Microsoft Word Shortcuts You Probably Don’t Know

Microsoft Word: Love it or hate it, practically everyone uses it. I've been using it so long, I thought I knew everything about it. But I stumbled across some super helpful shortcuts — hidden tricks and timesavers that make Microsoft Word easier and faster.

One caveat for these tips: different versions of Word may have different commands, so some of these may not work in your version. That said, here are my top eight shortcuts:

1. Double Click And Drag
If you're like most people, when you want to move a section of text from one place to another, you use Control-C to cut and Control-V to paste. That's fine. It works. But there's a faster way: Double click or highlight what you want to move, then simply drag what you've highlighted to where you want it to land.

2. Double Underline
You know you can affect text by hitting Control-B to make it bold or Control-U to underline. But if one line of underlining just isn't emphatic enough, Control-Shift-D will double underline. (On a Mac, use Command-Shift-D.)

If that doesn't make your point, you may have to go to ALL CAPS, and I've got a shortcut for that too…

3. Change CaseChange Case button
Instead of retyping everything to change from lower case to Title Case or to UPPERCASE, just highlight the text you want to change, click the case button, and then choose which case you want.

4. Adding Buttons to Your Toolbar
Suppose you just tried using shortcut #3, but the case button isn't on your toolbar, no worries; you can add it (and almost any other command). Go to View, Toolbars, Customize Toolbars, Commands, then scroll to find the command you want — and drag it to where on the toolbar you want it.

5. Add the Date
How many times a day do you type the date? If you do it even once, that's too much. Next time, just hit Alt-Shift-D (or Control-Shift -D on a Mac) to add the date automatically.

6. Quick Parts
This next tip builds on what the Autotext function did in older versions of Word: If you have a certain paragraph of text you regularly need to add to a document — like a boilerplate disclaimer, or maybe directions to your office — turn it into a Quick Part. Here's how:Quick Parts

Highlight the text you regularly use
Click the insert tab
Hit Quick Parts, and choose "Save Selection To The Quick Part Gallery"

Now any time you want to insert that chunk of text into a document, either a new one or and old one you're editing, just hit that Quick Parts button. Just one more click will select which saved Quick Part to insert. This trick will even work as a shortcut for adding a logo or letterhead.

7. Conform Fonts
This one used to drive me crazy: I'd copy and paste some bit of text from another document or from the Web, and then I'd have to click all over the place to get the font size and style to match the surrounding text of my existing document. No longer. Here's all you need to do: Highlight the non-conforming text, then hit Control-Spacebar. Done.

8. Customize Quick Access Toolbar

There is one way to get your most commonly used commands in the same place- that's to customize the Quick Access Toolbar. It's like the center drawer in your desk that has all the stuff you use most in one easy-to-access place. No organization, just (as the name implies) quick access. So take the things you like most and add them to the Quick Access toolbar. Click the little down arrow tab to get to the Customize Quick Access Toolbar drop down menu:uyl_ep54_quick_access2 crop

Hit "more commands" and add whatever you use most. You can also position this toolbar below the ribbon if you prefer it to be closer to your document text.

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Play the "travel game"

Some people like chess while others like Sudoku or crossword puzzles. Expert suggests to play the game of travel, which requires strategy and collaboration to get hotels at about 40 percent of retail price.

You can start with Priceline.com and Hotwire.com, and then go to the travel boards of biddingforrtavel.com and betterbidding.com, where people will post the names and bidding amounts of hotels they've won. If you don't see what you are looking for, you can post a question which always seems to get answered.

In just about a half hour, you can often save hundreds of dollars per trip and that's a whole lot more rewarding than finishing a Sudoku game.

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Surf the net, email, make calls - with your glasses!

The technology giant is close to launching a pair of futuristic glasses that would deliver all the services of a smartphone straight to the wearer’s eye. Featuring a miniature display on one lens, the hi-tech specs allow users to surf the internet or deal with text messages and emails without lifting a finger.

The screen is controlled with a ‘mouse’ which is moved simply by tilting your head. And should you still wish to actually talk to someone, it is believed the glasses will let you make calls using an in-built microphone. Reports suggest the device, which would revolutionise the smartphone market, could be available by the end of this year costing less than £380 – making it cheaper than Apple’s iPhone.

Users would also be able to see through the lenses as normal and go about their daily business, then with a flick of the head activate the display and start surfing. The glasses would use the same Google operating system that powers Android smartphones and tablets and would connect to the internet through 3G or next-generation 4G mobile networks.

