On the other hand, the use of Symbols is a feature that I’ve seen used extensively in academia. I’ve taken quite a few classes online and have seen many professors in Finance and other classes requiring arithmetic use symbols when putting together their handouts and homework assignments in Excel and Word. I figured I’d combine the features in this how-to since they both reside in the same dialog box.

Once you complete this how-to you will be able to insert special characters and symbols in your Excel spreadsheets. If you have any comments or questions please post them below.

Note: I used Excel 2007 when creating this tutorial.

Insert Symbol into Cells

1. Click on the cell you wish to insert the symbol into.

2. Click on the Insert tab located on the Ribbon.

3. Click on the Symbol icon located in the Text group.

4. Make sure the Symbols tab is selected.

5. You have the option to select the font for the symbol using the Font drop-down (in this example I used the Symbol font).

6. Click on the symbol you wish to use.

7. Click on the Insert button to use the symbol in the selected cell.

8. Once inserted the Cancel button will change to the Close button, when you are done, click Close to return to the spreadsheet.

I took the liberty of inserting several symbols in the same cell.

Insert Special Characters into Cells

1. Click on the cell you wish to insert the symbol into.

2. Click on the Insert tab located on the Ribbon.

3. Click on the Symbol icon located in the Text group.

4. Click on the Special Characters tab.

5. Click on the special character you wish to use.

6. Click on the Insert button to use the special character in the selected cell.

7. Once inserted the Cancel button will change to the Close button, when you are done, click Close to return to the spreadsheet.

In the example below I will be compiling a list of articles in Excel. I will enter 1 row of data and use AutoFill to enter the remaining 9 rows. I will then switch from an article a day to an article everyday and introduce a pattern that Excel will also replicate. A task that could take me 15 minutes with typing or copy and paste will be done in less than 5 minutes with AutoFill. If you have any comments or questions about this feature, feel free to post them below.

Note: I used Excel 2007 when creating this tutorial.

Once you complete this how-to you will be able to use AutoFill to streamline data entry and spreadsheet formatting.

Using AutoFill

1. Select the row you wish to copy.

2. Click on the Fill Handle (the bottom right corner of the cell – your cursor should change to a + sign).

3. Drag the fill handle down to the desired number of rows.

4. Click on the AutoFill button which will open the AutoFill menu (more on these options later).

5. Click on Fill Series from the menu.

You will notice that the AutoFill feature automatically filled the series for the highlighted columns above. The Art. ID was incremented by as was the date. The other columns were copied.

Using AutoFill on Data with Patterns

6. Select the rows of patterned data or cells that you wish to use.

Note: The dates are three days apart and that one row lists Excel Related with 1k words and the other is Word Related with 2k words.

7. Click on the Fill Handle (the bottom right corner of the cell – your cursor should change to a + sign).

8. Drag the fill handle down to the desired number of rows.

Notice how Excel automatically picked up on the pattern that I started with the data. The dates are now three days apart and articles are now Word Related with 2k words and Excel related with 1k words (see highlighted rows).

The AutoFill Menu

This is one of my best friends in Excel, it’s a time saver and a very easy to use feature. The AutoFill menu will appear whenever something is pasted into a cell or you perform a fill operation as described above. The options provided are limited by the data you are manipulating…so if you are working with dates you will see the date autofill options. More information on the menu items below.

Depending on the data that you are copying you will see the following options.

• Copy Cells – You are simply copying the source cells.
• Fill Series – If your data contains numbers, Excel will automatically increment it based on a straight series or patterned data as described above.
• Fill Formatting Only – This option will only paste the formatting from your selection, the data in the destination cell(s) will remain the same.
• Fill Without Formatting - Opposite of Fill Formatting Only – only the data will pasted from the source, the destination’s formatting will remain intact.
• Fill Days - Fills days when using dates.
• Fill Weekdays – Fills weekdays when using dates.
• Fill Months - Fills months when using dates.
• Fill Years – Fills years when using dates.

Note: I used Excel 2007 when creating this tutorial.

The cells located in the Type column draw the contents of their list from the Asset Type column in the illustration above.

Once you complete this how-to you will be able to use a list as a reference to create a drop-down that will control the data that can be entered in a specified cell.

Create Data Validation Rule

1. Select the cell you wish to apply the validation list to.

2. Click on the Data tab located in the Office Ribbon

3. Click on the Data Validation button located in the Data Tools group

4. When the Data Validation Dialog box appears, click on the Settings tab (should be the default tab)

5. Select List from the Allow: drop-down menu

6. Specify the entries you wish to appear on the list, you can specify the range by typing it in or simply highlighting it.

