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Displaying summary of member 'charles'
charles has been a registered user for 2 years and has contributed 128 tip(s) to the site.
Don't you hate shutting down your computer only to realize that you have 10 minutes of updates? Or have a popup box asking you to reboot your computer every 5 minutes? Take control of your updates by either disabling or rescheduling so that it doesn't strike you when you are rushing off for dinner at the end of the day.
...(more)
Temp files are located within C:Documents and Settings[your name]Local SettingsTemp Generally things that you download and run immediate are located here so do once over check to make sure that you haven't go anything important in here and delete everything in the folder.
...(more)
Disabling system restore will speed up your computer significantly, most people think that system restore will backup their data, which is wrong, it will only restore program states and files such as exe, dlls, registry settings, etc...
...(more)
Shift +M - Restore minimizes applications from M
E - Launches windows explorer / my computer window
F - Find files or folders on your computer
L - Lock your computer and if password is set will require you to log in again.
R - Run dialog box, great for using cmd, msconfig, services.msc, mspaint, notepad, etc...
U - Opens the utility manager, mainly for magnifier, voice narration and display keyboard.
F1 - Windows help, if you are reading this you probably don't needs this!
Break - Show system properties, great for finding information about your computer or speeding up your computer.
Ctrl +Shift +ESC - Shows the Task Manager, great for killing applications, viewing system performance
SHIFT +Insert CD / DVD / Blu Ray / USB drive - This will disable Autorun, which is a security risk in my opinion!
...(more)
Shift +Delete when you have selected some files. This will delete it without going to the recycle bin. Be careful use with caution!
F2 - Rename a file, also useful in other programs like excel to edit the cell
Alt + Spacebar +M +Arrow keys - Great if your window moves off your screen which sometimes happens if you are using more than one monitor
F5 - Useful in Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer to refresh the page.
Alt +Spacebar +N - Minimizes the current window, can be faster then reaching for your mouse
Alt +F4 - Closes the current window
Alt +Enter - Show the current properties of the file, sometimes it expands things to full screen in some applications
Ctrl +A - Select all, useful for Windows Explorer and most other applications like Word, Excel, etc...
Alt +D - Useful to go to the address bar in Windows Explorer and most Browsers (IE & Firefox)
Ctrl +C - Generally copies what is selected to clipboard, so that you can paste it elsewhere
Ctrl +X - Move items to the clipboard. Note that in some applications like Windows Explorer it won't really delete the file until you have paste the file in another location
Ctrl +V - Paste items from the clipboard to the current location
Ctrl +Z - Probably the most useful command, used everywhere from undo a moves / deletes of a file, to undo edits in word.
Ctrl +Click or Drag - Ctrl and Click will select individual files / items, while Ctrl and Drag will copy files instead of move them.
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Ctrl +Shift +Drag- This will create a shortcut, personally I prefer right clicking and putting a shortcut on your desktop which is normally where I create my shortcuts anyways
Ctrl +Arrow Keys - Left and Right keys moves backward and forward across words. Up and Down keys moves between paragraphs.
Backspace - Goes up a directory in Windows Explorer
F4 or Ctrl +D - Get to the Windows Explorer or IE address bar. Personally I prefer to use the latter which works on more applications!
Alt +Tab or Alt +Shift +Tab - Switch between applications
Shift +F10 - Mouse right click! For the really advanced people out there or if you have lost your mouse
F6 - Cycles between elements in a window, for example the menu components and the main content window.
Disk Defragmenter will help position your files into contiguous blocks and helps increase space on your computer
...(more)
Why spend all the money of partitioning your hard drive when you can do it from the start!
...(more)
Adding memory and hard disk space are the best ways to improve the performance of your computer.
...(more)
If your OS has been on your computer for more than 6 - 12 months, it might be due for a re-install. No matter how careful you are about installing programs, defragging your computer, your computer WILL slow down. It's a sad reality. Some of the reasons for installing your computer are:
...(more)
Do you have a WiFi connection, Telnet or other services? Disable these to save previous memory, CPU cycles and boot up times! The fastest way to get to these services is to press Win+R then type in "services.msc" + enter. Here is a list of services that you might want to consider to disable:
...(more)
Do you really need to know when you computer starts up or shuts down? All of these takes up precious resources loading and playing the wav sound files. Try disabling them!
...(more)
XP installs some components by default you can increase the speed of your computer esp. if you don't need it. To disable windows components "Start" Menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "Add or Remove Programs" > Select "Add/Remove Windows Components".
...(more)
How many of us really use the recycle bin? Maybe immediately after you have deleted an item but rarely something that you have deleted a week or month ago. Did you know that you can change the recycle bin sizes for each of your drives? Or even better disable it all together (if you are an advanced user).
...(more)
If you have anything bigger than a 1024x768 resolution on your monitor, multiple screens, you will probably have issues with your default mouse speed. Firstly there are two things to consider when you want to increase the speed of your mouse:
...(more)
You might be surprised how many things gets launched when you start up your computer. There are two places you can look at to disable applications on startup:
...(more)
Every item in your desktop chews up memory
...(more)
If you spend most of your time in your applications like most people having a desktop image can just be useless! Change it to a black image, save memory, refresh times of your desktop, energy, and extend the life of your monitor / LCD.
