Ars Technica: This week, instead of doing a strict list for our Week in Review, we've decided to highlight some of the reactions to the best and most important stories of the week. If this isn't for you, fear not! Since Ars' redesign last year, we've kept a "Top Stories" box on the front page (center column, scroll about halfway down), from which you can catch up on the most viewed stories of the week.
2 comments:
I'm not surprised that Excel made the news twice this week - it's a very diverse and variable tool. I have learned so much more about it just from taking PRM, and I can only imagine the world of possibilities more advanced users see with it. Many common computer users assume that it's just for making simple spreadsheets. While, yes, it does work well for that purpose, there is so much more that may not be readily apparent to those users. There are an infinite number of formulas to be manipulated for any purpose one may think of. I hope that more people can stop seeing Excel as just a simple application and recognize it for the many complex jobs it may help to accomplish.
I've started doing a lot more with Excel than I thought possible, and the worst part is I know I'm doing it all wrong. A lot of projects I might have done in a word processor or publishing program I now do in Excel. I find the ease of adjusting and copying layouts, tables and themes, along with the computational abilities, fits my needs for any project where I am compiling different types of information, like images, text and data. I know it is possible to marry Excel and AutoCAD through a Data Link. I want to explore this option to produce project packets that include drawings, materials information, finish example images, scheduling information, and all the other myriad details that go into a successful project. I think this is a hidden potential in the design process that could alleviate some of what I see as the "clunkiness" of how I currently include textual and graphical information on drawings.
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