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Scheduling meetings with Outlook

March 28, 2012 Add Comment

Scheduling meetings with Outlook


Remember the old days of scheduling meetings? Depending on the number of people involved, it might have taken weeks of email back and forth, with people listing available times that were no longer available by the time you'd heard from everyone else.  Generally a big pain.  Well, Outlook can make this so much easier!

If all meeting attendees use Exchange AND if attendees actually maintain an accurate online calendar (a big "if" sometimes, depending on your group) then it's easy to see what times are available to meet.  No need to grant special access to your calendar.  Schedulers don't need to be able to see what you are doing, only if you are free or busy.  

Here are the steps for creating a meeting using Outlook and viewing free/busy times:

  1. Open your Outlook calendar and choose File -> New -> Meeting Request
  2. Enter names or email address of all attendees in the "to" line.  Be sure the name resolves to the correct email address.  Some folks have @email.uky.edu addresses, others use @uky.edu addresses, and others have set up a Universal Email Address.  All may work for receiving email, but not for scheduling info.  If you have trouble finding scheduling info for one style address, try another.
  3. Set the date/time for an approximate meeting date.
  4. Click the "Scheduling Assistant" button to view free/busy times:





Busy times show up with a purple bar, free times are open, and tentative appointments are hashed.  If you do have access to view a person's calendar details, you will see appointment details (text in the bars). Otherwise, just shaded bars to indicate free/busy times.


  • Use the "Suggested Times" pane to see which time blocks are available to most attendees, or just scan the free/busy times on the grid until you find a good time.  If you use the grid, you can click on the time you want to set it for the meeting. Hover over the red end time line and click/drag to adjust the meeting duration.
  • Once you've selected a time, click the "Appointment" button to get back to the message screen to add text to the meeting request and send the invitation.




Tip:  Sometimes, even if I'm not going to use Outlook to create a meeting request, I might still use this method to just see if someone is available!  Go through steps 1-5 and just look at the free/busy grid but don't actually send the meeting request.

Another Tip: If you have a meeting across campus and need travel time, you might add a "meeting buffer" to your calendar, since that is time that you are unavailable for other appointments.

Yet Another Tip:  Attendees don't use their online calendars, or some attendees are not from UK and don't have access to Exchange?  Try Doodle!  Doodle is a free web-based scheduling assistant.  Specify possible meeting times and generate an email link attendees can use to fill in their availability.  Doodle even has time-zone support, to convert to local times.

Final Tip:  If you're a UK person, please use your Outlook calendar!  You'll find it useful personally, and it's also a real time-saver for people you collaborate with.

what happen with updated Penguin: Google Software

March 21, 2012 Add Comment

what happen with updated Penguin: Google Software


Since April 24th for many website owner and web masters the World has com tumbling down. The cause is the Penguin Update that Google has implemented in order to cut down web spam. Earlier Panda Update was a major update many versions of which have been implemented. 

From time to time Google unleashes these changes in order to improve the quality of sites on the top for the users. Most of these changes have come about through the algorithms but the Penguin Update is not one of them. It is more like a filter which checks for the web spam and qualifies or disqualifies the site, or on some instances lowered ranking may be the outcome.       

Though the update has created lot of flutter especially from those who have been hit badly. But there have been lot of instances where good sites have been hit as well. Well this could be due to that one or the other element on their web page which may have been qualified as spam albeit it may have been in place unintentionally.   

The finger clearly points out at duplicate content and too much formatting. Some on page factors like excessive use of H1 tag, bold tag, and  yes keyword stuffing. Websites that do not pass through a good seo may contain lot of search terms, which most of the web designers add out of impulse or lack of knowledge. Many web designing companies do not have content writers, hence the site contents are usually palmed off from a similar site on the net. Improper contents arise due to bad quality and cheap content writers. 

The Solutions


Hence the cleaning process would involve removing duplicate content, H1, H2 tags if too many and excessive internal links. Changing anchor text of internal links to natural and such that similar anchor text is not repeatedly used. There are many finer points to writing contents but that is for experts. You can write simple meaningful contents yourself which should be original and readable.

Ads: This is another issue that has come up in recent times. Your advertisements should be placed as such that they do not obstruct the contents or distract visitors in any way. The focus should not be selling advertisements or affiliate links but on creating a good website first.   

