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Mysteriously Moving Margins in Word

In Microsoft Word 2008 (and older versions), if you put your cursor in a paragraph and then move a tab or indent marker in the ruler, the change applies to just that paragraph. If your markers are closely spaced, you may have trouble grabbing the right one, and inadvertently work with tabs when you want to work with indents, or vice-versa. The solution is to hover your mouse over the marker until a yellow tooltip confirms which element you're about to drag.

I recently came to appreciate the importance of waiting for those tooltips: a document mysteriously reset its margins several times while I was under deadline pressure, causing a variety of problems. After several hours of puzzlement, I had my "doh!" moment: I had been dragging a margin marker when I thought I was dragging an indent marker.

When it comes to moving markers in the Word ruler, the moral of the story is always to hover, read, and only then drag.

 
 

27-inch iMac Display Firmware Update 1.0

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If you own a 27-inch iMac that's afflicted by the cursed screen-flickering problem, Apple's 27-inch iMac Display Firmware Update 1.0 will come as very good news. The update claims to correct the iMac's firmware to ensure proper display performance, eliminating the widespread flickering issue marring the displays of many 27-inch iMacs (see "New iMac Screens Cracking and Flickering," 10 December 2009). Be sure to follow Apple's warning not to turn your computer off during installation. More information regarding installation is also available on Apple's Web site. The update is available via Software Update or the Apple Support Downloads page. (Free, 294 KB)

 

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