Microsoft Office Tips & Tweaks (part 3)

When it comes to using Microsoft Office, you may be an old hand or a relative newcomer.
Either way, productivity is always at a premium, so it’s useful to know any tips and tricks that can free up more time for other, more important things. With that in mind, let’s take a look at a few insider tips and tweaks that can help you create your Office documents, presentations, and worksheets in a flash. Unless otherwise indicated, the following tips should be universally applicable to Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Erase Problems

If you mess up when creating a document (and who doesn’t?) you can use the Undo feature to reverse your actions. To do this, click the Undo button or press CTRL-Z one time for every action you want to reverse. If you get carried away and reverse too many actions, you can click the Redo button (or press CTRL-Y) to reverse Undo.

Make AutoCorrect Do Your Typing

You may already be familiar with AutoCorrect as the Office feature that automatically fixes embarrassing typos in your documents, based on its default list of corrections. For example, AutoCorrect will cheerfully change “hte” to “the” without even asking you. However, you may not realize that you can also leverage the feature by creating custom entries that automatically type long, complicated, or hard-to-spell words. For example, you can create a custom entry that automatically replaces your initials with your full name or replaces a short entry with a long (but frequently used) phrase or title. This time-saver is especially helpful in a word processing program like Word, although AutoCorrect works well in PowerPoint and Excel, as well.

To create an entry in AutoCorrect, choose Tools and AutoCorrect Options and then click the AutoCorrect tab. Make sure the Replace Text As You Type option is checked. Next, in the Replace box, enter the original text that you want to type (such as your initials). In the With box, enter the text that you want to replace the original text (such as your full name), and then click Add, OK. In your document or presentation, try out the feature by typing your initials followed by a space.

Get To Commands Quickly

Microsoft Office includes multiple ways to quickly access commonly used commands. You can right-click an area of the screen, such as a placeholder in PowerPoint or a chart in Excel, and the program displays a list of associated commands on a shortcut menu. Click the command you want on the list. If you’re relatively good at using the keyboard, you can also increase efficiency by using keyboard shortcuts for many processes, such as CTRL-B to bold selected text or CTRL-R to right-align it. To help you quickly learn the keyboard shortcuts, you can display them as part of the ScreenTips that pop up whenever you rest the mouse pointer over a toolbar button. To do this, right-click any visible toolbar and then choose Customize from the shortcut menu. Click the Options tab in the Customize dialog box and then check the boxes for Show ScreenTips On Toolbars and Show Shortcut Keys In Screen Tips before clicking Close.

Draw Symmetrical Objects

You can draw a variety of objects, such as squares and circles, in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel. To do so, display the Drawing toolbar by right-clicking any visible toolbar and then choosing Drawing. On the Drawing toolbar, click the Rectangle or Oval tool and then click and drag in the application workspace. If the object is still selected, you can also enter text inside it just by typing. To create a symmetrical object (such as a perfect circle or square), press SHIFT while dragging to draw the object. To create an object from the center point (where you first begin dragging the mouse), press CTRL. Finally, to create a symmetrical object from a center point, click the tool on the toolbar, and then press CTRL-SHIFT while dragging the mouse. If you’re having trouble moving a drawn object in small increments with the mouse, try using the menu commands instead. Select the object and then choose Draw and Nudge from the Drawing toolbar. Choose a direction from the submenu that displays. As an alternative, you can move an object by using the keyboard: Press an arrow key to move a selected object six pixels at a time; pressing CTRL and an arrow key will move the object in tiny one-pixel increments.

Use WordArt

To create an attention-grabbing title, create it as WordArt Object. Click the Insert WordArt button (on the Drawing toolbar) to display the WordArt Gallery. Double-click a style, which simultaneously selects it and opens the Edit WordArt Text dialog box, and then type your text. Optionally, you can choose a typeface and font size by choosing them on the Font and Size drop-down lists. When you’re finished, click OK. You can make additional modifications to the WordArt object by selecting it and then choosing commands on the WordArt toolbar.

