Creating a Search Folder for a domain (e.g. microsoft.com)

Being the administrator for Office 365 requires constant communication with Microsoft--especially for issues that affect all cloud users. 

I wanted an easy way to keep that email in my Inbox, but group it together. Utilizing an Outlook feature of "Search Folders" for the account, I did just that.

1. Right Click on the Search Folders icon
2.  Select "New Search Folder" 
   
   
   
   
   
3. In the New Search Folder Dialog box select "Mail from and to specific people"

4. Click on "Choose..." 
5. The Global Address List picker will pop up. 
6. In the "From or Sent to ->" field enter the domain (e.g. microsoft.com)
7. Click OK
8. Wait while your new search folder is created and populated

That's it! Now you just have to remember the folder is there to use during your daily activities.

How to update the Global Address Book in Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010

Last week I added some new distribution groups via the Exchange Management Console EMC (Exchange 2007). Normally, it only takes overnight for the Global Address Book to sync. It had been several days and still no new distribution groups showing up.

Then I remembered that I might be working with a cached copy and needed to download a new copy. Of course I forgot how to do this and searched for the solution. After viewing several dead-end articles, I came upon this great support article/tutorial at UNC-Chapel Hill which describes the process for Outlook 2007 and Outlook 2010.
 
https://help.unc.edu/help/exchange-how-to-update-the-global-address-book-in-outlook/

After downloading a new global address copy, my new distribution groups showed up.

Thank you UNC-Chapel Hill Help & Support!

Running out of diskspace? Identifying Large Folders Using Treesize

Fun day at work, wondering why my Windows 7 machine is running so slow, stalling, spinning cursor, all that cheese.

After doing some preliminary checking, it occured to me to check the diskspace. Hello. I needed to find out why I was down to 10 GB on a 140GB drive.

Searched for what people are using nowadays and ended up using this free utility program call Treesize. They, Jam Software, have other versions. But for what I needed the free version was perfect.

http://www.jam-software.com/treesize_free/

I highly recommend this program.

It was surprising to learn that my Dropbox folder was the main culprit. I need to go through and be a bit more selective on what directories I will be syncing on my work computer.
Well, I better get to it. Aloha!

Resetting WordPress Admin Password Using phpMyAdmin on BlueHost

I have several WordPress installations with my ISP bluehost.com. Recently, I needed to reset all the passwords. I searched and found this handy tutorial.

http://codex.wordpress.org/Resetting_Your_Password#Through_phpMyAdmin

Thank you WordPress for sharing this information!

Converting MP4 video to MP3 audio on a Mac

Greetings,

I recently needed to convert an .mp4 video file to .mp3 audio to create an audio CD for my mother-in-law.

Still available as of this posting, RealPlayer Converter (free) http://www.real.com/realplayer/video-converter helped me get the job done.

I simply dropped the .mp4 into the application window, selected the .mp3 format from the numerous conversion options, and clicked start.

Bam!

The conversion completed under 20 seconds (on a MacPro 3,1 early 2008). Starting with a 13.1 MB video file resulted with a 4.6 MB audio file.

Documenting this here for future reference.

--Liko

Outlook 2010 Creating a Contact Group from an Email

I received an email for a work group with a large distribution list. Instead of just replying all, I wanted to be able to compose a new message using my contact list for addresses. I found the answer here: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/outlook-help/create-and-edit-a-contact-group-formerly-distribution-lists-HA010354963.aspx

Rather simple once I learned that the Members field will accept a large amount of copy and pasted addresses.

Create a Contact Group by copying names from an email message    

1. In the message that you want to copy the names from, click the names in the To or Cc box.
2. Right-click your selection, and then click Copy.
3. In Mail, on the Home tab, in the New group, click New Items, then click More Items, and then click Contact Group.
4. In the Name box, type a name for the Contact Group.
5. On the Contact Group tab, in the Members group, click Add Members, and then click either From Outlook Contacts or From Address Book.
6. At the bottom of the Select Members dialog box, in the Members box, right-click, and then click Paste.

Many thanks to the author of the article!