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WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: In the previous lesson, you learned how to create a simple query with one table. Most queries you design in Access will likely use multiple tables, allowing you to answer more complex questions. In this lesson, you'll learn how to design and create a multi-table query. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn how to create a multi-table query (Part 1). Watch the video below to learn more about joins and query criteria (Part 2). DESIGNING A MULTI-TABLE QUERY Queries can be difficult to understand and build if you don't have a good idea of what you're trying to find and how to find it. A one-table query can be simple enough to make up as you go along, but to build anything more powerful you'll need to plan the query in advance. PLANNING A QUERY When planning a query that uses more than one table, you should go through these four steps: Pinpoint exactly what you want to know. If you could ask your database any question, what would it be? Building a query is more complicated than just asking a question, but knowing precisely what question you want to answer is essential to building a useful query. Identify every type of information you want included in your query results. Which fields contain this information? Locate the fields you want to include in your query. Which tables are they contained in? Determine the criteria the information in each field needs to meet. Think about the question you asked in the first step. Which fields do you need to search for specific information? What information are you looking for? How will you search for it? This process might seem abstract at first, but as we go through the process of planning our own multi-table query you sho

www.office.com/setup Blogs: Last year, we released Microsoft Bookings to customers in the U.S. and Canada, introducing an easy way for small businesses to schedule and manage appointments with their customers. Today, we are pleased to announce that we're beginning to roll out the service to Office 365 Business Premium subscribers worldwide. Based on your feedback, we are bringing several new features to Bookings: Add your Office 365 calendar to Bookings-Connect your Office 365 calendar to Bookings, so that the times you are busy will automatically be blocked in your public Booking page. Add buffer time before and after your appointments-Do you need prep time before or after an appointment? Adding buffer time to a service automatically blocks that time in your Booking page too. Bookings apps for your iOS and Android phone-Now you can book an appointment, contact a customer or check a staff member's appointments while away from the office. Customize your Booking page-We added more color customization options, so you can better personalize your Booking page. These new capabilities will start showing up automatically in Bookings in the coming weeks. Let's take a detailed look at what's new. ADD YOUR OFFICE 365 CALENDAR TO BOOKINGS One of the top pieces of feedback we've heard is that you want to be able to add events from your Office 365 calendar to Bookings. So, we added integration between these calendars to help you avoid booking customer meetings during the time you've set aside for personal appointments, staff and partner meetings or other aspects of running your business. To add Office 365 calendars to Bookings, click the Staff tab on the left navigation panel. On the Staff details page, select the Events on Office 365 calendar affect availability checkbox. www.office.com/setup Add Office 365 calendar events to Bookings. Once you activate this option, the system automatically blocks busy times on the Bookings calendar and on the self-ser

ACCESS 2016: DESIGNING A SIMPLE QUERY MARCH 27, 2017 TRAINING / WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP ADMIN LEAVE A COMMENT WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: The real power of a relational database lies in its ability to quickly retrieve and analyze your data by running a query. Queries allow you to pull information from one or more tables based on a set of search conditions you define. In this lesson, you will learn how to create a simple one-table query. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about designing a simple query in Access. WHAT ARE QUERIES? Queries are a way of searching for and compiling data from one or more tables. Running a query is like asking a detailed question of your database. When you build a query in Access, you are defining specific search conditions to find exactly the data you want. HOW ARE QUERIES USED? Queries are far more powerful than the simple searches or filters you might use to find data within a table. This is because queries can draw their information from multiple tables. For example, while you could use a search in the customers table to find the name of one customer at your business or a filter on the orders table to view only orders placed within the past week, neither would let you view both customers and orders at once. However, you could easily run a query to find the name and phone number of every customer who's made a purchase within the past week. A well-designed query can give information you might not be able to find out just by examining the data in your tables. When you run a query, the results are presented to you in a table, but when you design one you use a different view. This is called Query Design view, and it lets you see how your query is put

