Computer Tips From A Computer Guy

Shop for Apps, Extensions and Themes in the Chrome Web Store
Capitalize the First Letter of All Words in OpenOffice Calc
Use Electronic Coupons at the Grocery Store with Cellfire.com

Shop for Apps, Extensions and Themes in the Chrome Web Store

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 04:47 AM PST

As the Web continues to evolve into a more interactive, social place, we are seeing more and more Apps, not just for phones, but for televisions and even browsers. Google's Chrome browser and OS were designed to support apps—and now Google has opened their equivalent of Apple's App Store, where we can now download extensions, themes and apps for Chrome, all in one place. Google is calling this new space The Chrome Web Store.

The first thing to notice about Chrome Web Store is that it features both free and paid products, and telling the difference is not easy at first glance. On the right of the page is a list of Favorite Paid Apps. Absent, however, is a list of Favorite Free Apps.

Click any of the App icons to go to that Apps description. If the description features a blue Buy and Install button, then it is a paid app.

The price is located towards the top right of the app's description, beneath the title of the app.

Clicking the Buy and Install button leads you directly to a Google Store Checkout page where you enter a credit card number. Paid apps must be purchased before they may be downloaded.

Besides apps, our favorite Chrome extensions are also now located in this store. Popular extensions are listed in the middle of the page with the word free directly beneath the title.

Popular themes are listed similarly, without a price distinction.

One advantage to this store appears to be on the developer end. All a developer really needs to do is upload a zip file to list their app in the store.

Google is heavily promoting the official launch of the Chrome Web Store. The site is filled with explanatory, promotional videos. Chrome fans will love the site—in many ways, it is over due. But, it does exclude a good portion of the Web that does not use Chrome, and the Apps do not even work in all countries. So, for now, we are unconvinced the store will become as popular as Google hopes.

Copyright © 2007
Online Tech Tips.
Aseem Kishore (digitalfingerprint: a59a56dce36427d83e23b501579944fcakmk1980 (74.125.94.89) )

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Shop for Apps, Extensions and Themes in the Chrome Web Store

Capitalize the First Letter of All Words in OpenOffice Calc

Posted: 09 Feb 2011 03:20 AM PST

Editing the contents of an OpenOffice Calc worksheet can be cumbersome if you have to edit each cell one at a time. This is especially true when editing text. Using a function found in Calc, you can automatically capitalize the first letters of all the words in a cell to reduce your editing time. Learn how to change the letters of all the words in a cell to uppercase in an OpenOffice Calc spreadsheet.

Why Capitalize Letters in OpenOffice Calc?

It is common for multiple people to share and add to a document when working independently from one another. The problem with this is that each person has his/her own standards and procedures for getting work done. This is especially true when adding information to a spreadsheet or database application.

When adding information to a Calc spreadsheet, some people can be lazy or messy in how the data is formatted. Many people work too quickly and forget to capitalize proper nouns such as names when typing in the information. If you have a bunch of cells in Calc that need the text they contain to be capitalized, you can use the Proper function to convert the first letters of all words to upper case.

Capitalize the First Letters of Words in Calc

Suppose you have a Calc spreadsheet that look like the one below. Notice that some of the names are properly capitalized and some start with lower case letters. This can be a problem, for example, when using this file in a mail merge because the names won’t have upper case letters.

To convert the names to upper case, select the B1 cell and click on the Function Wizard button next to the Input Line. This opens the Function Wizard window. Select Text for the function Category and locate a function titled Proper.

Click the Next button and notice that the right hand side of the window changes so you can input the variables of the Proper function. Luckily, there is only one variable to input in the window. In the Text variable, type in A1.

Click the OK button and notice that the text in cell A1 is now capitalized in cell B1. Use the copy box in cell B1 to copy the formula down to B9. This copies the formula down so the other cells get capitalized as well. Notice that text that was already capitalized remains capitalized and those that were lower case are converted to upper case. In this way, you don’t have to worry about applying the formula to only those cells that need to be converted.

Converting the letters of all words in an OpenOffice Calc cell to upper case is as easy as using the Proper function. This function is particularly useful when some text is upper case and some is lower case. Rather than editing the text directly, you can use the Proper function to ensure that all words are capitalized. This function is invaluable when multiple people are sharing a document and not everyone enters data in the spreadsheet in the same way.

Copyright © 2007
Online Tech Tips.
Aseem Kishore (digitalfingerprint: a59a56dce36427d83e23b501579944fcakmk1980 (74.125.94.89) )

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Capitalize the First Letter of All Words in OpenOffice Calc

Use Electronic Coupons at the Grocery Store with Cellfire.com

Posted: 08 Feb 2011 04:32 AM PST

In the current economic climate, most everyone is trying to save money. Instead of giving up our technology habits, we can actually use them to save money on everyday things, like dish soap and cereal. A Web site called Cellfire.com makes thrifty shopping almost effortless—with no printer or scissors required.

A few years ago, most grocery stores started using Rewards Cards to track our spending. These cards hang on our key chains and contain a barcode that we swipe every time we pay for our groceries. It is this card that is key to saving money with Cellfire. If you have a card from Kroger, Fry's or any of the stores below, you can load coupons directly onto your rewards card:

First, you must register your grocery card with Cellfire. Signing up with the site is easy—it requires a cellphone number, year of birth, zip code and email address. Don't worry about giving Cellfire your phone number—they will only send you messages if you request them, and the messages they send are only electronic, scanable coupons. The phone number becomes your login ID with Cellfire, whereas your birth year is your password.

You can then add your grocery card to your account and browse offers available at your favorite grocery store.

Click Save to Card beneath any of these deals and the coupon loads directly to your rewards card. Now when you go through the checkout, the coupons will automatically deduct from your order.

Besides easy grocery coupons, Cellfire can send mobile coupons to your cellphone for department stores and even restaurants. Sales Associates and Sandwich Artists can scan these coupons directly from your phone. For example, this JC Penny Coupon deducts $10 off of any purchase:

Cellfire loads new grocery store coupons once a month, on the first of the month. New stores are added to the site all of the time, so if your local grocery store is not currently on the list, chances are it will be soon.

The coupons work like magic, and there is even an option to print a list of the coupons you have loaded to your card. But, to keep things effortless, we generally log in to Cellfire on the first of the month, save each offer to our grocery rewards card, then just buy what we would normally. This way, the discounts are a nice surprise. Plus, if you have a paper coupon, you can use it in conjunction with a Cellfire coupon! This can equal double savings on many products.

Bonus Tip: Shortcuts.com also loads coupons to your grocery cards. And, you can use it with Cellfire to save even more.