After you have worked extensively on your website then wait for Penguin Refresh or the spiders to do their work and improve rankings. 

What to do? recover emails does not work !

March 17, 2012 Add Comment
What to do? recover emails does not work !


I am aware of the fact that keeping unnecessary files on Outlook mailbox only increases the size of the PST file which leads to problems like slow performance of Outlook, PST file corruption, etc. Therefore, I delete all the unwanted emails permanently from the mailbox of my MS Outlook 2007 on a regular basis. Another day while deleting emails, I accidentally deleted some most important emails. I realized the problem after giving command for hard (permanent) deletion of the selected emails. Though I performed some measures to over come this situation but none of them worked. However, I didn’t lose hope and used third-party deleted email recovery software and recovered all my deleted emails.

Let me explain the entire episode by which I learnt about software to recover deleted emails. That time attending an important client call was more important than concerning the deleted email issue thus I kept this matter of email loss from Outlook mailbox aside for sometime. The client call stretched to three long hours and soon after its completion, I forgot about email loss and rushed to home as it was already too late. Coming next day to office, while I was opening my system recalled that I deleted some important emails yesterday. I searched over the Internet for some inbuilt utility of Microsoft by which we can recover deleted emails and I was right, there was a way to recover recently deleted emails.

Though this procedure works only for recently deleted emails but still I tried below mentioned Microsoft prescribed steps to recover deleted emails:
Start MS Outlook 2007
Select the folder from which you have deleted the emails as I selected the Inbox folder from the left pane of my Outlook mailbox.
Go to Tools → Recover Deleted Items. A window that displays the deleted emails from the selected folder appears. I didn’t get this window. So, I terminated the process. However, if you are getting this window then select the emails which you want to recover and click ‘Recover Selected Items’ option.
All the selected emails will be selected to its original location as soon as you select ‘Recover Deleted Items’ option.

Since, I didn’t delete the mails recently and also got so many emails after the deletion thus aforementioned steps didn’t work for me. In such situation, without losing hope I searched over the Internet for some resolution by which I can recover deleted emails and learnt that there are third-party tools which can recover emails which are deleted long ago.

One of the awards winning and user recommended tools which I found in this category was Stellar Phoenix Deleted Email Recovery. This software efficiently recovers deleted emails, attachments, notes, and contacts and has very interactive user interface. Therefore, I used this software and recovered all the deleted emails.

DO you have heat problem with iPad 2 ?

March 16, 2012 Add Comment

DO you have heat problem with iPad 2 ?


Heat has come up as an issue with previous generations of iPads. So, that's not news. But the new iPad may have, in select cases, its own unique heat problems.

User forum postings (here and here) and a report seem to point to heat as an issue for select users.
The problem area--based on forum links above--seems to be a hot-spot in the corner of the unit.
In the worst case, the iPad shuts down and a message pops up, saying "the iPad needs to cool down," according to a Next Web report (link above).

That seems to be extremely rare, however. And one user who claimed to have the problem was using it in direct sunlight. Let's be clear: that can cause problems for any electronic device.
The third-generation iPad integrates both a larger battery and a faster (and reportedly larger) chip. Those are significant differences from the iPad 2. So, it inevitably gets warm. And like all Apple iOS mobile products it does not have a fan.


Anecdotal reports on launch day have pointed out that the new iPad can get a little toasty.
But this issue has come up with both the iPad 1 (here) and iPad 2 (here). There were reports of the "cool down" message on the iPad 2 also.
Moreover, note that user comments sometimes confuse overheating with the unit just getting warm.
At a suburban Los Angeles Apple store, a staffer confirmed that the new iPad gets warmer than the iPad 2. He attributed that to the battery.
The operating temperature range is listed on the iPad's spec page as 32 degrees to 95 degrees F (0 degrees to 35 degrees C).
Apple representatives did not immediately respond to a request from comment.
Updated at 7:15 p.m. PDT: clarifying "all iPads" to mean previous generations of iPads. In other words, the topic of heat has come up with each previous generation of iPad. And adds comments from staffer at Apple store. Also clarifies that the warm area is "a corner" of the unit instead of a specific corner, as that is not clear at this time.

