Open File Location in New Window in Windows Explorer in Windows 7

Open File Location in New Window

In Windows 7's Windows Explorer, do the following to open the folder containing a file in a new window:

1. Right-click on the file to bring up a context menu
2. Scroll down to "Open file location"
3. Hold down Ctrl and then left-click "Open file location"

Notice the above procedure is different from simply simultaneously pressing Ctrl and clicking on the file.

This can be especially helpful when after performing an extensive search one wants to evaluate a search result but don't want to keep reloading the search after evaluating each file.

Calculate Effective Interest Rate on Credit Card Loans

Calculating the interest rate on a credit card loan can be confusing because of the different interest rate terminologies and definitions.

APR

Let's take for example a loan of 10000 paid back over a one-year period with 1000 in interest added on so that at the end one ends up paying a total of 11000.

One way to compute the interest rate is to take that 1000 added on and divide by the loan amount so

1000/10000 = 10%

This interest calculation is commonly referred to as Annual Percentage Rate or APR. It is a simple calculation and, if you were to get the 10000 and then payback the loan at the end of the year as a lump sum of 11000, largely sufficient.  But for most amortized loans with a more involved payback schedule APR has the significant drawbacks of underestimating the true cost of the loan by not accounting for compounding and the time value of money.

IRR

In these cases a better computation of the cost is probably the internal rate of return or IRR.  IRR does not tend to get mentioned though perhaps because it is usually from the perspective of an investor or creditor. IRR is commonly defined as the rate at which the sum of the net present values of cash flows equals zero.  Computing IRR is better left to a financial calculator or computer since the manual computation often involves trial and error.  The accuracy of the computation is also reliant on the quality of the estimate for the discount rate applied to the net present value calculations.

Monthly Date Increase in Calc

To increase the date by a month in a series in LibreOffice's Calc spreadsheet program there are different options depending on the particular date that is to be increased.

To increment most dates  (e.g. January 12, 2000; February 12, 2000; March 12, 2000; etc.)

1. Input the first date in the series in a cell, for example cell A1
2. In the cell underneath it (i.e. cell B1) input the following formula referencing the cell above: =DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1)+1,DAY(A1))
3. Click on the cell with the formula and then drag the bottom left corner handle down to fill the column with monthly incremented dates

To increase dates at the end of the month (e.g.  January 31, 2000; February 29, 2000; March 31, 2000) a little more finesse is required. Follow the above procedure but change the formula to the following:

=DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1)+2,0)

To better understanding what is going on:
 =DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1),0) ends up referring to the last day of the previous month
 =DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1)+1,0) ends up referring to the last day of the current month
 =DATE(YEAR(A1),MONTH(A1)+2,0) ends up referring to the last day of the next month

Insert Multiple Rows in Calc or Excel

Inserting Rows in Calc or Excel Spreadsheet

To insert multiple blank rows in LibreOffice's spreadsheet program Calc, immediately underneath the point where you wish to insert the rows use shift-click to select the number of rows you wish to insert, whether they have content or not, and then right-click on the numbered column on the far left and select Insert Rows Above.

To insert even more rows, using the repeat/redo keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Y may be helpful.

Bluegriffon - Drawbacks and Weaknesses

BlueGriffon is an open source freeware WYSIWYG HTML editor.  It was created by the same developer that contributed greatly to the development of the popular Kompozer with which it shares many similarities. As a more recent project it also has added features, less bugs and better compliance with more recent HTML and CSS specifications. It uses the Gecko rendering engine behind Firefox. 

After a quick initial look here are some of the possible drawbacks and/or weaknesses that were noticed using this program.

1. There is no mouse right-click editing menu for quick copy-cut-paste operations in the source view although keyboard shortcuts can be used.
2. Empty <div> elements are automatically removed on save.
3. Extra features require paying for add-ons. 

Overall it still suffers from the Achilles heel that plagues WYSIWYG editors: a lack of control and precision.   

Cannot Edit or Save File - Access is Denied

If you are trying to save or edit a file but are getting an access is denied or file in use error determine the following and act accordingly.

File is Read Only

Select the file in Windows Explorer and choose Properties. Check to see if the box is ticked as read-only and deselect the box if it is.

File is Restricted to Administrator Access

Some files can only be accessed by administrators.  This can be a source of initial frustration for new Windows 7 users coming from Windows XP unused to the stricter security on the newer operating system.  To get around this run the accessing program as an administrator.  For example to edit a .css requiring administrator privileges, first you must have administrator privileges.  Right click on the icon of the program that will be used to open the .css file such as Notepad and select Run as Administrator. Open the .css file that you wish to edit from within Notepad, edit it and save.

File is in Use by a Running Process

Use Resource Monitor to determine what process is using the file you are having trouble accessing and close the file within that process and/or close the process.

CD-ROM DVD-ROM Behaving Strangely

CD-ROM DVD-ROM Problems

If an inserted CD or DVD is not being read consistently and/or the drive is showing that it is empty even with a disc inside and there are other problems like slowness or unresponsiveness when issuing an eject command with the disc tray only coming out part way or not opening up at all there still might be a quick fix available if the problems stems from a problem in booting up the CD-ROM/DVD-ROM controller.

Turn off the computer.  Not just a restart but a complete power down. After waiting for around 30 seconds start the computer back up.  If the computer boots cleanly and smoothly with no interruptions or odd breaks and the CD-ROM DVD-ROM is working again it may have just been a problem with the CDROM controller not initializing properly.

Another thing one can try is making sure the power is being supplied correctly. Straightening the power cables inside the case so they are untangled may solve DVD read errors. In diagnosing the problem it may help to remove other peripherals like extra hard drives that take up additional power resources.