GIVE YOUR MOUSE A WELL-DESERVED REST

What Happens When You Press the Windows Key? Discover 10 Keyboard Tricks.

Image: Sergi Kabrera

Moving your hand from the keyboard to the mouse and back again might not seem like a very time-consuming chore when doing computer work. However, when this action must be repeated constantly, there are simple tricks that help us save time and energy. You don't need to be a hacker to learn these 10 easy keyboard shortcuts that will enhance your computer skills. Discover what all those keys with letters like Ctrl, Fn, and Alt are really for. And, if you stay till the end, we’ll show you a trick that will blow your mind!

Image: Natalia Y.

Back in Medieval times when monks did it, copying text used to be an extremely time-consuming task. Quite a few centuries had to pass for us to be able to copy whatever amount of text we want, from a single character to a whole book or more.

The trick is simple: highlight the text you want to copy. Once the text is highlighted, press the Ctrl key and the letter C simultaneously. Once you do this, the text is saved and ready to be pasted anywhere you need it.

Image: Scott Sanker

Pasting text previously copied allows you to move around words, paragraphs, pages, or whatever amount of text you want in no time at all.

Once you have copied -or cut- your text, the next step for pasting it wherever you want it to is really simple. Place the cursor where you want the text to start and click on that exact point. Then press the Ctrl key and the V letter, simultaneously. Once you do this, the text will appear in the place where you want it.

Image: Matt Artz

Maybe you don't want to simply copy text and you want to cut it out entirely. There is a shortcut for this as well and it is as simple as the text copying trick.

To cut text, you must highlight the word, paragraph, or whatever amount of text you want to cut. Once the text is highlighted, press the Ctrl key and the X letter, simultaneously. Once you do this, the highlighted text will disappear but worry not, it is saved in the clipboard and ready to be pasted wherever you need it with the pasting trick (remember: Ctrl + V).

Image: Jim Wilson

Have you ever had second thoughts and wanted to undo something? If only life was as easy as this Windows trick!

Simply press the Ctrl key and the letter Z. Windows will magically take a step back and undo what it has just done. Be it restoring something you deleted by mistake or going back, this simple trick will get the job done.

Image: Ana Klipper

Suppose you want to close a window on your desktop. Yes, you could take the mouse and reach for the small red X square in the corner of the window. Or, you could save a few seconds and do this instead.

Simply press our old friend, the Ctrl key and the W letter, simultaneously. The window that is at the front of your desktop will close automatically.

Image: Aaron Burden

Imagine you need to highlight all of the text in a document. What would you do? Start from the top and start painting the whole thing down? Lucky you, there are faster, easier ways to do just that.

Just press the Ctrl key and the A letter, simultaneously. Abracadabra! The whole thing will be painted yellow for you to copy or cut, in no time at all.

Image: Daniel Maquiling

Maybe you need to open the Start menu to find a program or an app or close the computer. What do you do? You take the arrow and go to the left corner at the bottom, to the Windows icon, right? No!

You can simply press the Ctrl key and the Esc key, simultaneously and the Start menu will unfold beneath your eyes without having to lift your fingers from the keyboard.

Image: Jan Loyde Cabrera

A shortcut one wishes would exist in real life (much like Ctrl + Z), hitting F5 on your keyboard will produce a wonderful effect: the window that is upfront on your desktop will refresh itself and update to its latest status.

Whether you are expecting a money transfer and looking anxiously at your bank account, are eager to see the latest news online, or don’t want to miss out on something that is about to happen, pressing the F5 key will refresh the upfront window to its latest version.

Image: Agence Olloweb

While the amount of files that we store in our computers has diminished since cloud storage became more ubiquitous, most of us still use folders to archive pictures, PDF files, text documents, and more. That is why having Windows’ magnifying glass ready at hand is very useful to find stuff in the least possible amount of time.

Yes, we can always go to the Start button and press the magnifying glass. But why do that when we can just press the Windows key and the letter S, to obtain the same result in less time?

Image: Tadas Sar

Our computers are powerful devices that can handle multiple tasks at once: internet browsers, spreadsheets, dedicated software, open folders, photographs, and more, can all be floating on your desktop. So, what if you need to see or fetch something from the desktop? Are you going to be minimizing every single thing to uncover the surface? Nope! There is a shortcut for that too!

Simply press the Windows key (yes, that one you always wondered what it was for) and the D letter, simultaneously. Magic! The desktop is uncovered and clean for your perusal. Want to go back to what you were doing? Press Windows + D again.

Exploring the world

Who got to the Americas first? The unique journeys of 10 iconic explorers

Image: Nathan Hurst

Nowadays, you can buy your ticket, take a plane, and fly almost anywhere in the world. But this was not always the case. Throughout history, some people have dedicated their lives to exploring unknown parts of the Earth, getting on big ships, and setting sail with little more than hopes and a few wild theories. Today, we're revisiting the journeys of 10 iconic explorers who changed the course of history, making huge contributions to culture, trade, and science. Let's start this adventure!

Image: Tim Foster

Let's travel more than 1000 years into the past to talk about Leif Erikson, one of the earliest renowned explorers in history.

Erikson, a Norse born around 970 CE in what is now Iceland, is recognized as the first European to set foot on mainland America. That's right! Archaeological evidence suggests he had been here almost 500 years before Christopher Columbus. Impressive, isn't it?

In the 11th century, Erikson explored the coasts of North America and is thought to have established a Norse settlement in an area known as Vinland, which many historians believe was located in present-day Newfoundland, Canada.

