More tips on Word, Excel

Quick Graphs in Excel 2007

If you have data in an Excel spreadsheet which you want to represent in a graph, just select any cell containing the data and press the F11 key. Right-click on the graph border to change the graph type, location or data.

Format Painter functions using keystrokes

The Format Painter tool is frequently used when consistent formatting is need in a document. You can perform this function using key combinations too. Just select the format required, press Ctrl + Shift + C. Then press Ctrl+ Shift+ V to copy the formatting to the desired location.

Fast find-next in Word

The Find function is commonly used in Word to look for just about anything in a document and Find Next takes you to multiple locations of the search item. But, in this method, the Find dialog box obscures a part of the document view. To avoid this, press Esc at the first occurrence and use Shift + F4 repeatedly to move to next occurrences. Get rid of the annoying Find dialog box and look at a clear page!

Deleting words in a jiffy

Are you tired of pressing the Delete or Backspace key for deleting every character? Just hold down the ‘Ctrl’ key to speed up the process. Ctrl + Del deletes word by word from the right of cursor point, while Ctrl + Backspace deletes word by word from the left. So if you want to delete three words from the right, press Ctrl + Del thrice!

On screen Word Count

If you want to keep a count of things while working, you can use the Word Count toolbar. This is available in Word 2002 and 2003. Instead of going to the Word Count command each time, check Show Toolbar in the Word Count dialog box to view the count of words, lines and pages you want to count. Click Recount whenever you want the latest score!

Calculations in Word

Have you ever thought that you could calculate in Word? Well, there is a neat trick to make Word calculate simple expressions like 28*12-6 =?For this go to Customize in Tools and click on the Command tab. Then select Tools from the list of Categories and choose Tools, and then Tools Calculate in the Commands: list box on the right. Now drag and drop the Tools Calculate command from the dialog box to any place in the toolbar space. Click on close to dismiss the Customize dialog box. The tool will appear grayed out till you select an expression to calculate. To see the result of an expression as above, highlight it, and click on Tools Calculate and voila! The answer is in the status bar.

Write Equations in Word

Writing the symbols to denote sigmas, deltas, gammas, greater than or equal to, and other mathematical signs, you can use the Equation Editor in Word, provided it has been installed with Word. To bring the Equation Editor toolbar in Word, click on Customize in the Tools menu. Click on the Command Tab. Select Insert from the left hand side list, and pick Equation Editor from the right-hand one. This puts the Equation Editor icon in the toolbar. Click on it to start writing equations.

RCom Unveils Motorola W362

At an event in Chennai on Wednesday, Reliance Communications (RCom) unveiled Motorola's new CDMA handset, the W362. Initially, the handset will be made available in 12 southern cities, including Chennai.

The highlight of this handset is that it is to be made entirely in India, at the Motorola plant in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu, RCom claims.

Features-wise, the W362 comes with a 4x zoom VGA camera, a 1,000-entry phone book, expandable memory, voice recorder, MP3, and FM radio with recording and integrated speakers. The phone can be connected with the PC sync via USB for Internet access. The phone is priced at Rs 4,199.

RCom has a subscriber base of nearly 4-million in Tamil Nadu and 2-million in Kerala. Tamil Nadu is a major market for the company, contributing around 9 percent of the company's overall revenues

Samsung i900 Omnia

Taking on the iPhone, Samsung i900 Omnia is slated to sizzle this summer.

Samsung has unveiled its touch-screen phone called Omnia. It is claimed to be the iPhone rival and the rumours are further sparked by the time of unveiling which coincide with the launch of Apple 3G iPhone’s second version.

The new Omnia incorporates Samsung’s TouchWhiz user interface as well as Windows Mobile 6.1. Besides the TFT touch-screen, the Omnia has a 3.2-inch 400 x 240 resolution display screen, which is marginally smaller than the iPhone 3.5-inch display. But the major draw is going to be its 5-megapixel camera that has smile detection, image stabilizer and geo-tagging features. Picture quality is enhanced with its 65k colours module. The iPhone, in comparison, has a 2-megapixel camera which was one of the biggest grouse against it.

Omnia also features WiFi module, Bluetooth, USB port, TV Out, voice memo, handwriting recognition, quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE support, built-in hands free and a built-in accelerometer. The two versions on offer will be 8GB and 16GB internal storage models. In addition, it has SD card support for up to 16GB.

Omnia means ‘everything’ in Latin and ‘wish’ in Arabic. Samsung is positioning this phone as a cell that has everything one could wish for which seems to be true going by the phone’s specifications. It’s touted to come to a store in your neighbourhood in July. Samsung has not announced the price for Omnia as yet. You’ll have to wait to find out how much you are expected to shell out for this all-inclusive cellphone.