In order to be taken seriously, small businesses need to convince customers of their professional ability and their value. Small businesses can punch above their weight by taking the time to go to market with a professional set of business documents, templates and content to ensure customers aren't dismissing them before they have a chance to pitch the value of their product or service. But how can small businesses deliver a professional image when they don't have the same resources as big businesses? Web-based solutions, also known as 'cloud solutions,' help small businesses maintain professional-looking documents even while collaborating and editing with employees in real-time from different locations. Gone are the days where employees hoped documents maintained proper spacing and margins; small businesses can now create materials in confidence and showcase their professional ability to customers. Below are just a few of the ways small businesses can ensure they are maintaining a professional appearance when it comes to the business communications: MAKE THE FIRST IMPRESSION A PROFESSIONAL ONE An email newsletter is often a small business' first connection with a potential customer; they can keep it professional by registering a business email domain (johndoe@yourbusiness.com) and sending all communications to customers and potential customers from there. Most cloud solutions offer a cost-efficient and easy way to customize emails with basic client information - small businesses should take the time to add a personal touch to connect with their customers. Messages should be short and to the point to ensure their email will bring value to potential customers. Email signatures should be simple, clean and professional, and employees shouldn't forget to run a spell-check before hitting send. CREATE CUSTOMER-READY DOCUMENTS Whether creating documents on an office desktop or on-the-go on a mobile or tablet device through Office Mobile Apps in Office 3

Let's say you really like the style of a theme, but you'd like to experiment with different color schemes. That's not a problem: You can mix and match colors, fonts, and effects to create a unique look for your presentation. If it still doesn't look exactly right, you can customize the theme any way you want. If you're new to PowerPoint, you may want to review our lesson on Applying Themes to learn the basics of using themes. Optional: Download our practice presentation. Watch the video to learn more about modifying themes in PowerPoint. TO SELECT NEW THEME COLORS: If you don't like the colors of a particular theme, it's easy to apply new theme colors; everything else about the theme will remain unchanged. From the Design tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Variants group and select Colors. - www.office.com/setup Blogs Select the desired theme colors. The presentation will update to show the new theme colors. - www.office.com/setup Blogs TO CUSTOMIZE COLORS: Sometimes you might not like every color included in a set of theme colors. It's easy to change some or all of the colors to suit your needs. From the Design tab, click the drop-down arrow in the Variants group. Select Colors, then click Customize Colors. - www.office.com/setup Blogs A dialog box will appear with the 12 current theme colors. To edit a color, click the drop-down arrow and select a different color. You may need to click More Colors to find the exact color you want. - www.office.com/setup Blogs In the Name: field, type the desired name for the theme colors, then click Save. - www.office.com/setup Blogs The presentation will update to show the new custom theme colors. With some presentations, you may not notice a significant difference when changing the theme colors. For example, a textured background will not change when theme colors are changed. When trying different theme colors, it's best to select a slide that uses several colors to see how the new theme colors will affect your prese

www.office.com/setup Blogs: Excel 2016 includes a powerful new set of features based on the Power Query technology, which provides fast, easy data gathering and shaping capabilities and can be accessed through the Get & Transform section on the Data ribbon. Today, we are pleased to announce 10 new data transformation and connectivity features that have been requested by customers. These updates are available as part of an Office 365 subscription. If you are an Office 365 subscriber, find out how to get these latest updates. If you have Excel 2010 or Excel 2013, you can take advantage of these updates by downloading the latest Power Query for Excel add-in. Updates include the following new or improved data connectivity and transformation features: Web Connector-UX support for specifying HTTP Request Headers. OData Connector-support for "Select Related Tables" option. Oracle Connector-improved Navigator preview performance. SAP HANA Connector-enhancements to parameter input UX. Query Dependencies view from Query Editor. Query Editor ribbon support for scalar values. Add custom column based on function invocation. Expand & Aggregate columns provide support for "Load More" values. Convert table column to a list-new transformation. Select as you type in drop-down menus. WEB CONNECTOR-UX SUPPORT FOR SPECIFYING HTTP REQUEST HEADERS With this update, we have added support for specifying HTTP Request Headers within the Web connector dialog. Users can specify header name/value pairs from the Advanced mode in this dialog. november-2016-updates-for-get-transform-in-excel-1 - www.office.com/setup ODATA CONNECTOR-SUPPORT FOR "SELECT RELATED TABLES" OPTION In this update, we have added relationship detection support for OData V4 feeds. When connecting to OData V4 feeds, users will be able to use the Select Related Tables button in the Navigator dialog to help you easily select all the tables needed for your reports. november-2016-updates-for-get-

