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11 Mar 2022 - Podcast #783 - (18:24)
It's Like NPR on the Web
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If you find the information TechByter Worldwide provides useful or interesting, please consider a contribution.
We love Microsoft Word. We hate Microsoft Word. That's not unique to Microsoft Word. It seems likely that most of the people who use computers love them and the applications that run on them when things are working well and hate them when they're not.
It's difficult to escape Microsoft 365, which includes Outlook, Word, Excel, and Powerpoint on Windows and MacOS computers. Publisher and Access are included only on Windows computers. The applications also run on Apple and Android mobile devices. The $100 per year fee gives up to 6 people access to all of the programs and 1TB of online storage per person. That's less than $17 per person per year. Those without family members to take advantage of the six-user account can sign up for a personal account at $70 per year.
Libre Office and Open Office are both free to use and include capable applications that are usually, but not always, compatible with the Microsoft applications. Corel's Wordperfect Office Suite includes Wordperfect, Quattro Pro, and Presentations. The Paradox database application is priced separately. Corel's applications have perpetual licenses, but the per-user cost is $250 to $400. It's not difficult to understand why Microsoft virtually owns the office suite market.
So you probably use Microsoft Word, but you may not always be happy with Microsoft Word.
Part of the problem is that Microsoft listens to its customers. Word was far inferior to Wordperfect in the mid-1980s and Wordperfect was the most-used word processor until the early 1990s. Many editors still consider Wordperfect 5.1 for DOS to be the best word processor ever made. But it didn't have the ability to track changes. The screen display showed only text. It wasn't possible to wrap text around graphics. It could check for misspelled words, but not grammatical errors.
People wanted these features. Well, maybe not editors, but a lot of people did. As a result, Word's developers added features even when it was clear that people were asking for a word processor that would perform tasks no word processor should be asked to do.
Today's word processors are all bloated and they try to perform tasks that they shouldn't be asked to do. We can ignore the features that we don't want, turn off some ill-advised functions, and usually find a way to force Word to get the basics right. Whether a function is useful depends on the user. Despite the valid claims by editors that Word's grammar checker is absurd, I continue to use it. Most of Word's "editor" recommendations are incorrect, or at least questionable, but occasionally the suggestion is appropriate. I reject most of the recommendations, but sometimes the automated editor sees something I missed.
I've described previously Word's propensity for creating new documents and opening existing documents in Web Layout view. Word is not a website design tool and Web Layout is inappropriate if you use it to write letters, instructional materials, and other printed documents. For that you need Print Layout, and that should be the default.
The default view should be something users can set in a configuration menu, but it's not. You need to create a macro that runs automatically when a document opens. Here's how to do that:
Click any small image for a full-size view. To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
If you have already enabled Developer mode, you can skip this first step. If not, click File in the menu and then select Options, which is at the bottom of the Home screen. Then choose Customize Ribbon in the panel that opens. Scroll down the Main Tabs list on the right side of the panel and place a check mark next to Developer.
When Developer Mode is active, select it from the menu and then click Macros to open a dialog box.
Type AutoOpen in the Macro Name box and click the Create button.
Some text will already be present in the macro, and the last line will be End Sub. Insert a blank new line above End Sub and type:
ActiveWindow.View.Type = wdPrintView
Click the disk icon to save the macro, close the Visual Basic for Applications window, and now your new documents will always open in Print View.
That's more difficult than it should have been, but it's still a relatively easy fix that quickly eliminates an annoyance.
Word uses templates to store starting information for documents. Editing the Normal.dotm template will affect all new documents that you create. It's possible to have multiple templates so you can pick one when you create a new document. Changing Normal.dotm can modify default typefaces, styles, margins, and such.
Before we start working on the default template, it's important to know that it's easy to recover from a mangled template. Just rename the problem template, move it, or delete it. But first you have to find it.
To open Normal.dotm, choose File, Open from the menu and then browse to C:\Users\user name\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates, where "user name" is your identity on the computer. In my case it's C:\Users\willi\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Templates. If you're not sure what your user name is, type %appdata% in the Location field and this will take you to the Roaming directory. Then choose Microsoft and Templates. You'll see Normal.dotm in the list of files.
Probably the most frequently changed setting is the default typeface. Because most of the styles in Word are based on the Normal style. Changing the default font also changes the Normal style, which affects all other styles based on the Normal style.
To change the default typeface, click the Font expansion icon to open the Font dialog. Also check the Advanced tab if you want to modify ligatures, number forms, and other specialized settings. After selecting the options you want, click the Set As Default button and choose the "all documents" option.
To modify the default margins, start with the Layout tab and choose Margins. You can select one of the defined options such as Normal, Narrow, Moderate, Wide, Mirrored, and the Office 2003 Default or create your own custom margins.
Any changes that you make to Normal.dotm will be applied to all documents that you create in the future using your mofidied fonts, margins, spacing, and other settings.
Other settings that can be changed here include character spacing, layout, text formatting, paragraph formatting, document formatting, styles, text, pictures, AutoText entries, and keyboard shortcuts.
