Move the Show

Portable hints

A speaker can be called upon to present programs almost anywhere. Every site is unique and has its own problems. Your show may, also, have to be sent out on its own.

Here are some suggestions that may help on the road:

Distributing PPTs - Pitfalls, Panics & Pleasures
By Steve Rindsberg

There are several potential problem areas:

• Recipients who don't have PowerPoint
• PowerPoint version compatibility
• Links - to images, sounds, movies and OLE content (graphs, charts, spreadsheets, Word pages etc.)
• Sound and movie compatibility
• Fonts
• Timing/Synchronization
• VBA code and Controls
• Recipients using assistive technology

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High Res Wallpaper

Details apparent

Choose from a broad selection of free pictures to use for wallpaper.

Download sizes from 1920x1200 to 320x240.



Free High-Resolution Widescreen Wallpaper



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Word to PP

Send outline to PowerPoint

That old 2003 version allowed you to send a Word file to PowerPoint and have it create a slide show.

After styling with Heading 1, 2, etc, go toFile > Send To > Microsoft Office PowerPoint.

2007+ is a little different (duh!)

For Microsoft Office 2007+

Word 2007+ doesn't allow you to publish to PowerPoint 2007 by default.

Here's the solution:

After you are done in Word 2007+, save it as a Word document.

Now open PowerPoint 2007+.

Click on the Office Button at the top left hand corner.

Click Open.

Under Files of type, select All Outlines.

Now select the Word document and click Open.

Alternately,

In Word 2007+, right click on the ribbon.

Select Customize Quick Access Toolbar.

Under "Choose commands from:", select Commands not in the ribbon.

Look for "Send to Microsoft Office PowerPoint".

Click OK.

The command will then be added onto the Quick Access Toolbar (QAT).

Word to PowerPoint

Word 2010 to PP 2010



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Last Name First

Phonebook style

Sort the Contacts list by the File as field.

To do this, use one of the following methods depending on the version of Outlook that you are using.

In Outlook 2007+, follow these steps:

1. Start Outlook 2007+.

a. On the Tools menu, click Account Settings.

b. Click the Address Books tab, and click Change.

c. Under Microsoft Office Outlook Address Books, click the address book that you want to change the contact display format for.



For example, Contacts: Mailbox - Personal Folders, and then click File As (Smith, John).

In Outlook 2003, follow these steps:

1 Start Outlook 2003.

a. On the Tools menu, click E-mail accounts.

b. Click View or change directories or address books, and then click Next.

c. Click Outlook Address Book, and then click Change.

d. Under Outlook Address Books, click the address book that you want to change the contact display format for. For example, Contacts: Personal Folders, and then click File As (Smith, John).

e Click Close, and then click Finish.

2. Quit and restart Outlook.

3. Verify that the newly created contacts are sorted in the LastName, FirstName format. To do this:

a. On the Tools menu, click Options.

b. Click the Preferences tab, and then click Contact Options.

c. In the Contacts Options box, click Last, First in the Default File As order list.

d. Click OK two times.

4. Edit the properties of any contacts that have the File as option configured individually. This setting overrides the setting that you made in step 1.

a. Double-click any contact that does not appear in the LastName, FirstName format in your Contacts list.

b. Click the General tab, click the down arrow next to File as, and then click Lastname, Firstname, where Lastname, Firstname is the name of the contact.

Lastname first

Outlook 2010



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All the Basics

All(most) all you need to know

Office.Microsoft.com has a short demo that shows you the main things anyone needs to know about Excel.

There are many thousands of users who find that this is all they ever need.

• Add numbers
  
• Subtract numbers
  
• Multiply numbers
  
• Divide numbers

Use simple formulas to do the math



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New Window

Pick your target

Expression Web/FrontPage/HTML provides the opportunity to choose how a page opens when you click on a hyperlink.

Create a hyperlink as you usually would by selecting the text (or graphic) you want to use for the link.

Choose Insert > Hyperlink...
(or use Ctrl-K or the toolbar icon as a shortcut),
and locate the page in the current web or enter an address in the URL field.

On the right side of the Create Hyperlink window you'll see a button named "Target frame"; click the button.

You'll get the Target Frame dialog box.

In the "Common targets" field, select New Window.

Click OK, then click OK to close the Create Hyperlink dialog box.

Your hyperlink will now open a new browser window when clicked.



The code would appear like this:

<a target="_blank" href="TCC/Blog/blogger.html">Blog</a>

To make it the page default, place the following code in the "head" section:

<base target="_blank">

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Night Skies

The real stars

JPL NASA

Also:
Arachnoid.com

In 1826, the astronomer Heinrich Olbers asked, "Why is the sky dark at night?" By his time, physicists had learned enough to realize that, in a stable, infinite universe with an even distribution of stars, the entire universe should gradually heat up.

You will also discover the connection between a rubber band, your refrigerator, and the universe.

Photographs:
Events in the night sky

StarDate Online
StarDate is the public education and outreach arm of the University of Texas McDonald Observatory.

English and Spanish radio programs air daily on more than 500 stations.

Fourmilab Switzerland
To make a sky map, enter the latitude and longitude of your observing site and press the "Make Sky Map" button

This site is developed and maintained by John Walker, founder of Autodesk, Inc. and co-author of AutoCAD:

Space Watch
by Imaginova Spaceware



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Null Parameter

Show something

If a user doesn't specify a parameter value, you can use a wildcard with the parameter in the format

Like [Enter Name] & "*"

The problem with this is that the query will return records that partially match the criteria.

For instance, if users searching for records based on last name enter a parameter value of "Smith" they'll also get the records for Smithers, Smithfield and Smithson.

Another problem is that the parameter query will ignore any records where the field being searched contains a Null value when you try to return the entire recordset with a blank parameter.

To fix this, set up a query to limit responses to explicit parameter entries, but still allow users to return all records by leaving the parameter blank.

If you're searching for LastName, open the query design grid and add LastName to it.

In the Criteria row for the field, enter the parameter prompt

[Enter Name]

Then, in the next blank column of the design grid, enter the same parameter (everything between and including the square brackets) in the Field text box.

Finally, in the Or row, enter the criteria Is Null .

If you're using any additional criteria for other fields, make sure to copy that criteria to the Or line as well.



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Custom Shortcuts

Hands on keys

Ed Bott reminds us how to set up custom keyboard shortcuts to start applications.



