<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<rss version="2.0">
    <channel>
        <title>Tildemark blogs</title>
        <link>http://www.tildemark.com/</link>
        <description>Blogging on uniquely random things. </description>
        <language>en</language>
        <copyright>Copyright 2009</copyright>
        <lastBuildDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:52:51 +0800</lastBuildDate>
        <generator>http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/</generator>
        <docs>http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification</docs>
        
        <item>
            <title>Adding Numbers on SERP Results to Google, Yahoo and MSN Live</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Using <a href="http://www.greasespot.net/">Greasemonkey</a> we can download <a href="http://userscripts.org/">userscripts</a> that automatically adds numbers as ranks into the search results page from Google, Yahoo and MSN live search engines. <br /><br />Install <a href="https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/748">Greasemonkey</a> add on into <a href="http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/">firefox</a>, then download the following user scripts. <br /><br /><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/downloads/number_google_results.user.js">Numbered Google SERP results</a><br />Place a number on the Google SERP window<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/downloads/numbered_yahoo_results.user.js">Numbered Yahoo SERP results</a><br />Place a number on the Yahoo SERP window<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/downloads/numbered_msn_results.user.js">Numbered MSN Live SERP results</a><br />Place a number on the MSN Live SERP window<br /><br /><br />You might also be interested on the following scripts below<br /><br /><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/downloads/google100.user.js">Google 100</a> <br />Show 100 results at a time in the Google SERP window. <br /><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/seo/adding-numbers-on-serp-results-to-google-yahoo-and-msn-live.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/seo/adding-numbers-on-serp-results-to-google-yahoo-and-msn-live.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">SEO</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">google</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">live</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">msn</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">serp</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">yahoo</category>
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:52:51 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Sharing a workbook in Excel for simultaneous edit or collaboration</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Excel lets you share a workbook and edit worksheets simultaneously. It also allows multiple people to edit every cell or spreadsheet and track changes at the same time. Collaboration between your team will never be the same plus you will be maintaining just one workbook for the entire team which results to less confusion and an updated version for everyone. Updated data will always be available all the time. You can track changes from everybody across the network using their login names and the date they made the update. Excel also prompts you which version of the edit will be posted or you can set it to always overwrite the old ones. <br /><br />The workbook however need to be in a network share. it must have a write privilege to all your team members. Using Excel 2007, sharing a workbook is as simple as point and click. Here follow these steps. <br /><br /><ol><li>Open your workbook. </li><li>Navigate to Review on the toolbar</li><li>Click on the Share Workbook icon</li><li>Place a check on the check box that says Allow more than one user at the same time. </li><li>Click on OK</li><li>Now, save your workbook on a network share</li></ol><br />You can use the double slash [ \\ ] to access your file server like this \\FILESERVER<br />Delete your local version to remove confusion and open the file from the server<br /><br />You can also create a shortcut to your desktop so that it may be easier for you to open it. <br /><br /> ]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/sharing-a-workbook-in-excel-for-simultaneous-edit-or-collaboration.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/sharing-a-workbook-in-excel-for-simultaneous-edit-or-collaboration.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Desktop Applications</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">excel</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">tips</category>
            
            <pubDate>Mon, 17 Nov 2008 07:50:52 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Practice makes perfect</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p class="MsoNormal">WARNING: this is a useless post. You've been warned.</p>

<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-image" style="display: inline;"><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/images/hand-drill.jpg"><img alt="hand-drill.jpg" src="http://www.tildemark.com/assets_c/2008/10/hand-drill-thumb-200x260.jpg" width="200" height="260" class="mt-image-left" style="float: left; margin: 0 20px 20px 0;" /></a></span><p class="MsoNormal">Its past midnight but I can't sleep despite not being able
to sleep last night. I'm with the graveyard shift but there happens to be a
scheduled office drill today that I was not invited but rather, I was being
mandated to attend. </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Still, I managed to attend to the office drill and of course
I was late. I placed two toothpicks between my eyelids to prevent them from
closing and dropped some Visine to get the red out in sixty seconds. Gee it did
not help. A lesson not to believe everything you see on television. </p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>Everybody noticed
when I arrived; it's like walking in an isle when you're getting married. It's
a feeling that is so inspiring until the facilitator started to mention my mistakes
and failures in the office. I felt I was pushed into a tub full of soap water.
I consider it to be one of my most embarrassing moments. "I should have left
earlier", I said it to myself, if I had some clothes to put on. But because I
forgot to get my laundry yesterday which I believed my uniform was with it. To
my surprise when I came home, it turned out to be placed right inside my
closet. At that time, I had a feeling that my moronic side is starting to
overpower me. <i style="mso-bidi-font-style:normal"><o:p></o:p></i></p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Then lunch came I'm still wet with soap all over my body and
<span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I thought everybody forgot about my
tardiness <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>but it seems I was wrong for I
was again called to lead the prayer. <span style="mso-spacerun:yes"> </span>I
don't have that priestly look; it's more of a punishment for being late. I
tried to hide, not that I do not want to say the prayer but I don't want them
to notice my eyes. So no more bath soap, this time it I was soaked with
detergent. </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">The office drill didn't go along smoothly as planned.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">  </span>Office drill is not a drill about digging
something in the office or preventing fire accident but it was more of like a
protocol drill to freshen up our team and getting the respective jobs done. The
result was a successful failure, we totally sucked. It was expected anyway;
otherwise we won't be having that sort of drill. </p>

