Microsoft Office

Hello readers, taking a break for a few days. Any questions, comments or concerns, write below or email.

From MIcrosoft Office Sharepoint Blog: What is Windows Live Writer?

Excerpt from Wikipedia:

Currently compatible with Windows Live Spaces, Blogger, LiveJournal, TypePad, Wordpress, Community_Server, PBlogs.gr, JournalHome, the MetaWeblog API, the Moveable Type API, and all blogs that support RSD (Really Simple Discoverability).

Windows Live Writer introduces the Provider Customization API that enables both rich customization of Windows Live Writer’s behavior as well as the opportunity to add new functionality to the product. Currently Windows Live Spaces, WordPress, and TypePad have all taken advantage of this API to expose additional service-specific features within Windows Live Writer.

Windows Live Writer is currently available in 6 different languages.

Why Use It?
It’s easy to use, supports multiple blogging platforms, provides a good preview of the post prior to posting, and makes formatting, inserting images, and inserting inline videos much easier than coding by hand. Plus, you have the capability to use the add-in library and even write your own add-ins using the WLW API.

Since discovering WLW a year ago, it’s all I use for blogging to my own blog on Windows Live Spaces, and also a blog I maintain on the SharePoint intranet where I work.

To make my posts stand out, I frequently incorporate images and video into my posts - on occasion creating my own training videos and then inserting them into my blog posts. WLW makes this easy.

Inserting Videos:
Here is a training video I did using Windows Media Encoder for screen capture, Microsoft Media Encoder to encode and post directly to MSN SoapBox and the Silverlight Streaming Service. From Windows Live Writer I can insert a video from my Silverlight Streaming Service or MSN Soapbox - even get a preview mode of the video. Nice.

<a href="http://video.msn.com/?mkt=en-US&#038;playlist=videoByUuids:uuids:1f7b5338-af13-452d-b93d-38eb293159f7&#038;showPlaylist=true&#038;from=msnvideo" target="_new" title="Using SharePoint Linked Datasources from SharePoint Designer">Video: Using SharePoint Linked Datasources from SharePoint Designer</a>

From Joanna L. Krotz, the founder of Muse2Muse Productions:

Brand your online store. The first step, of course, is to choose your online brand—that is, the domain name of your store. You want a brand and URL that will immediately and accurately communicate your wares and image. For instance, a luxury linens shop won’t get far with a domain name of Cheapsheets.com. Craft a name that telegraphs the soul of your mission and products. Also, consider what will emotionally appeal to the customers you target.

For help in registering your domain name, check out the Microsoft Office Live Small Business offerings, which include a domain name for your business Web site. The timing for this decision assumes you’ve already put together a business plan to map your company’s progress. Template tools can help you get started quickly.

Choose a quality e-commerce platform. It’s likely to be your fastest and most cost-effective option to purchase an e-commerce package of site-building templates and services. Spend time researching competitor sites to see what’s available. Compare how vendors handle information about returns, shipping, and privacy, and what specific services they offer.

Select payment options. You will need to set up merchant accounts and credit card processing systems for online transactions. At a minimum, you will want to offer a choice of at least three major credit card options, and perhaps a PayPal account.

“Understand all of your online processing fees,” adds Henry Helgeson, chief executive officer of Merchant Warehouse, a Boston-based company that specializes in setting up merchant accounts. Those fees include “interchange fees,” or the amount charged by bankcard networks to use their debit or credit cards.

Strive for clarity in design and navigation. The more efficiently you can deliver what customers seek, the better off you (and they) will be. For instance, don’t force visitors to return to your home page as they move through your site.

Collect visitor information, but do it carefully. “If you collect contact information and stay in touch, you’ll extract more value from your visitors than if you depend on the 1 percent to 2 percent who are ready to buy right now and ignore the rest,” says Howie Jacobson, author of “AdWords for Dummies.”

However, if you force customers to register too much personal information before they check out, you’ll lose the sale—either because it takes too much time or because the customer is annoyed by your information demands.

First, state your privacy policy clearly on your site, including on the registration pages, so that customers understand that their information will be protected. Next, give customers an incentive to share information. For instance, offer a discount coupon or free shipping in exchange for registration.

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Microsoft SharePoint Designer 2007 is now a free product!

Why?

Customers are telling Microsoft that they see a significant part of SharePoint Designer’s capabilities as an extension of what SharePoint Products and Technologies already do, and they want to be able to create increasingly dynamic Web sites on SharePoint.

In response to this feedback, Microsoft is implementing a number of changes to promote and facilitate even more customization efforts on top of the SharePoint platform.

When?

Starting April 2, 2009, SharePoint Designer 2007 is available as a free download.

Where?

Start at the SharePoint Designer home page and follow the download links from there: www.microsoft.com/spd

Where can I learn more about the announcement?

Read the Letter to SharePoint Designer Customers.
Watch the interview with SharePoint Director Tom Rizzo (below).

What about licensing issues?

To learn more about licensing issues, for example, what to do if you recently purchased SharePoint Designer, see the Q&A on Licensing Changes.

