Dave Mallisk
Experienced technical writer and novice poet. Writes computer-technology documents, fiction and poetry. Has written users' and reference documents for both investment banks and industrial-automation companies.
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BS in Marketing and AS in Electronics EngineeringMotto
Simplicity requires clarity, accuracy, and honesty.
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Displaying Results 1 - 107 (of 107) for All Content
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Using Python to Test and Generate Prime NumbersA prime number is any positive integer (greater than one) that has only two factors, one and itself. You can create a simple Python program to test whether an integer is prime, and display all prime numbers that are less than or equal to that integer.
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Analyzing Quadratic Equations Through Sage MathA quadratic equation defines its two roots, negative and positive values of 'x,' as affected by three variables. You can use Sage Notebook to analyze a quadratic equation by calculating its roots and plotting its function, f(x).
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Copying Published Sage Notebook Math ExamplesSage Notebook is free, online (cloud) math software through which hobbyists, students, and professionals can program various calculations. Sage Notebook account owners can publish example worksheets that other account owners can copy.
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Combining Images Through GIMP LayersThe Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP) is a free, open-source, software program that lets you edit existing images. GIMP also lets you create a new image by combining ('stacking') two or more existing images as layers.
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Getting Started with Sage MathSage is free, open source, mathematics software that lets hobbyists, students, engineers and scientists program math calculations. The online Sage notebook helps you learn new skills, refresh old ones, and then practice them online.
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Limerick: Quantum Math AnticsWhat do you mean you cannot understand quantum mechanics? Don't make an asymptote of yourself; look more closely. See those little guys with tiny wrenches? -
Haiku: Sitting QuietlyA calm mind can quietly glimpse everything and see nothing. Like it or not, you are a tiny space-time speck connected to all others. Choose any star, electron, or creature as far away as 13,750,000,000 years; you are it and it is you. -
Limerick: Online Beer and Offline BrainEven moderate drinking inhibits inhibition. Zero drinks affect the mind less than even one. Therefore, while drinking, even a little, neither drive a vehicle nor shop online. -
Setting Up a Virtual Home Network Through Ubuntu OneSetting up a home network among your Ubuntu and Windows computers can be tricky if you have not earned at least two PHDs in computer science. Alternatively, you can simply use Ubuntu One to share folders and files through a virtual home network.
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Villanelle: Autumn's Die Up CallTrees know ways of going green that cannot be beat. This hymn of the truth of death we must learn to recite. Summer trees preen silky coats that sheen bright green. Autumn leaves fall to rusty, musty, dusty bits unseen.
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Switching to Unity 2D in Unbuntu 11.10Unity 3D is the standard User Interface (UI) in Ubuntu 11.10. Unity 2D, the optional UI, displays a slightly simpler desktop. Moreover, depending on the graphics hardware and drivers on your PC, Unity 2D might be noticeably faster than Unity 3D.
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Limerick: Occupy EarthOccupying Wall Street is a great start; our movement is growing all over Earth. However, while we demand economic justice, we must avoid violence. Let the world watch our peace and justice. War benefits only the rich and their corporations. -
Battle SuitIn the Martian colonies, liberal revolutionaries have built a fleet of fighter spacecraft capable of attacking Earth. We Church Sanctioned Leaders of Corporate Earth are determined to drive these low-gravity liberal rats back into their red sand. -
Getting Started with Ubuntu 11.10Ubuntu 11.10, released by Canonical, is the newest Ubuntu distribution of the Linux operating system. This document can help you install Ubuntu 11.10; adjust its system settings; and navigate to your applications, and folders and files. -
Setting Up and Testing a Google Checkout Sandbox Merchant AccountA Google Checkout sandbox is an online test environment. You create two sandbox accounts, buyer and merchant, and then make test purchases from your website online store. If these work, you can create a production environment for your online store. -
Senryu: Nationalize Our People's BanksWhich is the greater crime? Rising up against the sins and offenses of the Wall Street banksters, or collaborating with them while they taunt us through their champagne?
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Setting Up and Using a Google Checkout AccountA Google Checkout account lets you purchase items through online businesses that use Google Checkout. You need submit your credit card information only once. This document explains how to set up and use a Google Checkout account.
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Limerick: Cat at BatA cat loves to play baseball, provided you let him alter the rules. For example, you must find the ball each time he loses it. Finally, despite everything, he always wins the game.
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Limerick: Singing Fish ScalesWhat makes you so sure electrical engineering technology is limited to hairless primate land animals? Why is Battery Park near water?
