Top Ten Keyboard Shortcuts
Using keyboard shortcuts can greatly increase your productivity, reduce repetitive strain, and help keep you focused. For example, highlighting text with the keyboard and pressing Ctrl + C is much faster than taking your hand from the keyboard, highlighting the text using the mouse, clicking copy from the file menu, and then putting your hand back in place on the keyboard. Below are our top 10 keyboard shortcuts we recommend everyone memorize and use.
Ctrl + C or Ctrl + Insert
Copy the highlighted text or selected item.
Ctrl + V or Shift + Insert
Paste the text or object that's in the clipboard.
Ctrl + Z and Ctrl + Y
Undo any change. For example, if you cut text, pressing this will undo it. This can also often be pressed multiple times to undo multiple changes. Pressing Ctrl + Y would redo the undo.
Ctrl + F
Open the Find in any program. This includes your Internet browser to find text on the current page.
Alt + Tab or Alt + Esc
Quickly switch between open programs moving forward.
Press Ctrl + Tab to switch between tabs in a program.
Adding the Shift key to Alt + Tab or Ctrl + Tab will move backwards. For example, if you are pressing Alt + Tab and pass the program you want to switch to, press Alt + Shift + Tab to move backwards to that program.
Windows Vista and 7 users can also press the Windows Key + Tab to switch through open programs in a full screenshot of the Window.
Ctrl + Back space
Pressing Ctrl + Backspace will delete a full word at a time instead of a single character.
Ctrl + Left arrow / Right arrow
Move the cursor one word at a time instead of one character at a time. If you wanted to highlight one word at a time you can hold down Ctrl + Shift and then press the left or right arrow key to move one word at a time in that direction while highlighting each word.
Ctrl + Home / End
Move the cursor to the beginning or end of a document.
Ctrl + P
Print the page being viewed. For example, the document in Microsoft Word or the web page in your Internet browser.
Page Up / Space bar and Page Down
Pressing either the page up or page down key will move that page one page at a time in that direction. When browsing the Internet pressing the space bar will also move the page down one page at a time. If you press Shift and the Space bar the page will go up a page at a time.
The True Cost
The price tag on any given printer really tells only half the story. Many times the cheapest printer for sale isn't necessarily the cheapest printer to own. And what's the most affordable printer for you in particular? Depending on how many pages you print and how much it costs to print each page, a high-priced printer with expensive cartridges could be a lot cheaper to own in the long run than a less-expensive printer with low-cost cartridges.
Coming up with that long-run cost for comparison isn't always easy.
Before you can calculate the real cost of a printer, you need to know the cost per page. To get it, you need two numbers for each cartridge: the yield (how many pages the cartridge can print) and the price. But until recently, there's been no good way to find out the yield.
Printer manufacturers will tell you the yield they've found and, usually, the estimated cost per page. But printing different images, manipulating driver settings, or changing how you determine that a cartridge has reached the end of its life can all alter the yield you come up with. Without knowing if different manufacturers' tests are comparable, you have to take the claims with a proverbial grain of salt.
So the next time your shopping for a printer. Take the time to do the math. Just because the price tag looks good, doesnt mean your bank account will.
Finally an Affordable Cloud Service for Your Small Business
Well you have heard all about Cloud computing this past year as well as hearing it from us. With so many different options and pricing this solution has been mind boggling to say the least.
The beginning of the month Microsoft finally released its version to the Professional and SMB markets of Office 365.
Now you have access to Emails, documents, calendars, contacts and more, anywhere, any time, on any device.
It uses all the familiar tools we all have come to love such as Microsoft Outlook, Excel, Word, Access and more. It offers the security and reliability you need to run your business.
Simplify your scheduling; collaborate on documents and calendars, with no need to have a server or dedicated IT staff on premises.
This is the solution that we have all been waiting for! Take the worry out of your IT.
We have implemented this solution in its Beta version to a few clients who cant love it enough.
The cost savings and the Microsoft guarantee of a 99.9% uptime tightly integrates cloud based services and on premise workloads to enable the users to maximize your current technology.
You can add on this solution at your own pace and needs, to get the full benefit of cloud computing that works for your business.
Kotori is a certified Microsoft Partner; ask us how to take the future of your business to the Cloud today.
Seven Tips to Help Maintain Your Work Computer
I am not sure about you, but without my computer at work, I may as well go home until it is fixed, then plan to work all night to get caught up again. I try my best to keep the computer up-to-date to try and prevent a break down. I also do not want to be the one who downloaded the file and infected the entire network. (That would be embarrassing.) Here are a few tips that I have learned and will pass on to you:
1.Install all updates required by Kotori Technologies. Depending on the type of plan your company has with Kotori, we may install these updates for you, as long as the computer is turned on overnight. If your company is not on one these plans, you may be responsible for all updates. Not installing updates as suggested by Kotori Technologies can expose your company to viruses and other security risks. Some companies may prevent computers from accessing the network if patches aren't installed after a set date. Also, find out whether Kotori wants you to install updates using Microsoft Update. If they do, make it a habit of checking Microsoft Update regularly.