Where can I learn more about SharePoint Designer?

Start with these:
Introducing Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007 (article)
Introduction to building SharePoint applications (article)
A six-part video series on getting the most out of SharePoint Designer (videos)
Get SharePoint Designer training on your desktop (videos)
Can I restrict access to SharePoint Designer in my organization?

Yes! See Locking Down SharePoint Designer (blog on MSDN).

SharePoint Designerfor free interview with Tom Rizzo

From Sharepoint Designer weblog: We hope you’re as excited as we are about this announcement. Enjoy using SharePoint Designer and check back often for blog posts on using SharePoint Designer!

From Louis Broome: Microsoft Office has awesome powers. It’s jam packed with a gazillion ways to help you be more productive. Fact is, Office is so insanely rich that no one taps its full potential. All Office customers — from those confronting enterprise-wide, business-critical issues to the newbie just getting started — can learn to get more out of the Office applications they use.

Our new video series, “Office Intervention,” connects the people who make Office to the people who use it, i.e., you, so we can help you become super brilliant at whatever it is you do. The more you get done at work, the less you work you take home. The more time you have at home, the closer we come to world peace. (Actually, I skipped a few steps there. I don’t have it all worked out yet but when I do I’ll share out my deck.)

You might know “Office Intervention’s” host, Tina Wood, from her trail blazing Web show, G4TV, or in her current role as host of Microsoft’s Channel 10. In the pilot episode, “Office Intervention: I Need a Job,” Office Content Publishing’s very own Office expert Ron Owens shows former actress Alycia Delmore how Office Online and Monster.com can help her land a job.

And that’s just the beginning. “I Need a Job” is surrounded by scads of related stuff like Four steps to your next job, an article that includes more videos - How to get your resume noticed and Story time = 1 or 1,000 resumes - a link to our resume template collection, and links to articles on career advice and changing careers. You can even start searching for a job.

Keep an eye peeled for more episodes of “Office Intervention” because like I said, it’s good to be brilliant.

From the Threat Research & Response Blog via bhandler:
The Microsoft Security Response Center has released Advisory 969136 today about a vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint which is being exploited in the wild. Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 and Mac Office are vulnerable however the latest version, Office 2007, is not.

So far we’re aware of several distinct exploit files which have been used. They all seem to be used only in targeted attacks and therefore the number of affected customers is very low.
Some “workarounds” can be found here:

TechNet: Investigating the new PowerPoint issue

BOTTOM LINE: Don’t open a “joke” that comes in the form of a PowerPoint presentation - especially from people that don’t normally send you PowerPoint presentations?

New 0-day Exploits Using PowerPoint Files
The Microsoft Security Response Center has released Advisory 969136 today about a vulnerability in Microsoft Office PowerPoint which is being exploited in the wild. Office 2000, Office XP, Office 2003 and Mac Office are vulnerable however the latest version, Office 2007, is not. The Microsoft SRD blog provides more details about the how to protect your environment from the vulnerability.

So far we’re aware of several distinct exploit files which have been used. They all seem to be used only in targeted attacks and therefore the number of affected customers is very low. Here’s a diagram that demonstrates how such an attack happens:

We are also releasing today a generic signature to protect our customers against these exploits. Its name is Exploit:Win32/Apptom.gen. Basically, access to such exploit files is blocked if a Windows Live OneCare user or a Forefront Client Security user tries to open them. This new signature is included in definition update version 1.55.975.0 or higher.

http://www.microsoft.com/security/portal/SearchResults.aspx?query=Exploit%3AWin32%2FApptom.gen

older workers should embrace their maturity and start selling their experience for what it is: an advantage.

If you’re an older worker who is looking for a job where people will have faith and trust in your wisdom, here are five jobs where your experience and expertise are an advantage:

1. Health care professional
Why age is an advantage: Though young people in the medical field are more than capable of providing exceptional medical care, some people simply don’t feel comfortable having someone their daughter’s age in charge of their life. Older health-care professionals exude good judgment and breadth of experience; people believe you are less likely to be wrong or make a mistake.
Annual average salary*: Salary will vary depending on your position in the industry.

2. Financial adviser
Why age is an advantage: Older workers hold a lot of credibility with stakeholders, Walker says. There’s a natural assumption that someone older knows what he is talking about, which is important when talking about finances. People will believe they can trust your opinion because they come from having been “been there, done that.”
Annual average salary: $66,242

3. Career counselor
Why age is an advantage: It’s doubtful a college graduate is going to feel comfortable getting career advice from someone who graduated the year before her. People want career advice from people who actually have depth in the work force. Older workers have a great work ethic, as most of them came into the market when they remained at one company until earning a gold watch. That type of commitment will be useful when others need help landing a career.
Annual average salary: $47,074

4. Brand manager
Why age is an advantage: Older workers usually have a clear commitment to company goals, which means they believe in what the company is selling. “Their knowledge and experience in the global marketplace creates a frame of reference to understand ‘why’ and to recognize the place of the company within that marketplace,” Walker says.
Annual average salary: $60,706

5. Consultant
Why age is an advantage: The good thing about being a consultant is that you can consult for almost anything. As someone older, you probably have more than one area of expertise; consult for them all! Your knowledge will make clients believe you will commit fewer errors, identify the best opportunities and find the clearest path to results, Walker says.
Annual average salary: $152,423; salaries will vary.

