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Riding Shotgun with Rick

Bogus Repair Requests at Office Depot costs them $35 million

Since 2009, Office Depot (and merged partner Office Max) along with Support.com were knowingly scamming customers into paying for repairs or “fixes” that were absolutely not needed. I won’t go into the gory details, but you can read the full story here. Just know that large retail outlets that sell goods and services don’t always concentrate on providing the best… Read More »Bogus Repair Requests at Office Depot costs them $35 million

You can change your Internet Home Page – Video Tip

When you buy a new computer, the Internet browser comes pre-configured with a home page (first web site you see when you start your web browser). For PC’s, it is usually MSN. For Mac’s it is Apple.com. If you download Firefox (which everyone should be using), its default home page is a Firefox branded Google page. Sometimes your Internet provider’s web site takes over as your home page if you run one of their setup disks.

Through all of this, you had no say so as to what your home page is. Fortunately, it is a simple procedure to change the home page to anything you want. Here’s how to change it no matter what web browser you use (except Internet Explorer 7):

  1. Pull up the web site you want to see first when you start Internet sessions
  2. Click and drag the little icon next to the address of that site to the Home icon (looks like little house)
  3. Click Yes on the confirmation dialog box asking if you really want to change your home page

That’s it. Now if you are one of the many unfortunate souls who is using Windows Vista, watch how “elegant, quick and streamlined” Microsoft has made this process with Internet Explorer 7:

  1. Pull up the web site you want to see first
  2. Click the drop down arrow next to the Home icon…no not the one at the end of the toolbar, the one righ next to the Home icon
  3. Click Add or Change Home Page
  4. Read and decide whether you want to “use this page as your only home page” or “Add this web page to your home page tabs” (a question which will befuddle many computer users)
  5. Click the option of the answer you chose
  6. Click Yes 

See, that’s DOUBLE the intuitive steps that we have used for more than 10 years and all other browsers use! That’s Microsoft progress! That’s Vista! But Vista sure is purdy.

To see these steps in action, watch the video below:

Wrap text around pictures in Microsoft Word – Video Tip

If you use Microsoft Word to create any kind of document that includes pictures, wrapping text around a picture can be frustrating. Today's tip will give you some easy to follow steps that will have you wrapping text like a pro. A bonus of using this tip is that you can also move your pictures around your document to almost any position.

As is my cardinal rule of word processing, type all your text in first then add pictures after your text is finished. To insert a photo or other image into Word:

  1. Position the cursor where you want the picture to appear
  2. Click Insert –> Picture –> From File (note that you can also scan pictures directly in at this point also)
  3. Navigate to your photo
  4. Click

Prevent dead email links, save time and use URL shorthand – Video Tip

Have you ever received a link to a web site via email that can’t be clicked because it is so long that the link “broke”?

You might see something like this in your email:

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&time=&date=&ttype=&q
=5400+E+Pima+St,+Tucson,+Pima,+Arizona+85712,+United+States&s
ll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=46.36116,82.265625&ie=UTF8&cd=1&geocode=
0,32.243422,-110.877669&z=16&iwloc=addr&om=1

That’s a 230 character web address (URL).

Using an online web address shortener like TinyURL.com can shorten that address to less than 30 characters and leave you with an address like: http://tinyurl.com/3y9hbw

These shorter addresses are much easier to deal with for taking written notes, writing articles for print media, and definitely for emailing. Watch the short 3 minute video below to see exactly how this works and how you can start sending and using shorter web addresses today.

Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to browse your bookmarks…FAST – Video Tip

I’m sure I’ve included this tip in my past browser related tips, but I decided to pull it out and make it its own tip today. Bookmarking favorite or often used sites is important and recommended. However, with Firefox or Chrome, you no longer need to remember the entire name or folder where you stored it. Instead, use the browser’s… Read More »Use Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox to browse your bookmarks…FAST – Video Tip

Clean your inbox

stuffed inboxEmail truly revolutionized communication. The ability to retrieve a message from anywhere in the world in a matter of seconds is mind boggling. However, judging by the size of your inboxes (see this week’s poll), you could benefit from some tips on how to keep your inbox clean.

I used to keep as many as many as 50 or so email stacked up in my inbox, but I always felt that I was behind in my work and consequently much of the email went unread and unanswered. A little more than a year ago, it all changed after I read an article that struck a chord with me called Email Zen. I immediately started practicing the techniques and suggestions in the article and found myself with a cleaner inbox and a better overall outlook (no pun intended) about email and my email communication. I continue to strive for the empty inbox and find that if i get more than 10, I start to get a little jumpy.

From reading that article and my own experience over the past eighteen months, here are my suggestions for reaching harmony with email:

Creating Tables in Microsoft Word – Part II – Video Tip

In Part I of my "Creating Tables" tip, I discussed what a table was, how to create them, and some basics on how to customize them. In Part II of the tip, I discuss how to use reverse text, cell coloring, sorting, formulas and create a form all with tables. The video takes a few minutes to load (may be too slow for dial-up), but the wait is worth the knowledge.