Google play store v/s Apple Store

March 10, 2012 Add Comment

Google play store v/s Apple Store


Google is setting Apple on notice as it is preparing to dominate the mobile broadband market. With the rebranding of its Google Music as Google Play, Google is not just copying Apple’s store, but rather they want to drive it out of the online marketplace.

The Android market has always felt as it was the ignored little sister to Apple and its Apple store. With the Android platform taking over on smartphones and tablets, Google now believes it is the right time to jump in and take over the mobile broadband market.

Now, that Android has established itself as a legitimate platform for mobile devices from phones to tablets, it should now continue to evolve by proving itself as a viable service provider as well. With Apple’s death-like grip on its OS, Android is an open source platform that has and will continue to receive Google’s full support in the development area.

With Google Play store, Google is now combining its music business along with its ebook store into the ever growing Android marketplace. This is a clear and direct attack on Apple, its flagship device IPad and the Apple Store. Google’s grand scheme in rebranding the Android market is to have the Google Play store to be the one stop online shop in which users can use any Android powered device from smartphone to tablets to be able to download content that is tailored made for them.

Another difference between Google Play store and ITunes is that the Google store is browser based. What this means is that in order to access and use the Apple store and ITunes, you have to install an application unto your device. Usually that is fine however, software applications have been known to cause more than one computer problem. As a result, Apple’s users are tied to Apple’s software installing correctly and not causing any issues with either their computer or smartphone. That is not the case with the Google Play store. Since it is browser based, there is no installation needed. All that you need is an internet connection and you will be browsing the Google Play store at your leisure.

To help promote their rebranding of the Android market Google is offering “The Seven days to play sale.” During this promotion, users are able to try out the Google Play store and all of its features and if they are not satisfied they can cancel their accounts free of charge. Google is confident enough that its entry into the mobile broadband market will be a success that more users will love its new service than not.

Google with its well deserved history and reputation of pushing the envelope is nothing new. The Google Play store is another example of this as they are ready to take on the industry leader in downloadable content, Apple. Will they succeed? Only time will tell as Google is putting all of its support behind this venture. Needless to say, Google is putting Apple and the rest of the world on notice that they are in this fight for the long haul.

Operating System Story

March 04, 2012 Add Comment

Operating System Story.




Peripherals and system parts are a collection of electronics that work together in order to perform a specific task. The program that every computer uses to control and manage all these parts is called the operating system (OS).

For example, a user that wants to write a document and print it out on a network printer needs an application like Microsoft Word to accomplish this job. Microsoft Word works with the OS in order to accomplish all the word processing tasks. The operating system controls all the input and output functions. All the personal computers, the servers and the handheld devices require an OS in order to function.

The operating system works like an interpreter between software applications and the hardware. An individual interacts with the computer hardware through an application, like Microsoft Excel, Adobe Photoshop, etc. Software applications are made for a particular purpose. On the other hand the OS is responsible for the communication between the software application and the computer's hardware.

When a PC is powered on it loads the operating system from the hard disk into RAM. The part of the operating system that interacts directly with the hardware is called kernel. The part of the operating system that it is visible to the user is called shell. The user can use the shell from the command line interface (CLI) or from the graphical user interface (GUI).

The user that uses the CLI interacts directly with the OS in a text-based environment by typing commands at a command prompt. The computer executes the command and provides textual output. The user can also use the GUI and control the computer from an environment that uses graphical images, multimedia, as well as text. This is more user-friendly and requires less knowledge than CLI. Therefore, most users work with GUI environments. Microsoft Windows and Linux operating systems offer both GUI and CLI.

All the modern operating systems allow the user to multitask. The OS keeps track of which resources are used by which software program.

In order to work with devices that are not directly attached to the PC, a special software application must be installed that allows a device to send and receive data from the net. This is called redirector and usually it is an integral part of the OS but sometimes you need to install it separately as a network client. After you install it, the OS becomes a network OS (NOS).

How to customize command Prompt in Windows 7

February 10, 2012 Add Comment

How to customize command Prompt in Windows 7




You can customize the appearance of a Command Prompt window, changing its size, font, and even colors. And you can save these settings independently for each shortcut that launches a Command Prompt so that you can make appropriate settings for different tasks. 

To customize a Command Prompt window, you make settings in the Properties dialog box that you can reach in three ways:

Right-clicking on a shortcut for a Command Prompt provides the Properties option. Changes you make here affect all future Command Prompt sessions launched from that particular shortcut.