Image: Egor Myznik

Do you remember what you were doing when you were 17? Most of us were in high school, but that was not the case for Marco Polo, who, at the age of 17, was starting an epic journey from Venice, Italy, to China!

Marco Polo's expedition to Asia began in the year 1271. Although trade had provided Europe with some knowledge about Asia, their understanding of "the East" was quite limited- at that time, Europeans weren't even aware of the existence of the Americas!- In this context, Marco Polo's journey was not only important but also innovative and risky.

Together with his father, he traveled overland along the Silk Road and reached the Chinese Empire in 1275. But that's not all: he spent 17 years there! You can read everything he saw, learned, met, and experienced there in the famous The Travels of Marco Polo.

Image: Kevin Olson

Sometimes, mistakes or unforeseen events end up bringing big changes. That's what happened when the famous Christopher Columbus reached the Caribbean coast, thinking he had arrived in Asia.

As you probably already know, the Genoese set sail from Spain in 1492 in search of a westbound route to Asia. However, a few months after setting sail, Columbus and his ships arrived not in Asia but in the Caribbean on October 12, 1492. Unaware of his amazing finding, Columbus made 3 more voyages to the "New World."

Image: Vidar Nordli-Mathisen

The Age of Exploration wouldn't have been the same without the iconic Vasco da Gama. Born around 1460 in Portugal, he's famous for nothing less than being the first European to reach India by sea.

At that time, trade between Europe and India was only by land, with many intermediaries involved. Therefore, establishing a safe sea route for trade was a crucial achievement at the time.

Da Gama set sail from Lisbon, Portugal, in 1497. He skirted the coasts of Africa and successfully reached India in 1498. But this major feat didn't end there; da Gama made two more voyages in 1502 and 1524, expanding Portugal's power over the region.

Image: Dmitrii Eliuseev

In 1497, another European set sail in search of Asia, but he ended up exploring the coasts of North America instead.

John Cabot was born in Venice as Giovanni Caboto around 1450. In 1497, he was sent by the English crown to seek a westbound route to reach Asia, but just like Columbus, he encountered America. He arrived in Newfoundland, Canada, without being fully aware of where he was, and he claimed part of present-day Canada and the United States for England.

Cabot is considered the first European to explore the coasts of North America since the Norse voyages, which marked the beginning of England's exploration and land claims in the New World.

Image: Delaney Van

Ferdinand Magellan is a familiar name, right? He was born around 1480 in northern Portugal and would become one of the most famous explorers in history.

In 1519, he set sail from Spain towards the West in search of the "Spice Islands," which was the name for present-day Indonesia. Along the way, he discovered a passage connecting the Atlantic Ocean to another body of water that he named "The Peaceful Sea," known now as the Pacific Ocean. That passage would later take his name: the Strait of Magellan.

In 1521, he and his crew reached The Philippines. Although he lost his life there, the expedition continued and returned to Spain in 1522, completing the very first successful circumnavigation of the globe!

Image: Vincent Yuan

More than 50 years after Magellan, Sir Francis Drake also completed the feat of circumnavigating the globe, becoming the first Englishman to achieve this.

He and his 5 ships began their voyage from Plymouth, England, in 1577. They crossed the Atlantic to what is now the east coast of Argentina. Drake traveled through South America, facing Spanish troops settled in the area.

In 1578, they were crossing the Strait of Magellan. But, before they reached the Pacific, a huge storm hit Drake's crew. Only his ship was able to make it through. With just one vessel, he sailed along the west coast of the Americas, reaching modern California to claim that territory for England. The voyage continued to the Philippines, then crossed the Indian Ocean, the coasts of Africa again, and finally returned to Plymouth in 1580.

Image: Suhash Villuri

Undoubtedly one of the greatest explorers and navigators of the 18th century, James Cook was born in 1728 in Yorkshire, England. But Cook was not just an explorer; he was also an artist! From a young age, he developed skills in navigation and cartography, mapping large areas with incredible accuracy.

On the first of his major voyages, from 1768 to 1771, he traveled the South Pacific, becoming one of the first Europeans to circumnavigate New Zealand and make a detailed map of the entire region.

On a second voyage, from 1772 to 1775, he traveled South and crossed the Antarctic Circle! On his third and last voyage, from 1776 to 1779, he reached the Hawaiian Islands, making detailed maps of the area and contributing enormously to the geographic knowledge of the Earth and the Pacific Ocean, specifically.

Image: Tommy Bond

In 1803, the United States doubled the size of its territory thanks to what we know as the Louisiana Purchase. With so much new territory in our country, someone had to explore it properly. President Thomas Jefferson entrusted this job to Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition, also known as the Corps of Discovery, began in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1804. They traveled up the Missouri River, crossed the Rocky Mountains, and reached the Pacific Ocean! Then, they successfully returned to Missouri in 1806.

These two explorers traveled enormous distances and examined key areas in our territory, discovering new routes and thus helping to improve the country's understanding and knowledge of its lands.

Image: NASA

Our adventure has now reached the 20th century, specifically the year 1969. Since we had already explored almost every corner of the Earth, we humans decided to look up and go for interstellar conquests.

In those years, there was an explorer who, instead of setting sail on tumultuous seas, boarded a spacecraft to cross outer space and reach the Moon!

We're talking about the American Neil Armstrong, astronaut, engineer, and naval aviator. His most famous mission was Apollo 11, thanks to which he became the first human being to set foot on the Moon. You know: "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind."