Word: Inserting a Bullet

TIP OF THE DAY

INSERTING A BULLET

It is not unusual to create bulleted lists within a document. What if you want to place a bullet within the middle of a sentence, however?
There are two ways you can do this in Word. First, you can follow these steps:

   1. Position the insertion point where you want the bullet to appear.
   2. Choose Symbol from the Insert menu. Word displays the Symbol dialog box.
   3. Use the Font drop-down list to select the font you want to use for the bullet.
   4. Double-click on the bullet character you want inserted.
   5. Click on Close.

Another option for inserting a bullet is to hold down the Alt key as you type 0183 on the numeric keypad. This inserts a small round bullet at the insertion point.

Source: WordTips: http://www.VitalNews.com/wordtips/

Erasing a Hard Drive

TIP OF THE DAY

Erasing a Hard Drive

Question
"I plan on donating my computer to a charitable cause but for security reasons I wish to delete my hard drive using 1's and 0's. The charity will install there own OS. Any suggestions?"

Answer
"Just about any freeware site will offer programs that are designed to do a multiple overwrite of your drive. Once a drive is erased and overwritten a half a dozen times it is beyond reality to worry about anyone bothering to try to recover the data. It would cost so much money to attempt to recover the data that even if some genius could pull it off the cost would be greater than any hoped for benefit."

Sites to try:

1. www.active-eraser.com
2. www.cypherix.com: Secure IT
3. www.diskwiper.com
4. www.blancco.com
5. www.erasedisk.com
6. www.harddrivewipe.com
7. www.micro2000.com/eraserdisk/
8. www.whitecanyon.com: WipeDrive & SecureClean - Try here first.
From Extreme Tech: http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1421846,00.asp?kc=ETRSS02129TX1K0000532

Firewire v. USB

TIP OF THE DAY

Firewire v. USB

Ken Colburn of Data Doctors answers:

Q: What is FireWire and should I have it?

A: FireWire is Apple's trademark name for a technology that they developed in 1986 known as IEEE 1394. It is basically a very high-speed method of connecting external devices to a computer. Other companies have trade names such as iLink and Lynx for the same technology.

Some devices that greatly benefit from this high-speed data rate (400Mbps) include mp3 players, digital video cameras, external DVD burners, and external hard drives. If you have an external music device, such as Apple's iPod MP3 player, the amount of time that it takes to load the thousands of songs that can be stored on it is dramatically reduced. (Apple claims it can transfer a song a second!)

Windows based systems have a similar technology called USB 2.0 (Universal Serial Bus) which also has a high data transfer rate (480Mbps) that is designed for much the same use.

Which technology is best for your use depends mostly on what you want to connect to your computer. Even though the theoretical rated speed of FireWire is lower, in virtually every test that I have ever seen published it is noticeably faster in reality because of several factors including the overhead that it takes to operate.

The device that you want to connect to your computer will generally determine which interface you should use, because very few peripherals come with both connectors. (It's usually one or the other.)

To add to the confusion, a newer version of FireWire known as IEEE 1394b (or FireWire 800 because of its 800Mbps transfer rate) is just hitting the market.

If you are interested in working with digital video from a camcorder, FireWire is going to be the best choice because the transfer rate for video is critical so you don't lose frames during the transfer. In most Windows XP based systems you will have to install a special card since most don't currently come equipped with the port.

If you live in the MacOS world, FireWire is your standard and if you live in the Windows world, USB is your standard. If the time saved that is associated with increased speed is not important to you, than you probably have no use for either interface.

If you have an older system that only has USB 1.1, your transfer rate is a measly 12Mbps, which is fine for keyboards, mice and speakers, but it is excruciatingly slow for video or audio transfer, so upgrading to one or both of the high-speed interfaces is likely in your future.

Newer computers that put a 'multimedia' moniker on the box will often come with both USB 2.0 and FireWire connectors. If you are in the market for a new computer and you think that audio and video will be a big part of your computing experience, try to get both of these interfaces so you are ready to connect virtually any external device (for the foreseeable future, that is)!

Wash produce

TIP OF THE DAY

WASH PRODUCE

From the New York Times:  http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/17/dining/17WELL.html

The Kitchen Faucet Is a Vegetable's Best Friend

By MARIAN BURROS

Published: December 17, 2003

NLY in New York would a stranger walk up to a woman about to pop a grape from a produce display in her child's mouth and say, "Don't do that!" The mother retreated, but the busybody's point was well taken. Produce should be washed before being eaten. Only recently has it become clear that fruits and vegetables have been responsible for about as many reported cases of food poisoning as beef, chicken, fish and eggs combined.