...(more)
There are two major ways to speed up opening up your adobe pdf files:
...(more)
Tweak UI is a free tool from Microsoft to help you optimize advance setting on your computer, when done right it can significantly improve your experience. Click here to download TweakUi http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. Here are some common settings that you might want to change:
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How many times have you opened up Excel to do a simple calculation? Click here to download power calculator http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx.
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This is a free tool from Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx, that enables you to have clear fonts. Technically what it does is it applies anti-aliasing of fonts before it's rendered to the monitor. In layman's it smooths out the fonts, making it easier to read esp. with LCD monitors.
Download and follow the instructions, if you have any problems you can find the tuner at "Start" menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "ClearType Tuning"
Do you really need to update your software every day? If it isn't your virus scanner or your personal firewall (if you have one) then you don't really need to update this every day. Check out your C:WindowsTask folder or go to "Start" menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "Scheduled Tasks".
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Printers have grown a lot since the dot matrix days, these days you can check your toner / ink levels, check how many pieces of paper you have, report problems, even scan, photocopy, fax remotely. But do you really need all this functionality everywhere?
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D , Alt +F4 , S or U or R - This will standby, shutdown or restart respectively. Note that you may need to close unsaved works but it's a fast way to shutdown!
Be it the heater, air-conditioner or your water heater try to set the temperature lower for heaters and higher for air-conditioners. Not will this only save you money but it will also increase your tolerance to temperature fluctuations.
A drop by 20°F or 11°C can save you up to 10% of your home energy usage, just from your water heater alone! ...(more)
Food miles is the concept of how far the food has traveled to reach you. The closer the miles are the less resources is consumed during the process. So instead of buying food from half way around the world consider some local foods. Generally this means buying in season for perishable goods.
Even better try to go to your local farmers market or even better grow your own garden!
For more information click on: Wikipedia and BBC
Try to combine trips, for example doing your groceries on the way back from work. Small short trips add up to time and extra fuel.
When driving try to keep to a consistent speed below the speed limits increasing your speeds from 55mph (90km/h) to 75mph(120km/h) can increase you fuel by 20% for the same trip. Also try to turn your car off if you are stopping for more than 30 seconds, make sure your tires are properly inflated. ...(more)
Try to wash when you have full loads, and if possible get a water saving front loading washing machine. And if possible try to dry your clothes outside rather than putting it in front of a heater or even worse iron dry your clothes.
If you are in a hotel try not to wash the towels every day, you don't do this at home so why do this in a hotel!
If you are going up a floor of a building, going to your local shop / library, consider walking, jogging, run or just riding your bicycle.
According to most health experts you should try to walk 30 minutes every day. Not only will this increase your health but also feel more positive and happy!
Install low-flower shower-heads and save up to 5,000 gallons of water per person each year and if you take shorter showers you will save more! Repair dropping faucets and save 2,700 gallons of water per year (if it drips every second).
Try recycling water to use for watering your plans, garden or cleaning. One way is to using water that you use to wash your vegetables.
Get compact fluorescent light bulbs, they generally use 75% less power and lasts up to 10 times longer and make sure that you turn them off when you don't need them. Also try to get energy efficient products especially for clothes dryers, air-conditioners and refrigerators.
Consider turning off at the mains, especially items that use transformers in them, because the still waste electricity (for example chargers and notebook power supplies). One quick way to check is to touch them and if their hot, turn them off when you aren't using them. Check out these site to work out how much you can save: Consumers Power and UK Power. Also check out Energy Star for energy efficient products.
If you use air-conditioners or heaters, open the curtains during the day to let in light and close your curtains at night to provide additional insulation to your windows. Also if possible try to seal up any leaks you might have like door draft sweepers on all your outside doors.
If you can try to insulate your roof, it would be good to also insulate your walls but normally this is difficult to do if your house is already built.
We all hate email spam, but a lot of us tolerate physical mail spam! Try to get yourself off junk mail subscriptions. If you don't read junk mail, try to get a no junk mail sign for your letter box.
According to the Center for a New American Dream, each of us will spend an average of eight months of our lives dealing with junk mail (physical type of course).
The average car wash uses 37 gallons (140 liters) of water, if you do it yourself you generally use 2-4 times as much that could be as much as 83 gallons (300 liters) of water wasted. Moreover you are generally sending oil, detergents and other pollutants down the storm drain.
The recycle bin chews up resources you dedicate normally around 10% of your drives on this. On a 1TB drive that's 100GB of space! Not to mention that the OS needs to keep track and add files to your system. In any case you can always undelete files through numerous programs out there anyway!
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This is the simplest way of improving your cost, although this won't improve your fuel efficiency it will save you money and probably time! Try to combine trips, consider going shopping on the way home. Also try to choose routes that are shorter but slower, rather than longer and faster, it may seem or even be faster but you'll increase your fuel efficiency for the few minutes you might save.
According to the DOE several short trips (at a cold start) can use up to double the fuel as a single longer trip that covers the same distance.
This is the biggest factor to fuel economy. Say driving at 55mph (90 km/h) instead of 65mph (105 km/h) will generally save you 5mpg (2km/l). This is because drag increases exponentially the faster you drive. Not only will this be safer but it will save you the most money.
