1) Windows Tips - "Hot Key, Hot Tip, Hotdog!"
2) File Find! - "FontViewer"
3) Sites-Seeing - "Word Oddities \ Neuroscience (Not) Just for Kids"
4) Email Funny - "Beer Garden Pinball"
5) MOUS Tips - "What's Your Status? Part I"
6) They Said It - quotes to give one pause
7) Hodgepodge - that what fits no where else

The Basement's virtual doors are thrown wide open to greet our readers this week.  If you're new to these environs, I'm delighted to make your acquaintance. And if you've been here before, you know it's my pleasure to welcome you back!

The remodeling of the website continues, with most of the main pages converted to the new format. If you haven't stopped by The Basement lately, be sure to pay a visit this week and check out the new paint!

In my book, one-touch access to my favorite programs and sites will always beat point-and-click, hands down (so to speak). This week I'll show how to use Windows Shortcut Keys to set up one-touch access on your computers. These "Hot Keys" will be available even when working in different applications!

I) We'll start by creating a new folder on your Desktop. This isn't required to use Shortcut Keys, but will help you keep track of the ones you've created. Right-click your Desktop and choose New > Folder. Name it Shortcuts. Open your new folder.

II) Right-click inside your new folder window and choose New > Shortcut. The Create Shortcut dialogue will open.

III) Key the path to a favorite application*, or use the Browse button to find and select your target. When the path is entered, click the Next Button. Key a name for your new Shortcut and Finish.

IV) Now, select the Shortcut you've just created, and right-click it. Choose Properties, then select the Shortcut tab.

V) You'll see a control for a Shortcut Key that will say "None".  Click behind "None". Now, hold down the Ctrl key. You'll see "None" change to "Ctrl + Alt + ". Key the letter you want for the Hot Key for this shortcut. Click OK.

To use your Hot Key, hold down the Ctrl and Alt keys, then tap the "Assigned Letter".

* You could also enter an URL in Step III above (for example, "http://BasementNoises.com") and create one-touch, Hot Keys for your favorite sites.

Hint: Start a text file in your Shortcuts folder to keep track of your Hot Keys.

If you use any of the Office 2000 products, you know how nice it is to now be able to use the Font combo box to see each Font in it's actual font Face. This File Find provides the same utility for when you're not working in Office.

View every letter in the font face\size\style you specify; plus filter for specific font families, screen fonts, and printer fonts. [599 Kb\EXE].

CLICK HERE to download FontViewer

"MONDAY is the only day of the week that has an anagram, DYNAMO."

"The ten worst-sounding words in English, according to a poll by the National Association of Teachers of Speech in August, 1946: CACOPHONY, CRUNCH, FLATULENT, GRIPE, JAZZ, PHLEGMATIC, PLUMP, PLUTOCRAT, SAP, and TREACHERY."

"Some common redundancies which include an abbreviation are ATM MACHINE, SALT TALKS, PIN NUMBER, AC CURRENT, DOS OPERATING SYSTEM, and LCD DISPLAY."

If these factoids about words tickle your fancy, then you'll want to click to our first site, where you'll find 20 pages of Word Oddities from around the world. Loosely categorized pages such as Palindromes, Long Words, Typewriter Words, and Last Words contain hundreds of the strangest examples of the way we communicate:

 CLICK HERE for Word Oddities

òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó òöó

I'd like to make a special recommendation of our next site to my daughter, who as a high school junior is considering various career paths (Erin - make sure you check out the link on neurosurgeons' median annual pay!!) For the rest of you, there's a wealth of "brainy" information that makes this site a worthy visit.

Neuroscience for Kids was created for all students and teachers that wanted to learn more about the nervous system. There are activities and experiments for learning more about the brain and spinal cord. You'll find out more about the statement that "we use only 10% of our brains". There are Brain Games - from reaction time tests to Brain Hieroglyphics to (bad) Brain jokes.

Find out what's knockin' around in your noggin today - everyone should know more about what's under their hood!!

 CLICK HERE for Neuroscience for Kids

From The "Old Dogs, New Tricks" Department - As a former player with much on-field experience, and a "soccer dad" for more than 15 years, I was sure there wasn't much more I could learn about the game of soccer - boy, was I wrong!

From the very first issue I received of Coach Lawrence's excellent newsletters, I've found new insights, techniques, schemes and drills. Couched in no-nonsense, yet descriptive language, each newsletter carries the aura of a well-run practice.

FineSoccer offers 3 great newsletters - Keeper Newsletter, Soccer Newsletter, and FineSoccer Drills, with a fourth KidsSoccer Newsletter planned soon. If you're a soccer player, fan of the game, parent of a soccer player, or coach you'll want to take a look around this site's archives, then sign up for some Fine Soccer writings!

CLICK HERE find out more about FineSoccer

Go ahead. Download this week's Email Funny. You deserve it. Hey, you spend time learning the Windows and MOUS tips in NFTB in order to become a more efficient person, right? So, what's a little fun now and then?? Better not let me see ya with this out when it's not your lunchtime, though, okay?

This pinball game is as enjoyable a play as any I've paid for in the past. High quality graphics, fast ball play, good flipper control, and lots of cool bonus goodies will keep you busy trying to beat your High Score. If you dare, there's an option to post your score to the Internet.

Though distributed through the auspices of Dommelsch Beer, and themed as a Beer Garden with beer kegs and bars stools as part of the "decor", there's no blatant or overt advertising, nor is there adware/spyware. You will thirst for another game, though! [4137 Kb\EXE] 

CLICK HERE to download Roll'm Up Pinball

One could make a good argument for naming the Status bar the most overlooked feature in Windows. Located at the bottom of your active window, directly above the Taskbar, it performs much the same function as the bottom shelf in your local grocers - holding those generic, useful items that are low on the excitement list but worthwhile nonetheless.

Take for example, Word's Status bar -

There's a great many tools buried in this little bar, and this week we'll start examining how you can use them:

1) Contains the Page Number that your insertion point is positioned on, the Section your insertion point is on, and the Page Number/Total Number of Pages.

2) At 6.8" in the above example shows how far down from the top edge (0") of the current page your insertion point is. The default measurement unit Word uses is inches, if you've changed your measurement units to something different - Tools > Options > General tab > Measurement Units, you'll see that reflected here. Ln 38 is the line number your insertion point is positioned on; the first line always starts at your top margin. Col 4 really has nothing to do with columns - more appropriately it describes the next character number to the right of your insertion point. It starts at the left margin, unless your document is formatted with "newspaper" columns - then it starts with 1, at the left margin of each column.

Double-clicking anywhere in these two sections will display the Find\Replace dialogue box with the GoTo tab selected:

If you're working in a large document, key in the page number you want to work on and click the GoTo button to immediately move to that page - MUCH quicker than the scroll bar or page down key.  Working with a Bookmarked document, or one that contains many Footnotes\Endnotes? Again - Goto is Word's "Express Lane" to your desired location. (GoTo can be used to move to specific Fields, Objects, Equations and Tables, too!)

NEXT WEEK: About those little gray boxes...

"Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as ever you can." - John Wesley

Should "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire" carry the same "family unfriendly" warnings as a Jerry Springer show? How many klutzy mishaps does it take for a "victim" to get a decent payoff? And, has the ubiquitous AOL CD become a collector's item? Say it isn't so!

The answer to these questions, and a black-and-white Photo Funny that captures the green eyes of jealousy - can all be found in The Basement this week -

G'nite, and thanks for reading!