Speak to Me
When writing a document, paper, or a novel, the next step is to proof read it. I find errors in things I proofread and then published. Heck, when I read published novels I even find errors. No matter how many times I read something over, I seem to always miss something. I wrote it and my brain knows what I meant to say, so as I read it over, I miss some of the mistakes. A method that has been working for me is to read it out loud to my wife. As I do, mistakes I missed the first time pop out at me and I fix them as I read.

There is another way. Let the computer do the reading and you listen. A feature in Microsoft Word 2003 allows the computer to read any text selected in the document out loud. The voice is a little robotic, but very understandable. Simply select the text (Ctrl+A to select all) and then press Win+S (Win is the Windows key on the keyboard--usually a flag to the left of the spacebar).

Smart Quotes
I use Word as my word processor even when creating articles for email publication. Sure, I could just type in the compose window of my email program, but it does not have the same level authoring tools as Word. I use the spelling checker, the grammar checker, and the Alt+click access to the research task pane frequently. I am actually typing this blog entry in Word right now! One thing Word does to make the document professional looking causes an issue in my email program—the way it automatically converts a double-quote to left and right quotes. Each copy and paste would require manually fixing the odd character caused by the left and right quote. With one checkbox entry in Word, the problem is solved.

Tools > AutoCorrect Options > AutoFormat As You Type, then uncheck "Straight quotes" with "smart quotes"

Quick Dates in Word
Typing a date is not difficult to do, and Word makes it easy by auto completing it. Type Feb and a screen tip pops up asking if you are typing February. Just hit the Enter key and you are done. If you know the current date, you can just type it. If you do not, Insert > Date and Time… opens the Date and Time dialog box where you select from various date formats.

However, there is an even easier way—use the shortcut Alt+Shft+D. Today’s date will be placed at the insertion point in the default date format (mm/dd/yyyy unless you have changed it). To change the default format, Insert > Date and Time…, select the desired format, and then in the lower left corner click Default.

Office on the Web

I use Office 2003 and am experimenting with the beta of Office 2007. I was really turned off at the thought of not having the familiar drop down menus and toolbars. I have to admit I am adjusting very quickly to the new look and feel of the ribbons.

But, what if I purchase a new notebook for the road and really do not want to spend as much on another copy of Office 2003--heck, Office Professional costs almost as much as the discounted low end notebooks today. Sure, I can install a 2007 beta copy and get by over the few months of the beta trial. There is another way.

I have been working online with two different sites offering word processing and spreadsheet capability over the Internet. Nothing needs to be installed on your end and you can save the work in Word, Excel, and even PowerPoint format on your own machine. Other formats are also available. The documents can even remain online for you to access or share with others.

Check out www.thinkfree.com for word processing, spreadsheet, and presentation software. Yes, it is free to use and quick to execute. I am using broadband, so I do not have experience using it over a landline. Another couple of alternatives are from Google and include a word processor at www.writely.com and a spreadsheet at www.spreadsheet.google.com.

As with many new, free applications today, these are beta versions so try them at your own risk. I have and think they are great!

Another Useful Excel Function

Excel has hundreds of built in function, but the most used ones seem to be sum(),min(), max(), average(), count(), if(), and perhaps pmt() and even vlookup(). When presented with a problem requiring the creation of a complex formula, check the functions first. There just might be one to solve the problem instead of you having to use various Excel features to solve it mannualy.

For instance, finding the largest value in a range such as A5:D50 is easly solved using max(A5:D50). What if you needed the two largest values or even the second largest? Without a function, you would probably sort the data and manually find the next to largest.

Yes there is a function to do it! The large() function will pull out the nth largest value in any range of data. In our example above, you would enter large(A5:D50,2) to locate the next to the largest value. Yes, the small() function will do the reverse and find the next (or nth) to smallest value.

Graphing in Excel
One of the last pieces of Excel I taught this semester was graphing. This is the ability to take ranges of cells and turn them into graphical representations using a variety of chart types. The two most used seem to be the column chart and the pie chart. The line graph might be third, especially when graphing progress over time.

The Chart Wizard is what the textbook uses, and what I concentrate on as well. However, for a quick chart there is even an easier way. Select the items to be charted, then press F11. It could not be simpler. A new worksheet named Chart1 is created containing a column chart of the selected data.

Want to alter the automatic results? Click the chart and you will notice a menu bar entry named Chart where you have options to change any of the defaulted items including the chart type.

Cleaning up Email
I really dislike getting emails forwarded to me with all the >>> next to each line. There is so much junk, it makes reading the message like decoding a secret document. You can copy the offending text into Word and then use find/replace to clean it up; even make use of the Alt key to left drag vertically to select columns of the annoying characters and delete them.

A little program called emailStripper make it an easy task. Simply copy/paste the email text into this programs window, click Strip It, and the original message appears. Copy/paste it back to the message you are forwarding and your readers will never cuss at your emails again.

