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

Personally, the rhythmic tapping of fingers on a computer keyboard is like music to my ears. If there was a room with a thousand monkeys typing on a thousand computers…well, I don’t know if they’d eventually churn out a best-selling novel, but I’ll bet it would sound like a symphony in there.

This is one of the reasons I love using keyboard shortcuts while I’m working at my computer. When I’ve got a good typing rhythm going on my keyboard, I don’t want to have to disrupt the flow by reaching for the mouse to perform some commands (even though mouse-clicking can also be quite a pleasant sound).

Many e-mail clients support keyboard shortcuts, so when I’m catching up on e-mail correspondence, I try to make the most of those time-saving keystrokes. Everything from cutting, copying, and pasting text, to flagging a message for follow-up, and even sending the message, can all be performed right from the keyboard. If you’re doing something as simple as scrolling from the beginning of an e-mail to the end, you can avoid using the mouse altogether.

Even when you’re not composing a message, you can take advantage of many of the keyboard shortcuts that are available for organizing your messages and navigating through your mailbox. There are shortcuts for moving through messages in your folders, jumping directly to certain folders, moving or copying items between folders, and creating items such as messages and appointments.

Learning the keyboard shortcuts and teaching yourself to use them can take some time. I started off learning one or two, and found that I felt like I was working more efficiently when I could keep both hands on the keyboard. So I took the time to learn a few more, and eventually abandoned my mouse completely when I was working in Outlook or Gmail.

The tips for this podcast will focus on teaching you the keyboard shortcuts that are available for working with your e-mail, whether you’re in Outlook, Lotus Notes, or working on the go with a BlackBerry or Windows Mobile device. The links for these tips can be found on the blog entry for this podcast, at www.productiveupodcast.com.

• A Hands-On Approach to E-mail: Keyboard shortcuts you can use while composing a message in Outlook
• No Mouse Required: Keyboard shortcuts you can use while composing a message in Lotus Notes
• Control and Shift Your Mail: Keyboard shortcuts you can use in Outlook’s main window
• Moving Multiples: Using the Ctrl and Shift keys to perform keyboard shortcuts on multiple messages at once
• Get the Most Out of Your Keyboard: Shortcut keys for the BlackBerry e-mail application
• Touch and Go: Keyboard shortcuts for Outlook on a Windows Mobile device

We’ll also throw in a few bonus links to sites that list keyboard shortcuts for some of the other popular e-mail clients:

• Outlook Web Access
• GroupWise
• Eudora (PC)
• Eudora (Mac)
• Gmail
• Yahoo Mail

Once you get into the habit of using keyboard shortcuts, you’ll find that they really can save a lot of time compared to using the mouse for certain actions. The best way to start using them is to learn one or two at first. After that, you may find yourself hooked and wanting to learn more. Then, when someone walks by your desk and mentions that you sound like a thousand monkeys, you can smile gratefully and accept it as a compliment, knowing that you are composing your own symphony of tapping keys.

That’s all for this week, but if you’re enjoying the podcast and the tips, be sure to write a review for us over at iTunes. Also, don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter @productiveUcast.

See you next time!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

But it’s a little early to be thinking of summer, isn’t it? So why would I mention this in the middle of February?

Oddly enough, even in the dead of winter, with temperatures in the single digits and several feet of snow piled up around the house, I still love a good ice cream sundae. Especially if it has peanut butter ripples, frozen pieces of candy, or chunks of cookie dough.

Some things are just better when they’re frozen, but a computer is definitely not one of them.

When your computer decides to freeze up or hang, it usually does so at a crucial moment, like when you’ve just spent several hours editing a Word document and haven’t saved it yet.

That feeling of dread sets in. You begin to panic, and then you fear the worst: that all your hard work will be lost.

Sometimes, unfortunately, this is the case. But there are some steps you can take to ensure that your work will be recovered in the event that Word crashes.

If you enable the AutoRecover feature, which is available in several of the Office applications, it will periodically save a backup version of the file you’re working on. Then, if the program quits unexpectedly, it will prompt you with the recovered file the next time you open that program.

There is no guarantee offered with the AutoRecover feature, and at times it will fail to recover your work, so your best bet is still to save frequently when working in a file. You may find it much easier to use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+S to save your work as you’re typing, without your fingers ever leaving the keyboard. If you can get into this habit, you might just find your left hand automatically reaching for those keys without you even realizing it!

