Mobile Mayhem

Tune into the world of mobile phones happenings in the month of May.

"Watson, please come here. I want you," were very first utterances ever made over the telephone by its inventor, Mr. Alexander Graham Bell to his assistant Mr. Watson. This was way back in the spring of 1876; Bell had just spilt some acid on his pants. Because this first telephonic device was fashioned out of a funnel, a wooden stand, some copper wire, and a cup of acid.

Even 200 years later, when black bakelite “baby” Bells were all around us, who could even have imagined those clunky instruments would metamorphose into the slick cell phones of today. No wonder they say, there is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it's going to be a butterfly.

We tune into the world of mobile phones for some of the hottest happenings in the month of May.

Samsung’s Cell Piano/Drum Kit
According to US Patent Application 20060084218 filed by one Sun-Gi Lee of Samsung, the Korean giant promises to turn a cell phone into a full-size piano or a drum kit! To do so, it projects an image of the piano keyboard or drum skins on a flat surface through a small embedded video projector. You hit the keys/drums using the phone keys, the motion is picked up by an in-built camera and converted into appropriate musical sound. The phone will either play audibly in real time, or record the performance. And haan, the phone's camera will also be able to capture a video of the whole process. Drum roll, Shivamani! And over to Brian Silas…

Sony Ericsson SO902WP+ and W42s
Based by the number of times I have fished out the plasticy remains of my cell phone from the water depths of a toilet bowl and blow dried it with a hair dryer, this is one Sony I gotta have. Because the SO902WP+ is a waterproof phone. It can even function for 30 minutes under water at a depth of one meter and features a 1.3 MP camera. So you safely can go swimming or singing in the rain with it nidar ho kar. In Japan you can pick up the SO902WP+ for ¥35,000 I hear. So I’m getting me one. I’m not fond of swimming or croaking in the rain... But I’ll be able wash the phone thoroughly after any unsavoury future dunkings.

Psst! Sony’s launching another music phone too: The W42s. Slim, lightweight with a 2.2-inch TFT-LCD, 1.3Mp cam, 1GB memory, FM tuner, media player, and dedicated music keys.

LG KG320 and MFJM53
Thin is in. And the KG320 is a 9.9mm thick, 73gm to 81gm ultra-slim phone. (Allegedly, this makes it 0.9mm thicker than Samsung's SCH-V870 credit card-shaped handset, but the LG is lighter.) The KG320 features a 176 x 200, 262,144-colour display, 128MB of internal memory, a flash-equipped 2.2Mp, USB connectivity, and a MP3/MPEG/AAC media player.

The LG MFJM53, on the other hand, is setting out in life as an iPod killer with an 8GB HDD. Slickly designed, it has a 1.77 inches, 262,144-colour, touch-sensitive OLED screen and plays MP3, WAV, DRM and Ogg.

Nokia E50
Yeah baby, thin is in! Not to be left behind, Nokia has nipped in with the E50, the skinniest of the E series siblings. This business class quad-band mobile is replete with pre-installed corporate applications for voice, e-mail, mobile PBX solutions and the ability to have two numbers on one phone. Its GSM 850/900/1800/1900 bands make it viable for Europe, Africa, Asia-Pacific, and the Americas. For fun and photos, the E50 has a 1.3Mp camera and an MP3 player. The device is based on the S60 3rd edition smartphone platform and the Symbian OS.

Productivity Cheat Sheet 9: Word - 2

Evidently the chap who said there are no shortcuts to any place worth going wasn’t a practical sort of fellow. Quite unlike us who dote on the shortest route to success with applications like Word.

Until you have mugged up these shortcuts, remember this: You can use the keyboard to select any menu command on the menu bar by pressing Alt to select the menu bar and then hitting the underlined letter of the required command in the menu item. In the menu that opens, pressing the underlined letter of the requisite command name executes that command. Now, before you check out what quickies are in store for you this week, there’re a few terms you should be familiar with.

Menu bar: The horizontal bar below the title bar that contains the names of the menus.

Toolbar: The bar with the buttons and options that you use to carry out commands. Invoked via Alt and then Shift+F10.