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Sonnet: Requiem for Baby Mice I Have KnownThough nature needs to feed itself, must we participate in its horror? Humans need to learn to grieve for even tiny beings.
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Publishing Program Code Examples Through Google DocsYou cannot include program code examples in your online documents because online publishing tools are not compatible with code examples. However, you can upload code examples to Google Docs and then link to those examples.
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Sonnet: Pleading for Poetic MercyAre the gods trying to use iambic pentameter to drag us back to the late 16th century? If so, may I take my computer?
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Limerick: Wall Street Ain't Our StreetHow much longer can you steal our money while making us wait for 'trickle down?' Not nearly as long as you think.
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Limerick: To Heck with EuphemismsHow to ignore your parents and develop a taste for soap. Be the first kid on your block to join a motorcycle gang.
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LibreOffice Base Under Linux Now Working CorrectlyGood news! The LibreOffice developers have repaired the record-selection problem in their Base database. Now, when you open any LibreOffice Base form, you can navigate among its records immediately.
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Limerick: Remembering Aunt BurnadebtEven relatives we find weigh too much can provide a lot of light.
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Haiku: Through a Train WindowThat which you really see is now forever.
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Villanelle: Honoring Our Dying CatIf suffering, staying would not be smart. Must we soon euthanize and say goodbye? Casper, please stay here longer if you can. Kitten, sixteen years is too short a span.
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I Have Become More Anti-Religious Since 9/11Since 9/11, I have completely abandoned all attempts to believe in God. During this multiple-war decade, I have become convinced that religion does far more harm than good; for each widow or orphan it might feed, it kills thousands of innocent humans.
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Haiku: Dying Within Your MeansEach living thing must either die young or first rot alive.
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Haiku: All is Nothing in the VoidBe now, and appreciate your lot. It's all you got.
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Posting to the Community Forum in the Yahoo! Contributor NetworkIf you are a member of the Yahoo! Contributor Network, you can use its Community Forum to find and share information. This document explains how to access the forum, post to an existing thread, and create a new thread if necessary and then post to it.
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Using LibreOffice Calc to Create a 3D SpreadsheetA 3D spreadsheet makes calculations through three dimensions: column height, row width and worksheet depth. This document can help you use LibreOffice or Open Office Calc to create an example 3D spreadsheet for your practice and experimentation.
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Adding Hyperinks to Your Online WritingIf you write for a publisher of online content, such as the Yahoo! Contributor Network, you can add hyperlinks to your text. When a reader clicks on one of your hyperlinks, the reader's browser displays the website that you have specified.
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Haiku: Predacious PunIf you're a croc, fish is your dish. You gotta learn to live with it! Capiche?
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Using LibreOffice Calc to Create Pivot TablesThis document can help you get started with the DataPilot (Pivot Table) feature in Calc, the LibreOffice spreadsheet application. Pivot tables help you analyze your spreadsheet data according to varying management and reporting requirements.
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Haiku: How to Really ReadWord spirits are never cast in binary digits, ink or concrete. Where then? Whether listening or reading, catch that person's words respectfully. Whether speaking or writing, throw your words gently. Sharp edges hurt.
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Example LibreOffice Calc DataPilot Pivot TablesCalc is the LibreOffice spreadsheet application. Its DataPilot feature lets you create pivot tables that provide various data analyses and reports. This slideshow also applies to the DataPilot feature in OpenOffice.org Calc.
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Using Python to Help Write a Tritina PoemYou can use a simple Python program, TritinaHelper.py, to help you write a tritina, which is a ten-line poem based on three words that you need to use in a specific pattern. A tritina contains three three-line stanzas and one final line.
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Tritina: Trying to Murder FishThough we never saw any fish, they did thank us for our mercy.
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Tritina: Cats and Universal OnenessIs a kitten at play a spirit, older than the pyramids, testing a new body?
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Using Python to Help Write Villanelle PoemsPython can help you write a villanelle, which is a 19-line poem that contains five three-line stanzas and one four-line stanza. After you write two rhyming refrains, Python generates the correct pattern for writing your entire villanelle.
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Villanelle: Fix the SeasonsWe are no longer an agrarian society. We no longer need organize our activities according to astronomical events. Who even notices whether we have a full moon? Who cares whether today is the winter solstice? Every year, winter should start on January 1.
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Using Python Ttk to Create an English and Metric ConverterThis document can help you use Python to create an English and metric converter that displays as a standard window on your desktop. You can customize it by adding specific conversions you might need in your work.
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Shopping for a Wireless PrinterThis document can help you shop for a wireless printer that is compatible with both your wireless network and the operating systems on your computers. Of course, you need to first install a wireless network if you have not already done so.