Jazz Up Objects With 3D Or Shadow Effects

You can add three-dimensional effects to circles, squares, and other drawn objects. Click the object to select it and then click the 3-D Style tool from the Drawing toolbar. Choose an effect from the palette. To further modify the object’s appearance, click 3-D Settings on the palette, which opens the 3-D Settings toolbar. You can then use buttons on this toolbar to change the object’s depth, surface appearance, color, or perspective. In a similar manner, you can also apply shadow effects to a drawn object. Select the object, click the Shadow Style tool on the Drawing toolbar and then choose a style from the palette. You can further revise the object’s look by clicking Shadow Settings on the palette to open the Shadow Settings toolbar and then changing the shadow’s direction or color. One important note: You can apply either a 3D or shadow effect to an object, but not both.

Copy Formatting

You can copy formatting from one object, text area, or cell to another. To do this, select the object or cell from which you want to copy the formatting (or click within the text), and then click the Format Painter button. Next, click the object, cell, or text to which you want to copy the formatting. You can also double-click the Format Painter button to keep it active. This enables you to copy formatting multiple times. When you’re finished copying formatting, click the Format Painter button again or simply press ESC.

Tear Off Toolbars

You can “tear off” many of the submenus (palettes) in your Office programs so that you can keep them open, which provides ready access to their tools. For example, it’s more convenient to keep the Font Color, AutoShapes, and Fill Color palettes displayed instead of going through the same series of mouse clicks every time you want to use their tools. To “tear off” a submenu, display it, and then drag the move bar at the top of the submenu into the document workspace area. Release the mouse. When you’re finished using a palette, click its close button to clear it from the screen.

Select Text Quickly

Word includes a number of methods that you can use to quickly select text: Double-click to select an individual word; triple-click to select a paragraph. You can also speedily select a sentence by pressing CTRL while single-clicking anywhere in the sentence. Furthermore, you can select a line (not to be confused with a sentence) by moving your mouse into left margin until it displays as a right-pointing arrow. Point at the line which you want to select and then click. Finally, you can select an entire document by choosing Edit and then Select All or by simply pressing CTRL-A.

_____________________________
by Linda Bird

Read more...

Joomla Events Calendar: A How To

The website of JEvent is available here, but no specific instruction for installation is found. This article will show you how to install Joomla Events Calendar so that it works on your joomla-based website.

They are testing version 1.5alpha now. However, we only cover version 1.4.3 here, as this version is compatible with Joomla 1.5 (legacy mode).

Here are the simple steps to install this component:

- Access sourceforge website: here

- Download the required component for JEvents: com_events_1.4.3rc2.zip

- Download Mini-calendar module: mod_events_cal_1.4.3rc2.zip. We need this module to show calendar on sidebar. If we don't install this module, calendar can only be shown on mainframe.

- You can install Latest events module, (if you like), mod_events_latest_1.4.3rc2.zip. This module shows the latest event on sidebar.

- After install these two modules, you have to activate them in Module Manager. They are displayed as "Events Calendar" and "Latest Events".

- To add an event, go to Components/Events/Manage Events.

- To add the first event, create a category first. Event category can be created in Manage Categories. After creating a category, remember to Publish it first before adding the first event.

- Check your homepage to see the calendar.

Read more...

Microsoft Excel: Basic Worksheet Formatting

Users often want to customize the look of Excel spreadsheets. There are many basic formatting options available at the cell and worksheet level. Most are available on the Format Menu located on the Standard Excel toolbar.

Format Cells

Choose Format on the toolbar and select Cells to open the Format Cells dialog box. This box has six tabs, each for a different type of formatting. (You can also access this dialog box by rightclicking in any cell and selecting Format Cells from the pop-up menu.)