When the Deep Freeze sets in, whether it’s Windows, an Office application, or a mobile device, we don’t want you to be left out in the cold. The tips for this week will provide you with a starting point for when it seems like all is lost.

• What’s Frozen? – How to determine whether it is Windows or an application that is frozen
• An Ounce of Prevention for File Loss – How to enable the AutoRecover feature for Microsoft Office applications
• Mittens for Your Computer – How to clear out temporary Internet files, cookies, and browsing history
• Save Your Fingers By Letting Your Fingers Save Your Work – Using a keyboard shortcut to save while working in a file

And since you can also experience crashes on mobile devices, here are a few tips that can help you with BlackBerry and Windows Mobile:

• Just In Case – How to back up your BlackBerry data
• How to Thaw a Frozen BlackBerry – Resetting a frozen BlackBerry device
• Frozen In Your Hand – Resetting a frozen Windows Mobile device

We hope you’re enjoying the podcast and all the tips. If there are any topics you’d like to see covered in a future episode, please let us know in an iTunes review, or leave us a message on Twitter @productiveUcast.

That’s all for this week. Try to stay warm even when your computer is freezing, and we’ll see you next time!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

It seems to me that the language would be pretty difficult to master, especially when you consider that there are separate schools of thought on topics such as:

• Should you include a comma after the last item in a list?
• Should you include one space after a sentence, or two?
• Should punctuation be placed inside or outside of quotation marks?

I personally prefer to include a comma after the last item in a list. This is called a serial comma (or an Oxford comma) and it helps avoid ambiguity when typing a list of items. Consider the following sentence:

I enjoy eating popcorn, apples, mustard and spaghetti and meatballs.

“Spaghetti and meatballs” should be counted as one item in the list, so it makes sense to not type a comma after “spaghetti.” But if there’s no comma after “mustard,” it seems like it’s part of the spaghetti and meatballs combo. The result is quite obvious: people will think you’re a freak because you put mustard on your spaghetti and meatballs. And quite frankly, I’d agree with them.

But since nobody can agree on which is the “right” answer to the above grammar questions, you can do one or the other and still be grammatically correct. Some might critique it anyway if it’s not their preference, but the important thing is that you remain consistent with your style. If you’re going to type two spaces after a sentence, do it for every sentence in your document.

Microsoft Word’s grammar checking options can help you maintain consistency throughout your documents by highlighting errors in your grammar based on your preferences. For example, you can tell Word that you prefer to have one space after a sentence. Then, when you run the spelling and grammar check, Word will underline any instances where your sentences are followed by two spaces.

In addition to the grammar checking options, Word also has features to help out with spelling errors. You’re probably already familiar with the standard spell-check feature and you’ve no doubt seen those red squiggly lines beneath typos in your documents. But what about when those red squigglies are found under words that aren’t really typos, but words that just aren’t recognized by Word’s dictionary? In these cases, you have the ability to add words to the dictionary so they stop showing up as spelling errors.

This week’s tips will focus on the tools you need to find and use the best words, with the correct spelling and grammar, in your documents. The links can be found on the blog entry for this podcast, at www.productiveUpodcast.com.

• One Space or Two? It’s Up to You – Using Word’s grammar settings for punctuation
• What’s Another Word for Thesaurus? – Using Word’s thesaurus feature to find synonyms
• Banish the Red Squiggly Lines – Adding words to the custom dictionary in Word
• Write Your Own Dictionary – Editing the entries in the custom dictionary
• Back Up Your Word Words – How to back up the custom dictionary
• Words That Are Rarely OK – Creating a dictionary exclusion list

Armed with these new tools, you’re all set to head over to iTunes to write a raving review of our podcast, complete with impeccable grammar! Also, don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter @productiveUcast.

That’s all for this week. Until next time, keep learning English as a first or second language, and don’t be afraid to let Word do some of the work for you.

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

Well my personal “fix” has to be my iPod Touch. It has become the companion that keeps me warm on those lonely solo commutes to work and when traveling to our office in Cleveland, Ohio.

So what is it about this little device that has me sleeping with it at night and grabbing it before my morning coffee? (Yes, my wife does get jealous and asks why that THING is between our pillows. I usually just tell her “It’s okay, honey, you’re still my number one precious…yes, my precious.”)