Create custom keyboard shortcuts



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Google Shows

Presentation alternative

Google Docs now has a presentation element.

You can create documents, spreadsheets and presentations online.

They're a bit restricted and simplex at this point, but you can also import files and convert them for sharing or publication.

Google Docs

Review of Google presentation



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Chart Art

Apple π

Look at how different media organizations have used graphics/graphs to illustrate the news.

Lee LeFever:
The Art of Explanation


While Edward Tufte has concerns about representing data accurately in charts, he does, use pictures to demonstrate relationships.
(See Edward Tufte)

If you would like to try your hand, here are some links that will help to spice up your condiment report.

PC Magazine:
Add Images to Excel Projects

MacWorld:
Excel Chart Art

Andy Pope:
Dividing a graphic into sections

Excel 2007-13 has a great graphic look for charts, but these links still work



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Who's Smarter

My barista can take your electrician

I.Q. is not really a guarantee of vocational/financial success.

There are about as many college professors with scores below 100 as there are Kindergarten teachers who register above 120.

Here's a link to how the testing breaks down:


IQ Distribution of Various Jobs



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Loan Payment

Basic tutorial

Microsoft provides a number of learning activities related to fundamental tasks.

Here's one that walks the student through a worksheet designed to calculate interest and total payment for a purchase, based on different loan terms.

"This practical spreadsheet lesson offers easy answers to life's perplexing math problems like How much will my dream car really cost after financing?

Students will calculate the cost of purchasing their very own Lamborghini sports car and determine if the ultimate price tag is really worth the investment. "

Dream Car
Also:
Basic Financial Calculations



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Single Space +

2007+ gives you more than you ask for

This quote from The Microsoft Office Word Team's Blog explains their thinking behind making line spacing "looser" in 2007 than it was earlier.

"(A) lesson here for me is that lots of people seem to think of Word as a typewriter (remember typewriters?). There are many examples of this, in the way people construct a table of contents for their Word documents, use the TAB key to align columns, and the way they always hit ENTER twice after typing each paragraph (for those who are fans of extra space between paragraphs).

Many, many of the feedback comments on the line-spacing issue had to do with wanting "single spacing." But, of course the line spacing in the new template is single spacing. It's just that it's a little bit "more" than single spacing used to be: 1.15, instead of 1.0.

But what is 1.0? You might think that if you're using an 11-point font that line spacing of 1.0 would be 11 points. But if you lay out paragraphs that way - depending on the font you're using - the parts that stick below one line will crash into the parts that stick up from the line below. You need to allow some extra space between lines.

In a former life when I set type on a Compugraphic phototypesetting machine, the convention we used was about 20% extra space, so we'd set 10-point type on a 12-point line. Larger fonts demanded more breathing room. This was at a newspaper, so we spaced things a bit tighter than you'd expect to see in, say, a report or a brochure (or, dare I say a professional looking document).

What does single spacing really mean anyway?



How to fix it:
Default line spacing in Word 2007 differ from earlier versions of Word



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Save the Warning

Easy record

It happens. Your machine balks and spits out an obscure warning message.

You grab a pen and scribble out the error code, which typically is 90 characters long.

Too much hassle!

When the warning box appears, just hit Ctrl+C. The contents of the box are now on the Clipboard and can be pasted into Notepad.






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Handy Master View

It's mouse and keyboard quick!

With PowerPoint 2007-13, View>Presentation Views>Slide Master will take you to the Slide Master View. The same location shows Handout and Notes Masters.

A shortcut involves using the Shift key.

"At the bottom left hand corner of PowerPoint (bottom right for PowerPoint 2007), you will see 3 mini buttons. They are: Normal View, Slide Sorter View, and Slide Show. Now here's a quick trick:

When you hover over these 3 mini buttons, hold down the Shift key. The mini buttons will now become Slide Master view, Handout Master view, and Set Up Show respectively."

The Setup Show is on the Slide Show tab in the Setup group. The Shift key is a cooler way to bring it up quickly.



The Art of PowerPoint-ing



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Edit Subject Line

Organization trick

By editing the subject lines of messages you receive, you can organize your mail. If you get faxes or voicemail sent to you automatically via email, you can change the subject to something that makes sense to you.

Open the message, edit the subject line, close the message and, when prompted, save the changes. The trick with this is the subject line does not look editable because it is on a grey background, but it works nevertheless.

Turn on in-cell editing and you can change the subject line without having to open the email and re-save it at all. This works best if you have the Preview Pane turned on:

Outlook 2000/2002:

From the View Menu select
Current View > Customize Current View
View Summary > Other Settings
Rows, enable the Allow In-cell Editing option.

Outlook 2003-13:

From the View Menu select
Current View
Customize Current View > Other Settings
and enable Allow In-cell Editing.



Slipstick.com:
To change the subject of an incoming message or fax



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Learn HTML

More tutorials

I like to read more than one author on a subject. It helps to clarify the sticky parts and each writer has a little bit different perspective on the subject.

WebReference.com has a good collection of material related to the Web and the Internet in general.

Stephanos Piperoglou has written a number of tutorials on Web design and construction.
From HTML 101 to I Shot the Serif and The Seven Habits of Effective Web Sites .

About HTML with Style


W3 Schools

Also:
HTML Tutorials



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2003-07-10-13 Compatibility

Exchange the future and the past

"Microsoft has added new file formats to Microsoft Office Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007+. To help ensure that you can exchange documents between Microsoft Office releases, Microsoft has developed a Compatibility Pack for the Office Word, Office Excel, and Office PowerPoint 2007+ File Formats"

Use earlier versions of Excel, PowerPoint, and Word to open and save files from 2007-13 Office programs

Microsoft Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint



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Tab Leaders

You can lead a tab to ...........

Setting Tab Leaders in Word

Fred Smith.........................$44.59

This makes your list easier to read

1. Select the line on which you want to create a tab
   
   
2. Click on the Format menu and click on the Tabs menu item
   (you will see the Tabs dialog box)
   
   
3. In the Tab Stop Position field enter the distance to the last column: 5", 6" or what ever is appropriate
   
   
4. Then select the tab alignment; Decimal, Right, Center or Left
   
   
5. Select the type of leader to use
   
   
6. Click Set and then OK
   

Enter the name, or first entry, and then touch the Tab key. Word will automatically enter as many leading characters as required. When you can type the amount, it will be aligned on the decimal or any other alignment you might have chosen.
Here's what it looks like in Word 2007+:



Also:

About.com:
Creating Tab Leader Lines



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Change Access Ribon

Oh, Fooey (F U I)

"One of the most exciting new developer features that Microsoft Office Access 2007 provides is the ability to customize the Office Fluent User Interface (UI) in your application.
The Office Fluent UI provides a new user model for exposing commands, and application navigation that is more discoverable and easier for users of the application.

