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Fifteen Technology Tips You Can Use Today
by Dennis Kennedy
July 2004

  1. Ask Clippy. Clippy, the animated paperclip who appears in Microsoft Office programs, gives you helpful hints and answers your question. Clippy also drives many people crazy and one of the easiest tips to find on the Internet is how to turn Clippy off. Dennis has long been one of the six people outside of Microsoft who likes Clippy. He wants to convince you to give Clippy a chance. Clippy is both an example of a simple artificial intelligence application and an advanced form of contextual help. When you run into a problem or forget how to do something, you simply click on Clippy and type in your question. The results are nearly always exactly on point and offer step-by-step directions to do what you want to do.
  2. USB or Firewire External Hard Drives for Backup. The availability of cheap, fast storage has completely changed the cost equation for computer backup. With little effort, you can find fast external hard drives with 80 gigabytes or even more of storage for under $100 (typically after rebate). Buy one and plug it into a USB or Firewire port on your computer and you have a fast and effective backup solution. For about $200, you can get external hard drives preloaded with backup software and a “push one button” backup process. There are no more good excuses for not doing regular full backups. Subscribe to the newsletter or RSS feed from Dealnews.com and you will have the latest bargains in these types of drives (and other great deals) coming right to you on a daily basis.
  3. When in Doubt, Right-click Your Mouse. As Windows programs have evolved, many programs have taken advantage of the right mouse button on the standard two-button mouse. In most cases, a click on the right button will pop up a context-sensitive menu that will allow you to take advantage of a variety of functions, often in ways you may not have known existed.
  4. Improve XP's Folder Views. If you use Windows Explorer, you’ll notice that even if you adjust certain settings for folder display in one folder, other folders still open in the default mode. Simply open Windows Explorer, choose the Folder Options under the Tools menu. Click on the View Tab, choose the options you prefer and click on the “Apply to All Folders” button. Note that you can elect to show hidden files, file paths and document extensions.
  5. Clean Up After Your Browser. Internet Explorer generates and retains an incredible amount of information about your use of the Internet. The Netscape/Mozilla browser is also guilty of this. The amount of space this information can take up over time is astonishing. In Internet Explorer, click on Internet Options under the Tools Menu and click on the General tab in the box that pops up. You can delete the cookies and temporary Internet files (the files and images from pages you have visited), clear your history files and adjust settings. Consider these three settings adjustments: (1) Click on the Settings button in the Temporary Internet Files section of the pop up box. You will notice that IE reserves an enormous amount of hard drive space for temporary Internet files. Slide the slider down to a minimal level. (2) In the History section, set the number of days to zero or one, unless you actually use history files. (3) Go to the Advanced tab and scroll down to the Security settings. Check the box in front of “Empty Temporary Internet Files folder when browser is closed.” Click OK. You have now vastly diminished the impact these files can have on your amount of storage. If hiding your Internet tracks is important to you, you have also made a solid effort toward maintaining your privacy.
  6. Use a Personal Firewall for Free. Windows XP has a software firewall, but you have to turn it on. Right click on My Network Places and choose Properties. Right click on your connection (e.g. Local Area Connection). Under Properties, choose Advanced, and then click the box for “Protect My Computer.” That was easy and obvious, right? A better, free option is ZoneAlarm. It is crazy not to use some form of software and/or hardware firewall.
  7. Get E-mail Notice of Microsoft Security Issues. Microsoft has put much more effort into security issues. A great way to keep up with security issues is to subscribe to Microsoft’s e-mail newsletter on security issues. http://register.microsoft.com/subscription/subscribeme.asp?id=166.
  8. Eliminate Jaggy Fonts on Laptop or LCD screens. A simple setting change will smooth out jaggy edges on certain fonts. Right-click any where on the Windows desktop screen and choose. Under the Appearance tab, click on the Effects button. Under “Use the following method to smooth edges of screen fonts,” select ClearType.
  9. Turning Off Autocomplete. Autocompletion can be either a welcome feature or a source for potential embarrassment, especially in your browser. As you type in a URL, a drop down menu appears showing URLs you have previously visited. If you use a browser in front of an audience, this “feature” provides an infinite number of ways to embarrass yourself. Once again, the Internet Options choice under the Tools menu in Internet Explorer comes to your rescue. Select the Content Tab, click on the Autocomplete button in the Personal Information section and uncheck all of the boxes and clear the information. Be very careful of any setting that saves or automatically furnishes your passwords or personal information.
  10. Get a Map for a Contact’s Address in Outlook. Here’s an easy way to get a map to help you get to a contact’s location. Open up the contact, select the address, and click on the “Display Map or Address” under the Actions menu. If you are connected to the Internet, Outlook will retrieve a map for that address.
  11. Take an Online Training Class. Microsoft has accumulated a large number of free online training courses with tons of useful information. An example of a course with useful tips for Outlook can be found at http://office.microsoft.com/training/training.aspx?AssetID=RC010435841033&CTT=98.
  12. A Quick Cleanup for Your Start Menu. Your Start Menu can get clogged up with items that Windows thinks that you want. Clean it up by right-clicking on selections you don’t want to see and choose the “remove from list” option.
  13. NEVER, NEVER, NEVER Open an E-mail Attachment That You Are Not Expecting. A recent survey of security experts named opening email attachments as the number one security sin, by a wide margin. It doesn’t matter whether the attachment is from someone you know or don’t know. Today’s viruses send copies of themselves to e-mail addresses they harvest from an infected computer. As a result, an attachment from a friend may be the most dangerous attachment to open. The best practice is to make sure that your friend or colleague actually sent you an attachment and what it is.
  14. Install the Google Toolbar. If, like most Internet users, you use Google as your major search engine, install the Google toolbar. It adds a search box in your browser toolbar and offers a number of helpful features, including a very effective pop-up ad blocker.
  15. Using the FindLaw Research Pane in Word 2003. Here’s a cool feature in Word 2003 that gives you direct access to FindLaw.com. Under the Tools menu, select Research, then the Research options button and then click on the Add Services button. Enter this URL in the address field: http://services.findlaw.com/msresearch/Registration. Click on the Add button and follow the ensuing prompts to finish.

Dennis Kennedy (dmk@denniskennedy.com) is a computer lawyer and legal technology consultant based in St. Louis, Missouri. His highly regarded web site at www.denniskennedy.com collects many of his articles and is the home of his blog. Dennis is on the boards of both Law Practice Today and the ABA TECHSHOW 2005.