Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Welcome to issue 99e:-)

It was brought to my attention by quite a few subscribers that last week I failed to mention how my singing escapade had gone last Saturday.  It was also suggested by the majority of those subscribers that this may be down to that fact that it hadn’t gone all that well.

I’d just like to take this opportunity to state, for the record, that their gleeful suggestions of doom couldn’t be further from the truth.  Last Saturday, at half time in the MK Dons vs Chesterfield match, I sang a self penned ditty called “We’ve Got More Roundabouts”, under my stage name (that sounds so professional, and much more impressive than “under a joke name I made up for fun”) of Tony Stratford and accompanied by only my own live guitar playing.  I performed to just under 10,000 people, some of whom were even paying attention, and can now retire safe in the knowledge that I’ve performed in front of more people than most bands ever manage.

The fact that the Microphone in front of my guitar seemed to be malfunctioning so that people couldn’t actually hear the guitar for most of the song can’t dampen my enthusiasm for the whole project.  The fact that the headset microphone that I was wearing didn’t make me look like Madonna, but in fact just made me look like I had a very poor beard, again should not be taken as a sign that the event was anything other than a resounding success.  The fact that the judges (a group of teenage footballers, who had shown their colours in a previous week by giving the guy who did an R Kelly cover 500 out of 500) saw fit to give me marks as high as they did (and I’m not telling you how low they really were:-)) is a testament to the fact that any idiot who has a moment of madness and fills in a form for a talent show can end up having what can only be described as great fun in front of 10,000 people.

Anyway, to close this rather strange chapter of my life off, I have to decide whether to kill Tony Stratford off now, or whether I need to record the album before finally laying him to rest.  Suggestions on a postcard please:-)

If you’re interested in seeing for yourself just what odd experiences life can throw up when you’re not really paying attention, then thanks to the wonders of YouTube, you can experience it for yourself by clicking the link below. (Sadly the judges votes seem to have been lost forever):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjcOp4yHbAE

(See if you can spot the moments where the camerawife (who shall remain nameless) gets bored…)

Isn’t life wonderful?

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Bullet the Blue Sky

Application   Microsoft Word

Versions      All
Hi.

Simple Word shortcut this week, and it’s one that I use a lot.  Lots of you may be aware of the various shortcuts you can use in Word to apply the main Heading styles (if you’re not then we’ll be covering some of those in the new year) but in most guides and books there’s always one common type of formatting missing from the shortcut lists, and that’s bullets.

To apply a simple bulleted list format to a paragraph, click into the paragraph, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press L (for list in case you were wondering).

That’s all:-)

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

“Admitting error clears the score, and proves you wiser than before.”

Arthur Guiterman

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Sit back and relax – there’ll be lots of work coming in the next month or so, but nothing for this week either:-)

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Welcome to issue 99d:-)

You may have noticed by now that I’m quite fond of technology.  If you haven’t, then let me state, for the record, that I, Rosoft Mike, being of sound mind and body, am quite fond of technology.  There.  That should be pretty clear.  Something happened this week that made me question my growing reliance on technology.  At the time it was embarrassing, frustrating and to be completely honest, extremely annoying.  It’s mellowed in my addled brain since then to become quite amusing, but it really was an eye-opener.  It started like this…

I’m in Cardiff.  The Marriott Hotel in Cardiff to be precise.  It’s last Tuesday morning, and I’m off to deliver an Excel Expert course at a new venue.  I have a map, but sadly can’t seem to work out either where I am or where I need to be on it.  This is not a problem.  This is not a problem, because I have Sat Nav, and all will be well.  As long as I have a postcode, all will be well.  I check.  I do have a postcode, therefore all will be well.  I have sat nav, and postcode, therefore nothing can go wrong.  My sat nav is suggesting that the venue is less than a mile from the office, so I leave in plenty of time – I need to be there at 9, so I leave the hotel at 8.20.  Nothing can go wrong.

Now there were two main problems that hit me in relatively quick succession.  Problem number one was that the whole of Cardiff City Centre has been rebuilt since my sat nav was made, and I keep getting sent down bus-only roads.  This is but a temporary setback, as all I need to do is find a way round to the right place and I’ll be there.  Lo and behold, after a great deal of ducking and diving around central Cardiff, I turn a corner, and my sat nav proudly proclaims “you have reached your destination”.  Well that’s alright then.  Except it isn’t.  I look around and find nothing to help me in any way identify where I’m trying to get to.  Just road signs telling me that I’m lost, while sat nav proudly proclaims that I’m not.