You create XML to change the Ribbon, a component of the new Microsoft Office Fluent user interface (UI). You can create customization files in any text editor.

All applications that include the Office Fluent Ribbon use the same extensibility model, so you can reuse the same Office Fluent UI extensibility XML with a minimum of adjustments.
For example, you can reuse the custom XML you create for Access 2007+ in Microsoft Office Excel 2007+, Microsoft Office Word 2007+, Microsoft Office PowerPoint 2007+, or Microsoft Office Outlook 2007+."

Customizing Ribbon in Access 2007



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Type, What it Looks Like

Screen fonts preview

This is a tool that lets you see how different typefaces will look on the screen. It also allows you to compare three fonts at once.

"The Typetester is an online application for comparison of the fonts for the screen. Its' primary role is to make web designer's life easier. As the new fonts are bundled into operating systems, the list of the common fonts will be updated."

TypeTester




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Excel Links

Spokes of the web

There's a lot of information out there. The problem is how to find it.
Here is a site that contains links to Excel information arranged in topics:

• Excel Add-ins
  
  
• Excel Help
  
  
• Excel Password Recovery
  
  
• Excel Templates
  
  
• Excel Tips & Tricks
  
  
• Excel Tutorials
  
  
• Excel VBA
  
  
• Free Excel Add Ins
  
  
• Spreadsheet Research

Excel Links



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How Many Die

Hospital scorecard

All right, you need that old appendix ripped out; or maybe a hip replacement.

Where do you go if you have a choice?

Here is a collection of hospital performance nationwide that you may find useful.

It will tell you how many patient deaths there are in any one hospital, as well as how well patients are reimbursed.

DartmouthAtlas



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Access Developer Extensions

No cost tool

"The Access Developer Extensions include the following components:

• Save As Template
  Enables you to create database templates (ACCDTs) that can be featured in the Access 2007 Getting Started screen.
  
  
• Package Solution Wizard
  A wizard that creates a Windows Installer Package (MSI) to install your database and any supporting files and optionally includes the Access 2007 Runtime, or prompts the user to download the Access 2007 Runtime.
  
  
  
• Source Code Control
  Integration with Microsoft Visual SourceSafe or other source code control systems to allow check-in/check-out of queries, forms, reports, macros, modules, and data. You can also see the differences that have been made to your checked out objects."

 Developer Extensions



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Find Found Things

Where'd it go?

A Research Project of the Information School
at the University of Washington

Keeping Found Things Found™

"What is KFTF?

The classic problem of information retrieval, simply put, is to help people find the relatively small number of things they are looking for (books, articles, web pages, CDs, etc.) from a very large set of possibilities. This classic problem has been studied in many variations and has been addressed through a rich diversity of information retrieval tools and techniques.

A follow-on problem also exists which has received relatively less study: Once found, how are things organized for re-access and re-use later on? What can be done to avoid the need to repeat the process by which the information was found in the first place? (If, indeed, it is possible to repeat this process.) We refer to this as the problem of Keeping Found Things Found™ or KFTF."

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Send Access to Word

Reformat reports

Not everyone has Access installed on his or her machine.
Access is not the most versatile instrument for complex formatting.

If you wish to share your findings, Access does have the ability to re-format Reports into Word documents.

Open the Report in Access and go to Tools>Office Links.
One of the choices is to "Publish It with Microsoft Word."
Here's the command in 2007+:



When the data is sent to Word, you will be asked to confirm that you wish to convert the file to "Rich Text Format (RTF)" Click OK.

(RTF is a "universal" format. The Report can be re-saved as a Word "DOC" or "DOCX" file.)

Microsoft KB:
How to send the current record to Word with automation


Use a table or query as a mail-merge data source (2007+)



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Make Your Calendar Your Own

Match your own schedule

". . . did you know that the views in your calendar are fully customizable? For example, you can view your days and weeks in increments of 5 minutes, 60 minutes, and a variety of periods in between.

You can adjust the view of your calendar according to your work week and work day; for instance, you can display Sunday through Thursday and show a normal day as being 11 in the morning to 7 in the evening if you like.

Use different color schemes, and show more or less detail in your calendar. Watch the demo to see how to do all this and more."

Customize your O'07-10 calendar



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First Look at Word 2010-2013

We all have to start somewhere

Here is a 30 minute course:

After completing this course you will be able to:

• Create and save a document.
  
• Accept or reject suggested revisions for spelling and grammar as you type.
  
• Change page margins.
  
• Adjust spacing by deleting any extra spaces between words or extra lines between paragraphs.

Create your first document in Word

First look at Word 2010

First Look at Word 2013



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Nickname List

Call me Ishmael

How to Reset the Nickname and Automatic Completion Cache

Microsoft Outlook maintains a nickname list that is used by both the automatic name checking and the automatic completion features. The nickname list is automatically generated as you use Outlook.
If the nickname cache is corrupted, Outlook may not be able to identify recipients, may offer incorrect recipients when automatically completing the e-mail address, or may send the message to the wrong person. You may also, just want to reset the whole list.

1. Quit Outlook.
   
2. Start Windows Explorer.
   
3. On the Tools menu, click Folder Options, and then click the View tab.
   
4. Under Advanced Settings, click to select the Show hidden files and folders check box.
   
5. Click OK.
   
6. Click Start, point to Search, and then click For Files or Folders.
   
7. In the Search for Files or Folders box, type *.NK2 in the File Name box.
   
8. In the Look In box, click to select your local hard disk.
   
9. Click Search Now.
   
10. Right-click the .NK2 file with the name of the profile that you want to reset, and then click Rename.
    
11. Rename the file to yourname.bak, and then press ENTER.
    
12. Quit Windows Explorer.
    
13. Restart Outlook.
    

Outlook will generate a new nickname cache:
Knowlegebase Article 287623

Slipstick.com:
Name Resolution



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Update Data to Default

Just a keystroke away

You probably know that you can set up a default value for Access to enter into a field when a new record is created. This can be done in the Design view for a table or form by setting the Default Value property.

