As you probably know if you've been reading my recent emails, my dad is turning 80 in a few weeks, and I am running a huge sale on my easy video lesson CDs to raise money so I am able to take time off work and make the 5,000 mile trip to see him.
It'll be the first time Dad and I have been able to see each other in over two years, and it's been over 3 years since I've seen my brother, and about four and a half years since the whole family has been able to be together. So as you can imagine, I miss them and am really looking forward to being able to go.
I got a lot of responses to the news about the sale, and quite a few people had questions. I thought I'd take a break from putting the finishing touches on this month's Gold Club
video lesson CD to answer a couple of the questions here before I go to bed, since others may be wondering the same things.
And while I'm answering questions about my CDs, I won't be able to help myself but throw in a couple little lessons about computers while I'm at it, so read on...
The first question is from Marshal Jackson, who wrote:
> i am interested in your product, but i use a webtv,
> msn tv 2 type system, and can't download cd's.
>are they available to purchased and mailed to me?
> thank you, marshall jackson.
Hi Marshall. Yes, my CDs are available to be purchased and mailed. The sale on my Ultimate Beginners Bundle of 21 CDs starts early Friday, and continues to be available at full price on my site, alongside of the two lower priced bundles.
Now the issue for you though, is that you're using an MSN TV (formerly Web TV), which for those who don't know is basically a really stripped down computer that lets you browse most websites and read email, but which doesn't let you do a lot of the other things you can do with a regular computer.
I don't personally have much direct experience with them compared to regular computers, but I'm pretty sure they don't have a CD drive in them, and I'm not sure if they can play the type of video I use for my lessons, which is something called Flash video. This works for 98+ percent of people without any extra steps, which is why I chose to use it.
If you're able to watch the sample video lesson on using a search engine which I emailed you a link to yesterday, then I use the same type on my CDs and on my paid Gold Club member website.
So while you may not be able to play the video lesson CDs since you're missing a CD drive, another option that would let you learn more from me would be my basic "Starter Plus" package on my website.
This includes 3 audio CDs (in other words regular CDs you can play in a CD player, not just a computer) plus a month free membership to my Gold Club.
If you can watch any of the videos on my website, or on sites like YouTube, then my Gold Club videos will work for you.
Everything I mentioned above is included in the bundle of CDs that go on sale this weekend, but again you need an actual computer (not a Web TV or MSN TV) that has a CD drive to play *most* of the 21 CDs (again, some are regular audio CDs that play in a regular player)
I hope that answers your questions.
You can see my 3 bundles of CDs by going to the home page of my site and for an MSN TV you would want to click the Windows PC option since MSN TV 2 runs a special version of Windows.
The other question I'll be answering in this email comes from Lois Lancaster, who wrote:
> Dear Worth: I am interested in your offer. Please
> tell me what I need to do to make use of your lessons.
> I dont have high speed but I assume that I need to sign
> up for it, get speakers attached, know how to put in a CD,
> get sound. I am starting with almost zero knowledge.
> I can turn on the computer and get Email. I can click on
> Google. That is about all. Let me know what is involved
>and I will get back to you. Lois L.
Hi Lois. First off, it's OK if it seems like you have zero knowledge about the computer right now. Everyone has to start somewhere; believe me, I was no expert when I started! FAR from it.
So as for what you need to do. Well, you do not need to have high speed Internet access to play the CDs. You don't really even need to have an Internet connection at all to use them since all of the videos and other information is stored on the CDs themselves.
Now if you're using dialup, you might not be able to watch the videos on my site, or at least not without pausing the video right when it starts and waiting a few minutes for your computer
to receive (or "buffer") enough of the video so you can play it back smoothly. The audio on my site on the other hand probably would play OK.
On a side note, I really do recommend using a fast "broadband" Internet connection whenever possible, both because it gives you the most options, but also because it can make your computer
safer by letting your computer receive critical security updates in a timely manner.
Speakers or a pair of headphones (both of which have the same type of connector) are a good idea. Either will plug into a small round hole (again, just like a headphone socket on a CD player
Walkman, iPod, etc.) which usually is marked with either a green ring around it or a small picture of headphones next to it.