Spammers to pay MySpace $6 million

Spammers to pay MySpace $6 million
In a significant win for the popular social networking Web site, an Internet marketer who'd been accused of spamming MySpace users is now in the dock and liable to pay the Web site a whopping $6 million in damages and other charges.

Scott Richter and his Web marketing company, Colorado-based Media Breakaway, will have to pay MySpace $4.8 million in damages plus $1.2 million in attorney fees for allegedly having bombarded MySpace users with unsolicited advertisements. The arbitrator has also ruled that Media Breakaway and its employees be banned from MySpace hereon.

While MySpace had alleged that some of the messages were sent out from accounts hijacked by phishing, Richter and company countered that these were sent by rogue business affiliates and independent contractors posing for Media Breakaway. In fact, Richter and company went a step further in celebrating the fact that the arbitrator had awarded MySpace 95 per cent less than the amount originally demanded by the company.

The latest ruling might look pale in comparison to the one last month wherein MySpace was awarded $230 million in damages, payable by the accused -- two Internet marketers named Sanford Wallace and Walter Rines but MySpace is banking on it in its fight against spammers. As Hemanshu Nigam, chief security officer of MySpace says, "MySpace has essentially declared a war on spam and phishing on our site".

Sony Ericsson unveils the W960i

Weighing around 119 grams, the W960i sports a slender 16mm frame, and allows you experience music with either the touch of a finger or a stylus. With 8GB of built-in flash memory, the phone is claimed to store up to 700 albums or 8,000 songs.

While the phone's been on the market since about a month, Sony Ericsson has now officially launched its W960i Walkman phone that flaunts a touch-screen display, 8GB memory, and Walkman media player among others.

The touch-sensitive 2.6-inches 262K color TFT (240 x 320 pixels) display serves as a super screen for watching videos or browsing the Web using 3G network or Wi-Fi connectivity. It doubles as viewfinder for the built-in 3.2 mega pixels camera with auto-focus. The W960i allows picture messaging and email/picture blogging, and supports TV-quality video playback at 30 frames per second (fps).

Significantly, the phone sports 160MB phone memory with 8GB built-in flash memory, and promises up to 25 hours of music listening time. Tracks can be managed using Media Manager while you can build your music collection in three simple steps with PlayNow. In keeping with the tradition of Sony Ericsson Walkman phones, the W960i packs a Walkman Media Player with support for MP3, AAC, and eAAC+ music file formats.

While the W960i incorporates Sony Ericsson's TrackID feature just like other Walkman phones, in this iteration of phone, the TrackID feature has been taken to the next level, where it is possible to get detailed information about a particular song identified. Also, newer ways to search have been added.

The UMTS 2100-GSM/GPRS 900/1800/1900 Sony Ericsson W960i is available in Vinyl Black color for Rs 28,995 across India. The phone package comes with an included stereo portable hands-free.

Meet the tech savvy stars of tinsel town

Be it Hrithik Roshan endorsing Acer laptops or Shah Rukh Khan appearing in the advertisements of Compaq products, we have seen Bollywood stars in the technology world as well. They endorse gadgets, they are the brand ambassadors and their presence during launch of any gizmo is quite a common phenomenon. Let's check out if these stars have their fetish for gizmos behind the camera too. Meet some of the gadget-friendly guys in showbiz.

Bobby Deol A gizmo freak. He knows the working of a mobile phone even without going through its instructions manuals. He sends e-mails from his phone. He spends hours on his laptop surfing or chatting.

He makes his own family movies with his digital camera. He loves downloading TV serials and music from the net. He records music for his friends’ iPods. Addicted to video games and play stations.

Sunny Deol If he had not been an actor, he would have been an electronics engineer. He repairs everything at home right from the light switch to his TV and music systems. Actor Aamir Khan is an internet buff and was one of the first to go comp-savvy. He has his own webcam and blog... loves to chat with friends and fans. Foes not allowed.

He subscribes to techie-international magazines. Since he’s computer and internet savvy, he doesn’t have to watch TV for the newsbreaks. During long-haul trips he watches movies on his laptop.

Riteish Deshmukh “I’m not a boy-with-toys kind of a guy,” he states but he has a thing about cell phones. He changes the handset frequently. A big votary of Blackberry. If Shah Rukh is not buying toys for his children then he’s buying gizmos for himself. He’s net savvy. Can have video conference conversations with his kids.