Unfortunately, you sometimes may set a default value after you've already entered records into the database. When you do so, the existing records aren't automatically updated to equal the new default.

However, if you're editing a record and you want to update the field to the current default, you can do so with a keystroke shortcut. To do so, simply select the appropriate field and press

[Ctrl][Alt][Spacebar]

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Function Toolbar

F what?

In Word 2007+, you can see the shortcut keys by pressing the ALT key.

Word (2002-2003) has a rarely seen "toolbar" that lets you use your mouse to perform function key actions. In addition, when you press Shift you'll see what the Shift + function key combinations do, press Ctrl and you'll see those shortcuts, and so on.

The toolbar is automatically placed at the bottom of the screen (underneath the document area; right above the status bar); like any toolbar, you can drag it and dock to it any side of the screen, or let it float. To display the Function Key Display toolbar:

1. Go to Tools>Customize.
   
2. Select the Toolbars tab, then check Function Key Display
   
3. Click the Close button.

Press the Ctrl, Alt, or Shift keys to see the toolbar buttons (shortcut hints) change. Click on the buttons and the appropriate action will be performed.

See:
Allen Wyatt's Word Tips



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Blog? What's a Blog?

Is it Samuel Pepys or Robert Scoble?

Samuel Pepys:
You can subscribe to an RSS feed of daily entries from Pepys' 1660 diary at The Diary of Samuel Pepys.
A new entry written by Pepys will be published each day; 1 January 1660 was published on 1 January 2003.

How your blog will get discovered

Here are some references to Web Logs

MSDN Magazine:

"Q - What is blogging all about?

A - First, "blog" is short for Web log. It's a medium in which an author writes a journal-style Web site with provisions for readers to respond. These Web logs are becoming quite valuable in the software community for sharing ideas."

All About Blogs and RSS
Wikipedia definition




More on RSS (Really Simple Syndication):
RSS News you choose

Also:
Light and Power



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Data Tables

Up one side; down another

Data tables are a neat Excel feature that has not been emphasized.

If you are looking at, for instance, a home loan with a number of interest rates and different loan periods, a Data table can lay out the results with a minimum of fluff and formulas.

Dick Kusleika, Microsoft MVP, has a description on his excellent Daily Dose of Excel blog.
Data Table Basics

J K Pieterse:
Excel 2007, 2010, 2013 tables

Microsoft:
How to Use Microsoft Excel Data Tables to Analyze Information in a Database

How to Create and Use Two-Input Data Tables in Microsoft Excel

Overview of Data Tables - 2003 and 2007

TechRepublic.com:
Teach two-variable Excel data tables with real-life examples



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Move the Line

Animate charts

PowerPoint has the ability to present elements of a graph one at a time for dramatic effect.

Here's one take from PPTWorkBench.com:
Complex Animations

This tutorial is an example of making PowerPoint do things that can't normally be done. In this case, we will tweak some chart animations that don't exist under normal circumstances.

1. Create a chart with data,
   
2. Ungroup the chart into individual pieces,
   
3. Insert pictures that relate to the data,
   
4. Do some grouping + animation.

Also:

Microsoft:
 Animate Chart Elements in Microsoft PowerPoint 

Internet4classrooms.com:
Animating a Chart - Using Ungrouping

Ungroup in 2007+  



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Homepage(s)

Easy links

Sure you have Favorites and you might have shortcuts on your desktop, but you really only use about a dozen sites on a regular basis.

Try out Only2Clicks. You can set up your home page to show graphic links to your major sites and be able to group them by purpose.



Only2Clicks.com



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Print Raw Data

From reports and forms

Sometimes, you may not want to go to the effort of creating a report; you just need a quick hardcopy of data.

In such cases, you can simply print the Form view of your data. However, doing so also prints the background and shading associated with the form.

If you just need a quick data reference, you probably don't want to waste the resources and time to print such a detailed view. Fortunately, Access has a feature that lets you quickly print just the data from a form or report.

To do so, view the data you want to print in the form or report.

Then, choose:

Office button>Print>Print Preview (File >Page Setup)

select the Print Data Only check box

and click OK.

Doing so hides any graphics, lines, control borders, and label controls so that the print out simply contains data.





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Foxy or Ipsum

=rand(p,s)

In Word 2007+, =rand() produces a selection from the Help file.

=lorem() displays:

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa. Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna.
Nunc viverra imperdiet enim. Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus.
Pellentesque habitant morbi tristique senectus et netus et malesuada fames ac turpis egestas. Proin pharetra nonummy pede. Mauris et orci.

If you want some history, try Lipsum.com



Pre 2007:

To insert practice text in the document, type:
=rand()
and hit the ENTER key.

The whole equation would be:
=rand(p,s)
"p"is for p>aragraphs. "s" is for s>entences.

=rand(2,3)
would produce 2 paragraphs containing 3 sentences each.


It is said that:

The Italian edition of Microsoft Word 2000 produces:
"Cantami o Diva del pelide Achille l'ira funesta."

This is the first line of the Italian translation of Homer's Iliad.

In Spanish it's:
"El veloz murciélago hindú comía feliz cardillo y kiwi."

"The quick Hindu bat ate happy golden thistle and kiwi."

In French it's:
"Servez à ce monsieur une bière et des kiwis."

"Serve this gentleman a beer and some kiwis."

Other Panagrams

Choose Your Ipsum



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Zoom Box Fonts

Customize

Change the appearance of text in Access' Zoom box

Access' Zoom box, allows you to display the contents of a text box in a dialog box for easier editing and viewing. Although viewing long expressions is more convenient in the Zoom box, it is still sometimes difficult to follow what is displayed due to the font Access uses by default.

Access 20xx allows you to change the font that the Zoom box uses. To display the Zoom box, select the text box you want to expand and press Shift+F2. Then, just click the Font button, set the options you want, and click OK. The settings you select are used whenever you display the Zoom box during your current instance of Access. However, the next time you start Access the Zoom box font settings will revert to their defaults







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IE Shortcuts

Finger flicks

A selection of keyboard shortcuts for IE.

