Copywriter, technical writer, translator (FR>EN, ES>EN, IT>EN), journalist

Posts Tagged Microsoft

Custom keyboard shortcuts

I frequently add comments to both Word documents and PDFs. In Word, there’s an “Insert Comment” menu command and in Preview (the software I use to view PDFs) there’s a “Thought Bubble” menu command. Another thing I frequently do is save my documents as I work on

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Permanently deleting computer files

2013 was an “interesting” year in Toronto municipal politics. For months, Mayor Rob Ford denied May allegations of crack cocaine use. He had to – media reports claimed that somebody shot a video of him smoking crack. Those allegations lasted until October, when Toronto police reported that

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One rule to rule them all

Creating email rules can sometimes seem like a complex bit of weaving. Once your list of rules grows lengthy, you might find that emails don’t take on the criteria (proper folder location, category, whether they’re deleted or not and so forth) that you expect. Email rules are

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Basic spreadsheet automation

The magic of spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel and Apple Numbers lies in the automation of repetitive tasks. Most spreadsheet users know about the automation of arithmetic operations, but spreadsheets let you also automate the creation of common lists like sequences of numbers and the names of

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Smartphones offer lawyers many options

Last time in this space, we covered security, IT support, keyboards and email features offered on Android, Apple, BlackBerry and Windows smartphones. Here in the second part, we’ll cover other business features that help lawyers work on the go.

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Calendars and time zones

Business travellers need to make meetings at set times regardless of the number of time zones they cross. When people regularly wore watches, forgetting to adjust for time zones could cause them to miss appointments. Now that increasing numbers of people use their mobile phones to tell

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Smarts that cars can use

I sometimes hear grumbling about all the knickknacks carmakers jam into new vehicles. While I agree they can seem like too much to pay attention to, sometimes the extra electronics are worth considering.

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Don't double-book yourself

Do you ever double-book yourself for appointments? I stopped doing that a long time ago, since I hate having to apologize for missing important events. Here’s how I did it.

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Smartphones improving, making choice tougher

This is the first article in a two-part series. Smartphone operating systems as a discussion topic can sometimes prove as inflammatory as religion and politics. Arguments seem prompted, at least in part, by marketing as the major manufacturers battle for greater share of the lucrative business smartphone

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Understanding the "cloud"

I loved using Palm Pilot devices. All sorts of stuff that was on my computer synchronized to my handheld and I could look it up just by pulling the device out of a pocket and using it. Today, there’s a third “device” between the handheld and the

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