2.Install only licensed programs. Make sure that you, or your company, has a license for any software you install on your work computer. Your company can get caught in a lawsuit for having software without a license installed on its computers. For example, installing a program your friend bought could present some problems. Software that you've bought a license for is probably fine, but double-check the license to make sure. Sometimes, software bought for home use cannot be installed at work.
3.Don't install different versions of software. Even if you prefer the version of software you use at home rather than work, don't install it on your work computer. You could have incompatibility problems with the software your co-workers are using and with your specific line of business applications. Kotori Technologies may also not be able to make any required updates or provide technical support.
4.Let Kotori Technologies know when hardware isn't working. Fixing a broken computer yourself could just cause more problems. Your fixes, for example, could make the computer incompatible with the corporate network. We offer a helpdesk or technical assistance program designed for this type of work. Kotori may have already seen the same problem and have a known fix. Helping Kotori Technologies track common computer problems can also help them decide which brand and make of computer to order in the future.
5.Let Kotori know when you need something. Giving the Kotori reasonable requests and adequate time for planning can help Kotori respond to your needs. Otherwise, you may end up with computer software or hardware you didn't want, which can hinder how effective you are at work.
6.Don't download programs from Internet sites you don't trust. By downloading programs that may not be secure, you put all the computers on the network at risk.
7.Be aware of suspicious e-mails. A virus introduced though e-mail may be disguised as a downloadable file. If an e-mail you receive is from someone you don't know, contains strange text, or otherwise looks suspicious, contact Kotori Technologies. If you open it, you could potentially cause problems for you and your co-workers. If it does contain a virus, Kotori can ask other employees in the organization to look for similar e-mails.
The Fall of the HP TouchPad
HP's TouchPad tablet never sold much in the few months that it was out. But, when HP announced that it was ceasing production of the device, that changed.
Consumers have cleaned out the market's $99-$150 per-unit inventory of TouchPads.
At a time when Apple is selling all the iPads it can make and companies are launching new Android tablets that are increasing in market share every day, why did the TouchPad crash and burn?
Many factors play into the answer, falling basically into four categories: 1) issues with HP's management, 2) a lack of apps and developer support, 3) the competition, 4) patience - or the lack of it.
Issues with HPs Management
Issues at the top level of HP management may have impacted the TouchPad's future.
First, there was the companys previous leadership.
The TouchPad runs on Palm's webOS, which HP acquired when it purchased Palm under the leadership of then-CEO Mark Hurd, who left under a cloud of scandal.
Second, HP's leadership, both high-level executives and its board of directors, seem intent on moving the company away from client products, including tablets.
That combination essentially made the TouchPad the Ugly Duckling of tablets".
A Lack of Apps and Developer Support
Further, HP's leadership may be struggling to map out a new strategy in the post-Mark Hurd era.
There's no (TouchPad) app for that. Perhaps the most critical error HP made with the TouchPad project was not ensuring that there were enough apps for the tablet.
Tablets are essentially consumption devices, and they rely on apps for their appeal.
For example, Apple was able to rejuvenate what was a very stagnant tablet market to the point that it almost became a new market because of apps and iTunes. If you want to take on Apple, you must have the apps.
There are more than 90 thousand apps for the iPad, according to Apple's website.
There are reportedly about 300 apps for the TouchPad.
To go along with that, HP didn't make it easy for webOS developers to create apps. The website for webOS developers is difficult to figure out, many webOS developers say.
The Competition
Announced in February, the TouchPad hit retail shelves in July, four months after the iPad 2's March launch.
That's equivalent to an eternity.
This is a very fast-paced market. Apple has built up such incredible momentum and demand for the iPad.
Should HP perhaps have rethought going into the tablet market?
One would have thought that a company of HP's experience, stature and access to market research would have been able to make an informed decision on whether or not to enter the market and how best to compete against already strong competitors like Apple, Google, Motorola and Samsung. But that didn't happen.
It's possible that both the TouchPad and HP, were not yet ready for prime time.
There were complaints about the TouchPad itself, with some users reportedly returning it and demanding refunds.
Also, marketing for the TouchPad was unproductive at best.
HP put a lot of money into TV marketing here in the states, and what was that message? That entertainers and celebrities can operate a tablet. That really did not make a whole lot of sense.
There was little that set the TouchPad apart from the competition. Users need a reason to select one manufacturer's product over its competitors, and HP failed to make a clear distinction between the TouchPad and other tablets.
Patience
Could the TouchPad have succeeded if HP had gritted its teeth and hung on? It might be possible, but we'll never know.
It takes time to build a market.
For example, the iPad wasn't an overnight success. It leveraged many of the time-tested technologies used in the iPhone and built on that device's success, brand recognition and distribution channels.
It seems that US vendors have become too sensitive to immediate market reaction, to the point that any product that isn't an immediate success is deemed to be a failure.
As a result, most products aren't given the time or support that many require to become a success. I came up with a term for this, IT-style ADD -- Advertising Deficit Disorder.
There may be life for the TouchPad yet -- open source enthusiasts have launched projects to port Android and Ubuntu (A Linux distribution) to the TouchPad.
At $99-$150 a pop, the TouchPad is an inexpensive product with which to experiment.
Conclusion
When a company has issues with management, lack of support for people who want to make it better, very stiff competition and an increasingly short sense of patience it is no wonder why an all-in-all pretty good product lived such a short life.