(Posted by Tiffany)

 

Initial feedback is coming in to me about the Office 2007 ribbon from pilot groups. Most people say that the transition has not slowed them down at all and that they find it "refreshing" that Microsoft took such a bold step to make the user interface easier. The downside is that all those menus we had committed to memory are now obsolete. When you just want to find the spell check button in Excel, you can glance right past it on the left side of the screen on the Review tab because your brain wants to look for it in the middle of the ribbon since it used to be in the middle of the Standard toolbar. Here are three shortcuts to paste onto your desktop that can save you some time:

 

 

Click Start the guide in the middle of these pages to get an Office 2003 user interface. Click on the feature you want and the screen will fade to the Office 2007 interface and show you where to find it on the ribbon. It works with menu items too!

(Posted by Evan)

 

Top 3 (legal) reasons to stop at an Interstate rest area:

Yes, you read that correctly. The next time your kids, spouse, or carload of rowdy road-trippers demand a bathroom break, you can break out your laptop and check your e-mail, current weather conditions, local attractions, and more.

 

In Part V of So That's How!, we talk a lot about mobile Internet access. Most people think of airports, libraries, and coffee shops as logical places for a wireless hotspot. I have to admit, even I was surprised by the Wireless Internet designation on the Rest Area exit sign near my little stretch of Interstate 10 (see photo). Come to find out, Texas was the first state to provide wireless Internet access at Interstate rest areas and the Texas Department of Transportation is in the process of expanding the service to all 90 of its Safety Rest Areas.

 

To see if your state or the state you're traveling to offers a similar service, visit the respective state's Department of Transportation Web site. You can find more information on the TxDOT Safety Rest Area wireless internet access program at http://www.dot.state.tx.us/mnt/sra/wireless.htm.

 

Are we there yet?