From the Microsoft Small Business Office Onlne weblog:

Before you begin
You will need to register for a free PayPal Business Account. If you already have a PayPal personal account, it is easy to upgrade to the business account. Inside the PayPal Business Account, there is a section called Merchant Services. I encourage you to sniff around this portion of the site, because along with the Create Buttons feature, PayPal offers a lot of free and useful e-commerce tools to keep your business running smoothly.

Create a PayPal payment button
PayPal offers not just one, but 5 payment button choices. This is fantastic because you can select a button that is a perfect match for your site’s needs. The buttons to choose from are:

Add to Cart — Use it to sell multiples and variations of an item; it includes inventory tracking.

Buy Now — Designed for single purchases and/or the one-at-a-time customer.

Donate — Similar to the “buy now” single purchase button, but meant for donations.

Buy Gift Certificate — A single-purchase button that allows you to sell gift certificates in amounts you specify.

Subscribe — Great for reoccurring payments like membership dues or subscription fees.

So you can see that the benefits of PayPal buttons are not limited to only e-tailers with products to sell. Take your time deciding which button best suits your site. Be sure to factor in the goals you want to accomplish.

Next, sign in to your Office Live Small Business account. You will need to navigate to your site’s Page Manager and then select the page in which you want to embed the payment button. You can also insert the same payment button site-wide if you want to have a button that acts more like a permanent reminder or as a means of highlighting a special offer.

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You can save time by configuring your computer to automatically open a specific Microsoft Office program whenever Microsoft Windows starts by doing one of the following:

Windows Vista
Click the Start button , click All Programs, and then click Microsoft Office.
In the list of available Office programs, right-click the icon of the program or programs you want to start automatically, and then click Copy on the shortcut menu.
In the All Programs list, right-click the Startup folder, and then click Explore on the shortcut menu.
In the window that opens, click Organize, and then click Paste.
Keyboard shortcut To paste your selection into the Startup folder more quickly, press CTRL+V.
The next time you start your computer, Windows automatically runs the program or programs that you have copied to the Startup folder.

Microsoft Windows XP
On the Start menu, point to All Programs, point to Microsoft Office.
In the list of available Office programs, right-click the icon of the program or programs you want to start automatically, and then click Copy on the shortcut menu.
In the All Programs list, right-click the Startup folder, and then click Explore on the shortcut menu.
On the Edit menu, click Paste.
Keyboard shortcut To paste your selection into the Startup folder more quickly, press CTRL+V.
The next time you start your computer, Windows automatically runs the program or programs that you have copied to the Startup folder.

Use this to quickly start whatever Microsoft Office Program you use, automatically. By using this shortcut, you will save time on your work .

The nerdy, boring sibling of the Microsoft office family, Excel is always associated with mathematical functions, ledgers, and other yawn inducing things. Little did you know, Excel has a secret second life full of fun and weird things! Here’s 10 of them, conveniently displayed in list form for you:

10. Etch-a-Sketch

Remember etch-a-sketch? Now you can doodle away with your keyboard arrows, excel style. This will keep you mildly amused for about ten minutes, but it beats actually doing work with excel.

9. Meeting Bingo

Next time you have a really boring meeting to attend, use this tool to generate some meeting bingo cards for you and your coworkers. Just fill out the the list with your workplaces most trite & overused buzzwords, and you’re ready to go. Winner gets first pick of the new office chairs.

8. Pranks

There’s a lot of different excel modifications you can make to excel to have fun with (or at the expense of) your coworkers. For example, did you know that 2 + 2 = 5 (for large values of 2) ? Install this on your coworkers computer and, with patience, that calculation will eventually find its way into one of their complex worksheets.

7. ASCII Animation

I don’t even want to think about how this was created, but the point is that if you are really bored and inclined, you can.

6. Board Games

That’s right, a completely functional copy of monopoly built right into excel (complete with wheelin’ & dealin’, cut-throat A.I. !) , and it’s not the only board game for excel, you can find most popular board games for excel.

5. Spirograph

The crappy toy is now a crappy excel add-on. Did you know that there’s a direct correlation between the decline of Spirograph and the rise in gang activity? Think about it.

4. Joke Charts & Graphs

Graph Jam features a huge collection of user submitted joke graphs and charts for your amusement. Put Excel’s visualization tools to good use, and make some of your own.

3. Draw

Probably not your first choice in drawing tools, but people have created some jaw-dropping drawings with Excel, and you can too.

2. Make Music

Someone has made a fully functional drum machine and a synthesizer with Excel! One more Excel based instrument, and you could create the geekiest band in the world.

1. Video Games

There’s an entire world of video games ported to excel (like tetris) out there, as well as some made specifically for excel. Try to be productive at work, knowing that.