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A couple of months ago we received our copy of Office 2010, so it must be about time we start blogging about it!  Sparklines is a new Excel feature which we’ve been impressed with. Basically they’re miniature charts that fit into a single Excel cell to allow the user to view individual trends at a glance.  A feature such as this is ideal when managing money, e.g. to assess how expenditure for different items has varied over a year.

Here’s how to create Sparklines:

1. Click on the ‘Insert’ tab and locate the ‘Sparklines’ box
   
2. Next you must select the type of Sparkline you wish to use by clicking on either Line, Column or Win/Loss
3. Finally in the ‘Create Sparklines Box’ you need to select your data range and location range
   

A neat feature I’m sure you’ll all agree

Below are a variety of formulas that people often use to create passwords which are easy to guess and therefore easy to hack!

• Sequences – Try not to use sequences of letters or numbers as they are very easy to guess.  E.g, ’123456789′ or ‘abcdefg’ or ‘ddddddd’
• Look-alike – It is always good to use look-alike symbols instead of letters, e.g. ‘a’ is ‘@’.  However, we only recommend doing this when you combine them with a variation of letter cases.  No professional account hacker will be fooled by ‘i’ as ’1′.
• Personal Details – Don’t use your personal or family member details as your password.  E.g, name, date of birth, address, username/login name.  Hackers will try this information first.
• Dictionary – Hackers are now using some top quality software that can guess passwords from dictionary’s in all type’s of languages, even if the word is spelt backwards, misspelt and includes substitutions.
• Variation – We recommend that you have a few passwords instead of using just one for everything.  If one system is hacked into, and you use the same password for everything you may as well consider every account that you have on the Internet as hacked.
• Storage – many people are beginning to use online storage.  We would heavily discourage this.  If your online storage is hacked into you may have personal documents saved.  Consequently they will all be accessed by the criminal.

Finally, don’t forget to check the strength of your password with the Microsoft Password Checker!

Over the next few weeks we’re doing a series on passwords!  It is always important to have a good password.  Having a strong password makes it even harder for any hacker to get into your private accounts and information, etc.

Here are some good ways to ensure you have a good quality password:

• Length – It is ideal to have a long password.  By long we mean at least 8 letters long but if possible even longer!  Generally, the longer it is the harder it is the hack.  Many systems now also allow for spaces in your password.  Therefore it may be a good idea to invent a long phrase rather than a word.
• Use the whole keyboard – It is a great idea to use letters, numbers and symbols in your password.  The greater the variety of keys the harder it is for an attacker to break into your account.  Surveys have shown that having a 15 character password using both letters and numbers is far stronger than having an 8 character password with just letters.  In fact it’s 33,000 times stronger!
• Make it memorable – It is essential that your password is really easy for you to remember!  However, it is also essential that other people, even your friends, wont be able to guess it easily!

Finally, check out the quality of your password with the Microsoft Password Checker!

This weeks quick tip is the last of the Shortcut Series.  Today’s topic is Winkey Shortcuts.  For those of you that don’t know the Winkey is the Windows Key on the keyboard.  Usually the key is second in from the bottom left of your keyboard.

Winkey Shortcuts:

WINKEY + D – Bring desktop to the top of other windows
WINKEY + M – Minimize all windows
WINKEY + Shift + M – Undo the minimize done by WINKEY + M and WINKEY + D
WINKEY + E – Open Microsoft Explorer
WINKEY + Tab – Cycle through open programs on task bar
WINKEY + F – Display the Windows Search/Find feature
WINKEY + Ctrl + F – Display the search for computers window
WINKEY + F1 – Display the Microsoft Windows help
WINKEY + R – Open the run window
WINKEY + Pause/Break – Open the system properties
WINKEY + U – Open utility manager
WINKEY + L – Lock the computer (Windows XP & Later)

Have you found the Shortcut Series helpful?  Are there any other shortcuts that you’d like us to do a quick tip on?  If so, give us a comment and we’ll try our best!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Today’s quick tip is the penultimate of the Shortcut Series.  Our category this week is Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!  Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Outlook 2007.

Microsoft Outlook Shortcut Keys:

Alt + S – Send the email
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected text
Ctrl + P – Open print dialog box
Ctrl + K – Complete name/email typed in address bar
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + R – Reply to an email
Ctrl + F – Forward an email
Ctrl + N – Create a new email
Ctrl + Shift + A – Create a new appointment to your calendar
Ctrl + Shift + O – Open the Outbox
Ctrl + Shift + I – Open the Inbox
Ctrl + Shift + K – Add a new task
Ctrl + Shift + C – Create a new contact

Next week is the last of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series.  The Shortcut topic will be Winkey Shortcuts

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

This week it week three of the Quick Tip Shortcut Series.  The topic for this week is Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys.  We think that it is worthwhile remembering a few of these shortcuts because they are bound to come in useful!  Please Note: Some shortcuts may not work in Word 2007.

Microsoft Word Shortcut Keys:

Ctrl + A – Select all contents of the page
Ctrl + B – Bold highlighted selection
Ctrl + C – Copy selected text
Ctrl + X – Cut selected text
Ctrl + N – Open new/blank document.
Ctrl + O – Open options
Ctrl + P – Open the print window
Ctrl + F – Open find box
Ctrl + I – Italicize highlighted selection
Ctrl + K – Insert Link
Ctrl + U – Underline highlighted selection
Ctrl + V – Paste
Ctrl + Y – Redo the last action performed
Ctrl + Z – Undo last action
Ctrl + J – Justify paragraph alignment
Ctrl + L – Align selected text to the left
Ctrl + Q – Align selected paragraph to the left
Ctrl + E – Align selected text or line to the center
Ctrl + R – Align selected text or line to the right
Ctrl + M – Indent paragraph
Ctrl + T – Hanging indent
Ctrl + D – Font options
Ctrl + Shift + F – Change Font
Ctrl + Shift + * – View or hide non printing characters
Ctrl + <– (Arrow Left) – Move one word to the left
Ctrl + –> (Arrow Right) – Move one word to the right
Ctrl + Arrow Up – Move to the beginning of the line or paragraph
Ctrl + Arrow Down – Move to the end of the paragraph
Ctrl + Del – Delete word to right of cursor
Ctrl + Backspace – Delete word left of cursor
Ctrl + End – Move cursor to end of document
Ctrl + Home – Move cursor to beginning of document
Ctrl + Space – Reset highlighted text to default font
Ctrl + Alt + 1 – Change text to heading 1
Ctrl + Alt + 2 – Change text to heading 2
Ctrl + Alt + 3 – Change text to heading 3
F1 – Open help
Shift + F3 – Change case of selected text
Shift + Insert – Paste
F7 – Spell check selected text and/or document
Shift + F7 – Activate the thesaurus
F12 – Save As
Ctrl + S – Save
Shift + F12 – Save
Alt + Shift + D – Insert current date
Alt + Shift + T – Insert current time
Ctrl + W – Close document

Next week is Shortcuts for Microsoft Excel!

Disclaimer: pctoolbox.co.uk cannot be held responsible for any problems that are caused from using the shortcuts.  All shortcuts work to the best of our knowledge.

Everyone likes a quick solution to something, so on Pc Toolbox we are going to start publishing a Quick Tip every Friday Morning. Something that just makes using our favourite applications easier and maybe even more enjoyable!

If you have got a tip you would like us to publish (with credit to you of course!) please drop us an email with your Tip, Name, Email and Website Address!

Happy New Year!