June 2007 - Posts
Do you know that the Mail Merge feature can do many more things aside from just filling up the recipient information for us in letters, faxes and any other form of written communication.
During the first semester of the previous school year when I attended my Research Writing class we were introduced by my teacher to note cards. Note Cards are index cards where you place a quotation from your source, the paraphrase of that direct quotation, your notes and comments and some other details about the source. You use those Note Cards to aid creating and organizing your ideas for your research paper.
So how do we use the Mail Merge feature to help us create Note Cards?
Step 1: Create Data Source using Microsoft Office Excel 2007
Fill each cell of the first row of your worksheet with the headers that you will be needing for your note card, examples are the Source #,Topic / Idea, Direct Quotations, Paraphrases, Notes and Comments. After that the succeeding rows with information about your sources.
Once you are done, save your work and close Microsoft Office Excel.
Step 2: Use Mail Merge and Layout your Note Card
Now, open Microsoft Office Word 2007 and click the Mailings tab then click Start Mail Merge then select Document. Click Select Recipients then select Use Existing List. Look for the Microsoft Excel Worksheet that you have created earlier. You will be asked to select a table, so select table wherein your data is contained.
At this point your Excel Worksheet is now "linked" to your working document in Microsoft Office Word 2007. Now, resize your document to the dimensions of your index card, afterwards insert the fields from your Excel Worksheet by clicking the Insert Merge Field command which is located on the Mailings tab of the Ribbon. From there you will be shown a list of fields from your Excel Worksheet. Insert them and layout them on your document.
After that you can now preview the results of your mail merge and finally save or print them to individual index cards.
Now you know how to create Note Cards using Mail Merge. If you want to share something that you have created with Mail Merge don't hesitate to e-mail blog <at> chesterinteractive <dot> com and who knows your solution might be featured in this blog.
This semester, I have two subjects wherein there's a need to use Microsoft Office Excel extensively, one is Computational Finance and the other is Statistics and Probability. Last week we were given an exercise in my Computational Finance class wherein it involves lots of numbers and analysis. For me it involved lots of filtering.
In the previous version of Microsoft Office Excel, filtering is just limited to selecting a specific value, arranging them either ascending or descending, and custom filters. But now there are lots of things that you can do with filtering in Microsoft Office Excel 2007.
One of the first things you will notice when you work with filters is that there is a checkbox beside each of the value present in the column. Instead of just selecting a single value at a time just as what it would do in the previous version, you can now select several values at a time. You don't need to use custom filters just to get the numbers you want.
In the illustration above, you may notice the options "Filter by Color" and "Sort by Color", now you can actually filter depending on the background color of the cell, the font color, by the cell icon if you have applied Icon Sets from Conditional Formatting. You can use this functionality if for example you might want to highlight the cell with the values you want with green, so later on you can filter by color in which you only want to see cells in the column that has a background color of green.
See how easier it is to filter using Microsoft Excel 2007. If you have any questions regarding the 2007 Microsoft Office System I invite you to come over to Glorietta in the Windows Vista Digital House wherein you can visit Work Passion. There I as well as the other Microsoft Juniors will be able to answer your questions about the new features of Microsoft Office System. I will be there today in the morning until 3:00 PM. Also you will be able to catch the Digital House Presentation and you will realize how Windows Vista and 2007 Microsoft Office System can help improve your lifestyle.
See you there!
For me and as well as most of you guys out there, the first semester has began! I'm sure most of you are now busy buying school supplies, doing advanced reading and other stuff related to school. I've been in school for almost a week now and here's how I place Microsoft Office into action inside the classroom.
Microsoft Office OneNote is probably the application that I always use inside the classroom. I'm very happy that my teachers are much more open to the idea of taking down notes onto a notebook computer. I organized my subjects into three section groups, namely Monday - Thursday, Tuesday - Friday and Wednesday. With this I could only see the subjects that I need to work-on during the specific day groups. I also use task flags so that I can track any of the assignments / projects that I will need to submit within the semester. Once I get home I synchronize my OneNote Notebook to my Desktop PC so that I could review my notes and annotate them if required.
Microsoft Office Outlook - I should say that I'm an Outlook addict, I use it to send and receive e-mail through my Windows Live Hotmail account using the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector Beta. I use it to plan out my schedules for the whole semester and for a specific day. Maybe you students should try using Outlook.
