I use cut and paste all the time.  It's second nature to me.  If this isn't a tool you are familiar with here's a brief tutorial for the PC.

Whether you work on the computer or just use one at home, the ability to cut and paste text and files is a valuable time-saving technique. The terms "cut and paste" come from the now-obsolete practice of manuscript editing by cutting paragraphs from a written page with scissors and pasting them onto another page. The digital version works similarly, but won’t tire out your hands. ​

Before you can cut and paste you should be familiar with your right mouse button.  Most of us use our left mouse button all the time, when we click on a link.  The right mouse button will open up a menu to choices that you will use in cut and paste and copy and paste.

But first things first.  To either copy or cut you need to select your text - a word, a sentence, a paragraph or a page.  To select:

Select all text

• Click anywhere within the document
• ​Press Ctrl+A on your keyboard to select all text in the document.

Select specific text  - You can also select a specific word, line of text, or one or more paragraphs.

• Place your cursor in front of the first letter of the word, sentence, or paragraphs you want to select.
• Click and hold while you drag your cursor to select the text you want.

Now that your text is selected, what do you want to do with it?  Copying it will copy it to a computer clipboard and you can paste it anywhere - in a new document, in another location in the same document or in another location in the same document.   Copying will leave the original text in the same location.  

Cutting as the name implies is cutting out the text and pasting it somewhere else.

Once your text is selected click on the right mouse button and select copy or cut. Then move your cursor to where you want the text to go.  Right click again and select paste.  Voila!   

When we were in Chicago we checked out my brother's PC. It had been running slow especially on start up.  He could not only make a pot of coffee waiting for it to boot up he could drink the whole pot too.

Brian checked his start up and sure enough he had dozens of apps running in the background.  "Turning" off these apps won't delete them, it will only stop them from running in the background and slowing down your PC.

Startup apps can slow down your PC. Apps that open in the background when you start your PC can slow things down significantly—and you might not even realize they’re running. To check, go to Start  > Settings  > Apps  > Startup and turn off everything you don’t need.

​Have a question?   Email Brian Open Startup settings

If you are interested in buying a new computer, there are some things you might want to think about before purchasing. I know many of you aren’t interested, like I am, in specs. That said, it’s important to remember that when moving your data to another computer, you will need to make sure your new hard drive will hold everything you want to bring from the old hard drive.
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Newer computers often come with an SSD, a Solid State Drive. These are often smaller than the older style mechanical drives. In some cases, the SSD is just a single small card that plugs into the motherboard, or it may be chips soldered onto the board and isn’t able to be upgraded.

If you are coming from an older computer with a 500Gb hard drive, for instance, and going to a Surface Pro or MacBook Air with 128Gb of storage, you may have a problem moving all your data. If you only use 80Gb on your old computer it won’t be an issue, but if you are using 400Gb, then it won’t all fit.

In some cases, you can upgrade your new computer, but not always. Another option may be to offload a large chunk of data to cloud storage. Off loading the data to an external drive is also a good idea, but if it’s no longer available on the old computer (because you gave it to me) then you will need it on a second external drive as well. Remember, a backup means there are 2 or more copies. External drives fail just like any other drive, so backups mean multiple devices.

Carol always recommends buying the ‘most’ computer you can afford. I agree with her on this, especially if you aren’t buying a computer every 2 or 3 years. If you keep your computer for a long time, then you will need something robust enough to last. Your needs may not change but the world will keep changing. As the world progresses, the computer requirements will as well. Typically, memory and processor are the best things you can invest in. Consider buying the best processor you can afford, and put in as much memory as you can. I’m not saying you need to put in 128Gb of memory, but 16Gb is certainly a good amount, and 32Gb is better if you work with photos.

Don’t let the price, or the sales person be the determining factor. Do a little homework before buying. Check different brands. Obviously, if you are buying a Mac, then check discount places that sell Macs, like Costco or Amazon. For PC brands, read reviews from legitimate computer magazines, like PCWorld or CNet. There are standard brands, like Asus and Dell of course, but the last computer I bought is branded Chuwi. It’s a bit different but so far it’s been a great replacement for my $10 Goodwill find. 

If you have two or more Alexa's in your house, here's a useful tip to use your devices at intercoms.

"Drop In" is an optional feature that lets you connect instantly to supported Alexa-enabled devices, like an intercom.  From you studio you can connect hands free to the house.  Or perhaps call hands free if you have a fall.  You can also use your Alexa as a phone but I'll save that for another day.

Drop In is an optional feature that lets you connect instantly to supported Alexa-enabled devices, like an intercom.
Use Drop In to open an instant conversation between your devices or with your Alexa contacts. When you receive a Drop In, the light indicator on your Echo pulses green and you connect to your contact automatically.
Use Drop In to:
Have a two-way conversation by connecting to one of your Alexa-enabled devices ("drop in on Kitchen").
Connect to a specific device group ("drop in on living room").Note: Only one Alexa-enabled device from the device group connects.

​Have a group conversation with all supported Alexa-enabled devices under your Amazon household, which are not set to do not disturb. To start a group conversation ask Alexa to Drop In everywhere.
Note: All supported Alexa-enabled devices under your Amazon household account will connect regardless of their physical location

Drop In on a contact who granted you Drop In permissions.

Receive Drop In from a contact whom you granted Drop In permissions.
To drop in on your household devices, first ask Alexa to drop in and she will request your permission to enable the feature. Once enabled, members of your household account will be able to drop in on household devices. To drop in on a contact with a different Amazon account, your contact must first grant you Drop In permissions using the Alexa app.   

Turn Drop In On or Off for Your Device

1. Open the Alexa app .
2. Open Devices .
3. Select Echo & Alexa, and then select your device.
4. Select Communications.
5. Select Drop In, and then select which permissions to enable or disable.

There has been a lot of hype about Windows 11 recently, and it is sure to increase. Windows 11 is not officially out yet, though it is available via the insider preview, next week.
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I don’t really know anything about it other than what Microsoft says, which you can see HERE. 

It looks nice. I like Windows 10 and I expect I’ll like Win 11 someday, though I won’t likely be switching right away. I don’t know yet if my new, very inexpensive and tiny computer, will be able to upgrade. But certainly it looks like most computers from the past several years will be candidates.

There’s a blog HERE   about the insider preview experience of Win 11. It’s good reading, though similar to the MS page above.

If you are interested in trying the Insider Preview of Windows 11, then you should read THIS.   It includes some good links about it, and some info on downloading the preview. If you do so, let me know what you think.

As I stated above, I need to check if my new computer can handle Windows 11. If it does, I suppose that now would be a good time to try it, since my old computer is still up and running. If I try it out, you know I will be writing about it.