Issue #54 March 16, 2004

1. Split text across slides in PowerPoint One of the biggest problems identified in the “What Annoys People About Bad PowerPoint” survey was too much text on a slide. I suggest you observe the six by six guideline, which states that there should be no more than six words in each bullet point and no…

Issue #48 December 23, 2003

1. Negative Cropping of Graphics I ran into a situation earlier this year where I was working with graphic files (diagrams of equipment) supplied by someone else. Whenever I inserted them into a document, the tops of the titles were cut off just a bit. It looked odd and it appeared that the entire word…

Issue #47 December 9 2003

1. Access to desktop from TaskBar Many times I will be working on something and need to access an application on my desktop to look something up. Then I have to minimize all my open windows to get to the desktop. I thought there must be an easier way, and it turns out there is.…

Issue #45 November 11, 2003

1. Using Images on Slides Last issue we talked about using the IrFanView tool to improve the quality of your images in PowerPoint slides or Word documents. Loyal subscriber Dick Larkin passes on a great tip to add on to what we discussed last week. In addition to getting the best quality image, he suggests…

Issue #44 October 28, 2003

1. Better looking graphics One of the common complaints about graphics used in presentations or on web sites is the poor quality. Even if you scan in an image at high resolution, it seems that most graphics end up looking awful. It is usually because the size or resolution has not been properly adjusted. I…

Issue #43 October 14, 2003

1. Advice on Upgrading to MS Office 2003 In just over a week or so, Microsoft will officially release the latest version of their Office suite of applications – Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook being the most common programs. There will likely be a lot of hype about the new versions of these popular applications.…

Issue #42 September 30, 2003

1. Keeping Your Computer Safe – Hoaxes Almost every month (or more frequently) I get an urgent e- mail from someone saying that they are sorry that their computer seems to have a virus and it was probably transmitted to my computer. The e-mail they send tells me to look for a certain file and…

Issue #41 September 16, 2003

1. Keeping Your Computer Safe – High-Speed Connections Many of you, like I, have a high speed connection to the Internet at home, through a cable provider or through a DSL connection from a phone company. It makes using the Internet so much better to have a high speed connection, but there are dangers that…

Issue #40 September 2, 2003

1. Keeping Your Computer Safe – Spam This time in the ongoing discussion on how to keep your computer safe, I want to talk about dealing with spam. Spam is the term used to describe the unsolicited e-mail that we all receive. Some reports suggest by the end of this year, there will be more…