Don't burden web visitors with video when text would do

A common trend on the web these days is to include some content only in video form. Click on a link that you think will lead you to an interesting article or product overview, and all of the sudden a window pops up saying that some video will appear soon, or that you need to download Windows Media Player.

Utilize Color Dynamics to control color changes with your brushes in Photoshop (CS/CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5)

Once you create a new brush tip using Photoshop’s New Brush command, you can then add a variety of brush dynamics options that control the properties of the brush tip as you paint. You find the brush dynamics options in the Brush Tip Shape section of the Brushes panel. One of these is the Color Dynamics option.

Perform fail-safe firmware upgrades

A key component to maintaining the reliability and efficiency of your network is keeping the firmware on your network devices up-to-date. As you know, these devices can include managed switches, routers, wireless access points, and intrusion detection systems among others. Unfortunately, the device’s documentation doesn’t always provide the proper procedures for upgrading the firmware successfully. Moreover, an unsuccessful upgrade can not only result in substandard connectivity but also render the device entirely inoperable.

Using your own sound effects in Microsoft PowerPoint slides (2003/2007)

If you have a WAV file available on your computer, you can use it as an animation sound effect in PowerPoint. To do this, first launch PowerPoint and open an existing presentation that contains animation. Next, navigate to a slide that has several animated objects and choose Slide Show | Custom Animation to open the Custom Animation task pane. (In PowerPoint 2007, go to the Animations tab. Click the Custom Animation button in the Animations group to open the Custom Animation task pane.)

Save time by creating your own tool presets in Photoshop (CS/CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5)

Creating a custom tool is a great way to become more efficient in Photoshop. Not only can you save one set of settings, you can create as many custom tool settings as you want. To create a custom tool, choose Window > Tool Presets to display the Tool Presets panel, and select a tool to customize from the Tools panel. On the tool Options bar, set your tool’s options just the way you want them. Then, choose New Tool Preset from the Tool Presets panel’s pop-up menu. In the resulting dialog box, give your tool a descriptive name and, depending on your preference, select or deselect the Include Color check box. Finally, click OK. Now, whenever you want to use that tool, you can select it from the Tool Presets panel or even better, just click on the tool thumbnail at the top-left corner of the tool Options bar to display all of your tool presets.

Pique people's interest when writing for the we

Once a viewer has visited your site, try to keep him there. Use headings that draw the reader into the web page. Don't be afraid to be clever with your headlines. Also, make the headings descriptive. For example, "Improve your image by integrating dynamic data into your web design" will tell the reader more and draw him in more than simply "Designing dynamically."

Don’t let fancy CLR debugging slow you down

There are a number of tools you can use for debugging CLR integration code in Visual Studio, such as the test.sql page and a special CLR debugger. Unfortunately, each new tool comes with its own quirks and setup headaches. Our recommendation is to avoid using these fancy tools unless you need to troubleshoot why something that works in Visual Studio doesn’t work when you deploy it to SQL Server.

Change the size of an email message's font when viewing (Outlook 2000/2002/2003/2007)

If you find yourself struggling to view an email’s contents, you can increase or decrease its font size. First, from the form's menu bar, open the message and choose View | Font (View | Text Size in 2003) and then make a selection: Largest, Large (Larger in 2003), Medium, Small (Smaller in 2003), or Smallest. Now, you can view the message in the size that works best for you, regardless of the size at which it was sent.

Enable hyperlink rollover effects without writing any code (FrontPage 2000/2002/2003)

FrontPage includes a feature that lets you enable and configure hyperlink rollover effects in a dialog box - if you know where to find it. This lets you change such hyperlink characteristics as font, size, style, and underlining whenever someone moves the mouse pointer over a link.

Evenly distribute your items (QuarkXPress 5/6/7)

The Distribute Evenly option in the Space/Align dialog box is useful when you need to evenly distribute two items. When you select this option in the Horizontal area, the left- and rightmost items stay put and the items in between move. When you select this option in the Vertical area, the top- and bottommost items stay put and the items in between move. You can achieve different results depending on which Between option you choose in either area.

Diagnose the health of your SQL servers

Microsoft has a utility, the SQL Server Health And History Tool (SQLH2), which enables you to quickly analyze the performance and configuration of your SQL servers. To use this utility, you must first download and install the Microsoft .NET Framework version 1.1.4322 or later.