Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Desktop 7000

Apr 27, 2008

Ergonomic keyboards seem to be all the rage these days. For us it is probably too late, our claw like fingers already gnarled and twisted by years of gruelling late nights in the test centre. However, for many of you there is probably still hope and Microsoft believes that hope may come in the form of its latest ergonomic keyboard and mouse combo, the Natural Desktop 7000.
Sporting a curved keyboard split straight down the middle and a mouse that bears more than a passing resemblance to an egg, this package takes some getting used to, but if you find your fingers regularly feeling strained after a long day at the office then this may be the package for you.

One of the most difficult things to adjust to is having half the keys on one side and half on the other. Many self taught typists won't always use the correct finger for each key, and as a result you may find yourself automatically tapping in no-man's-land between the two sections and wondering why you keep getting the word 'rilliant'. We actually found this keyboard corrected our typing a little as we went along, which will appeal to some users.

As with most ergonomic models the keys are slightly slanted. This is to capitalise on the fact that different fingers are different lengths and fall naturally in different places, meaning a standard flat key layout isn't the most comfortable or efficient setup. While the strange, curved design takes some getting used to, it definitely puts less strain on your fingers and the impact can be felt at the end of a long day in front of the monitor. Some keys have been resized to fit the new layout and while we appreciate the larger Alt, Ctrl and space keys, some very commonly used ones such as Enter have been shrunk which we found a little troublesome. We should also point out that while the layout is great for desktop publishing, gamers will want to look elsewhere as this keyboard really isn't conducive to a standard WASD control scheme.

The keyboard comes with a soft, padded wrist rest which is comfortable. By default it is raised quite high off the desk, but the base can be removed if you'd prefer a lower angle. There is a reasonable smattering of function keys including mail, search and Web links as well as favourites, back/forward keys and some media controls (volume, mute and play/pause). We would have liked to see track skip options, but aside from that the shortcuts are fairly robust.

While we were impressed with the keyboard's design, the mouse could use a little work. It has a dome like shape that is built to be held in the centre of the hand, rather than by the fingertips or palm. Perhaps it is just a lifetime of gripping the mouse using our fingers, but we struggled to maintain perfect accuracy with this unit. We also found the acceleration of the cursor a little hard to handle when using this mouse, but that can be adjusted in settings.

Source:pcworld.idg.com.au

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Search and Recover Lost Microsoft Word Documents

Apr 20, 2008

If you type a lot and are using Microsoft Word as your text processor, you've made the right choice. Microsoft Word is arguably the most powerful, feature-rich and handy to use by complete beginners and advanced professionals altogether. It has unparalleled strengths in creating, formatting and modifying all types of documents, from simple memos to complex reports. When you save a document in one version of Microsoft Word, it can usually be opened in a different version without problems.

But what if the document you've spent so much time on just disappears? What can happen to it? First and most possible, you can simply delete it yourself by an accident. You might think that this would never happen to you because there is the Windows Recycle Bin, and even if it's accidentally emptied, you'll just go to the Internet and get a free undelete utility. Well, it does not work this way...

Here's what happened to my wife a couple of weeks ago. She was working on a chapter for her Ph.D. thesis, and sent it to a professor for review. Usually, she gets back a document with embedded comments by email. She saves an attachment from the email, overwriting the old one, and deletes it from her Hotmail account. But this time, things went the wrong way. She received her chapter by email and replaced the old document with the new one, only to find out that her supervisor got a copy of the old one! She opened the Recycle Bin and found out that the document was never deleted but instead, it was replaced, so it wasn't even in the Recycle Bin. She tried to find an email that she had sent earlier, but Hotmail does not store sent messages. She asked me to do something to recover the document, and I downloaded a couple of free undelete programs, only to find that there were several dozens of deleted documents with that same name. So, I failed to recover the most recent revisions.

This story did have a happy ending, as my wife's supervisor discovered the latest version of the document on her computer. But one thing that I learned from this story was never to rely on the Recycle Bin and free data recovery tools. To prevent this kind of things from happening, I decided to look for commercial alternatives.

I quickly discovered that there are many data recovery offers on the market. Most products mention recovering deleted or corrupted files and documents, and some tools promise recovery of files even from crashed or damaged hard drives. There are basically two types of data recovery products. They are different in how they find the lost files, and what they do to recover them. Simpler products, such as those free undelete utilities that I tried in my quest, deal with the file system. They simply scan the file system looking for records of files that are marked "deleted", and clear the mark. This is a fast and easy way to recover lost files, and it works sometimes, especially if you deleted a file just a minute ago.