Find it at http://www.papercut.biz/emailStripper.htm

SaveAs Shortcut
No matter how much we think we know there is always something new to learn. With computers, this is true all the time. Yesterday, while reading some web page somewhere, I came across a reference to a shortcut to opening the SaveAs dialog box in Word.

In Word, on the menu bar, if you click File, the Save option has the shortcut Ctrl+S listed to the right. I use this one all the time to save the document I am working on. This works for almost every application and has since the early days.

F12 will open the SaveAs dialog box in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. It is not listed on the File menu, but it works great. Next time you open a document to use it as a template for a new document, press F12 before getting started to save it with its new name so you do not click Save and override the original. This shortcut is unique to these three programs.

Debugging a Slow System
The first thing I recommend is shutting down and restarting. Many systems are left on all the time and a re-boot can solve a number of issues. It does not eliminate the cause of the slowdown, but it could stop the offending process which was running. The slowdown may have been caused by a process started off the Internet that will never be accessed again.

If an application has been installed in the past few days, it may be the cause of the problem. I try uninstalling it and/or using System Restore to back the system up to a date prior to the slowdown issues. This process restores the registry to a previous point that worked. To use Restore press Win+F1 > Pick a task > System Restore, then choose Restore my computer to an earlier time. Choose a likely date and see if the issue goes away.

Next, I make sure an anti-virus program has been running and do a full scan of the system after downloading the most recent signatures. Then I use an anti-spyware tool to remove any spyware on the system. This usually improves performance greatly.

MSCONFIG is a great command line tool to manage the processes and programs starting when the system turns on. To run it, Win+R to open the RUN dialog box. Then type MSCONFIG and hit ENTER.

Click the Startup tab to view the programs starting each time the system boots. One issue with MSCONFIG is its inability to explain what each startup program is doing, as the names are cryptic. To determine what the program actually does and to see if you should stop the program from starting, try googling its name. For a slow running system, I turn them all off and then turn them back on one at a time until the issue I was debugging returns.

On the same screen, click the Services tab to see what services are started when the system boots. The Essential column shows the ones Windows needs to have running. This does not mean you can shut them all off; the system may boot successfully, but a number of your applications may fail to start without the services they require running. Read the descriptions to help determine what should or should not be running.

One service known to slow down the system is the Indexing Service. On older versions of Windows it was called Find Files. It is responsible for indexing the content of each hard disk to make the Search utility find files faster. Disabling it will usually improve performance.

Another tool to try is the Administrative Tools menu—Right-click My Computer, then select Manage. Locate Services and Applications, click the plus sign to open the list, and then click Services. The list of Services opens in the right window. Click on any service to see a detailed explanation. This list is more detailed than MSCONFIG. Double-click on any one service to open its Properties window.

If I try all of the above and the system is still sluggish, it may be time for a reload. I backup all critical files and do a factory restore. This brings the system back to the way it was when it came out of the box. If it is still slow, there is a hardware problem—hard disk failing, RAM failing, or something else. Remember, after a factory restore SP2 probably needs to be applied, as do all the Windows updates since. Add the anti-virus and anti-spyware tools, and then restore the critical files from backup. Any applications not installed on the factory fresh system must be re-installed. This might be a good time to reassess what was previously installed and not bother with any applications no longer used.

I cannot guarantee the above will work for you. These are the steps I usually take. Before starting any debugging be aware you could do some damage, so always backup critical files before starting, if possible. When asking someone what files are critical, they often forget about their collection of pictures and music. Back them up as well. Recall that some programs do not store their files in My Documents—AOL and Outlook Express are two culprits I know of. Therefore, if I must restore a system to factory specs, I suggest a new hard drive. They are so inexpensive today it is well worth it. The new drive will be larger and faster and all the old data will still be on the old drive. It can be installed as a secondary drive temporarily so you can pull over necessary data and then be kept for a while in case some files were missed.

Maxthon
I just began to use the Maxthon Internet Browser. I like it. Based on Internet Explorer, it is a powerful tabbed browser with a highly customizable interface. It is filled with many efficient features that will take me weeks to discover and experiment with.

One feature of IE I like is the ability to type a Web site name, press Ctrl+Enter and have IE fill in the http://www. and the .com for me. Maxthon adds a Shift+Enter and Ctrl+Shift+Enter to fill in .net and .edu (or whatever .xxx you wish to opt for). Download your FREE copy at http://www.maxthon.com/

Another Address Bar Shortcut
To jump to the address bar and highlight its content with one shortcut, press Alt+D. Now to copy it to the clipboard use Ctrl+C. Then you can use Ctrl+V to paste it to an email you are composing or add it as a hyperlink to a letter or Web page. If you want to type a new address, simply begin typing. The selected address will be replaced with the typed characters. To navigate in the address bar, use Ctrl+arrow -- right arrow to move right one section at a time and left arrow to move left. Try it. This is easier than using the arrow keys and delete or backspace when modifying an address.