Well, it has to be the apps…

Yes, I bought it originally for its most basic functionality—you know, to play music and watch videos on trips—but, WOW, have the apps changed how I go about my day!

Here is a list of the apps I love most and how they shape my day. Let’s start with the apps I use for work:

I use the built-in Voice Memos app when I’m inspired with an idea while I am driving the car into work (and with a brain like mine, if I don’t get the idea written down or recorded, it could be gone by the time I get to work). Once I arrive in the office, I can then get the thought down into a more appropriate location, such as one of my Microsoft OneNote notebooks. But, like anything, you can use this little app for evil, too. For instance, let’s just say some truck driver who cut me off the other day got a nice message left on one of those 800 numbers that ask “How’s my driving?” Ha, as if he didn’t already know. You’ll need an earbud with a mic to use this feature, and not all models come with them.

The iPod Touch also works very well for syncing my e-mail and calender items with the Exchange server at work. With my handy dandy gadget and a little WiFi connection, I can now respond to e-mail and schedule meetings while sitting in other meetings where someone is droning on about some topic that we had covered completely well over an hour ago. (If you’re careful, you can also work in a game of Skee-ball, another great app.)

If you’re really into the social media stuff, then I highly recommend using TweetDeck. Not only is it a free app, but it allows you to manage multiple Twitter accounts. I use it for my personal account and my podcast account. By the way, if you’re enjoying this podcast, you might like to let me act like the Pied Piper and follow me @productiveUcast.

Looking for some way to type without typing? If you’re familiar with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Nuance also has a free app called Dragon Dictation that transcribes dictation using its online transcription engine. Keep in mind that you’ll want to have a WiFi connection or else it doesn’t work. It helps with this app to speak somewhat like you would if you were, say, visiting in France and didn’t know French so you would try to get the people to understand you by doing things like speaking slowly and enunciating clearly. Also, it doesn’t hurt to be in a quiet location. Although it may not be perfect, it can help and it’s certainly fun to see what your app might really think you’re saying.

If you find yourself traveling and looking for a good way to save on phone calls, find yourself a WiFi spot and turn on the Skype application. I personally have a “Skype Out” and “Skype In” number, so I can place calls to virtually anywhere at a fraction of the cost of what I would pay using a traditional cell phone plan. Keep in mind that some models of the iPod touch don’t come with earbuds that include a microphone, but I picked up iPhone earbuds online that have the mic.

Now, these last few apps can be used both for home or work, but still I find myself using them everyday.

Alarm Clock is a great app and well worth paying for the premium version. This is also another reason it is either in my bed or on the night stand. I have given up my traditional alarm clock for this one. It works wonderfully on a daily basis or, better yet, on business trips. It’s reliable and, more importantly in my case, loud.

If you’re like many people, you’re probably on Facebook. The free Facebook app is really good and keeps getting better. Although you can’t view videos on it, you can see pictures, chat, post status updates, send messages, accept and send friend requests, and receive notifications. It’s always great to be able to stand in your kitchen cooking up bacon and grilled cheese while telling all your friends about it.

And finally, probably my favorite app of all is Air Mouse by RPA Tech. It turns your iPod Touch into a remote mouse and keyboard for your PC and the Mac. Yes, you can use this to control that presentation in PowerPoint or Keynote, but where I get the most use is in the basement of my house. My personal Man Cave. I have my Windows 7 laptop connected to a projector along with my Wii and I use it to control Windows Media Center while using my Netflix instant viewing account and the Hulu Desktop Client. Now I can change my movies and TV shows and still surf the Web on a really large screen. A word of warning: Don’t let your seven year old in on how you “magically” control the computer with the power of your mind. It’s great fun watching my son trying to scroll through Netflix while squinting hard and thinking about the show he wants to see. Hey, the way I see it, I have to pay for him, so I might as well have a little fun before he wises up and stops being my “can you get that for daddy” guy.

Well, that’s it for this week’s podcast. If you like or dislike what you hear, please stop by iTunes and write a review of our podcast, or leave a comment on the blog at www.productiveUpodcast.com.

Until next time… If you squint hard enough, maybe you too can start “He-Man” on Hulu!

Enjoy!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

The other day, the song “Counting Blue Cars” by Dishwalla came on and I found myself singing along with the lyric: “We count only blue cars…”

Nerd that I am, I couldn’t help but immediately conjure up an Excel formula to help them out:

=COUNTIF(Cars, “blue”)

It might be completely missing the point of the song (about which I’m clueless), but being able to count and sum based on conditions in Excel can be really useful.