These products, as I discovered from my own experience, fail to do their job if you have a complex case or if you are recovering a failed hard drive, or if the file system is damaged. If your document has been deleted some time ago or overwritten with another file, chances of successful recovery using these tools are slim.

The other type of products deals with your hard drive directly instead of scanning the file system, but such products are slow and expensive. I also found them extremely complex to use because they don't show the names of the deleted documents, let alone their content. These tools don't have access to the file system, and are unaware of the files' names, showing documents as "document_001.doc" at best, but more likely you'll see something like "~ocume1" instead of a proper name.

If you face any kind of problem with your computer then go for Computer Support.

source: article blotter

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How to Use Power Points in Programs

Apr 10, 2008

If you have the equipment for displaying power points in auditoriums or gymnasiums then the use of Power Point Programs during a program can be very effective. They can use them to emphasis a point or usually to bring about an emotional impact on those that are watching. One caution should be do not over do them. One power point per program is enough.

You can download many pictures right off of the internet and it is not time consuming. Go to Google, MSN, or Yahoo and hit images and then type in your desired picture. It will come up instantaneously. Load it to your Power Point and keep repeating until you have the desired effect. Be sure to move the picture around and put them in the best order for your presentation.

Most of the Power Points that I use go along with music. The only problem with this is that you need to make sure that your choir or anyone on the stage sees it before the program so that they are not moving around trying to see what is going on.

Here are a few ideas that I have found very successful.

1. Patriotic songs: use flag pictures or pictures of national monuments
2. Flag history: use pictures of flags that have flown over the United States
3. Red Ribbon Week: use pictures showing kids what fun things they can do instead of drugs
4. Western songs: use pictures of pioneers
5. Indian songs: use pictures of Indians
6. Christmas: find pictures of lights they are awesome
7. Veterans Day: show pictures of the armed services
8. Physical Fitness Programs: show pictures of all the different ways to stay physically fit
9. Show pictures of different students in the school doing different activities
10. Use students art to go with a song.

Do limit your pictures, do not over do it. Do choose colorful pictures. Do choose larger size pictures resizing pictures make them blurry. Do let the students that are performing see them first. Do not over do it because it can become boring, 3 minutes is plenty.

Source: Ezine Articles

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Unlock the Power of Microsoft Excel

Apr 2, 2008

Microsoft Office is considered to be one of the leading application software in the world of computers. This is a widespread application among businesses. Microsoft Office consists of applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, etc. Major applications that are used are Word and Excel. Let us see the various features available in Excel and how to learn them. Read along!

If you think that Microsoft Excel is only for business purposes, you are wrong. Many use it for various personal needs at home too. Some of the features that you should understand about Microsoft Excel to unlock the potentiality of this application are working with spreadsheets, cell formatting, various menus and toolbars, entering of data and editing the same, navigating between various spreadsheets, formula calculation, inserting various functions like date/time, mathematical functions, using of various charts that are available, inserting, editing and deleting comments on cells, etc.

Read further to understand the various options available to you to master Microsoft Excel. You can learn the tricks of Microsoft Excel through CD, CBT or videos. Let us learn about each option one after the other.

Mastering Microsoft Excel through CD

With the help of CDs, you can learn Excel at your own pace and need not spend time in attending classes. Microsoft Excel CD would contain screenshots of various commands, how to create professional looking spreadsheets, how to insert charts, diagrams, formulas, create tables, etc. You would also get hands-on training as it would be more interactive. One of the main advantages of learning Microsoft Excel using CD is that you can read at your own convenience.

Unlocking the potential of Microsoft Excel through CBT

Computer Based Training (CBT) is yet another way where you take your own time to master the application. With the help of CBT, you get realistic, interactive and complete training. You get to learn right from what a beginner should learn to advanced level. Once the training is over, you would have mastered Microsoft Excel. You get to see simulations of Microsoft Excel application software. Some CBT also offer review quiz questions to gauge your understanding. CBT generally offer interactive, complete and comprehensive training. As it offers practice questions, you will be able to understand better and gain confidence in using the application. According to me, this is one of the best ways to learn Microsoft Excel.

Using tutorials to learn Microsoft Excel application

Microsoft Excel tutorials are another best way to master the application. You get to learn the application in detail as there are various simulations available that are realistic and interactive. Like CDs, videos and CBT, you can learn the application at your convenience.

Why are you waiting? Grab either a CD, video, CBT or a tutorial and start mastering Microsoft Excel and unlock the power this application has got.

If you face any kind of Problem with Microsoft Excel then go for Microsoft Operating System Help

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