Check you tires at least once every few weeks. Under inflated tires can reduce your fuel efficiency by up to 3%, and it'll reduce your wear own as well. Check out your car manual or the driver door jamb. Driving with a 20% difference in pressure can decrease your tire life by 30%. Also if you can be bothered pump your tires 10% more in front than the back, because that's where most of the weight of the car is.
Try looking at the road conditions ahead, or if you are in traffic 2-3 cars ahead of you. If you're approaching a curve or someone is braking in front of you use, let go of the accelerator. By coasting more than you brake, you can save say up to 30% more fuel than waiting in drive. It'll also increase the lifespan of your brake pads!
Most people know that every time you brake you waste valuable fuel, but this is also true if you accelerate. Instead try not to over rev your car, this will save you fuel in the long run. Also it's a myth that burst of acceleration and coasting will save you fuel, in fact it'll cost you much more fuel!
It's a proven fact that cruise control will save on your fuel. Here's a tip though instead of accelerating try using your resume on your cruise control. Personally if the traffic is smooth I prefer using the cruise control up and downs to control my speed.
Having said that be careful if you are using cruise control on curvy or hilly roads, this can cause you to brake suddenly or accelerate too much causing you to waste fuel.
It costs more fuel to keep your car idling for a minute than it is to turn off and start your car again. So turn off your car while waiting. Also avoid queues at the drive through, fast food or banks. Most modern cars don't need to warm up, just allow a few seconds! Also here's a tip, if you must idle put your car in neutral or park, this will cut your fuel usage by 15-35%!
This is especially true at high speed at low speeds this is still okay, but this increases aerodynamic drag and on highways will definitely reduce your fuel economy.
Using your air-conditioner taps into your engine's power and can increase fuel consumption by more than 20% in city driving. Most of the heat in your car is generated from sunlight entering your car, so try to keep in the shade, park under trees, underground, multi-level car-parks. If you have to park outside in the sun, open the windows / doors while you are packing your car.
If you tend to use your air-conditioner a lot invest in a good solar film, but look at the infra-red rating of your film rather than the UV rating. UV will help reduce fading in your interior, but infra-red is what heats up your car the most. Good ones can reflect up to 60% of the heat, and which means and overall savings of over 50% to your air-conditioner!
If you are driving a manual car, using a lower gear than required will increasing revving and increase your fuel consumption, instead switch to the highest gear quickly without straining your engine.
For automatic cars, try to ease back on the accelerator when the car has enough momentum, this will cause the car to shift up the gears more quickly. Also try to activate your overdrive while driving this will also increase your fuel efficiency.
Studies have shown that weaving in and out of traffic, causes you to travel further than moving in a straight line, causes wear on your brakes and tires and ultimately increases fuel consumption. Instead try to drive as smoothly as possible.
Avoid carrying extra weight, clean out your car, every pound / kg of weight causes you time to accelerate and increase the wear on your tires to brake. Extra items placed outside the car will also increase drag especially at higher speeds, try to keep your car smooth, clean and if possible waxed.
You don't have to get a solar car, but there are lots of options today which include, cars that run on Ethanol, CNG, and Hydrogen. There are also hybrids that run of gasoline but converts your braking energy to electricity which can be used later to drive your car. Check out this site from EPA on green vehicles.
You'll be surprised at how well some of these additives will work, generally they reduce friction in your engine, reducing wear, increasing your fuel efficiency, and the power to your car. The best thing to do is to try it out, but first track your millage for a week / month without the additive as a baseline, then another week / month with the additive and see if you can notice a difference. For engine oil additives it's best to try this out immediately after oil changes. There are lots of additives out there, all claiming pretty much the same thing, here's one I'd recommend that isn't toxic, leaves grime, or corrosive to your engine MSP Global. With the rising fuel prices you've got nothing to lose!
Firefox, Safari and Seamonkey browsers automatically has spell check in built into the browsers. Internet Explorer users can download IE Spell. Internet Explorer 8 at the time of writing this will be released in late 2008 will include spell checking as well. Note that on some browsers the last word will not be checked unless you have entered a space after the word.
For those who already have special account you can upload images already. People that consistently upload tips will be upgraded to an account that can upload images. But if you don't that's all right, either our volunteer graphics artist will help find a free licensed image for you (probably from one of these links free images), or you can link images directly using <img src='' class='right'/> tag.
If you are upload a right hand image, try to size it to width 120 pixels so that it looks consistent especially if multiple people are contributing to the topic.
So far we've opened up the use of tags in the site, so we'll see how people handle this. If you know HTML you can embed these tags in your blurb or your description and even create calculators like this spam calculator. Knock yourself out don't remember to preview your tags to make sure that everything looks good, badly written tips with tags will be deleted :(
According to Apple's excellent battery guide, which looks like it's a subset of what's here. Try to cycle your iPhones lithium battery once a month. To do this charge up the iPhone to 100% and let your iPhone completely run down and shutoff.
Tips submitted by this user
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5557
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Reschedule Automatic Updates / Disable Automatic Updates
Don't you hate shutting down your computer only to realize that you have 10 minutes of updates? Or have a popup box asking you to reboot your computer every 5 minutes? Take control of your updates by either disabling or rescheduling so that it doesn't strike you when you are rushing off for dinner at the end of the day.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1500
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Delete temporary files
Temp files are located within C:Documents and Settings[your name]Local SettingsTemp Generally things that you download and run immediate are located here so do once over check to make sure that you haven't go anything important in here and delete everything in the folder.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1528
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Remove & Disable System Restore
Disabling system restore will speed up your computer significantly, most people think that system restore will backup their data, which is wrong, it will only restore program states and files such as exe, dlls, registry settings, etc...
