Announcements

Hello everyone. April here, just checking in with all of you. I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend.

Just in case you're wondering about the lack of a newsletter in your Inbox on Tuesday, there wasn't one. Due to the long Memorial Day weekend, we decided to suspend newsletters until Wednesday.

So…for those of you who save every issue, don't worry! You didn't miss a thing.

Now, let's get on with the show.

MUST HAVE - New Dictionary / Thesaurus!

We just received a new title - it's the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus on CD ROM!

And it's the best ever!

Let's start with the Thesaurus - it's awesome. You know how the thesaurus in MS Word can sometimes be kind of, well, lacking? This is an awesome way to supplement it. It has over 340,000 synonyms, so it makes finding that perfect word easy! You can even search by looking for thesaurus lists that contain the word you're looking for (kind of a "reverse" search option).

The dictionary part is also a must have (especially since most word processors don't even have one). This one has over 215,000 definitions and over 1000 illustrations.

First off, it pronounces the words for you. Just double-click the word to hear it in your computer speakers. I know, it sounds like the American Heritage Talking Dictionary, but you can do a full install so you don't need the CD ROM to hear the pronunciations. (A major complaint with the American Heritage program was that you needed to have the CD in the drive.)

What about finding the word you need? This is the best I've seen. If you know how the word is spelled, it finds it easy.

What if you don't know the spelling? Don't sweat it. It has a spell checker built in! Just click the "Spelling help" button and you get a list of suggested words! Is that great or what? If you've ever typed a word and misspelled it, but your spell checker couldn't figure out what the heck the word is, this would be another good place to try.

In the unlikely event that trick doesn't work, there's still hope. You can search for the word by the text you know it contains, what it rhymes with, verbal illustrations, usage, what it starts with, and lots more (21 in all)! Basically, if you can't find it with this puppy, you ain't gonna!

Frankly, I didn't think they could put that much into a dictionary program. I have been using this on an almost daily basis since I installed it and am continuously impressed by it. I can't recommend this highly enough.

The price? That's the best part - right now it's only $12.97! Shipping is FREE if you live in the US and it has our 30 day satisfaction guarantee - if you don't like it, we'll take it back (even after you've tried it out!).

You have nothing to lose, so head to the site and take a look at this must-have program. I love it, and I'm sure you will to :-)

http://www.worldstart.com/cgi-bin/a.pl?wrdstart&1036&store/collegiatedictionary.htm

PS - Naturally, we weren't able to get a ton of these, so quantities are limited. Please, don't miss out on this one, it's one of the best software values out there.

MS Office 101

Renaming Excel Worksheets

I'm sure you've noticed that MS Excel names the worksheets in the workbooks the oh-so-original names of Sheet 1, Sheet 2, etc… Ever wish you could name them something useful?

Yeah? Well then, I have good news for you! Renaming worksheets is one of the easiest and most useful thing you can do in Excel.

The fastest way is to double-click on the sheet tab. This will highlight the sheet name.

Type in the new name of your choice (up to 31 characters) and press Enter. (This feature can also be reached through the Format menu, Sheet sub-menu, Rename choice.)

There you go, sheet names that make sense. Will wonders never cease?

Office Tip of the Day

Outlook 2000 - Saving Inbox Items in Text Files

Have you ever been so overwhelmed with e-mail messages in your Inbox that you just don't have a chance to read them? Wouldn't it be great to consolidate these items into one file?

Here's an easy way to save all of your e-mail messages (excluding attachments) into one document:

1. Highlight all of the e-mails in your inbox. To do this, click on the first e-mail message, then select Shift + End or Ctrl + A. (If you do not want to highlight all of the messages, you can also hold down the Ctrl key and simply click on specific messages you want to save.)

2. From the File Menu, select Save As.

3. You will be prompted to save the file in text format.

4. Name the file and click Save.

There you have it! All of your Inbox messages in one text document. To access these messages simply open the file you just saved in your word processor. Message headers will separate the text of the messages.

And now you can delete those overwhelming messages from your Inbox.

This is also a great and easy way to archive important messages!

~ Kim Miller

OK, newsletter's over. Please, take a look at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary we talked about in the announcements. You'll thank me for it :-)

Have a great weekend!