Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Tips and Tricks of Excel

Custom Toolbars


You can customize your toolbars and include functions you perform most often. Here's how:
-----1. Click View ' Toolbars ' Customize
-----2. Click New and Provide Toolbar Name (e.g. Test)
-----3. Click on Commands Tab
-----4. Drag and drop commands you use most often to your toolbar. (e.g. Insert Rows/Delete Rows/formatting, etc.)

Custom Lists


You can create custom lists that can be used over and over. For example, if you always use a list of states in alphabetical order you can set the list once and be able to reuse time and again. Here's how:


-----1. Visit www.usps.gov and copy the list of states
-----2. Paste the list into an excel sheet
-----3. Click Tools --> Options --> Custom Lists
-----4. Click on the box next to the "Import list from cells", highlight the list of states, and press .
-----5. Press Import button to complete the import.
-----6. Click on Sheet2, starting from position A1, type in Alabama and drag it down to copy - what happened?

Repeating Titles & Simple Formulas


As a print option, you may print column and row titles. Titles may be useful when you are printing a range that extends over several pages and you need titles visible to clarify the data. The titles columns or rows you select will repeat only on the pages that follow the page containing the title data. Here's how:


-----1. Open any excel sheet and type in some information.
-----2. Set Column A as a repeating print tile. Here's How:
-----3. Click File --> Page Setup --> Sheet tab
-----4 Click Columns to Repeat at Left and select columns in the worksheet.
Note:
------a. Columns must be adjacent.
------b. To remove print titles, delete the reference.
------c. To setup up rows, click rows to repeat at top.
------5. Print out a copy and see your results


Freeze Titles


Freezing the titles comes very useful when you have a very big worksheet and need to scroll a lot. Here's how to implement.
-----a. Click on the B Column
-----b. Click Window Free Panes
-----c. Scroll to the right and notice what happens.


Conditional Formats


For example, suppose a cell contains a formula that calculates the variance between forecast sales and actual sales. Microsoft Excel can apply green shading to the cell if the sales exceed forecast and red shading if sales fall short. If the value of the cell changes and no longer meets the specified condition, Microsoft Excel temporarily suppresses the formats highlighting that condition. Conditional formats remain applied to the cells until you remove them, even though none of the conditions are met and the specified cell formats are not displayed. Here's how:


-----1 Select the cells you want to format.
-----2 On the Format menu, click Conditional Formatting.
-----3 To use values in the selected cells as the formatting criteria, click Cell Value Is, select the comparison phrase and then type a value in the appropriate box. You can enter a constant value or a formula; you must include an equal sign (=) before the formula.


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Monday, March 27, 2006

Ways personal information on your PC can be accessed illegally

Keystroke logging: Keystroke logging or keylogging enables the capture of keystrokes. It is used in software development to pinpoint the origin of error in computer systems. If Trojans carrying keylogging software are installed on to a user's system, the information generated can be used to deduce important information such as credit card numbers and social security numbers.

Social Engineering: It involves tricking unsuspecting users into parting with confidential information or performing an action that is against company guidelines and in the process unwittingly releasing sensitive information. Social engineering does not make use of any technical weaknesses in a system; rather it relies upon human failings.

Identity management system attacks: These attacks are targeted at the various identity management systems in an organization that regulate user access to critical information and online applications. The attacks focus on compromising user authentication, gaining access to accounts, cracking passwords, and abusing access rights in order to gather confidential business-related and employee-related information.

Acoustic cryptanalysis: This attack makes use of audible and inaudible sounds that are generated when computer keyboards are pressed. Each key emits a unique sound and hackers can piece together important information by eavesdropping on the sounds emitted by the keys by employing sophisticated neural networks.

Login spoofing: It is a form of social engineering in which a malicious program masquerades as a genuine login prompt. If the login information is entered, it is passed on to the hacker. In order to prevent login spoofing, a special key combination, referred to as secure attention key, is used in some operating systems.
Shoulder surfing: This involves direct techniques of observation in which attempts at gleaning useful information are made by looking over one's shoulder, trying to get information while online forms are being filled. It is done in crowded places and during busy office hours. Technology is also used to execute shoulder surfing, miniature cameras and high-powered binoculars are used sometimes to try and ascertain the information being keyed into a machine.

Information diving: It implies scavenging for information such as files, memos, credit cards, and other such sensitive information that has been dumped without being destroyed. This activity frequently leads to identity theft. Recently, companies have begun to tighten up their security and take steps such as shredding paper before it is consigned to the waste bin.

Phishing: it involves eliciting sensitive information from unsuspecting computer users by posing as an authentic entity. Phishing, which is a form of social engineering, can be carried out via email, telephone, or IM. Organizations are trying to counter the menace of phishing by proper user training and passing legislations. Highly targeted versions of phishing are known as spear phishing.
Timing attack: These are sophisticated attacks on encrypted data that work by considering the amount of time required to execute a given cryptographic algorithm. These attacks use error correction techniques to account for network latency, which may otherwise give the attackers an erroneous reading.

About the Author
To start protecting your computer now, visit SpywareCleaner.biz for reviews of popular spyware removing software which offer free computer scans.
Written for Online Business Heaven by Michael Jones. For more information about Home PC Security visit OnlineBizHeaven.


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