Making a .pdf of an Office 2007 file is easy
One of the best new features in MS Publisher 2007 and MS Word 2007 is the ability to save a file as a .pdf. This could be done in the past, but it required additional software to get the job done. Now this task is built in and easy to use.
Once you are ready to make the .pdf, click on "File" and then select "Publish as PDF or XPS..." All that remains to be done is to decide where you would like to save the file and what you would like to name it. Click here to see a video of just how quick and easy the process is.
How to make a time lapse video using a webcam
Time lapse movies are fairly easy to make. Using a webcam, Flix software, and a video edit tool like Windows Live Movie Maker, a time lapse movie can be made for very little money. Assuming you already have a functional webcam setup on your computer, here is the basic overview:
1) Download and install software to automatically capture images from your webcam. I've used Flix and it worked great.
2) Point your webcam toward what you would like to capture.
3) Start up Flix and set the appropriate delay between frames. If there is a lot of action over a short period of time, you might wish to go with a short delay (less than a second) while other subjects might only require an image every couple seconds / minutes.
4) Start recording
5) Stop recording after the desired amount of time.
6) Once you have all of the desired clips, start up a program like Windows Live Movie Maker and import the files. Once you have the images imported, you select all of them and set a desired amount of time that you wish each picture to be displayed (ex: .1 seconds each). Once you have the settings you like, save the project as a movie file.
Here is a sample video that was created using this process.
Touchdown Exchange Client
If you have been using the built-in mail client on the droid for connecting to an Exchange mailbox, you should definitely check out Touchdown by NitroDesk. Touchdown makes it very easy to try out. There is a free 5 day full functioning trial available on via the droid Market. Simply open the market icon and search for "Touchdown". If you want to stay on Touchdown after the trial, it is only $9.99 (US).
droid insert a disk error when connecting via USB
OK, you know you should be able to drag your MP3's to your new phone, but you keep getting the following error...
A quick google search and you'll read about the need to mount the SD card. This process is easy once you know about the "notification bar".
1) Attach the USB cable from your computer to the droid.
2) Tap and slide your finger from the top bar toward the bottom of the screen. This will display the notifications.
3) If you tap the "USB Connected" item, you can then tap on "Mount" to make the SD card available to your computer.
4) When you are done using the drive, repeat the process and choose "Turn off USB Storage". Next tap "Turn Off". This will make the SD card in the phone available to things like the "Music" app.
Shazam for the droid (Android)
Who hasn't experienced a time where a song was playing and you wish you knew the title and / or artist. How frustrating!
Many people with the iPhone have already discovered, there is an app for that: Shazam. Shazam is also available for Android phones. In addition to helping you figure out what the song is, Shazam also makes the process of purchasing the song quick and easy.
The process of using Shazam is simple:
1) Open Shazam on your phone (once you have installed it)
2) Press the "Tag Now" icon
3) Next, Shazam will start listening to the song that you currently hear. After a few moments, 
Shazam will let you know if it has identified the song.
Knowing the name of the song and artist would be neat enough, but if you really like the song, Shazam will make the process of purchasing the song quick and easy. To purchase a song, press the "My Tags" icon and you will see all of the songs that have been identified previously. Once you click on the song, you can see more information. You can even click on "Search Amazon MP3" to purchase the song.
Droid (Android 2.0) problems opening email attachments
If you have having difficulty opening attachments from Exchange email accounts do the following:
1) You need to make sure you have a viewer for the document type you are attempting to open (ex: .doc, .pdf, .xls).
To get a viewer, open the "Market" and search for a program like "Documents To Go".
2) If you have a viewer but still can't open attachments, from the main menu open "Settings" and select "Accounts & sync". Select the email account you are having difficulty with and press "Account settings". Scroll down and select "Incoming settings". Verify that "Accept all SSL certificates" is unchecked. If it is checked, remove the check and press "Next".
