Reveal Codes
As an old WordPerfect user, the one feature I miss having now that I am a Word user is reveal codes. There are many times when something has gone wrong with my document and I am at a loss on how to correct it. I usually revert to a select all and copy, then I paste to a notebook file, and then copy paste back to a new Word document. It sure would be nice to reveal codes and find the problem. Well there is a way to get reveal codes in Word! A program called CrossEyes by Levit James does that and more. You can download a trial version at http://www.levitjames.com/crosseyes/demo/crosseyes_eval_request.asp

Locking Up
When I leave my car in a parking lot, I always lock it up. I do the same when I leave the house. But, what about when I leave my computer unattended? Sure, I could power it off, but that means waiting for it shut down and waiting again for it to boot back up. I could log off, but that requires shutting down all open windows. There is another choice. Simply type Win+L (that is the Windows key between the left Ctrl and Alt keys) and the sign on screen appears. All your applications are still open but without your password they cannot be accessed.

SendTo
I find the right-click, Send To function to be very useful. However, the list does not always contain the places I would like to send my file or folder to. It also contains some entries I will never use. Well this is easy to fix. Click Start > Run, then type sendto and press Enter. The Send To folder opens. Delete what you no longer want to see in the list and drag the shortcuts you want to add to it.

Behind the Scene
If your machine is anything like mine, it has gotten sluggish since you first turned it on. And if you look at the tasks running in the background, you will see why. I cannot believe how much stuff is in memory eating up cycles all the time. What should be there and what should not, is the question.

To view the list of running processes, right-click on the taskbar and select Task Manager. Then on the Windows Task Manager dialog box, click the Processes tab. Right now I have 56 running processes! By looking at the Image Name, you can tell what is running, but the name usually is meaningless and sometimes what it seems to mean is nothing like what it really is.

Check out http://www.answersthatwork.com/. They have a number of useful things for you to solve problems. One is the Task List. It shows all the possible entries in your Task List and tells what they are used for. Now you can go through your list and intelligently decide to remove an item or not.

My Computer
I like to use as few mouse clicks as I can as I navigate around in Windows XP. And when I need to open My Computer to explore my USB Drive, I find it a pain to have to click Start > My Computer then wait for the window to open to find the icon for my USB drive. I know I can use the Win+E shortcut to open the Explorer, but even that takes a while.

Try this out. I think you will like it as much as I do. Right-click Start, then click Properties. On the Taskbar and Start Menu Properties dialog box, click customize, and then click the Advanced tab. Scroll down to find My Computer, and then click the option button “Display as a menu”. Then OK and OK to apply it.

Try it out. Click Start > My Computer and notice you now have an instant additional menu that displays all the drive icons. No more waiting for the My Documents window to open.

Full Screen in Any Window
Most know about using double-click on the title bar of a window to toggle it from full screen to restore size. Many even know that F11 will produce a full screen of the window--only one line of a combined toolbar appears on top. What was new to me was the use of Ctrl + double-click on the title bar. This creates a full screen display from the restore screen size. To get out of the full screen view, click the restore button or F11. Try it.

Big Files
When there is a LARGE file that needs sending to one or more, email can be a problem. Your email carrier may allow it, but the recipients might not. Different email carriers have different size restrictions on attachments. Then there is the security issue. Many are blocking and even rejecting any email that contains an attachment. Well, there are a number of Web sites out there that allow you to post your file(s) and send others the link to it by email. This eliminates two issues, (1) the maximum attachment issue and (2) the blocking of attachments. Since they have already read your email, clicking on the supplied link to get the file is easy and foolproof. Try it out at http://www.yousendit.com/

SpellCheck
Ever wish you could have a spell checker in a program that does not support one? Like when using Notepad to create a web page, or WordPad to write a quick note, or even in your email program... If you are connected, as most of us are, head over to http://www.spellcheck.net/. Just copy/paste your word or words to be checked and click the "SpellCheck Text" button. When done, if you found errors, copy/paste the corrected text back. Quick, easy, and free.

Spyware
Don't think you do not have a problem with spyware. If you are on the Internet, emailing, or simply installing software from others, you probably have it installed and don't even know it. I had been using a program called Ad-Aware on a regular basis; I still recommend it. Another one is Spybot. Both companies have lite versions that are free and more powerful versions you can purchase.

Microsoft is beta testing its version. I downloaded it the other day and it works great, finding some spyware that the other programs missed. And it runs all the time, protecting my computer from receiving spyware before it infects and slows down my system.

If you want to give it a try, download the free beta version at: http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/spyware/software/default.mspx

Color Matching
Speaking of color, Word’s color palette is missing the eyedropper that is found in FrontPage. If you want to match the color of text to a color on a graphic or image you are inserting, you have to select the More Colors option on the color palette and try your best to get a color that is close to the one in the graphic.