The Number tab offers shortcuts so that Excel will automatically format data as you type. When you select one of the 12 categories on the left, a sample appears on the right. The Special category allows zero to be the first digit in a cell, which is useful for entering social security numbers or ZIP codes. Some other key selections include Currency, which adds a dollar sign and allows you to display decimal points, and Date, which allows you to enter dates in simple numerical form and format them in various ways.

On the Alignment tab, you can align text horizontally and vertically within a cell, change the orientation of text within a cell, and change the text direction. If you have more data than will fit in a cell, you have some neat options in the Text control section. Check the box in front of Wrap Text to continue your text onto the next line within a cell and then increase the height of the cell to view all the text. Check Shrink To Fit to decrease the size of your text until it fits into its current cell. Or select several contiguous cells and then check Merge Cells to create one larger cell that shows more text. Merge cells is also an easy way to center a header across a spreadsheet with multiple columns.

The Font tab offers options familiar from Microsoft Word, including Font, Font Style, Size, Underline, Color, and Effects. Similar to Microsoft Word, there is a Preview screen to view your choices before you click OK to apply the formatting.

The Border tab offers multiple ways to add borders to cells. (There is also a toolbar button with multiple border options.) First, select the line style and color in the line section. You can click the preset buttons at the top (None, Outline, Inside) or the more detailed buttons around the preview diagram to make borders appear on the diagram. You can also click directly on the preview diagram to make lines appear. Click on lines again to delete.

The Patterns tab allows you to choose background color and patterns for each cell. Click your color choice on the color palette and choose your pattern from the drop-down menu.

In order to lock a cell so that its data cannot be changed, check the box in front of Locked on the Protection tab. In order to hide a formula so it is not visible on a spreadsheet, check Hidden. (These features are only available on protected worksheets.)

Format Rows

Select Row on the Format menu and the formatting choices will appear. The Height option allows you to choose a numeric value for the currently selected row height. If you have entered data in a cell that is not high enough to view all the data, select that cell and choose AutoFit from the menu. The row which contains the selected cell will automatically resize to view all the data within. (Shortcut: Hold your cursor to the far left side of the screen over the bottom border of a row. When it turns to a line with arrows pointing up and down, double click the mouse, and the row will automatically resize to show all data.)

To hide a row, select any cell in the appropriate row. Then select Hide from the menu to conceal the entire row. Data will not be lost. To make a hidden row reappear, select the two cells surrounding it. Select Unhide from the Row menu, and the row will reappear.

Format Columns

Select Column on the Format menu, and the formatting choices will appear. The choices are similar to those available for formatting rows. The Width option allows you to specify a numeric width for selected cells. The AutoFit is the same for rows and columns. (The shortcut is also the same: Double-click to the right of the column you want to resize.) The Hide and Unhide features are also the same for rows and columns. Standard Width changes the default cell width. Highlight one or more sheets and choose Standard Width on the Column menu. Type a measurement in the pop-up dialog box. For estimation purposes, this number corresponds to the number of digits that will fit in a cell. (This applies if you are using the default text font for your worksheet.)

Format Sheets

Of course, if you select all cells on a worksheet before you make a formatting change, you will change the entire sheet. But there are two places in your workbook that are specifically designed to apply formatting at the worksheet level.

Select Sheet from the Format menu;there, you can select Rename to rename your sheet (names appear on the tabs at bottom left) and select Hide or Unhide (corresponding tab will be concealed).

Select Background to open the Sheet Background dialog box. From there, you can insert a graphic file as background for your sheet. Selecting Tab Color opens the Format Tab Color dialog box, so you can choose a tab color from the color palette. Worksheet tabs. Sheet formatting changes can also be made through your sheet tabs. Right click any tab, and a menu will appear. Some of the options (Rename and Tab Color) are also available on the Sheet menu and have already been described. The remaining options will help you further format and manipulate your worksheets.

Select Insert to open the Insert dialog box. From there, you can insert available templates into your worksheet. Select Delete to delete the current worksheet. Choose Select All Sheets to highlight all the sheets in a workbook. This can be useful if you’re making a sweeping formatting change, like the standard cell width.

