Category: Useful Things

Skype Hype

I do like Skype.  It’s free and it works very well.  Kat introduced me to it years ago, and we talked for free, with amazing sound quality, when she studied in Bologna years ago.  I use it all day for instant messaging at work, and it works flawlessly for that.

But when it doesn’t work, it’s terrible.  I just participated in a large conference call which the presenter was using Skype for voice.  We couldn’t hear a thing!  Actually, we heard every other word or so, which was almost worse.

The lesson here is to use and enjoy Skype for what it does well, and don’t count on it in settings in which voice quality matters!

Stop Seeking What You Will Not Find

I have learned that it uses up all of your reserves to keep looking and looking for something that you should know is not out there to find.  To conserve your power, you need to stop struggling and stop seeking, in those situations.

I am talking, of course, about the settings on the iPhone.  If you are in an area without wireless, the wireless setting should be off.  If you are in some remote part of Vermont with no cell phone coverage, your phone should be set to the no-call “airplane mode”, or just off.  Otherwise, you’ll run down the battery in record time.

I learned other ways to conserve battery life from this:  http://www.apple.com/batteries/iphone.html

Opt Out

I love getting mail, the kind that Dave the Postman puts in our old-fashioned box with the flag on the side.  But I hate getting ads for more credit cards.  They offend me on many different levels, including the waste of paper and resources.  Plus who needs more credit cards?  Not me!

I have learned (was reminded) that you can opt-out from receiving these things, online, here.

Word Table Tricks

I have probably learned this before (or maybe not), but I learned how to repeat table headings on multiple pages in a Word document:

From the help text:

Repeat a table heading on subsequent pages

When you work with a very long table, it must be divided where a page break occurs. You can make adjustments to the table to make sure than the information appears as you want it to when the table spans multiple pages.

Repeated table headings are visible only in print layout view or when you print the document.

  1. Select the heading row or rows. The selection must include the first row of the table.
  2. On the Table menu, click Heading Rows Repeat.

Note Microsoft Word automatically repeats table headings on new pages that result from automatic page breaks. Word does not repeat a heading if you insert a manual page break within a table.

BUT here’s the catch!  It only works right if you ALSO do this:

Control where a table is divided

When you work with a very long table, it must be divided where a page break occurs. By default, if a page break occurs within a large row, Microsoft Word allows a page break to divide the row between the two pages.

You can make adjustments to the table to make sure that the information appears as you want it to when the table spans multiple pages.

 

  1. Click the table. [note from Jane this means the little icon in the corner of the table]
  2. On the Table menu, click Table Properties, and then click the Row tab.
  3. Clear the Allow row to break across pages check box.

Mail Early

I (hope I) have learned to mail earlier rather than later.

I love sending packages to Loved Ones, and I always think they will take less time than they actually will.  Because of this, I end up paying more than I would if I had just packed it up and hauled it down to my cute little small-town post office, where they address you by name, a few days earlier!

I have, for sure, learned to never use those pre-paid return stickers for returning mail-order stuff.  They charge $6-7, or more, for something I can often mail myself for under $3.  I need the difference, you see, to pay for my procrastination, above.