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Monday, December 30, 2013

Make your own keyboard-shortcut cheat sheet (Word 2003/2007)

We've all wracked our brains trying to remember shortcuts to rarely used — but important — Word applications. Here's how to make you an instant Word power-user by mastering keyboard shortcuts. There's a predefined macro in Word that you can run to print a list of all the shortcut keys.


Monday, December 23, 2013

Combat bounced email with these troubleshooting tips

Although your company higher-ups can read your email and block it, most likely, you've run into a different problem. While we strongly caution against sending personal email from your work account, the bottom line is that your email system isn't working as it should. We'll go through the most common culprits behind returned, or bounced, email.


Thursday, December 19, 2013

Change the ruler's measurement units for comfortable form and report design (2003/2007)

The ruler is a great way to ensure that your reports print accurately or your form controls are right where you want them. However, you may not know exactly what measurement units Access' ruler indicates. If you're more comfortable with the metric system (centimeters instead of inches), you can adjust your ruler permanently. Or, if you have Access 2003, you can simply input measurements in your preferred unit.

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

TODAY: Getting the Most out of Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 (online seminar)

Discover the advantages of working with Microsoft PowerPoint 2013 to present and deliver information to your audience. You will learn about new features and timesavers to help in your day-to-day work. Discover methods for creating consistent slide decks, sharing presentations and communicating your content with attention grabbing pizazz. This session is good for beginner, intermediate, or advanced users – everyone will learn something!

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Apply a CSS Stylesheet to your XML files

CSS is not just for HTML. When you need a quick glimpse of your XML in a more "format-friendly" presentation, you can easily use Cascading Style Sheets to view the XML. CSS is a simple stylesheet mechanism that allows you to attach styles to XML-based content. Listing A shows an XML file that contains information about a purchase order. The xml-stylesheet processing instruction applies the CSS Stylesheet called po.css to the XML.

Monday, December 16, 2013

New Horizons Provides Authorized IBM Software and Systems Training

New Horizons is excited to provide authorized IBM software and systems training. Through a partnership with Arrow Electronics, New Horizons will be delivering training for the design, installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of IBM technology, hardware and storage. Organizations utilizing IBM will be able leverage New Horizons’ award-winning technical training content to optimize your IBM investment.




Thursday, December 12, 2013

Read from a text file using the FileStream StreamReader class (ASP.NET)

If you're writing to text files in .NET, chances are there will come a time when you want to read from those text files as well. To accomplish this task, you'll need to use the StreamReader class. The StreamReader class is a member of the FileStream class, which provides all the functionality you need to read and write data to text files.


Wednesday, December 11, 2013

TODAY: Getting the Most out of Microsoft Excel 2013 (online seminar)

Explore the new features of Microsoft Excel 2013 and learn how to take advantage of the results-oriented user interface that provides easy access to powerful productivity tools, offers a larger workspace, and delivers faster performance. You will learn useful tips and tricks about new 2013 features and timesavers to help in your day-to-day work with Microsoft Excel.

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Stop forgetting to respond to that email: Flag it for follow-up

Outlook lets you flag messages and Contacts, but you can't flag other types of Outlook items, such as calendar items and tasks (which have their own reminder behaviors you can set). You can't flag notes or journal items either. To flag a message for follow-up, display your Inbox and open a message that you need to respond to or one that's asking you to perform some kind of action. Usually, such an email message contains precisely the information you need to have on hand when you respond or when you get around to acting. Outlook users typically might create a task or appointment (appointments aren't just for meetings, you know) by copying information from the email message into the other Outlook item they create.

Monday, December 9, 2013

The simple thing to check when network traffic is blocked

If inbound or outbound traffic is blocked, it can be very frustrating figuring out what's wrong. However, often the actual problem is very simple. One of the most common problems is forgetting to open the correct port. For example, suppose you're Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP) for VPN. This protocol uses TCP port 1723 to establish a connection. If that's closed, your VPN isn't going to go anywhere. So next time traffic is mysteriously blocked, check the ports.