Select Move or Copy to open the Move Or Copy dialog box. You can move your sheet within the current workbook, to any open workbook, or to a new workbook. (If you want to move a sheet within the same workbook, you can also simply click and drag that tab to change its position.) To copy the sheet, check the Create A Copy box. The Copy feature can be convenient if you are making numerous changes to a worksheet. With your copied sheet in the same workbook, you can simply look back at the o d tab or recopy it if you decide against the changes you’ve made. Copying a worksheet is also an easy way to create several tabs with the same formatting in a single workbook (for example, monthly calendars).

These basic formatting options can save you time at the keyboard and make your spreadsheets look professional.

_____________________
by Liz Stefaniak

Read more...

Audio/Video Streaming

Take Advantage Of Online Media

So you’re out on the road for business, and one of your evenings isn’t filled with dinner with clients or co-workers. You can’t really justify a taxi ride into the city for some adventure or, even worse, you’re in a town with absolutely no adventure whatsoever. But the good news is, you do have your trusty notebook computer and the hotel has high-speed Internet access. Guess what that means? It means you now have access to virtually limitless sources of news, sports, and entertainment! So say goodbye to boredom and hello to the exciting and wonderful world of streaming content.

There are a few prerequisites for accessing streaming media across the ‘Net. The most important of these is a media player. The good news: Almost every Windows-based PC comes equipped with the free Windows Media Player, which is capable of playing MPEG, AVI, and WMV formats for video, as well as almost every audio format available. There might be a cause for other media players, however. Most notable of these is Apple’s QuickTime media player, freely available from quicktime.apple.com. Some other sites might require RealMedia’s Real Player, which you can get from www.real.com free of charge. Real also has a paid offering called SuperPass, which we’ll discuss in detail later in this article.

News

Recently, CNN.com bucked the norm and made all of its video content available for free. Not only does it carry video feeds for each major story for the day, it also has a feed that is updated hourly with the most current updates on news items. To access the feeds at CNN.com, all you need to do is click any video link next to a news story. This will bring up the feed player, providing easy access to every stream available at the current moment via the table of contents on the right.

You can view available feeds by relevance to the current video you are watching or by the top-viewed video streams for the day by clicking Top Video. If you’d like to see a simple list of all available video, along with associated popularity ranks, runtime length, and the time it was updated, you can just click Browse in the video tab and see everything available to you at once.

CNN.com’s move to free video prompted all the other major news organizations to follow suit, so you can also catch free video throughout the day from FoxNews.com, MSNBC.com, ABC News (abcnews.go.com), and CBSNews.com. Even The Weather Channel (www.weather.com) has begun offering streaming video of its top weather stories updated every few hours from its site, absolutely free of charge.

For a less bandwidth-intensive option, National Public Radio (www.npr.org) provides a 24 hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week live radio stream from its Web site for free. Even if you don’t have a high-speed Internet connection, NPR’s radio stream comes across loud and clear.

There is a paid offering from Real Network called Real SuperPass which offers access to premium content feeds, usually updated more often than the free content on most sites. A few examples of such feeds are live broadcasts of “Good Morning America” on ABC News and live streaming news from the BBC, as well as premium content from any of the 55 video clients it services. This feature costs $12.99 a month, but you can preview it free for 14 days.




Sports

ESPN (espn.go.com) is essentially your one-stop sports Web site. It has video, audio, and updates of every game in every sport, live video archives of the highlights of yesterday’s games and biggest sports news stories, games, and even it’s own radio station. ESPNRadio.com is a 24/7 sports-only radio station that streams in real time. Whether you’re looking for scores and updates or a detailed, play-by-play analysis of yesterday’s playoff games, ESPNRadio.com delivers it clearly and doesn’t require high speed to access.