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1023
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Removed unused services
Quickest way to get to your services is to press [Windows]+[R] and type in services.msc [Enter]
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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524
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How does it sound?
You don't want to be remembered for the wrong meaning, so when you put the name of your words together make sure that it sounds nice!
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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418
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Minimize all applications - Windows Key + M Key
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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402
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Restore Minimized Applications - Windows Key + Shift Key + M
Topic: View Topic
( 9 August 2008)
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408
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Windows Explorer / File Explorer - Windows Key + E Key
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(14 August 2008)
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392
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Find files - Windows Key + F
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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412
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Lock your computer
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(13 August 2008)
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377
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Run Dialog - Windows Key + R
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(10 August 2008)
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412
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Utility Manager - Windows Key + U Key
Topic: View Topic
( 9 August 2008)
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385
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Help! - Windows Key + F1
Topic: View Topic
( 9 August 2008)
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411
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System Properties - Windows Key + Break Key
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(10 August 2008)
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381
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Task Manager - Ctrl Key + Shift Key + ESC Key
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(14 August 2008)
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414
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Disable Autorun - Shift while inserting the CD / DVD
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(12 August 2008)
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390
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Permanently delete a file(s) - Shift Key + Delete Key
Topic: View Topic
( 6 August 2008)
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376
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Rename a file - F2 Key
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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474
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Move windows using the keyboard - Alt Key + Spacebar + M Key
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(12 August 2008)
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382
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Refresh - F5
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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382
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Minimize current window - Alt Key + Spacebar + N
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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388
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Close current window - Alt Key + F4
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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474
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Current Properties - Alt Key + Enter Key
Topic: View Topic
( 8 August 2008)
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393
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Select All - Ctrl Key + A Key
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(12 August 2008)
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365
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Go to Address - Alt Key + D Key
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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408
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Copy / Copy to Clipboard - Ctrl Key + C Key
Topic: View Topic
( 9 August 2008)
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417
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Copy / Copy to Clipboard - Ctrl Key + X Key
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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388
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Paste from Clipboard - Ctrl Key + V Key
Topic: View Topic
( 3 August 2008)
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392
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Undo! - Ctrl Key + Z
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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414
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Multiple Selects / Copy Files - Ctrl Key + Click or Drag
Topic: View Topic
(13 August 2008)
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431
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Create Shortcut - Ctrl Key + Shift Key + Drag
Topic: View Topic
( 7 August 2008)
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393
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Move across words / paragraphs - Ctrl Key + Arrow Keys
Topic: View Topic
( 1 August 2008)
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358
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Go up a directory - Backspace Key
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(13 August 2008)
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393
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Address bar - F4 or Alt Key + D
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( 1 August 2008)
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369
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Switch between applications - Alt Key + Tab Key
Topic: View Topic
( 7 August 2008)
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435
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Keyboard version of a mouse right click! - Shift Key + F10
Topic: View Topic
( 8 August 2008)
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380
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Cycle between screen elements - F6
Topic: View Topic
( 8 August 2008)
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334
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Choose the safest part of the airplane to seat
The safest seat in the plane is really determined by the type of accident that is encountered for example in a front crash obviously the safest would
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Topic: View Topic
( 7 August 2008)
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445
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Check the spelling!
Don't lose valuable traffic by choosing difficult spelling names, like color /colour, center / centre, Rhythm, Gauge, or Weird. Check out a pretty comprehensive list here
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Topic: View Topic
( 9 August 2008)
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677
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Start the search - Domain checking tools
You have to start the search somewhere, I prefer a domain search site that will remember previous searches, find the most common extensions and is quick!
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Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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475
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Keep it short, simple and positive
Generally less than 20 letters and less than 3 syllables is ideal. This makes it easier to type (esp. mobile phones) and remember. Remember that email address to the domains can also be long!
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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485
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Avoid hyphens and numbers
All the best domains don't have hyphens and numbers, they create confusion and is difficult to communicate, especially on mobile phones.
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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460
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Brainstorm online - Web tools to find the perfect name
If you are struggling for inspiration try a thesaurus or on-line domain name suggestions out there, here is a list of a few:
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Topic: View Topic
(13 August 2008)
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392
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Think globally / locally - Choosing the right extensions
.COM domain names is the best out there, but if you are a local company and you really can't find a name you might want to try country extensions like .us (inside the US), .au (for Australia), etc...
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Topic: View Topic
( 2 August 2008)
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454
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Be wary of similar sounding name and trademarks
Not only do you want to stay clear of legal issues but also differentiate yourself with your competitors.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(13 August 2008)
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514
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Expired / Expiring / Buying Domain Names
Even if you don't want to get a used domain name, it can be a great source of inspiration.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(11 August 2008)
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392
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Choose one of top 25 saftest airlines
By taking one of these airlines you can reduce your odds of dying.
