I’ve been asked multiple times lately … How do I insert music notes or hearts into my Facebook or Twitter  status? There are thousands of characters that you can do just by pressing ALT key and a number in you key pad.

Even my friends knows how emoticons work, but these aren’t your average smiley face characters; you’re entering the strange world of ASCII SPECIAL CHARACTERS!

1) Copy ASCII symbols from here (copy paste them directly)

♥ – heart
♫ – Two musical notes
♪ – One musical note
☺ – white smiley face
☻ – black smiley face
☼ – sunshine

2) Make them yourself!

This works for some people and not for others, but each of these characters can be typed on your keyboard using the ‘alt’ button.  If you’re on a laptop make sure you ‘Num Lock’ is on!

Next, hold down ‘alt’ (the one in the bottom left of your keyboard) and press type the following:

Hold ‘alt’ then type 1 -☺ (white smiley face symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 2 -☻(black smiley face symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 3 – ♥ (heart symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 4 – ♦ (diamond symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 5 – ♣ (clubs symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 6 – � (black diamond with question mark)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 7 – • (round bullet)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 8 – ◘ (block with white circle)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 9 – ○ (unfilled white circle)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 10 – ◙  (block with filled white circle)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 11 – ♂ (man symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 12 – ♀ (woman symbol)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 13 – ♪  (One music note)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 14 – ♫ (Two music notes)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 15 – ☼ (sunburst)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 16 – ► (black triangle pointing right)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 17 – ◄ (black triangle pointing left)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 18 – ↕ (up and down arrows)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 19 – ‼ (bang bang, or two exclamation points…it’s one character)
Hold ‘alt’ then type 20 – ¶ (paragraph symbol)

Other links: http://www.how2assist.com/2010/1790/how-to-create-facebook-chat-emotions-smiley-faces/

Just like any other Windows contraption, Windows 8 comes with lots of keyboard shortcuts that can be used to quickly access specific tools or features.

Windows key: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed
Windows key + C: Access the charms bar
Windows key + Tab: Access the Modern Desktop Taskbar
Windows key + I: Access the Settings charm
Windows key + H: Access the Share charm
Windows key + K: Access the Devices charm
Windows key + Q: Access the Apps Search screen
Windows key + F: Access the Files Search screen
Windows key + W: Access the Settings Search screen
Windows key + P: Access the Second Screen bar
Windows key + Z: Brings up the App Bar when you have a Modern Desktop App running
Windows key + X: Access the Windows Tools Menu
Windows key + O: Lock screen orientation
Windows key + . : Move the screen split to the right
Windows key + Shift + . : Move the screen split to the left
Windows key + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications
Windows key + Shift + V: View all active Toasts/Notifications in reverse order
Windows key + PrtScn: Takes a screenshot of the screen and automatically saves it in the Pictures folder as Screenshot
Windows key + Enter: Launch Narrator
Windows key + E: Open
Windows key + R: Open the Run dialog box
Windows key + U: Open Ease of Access Center
Windows key + Ctrl + F: Open Find dialog box
Windows key + Pause/Break: Open the System page
Windows key + 1..10: Launch a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Shift + 1..10: Launch a new instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Ctrl + 1..10: Access the last active instance of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + Alt + 1..10: Access the Jump List of a program pinned on the Taskbar in the position indicated by the number
Windows key + B: Select the first item in the Notification Area and then use the arrow keys to cycle through the items Press Enter to open the selected item
Windows key + Ctrl + B: Access the program that is displaying a message in the Notification Area
Windows key + T: Cycle through the items on the Taskbar
Windows key + M: Minimize all windows
Windows key + Shift + M: Restore all minimized windows
Windows key + D: Show/Hide Desktop (minimize/restore all windows)
Windows key + L: Lock computer
Windows key + Up Arrow: Maximize current window
Windows key + Down Arrow: Minimize/restore current window
Windows key + Home: Minimize all but the current window
Windows key + Left Arrow: Tile window on the left side of the screen
Windows key + Right Arrow: Tile window on the right side of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Up Arrow: Extend current window from the top to the bottom of the screen
Windows key + Shift + Left/Right Arrow: Move the current window from one monitor to the next
Windows key + F1: Launch Windows Help and Support
PageUp: Scroll forward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
PageDown: Scroll backward on the Modern Desktop Start screen
Esc: Close a charm
Ctrl + Esc: Switch between Modern Desktop Start screen and the last accessed application
Ctrl + Mouse scroll wheel: Activate the Semantic Zoom on the Modern Desktop screen
Alt: Display a hidden Menu Bar
Alt + D: Select the Address Bar
Alt + P: Display the Preview Pane in Windows Explorer
Alt + Tab: Cycle forward through open windows
Alt + Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through open windows
Alt + F: Close the current window Open the Shut Down Windows dialog box from the Desktop
Alt + Spacebar: Access the Shortcut menu for current window
Alt + Esc: Cycle between open programs in the order that they were opened
Alt + Enter: Open the Properties dialog box of the selected item
Alt + PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the active Window and place it in the clipboard
Alt + Up Arrow: Move up one folder level in Windows Explorer (Like the Up Arrow in XP)
Alt + Left Arrow: Display the previous folder
Alt + Right Arrow: Display the next folder
Shift + Insert: DVD Load CD/DVD without triggering Autoplay or Autorun
Shift + Delete: Permanently delete the item (rather than sending it to the Recycle Bin)
Shift + F6: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + F10: Access the context menu for the selected item
Shift + Tab: Cycle backward through elements in a window or dialog box
Shift + Click: Select a consecutive group of items
Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program
Shift + Right-click on a Taskbar button: Access the context menu for the selected item
Ctrl + A: Select all items
Ctrl + C: Copy the selected item
Ctrl + X: Cut the selected item
Ctrl + V: Paste the selected item
Ctrl + D: Delete selected item
Ctrl + Z: Undo an action
Ctrl + Y: Redo an action
Ctrl + N: Open a new window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + W: Close current window in Windows Explorer
Ctrl + E: Select the Search box in the upper right corner of a window
Ctrl + Shift + N: Create new folder
Ctrl + Shift + Esc: Open the Windows Task Manager
Ctrl + Alt + Tab: Use arrow keys to cycle through open windows
Ctrl + Alt + Delete: Access the Windows Security screen
Ctrl + Click: Select multiple individual items
Ctrl + Click and drag an item: Copies that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Shift + Click and drag an item: Creates a shortcut for that item in the same folder
Ctrl + Tab: Move forward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Tab: Move backward through tabs
Ctrl + Shift + Click on a Taskbar button: Launch a new instance of a program as an Administrator
Ctrl + Click on a grouped Taskbar button: Cycle through the instances of a program in the group
F1: Display Help
F2: Rename a file
F3: Open Search
F4: Display the Address Bar list
F5: Refresh display
F6: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
F7: Display command history in a Command Prompt
F10: Display hidden Menu Bar
F11: Toggle full screen display
Tab: Cycle forward through elements in a window or dialog box
PrtScn: Take a screen shot of the entire screen and place it in the clipboard
Home: Move to the top of the active window
End: Move to the bottom of the active window
Delete: Delete the selected item
Backspace: Display the previous folder in Windows Explorer Move up one folder level in Open or Save dialog box
Esc: Close a dialog box
Num Lock Enabled + Plus (+): Display the contents of the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Minus (-): Collapse the selected folder
Num Lock Enabled + Asterisk (*): Expand all subfolders under the selected folder
Press Shift 5 times: Turn StickyKeys on or off
Hold down right Shift for 8 seconds: Turn FilterKeys on or off
Hold down Num Lock for 5 seconds: Turn ToggleKeys on or off