Clicking the Control menu icon in a Command Prompt window offers access to the Properties dialog box. (If Command Prompt is running in full-screen mode, press Alt+Enter to switch to window display.) Changes you make here affect the current session. When you leave the properties dialog box, you’ll be given the option of propagating your changes to the shortcut from which this session was launched. If you accept, all future sessions launched from that shortcut will also use the new settings.

Clicking the Control menu icon in a Command Prompt window and choosing Defaults from the Control menu lets you make changes that will not affect the current session but instead will affect all future sessions (except for those launched from a shortcut whose properties have been customized). These changes also affect future sessions in character-mode, MS-DOS-based applications that do not have a program-information file (PIF) and do not store their own settings.

Tweaking Edit Options


The Options tab offers a variety of options that affect how your Command Prompt window operates. Notably, you can enable or disable Quick Edit Mode. This option provides an easy way to copy text from (and paste text into) Command Prompt windows with a mouse. If you don’t select Quick Edit Mode, you can use commands on the Control menu for copying and pasting text. You can also enable or disable Insert Mode. This setting (which is on by default) allows you to insert text at the cursor position. Clearing the Insert Mode check box setting will allow you to over strike characters instead. 

Note that when you use the third method, choosing Defaults, you also get the option to enable and disable the Auto Complete option, which is enabled by default. 

IMS ( Internet Monitoring Software) for Parents

February 07, 2012 Add Comment

IMS ( Internet Monitoring Software) for Parents



Internet monitoring software helps parents supervise their children’s online activities. There are various ranges of software available that limit access to inappropriate sites, control e-mail use, block chat rooms, and enforce access time. Similarly, schools and public libraries also make use of internet monitoring software.

After all, children are a significant part of society and their upbringing should be perfectly done so that society can prosper in the long run. Following is the range of most popular software for monitoring children’s internet activities:

Parental Control Bar

It is a free service. Parents can use this software to control the internet activities of their children. Along with its free public service, its installation procedure is really simple that consists of only three steps. Therefore, parents can install it even if they are not that used to computers.

If a website address is inserted by your child on the address bar of a browser, the Parental Control Bar compares the website with the settings you made. This way, it finds out whether the website needs to be blocked or allowed.

K9 Web Protection

It is an internet monitoring software that uses an advanced technology for filtering the Web. It is also used by governmental institutions and other organizations worldwide. It offers an interface that is user-friendly so that parents can easily make use of it at home. Its usage means that you will block content that is inappropriate for your children.

SocialShield

Besides tracking your child’s online activities, SocialShield has something more to offer for your child’s social safety. It identifies your child’s online friends. The software compares the names of your child’s friends to a set of databases to ensure that they have no association with unlawful online activities. If your child is involved in such activities, SocialShield sends you alerts so that you can take action.

It posts less threatening issues in the parent dashboard. Although it tracks all discussions your child has, it highlights only those issues that are important for your consideration. This way, you are not required to affect the privacy of your child. Moreover, you can use SocialShield to track pictures that were posted by your child. It will cost you $10 per month.

Big Mother

Big Mother safeguards your children by providing an interface that protects the password along with multifaceted features. By using these features, you can block access to things that tempt your children the most. For instance, some illicit online activities that it can block are to upload and download data, games, e-mail, chats, and websites.

If you think that giving your children limited access to the internet is fine, then you can develop different schedules in which you can allow internet access for some time.  Big Mother has an edge over many of its competitors, i.e. it enables you make restrictions on uploads and downloads according to their size.

NetNanny

NetNanny is considered to be the market leader in terms of internet monitoring software. It has been in the market for over 10 years. Due to its popularity, parents can download it instantly. It costs $39.95. Unlike others, NetNanny had a clear purpose before its development. It was developed with the help of child advocates, law enforcement, and parents. Furthermore, it helps you monitor and control access to the internet.

Although it is available with monitoring features that are set as default, you always have an option to customize your settings according to the unique needs of your family. NetNanny has integration with Safe Search options. It indicates that these options limit your children’s search on a search engine. These options are also found in famous search engines such as Yahoo, MSN, Google, AltaVista, Lycos, Dogpile, and AllTheWeb.