<p class="MsoNormal">The afternoon came; the toothpicks between my eyelids were removed
not because I'm not sleepy anymore but because they broke. Apparently, they can
no longer handle the weight of my eyelids. So I got these 3 sachets of Nescafe instant
coffee 3-in-1 mix in a single mug and drank it. It was so effective that up
until now at 3AM, I'm still awake. </p> ]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/blogging/practice-makes-perfect.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/blogging/practice-makes-perfect.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Blogging</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Sun, 12 Oct 2008 02:18:44 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Leadership seminars can also be interesting</title>
            <description><![CDATA[some times seminars can also be interesting at least for me most of the times i find them boring and a waste of my time. A recent seminar i joined made me think twice with some of the seminars i missed before. the last task we had from the seminar which i enjoyed the most is the testing the leadership skill you have learned from the seminar. The task is to solve the puzzle called traffic jam.<br /><br /><b>Setup</b><br />2 groups of five with each team having their own uniform color. All 10 individuals setting in front of each other, each team facing the other team. an extra chair placed at the center of the last two persons. See illustrations below, ill name the first team as alphabet and the other as numbers. everybody is facing the empty chair.<br /><br />&nbsp; 1 2 3 4 5 <br />@<br />&nbsp; A B C D E<br /><br /><b>Objective</b><br />The objective of the game is to switch places with the team by following some rules. The ending arrangement should be.<br /><br />&nbsp; E D C B A<br />@<br />&nbsp; 5 4 3 2 1<br /><b>Instructions</b><br /><ul><li>a person can move in a space (blank chair) beside him</li><li>a person can skip a person or move around a person </li><li>a person can only move forward</li><li>only one person can move at a time</li></ul><br />Well after an hour, i was able to crack this game. it was very frustrating not to be able to get the solution in time because the speaker place a timer on the board and it was just 45 minutes. anyway here's my solution: <br /><br /><b>The Solution to the Traffic Jam game</b><br />Team Alphabet moves first, Person A move to the blank chair.<br /><br />A12ABC1234ABCDE12345ABCDE2345CDE45E<br /><br /><br /> ]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/leadership-seminars-can-also-be-interesting.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/leadership-seminars-can-also-be-interesting.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Blogging</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">leadership seminars tips</category>
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 30 Sep 2008 23:13:46 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Formating messages in Basecamp using textile</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Basecamp is using textile to format and display its messages. The following is a list of codes used to modify the look of your messages inside basecamp. <br /><br />You can format the messages in basecamp using the following codes below:<br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Paragraph Codes</b><br /></font>The following codes are commonly used in composing paragraphs in basecamp, adding in the following codes helps you convey the message you wish to tell and makes it easier to read and understand the context. <br /><br />Header: hn. &lt;text&gt;<br /><b>h1. Header 1</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;h1&gt;Header 1&lt;/h1&gt;</b><br /><br />Blockquote: bq. &lt;text&gt;<br /><b>bq. A block quotation.</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;blockquote&gt;bq. A block quotation.&lt;/blockquote&gt;</b><br /><br /><a target="_blank" href="http://www.textpattern.com/help/?item=header" onclick="window.open(this.href, 'popupwindow', 'width=400,height=400,scrollbars,resizable'); return false;"><strong></strong></a>Footnote: fn1. &lt;text&gt;<br /><b>fn1. Footnote text.</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;p id="fn1"&gt;&lt;sup&gt;1&lt;/sup&gt; Footnote text.&lt;/p&gt;</b><br /><br />Example:<br />This text has a footnote below[1].<br />fn1. This is the footnote of the text above.<br /><br /><b>Text Alignments</b><br />p&lt;. <em>align left</em><br />
p&gt;. <em>align right</em><br />
p=. <em>centered</em><br />
p&lt;&gt;. <em>justified</em><br />
p(., p((.  <em>left indent 1em, 2em, etc.</em><br />
p). <em>right indent 1em</em><br /><br />Example:<br /><b>p=. This text is centered</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;center&gt;This text is centered&lt;/center&gt;</b><br /><br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Phrase Codes</b></font><br />These codes below allows us to importance to a portion of our text in basecamp and adding some emphasis to it. We can use either the emphasis or the boldface HTML code when adding some importance to the message we have written. Other HTML code can also be used. <br /><br /><b>Emphasis<br /></b>Prepend and append underscores to the text you wish to be emphasized. <br /><b>_text on emphasis_</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;em&gt;text on emphasis&lt;/em&gt;</b><br /><br />To make italics text we use double underscores<br /><b>__text on italics__</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;i&gt;text on italics&lt;/i&gt;</b><br /><br /><b>Strong emphasis</b><br />Use asterisk to make text appear with strong emphasis<br /><b>*text on strong emphasis*</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;strong&gt;text on strong emphasis&lt;/strong&gt;</b><br /><br />And, use double asterisk to make them apear as boldface<br /><b>**text on boldface**</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;b&gt;text on boldface&lt;/b&gt;</b><br /><br /><b>Citations</b><br />Enclose citation text with double question marks<br /><b>??cited text??</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;cite&gt;cited text&lt;/cite&gt;</b><br /><br /><b>Mark as deleted</b><br />Also called overstrike. Useful in editing copy with multiple versions. <br /><b>-text to be deleted-</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;del&gt;text to be deleted&lt;/del&gt;</b><br /><br /><b>Mark as inserted</b><br />Used mutually with the overstrike tag. Marks the text as newly inserted text. <br /><b>+inserted text+</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;ins&gt;inserted text&lt;/ins&gt;</b><br /><br /><b>Span</b><br />Allows us to customize out text based on color or formating using the CSS standard code. Use the percent symbol to start a span tag. <br /><b>%{color:red}text in red color%</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;span style="color:red;"&gt;text in red color&lt;/span&gt;</b><br /><br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><b><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;">Lists</font></b></font><br />Precede each line with pound sign to make an ordered list like this:<br /><br /><b># line 1<br /># line 2<br /># line 3<br /></b><br />Which becomes,<br /><br /><b>&lt;ol&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;1 line 1&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;2 line 2&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;3 line 3&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;/ol&gt;<br /></b>

