Lifting The Lid On Computer Filth

Office workers are exposed to more germs from their phones and keyboards than toilet seats, scientists reveal.
A desk is capable of supporting 10 million microbes and the average office contains 20,961 microbes per square inch, according to research at the University of Arizona.

"Desks are really bacteria cafeterias."
Charles Gerba, microbiologist

The key offenders:
- telephones, which harbor up to 25,127 microbes per square inch
- keyboards average 3,295 microbes per square inch
- computer mice hold as many as 1,676 microbes per square inch.
The average toilet seat contains 49 microbes per square inch.

"When someone is infected with a cold or flu bug the surfaces they touch during the day become germ transfer points because some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours."
- ibid

"An office can become an incubator."
- ibid

"The superhighways for bacteria are hands and the surfaces we touch."
- Professor Sally Bloomfield, microbiologist

A solution?
Dr Gerba's study found bacteria levels increased drastically during the day, peaking after lunch. Food spills can support mini eco-systems. The study found that where office workers clean their desks with disinfecting wipes, bacterial levels were reduced by 99%.

"Without cleaning, a small area on your desk or phone can sustain millions of bacteria that could potentially cause illness."
- Gerba, ibid

British microbiologist Professor Sally Bloomfield said the study reinforced the need for good hygiene practice both at work and in the home. "Viruses are transferred by our hands, especially cold viruses." She said it was impossible to turn our surroundings into sterile zones, but we can minimise the risk by washing our hands regularly and using alcohol-impregnated wipes on office objects like phones and keyboards.

MS Outlook: Filter Your Inbox

You can quickly filter the e-mails in your Inbox and display only those that match certain criteria. To do this,
- from the View menu, choose Current View
- then Customize Current View
- then Filter.
- type the text to search for or set the other filter options
- choose OK twice.

Now you'll see only matching entries in your Inbox, and the words Filter Applied will appear in the top right of the window.
To undo the filter, open up the same screen and select Clear All and click OK.

MS Outlook: Organize Incoming e-mail Automatically

Color-coding e-mail messages automatically as they arrive in your Inbox can help alert you to messages from a VIPs (such as your employer, or important clients).

To do this,
- click the Organize button on the standard toolbar
- then select the Using Colors option
- In the field next to Color Messages From
- type in the desired name
- select a color (red is the default)
- click the Apply Color button.

What's The Opposite of "....Like Watching Paint Dry"

How about watching time-lapse photography?

Kids' Site: Cyberbee

Follow cyberbee to learn about nature, politics, math and more. Listen to music from almost 100 years ago or learn how to become a detective.

Schedule Events To Run More Than Once Per Day

Some programs can be set in Windows to run automatically. The Windows scheduler does not appear to allow executions more than once daily. But with a little extra work, you can schedule them as often as you like.

Here's the drill. It works for Windows 98, ME, 2000 and XP.
1. Click Start>>Programs (All Programs in XP)>>Accessories>>System
Tools>>Scheduled Tasks
2. Double-click Add Scheduled Task. Click Next.
3. Click the program you want to start. Click Next.
4. Select Daily>>Click Next. Set the time and select Every Day.
5. Set the start date. Click Next.
6. Check "Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish."
7 .Click Finish. Select the Schedule tab and click Advanced.
8. Select "Repeat task." Select any settings needed. Click OK>>OK.