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Join the VOIP Security Alliance to combat security threats

As Voice Over IP (VOIP) gains momentum, security is a growing concern. The VOIP Security Alliance (VOIPSA) was created as a collaborative organization of VOIP providers, security providers, vendors, and experts in the field. The organization sponsors VOIP security projects, tools, and disseminates documentation and resources to the public. VOIPSA is an open organization that welcomes the contributions, participation, and support of anyone for whom VOIP security is a concern. To learn more or join, point your browser to http://www.voipsa.org.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

Set a default Outlook profile and avoid the login screen (2003/2007)

Yes, you can avoid having to select a profile each time you start Outlook by enabling a single setting. We’ll show you how to set your default Outlook profile — whether you use Exchange Server or not.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Apply a fill color and preserve transparency (Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/CS4)

When filling an object with color, you can select the object and then choose Edit > Fill, or you can accomplish this task more quickly with keyboard shortcuts. Here are two shortcuts that will enablë you to fill any object or layer with the color of your choice.


Thursday, November 28, 2013

The .NET AutoPostBack feature may not work for all users

The TextBox, CheckBox, RadioButton, and similar controls for ASP .NET Web Forms expose a property called AutoPostBack. If set to True, then any change to the state of the control triggers a postback to the server for some kind of programmatic action. This is all well and good, except for the fact that this functionality is implemented in client-side JavaScript. If users have disabled client-side script from executing, your code will fail unexpectedly. It's therefore not a particularly good idea to rely on this feature unless you warn your users not to disable the exëcutíon of client-side script.

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Remember upcoming Excel work with a reminder from Outlook (2003)

Have you ever wanted to create a Microsoft Outlook task to remind you to do something with an Excel workbook? You could switch to Outlook, open a task form, and create the task item. However, there’s an easier way to create a task from Excel. When you're ready to create the task item, make sure that Outlook and Excel are both open. Also, ensure that you’ve saved the workbook and that the Reviewing toolbar is displayed in Excel. If the toolbar isn’t visible, just right-click on any toolbar and choose Reviewing from the shortcut menu.

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

Keep track of ports with this handy reference

When figuring out which ports to keep open or closed in your firewall, it helps to have a list of the ports used by various kinds of software. Here's a handy reference tool you can use to find ports: www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers. Simply search the page for the number of the port or the application. When configuring your firewall, you may also want to check protocol numbers at the following site: www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers

Monday, November 25, 2013

Getting from here to CISO: Conversations with a Chief Information Security Officer (webinar)

The demand for information security experts is outstripping the available supply by a widening margin. A report from Burning Glass Technologies, shows that demand for cybersecurity professionals over the past 5 years grew 3.5 times faster than demand for other IT jobs and about 12 times faster than for all other jobs. In this webinar, Dr Shawn Murray will share with you what it takes to become a successful CISO.

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Top 20 IT Training Companies Worldwide

New Horizons Computer Learning Centers has again earned a spot among the Top 20 Information Technology (IT) educational companies in the world for the sixth straight year since the award was first established in 2008 by the leading website TrainingIndustry.com. This prestigious award recognizes New Horizons’ excellence in leadership and innovation in IT training, breadth of IT training, delivery methods offered, geographic reach, and other qualifying criteria.

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

TODAY: Creating Complex Documents with Microsoft Word 2013 (online seminar)

Get informative tips for the new Microsoft Word 2013 documents. It is now easier than ever before to save time and simplify your work while working together from more locations. Witness how Microsoft Word 2013 facilitates the collaborative process, handles large documents, and provides easier building blocks for more clearly defined content. This session is for individuals who spend significant time writing and creating documents and are familiar with Microsoft Word.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Decrease your liability with email disclaimers

Law firms and businesses often use disclaimers to protect themselves against liability for incidents like a breach in confidentiality, a virus transmission, or faulty advice or advertising. Email disclaimers can't guarantee limitless protection against related liability, but they can deter some people from seeking legal compensation from your company and provide your message recipients with a reason to treat the contents of your message with due respect.