Delta Airlines
Southwest Airlines
Northwest
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
( 5 August 2008)
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455
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Invent new words / names
Names such as digg.com, engadget.com, gizmodo.com all made up their words, if you need inspiration try Generate Password or Pronouceable Word Generator
Topic: View Topic
(11 August 2008)
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1095
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Defrag your computer
Disk Defragmenter will help position your files into contiguous blocks and helps increase space on your computer
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1220
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Ultimate partitioning guide
Why spend all the money of partitioning your hard drive when you can do it from the start!
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Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1036
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Add more memory
Adding memory and hard disk space are the best ways to improve the performance of your computer.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1075
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Reinstall your Operating System (OS)
If your OS has been on your computer for more than 6 - 12 months, it might be due for a re-install. No matter how careful you are about installing programs, defragging your computer, your computer WILL slow down. It's a sad reality. Some of the reasons for installing your computer are:
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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1149
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Disable unused services
Do you have a WiFi connection, Telnet or other services? Disable these to save previous memory, CPU cycles and boot up times! The fastest way to get to these services is to press Win+R then type in "services.msc" + enter. Here is a list of services that you might want to consider to disable:
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
926
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Disable system sounds
Do you really need to know when you computer starts up or shuts down? All of these takes up precious resources loading and playing the wav sound files. Try disabling them!
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
1109
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Uninstalled unused windows components
XP installs some components by default you can increase the speed of your computer esp. if you don't need it. To disable windows components "Start" Menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "Add or Remove Programs" > Select "Add/Remove Windows Components".
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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951
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Cutomize Recycle Bin Sizes
How many of us really use the recycle bin? Maybe immediately after you have deleted an item but rarely something that you have deleted a week or month ago. Did you know that you can change the recycle bin sizes for each of your drives? Or even better disable it all together (if you are an advanced user).
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
940
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Increase your mouse pointer speed
If you have anything bigger than a 1024x768 resolution on your monitor, multiple screens, you will probably have issues with your default mouse speed. Firstly there are two things to consider when you want to increase the speed of your mouse:
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
1026
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Disable startup applications / autoruns
You might be surprised how many things gets launched when you start up your computer. There are two places you can look at to disable applications on startup:
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
934
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Clean up your desktop
Every item in your desktop chews up memory
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
924
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Use a blank desktop image
If you spend most of your time in your applications like most people having a desktop image can just be useless! Change it to a black image, save memory, refresh times of your desktop, energy, and extend the life of your monitor / LCD.
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
SCORE
910
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View PDF documents faster!
There are two major ways to speed up opening up your adobe pdf files:
...(more)
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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942
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Tweak UI the best way to change registry settings
Tweak UI is a free tool from Microsoft to help you optimize advance setting on your computer, when done right it can significantly improve your experience. Click here to download TweakUi http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx. Here are some common settings that you might want to change:
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(14 August 2008)
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990
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Power Calculator
How many times have you opened up Excel to do a simple calculation? Click here to download power calculator http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx.
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(14 August 2008)
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886
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Make your fonts clearer with ClearType Tuner
This is a free tool from Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx, that enables you to have clear fonts. Technically what it does is it applies anti-aliasing of fonts before it's rendered to the monitor. In layman's it smooths out the fonts, making it easier to read esp. with LCD monitors.
Download and follow the instructions, if you have any problems you can find the tuner at "Start" menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "ClearType Tuning"
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)
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328
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Choose by aircraft type
Generally the larger the aircraft the better, try to avoid single engine planes. Here is a list of planes sorted by their safety record.
Saab
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( 7 August 2008)
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357
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Try to get direct non-stop routes
According to www.boeing.com 92% of accidents and 88% of fatalities happen during takeoff and landing. All sort of things may happen rare as they are
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( 9 August 2008)
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343
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Take note of the pre-flight briefing
You many have heard it all before, but take note of key points, like where the emergency exits are. Different aircraft and airlines have different seat configurations. If you can remember count the number of seats away you are from your closest exits.
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(11 August 2008)
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348
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Don't overload the overhead storage bins
Be careful of the weight of the overhead compartments, every year people are still being injured by failing items during take-off / landings and turbulance. Each year there is an estimated about 10,000 incidences of overhead luggage worldwide.
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( 8 August 2008)
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335
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Don't drink too much alcohol
Be reasonable with your alcohol intake, it can slow you down should anything happen. Also note that if the cabin de-pressurizes, it simulates high altitudes which compounds the effects of any alcohol that you might already have in your system.
Topic: View Topic
(27 July 2008)
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312
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Wear your seat belt as often as you can
Turbulence can hit at anytime without warning. Strong turbulance effects airlines every year, people hit their heads on the overhead compartments, bump to people and fall out of their seats onto the floor.
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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329
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Be careful of dangerous materials
Most international flights already do check you for hazardous goods but don't risk it. Be careful not to bring flammable, corrosive, poisonous materials on the plane, even if it's a short island hopping trip.
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(13 August 2008)
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321
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Let the flight attendant pout your hot drinks
Turbulence can hit at any time, instead of holding your cup out, give the cup to your attendant to pour your hot drinks, tea, coffee, etc... They have been train to handle hot drinks and hand it back to you.
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(12 August 2008)
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310
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Wear sensible clothes
High heels has to be taken off during a slide evacuation to reduce the risk of puncturing the rubber, this can cause delays and precious time. Wear
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( 9 August 2008)
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321
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Look after your child
It is your responsibility as a parent to look after the child and NOT the flight attendant. Here are some tips to help safe-guard your
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( 3 August 2008)
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322
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Put on your seat belt
This seems obvious, but I've seen people pretend to wear their seat belts or wear them so loose that they are practically useless. Safety wise, it's best to wear your seat belt as tight as possible.