Net-savvy, he also keeps himself updated about high-definition technology, both in the realms of DVD watching and in filmmaking.

Arjun Rampal “I’m a gizmo man,” he states and is know to edit little movies on his laptop. Also a proficient photographer, he stores the images he likes – particularly of his family and those shot on the sets – on the laptop.

At home his computer is always connected to the net. His music system is another weakness. He’s constantly burning CDs for friends. And his Porsche car is equipped with gadgets galore.

Shah Rukh Khan If he is not buying toys for his children then he’s buying gizmos for himself. He’s net savvy. Can have video conference conversations with his kids. He has all the video games and is perhaps the only actor to have a retro juke-box with super-sound in his home. He owns a communicator and is amongst the few actors who is very sms friendly.

Rahul Khanna His laptop is his best friend. He reads the newspapers on the net and replies to e-mails at lighting speed. He has his own blog and is very tech savvy. His cell phone is used to reply to messages and mails and yes sometimes, he clicks pictures too. He plays video games because “it’s therapeutic for the soul.”

Aamir Khan He’s an internet buff and was one of the first to go comp-savvy. He has his own webcam and blog...loves to chat with friends and fans. Foes not allowed.

Experts see huge advertising potential in mobile phones

Only a few months have passed since India overtook the US to become the number-two wireless network in the world.

But already, this has opened up a huge potential for mobile telephony to be tapped as an advertising medium, experts at the "Mobile Conversation" conference, held in the capital on Friday, said.

"Mobile as a medium instigates immediate response and should be a part of any multi-channel advertising campaign," said Manoj Dawne, chief executive of Mauj - a mobile entertainment and advertising company.

"It holds the potential to not just complement but enhance the impact of any promotion," Dawne added.

Gopala Krishnan, co-founder and head of corporate development of Mobile2win, identified SMS, voice, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), native applications and gaming as some of the key platforms employed by marketers.

“These can be utilised in a stand-alone format or integrated, depending on the need of the client (advertiser) and the profile of the target audience,” Krishnan said.

Ajay Gupte from OnMobile and Sujai Srivastava, deputy general manager of Reliance Communication, stressed on SMS and WAP as advertising mediums, while Salil Bhargava, CEO of Jump Games, highlighted the advertising avenues on mobile games.

Srinivas Murthy of Coca-Cola presented the case study of the recent Sprite “Kholega Toh Bolega” campaign, which extensively utilised mobile advertising space.

“The response to the campaign was enormous. We have got about 1.7 million SMSs from our customers till date, which is by far the largest response for any consumer product initiative on the mobile till now,” Murthy said.

Are traditional phone manners dying?

In today's fast-paced world, telephone communication is more important than ever. But, it seems teenagers are least bothered, for a study has found they ditch the traditional greeting of "hello" while taking a call.

Researchers have based their finding on a survey of 2,000 phone users in Britain -- a third of young people aged 18 to 24 admitted to answering their cellphones with greetings such as "hi", "yo" or "what's up" instead of "hello".

According to the researchers, the greeting "hello" has been around nearly as long as the telephone itself.
When Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876 he answered it with the greeting "Ahoy-hoy" that was used as a greeting on ship radios at the time. However, American inventor Thomas Alva Edison did not like the maritime term and invented "hello" which was recorded in the dictionary in 1883.

But, nearly a third of the respondents, including adults, said their phone answering habits had become less formal and more casual over the past decade, with only one in 20 adopting a more formal phone answering style.
Many of those who use a less formal greeting said it was due to the increase in ways they can communicate, with text messages, mobile phones and emails, British newspaper 'The Daily Telegraph' reported.

The survey also found that nearly seven per cent of British adults admitted to screening all their landline calls with either a voicemail or answerphone, rather than picking up the receiver, the survey found.
Scottish people are most likely to greet callers by name when answering their mobile phone, with 28 per cent checking who is calling them in order to personalise their greeting, it revealed.

Stewart Fox-Mills, the Head of Telephony at the Post Office, which commissioned the survey, said: "It's fascinating to see how the public's relationship with the telephone has changed and how despite range of communication technologies available, it still has such a pivotal role."

Take better candids with your digital camera

Most people start out in digital photography taking 'candids' - pictures of people in their environment when they are not posing.

Unfortunately, most of those pictures end up being rejects - unflattering or just plain uninteresting.

The good news about digital photography, though, is that there's no penalty for trying. It costs nothing to download the pictures on to your PC and view your results, and you don't feel compelled to print out anything that's not worthy.

The trick, though, is to come to the practice of shooting candids with a bit of knowledge about what techniques give you a better chance at getting a higher percentage of keepers.