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Facebook for Sale

Even in a region famous for cranking out business marvels, Facebook is something to behold. Almost eight years to the day after launching in a Harvard dorm room, the Menlo Park social networking giant on Wednesday took the wraps off a financial rocket that reached all but the loftiest of expectations surrounding the company.

In its eagerly awaited initial public offering filing, Facebook said its annual revenue last year totalled $US3.7 billion ($A3.47 billion) as profits hit $US1 billion. About 845 million people around the world check into the site at least monthly - and nearly 500 million do so daily - giving Facebook the kind of global reach usually associated with a century-old brand like Coca-Cola.

''This is a unique and extraordinary company,'' said Mark Siegel, managing director at venture capital firm Menlo Ventures, which does not have a stake in the company. ''I don't know that you can draw a whole lot of parallels.''

All of which is why the $US5 billion offering, which several reports say could rise to $US10 billion, is the most highly anticipated tech offer since Google. It could mint hundreds of millionaires, make boatloads of rich VCs a whole lot richer and reignite market fascination with dot-com offerings in the wake of some high-profile duds.

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Twitter CEO Says Blocking Policy Over-distilled

Twitter CEO Dick Costolo is seeking to calm the global outrage over the company's new country-by-country censorship policy.

Speaking at the All Things D conference on Monday he said that the outrage in part has resulted from the issue being treated with the same the kind of shorthand that has made Twitter popular.

By taking down tweets only in the country where Twitter believes they may have violated local laws, Costolo says the company is making sure the message is still available to the rest of the world.

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For Many Indonesians, 'Fesbuk' is The Only Internet

Indonesia, a developing Muslim nation which claims the world’s third-largest community of Facebook users, has become a showcase for the social networking site’s global power and reach.

Facebook has broken technological and social barriers to connect 40 million users in the sprawling Indonesian archipelago of more than 17,000 islands, some without even landline connections. Its remarkable ascent has for many users rendered the rest of the Internet obsolete, as well as attracted allegations that it is responsible for encouraging pornography, premarital sex and adultery.

Banking on its global popularity, which has also seen India amass the second-biggest number of users after the United States, Facebook has filed for a stock market debut expected to become one of the biggest of all time. With even cheap cell phones in Indonesia sold already bundled with Facebook applications, for many, “Fesbuk” — as it is written in the national Bahasa language — simply is the Internet.

Many don’t bother to do anything else on the Internet and are barely aware that they can use the browser button on their phone to go online, he explains.

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The Television You Can 'Reach Iinside' to Grab Things on Screen

Television that you reach inside and interact with, like Willy Wonka’s Wonkavision in the classic 1970s movie, could be just around the corner.

Media student Jayne Vidheecharoen from the Art Center College of Design in California has designed a prototype TV that converts physical hands into virtual ones when users put them in the back of the box.

Google Streetview appears as a back drop courtesy of a green screen and digital objects can be manipulated and moved around at will. In Charlie And The Chocolate Factory we see spoiled Mike Teevee converted into a million pixels, miniaturised and beamed into a TV set.

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Apple May Hurt Shareholders with Patent War

Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple, told his biographer that he'd rather wage "thermonuclear war" with Google than make deals to share its technology with the maker of the Android operating system.

That was no empty threat. In the 18 months before Jobs died on October 5, Apple sued HTC, Samsung Electronics and Motorola Mobility, the three largest Android users. It alleged that the phone makers stole Apple's technology and asked courts to make them stop.

Now, as rulings start coming in, it might be time for a détente that helps Apple maximise the value of its patents, said Kevin Rivette, a managing partner at 3LP Advisors, a firm that advises on intellectual property. When courts side with Apple and impose bans on infringing products, competitors can often devise workarounds; in cases where Apple doesn't win import restrictions, it would be better off striking settlements that ensure access to a competitor's innovation, he said

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BlackBerry under Fire over Illegal Sex Content

Smartphone company BlackBerry faces controversy after it was revealed its customers have been able to access illegal sex content on the internet, including child pornography.

Since the summer, BlackBerry has failed to provide internet blocks which protect users, including children, from accessing a list of banned websites. The news will alarm parents since teenagers make up a large proportion of the eight million BlackBerry users in the UK.