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Tracking Fuel Mileage Through LIbreOffice CalcThis document can help you use LibreOffice to create a Calc spreadsheet that automatically calculates and logs vehicle fuel mileage. Whether your vehicle burns gasoline or diesel fuel, tracking vehicle mileage can help you avoid serious problems.
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New Technologies Provide Smaller Desktop PCsThis document compares traditional desktop PCs with recently-developed mini desktop PCs that contain more-efficient electronic circuits. New, high-efficiency circuits let hardware engineers create smaller desktop PCs that save both space and energy.
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Using Python to Help Write Sestina PoemsYou can use Python to help you write a sestina, which is a 39-line poem that you need to structure according to specific rules. You need no paper. You need only your computer, a word processor and a simple Python program, SestinaHelper.py.
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Sestina: Fencing Your ElephantsIt's early twilight time, and your elephants are honking inside their fence. They know that eating too much cheese often makes them need to sneeze. Don't you wish your silly brutes would be more careful of their snoots?
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Sestina: Mourning Cleo IIZen Master Cleo, often only your delightful power could inspire my smile. The gods do not help us through life's foul weather. Why so cruel, I wonder? When I can open my door to final sleep, I will look for your bonding eyes.
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Recent Software Technology Developments for the Working ClassThis document describes how recent developments in the open-source and cloud-computing software industries can benefit all computer users. Most open-source software is free to download. Cloud computing makes many free applications available online.
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Using Shutter to Take Screenshots in UbuntuThe procedures in this document can help you use the Shutter screenshot tool for Linux. You can capture your entire desktop, an active window, or any rectangular area you select. Shutter lets you save each screenshot directly as JPEG image file.
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The Snakes and the TreeThe hissing awakens me. I am again surrounded by snakes. They might not be precisely the same snakes as before, but I'm sure their bites will be as painful. I also know that none of these particular snakes can climb the tree of refuge.
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How to Restore Microphone Input After Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04This document can help you restore your microphone input to your PC after you have upgraded it to Ubuntu 11.04. Depending on the connector to which you have connected your microphone, you should need only select that front or rear connector.
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Sixth Graders See Real ZombiesSchool information says zombies are only partially dead. The Corporation kindly rescues them. Today, we are touring a local factory that hires real zombies. I would rather see movie zombies, which are much more interesting because they are fully dead.
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Working Around the Record Selection Problem in LibreOffice Base Under LinuxBase is the LibreOffice database application. If you cannot select records in any form in Base running under Linux, this document should help you work around the problem. You need to enable the Form Navigation toolbar each time you open a Base form.
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The Gunman of Grimy VultureThe gunman pokes me in the chest again, knocking me down. He thunders, "Liar! Gimme gun!" I stand and scramble backwards as he approaches. I decide he isn't bulletproof, regardless how big and ugly. I start to reach into my coat for my gun.
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Restoring Suspend Capability After Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04If suspend mode works incorrectly for your PC after you upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, this document can help you troubleshoot the problem. You might restore suspend-mode capability by installing a newer graphics driver.
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How to Use Styles to Add Color to Python Ttk WidgetsThis document can help you enhance your Python GUI windows by applying styles to your ttk widgets. The example code in this document includes two programs that generate similar windows, one containing ttk widgets without styles, the other with styles.
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Getting Started with Unity on Unbuntu 11.04At first, you might find the new Ubuntu 11.04 interface daunting. If so, this brief document can help you learn to use the Unity desktop. It does not have a steep learning curve. Almost certainly, you soon will love it as much as I do.
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Star FishI am older than most stars in this universe. Otherwise, my age is meaningless. I am wider than time and newer than space. We multidimensional beings are the most highly-evolved sentients. We must often monitor lower beings.
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How to Repair Dual Boot After Upgrading to Ubuntu 11.04If your PC fails to dual boot after you upgrade to Ubuntu 11.04, this document can help you troubleshoot the problem. You can usually repair your dual boot by increasing the boot-screen resolution in GRUB 2, the Ubuntu boot loader.
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How to Enter Data Through Python Tkinter.TtkThis document shows how to use Tkinter Themed Tk (ttk) widgets to program Python GUI data-entry interfaces for both text and numerical values. Tkinter ttk provides enhanced widgets that can simplify creating GUI windows.
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An Ancient IBM Vacuum Tube Mainframe ComputerIn early 1957, I saw my first computer during a high-school field trip to an IBM office in Cleveland, Ohio. It was a vacuum-tube mainframe in the IBM 700 series, most probably an IBM 705, which had been designed to process business data.