As for how to put in a CD, it's a funny coincidence, one of the video lessons on this month's Gold Club CDs is of me demonstrating how to open a CD drive and also what to do if the drive won't open.
It's really easy to do though, so I can tell you here.
CD drives come in two basic types. Most desktop and laptop computers have a "tray loading" CD drive (where the CD sits on a small tray that slides out of the computer). Some computers,
especially a lot of Apple's Macs, use a "slot loading" CD drive instead where you just slide the CD in label side up.
Opening the tray or spitting out the CD on a Mac is just a matter of pressing the eject key in the upper right corner of the keyboard.
On a Windows PC (which I think you have Lois), you do the following:
On most computers you just look on the front of the computer (not on the screen, but the big "box" that a lot of people incorrectly call the hard drive). On the front of the computer should be a rectangular panel that most likely either says "CD", "CD-R", "Compact Disk", or "DVD" (depending on the make and model).
On the right side of this panel should be a small button for ejecting the tray you put the CD on. The button may have the eject symbol under it (the eject symbol looks like a triangle with a line under it, just like on a DVD player, a CD player, a VCR, etc.)
Push the eject button and the tray should come out that has a circular depression in it that you put the CD into, label side up. Then press the eject button again to close the drive.
On a Windows computer the main menu with the list of lessons on the CD will open up automatically after 20-30 seconds or so.
On a Mac an icon that looks like a CD will appear on the desktop and you would double-click that icon, then double-click the file inside named "Double-click-me" and you'll get the list of lessons.
Again, I'm guessing you have a Windows PC from your question, but I figured I'd turn this into a useful lesson for everybody, and include the Mac users.
Anyway, I hope that answers your questions. It's rounding 1:45AM right now where I am and I was up until 4AM last night trying to get caught up so this whole event goes off smoothly this weekend.
So I'm going to hit the hay.
sometime later on Thursday I'll be sharing an email I got from one of my Gold Club members named Ian who had a story to tell me about his experience with the computer that I suspect a lot of you will be able to relate to.
until then, take care, and enjoy,
Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity For a Complex Modern World
It'll be the first time Dad and I have been able to see each other in over two years, and it's been over 3 years since I've seen my brother, and about four and a half years since the whole family has been able to be together. So as you can imagine, I miss them and am really looking forward to being able to go.
I got a lot of responses to the news about the sale, and quite a few people had questions. I thought I'd take a break from putting the finishing touches on this month's Gold Club
video lesson CD to answer a couple of the questions here before I go to bed, since others may be wondering the same things.
And while I'm answering questions about my CDs, I won't be able to help myself but throw in a couple little lessons about computers while I'm at it, so read on...
The first question is from Marshal Jackson, who wrote:
> i am interested in your product, but i use a webtv,
> msn tv 2 type system, and can't download cd's.
>are they available to purchased and mailed to me?
> thank you, marshall jackson.
Hi Marshall. Yes, my CDs are available to be purchased and mailed. The sale on my Ultimate Beginners Bundle of 21 CDs starts early Friday, and continues to be available at full price on my site, alongside of the two lower priced bundles.
Now the issue for you though, is that you're using an MSN TV (formerly Web TV), which for those who don't know is basically a really stripped down computer that lets you browse most websites and read email, but which doesn't let you do a lot of the other things you can do with a regular computer.
I don't personally have much direct experience with them compared to regular computers, but I'm pretty sure they don't have a CD drive in them, and I'm not sure if they can play the type of video I use for my lessons, which is something called Flash video. This works for 98+ percent of people without any extra steps, which is why I chose to use it.
If you're able to watch the sample video lesson on using a search engine which I emailed you a link to yesterday, then I use the same type on my CDs and on my paid Gold Club member website.
So while you may not be able to play the video lesson CDs since you're missing a CD drive, another option that would let you learn more from me would be my basic "Starter Plus" package on my website.
This includes 3 audio CDs (in other words regular CDs you can play in a CD player, not just a computer) plus a month free membership to my Gold Club.
If you can watch any of the videos on my website, or on sites like YouTube, then my Gold Club videos will work for you.