Shortcut menu: The menu that shows a list of commands relevant to a particular item. Invoked via a right-click on an item or pressing Shift+F10.

Submenu: The menu that appears when you select a command on a higher-level (previous) menu.

Task Pane: A window within an Office application that provides commonly used commands. Its location and narrower width size allow you to use it whilst working on your file.

MENUS AND TOOLBARS
Alt or F10: Selects menu bar, or closes an open menu and submenu at the same time
Ctrl + Tab or Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Selects a task pane or toolbar after pressing F10 or Alt to select the menu bar. Pressing the keys repeatedly moves the focus among the open toolbars, menu bars, and task pane
Tab or Shift + Tab: Selects next or previous button or menu after a menu bar or toolbar is selected
Enter: Opens selected menu, or performs the action for the selected button or command
Shift + F10: Displays shortcut menu for the selected item
Alt + Spacebar: Displays the title bar shortcut menu
Down Arrow or Up Arrow: Selects next or previous command when menu or submenu is open
Left Arrow or Right Arrow: Selects menu to left or right. Switches between main menu and submenu when submenu is open
Home or End: Selects first or last command on menu or submenu
Esc: Closes open menu. Close only submenu when submenu is open
Shift + Down Arrow: Opens selected menu
Ctrl + Down Arrow: Displays full set of commands when shortened menu is open
Alt + Ctrl + =: Adds a toolbar button to a menu. Use this shortcut combo and then click a toolbar button to add the button to the appropriate menu. E.g., clicking Bullets button on Formatting toolbar adds Bullets command to Format menu
Alt + Ctrl + -: Removes a command from a menu. Use this shortcut combo and then select a menu command to remove it
Alt + Ctrl + +: Customises shortcut key for a menu command. Use this shortcut combo and then select a menu command; the Customize Keyboard dialog box opens so you can add, change, or remove the shortcut key

TASK PANES
Ctrl + F1: Opens task pane or hides current task pane
F6: Activates currently open task pane window
Ctrl + Tab: Activates task pane window when a menu or toolbar is active (Pressing Ctrl+Tab more than once may be required at times)
Ctrl + Spacebar: Opens task pane menu
Alt + Home: Goes to the Getting Started task pane
Alt + Left Arrow: Reverses sequence of task panes you opened
Alt + Right Arrow: Repeats sequence of task panes you opened
Esc: Closes a menu if one is currently open, or go back to the document
Tab or Shift + Tab: Select the next or previous option in the task pane when a task pane is active
Down Arrow or Up Arrow: Moves among choices in a selected submenu; moves among certain options in a group of options
Spacebar or Enter: Opens selected menu, or performs the action assigned to selected button
Shift + F10: Opens a shortcut menu in a document; open a drop-down menu for the selected gallery item.
Home or End: Selects first or last command on the menu or submenu when a menu or submenu is visible
Page Up or Page Down: Scrolls up or down in selected gallery list
Ctrl + Right Arrow or Ctrl + Left Arrow: Expands or collapses a collapsible item in gallery list
Ctrl + Home or Ctrl + End: Moves to top or bottom of selected gallery list

Cracking the Da Vinci Code

Four fabulous freeware tools for pixels, photos and font manipulation.

Do you know what Alexander the Great, Robert De Niro, Albert Einstein, Lewis Carol, Marilyn Monroe, Mark Twain, Phil Collins, Amitabh Bachchan, four of the five designers of the Apple Mac, two of the world first astronauts... and Leonardo da Vinci... and me have in common? Doing lots of faltu stuff? Heh heh heh! Well, mebbe... Actually, we're all lefties... Southpaws! Along with Ricky Martin, Picasso, Julius Caesar and Bob Dylan. Check it out later at www.anythingleft-handed.co.uk/famous.html and www.indiana.edu/~primate/left.html. Meanwhile, let's try and crack the Da Vinci code in your DNA with these freebie image and font manipulation and management goodies. Bring out the artist in you, shall we?