Last night, telecoms regulator Ofcom said it was ‘very concerned’ about the issue and that it was talking urgently to Canada’s Research in Motion (RIM), owners of BlackBerry, about how to solve the problem.

All mobile phone operators in Britain are signed up to a code of practice which ensures they apply a block on access to sex sites on the internet. A spokesman for RIM said: ‘By the end of 2011, we will have a solution in place that blocks access to these sites.’

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Samsung Win Appeal in Apple Tablet Battle

South Korean electronics giant Samsung Wednesday won its appeal against a temporary ban on sales of its Galaxy tablet device in Australia, a rare victory in its legal battle with rival Apple.

The Federal Court of Australia in Sydney lifted the ban on the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 Tab ahead of a final hearing, with the US giant claiming the device copies its iPad computer. But Apple immediately won a stay of orders, meaning that Samsung will not be able to sell the Galaxy in Australia until 0500 GMT Friday.

The Federal Court granted an interim order against the sale of the Galaxy 10.1 in October, ruling that Apple had established a prima facie case that the South Korean company had breached touchscreen technology copyrights. The Sydney court heard it would take a week to prepare to launch the Galaxy for sale in Australia, and Samsung argued against the further stay on sales.

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HP Slate 2 Tablet

The Slate 2 is actually a follow-up to HP's Slate 500, which launched more than a year ago at a price of $US800, running Windows 7 and marketed to businesses and not consumers. The Slate 2, again, isn't a consumer tablet, HP says, noting that it envisions the gadget "for business and vertical markets such as education, healthcare, government and retail, where jobs frequently take users away from a traditional desk." So don't go expecting to see this device showing up in you local electronics retailer.

The new HP tablet for businesses will sell for $US700, and like the Slate 500, the Slate 2 will weigh in at 680 grams, feature an 8.9-inch touchscreen and make use of an optional stylus. On the Slate 2, a software update will enable users to also use an on-screen swipe keyboard, HP said.

The Slate 2 will run on Intel's 1.5-gigahertz Atom Z670 processor, offer up to six hours of battery life and encrypt data on the device's hard drive. A VGA camera is built into the front of the Slate 2 while a 3-megapixel camera is on the back and the tablet has 2 gigabytes of RAM, a hard drive of up to 64 gigabytes and one USB port - the same as the Slate 500's setup.

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iPad 3 anyone?

Leaks from Asian sources have hinted that Apple's iPad 3 will arrive in Spring 2012 - and will have an all-new connector.

That could mean that the tablet is even slimmer than the barely-there iPad 2. It will also mean, though, that a lot of users could have to throw out add-ons such as iPad docks and keyboards.

The leak comes courtesy of tech site CNET, who report that an Asian source says the device will feature a slimmed down version of the current 24-pin connector.

The gadget will have the same size of screen as the current iPad 2 - which seems to run counter to earlier gossip about an iPad Mini designed to compete with the current crop of mid-sized Android devices from Samsung and Dell.

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iPhone 4S Users Drained by Battery Bug

Battery life issues with the iPhone 4S, which even Apple's own store staff have struggled to fix, are being investigated by the company. Suspected bugs in iOS5 have caused the battery on the new iPhone model to drain rapidly for some users – and frustrated customers have been flooding online forums. A thread on the issues on Apple's own forums has had almost 2200 replies and over 140,000 views

One Australian Apple store employee and app developer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said while doing nothing with the phone his battery life was dropping 10 per cent an hour even with non important location settings, Siri, Bluetooth and other features switched off.

With normal use he dropped 19 per cent in 50 minutes and sometimes the battery dropped away at an even faster rate than that.

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Europe's Largest Mega Mall

When John Saunders and Frank Lowy opened their first shopping centre called 'Westfield Place' in the suburbs of Sydney in 1959, it boasted 12 shops, two department stores and a supermarket.

Now 43 years later, the property developers are preparing to open the doors of Westfield Stratford City tomorrow - making it the largest urban shopping centre in Europe. This shiny mini-city of chrome and carrier bags contains 300 shops ranging from Primark to Prada within its 1.9million sq ft.

The retail behemoth is 'anchored' by a 240,000 sq ft John Lewis department store, a 32,000 sq ft Waitrose supermarket, and a 200,000 sq ft Marks & Spencer.

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Best smartphone for battery life

Here's a phone that could easily fit in the category above, too. While the Sonim XP1300 CORE doesn’t run on a major operating system like Apple’s iOS, Google’s Android, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 or BlackBerry, it does offer email, a browser, FM radio and other familiar features.