The formula I used for counting blue cars is a good example of a simple COUNTIF doing what it does best: counting only those items that match the criteria you specify. In that formula, “Cars” could be replaced by a range of cells in an Excel worksheet that contain the names of different colors. The formula will return a number that represents how many of the cells in that range match the criteria.

COUNTIF’s summing counterpart is known as SUMIF. It works in much the same way: you tell it which cells need to match a criteria, you specify the criteria they must match, then you specify which cells will be summed as a result. This last group of cells can be in another column if needed. For example, a SUMIF formula can examine the text in cells C2 through C16 to determine which ones contain the text “red,” then sum the values in the corresponding cells from column B. So if C5 and C8 were “red,” the values in B5 and B8 would be summed.

In these examples, we’re just writing the criteria inside double quotes so that an exact match must be found. But let’s say you wanted to count how many cells match an approximate condition. For instance, if you specify the criteria to be “*ito” the formula will return a count of how many cells end in the letters “ito.” So burrito, taquito, and mosquito would all match the criteria. Mmm…I’m starting to get hungry now…and slightly itchy.

The asterisk in that formula is called a wildcard—it represents any number of characters. Likewise, you can use a question mark to represent a single character.

When you need to count cells that don’t have similarities, such as enchiladas and wool sweaters, using wildcards won’t work; but you can combine multiple COUNTIF formulas to get the results you need.

If any of this sounds confusing, just check out this week’s tips and you’ll get a better idea of how to set up these formulas.

Links to the tips are on the blog entry for this week’s podcast at www.productiveUpodcast.com, and they include:

• Let’s Sum If It Fits: Using the SUMIF function
• Count By Conditions: Using the COUNTIF function
• Creative Conditions: Using wildcard characters as criteria for SUMIF and COUNTIF
• Summing This Not That: Using the SUMPRODUCT function to sum or count using multiple conditions
• Arrayed in Splendor: Creating an array formula to sum based on multiple conditions

We’d love to hear your feedback on the tips and the podcast, so head on over to iTunes to write a review for us! And don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter @productiveUcast.

Thanks for joining us for this week’s podcast. With these tips, you may soon find yourself counting blue, red, and green cars all with a single formula. See you next week!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

“I’ll just give you the money and you give me the donut…end of transaction. We do not need to bring ink and paper into this.”

This scenario might seem a bit ludicrous, even for those who prefer to document everything almost religiously. But with the increase in activity on social networking sites, the minutiae of everyone’s daily lives seems much more prevalent now than it was several years ago.

Think about how often you’ve seen your friends informing the world what they had for lunch via Facebook, Twitter, or any other site with status update features. Is this something they would have shared with you over a phone call a few years ago? “Hi, Dave. I just had a tuna hoagie. Okay, talk to you later.” Probably not; but as technology advances, we find ourselves equipped with new ways to keep track of all kinds of information.

It’s comforting to know, then, that this capability has some uses that are actually productive. E-mail clients such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, for example, make it particularly easy to document your appointments, tasks, and other activities. So not only can you set up an appointment to meet with a contact, you can also have a record of the meeting for future reference.

Outlook takes this a step further and allows you to associate a contact with other items, such as e-mail messages, appointments, documents, or tasks. Once the items are linked to the contact, you can view all this related content on the contact’s Activities tab. You can then filter this view to show only upcoming appointments with that contact, for instance.

The tips for this week will focus on those features that help you keep your appointments and tasks organized and well-documented. The tips include:

• Your Presence is Requested: How to schedule a meeting in Outlook and Notes
• Stay Active: Using Outlook’s contact Activities feature
• A Noteworthy Feature: Making quick notes with Outlook’s Notes feature
• “Dear Diary…”: Using the Journal feature in Outlook and Notes
• Raising the Flag: How to flag items for follow up in Outlook and Notes
• A BlackBerry Never Forgets: How to flag an e-mail for follow up on your BlackBerry

Enjoying these tips? Have any suggestions for future podcasts? Stop over and write a review of the podcast on iTunes, or drop us a quick note on Twitter @productiveUcast.

That’s all for this week. Until next time, remember: you might never need a receipt to prove that you bought that donut. But then again, you just might. See you next time!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

With the holidays right around the corner, I wanted to give my listeners a few tips for the tech-savvy traveler.