The GIMP
The GIMP, a contraction for GNU Image Manipulation Program, is a powerful Open Source image composition, image authoring and photo retouching tool. Call it the garib logon ka Photoshop cos its free, but it can run with the big boys with its paint app, photo-retouching program, image-format converter, online batch-processing system, mass production image renderer… Channels and tabbed palettes, filters and effects, layers and masks, editable text tools and color ops, it’s got ‘em all. A must try, but hey, download both GTK Runtime Environment and GIMP installers and set up GTK before installing the GIMP.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, NT
Size: 7.7 MB
http://gimp.org

Google Picasa
Great photo management tool that finds, organises, edits, prints, and shares images on your PC and linked digicam as chronologically sorted thumbnail preview albums. It works with JPEG, GIF, BMP, PSD, and movie files. Even if you dunk its surprisingly easy-to-use editing prowess (cropping, red-eye removal, enhancements and effects), Picasa’s photo tagging and finding abilities alone make it worthwhile. With a simple and powerful interface, it’s a gotta-have tool for pro, amateur, wannabe and even the occasional photo buff. Ah, it’s a RAM hog btw…
OS: Windows XP, 98, Me, 2000
Size: 3.17 MB
http://picasa.google.com

The Font Thing
Kya naam hai, but quite laa jawab hai boss! TFT is a font management thingie that helps you find and preview the TrueType fonts on your system—installed or skulking. An old proggie it is. But you can install, uninstall, delete, copy, move fonts, and view sample text or individual characters in whatever point size on the fly, tag your own notes, filter fonts according to serif, sans serif etc, as well as get detailed information on each font. You can also pick your font colors, set up drop-down lists of standard text samples, rename font files to avoid conflicts, and load fonts temporarily for use without installing them. And the no-frills, clean interface is a real blessing. It can handle over 16,000 fonts but your system runs like a sloppy, endless saas-bahu soap.
OS: Windows XP, 98, Me, 95, 2000, NT
Size: 1.1MB
http://members.ozemail.com.au/~scef/tft.html

XnView
It can read more than 400 graphic file formats--including GIF, BMP, JPEG, PNG, TARGA, multipage TIFF, camera RAW, JPEG 2000, MPEG, AVI, Quicktime, EXIF and IPTC metadata. And export to about 50. Because it’s one heck of a nifty multi-format graphics browser, viewer, and converter. You can edit, crop, and add filters to your photos. It supports red eye rectification, generates HTML pages and contact sheets, executes batch conversion and batch renaming, offers WIA and TWAIN support, and does image comparisons. The viewer is Explorer-like, you can set up slide shows with transitions effects, and also make screen captures. Solid rae!
OS: Windows XP, 98, Me, 95, 2003 Server, 2000, NT
Size: 3.47 MB
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/pierre.g/xnview/enxnview.html

Productivity Cheat Sheet 8: Word - 1

Some wise old owl has opined that a picture is worth a thousand words. But that was eons before word processors were invented. In this day and age it’s Microsoft Word that helps most of us paint thousands of wordy pictures! So it’s high time we took the tedium of long tailed-mousy commands out of our Microsoft Word processing by adopting these succinct keyboard shorties.

FUNCTION KEYS
F1: Gets Help or visit Microsoft Office Online
F2: Moves text or graphics
F3: Inserts an AutoText (AutoText: A storage location for text or graphics you want to use again, such as a standard contract clause or a long distribution list. Each selection of text or graphics is recorded as an AutoText entry and is assigned a unique name.) entry (after Word displays the entry)
F4: Repeats the last action
F5: Chooses the Go To command (Edit menu)
F6: Goes to the next pane or frame
F7: Chooses the Spelling command (Tools menu)
F8: Extends a selection
F9: Updates selected fields
F10: Activates the menu bar
F11: Goes to the next field
F12: Save As command (File menu)

SHIFT + FUNCTION KEYS
Shift + F1: Starts context-sensitive Help or reveals formatting
Shift + F2: Copies text
Shift + F3: Changes case of letters
Shift + F4: Repeats a Find or Go To action
Shift + F5: Moves to the last change
Shift + F6: Goes to the previous pane or frame
Shift + F7: Launches Thesaurus (Tools menu, Language submenu)
Shift + F8: Shrinks a selection
Shift + F9: Switches between a field code and its result
Shift + F10: Displays a shortcut menu
Shift + F11: Goes to the previous field
Shift + F12: Save command (File menu)

