e-Dictionary

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The next time you need to use a dictionary, don’t reach for the little fat book on the shelf. If you have a high-speed, always on connection, finding the right word is faster, easier, and only a mouseclick away if you use an online dictionary. I personally use the Merriam-Webster online edition. I love it because it’s faster than the book and will even properly pronounce words for me (very cool). Another thing that’s great about the online dictionary is that it can help spell words correctly. I never did quite figure out why my teacher told me to use a dictionary to get the right spelling. How can you look up a word if you don’t know how to spell it? Anyway, I’ve been using the online dictionary for a few years now and haven’t picked up the book version since. Of course this won’t work well if you have dialup because you have to take the time to connect but if you have a high speed, always online connection using an online dictionary is the only way to go.

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Create a new email and address it with just a click using Desktop Shortcuts

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If you use Outlook I’ve got a great tip for you. There are probably a few people that you send a lot of email to. This could be friends, family, or co-workers. You can save a lot of time by creating a desktop shortcut that allows you to create a new email and also address it with only a single click. Here’s how to do it. Right-click on your desktop, then click new, then shortcut. When Windows asks you for the location, type in “mailto:” followed by the email address of the person you normally send mail to. Finish it up and you’re done. Now all you do is double click on this desktop shortcut and Voila, an email is opened and automatically addressed.

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Create a custom tool bar in Microsoft Office

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If you use Microsoft Office I’ve got a great tip for you. There are a few commands that each of us use in Office over and over again and sometimes those commands take several clicks to get to. One example is adding someone to your Junk senders list in Outlook which takes 3 clicks and if you have to do that often, you end up spending a lot of time. Create a custom toolbar button instead. Just right-click on your toolbar and choose “customize”. Then click on the “commands” tab. Find the command you want to turn into a button, then drag and drop it on your toolbar. Next time all you need to do is just click on that button! Very cool.

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Using notes folder to store login/passwords

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Lots of Web sites require you to register with a login ID and password to access valuable features or content. And if you’re like me you’ve registered yourself at who-knows-how-many Web sites. The problem is that it’s impossible to remember all those logins and passwords. Here’s a simple solution if you use Microsoft Outlook. You’ll notice that Outlook has a little notes folder that kinda works like an electronic postit note. Every time you create a new login and password, copy that information into a new note along with the Web site address and a brief comment. If you ever forget that login and password combination just right click on the notes icon and do a search. Outlook will quickly find the answer for you and off you go. Save those valuable brain cells for remembering important things like your anniversary, not your Yahoo password.

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Business on the Web

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Are you looking to the Internet as a way to increase profits? My best advice is that first and foremost you must be an active user of the Net in order to fully understand how it can benefit your company. I’m amazed by how many executives want to sell their products and services on the Web, but have never bought anything online themselves. For your business to truly succeed on the Internet, you need to get online, see what your competition is already doing, understand what is really going on in your industry, and then develop a business plan. The best way to succeed online is to use the Internet like you were a potential customer and try to buy something from your competitors. That will give you a real insight on what you need to do to compete effectively.

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Can Web Sites Get Your Email Address?

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I recently got an email asking me if a Web site can automatically get your email address without you knowing. Great question. The answer is no, unless you specifically volunteer your email address, there is no easy way for a Web site to get that information. However there are lots of other things Web sites know about you, like the time of day you visited, the type of browser you used, and the web pages you viewed. Some advanced sites will know if you’re a return visitor and continuously gather tidbits of information you may leave from time to time. By stitching these bits together, a rich profile about you can be built. The best way to know how sites will treat your information is to read their privacy policy which describes what they will do with the information they obtain. By understanding this policy and keeping an awareness of the what you give out, you’ll have good idea of how your personal information is being used.

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Have you installed a CD burner on your computer yet? Well if not I gotta tell you, you’re missing out bigtime.

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Have you installed a CD burner on your computer yet? Well if not I gotta tell you, you’re missing out bigtime. CD burners let your computer create custom CDs and this has a whole bunch of great uses. For one, you can build your own custom music. All you do is gather your favorite music CD’s, tell the computer which songs you want and it will automatically copy the right tracks and burn a custom CD just for you that works like any other music CD you have. Once you’ve tried this you’ll love it! CD burners are also great substitutes for floppy disks. The measly 1 mb capacity of a floppy means they can’t really store anything but you can copy 600 mb of data to a CD with your burner! Trust me on this one, once you’ve get a burner you’ll wonder how you ever got along without it.

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Clean out that mouse!

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When was the last time you cleaned out your mouse? What, you say you didn’t even know your mouse could be cleaned? Cleaning out your mouse is a must if you want smooth, easy scrolling. Here’s all you have to do: Turn your mouse over and you’ll notice a little ring with arrows around the ball in the center. Turn that ring in direction of the arrows until it unlocks, allowing you to remove the ball. Inside you’ll notice two little rods and they will probably be extremely dirty. Use your fingernail to scratch all the crud off those rods, blow it all out, and then replace the ball. Put the ring back on and turn it opposite the direction of the arrows. Turn your mouse over and try it now. Ahhh. Nothing like a clean mouse to scroll yourself all over the place.

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Sending giant email attachments

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When you send email attachments, do you pay attention to how big the file is? Most people don’t and sometimes send multi-megabyte attachments. Now if you’re using DSL or cable modems its no real big deal, but if the person you’re sending to is connected to a phone line it might take hours for them to download what you sent with one click. Email attachments cause additional problems because they actually mushroom to several times their original size as they get transmitted over the Internet. Before you send an attachment, its really a good idea to make sure you know how big it is and who you are sending it to. I would say that if an attachment is over 1mb in size you need to make sure that its not going to cause any problems. Practicing a little extra care when sending email attachments will save you, the recipient, and the computer operators a lot of potential hassles.

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Digital Signatures with Adobe Acobat

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As many of you know, I’ve been on a continual quest to have a paperless office. And I’m very proud to say that over the past 2 years, there hasn’t been a single piece of paper on my desk. Not even a post-it note! Now one of the secrets to my trick is that I was able to eliminate having to sign paper using pen and ink by digitally signing Adobe Acrobat documents instead. All you need is the full version of Adobe Acrobat and an Acrobat document of course. Folks, once you start creating and digitally signing Acrobat documents you will have eliminated the final reason to keep paper and trust me, you will love it!