On game day, ESPN runs real-time, live-updating sports monitors for each team and each game. These monitors are not video or audio, so they require no plug-ins whatsoever. The updates are instantaneous; when the NHL’s Ilya Kovalchuk scores a goal for his Atlanta Thrashers at 9:35 in the first period, you see the score and all associated stats update in real time, without having to refresh the browser.

ESPN also offers live game video feeds for a fee. For example, MLB.TV (go to www.mlb.com and click Video), the feed site for Major League Baseball, is $3.95 for a day, $14.95 a month, or $29.95 for the season. Or, if you’re on a limited entertainment budget and only need to hear the action, you can sign up for an entire season’s worth of audio feeds for every single team in the Major Leagues for just $7.95. Similar packages exist for the NFL, NBA, and NHL; refer to the site for details.

Fox Sports has a similar system in its Fox Sports Mobile application, a free download from msn.foxsports.com. Once running, you get live updates via direct feed into the application. You can also access video clips of game highlights both during the game and once it’s over.

Entertainment

There are two Web sites of note in the streaming video arena that carry some highly entertaining content on the Internet: Ifilm.com and Atomfilms.com. Both of these sites carry video clips and short films; however, each has its own specialization.

Ifilm tends to carry more “viral video” content, high profile videos of commercials, clips, cartoons, and other media that have created a buzz, while Atom Films leans more toward interactive content and preview clips. After Atom Films acquired Shockwave.com, it inherited a ton of interactive video games playable from your Web browser, giving you hours upon hours of boredom elimination. And if you’re looking for independently created shows and serialized screenplays to while away the ticking of the clock, Ifilm’s independent creators are just what you’re looking for.

If you’re looking to go down a truly independent track, you could check out the user-streamed broadcasts on Winamp TV. You can download the free Winamp media player at www.winamp.com; it has a tremendous userbase and support structure. One of the things that makes Winamp such a draw is that users can set up streaming audio and video servers from the comfort of their own homes and broadcast whatever suits their fancy. While this does tend to produce a few interesting specimens, there are also some incredibly entertaining streams that come across, such as live television from Germany, Hong Kong, and Japan, or user-created films/music videos that, if nothing else, provide hours of unintentional humor.

There are also thousands of user-created radio stations available through Winamp, each featuring a wild assortment of content suited for every taste imaginable. Fans of the television network Comedy Central will be delighted to know that its Web site (www.comedy central.com) features video clips from all of its premiere shows, updated each week. Each show’s classic moments are archived for later access, allowing you to see the legendary roast of Pam Anderson and classic lines from “The Man Show.”

Looking to catch up on previews of the latest movies? Apple features a movie trailer Web site (apple.com/trailers) which catalogues trailers from both upcoming releases and movies that have already been released. The collection of clips available from Apple is nothing short of vast, so even though a movie has already been released, you can determine if you want to spend your hard-earned money on it or not by heading here and watching the trailer.

Music/Radio

If music is your first choice for entertainment, there’s a massive repository of streaming music videos available through Yahoo! LAUNCHcast (launch.yahoo.com). Just about every genre of music is represented here, from country-and-western to hip-hop and pop to heavy metal. You can search through music video archives and find the videos you used to watch in your youth (usually behind your parents’ backs), even from artists you’d never imagine would be archived. Relive the glory days of U2 performing at Red Rocks, screeching hair metal, and plaid-filled grunge right from your Web browser. If visual stimulation isn’t really your preference, LAUNCHcast offers audio streams of all the songs you remember, plus the new material of the day.

Yahoo! Games - Puzzle City


Speaking of streaming audio, there are literally thousands of audio-only radio streams available on the ‘Net. The absolute largest selection of such broadcasts is found at Live365 (www.live365.com), the world’s largest Internet radio network. This one Web site is home to over 3,000 radio streams, each one playing its own format of music, talk, comedy, religious, or other themed broadcast. You can browse stations by format, sample play list, name, or broadcaster handle, or perform a keyword search to find exactly what you’re looking for.