CONTROL + FUNCTION KEYS
Ctrl + F2: Print Preview command (File menu)
Ctrl + F3: Cut to the Spike (Spike: A special AutoText entry that stores multiple deletions. Microsoft Word appends one item to another until you paste the contents as a group in a new location in your document. You can also use the Microsoft Office Clipboard to get the same result.).
Ctrl + F4: Closes the window
Ctrl + F5: Restores the document window size (for example, after maximising it)
Ctrl + F6: Goes to the next window
Ctrl + F7: Move command (title bar shortcut menu)
Ctrl + F8: Size command (title bar shortcut menu)
Ctrl + F9: Inserts an empty field
Ctrl + F10: Maximises document window
Ctrl + F11: Locks a field
Ctrl + F12: Open command (File menu)

CONTROL + SHIFT + FUNCTION KEY
Ctrl + Shift + F3: Inserts contents of Spike (Spike: A special AutoText entry that stores multiple deletions. Word appends one item to another until you paste the contents as a group in a new location in your document. You can also use the Microsoft Office Clipboard to get the same result.
Ctrl + Shift + F5: Edit a bookmark
Ctrl + Shift + F6: Goes to the previous window
Ctrl + Shift + F7: Updates linked information in a Word source document
Ctrl + Shift + F8: Makes vertical text block
Ctrl + Shift + F9: Unlinks a field
Ctrl + Shift + F11: Unlocks a field
Ctrl + Shift + F12: Print command (File menu)

ALT + FUNCTION KEY
Alt + F1: Goes to next field
Alt + F3: Creates an AutoText (AutoText: A storage location for text or graphics you want to use again, such as a standard contract clause or a long distribution list. Each selection of text or graphics is recorded as an AutoText entry and is assigned a unique name.) entry.
Alt + F4: Quits Word
Alt + F5: Restores program window size
Alt + F6: Moves from an open dialog box back to the document for some dialog boxes like Find and Replace
Alt + F7: Finds the next misspelling or grammatical error. The Check spelling as you type check box must be selected (Tools menu, Options dialog box, Spelling & Grammar tab).
Alt + F8: Runs a macro
Alt + F9: Switches between all field codes and their results
Alt + F10: Maximises the program window
Alt + F11: Displays Visual Basic code

ALT + SHIFT + FUNCTION KEY
Alt + Shift + F1: Goes to the previous field
Alt + Shift + F2: Save command (File menu)
Alt + Shift + F9: Runs GOTOBUTTON or MACROBUTTON from the field that displays the field results
Alt + Shift + F10: Displays the menu or message for a smart tag. If more than one smart tag is present, switch to the next smart tag and display its menu or message
Alt + Shift + F11: Starts Microsoft Script Editor

CONTROL + ALT + FUNCTION KEY
Ctrl + Alt + F1: Displays Microsoft System Information
Ctrl + Alt + F2: Open command (File menu)

There’s a Spy in Your Coop!

All about espionage and the e-factor.

Whenever I read/hear/think the word “spy”, I unconsciously tend to conjure up images of James Bond. This 1953 fabrication of Ian Fleming has been so charmingly immortalised on celluloid by Messers Sean Connery, George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, Pierce Brosnan--and now hopefully Daniel Craig—that "Double-Oh Seven" is the world’s most ubiquitous secret agent.

Cyberdom is infested by a ubiquitous secret agent called Spyware. But unfortunately, this agent is the “bad guy” who seems to grant itself the infinite license to assail all and sundry who venture within a mouse-click. Spyware is a program that appends itself to your OS with its own wicked agenda—tracking your Internet behaviour, pestering you with unwanted offers and targeted advertisements, or generating traffic to a website, or even forcing your browser load specific websites or search results. It hogs up precious RAM as well as processor power thereby slowing your PC down. So if your computer has suddenly started acting up and slowed down, you know what the malady could be.