<br />To make a bulleted list, use the asterisk instead like this:<br /><br /><b>* line 1<br />
* line 2<br />* line 3<br /></b>
<br />Which becomes, <br /><br /><b>&lt;ul&gt;<br />
&lt;li&gt;1 line 1&lt;/li&gt;<br />
&lt;li&gt;2 line 2&lt;/li&gt;<br />

&lt;li&gt;3 line 3&lt;/li&gt;<br />

&lt;/ul&gt;</b><br />
<br />To add a nested list or increase the list indention we add another asterisk link this:<br /><br /><b>* line 1<br />** line 1.1<br />** line 1.2<br />* line 2<br />
* line 3</b><br />

<br />Which becomes<br /><br /><b>&lt;ul&gt;<br />

&lt;li&gt;line 1&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;ul&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;line 1.1&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;line 1.2&lt;/li&gt;<br />&lt;/ul&gt;<br />&lt;li&gt;line 2&lt;/li&gt;<br />


&lt;li&gt;line 3&lt;/li&gt;<br />


&lt;/ul&gt;</b><br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><b><font style="font-size: 1.25em;">Creating Tables</font></b></font><br />Use the pipe symbol to make tables<br /><br /><b>|This|is|a|table|<br />|with|two|rows|inside|</b><br /><br />is equivalent to <br /><br /><b>&lt;table&gt;<br />&lt;tr&gt;<br />&lt;td&gt;This&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;is&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;a&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;table&lt;/td&gt;<br />&lt;/tr&gt;<br />&lt;tr&gt;<br />&lt;td&gt;with&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;two&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;rows&lt;/td&gt;&lt;td&gt;inside&lt;/td&gt;<br />
&lt;/tr&gt;</b><br /><br />