There are several very notable radio stations broadcasting on the Web today. The most legendary in terms of both innovation and notoriety is WOXY 97x (www.woxy.com). You may remember hearing about this radio station in the movie Rain Man, where Dustin Hoffman’s character, Ray, repeated the station’s slogan “97x… BAM! The future of rock n’ roll” ad nauseum throughout the film. In 1998, WOXY 97x began simulcasting its broadcast across the Internet and in 2004 became the world’s first terrestrial radio station to move to an Internet-only format. Other notable radio broadcasts to be found on the web include alternative and ambient WFUM 91.1 (www.wfmu.org), New Orleans’s jazzy WWOZ (www.wwoz.org), Atlanta’s Classic 96Rock (www.96rock.com), and Nashville’s WSM (www.wsmonline.com), the official station of the Grand Ole Opry and a country music legend.

Talk radio has found a fairly broad audience on the Internet, as well. Air America (wwwairamericaradio.com), a left-leaning political radio station, made headlines in 2004 with its free Internet broadcast of its talk format station. Its stream is available free on the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week. On the other side of the political spectrum, Rush Limbaugh archives each of his daily shows on his Web site, RushLimbaugh.com. Each of his shows is available the following day for free. And rounding out the political spectrum is Neal Boortz, the high profile Libertarian radio host whose live broadcast is found every day from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. on WSBRadio.com.

If politics isn’t for you but you still yearn to hear someone speaking on the radio, Coast To Coast with George Noory (www.coasttocoastam.com) just might appeal to you. This legendary show once (and still occasionally) hosted by Art Bell features the who’s who of weirdos, conspiracy theorists, alien abductees, and other odd folks nightly. There are archives of past shows dating all the way back to early 2002, ensuring a virtually neverending source of entertainment. Trust us, if you want to make a dull evening interesting, a Coast To Coast show will do it.

As you can see, there’s no need to sit bored in your hotel room while on the road for business. Just keep your computer by your side and connect to the Internet, where a world of entertainment options awaits you.

_____________________
by Joe Peacock

Read more...

Recharge Time

The heart of your laptop, mobile phone, digital camera, or MP3 player isn’t the processor or software; it’s the battery. Without that source of always-available energy, portable electronic devices would be little more than expensive paperweights.

Replace Your Batteries For Less! For Laptops, PDA's, Cameras, Universal, DVD and MP3 Players.

The most common type of battery found in mobile devices is a standard, non-rechargeable battery. These batteries use one of two common chemistries: alkaline or lithium. Devices subject to frequent use, such as laptops, mobile phones, and PDAs, generally rely on rechargeable batteries. There are two distinct types of rechargeable batteries: nickel-based, including nickel-cadmium and nickel-metalhydride, and lithium-ion-based, including lithium-ion and lithium-ion polymer.

Standard Non-rechargeable Batteries

Alkaline.

Alkaline batteries provide up to 10 times more performance than the older zinc-carbon cells. They have a longer shelf life and can retain up to 85% of their original capacity after five years of storage. Alkalines are also less prone to leakage and have a wide range of operating temperatures.

Lithium.

Lithium batteries use lithium in its metal state to achieve a very high energy density, resulting in long operating times and a long shelf life. Lithium batteries can retain 97% of their rated capacity after five years of storage. Lithium batteries are ideal replacements for standard alkaline batteries in cameras, MP3 players, and other electronic devices.



Rechargeable Batteries

Ni-Cd (nickel-cadmium).

Ni-Cds offer a fast charging rate and can achieve good longevity, with more than 1,000
charge/discharge cycles. Ni-Cds can suffer from reduced performance if you recharge them before they have been completely discharged. Some Ni-Cd battery chargers include circuitry to discharge Ni-Cds before charging. Ni-Cds require a break-in period.

Many manufacturers recommend up to three charge/discharge cycles before the battery will reach optimum performance.

NiMH (nickel-metal hydride).

