Announcements

Got A Digital Video Camera?

Then don't miss this!

We have an awesome program called Video CD Maker that you're gonna love. It takes your digital camcorder recordings and lets you put them onto video CDs that can be played on most DVD players (or another computer). Rather than sending off a digital tape that no one can play, or dubbing to VHS, you can simply create a Video CD and mail it to friends and family!

Of course, there's a lot more to the program than that. It also includes powerful editing software that really lets you customize your movie. You can edit out the bad stuff (like when you forgot to turn off the camcorder and recorded a 10 minute stroll at the zoo), put different clips together, add special effects, add transitions, add titles, and even overlay a clip with your own music!

Once you've perfected your production, you simply save it and burn to a standard CD-R disk. That's it! You have a video you can pop into a DVD player or computer.

In addition to video editing and recording, it also includes some other cool applications. It has a Digital Video Recorder, an MPEG encoder, a Photo Editor, Digital Album, and even a Video Security program that can watch over your place when you're away. For more info, head to the site - the page is has a ton of info and even some screen shots!

OK, now the price. The retail on this is $59.95, we found it at Amazon for $37.65. Your price from us? $14.97 and US shipping is FREE! This is a current title and one heck of a deal. Wanna get yours? Head to our site right now!

http://www.worldstart.com/store/video-cd-maker.htm

PS - This was an overstock type deal, so we only have a limited quantity at this price. After these are gone, the price will jump to $34.95. Get in while you can!

Archive Update

In the last few months several readers have written to me concerning the archives for this newsletter. It seems that the first few months of this year were missing.

Well, I have good news.

I was informed today that the archives are now up-to-date. If you're looking for some info on a particular topic here's another resource for you to glance through.

The archives can be reached at http://www.worldstart.com/archives/index.htm

All issues are listed by date with the complete title, making it pretty easy to glance through and find what you're looking for.

There's more than a year's worth of MS Office Tips issues out there now, so... the next time you're searching for an answer, try the archives.

MS Office 101

More Or Less

For my readers who are fairly new users of MS Excel, here's a quick, yet infinitely useful tip for changing the number of decimal places displayed in a cell.

You're looking for these two buttons located on the Formatting toolbar.

(If you don't see them then go to the View menu, Toolbars submenu and choose Formatting from the list.)

• The button on the left will add decimal places to numbers in highlighted cells.

• The button on the right will reduce the number of decimal places in highlighted cells. (As decimal places are reduced the value displayed in the cell is rounded. However, if you take a look in the formula bar you'll see that Excel still has the exact value stored away safely in its memory.)

More or less is just a click away.

Click, Click, Click

(What were you wishing you had more or less of? Yeah, I know, too bad those clicks don't apply to other things.)

Office Tip of the Day

For My Eyes Only

Have you ever been in a situation where you're working on sensitive material in MS Excel and someone walks up behind you?

What do you do?

Do you quickly minimize the entire program?

Yeah, I've done that too. But what if you need Excel to work on something else with the person who came in?

You could go through the hassle of closing and saving the file—but there's a faster way.

Why not just hide the file?

Hide it?

Yes, hide it. (I realize it's not a piece of paper you can just shove in a desk drawer, but Excel has you covered on this issue.)

Here's the deal...

Next time you need to quickly remove a workbook from someone else's eyesight simply go to the Window menu and choose Hide. (Pressing the Alt, then W, then H keys one at a time will accomplish the same thing.)

Instantly, the current workbook will be hidden from view.

If you take a look at the list of open files in the Window menu you'll find that the workbooks is no longer listed. (Good news... this means you can't accidentally switch to the file you do not want viewed.)

Now let's move ahead a bit.

Let's suppose that you're ready to get back to work on your hidden file. It's definitely not on the list in the Window menu so what do you do?

You unhide it, of course.

Return to the Window menu and choose Unhide this time. (The keys Alt, W then U one after another will do the same thing.)

A window will pop open listing all hidden files.

Choose the workbook you need to unhide and click OK. You'll be returned to Excel with your workbook active and ready for you to continue.

At this point I can hear just one more question...

Are you wondering what will happen if you forget to unhide a workbook and try to close Excel?

Excel-lent question!

Basically, Excel will ask if you want to save the file—the same way it does with all open files when the program closes. Choose yes or no and proceed the same as you would with any other file.

The difference comes in when you open the file again at a later time. Upon reopening, the file will immediately be hidden. You'll need to return to the Window menu to unhide it and then, once again, you're ready to go.

(If you forget this little nugget of information you'll most likely think that your workbook has somehow been erased. Not a great feeling, so keep this warning in mind.)

And there you have it. A quick and easy way to hide the workbook so no one else can see it.

It's a little like "hiding the clutter". Come to think of it - the hide / unhide label is probably one I should give to my coat closet. It's amazing how much stuff can be hidden in there.

~ April

P.S. You can do the same thing with a worksheet within a workbook through the Format menu, Sheet submenu, then the Hide choice. (Then Unhide to get the worksheet back.)