Excel - online resources for the IF function

There don't seem to be a lot of online tutorials for Excel's IF function, and those I've looked at explain it pretty much the same way our workbook explains it. However, you might look at the links below:

• tinyurl.com/i0th - video demo on our website
  
• Microsoft - with 4 examples, including nested IF functions - at the IF function
  
• MakeTips - =IF Function for Value or Calculation Based on Criteria
  
  NESTED IF FUNCTIONS
  
  We don't emphasize nesting IF functions. We just look at it briefly to get a taste of what it is. Finally, we look at its limitations, experiencing how messy it gets when you nest too many IF functions; this shows us why we need the VLOOKUP function as an alternative.
  
  
  
• About.com
  
• Techon theNet
  
• The Spreadsheet Page - nested IF functions and VLOOKUP
  
• Online Investing Hacks, "Make Nested Functions Work in Excel" - interesting if you have some background in computer programming
  
• Pearson Software Consulting - interesting if you have some background in computer programming
  

Test Wed., Dec. 3

On Wednesday, Dec. 3 the Excel test will include the following topics:
* - templates
* - linking
* - protection

On Monday we will begin the IF function.

Excel - protection(locking and unlocking cells)

In addition to our own video tutorial on this topic, there is also an excellent video tutorial on YouTube over 4 minutes long with audio at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BOzMX5Mujw

Another, also quite good (it's always helpful to hear more than one way of explaining something) is at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fxm1MiTlYzM.

Excel 2003 -- links

Some of the Excel features you'll be learning are shown in our video tutorials at http://tinyurl.com/i0th.

* Linking cells between worksheets
* Cell Protection
      -- protect cells to prevent user input
* Functions
      -- IF
      -- VLOOKUP
* Conditional Formatting
      -- format cells which meet specified conditions
* Data validation
      -- validate data as it is entered
* Pivot Tables
      -- analyze an Excel database ("list") with a pivot table
* Scenarios
      -- create scenarios
      -- create a scenario summary

The videos show Excel version 2000, not 2003, but there are few significant differences.

How much are the fines in Canada for using illegally copied software?

The Canadian Alliance Against Software Theft (CAAST) is an industry alliance of software manufacturers who share the common goal of reducing software piracy. Their website describes a number of cases of companies that have paid large sums of money for installing illegal copies of software.

The CAAST website redirects you to the Buesiness Software Alliance (BSA) website. Click on Pressroom, then Archived News.

These are not, strictly speaking, fines. A group such as CAAST or the BSA make the offending company known that a court case would result in large fine, and offer to take a "settlement" instead of going to court. Offending companies nearly always comply.

my recommendations for great free software

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

Software licenses

You don't buy a piece of software; you buy a license to use the software. This week we learn about software licensing- the various kinds there are, your rights and the rights of the person who owns the copyright, and especially the kinds of licenses that give you FREE software.

So long as there is lots of great free software available (you might be surprised at how much of it there is and how good it is), being a student or not having much money is a very lame excuse for getting involved in illegal (pirate) software. With good, free software, you can do just about everything you want to do and not have to worry about getting caught and having to pay huge fines.

In our course, as you know, we use Microsoft Office, for which the TDSB has paid all the required licensing fees. It's very expensive. Luckily, as individuals we can get free copies of OpenOffice (www.openoffice.org/), which works just as well as Microsoft Office. It
- includes the equivalent of Word, Excel, Access and Powerpoint
- also includes a math component and a drawing program
- includes templates and clipart ("gallery")
- can open/save in the MS Office file formats
- can save in PDF format
- it is supported by the giant software corporation, Sun, and has lot of documentation, tutorials and so on - one good starting point is OpenOffice.org's wiki
- there is a version for just about every platform: Microsoft Windows (98 - Vista), GNU/Linux ("Linux"), Sun Solaris, Mac OS X (under X11), and FreeBSD
Screenshots (http://www.openoffice.org/screenshots/) give you an idea of the program

One goal in this unit is to give you an idea of the huge variety of great software you can download legally and for free. Just to get a quick look at a selection of the kind of applications available, browse the list at http://www.opensourcewindows.org/, "a simple list of the best free and open source software for Windows."

plagiarized songs, etc.

One especially interesting area of copyright infringement is music. There are TONS of cases of people being sued for copying (plagiarizing) other people's songs. Here are some samples.

• Timbaland
  Avril Lavigne (she fights back)
  Madonna (she lost)
  Michael Jackson 1
  Michael Jackson 2
  Michael Jackson 3
  Robbie Williams
  "How Deep Is Your Love" (The BeeGees)
  Celine Dion
  "My Sweet Lord" (George Harrison)
  "Chronicles of Plagiarism in Indian Film Music"
  
  
• Other cases of allegedly plagiarized pop songs:
  http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=plagiarism+song&btnG=Search&meta=
  Mahalo.com
  
  
• The article on plagiarism at Wikipedia has examples at
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plagiarism
  
  
• Columbia Law Library Music Plagiarism Project provides descriptions of many cases of lawsuits involving alleged copyright infringement (not all the complainants won) --
  http://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/law/library/song.html
  
  
• People have posted YouTube files showing similarities between songs (not all of them have gone to court)--
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryf0aG0X73g
  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UFdtntKPDYk
  Do you agree they're copies?
  
  
• How to avoid plagiarism in music (video)
  
  
• Writers and publishers in Canada tried to sue Staples for copyright infringment for allowing the public to use their photocopying services without controling what they were copying --
  http://www.thestar.com/article/276793