Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Elliot
Archives
This page contains resources that I have found useful in my personal and professional life. It contains everything from quotes and books that I like to podcasts and videos.
If you don’t want to scroll through the entire list, you can click on one of the links below to filter the resources by specific category.
I will update this list as I discover new resources. If you have a resource you think I should add, please email me.
Webinar – Dynamic Arrays – Advanced Functions
Price: AU$25
This is the fourth in the series and the third to focus on dynamic array functions.
This session requires the subscription version of Excel.
We will examine some advanced functions that allow you to get around a few problems you may face with dynamic arrays. We will also cover some advanced techniques and learn about custom functions.
This session covers
- the SCAN, REDUCE and MAP functions
- using wildcards for totals
- an OR condition technique for SUMIFS
- using the # symbol on the end of functions
- custom functions with and without LAMBDA
As always, I will share a few other tips along the way.
| Date: | 24/04/2024 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1:00 PM AEST |
| Event: | Dynamic Arrays - Advanced Functions |
| Topic: | Dynamic Arrays - Advanced Functions |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
Webinar – Dynamic Arrays – Intermediate Functions
Price: AU$25
This is the third in the series and the second to focus on dynamic array functions.
This session requires the subscription version of Excel.
This session covers.
- new dynamic array functions explained and demonstrated
- LET, LAMBDA, BYROW, BYCOL, TEXTSPLIT, TEXTBEFORE, TEXTAFTER, VSTACK and HSTACK
- see how to summarise a formatted table
- learn techniques to split and join text
- discover array syntax what it is and how it can be used
- see how to combine multiple ranges in a single formula
As always, I will share a few other tips along the way.
| Date: | 23/04/2024 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1:00 PM AEST |
| Event: | Dynamic Arrays - Intermediate Functions |
| Topic: | Dynamic Arrays - Intermediate Functions |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
Webinar – Dynamic Arrays – Basic Functions
Price: AU$25
This is the second in the series and the first to focus on dynamic array functions.
This session requires the subscription version of Excel.
This session covers.
- new dynamic array functions explained and demonstrated
- SEQUENCE, CHOOSECOLS, CHOOSEROWS, TAKE and DROP
- flexible loan schedule and flexible budget example
- Formatted tables and dynamic arrays
- Old functions that work well with spill ranges
- TRANSPOSE and INDEX
As always, I will share a few other tips along the way.
| Date: | 18/04/2024 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1:00 PM AEST |
| Event: | Dynamic Arrays - Basic Functions |
| Topic: | Dynamic Arrays - Basic Functions |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
What matters in life is not what happens to you but what you remember and how you remember it.
Writer and Nobel Prize winner Gabriel García Márquez
I have long understood that climate change is not only an environmental issue – it is a humanitarian, economic, health, and justice issue as well.
Environmental activist, Frances Beinecke
Be prepared to appreciate what you meet.
A Fremen proverb from Dune by Frank Herbert.
Webinar – Introducing Excel’s Form Controls
Price: Free
Duration: 1 hour
Check boxes, option buttons (aka radio buttons), scroll bar (slider) and combo boxes (drop down list) are all easy to use interfaces. You can incorporate them into your spreadsheets to make the user experience as easy and intuitive as possible.
This session will cover.
- creating and using check boxes
- creating and using option buttons (aka radio buttons)
- creating and using a scroll bar (slider)
- creating and using a combo box (drop down list)
- using range names with controls
- building a loan calculator with all four controls
There will also be a few tips and keyboards shortcuts along the way.
| Date: | 13/12/2023 |
|---|---|
| Time: | 1:00 PM AEDST |
| Event: | FREE - Introducing Excel's Form Controls |
| Topic: | Excel Form Controls |
| Public: | Public |
| Registration: | Click here to register. |
In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.
Eric Hoffer
There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
William Shakespeare, 1564-1616
The difficulties of life are meant to make us better, not bitter.
Anonymous
The greatest value of a picture is when it forces us to notice what we never expected to see.
John W Tukey, Exploratory Data Analysis
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
Robert Frost
A mind all logic is like a knife all blade. It makes the hand bleed that uses it.
Rabindranath Tagore
Four Thousand Weeks (2020)
An alternative view of being productive and striving to do the most you can, in the time you have.
Being efficient and effective is messy and a one size fits all rule based system usually won’t last or work.
Has some good ideas on what to focus on and what not to focus on.
Jean-Georges Vongerichten showed me the value in taking away, taking things off of a plate. … The more you put on the plate, the easier it is to hide. The more you take away, there’s nowhere to hide—it has to be good.
Chef Wylie Dufresne
A Conversation with Wylie Dufresne
Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.
Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961)
The Old Man and the Sea
Drop Down Selection update
Woohoo!
It has taken a decade or so but Excel finally has an in-cell drop down that you can type a letter and reduce the entries listed – see screen shot below.
Education isn’t something you can finish
Isaac Asimov (1920-1992)
The myth is that there isn’t enough time. There is plenty of time. There isn’t enough focus with the time you have. You win by directing your attention toward better things.
James Clear
Excel Has Ordinals
Woohoo, I don’t know when this happened, but you can now get Excel to extend your ordinals when you drag with the Fill Handle and use things like 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th etc.
Type 1st January in a cell and drag the cell down.
It seems to work with ordinals at the start rather than at the end of a text string. So January 1st doesn’t work. 1st by itself does work.
If you can’t make a mistake, you can’t make anything.
Marva Collins
Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will have lost the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life.
David Burns
Mistakes are painful when they happen, but years later a collection of mistakes is what is called experience.
Denis Waitley
It’s good to remember that there’s much to learn from negative experiences. In science, mistakes always precede discoveries.
John C. Maxwell
When opportunity comes, it’s too late to prepare.
John Wooden
If you’re willing to consider failure as a blessing in disguise and bounce back, you’ve got the potential of harnessing one of the most powerful success forces.
Joseph Sugarman
The most common trait I have found in successful people is that they conquered the temptation to give up.
Peter Lowe
Humility does not mean you think less of yourself. It means you think of yourself less.
Ken Blanchard
Don’t rush, but don’t wait. Act with urgency, but release yourself from the need to achieve it on a particular timeline. When you think longer term than most, you can think bigger than most. If it takes years, start now.
James Clear