How to...

Three simple solutions to common annoyances: Disable that new autoplay annoyance on YouTube, find the menu bar in Internet Explorer or Firefox, and manage those irritating CAPTCHAs.

 

Here I was, just researching something for this column, and I followed a click-path to a YouTube video. I watched the video and the next thing I knew it was half an hour later, and my column hadn’t written itself. But I now know everything there is to know about pygmy goats.

That’s when I noticed the new YouTube “feature” that just keeps playing the next video on some YouTube-constructed playlist. This “feature” is at least as annoying as the autoplay Facebook feature. (If you want to know how to turn THAT off, look at my video below - but not until I tell you how to turn off the YouTube autoplay!)

It’s easy to turn this off if you don’t want to go down the YouTube rabbit hole. Look in the upper right or lower right corner just outside of the video, for a blue button with “Autoplay” beside it. The position of the button depends on the screen size you’re viewing. Slide that button to the left to turn it gray and turn off the autoplay feature. It’s just that simple. Later, if you want to go exploring, turn it back on again and enjoy your playlist.

People ask me about this all the time. The Menu Bar is near the top of a window, and shows choices for File Edit View Tools, and so on. If you wonder what happened to the Menu Bar in Internet Explorer and Firefox, it’s in there, but by default it’s just turned off. Why is it off by default? Beats me. The good news is it’s easy to turn it back on.

Open Internet Explorer or Firefox, then press the ALT key, and you’ll see the familiar choices displayed in the old familiar places. Nice trick, right? The problem is that as soon as you do anything, the Menu Bar goes into hiding again. If you want it there all the time:

• Press the ALT key
• Click on View | Toolbars
• Place a check next to Menu Bar

There. That does it!

Are you using Google Chrome? Tough luck. No menu bar for you! Click on the list icon over on the right side of the window to get to the items that you would other wise find on the Menu bar.

When you sign up for something online, take an online poll, make an online purchase or perform any other number of online tasks, you often encounter a much-hated test. That form containing illegible characters is a CAPTCHA, and that stands for Completely Automated Public Turing Test To Tell Computers and Humans Apart.

Why would you need to test for this? Because a CAPTCHA is one defence against computer-generated problems like spam. CAPTCHAs You can read more about that here: http://computer.howstuffworks.com/captcha.htm.

How many times have you tried to open an account or buy a ticket to something and been unable to decipher the mangled letters?

Me too.

But here’s a trick: When you can’t figure out what the CAPTCHA says, click on the link that says “get a new code” or the little circle that will refresh the picture. Keep going until you get one you like. Tedious as that is, it beats squinting and guessing and typing and getting it wrong!

Do you need help with your computer? I'm here to help you and your home or business computer get along!

Cate Eales runs Computer Care Kelowna (http://computercarekelowna.com/) a mobile service helping home users and businesses get along with their computers. To arrange an appointment phone her at 250-764-7043. Cate also welcomes your comments and suggestions. Send email to [email protected].

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This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.