Welcome to the October issue of MicroMetric's TipSheet. This monthly newsletter is targeted at addressing the needs of our customers. This month we'll start off with Y2K information, and then give some more Keyboard tips. WASHINGTON, DC 11:00 EST Wednesday, September 22, 1999 - With 100 days left to the final day of the millennium, U.S. Senator Robert F. Bennett (R-Utah), Chairman of the Senate Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem, today released a 288-page report outlining national and international preparedness for the millennium date change -- also known as the Y2K glitch -- which Bennett said is "just as likely to cause problems across the street as across the country." "Though we have seen continued progress during the past eight months, and we are more confident than ever that a nationwide catastrophe will not occur, we cannot help but be wary of the view by some that this will be a problem for other people," said Bennett. "We have always been cautiously optimistic, but it would be imprudent not to recognize that all problems, no matter where they are, are local problems. The Y2K problem has the potential to affect you in your town, on your street." In addition to concerns regarding nationwide Y2K readiness in industries such as health care, Bennett said there is mounting evidence that Y2K problems are more likely to occur sporadically, on a community-by-community basis. Citing a survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), the Committee's report states that 1.4 million small business owners, from nearly 10% of all small businesses, plan to "take no action at all," despite increased concern among business owners working to prepare their organizations for the millennium date change. "The Nation's 14.5 million small businesses fulfill a crucial role in the country's economy, providing 51 percent of the total private sector output," said Bennett. "The Y2K problems of one business can easily affect business partners, suppliers, customers, employees and communities. To prevent chain-reaction problems resulting from Y2K, small business owners should not wait until it's too late to identify and deal with their Y2K vulnerabilities." [Executive Summary, US Senate Report]
A reader asks: "Is there a keyboard function that acts like a right-mouse click?" Absolutely. Highlight the item whose context menu you'd like to display, then press Shift-F10. Who knew?
You know you can press the Backspace key to go back a page in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4/5. A subscriber points out that you can go forward a page by pressing Shift-Backspace. In almost all Windows applications, pressing Shift reverses the navigation. For example, if you use the Tab key to jump from field to field, you can move backward, retracing your steps, by holding down the Shift key while you press Tab. You can also move forward in IE 4/5 by pressing Alt-right arrow key. To navigate forward with even greater precision, click the arrow to the right of the Forward button, which will open a drop-down list of choices.
If you're working in Microsoft Internet Explorer 4 and want to get to your hard disk's root folder, all you have to do is type a backslash, '\', into the Address Bar and press Enter. To get back to your Web page, click the Back arrow.
In a previous tip, we mentioned that you can close an active window without the mouse by pressing Alt-F4. In response, several of you offered the following alternative that's easier on the fingers: Press Alt-spacebar, then press C.
A reader writes: "Is there a key combination to maximize a window in Windows 95?" Just as you can minimize a window using the keyboard (select Alt-spacebar, then press N for Minimize), there's a similar combination for maximizing a window: Press Alt-spacebar, then press X for Maximize. (Tip: To restore the active window to its less-than-screen-size state, press Alt-spacebar, then press R for Restore.)