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In the 1930's, when sanitation was the watchword, no baby's bottle that fell on the floor was put in the baby's mouth without a sterilized nipple replacing the old one. Everything that went in your mouth was scrubbed within an inch of its life.

But because Americans have long been confident that food was clean and safe, precautions like washing fruits and vegetables have sometimes gone by the boards. And many assume that because packaged, precut salads say triple-washed on the label, they are safe to use straight out of the bag.

Food scientists say all produce, including triple-washed salads, should be thoroughly washed with water. But this does not mean they recommend using produce washes like Fit, Veggie Wash and Organiclean.

Dr. Donald Schaffner, a professor of food science at Rutgers, said the products were more effective than water alone but that he did not use them. "In my house, we wash things carefully," he said. "I don't personally see a benefit to buying these products."

A study by the Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Illinois compared vegetables contaminated with shigella that had been washed with Fit to some that had been washed only with running water. "We found Fit was pretty similar to water alone on shigella," said Dr. Meredith Agle, the lead researcher. "I just wash my fruits and vegetables with water because in either case you see about a tenfold reduction in bacteria."

Fit, once sold by Procter & Gamble, is now licensed to HealthPro Brands. Todd Wichmann, president and chief executive officer of HealthPro, said liquid Fit made no antibacterial claims. "Fit makes your produce feel better in your mouth, and makes produce smell better and makes it taste better. It is not really a safety issue with liquid Fit."

But, he added, a powdered form of Fit will be introduced soon that he said will kill 99.9 percent of the bacteria on produce. Because it contains ingredients the Food and Drug Administration says are safe, neither the product nor its claim require the agency's premarket approval, said Dr. George Pauli, associate director for science and policy in the office of food additive safety at the F.D.A. The agency has not tested Fit for efficacy and does not recommend the use of a produce wash that makes antibacterial claims.

Like liquid Fit, Veggie Wash and Organiclean do not claim to kill bacteria. Veggie Wash removes wax and soil "better than water does," said Steve Barker, a vice president for sales for the manufacturer.

Dr. Mike Doyle, a professor of microbiology and director of the Center for Safety at the University of Georgia at Griffin, said he saw problems in the way precut salads are sometimes made: some processors take off the outer leaves and core the lettuce in the field, exposing the inner leaves that will be eaten to more bacteria.

Ken Hodge, the spokesman for the International Fresh-Cut Produce Association, said the industry was dealing with the problems. "If processors are following food-safety guidelines, they are substantially reducing the risks of any kind of contamination," he said. "We regulate ourselves, and I think we've done an excellent job."

The scientists say that to protect all but the most vulnerable people, washing vigorously with running water is key.

Firm produce (apples, pears, peppers) should be scrubbed with the hands under running water. Fragile fruits such as berries should be rinsed with a sink sprayer, using a colander so the fruit can be tumbled. If a sprayer is not available, berries and soft fruits should be placed in a colander and immersed in warm water and swished three or four times, and the water should be changed twice more or until it runs clean.

Root vegetables and tubers should be sprayed with water first and then scrubbed with a vegetable brush. Produce should be washed just before serving, not before storing; dampness increases spoilage.

Outer leaves of leafy vegetables should be removed before washing. All greens should be washed in the coldest water possible to maintain crispness.

Damaged or bruised areas should be cut away immediately because bacteria thrives in them. The produce should then be refrigerated immediately.

Fruits and vegetables with rinds, like melon and squash, should also be washed. When fruit is cut, bacteria on the surface can be transferred to the flesh.

For people with weakened immune systems ? the elderly, the very young, those with cancer, liver disease and AIDS ? cooking fruits and vegetables is recommended.

Google tracks your packages

TIP OF THE DAY

Google tracks your packages

Google has introduced a new search service called "Search by Number."   

Parcel tracking IDs, patents and other specialized numbers can be entered into Google's search box for quick access to information about them. For example, typing "fedex" followed by a space and a FedEx tracking number will return the latest information on your package. Other special search by number types include:
? UPS tracking numbers example search: "1Z9999W999999999"
? FedEx tracking numbers
example search: "fedex 999999999999"
Remember to put the word "fedex" before your tracking number.

? Patent numbers example search: "patent 5123123"
Remember to put the word "patent" before your patent number.

? FAA airplane
registration numbers example search: "n199ua"
An airplane's FAA registration number is typically printed on its tail.

? FCC equipment IDs example search: "fcc B4Z-34009-PIR"
Remember to put the word "fcc" before the equipment ID.