Window 7 Shortcuts:

Taskbar Modifiers
Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+ClickCycle between windows in a group
Middle ClickOpen a new instance of the program
Ctrl+Shift+ClickOpen a new instance of the program as Administrator
Shift+Right-ClickShow window menu
Managing Windows
Alt+F4Close the active window
Alt+TabSwitch to previous active window
Alt+EscCycle through all open windows
Win+TabFlip 3D [more info]
Ctrl+Win+TabPersistent Flip 3D
Win+TCycle through applications on taskbar (showing its live preview)
Win+MMinimize all open windows
Win+Shift+MUndo all window minimization
Win+DToggle showing the desktop
Win+↑Maximize the current window
Win+↓If the current window is maximized, restore it; if the current window is restored, minimize it
Win+←Dock the current window to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is moved to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is restored to its original size
Win+→Dock the current window to the right half of the screen
*If it is already docked right, it is moved to the left half of the screen
*If it is already docked left, it is restored to its original size
Win+Shift+←Move current window to the left monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+Shift+→Move current window to the right monitor (with dual monitors)
Win+HomeMinimize all but the current window
Win+SpacePeek at the desktop
Win+[Plus sign]Zoom in
Win+[Minus sign]Zoom out
Starting Programs
Win+1Open the first program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+2Open the second program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+nOpen the nth program on your Quick Launch bar
Win+UOpen the ease of access center
Win+FOpen the search window
Win+XOpen the Mobility Center
Win+EOpen Explorer
Win+ROpen the Run window [more info]
Win+BMove focus to notification tray (the right-most portion of the taskbar)
Win+POpen the projection menu (generally used for laptops connected to projectors)
Win+PauseOpen the System Properties portion from the Control Panel
Ctrl+Shift+EscOpen Windows Task Manager
Logging In And Out
While the below shortcuts seem unwieldy because of their length, they're quite easy to remember once you try them out a few times.
Win, →, EnterShutdown
Win, →, →, RRestart
Win, →, →, SSleep
Win, →, →, WSwitch Users
Win+LLocks computer
Viewing Folders With Explorer
Alt+←Go back
Alt+→Go forward
Alt+↑Go up a directory
Alt+DMove focus to address bar
Alt+D, TabMove focus to search bar
Alt+EnterOpen the Properties window of the current selection
Ctrl+MousewheelChange the view type (extra large, small, list view, detail, etc.)
Alt+PShow/hide the preview pane

Ubiquitous Computing:

Also known as pervasive computing, it describes a new mode of interaction in which computers leave the confines of our desks and laps to become partly embedded in our surroundings, allowing people to interact with many types of computer-generated media without using a formal computer.
Nokia's Ubice is one such notion; another recent exponent of ubiquitous technology was Microsoft, with its LightSpace system. This turns surfaces in a meeting room or lecture hall into a display for projected documents, photos or video. Presenters can even "pick up" a virtual item from one display and move it to another.

Convert Time Zones:

Sometimes we want to convert the time from one time zone to another. The easiest way is to get the GMT time and then calculate the appropriate time in the specified time zone.
Example:

EST____________GMT
12:00AM_______5:00AM
9:30PM________2:30AM
3:00AM________8:00AM
11:00 PM_______4:00AM


= A2+5/25

Drag and Drop Recipient Names:

Have you ever wanted to change the order of the recipient names in an email, or move a name from one address field (to, cc, bcc) to another?

When you are composing an email, you unfortunately can't drag and drop names right inside the email itself, but you can click on "To" ...




to bring up the "Select Addresses" dialog box...




and here you can drag and drop names from one field to another, or reorder the names within the same field.

What is a 3G service:

