Announcements

Hey There!

Hello everyone and welcome to June (I'm a teacher, so this month gets special notice. I'm counting down the days for my summer to truly begin).

Hope everyone had a good weekend and is ready for a good timesaving tip!

But First - WOW!

A big thanks to everyone who ordered the Merriam-Webster Dictionary and Thesaurus on CD ROM. It was one of the biggest sellers for this newsletter, and we appreciate your support.

What's that? You're one of the few who didn't take advantage of this? What were you thinking? :-)

For those who missed out, this is a title that every computer should have. It includes an awesome dictionary that pronounces the words for you. If you've ever been looking at two words in a spell check and weren't entirely sure if you had the right one, listening to someone say them helps a lot.

The best part of this program may be it's built in spell checker and powerful search capabilities (21 ways to search!). After all, most of us use a dictionary to check the spelling of a particular word, so a built in spell check makes the process go quite a bit faster.

If you think all that is good, wait till you check out the thesaurus! I like to use it in combination with MS Word's built in thesaurus - makes finding that perfect word easy!

Anyway, these are only $12.97 each and they retail for $29.95. Shipping is FREE in the US, so be sure to get to the site before the last of these are gone!

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

Don't miss out! You know you'll need this one down the road :-)

MS Office 101

Question: I often see and hear references to shortcuts. I know this has nothing to do with a map and my car - so what's a shortcut?

Answer: A shortcut is an icon that is linked to a specific file or program. When the shortcut is double-clicked it starts a program or opens a file and the program needed to view the file (it all depends on what it's linked to).

Shortcuts can be placed in many areas of your computer including the desktop. They allow easy access to your files or programs without all the hassle of going through the directories looking for a specific item.

Well there you go. Now you know more of the lingo. (I know, I know, bad rhyme, but it was begging to be said.)

Office Tip of the Day

Faster File Access

Do you have a file or two that you find yourself opening constantly? Maybe a template that is used almost daily? Tired of waiting for a program to load so that you can finally use File / Open to get to the file? (I'm beginning to sound like a bad commercial, so I guess it's time to stop with the questions.)

But you do know what I'm talking about - the file or template that you're forever opening and closing.

The fastest way I know to open templates and files that I constantly use is to put a shortcut for the file or template on my desktop. Then, whenever I want to get at the file, I double-click the shortcut. This opens both the file and the program simultaneously.

For example, I use my template for this newsletter frequently. A shortcut for the template would be a big time-saver. Without a shortcut I have to start MS Word, then click File, New, select the template and click OK. With the desktop shortcut, I simply double-click and from that one action MS Word starts and the template is opened. That's it!

So, you may ask, how do you perform this wonder of wonders (that is - putting the shortcut on the desktop)? Well, I'm glad you asked because that's just what I intend to cover.

First you should decide which file(s) or template(s) need a shortcut. (Please keep in mind that the shortcuts will go on the desktop, too many may clutter things up. OK if you don't mind clutter. Bad if you like the desktop neat and tidy.)

Once the decisions are made the rest is easy.

Locate the file or template that is to be put on the desktop. You may need to go through my computer to locate the file in the My Documents folder. If it's an MS Office Suite template you've created, then try looking in the Program Files folder, Microsoft Office folder, Templates folder.

Once you've located the file or template, right-click on the file.

A menu should pop up. Look for the Send To submenu. A list of choices should appear. Choose the Desktop.

This should create a shortcut on the desktop.

That's it - easy as pie!

Now when you want to work on the file simply double-click the shortcut from your desktop. The necessary program will open and so will the file or template - no more searching through subdirectories to find that pesky file!