How to use the Windows key....


Are you using the Windows Key in your keyboard? It comes very handy on occasions. Followings are some few useful short cuts that can be used with Windows key.

W = Windows Key

W: Opens Start Menu
W+ E: Opens up Windows Explorer
W+ R: Opens the Run command.
W+ U: Opens Utility Manager
W+ L: Log Off
W+ F: Search files on your computer
W+ D: Show Desktop [will switch back and forth from all minimized and back again]
W+ F1: Help Menu
W+ Pause/Break: System Properties
W + Ctrl + Tab: Cycles through Tabs in your current app [eg. Firefox’s last focused tabs]
W+ Tab: Cycles Through Buttons in Taskbar
W+ M: Minimize all open windows.
W+ Shift+M: Maximize the windows you had open before minimizing
W+B: Set focus to the first System Tray Icon [which is the arrow if you enable the Hide Inactive Icons option]
CTRL+W +F: Search for computers

 

Debugging SQL Server Stored Procedures

Did you know that we can debug SQL Server Stored Procedures....
Yes we can debug SPs from Visual Studio. We can put break points, can execute statement by statement and much more...


Read this article for more >>

 

How to create easy-to-use Outlook e-mail templates?

Do you usually send same type of outlook email message over and over again with just small changes to the content? So how do you do that? Type same thing all the time or copy and paste content from old message? I think most of the times you are using the copy and paste method. I also did the same thing till I found out how to create email templates in Outlook.
With few simple steps we can create a menu of email templates in outlook. So you never have to find old message, copy-paste-edit. Just select from the mail templates menu edit and send.

If you have configured outlook to use Word as default email editor you have to change that temporally. You have to use outlook email editor to create the templates. To do that;
1. Go to Tools | Options and click the Mail Format tab.
2. De select the Use Microsoft Word To Edit E-mail Messages check box (Figure A) and click OK.


To switch back to using Word as your editor, just go back to the Mail Format tab and reselect that option.

Creating Email Templates

Create a new email message as normally we do. Enter the text into the body of the message. If the message template will contain the same words in the subject line, fill in the Subject field as well. You can also fill in the To, Cc, and Bcc fields with addresses if you will always be sending the
message to some of the same people. After finishing it, go to File | Save As to open the Save As dialog box and choose Outlook Template (*.oft) from the Save As Type drop-down list.


Close new message window.(Click no when asked to save changes)

Creating the Menu

To create the menu, right-click on an Outlook tool bar and choose Customize from the shortcut menu to open the dialog box.


Now, click on the Commands tab, scroll to the bottom of the Categories list box, and choose New Menu. The New Menu item will appear in the Commands list box.


Drag the New Menu item to the Menu bar where you want menu to appear. Once the New Menu item appears on the Menu bar, right-click on the item and Replace the default name in the Name field with E-mail Templates and press [Enter].



Adding Templates to the Menu

To add your template as menu item to the newly created menu, from Customize dialog box, choose File from the Categories list box. Then, select Mail Message from the Commands list box and drag it to the E-mail Templates menu. When the menu opens, drop the Mail Message item on it.


Right-click on the item and replace the default Name field entry with the name of one of your templates. Then, click Assign Hyper link at the bottom of the menu and select the Open command. In the Assign Hyper link: Open dialog box, locate and select your template file and click OK.



Just repeat these steps to add any other templates you want on the menu. When you're finished, close the Customize dialog box. Now, anytime you need to compose an e-mail message that will include a specific version of email text, pull down the E-mail Templates menu and select the appropriate template.

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How to Say NO....

