Microsoft Office

Microsoft Access

Courtesy of Access Team Blog:

Highlights of the updates:

Package Solution Wizard
A wizard that creates a Windows Installer Package (MSI) to install your database and any supporting files and optionally includes the Access 2007 Runtime, or prompts the user to download the Access 2007 Runtime.
Updated for packaging databases with international character file names. Some surrogate Unicode characters are not supported due to MSI technology limitations
Bug fix: Repairing an package install to a custom location will correctly install to the original user-specified location.
Source Code Control
Integration with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe or other source code control systems to allow check-in/check-out of queries, forms, reports, macros, modules, and data. You can also see the differences that have been made to your checked out objects.
This is the first release of the ADE that ships the source code control components in additional languages beyond English, Japanese, French and German.

Click the link above for more and the download siet.

Inauguration 2009

Don’t miss out!

Add me on Facebook, Brick ONeil, as we watch this historic day when our Nation Inaugurates our first African American/Black President! What a proud day for the United States, and indeed, the World.

Remember where you were when America’s first chosen African American President was sworn in to bring America back! The entire world waits in eager anticipation, seeing President Elect Obama as the one person who can bring everyone together. What will his first actions, as President, be? How will world leaders welcome him? TIme will tell.

Enjoy history in the making.

Verify Addresses

They give a pretty detailed explanation, complete with screenshots along the way. If you you use Mail Merge quite often (or need it once) this is a great tool. I, myself, do not have a lot of people (neither in my business life nor my personal life) to mail to. For those that have hundreds of people to send out cards, newsletters, notices or information, Mail Merge is a great way to set up printing and mailing.

You can even get a home United States Postal Service postage stamp machine for your home business and set up home pickup for bulk mailings. Just browse around on the United States Postal Service website for more information.

On the Excel blog, they cover how to:

Create a Table

The first step is to create a Table from the list of addresses.

Define a Name for the Table

Excel allows you to define names that apply to a range of cells in the worksheet. When a name is defined for a Table in a worksheet, the name will update automatically as the table is resized to add or remove data. This is helpful in this case because I want to add and remove addresses during the process of printing envelopes.

Verify Addresses

After my Table is created and a name applied, I start going through the addresses to confirm which ones are correct. I do this by adding a new column to the Table for this year. To do this, just type 2008 in cell H2. The Table and the name that we defined will expand automatically. Once you have the new column, then you can type something in the column to indicate whether the address is correct. I used a “Y” in my list.

And much more. Click the link to learn how.

Microsoft in Education

Attend a Webinar, fill out a questionnaire and get a free copy of OneNote 2007 (and become a MOONIE, that is, MicrosOft OneNote).

From Mike Tholfsen’s Blog:

Next Tuesday, (January 20th, 2009 from 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm PST) Microsoft Solution Specialist Tony Franklin will be presenting a Teacher Tech Tuesday webinar on OneNote 2007 in the classroom. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Tony a few different times, including the Philadelphia School of the Future and the Freedom Writer Teacher event. Tony works extensively with the Philadelphia School of the Future and has been a proponent of OneNote and education for many years. I highly encourage you to sign up for this free webinar and engage with Tony for his presentation.

OneNote 2007

Microsoft will also be giving a free a copy of OneNote 2007 for any teacher that views the webinar and completes the survey at the end! If you missed the last one, now’s you’re chance to get a copy of OneNote. More details on how you get your free copy are listed below.

So round up as many teachers as you can and watch this webinar on Tuesday.

Go HERE to register. Get as many of your fellow Teachers to participate! Encourage everyone to become a MOONie.

Get tips on how OneNote can help you organize class materials and class work, create collaborative work environments, and share workspaces. In this webinar we will cover:

- Getting Started with OneNote
- How to get organized with OneNote
- Organizing class materials & class work
- Creating collaborative work environments

European Commission

Microsoft faces new charges in a European Court that they have been accused of beating the competition with a big stick by inserting their world famous “Internet Explorer” web browser into their software that goes into all computers. The official charges are “Microsoft’s tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice,” Europe’s top antitrust watchdog said in a statement.”

The Commission “sets out evidence and outlines its preliminary conclusion that Microsoft’s tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system harms competition between Web browsers, undermines product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice,” the EU executive said in a statement.

“If the preliminary views expressed in the statement of objection are confirmed, the Commission may impose a fine on Microsoft, require Microsoft to cease the abuse and impose a remedy that would restore genuine consumer choice and enable competition on the merits.”

Microsoft and the EU have engaged in a running spat over competition issues for years, and the U.S. company has been fined several times for allegedly abusing its 95 percent dominance of personal computer systems through its ubiquitous Windows software.

Microsoft is no stranger to European courts. In September 2007, Microsoft lost an appeal before Europe’s second-highest court against a fine of nearly 500 million euros that EU regulators slapped on the company in 2004 for abusing its dominant market power.