Here are a few:

• F11 Toggle between full-screen and regular views of the browser window in Internet Explorer
  
  
• ALT + HOME Go to your home page
  
  
• ALT + RIGHT ARROW Go to the next page
  
  
• ALT + LEFT ARROW or BACKSPACE Go to the previous page
  
  
• CTRL+ F Find on this page
  
  
• CTRL + TAB or CTRL + SHFT + TAB Switch between tabs
  

More:

Browser shortcuts



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Clippy's Revenge

Roll your own OA

The Office Assistant has taken a lot of hits, but it is missing in 2007, but still around in earlier versions.
If you want to play with it, see John Walkenbach's:

Create A Fake Clippy



Here is a creature you could use to replace Clippy:

Nerd Bird

There are other articles in the MS library about Agents and Assistants:

Animating Office Applications with Microsoft Agent



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Numbers in Perspective

Visual concepts

"This new series looks at contemporary American culture through the austere lens of statistics. Each image portrays a specific quantity of something: fifteen million sheets of office paper (five minutes of paper use); 106,000 aluminum cans (thirty seconds of can consumption) and so on.

This project visually examines these vast and bizarre measures of our society, in large intricately detailed prints assembled from thousands of smaller photographs.

As with any large artwork, their scale carries a vital part of their substance which is lost in these little web images. Hopefully the JPEGs displayed here might be enough to arouse your curiosity to attend an exhibition, or to arrange one if you are in a position to do so.

The series is a work in progress, and new images will be posted as they are completed, so please stay tuned."

Building Blocks, 2007
16 feet tall x 32 feet wide in eighteen square panels, each sized 62x62".

Depicts nine million wooden ABC blocks, equal to the number of American children with no health insurance coverage in 2007.

chris jordan, Seattle



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Runtime and PDF

Add-in's complete

Great news, you can now redistribute and use the PDF and XPS add-in with your Runtime solution.
The Runtime's code has not been changed. Your existing runtime solutions can now officially be distributed with the PDF and XPS add-in by chaining the .msi for PDF and XPS into your install process for your app (after the Runtime).

You may copy and distribute the object code form of the add-in listed below together and for use only with the Microsoft Office Access Runtime software, subject to the license terms accompanying the Microsoft Office Access 2007 Runtime software download:

2007 Microsoft Office Add-in: Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS (located at PDF add-in download)

Runtime for Access



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Task Panes

VBA at your own risk

From the MVPS.org site:

Word's Task Panes VBA Reference
The Mother of All Task Pane articles
By Steve Hudson

"Task Panes display within a Work Pane's area. A Work Pane is created by the combination of two objects. These objects are shrouded in misery and thwart most attempts to play with them. The whole area is hidden away from the Kill Cursor invoked with CTRL+ALT+-, which changes to a hand when waved over a Work Pane.
Functions are hidden away from the macro recorder. To make it easier, if it is not in this reference, it is hidden. It is like when a spy is caught and the government disavows all knowledge of their actions.
The Task Panes are spies from Microsoft that are known to only a few objects, in these versions of Office anyway.

Warning
The author gleefully notes at this point that the human race has enough intelligence to get itself into cauldrons of boiling water that it cannot climb out of and that means you and me both!
If you like to be ultra-safe, stay away from this reference and wait for MS to hand over full functionality. You will end up crashing Word many times and you can really damage your user interface."

(Ctrl+Alt+-, can be used to remove an item from a menu. Type the shortcut and then click on a menu item)



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W3C Validation

Standards

Web pages are written in a language called Hyper Text Markup Language; HTML
The latest version of HTML is 4.01.

There is a move to upgrade the code to Extensible Hyper Text Markup Language.

XHTML is compatible with XML (EXtensible Markup Language) allowing applications to more easily exchange data.

In preparation for making the change, edit your web pages so that element and attribute names are in lower case. XHTML is case-sensitive.

Use <p> rather than <P>.

Also end tags are required. Make sure that <p> is followed by </p>.

<br> should be written <br /> and <hr> as <hr />.

For more information see:

The W3C validation site



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Annoying Hypertext Warnings

How to disable hyperlink warning messages in 2007+ Office programs

When you include links in PowerPoint, or other '07 applications, you may get this admonition:

Opening "path/filename".
Hyperlinks can be harmful to your computer and data. To protect your computer, click only those hyperlinks from trusted sources.
Do you want to continue?

To disable the hyperlink warnings in 2007+ Office programs when an http:// address or an ftp:// address is used, you must create a new registry subkey.

To do this, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Run.
   
   
2. In the Open dialog box, type regedit, and then click OK.
   
   
3. In Registry Editor, locate one of the following registry subkeys:
   
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common 

   
   

   HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Office\12.0\Common

   
   Note You only have to modify one of these registry subkeys. You do not have to modify both of them.
   
   
4. Click the registry subkey, point to New on the Edit menu, and then click Key.
   
   
5. Type Security, and then press ENTER to name the key.
   
   
6. On the Edit menu, point to New, and then click DWORD Value.
   
   
7. Type DisableHyperlinkWarning, and then press ENTER to name the entry.
   
   
8. In the right pane, right-click DisableHyperlinkWarning, and then click Modify.
   
   
9. In the Edit DWORD Value dialog box, click Decimal, and then type 1 under Value data.
   
   Note A value of 0 enables the hyperlink warning message. A value of 1 disables the hyperlink warning message.
   
   
10. Click OK.
    
    
11. Exit Registry Editor.

How to disable hyperlink warning messages
Security warning message  



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Scrub DVD Scratches

Methods tested

Which is better toothpaste or Brasso when it comes to cleaning that DVD?

Or



Paul Michael has done the testing for you and provides videos of the results.


Removing scratches



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Some Issues in Word

A collection of hows

Here are a few:

• How do I save so earlier versions of Word can open my documents? Talk about a one-two punch?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924074/en-us
  
  
• How do I recover a lost or over-written file? Who says the "are you sure" dialogs are annoying?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/827099/en-us
  
  
• How do I create a mail merge? The fifth tab on the Ribbon is a brand new take on Mail Merge.
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/294694/en-us
  
  
• How do I scan documents into Word 2013 to Edit?
  Answer: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/msoffice/forum/msoffice_word-mso_windows8/how-do-i-scan-a-document-into-word-2013-to-edit/1a77f715-3e5f-4be5-b8d8-b2a105521aca?auth=1
  
  
• How to do stuff with templates?
  Answer: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/924460/en-us
  
  
• How do I create forms or use form fields?
  Answer: https://support.office.com/en-us/article/Create-forms-that-users-complete-or-print-in-Word-040C5CC1-E309-445B-94AC-542F732C8C8B 

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Prevent Users from Copying Field Text

Copy or select

As you know, you can set a form field's Locked property to Yes to prevent users from changing the underlying data. However, users are still able to select and copy data from the field, and you may not always want this to be the case. The solution is to also set the field's Enabled property to No.