NiMHs are capable of 30 to 40% higher storage capacity than equivalent Ni-Cds, but they support fewer charge/recharge cycles; 300 to 500 charging cycles is the norm. NiMHs do not require a deep discharge before charging, so you can top off a battery before a planned prolonged
use. Continually deep discharging a NiMH can shorten its life, although an occasional full discharge will ensure optimal energy storage.

NiMHs take longer to charge than equivalent Ni-Cds and can be damaged by overcharging or by charging when the battery is hot. Smart NiMH battery chargers can prevent overcharging and/or charging when a battery’s internal temperature is high.

24 AA+12 AAA NiMH Battery $34.99 Free Shipping

Li-Ion (Lithium-Ion).

Li-Ion batteries provide the highest energy density available, nearly double the energy
available from Ni-Cds. They are also low maintenance. They don’t require a deep discharge, they don’t require a break-in period, and they don’t suffer from battery
memory. You can charge a Li-Ion at any time without affecting battery performance,
but because Li-Ions generally have a charge/discharge life of 300 to 500 cycles, you can shorten a battery’s life by topping it off too often.

Most Li-Ion manufacturers expect battery lifetimes of up to three years, however, some consumers report failures in as few as 18 months.

Li-Ion Polymer.

Li-Ion Polymer batteries, sometimes referred to as Li-Polys or LiPos, are essentially the same as Li-Ions. The main difference is that Li-Ion Polymers are much thinner, with cell heights as small as 1mm. Li-Ion Polymers are also very lightweight, and more resistant to overcharging and leaking. They are more expensive to produce than Li-Ions, however, and have a lower energy density. Li-Ion Polymers are most often used in lightweight, high-value electronics, such as cell phones.

Swap Carefully

Not all battery types are interchangeable. Never use a Li-ion battery in a device that didn’t originally use one. You can usually swap rechargeable nickel-based batteries with same-size alkaline cells without any problems. If you are replacing standard, nonrechargeable batteries with nickel-based rechargeables, invest in a good quality charger. Smart battery chargers can help extend your battery’s lifetime.

Instant Discounts and Specials on thousands of mobile replacement batteries, ac adapters, dc adapters, and more!


_________________________________
by Tom Nelson and Mary O’Connor

Read more...

12 Essential Gmail Shortcuts

There are scads of keyboard shortcuts that work with Gmail. Here are a dozen shortcuts we think you’ll find most useful on a regular basis. One caveat: If you have a pop-up blocker, you must disable it so that shortcuts designed to open a new browser window can work properly. For more shortcuts, in Gmail click the Help link; in the window that opens, click What Are The Keyboard Shortcuts? under Gmail Basics.


A or SHIFT-A:
Reply to the message sender and all other message recipients. SHIFT-A
replies to all in a new window.

C or SHIFT-C:
Compose a new message. SHIFT-C opens a new window for your message.

F or SHIFT-F:
Forward the current message. SHIFT-F opens a new window for your forwarded message.

G then C:
Move to Contacts.

G then I:
Move to Inbox.

J:
Move to view the previous conversation.

N:
Move to the next message within a conversation.

O or ENTER:
Open a message or conversation.

P:
Move to the previous message within a conversation.

R or SHIFT-R:
Reply to the message sender. SHIFT-R opens a new window for your reply.

TAB then ENTER:
Sends a newly composed message.

Y:
Archive a selected message in the Inbox; unstar a selected starred message; move a selected message from the Trash to the Inbox; remove the label from a selected conversation.

Read more...

AirlineMeals.net Gives You Glimpse At In-flight Meals

The next time you get online to confirm your flight and various other travel plans, check out AirlineMeals.net. The site offers more than 13,000 photos of breakfasts, lunches, and dinners from approximately 460 airlines, so you’ll know what to expect before you fly. The site also provides links that take you behind the scenes of airline catering or let you explore airport restaurants. So the next time you get to eat a meal in-flight, snap a picture and submit it to the AirlineMeals.net site for others to view.

Read more...