnTour.com