Definition of 3G:
3G is the third generation of wireless technologies. It comes with enhancements over previous wireless technologies, like high-speed transmission, advanced multimedia access and global roaming. 3G is mostly used with mobile phones and handsets as a means to connect the phone to the Internet or other IP networks in order to make voice and video calls, to download and upload data and to surf the net.
How is 3G Better?:
3G has the following enhancements over 2.5G and previous networks:
• Several times higher data speed;
• Enhanced audio and video streaming;
• Video-conferencing support;
• Web and WAP browsing at higher speeds;
• IPTV (TV through the Internet) support.
3G Technical Specifications:
The transfer rate for 3G networks is between 128 and 144 kbps (kilobits per second) for devices that are moving fast and 384 kbps for slow ones(like for pedestrians). For fixed wireless LANs, the speed goes beyond 2 Mbps.
3G is a set of technologies and standards that include W-CDMA, WLAN and cellular radio, among others.
3G follows a pattern of G's that started in the early 1990's by the ITU. The pattern is actually a wireless initiative called the IMT-2000 (International Mobile Communications 2000). 3G therefore comes just after 2G and 2.5G, the second generation technologies. 2G technologies include, among others, the Global System for Mobile (GSM) - the famous mobile phone technology we use today. 2.5G brings standards that are midway between 2G and 3G, including the General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution (EDGE), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) etc.
What is Required for Using 3G?:
The first thing you require is a device (e.g. a mobile phone) that is 3G compatible. This is where the name 3G phone comes from - a phone that has 3G functionality; nothing to do with the number of cameras or the memory it has. An example is the iPhone 3G.
3G phones commonly have two cameras since the technology allows the user to have video calls, for which a user-facing camera is required for capturing him/her.
Unlike with Wi-Fi which you can get for free in hotspots, you need to be subscribed to a service provider to get 3G network connectivity. We often call this kind of service a data plan or network plan.
Your device is connected to the 3G network through its SIM card (in the case of a mobile phone) or its 3G data card (which can be of different types: USB, PCMCIA etc.), which are both generally provided/sold by the service provider. Through that, you get connected to the Internet whenever you are within a 3G network. Even if you are not in one, you can still use 2G or 2.5G services provided by the service provider.

3G and Voice:
Wireless technologies are a way for mobile users to make free or cheap calls worldwide and save a lot of money due to the latest telephony applications and services. 3G networks have the advantage of being available on the move, unlike Wi-Fi, which is limited to a few meters around the emitting router. So, a user with a 3G phone and a 3G data plan is well-equipped for making free mobile calls. She will only have to download one of the free applications and install on her mobile phone and start making calls.

Acid Test Ratio:

Definition: A measurement of how well a business can meet its short-term financial obligations without selling any inventory.
The purpose of this calculation is to show how easily a company could be liquidated, and therefore help financial institutions decide upon how credit worthy the company is.
A ratio greater than 1:1 is good and indicates the business can pay their current liabilities without being dependent on the sale of inventory.
Current Assets - Inventories ÷ Total Current Liabilities
Also Known As: Quick Ratio, Liquid Ratio
Examples:
After examining our low acid-test ratio, our store is considering how we can liquidate some inventory to generate cash.

Five Goals of every Project:

Project goals keep the focus on what is most important. However, on some teams these primary goals are lost in their meeting's activities. Make sure each meeting is structured so as to move the project forward. Even if the progress is only inches rather than by huge leaps, the team must be pushing the project forward as quickly, safely, and reasonably as possible.
Finish the project within the scheduled timetable.
Your goal should be to finish the project within the timeframe agreed upon. This means you must do everything possible to drive the project to the end and stay on time. Remember to avoid guessing and incompetence in the planning of the scope so as to have a reasonable time schedule with which to work.
Finish the project within the scheduled budget.
Budgets are set by some project teams while others inherit them. Whether you set the budget or inherit it, you need to make sure you are doing your best to track your expenditures and know where the money is going. When you finish the project within the scheduled budget, you demonstrate your ability in running the project responsibly.
Finish the project with the same level of quality.
Unfortunately, when projects lag behind, quality is often sacrificed in order to catch up. Project leaders sometimes feel that in order to pick up speed, pieces of the project will need to be downsized or cut completely. True, the project plan will have to be revised when problems arise, but the revision should never compromise quality. While it is important to keep deadlines, it is equally important to keep the project's quality high throughout the project.
Finish the project within the specified guidelines.
Make sure you are meeting the customer's needs. You must "wow" the customer! This can be done simply by finishing the project with the specifics the customer really wanted. The best way to solidify this is to verify your accomplishment by customer handoff and close down.
Do the best you can with what you have been given.
There is no such thing as a perfect project. Some projects run up against major odds and hurdles. For example, many recent projects in our country have endured major setbacks because of terror attacks, severe weather causing power outages, or a nation at war. Even against these catastrophes, projects were remarkably turned around and back on track because of great project team leaders and teams. Project goals were met because they did their best with what came their way.

Think about your carbon footprint:

Did you know that when you buy flights with certain airlines you have to pay a bit more to offset your carbon footprint? Or perhaps you've read about big pop groups who plant forests of trees every time they do a tour, again, to offset their carbon footprint? But what exactly is a carbon footprint, how is it measured and where did it come from?