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( 8 August 2008)
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300
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Use the toilet before you take off
Reduce the chances of internal injury, and make your flight a more enjoyable one!
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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325
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Get into the safety position fast
Don't try to make a call to your loved ones, it's time to be level headed and plan your exit. It's been said that two-thirds of people involved in
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( 3 August 2008)
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304
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Get out fast, but safely
After the impact be prepared that lots of people will be in shock, even flight attendants. Try to get out as fast as possible, you might have to
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(31 July 2008)
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356
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Keep clam and don't panic!
Don't let shock and fear get to you, the best thing to do is think like a chess player, find the best way to exit the plane and think of different possible exit scenarios.
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(10 August 2008)
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892
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Remove unwanted scheduled tasks
Do you really need to update your software every day? If it isn't your virus scanner or your personal firewall (if you have one) then you don't really need to update this every day. Check out your C:WindowsTask folder or go to "Start" menu > "Settings" > "Control Panel" > "Scheduled Tasks".
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(14 August 2008)
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864
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Install the printer driver only not the whole application
Printers have grown a lot since the dot matrix days, these days you can check your toner / ink levels, check how many pieces of paper you have, report problems, even scan, photocopy, fax remotely. But do you really need all this functionality everywhere?
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(14 August 2008)
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436
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Standby / Shutdown / Restart - Combination
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(11 August 2008)
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322
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Where is the start menu directory?
The start menu physically located in different places on Windows Vista, and it's really annoying!
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( 3 September 2008)
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399
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In-built screen capture tool - Snipping Tool
Vista comes with it's own screen capture tool, for the times you want to cut and paste what's on the screen into an image or into your word or powerpoint presentations.
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(13 August 2008)
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541
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Avoid putting too much text on your powerpoint
According to George Miller's research people can only remember 7 items in their short term memory, and this is a good number of points to put in your slide!
Use bullets and point forms but don't go past 3 levels deep with your bullets.
Use bullets and point forms but don't go past 3 levels deep with your bullets.
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(13 August 2008)
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535
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Try not to use custom fonts
Besides the fact that too many different fonts can cause confusion, custom fonts aren't saved in powerpoint by default.
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(13 August 2008)
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534
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Slide Master is your friend
The slide master is a template for the look and feel of all your major slides. Typically this dictates the first page, title pages, text pages, two columns and a blank page amongst others.
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(14 August 2008)
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521
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Spell check
Always use the spell check in your powerpoint! If there is a red line under it check the spelling.
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(13 August 2008)
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551
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Use images where possible
Images can relieve the monotony of your slides, but only use them if they reinforces your points.
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(13 August 2008)
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544
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Too many slides? Use custom shows
Most people know that you can use custom shows to select certain slides for your show and it's really great to create a short and long version that you can decide on the spot. But did you know you can create mini-shows within your presentation as well?
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(13 August 2008)
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534
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Use multiple monitors!
How many of you know how to show your presentation using multiple monitors or triggers the projector so that it's the primary monitor or the same as your notebook / computer. Try these tips to master multiple monitors!
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(13 August 2008)
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534
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More editing tips that you might not know
Try some of these tips to improve you speed within powerpoint:
Use the arrow keys to align your objects. Hold down ALT key to move one pixel at
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(13 August 2008)
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531
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Consistency and alignment
Alignment can be a real put-off in a presentation, lines that are perfectly straight or boxes that are staggered in your presentation. Try these tips to improve the readability of your presentation!
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(13 August 2008)
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538
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Use diagrams and smart art
Take time to learn how to insert diagrams ("Insert" menu > "Diagram" in 2003) or smart art ("Insert" menu > "SmartArt" in 2007). Not only do that make it really easy to create org charts, process flows, Venn Diagrams, etc...
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(13 August 2008)
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598
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Learn powerpoint online!
There are lots of sites out there that teaches you how to use and create great powerpoints. Just remember to not let your "enhancements" steal the show and not the content of your powerpoint!
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(13 August 2008)
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581
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Be different download and modify a template!
If you haven't already try out Microsoft's free templates and other sites with 1000's of template designs!
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(13 August 2008)
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322
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Set the temperature to a comfortable level
Be it the heater, air-conditioner or your water heater try to set the temperature lower for heaters and higher for air-conditioners. Not will this only save you money but it will also increase your tolerance to temperature fluctuations.A drop by 20°F or 11°C can save you up to 10% of your home energy usage, just from your water heater alone! ...(more)
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(11 August 2008)
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330
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Reduce your food miles
Food miles is the concept of how far the food has traveled to reach you. The closer the miles are the less resources is consumed during the process. So instead of buying food from half way around the world consider some local foods. Generally this means buying in season for perishable goods.Even better try to go to your local farmers market or even better grow your own garden!
