Spreadsheet Day

Unlike other special days, every day is Spreadsheet Day.

Celebrating the joy and challenges of working with spreadsheets.

It's yet another Excel site by Excel MVP Debra Dalgleish. I wish I had the motivation to post so much Excel stuff.

The site is not very comprehensive, though. I went to the "Spreadsheet People" section, and didn't even see my name. What's up with that? Surely, it's just an oversight.

For those who want to know more about Debra, she will be interviewed soon at Bacon Bits. I can't wait to see if she prefers blue or red shirts. But I hereby predict that she prefers Tom over Jerry, and she'd like to have the superpower of mind reading. And I also predict that poutine will be mentioned somewhere in the interview.

P.S. This is not the Deborah Dalgleish I'm referring to: Head of Diversity and Inclusion. How can two people have that same name?

J-Walk Excel Podcasts: Complete Collection

Today I ran across three Excel podcasts that I made. I think I recorded them in 2005, when podcasting was a big deal. I was inspired by Jim Kloss.

Amazingly, they are just as relevant today as they were five years ago.

For maximum amusement, play them all at the same time.

Forever Stamp Investment Analysis

Dick Kusleika describes how to use Excel's financial function to analyze the investment potential of Forever Stamps.

Bottom line?

If we pay out $1,028.06 now and get $1,686.43 back on 1/2/2011, we will have made 101.06% on our money on an annual return basis (49.56% real increase over about 1/2 a year).

Excuse me while I go to the post office.

My Interview With Data Pig

Mike Alexander, Excel MVP and CEO of of Data Pig Technologies, is doing a series of hard-hitting interviews with other MVPs. Today he published a good one: An Interview with John Walkenbach.

I met Mike once, and that was back in 2008. But he left a lasting impression. He's one of the funniest guys I've ever met, and he eats like a pig (hence the company name). But he knows his stuff when it comes to Excel and Access. As it turns out, I'm a co-author on his latest book: Excel Dashboards and Reports.

Here's a photo I took in Seattle. I was trying to get an artistic photo of the trash can, but he kept jumping in.

Support Request

Here's an email I got: Need for Excel formula & Condtion.

i want complete learn of excel plz send me your solution of excel

I haven't yet solved Excel. I'm still working on it.

Pointy Haired Dilbert Gets Email

Until today, there was a popular Excel blog called Pointy Haired Dilbert. But now, Dilbert is gone.

Scott Adams, rightfully, objected. But he did it with class. Here's the email he sent:

I've been following your success for some time via my Google Alerts (it sends me all Internet references to Dilbert). When you were small I was ignoring your use of Dilbert and "pointy-haired" in your name, but now I think we have to have this discussion.

Obviously there's a trademark issue with any commercial use of the name Dilbert, as it is an obvious trade on the goodwill I created in the trademark. And even the pointy-haired part seems a bit unfair.

I have to have this sort of conversation to prevent "dilbert" from slipping into the public domain. I'm sure you understand.

So with that in mind, can you suggest a solution? I like what you're doing, and wouldn't want to impede your momentum, but a name change is due.

- Scott Adams

Mr. Spreadsheet Vs. Excel Addict

There's a mini-battle brewing in the Excel world, folks. It all started with a post I made at my other blog: Adventures In Book Marketing.

If you're interested, read the post and the comments. I say it's much ado over nothing. But people get riled up over the silliest things.

Workshop Announcement

I like it when people don't take themselves too seriously. Case in point, here's an announcement for an Excel/Access workshop:

Who are we? Why, we're two of the best Office solution developers this side of India.

We're not the cream of the crop. We're the surface tension on top of the cream. Look at us. Don't we look like experts to you?

It's happening in Frisco, Texas. I think that's west of Oakland.

Me And Dawkins

This is an actual email I received, just moments ago:

Dear Sir,

I am reading your book Excel 2007 Power Programming with VBA and I am delighted with the quality and clarity of your text. I am a big fan of Richard Dawkins and I find his texts excellent. Your text has similar brilliance, clarity and simplicity. Thank you.

Sincerely,
J___ H___ , Sweden

The Bible In Excel, Version 2

About four years ago I put the text of the King James Version of the Bible into an Excel workbook (see The Bible in Excel). I got carried away and added lots of stuff to the file (hyperlinks, word count, random verse generator, etc).

Today I updated it, by adding a few new bells and whistles, including a Ribbon interface (so it works only with Excel 2007 and 2010).

Download it here: King James Bible. Even if you don't care about the Bible, you might find it interesting. But you must have Excel 2007 or Excel 2010 Beta.

PUP Sale Today

What an exciting day. As I write this, it's about 45 minutes before the big PUP blowout sale begins.

The internet is all abuzz...

• Yesterday, Debra Dalgleish mentioned it, and asked, How Much Would You Pay For an Excel Utility?
• Dick Kusleika mentioned it: Everything Must Go.

How many PUP licenses will be sold during that 2-hour period? Enter your guess as a comment. The winner gets the usual prize.

Giant Once-In-A-Lifetime Software Blowout Extravaganza

I sell an Excel add-in called Power Utility Pak. Sales this year have been absolutely dismal. If the current trend continues, this will be the worst year for PUP sales since 1996. In an attempt to turn that around, we're having a GIANT TWO-HOUR BLOWOUT SALE!

Check out these prices:

• PUP v7: $7.77 (normally $40.00)
• PUP v6: $6.66 (normally $39.95)
• The complete VBA source code is available for an additional $20.00

The sale will be on Tuesday, November 3 between the hours of 11:00 am and 1:00 pm U.S. Eastern Daylight Time (that's 4:00 pm - 6:00 pm GMT).

Plus, you might win a free book. Three books will be given away. Everyone who orders PUP during this 2-hour period will be entered in a drawing to win a free Excel book. Winners choose their book (subject to availability). Each license ordered = one chance to win. Order 100 licenses, and you're practically guaranteed to win at least one book -- maybe all three. Actually, anyone who orders 100 licenses should just ask me for a book.

On Tuesday, here's where you go to order: Special 2-Hour Sale Order Form.

Office 2010 Passwords

An article from Microsoft: Enabling password rules for Office 2010.

Particularly interesting is this table, which shows how password length and content can make a big difference in its crackability. The table shows the time to "brute force the password space" assuming 10,000 attempts per second.

1.8 million years is a long time so spend cracking a password.

MVP Award Unboxing

A few days ago I got my Microsoft MVP Award. I opened it up, put it back in the box, and put the box in the garage.

A Microsoft employee in South Asia made a spoiler 9-minute video: MVP Award Unboxing.

The South Asia MVP must use a different calendar. Mine says 2009 instead of 2010. The one I got last year also says 2009.

Office 2010 Icons

Office 2010 will be sporting a new look: Microsoft Office 2010 Icon Pack. Here's the only one that really matters:

This is the most exciting icon-related event in the past three years.

(via Daily Dose of Excel)