Monday, November 18, 2013

Protect your slide from accidental changes with an invisible shield (PowerPoint 2003/2007/2010)

When sharing presentation files, it’s inevitable that someone’s wayward clicks will accidentally alter your slide. For instance, an errant mouse movement could put your graph’s alignment out of whack. There’s an easy way to protect your slide from unwanted fiddling:


Thursday, November 14, 2013

TODAY: How to Use Social Media to be More Effective at your Job (online seminar)

This webinar will focus on the personal use of social media for success and being effective in your professional role. Learn the secret to being a super-star at work. Social media help you get things done and get noticed! Use social media for: recruiting, prospecting, networking, bringing value because of who is in your network, keeping up with industry trends. Attend this webinar to learn what tools are out there, the best tools for each task, where is the audience likely to be, the do’s and don’ts for each tool, the evolution of social media as a business tool.

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

TODAY: Getting the Most out of Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 (online seminar)

Discover the synergy of working with Microsoft PowerPoint to present and deliver information to your audience. You will learn about new features and timesavers to help in your day-to-day work. This session is good for beginner, intermediate, or advanced users – everyone will learn something!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Debug network performance problems with an open-source network sniffer

If your network is slow or experiencing other problems, one tool to help figure out what's wrong is a network sniffer (also called packet analyzer). Some free multi-platform network sniffers include Ettercap, ngrep, tcpdump, and Wireshark. To get started with network sniffers, Wireshark is a good place to start, as it has fairly extensive documentation and support, and features both GUI and command-line style interfaces. If you want to use Wireshark, don't go to www.wireshark.com. The address is www.wireshark.org.

Monday, November 11, 2013

A better way to create a Task from an email message (Outlook 2003/2007)

If you need to create a task and already have the relevant information in an email message, use it to your advantage. Just drag the email message from the Message list to the Tasks icon in the Navigation Pane. A new Task form launches with a subject line and the body of the email message in the message area of the Task form. This is all well and good, but where’s the attachment? This method won’t include any attachments from the e-mail message in the Task form, but here’s an easy way to get around that.

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Move the pattern - but not the shape (Illustrator CS)

When you apply patterns from the Swatches palette, you'll notice they always apply to graphics in the same way, which can occasionally be problematic. However, you don't have to accept it. You can manipulate the pattern without affecting the shape it's in by pressing the tilde key (~) as you use the Rotate tool, Reflect tool, Scale tool, or Shear tool. Distorting the pattern can make quite a difference in appearance. This trick is especially useful when you're working on a group of objects that all have the same pattern fill. In this case, you can tweak the pattern in each shape just a little bit to keep the patterns from lining up perfectly and inadvertently flattening out the form.

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

Find a huge glossary of internet terms online

If you're confused by internet jargon, such as Backbone, Extranet, MIME, and Proxies, there are many places you can go for descriptions, but one of the best is Matisse Enzer's Glossary Of Internet Terms. Found at http://www.matisse.net/files/glossary, this site has a huge number of terms that dwarfs Webopedia's collection, all with concise descriptions that are sure to help you better understand the changing technology we use.

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Keep drive letters consistent for VPN users with this batch file trick

When you have users connecting to your network via VPN, you may want to automatically map drive letters to ensure that the paths are the same for everyone. To do this (when using Microsoft Windows machines), you can use a batch file containing the Net Use command.

Monday, November 4, 2013

Stop users from copying the text in your Access fields (2003/2007)

As you know, you can set a form field's Locked property to Yes to prevent users from changing the underlying data. However, users are still able to select and copy data from the field, and you may not always want this to be the case. The solution is to also set the field's Enabled property to No. Ordinarily, setting the Enabled property in Access this way causes the field and its associated label to be difficult to read. However, when you set the Enabled property to No and the Locked property to Yes, the fields and labels look exactly as they do when they're enabled for normal entry. The difference is that users will be unable to select or copy any of the displayed data.

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Enable gridlines with this quick shortcut (Illustrator CS/CS2/CS3/CS4)

Gridlines serve as a great visual guide to make sure objects in your image are aligned properly. But they’re also a nuisance, obstructing a clear image preview. Don’t let the fact that gridlines are sometimes cumbersome prevent you from using them completely. Get in the habit of turning them on and off as quickly as you need them. To get gridlines simply press [command]’ ([Ctrl]’ in Windows.) Then, repeat to turn them off again.