No, spyware is not a virus. It does not generally damage your files or data apps. It is a program that gets into your PC without your permission and skulks in the background carrying out its own tasks as I’ve mentioned above. It affects PC performance by making it carry out these unnecessary chores and invades your privacy by monitoring the sites you visit.

Nearly 65 percent of personal comps in the world today are afflicted with spyware. Spyware can sneak into your PC via file sharing programs, goodies that you download, websites that you visit, or browser add-ons that you install. Notorious spyware companies include the likes of Bonzi Buddy, CoolWebSearch, Cydoor, Gator, Euniverse, 180 Solutions, DirectRevenue, Xupiter, and XXXDial.

Combating Spyware
Prevention is better than cure. So you must thwart spyware from creeping into your PC. Here’s how:

• Keep the security patches in Windows updated. Automate the process if possible.
• Monitor and adjust the security and privacy settings of your Internet browser. Because IE so integrated with Windows, it gets hit the easiest. Even disabling ActiveX helps. Check www.getnetwise.org for help.
• Be careful of the websites you visit and download from. Don’t download everything you come across. Greed and thrill notwithstanding, if anything looks suspicious, just vamoose.
• The most popular route for spyware are file sharing proggies, screen savers, cursor enhancements, wallpaper bundles, “smiley” inserters. So beware these.
• Read the fine print of the license agreements etc. that you “agree” when you are installing unknown free programs. Tough call, but very important.
• Don’t click on “OK,” “Agree,” or “Cancel” to close those pesky pop-up windows. Click on the X or even better use Alt+F4.
• Use a personal firewall.
• To detect, delete and block spyware you need to use tools like Lavasoft Ad-Aware (www.lavasoft.de/software/adaware), Spybot - Search & Destroy (www.spybot.info), Webroot Spy Sweeper (www.webroot.com), Sunbelt CounterSpy (www.sunbelt-software.com), PC Tools Spyware Doctor (www.pctools.com/spyware-doctor), and ParetoLogic XoftSpy (www.paretologic.com).
• To get more practical tips on how to protect against Internet fraud, safeguard your PC, and defend your personal information, go to www.onguardonline.gov

And oh, Casino Royale, the next 007 flick is still a few months away (November 17, 2006) from release. But its official website (www.sonypictures.com/movies/casinoroyale) debuts May 19. So sneak in for a dekko. And if you’re hardcore Bond fan, fire up your browser right away and blast your way into www.jamesbondmm.co.uk for some truly awesome multimedia goodies.

Productivity Cheat Sheet 7: PowerPoint - 3

"Using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table; you can do very bad things with it," squeaked Peter Norvig of Google one dull Monday morn. In fact, another wise guy has even gone to extent of calling PPT presentations are a new form of anesthesia and torture. Why? Because they were even used at the Abu Ghraib Prison. To help you make your presentations simpler, slicker, more memorable and fascinating to look at and fun to read, here’s the concluding part of keyboard quickies for PowerPoint.

OUTLINING
Alt + Shift + 1: Collapses to titles
Alt + Shift + +: Expands text under a heading
Alt + Shift + -: Collapses text under a heading
Alt + Shift + A: Shows all text and headings
Keypad / (numlock off): Displays character formatting

TEXT SELECTION
Shift + Right Arrow: Selects character on the right
Shift + Left Arrow: Selects character on the left
Ctrl + Shift + Left Arrow: Till beginning of word
Ctrl + Shift + Right Arrow: Till end of Word
Shift + Up Arrow: Line up
Shift + Down Arrow: Line down
Ctrl + A or F2: Selects all
Drag with left mouse button pressed: Selects any text
Double-Click: Selects word
Triple-Click: Selects paragraph
Select and Drag: Drags and drops
Ctrl + Select and Drag: Drags and drops copy

WORKING WITH PRESENTATION WINDOWS
Ctrl + Shift + F6: Goes to previous window
Ctrl + F6: Goes to next window
Alt + F5: Un-maximises window
Alt + F10: Maximises application window
Ctrl + F10: Maximises presentation window
Ctrl + F5: Restores presentation window to previous size
Ctrl + F5: Puts presentation in its own window