Tip 1: Pack it up, but be ready to take it out.

When packing your bag, neatly organize your clothing items so anything you may need to get at is located on the top. Or consider using one of those space saver bags that allows you to either roll out the air or vacuum it out.

Pay close attention to what you are bringing on the flight with you, and have your liquids in their clear quart-sized bag located in a front pocket of your luggage or on top so they are easy to get to. I personally keep mine in the same pocket as my laptop.

Plan to be searched, just in case. There is always a chance you’re going to become that “random search” guy or gal, and in that case it could make you late for your flight. In fact, always plan to be there ahead of time. Besides, you have like, what—50 gadgets to keep you entertained, right? Get your money’s worth!

Tip 2: How to clear security faster.

Keep your boarding pass and ID handy. Put them in your front pocket so when you get to the gate, you can easily have them ready for inspection. Never leave them in your back pocket; this leaves you vulnerable to identity theft issues or pick-pockets. Oliver is always waiting to pick a pocket or two.

When passing through security checkpoints, your laptop must go alone in its own bin; if you put anything else in the bin with it, security will flag it and you will have to put it through again.

Remove your shoes and belt (make sure that when you do, your fly is not unzipped by accident because TSA will let you know—trust me!). You can also just wear a nice pair of comfy sweats instead.

Take out your Wii and your projector, too. Yeah, so what—if I get stranded, at least I can play Mario Kart with others who are in the same predicament. But we can do it in style: 8 foot wide on a wall!

Tip 3: When can I take out my toys on the plane?

Listen for the single “bing” after take off. This means you’re now at 10,000 feet and you can use your “approved electronic devices.” So bring on the gadgets. Instead of having to turn off your smart phone completely before this point, most devices have a “travel-safe” mode. If you’re having trouble locating this option on your phone, here’s a tip that will show you how to do it on BlackBerry, Windows Mobile, and iPhone.

Here’s another fun idea: if you have kids traveling with you, bring your portable GPS. They are a lot of fun on a plane, and you get the chance to see how fast you’re really going.

Tip 4: How to have fun when your flight is delayed.

Do some people-watching with your iPod—this can be great! Turn on your iPod to any song and imagine the people passing by are actors in a music video. You can also do this as people are boarding the plane. So far my favorite songs to listen to are “Flight of the Bumblebee” or “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)” by Dead or Alive. Man, I love ’80s pop.

Play “Duck Duck Goose” with other business folks at the Southwest kiddie tables (you would be surprised at how many people might just play along).

Get to know the flight crew that is waiting to take the same flight. This can be a great way to get those free extras and better service once the plane finally departs.

Find other people with iPhones or iPods and share games or show off your apps. I can’t believe how many pages of apps people have sometimes. My favorite games are Skee-ball and Yahtzee—you can get anyone to play Yahtzee with you.

Find some cards and start a game of Rummy or poker. Just remember that not all forms of poker are acceptable in public; after all, you’re not in college anymore.

That’s all for this week. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast, be sure to head over to iTunes to write a review for us. And you can always visit us on Twitter @productiveUcast.

Well, until next time: as the the weather outside is frightful and may be causing flight delays, take a piece of advice from comedian Gabriel Iglesias and “Have a little fun.”

See you next time!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

But when I got to college and needed some money, I found myself taking a job as a cold-calling telemarketer. As I dialed each number, I always envisioned a family trying to enjoy a peaceful dinner and being rudely interrupted. It’s happened to me countless times, too.

With a mobile phone as my primary line, I don’t hear from telemarketers much these days. But there’s a new annoyance in their place, one that plagues my Web surfing more and more with each mouse click: pop-up ads.

Much like the door-to-door salesman and the telemarketer, these ads are rarely a welcome intrusion, and they always seem to be advertising products or services that I neither want nor need.

Not all pop-up windows are ads, but those that are can sometimes be more than a harmless nuisance. Some of these pop-ups contain malicious code that can infect your computer with viruses or spyware. Usually, all it takes is one click, and that means anywhere on the window. This is why you should never attempt to close one of these windows by clicking on the “X” button in the top right corner. Instead, use the keyboard shortcut Alt+F4, which will safely close the active window.

