This article in the Advertiser was brought to my attention and if you’re a Verizon user you may want to look into it a little closer:
Subscribers of Verizon Hawaii’s digital high-speed Internet service will lose free firewall and virus protection services on May 15, unless they register for the service.
MSN Premium, which now is provided free of charge, will remain free for another six months to those who register, after which regular monthly charges of $9.95 a month will apply.
Well, I guess we’ll all find out how valuable MSN Premium was. My suggestion is that if you weren’t taking advantage of the free firewall and virus services, don’t bother. And even if you were, I’d consider buying something like Norton Internet Security from Symantec which is showing on their online store for $49.95. Subsequent years will cost you about $20 (based on the rebate they’re giving this year for existing users)
Disclosure: Your Computer Minute is sponsored by Road Runner so you’ll have to excuse the shameless (but true) plug that follows.
Of course the folks over at Road Runner are ready to take you under their wing and give you free firewall and anti-spam software so if you’re mad-as-hell this might be a good time to switch.
Bring those big spreadsheets down to size with outlining
/in How-To's with VideosWant to see how to use this feature the cool way?
Checkout the video for a step-by-step demonstration!
(And let me know if you experienced any difficulties)
Did you ever create a spreadsheet that got just a little too big and you had to scroll all over the place to see the numbers you needed? I suggest you learn about Excel’s “Outlining” feature. With it, you can select a collection of columns or rows that you’d like to be able to collapse (perhaps because they have a lot of detail that you might not want to see all the time) and then “outline” them. Once outlined, you can collapse or expand the rows or columns you’ve selected.
Outlining gives you the ability to setup your spreadsheet so that you can collapse it all down to show the big picture while giving you the ability to expand any specific parts you may want to zoom in to. It makes even the largest spreadsheets very, very manageable.
Now what’s really, really cool is that if you setup your spreadsheet properly in the first place, using functions like SUM and SUBTOTAL, you can automagically apply outlines by just clicking on the DATA menu, then Group and Outline, then choose Auto Outline. Download my demonstration spreadsheet and try it.
Organizing meetings and notes with outlining in Microsoft Word
/in How-To's with VideosWant to see how to use this feature the cool way?
Checkout the video for a step-by-step demonstration!
(And let me know if you experienced any difficulties)
Did you know that Microsoft Word has an awesome tool to help you create and organize new ideas? Most people use Word for typical word processing, but do you use its powerful outlining features? Hit the F1 key, look up “outlining”, and you’ll find a powerful tool that I use for a whole bunch of different reasons. Outlines help me create great documents by helping me transform raw ideas into well-structured thoughts. Anytime I need to take notes in a conversation I fire up a copy of Word in outline mode. I find that I can easily capture lots of ideas yet have the flexibility later to organize them into action plans.
Want a way to run a killer meeting? Use a projector to put a Word document in front of the audience and use outlining mode to take notes and action items. There is an AWESOME dynamic that occurs when you are taking notes right there in front of everyone’s eyes. People participate better and they make sure you enter accurate minutes. Best of all, at the end of the meeting all you do is email the document to all the participants and you’re done! I know that if you check out (and master) outlining in Word, you’ll find a great tool waiting to help you work better and faster.
Speed up your selections in Word
/in How-To's with VideosWant to see how to use this feature the cool way?
Checkout the video for a step-by-step demonstration!
(And let me know if you experienced any difficulties)
If you use copy and paste in Word, I’ve got a great little trick for you. Well I’ve got a much faster and easier trick for you. Usually you need to copy and paste either a word or a sentence and of course the normal way is to carefully drag your mouse across what you want to select, right? If you want to quickly select a word, just double click on it. If you want to select a sentence, hold down the control key and click anywhere in the sentence. When you combine this with using control C for copy and control V for paste and you too can be come a copying and pasting machine! It takes a little practice to get used to this but its well worth the effort. Of course, all these tricks are in the online help so just press F1 and search for “selecting” if you need a refresher.
Use CTRL-Enter when surfing the Web
/in How-To's with VideosWant to see how to use this feature the cool way?
Checkout the video for a step-by-step demonstration!