<font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Inserting Links</b></font><br />Inserting hyperlinks in basecamp is similar to inserting text in wikipedia, just enclose the anchor text with double quotation marks followed by a colon and the url<br /><b>"Tildemark blogs":http://www.tildemark.com</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;a href="http://www.tildemark.com&gt;Tildemark blogs&lt;/a&gt;</b><br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Inserting Images</b></font><br />Use the exclamation symbol to insert an image into basecamp. <br /><p><b>!http://www.basecamphq.com/images/basecamplogo-small.png!</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;img src="http://www.basecamphq.com/images/basecamplogo-small.png" alt="basecamp logo"/&gt;</b></p><b><br /><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;">Image Links</font></b><br />To make the image clickable we add the link code adding in a colon and the corresponding link.<br /><b>!http://www.basecamphq.com/images/basecamplogo-small.png!:"http://www.basecamphq.com" </b>is equivalent to <b>&lt;a href="http://www.basecamphq.com"&gt;&lt;img src="http://www.basecamphq.com/images/basecamplogo-small.png" /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;</b><br /><b><br /></b><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Superscripts</b></font><br />Use caret symbol to make superscripts<br />e = m * c ^2^ is equivalent to e = m * c &lt;sup&gt;2&lt;/sup&gt;<br /><br /><font style="font-size: 1.25em;"><b><font style="font-size: 1.25em;">Subscripts</font></b></font><br />Use the tildemark to make subscripts<br /><b>log ~b~ (x) = y</b> is equivalent to <b>log &lt;sub&gt;b&lt;/sub&gt; (x) = y<br /></b><br /><p><font style="font-size: 1.5625em;"><b>Source Codes</b></font><br />

To add source code listing we use the @ symbol<br />

<b>@print "hello world";@</b> is equivalent to <b>&lt;code&gt;print "hello world";&lt;/code&gt;</b></p>More examples with <a href="http://hobix.com/textile/quick.html">textile code for basecamp</a> here.<br /><br /><p>

</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/formating-messages-in-basecamp-using-textile.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/formating-messages-in-basecamp-using-textile.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Internet</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">tips</category>
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 29 Apr 2008 09:55:13 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Mass rename files using wscript</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Obviously, its seldom to see people using batch files nowadays. Most people dont even know what it is. On, contrary i still use them on my daily tasks to automate things, its like having Perl on a Linux box. but things are changing now, i guess using batch files isn't the trend anymore these days. The same with Linux OS, Windows also comes in handy with some tools used to automate tasks and using batchfiles is one of them. Since we're using Windows XP now, its also wise to&nbsp;do things in GUI mode in contrary with the old style DOS mode edit.</p>
<p>While downloading some pictures from a camera,&nbsp;I found them hard to manually rename its filename to a more meaningful title and not some random "DSC001323.JPG". After rename 10 or 15 files, i got bored, thinking this would take me forerver to rename them all for they are more than a thousand in total. If you can still recall that neat application called <a href="http://www.irfanview.com/">Irfan View</a>, my life would have been alot easier. </p>
<p>Well anyway, lets change things we normally do and instead of using batch files we use vb script. A zipped version of the 
<span class="mt-enclosure mt-enclosure-file" style="DISPLAY: inline"><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/downloads/MassRename.zip">mass renaming script</a></span>&nbsp;is also available for download. </p><code>
<p>''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''<br />' Mass Rename Script by tildemark<br />' <a href="http://www.tildemark.com/">http://www.tildemark.com</a><br />' <br />' <br />' Usage: <br />'&nbsp;&nbsp; Place this script on a list of files you wish to rename.<br />'&nbsp;&nbsp; Run this script by double clicking on the filename.<br />'<br />'<br />' For bugs send it to <a href="mailto:tildemark@gmail.com">tildemark@gmail.com</a><br />'<br />''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''</p>
<p>Dim fso, Path, Folder, Counter, Prefix, File, Extension</p>
<p>set fso = CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")</p>
<p>Path = InputBox("Input the location of the files to be renamed. ('.' means current folder)", "Mass Rename Script", ".")</p>
<p>Prefix = InputBox("Input the filename prefix", "Mass Rename Script")<br />If Prefix = "\" Then WScript.Quit</p>
<p>Extension = InputBox("Input the file extension to be renamed", "Mass Rename Script")<br />If Extension = "\" Then WScript.Quit</p>
<p>Counter = InputBox("Input the starting offset", "Mass Rename Script")</p>
<p>Set Folder = fso.GetFolder(Path)</p>
<p>For Each File In folder.Files</p>
<p>&nbsp; If Not ((File.Attributes And 8) = 8) Then<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; If fso.GetExtensionName(File.Path) = Extension Then&nbsp; <br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; File.Name = Prefix &amp; CStr(Counter) &amp; "." &amp; Extension<br />&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; End If<br />&nbsp; End If<br />&nbsp; Counter = Counter + 1<br />Next</p>
<p>MsgBox("Done")</p></code>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/programming/mass-rename-files-using-wscript.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/programming/mass-rename-files-using-wscript.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Programming</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">scripts</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">tips</category>
            
            <pubDate>Sat, 15 Mar 2008 08:22:09 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Carpal Tunnel Syndrome?</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>I'm not sure if a lot of people who dabble on their keyboard almost 8 hours everyday know this but if they don't watch out they may eventually experience carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS). This is a condition where a nerve is compressed around the wrist usually the part where its almost always pressed like the underneath of the hand holding the mouse.</p>