DRAWING & FORMATTING
Ctrl + G: Shows/hides guides (toggle)
Shift + Click Slide View Button: Switches from normal view to master view
Ctrl + Shift + G: Groups
Ctrl + Shift + H: Ungroups
Ctrl + Shift + J: Regroups
Shift + Resize: Resizes while maintaining proportions
Ctrl + Resize: Resizes from center
Ctrl + Shift + Resize: Resizes from center while maintaining proportions
Shift + Rotate tool: Rotates in 15 degree increments
Ctrl + Rotate tool: Rotates from corner
Shift + Ctrl + Rotate tool: Rotates in 15 degree increments from corner
Shift + Resize: Extends line along same angle
Ctrl + Alt + Click (using curve tool): Makes straight segment while using curve tool
Arrow Key: Nudges object one grid unit
Ctrl + Arrow Key: Nudges object one pixel
Alt: Temporarily releases grid/guide snap
Ctrl + Drag Guide: Creates multiple guides

HELP & PROGRAMMING TOOLS
F1: Brings up help
Shift + F1: Calls menu and dialog explanations
Shift + F10: Acts as right mouse click without using a mouse
Alt + F11: Brings up Visual Basic Editor
Alt + F8: Calls Macro Recorder

Total Control

How to lose files forever, repartition hard disks, and trim fat without going on a diet.

Remember the swish set of free hard disk management utes we looked at last year: PC Inspector File Recovery (www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/uk/download.htm), Restoration (http://www3.telus.net/mikebike/RESTORATION.html), Force Delete (www.codeguru.com/Cpp/W-P/files/fileio/article.php/c1287/) and VirtualLab Data Recovery Software (http://binarybiz.com/vlab/). Well, here's another neat crop freebies that I have come across in the interim.

Fresh Diagnose
Want to check if your PC (and its purzas) really have all the specs that its makers claimed? Use Fresh Diagnose. This utility from Freshdevices analyses and reports information on the status of your system's CPU, hard disk, video, motherboard, PCI/AGP buses, peripheral (keyboard, mouse, printer, etc.), and network. The program also benchmarks the performance of your PC's hard disk, CPU, CD/DVD ROM, etc. and compares it with other systems. The proggie is quite free of ads and spyware claim its makers!
OS: Windows XP, 2000, Me, NT, 9.x
www.freshdevices.com

Sure Delete
When you delete a file, it merely changes its location to the recycle bin. Maybe you know that. And even when delete it from the kuradaan, it can still be retrieved via an Undelete util. Maybe you didn't know that. However, Sure Delete is a little shredder that can permanently, irretrievably and everlastingly annihilate files for you. Because instead of merely deleting file references, it actually nukes the data itself. It works with FAT12, FAT16, FAT32 and NTFS formats. And it has an easy-to-use a wizard-kinda interface that helps you in the file eradication process.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, Me, NT, 9.x
www.wizard-industries.com/index.php

Fast Defrag
Very often the reason for a sluggish PC that limps along at the terminal velocity of a kachua is memory fragmentation. To get things up to speed in a situation like this you need the services of a catalytic tool like AMS Fast Defrag--to defragment your PC's RAM and free it. This boosts your PC speed and as well as stability-- especially if your PC is low on the RAM quotient and you are always flitting in and out of programs. Fortunately Fast Defrag is a lean, mean utility so it hardly squats on any system resources itself.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, Me, 9.x
www.amsn.ro

Ranish Partition Manager
This one is blessed with the ability to create, copy, and resize primary and extended hard disk partitions. And even support up to 32 primary partitions. It also lets you format drives and create a password-protected boot menu. It includes simulation mode that lets you work with large files so that you can safely experiment before getting your hands soiled with real hard drive partition tables. It’s a good tool to have around if you have multiple operating systems on a single drive. The command line interface may daunt some of you, but it’s not as bad as you as you think.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, Me, NT, 9.x
www.ranish.com/part