Microsoft Office Word - I use it mainly on my papers / projects for the semester. With all the new and exciting features in the latest version such as the galleries and live preview, I can focus more on the content instead of thinking about how will I design the document itself. Aside from that I use it to finalize the blog entries that I have created in Microsoft Office OneNote.
Microsoft Office Excel currently I have two subjects wherein I could utilize Microsoft Office Excel to help me get through problems, one is an elective entitled Computational Finance for IT and another one is my core subject entitled Statistics and Probability. So you will be expecting some posts here in my blog on how did I use Excel in both of these subjects soon.
Microsoft Office PowerPoint I should say that I love doing class presentations and class reports. I would always volunteer if the teacher asks. I always use Microsoft Office PowerPoint to create the most impressive slides that I use for my class presentations. Actually as the time of writing, I was preparing for a presentation about Computer Aided Software Engineering for my Systems Analysis and Design class.
Microsoft Office Visio as I have said during the last paragraph, I am currently enrolled in a System Analysis and Design Class. I will be using Microsoft Visio to create diagrams / drawings such as ER Diagrams, DFD Diagram and etc. that I will be needing to be able to design our group project.
So here it is, this is how I use Microsoft Office inside the classroom. Expect more posts as I get through the days of this first semester. Please share your own stories about Microsoft Office inside the classroom, don't hesitate to click the e-mail link above and share your story.
Classes has just started for me last Wednesday and currently I'm using Microsoft Office OneNote to take down my notes in class. I'm very happy since my teachers this semester are very open to the idea of taking down notes using a notebook computer.
I remember the time when I was still in my elementary days wherein my teachers will ask us to either staple or glue the handouts that they are giving to our respective notebooks. At that time "Attaching" handouts to our notebooks is a way to save time so that we will have more time to discuss the lesson rather than copy the notes from the blackboard.
Now in college, some of my teachers give their handouts / readings as downloadable files from the class e-group on the internet. So now how will you make them part of your notes?
Attach the file to OneNote
There are actually two ways to attach a file to OneNote one is to drag the file from a folder / desktop to the page in OneNote and the other way is that to go to insert files. After you have inserted the file you will see the file's icon on your page as what would it look like on the desktop / folder just as what have been illustrated below:
Do you know that once you inserted a file in OneNote, it actually becomes a part of your notebook? So everywhere you go, the files that you attached with your notebook stays with your notebook even if the file is not physically present on the computer itself
Print to OneNote
Another way to include handouts on your OneNote notebook is to print it to OneNote. All you need to do is to either open the file, go to print and select the "Print to OneNote" printer or if you want to do it within OneNote you will have to go to Insert then select Files as Printouts.
Once you have selected the file it will be printed to the "Print to OneNote" printer and will be inserted to the current section you are in.
So this is all for now for Attatching Files and Printing to your OneNote Notebook. I will discuss more about OneNote as I get through the first semester. Also, don't forget the Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office and Windows Live Bootcamp for Students and Teachers on July 14. Register now at www.phiwug.org/bootcamp.
I've been waiting so long for this; finally I can use my Windows Live Hotmail account with Microsoft Office Outlook, thanks to the new Microsoft Office Outlook Connector (Beta).
The Microsoft Outlook Connector (Beta) is actually add-in to Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 / 2007 that enables Windows Live Hotmail users to use Microsoft Outlook as their mail client. Aside from synchronizing e-mails, the add-in also synchronizes contacts contained in your Windows Live Hotmail account and if you are a paid Windows Live Hotmail Subscriber you can also synchronize the calendar on your Windows Live Hotmail account.
Working with Two Computers? Not a Problem
I, for example works on two different computers. My problem with POP3 is that I can't get the same content of my inbox unless I transfer my personal folder files between computers (not recommended). The nice thing about Microsoft Office Outlook Connector (Beta) is that what you do on another computer will be synchronized onto your other computer keeping both of your computer's inbox in sync.
Try it!
Download Microsoft Office Outlook Connector (Beta) from http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=7aad7e6a-931e-438a-950c-5e9ea66322d4&DisplayLang=en
It's the start of the new school year! It's a year full of new lessons, new opportunities, and new challenges ahead. Create professional looking documents, spreadsheets and presentations that will sure impress your teacher and for teachers to inspire their students without spending the whole time trying to figure out how will you make them look professional. Work together without everyone being physically present, with everyone on the loop so that you can pass the best project on-time and with flying colours. Go beyond written notes in a notebook, introduce pictures, voice and video to help you understand the subject matter.