Creating a specialized template such as a letterhead is easy. Create a new document, add any graphics, headers, footers, or styles that you want to include in documents based on this new template. Modify any settings and then use Save As to specify a Word Macro-Enabled Template. Word will save this in the Custom Templates directory, C:\Users\user name\Documents\Custom Office Templates\.
To use the template, choose File, New. Then scroll down and select Personal to show any templates you've created. Templates that you use frequently can be "pinned". which adds them to the top section of the templates list.
Just about everyone has seen the we couldn't deliver your package email scam that's usually intended to steal your login credentials or to install malware on your computer, but there's an interesting twist to the scam and it involves SMS text messages on your phone. Here's how it works.
You receive a text message that claims to be from UPS, FedEx, the US Postal Service, DHL, or some other delivery service. The message says that your package couldn't be delivered and that you'll have to pay a fee to have the delivery attempted again. That's clue number one: Most delivery services try three times to deliver a package and leave a notice on your door if there's a problem. In fact, the package will just be left on your doorstep unless the shipper has specified that a signature is required. If you've ordered something recently, the message may seem legitimate. If not, consider that clue one B.
Let's assume that you're busy with other tasks, you're expecting a delivery, and you think the fee is some new way for the delivery company to increase their revenues. The fee is small, maybe two or three dollars, so you click the link and you're taken to a legitimate-looking payment page where you're asked for your full name, address, phone number, and your bank account number. You provide that and the site responds with a message that your package will be redelivered within two working days. Clue number two: The form's request for your bank account number should be a gigantic red flag with spotlights.
You receive a phone call the next morning from someone who says he's at your bank. A fraudulent transaction has been discovered and blocked, but you need to act quickly to protect your money. "Have you received any text messages about deliveries lately?" the caller will ask. Of course, you immediately recall the message from the delivery service. The caller knows your name, address, phone number, and the final four digits of your bank account number, so the call seems legitimate — how else would the caller know your identity and bank information? That, of course, is clue number three: You provided all of this information yesterday to, you now think, a scammer who has no connection with today's caller.
What you now need to do, the caller says, is move your money to a safe account. You're given the account number and told to move the money immediately so the scammers can't get it. This is a gigantic clue number four: If the bank was able to detect and halt a fraudulent transaction, why would you be required to move your money to a "safe" account? Yet you'll be instructed to move all of the money in the account quickly. The caller promises that the bank will, of course, move the money back to your account in a day or two when the threat has been dealt with.
You can probably guess what happens next. A few days go by and your money isn't back in your account. You call the bank and learn that nobody called to tell you to move your money. This kind of theft is permanent. It won't be covered by the FDIC or by the bank's anti-fraud protections that apply only to credit card purchases. Because you initiated the transfer, your money is gone.
The scam was a two-part process: Collect all the necessary information on the first day and then use that information on the next day for the sting.
If you receive a call from someone who claims to be from your bank, tell the person you'll call back. Ask which branch the caller is at, call the bank's main number, and ask to be transferred to the caller. Don't use any number the caller gives you. If the caller pushes back, the call is a scam.
The Human Library's slogan is "Unjudge Someone". The organization, headquartered in Denmark, hopes to eliminate stereotypes by making it possible for people to interact with those they might not normally encounter.
The objective is to create a safe framework for personal conversations that can challenge prejudices, eliminate discrimination, and prevent conflicts. These are lofty goals, and I wanted to find out how it works.
Click any small image for a full-size view. To dismiss the larger image, press ESC or tap outside the image.
The books in the Human Library are people, not books — people who volunteered to represent a stigmatized group in the community. They volunteer to answer questions from readers to help challenge misconceptions. The Human Library is active in 70 countries and in-person events take place at schools, libraries, universities, conferences, festivals, and public spaces. Some will be on weekdays other events typically on weekends.
Columbus State Community College Library has hosted an event. So has the Delaware County District Library, Dublin Jerome High School, Case Western Reserve University, and John Carroll University.
The human books include people with ADHD, those who are naturists and polyamorous, brain damaged, former soldiers with PTSD, Muslims, refugees, people who are deaf and blind, homeless individuals, those with extensive tattoos and piercings, and more.
Currently, most of the events seem to be in Europe, but eliminating misconceptions and stereotypes is a positive event anywhere in the world. For more information, visit the Human Library's website.
The world could use a little more open discussion and understanding.
In 2002, Amazon had been in business for seven years and I was wondering about the future of internet commerce.
"Some products and services are naturals for the Internet," I said, citing CDs and books. Some products didn't seem to be viable online: "Underwear, for example, doesn't seem to sell well on the Web. A lot of businesses can use the Web in conjunction with sales literature to tell their story to prospects and to provide support for people who have bought their products and services." People will increasingly use the Internet for commerce, I said, "It just won't happen overnight."
Twenty years later, underwear and just about everything else is sold on the internet. And banking? I thought about ATMs back then. "Some people refused to do business with a machine. Thirty years later, many of us do all of our banking without ever seeing a bank employee."
Now online banking is the norm. Mobile merchants can accept credit card payments using their phones. Anyone who receives a check can deposit it using a phone app from their bank. Payments for just about everything are electronic. It's probably boring inside banks these days.