How hard it is to say no to someone?... For me it is a very difficult thing. How about you? I think most of you also have the same problem.
Today I came across a nice article on Lifehack.org on "The Gentle Art of Saying No". It explains 10 tips on how to say no.
  1. Value your time. Know your commitments, and how valuable your precious time is. Then, when someone asks you to dedicate some of your time to a new commitment, you’ll know that you simply cannot do it. And tell them that: “I just can’t right now … my plate is overloaded as it is.”
  2. Know your priorities. Even if you do have some extra time (which for many of us is rare), is this new commitment really the way you want to spend that time? For myself, I know that more commitments means less time with my wife and kids, who are more important to me than anything.
  3. Practice saying no. Practice makes perfect. Saying “no” as often as you can is a great way to get better at it and more comfortable with saying the word. And sometimes, repeating the word is the only way to get a message through to extremely persistent people. When they keep insisting, just keep saying no. Eventually, they’ll get the message.
  4. Don’t apologize. A common way to start out is “I’m sorry but …” as people think that it sounds more polite. While politeness is important, apologizing just makes it sound weaker. You need to be firm, and unapologetic about guarding your time.
  5. Stop being nice. Again, it’s important to be polite, but being nice by saying yes all the time only hurts you. When you make it easy for people to grab your time (or money), they will continue to do it. But if you erect a wall, they will look for easier targets. Show them that your time is well guarded by being firm and turning down as many requests (that are not on your top priority list) as possible.
  6. Say no to your boss. Sometimes we feel that we have to say yes to our boss — they’re our boss, right? And if we say “no” then we look like we can’t handle the work — at least, that’s the common reasoning. But in fact, it’s the opposite — explain to your boss that by taking on too many commitments, you are weakening your productivity and jeopardizing your existing commitments. If your boss insists that you take on the project, go over your project or task list and ask him/her to re-prioritize, explaining that there’s only so much you can take on at one time.
  7. Pre-empting. It’s often much easier to pre-empt requests than to say “no” to them after the request has been made. If you know that requests are likely to be made, perhaps in a meeting, just say to everyone as soon as you come into the meeting, “Look guys, just to let you know, my week is booked full with some urgent projects and I won’t be able to take on any new requests.”
  8. Get back to you. Instead of providing an answer then and there, it’s often better to tell the person you’ll give their request some thought and get back to them. This will allow you to give it some consideration, and check your commitments and priorities. Then, if you can’t take on the request, simply tell them: “After giving this some thought, and checking my commitments, I won’t be able to accommodate the request at this time.” At least you gave it some consideration.
  9. Maybe later. If this is an option that you’d like to keep open, instead of just shutting the door on the person, it’s often better to just say, “This sounds like an interesting opportunity, but I just don’t have the time at the moment. Perhaps you could check back with me in [give a time frame].” Next time, when they check back with you, you might have some free time on your hands.
  10. It’s not you, it’s me. This classic dating rejection can work in other situations. Don’t be insincere about it, though. Often the person or project is a good one, but it’s just not right for you, at least not at this time. Simply say so — you can compliment the idea, the project, the person, the organization … but say that it’s not the right fit, or it’s not what you’re looking for at this time. Only say this if it’s true — people can sense insincerity.
 

Famous Quotes from Steve Jobs


From the recent challenge on DRM, to the iPhone hype from his presentation, and the popular iPod madness, we know Steve Jobs is a marketing genius. But that’s not the only it, he has his own view of what’s successful and the view of leadership and career. Ririan Project selected 10 quotes from Steve Jobs and describe them in details how you can learn Jobs’ way to be successful:
  • “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
  • “Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.
  • “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.”
  • “You know, we don’t grow most of the food we eat. We wear clothes other people make. We speak a language that other people developed. We use a mathematics that other people evolved… I mean, we’re constantly taking things. It’s a wonderful, ecstatic feeling to create something that puts it back in the pool of human experience and knowledge.”
  • “There’s a phrase in Buddhism, ‘Beginner’s mind.’ It’s wonderful to have a beginner’s mind.”
  • “We think basically you watch television to turn your brain off, and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.”
  • “I’m the only person I know that’s lost a quarter of a billion dollars in one year…. It’s very character-building.”
  • “I would trade all of my technology for an afternoon with Socrates.”
  • “We’re here to put a dent in the universe. Otherwise why else even be here?”
  • “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
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