Pamela Bir Interviewed by Operation Franchise

It was great fun to be on the other side of a technical article. I was interviewed for a computer skills article for Operation Franchise. The magazine focuses on helping military personnel transition to civilian jobs. The concepts apply to anyone in the business world. You have to get your computer skills up to speed and keep them up to compete in today's job market. There's a solution for every type learner and every price range.

Read the article.

Testimonial

"Just a little note to thank you again for getting me out of my Outlook muddle. In my book, you are most definitely a miracle worker!"
S K from Colorado

Vacation Checklist: Prepare Your PC

Are you ready for your summer vacation?   Is your computer ready for your vacation?  Read this great article from Microsoft Office at Home to help you ensure that you are both ready.

Whether you're leaving the office for the holidays, going on vacation, or taking a business trip, there are a number of things you can do to prepare your computer for your time away.

Cancelling appointments and letting people know you'll be gone are just a few of the things you should do to make sure your responsibilities are covered and let people know you’re not available to meet. Here are some best practices to see to it that your work goes on smoothly, even when you're gone.

Click here to continue reading this article.  

Microsoft Word 2007 - Removing the Lines from a Text Box

When you insert a text box into your document, Word automatically places a border around it. This is great for some document designs, but you may want to remove the border.

Follow these steps to remove the border from a text box:

1.    Right Click on the text box.

2.    Click on Format Text Box

 3.  Click on the Colors and Lines tab.

 4.  In the Color drop-down list, select No Line.

 5.  Click OK.

Microsoft Excel 2007 – Find and Replace Function

Did you know that Excel has a Find and Replace Function like Word? 

Find and Replace is located on the Home ribbon under the editing tab, Find and Select.  It is used in the same way that you would use it in Word.

Besides using the Replace feature, the Find feature can be helpful if you are trying to locate information not currently visible on the screen. You can search for information used in formulas, values, and comments.

How to Add Polish to your PowerPoint Presentations

I found this great article at Microsoft at Home about "How to Add Polish to your PowerPoint Presentations."

Microsoft PowerPoint is a terrific medium because it allows you to reinforce your message with visual prompts. But too often, the power of PowerPoint is lost because the speaker doesn't use it to help viewers focus on the message. Instead, PowerPoint itself becomes the focus.

Click here to continue reading this article.

First Web Site for Blue Thumb Services!

Blue Thumb Services came to Your Computer Lady to build their very first web site!  We appreciate their confidence in us. The first site is usually the hardest because you have to gather information and organize it in a different manner. There is a learning curve for all of those Internet words. YCL works hard to simplify the process as much as possible.

A special feature of the Blue Thumb Services site is that it is bi-lingual.  Visitors can view the site in English or Spanish. Even the blog posts are translated!

We used a brand new tool for this site also. It is a software to let us work with the client to create a custom design for the site. Previously a client had two options: a custom design from a graphic artist (beautiful but, of course, more expensive) or a template from an Internet site. Choosing a template was really hard work! There are thousands and thousands of templates that become overwhelming. Our new tool lets "graphically challenged" people come up with a great design!

Take a look and see how great this site looks! www.BlueThumbServices.com

Yes, this is a WordPress site with a search engine friendly blog.

Microsoft Word 2007 - A Shortcut for Switching Focus

Microsoft Word provides keyboard shortcuts for lots of things, but it doesn't provide one for switching to the desktop and back to your document.

You probably know that you can use the Alt+Tab shortcut to switch from one open application in Windows to another.  But what if you want to switch to the desktop, then back to your application again?   Assuming you have an enhanced Windows keyboard, the one with the Windows key next to the Alt keys, then the answer is easy.

There are two shortcuts you can use with the enhanced Windows key:

·       Press Windows+M to minimize all the open windows and change to the desktop. To return to where you were last working, use Shift+Windows+M.

·       Press Windows+D to minimize all the open windows and change to the desktop. Press Windows+D again and return to the window in which you were previously working.

Microsoft Excel 2007 - Change Your Sort Option

Did you know that Excel will let you sort from "left to right" instead of "top to bottom".   Follow these easy steps. 

1. Select the table you want to sort (just the data, not the headers as when you change sort orientation, you cannot set header rows)
2. Click on Data, Sort
3. Click on Options
4. Select “Sort Orientation” to “left to right” instead of “top to bottom”

Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 - Free 3-D Shapes and Objects Template

You can create memorable and attractive PowerPoint 2007 presentations with the professionally-designed slides in this free template. Use the shape, animation, and graphic effects in these slides to add 3-D background designs, rounded buttons, eye-catching visual aids, books with moving pages, and even an animated scale to your presentation.

Click here to download from Microsoft.