Discover New Features in Microsoft Word (Part 1)

word_primary-100025314-largeAlthough I use Word on a daily basis, every now and then I uncover a feature or shortcut I didn’t know existed.  With literally thousands of different features, it’s no surprise that the application offers more than you or I typically use!  The following are five powerful features that are easily overlooked.

  1. Quick Parts: Each of us have different blocks of text tquickparthat we use in multiple documents.  For example, if you often arrange meetings or events on campus, you may include a map, driving directions and parking instructions in each event packet.  You may reuse your contact/signature block in documents or a specific logo frequently.  All of these types of data can be stored in your quick parts gallery!  Simply highlight the text—then select InsertQuick PartsSave selection to quick part gallery.  Once you’ve named and saved that component, it will be available from the Insert- Quick Parts menu in any document you create from that same machine!
  2. Create your own template: If you use a certain format or style for specific documents, consider saving that document as a template.  I know many people simply open the existing file, save as a different file name, and then delete the information to reuse the same “style”.  You can make this even easier!  Create the framework of the document as you normally would. Select your fonts, headers, footers, and anything else that should be consistent.  Then click File—Save As.  Save the document as a Word Template.  When you’re ready to use that template, click New—Select the Personal templates and select your saved template!  There are also a ton of online templates available for use which can save you a lot of trouble in creating various types of files.
  3. CaptureScreenshot Tool:  Microsoft has made it so easy now to integrate screenshots or clippings in your document.  Click on Insert—Screenshot and you’ll see the available windows in the gallery.  Simply click on the image and it will automatically be inserted into your document.  From there, you can crop, recolor etc using all of the Microsoft Word picture tools.  If you don’t want the entire window copied but only a small portion, choose the screen clipping tool and simply highlight the area you wish to copy.

To Be Continued…

Why is it so Difficult to Play a DVD in the Classroom?

After volume problems, this is the most common issue we hear about in the Classroom Support office (and maybe the most annoying problem for users). The DVD worked at home. It worked last semester in a different room. But now the computer is spitting it out, not recognizing it, or it’s doing nothing while the class stares at a blank screen and it’s likely some may utter words you won’t find in the Bible. What makes playing a DVD so difficult? This post will help you identify bad DVD discs, and in future post we’ll discuss working with the DVD software.

Part of the problem is that DVDs themselves are not perfect. A tiny scratch, or a little dirt in the DVD tray, can ruin everything. For reasons that are too complex to elaborate on here, this can cause a frustrating situation where a scratched disc will work in one player but not in another. Making things worse, educational companies are notorious for making inferior DVDs that arrive in a terrible state even though they are brand new.

How can you tell if the disc you’re using is cheaply made? Turn it over and see if the bottom is shiny and metallic, if so, then you’re looking at a well-made DVD. These are made in factories by permanently stamping a platter of aluminum into shape and encasing it in plastic, and it’s what a disc containing professional, Hollywood film will look like.

This is was a professionally made DVD will look like.
A DVD that looks like this will usually work, every time.

However, if the disc was made cheaply then the bottom will be less metallic, and you will see shades of purple, blue, or green underneath the plastic. A ring of a slightly different color around the outside is often present. The purple stuff you’re seeing is a fragile dye used by consumer DVD writers, and, obviously, it’s not as durable as stamped aluminum.

Bad disc.
A disc that looks like this might work. It might not.

These discs degrade over time until they are useless, and some of them will refuse to work in certain computers. When this happens, it’s not a software problem—it’s the result of cheap DVD manufacturing. The dye cannot be shaped as perfectly as its aluminum counterpart, and the result is that DVD players must struggle to read the information. Making things even more complicated is the fact that some of these “cheap” discs work better than others, so there is no way to tell how well one will perform; some people use these consumer level DVDs regularly without any trouble.

They were downloading Kazaa, anway.
Meanwhile, some of you have had this experience…

What do you do if you’re concerned about your DVD? First of all, you should always test out your media in the classroom where you’re going to use it before relying on it. If it doesn’t work, contact our office and we will see if we can make it cooperate.

Another option is to test it out on your own laptop. If it works there, then simply bring that laptop to class and plug it into our projector. (Contact us at 214-768-8888, or help@smu.edu, if you need assistance getting this set up.)  This is probably the least complicated way to bring media to your students, because it allows you to make sure everything is set up just they way you like it.

Stay tuned. In an upcoming post we will tackle the other half of this problem by de-mystifying the DVD playing software.

Never Miss an Email Again!

Email-client-applicationBy Laurene Klassen

No matter how many times I organize my inbox I somehow manage to get to the point of needing to reorganize it.  In many of my trainings, I’m often asked for tips on how to make sure one doesn’t miss an email from key individuals or contain keywords.  Here’s a tip I’ve found handy.

If you are like me, there are probably certain emails that you receive that rank in priority for replies. Maybe it’s from your professor, supervisor, or about a critical project.  In any case, I recommend setting alerts on emails that are sent from key partners or contain keywords.  You can customize your alert to notify you by playing a specific sound, marking your email with high importance, or even displaying the email in an alert window.  So, no matter how many emails you get you’ll be sure to not to miss the critical ones!

email alert

For instructions on how to set alerts, and a number of other tips to keep your inbox from spiraling out of control, see our Outlook Productivity handouts for PC and Mac.  (By the way, these instructions are written for Outlook 2010 and 2011. However, the steps for setting alerts haven’t changed for Outlook 2013.)

Identify Online Shopping Scams

By Rajat Shetty During the holiday season, Cybercriminals’ potential victims are often caught up in the frenzy of shopping, finding the best deals, and acting quickly to take advantage of limited offers. Email and social networks are clogged with sales and offers, both legitimate and fraudulent. Sometimes haste causes shoppers to miss the warning signs of a fraudulent website.

Avoid Suspicious Websites

Make sure you cross check the contact info before submitting your payment details. In many cases, fake websites put up incorrect contact info like a wrong phone number or an incorrect address. A few other warning signs of suspicious websites are lots of broken links, grammatical mistakes, and spelling errors. If in doubt, don’t check out!

Verify the Web Address (or URL)

Before you type in any credit-card numbers at check out, check the Web address, or uniform resource locator (URL), of the payment page and make sure it’s using a secure connection. You should be seeing either the character string “https://” before the website URL, or a small icon of a green padlock. Also, make sure the URL address is correct, and not a slight misspelling of the real address or a random URL.

For example, check the snapshots below for the official website of Beats headphones. The first one is the original website, whereas the second website is a fraudulent one having the exact layout and font style as the original website. The difference is, when you pay through credit card or debit card on the 2nd website you are not going to receive any headphones (Not even a fake one!)

Original website

Fake website

Use Caution when Shopping by Phone

Although it can be convenient, use extra care when shopping with your smartphone. Phones are more susceptible to malwares as most do not have an anti-virus. Also, it’s highly unsafe to store your credit card or debit card information on your phone.  Only buy from trusted and familiar websites when you shop through your smartphone, and use a password protected internet connection. Never shop over unsecured public Wi-fi. Remember, it’s always better to check twice before clicking the ok button. People loose thousands of dollars in a haste to snag online deals. Protect yourself from becoming a victim to fraudulent websites by exercising caution before giving out your credit/debit card details.