Automatically Update Cells In Excel

March 30, 2008 at 5:21 am | In MS Office Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

If you are like me you keep track of lots of different data for various clients in Excel spreadsheets.  To save time I have setup most of my spreadsheets to automatically update information between sheets when ever possible.  This keeps me from having to manually enter data in multiple spreadsheets.  This both saves time and eliminates typos. 

Simply highlight the cell you want copied and click copy.  Go to the spreadsheet you want to paste to and right click on the cell where you want the linked data.  Click “Paste Special” and in the box that pops up click “Paste Link”.  Now each time you open the linked excel file it will automatically update itself!

Need A Free Alternative to PhotoShop? Here you go!

March 17, 2008 at 4:43 am | In Cool Tools | Leave a Comment

GIMP is not Photoshop, but it is an amazingly powerful and efficient open-source bitmap-­editing package that can look just as confusing as Photoshop if you open all its floating toolbars and sidebars. You’ll need to get used to its nonstandard menus. If you make your living from graphics or photo editing, you’ll probably go commercial, but GIMP gets the job done free.  Get it here:  www.gimp.org

Convert Audio Rip CD’s and More

March 12, 2008 at 5:38 am | In Cool Tools | 2 Comments

Here are two good (and of course free) options for manipulating audio files.

dBpowerAMP lets you rip CDs, convert files, and record audio. It supports MP3, MP4, M4a, WMA, OGG, AAC, APE, FLAC, Apple Lossless, and more. This app integrates with Windows, so you can simply right-click on a file to convert it.  Get it here:  www.dbpoweramp.com

CDex is a CD-ripping and file-conversion app for the extremely picky. It includes many different ­encoders, including LAME MP3, Fraunhofer MP3, MP2, APE, OGG, WMA, WAV, VQF, and FAAC. It also has jitter correction for error-free CD ripping and works with the CDDB database.  Get it here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/cdexos

Need to Edit Audio? You need Audacity!

March 10, 2008 at 5:36 am | In Cool Tools | Leave a Comment

Audacity is a powerful audio editing/recording software package that doesn’t require much training. It works on Linux, Mac and Windows, and it handles many file types, including OGG, MP3, AIFF, AU, and WAV (but not WMA or AAC). Its features include 32-bit/96-KHz recording and editing (up to 16 channels), independent speed and pitch control, noise removal, a spectrogram mode, and tons of built-in effects. But it’s also perfect for quick ­recordings and editing long files.

Get it here:  http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

TweakUI – You’ve Gotta Get It

March 5, 2008 at 5:32 am | In WinXP Tips and Tricks | Leave a Comment

I have used every version of this since Win95.  You may not use all the neat little things it does but you will find you use more of them than you think you will. 

Tweak UI fine-tunes Start Menu and Taskbar settings, helps specify which icons appear on your desktop, sets auto log-in so you can skip entering a password, and much more

Get it here:  www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx  (check out the other power toys while you are here)

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