TreeSize Free
Not all of “computingkind” is lucky enough to own 60-80 gigs of hard drive real estate. Lots of us less fortunate ones still need to live, breathe and work within the confines of 10-20 GB. A very difficult task in today’s day and age of megaton apps and monster attractions... But we can thank the computing gods utes like TreeSize. This one tells you what all is gobbling up your precious space. You can account for every single folder and subfolder on your disk and even print out a wasted-space report to analyse the data carefully. And then snip, slice and shear away everything that is unnecessary.
OS: Windows XP, 2000, NT, 9.x
www.jam-software.com/freeware/index.shtml

Productivity Cheat Sheet 6: PowerPoint - 2

Here’s some essential elixir for all boardroom bosses, marketing mavens, sales smoothies, and wannabe honchos. Ladies and gentlemen, Episode 2 of our quicker-than-greased-lightening keyboard shortcuts for the world’s most ubiquitous presentation gig Microsoft PowerPower.

TEXT FORMATTING
Ctrl + Shift + F: Changes Font (Use up/down arrow keys, click Enter when done)
Ctrl + Shift + P: Change Point Size (Use up/down arrow keys, click Enter when done)
Ctrl + Shift + >: Increase Font Size
Ctrl + Shift + <: Decrease Font Size
Ctrl + B: Bold
Ctrl + U: Underline
Ctrl + I: Italic
Alt + Ctrl + Shift + >: Superscript
Alt + Ctrl + Shift + <: Subscript
Ctrl + Shift+Z: Changes to plain text
F7: Checks spelling
Ctrl + E: Centres paragraph
Ctrl + J: Justifies paragraph
Ctrl + L: Left-aligns paragraph
Ctrl + R: Right-aligns paragraph
Shift + F3: Changes case; toggles selection through lower case, upper case, initial caps with each press of this key-combo
Ctrl + K: Creates hyperlink

DELETING AND COPYING
Backspace: Deletes character to the left
Ctrl + Backspace: Deletes word to the left
Delete: Deletes character to the right
Ctrl + Delete: Deletes word to the right
Ctrl + X: Cuts
Ctrl + C: Copies
Ctrl + V: Pastes
Ctrl + Z: Undoes
Ctrl + Drag: Creates a copy of the text

TEXT BLOCK NAVIGATION
Left Arrow: Goes one character left
Right Arrow: Goes one character right
Up Arrow: Goes one line Up
Down Arrow: Goes one line Down
Ctrl + Left Arrow: Goes one word left
Ctrl + Right Arrow: Goes one word right
End: Goes to end of line
Home: Goes to beginning of line
Ctrl + Up Arrow: Goes one paragraph up
Ctrl + Down Arrow: Goes one paragraph down
Ctrl + End: Goes to end of text block
Ctrl + Home: Goes to start of text block

OBJECT NAVIGATION
Tab: Goes to previous object
Shift + Tab: Goes to next object
Ctrl + A: Selects all objects
Ctrl + Select and Drag: Drag and drop copy
Ctrl + D: Creates a duplicate object
Ctrl + D, move duplicate to desired location, repeat Ctrl + D to create more copies: Creates duplicates with same offset as first duplicate

On a Test Drive

Hands on with a new LG GSM handset.


There's going to be a twist in this tale once every few weeks here henceforth. We're going to lay our paws on a gadget or geegaw--software or hardware--kick its tyres around a bit and take it for a little test drive. So without any further ado, just jiggle the wax out of your ears, don a tin topi and follow me as we check out LG S5200 handset this week.

The S5200 is a petite, stylish black, tri-band GSM mobile phone. Cosmetically quite similar to the Samsung D500, the 92 gramme slider phone is replete with all that jazz that makes GenNow guys and gals trill with thrill: Camera, MP3 player, polyphonic noises, WAP 2.0, GPRS 10, USB connectivity with PC, Bluetooth 1.2, built-in handsfree, and MP3 ringtones.

The 900/1800/1900 MHz band handset has a four-way navigational joystick--which also double up as quick keys for short cuts—and a central "OK" key to execute the highlighted function.

