Personal Technology Tips in Plain English
Useful Shortcuts
Powerpoint Tip: Stop Following Orders
Jul 25th
Did you know that Powerpoint turns 20 this year!
The creators Dennis Austin & Robert Gaskins both readily admit that there are tons and tons of BAD Powerpoint presentations and users.
The original intent of Powerpoint was to use it as a SUPPORTIVE tool to your presentation, not to bore the audience to death by dragging them through an entire detailed presentation — even when the content on the next couple of slides are irrelevant or already covered or just plain moot now based on the discussion in the room.
One of my best and most used tips is something that helps keep presentations alive and focused on the information you want to deliver to the audience in real time — the ability to jump to specific slides within a presentation ON DEMAND, AT WILL. Everyone I’ve shared this with found it incredibly useful and you could see a smirk reveal iteself when they started to imagine how useful it would be in a live powerpoint presentation.
It’s so simple, yet you’d think only powerusers and Powerpoint Magicians would have these super powers. Here’s how. . .
Google Tip: See What All The Reviewer Say About The Movie You About To Watch
Jun 14th
Have you ever gone to the movies and wished that you read some of the reviews out there to give you a warning BEFORE you slapped down 12 bucks per ticket + $5 for Goobers + $5.50 for Popcorn + $3.75 for Soda?
Personally I really like Joe Morganstern’s movie reviews in the Wall Street Journal. However, another place I check is RottenTomatoes.com which aggregates movie reviews and gives it a “fresh” or “rotten” overall rating. Another great place to get a snapshot of how a movie might turn out is to go to Google.
Google has a little known service at www.Google.com/movies which provides a summary of movie reviews for any given movie.
You can read individual reviews, sort the ratings by ratings to find wha the negative reviews pointed out as flaws, or simply click through to the actual reviews used to get the “average rating” on Google.
Using this service is a quick way to find out what everyone else is thinking about the movie you’re going to watch…or perhaps not anymore after reading up on it on Google.
Google Tip: 1 Liner Shortcut To A Map
Jun 7th
You use Google all the time. And you might even use Google Maps (vs. Yahoo! Maps or MapQuest, etc).
If you do use Google Maps you might like this tip: Read the rest of this entry »
Secret Amazon.com Customer Service Telephone Number
Apr 23rd
Seems like everyone on Earth has ordered something from Amazon.com, “Earth’s Largest Bookseller” – of course Amazon sells more than just books, they seem to sell just about everything under the sun. Yes, they seem to do it all…over the internet. That means no humans getting in your way of buying the things you want.
They definitely know how to sell over the web. But sometimes you really want to buy something from a retailer that knows how to SERVICE the customer before or after the sale. This is one side that Amazon doesn’t try to jump through hoops for apparently. If you check out the Amazon.com customer service webpage, you’ll find NO customer service telephone number listed at all. Isn’t that so frustrating! You almost believe that they have no telephones over at Amazon. Perhaps they all just use telepathy or use sign-language or hand signals to each other, or perhaps they just IM everything to each other. It must be one quiet place you may think after looking up their contact information on their website.
One little known consumer tip is that Amazon.com does has live customer service just like any off-line company — and yes, it is available via the telephone. Here’s some handy customer service numbers you may be able to use if anything goes wrong with your order at Amazon.com or if you have questions, want to change shipping addresses, get a refund, etc. Read the rest of this entry »
5 Most Common Keyboard Shortcuts for Internet Explorer 7 & Beyond
Apr 21st
Today, I’m sharing 5 keyboard shortcuts that use all the time when surfing the web through Internet Explorer 7 (with tabs like Firefox). Hope you can benefit from them…
How to Copy/Paste Information From One PC to Another
Apr 19th
Do you find yourself surfing the web or working on a computer other than your own but want to save it for later when you get back home or to the office? It might be at an internet terminal while traveling, or on a public computer station that allows you to check email/webmail, or just a friend’s computer in another office. Usually you’d email it or send a message via instant messaging. But for small things, it might be nice NOT to fire up email or some other app to do that.
One really neat website resource I found is basically an Internet Clipboard just like working in Windows or on a Mac…but it allows you to copy/paste any information you have on that “foreign PC” and save it virtually and pick it up back on another computer… Read the rest of this entry »
I love tech, gadgets and the web. Hope you pick-up a useful tip or two here today that helps you use technology to your advantage! Better yet, why not share your own expertise in a comment on a post today to help the other readers that land here for answers!