Here's another oldie, but goodie for you. (Plus, I've gotten buy propecia generic a lot of requests for this one and it'll be a really good refresher course for some of you!)

Are you tired of the desktop picture you currently have? If you are, why don't you spice it up a little?! It's really not hard to do at all. Just read this tip through and you'll be a desktop changin' pro in no time. I bet you'll be changing your desktop image every week now!

The fastest and easiest way I've found to do this is to right click on your desktop and select Properties. From the resulting window, click on the Display tab.

You can go ahead and scroll through the list of images that the Windows XP people kindly provided and you can also preview them in the top window.

Feel free to change the Position mode from Stretch (one big picture) to Tile (many little pictures) to Center (one small picture in the center of your desktop with a hand picked color filling in the background).

Now, if you want to use a picture that you have saved on your computer, simply click the Browse button and an Open window will appear. It will default to your My Documents/My Pictures folder, but you can browse through other folders via the Look in: box at the top.

Once you've found the picture you want, click on it and then click the Open button. This will take you back to the Display Properties window and you should see a preview of your brand new desktop. When you have things looking just the way you want them, click Apply, OK and just like that, you'll have have an all new desktop to love and enjoy. It doesn't get any better than that!

Have fun creating the desktop of your dreams!

Can you explain to me what an MP4 is? I've obviously heard of MP3, but now there's an MP4?! I'm so lost and confused. Please help!

A:
Yes, there is! I know, isn't it amazing how fast the world of technology develops? It seems like we get caught up on one thing and the next day, there's something new to learn about. I mean, we shouldn't complain, because all of the technology we're surrounded by is what keeps some of us going each day, but it definitely is a little hard to stay on top of everything that comes about.

But even though understanding everything gets a little difficult sometimes, it's not impossible. I promise that after today, you will fully understand one more computer term and you will be able to check it off your "find out what this is" list! Alright, let's get right into it!

To start with a quick definition, MP4 files are compressed video files. Their main purpose is to make video files much smaller so that they are easier to work with and support. Video files used to be very big in size and they were very difficult to work with. But now, the same files are compressed with the same material and they go by the new name of MP4s.

MP4 files work very similarly to MP3 files in that they are compressed files that do not affect the quality of sound. (In case you're not sure, MP3s are music and audio files, so an MP4 is just taking that to the next level with videos). The term MP4 is also known as MPEG-4 AVC, which stands for advanced video coding. Now, if you're still not sure how the whole MP4 technology works, make sure you keep reading, because it's going to get even more interesting, I promise!

Since MP4s deal mostly with video files, they are a little more complex than the MP3 music and audio files. But, they are still able to be compressed by using special coding procedures. For example, certain aspects of the files are minimized. Those are usually the temporal and spatial redundancies. buy propecia 5mg The motion and intra estimations of the frequencies are usually transformed as well. And last, but not least, the file goes through a lot of compression and decompression, which is referred to as codec.

Now, I'm sure you're probably wondering if there's such a thing as an MP4 player, right? Well, yes there is. It works just like any other media player. You can purchase the device at any regular electronics store and you then just hook it up to your computer or television. It really is that easy, even if it doesn't seem like it!

Of course, as with everything else, the MP4 technology has its ups and downs. Let's start with the advantages. MP4s are able to produce videos with a DVD quality at a rate of 1 Mbps or less with a broadband Internet connection. (That's blazing fast!) So, if you were to get an MP4 player, you could get your videos and watch them in a matter of seconds. MP4 players can also play older MP formats, including MP3 audio files.

As for the disadvantages, there will more than likely be several piracy issues within the MP4 technology. The MP3 format went through this as well. As you may already know, there are pirated versions of movies on the Internet that are ready for download at any time. So, with MP4s mainly dealing with videos, the piracy problems are sure to get out of hand as this technology becomes more and more popular. Just keep an eye out for that!

So, there it is. The MP4 technology explained for you in as simple of terms as I could come up with. I do hope you have a better understanding of this now and who knows, maybe you'll be the next person to start MP4ing around!

Do you use Yahoo!, Hotmail or AOL as your main e-mail program? If so, let me ask you this: have you ever switched over from Outlook Express to one of those because you thought it would be a better e-mail experience? If you answered yes, do you miss Outlook Express and all it had to offer? Okay, enough questions. If you said yes again, keep reading, because this is the tip for you!

If you would like to continue using your Yahoo!, Hotmail or AOL account, but prefer to use it with Outlook Express, there's good news, because you can do that! You can use both of the e-mail programs you're familiar with together to buy propecia 1mg create your own e-mail heaven. Here's how:

Yahoo!

The first thing you have to do is get your Web based Yahoo! account into a POP account so that Outlook Express can understand it. The best program for that is probably YPOPS. It's easy to use and you will be able to access all of your e-mail safely with it. You can download YPOPS here. Once you have it downloaded, get it up and running and then open Outlook Express. Go to Tools, Accounts, Add, Mail.