(And let me know if you experienced any difficulties)
If you use Internet Explorer to surf the Web, I’ve got a great tip for you. The next time you have to type in a Web site address, just enter the domain name, then do a control-enter by holding down the control key and hit enter. For example, instead of typing http://www.yourcomputerminute.com, just type in “yourcomputerminute” all by itself, nothing else, then do a control enter. Internet Explorer will automagically add the http://www in the beginning and the dotcom at the end. Try it!
Using Autotext
/in How-To's with VideosWant to see how to use this feature the cool way?
Checkout the video for a step-by-step demonstration!
(And let me know if you experienced any difficulties)
If you think about all the documents you create, you’ll probably realize that there are a few things that you end up typing the same way, over and over again. Things like maybe your company address, common phrases, standard clauses, or product information. Most people just end up actually typing that information in time and time again. There’s a much better way and it’s called “AutoText”. Autotext lets you store commonly used blocks of text, and then later if you need to use that text block it’s just a few clicks away. Autotext is even smart enough to watch your typing and if it sees that you’re re-entering a block of text you’ve already stored, it automagically tries to type it in for you. It’s a very cool feature that few people use and it’s really easy to learn. Just hit F1 for online help and type in autotext. You’ll love it!
Why Girls should date Geeks
/in Neat Tech & NewsOk, all you Geek guys out there. Here’s a great article – “Why Geeks and Nerds Are Worth It… “ that should help boost your confidence in why women will find you appealing.
Ladies, if you’ve never dated a Geek, you don’t know what you’re missing!
(BTW: May I kindly remind you all that I’m happily married and if you ask my wife on a good day what she thinks about me I’m sure she’ll agree w/ this article too)
Previews of Movies on Demand coming to a Road Runner connection near you
/in Road RunnerPsst..I just got the inside scoop from our sponsors that you’ll be able to view trailers and previews of Movies on Demand on your Road Runner page. Word is that you’ll be able to go to www.rr.com and click on buttons to preview what’s available on demand.
I think this is a cool feature. Lots of times when I’m having lunch at my desk I like to see a short movie or two. And if I can click through and watch the previews, well, that gives me something entertaining to watch and I know that I can go back home at night and actually buy the movie.
Verizon subscribers may miss out
/in Road RunnerThis article in the Advertiser was brought to my attention and if you’re a Verizon user you may want to look into it a little closer:
Well, I guess we’ll all find out how valuable MSN Premium was. My suggestion is that if you weren’t taking advantage of the free firewall and virus services, don’t bother. And even if you were, I’d consider buying something like Norton Internet Security from Symantec which is showing on their online store for $49.95. Subsequent years will cost you about $20 (based on the rebate they’re giving this year for existing users)
Disclosure: Your Computer Minute is sponsored by Road Runner so you’ll have to excuse the shameless (but true) plug that follows.
Of course the folks over at Road Runner are ready to take you under their wing and give you free firewall and anti-spam software so if you’re mad-as-hell this might be a good time to switch.
Still going through the fat Yellow Pages book?
/in Heard on the RadioAre you still slogging through a thick yellow page book every time you need to find a business? If you have a high-speed, always on connection, finding the business you’re looking for is faster, easier, and only a mouseclick away if you use an online yellow page service. I personally use the one at Yahoo and its really awesome as it also gives me driving directions to the listing. The local phone company also has an online version. Its takes a little bit of getting used to the new habit, but trust me when I say that once you’ve switched to using the online yellow pages instead of the fat yellow books, you’ll never go back. 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 electronic yellow pages is faster and easier than ever before. But you gotta try it to feel it and believe it.
Make your computer’s wallpaper the inspirational thought of the day
/in Heard on the RadioAloha, I’m Peter Kay with Your Computer Minute. Everyone likes to use motivational “thought of the day” type of things around their desk right? Some people use calendars, others use posters, and some people use post-it notes to capture meaningful little thoughts that help remind us of what is really important in our life. Have you ever thought about using that computer screen you stare for hours at a time? That’s right! Your computer can become a motivational tool! Bet you never thought of that, didja? Well that’s why I’m here. You see, you probably already have a screensaver installed on your computer that allows you to display text messages as well as graphics on the screen. Use the screensaver’s feature that lets you type in a personal text message. Make this message your little thought for the day and voila! The next time your screensaver kicks in you get the motivational message. Try it! It really works!