<p>I'm usually in front of the computer almost 12 hours everyday, except on weekends (I do have a life you know). In order to combat Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, I use an ergonomic keyboard and mouse. You can find some good stuff about <a href="http://www.ergoware.com/">office ergonomics</a> at ergoware.com. To combat CTS, I use my left hand to operate the mouse even though I'm right handed. I only use my right hand when I play games (he he he).</p>

<p>The best thing to do though to prevent CTS is to always take a break in between work specially if you just sit in front of the computer the whole day. Remember, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. </p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/carpal-tunnel-syndrome.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/carpal-tunnel-syndrome.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 23 Jan 2008 19:17:36 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Merging Adjacent Cells in Excel</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>The merge and Center button in Excel only centers the top left text and deletes the rest. What if the two columns of First names and last names are to be merged into the format: Last name, First name it would then become a problem. </p>

<p>Using the Ampersand ( & ) operator, it allows us to merge cells in an excel worksheet. you can create a formula to merge cells in excel or just insert it right away on the cell formula bar. </p>

<p>Problem:<br />
And you wish to merge the two cells at A1 and A2 to the cell at A3</p>

<p>Given: <br />
Cell A1 has the text "Lastname"<br />
Cell A2 has the text "Firstname"</p>

<p>Solution:<br />
* First position your active cell on A3.<br />
* On the formula bar input the following: =A1&A2 [ENTER]</p>

<p>It should display LastnameFirstname on cell A3</p>

<p>To add a space and a comma, use the following:<br />
=A1&", "&A2<br />
it will output: Lastname, Firstname</p>

<p>alternatively you can also use the concatenate function, like this:<br />
=CONCATENATE(A1,", ",A2)</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/merging-adjacent-cells-in-excel.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/merging-adjacent-cells-in-excel.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Desktop Applications</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:48:59 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Disable autorun on cdrom or usb drives</title>
            <description><![CDATA[By default autorun is enabled on windows xp, this puts your pc into potential malaware risk or even virus infection. Mostly, viruses and worms are spread using the windows autorun feature. We should disable autorun on your computers to prevent it from being infected with any virus, malaware or worms. Here are several ways to disable the autorun function:<br />
<br />
<strong>Disable Autorun with TweakUI.</strong><br />
The most convenient way is to install TweakUI a PowerToy from Microsoft we can download for free . Download <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx">TwealUI</a> and install it. This PowerToy gives you access to system settings that are not exposed in the Windows XP default user interface, including mouse settings, Explorer settings, taskbar settings, and more. <br />
<br />
1. Run TweakUI<br />
2. Navigate to My Computer -> AutoPlay -> Drives<br />
3. Uncheck the drive you wish to disable the AutoPlay function. <br />
4. Navigate to My Computer -> AutoPlay -> Types<br />
5. Uncheck Enable Autoplay for CD and DVD drives<br />
6. Uncheck Enable Autoplay for removable drives<br />
7. Click Apply button<br />
8. Click OK button<br />
<br />
<strong>Disable Autorun with Group Policy Editor</strong><br />
If you are a geek type and want to do it the hard way we could use the GPEDIT.MSC tool to disable Autorun.  GPEDIT.MSC does not work on Windows Home Edition, only on Windows XP. <br />