By this time, it’s getting on for 9:00 am, and I have to admit defeat, find somewhere to leave the car and call the venue for help.  The very helpful guy on the end of the phone recognises where I am and starts to direct me towards the offices.  I set off walking in the direction he’s telling me, but it soon turns out that I’m about a mile away, and may need to get the car anyway.  As it’s clear that the route is less than simple, I ask for any landmarks that will help me find the venue.  “Oh yes, said my helper – look for the Marriott Hotel – we’re right behind that”.  I sheepishly drove back to the hotel I’d left 40 minutes earlier, put my car back in the same car park I’d driven out of before I started my quest, and walked across the road to the office.

Isn’t technology wonderful:-)

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Worksheeting 9 to 5…

Application   Microsoft Excel

Versions      All

Hi.

Useful little Excel shortcut this week.  When you need to insert a new Worksheet in Excel, there are quite a few options at your disposal.  You could right click on one of the worksheet tabs and choose Insert.  Or you could go to the Insert Menu and choose Worksheet.  Or you could use this week’s super special smashing tip:

Hold down the Shift Key and press F11.

That’s all:-)

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

“Children have more need of models than of critics.”

Carolyn Coats

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Sit back and relax – there’ll be lots of work coming in the next month or so, but nothing for this week:-)

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Welcome to issue 99c!

I’ve spent a week worrying about everything that seemed to be important, and a weekend where I’ve been brought back down to earth by one of those things that truly is, and to be totally honest my mind is elsewhere right now, so we’ll make this one snappy (famous last words I know, but I’ll try and keep to it this time.)

Just for information purposes, anyone who happens to be coming along to the MK Dons v Chesterfield match this coming Saturday will get the opportunity to witness me and my guitar at half time, standing trembling with fear while trying to ignore the fact that the entire crowd has just disappeared off to get their pie and pint.  Anyone who doesn’t happen to be coming along to the match, well all I can say is, you don’t know what you’re missing.  Except for the fact that I’ve just told you of course.  Anyway, on with the show…

Hope your weekend was interesting.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Our Eyes Meet Across A Crowded Room…

Application   Microsoft Outlook

Versions      All recent

Hi.

Some of you struggled with last week’s tip (does that sound like I’m blaming you for my poor explanations?) and while I can’t guarantee that I understand what’s happening with all of you, I think that in all likelihood it is actually working, but you can’t see it doing it, because the box that it activates sits on the toolbar, and unless you’re looking there, you might not see it.  If you had trouble last week, then try the tip again, but type a name and then click Enter, and this time you should see a bit more of a result.

As for this week, we’ve got another Outlook tip this week, but hopefully a slightly more simple one [insert fingers crossed smiley here].

To create a new meeting using Outlook, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys and press Q.

That’s all:-)

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

Constantly choosing the lesser of two evils is still choosing evil.

Jerry Garcia (1942-1995)
Musician

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Something personal this week – just set aside a minute or two to call that person you haven’t spoken to in ages.  It doesn’t matter how long it’s been, or how uncomfortable you feel about how long it’s been.  Pick up the phone and make the call:-)

Do it for me.

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Welcome to issue 99b!

Barely enough time for a standard newsletter this week, let alone a super-duper extra-special 100th issue, so 99b it is.  I’m starting to take bets on which letter of the alphabet we get up to before I either actually produce a decent Issue 100 or give up and go straight on to 101, but due to insider dealing rules, I’m not allowed to comment publicly.

Hope your weekend was fun.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Eye to Eye – Contact

Application   Microsoft Outlook

Versions      All recent

Hi.

Quick Outlook tip this week, and one that I always knew I needed but didn’t know what it was till quite recently (yesterday to be precise, but let’s keep that between us please).

When working in the depths of the million or so emails I get each day, I often find myself needing to call up the details of one of my contacts.  Usually that means stopping whatever I’m doing, getting the mouse, clicking into the Find Contact box on the toolbar, typing in the name, and so on.

A simple tip this week – press F11 and the cursor will jump straight to the Find Contact box.  Type the name, hit Enter and you’re away.

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Relax.

Go on – you know you want to:-)

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Remember Remember the 5th of November
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot.

Does anywhere else celebrate bonfire night/Guy Fawkes thing?  I’m guessing not, but it would be interesting to hear if any other countries have something similar.  Call me a bluff old traditionalist (cue vast amounts of emails doing just that – I’m starting to understand how you lot think) but every time I think of November 5th, it reminds me of the first time I was made redundant which was on November 5th (although I guess you could probably have worked that out for yourself) back in 1990.  I know it’s not quite as striking an image as dastardly Mr Fawkes scheming over gunpowder, but picture, if you will, your esteemed author scheming over a redundancy letter, and plotting revenge on the company involved.  Now it’s true that people aren’t building bonfires in my honour every year, or spending vast fortunes on massive firework displays to honour my attempts at corporate subterfuge, however I would like to point out that the company in question no longer exists.