PC Pandora

Like other internet monitoring software, PC Pandora is reliable software that monitors your children’s online activities. Along with that, it sends you warning alerts so that potential problems can be avoided. PC Pandora tracks all those websites your child visited, chat interactions, keystrokes, and emails. Therefore, it lets you have access to all online activities of your child.

Additionally, it also provides you access to Login IDs and their passwords. If you feel something wrong is going on, you can handle the problem immediately. This way, parents are always on track in terms of what their child in up to. PC Pandora will cost you $69.95. It is available from different retailers.

Synchronize Firefox addons using Drop-box

February 01, 2012 Add Comment

Synchronize Firefox addons using Drop-box



I wanted to blog about this a while back but I've been to lazy to do so. I've done this a couple of month ago irritated on the fact that Firefox was unable to sync my addons across computers and I think it was a mistake on their part.

Anyway, this is very easy to do using Dropbox.

First close down Firefox and then go to:

~/.mozilla/firefox

You can use Nautilus for this, is probably faster and easier too. In there should be one folder for each user in Firefox. Go to the one you want to sync the addons with. Probably will be the one with "*.default" in it if you don't have any users in Firefox.

Within that folder will be another folder called:

extentions
Will be this folder the one we are going to sync. Cut this folder on place it in your Dropbox folder. I place mine in:

Dropbox/App_sync/Firefox

Once you pasted the folder in the right place, right click it and select
Make link
Now cut the link and place it on the folder where we got the original "extensions" folder. Once you placed it in the right place rename it with the original name and that's it.

The only drop back with this method is that Dropbox is not very good at syncing multiple computers at the same time. If you have multiple Firefox opened in different computers and start installing/removing addons at the same time it may give you a problem.

Protect Your Organization's site by Google Alerts

February 01, 2012 Add Comment

Protect Your Organization's site by Google Alerts


Back in the day, if you were really serious about keeping a handle on your image or the image of your company, you subscribed to one or more clipping and news monitoring services. Those services still exist, and they can be part of a coordinated effort to maintain the public face of your business. However, if your budget won’t allow for comprehensive news monitoring, you still have options. One powerful tool, Google Alerts, gathers news stories, videos and other web content concerning your company and delivers the results to your mailbox or feed reader – for absolutely no charge.

What Are Google Alerts?


Companies concerned with their images can use Google Alerts to keep track of how they are being covered by mainstream news media. Google Alerts can also monitor content on social media such as blogs. Image-conscious companies also use Google Alerts to avoid having potentially harmful content go unchallenged. 

For instance, if a blogger is making derogatory but untrue claims about your company, Google Alerts will inform you, so that you can present evidence to disprove the accusations. Google Alerts will also give you a heads-up if customers or clients post complaints about your company.  A large number of complaints about an incident or aspect of your business may indicate potential trouble that your company should address.

Basic Set Up

Google Alerts harness the power of Google’s search engine to seek out result based on search terms that you establish.  Basic set up is simple.  Enter the word or phrase for which you want to establish a search.  Enter your email address, and then confirm the search.  If your company does not have a Google account, you will receive a confirmation email before the alert goes into effect. Establish a separate alert for each keyword or phrase for which you wish to monitor.

For instance, you can set up a simple alert with the name of your company.  A second alert could monitor mentions of a product or service your company makes. Other alerts could monitor the names of prominent officers within the company. 

Google Alerts can also alert you to negative publicity or coverage or the possibility of derogatory coverage or remarks you may be aware of or that you may suspect may be a problem. In this case, setting up Google alerts for the phrases related to the controversy allows your company to respond before circumstances get out of hand...




Advanced Options


Advanced options for Google alerts allow you to control each alert individually. You can set preferences for how often you receive alerts, what sources the alerts monitor, how you receive the alerts and an option to export your alerts in CSV forma that can be opened by Excel or another spreadsheet program. If you prefer, you can also opt for alerts to be delivered by RSS feed that you can read in any feed reader.



For instance, if there is a known issue with a product or service your company provides, you can set a Google Alert for  the keyword phrase “[Your Company Name] complaints” to search for all sources, with results to be delivered as they occur to your email inbox or RSS feed. For less critical keyword phrases, you can set alerts for once per day or once per week. You can also specify that results should be limited to Google News Search, Google Web Search or Google Blog Search.

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