Want to know how all of these and more are possible? Find out on our Windows Vista, 2007 Microsoft Office and Windows Live Student and Faculty Boot Camp.
This event was brought to you by the Philippine Windows Users Group and the Microsoft Juniors.
Saturday, July 14, 2007 (9:00 AM - 5:00 PM)
Microsoft Exchange and Office Rooms
Microsoft Philippines
16th Floor 6750 Office Building, Ayala Ave. Makati City
Attendance checking starts at 8:00 AM
Important
Please be reminded that this event is only open to Students and Faculty Members.
MS101 - Microsoft Windows Vista
It's Windows Vista, learn more about it's features like search, live icons and more. Let your mom know what you're up to by sharing your calendar with her in Windows Calendar. Have a long break in school? Why not turn on the Windows Media Center and listen to your music or share pictures with your classmates and since we are so involved with writing take a look at the Tablet PC capabilities in Windows Vista and the things that you can do with a computer that has Tablet PC capabilities.
Learn more about Windows Vista in our first subject MS101 - Microsoft Windows Vista.
MS102 - Microsoft Office Word
It's time to focus on the content rather than on the design of the document. No more trial and error learn how can save time and make your lives easier through Galleries and Live Preview. Cite your sources and avoid plagiarism let Microsoft Word help you do the task of documenting your sources. Learn about document building blocks and from there create professional looking documents that can impress your teacher. Creating documents as a group? Learn how to track changes so that you'll know who changed what.
Learn all these things and more in MS102 - Microsoft Office Word.
MS103 - Microsoft Office Excel
Explore the different styles that can be applied from your cell to your table by browsing through the variety of galleries available. Create professional looking charts that will sure impress your teacher or colleague. For teachers, learn how you can take advantage of Colour Scales, Data Bars and Icon Sets to help you assess the performance of your class.
All these and more in MS103 - Microsoft Office Excel.
MS104 - Microsoft Office PowerPoint
See how Microsoft PowerPoint has evolved, learn how you can unify the look of your presentation to the look and feel of your document. Need diagrams for cycles, organizational hierarchy? Stop drawing circles and use Smart Art to get the perfect diagrams for your presentation. Learn how to create photo slideshows in an instant and also to recycle slides from your other PowerPoint Presentations.
Get to know more about the new Microsoft PowerPoint only here at MS104.
ON101 - Microsoft Office OneNote
More than writing, more than typing; It's a whole new way of taking down notes. Know the basics of Microsoft Office OneNote 2007 and it's exciting features. Go beyond written notes by introducing pictures, audio and more onto your notes.
It's all here in ON101 - Microsoft Office OneNote.
COL101 - Collaboration: A Quick Run-through of Windows Live
It's time to break boundaries of time and space, drag your classmates into the conversation and brainstorm ideas using Windows Live Messenger. Collaborate through e-mail, schedule group meetings, keep everyone informed and let everyone know your schedule using the new Windows Live Hotmail. Take a sneak peek on Microsoft SharedView (Beta) and how it can change the way you and your group mates work together without everyone being physically present.
Learn to Collaborate here at COL101.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words. Given that a second of video contains 25 frames we can assume that a video clip is worth a hundred thousand or more words.
For example you are sitting in your Physics Laboratory class doing an experiment on collision. I'm sure you will have your toy carts, tracks and other devices that will help you collect the data from the experiment. I think it would be really nice if you can record the clip while the experiment is being performed and go back to that clip to observe what really took place during the experiment.
Microsoft Office OneNote has a capability to record video from your computer's built-in camera (or the attached web camera).
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Click the "Record Video" toolbar button on the standard toolbar of the Microsoft Office OneNote User Interface
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The "Audio and Video Recording" toolbar will show-up and will start recording the video from your computer's camera.
- You will also notice that a familiar video icon was also placed on your page. If you are done recording just click the stop button on the "Audio and Video Recording" toolbar.
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Congratulations you have just recorded a video clip to your notebook, if you want to play the video clip just double-click the video clip icon on your page.
Now you can go back to your observation at the time of data collection and you can make better laboratory reports. In a few days, school is about to start, I wish you all the luck for this new school year.