10 Keyboard tricks for a PC

10 Keyboard tricks for a PC 

By Melissa Tong

 

Many people may already know about clicking Ctrl F to find specific words within a long article, but there are other quick keyboard tricks that can make your life easier.

1.      Need to close a tab if a friend comes into your room right when you’re buying their birthday present? This trick will close tabs faster than clicking the red X on the top of the page.

Trick: Alt+ F4

2.      Have many windows open, making it difficult to click the desired icon on the desktop? This shortcut will prevent having to minimize all windows to reach the desktop page.

Trick: Windows + D

3.      Have numerous tabs open and want to maneuver between tabs easily? Now there’s an easy way to switch tabs without even touching the mouse.

Trick: Ctrl +Tab          

4.      Without using the mouse, you can choose which window you want among the many windows that you’ve opened.

Trick: Alt + Tab

5.      Now there’s no excuse for misspelling words with this keyboard trick.

Trick: F7

6.      Accidentally closed a tab? Here’s an easy way to reopen the tab.

Trick: Ctrl + Shift + T

7.      Refresh the page with the push of a button.

Trick: F5

8.      Always in fear of accidentally losing that essay that you’ve worked so hard on because you forgot the save it? Press these two keys to constantly save your work.

Trick: Ctrl + S

9.      View the start menu with this simple combo.

Trick: Ctrl + Esc

10.  Want to highlight a lot of text without having to deal with scrolling? The following keys highlight a whole page.

Trick: Ctrl + A                                                                                    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

Making Smoothies, a simple spring snack

Making smoothies, a simple spring snack

By Avery Ponce

 

Smoothies are nutritious and delicious -- and cold. What better to drink on the hot days to come? You’ll need bananas, blueberries, milk or juice, ice cubes, and a blender.

1.  Freeze bananas and blueberries overnight in a plastic bag.

2.  Put two bananas, one cup of blueberries, and one cup of milk into a blender. You can substitute juice or soy milk for the milk if you prefer.

3.  Blend until the smoothie has the desired texture. If it’s too thick, blend in more milk. If it’s too bland, blend in more bananas or blueberries. If the smoothie is not cold enough, blend in a few ice cubes to cool it.

                                                                  photo courtesy of blueberrycouncil.org

Hunger Games versus Twilight: which is better?

By Alicia Y. Zheng

   Considering the enormous fan base that teenage girls provide, both “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins and the “Twilight” series by Stephanie Meyers are ripe for commercializing. From posters with giant faces plastered on them to the action dolls modeled after the characters, both series take advantage of the wide market of hungry teenage girls. Which leaves the question: which series is the better one? (Keep in mind that I will be comparing books, not the movies – any star power to support either side will not be considered.)  

Storyline: Hunger Games is about a post-apocalyptic society that prevents rebellion by sending teenagers to kill each other in an arena. Twilight is about a mortal girl who can’t choose between a vampire and a werewolf.

Hunger Games wins this one. It offers more action and more suspense, with a more interesting climax other than “I choose the vampire.”

Characters: Katniss has a tough-girl persona that easily makes her an idol among pre-teen girls; she volunteers as a tribute for her little sister and is lethal with her bow and arrow combination. Add in Peeta’s lovable baker boy personality and Gale’s shady bad boy character and it’s a recipe for a heart-wrenching choice. Twilight offers Bella, a mortal girl who can’t choose between a brooding vampire and a loyal werewolf.

Another one for Hunger Games.

Relatability: While the idea of throwing a bunch of teenagers in a pre-made arena to kill each other is very appealing, the fact is that Twilight’s gloomy setting of Forks is more relatable to high school students, even if there aren’t superhumans climbing to the tops of trees or randomly transforming into werewolves.

Point for Twilight. 

	“The Hunger Games”	“Twilight”
Books sold	16 million copies	116 million copies
Pre-tickets sold	Over 1 million tickets
Opening Weekend	To be released…	$14.2 million
Fan base	Pre-teen and teens as well as <25 years males	Mostly pre-teen and teen girls

In the end, The Hunger Games seems to have dominated over Twilight with a better storyline and better characters. True fans know where their biases lay; where do yours? 

                                                                   photo courtesy of salon.com