May 23, 2010
FIND MAIL FASTER WITH SEARCH FOLDERS
Both Outlook 2003 and 2007 have an often overlooked feature named Search Folders. Look under the list of mail folders (Inbox / Outbox / Sent Items) and you’ll see a handful of default Search Folders, gathering together all the items that meet some criteria. “Unread mail,” for example, displays all the messages that are unread regardless of what folder contains them. If you’ve moved messages out of the Inbox without reading them, they’ll still show up in the “Unread mail” search folder.
That’s the secret of Search Folders. Your messages aren’t moved or duplicated; these are virtual […] continued
May 17, 2010
GETTING STARTED WITH WINDOWS 7
A lot of people are buying Windows 7 computers! Here’s a roundup of articles about new features to discover and some of the ways that Windows 7 is different than Windows XP. Click on the pictures or the titles for the original articles with all the details to help you get started!
|
|
WINDOWS 7 TASKBAR |
[…] continued
May 17, 2010
MORE MOBILE LOCATION TRICKS
While we’re talking about smartphones, I should mention another way that your phone can use its knowledge of your location to do something interesting.
Google added an unassuming link named “Near Me Now” on the Google search page on iPhones and Android phones. Click it and you’ll get a short list of categories – Restaurants, ATMS and banks, Shopping, Lodging, and more. Clicking on one will bring up a list of results based on where you are standing at that moment. I just pulled up a list of all the restaurants near my house in two clicks, with addresses, […] continued
May 13, 2010
VISUAL SEARCH WITH GOOGLE GOGGLES
As I said last month, each of you might find one or two apps for a smartphone that get you all excited – the apps that you show people to demonstrate how cool your new phone is.
I found mine. Google Goggles amazes me. If you’ve got an Android phone, you’ve got to check this out. It’s a free download from the Android Marketplace. (There have been vague hints that it will eventually be ported to iPhones and other platforms but don’t hold your breath for that.)
Google Goggles lets you use pictures taken with […] continued
May 12, 2010
UPDATED GOOGLE SEARCH PAGES
Google has officially rolled out an update to its search result pages, a three column design that provides search options on the left to help refine and redirect your searches. Spend a few minutes learning about the new features – this is the basic tool that shapes much of your online experience, every day.
I wrote up a short description of the new search options a few months ago. There’s a much more complete description here, with examples of all the different ways that the left column might help you improve your search results. There are […] continued
April 13, 2010
WINDOWS 7 SEARCHES – SEARCH TECHNIQUES
Previously:
Windows 7 Searches – Small Business
Windows 7 Searches – Libraries
You’ve got a Windows 7 workstation in a small business or law firm. The network server is running Windows Search 4 and you’ve added the network locations with shared files to your Documents library. All the pieces are in place!
SEARCH ALL DOCUMENTS FROM WINDOWS EXPLORER
When you click on Documents on the Start menu, you will open your Documents library, which includes both your individual files and all of the shared company documents.
Do a search from the upper right corner of […] continued
April 12, 2010
WINDOWS 7 SEARCHES – LIBRARIES
Previously: Windows 7 Searches – Small Business
When you click on Documents in the Start menu in Windows 7, your cursor arrives blinking in Libraries. I’ve been annoyed by that for months, but I finally had an “ah-ha!” moment when I discovered what libraries can do for searches. Let me give you some background about libraries, from the perspective of a small business or law firm user.
Libraries are collections gathered together from different places and presented in a single view. There’s no folder on your C: drive named “Libraries.” A library is a special view of files […] continued
April 12, 2010
WINDOWS 7 SEARCHES – SMALL BUSINESS
If the right elements are in place, Windows 7 can be used for lightning-fast searches through shared folders in small businesses and law firms. There are a couple of tricks to that process; it will take a couple of days to give you the background and show you some search techniques.
When Windows Search 4.0 was released in the summer of 2008, one of its important features was “remote query” or “remote index discovery.” A computer with Windows Search 4 responds to a search query from a remote computer by consulting its own index and sending the […] continued
March 29, 2010
RIGHT-CLICK YOUR WAY TO HAPPINESS
I had to grin when I learned that a cool keyboard shortcut was literally right under my nose.
Clicking on the right mouse button brings up context menus everywhere in Windows. The right-click menus have been enhanced in the Windows 7 taskbar to display previously-used documents and shortcuts and more.
Look at your keyboard – the lower right, to the right of the spacebar, in between the right Alt and Ctrl keys. See the special key (in the picture above)? Nope, I’d never noticed it before either.
It brings up a right-click context menu for […] continued
March 2, 2010
INFORMATION LITERACY
Technology has left everyone feeling a bit adrift. Everyone fears that they don’t have basic skills that other people seem to have mastered – whether it’s finding files on a computer or locating information online, running programs or using handheld devices. Some people are ahead of the curve, some are behind, but almost no one feels confident. It’s hard to step back and realize how much you’ve learned about computers and the Internet in the last ten years.
Here’s an anecdote about a mistake. I don’t mention it to make fun of the people involved. We’re all fighting […] continued