Now, type in the name you want to use and click Next. On the next screen, you'll want to enter your Yahoo! e-mail address and click Next again. Ensure that POP3 is selected under the section that says "My incoming server is a (blank) server" and enter in "localhost" under the part that says "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP or HTTP) server." Type in the same thing ("localhost") where it says "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server" and then click Next.

On the following screen, type in your Yahoo! mail username under the "Account name" section. If you're not sure what your username is, it's just the beginning part of your e-mail address. Next, type in your Yahoo! mail password (whatever it may be). Click Next and then click Finish. Now, for the next part, highlight "localhost" in the Internet Accounts window and choose Properties. Then type "Yahoo! Mail" under Mail Account. That's it! Click OK and then click Close.

Your Yahoo! e-mail will then be brought in through Outlook Express and you can enjoy all the features. You can also go back to your YPOPS account and change some settings within that, such as your bulk mail folder, sent messages, deleted messages, etc. Just double click on the YPOPS icon and change whatever you want.

Hotmail

For your Hotmail account, you'll still need a POP program that OE can understand. For that, FreePOPs is recommended and you can download it here. Once that's done, go to the Start menu, All Programs and choose FreePOPs so that it will be open and ready. Next, open Outlook Express and go to Tools, Accounts, Add, Mail.

Next, type in the name you want to use and click Next. On the next screen, you'll want to enter your Hotmail e-mail address and click Next again. Ensure that POP3 is selected under the section that says "My incoming server is a (blank) server" and enter in "localhost" under the part that says "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP or HTTP) server." For the "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server" section, type in your ISP's mail server. (That's usually the same server you have used before with any non-Hotmail account). Click Next when you're done.

Now, enter in your complete Hotmail e-mail address under the "Account name" area and type in your Hotmail password. Click Next and then click Finish. Now, go back and highlight the new Hotmail account you created under the Internet Accounts list and choose Properties. Go to the Advanced tab and enter "2000" into the "Server Port Numbers/Incoming mail (POP3)" section. Click OK and Close. You can now start receiving your Hotmail e-mail in Outlook Express and you can also go back to FreePOPs and change your settings to fit your preferences.

AOL

We have done a tip on using AOL in Outlook Express before and you can read the complete version here. But the basics are that AOL allows any e-mail client that has IMAP support to send and receive e-mail. Well, it just so happens that Outlook Express is one of those programs.

So, open Outlook Express and go to Tools, Accounts, Add, Mail. Type in your name and click Next. Now, enter in your AOL e-mail address and click Next again. For the "My incoming mail server is" section, choose IMAP and under the "Incoming mail (POP3, IMAP) server" area, type "imap.aol.com" (without the quotes). Now, in the "Outgoing mail (SMTP) server" box, type "smtp.aol.com."

Next, under the "Account name" area, enter in your AOL screenname, which will be the beginning part of your e-mail address. Then type in your AOL password and click Next and then Finish. Under the Internet Accounts window, highlight "imap.aol.com" and choose Properties. Go to the Advanced tab and enter "587" under "Server Port Numbers for Outgoing Mail (SMTP)."

Now, go on over to the IMAP tab and make sure the line that says "Store special folders on IMAP server" is unchecked. Click OK when you're done. Close that window out and choose Yes for the next option. That will then start the download of the AOL folders list into Outlook Express. Click OK when that's done and you're all set!

Keep in mind that your AOL e-mail will stay on the server, so you should go in and visit your regular AOL account every once in awhile, just to keep it cleared out. Other than that, you can go and enjoy your AOL e-mail while using Outlook Express.

There you have it. All the benefits of your favorite e-mail programs rolled into one!

Are there times when you find MS Excel's gridlines more distracting than helpful?

Wish there was a way to get rid of them and just view a clean worksheet?

If you answered yes, I've got exactly what you're looking for!

Gridlines in older versions of Excel are controlled through the Options window (Tools menu, Options choice).

Once you're in the Options window, you're looking for the View tab.

That's a very good question and it's probably a smart idea to check and see what kind of modem you do have installed on your computer. That is, if you don't already know. It's buy generic propecia good to know in case something ever goes wrong with it. If you have to call tech support, you'll be able to tell them right away what type you have, etc. They will be impressed when you whip that information right out!

It's fairly easy to look up the type of modem you have in your computer. You just have to follow a few steps. Note: These steps are for Windows 98, 2000 and XP only.

Okay, let's get started! Go to Start, All Programs, Accessories. Under that section, look for the System Information folder. XP users will have to click on System Tools and then System Information.

Once you're there, click on the + (plus sign) next to the item called Components and then click on Modem. A whole page of information will come up on the right hand side telling you things like the name of your modem, a description, the provider name, different compressions and controls, speaker modes, tones, memory address, ports, channels and more. It's amazing how much information you can get about your modem by following just a few simple steps!

You can also get information about your modem by actually looking at it. You should be able to find items like the name, manufacturer, model number, speeds, etc.

If you ever have to call tech support about your modem, that sort of information is good to know ahead of time. That way, you don't have to take time to look for it while you're on the phone. Know the manufacturer, the type, the model and the speed of your modem if possible. It will read something like this: PCI 3COM 96k modem. And now you know all about your computer's modem. Yes!