In February, the commission hit Microsoft with a further fine of 899 million euros for defying its 2004 ruling. Microsoft has lodged an appeal against the decision.

Microsoft continues to appeal each decision.

Access Bug Database Templete

Free Bugs application available for download

Haven’t used Access much myself, although have been wanting to build a database of Writing Contests. Currently, I’ve been using Excel, and the spreadsheet is unwieldy. Access has the ability to take a transfer from Excel files and make the necessary changes.

Anyway, my point is, for those Access users, this bug templete will be a great help.

From the Access Team Blog:

A few months ago we solicited feedback about a new bug tracking template that was in development. We got lots of great feedback and I’m happy to announce the template is available in the Access Getting Started screen in the business category and on Office Online..

Let us know how this helps you and your work/business.

Microsoft Powertoys

He states he uses multiple laptops and desktops daily to test programs, OS’s like Vista, XP and win 7, Servers, Office and, of course, OneNote. He uses a Sharepoint server on a few.

The powertoys he lists that he’s fond of are, in no particular order:
OneNote Favorites addin, Sudoku!, Object Model, A Calendar/Planner Agenda Maker (that I blogged about recently), Embedded File Finder, Double hyperlinking powertoy, and the OneNote Karaoke Machine (raised eyebrow).

Since I’ve had an almost overwhelming amount of no comments, questions and statements, I thought I’d share what I have on my system. My main (and only) computer is a TC1100 Slate Tablet PC, with XP. The pgms I have are Microsoft Office Ultimate 2007, which has ten programs, of which I use mostly Outlook with Business Contact manager and Outlook connector and Microsoft Word 2007. Tomorrow or Saturday, I’m receiving a 1G RAM module so my poor little tablet can run the programs without crashing. The powertoys I have used are tablet calculator and tablet search tool. I’ve tried the meeting with the Virtual Earth mapping powertoy with outlook, but it’s never worked properly.

What is your favorite Microsoft program and what, if any, powertoys do you use?

Creativity Skills Test

It’s a short survey, about 25 or so questions, that scores you in four ares, Preserves New Ideas, Seeks Challenges, Broadens Skills and Knowledge, Changes Physical and Social Environment. Then after you submit the questionnaire, you are given scores in each area and a cumulative score. Mine was 63%. Apparantly I need to seek more challenges and change my environment more. It’s a great venue to get yourself thinking of your environment and life; how you interact with it.

This past year, I’ve relocated across the country from Nebraska to Washington State, moved from Tacoma to Seattle. That’s changing my physical environment. Had to furnish my apt, talked to new and interesting people. Maybe I need to get out more?

It’d be interesting to see how other people score and react to the test and their scores. What would you do differently in your creative life for home, work or around town? How do you interact with others? Have you done anything outside your ‘comfort zone’? I really haven’t. Unless you consider being out at night when the criminals and addicts are panhandling.

Crayon Physics Deluxe

Not everyone can be an automoton, working constantly with no play. Plus, there’s a limit on how much time you can spend playing “Solitaire” (four hours, but don’t tell anyone). Here’s a fun program that’s been making the rounds online. Crayon Physics Deluxe.

A little history: It was at last year’s Independent Games Festival that “Crayon Physics” started turning heads in a big way. Those who got a look at the demo version of the game cooed with delight at the way its childish visual style housed game design as thoughtful as anything out there. And despite competing against the likes of the superb “World of Goo,” it managed to walk away with the festival’s Seumas McNally Grand Prize (and the $20,000 check that goes with it).

Created by 25-year-old Petri Purho, “Crayon Physics Deluxe” got its start as a game the computer science student from Helsinki whipped together in a mere five days. And now that the full game has finally launched, it is proving to be every bit as wonderful and whimsical as the early buzz made it out to be.

The thrust of the game is this: There is a ball over here and there is a star over there. You must move the ball to the star by using (virtual) crayons to draw the physical objects that make it possible to transport the ball to its goal. (In the iPhone version of the game you draw by touching finger to screen, and in the PC version you use the mouse to draw with your crayons.)

Crayon Physics Deluxe sounds like a wonderful game that would incite anyone to childlike behavior. But in a good way. I can imagine world leaders at the next G8 summit playing this game before heady talks.

Mini Brick

Microsoft is offering a free program to make create a smiley in your own image!

The program is easy to understand, install and use. You choose from an array of options, from head, eyes, mouth, color for skin, eyes, hair, glasses, hats; most any combination you could ever want. I was looking for a quill and ink, being a writer, but can’t have everything, I guess.

The finished product can be loaded onto your Live Messenger program (add me bricko at lioneservices dot com), spaces, facebook or other social network site. The finished smiley is pretty good, with all the options they have to offer.

Create your own Mini-Me then add your friends to show off your handiwork.