Have You Done Something Unique?

Mark Hayward Question 2: Have you done something unique such as complete a marathon, serve in the Peace Corps, veteran, etc?

I was struggling to answer this one for a little while. In my life once I've accomplished something, I sometimes find it hard to look back and be proud of what I did. Even when logically, I know I did something special. For example, I'm very proud of going back to school and becoming a Microsoft Office Master Instructor. But it's hardly unique. Lots of people go back to school and learn different things, and it's difficult, often expensive and time-consuming. But enough people in my circle of friends and students (maybe my perspective is a little biased!) have shown enough strength and determination to go back to school themselves, and while I sincerely admire them all for that...it's not something unique that I did.

So after thinking for a while, I realised that the most unique thing I did in my life was that I emigrated from the UK to Canada! It's been almost 8 years now, and I still feel like a Canadian newbie sometimes! :) I wasn't even 20 when I left England. My parents and family were very upset. I was a little nervous and trying not to show it. We had a big party at my parent's house shortly before Rob and I left, and my dad gave me the best advice ever. He said that after about 6 months (or whenever), I would probably feel settled in. I would maybe have a job, or be in school, making friends and establishing my life. The first rush of excitement would wear off. He said that would be when the real homesickness would start. And the thing he advised me to do when this happened was to stick it out. Stick it out and things will be easier again in time. He was absolutely right.

We came over in September, and almost immediately we were thrown into preparations for my sister-in-laws wedding (very hectic!). After the wedding, there was Thanksgiving (in Canada it happens in October, not November, and in England we don`t celebrate Thanksgiving at all!), which required a turkey and preparations. November seemed a little more relaxed, but then there was Christmas. My first Christmas away from my parents and sister. It was daunting, but I got through it. And each month, everything seemed to get a little easier. I couldn`t work, so by January I was volunteering teaching computer classes with the Salvation Army. We kept extending my visitors pass, $75 every 6 months, and built up enough for me to apply for my citizenship.

I never stopped teaching the whole time I was applying for my citizenship. I made a lot of friends, and learned a lot of things about my new home. And I love it here. The weather is so extreme. The people are all so friendly. I`ve figured out what kind of work I enjoy doing (I never thought I`d work that out!). And even though sometimes I still miss my parents, I know they`re only a plane ride away if I need to go back.

Unique enough? :)

How to Generate PDFs from Office Files

In Office 2007 (and the new, beautiful 2010!) creating PDF files is easy. The function is automatically built into the Office button in the top-left corner. But for those of you still using Office 2003 or older, there are plenty of times you'll want to convert a Word document or Excel spreadsheet into PDF format.

For example, a customer asked recently if we could email him some flyers we had made to show different computer prices. It's not a problem to send the files, but if I send him the original Word documents, what kind of message does that send to him? He may think I don't know or can't be bothered to send a PDF file. There's a remote possibility he may fraudulently edit the original file to get a better deal. By sending him a PDF, I've ruled out all of these options.

Another example is with our printing company. They want all files sent to them in PDF format, no exceptions. But on our Point of Sale computer, I only have Office 2003. So here's a free program to download which I've been using to generate my own PDF files from Office. Primo PDF works by acting as a printer on your computer. Tell Word to print your file through Primo PDF, and all the options to create the PDF you want appear automatically!

Unauthorized Absence!

As you can see from my last post, I was going to answer questions that another blogger had suggested. My plan was to answer a different questions every few days or so, and then....

Eesh! Well, actually a lot of exciting things happened. One of which was that I was hired on a contract with Citizenship and Immigration Canada to do training in Office 2002, Office 2007 and Vista. It was pretty exciting and covered a lot of last Summer. It gave me a real opportunity to learn more about Vista and provide input on the new training program they were developing. I'm still working with them, as they continue their transition, and it's been a lot of fun to have the opportunity to see CIC from the other side. Everyone was wonderful, thoughtful and excited to learn, and I also found a new favourite sushi bar across from their building. Sushi in the summer sun in Toronto is delicious!

