Apply a design template

Duplicate a shape

Date functions in Excel

To automatically insert the current date in a worksheet, enter the following function in the required cell:

=TODAY()

Make private folders in Windows XP

There's a few ways to keep other users from viewing your files.

The easiest is to make every folder under My Documents private, so only you can access these folders and their contents:

1. Right-click your My Documents folder and then click Properties.
2. Click the Sharing tab, select the Do Not Share This Folder checkbox, and then click OK.

If you don't need this much privacy, you can simply follow the same steps above to make individual folders private instead.

Add a border to a slide

1. Select Picture from the Insert menu
2. Select Clip Art
3. Type 'border" in the Search for box in the Clip Ar
4. Click on the border you want to insert
5. Stretch and rotate the image to get the result you want.

Searching the Web 2: Search with a Phrase

To better help the search engine find what you are looking for, offer a sequence of words in a specific order, using quotation marks around the phrase.

For instance, if you're looking for information on the TV show Saturday Night Live, type "Saturday Night Live" into the search window. Without quotation marks on each end, a search engine will likely look for Websites containing ANY of the words separately: Saturday, Night and Live.

Limit Access to Web Sites

You can create a list of Approved and Disapproved web sites to provide a safer interent environment for your family.

1. In Internet Explorer, go to Tools > Internet Options
2. Click on the Content tab, then the Settings button
3. Enter a supervisor password
4. Click the Approved Sites tab
5. Type in the address of the site, then click on Always (Approved) or Never (Disapproved)

Searching the Web 1: Use Advanced Search

Are you tired of getting all that useless information when searching on the net ? Over the next few weeks we will be adding tips to help with your quest for finding information...

Most search engines have an advanced search facility which allows you to refine or filter the information that you receive.

For example, you can search for sites with a specific domain e.g. ".net" or search in a particular language.

When searching for images, you can choose to search for colour or black & white images, or images of a certain size.

Personalize the All Programs menu

The icons on the All Programs menu are only shortcuts. You can rename, move, or even delete them without harming the program. This means that it might make sense to organize them to better suit you. For instance, you could create a new All Programs folder named Design Apps to hold shortcuts to all of your graphic design programs. Here's how:

1. Right-click the Start menu and click Explore All Users.
2. Open the Programs sub-folder.
3. Create new folders and move existing program folders or shortcut icons into them to sort your programs.

Now when you click the Start menu and select All Programs, you'll see your new customized menu, making it much easier to locate your most-used programs.

Stay on top of Spam

Your mailbox is over its size limit

Manage incoming e-mails automatically

Access folders faster

Save time with keyboard shortcuts

Compare colleagues’ calendars

Use a bigger, better reading pane

Get a notification and a quick preview of an incoming message

Rapidly view the information you need

Find just the right word

Format on the fly with keyboard shortcuts