1. Navigate to Start -> Run<br />
2. type GPEDIT.MSC <br />
3. Click OK<br />
4. Navigate to Local Computer Policy -> Computer Configuration -> Administrative Template -> System<br />
5. Double click Turn Off Autoplay<br />
6. Select Enabled from the radio buttons<br />
7. On the Turn off autoplay dropdown box select All drives<br />
8. Click OK button, Close Group Policy Editor<br />
<br />
<strong>Disable Autorun with the Registry Editor</strong><br />
If you are using Windows Home, you can disable autorun using the registry editor. <br />
<br />
1. Navigate to Start -> Run<br />
2. type REGEDIT, click OK button<br />
3. Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE -> SYSTEM -> CurrentControlSet -> Services -> CDROM<br />
4. Double Click on Autorun <br />
5. Change from 1 to 0. The default value 1 means autorun is enabled on CDROM<br />
6. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER -> Software -> Microsoft -> Windows -> CurrentVersion -> Policies -> Explorer<br />
7. Double click on NoDriveTypeAutoRun<br />
8. Change the current valut to B5 in Hex. This disables CDROMs and USB drives<br />
<br />
To disable other devices refer to the table below. <br />
<table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" width="80%" class="tablemargin" style="margin-top: 0em;">
	<tr valign="top">
		<th bgcolor="#c3d9ff" width="20%">Value</th>
		<th bgcolor="#c3d9ff" width="80%">Meaning</th>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x1</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type.</font></td>
		</tr>
	<tr vaign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x4</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on removable drives.</font></td></tr><tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x8</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on fixed drives.</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x10</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on network drives.</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x20</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on CD-ROM drives.</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x40</font></td>
		<td><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on RAM disks.</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0x80</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on drives of unknown type.</font></td>
	</tr>
	<tr valign="top">
		<td><font size="-1">0xFF</font></td>
		<td ><font size="-1">Disables Autoplay on all types of drives.</font></td>
	</tr>
</table>
<br />
By default, Autoplay is disabled on removable drives, such as the floppy disk drive (but not the CD-ROM drive), and on network drives. The default value 0x95 (149) is the sum of 0x1, 0x80 (unknown types), 0x4 (floppy drives), and 0x10 (network drives). 0xB5 is the sum of 0x1, 0x4, 0x10, 0x20 and 0x80. B5 in Hex or 181 in Decimal.]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/tips/disable-autorun-on-cdrom-or-usb-drives.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/tips/disable-autorun-on-cdrom-or-usb-drives.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:37:56 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Removing Duplicates in an Excel Column</title>
            <description><![CDATA[Usually when doing some 'copy' 'and paste' stuff would end with so many duplicates. It would be very tedious in manually editing them. when collecting sites for link exchanges, we will get lots of duplicate domains especially from google and wikipedia which most of the links. <br />
<br />
Normally, we use advanced filter but something is wrong with it, its not filtering the character 'a'. I got two of them and the result still has two of them. Here is how i did it with advanced filter.<br />
<br />
1. Click On an empty cell column<br />
2. On the menu choose: Data -> Filter -> Advanced Filter<br />
3. In the dialog box, type in the range of cells to filter at the List Range text box. e.g. type in $A$2:$A$1319  for cell A2 to cell A1319<br />
4. On the Copy to text box type in the cell location of the output (filtered list)<br />
5. Click on the Unique records only check box<br />
6. Press OK<br />
<br />
With the <a href="http://www.tildemark.com/tools">tool duplicate remover</a>, we could remove repeating domain names in an instant. But if we are just simply collecting words and similar list that we become another story. Usually we collect word or phrases and paste them in an excel worksheet. but the question is how to filter the list and remove the duplicates? well i run unto the same problems and luckily i found a macro on the internet, so it saved me the time in creating one. <br />
<br />
   1. Open Excel.<br />
   2. Alt + F11 to open the Visual Basic Editor (VBE).<br />
   3. Insert-Module.<br />
   4. Paste the code below.<br />
   5. Close the VBE (Alt + Q or the X in the top-right corner).<br />
 <br />
<b>Excel Macro</b>
<pre>
<p style="margin: 6px 0px; font-family: Courier; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; font-size: 15px; line-height: normal; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;"><font color="blue">Option Explicit</font> 
 
<font color="blue">Sub</font> DeleteDups() 
     
   <font color="blue">Dim</font> x               <font color="blue">As</font> <font color="blue">Long</font> 
   <font color="blue">Dim</font> LastRow         <font color="blue">As</font> <font color="blue">Long</font> 
     
   LastRow = Range("A65536").End(xlUp).Row 
   <font color="blue">For</font> x = LastRow <font color="blue">To</font> 1 <font color="blue">Step</font> -1 
       <font color="blue">If</font> Application.WorksheetFunction.CountIf(Range("A1:A" &amp; x), Range("A" &amp; x).Text) &gt; 1 <font color="blue">Then</font> 
           Range("A" &amp; x).EntireRow.Delete 
       <font color="blue">End</font> <font color="blue">If</font> 
   <font color="blue">Next</font> x 
     
<font color="blue">End Sub</font> </p>
			</pre>

<b>Test the Code</b><br />
   1. In Column A add any data.<br />
   2. Tools-Macro-Macros<br />
   3. Select DeleteDups and press Run.<br />
<br />
source: <a href="http://www.vbaexpress.com/kb/getarticle.php?kb_id=135">remove duplicates</a>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/removing-duplicates-in-an-excel-column.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/removing-duplicates-in-an-excel-column.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Desktop Applications</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Mon, 17 Dec 2007 16:06:40 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Common Linux User Commands</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Here are common linux command examplers for managing user accounts. </p>

<p>Displaying user details<br />
Syntax: id {username}<br />
shell> id tildemark</p>

<p>Create a new user with username tildemark<br />
Syntax: useradd {username}<br />
shell> useradd tildemark</p>

<p>Create a new user with username tildemark under group admin <br />
Syntax: useradd -g {group} {username}<br />
shell> useradd -g admin tildemark</p>

<p>Creating a new user with username tildemark and assign a home folder<br />
Syntax: useradd -d {location} {user}<br />
shell> useradd -d /home/tildemark tildemark</p>