7. When you are done, click OK to close the dialog box.

Now the cell you selected will offer you a drop-down that will list the items you specified on Step 6.

Paste Validation List to Other Cells

1. Click on the cell you just applied the validation list to and click on the Fill Handle (the bottom right corner of the cell – your cursor should change to a + sign).

2. Drag the fill handle down to all the cells you wish to apply the list to.

Now all cells you specified will have a drop-down linked to the list we specified in Step 6.

Remove List Validation

The steps below will walk you through the process of removing the list validation that we added in the previous steps.

1. Click on the cell with the list validation.

2. If you are not there already, click on the Home tab on the Ribbon

3. Click on the Find & Replace button

4. Click on Go To Special… from the menu

5. When the Go To Special dialog box opens, select Data Validation

6. Then select Same

7. Click OK to proceed.

8. Click on the Data tab in the Ribbon

9. Click on the Data Validation button located in the Data Tools group.

10. When the Data Validation dialog box opens click on the Settings tab (should be default).

11. Click on the Clear All button to clear all validation criteria

12. Click OK.

Note: You need to have Picasa installed before proceeding, to download and install Picasa follow this link..

Installing Facebook Button for Picasa

1. Go to http://apps.facebook.com/picasauploader and click on the Install Now button.

2. You may get a warning from your browser asking you if you would allow your browser to launch Picasa. Click on the Launch Application or Allow (varies by browser).

Note: The screenshot above was made with Google Chrome.

3. Picasa will open and it will ask you if you would like to Launch Picasa and import buttons? Click Yes to proceed.

4. When the Configure Buttons window opens click on the Facebook button located under Available Buttons and then click the Add >> button to transfer the Facebook button to the Current Buttons section. Click on OK to finish.

The Picasa shortcut bar will now have a Facebook button available that will allow you to quickly upload pictures from Picasa to Facebook.

Uploading Pictures from Picasa to Facebook

1. Select a picture or a group of pictures you wish to upload to Facebook. Once selected click on the Facebook button located on the bottom potion of the Picasa window.

If this is the first time using the Facebook button proceed to Step 2, otherwise go to Step 3.

2. Enter your Facebook user name and password, click Login.

3. Click on the Start Upload button.

4. In this section you get to specify the location of the pictures or customize a new album. In this example I created a new album and entered the information highlighted above. When you are done click on the Send to Facebook button.

Upload status…

5. Once the upload is complete, click on the Go to album on Facebook button to browse your uploaded album in Facebook.

6. Before your albums can be seen by anyone on Facebook you must first approve them in Facebook.

If all pictures are to be approved, click on the Select All link or add a checkmark to the checkbox located on the top left corner of each image to select them. Once selected choose who can see the pictures, and click on the Approve Selected Photos button.

Confirmation that your photos were approved.

Note: In order to use this feature you must have Gmail with Chat enabled

1. While using Gmail , click on the Settings link located on the top right corner of the screen.

2. Click on the Chat tab. Select the equipment you are using in the Voice and video chat section. You can chose;

• Camera
• Microphone
• Speakers

Click on Verify your settings

Note: Gmail does a pretty good job of figuring out which of the devices to use, so the defaults should be ok.

3. When the Verify your settings section expands you will be able to confirm that your devices are working properly.

• Video will be displayed on the right
• The microphone can be tested by speaking into the mic and checking for the indicator
• The speakers can be tested by clicking on the play the test sound link.

4. Once you have made your changes and verified that settings are working, click on the Save Changes button to proceed.

5. When you are done you can now you can use video chat within Gmail to speak with others online. To start a video chat, click on the buddy you wish to speak to and click on the arrow next to Video & more and click on Start video chat.

If you are like me and you are looking for a way to ungroup the Excel windows into their own Taskbar buttons follow the instructions below. The instructions are the same for resetting this option to the default setting. If you have any comments or questions please post them below.

NOTE: I used Vista Ultimate and Excel 2007 in this tutorial..

The 1st Taskbar above is an example of all Excel windows grouped together (the default setting). In this scenario I have 3 Excel workbooks open, but only one Taskbar button.

The Taskbar below the 1st Taskbar above is an illustration of the same scenario except that each Excel window has its own button on the Taskbar.

How to Change the Setting

1. Open Excel and click on the Office Orb located on the top-left corner of the screen. Click on the Excel Options button to modify the setting.

2. When the Excel Options window opens click on Advanced located on the left pane. Scroll down on the list of options until you reach the Display section. Once you reach this section you can either remove or add a checkmark to the Show all windows in the Taskbar checkbox. When you are done click OK.

