April 9, 2008

Microsoft to add the Genuine Advantage ‘nag’ to Office

April 8th, 2008

Posted by Mary Jo Foley

Microsoft is set to begin a pilot of a new Genuine Advantage anti-piracy mechanism for Office that will add a “nag-like” feature, akin to what is now part of Windows Vista, to Office.

Office ordering viagra already currently includes an Office Genuine Advantage (OGA) validation mechanism (for Office XP and Office 2007), but Microsoft doesn’t do a whole lot to “punish” those it deems to be running non-Genuine versions of Office. However, as part of a new OGA notifications pilot program — which Microsoft is launching in Chile, Italy, Spain and Turkey, according to an April 8 announcement buried in a Q&A on Microsoft’s Web site — Microsoft is set to turn up the unpleasantness a notch.

I asked Microsoft to explain what will happen in the new pilot. According to Cori Hartje, Director Genuine Software Initiative:

“Today, in current OGA validation process, there is no visual & persistent representation within the experience of being a non-genuine Office user. The outcome for being non-genuine today is that the user does not gain access to Office templates and other downloads. In the pilot the non-genuine copy of Office will also have an icon on the toolbar or ribbon indicating that it is non-genuine.

“Specifically, users of non-genuine Office in the pilot areas will receive a pop-up dialog box alerting them their Microsoft Office software is not genuine. The customer will receive this dialog box the first time they open an Office application each day, and again two hours later for a period of 30 days. They will also receive information on how to learn more about the issue, and how to acquire genuine Microsoft Office. After receiving these dialog box notifications for 30 days, Office applications will be marked with a visual reminder that the copy of Office is not genuine. Both the dialog box and/or the visual reminder will disappear once the customer gets genuine Office and/or uninstalls the non-genuine Office products. None of the visual cues presented will impair a customer from accessing their data or preparing documents.”

In other words, the new OGA nagging won’t be like the old Windows kill switch. Instead it will be the kinder and gentler nagging which Microsoft adopted with Vista Service Pack (SP) 1.

There’s no exact timeframe I can find for how long the pilot will last or when Microsoft will broaden it to other countries. Microsoft says it will be delivering the new OGA notification mechanism via a “voluntary Microsoft update.” More fine print on the new OGA notification pilot:

“There will be no personal data collected or shared with Microsoft as customers implement the OGA notifications update. These notifications are designed to help alert customers who have acquired and are using non-genuine Office. Once notified, customers can take action to reduce the risk of running counterfeit software by getting genuine Office through the online purchase programs or by going to a local authorized Microsoft reseller.”

Bottom line: Get ready for more nagging if you’re either an Office pirate or deemed to be one by Microsoft.

Permalink • Print • Comment

From Another Workbook

Yesterday, we discussed how to write MS Excel formulas that reference cells located on a different worksheet within your workbook. Well, the next logical thing to do is go one step further and ask: how do we write formulas that reference cells from a completely different workbook?

That's a very good question and it's exactly what we're going to go over today!

The order viagra online uk easiest way to tackle this one is to let Excel do the referencing for you. So, begin by opening both the workbook with the data cells and the one that will contain the formula.

Now, go to the cell that contains the formula and begin as usual. That is, start with your equal sign and/or function and pause at the first place in the formula where you're looking to pull data from a different workbook.

For example:

=sum(

Next, you need to switch to the workbook that contains the data. (For all you keyboard people out there, Ctrl + F6 will rotate you through the open workbooks).

Once you're switched over to the data workbook, highlight the cell(s) that contain the needed information.

Now, you'll need to switch back to the formula workbook (Ctrl + F6 works here too).

When you return, you should see that Excel has automatically put in the reference you were looking for from the other workbook.

At this point, you're ready to finish up your formula. Continuing with the above example, it'd be best to first finish up with the right parentheses.

There you have it! A complete formula containing references to cells from another workbook. And better yet, Excel did a lot of the typing for you!

Next, I think we should discuss how Excel handles updating the formula to reflect the changed data.

  • If both workbooks are open, the data changes will immediately be reflected.

  • If the data workbook is open when you open the formula workbook, the updates will be reflected upon opening the file.

  • Now, here's the most involved situation:

    • If you're using Excel 2003 or older and you're opening the formula workbook without the data workbook being open, you will be asked if you want to update your formulas, like this:

      If you choose to update, Excel will then go into the data file and get the information it needs, without actually opening the workbook.

    • If you're using Excel 2007 and you're opening the formula workbook without the data workbook being open, you will see a security warning above the formula bar, like this:

      Clicking on the Options button will open this dialogue window:

      Choose "Enable this content" and click OK.

      Again, as with the other versions of Excel, if you choose to update, Excel will go into the data file and get the information it needs, without actually opening the workbook.

Referencing data from other locations just got a whole lot easier!

Permalink • Print • Comment

Timesaving keyboard shortcuts

Permalink • Print • Comment

Use hyperlinks to open an Access database object without programming

Date: April 8th, 2008

Author: Mary Ann Richardson

Rather than add a command button to your form to open another object in your database, you can use a hyperlink. Using images, labels and command buttons as hyperlinks is an easy way to add a control that allows users to open and display an object without programming.

To create a hyperlink that opens the Product Categories List table from an unbound form in your database, follow these steps:

  1. Open a blank form in Design view.
  2. Place a Label control on the form.
  3. Type Click to display the Product Categories List to change the label’s caption, then press Enter.
  4. Right-click Label and select Properties.
  5. Click order online viagra in the Hyperlink SubAddress property in the Label property sheet.
  6. Click the Build button.
  7. Click the Object In This Database button.
  8. Click Tables.
  9. Click the Products Categories List, then click OK.

Note that instead of a label, you could also use a command button or image; just change its SubAddress property to the object’s address.

Unlike command buttons, hyperlinks only allow you to open an object and move to a location within it. Any programming is limited to the control’s on-click event.

Permalink • Print • Comment

Use Excel’s conditional formatting to mark values that meet your target goals

Date: April 8th, 2008

Author: Mary Ann Richardson

Excel 2007’s data visualization feature automatically gives every cell in a range a color, icon, or data bar according to its value. If you are analyzing a small number of values, this makes it easy to see which ones met your target goals. But what if you are examining a list with 100 rows of data? In this case, you will want to use Excel’s conditional formatting feature to build rules for marking only the cells outside your target range of values.

For example, say you want to mark only those cells that have a value greater than 100 with an X. Follow these steps:

  1. Select the range of data.
  2. On the Home tab, in the Styles group, click Conditional Formatting, then click Icon Sets.
  3. Click 3 Symbols (Uncircled).
  4. Click Conditional Formatting, then click Highlight Cell Rules | Less Than.
  5. In the Less Than dialog, enter 100.
  6. Click the arrow in the With drop-down box and select Custom Format, then click OK twice.
  7. Click Conditional Formatting, then click Manage Rules.
  8. Click the Stop If True check order generic viagra box for the rule Cell Value < 100.
  9. Click the Icon Set rule, then click the Edit Rule button.
  10. In the Edit Formatting Rule dialog, click the Reverse Icon Order check box at the bottom of the dialog window.
  11. Click the >= drop-down arrow of the first Value list and select >.
  12. Click the Type drop-down arrow of the first Value list and select Number.
  13. Click in the first Value text box and enter 100.
  14. Click the Type drop-down arrow of the second Value list and select Number.
  15. Click OK twice.

Now, an orange X denotes all values above 100. An exclamation point denotes values equal to 100, and values below 100 remain unformatted.

Permalink • Print • Comment
Next Page »
Made with WordPress and Semiologic • Sky Gold skin by Denis de Bernardy