Scott Cate: Family

If you have AT&T – but use another voice mail server like Google Voice, here are some codes that are useful to know. Actually these codes are useful to know, even if you use the default voice mail, because you can do things like set the amount of time your phone rings, before your voice mail picks up. *004* is a command that is used to set Forwarding, Busy, and No Answer, all at once. It defaults to 10 seconds. (The 10 seconds is a guesstimate – but I think it’s correct). Here is the pattern to use for *004* command. Replace the 4445551212 with the actually number you want...

Vista and Windows 7 offer a filtering mechanism that helps you get where you going, or find what you’re looking for a little faster. This search box (sometimes called filter box) is commonly found in the top right corner of the window you’re working in. Click, Type, Go. And the best part is ... it really works. Helping you find what you’re looking for. This video tip/trick not only shows you how this filter box works, but also let’s the secret keyboard shortcut out of the bag. How do you access the search box from the Keyboard? I can’t guarantee that this works in...

Just select some text (or just have the cursor on the word you wish to search for) and press [CTRL]+[F3] . [CTRL]+[SHIFT]+[F3] will do a reverse search to find previous. Note that a [CTRL]+[F3] search uses the following options: Is case sensitive Searches hidden text Allows for partial matching Does not use regular expressions

After you search and find an item, [F3] will search and find the same item again. [SHIFT]-[F3] will find the same item, but will look behind your current cursor position. Obviously, you can also press the Find Next button on the Find and Replace window, if it's open. One thing to note about [F3] , is that like all searches, it will obey the rules you've setup on the [CTRL]-[F] find dialog (even though it's not open).

The greatest advancement in Desktop Computing, without a doubt, is the ability to Multi Process. You can run multiple applications at once. In fact – i think it’s impossible now to **NOT** run multiple or **MANY** applications at once. Combine this with the icons on your desktop. You probably (like most people) use your desktop to arrange your commonly used launch applications. Your desktop is kind of your home screen that you use to launch your applications. So ... if you have a bunch of applications running, that are covering your desktop, how do you get back to your desktop to start...

In the past with Windows 95 (what 95? yeah, way back when ... I’m old what can I say??), Windows XP, and Windows Vista I’ve always wanted more control over the Task Tray. What is the Task Tray you ask? It’s the bottom right-most area of the screen, probably best known for the clock area. There are also a bunch of icons around there, showing processes that may or may not be active at the time. Why and what these icons are is another post, but for now, let’s look at the different options in Windows 7 to manage these icons. You can easily (and I mean EASYILY) move these icons...

I use CloudDB.com for a lot of things. I program against the API, I use the Web Interface, and I even use the iPhone application to check my data. I rely on it a lot, and I thought since I talk about it so much, I would do a quick screen cast showing something that happened this weekend.

Basically, I have a list of about 30 items, that I want to keep track of so that someday it’ll be there if I need it. Where do you keep track of this kind of data? Please leave a note in the comments and let me know. I could have used a million solutions for this ...

• Word/Excel (saved on local machine)
• Could have just emailed myself
• Kept it on paper (and later lost it :)
• But I use CloudDB.com

If you’re interested, here is the screen cast, that shows from scratch how to setup a table, with a couple columns, enter some data, and even setup a relationship between two tables.

Enjoy the Video ...

I’m looking for a new desktop scanner, with an auto document feeder, that can scan both sides (known as Duplex scanning). Against the better judgment of a friend, I’m looking for (was looking for) a NeatCo.com NeatDesk scanner. My buddy suggested a different model, but it was almost double the price.

After you search around online, and decide on a purchase the next step is to decide where to make the purchase.

I really like to buy online with big brand sites like Amazon.com, Buy.com, BestBuy.com (with in store pickup option), Staples.com, OfficeMax.com, CostCo.com, etc. The reason is for safety, and a better return policy. I’ll also step out to eBay.com for sellers that have really high sales numbers (like over 500) and a perfect, or next to perfect feedback rating (over 99%).

When searching for this scanner on Bing.com, I found an 8% Microsoft Bing cash back link. It’s an eBay link, and you have to pay with PayPal.com, and you have to use BuyItNow on eBay. Perfect, this is what I was going to do anyway. As you know by now, I’m a fan of video blogging, so here’s a video that shows the whole process. The bottom line is that I just saved $50 on this brand new in box scanner. $379 instead of $399 (with free shipping) and, yes **AND** $30 cash back from Bing.

Enjoy the Video ...

“Aero” is the name of the glitter and glitz and gives Windows 7 a lot of the eye candy you see in the Scott Cate Windows 7 video tutorials. Some users do not have Areo installed on their Windows 7. It’s possible that their video card (or other hardware) isn’t strong enough, or maybe they’re running a virtual instance of Windows 7. Whatever the reason, if you don’t have Aero enabled, you don’t have Aero Peek. This is the feature that gives you a popup preview of the applications that are running, as you hover over the launch icons in the task bar. The following...

If you ever have an audience that is looking at your screen, you have a couple of options to change your screen resolution. You can go all out, and actually change your resolution, but that sometimes has a drastic effect that manipulates all your applications, toolbars, etc. Remember that there is a difference in what you should do, based on your audience. If there are 3 or 4 of you hovered around your monitor for a few minutes, then changing your resolution is probably not a nice choice. On the other hand, if you have hundreds or thousands of people in your Microsoft TechEd audience, then you...