Ordinarily, setting the Enabled property this way causes the field and its associated label to be difficult to read. However, when you set the Enabled property to No and the Locked property to Yes, the fields and labels look exactly as they do when they're enabled for normal entry. The difference is that users will be unable to select or copy any of the displayed data.



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Instant Search

Search all your mail

"If you're buried in e-mail (and who isn't?), Instant Search in Outlook 2007+ can save the day for you - every day.

The new Instant Search helps you quickly find e-mail messages, appointments, contacts, or any Outlook item. You don't even need to know which folder the item is in.

Watch the demo to see how to use this fast search feature, and start finding what you want instantly."

Instant Search Demo

More Instant Search



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New Line

Shift Enter

When you hit the Enter key, the FrontPage/Expression Web editor inserts an HTML <p> (paragraph) tag. This appears as a double line space in a Web browser.

To insert a single line space (or line break) via an HTML <br> tag, just hold down the Shift key and hit Enter.

This happens when you use the

Enter key

Here's what happens with
Shift +Enter

You could also use Insert>Break... Normal Line Break, but that takes too long.

By the way, if you want your code to be XHTML compliant, use lower case for the elements and pair every <p> with a closing </p>

Differences with HTML

Single elements can be used with a built in closer such as:
<hr /> or <br />



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Noodling for Flatheads

By Burkhard Bilger

ISBN 0-684-85010-9
Scribner 2000


About the Author

Has written for all the usual suspects: The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, Harper's, and the New York Times.



Book Description

"Bilger kicks off the tour from his hometown in Oklahoma, where he 'noodles'--thrashes a limb around in catfish-thick waters--hoping to land a fabled 80-pound monster with his bare hands. In Louisiana, he challenges the misgivings any nonenthusiast might have about cockfighting.
Even though it's illegal in most of the country, the bloodsport is thriving in the Bayou State, replete with trade magazines, well-produced venues, and American Kennel Club-worthy breeding strategies. The same passion for efficiency goes into the moonshining business, where Bilger is taken under the wing of one of the few shiners willing to lead him through his sourmash operation. A few nights later, however, Bilger is on the other side, on a raid with the local sheriff.
Squirrel-brain consumption is still popular in hamlets throughout Kentucky, even after a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine blamed a neurological disease on the dish. Bilger treats each eccentric character with a distant respect and hints at the melancholy of losing tradition, no matter how bizarre."

Quote

"tick tick tick

I'm nostril-deep in murky water, sunk to the calves in gelatinous muck.

Noodling, I know, is the fishing equivalent of a shot in the dark. For his master's thesis at Mississippi State University, a fisheries biologist named Jay Francis spent three years noodling two rivers.

All told, he caught 35 fish in 1,362 tries: 1 fish for every 39 noodles."

To "noodle" is to dangle your arm in the water until a catfish swallows your hand. The fish record catch includes one at 111 pounds.

"When clamped on your arm, catfish also have an unfortunate tendency to bear down and spin , like a sharpener on a pencil."

... "once that thing gets to flouncin' and that sandpaper gets to rubbin', it can peel your hide plumb off."

Here's the trailer for the movie
Okie Noodling



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Compare — Combine

Changes in '07

For a number of reasons, including collaboration, documents need to be reconciled. A resultant or master document must be distilled from different versions.

Here are some directions:

Compare - Combine

Comparing and Combining Documents

Back in the old days of 2003, you could save "versions" of documents. That's gone:
Bye-Bye Versions



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World Countdown or Up

Time to die

Here's a clock that shows what is happening second by second.

How many are being born and how many are dying and by what means.


PoodWaddle.com:

World Clock

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VVe have a few Phakes

VVorrisome URLs

If there weren't enough things to look out for, Paul Ferguson warns us of the use of a double "V" in web addresses:

VVINDOWS.COM NS NS1.MYDOMAIN.COM
VVINDOWS.COM NS NS2.MYDOMAIN.COM
VVINDOWS.COM NS NS3.MYDOMAIN.COM
VVINDOWSVISTA.COM NS DNS1.MALKM.COM
VVINDOWSVISTA.COM NS DNS2.MALKM.COM

Here are a few of the domains that have been registered:

VVindows



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Enlarge and Shrink Picture

Get a close up

"Often when doing a presentation, you may want to enlarge an image using Emphasis: Grow.

You probably want to show a clearer view of a photograph. But enlarging with the Grow effect often ends up getting the image blurry/jagged.

Now it looks ugly, you wouldn't want to show others an enlarged but poor quality picture, do you?

PPTHeaven.mvps.org:
Enlarge Image



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Euro to Lira

Pint's a pound

This application allows you to complete many different types of conversions; it includes all the mathematical functions offered in Microsoft Calculator.

It will also do currency conversions.

Microsoft Calculator Plus

Exchange rates are downloaded from the European Central Bank.
You can enter non-European rates by hand.

A more extensive currency conversion tool can be found at:
The Full Universal Currency Converter®



None of them verify that a pint's a pound the world around.
How much does a gallon weigh?



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Total Footer

Sum() it up

If you would like to show a total in the footer or each page of a report, you may have a problem. Access does not allow the SUM() function in the footer.

The way around this is to put a SUM() function in an unbound text box in another part of the report.

Choose Properties and set the visible property of the control to No.

In the footer, create another control using the "calculation" text box as the ControlSource.

The Sum() function, as well as the other aggregate (totals) functions can reference only a field and not a control.

From the Microsoft Knowledge base:

How to Sum a Calculation in a Report

How to Display and Total Subtotals from Subreports




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Task Manager-Big Boy Style

In depth system examination

Here's a free gadget from Microsoft:

"Ever wondered which program has a particular file or directory open? Now you can find out. Process Explorer shows you information about which handles and DLLs processes have opened or loaded.

The unique capabilities of Process Explorer make it useful for tracking down DLL-version problems or handle leaks, and provide insight into the way Windows and applications work. "

"Process Explorer works on Windows XP +, Server 2003, and 64-bit versions of Windows for x64 and IA64 processors"

Process Explorer



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Calculate Running Total

Using the OFFSET function

Adding up a running balance can be frustrating when new data is added or old transactions are removed.