With your digital camera in hand, you'll no doubt be tempted before long to take pictures of people while they're eating. Casual get-togethers, company events, sporting events, and other situations in which candids are commonly shot often involve food - and new photographers are tempted to snap those pictures when their subjects are chomping down on something tasty.

Avoid that temptation. The reason is simple: people are often in unflattering positions when they're eating, and they're generally not in a mood to be photographed then.

They'll be concerned that they have food on their chin or hanging out of their mouths - and in the worst cases, they actually will. Unless you're photographing a bride and groom sharing a ceremonial piece of wedding cake, let people eat without the flash bulbs going off.

When you're shooting people in unposed situations, it's easy to get tunnel vision, concentrating solely on your subject. But an interesting picture consists of more than just your subject.

It's a combination of subject and context - and that context includes what's behind and around your subject. If in your photograph you unintentionally capture distracting or unattractive poles, concrete, or people engaged in distracting activities, the impact of your photo will be diminished.

Try for uncluttered, natural backgrounds, if possible, or make sure that any people behind or around your subject are part of the story that your picture is telling.

Sure, posing goes altogether against the idea of candids. But the fact is that getting people in the mood to be photographed and in the right environment for a compelling shot often results in photographs that we end up keeping around - and that, after all, is usually the point of taking pictures in the first place.

Saying something like, "hey, would you mind moving over here so that I can take your picture" is not that hard, and people often respond favourably, giving you the type of shot that you want.

To make any candid pictures of people more interesting, try shooting them from unusual angles. Instead of shooting people always at eye level, see what happens in your viewfinder when you move to the left or right, crouch down, or stand on a stool.

Try to get your subjects looking up at you a bit rather than straight on. This is especially effective for older people. With children, on the other hand, get down on their level rather than shooting them from above.

Taking a picture of a toddler amid a sea of adult legs can be effective - and draw out an expression from the toddler that's special.

Even if you're a very experienced photographer, you won't gain any friends if you show them candids of themselves that aren't flattering. So don't spare the delete key.

Lighting is critical to any good photograph, and that includes candids. Try to get your subjects in light that is flattering to them. Harsh sunlight that makes your subjects squint isn't the best, nor is taking a picture of someone when the sun is at that person's back, since your camera will be overwhelmed by the light from the back and your subject will end up looking dark.

To compensate for difficult lighting situations, consider using your camera's built in flash - or an accessory flash - even when you're outdoors. Flash will fill in any shadows in an unevenly lit scene, and it will enable your camera to better adjust the colours in a scene, which will result in more pleasing skin tones.

A rule of thumb in all people photography is always to focus on the subject's eyes, since that is the natural focal point of the viewer. If your subject's eyes are out of focus, the entire photograph will be perceived as "off".

So use the focus point selector on your digital camera to ensure that the main subject's eyes are where you focus. The only exception to this rule would be if you're intentionally trying to achieve a special effect through a less conventional method of focus.

Poor man`s `BlackBerry` services in the works

Users of entry-level handsets will soon be able to avail of push-mail services, with the Rajesh Jain-promoted Netcore Solutions close to launching the service in India.

Push-mail service providers charge between Rs 800 and Rs 1,200 a month and usually require high-end data-enabled handsets that cost Rs 12,000 and more.

The launch, expected in a couple of weeks, comes as the government has been seeking legal intrusion (monitoring of data) of BlackBerry services and demanding that Research In Motion, Canadian owners of the service, moves its servers India.

Netcore has installed its servers in Navi Mumbai, avoiding a potential BlackBerry-like situation.

The company has developed a suite that instantly forwards mails from the user's e-mails — both corporate and personal IDs — as short messages (SMSs).

Like other push-mail services, a user need not connect to the Internet to read his mails. Unlike other services that are only available on high-end data-enabled handsets, these services can be accessed on every handset that supports SMS. At present, handsets that cost as little as Rs 600 support SMS.

"We are providing mobility to e-mails and also helping it move over from the present restrictions of high-end mobile phones," Netcore Solutions CEO Abhijit Saxena told Business Standard.

According to Saxena, even though SMSs support only 160 characters, Netcore's service pushes 480 characters to the user that will be delivered as multiple SMSs. However, attachments can only be opened on high-end mobile phones.

The company had earlier launched free SMS alert systems providing information like News, Sensex, Cricket, Jokes and Bollywood content. The service has over 3.5 million subscribers.

Jain is the founder of IndiaWorld Communications, a small start-up, which become the largest collection of India-centric websites and was acquired in 1999 by Sify for around Rs 500 crore.