Everything I mentioned above is included in the bundle of CDs that go on sale this weekend, but again you need an actual computer (not a Web TV or MSN TV) that has a CD drive to play *most* of the 21 CDs (again, some are regular audio CDs that play in a regular player)
I hope that answers your questions.
You can see my 3 bundles of CDs by going to the home page of my site and for an MSN TV you would want to click the Windows PC option since MSN TV 2 runs a special version of Windows.
The other question I'll be answering in this email comes from Lois Lancaster, who wrote:
> Dear Worth: I am interested in your offer. Please
> tell me what I need to do to make use of your lessons.
> I dont have high speed but I assume that I need to sign
> up for it, get speakers attached, know how to put in a CD,
> get sound. I am starting with almost zero knowledge.
> I can turn on the computer and get Email. I can click on
> Google. That is about all. Let me know what is involved
>and I will get back to you. Lois L.
Hi Lois. First off, it's OK if it seems like you have zero knowledge about the computer right now. Everyone has to start somewhere; believe me, I was no expert when I started! FAR from it.
So as for what you need to do. Well, you do not need to have high speed Internet access to play the CDs. You don't really even need to have an Internet connection at all to use them since all of the videos and other information is stored on the CDs themselves.
Now if you're using dialup, you might not be able to watch the videos on my site, or at least not without pausing the video right when it starts and waiting a few minutes for your computer
to receive (or "buffer") enough of the video so you can play it back smoothly. The audio on my site on the other hand probably would play OK.
On a side note, I really do recommend using a fast "broadband" Internet connection whenever possible, both because it gives you the most options, but also because it can make your computer
safer by letting your computer receive critical security updates in a timely manner.
Speakers or a pair of headphones (both of which have the same type of connector) are a good idea. Either will plug into a small round hole (again, just like a headphone socket on a CD player
Walkman, iPod, etc.) which usually is marked with either a green ring around it or a small picture of headphones next to it.
As for how to put in a CD, it's a funny coincidence, one of the video lessons on this month's Gold Club CDs is of me demonstrating how to open a CD drive and also what to do if the drive won't open.
It's really easy to do though, so I can tell you here.
CD drives come in two basic types. Most desktop and laptop computers have a "tray loading" CD drive (where the CD sits on a small tray that slides out of the computer). Some computers,
especially a lot of Apple's Macs, use a "slot loading" CD drive instead where you just slide the CD in label side up.
Opening the tray or spitting out the CD on a Mac is just a matter of pressing the eject key in the upper right corner of the keyboard.
On a Windows PC (which I think you have Lois), you do the following:
On most computers you just look on the front of the computer (not on the screen, but the big "box" that a lot of people incorrectly call the hard drive). On the front of the computer should be a rectangular panel that most likely either says "CD", "CD-R", "Compact Disk", or "DVD" (depending on the make and model).
On the right side of this panel should be a small button for ejecting the tray you put the CD on. The button may have the eject symbol under it (the eject symbol looks like a triangle with a line under it, just like on a DVD player, a CD player, a VCR, etc.)
Push the eject button and the tray should come out that has a circular depression in it that you put the CD into, label side up. Then press the eject button again to close the drive.
On a Windows computer the main menu with the list of lessons on the CD will open up automatically after 20-30 seconds or so.
On a Mac an icon that looks like a CD will appear on the desktop and you would double-click that icon, then double-click the file inside named "Double-click-me" and you'll get the list of lessons.
Again, I'm guessing you have a Windows PC from your question, but I figured I'd turn this into a useful lesson for everybody, and include the Mac users.
Anyway, I hope that answers your questions. It's rounding 1:45AM right now where I am and I was up until 4AM last night trying to get caught up so this whole event goes off smoothly this weekend.
So I'm going to hit the hay.
sometime later on Thursday I'll be sharing an email I got from one of my Gold Club members named Ian who had a story to tell me about his experience with the computer that I suspect a lot of you will be able to relate to.
until then, take care, and enjoy,
Worth Godwin
Plain English Simplicity For a Complex Modern World
Labels: birthday sale, computer lessons, computer question answer, computer questions answers