"How to create a data list to manage transactions, add and delete rows from the list, and accurately calculate a running balance using the OFFSET function."

Cash flow using OFFSET.PDF

Office.Microsoft.com:
Calculate a running total



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Define URL Parts

More than dot com

Google engineer and blogger Matt Cutts has defined the pieces that make up a Uniform Resource Locator.

At least as Google refers to them when they're sitting around in their backrooms

Domain

Dynamic URL

Fragment or a Named anchor

The Googlers I've talked to are split right down the middle on which way to refer it. Disputes on what to call it can be settled with arm wrestling, dance-offs, or drinking contests. Typically the fragment is used to refer to an internal section within a web document. In this case, the named anchor means "skip to 2 minutes and 30 seconds into the video."

Host

Parameters

Path

Port

Protocol

Second-level domain

Static url

Subdomain

Top-level domain

Parts of a URL



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Annotation Preservation

Hold that note

Remember the old days. You did your John Madden thing. You've scribbled notes all over the slide and would like to keep them. That old-fashioned 2002 version of PowerPoint couldn't help, but 2003+ will!

Not only can you save your highlights and underscores, but you can turn them on and off when you re-run the show.

Carefully mark up the slide and then at presentation time make it look like you do this sort of thing all the time on ESPN.

When you close the presentation you are asked if you want to save the changes.
You can't highlight text in PowerPoint like you can in Word, but you can do it with screen annotations




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Full Moon Stuff

50 things about the moon

The an article on moon detritus:

3 -Lunar eclipses - caused by the passage of the earth's shadow across the illuminated hemisphere - only occur during a full moon. However, because of the angle of tilt of both bodies the moon normally passes either north or south of the earth's shadow.

4 -The chances of being bitten by a dog are twice as high during a full moon, according to a study at Bradford Royal Infirmary, which reviewed 1,621 cases of dog bite between 1997 and 1999. However, a study at the University of Sydney in Australia concluded there was no identifiable relationship between the state of the moon and dog bites.

16 -In October 1939 in Springfield, Missouri, the full moon appeared to fall from the sky. The event was reported in the local newspaper but was later revealed to be a plunging weather balloon.

26 -The full moon may appear round, but is actually shaped like an egg with the pointed end facing earth.

33 -The full moon is the brightest object in the night sky. It has an apparent magnitude of -12.6 compared with the Sun's of -26.8.

50 -In a study of 1,000 tonsillectomy operations, 82 per cent of post-operative bleeding crises occurred nearer the full moon than the new moon, according to the Journal of the Florida Medical Association.

The sky at night



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Google Guide

Get a Job

There are a number of templates installed in Word that will help in creating a good looking resume.
Get started on your job hunt with Word templates

Here are some suggestions about what a resume should look like:

About.com
Resume and Cover Letter Guide

The Riley Guide:
Prepare Your Resume for Emailing or Posting on the Internet


Want to work for Microsoft?

Microsoft's Zoe Goldring and Gretchen Ledgard:
What is it like to interview at Microsoft?

Chris Sells:
Interviewing at Microsoft

Blog:
Technical Careers@Microsoft



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Resume Writing

Get a Job

There are a number of templates installed in Word that will help in creating a good looking resume.
Get started on your job hunt with Word templates

Here are some suggestions about what a resume should look like:

About.com
Resume and Cover Letter Guide

The Riley Guide:
Prepare Your Resume for Emailing or Posting on the Internet


Want to work for Microsoft?

Microsoft's Zoe Goldring and Gretchen Ledgard:
What is it like to interview at Microsoft?

Chris Sells:
Interviewing at Microsoft

Blog:
Technical Careers@Microsoft



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Insert Line Breaks With Code

Label Captions

If you've ever needed to insert line breaks in a message box prompt, you most likely built a string that incorporated a line feed or carriage return character. Unfortunately, label objects aren't as forgiving when it comes to using these characters.

If you're setting a label's Caption property with code, you'll find that the special control characters are interpreted as squares, since they're otherwise un-displayable.
To successfully insert a line break in a label caption, you need to include both a line feed character and a carriage return character, entered consecutively.

To do so, you can use the Chr() function, such as:

Me.Label1.Caption = "Line 1" & _
Chr(13) & Chr(10) & "Line 2"

However, you can also simplify your code using an built-in constant:

Me.Label1.Caption = "Line 1" & vbCrLf & "Line 2"

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Zoom Box

Better view

Access does not provide much room to enter long expressions in queries, forms, or reports.
You can drag the column wider, but there is a neater, quicker method.

With the insertion point in the field, hit: SHIFT+F2.
A Zoom box opens. Enter the formula and hit OK.




BTW: If you enter Field names in the Zoom box without square brackets, if the fields are recognized, Access will add the brackets.



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Print Calendars

Good looking printouts

The standard calendar print out is dull:



The new free Calendar Assistant makes it more fun.



The Calendar Printing Assistant for Office Outlook 2007-13



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Office Art

2007+ choices

Office 2007+ uses OfficeArt to format text boxes, graphics and pictures.

It's available in Word, Excel , and PowerPoint, but it is most active in PowerPoint and Excel.

Here's a description:

Office PPT Art




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Bad Typography

Ugly when you look close

"From the company that popularized Arial, here are three examples of bad typography in Microsoft Word.
Bad typesetting in Word finds its way into résumés, business plans, research papers, government documents, even published books.
These small inconsistencies and imperfections may be un-noticeable in small doses, but paragraph-after-paragraph they stack up-resulting in ugly, visually in-cohesive documents.
Word isn’t for professional typography work, but that's no excuse for these typography sins.

Arial:



Garamond



Here's one that shows it can be done right:

BatangChe





Examples of Bad Typography



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Google Guide

How to do dat

Why Take The Google Guide Tutorial?

Google Guide

"Google is so easy to use, why take this online tutorial? If you're like many people, you use only a fraction of Google's features and services. The more you know about how Google works, its features and capabilities, the better it can serve your needs.

Just as the best way to learn how to sail is to sail, the best way to learn how to search with Google is to search with Google. Consequently, this Google tutorial contains many examples and exercises designed to give you practice with the material presented and to inspire you to find amusing or useful information."