Another Excel Shortcut
To reveal formulas, you probably know about Ctrl+Tilde—that is the tilde key just below the Esc key. Press the combination once and all cells containing formulas will display formulas instead of resulting values. Press the combination again and the display toggles back to values. A slight variation to the keystrokes and you can change the formatting for a cell or a range of cells to General formatting--Ctrl+Shift+Tilde.

SNARFing
An interesting approach to sorting the every increasing number of emails we receive on a daily basis. SNARF or a Social Network And Relationship Finder uses social analysis to organize incoming email. Read the article at:
SNARFing your way through e-mail

Entering Fractions in Excel
Enter 1/4 in any unformatted cell in a worksheet and Excel assumes we have entered a date. It displays what we keyed in the format 4-Jan and assumes the current year (2005). The actual value stored in the cell becomes 38,356, the number of days since 1-1-1900.

What if we wanted to enter the fraction 1/4 and not the date?

We can select the cell, then pre-format it to fraction by clicking Format > Cells > Number tab > Fraction > OK. Then we enter the 1/4 and it remains a fraction.

Yes, there is another way. In an unformatted cell, enter a zero followed by a space, then the 1/4. The zero-space overrides the default Date formatting and creates the Fraction formatting.

Another Excel Shortcut
In Word inserting a date is pretty straightforward; there is a menu option for it using Insert > Date. In Excel you can search all you want in the Insert menu without ever finding Date as an option. Sure, there are functions like =TODAY() to display the current date every time the worksheet opens. With =NOW() you are given date and time. To insert a fixed date or the time right now, like in a time stamp, you might think you have to just type it in.

Recall from a previous entry Ctrl+; results in the current date (system date) being inserted into the active cell. There is also an easier way to insert the system time; Shift+Ctrl+;

Free Web Based Word Processing and More
On the road and without your full office suite of products? Or perhaps you have acquired a great notebook but have not wanted to part with any more cash to get a full office suite. There is an alternative thanks to gOFFICE. This is an office suite available online. All you need is an Internet connection and a browser. The Word Processor and Desktop Plublishing pieces are up and running. Fonts and spellchecker and more. And since it uses HTML behind the scenes, you can display the source making it a simple HTML WYSIWYG editor as well.

You have to try this one out! The Spreadsheet and Presentation pieces are still in Beta. Free to try and free to use. There are additional features if you sign up for the pay for option. Try it at http://www.goffice.com/

Date and Time
We all know the time appears in the lower right of our Desktop; right side of the Taskbar. To view the current date, mouse over the time and a screentip will appear. With XP, if you make the Taskbar double size, the date and time appear all the time. Neat, but it takes up screen real estate. When I wanted to see a calendar, I used to double-click the time to pop-up the Date and Time properties dialog box. This is a little dangerous; change the date and hit OK instead of Cancel and you have changed the system date!

I found a better way with a freeware program by Dale Nurdeen called TClockEx. You may download it from http://www.rcis.co.za/dale/tclockex/. It allows you to display the date and time in place of the current time. You pick the format and color scheme. Click once and a calendar pops up -- one which will not change your system date.

The Address Bar
When we view a web site (like this one) the address bar contains the URL to the web site. If we want to travel to another site, we can type the desired address in the Address Bar text box. Getting there is as simple as a mouse move and a click, but there is a shortcut. Hold the Window key down and tap F4 -- Win+F4. When you arrive at the Address Bar, the current address is filled with blue indicating it is selected and the list of previously entered addresses drops down. Choose from the list or enter a new one. Because it is selected, as soon as you begin to type or Copy another address, the highlighted address is replaced. You do NOT have to erase the old address to enter a new one. When using Internet Explorer, typing a new address ending in .com, just type the name (ie: blogger) , hold the Control key down and tap Enter -- Ctrl+Enter. The http://www and the .com are added for you! Press Enter or click Go to find the site.

All Those Shortcuts
A good number of my posts are for shortcut keys when using Windows and Office products. You can find a complete list of all their shortcuts on the Microsoft site at: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/products/keyboard.aspx. And of course you can always use the Help index of a Microsoft product. In Help, type "keyboard shortcuts" in the Answer Wizard or Index boxes. You will be returned a list of keyboard shortcuts for that application.

Title Bar Shortcut Menu
One little known way to close a window is to double-click the title bar icon located at the far left of the title bar. Alt+Spacebar opens the title bar shortcut menu (this was referred to as the control program box in Win3.1). The default option is Close which is why the double-click works. Other options allow you to manipulate the screen without using a mouse. This is helpful when the window is off screen or the mouse stops working. To open this menu without the mouse, click Alt+spacebar.