For more information click on: Wikipedia and BBC
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(13 August 2008)
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307
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Optimize your routes
Try to combine trips, for example doing your groceries on the way back from work. Small short trips add up to time and extra fuel.When driving try to keep to a consistent speed below the speed limits increasing your speeds from 55mph (90km/h) to 75mph(120km/h) can increase you fuel by 20% for the same trip. Also try to turn your car off if you are stopping for more than 30 seconds, make sure your tires are properly inflated. ...(more)
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(13 August 2008)
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324
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Wash wisely
Try to wash when you have full loads, and if possible get a water saving front loading washing machine. And if possible try to dry your clothes outside rather than putting it in front of a heater or even worse iron dry your clothes.If you are in a hotel try not to wash the towels every day, you don't do this at home so why do this in a hotel!
Topic: View Topic
( 2 August 2008)
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316
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Take the appropriate mode of transport
If you are going up a floor of a building, going to your local shop / library, consider walking, jogging, run or just riding your bicycle. According to most health experts you should try to walk 30 minutes every day. Not only will this increase your health but also feel more positive and happy!
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(14 August 2008)
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353
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Use water effiecently
Install low-flower shower-heads and save up to 5,000 gallons of water per person each year and if you take shorter showers you will save more! Repair dropping faucets and save 2,700 gallons of water per year (if it drips every second).Try recycling water to use for watering your plans, garden or cleaning. One way is to using water that you use to wash your vegetables.
Topic: View Topic
(11 August 2008)
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328
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Choose energy efficient products
Get compact fluorescent light bulbs, they generally use 75% less power and lasts up to 10 times longer and make sure that you turn them off when you don't need them. Also try to get energy efficient products especially for clothes dryers, air-conditioners and refrigerators.Consider turning off at the mains, especially items that use transformers in them, because the still waste electricity (for example chargers and notebook power supplies). One quick way to check is to touch them and if their hot, turn them off when you aren't using them. Check out these site to work out how much you can save: Consumers Power and UK Power. Also check out Energy Star for energy efficient products.
Topic: View Topic
( 2 August 2008)
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324
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Curtains and insulation
If you use air-conditioners or heaters, open the curtains during the day to let in light and close your curtains at night to provide additional insulation to your windows. Also if possible try to seal up any leaks you might have like door draft sweepers on all your outside doors.If you can try to insulate your roof, it would be good to also insulate your walls but normally this is difficult to do if your house is already built.
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( 2 August 2008)
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308
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Say no to junk mail
We all hate email spam, but a lot of us tolerate physical mail spam! Try to get yourself off junk mail subscriptions. If you don't read junk mail, try to get a no junk mail sign for your letter box.According to the Center for a New American Dream, each of us will spend an average of eight months of our lives dealing with junk mail (physical type of course).
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(13 August 2008)
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311
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Use a car wash
The average car wash uses 37 gallons (140 liters) of water, if you do it yourself you generally use 2-4 times as much that could be as much as 83 gallons (300 liters) of water wasted. Moreover you are generally sending oil, detergents and other pollutants down the storm drain.
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(14 August 2008)
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719
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Disable the Recycle Bin
The recycle bin chews up resources you dedicate normally around 10% of your drives on this. On a 1TB drive that's 100GB of space! Not to mention that the OS needs to keep track and add files to your system. In any case you can always undelete files through numerous programs out there anyway!
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(14 August 2008)
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251
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Plan your trips
This is the simplest way of improving your cost, although this won't improve your fuel efficiency it will save you money and probably time! Try to combine trips, consider going shopping on the way home. Also try to choose routes that are shorter but slower, rather than longer and faster, it may seem or even be faster but you'll increase your fuel efficiency for the few minutes you might save.According to the DOE several short trips (at a cold start) can use up to double the fuel as a single longer trip that covers the same distance.
Topic: View Topic
( 7 August 2008)
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249
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Don't speed
This is the biggest factor to fuel economy. Say driving at 55mph (90 km/h) instead of 65mph (105 km/h) will generally save you 5mpg (2km/l). This is because drag increases exponentially the faster you drive. Not only will this be safer but it will save you the most money.
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( 5 August 2008)
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257
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Check your tyres
Check you tires at least once every few weeks. Under inflated tires can reduce your fuel efficiency by up to 3%, and it'll reduce your wear own as well. Check out your car manual or the driver door jamb. Driving with a 20% difference in pressure can decrease your tire life by 30%. Also if you can be bothered pump your tires 10% more in front than the back, because that's where most of the weight of the car is.
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( 7 August 2008)
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252
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Anticipate road conditions and use your brake less
Try looking at the road conditions ahead, or if you are in traffic 2-3 cars ahead of you. If you're approaching a curve or someone is braking in front of you use, let go of the accelerator. By coasting more than you brake, you can save say up to 30% more fuel than waiting in drive. It'll also increase the lifespan of your brake pads!
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( 8 August 2008)
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243
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Avoid braking suddendly and accelerating
Most people know that every time you brake you waste valuable fuel, but this is also true if you accelerate. Instead try not to over rev your car, this will save you fuel in the long run. Also it's a myth that burst of acceleration and coasting will save you fuel, in fact it'll cost you much more fuel!
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(12 August 2008)
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260
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Use your cruise control
It's a proven fact that cruise control will save on your fuel. Here's a tip though instead of accelerating try using your resume on your cruise control. Personally if the traffic is smooth I prefer using the cruise control up and downs to control my speed.Having said that be careful if you are using cruise control on curvy or hilly roads, this can cause you to brake suddenly or accelerate too much causing you to waste fuel.