And of course there's the store. We've made a lot of progress, and the store is becoming more popular in Kitchener every week. For those of you dropping by, I co-own OnTech Computers with my husband Rob in downtown Kitchener. So it's been a very good excuse not to keep up with the blog, because we've been so busy.

Which has meant that my last article was an embarrassing amount of time ago, and I'd like to pretend that gap never happened. Except that if it hadn't happened, I wouldn't have learned so much about Windows 7 in the meantime, started learning Office 2010 (if you're following me on Facebook, you'll already know that I'm VERY excited about this!), and am continuing to learn more about computer hardware every day! So it's been very exciting, but then I looked at the blog today and found that almost 2000 people have visited me now (wow!), and not only that but some of you have even left comment. Some of you I know already (Kimmie, Charles), and some of you I'm meeting for the first time. I figured the least I could do was post something new and say "hi!". And of course promise more blog posts for the future! :)

I promise! :)

What are you passionate about?

Mark Hayward Question 1: What are you passionate about?

Teaching computers is my biggest passion. I’m a certified Microsoft Office instructor, which usually means teaching in a classroom to students who either want to learn or have been told to take a course for their job. The former are the easiest students to teach. They’ve usually had a chance to use the program and have formed their own questions about it already. But the students who are most fun to teach are the ones who’ve been told they have to learn this stuff. The ones who are reluctant to even walk in the door. Those students are the ones I try and infect with my enthusiasm.

Teaching a good class takes a lot of energy. You explain the concept and show them how to do it. Then they do it themselves and ask you questions. As an instructor, you have to be mentally prepared to answer any and all questions. And I’d rather take the time to explain the concept properly than just skip past it so quickly the student doesn’t have a chance to take it in.

A different type of teaching is by example. I’m sure there are many Moms and Dads around who know this. But when you want something done correctly, then you have to be able to display and demonstrate that action correctly yourself. It’s a very tall order.

For example, at The Working Centre, we had placement students. I would have them type documents, and to save on time I would be incredibly specific about the formatting I wanted. Bold here, underline there. 3 points of space here, Calibri there. I would usually hand the placement student a sheet with hand-written notes all over detailing precisely how I wanted everything formatted. As their teacher, I’d tie in skills learned in class, such as format painter. It’s one of my favourites; one of the greatest commands in MS Word, it allows you to copy formatting and apply it from paragraph to paragraph, document to document. In fact I thought I’d ranted about it’s usefulness before on the blog. (I know I have in the real world!) It’s going on the list!

This kind of teaching has also served me well at the OnTech Computers store. The co-op students need to learn the correct way to do things as quickly as possible. And being 16/17 years old, they’re going to pick things up quickly, regardless. So it’s best to show it right the first time.

I have a lot of knowledge about MS Office, and I love sharing it with others. I’m very proud of my accomplishments in training.

Web View: Password Protection

We’re constantly being told to make sure passwords are strong enough. But the word is out. We’re lazy. And being lazy, we choose the easiest way out of picking a different password for each site we sign up for. The most common passwords are variations of:

• Your first name/spouses name/children/parents names


• 123456


• QWERTY


• ABC123


• Movies/singers/TV shows

So listen up, people. It’s time to learn. To keep your personal information secure, change your methods. Instead of a password, use a pass-phrase. For example, pick your favourite movie. Let’s imagine it’s Ghostbusters. What’s the catchphrase? Who you gonna call? Et voila! A new passphrase. It’s longer than normal, automatically making it harder to guess. It’s not directly related to you (unless you quote that phrase all the time, in which case choose another phrase). Mix some numbers into it to make it harder to guess e.g. Wh0y0ug0nnacall?

Do NOT write it on your computer. Or near your computer. You must remember this in your head! It sounds silly, but we just had a customer hand in his laptop this week with the password written on the outside lid of his laptop, in permanent marker. Get in the habit of changing your password every few months. And consider why you implemented the password in the first place. So often, I hear parents talk of setting up a password to keep their kids off the computer, only to give the kids the password the next day.