Originally a footprint was exactly what you might imagine - the print made by a foot. In the sixties, space travel transformed the word, using it to mean the landing area for a spacecraft and it has continued to be common in technical circles, with people talking about the footprint of computers (that's the space they take up on a desk), printers and many other such gadgets. Small footprints are considered to be a positive thing, large ones are generally bad.

Everybody has a carbon footprint - it's the amount of carbon dioxide we produce with any action or activity. As carbon dioxide contributes to 'greenhouse gases', our carbon footprints have a direct impact on the environment. You can estimate your carbon footprint on any number of popular websites: if it's small, then you're probably leading a relatively green lifestyle. But what happens if it's big?

Well, the answer is that you can 'offset' it. This modern answer to the problem is for people to contribute to balancing the negative effects of their actions by using green fuels, recycling, reforestation and a number of other activities which are said to contribute to a lowering of the carbon dioxide.

So, before you print out the project plan or transcript of this entry, think about your carbon footprint. Do you really need to use that paper, the ink, the electricity...?
Below is the snapshot of www.carbonfootprint.com
A carbon footprint is a measure of the impact our activities have on the environment, and in particular climate change. It relates to the amount of greenhouse gases produced in our day-to-day lives through burning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation etc.

The carbon footprint is a measurement of all greenhouse gases we individually produce and has units of tones (or kg) of carbon dioxide equivalent.
A carbon footprint is made up of the sum of two parts, the primary footprint and the secondary footprint.
1. The primary footprint is a measure of our direct emissions of CO2 from the burning of fossil fuels including domestic energy consumption and transportation (e.g. car and plane). We have direct control of these.
2. The secondary footprint is a measure of the indirect CO2 emissions from the whole lifecycle of products we use - those associated with their manufacture and eventual breakdown. To put it very simply – the more we buy the more emissions will be caused on our behalf.
To calculate your carbon footprint - click here
For tips to reduce your footprint - click here

Software Peer Review:

In software development, peer review is a type of software review in which a work product (document, code, or other) is examined by its author and one or more colleagues, in order to evaluate its technical content and quality.
The purpose of a peer review is to provide "a disciplined engineering practice for detecting and correcting defects in software artifacts, and preventing their leakage into field operations" according to the Capability Maturity Model.
When performed as part of each Software development process activity, peer reviews identify problems that can be fixed early in the lifecycle. That is to say, a peer review that identifies a requirements problem during the Requirements analysis activity is cheaper and easier to fix than during the Software architecture or Software testing activities.
In the most traditional approach to peer review, known as single-blind review, reviewers know the author's identity, but not vice versa. Blinding the identity of reviewers enables them to comment freely and not worry about disgruntled authors seeking retribution for negative reviews. Another approach is double-blind review, in which the identities of the author and referees are both hidden, making it easier for reviewers to focus on the paper itself without being swayed by any preconceived ideas about the author or his institution. Finally, many have adopted open peer review. In this model, the author's and reviewers' identities are known to each other, a situation that forces reviewers, who can't hide behind a veil of anonymity, to provide more thoughtful critiques.

Calculating the no. of day/weeks/months/year between dates:

Calculating the difference between each pair of dates listed in columns
A & B.

Solution:

To calculate the difference in days, use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"d")

To calculate the difference in weeks, use the INT function as shown in the following formula:
=INT((B2-A2)/7)

To calculate the difference in months, use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"m")

To calculate the difference in years, use one of the following two solutions:
Use the DATEDIF function as shown in the following formula:
=DATEDIF(A2,B2,"y")

Where was that document again:

If you are looking at a document in one view, and want to switch to another view while still keeping track of the selected document, you simply need to hold down the CTRL key while clicking on the second view.

For example, in the picture below I have a document selected in the order by ‘Who’ view.



But I want to know what other mails are being received on the same day, so I hold down the CTRL key and click on "Date" in the Order selector to switch to that view. You can see the document I had selected in the first view is still selected in the second view.



Try it out in your own databases!

Pantry Audit:

A survey of consumers about grocery brands, products, and quantities in their homes at any given time. Packaged goods manufacturers employ this research technique to gather data for new product development and packaging strategies. In conducting a pantry audit, a random sample of the advertiser's target market is first selected. Questionnaires are then mailed or telephone solicitations are completed to determine what items are stocked in a consumer's kitchen. For example, if the pantry audit revealed that the majority of pantries sampled had half a box of spice that was a year old, it might result in a decision to package the spice in smaller quantities.

Indianisms: The way we use English:

Let us look into some of the Indianisms and see how to correct them.