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Getting the Most out of Microsoft Excel 2010 (online seminar) – TODAY

Explore how Excel 2010 takes advantage of a new, results-oriented user interface that provides easy access to powerful productivity tools, offers a larger workspace, and delivers faster performance. This presentation will demonstrate useful tips and tricks about new features and timesavers to help in your day-to-day work with Microsoft Excel.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Saving some space in Mac OS X

If you've installed Mac OS X and are looking for a little extra hard drive space, look no further than the OS itself. Unless you spënd a lot of time switching between different languages, you can savë quite a bit of space by deleting the extra language resources for the Classic.app. To delete them, [control]-click on the Classic application and choose Show Package Contents. A window will then open, showing all the various resources for the application. There you'll find eight language folders, most of which you can delete. Each language resource folder is 8.6 MB, so you'll free more space with each folder you delete. Make sure, however, you don't delete them all, since doing so could cause the system to crash when you reboot.

Monday, October 28, 2013

Show two time zones in your Outlook calendar

When you work with people in another time zone, it's a good thing to keep track of what time it is there. But, it's easy to forget how many hours ahead or behind they are. A simple way to keep track of this is by adding a second time zone to your Outlook calendar. To do this, first display your Calendar in either Day or Work Week view so you can see the time bar that displays the hours in your calendar. Then, right-click above the time bar and choose Change Time Zone from the shortcut menu. Alternately, you can choose Tools | Options from the menu bar, click the Calendar Options button, and then click the Time Zone button.

Thursday, October 24, 2013

Use the Move tool to duplicate your image (Photoshop CS/CS2/CS3/CS4)

As you’ve probably discovered, there are many ways to accomplish the same task in Photoshop. For example, there are numerous tools and methods you can use to select portions of your image, such as the Magíc Wand and Rectangular Marquee, as well as with commands, such as Select > Color Range and Select > All. Sometimes, however, you’ll need to select and duplicate an object multiple times within the same document. So, what's the best way to do it?

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Creating Complex Documents with Microsoft Word 2010 (online seminar) – TODAY

Get informative tips for Microsoft Word 2010 documents. It is now easier than ever before to save time and simplify your work while working together and doings so from more locations. Witness how Microsoft Word 2010 facilitates the collaborative process, handles large documents, and provides easier building blocks for more clearly defined content. This session is for individuals who spend significant time writing and creating documents and have some familiarity with Microsoft Word.

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Troubleshoot network problems with tracerout/tracert

You're probably familiar with using the ping command to see if you can access a particular node on the network. This is useful in ruling out the cause of your network problem. For example, you might initially think the Cisco router is at fault, but the machine you're trying to access may not even be turned on. However, ping only tells you a few things: Whether you can access the machine, its current IP address (if you know the computer name but not the IP), and if connections are slow (if the ping takes an unusually long time to come back).

Monday, October 21, 2013

Identify colors in PDF files easily for cross-application use (CS/CS2/CS3)

If it’s a spot color, there’s a really simple way to identify it. You can identify process colors, too, but it’s a bit more complicated.

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Creating simple executable files (Mac OS X)

If you routinely use the Terminal utility to make ssh connections, you might want to speed things up a bit. Sure, you can type the required ssh username@domain.com but why not create a file that you can simply double-click on to do the same.

Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Keep your customers happy by protecting their prívacy (web)

With the concern for online prívacy these days, it's important that your customers feel comfortable visiting your site. Without that comfortable feeling, they may only be one-time customers instead of repeat customers. When establishing a customer database, it's important to consider the following:

Monday, October 14, 2013

Don’t get stuck with plain text—pick the email reply format of your choice (2003/2007)

When you receive a plain-text email, you probably just hit reply and send a plain-text reply. But, you don’t have to stick to the simple formatting if you usually use rich text or HTML. Simply select a different format option from the Message Format dropdown list on the main menu of the email. Keep in mind, though, that your recipient may not be able to see all the extra formatting if he can’t view rich text or HTML mail.