Topic: View Topic
( 5 August 2008)
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249
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Minimize idling
It costs more fuel to keep your car idling for a minute than it is to turn off and start your car again. So turn off your car while waiting. Also avoid queues at the drive through, fast food or banks. Most modern cars don't need to warm up, just allow a few seconds! Also here's a tip, if you must idle put your car in neutral or park, this will cut your fuel usage by 15-35%!
Topic: View Topic
( 8 August 2008)
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265
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Down wind down the window while driving
This is especially true at high speed at low speeds this is still okay, but this increases aerodynamic drag and on highways will definitely reduce your fuel economy.
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(10 August 2008)
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454
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Minimize your Air Conditioner Usage
Using your air-conditioner taps into your engine's power and can increase fuel consumption by more than 20% in city driving. Most of the heat in your car is generated from sunlight entering your car, so try to keep in the shade, park under trees, underground, multi-level car-parks. If you have to park outside in the sun, open the windows / doors while you are packing your car.
If you tend to use your air-conditioner a lot invest in a good solar film, but look at the infra-red rating of your film rather than the UV rating. UV will help reduce fading in your interior, but infra-red is what heats up your car the most. Good ones can reflect up to 60% of the heat, and which means and overall savings of over 50% to your air-conditioner!
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( 5 August 2008)
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440
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Use the highest gear and reduce your revving
If you are driving a manual car, using a lower gear than required will increasing revving and increase your fuel consumption, instead switch to the highest gear quickly without straining your engine.For automatic cars, try to ease back on the accelerator when the car has enough momentum, this will cause the car to shift up the gears more quickly. Also try to activate your overdrive while driving this will also increase your fuel efficiency.
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(13 August 2008)
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472
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Don't weave in and out of traffic
Studies have shown that weaving in and out of traffic, causes you to travel further than moving in a straight line, causes wear on your brakes and tires and ultimately increases fuel consumption. Instead try to drive as smoothly as possible.
Topic: View Topic
(12 August 2008)
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441
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Reduce drag and unnecessary loads
Avoid carrying extra weight, clean out your car, every pound / kg of weight causes you time to accelerate and increase the wear on your tires to brake. Extra items placed outside the car will also increase drag especially at higher speeds, try to keep your car smooth, clean and if possible waxed.
Topic: View Topic
( 5 August 2008)
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447
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Get a green car!
You don't have to get a solar car, but there are lots of options today which include, cars that run on Ethanol, CNG, and Hydrogen. There are also hybrids that run of gasoline but converts your braking energy to electricity which can be used later to drive your car. Check out this site from EPA on green vehicles.
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(11 August 2008)
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269
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Use engine oil and fuel additives
You'll be surprised at how well some of these additives will work, generally they reduce friction in your engine, reducing wear, increasing your fuel efficiency, and the power to your car. The best thing to do is to try it out, but first track your millage for a week / month without the additive as a baseline, then another week / month with the additive and see if you can notice a difference. For engine oil additives it's best to try this out immediately after oil changes. There are lots of additives out there, all claiming pretty much the same thing, here's one I'd recommend that isn't toxic, leaves grime, or corrosive to your engine MSP Global. With the rising fuel prices you've got nothing to lose!
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( 6 August 2008)
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228
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Use spell checking
Firefox, Safari and Seamonkey browsers automatically has spell check in built into the browsers. Internet Explorer users can download IE Spell. Internet Explorer 8 at the time of writing this will be released in late 2008 will include spell checking as well. Note that on some browsers the last word will not be checked unless you have entered a space after the word.
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(14 August 2008)
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266
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Images will be automatically uploaded for you!
For those who already have special account you can upload images already. People that consistently upload tips will be upgraded to an account that can upload images. But if you don't that's all right, either our volunteer graphics artist will help find a free licensed image for you (probably from one of these links free images), or you can link images directly using <img src='' class='right'/> tag.If you are upload a right hand image, try to size it to width 120 pixels so that it looks consistent especially if multiple people are contributing to the topic.
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(14 August 2008)
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274
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Awesome topic naming ideas
Stuck for a name for your topic, here are some examples of some topic names that will help you get yourself noticed in search engines and inside digg.
- Greatest way to [add topic]
- Over 20 Hard Core [add topic] Tips
- Everything you always wanted to know about [add topic] but never bothered to research
- Best [add topic] tips ever!
- Why [add comparison] is better than [add comparison]
- What is the best way to get [add topic]
- Over 20 Tips for building a Kick-Ass [add topic]
- How to increase your [add topic] by 500%
- 20 simple productivity tips for [add topic]
- 20 Undiscovered websites every person should know
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(14 August 2008)
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233
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Use HTML tags to spice up your tips
So far we've opened up the use of tags in the site, so we'll see how people handle this. If you know HTML you can embed these tags in your blurb or your description and even create calculators like this spam calculator. Knock yourself out don't remember to preview your tags to make sure that everything looks good, badly written tips with tags will be deleted :(
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(14 August 2008)
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3835
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Cycle you 3G iPhone once a month
According to Apple's excellent battery guide, which looks like it's a subset of what's here. Try to cycle your iPhones lithium battery once a month. To do this charge up the iPhone to 100% and let your iPhone completely run down and shutoff.
Topic: View Topic
(14 August 2008)