<p>Creating a new user tildemark and assigning a password pass<br />
Syntax: useradd -p {password} {username}<br />
shell> useradd -p pass tildemark</p>

<p>assigning password to user tildemark<br />
Syntax: passwd {username}<br />
shell> passwd tildemark</p>

<p>Creating a new group<br />
Syntax: groupadd {group}<br />
shell> groupadd developers</p>

<p>Creating a new user and assigning it multiple groups admin, developers<br />
Syntax: useradd -G {group1}, {group2} {,...}<br />
shell> useradd -G admin, developers</p>

<p>Assigning user tildemark to group admin, developers<br />
Syntax: usermod -G admin, developers tildemark</p>

<p>Delete an existing user<br />
Syntax: userdel {username}<br />
shell> userdel tildemark</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/common-linux-user-commands.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/common-linux-user-commands.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Fri, 02 Feb 2007 10:10:51 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Loading doskey automatically with CMD</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Most of the time i do work with the linux shell, so most of the time i will be using <em>ls</em> to display files the current folder. However, in windows the command to display files is <em>dir</em>. i would always interpret cmd as a linux shell. </p>

<p>Back with the good old days, we could use <a href="http://en.wikipedia.com/wiki/DOSKey">doskey</a> to assign shortcuts to <em>DOS</em> commands. So, we could just assign <em>ls</em> to its windows equivalent like this:<br />
<div><code>C:\> doskey ls=dir <RETURN></code></div></p>

<p>Now, whenever we type <em>ls</em>, <em>dir</em> command is executed. We could also do that in Windows XP Command prompt, but the problem is after you have closed the window the doskey is also removed as well and we have to type it again every time we would run cmd.</p>

<p>There is actually a work around with that, we could modify our cmd shortcut in the start menu to add the doskey instructions there so that everytime the cmd is loaded the extra line is also executed as well. </p>

<p><a href="http://www.tildemark.com/images/cmd-shortcut.jpg"><img alt="cmd-shortcut.jpg" src="http://www.tildemark.com/images/cmd-shortcut-thumb.jpg" width="150" height="190" class="post-image" /></a> <a href="http://www.tildemark.com/images/cmd-properties.jpg"><img alt="cmd-properties.jpg" src="http://www.tildemark.com/images/cmd-properties-thumb.jpg" width="150" height="209" class="post-image" /></a></p>

<p>i have modified my shortcut target from<br />
<div><code><br />
%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe<br />
</code></div><br />
to <br />
<div><code><br />
%SystemRoot%\system32\cmd.exe /k doskey ls=dir<br />
</code></div></p>

<p>the /k makes the window stay after the doskey is executed. For more additional options about cmd you can issue the command </p>

<div><code>
C:\> cmd /?
</code></div>

<p>here are a few common options:<br />
/C      Carries out the command specified by string and then terminates<br />
/K      Carries out the command specified by string but remains<br />
/S      Modifies the treatment of string after /C or /K<br />
/Q      Turns echo off<br />
/D      Disable execution of AutoRun commands from registry</p>

<p><br />
Alternatively, you could also change the value of your registry at <br />
<div><code>HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Command Processor</code></div></p>

<p>to </p>

<p>Value name: <b>AutoRun</b><br />
Value data: <b>doskey ls=dir</b></p>

<p>Actually, its better to use the registry option because after adding the code to the shortcut properties; the code completion for the command prompt no longer works.</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/loading-doskey-automatically-with-cmd.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/loading-doskey-automatically-with-cmd.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 31 Jan 2007 13:07:48 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Making a tarball file</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Making a tarball and adding a mysqldump to it then naming it as example.tar:<br />
<div class="module-code"><code><br />
shell> tar cvf example.tar dump.sql<br />
</code></div></p>

<p><br />
Making a tarball and adding all files in the current directory then naming it as example.tar:<br />
<div class="module-code"><code><br />
shell> tar cvf example.tar *<br />
</code></div></p>

<p><br />
Compressing the tarball by zipping it (.gz):<br />
<div class="module-code"><code><br />
shell> gzip example.tar<br />
</code></div></p>

<p><br />
Restoring a tarball gzip file example.tar.gz<br />
<div class="module-code"><code><br />
shell> gunzip example.tar.gz<br />
shell> tar xvf example.tar<br />
</code></div></p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/making-a-tarball-file.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/making-a-tarball-file.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Tue, 30 Jan 2007 15:03:38 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Adding Dynamic Hyperlinks in Excel</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Creating a hyperlink in excel is simple. Notice that after typing any uri in excel the text automatically turned into a hyperlink. You can add any link as you like in excel as long as there is a prepended http:// phrase before the text entered.</p>