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Getting Started with Tkinter GUI for PythonThis document can help you get started with Tkinter, which is the most popular GUI package for the Python programming language. The example code in this document lets you create a new window that contains active buttons and dynamic labels.
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Defining Python Functions to Generate Humorous MemosPython lets you define functions to generate humorous memos. Your defined functions select random words for sentences. An outer 'while' loop generates paragraphs. A nested, inner 'while' loop generates sentences by calling your defined functions.
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What is the Future of Tablet Computers?Tablet computers will almost certainly become more popular because they are selling very well. Lightweight, thin tablets provide wireless Internet access, and are fun to use because they have intuitive apps that people control through touch screens.
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Creating a Flowchart Through Open Office DrawFlowcharts are extremely powerful. You can use a flowchart to graphically present the interactions among the elements in any process flow. You can create an excellent flowchart through the Draw application in either LibreOffice or OpenOffice.org.
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Using Python Random Functions to Create New WordsYou can use the Python programming language to create random values, and concatenate strings (place them in sequence with no spaces among them). You can also combine random values and concatenated syllable strings to create new words.
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Open Office Writer Cross ReferencesCross references help your readers find information. Within a LibreOffice or Open Office Writer document, a cross reference is an active link. Clicking on an active link in a Writer document (or its PDF) displays the referenced information.
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How to Back Up the Data on Your ComputerWhen, not if, your computer fails catastrophically, you can lose all data you have stored on its hard drive. Making daily data backups to external media, such as an external hard drive or a rewritable DVD, is your only defense against total data loss.
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CrutchesThis story, which includes a good tip about using crutches, is based on actual events. Only the names have been changed to protect the embarrassed.
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Getting Started with Python ProgrammingPython is a powerful, high-level, object-oriented programming language. It is free to download and install. In comparison with other programming languages, it has a simpler, more-intuitive syntax. Therefore, it is easy to learn and fun to use.
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Installing LibreOffice on UbuntuLibreOffice is an alternative to OpenOffice.org. LibreOffice will be the default office suite in Ubuntu's next release, 11.04. However, if you wish, you can use the procedures in this document to install LibreOffice on your current Ubuntu 10.10.
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Dying to GolfDon't golf? Don't worry. You might be able to learn after you die. Who knows? Maybe golf for the dead is simpler, greater fun, and more surprising than golf for the living.
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Creating a Status Report Through Open Office BaseAfter you create a scheduling database through Open Office Base, you can plan and track your work more effectively. Also, you can easily create a status report that documents your current progress on all scheduled tasks.
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Creating an Open Office DatabaseAn Open Office database includes tables, queries, and forms. Each table contains data records in multiple rows. Each query displays table data, and can define relationships among tables. Each form lets you enter data into its associated table.
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Dark MatterFaith already cripples reason; in the future, all wars might be religious. Capitalists are already powerful and greedy; in the future, they might be all-powerful and extremely lethal.
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Example Open Office Scheduling DatabaseBase is the OpenOffice.org database application. It lets you create your own simple database to plan, schedule, and track your tasks and projects. This scheduling database can help you eliminate to-do lists, pocket notebooks, and sticky notes.
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Zero Naught's New YearZero Naught could protect himself against his parents. However, a bully threatens to end his new year before it begins.
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Adding an Open Office Slideshow to a Google Sites PageAfter you create a slideshow through Open Office Impress, you can export it as a PDF file, upload it to Google Docs, and then use a Google Docs Viewer gadget to add your slideshow to a page on your Google Sites website.
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Power from the PeopleMight our future include only those who can make connections and those to whom connections are made?
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No Way to Key West on a Phony TicketIn 1961, the Navy did not always allow enough travel time. Likewise, it often did not, or could not, assist with travel arrangements. Foolishly, I thought I might save money by going through a small, independent travel agency.
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Orphans' Christmas PrayersMight future orphanages be efficient and profitable? Overfeeding is sinful because it wastes food and reduces the Corporation's profits. Moreover, well-disciplined children make excellent warriors for God and the Corporation.
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Creating a Slideshow Through Open Office ImpressThis Associated Content slideshow shows you how to create a basic Open Office Impress slideshow. Impress is the slideshow and presentation application in the OpenOffice.org productivity suite.
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Turkeys' Thanksgiving PrayersHumans and other animals pray differently at Thanksgiving. Though all is connected through the stars, a few humans have too much, most others (including humans, cats, and turkeys) have too little. Thanks for what? Thanks to whom? Count what blessings?
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Creating an Open Office Writer IndexAfter you add index entries to an OpenOffice.org Writer document, you can create an alphabetical index that automatically lists the page numbers of those entries. Creating a good index in a printed document can help your readers find information.