I think that goes to show that I’m not to be messed with (or that the poor company realised that I was the main problem just that little bit too late to save the other ten thousand employees) and that in future, as well as fireworks, we should all spend a moment to burn a redundancy letter or two at this time of year.

While I think about it, I’d like to express my sincere apologies (can you feel the sincerity here Ladies and Gentlemen?) to those of you who were confused/challenged/annoyed by last week’s suggestion that it was 20 minutes to Christmas.  It was supposed to imply that Christmas was rapidly approaching, but based on the number of people who got on to me about it (including the first people I saw in both of the first two places I visited last Monday) it failed miserably, although I did appreciate the couple of emails I got wishing me a happy new year midway through Monday morning:-)

Incidentally, this is issue 99!  Do you know what that means?  It means that the big issue I promised back at issue 50 and never delivered should rightly be just round the corner.  If you listen really, really, carefully you might be able to hear it being prepared by teams of highly trained and even highlier (I think inventing words is important, otherwise the people who make dictionaries will be out of a job) paid business types, working their little hearts out to deliver something special for you.  Either that or next week you’ll receive issue 99b and I’ll string it along for a bit longer while I try and find the time to do issue 100 properly.

Whichever it is, I hope you had a great weekend.  On with the show.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           The Best Part of BREAKing up…

Application   Microsoft Word

Versions      All in the whole wide world (probably)

Hi.

This week’s tip actually came to mind while I was doing some FrontPage work with my school (where I’m Chair of Governors - Hi to all the kids from Howe Park) but it’s one that’s equally useful in Word, especially if you’re working in someone else’s document, and they’ve set it up using paragraph spacing.

Now I’m not going in to much detail here – that’s for another day, but I just want to show you something that can be very useful.

OK – when you’re in a Word document and you press the Enter/Return key, the cursor moves down to the next line.  Are you with me so far?  OK, well depending on how Word has been set up, you may find that when you press Enter/Return, it appears to move down more than one line and leaves a gap between the previous line and this one.  If you find this and you don’t want to have that gap, then just try this.  Hold down the Shift key and press Enter/Return.  You’ll find that the cursor will move directly underneath the existing line.  That’s all.  Try it in other applications too – you’ll be surprised at how many applications can use the same shortcut.

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: We did it ourselves.

Lao Tzu

A quick PS for this week.  Adrian, yes it was.  So there. Don’t ever doubt me again:-)

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Well based on the zero response to last week’s task, I’m guessing that either no-one has an appropriate email address, or perhaps everyone had gone off on their Christmas holidays after I misled everyone into how close it really was.

Either way, that makes this week’s planned entry surplus to requirements.  I’ll just add that if anyone does have an email address ending in .ac.uk, then drop me an email when you have a minute.

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

It’s cold, damp and it’s getting dark, and that can only mean one thing.  It’s a Sunday lunchtime in a getting-more-wintry-by-the-day UK.  I’m sitting here watching my Ebay auctions closing as I type (I’ve got approximately 30 auctions closing in the next hour), and getting extremely (and totally irrationally) excited when a DVD sells for £1.50 rather than £1.40.

On top of that, I’ve just worked out that there are only 20 minutes till Christmas (or thereabouts) which is both exciting (as I love Christmas), expensive (as I’m Father Christmas – shh) and depressing (as it means that my last Christmas before I hit my 40s is on it’s way) so the fact that it’s almost upon us leaves me with some very mixed feelings.

On another disjointed note (is it just me or this even more of a ramble than usual?) I’m feeling really old.  I got the tour dates for next years Gary Numan tour earlier this week (odd as it may seem this is one of the highlights of my year) and he’s playing Manchester on March 8th.  Which is his birthday.  His 50th Birthday!  And it seems like only yesterday that I was at his 40th.  I am not old enough to still be idolising a 50 year old popstar.  Oh no I am not.

Anyway, on that cheery note, I trust you’ve had a good weekend – may the week bring you all the missing pieces of life’s jigsaw puzzle – have a good one.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Just remember – you got options…

Application   Microsoft Office

Versions      Just 2007 this week

Hi.

Vital tip this week, but it will only be of immediate use to those who are already using Office 2007, however it will be relevant to the rest of you when you finally catch up.

If you’ve not seen Office 2007 yet, then the most striking thing that you need to know is that it doesn’t have any recognisable menus.  Or toolbars.  I won’t go into detail about what it’s all about, but the lack of a menu can cause people big problems, as it can make it very difficult to find the things they need.  At least until they know where to look.