Using Search Operators:
Advanced Operators

Google Guide TOC:
Table of Contents

Also:
GoogleTutor.com

and
Googling for XML



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CSS

Cascading Style Sheets

As a web page is formatted in Expression Web/FrontPage, the style choices are applied to each element.
To format the body of the page, the HTML code might be:

<body background="blue" color="white" font-family="times, serif" font-size=10pt>

Every page on the site would need to be coded this way in order to have a consistent look.
Cascading Style Sheets will simplify the problem. On an external page the elements can be defined like this:

body {
background: blue;
color: white;
font-family: times, serif;
font-size: 10pt


Each page would contain a reference to the CSS definitions:

<head>
<link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="mystyle.css">
</head>

When the element "body" is used it will now use the CSS references.

For more information see:

Using Cascading Style Sheets on Your Web Site - David Berry
and
Eric Meyer's Site

In this Blog:
CSS Links
and:
More Cascading Style Sheet Help



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Place Controls Where You Want

Works with other apps as well

The Snap To Grid feature is an invaluable tool for aligning controls when you're designing forms and reports. However, when you fine-tune the placement of some controls, you'll probably want to move some of them to positions that aren't exactly aligned with the design grid.

You can temporarily disable the Snap To Grid feature by holding down the [Ctrl] key. Then, you can use your mouse or the cursor arrows to place the controls exactly where you want them.



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Create a Template

More of a good thing

After putting together the ultimate proposal, or dunning notice, you can save the document as a template so that you don't have to re-invent the whole thing.

Here's how to do it in Word 2007-13.
(Earlier versions also use "Save As")

1. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Open.
   
   
2. Open the document that you want.
   Make the changes that you want to appear in all new documents that you base on the template.
   
   
3. Click the Microsoft Office Button , and then click Save As.
   
   
4. In the Save As dialog box, click Templates if your computer is running Windows or Vista, or click Trusted Templates if your computer is running Windows XP.
   
   
5. Give the new template a file name, select Word Template in the Save As type list, and then click Save.

Note You can also save the template as a Word Macro-Enabled Template (.dotm file) or a Word 97-2003 Template (.dot file).

Create a new template

Also:
Templates are digital stencils  



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Read All About IT

Excel reading

Bastien Mensink, from the Netherlands, runs ASAP-Utilities.com.

He has aggregated the headlines from a number of Excel Blogs.

If you don't have them as part of your RSS list, you should.

Weblog Headines



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Synch Time

Time Server

Things I've forgotten or never knew.

1. Double click on the date and time on the taskbar to open the time applet.
   
   
2. Click on the Internet Time tab.
   
   
3. Choose a time server, and click on the Update Now button.

As long as you are connected to the internet, Windows will attempt to synchronize the time once per week.
You can type the name of a time server if you want to use one that is not listed. Only time servers that use the Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) will work. Inserting an Internet address that uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) will not work. The time server time.windows.com is operated by Microsoft. The time server time.nist.gov is operated by the U.S. government. Other time servers provided by your computer's manufacturer might also be listed.



Also:
Time Flies Like an Arrow



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Foley Sounds

Clip Clop

Here's a subject you have heard about:

A Foley Artist 'recreates' sound effects for film, television and radio productions on a Foley Stage in a Post Production Sound Studio.
Using many different kinds of shoes and lots of props - car fenders, plates, glasses, chairs, and just about anything found at the side of the road - the Foley Artist can replace original sound completely or augment existing sounds to create a richer smoother track.
Almost every motion picture and television show you have ever seen and heard contains a Foley track!

NPR presented this story:
Jack Foley: Feet to the Stars

Also:
Art of Foley

Film Sound Q&A



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Hardcopy Relationships

Document database

When you're documenting your database applications, you may want to include the same visual diagram of your table relationships that's available through the Relationships window.
In Access 2000 thru 2003, this is easy. Simply display the Relationships window as usual and then choose File>Print Relationships from the menu bar. Doing so displays a report preview that you can then print or save.

In 2007-13, to just print out a report, find Database tools on the Ribbon and click on Database Documenter.

Relationships are at the bottom of the All Object Types tab





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Life with PowerPoint

Cruel tips

" Don McMillan is "Technically Funny". Before he became a nationally known stand-up comedian, Don spent 10 years as an engineer at IBM, AT&T, and VLSI Technology. He knows what corporate life is all about. His show is funny, smart, clean, AND he is the ONLY comedian working in PowerPoint.

Life After Death by PowerPoint



Don McMillan



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Specifications for Excel 2007-2016

More flexibility

Lots of limits have been changed with 2007. The size of a worksheet is now 1,048,576 rows by 16,384 columns. The number of undo levels has gone up to 100.

Here are some more changes:

• Worksheet and workbook specifications and limits
  
  
• Calculation specifications and limits
  
  
• Charting specifications and limits
  
  
• PivotTable and PivotChart report specifications and limits
  
  
• Shared workbook specifications and limits

Excel 2007-2016 Specifications



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Piggyback on Gmail

An added tool

Google's Gmail is free and offers some features you can use in conjunction with your email program.

• Send email to Gmail
  
  
• Forwarding
  
  
• Gmail spam control
  
  
• Centralized Email
  
  
• Additional email storage
  

"As well as a backup, it means you can easily access your messages via Internet terminal or mobile phone. Gmail is easily searched online or indexed offline using Google Desktop Search."

Here's a YouTube:
Gmail as your spam filter

Here's GMail's Fetch gadget:
How to set up Mail Fetcher



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Use the Ruler

Measure by Measure

Here is an article that explores the use of Word's Rulers.

About the only thing I don't see is that you can bring up the Page Setup dialog box by double clicking in the dark area of the ruler that indicates the margin.

Once again this tip comes from the Microsoft Word MVP site:

Ruler of all you survey:
How to make the best use of Word's rulers

Here's the spot to click to show rulers in Word 2007-13:





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Clippy and Friends

Office Assistants

They were in the background, waiting to pounce.

Chris Pratley was there in the beginning:
Clippy and User Experiences


Stanford University:
Bob and the assistants
Social science research influences computer product design

..."They have found that to a very considerable extent people treat their computers and other computer-driven technology in the same ways that they treat people - as if the computer possessed reason, feelings, etc. People also treat pictures on screens as real objects, rather than as representations of real objects. This is relevant to anyone who wants to design technology or content that is as effective as it can be ..."

Also see:
Microsoft Bob
Clippy's Revenge



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