Archive for November, 2012

Hey Stanford users! Did you know that you can have your voicemail messages automatically sent to your email?

Here’s how:

1. In a web browser, go to http://myvoicemail.stanford.edu.
2. After authenticating, enter your 10-digit phone number and your voicemail password (note: NOT your SUNet ID password).
3. In the navigation menu, click Options.
4. In the User Preferences menu, click Forward to Email.
5. In the View User Parameters window, click Edit.
6. Check the box Forward All Mails Enabled.
7. To keep a copy of the voicemail in the voicemail system, check the Keep a copy box. This will mean that you can still retrieve voicemail via the phone system. To ONLY access voicemail via email, uncheck the Keep a copy box.
8. Uncheck the Do not Forward Automatic Message box. If your mailbox contents reach 80% of the quota, the system will send you a notification message. When you get this message, you will need to delete some messages. If your mailbox reaches 100% of its message quota, it will not accept new messages. Leaving this box selected means you will NOT receive system-generated messages such as quota alerts.
9. In the Forward to Email Addresses box, enter the email address(es) where you want to receive your voicemail. If using multiple addresses, separate them by a comma.
10. Click Update to save, or Cancel to return to the previous screen without saving.

You will now begin receiving new voicemail messages via email.

1. Select the cell in which you want the pop-up text to display.
2. Click the Data tab.
3. In Data Tools, click Data Validation, and then click Data Validation.
   
4. In the Input message tab, check Show input message when cell is selected.
5. In Title, enter a title for the pop-up window.
6. In Input Message, enter the text you want to appear in the pop-up window.
7. Click OK.
   
8. Now when the cell is selected, the pop-up appears:
   

Ever find yourself wanting to test out a new layout for a brochure, poster, or article but don’t want to use actual content? The typesetting industry has for centuries used latin text to do exactly this (generally starting with “Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit”).

Microsoft Word makes it easy to add this dummy text, and the newer versions of Word give you greater choice in the type of fake content you can add.

Here’s how to add dummy text using MS Word:

All Macintosh versions of MS Word and all versions of Word from 2003 and earlier:

To generate a number of paragraphs and sentences with the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”, use this command:

=rand(number of paragraphs, number of sentences)

For example, to generate 1 paragraph with 5 sentences of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”, use the command =rand(1,5):

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Word 2007 and 2010 – “Quick brown fox”

To generate a number of paragraphs and sentences with the sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog”, use this command:

=rand.old(number of paragraphs, number of sentences)

For example, to generate 1 paragraph with 5 sentences of “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.”, use the command =rand.old(1,5):

The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Word 2007 and 2010 – Random text from the help sections

To generate a number of paragraphs and sentences from the help section, use this command:

=rand(number of paragraphs, number of sentences)

For example, to generate 1 paragraph with 5 sentences from the help section, use the command =rand(1,5):

On the Insert tab, the galleries include items that are designed to coordinate with the overall look of your document. You can use these galleries to insert tables, headers, footers, lists, cover pages, and other document building blocks. When you create pictures, charts, or diagrams, they also coordinate with your current document look.

Word 2007 and 2010 – Lorem Ipsum

To generate a number of paragraphs and sentences using the classic Lorem Ipsum text, use this command:

=lorem(number of paragraphs, number of sentences)

For example, to generate 3 paragraphs with 2 sentences of Lorem Ipsum, use the command =lorem(3,2):

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Maecenas porttitor congue massa.

Fusce posuere, magna sed pulvinar ultricies, purus lectus malesuada libero, sit amet commodo magna eros quis urna. Nunc viverra imperdiet enim.

Fusce est. Vivamus a tellus.

On Macintosh laptops with optical drives (e.g., Macbook Pro, iBooks, etc.), DVDs and CDs can sometimes get stuck without your computer realizing the disk is inside. This occurs particularly often if you try to insert a mini-DVD or mini-CD into the drive. Or you accidentally insert a disk after another disk is already inside.

What to do?

To eject a stuck disk, try the following until the disk ejects:

• If you see the disk’s icon on your Desktop, click and drag it to the Trash. This is the normal way to eject a DVD/CD.
• Press the eject button on your keyboard. Generally, this is located in the upper-right corner of the keyboard.
• Launch iTunes. On the Controls menu, click Eject Disk. Or use the keyboard shortcut Command-E.
• Restart your computer. After the chime, press and hold down the mouse/trackpad button until the disk ejects.
• Launch Terminal. Enter the following command, and then press Enter:
/usr/bin/drutil ejectIf the drive is an external drive, use the following command instead:
/usr/bin/drutil eject external

This should force the machine to eject whatever is inside the optical drive.

If none of these remedies succeed, take your computer to your local Apple retail store, and have one of the Apple Genius Bar employees take the computer apart and physically remove the disk.

Google Voice Search, a feature of the Google Search app, allows you to speak a search query instead of typing.

Similar in function to Apple’s personal assistant Siri, Google Voice Search is available on both Android and iOS devices.