April 3, 2009

Vista Service Pack 2 on the Horizon

A few tidbits surrounding Microsoft's second service pack for Windows Vista have trickled out on the web. Nothing major has been announced just yet, but here's what we know so far:

First off, SP2 will have the updated Windows Search 4.0, which makes finding files, e-mail and network items quicker and easier. There's also the inclusion of Microsoft's new exFAT (Extended File Allocation Table), or FAT64 file system, which (among other techno-babble) is basically a better way for Vista to read flash drives with compact operating systems like Windows Embedded CE installed on them.

Bluetooth 2.1 is also present in SP2. What's so cool about it? How about no more pairing problems? All you'll have to do is put two BT 2.1 capable devices next to one another and *Zing*, they connect! Now that's the future, and quite honestly how I imagined Bluetooth to work in the first place.

Another “blue” item is on the agenda in the update as well. Those with the hardware who wish to burn data onto Blu-Ray discs will be able to do so natively (meaning without a separate program) in Vista SP2. Let the gigabytes flow freely, people!

Finally, Microsoft's Windows Connect Now feature is being implemented in Vista. This makes setting up a network, wireless or otherwise simpler for the regular user be allowing them to store network configurations on USB flash drives and then bring the device around the can women take viagra network to integrate the settings. I know, I know, XP already has this feature, but hey, these things take time, I guess.

I'll have more on Windows Vista Service Pack 2 in the future, in the meantime prepare yourself and those around you for the coming update! šŸ™‚

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Animation choices in PowerPoint

Do you like MS PowerPoint's animations for your shapes, pictures and text?

I don't know about you, but I like the control it gives me for revealing content as I'm ready to cover it. I know that my audience isn't busy reading every word on the slide instead of focusing on the current discussion.

So… needless to say, I use them all the time as I'm sure many of you do too.

My thought today is about how each animation is started.

If you think that each and every one takes a click to make it happen, then we need to talk.

You actually have a couple of other good choices when it comes to starting an object's animation on a PowerPoint slide.

By default animations are start with the "On Click" setting.

But, there are also the "With Previous" and "After Previous" settings to choose from.

"With Previous" will set the animation of the selected object to start at the same time as whatever animation is started with the click directly before it.

Here's a great side note: I love to use this buying viagra one for the very first thing to have an animated entrance on the slide. Basically, this setting will start the object animation as soon as the transition to the slide is complete. I like it because it will allow me the animated entrance without the extra pause that the required click can cause.

"After Previous" will do exactly as it says… it will start the object's animation when the one just prior to it is completed.

You've just got to give these a try! I've been doing a tremendous amount of work in PowerPoint lately and these have truly helped to make my presentations smooth as silk!

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Using HOSTS to Block Malicious Web Sites

I was looking through our buying viagra in uk title=”http://www.worldstart.com/tips/”>computer tips archive the other day and found an article about computer HOSTS files. The article explains exactly what a HOSTS file is and how it can be used to block malicious Web sites. At the very end of the article, there's a short paragraph about how you can download a custom HOSTS file that will automatically block many of the known malicious Web sites on the Web today.

As I was reading it, I decided the last paragraph of the article should probably be explained a little better. So, here we go!

HOSTS files are on every computer. They contain a list of Web sites and the location of those sites. In a nut shell, when you visit a Web site, your computer will look at the HOSTS file to see where it's located. If it can't find it in the HOSTS file, it will then go to the Internet and ask your ISP's DNS server where it is.

Since a HOSTS file is like a quick reference guide on Web sites for your computer, you can tell the HOSTS file which sites the Web browser should not be able to visit. If you have a list of every bad Web site, you could make a HOSTS file that wouldn't allow your computer to visit any of them. Pretty cool, huh?!

Now, I'm sure some of you are saying, "That's great, but how do I get a list of all the bad Web sites in the whole world?" Well, I have the answer for you! There's an organization that keeps an up to date list of known malicious Web sites called MVPS. Not only do they keep the list updated, but they also put it into a custom HOSTS file for everyone to use. All you have to do is download it and replace your current HOSTS file with it. Here's how!

First, download the file here. Save it to your desktop so that you can easily find it later. It'll be called hosts.zip.

Next, right click on the file and choose Extract All. That's the easiest way. Note: If you use a different unzip utility, you're welcome to use that as well.

Finally, install the file. If you're using Windows 98, 2000, ME or XP, just open the folder and double click on mvps.bat. If you're using Windows Vista, right click on mvps.bat and choose Run as Administrator. You should then see a screen that says the process is complete.

Congratulations. You're done!

Now, this was just a short introduction into HOSTS files. If you want to learn more about what you just did (or are about to do), check out the MVPS Web site. Until next time, stay safe out there, my friends!

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Middle Mouse Button Magic

So there I was, taking advantage of the precious few moments I get to spend at home these days; catching up on my e-mail, and using Firefox (3.0.6) to browse a few websites I consider daily staples. I found out awhile ago that if I created buying viagra in the uk folders for all of my favorite bookmarked sites that I could access them without scrolling down through all the “in-betweeners” that I use every great once in awhile. This made my web browsing prep time a little more streamlined in that I could open a few tabs (Ctrl-T), rattle off some mouse clicks and be information bound in no time at all. Good stuff, or so I thought…

Well, last night I was going through my routine and I accidentally clicked the middle mouse button (the scroll wheel) over a folder containing my daily sites. Lo, and to my utter astonishment, the entire contents of the folder sprang to life in my browser window; each with it's own tab! I just shaved about a minute and a half off of my browsing preparation time! Thanks Firefox!

Okay, maybe I was a bit quick to put all my praise on Mozilla's browsing beastie. In truth, Internet Explorer is capable of the exact same thing. I just happen to like Firefox better! šŸ˜‰

Give it a try! Just make sure you don't have a million bookmarks in the folder you click on. That may result in a little more than your browser (or PC) can handle!

Pleased to meet you all!!

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Special Printing in IE 7

As I'm sure you know, the headers and footers that always print along with a Web page can be rather irritating. I know very well which page I'm printing, so it's not useful to me to show the URL at the bottom of every printed page. So, if you'd like to turn the headers and footers off when you print out certain Web pages in Internet Explorer 7, here's how you can do it!

Simply go to the Print Preview window and then click on the button that says "Turn headers and footers on or off," as shown below:

If you want to permanently turn those options off, go to the Page Setup option instead.

Just click on Page Setup and then look for this dialogue window:

You can remove the text in the text boxes in order to get rid of the headers and footers completely or you can change the options to display page numbers at the bottom. The choice is yours!

Here's a full list of the options you can use:

&w – Window Title

&u – Page URL

&d – Date in Short Format

&D – Date in Long Format

&t – Time in Regular Format as Shown on the Clock

&T – Time in 24-hour Format

&p – Current Page Number

&P – Total Number of Pages

&b – Right Align the Next Text

&b[TEXT]&b – If you surround the text in &b on either side, it will center the text.

&& – A Single Ampersand (&).

You can combine those options in any format you want. For instance, you could do this:

I printed these &P pages on &d buy viagra without prescription at &t

That would give you something like this:

I printed these 23 pages on 3/10/2009 at 2:05am.

There you go!

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