CHRISdotTODD

Formula explanation clarified 22-May-08. I recently had the need to compare a long list of values with another list, and for the matches get a value from the same row. For example, if you have a long list of phone numbers and you want to find who they belong to, you could compare the phone numbers to a contact list, and for every match pull out the name. Oh, and if there is no match, you don't want to get an error message, but rather something more intelligent. It takes 4 Excel functions to do this: IF (logical_test,value_if_true,value_if_false) ISERROR : Value refers to any error value (#N/A, #VALUE!, #REF!, #DIV/0!, #NUM!, #NAME?, or #NULL!) INDEX (array,row_num,column_num) MATCH (lookup_value,lookup_array,match_type) Here's how to do it: =IF(ISERROR(INDEX(phone!$B$1:$B$25, MATCH(A8,phone!$A$1:$A$25,0))),"NA", INDEX(phone!$B$1:$B$25,MATCH(A8,phone!$A$1:$A$25,0))) (I used carriage returns for display, this should be one continuous string) phone!$A$1:$A$25 refers to ...

John C. Dvorak posted a great opinion piece in his PC Mag column on Microsoft buying Yahoo!. He reminds us that for the same $44 billion we could by GM and Ford and have enough left to have a great party too. You could buy General Motors lock, stock, and barrel for $14 billion, name all the cars "Google Sucks," and get more bang for the buck. Heck, you'd have enough left over to buy Ford for around $16 billion, and you could name all those cars "Google Sucks More" and still have $14 billion left over for a big party. He also points out Microsoft's (lack of) success with prior mergers. Give this one a read for yourself .

If you have been a regular reader of my blog, you have likely noticed the images and photos have a nice shadow and sometimes torn edges. These are two of the many features available from SnagIt -- a screen capture and editing program from TechSmith. SnagIt screen capture of a long (scroll) list SnagIt's screen capture options are pretty powerful. For example, you can use it to scroll a window to get the entire contents. And if the scroll is part of a drop-down box, SnagIt can capture that as well. It can even do short video captures of your screen. In addition to the screen capture features, the latest version of the editing functions is better than ever. TechSmith has made it easy to add objects such as call-outs and arrows, with the ability to move them after placing them without having to understand layers or other more complex editing techniques. From the TechSmith website, here are the system requirements : Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, XP x64, Vista 32-bit, or Vista 64-bit i...

As reported by Ars Technica , Oregon's Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) let tech executives in Washington know that if ISPs move away from a neutral web then the government will move away from the tax breaks and other freedoms they have been benefiting from for the last 15 years as part of the Internet Tax Freedom Act. Wyden delivered his ultimatum at a Computer & Communications Industry Association conference in DC, where he cast the entire network neutrality debate in terms of a legislative compromise. The story goes on as Rep. Ed Markey (D-MA) hosts a net neutrality meeting on Internet Freedom Preservation Act of 2008 . To establish broadband policy and direct the Federal Communications Commission to conduct a proceeding and public broadband summits to assess competition, consumer protection, and consumer choice issues relating to broadband Internet access services, and for other purposes. The premise is to prevent ISPs from put unfair constraints on its customers. For example, if ...

Friday may 2nd, Apple announced a partnership with the 4 major Hollywood studios where they will make movies released to DVD available through the iTunes store on the same day they are released on the shelves of your favorite store. You can buy the movie in electronic format, with Apples proprietary DRM for $15 or rent it for $3.99.When was the last time you bought a new release for under $20? Never. Of course watching it from your computer is not as comfortable as from your easy-chair. And, you need to wait for it to download into iTunes... unless you have Apple TV. With the release of Apple TV 2.0 in February, after a short buffer time, you can begin watching your new movie immediately while it finishes downloading in the background. With Apple already being the leading provider of music in the U.S., I'm sure this move has gotten he attention of retailers Wal-Mart and Best Buy, and of course Netflix and Blockbuster. Apple continues to make it easier and easier to avoid the cost o...

LinkedIn is a social website that is used to manage professional connections. Take for example the guy you worked with 3 years ago. Perhaps you're looking for a new job, and you remember he started his own company. Through LinkedIn you can find out if he has any job openings or perhaps one of his clients or friends does. Or, perhaps there's another colleague or former colleague that you though was just great to work with. You can write a recommendation for them on LinkedIn, to help them out the next time they're looking for new employment. With LinkedIn's new RSS feature, you no longer have to login to the site to see what's new with your colleagues. Just add it to your RSS Reader, and you can view a headline of all their activity. Perhaps a current contact that you have in LinkedIn connects with a former colleague. Now that you see the former colleague has a LinkedIn account, you can send them a request to add them to your list of connections. If you want to enable...

The BBC has a great site about the Human Body & Mind . I found it a lot of fun to complete two different tests: (1) Brain Sex and (2) Face Memory . As you likely know, both men and women are considered to be intelligent, yet they think differently. "The reasons for these brain sex differences, if they exist, are not known, though there are a number of theories that offer possible explanations." The Brain Sex test will score you against the average men and women and relate it to generalities about each sex. The Face Memory test is part of information on Sleep. "Are you too tired to remember? 'Executive skills' such as memory are the first to go when you're tired. See how you score." Also included is a sleep quiz on"the top ten most fascinating and weird sleep facts." I found each of the tests to be easy to complete and without much surprise. For example my right-side of the brain is more dominant. "Some studies theorise that as a ri...

I found a couple of new Firefox extensions; the first is used to indicate whether a link on a web page is safe for work (SFW) or no (NSFW). You simple hover over a link on a web page and in the lower-right of your browser you will see SFW, NSFW, or Unrated. If you're on an existing web page, you can send your own rating; the extension uses user votes to determine SFW or NSFW. Go to No-NSFW to get this extension for yourself. I found another, not so useful Firefox extension, RefControl . With RefControl you can change the referral page in your browser. As you may or may not know, when you visit a web page, it gets various information from your browser, including the page you were on previously. With refControl, you can change this to be what ever page you want it to be. In fact there are multiple options: Normal - send the referrer as it would normally be sent without interference from RefControl. Block - send no referrer to this site. Forge - send the root of the site as the r...

Living in an apartment, I found that many of my neighbors have not secured their wireless network. For example, one neighbor has a nice music collection. I think this is a clear indication of how the computing environment is still too difficult for the average user. With that in mind, I recently ran across an article on Ars Technica, The ABCs of securing your wireless network , that helps explain the differences between the various networking options. The short answer is use WPA protocol to ensure adequate security. For that matter, I recently threw away a wireless print server because it didn't support WPA. So, if you're running a wireless network, be sure to change the default password on your router and use WPA communication protocol.

Industry pundit John C. Dvorak recently release an article on Vista's 11 Pillars of Failure . John makes some good points including the code bloat, missing drivers, and the confusion around the number of versions. On the other hand, Robert Strohmeyer of PC World in his article 18 Features Windows Should Have (but Doesn't) , covers items as if the shortcomings are because it's not a Mac. Where John points out valid issues, Mr. Strohmeyer uses the Mac as an example instead of identifying real issues. So if you you want a refresher on why you should stick with XP until Microsoft releases the next Windows version, read John C. Dvorak's article ; If you want to see what features you're missing by not having a Mac, read the article by Robert Strohmeyer .