Training Opportunities

October

To attend this lunch training, please RSVP Londa  for space and lunch at

         londa.posvistak@smes.org        

Tech Tips: Online Help Now!

In the older versions of the Office Suite you had to go through the Office Assistant or the Help menu to start the help program. (If you're a keyboard enthusiast then the F1 is your preferred method and that still hasn't changed.)

One handy little change to the newer versions of the Office Suite is a direct and immediate way to access the program help.

Take a look just below the Minimize, Re-size and Close buttons in the upper right corner of the program title bar.

That's called "Ask A Question" and it's immediate access to the program help. Simply type in your question and hit the Enter key.

Poof... just like the Office Assistant, you'll be given a list of possible topics from which to choose and you can proceed from there.

The difference? You didn't have to go through the hassle of accessing the Assistant to type in the question—it was a direct way to access the help information.

Instant access. Now that's what I'm talking about!

www.worldstart.com

Did You Know?: Getting Directions from Your Outlook Contacts File

What Outlook has is the ability to talk to the MSN Maps & Directions site and can send the info at your command. The next thing you know you're looking at a location map. (To get the driving directions you'll have to enter a starting address just like you would from any other site.)

The first thing you do is to go to the Contacts list and open the contact for which you need a map.

In the Contact window you need to go to the Address section and use the arrow and the drop-down list to select which address you need located.

Once the correct address is displayed in the Address field go to the Actions menu, Display Map of Address choice or click the Display Map of Address button.

Your browser will take over and Outlook sends you directly into the MSN site and a map with the address is displayed. (Keep in mind that you must have your computer connected to the Internet in order for this to work.)

The usual zoom in and out choices along with other items such as driving directions are available on this site. Just a couple of minutes and you're on your way.

www.worldstart.com

Quickie Tip: Use IE To Open All Files

Just drag and drop a file into your Internet Explorer window and watch it open. You can use this or looking at JPEG's and GIF's since it takes a lot less time to load IE than it does an imaging software. In addition, it can also open text files, Outlook e-mails, and even MS Office documents (sorry, you still need to have MS Office on your computer for that to work). Try dragging a folder to an open IE window—it will list all the items in the folder for you!

www.worldstart.com

The Bug Guide

Are you fascinated by insects or other creepy crawlies? It's okay if you're  not but there a lot of people who are. I ran across this site trying to identify a scary looking spider that was in my house. I needed to find out if it was poisonous so my cat didn't eat it. I did find the spider I was looking for and, while scary looking, was not poisonous. But what I also found was an excellent Bug Guide.

To use the guide you can click on the picture of the bug you are looking for information on and then you will be whisked away to that species' page. For more information on how to use the guide further I suggest you click on the "Guide" tab which answers a lot of the frequently asked questions about how the guide works.

If you have something you want to ID you can go to "ID Request" and submit a picture and then wait and see if someone identifies your bug. You have to be registered (it's free, and you can do it at the top of the page) and logged in. If you recognize a bug you can even help identify it too.

• Recent — This is where you will find out what has been added to the site recently.
• Forums — This is where you can chat all about bugs and talk with other registered members. If you have questions, just want to chat, or address problems that you have with their website, this is the place to go.

A very handy guide that I will be book marking for the summer when I do my gardening—this will help me weed out pests that could ruin the garden and the flowers I pick out.

http://bugguide.net/

www.worldstart.com

Technology Assistance
If you need help with technology, call the helpline at ext. 697 or email help@smes.org .
               Provide as detailed description of the problem as you can, and include the best times for someone to come by.