The graphical TFT LCD screen display offers 262,000 colours in a 128 x 160 pixel window. The largish display is bright, color rich, vibrant and pleasure to behold. The viewing angles are impressive and readability is unspoilt even in bright sunlight.

Direct access to the MP3 player is possible via the music key on the side of the phone. Aurally, the S5200 comes with 20 preset polyphonic (64 channels) ringtones. Apart from MP3, it warbles to WMA and AAC formats as well. The stereo surround sound is resonant, clear and surprisingly pleasing. Though a tad low in decibels even at its highest volume, it is definitely not tinny like most handsets in the same—or even higher--price range.

The 1.3 megapixel phone camera clicks 1280x960 pixels shots, does video and comes with a flash. The camera lens is protected by the slider which is good for obvious reasons. It offers 3GP video format compatibility—for both playback and recording. It allows several photographic effects, but it can't take pictures in frames. Photo quality is okay—depending upon light conditions. Like with most phone cams, pictures taken in natural light are best.

Two downers: The phone comes with just 64 megs of shared memory--for messages, music, video, photos etc. That’s not fair--especially for a delicious sounding MP3 phone. Secondly, jabberwockies are not going to be too happy with its two-and-half hour talk time.

Other features include 1,000-name phonebook, T9 support, scheduler, voice memos, multiple alarms and other standard blah-blah. No point getting into all that.

All in all, the S5200 is a neat phone that has the sights and sounds of a winner in its price bracket. Only wish its makers could prescribe it some memory boosting medication…

Price: Rs.10,990
www.lgindia.com

Productivity Cheat Sheet 5: PowerPoint - 1

Public speaking is an inborn art that not many possess in their DNA. Yet making presentations is a required skill in this day and age. It is software tools like PowerPoint that help infuse us with “can-be acquired” skill of articulation and confidence. So here’s a skinny on essential PowerPoint keyboard shortcuts that will help make life easier in the panic periods prior to zero hour.

Ctrl + A: Selects all
Ctrl + D: Duplicates slide
Ctrl + E: Centres text
Ctrl + F: Finds
Ctrl + G: Shows guides
Ctrl + H: Replaces text
Ctrl + K: Inserts hyperlink
Ctrl + L: Left aligns text
Ctrl + M: Creates new slide
Ctrl + N: Creates new presentation
Ctrl + Q: Closes PowerPoint
Ctrl + R: Right aligns text
Ctrl + T: Opens font dialog
Ctrl + W: Closes document
Ctrl + Y or F4: Repeats last action
Ctrl + Z: Undoes last action
Ctrl + =: Applies subscript formatting
Ctrl + +: Applies superscript formatting
Ctrl + Backspace: Deletes a word
Alt + Shift + Left Arrow: Promotes a paragraph (Para here means text that has Enter at the end of it. Each item in a bulleted or numbered list is a paragraph; a title or subtitle is also a paragraph.)
Alt + Shift + Right Arrow: Demotes a paragraph
Alt + Shift + Up Arrow: Moves selected paragraphs up
Alt + Shift + Down Arrow: Moves selected paragraphs down
Alt + Shift + 1: Shows heading level 1
Alt + Shift + +: Expands text below a heading
Alt + Shift + -: Collapses text below a heading
Alt + Shift + A: Shows all or collapses all text or headings
F5: Starts slide show
F6: Switches to next pane (clockwise)
Shift+F6: Switches to previous pane (counterclockwise)
N, Enter, Page Down, Right Arrow, Down Arrow, Spacebar, or Mouse Click: Next animation/advance slide
P, Page Up, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Backspace: Goes to previous animation/slide
Number + Enter: Goes to required slide number
B or Period: Displays black screen, or returns to slide show from black screen
W or Comma: Displays white screen, or return to slide show from white screen
S or +: Stops or restarts an automatic slide show
Esc, Ctrl + Break, or Hyphen: Ends slide show
E: Erase on-screen annotations
H: Goes to next hidden slide
T: Sets new timings while rehearsing
O: Uses original timings while rehearsing
M: Uses mouse-click to advance while rehearsing
1 + Enter (or pressing both mouse buttons for 2 seconds): Returns to first slide