The Internet is a dangerous place. Sometimes you set out to do a bit of care-free cyber surfing, but then a giant wave of harmful pop-up ads appear and suddenly you’re in over your head in shark-infested waters! And then there are the shrieking eels! Wait…I lost the analogy.

I think what I was trying to say is that most, if not all, of the major Web browsers come equipped with some very valuable tools to help keep you safe while you’re browsing the Internet. There is usually a pop-up blocker, and this can be customized to allow certain sites to display pop-ups while others get blocked.

Another great feature is the lock icon, which shows you whether you are on a secure Web site. This can help you avoid becoming a victim of phishing, an Internet scam that tries to lure you into giving personal information to a fraudulent Web site that has been designed to look like a banking site, for example. If you can recognize the common tricks of phishing sites, you’ll be on your way to safer surfing.

This week’s tips will show you where to find these features and how to use them. The tips include:

• It All “Ads” Up – how to use the pop-up blocker in Internet Explorer and Firefox
• Locked and Loaded – using the lock icon to tell if you are on a secure Web page
• Getting That “Non-secure” Feeling - deciphering a common Internet Explorer warning message
• Phishing: Don’t Take the Bait – learn all about phishing and how to avoid it

The links for these tips can be found on the blog entry for this week’s podcast at www.productiveUpodcast.com.

That’s all for this week. If you’ve enjoyed the podcast and the tips, be sure to head over to iTunes to write a review for us. And don’t forget to drop us a line on Twitter @productiveUcast.

Until next time, we hope these tips will help you recognize the Internet equivalent of walking down a dark alley at night. See you next week!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum

Chocolate chips, snickerdoodles, and gingerbread men by the dozen. We humans have a tendency to celebrate various occasions with food, and I am by no means opposed to this time-honored tradition.

More than the joy of indulging in the sweet treats, however, I am fascinated with the process of creating all these dozens of cookies, especially those for which a cookie cutter can be used.

Using just one gingerbread man cookie cutter, for example, one can amass an entire teeming population of a gingerbread village. But even though they are all born from the same dough and cookie cutter, are they all really the same? Heck no! During the decorating process, each one can be customized with gumdrops, icing, or other accessories. For instance, you can sharpen a candy cane to a fine point and arm your gingerbread village inhabitants so they can protect themselves in case the evil fruitcake monster attacks!

Oh, what? Like you’ve never armed your gingerbread men cookies with sharpened candy canes so they can protect themselves in case the evil fruitcake monster attacks?

Anyway, another process which many people undergo during this time of year is that of sending holiday greeting cards. And it just so happens that there is a tool that can aid in this process. A tool which, like the cookie cutter, allows you to create dozens of greeting cards from a single document, yet still personalize each one with ease.

I’m referring to a software tool in this case: the Mail Merge feature in Microsoft Word.

Performing a mail merge operation greatly simplifies the process of sending out personalized mass mailings. All you need is a merge document and a data source. The data source is typically a set of contact information fields, such as first name, last name, address, etc. These fields can be housed in an Excel workbook, an Access database table or query, or it can even come right from your Outlook contacts.

The merge document can be in the form of a letter, a set of mailing labels, or envelopes. This document gets associated with the data source file during the merge process. Then, wherever a piece of personalized information needs to appear, you can insert a merge field from your data source. During the last step in the merge process, you can choose to either create a set of documents from the merge document (one for each record in your data source), or just send the documents directly to the printer.

Of course, a Mail Merge will really only save you time if you know your way through the process. Since it can be a bit tricky for novices and pros alike, we’ll include some tips that should help you through it.

The tips include:

• Mass Messages: getting started with Mail Merges in Word
• Start at the Source: tips for setting up Excel data to be used in a merge
• Do Not Label Me: using the Mail Merge feature to create mailing labels
• Pushing the Envelopes: using the Mail Merge feature to create mailing envelopes
• Split ’em Up: using Excel’s Text to Columns feature to split data into separate columns
• Published en Masse: performing a mail merge in Publisher

In all seriousness, I think you need to really think this through. I mean, if the evil fruitcake monster attacks the gingerbread village and they don’t have any sharpened candy canes with which to protect themselves, it’s really going to get ugly.

Oh, well. Don’t forget to stop by and visit us on Twitter @productiveUcast, or head over to write a review of the podcast on iTunes!

Until next time, keep cranking out those cookies and holiday greetings by the dozen!

Music courtesy of Clayton & Fulcrum