If you have multiple Excel windows open you will notice the change right away.

Warning: Use this feature at your own risk.

1. Right-click on your desktop and click on New > Folder to create a folder.

2. When the folder is created name it as follows,

GodMode.{ED7BA470-8E54-465E-825C-99712043E01C}

When done hit Enter to save the name.

The icon for the folder you just created should look change to the Control Panel icon and it should be named GodMode. If it does not look like this, you need to make sure that you entered the correct information when you create the folder.

Double-click the icon to open GodMode.

As far as I can tell it looks like an expanded Control Panel. Welcome to Windows 7 God Mode….enjoy!

Via SuperSite Blog

Fake antivirus scams are usually triggered when a user visits a website that is hosting this scam or clicks on an email containing a link to the malicious code. Users are then warned that they have a virus and must run the virus scan, the problem is that the virus scan is really malicious code disguised as a virus scanner. The usual response is to run the scan or if suspected closing the window by clicking the [X], however most of the time, these two actions actually trigger the malicious program to run and further infect your computer. Not a pretty sight.

Please share the PDF below with friends and relatives to help spread the word about fake virus scanners and how infections can be prevented.

By following the guidelines found in the poster below users can counter some of the threats associated with fake virus scanners. A summary of the PDF can be found below.

• Be weary of pop-up messages that claim your computer is infected. These messages are part of a wave of fake antivirus scams that target web users by prompting them install a virus disguised as a virus scan application.
• Be weary of pop-ups from unfamiliar programs, specifically if they are from a browser stating that you need a virus scan or a similar message
• DON’T CLICK on unsolicited pop-up messages
• DONT CLOSE unsolicited pop-up messages

To Close the Unsolicited Pop-up

1. Open the Task Manager by pressing Ctrl + Alt + Delete on your keyboard

2. Scroll through the dialog box and locate the name of the pop-up window and select it

3. Once selected, click on the End task button

Note: This is the only way to safely close the pop-up message and prevent possible infection

Image below is linked to downloadable PDF Poster

The other day I came across Rollip.com, a very easy to use online photo manipulation site that allows users to choose from 40 different filter effects ranging from vintage effects to black and white conversion. I found the website fast and easy to use. I personally like to use programs like Picasa to do my any photo editing, but I found this site to be great for on-the-fly filter effects when a program like Picasa is not available. Below I will walk you through the steps necessary to upload and apply a filter to your pictures. If you know of other websites like this or have any questions, please post them below.

Using Rollip to Apply Filters to Your Pictures

1. Head on over to Rollip.com and click on the Click here to start! button.

2. Choose the layout of your photograph. You have the option of a Polaroid look (which reduces the size of the image) or the original size. Simply click on the layout you wish to use.

3. In this example I chose the Polaroid and as such I was provided with the options pictured above that allow me to add decorations to the border of the "Polaroid". Click on the option you would like to use and you will be taken to the next screen.

4. Again I chose the Polaroid layout so I was given the option to enter text, enter the text you wish to appear and click Ok, continue or you can cancel if you wish to do so.

5. Once you have customized the options you now need to upload the picture you wish to use. Click on the Click here to upload photo! button.

6. Browse to the location where your image is located, select the image you wish to use and click on the Open button.

Your Image will upload…

Once upload is complete wait a few seconds for the settings you chose to be applied to the image.

7. Share your photo with the world! or just download it to your computer. You can click on the download photo link or share your picture by email, facebook, myspace, or Flickr.

Sample of image that I uploaded and modified.

The following is part of a series of articles that will mirror an electronic book that I’m set to release in December of this year. The eBook’s main focus will be helping new and old Windows users become familiar with the new version of Windows 7 that will available to the public in December. I hope that you find this series useful and informative and that you enjoy it so much that you will purchase my eBook when it is released.

This article is part of Chapter 1 of Windows 7 Basics How-to Guides for the Rest of Us™. To access other how-to’s from the book head on over to the Books section of this site.

A new feature in Windows 7 is the inclusion of Jump Lists. Jump Lists allow you to quickly access frequently used files, documents, pictures, songs, web sites, and any other functions you frequently use.

Note: Jump Lists are context sensitive in that the list generated is based on the application or folder that you access.

1. To access a Jump List simply right-click on any icon located in the Taskbar.
Jump List are also accessible via the Start Menu.

2. To access a Jump List from the Start Menu. Click on the Start button and click on the arrow located to the right of specific programs to open the Jump List.

Examples of programs with Jump Lists are Internet Explorer and Sticky Notes.