But what is most impressive is the phones’s 18-hour talk time and 800 hours of standby life. There are not many devices on the market that can boast anything close to that kind of battery life, which is why it sits at the top of this list. The Sonim XP1300 is available for AT&T and T-Mobile customers.

Still, Sonim’s main offering of massive battery life will not please everyone. If you’re already rocking a much more dainty iPhone or Android smartphone, there are still some steps you can take to prolong your battery life. The iPhone 4 is certainly good for gaming, but a few hours of Infinity Blade and your juice will be depleted before lunch.

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Worst Passwords

A major hack on social gaming site RockYou revealed some troubling patterns in how we choose our passwords. The Imperva Application Defense Center (ADC), a security research group, examined the passwords of RockYou's clients to see just what went wrong.

The study found that more than 29,000 of the compromised accounts were using the password "123456" — the most popular password. The second and third most common passwords were also strings of consecutive numbers.

And the fourth most common password? "Password." Other popular passwords from the RockYou case include "iloveyou," "abc123," and a handful of common first names like "Ashley" and "Michael."

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Best smartphone for gaming

Apple made this one easy with the iPhone, and specifically the iPhone 4. And with the next generation just around the corner, iDevices will offer even more fun for gamers. Beyond the state-of-the-art graphics and controls that set the standard for gaming on mobile devices, there are more than 70,000 iPhone games available in Apple’s App Store.

Whether you are simply a casual gamer who likes to occasionally tap into a crossword puzzle or a hardcore action-arcade fanatic, there truly is something for everyone. The popularity of a game like Angry Birds, which began life on Apple’s smartphone before hitting other platforms (and, essentially taking over the world), has made everyone stand up and take notice.

It’s also telling that instead of console and PC games shaping the iOS gaming market, the tide is beginning to turn. Games that were created for iPhones including Fruit Ninja, Backbreaker Football, and the aforementioned Angry Birds are now available on major consoles. The iPhone 4 is currently available for AT&T and Verizon customers.

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Smartphone War Pauses as World Mourns Steve Jobs

The launch of a hot new Google smartphone was delayed on Friday as the world mourned the loss of legendary Apple co-founder Steve Jobs and sales began of the latest iPhone.

Samsung and Google put out word they have postponed a “Mobile Unpacked” press event planned for next week at an international wireless telecommunications industry conference in Southern California.

“Under the current circumstances, both parties have agreed that this is not the appropriate time for the announcement of a new product,” Samsung said in a statement at its official blog.

“We will announce a new date and venue in due course,” the South Korean consumer electronics titan promised.

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Adobe Brings Flash to iPhone and iPad without Asking Apple

The battle between Adobe, maker of the popular Flash video software used in more than 50 per cent of websites, and Apple, which refuses to allow it to work on many of its devices, is one of the bitterest in corporate history.

But Adobe has now created a 'cheat' that allows Flash video to play freely on Apple's devices - without Apple signing it off. But don't expect Flash to start working immediately on every website you visit - with some video-industry insiders describing the new solution as a 'fudge'.

The new solution works for publishers who want videos stored in Flash to be visible on popular Apple products such as iPhone, iPods and iPads. At present, Apple limits the web-browsing software in their handhelds so it is difficult for many users to see web video barring videos from YouTube.

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LG Optimus Hub: Penyegaran Optimus One

LG memperkenalkan anggota anyar di keluarga ponsel Optimus. Namanya adalah Optimus Hub, smartphone Android kelas menengah. Optimus Hub ini sebelumnye lebih dikenal dengan nama LG Univa E510. Handset ini dibanderol sekitar 199 euro atau di kisaran Rp 2 juta.

Spesifikasi Optimus Hub antara lain OS Android Gingerbread, layar 3,5 inch HVGA, HSDPA, Wi-Fi, DLNA, GPS, Bluetooth 3.0, 512MB RAM, prosesor 800 MHz dan kamera 5MP autofocus.

Optimus Hub disebut-sebut sebagai pengganti Optimus One, salah satu ponsel andalan LG di kelas menengah. Memang Optimus One sudah beredar cukup lama sehingga mungkin diperlukan sedikit penyegaran. Optimus Hub tersedia mulai Oktober di Italia, sebelum menyambangi wilayah-wilayah lainnya. Demikian seperti dilansir UnwiredView

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