Domain Web Scam Alert

Few days ago a scammer trying to use one of the oldest and most effective scams in the book, the Domain Appraisal Scam. This scam works when the scammer sends you an email indicating they would like to buy your domain name. You get all excited and send back a price, magically they agree, but first they want to see an appraisal from a “trusted” source. The scammer wanted to buy www.how2assist.com and he did not care the price.

In most of these scams they reference a blog post which recommends them, this site is also run by the scammer. The scammer owns the appraisal site and the blog, so when you get your appraisal they keep the money and disappear.

This scam has been going on for years now and I have always been committed to alerting the community to these the moment I know about them. The latest scam comes from the alias Michael Berlinski with an email address from cheap-web-hosting-search.com. IF you receive an email from this person, do not use their appraisal service, this is a scam not a real offer on your domain.

The email you will receive should look something like this:

Hello!

 I'm interested in purchasing how2assist.com. 

Please let me know your price. We are investing money in domains. Our company offers different hosting solutions. We have branches in several countries and help our clients to find a web hosting solution that fit their needs. If you have more domain names for sale, please email me the list with prices. 

 Best Regards,

 Michael Berlinski 

 President 

 Hosting Net Solutions Inc. 

 - - - * * * Then Followed by another email * * * - - - 

 In order to process with the deal I need two things:

 1. Please send me an appraisal certificate.  Even if you don't have a traffic they will value your domain.

 2. We'd like to know your property has no problems with trademarks. Some good appraisal companies include this option in the valuation report. 

 Please don't worry. This is not a complicated process. It takes only 2-4 minutes to order online and wait about 24 hous for the results. Please take into account, I'm not a novice and don't accept free or automated valuations. I asked in the forum about reliable and independent valuation services with the trademark verification option. Please read this information:

http://www.forum-windows-club.com/Archive/751642903.htm

 If the valuation comes higher you can change your asking price. After you send me the professional evaluation with the trademark verification via email (usually it takes one day to obtain it) we'll be doing the business. What is your preferred payment method:  Escrow.com, International wire transfer, PayPal.com or something else? 

 Best regards, 

 Michael Berlinski 

 President 

Please help spread the word so that nobody else falls for this scam. As always I will continue to alert you the moment I know of a new scammer. If you know have received an email from one of these scammers please feel free to share it in the comment section below.


NOTE: If you are looking a place to sell your domain names try using SEDO.COM. It looks good and they take a commission of 15% – 20% when you it actually sell and most of the transferring is done by them.