Thursday, October 10, 2013

Create sticky notes in Outlook

The easiest way to keep an Outlook note displayed in the background is to leave it open after you create it (or open an existing note), and then simply minimize Outlook and go about your business. Until you close Outlook, the note will remain displayed and you can bring it to the forefront or minimize it just like any other application or document window.

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Quick way to force quit (Mac OS X)

Looking for a quicker way to force quit an application than pressing [command][option][esc]? Just hold down the [option] key and click on the application's icon in the Dock. When you do, a pop-up window appears, with the option to Force Quit.

Tuesday, October 8, 2013

Four ways to quickly access the Go To dialog box (Word 2003/2007/2010)

The Go To dialog box allows you to immediately move to any page, section, line, bookmark, comment, footnote, endnote, field, table, graphic, equation, object, or heading in your document. You can use any of the following four methods to access this dialog box:

Monday, October 7, 2013

The Modern Ecosystem: Migrating from Windows XP is Just the Beginning (online seminar) – TODAY

With the end of support for Windows XP comes the necessity to migrate to a current Windows OS as well as the programs that run on that platform which are critical to your business. Office, Windows Server, Exchange, SharePoint, SQL and other new products such as System Center and Lync have all realized significant innovations in the last 10 years. Upgrading to the modern ecosystem will enable your organization to take advantage of the latest technology trends such as virtualization and the cloud.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Gain quick access to the registry keys you use most

In Windows 98 and up, you can use the Registry Editor’s Find dialog box to locate keys, subkeys, and values. Unfortunately, you’ll have to type the name correctly and may find multiple matches to skip through if you only type a partial name. With Windows 2000, XP, and Vista, you can make finding these deeply nested keys much easier — as easy as bringing up your most frequently browsed websites. All you need to do is bookmark them with the Favorites menu for accelerated access.

Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Save a reference to opened processes so you can destroy them later

To start a process in Visual Basic .NET, you use the Start() method of the System.Diagnostics.Process class, like so: System.Diagnostics.Process.Start("someapp"). However, when you start a process in this manner, it’s up to the user to shut it down when she’s done. If you’d like to control the life of the spawned process, declare a global Process object and save a reference to the new process when you execute it.


Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Gestalt rules of design

Let's take a look at the gestalt theory of design to see how it relates to the way designers work today. The study of gestalt originated in Germany in the 1920s. Much of the theory stems from psychology and higher order cognitive processes, but we'll focus on the gestalt theory of visual perception.

Monday, September 30, 2013

Navigate through your selected range by changing the active cell (Excel 2003/2007/2010)

You may already know about a few handy shortcut keys that take you to the beginning and end of your worksheet’s data. Pressing [Ctrl][Home] takes you to cell A1 and pressing [Ctrl][End] takes you to the end of your worksheet’s data. However, what if you select a large range spanning more than one screen, and you’d like to navigate through it? It may not necessarily include the beginning or end of your data, so the shortcut keys we mentioned earlier aren’t efficient.

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

Navigate through your selected range by changing the active cell (Excel 2003/2007)

You may already know about a few handy shortcut keys that take you to the beginning and end of your worksheet’s data. Pressing [Ctrl][Home] takes you to cell A1 and pressing [Ctrl][End] takes you to the end of your worksheet’s data. However, what if you select a large range spanning more than one screen, and you’d like to navigate through it? It may not necessarily include the beginning or end of your data, so the shortcut keys we mentioned earlier aren’t efficient.

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Keeping those old messages (Microsoft Entourage)

If you're like most of us, you probably read a message and then go on to the next, forgetting to delete it. Or, perhaps you want to save the message for later. Either way, you end up with bloated mail folders that make it hard to find individual emails and can lead to the database or the application becoming corrupted. Fortunately, Entourage makes it easy to backup your mail. Just drag the folder containing the mail you want to archive onto the desktop. When you do, Entourage archives the messages in an MBOX-format file. (Entourage only archives individual folders, so you'll need to drag out subfolders separately.) Then, should you need to access any of the messages, you can either use Word to open the file and do a search, or import the folder by dragging it back into Entourage.