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We have a special guest joining us this week, Ms. DigITal Entity. She is a computer chip with an extensive memory and a unique ability to communicate. We’ve all encountered situations where we wish we knew what our computers were thinking; well, DigIT, as she is known to her many friends and family, provides that insight.
DigIT and I will be discussing how to use different views when trying to locate files or other items on a computer.
Editor: DigIT, can you explain why this topic recently caught your interest?
DigIT: My regular computer operator (my human friend) was recently complaining that she could not find a file on her computer. I asked her which one and when she told me, I was able to find it immediately. I could not understand why my friend had trouble. She attempted to explain it to me, but I found her reasons confusing; she mentioned a strange character named Waldo that seemed to always be missing.
E: Oh, you’re referring to the Where’s Waldo book series. Those are fun—what don’t you get?
D: Why do you humans like Where’s Waldo? It seems pointless to me if you do not like looking for things.
E: Well, Where’s Waldo started out for younger children, most of whom would only be playing games or doing learning activities on a computer. The adults, like your friend, would typically be working; trying to produce things for other people.
D: She told me that finding a file is like looking at a Where’s Waldo picture, without the fun; that finding one file among all the other files should be easier.
E: That’s probably because Where’s Waldo is a game, and finding files is typically thought of as work for us. Maybe you need to understand that we humans see the two similar tasks as entirely different things. Work for a human is something we have to do if we want to eat, have a place to live, or have a computer. Something like Where’s Waldo is for entertainment, something we make a choice about doing, which has an entirely different value scale.
D: That explanation makes it somewhat clearer, although I doubt I will ever understand you humans completely.
E: It works both ways, believe me. So, were you able to offer any suggestions to make files easier to find?
D: I really do not find those Waldo pictures very challenging, and finding files is something I do without even thinking. I recommended that she try eliminating some of the files; even rearranging them might be beneficial. We discussed displaying the files in a different order, such as sorted by size or date.
E: Oh, yes, the Details view in Windows Explorer can sort items that way. It can be very helpful. But what can you recommend for locating other types of items, like e-mail messages? I often have trouble finding specific messages in my Inbox.
D: In e-mail, there are many ways to arrange items to make it easier to find the one you want, such as sorting by columns. You can also filter out some of the items to give you a smaller group to look at. In Outlook, Search Folders provide an efficient method of filtering messages by using a specific set of criteria.
E: Search Folders are great, and so are the built-in views.
D: I could elaborate further on changing views, but the options depend on which program you are using. My human friend said she was going to provide some tips for some of the most common software applications.
E: She did, and I’ll be sure to post those on the blog entry for this podcast. Any last words, DigIT?
D: Please try to remember the view options, and the other tools at your disposal, to assist you when searching for specific items. It is unfortunate that most of my family has not mastered the trick of talking to humans. If they could, it would probably make life for you humans much easier, but I am afraid it might also shock many of you.
By the way, here is a trick you can use for solving those Waldo pictures. Just look for the pattern in his shirt, then check for the hat and glasses to find the exact match. But I digress; I will stick to those bits and bytes.
E: Thank you for joining us this week, DigIT. We look forward to speaking with you again in the future to gain more insight on the computer world from your unique perspective.
Here are the tips for this week. You can find links for these in the blog entry for the podcast, at www.productiveUpodcast.com.
- Changing the view in a Windows Explorer folder
- Using different views in Outlook
- Using different views in Lotus Notes
- How to create your own view in Outlook
- How to use the Full Screen Reading view in Word
- Creating and using Custom Views in Excel
- Using the Slide Sorter view in PowerPoint
- Changing the Zoom level in PowerPoint
- Using different message views on a BlackBerry device
- Using different calendar views on a Windows Mobile device
Thanks for listening to our podcast. If you have any recommendations for future episodes, be sure to let us know by writing an iTunes review, or by droppping us a line on Twitter @productiveUcast.
Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum
