Free Software: Migrating Your Mail to Thunderbird
Thunderbird is a great (and free!) e-mail program that offers you much better security than programs like Microsoft Outlook. Because Thunderbird doesn't allow scripts to run automatically, attachments [more…]
Creating a Report with Crystal Reports 10
When you start Crystal Reports 10, generally you want to do one of three things: create a report, modify a report, or run a report against the data in your database. Reports take data from a database, [more…]
Restoring a Backup in Norton Ghost
You know all the grousing you do about having to back up your data? Well, if all your folders and files suddenly disappear from your drive, you won't need to stress because you can restore it all with [more…]
Crystal Reports 10: Understanding Object Linking and Embedding (OLE)
The primary purpose for a report is to present database data to users in a form that's easy to understand. Crystal Reports gives you all the tools you need to do that. Sometimes, however, you want a report [more…]
Free Software: Image-Editing with GIMP
GIMP, which stands for GNU Image Manipulation Program, has all the major features of Adobe Photoshop but is available for free under the GNU General Public License. With the GIMP, you can create or open [more…]
Setting Up Norton Parental Control
Child safety is a big issue anywhere, but the online world presents special challenges in the form of virtual bogeymen, pitfalls, and the kind of Web sites that can fluster or enrage a mature adult. Parental [more…]
Crystal Reports 10: Adding a Hyperlink to a Report
One of the most valuable features of Web-based content is the capability to quickly move between pages by using hyperlinks. By clicking a hyperlink associated with a word, a phrase, or an image, you can [more…]
Placing Charts in Excel
In Excel, making charts is most of the work, but that's not all of it. You still have to decide where to put the charts. First, you need to figure out whether to put a chart on a separate chart sheet. [more…]
PowerPoint 2007 Line Spacing and Alignment
Efficient use of line spacing is one of the most neglected options in PowerPoint 2007 presentations, but it's one of the easiest to manage. (Line spacing [more…]
Running Norton's One Button Checkup
Norton SystemWorks and its Norton Utilities tools work something like a PC emergency room and triage center trying to identify and fix the things that go bump and beep on your system. But what if you just [more…]
Reusing Slides in PowerPoint 2007
Among the fascinating features in PowerPoint 2007 is the option that enables you to reuse slides from old presentations. The Reuse Slides feature also lets you [more…]
Knowing How Crystal Xcelsius Works
In a nutshell, Crystal Xcelsius imports a snapshot of your Excel file, allows you to build a visual model by tying components to your data, compiles your final dashboard to a Flash SWF file, and then publishes [more…]
Defining Excel Dashboards and Reports
In Microsoft Excel 2007, it isn't difficult to use reportand dashboard interchangeably. Often, reports are referred to as dashboards just because they included a few charts. Likewise, many dashboards have [more…]
Free Software: Working with Simply MEPIS
GNU/Linux is a free open source alternative to Windows. Hundreds of versions of GNU/Linux exist because it's free — people download it and tinker with it, and then distribute it. SimplyMEPIS Linux is a [more…]
Moving, Resizing, and Deleting Objects in InDesign CS2
When working with InDesign CS2, the most common tasks you'll do with objects is rearranging them — both moving them and changing their dimensions, plus deleting the ones you don't want or no longer need [more…]
Taking Action When Norton AntiVirus Can't Repair an Infected File
Assume for a minute that the worst has happened: Norton AntiVirus finds something it really believes is a virus but doesn't seem to be able to act upon the file to repair, quarantine, or delete it. If [more…]
Using Hidden Slides in PowerPoint
In a PowerPoint 2007 presentation, you can hide a slide just in case you'll need it later. Create hidden slides if you anticipate having to turn your presentation in a different direction — to answer a [more…]
Opening SAS Data Sets
SAS data sets are the building block of many reports and analyses in SAS. A SAS data set is the standard data storage format for data created with SAS. The great thing about SAS data sets is that they [more…]
Is Your Excel Dashboard or Report Accurate?
Nothing kills an Excel dashboard or report faster than the perception that its data are inaccurate. Before you send out your finished Excel dashboard or report, be sure to check your reporting mechanism [more…]
Inserting Sound Files in a PowerPoint Slide
To play sound in a PowerPoint 2007 presentation, you insert a sound file in a slide. How and when the sound is heard is up to you. You can make the sound file play automatically when the slide appears [more…]
Aligning and Positioning in Crystal Xcelsius
In Crystal Xcelsius, you can easily get sucked into spending hours lining up the edges of the components in a visual model. Avoid the meticulous adjusting of components by using the built-in alignment [more…]
Setting Up Speech Recognition in Word 2002
Word is fully speech-capable software, but you need to set it up first; speech recognition isn't installed until you activate it. So keep the Word (or Microsoft Office) CD handy. [more…]
Free Software: Autofilling Cells in OpenOffice.org Calc
OpenOffice.org — a free alternative to Microsoft Office — includes Calc, a spreadsheet program similar to Excel. Calc provides an easy way to automatically create a column or row of numbers in any sequence [more…]
Creating Your First MindManager Map
Creating maps is what MindManager is all about, but creating a useful map can take some effort and creative energy. You want to use maps that are already started, called [more…]
Inserting a Chart in PowerPoint 2007
Instead of using boring and hard-to read tables in your presentations, insert colorful charts with PowerPoint 2007. Charts make it easy for your audience to visualize trends and patterns — and can prevent [more…]