Just about every Microsoft application prior to Office 2007 has an entry under the Tools menu called Options.  This entry gets used for lots of things, particularly any customising that you want to do with the appearance of your application or how it works.  The problem in Office 2007 is that with no Menu, then there’s no Tools menu to click to find the Options that you want.

The good news is that all the old options are still available, the bad news was that you didn’t know where to find them.  Until now:-).

If you click the Office Button at the top left hand side of whichever Office 2007 application you’re using (if you’ve not got office 2007, then you won’t have an Office Button, so don’t trouble yourself looking for it) – at the bottom of the dialog box that appears you’ll see an button called Word Options (or Excel Options or whatever).  There be the bit you’re looking for:-)

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

After the game, the king and the pawn go into the same box.

Italian Proverb

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Quick question this week – do you have an email address that ends in .ac.uk?  This will probably only apply if you work in education or are studying somewhere, but if you do, then Microsoft are doing a special deal on MS Office that you need to know about.  Let me know at the usual address.

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Please accept my humblest apologies for the lack of Start The Week last week.  A combination of a very busy start to the weekend and a bout of food poisoning meant that I was otherwise engaged, so while I’m sure it placed a dent in the joy that is your usual Monday morning, rest assured that had I produced anything, it would have been even less coherent than usual.  In short, you probably didn’t miss much (I’m good at this self-promotion lark aren’t I?).

Anyway, due to a series of very detailed and interesting meetings that ran from Monday to Friday last week (quick quiz – earlier in this very sentence I used the words ‘detailed’ and ‘interesting’ – one of those was completely untrue.  Can you guess which?) I was able to sample the delights of Crawley for a whole week, which is challenging enough at the best of times, but last week seemed even more so.  I think it was Winston Churchill who said that when you’re feeling a tad poorly, any hotel is likely to be less than ideal, a hotel in Crawley doubly so.  If it wasn’t him, then he probably wished it was, so I guess it still stands up to scrutiny:-).

I’ve rediscovered the joys of Ebay recently, partly to bring in some cash for some of the stuff that I have no need for anymore, and also as part of a plan to clear some stuff out of what I remain convinced is my Office/Studio but that my good lady Wife seems even more convinced is to be my Daughter’s bedroom very soon.  I’m building up quite a pot of cash from the sales, but when you factor in the time that it takes to pack and post something like a DVD that’s just sold for a couple of quid, I think it would be more productive if I was to walk the streets of Milton Keynes offering everything I own for free to passing strangers.  It’s good fun though (Ebay that is, not the street wandering – I haven’t tried that just yet) and can be quite fascinating when a little bidding war breaks out.

Anyway, I hope you’ve had a nice couple of weeks – on with the show.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Shut em down (Tabs that is…)

Application   Microsoft Internet Explorer/Firefox

Versions      Just the more recent ones

Hi.

Quick and simple Internet Explorer shortcut this week.  If you’ve got a newer, multiple tabbed browser, then here’s a simple shortcut to close down a tab.  A word of warning first though, as there’s no “are you sure” dialog box or anything like that – it just closes the current tab.  Hold down the Ctrl key and press W.  That’s it.  Tab closed.

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)
Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Buddha

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

No task this week – at ease.

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Big thanks to the 27 people who responded to last week’s pinch and a punch with a punch and a kick, but does ‘no returns’ mean nothing to you people?  Big apologies to any new subscribers this week, who are probably wondering what on earth they’ve signed up for.  Just sit back and relax – a sort of numbness will descend after a couple of issues and before you know it you’ll be a fully fledged ‘Start The Weeker’ (or just weaker perhaps).

Anyway, a few statements to start the week off properly:

1. We are top of the league
2. Logitech’s Wireless DJ is the greatest toy I’ve bought in many a decade (thanks Pete)
3. X Factor has ceased to be interesting now that all the deluded ones are out
4. John Barnes is mighty large
5. We are top of the league
6. The Wind that Shakes the Barley is the best film I’ve seen this year

I hope you’ve had a great week – on with the show.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Lets get, together again (again)

Application   Microsoft Excel

Versions      All

OK.

Following last week’s tip about how to join two cells of text together, I had a couple of emails asking for advice on how to do it the other way around.  By that I mean how to separate out a column of First and Last names (for example) into one column of first names and one column of last names.  In English, I mean how to turn a cell that contains the text Mike Gurner into one cell that contains Mike and one that contains Gurner.

This is actually even easier than last week’s tip, but you have to know where to look, so for this week’s tip, I’ll tell you where to look.