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ArmIn the near future, scientist and engineers will develop smart prosthetic devices. Might these prostheses become too smart?
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Adding Open Office Writer Headers and FootersThe types of headers and footers you can add to a formal OpenOffice.org Writer document vary according to its page styles, which can be either Default for all pages, or Left for all even-numbered pages and Right for all odd-numbered pages.
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Adding Open Office Writer Bulleted and Numbered ListsYou can use OpenOffice.org Writer to create bulleted lists and/or numbered lists. A bulleted list presents non-sequential items, such as the tools required for a procedure. A numbered list presents sequential items, such as the steps in a procedure.
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The Halloween Ghost of Santa ClawsSanta Claus has an evil brother, Santa Claws, who's ghost attacks greedy children on Halloween.
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Creating a Website Through Google SitesGoogle Sites lets you create and manage a free, simple, thoughtful, and elegant website. You can focus on your subject or business instead of writing XHMTL code. Moreover, you can use your business website to sell your merchandise online.
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What is an Exabyte of Digital Storage?An exabyte of digital storage is slightly more than one billion gigabytes. Though most home computer users might never need billion-gigabyte hard disks, total worldwide digital storage already exceeds 800 exabytes.
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Creating Your Business Card Through OpenOffice.Org WriterOpenOffice.org Writer lets you create and print professional-quality business cards to promote your business or aid your job search. You also save money because you need pay only for blank business-card sheets and printer toner or ink.
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Getting Started with OpenOffice.Org DrawOpenOffice.org Draw is a powerful, easy-to-use graphics application that lets you create beautiful and practical objects (drawings, pictures, or images), save them in OpenDocument Graphics (ODG) files, and then export those objects as image files.
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Installing a Grammar Checker for OpenOffice.Org On Ubuntu 10.4After you install the LanguageTool extension to OpenOffice.org, it can check your grammar as you type text into documents you create though Writer, the OpenOffice word processor.
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How to Repair OpenOffice.Org On Ubuntu 10.4The OpenOffice.org suite that installs as part of Ubuntu 10.4 has minor problems that you can repair by installing OpenOffice.org Office Suite over the original suite. This does not affect any of your existing OpenOffice.org documents.
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Making Full System Backups Through ClonezillaClonezilla is free software that lets you clone the main hard drive in your computer. It lets you back and restore your ALL your data folders and files (text, image, audio, and video), AND your Linux, Windows, or Intel-based Mac OS operating system.
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Becoming an Atheist Despite Santa and the Cosmic MonsterReligion is organized superstition that AT BEST provides supportive ceremonies, and AT WORST promotes torture and deadly violence. In contrast, atheism is objective, free thinking that lets us analyze our world clearly, without emotional distortions.
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Installing a Printer on a Linux PCThe Foomatic database, included in most Linux distributions, lets you install almost any printer. For a printer not in Foomatic, you can download a Linux driver, usually as a compressed file (such as a tar file) from which you extract the driver.
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Backing Up and Recovering Your Windows 7 SystemBacking up your entire main hard drive as a Windows 7 system image greatly simplifies reinstalling your system in case you ever need to replace that drive. Recovering from a system image restores all your data, programs, and settings.
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Securely Erasing Computer DataYou need to securely erase (shred) your data files before selling or donating your computer or its hard drives. Standard deletion methods (erasing files and folders, and even formatting hard drives) do NOT erase your data files completely.
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Adding Open Office Writer Illustrations and TablesOpen Office Writer illustrations and tables can make your document more usable. Also, if you include correctly-formatted illustration and table captions, you can add a List of Illustrations and a List of Tables below your Table of Contents.
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How to Create a Table of Contents in Open Office WriterOpen Office Writer is the word-processor application in the Open Office Productivity Suite. When you use Writer to create a formal document, you can organize it through chapter and section headings, and then add a table of contents.
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How to Dual Boot Ubuntu 9.10 And Windows 7As Ubuntu becomes more powerful and easier to use, and commercial operating systems become more expensive, many people are learning to use Ubuntu for an increasing number of their computer tasks.
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How to Balance a Checkbook with Open Office CalcOpen Office Calc is the spreadsheet application in the Open Office Productivity Suite. Using only five simple formulas, you can create a Calc checkbook-balancing worksheet that you can then use each month.
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How to Set Up Open Office Writer for Easy UseOpen Office Writer is the word processor in Open Office Productivity Suite. Setting up a few Open Office Writer adjustments and selections can simplify your writing and editing tasks.