Pixie can make that task much easier. When you mouse over the color you wish to match, Pixie displays the RGB color values. Armed with this information, you can easily select the Custom tab in the color palette and key in the values for an exact match. Pixie can be downloaded at http://www.nattyware.com/

Complementary Colors
When using color, it is important to use colors that go together. I found a Web site that really helps out in this area. It is called ColorMatch 5k and can be found at http://colormatch.dk

Here is what the Web site has to say about the program: This utility will help you select a matching 6-color palette for your website. Define a single color that you like. Matching colors will be calculated. Click a color in the palette to promote it to the primary color.

There is nothing to download and install. Just select the primary color using there sliders right in your browser, the utility displays 5 complementary colors for you to use in your next Web page or flyer or presentation or whatever...

Another Keyboard Shortcut
Keyboarders will like this IE6 feature. You no longer have to reach for the mouse to key an address into the address bar. Simply press Alt+D and type away (or Ctrl+V to paste that URL you just copied from somewhere else). No, you do not have to click GO with the mouse either. Just press Enter on the keyboard.

Byte Cost
I cannot get over how much it costs for storage today. Hard drives of 80gb or more are going for less than $100. Floppy disks are out as a means to get data from one computer to another. They used to be the media of choice for the sneaker net fanatics.

Now they use a USB drive (aka thumb drive, flash disk, among other names). I have a few of them and use them all the time. They are great for backups of critical files; I keep at least one in my pocket at all times. You can get a 512mb one for less than $50.

The other day I found an external 80gb USB 2.0 hard drive at Staples for $89. I am dating myself, but I remember paying over $500 for a 40mb hard drive and that was not too many years ago! The cost per byte for storage is at an all time low.

Phishing Update
I just read an interesting article regarding the HOSTS file that resides on all our WindowsXP machines. And Phishers are finding ways to add postings to that file. Short story is that the file is used when you attempt to goto a site on the Web. When you type a URL in the address bar, the browser goes to this file first. If it finds an entry, you are directed to the IP address listed, otherwise you are sent to a DNS server to find the correct IP addrss. This can cause your browser to be redirected to the wrong IP address!

Read the entire article at http://www.winxpnews.com/?id=160

I would have preferred to teach today rather than shovel. That was a lot of snow! Nothing like a blizzard to bring in the Spring semester. Wednesday will be the starting day for each of my classes. If you are registered, you are already set up in WebCT for your course. Goto my Web site at www.ric.edu/revans and click the WebCT icon to get started. CU Wednesday. Oh, if you are signed up for 251-03 on Monday nights, we will start next Monday. You can check out WebCT as well.

For those in my Web Development class, and anyone else with an interest, this is a good paper on design received from Site Pro News this morning. Check it out. Site Pro News present a number of good papers on a regular basis. Sign up for thier ezine to get the latest in your mailbox.

SiteProNews: Design Your Site for Traffic in 2005

Wow, last semester went by awful quick! I never added to this Bolg even once... shame on me. I promise to be better this year. Spring 2005 starts next Monday, January 24th.

ALL my courses will be using WebCT v4.1 which is online as a pilot program. If you are using WebCT in another course, you might be using the older v3.8 as well, but not in any of my courses.

To signon to the pilot version:

http://webcttest.ric.edu:8900

OR goto my Web site at http://www.ric.edu/revans and click on the WebCT link right next to th Blog link...

When I was a kid, we used to play hide and seek. When we hid the others would yell "ready or not here we come!" Well, ready or not SP2 for Windows XP is coming. It is an automatic update that you will get from Microsoft.

It is FREE and it has some very important additions to the operating system like added security, a built in firewall, and popup blocking just to name a few. After it downloads, and the download is over 80mb, it takes a while to install. Then you have to reboot the computer and that reboot takes quite a while as well.

I installed it on my notebook and everything runs great. It is just as fast as before; I really have not noticed any difference. Check out the details at:

About Windows Xp Service Pack 2

We all know how to insert clip art in Word, but what about editing the clip art we insert? You don't have to settle for what you get. You can make a number of changes using the built in tools. Check out the following white paper on the Microsoft site for details:

Edit clip art in Word

Creating a hyperlink in one of the Office 2003 is a simple task. You select the words you want to have the link attached to, then choos Insert > Hyperlink. Or you can click the hyperlink button on the toolbar, the blue globe with the link in the middle of it. Or you can right-click and choose hyperlink. There are many ways to get to the same place with Windows applications.

Here is another: Select the text want hyperlinked and press Ctrl+K. The Hyperlink dialog box opens and you can create the hyperlink. While you are on that screen, click Screentip to type a message that the user will see when they mouse over the link.