General Resources—Computing and the Internet
| MegaSites | Computer Hardware | eReaders and eBooks | The Internet |
| Mobile Devices | Operating Systems | Search Engines | Security |
| Software Vendors | Social Software | Tablets | Tutorials (Free) |
MegaSites—Major Resources
- C|Net
- Digital Librarian
- Digital Librarian: Technology
- Internet Public Library (IPL2)
Computer Hardware
The Internet
- Firefox
- Flock
- Google Chrome
- Maxthon
- Internet Explorer
- Opera
- OperaTor (Portable, Secure version)
- Safari (Apple)
- Free E-Mail Sites
- Affixa (Desktop Mail Integrator)
- Em Client (Free Outlook Replacement)
- Google's gMail
- Inbox2
- Thunderbird
- VoxOx
- Anti-SPAM (CAUCE)
- Low-Cost Internet Access Providers—Farmington Area
- Free Internet Access Providers—General
Software Publishers
Social Software
To show off Silverlight in Windows 7, the Microsofties created Fishbowl as a desktop client for accessing Facebook in a whole new way. It integrates the social network with your computer desktop and provides unique views of pictures, status from friends, and more. It also works with XP and Vista.
This is more a service for your software. Log on at the Flexamail site, give it permission to check your networks on Facebook or Twitter, and you now can control all communication with the social networks via e-mail.
Seesmic makes a lot of clients for accessing Twitter, but none change the feeling of the service as much as Look, a tool optimized for Windows 7. Instead of just a list of tweets, you get floating boxes, dynamically moving about as you surf the tweets.
Silverlight 4 Client for Facebook
Another Silverlight-based client for Facebook access? Yep, but this one gives the social network a more serious, somber tone with dark backgrounds, while still feeding you all your events, photos, and status feeds.
Sobees connects to Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and even MySpace, giving you side-by-side lists of status updates. There's a version for your Windows desktop or you can access it on the Sobees.com page. In the future, you'll be able to use it on some smartphones.
Since it uses Adobe Air, TweetDeck runs on all the major desktop OSes, using the same popular, multi-column interface to show off Twitter (plus Facebook, LinkedIn, and MySpace) updates. You can even access multiple Twitter accounts and keep track of hot trending topics and manage your Twitter lists. Your TweetDeck column setup can be synced across multiple PCs and even to the iPhone app for backup.
Tablet Computers
General Resources and Buying Guides
Microsoft Word
This site was originally developed for teachers, parents and students. Free turorials on MS Word are offered for Windows and Macintosh platforms. For Windows uses, a Basic Word Tutorial, Basic Word Menu Tutorials, Basic Word Toolbar Tutorials, Advanced Word Tutorials and Keyboard Shortcuts are all available.
By default, Word 2007 is offered, but tutorial versions for Word 2003 and Word97 are also available.
Microsoft Excel
- Excel Basics #1: What Is Excel?
The first of a 22-part series on YouTube by user ExcellsFun. Additional portions of the series are available in the "More from ExcellsFun" sidebar to the right of the screen.
From MotionTraining in the U.K.: a quick look at setting up a simple spreadsheet in Excel complete with a chart. More tutorials are available on the same page that go into more detail on how to use the different features of MS Excel, all absolutely free!.
A six-part series, including handouts, from St. Mary's County Library in Charlotte, MD. Windows Media Player or RealPlayer is necessary to view these tutorials.
Microsoft Outlook
Here's how to e-mail documents, spreadsheets, photos or any other type of file. This page uses Microsoft Outlook, but most e-mail programs, even Web-based e-mail like Hotmail and Yahoo! Mail, work the same way.
- Microsoft Outlook 2007: The How-To Geek
A very useful set of more than three dozen "Ho-To" instructions on using the features of Outlook 2007.