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Access offers several options that let you design and run queries that return exactly the information you're looking for. For instance, what if you need to find out how many of something exists within your database? Or what if you would like your query results to automatically be sorted a certain way? If you know how to use query options in Access, you can design almost any query you want. In this lesson, you'll learn how to modify and sort your queries within Query Design view, as well as how to use the Totals function to create a query that can perform calculations with your data. You'll also learn about additional query-building options offered in Access. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about modifying queries. MODIFYING QUERIES Access offers several options for making your queries work better for you. In addition to modifying your query criteria and joins after you build your queries, you can choose to sort and hide fields in your query results. TO MODIFY YOUR QUERY: When you open an existing query in Access, it is displayed in Datasheet view, meaning you will see your query results in a table. To modify your query, you must enter Design view, the view you used when creating it. There are two ways to switch to Design view: On the Home tab of the Ribbon, click the View command. Select Design View from the drop-down menu that appears. Switching to Design View with the View command on the Ribbon - www.office.com/setup In the bottom-right corner of your Access window, locate the small view icons. Click the Design View icon, which is the icon farthest to the right. Switching to Design View using the View Icon - www.office.com/setup Once in Desig

As governments strive to become more responsive and transparent, it's important for them to make public information easily accessible to citizens. At the same time, it's critical that they protect confidential data. A key reason why governments choose Microsoft Office 365 is Microsoft's leadership in the industry when it comes to privacy, security, and compliance practices. In short, governments know they can trust Microsoft to help protect their data. So how does Microsoft demonstrate leadership and why exactly do governments trust Office 365 to help protect their data? Here are four reasons: We respect your privacy. Google is under criticism for its privacy practices. Office 365 does not build advertising products out of customer data, unlike other companies. Nor do we scan your email or documents for building analytics, data mining, or advertising, or to improve the service. What's more, you own your data. Office 365 customer data belongs to the customer. Customers can remove their data whenever they choose. Office 365 is independently verified. Office 365 is compliant with many world-class industry standards, and it is verified by third parties. For example, Office 365 is the first major business productivity public cloud service to have implemented the rigorous set of physical, logical, process, and management controls defined by ISO 27001, one of the best security benchmarks available in the world. In addition, Office 365 is the first major business productivity public cloud service provider to sign the standard contractual clauses created by the European Union ("EU Model Clauses") with all customers. Office 365 also implements security processes that adhere to the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) required by U.S. federal agencies and to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). With Office 365, you know where your data is located. Office 365 customers know where major Office 365 datacenters are located

www.office.com/setup Blogs: Today, we are pleased to announce the availability of Microsoft Forms for our Office 365 Education customers. Forms is the result of direct feedback from educators that they want to have a quizzing function with Office 365 Education. Educators told us they need an easy way to assess student progress on an ongoing basis. They also told us they want an assessment solution that will save them time, help differentiate instruction for all students and provide quiz takers with real-time personalized feedback. We designed Forms to be super easy so that anyone could confidently create a form and easily see results as they come in. Forms lets anyone with an Office 365 Education account create and/or respond to quizzes. What makes Forms unique and so valuable for educators is the automatic grading and in-quiz feedback functionality. Automatic grading does exactly what the name implies and greatly reduces the time spent grading. In-quiz feedback is a feature that lets quiz authors personalize messages depending how a student answers a question. For example, if a student answers a question incorrectly they may get a message, such as: "The answer is incorrect. I suggest you review chapter four as this will be on the final." HOW FORMS WORKS When an instructor wants to assess how well the students understand a given topic, they can quickly author a quiz directly from their desktop or mobile web browser. The instructor simply determines the questions they would like to ask and then chooses an answer type, such as multiple choice, text or a rating. The Forms authors can then send a link or QR code to quiz takers or embed the quiz into a web page, blog or Learning Management System (LMS), and recipients can complete the quiz on phones, tablets or PCs. And with the real-time feedback in Forms, the instructor can very quickly see where the class may need additional instruction or could advance more rapidly. Forms responses can also be exported to Mi

