Announcements

Hi Everyone!

I just wanted to take a quick minute to thank people for their continued support and emails.

I don't always have the answer immediately, and can't always answer emails personally, but often your questions will lead me to a newsletter idea. This way we can all share in the "find".

So... thanks again for your input—it's always appreciated!

~ April

I gotta tell ya, I'm really, really excited about this. We have a brand new title in - It's the World Almanac and Book of Facts 2003 and it's just great. This is the first time the World Almanac has been available in CD form and it's an absolute must have! This is about the coolest reference title I've ever used - and definitely the most fun!

It's full of facts and figures for just about anything you'd ever want to find out. I don't know how many hours I've spent searching for some obscure fact on the internet that I would have uncovered with this in a matter of minutes. Ever wonder about any of these questions??

What cities in the US are growing the fastest?
How much does it cost to raise a child born in 2001?
What big entertainment company owns ABC?
What country is taxed at the highest rate?
What do you do in a radiation emergency?
What percentage of people use computers?
How do you convert inches to centimeters? Fahrenheit to Celsius?
What are your odds of playing poker and getting a Royal Flush?
How loud is 70 decibels?
How does the internet work?
What does the average home in your area cost?

See the World Almanac for the answers ;-)

I could come up with hundreds of questions just like these, but you get the idea. Basically, just about any fact, figure, statistic, or piece of information you would ever want to know probably resides on this CD.

Naturally, it has a search feature to make finding what you're looking for easy (plus an index). However, I like just browsing the various categories. In fact, I lost track of time and ended up spending over an hour just browsing along from category to category. So many questions answered - it's easy to see why eighty million copies of the book version have been sold since it came into publication over 100 years ago.

Your cost? Just $12.97 and US shipping is FREE! It's an incredible buy and something that every computer user should own. We all use our computers to dig up information, why not have the best almanac on the planet at our fingertips? Check it out:

http://www.worldstart.com/store/world-almanac-fact.htm

PS - Please, don't miss this one. It's a fantastic buy and frankly, I never thought a reference title could be this much fun. I can't recommend it highly enough! Oh, be sure to do some more shopping once you add this to your cart - remember buy 3 items and get 15% off till 08-18-2003!

MS Office 101

Just Too Much Space

Line spacing, paragraph spacing... what?

Feel overwhelmed by all these difference? Not know the differences?

Have you ever changed a setting regarding one of these spacings just to find that you aren't getting the result you were hoping for?

If you answered "Yes!" to any or all of these, then this is the place for you to be.

I think that the first step to clearing up your problems is to know the difference. Knowledge is power—so let's get the knowledge so we can have the power to control our electronic universe. (OK, a little overstated, but then again, if you've ever been frustrated by bad results then that's exactly what it felt like when you finally figured it out.)

Stated simply, line spacing determines the amount of vertical space between lines of text. That would be your standard single spacing, double spacing, etc.

When you set line spacing it affects the paragraph your cursor is currently in, or all paragraphs in a highlighted section. If you change line spacing while you're typing then it will change the current paragraph and any paragraphs you may continue to type.

Now, paragraph spacing is something entirely different. When you set paragraph spacing what you're actually changing is the amount of vertical space between paragraphs.

You can set space for before and / or after paragraphs. (Remember that a paragraph is text between two Enter-key strokes.)

So... it's possible to set things to give you single spaced text and double space between the paragraphs (like this newsletter) using only one Enter key between paragraphs.

And, as you can imagine, there are other options for these settings.

Now that you have the knowledge, let's grab the power.

Office Tip of the Day

Perfect Spacing

Well, if you read the Office 101 today and you're still with me then you're ready to work on your line and paragraph spacing skills.

Let's begin with line spacing—it's something we're all familiar with. I mean, let's face it, didn't we all love it when the English teacher said our paper was to be double-spaced?

There are a couple of ways to change line spacing. One of them is to use the Format menu, Paragraph choice. (Alt, O then P)

When the Paragraph window opens you're looking for the Line spacing section.

If you pull down the choices in the Line spacing field you'll find your standard Single, 1.5 lines, Double as well as a few extras like At least, Exactly and Multiple.

I'm sure we're ok with the first three but the last three warrant a description, so here's what the Office Assistant has to say on the subject:

At least is the "minimum line spacing that Word can adjust to accommodate larger font sizes or graphics that would not otherwise fit within the specified spacing."

Exactly is a "fixed line spacing that Word does not adjust. This option makes all lines evenly spaced."

And finally...

Multiple is "line spacing that is increased or decreased by a percentage that you specify. For example, setting line spacing to a multiple of 1.2 will increase the space by 20 percent, while setting line spacing to a multiple of 0.8 will decrease the space by 20 percent. Setting the line spacing at a multiple of 2 is equivalent to setting the line spacing at Double. The default is three lines."

For these three line spacing options you'll need the At: box to the right. In this box you can either select the size you wish to apply or click in and type a different size. This needs to be done because these last three options don't imply any one size like the word double does.

Whew! That's good to know but definitely the long way to do things if you're just setting the normal single, 1.5 lines or double line spacing.

So, in the interest of doing things quickly, here are the keyboard shortcuts you need to set these spacings.

• Ctrl + 1 will single space.
• Ctrl + 2 will double space.
• Ctrl + 5 will 1.5 space.

Ready to move on to the paragraph spacing?

Paragraph spacing is located to the left of your line spacing in the Paragraph window. (Format menu, Paragraph choice or Alt, O then P.)

See it?

You basically have three options.

1. You can set the spacing before paragraphs.
2. You can set the spacing after paragraphs.
3. You can set the spacing both before and after paragraphs.

(Be careful with that last one—it can put lots of unwanted space between the paragraphs. If you set one to 6 pt and the other to 12 pt then your paragraphs will have spacing of 18 pt. See what I mean?)

At any rate, these are set the same way you set the font size—you select the point size. If I want my paragraphs to be spaced one line apart then I set the after spacing to the same point size as the font I'm using. (I'm sure you get the idea.)

As you're working on all this line and paragraph spacing take a second or two to look at the preview below your settings. If you pause for a second or two it will adjust to reflect any changes you've just made.

When you've finished with all of this then you're finally ready to click the OK button.

Keep in mind all of this is stuff you can set and use...

• before you type your text,
• from that point forward as you type text,
• or on highlighted sections of text.

It's all up to you—you've got the power.

~ April

Oh yeah, one more thing for my MS PowerPoint users, I found these same settings under the Format menu, Line Spacing choice. Just in case you were looking.