I’ve downloaded Microsoft Office OneNote 12 Beta 1 [pre-release], but I still haven’t received my Welcome Message email that contains the all important Product Key.

So I though I’d mess around with the Enter Product Key Screen. Of things to note:

The following characters are not valid:

• 0 (zero)
• 1 (one)
• 5 (five)
• e
• u
• i
• o
• a
• s
• L
• z (zee)
• n

Most of these make sense, 0/O (zero/oh), 1//I (one/uppercase i/lowercase L), and 5/S (five/ess).
Here’s what I don’t get, why void all the vowels? Or is that just a coincidence? I would think that 2/Z (two/zee) would also be void, but only Z (zee) is. And “N”?

Update (~5 mintues later): After doing some more searching, Hellman109 from whirlpool.net.au writes: “BTW, no one has product keys yet (they arent released) so although the download is half done it may take 24 hours to get them.”

Technorati Tags: microsoft, office 12, onenote, beta, pre-release, product key

I’m part of the Office 12 Beta. Going to go download it right now. Weee!

Technorati Tags: microsoft, beta, office 12

Steve Rubel said I “stop reading [his] post right now and go download it.” So I downloaded ecto and now I’m going to try it for the next two weeks (which is when the free trial expires). One downfall I can see all ready: no shortcut for inserting hyper-links!

Technorati Tags: ecto, software

RFC mean Request for Comment. This article will be published on StudentTabletPC tomorrow around noon. Please submit all comments before then:

Here’s a good question I get quite a bit: What programs are you using with your tablet?

In just looking at how full my "Program Files" folder is, I must have several dozen programs installed. Of those the following are programs that I use specifically because I have a Tablet.

Microsoft OneNote [Link]

I use OneNote everyday to take most of my notes. I also use it to store documents I’ve scanned in using Microsoft Office Document Scanning and Imaging. Each class has its own Section and each day (for each class) has its own page. When taking notes, I use a slightly modified version of the Cornell Notetaking Format. For starters, I don’t write a summery at the end. I do use the "cue" column to the left, filling it with keywords that I can search for later, similar to how you might use tags in del.icio.us.

PDF Annotator [Link]

Many of my classes have PDFs on the web with the PowerPoint content for lecture. I download the PDFs before class and mark them up using PDF Annotator as the prof speaks. Yes, I do know that I can just print the PDFs to Windows Journal or OneNote, but I’ve found that I lose resolution and graphs can come out looking quite funky.

Microsoft Office Document Scanning and Imaging [Link]

Office Document Scanner and Office Document Imaging are two hidden gems of the Office 2003 suite. Using my USB TravelScanner, I scan papers right after they are handed to me. Once in Office Document Imaging, I have several options:

• Export text to Word
• Save as an annotateed TIFF
• Print to PDF, Windows Journal, or OneNote

I usually print to OneNote and make my annotations there.

Extended Desktop for Tablet PC [Link]

Using your Tablet with an additional monitor can be a very efficient way of getting work done. So when I have big projects to work on, I’ll plug my external monitor into my M200. I can then put whatever material I’m working with on my external monitor and have OneNote open on my Tablet.

What to do about navigation? I could always use an external mouse, but that pretty much defeats the purpose of having a Tablet. Microsoft has my back on this one. The Extended Desktop PowerToy creates a window on your primary screen that you can interact with to control the cursor on your secondary screen (did any of that make sense?). You can have the background displayed as a green grid or as a minature version of your actual secondary screen.

Temptation Blocker [Link]

There are days when I just don’t want to take notes in class. For those days, I use Temptation Blocker (TB). Open it up and select the programs you to block yourself from (email, instant messaging, web browser, etc). Then pick an amount of time for said programs to be blocked and "Get Work Done!" Try to open one of the blocked programs and TB will block it. After your time in the slammer class is up (or however long you set it for), TB will let you alert you. In the event of an emergency, you can enter a 32-character string to unlock your programs early.

Optimoz – Mouse Gestures [Link]

I was original introduced to Optimoz Mouse Gestures by the Robert Scoble, famed Microsoft Front Man (at least that’s what I call him), at the monthly Seattle Blog Meetup about 11 months ago. Gestures is one of the coolest extentions for Firefox. Over three dozen default functions can be performed just b right clicking on your pen and gesturing. A must have for Tablet browsing.By the way, Scoble also uses an M200, or at least he did when I last saw him (11 months ago).

 

Have any cool programs you use to enhance your Tablet productivity? Leave us a comment! 

This is a good example of where taking your time and doing even a little bit of research can help solve a problem:

I’m was planning on scanning my Calc textbook in to my laptop so I can do problems without having to drag the huge book with me. So I went to library to use the scanner (it’s much faster than mine). I follow the instructions on the sheet…

Wake up scanner from “power save” mode by pressing the “file” button on the front of scanner until the scanner says ready.

…I do that and nothing. So I unplug the scanner and plug it back in and it makes this absolutely horrid clicking sound. Gasp. This is the library.

I unplug it and plug it back in again. Same aweful noise. So I venture over to the HP website (FYI: this is an HP scanner). I click “Support & Troubleshooting” > type in “7400C” > click “Solve a problem”.

First thing on the list “Noises, unexpected sounds.” So I click on that and low and behold, the scanner is in the “locked” position. I guess this is for transport or something. I’ve never seen this feature on a scanner before. But it solved my problem and now I’m all set to go.

So next time you have a problem, take a few steps back and see what can be about it (without calling me first ;-))

I switched back to Firefox. Flock is still to Beta for the kind of work I was doing.