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: Databases in Access are composed of four objects: tables, queries, forms, and reports. Together, these objects allow you to enter, store, analyze, and compile data however you want. In this lesson, you will learn about each of the four objects and come to understand how they interact with each other to create a fully functional relational database. Watch the video below to learn more about objects in Access. TABLES By this point, you should already understand that a database is a collection of data organized into many connected lists. In Access, all data is stored in tables, which puts tables at the heart of any database. You might already know that tables are organized into vertical columns and horizontal rows. Rows and columns in an Access table - www.office.com/setup In Access, rows and columns are referred to as records and fields. A field is more than just a column; it's a way of organizing information by the type of data it is. Every piece of information within a field is of the same type. For example, every entry in a field called First Name would be a name, and every entry in field called Street Address would be an address. Fields and field names - www.office.com/setup Likewise, a record is more than just a row; it's a unit of information. Every cell in a given row is part of that row's record. A record - www.office.com/setup Notice how each record spans several fields. Even though the information in each record is organized into fields, it belongs with the other information in that record. See the number at the left of each row? It's the ID number that identifies each record. The ID number for a record refers to every piece of information contained on that row. Record ID numbers - www.office.com/setup Tables are good for storing closely related information. Let's say you own a bakery and have a database that includes a table with your customers' names and information, lik

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: HOW TO CREATE FORMS IN WORD www.office.com/setup Blogs: If you've ever used Microsoft Word, you've probably spent a lot of time customizing different options to get your document to look exactly the way you want. But have you ever created a document for other people to use? For example, let's say you're organizing a field trip and want everyone to send in their permission forms electronically. To simplify the process, you could create a form in Microsoft Word. A form allows you to create placeholders for different types of information, such as text, dates, yes-no questions, and so on. This makes it easier for everyone to know what type of information to include, and it also helps ensure all of the information is formatted the same way. We'll use Word 2013 to show you how to create a form, but this should work the same way for Word 2010 or Word 2007. You can also download our example file if you'd like to follow along. STEP 1: TURN ON THE DEVELOPER TAB Before you create form elements in a document, you'll need to activate the Developer tab on the Ribbon. To do this, click File > Options to access the Word Options dialog box. Select Customize Ribbon, then click the check box for the Developer tab. Screenshot of Microsoft Word - www.office.com/setup The Developer tab will appear on the Ribbon. Screenshot of Microsoft Word - www.office.com/setup STEP 2: ADD CONTENT CONTROLS Now you're ready to add the different parts of the form, which Word calls content control fields. To add a content control field, place your cursor in the desired location, then choose a field from the Controls group on the Developer tab. You can hover your mouse over the fields to see the different options. In this example, we're adding a text field so users can type their first names. Screenshot of Microsoft Word - www.office.com/setup The content control field will appear in the document. Screenshot of Microsoft Word - www.office.com/setup You can add severa

www.office.com/setup Blogs: Tables are another tool you can use to display information in PowerPoint. A table is a grid of cells arranged in rows and columns. Tables are useful for various tasks, including presenting text information and numerical data. You can even customize tables to fit your presentation. Optional: Download our practice presentation. Watch the video below to learn more about inserting tables in PowerPoint. TO INSERT A TABLE: From the Insert tab, click the Table command. Hover the mouse over the grid of squares to select the desired number of columns and rows in the table. In our example, we'll insert a table with six rows and six columns (6x6). inserting a table - www.office.com/setup The table will appear on the currently selected slide. In our example, that's slide 3. Click anywhere in the table, and begin typing to add text. You can also use the Tab key or the arrow keys on your keyboard to navigate through the table. adding text to a new table - www.office.com/setup You can also insert a table by clicking the Insert Table command in a placeholder. inserting a table from a placeholder - www.office.com/setup MODIFYING TABLES PowerPoint includes several options for customizing tables, including moving and resizing, as well as adding rows and columns. TO MOVE A TABLE: Click and drag the edge of a table to move it to a new location on a slide. moving a table - www.office.com/setup TO RESIZE A TABLE: Click and drag the sizing handles until the table is the desired size. resizing a table - www.office.com/setup TO ADD A ROW OR COLUMN: Click a cell adjacent to the location where you want to add a row or column. In our example, we'll select the cell that says Mystery. selecting a cell - www.office.com/setup Click the Layout tab on the right side of the Ribbon. Locate the Rows & Columns group. If you want to insert a new row, select either Insert Above or Insert Below. If you want to insert a new column, select either Insert Left or Insert Ri

