Announcements

I'm *Really* Excited About This One!

Oh, do we have an AWESOME title in!

It's Home Depot's Home Improvement 1-2-3 - and it's very, very cool.

This interactive CD ROM guide has over 250 projects! It uses video, animation, narration, and photographs to help guide you though just about any home improvement project you can think of.

It covers:

And tons more!

Each project takes you step by step through the entire process. It's like having an expert right at your finger tips.

It works like this. Let's say you were going to install a new ceiling fan. You just go to the electrical section and select the Mounting Ceiling Fans project. From there, it takes you though the entire process - everything you need to know and then some - step by step. It has excellent illustrations and narration to help guide you through the process. It makes it so easy, even I could do it!

In addition, it also tells you what type of stuff you're going to need (tools, materials, aspirin, etc) and how long the project would take based on your skill level. It even has a "work smarter" section that give you the pros and cons of installing whatever it is you're going to install. Of course, it also includes safety information too - live to fix another day, right?

Heck, you can even print the project out and take it with you!!

This is the BEST home improvement CD ROM I've ever seen. If you do any do-it-yourself type projects, this is a must have. I still can't believe how impressed I am with it! I had a few projects I was hesitating about doing around the house, but now that I've seen how to do them, I'm going to give it a try.

Now for the price. This retails for $39.95, the publisher sells it direct for $29.95, you can get it from us for only $16.97 with FREE US Shipping! That's over 55% off! This is a current title and works all versions of Windows. Oh, be sure to check out the combo deal we've put together too (details at the site).

I attracted a lot of attention in my office with all my "Oh, this is soooo cool", and "Wow, that's just great" type comments. In fact, everyone I've show this to has wanted one!

If you've ever been involved with a project and got stumped, this CD would have come in handy. I can't begin to tell you how much time, money, and frustration it would have saved me!

Click Here Now For More Info!!

PS - Don't miss out! Everyone I've shown this to has bought one! It's absolutely awesome and I can't recommend it highly enough. Remember, we have a 30 day satisfaction guarantee. If you don't like it - even after you try it - we'll take it back! You have nothing to lose!

Sorry for going on and on, but I can't remember the last time I was this excited about a piece of software :-)

MS Office 101

Let's go back a bit in time… Step into the time machine, sit down, and relax. We're going back to July 11th when the Office 101 tip focused on MS Word double-spacing.

(You can see the original tip in the archives located at http://www.worldstart.com/archives/ms-office-tips/2002/07-11-2002.htm .)

At any rate, a couple of readers sent in a quick keyboard shortcut for double spacing that will save you tons on time with the mouse.

Use these key combinations:

Ctrl + 1 = single-spaced (On current paragraph or highlighted text.)

Ctrl +2 = double-spaced (On current paragraph or highlighted text.)

Ctrl + 5 = one-and-a-half spacing (On current paragraph or highlighted text.)

There you go! Mouseless spacing, yeah!

Office Tip of the Day

Cute Hiding Trick

The title sounds a little like a three-year-old hiding in the closet, giggling, waiting to jump out at you and yell "boo," doesn't it?

Well, as cute as it sounds, it's not.

Since I began writing this newsletter, I've had several readers submit to me that they hide text and information in documents and worksheets by setting the font to match the background color (you know, white text on white background, etc…)

This technique will allow the document to be printed or read by others without the hidden data showing - after all, white text on white paper doesn't show.

To hide information simply type text or data as normal. Once the section to be hidden is typed, highlight the section.

Now you will need to change the color of the font. One way you can do this through the Format menu, Font choice. Use the drop-down color list in the middle of the screen to choose the color that matches the background.

The other way you could change the font color is through the Font Color button on the formatting toolbar.

Click the down arrow and select a color from the palette to match the background.

Now that the data is hidden how can you see it?

To read data hidden this way in MS Word you will need to either select everything (Ctrl + A) and change either the font color (as instructed above) or the document's background color.

To change background color go to the Format menu, Background choice and choose a color from the palette that will contrast the hidden text. (Keep in mind when choosing a new background color that selecting "black" will hide the original black text that was visible.)

One way to read data hidden this way in MS Excel is to select the cell and read the information in the formula bar located above the worksheet. (If you can't see the formula bar then go to the View menu and select Formula Bar.)

Another way to see the information is to select the cell(s) with hidden information and then use the fill button to change the cell color to contrast. (If you're not sure where the hidden information is then select all cells and then change the fill color.)

Well, that's it - the whole trick. I've known of at least one instance where a student did this on a computer at school leaving the teacher perplexed. They asked me for help when the Word program would only print blank white spaces….

I can see some good use for this in files that you use frequently. (Frequently so you won't forget where you've hidden information.) One reader submitted it as an alternate to hiding columns or rows in Excel. In Word headers and footers might be a place to put some of the hidden information, which would leave little room for accidental erasure.

Anyhow, it's a great way to show your creativity.