The Use of ‘Only’
We are like this only
I am like your brother only
Pune is like this only

Correct Usage:
This is how we are
I am just like your brother
This is how Pune is
----------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘ing’
I am loving it
I am having a headache
I am not understanding this
I am having a BMW
Are you having a pen?

Correct Usage:
I love it
I have a headache
I don’t understand this
I have a BMW
Do you have a pen?
-------------------------------------------------
The Use of ‘too’ instead of ‘very’
The food is too good
The film was too interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is too good

Correct Usage:
The food is very good
The film was very interesting
Hritik Roshan’s dancing is very good
-------------------------------------------------

The Use of redundant word ‘up’
Let’s meet up
There is always so much to cope up with

Correct Usage:
Let’s meet
There is always so much to cope with
-------------------------------------------------

Use of ‘there’
Rani is there
Birayani is there
A meeting is there today

Correct usage:
Rani is here
There is Birayani
There is a meeting today
-------------------------------------------------

Repetition of words to indicate increase in intensity
The car was going fast fast
It is very very hot
Morning morning the phone started ringing

Correct usage:
The car was going very fast
It is extremely hot
The phone started ringing early in the morning
-------------------------------------------------

The use of ‘Just’, ‘actually’ and ‘basically’ as fillers
Actually, I am from Mumbai
Basically, I am an Engineer
Just, I am telling you

Correct usage:
Originally, I am from Mumbai
I am an Engineer
I am telling you
-------------------------------------------------

Counting unique values in a List:

Problem:

Counting the number of unique numeric values or unique data in List1, disregarding blank cells.

Solution1:

To count the number of unique values use the SUM, IF, and FREQUENCY functions as shown in the following formula:
= SUM(IF(FREQUENCY(A2:A13,A2:A13)>0,1))

Solution 2:

To count the number of unique data use the SUMPRODUCT and COUNTIF functions as shown the following formula:
=SUMPRODUCT((A2:A13<>"")/COUNTIF(A2:A13,A2:A13&""))

Management Skills Pyramid:

To be successful, there are many skills a manager needs to master. A pyramid structure shows the increasingly difficult management skills you must master at each level and to also display how these management skills build on each other to help you achieve success in your management career.

The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 1
Level 1 of the Management Skills Pyramid shows the basic skills a manager must master just to get the job done. These are the fundamentals of the management job:
• Plan
• Organize
• Direct
• Control
The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 2
After you have mastered the basic skills in level 1, you need to move on and develop your skills on Level 2 of the Management Skills Pyramid. These are the management skills that you use to develop your staff. There are many specific skills required, but they are grouped into these categories:
• Motivation
• Training and Coaching
• Employee Involvement
The Management Skills Pyramid, Level 3
When you have become skilled in developing your staff, it's time to focus on Level 3 of the Management Skills Pyramid, improving your own development. These management skills are grouped as:
• Self Management and
• Time Management
Time management gets its own category because it is so important to your success in all the other skills.
The Management Skills Pyramid, Top Level
The peak of the Management Skills Pyramid, the single skill that will help you the most in developing success in your management career, is leadership. As you develop your skill as a leader, as you make the transition from manager to leader, you will achieve the success you truly want in your management career.

Go Back…Go Forward:

Have you ever thought... "I was just looking at that document" and wanted to get back to it quickly, but to do so you had to go to your workspace or bookmarks, open the database again, choose a view, and then reopen a document?

Lotus Notes makes it easy to "Go Back" and to "Go Forward" to views and documents.

On the Navigation Toolbar, you will see an arrow pointing left (for back) and one pointing right (for forward). Each time you click on arrow itself, Notes will reopen the last document you opened. If you click on the "little triangle pointing down", Notes will display a list of the last documents and views that you visited, and you can choose which one to "jump back to".



If you prefer your keyboard to the mouse, you can use ALT+LEFT ARROW to go back, and ALT+RIGHT ARROW to go forward.

Leased Inventory:

An accounting method used to finance the opening inventory of a new retail store. Product is leased to the operator and secured by the wholesaler's lien on daily cash receipts.

Types of Speeches:

Before you can write and deliver an effective speech, you need to know what type of speech you're giving. Then you can make sure that the content and organization meet the needs and goals of the speech.
There are 4 types of speeches:
• Persuasive: Tries to convince the audience to accept your view or take a recommended action. Sales presentations are a typical example, but there are many others
• Informative: Provides the audience with new information or insights on the topic. A lecture by a professor to a class is informative.
• Inspirational: tries to uplift the audience. May have a spiritual theme.
• Special occasion: Offers appropriate content for a toast, award presentation, acceptance, introduction, eulogy, etc.