WWW.OFFICE.COM/SETUP BLOGS: INTRODUCTION www.office.com/setup Blogs: After creating a form, you might want to modify its appearance. Formatting your forms can help make your database look consistent and professional. Some formatting changes can even make your forms easier to use. With the formatting tools in Access, you can customize your forms to look exactly the way you want. In this lesson, you will learn how to add command buttons, modify form layouts, add logos and other images, and change form colors and fonts. Throughout this tutorial, we will be using a sample database. If you would like to follow along, you'll need to download our Access 2016 sample database. You will need to have Access 2016 installed on your computer in order to open the example. Watch the video below to learn more about formatting forms in Access. FORMATTING FORMS Access offers several options that let you make your forms look exactly the way you want. While some of these options-like command buttons-are unique to forms, others may be familiar to you. COMMAND BUTTONS If you want to create a way for users of your form to quickly perform specific actions and tasks, consider adding command buttons. When you create a command button, you specify an action for it to carry out when clicked. By including commands for common tasks right in your form, you're making the form easier to use. Access offers many different types of command buttons, but they can be divided into a few main categories: Record Navigation command buttons, which allow users to move among the records in your database Record Operation command buttons, which let users do things like save and print a record Form Operation command buttons, which allow users to quickly open or close a form, print the current form, and perform other actions Report Operation command buttons, which offer users a quick way to do things like preview or mail a report from the current record TO ADD A COMMAND BUTTON TO A FORM: In Form Layou

Last week, we welcomed Brian Solis, Altimeter principal analyst, thought leader and book author, to Yammer HQ to give a fireside chat, followed by signing of his new book: "What's The Future of Business?" I was thrilled to interview Brian, and we covered a variety of really meaty subjects - just check out the video below! The theme of the evening was transformation - transformation that is happening in our lives as individuals, how we relate to each other through technology and what we as businesses must do to stay relevant to the connected customer. Even the book itself is transformation of the book publishing convention. Unlike a regular, information-dense business book, "What's the Future of Business" attempts to bring together the best of both worlds: hard-hitting facts and practical frameworks, as well as a visual experience. The experience of the book is just as important as the content therein. What is the future of business? The future of business is experience, according to Solis. We as connected consumers make decisions outside of the sales funnel that companies have organized themselves around. We reference experiences of consumers who came before us, and contribute our own experiences to this dynamic tapestry. When consumers share, they are reacting to an experience, and the future of any business depends on its ability to provide experiences that are worth sharing. In his talk, Brian talked about the 4 moments of truth that add up to shareable experiences. At every stage of the customer journey, it is our job as businesses to design an experience to trigger the sharing of a moment. The Zero Moment of Truth comes when the consumer is starting to explore choices and is just becoming aware of needs and possible solutions. 1st Moment of Truth happens when the consumer is ready to buy. Consumer packaged goods companies have perfected providing the right experience at this point. 2nd Moment of Truth happens after the consumer purchases,

Part of the thrill of working for the Office Division is the opportunity to tackle thorny business issues on behalf of our customers while providing them with a road map for the future. That may be why an interesting article caught my attention this week. In it, the author examined some of the investments Microsoft is making in the unified communications space. While I didn't agree with all of the conclusions it contained, the article certainly underscored the interest in communications and collaboration and how to make people more productive. Communicating and collaborating with others is really at the heart of what we do every day. Whether at work or at home, people have the need to make meaningful connections with one another. Compounding that need are the realities of the world we live in where instant access to information is expected, friends and coworkers are scattered across geographies and many adults are juggling multiple mobile devices. At Microsoft, we believe technology isn't the problem to these complexities, it's the answer. We're committed to providing capabilities that help people make sense of it all and to do so in a way that is intuitive, barrier free and agnostic to the devices on which we rely. We're incredibly proud of the fact that our long term-term vision for communications and collaboration not only marries the best of the cloud and the desktop, it's a holistic approach that spans "from the living room to the boardroom" placing people at the center of everything we do. Our communication and collaboration vision comes to life utilizing client and cloud assets, including Lync, Skype, Yammer, Outlook and SharePoint. These tools are enabling enterprise social capabilities, HD video conferencing and document collaboration as part of a highly secured, reliable and extensible platform. At the risk of looking geeky, I have to admit that I have a soft spot for Lync and it's comforting to know I'm not alone. More than 90% of

