Spy Journal 3.0 Filtering the web for you

I much prefer working in Excel 2007 to Excel 2003. Despite the issues with backward compatibility, there are a lot of advantages and benefits to using the new version.

Some little things that have been changed are

The previous limit on nested brackets in formulas from 7 has been increased to 64. I used this today

The number of columns and rows has increased. I used this today.

I had to develop a file for a client that involved a complex work roster arrangement to calculate days off in repeating 2, 3 or 4 week cycles for the next 20 years.

Here is the nested formula that got me the logic for a roster.

=IF($X5>=AJ$4,$X$4,IF($Y5>=AJ$4,$Y$4,IF($Z5>=AJ$4,$Z$4,IF($AA5>=AJ$4,$AA$4,IF($AB5>=AJ$4,$AB$4, IF($AC5>=AJ$4,$AC$4,IF($AD5>=AJ$4,$AD$4,IF($AE5>=AJ$4,$AE$4,IF($AF5>=AJ$4,$AF$4,$AG$4)))))))))

I then used one formula to generate over 600,000 cells and create a map that looks like this.

Check out this cute little spider that hit my desktop this morning when Jude brought it round to me. I got a couple of good photos of it but it wouldn’t sit still until i got it out onto a tree.

Anybody know what sort of spidy it is?

Time to clear the tabs in Google Chrome.

SBS2008 news is buzzing with the wrap up of the conferences stateside. Here is some important stuff.

• Susan the SBS Diva screenshots a Hyperv install of SBS2008 and follows up with some Nic settings for HyperV
• Robbie from MSFT Australia has some good technical content on SBS2008 and EBS2008.
• Australians can get their hands on training for SBS2008 and EBS2008 at discounted prices.

Robin Good’s Sharewood guide has a list of the Top 25 screen sharing tools.

Sonia Coleman has 208 free Microsoft PowerPoint templates.

I am now using Tweetdeck to manage my twitter conversations – its great!

TwitterAgency is a Virtual Advertising Agency on how to use / not use Twitter.

Brisbane mountain bike riders, check out Bushranger. They also run adventure tours in New Zealand. And if you are into horse riding the Mountain Lake Adventures crew look as if they provide a pretty decent trail riding experience just west of Brisbane.

I am so over it – and it hasn't even happened yet. Not that I care.

I'm going to predict some things.

• Obama will become president – he talks better and doesn’t want to kill everybody - (or so he says)
• He will not withdraw the troops from Iraq. Simple point in fact - he cannot.
• There will not be a decisive military victory ever in Iraq (unless they kill everybody in Iraq (McCain’s plan)
• The us economy is totally screwed – has been for 20 years – been hanging on by the eyeballs to an ever expanding inflationary money supply. I did predict this before the most recent “correction”.
• US gas prices will get to over $5 a gallon – live with it – that is still about half what we are paying.
• Racism is alive and well in the USA as is stupidity. A new president will not fix the totally screwed legal system, health system, financial system, public education system, and a whole lot of other systems that are biased against the poor, the black, the disadvantaged etc.
• Most US citizens still wont realise that there is anything outside the 48 continental states or if they are vaguely aware of that fact still won’t be able to locate anything on a map. (I learnt to draw a rough map of the world freehand when i was a teenager and fill in most of the major countries.)

My apologies to the intelligent readers of SpyJournal – but then if you had the brains to come here most of the things above don’t apply to you.

Hurry up and vote in the screwed political system that does not equal one man one vote and let life get back to normal please.