<p>Now, what if we are going to add a dynamic URL? It would be best explained by example, so here it goes.</p>

<p>For example: We are asked to check multiple sites for the following internet standards; W3C HTML Validator and WDG HTML Validator.</p>

<p>We have a reference cell A1 have the text http://tildemark.com. We all know the URL for the respective standards as: </p>

<p>W3C - http://validator.w3.org/check?uri=http://www.tildemark.com<br />
WDG - http://www.htmlhelp.com/cgi-bin/validate.cgi?url=http://www.tildemark.com&warnings=yes</p>

<p>Now, all we need to create an entry such that each time we change the domain names the entry on each validator also changes. </p>

<p>Do the following on Excel:</p>

<p>Cell A1 - http://www.tildemark.com</p>

<table cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" border="1" width="100%">
<tr bgcolor=#009900>
<th valign="top" bgcolor=#009900>&nbsp;</th>
<th align="center"><b>A</b>
<th align="center"><b>B</b></th>
</tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>1</th><td>http://www.tildemark.com</td>
<td>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>2</th><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>3</th><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>4</th><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>5</th><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>...</th><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>9</th><td>=HYPERLINK<br />
  ("http://validator.w3.org/check?uri="&A1,"Check W3C HTML Validator")</td>
<td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
<tr><th bgcolor=#009900>10</th><td><p>=HYPERLINK<br />
  ("http://www.htmlhelp.com/cgi-bin/validate.cgi?url="&A9&"&warnings=yes",<br />
  "Page passed WDG validator")</p>
  </td><td valign="top">&nbsp;</td></tr>
</table>

<p>More info at <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/assistance/HP052091161033.aspx">Office Website</a>.</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/adding-dynamic-hyperlinks-in-excel.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/adding-dynamic-hyperlinks-in-excel.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Desktop Applications</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
            <pubDate>Sat, 14 Oct 2006 10:32:33 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
        <item>
            <title>Removing multiple hyperlinks in Excel</title>
            <description><![CDATA[<p>Removing a bunch of hyperlinks can be tedious. imagine the time you have to right-click on each of those links and selecting 'remove hyperlink' on the context menu. Of course it would just take two clicks, but what if you are to remove a hundred of them or perhaps 1000 of them? I'm sure that would scrape out the paint of your right-mouse button. :) </p>

<p>I have some simple techniques you can use in order to remove multiple hyperlinks on a page: </p>

<p><b>Removing just one hyperlink</b><br />
1. <strong>Right-Click</strong> on the cell and select <strong>Remove Hyperlink</strong> on the context menu.</p>

<p><b>Removing the cell format</b><br />
1. Select the cells having hyperlinks. You can use <strong>CTRL+LEFT CLICK</strong> to randomly select a cell.<br />
2. On the menu click on <strong>Edit</strong>. Hover your mouse to the option <strong>Clear</strong> and select <strong>Fomats</strong>. Please note that the cell is still clickable to remove the hyperlink completely you have to select <strong>Clear</strong>-><strong>All</strong>.</p>

<p><b>Remove hyperlink on selected cells the better way</b><br />
1. Type in any text or number in a blank cell<br />
2. Right-click and select Copy on the context menu.<br />
3. While pressing CTRL, select each hyperlink you wish to be removed<br />
4. On the Edit menu, select <strong>Paste Special</strong>.<br />
5. Under Operation, click <strong>Multiply</strong> and then click OK.</p>

<p><b>Removing using a macro</b><br />
Assuming you know excel programming you could create a macro to automatically remove the hyperlinks. <br />
1. Start Visual Basic Editor. Alternatively you can press <strong>ALT-F11</strong> to start the editor.<br />
2. Double click the workbook you are using on the Project Explorer.<br />
3. Type the following text:<br />
<div class="module-code"><br />
Sub RemoveHyperlinks()<br />
    ActiveSheet.Hyperlinks.Delete<br />
End Sub<br />
</div><br />
4. Save your work.<br />
5. Run your macro by pressing ALT-F8 or using the menu by Tools->Macro->Macros<br />
6. Select the macro you have made, it should have the name 'RemoveHyperlinks'. <br />
<br /><br />
</p>]]></description>
            <link>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/removing-multiple-hyperlinks-in-excel.html</link>
            <guid>http://www.tildemark.com/at-work/removing-multiple-hyperlinks-in-excel.html</guid>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">At Work</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Desktop Applications</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#category">Tips</category>
            
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">excel</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">hyperlinks</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">tips</category>
            
                <category domain="http://www.sixapart.com/ns/types#tag">windows xp</category>
            
            <pubDate>Wed, 11 Oct 2006 11:24:17 +0800</pubDate>
        </item>
        
    </channel>
</rss>