Select the column that you want to split, then from the Data menu, choose Text to Columns.  You have a to answer a couple of questions, which look a bit odd, as they’re not worded as well as they could be, but in 99.9% of cases, you can choose Delimited as the answer to the first question, and tick Space as the answer to the second (but feel free to experiment).

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

One must learn by doing the thing, for though you think you know it, you have no certainty until you try.

Aristotle

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

Quick question this week – can you let me know which (if any) Project Management software you use?  Thanks very much – let me know at the address below.

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

A pinch and a punch, first day of the month.

No returns (go on, admit it – I’m too quick for you…)

I hope you’ve had a great week – on with the show.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Lets get, together again…

Application   Microsoft Excel

Versions      All

OK.

This question came up earlier this week when a friend was asking for some help for his ‘friend’ as his ‘friend’ didn’t know how to do this in Excel.  I helped out (I’m nice like that) and thought it would be an interesting thing to share with you.

In the situation in question, the ‘friend’ had first names in column A and second names in column B, and wanted to bring them together in column C.  These things are sometimes difficult to visualise, so it might help to open up Excel and type Mike into cell A1 and Gurner into cell B1 (you don’t have to use my name here, you can use any name you like – Excel doesn’t care).

Now click into cell C1 and type the following, either in the cell itself or in the formula bar (if you’re feeling particularly clever, you could even copy and paste it):

=A1&” “&B1

and press enter.

All being well, you should now see that C1 contains the first name and second names, separated by a space.  All the formula is doing is telling Excel to take what is in A1, a space (the bit between the speech marks) and what is in B1 and to put them together in cell C1.  You can experiment a bit by trying different things between the speech marks – whatever you put there will appear between the first and second names.

I hope you find that useful.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)

“Did you ever see an unhappy horse? Did you ever see a bird that had the blues? One reason why birds and horses are not unhappy is because they are not trying to impress other birds and horses.”

Dale Carnegie

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

You have a week off.  Relax and enjoy it:-)

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.

Welcome to Start The Week.

Hi everyone{:-)

Morning all!

Monday’s child is fair of face.  I’ve never been all that sure what that means, but I’d like to think of Start The Week as being a child of Monday, so I hope it’s as nice as it sounds.  No matter what day of the week you were born on, you’ve probably not been to as many interesting places as I have this week.  Since we last spoke, I’ve been to both Basingstoke and Crawley, so anyone who thinks that modern business life isn’t luxurious and relaxing, well I hope that persuades you otherwise.

My personal highlights of the week have been, in no particular order:

• The look of confusion on the face of the waitress in a Chinese restaurant on Thursday evening when my dear friend Stevie told her that the meal had been ‘truly scrumptious’
• The look of confusion on the face of my dear friend Stevie when forced to confront the fact that Chitty Chitty Bang Bang wasn’t all that popular in China
• Football, football and more football

I hope you’ve had a great week – on with the show.

Have a great week:-)

As always, I love feedback, so if you have any comments, praise or criticism, then I’d love to hear about it – let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

The Tip of the Week

(or something useful for now…)

Title           Open in a new tab

Application   Microsoft Internet Explorer (and Firefox too)

Versions      All with tabs in them (which is most recent versions)

OK.

Right – simple Internet Explorer shortcut again this week, and it’s aimed at those of you with tabbed browsers (in simple terms that means those of you whose browsers can have more than one page open in a single window, that you choose by selecting the appropriate tab from the top of the window, as opposed to having a new entry on the task bar at the bottom of the screen for each page) and I think it’s very useful.  If you’re not sure whether you’ve got a tabbed browser or not, then try it and see.  You might learn something useful anyway.

If you type a web address into the address bar and click enter, the new page will appear in the current tab, however if you want to open it in a new tab, then you need to insert a new tab first, then click in the address bar and type the address, and then press enter.  That’s all a bit longwinded, and you probably won’t be too surprised to find that it’s also unnecessary, so here’s the way to avoid all of that.

If you type the web address into the address bar, hold down the Alt key and press Enter, you’ll find that the page will automatically open in a new tab, leaving the existing tab as it was.

I hope that’s useful to you.

I hope you find this tip useful – as usual, please send me your comments to tipoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk.

The Quote Of The Week

(or something to make you think…)
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, you will be successful.

Albert Schweitzer

Send your interesting quotes to mailto:quoteoftheweek@rosoft.co.uk

The Task Of The Week

(or something useful for the future…)

You have a week off.  Relax and enjoy it:-)

Thanks very much.

If you have any questions or comments, then please let me know at mike@rosoft.co.uk

Thanks very much.

Mike.