Become an iPhone  super-user with these 20+ handy, but not necessarily well known tips.    They may enhance your user experience or make you an even more savvy pro.

I complied these tricks from iSmashphone.com.  A big thanks to them for spelling these out.  I’m sure at least a few will be invaluable tools for beginners and experts.

1. Scroll to Top of Page

In any application, Safari included, you can automatically scroll to the top of the page by tapping on the “top bar”, which has the time, service bars, and battery. In Safari, this not only brings you to the top of the page, but also brings up the URL bar.

2.  Domain Resolution

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BlackBerrys have a lot of settings hidden in the OS. Here are some of the most popular BlackBerry Tips for any user.

1. Switch the signal bars to decibels – If you want a more precise measurement of your wireless signal, just hold down the ALT button while typing N M L L. The meter on the main screen will change to a number. Do these steps again to change it back.
2. Give the audio a boost – Many people say that the ringtone or music isn’t loud enough on the BlackBerry. Go to Menu > Options > Audio Boost > On.
3. Enable separate app for SMS text messages – Don’t like your email crammed in with text messages? Separate them by going to Messages > Menu > Options > SMS and Email Inboxes > Separate.
4. Quick period – At the end of a sentence, press the Space key twice and a period will be typed automatically.
5. Switch to another program – Hold the ALT key and press Escape. Continue to hold ALT and select the program you want to switch to.
6. Send your PIN – Need to send somebody your PIN so you can communicate with them? Just type MYPIN in an email or text message and the text will change to your actual pin number.
7. Start in Safe Mode – Install an app that screwed things up? Start in Safe Mode so you can get rid of it. Remove and reinsert the battery, then when the light goes off while starting, press and hold the Escape button until the main screen loads.
8. Add more callers – Press Menu while on a call and select Add Participant if you wish to add more people to the call.
9. Reboot – ALT + CAPS + Delete reboots the device.
10. Change ring tone – Don’t like the default ring tone? Change it under Menu > Profiles > Advanced > (Active profile) > Phone > Ring Tone.

post by Oztech

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If you are using Office 2007, you know by now that files are automatically saved in a format (.docx, .xlsx) incompatible with older versions of Word, Excel, etc.  Do you have problems sharing documents because of this feature?  You can, of course, change the format manually when you are initially saving your file – just by using the pull down menu as shown below.

But if you want to alter the default settings in Office 2007 to always save in a format compatible with Word 97-2003, it is easy to do.  Here is how:

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Have you gone numb responding to the request pictured above?  This security feature built into Vista and Windows 7 is meant to keep your PC “safe”, but it is more likely to drive you insane.  You can make it stop!

Yes, you will get a foreboding message about putting your PC at risk.  The UAC is built to prevent low level executables from running; say you go to a website that is infected and it tries to auto launch a file in the background of your processes, the UAC would give you a chance to catch and block it.  It is likely you have an anti-virus running, whose primary job is to do this anyway.  UAC gives you a second chance; it offers redundancy.  It is a personal choice to disable the UAC.

I posted how to disable the UAC feature on Vista in an earlier post, but for those of you running the vast improved Windows 7, I offer you this detail description of how to keep these pop-ups from constantly interrupting your work flow.

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Tab browsing is so efficient!   In Firefox you can set your browser to open to more than just one home page.  So upon launching, you can have your most frequented or favorite sites opened in tabs ready for viewing.

Here is how:  open a new Firefox window, open in new tabs all the sites you’d like to set as your “home pages,”  once the tabs are all opened click on tools/options/,  in the Main menu under the home page address bar select the button “use current pages”, select OK to finish.

Using multiple pages for home pages not only automatically loads your favorites, but also frees up space for other favorites in your Bookmark Toolbar.   Such economy!

Are you wondering if you should pull up the reigns on your Facebook usage?  It has certainly been a question of mine, simply because my “Friend” list has expanded beyond the familiar and into the more nebulous territory of acquaintances,  friends of friends, long lost friends, and who-knows-what around the corner.   I like the aspect of inclusion that the network and its features offer, and I’m not necessarily concerned about privacy issues, but I do want to focus my usage on right exposure over over-exposure and inappropriate exposure.

Here is a great article that introduces easy steps for making your Facebook network a responsible one:

http://www.nytimes.com/external/readwriteweb/2009/09/16/16readwriteweb-5-easy-steps-to-stay-safe-and-private-on-fac-6393.html?em