Over the past few months, customers across the globe and from a wide range of industries have chosen Office 365 to communicate and collaborate more effectively using familiar cloud based applications they know and trust. The retail industry is using technology more than ever to stay competitive while better serving the needs of their customers. In January we shared how large companies like Tescoand Helly Hansen have joined other notable brands such as, 'wichcraft, BCBG, and Sephora who are moving to Office 365 for security-enhanced access to the familiar productivity tools they rely on at all levels of their business. Office 365 has become the go-to-choice for retailers looking to move their productivity to the cloud - in fact, our retail customers employ more than 8 million people worldwide, more than the total population of Hong Kong! And it's not just retail - we're seeing businesses such as Healthcare Australia, the country's largest supplier of hospital labor, Australia's leading fuel supplier and convenience retailer Caltex, Australia's V8 Supercars, Bang and Olufsen, Barilla, and Toyota Motor Corporation who are all choosing Office 365 to remain competitive without sacrificing familiarity, privacy or security. Office 365 brings leading social and productivity tools to employees across the organization - from headquarters to the stock room to the store floor - unlocking insights and empowering employees to better serve customers. And because the service is available in packages tailored to the needs of every type of user, employees can have the power of the full Office suite at their fingertips with more flexible ways of working. From clothing to technology and all industries in between, we strongly believe one size does not fit all. We have worked to provide your business regardless of its size or your area of expertise with the perfect solution for your unique business needs. We're honored to have the opportunity to power companie

Forms are the cornerstone of business applications, and plenty of options exist to create a form in SharePoint. Which one you use will depend on your needs, technical skill and the version of SharePoint you are using. In this article we'll explore seven ways to build forms in SharePoint along with some of the pros and cons of each. All these options will be storing the data in an existing SharePoint list. SHAREPOINT LISTS Default forms are available for any SharePoint list. Create a list and you have a corresponding form to add and modify items. Options are available to organize the order of fields, format them, validate input, add basic calculations and attach files. There are also more advanced options such as limiting permissions to item owners and enabling workflows. You can modify all of these under List Settings for the list. These generic SharePoint forms are a good choice for simple applications that don't have too many columns or records and that only require basic functionality. Lists also offer a data sheet view to edit a limited set of columns, much like a spreadsheet. What you see is what you get with these basic forms. If you need to break fields up into multiple tabs, or perhaps have business logic run on them in real time, you'll need to keep on reading. And although theoretically a list can store millions of items, you can only access up to 5,000 items in any view (in reality the numbers are far lower before performance degrades considerably). Basic Sharepoint list form - www.office.com/setup SHAREPOINT DESIGNER Creating a custom form in SharePoint Designer is relatively easy. You take an existing SharePoint list and use Designer to create a new .aspx page which renders and controls the form. There are files used by a list to create forms, one each to add, edit and view. These are located in the same folder as their associated SharePoint list. With Designer you can show or hide fields based on certain criteria, change the layout, use va

Remember the vintage game "Pull the Rug Out?" It is a board game where players stack different items on top of a rug. Eventually, one of the players tries to pull out the rug without tumbling the pieces stacked on top of it. Google's recent announcement that it is phasing out several additional services, including the highly popular Google Reader, reminded me of this game, as I recall that the stack most always toppled to the ground. Google introduced Google Reader, gradually built up its popularity, and then pulled the rug out with little warning, causing its customers to stumble. As one Google customer put it: "Google spends millions of wasted dollars on pet projects, then kills one of their best products on a whim." Google's most recent spring cleaning brings the total number of services it has discontinued to 70 in just a year-and-a-half. That's right-a whopping 70 services that have been shut down in just 18 months. Among the services Google will discontinue with little warning is Google Cloud Connect, introduced with a lot of fanfare just two years ago. Cloud Connect is a plug-in that enables Google users to share and edit Microsoft Word, PowerPoint and Excel files. To continue collaborating with Microsoft Office, Google users have just four weeks to uninstall Cloud Connect and install Google Drive. Companies that can't get to it by April 30 will be out of luck, leaving them without a way to collaborate on Office documents used by millions of employees, partners, and customers. But of all the services Google is discontinuing this time, the one that's drawing the biggest backlash is Google Reader, a service used by hundreds of thousands of users to keep track of their favorite websites and blogs via RSS feeds. The news of Google Reader's shut down drew outrage from users, who put together a petition demanding that Google reinstate the service. "Our confidence in Google's other products - Gmail, YouTube, and yes, even Plus - requ