Change the Duration and Transparency of Email Notifications
Here is a quick way to control how the pop up email notification (also known as desktop alert or toast) acts and looks in Outlook 2007.

• Go to Tools, then Options in the menu
• On the preferences tab, in the E-mail section click on the “E-mail Options…” button
• Click on the “Advanced E-mail Options…” button
• Click on the “Desktop Alert Settings…” button

From this window you can control how long your Desktop Alerts appear for, and how transparent they are. By default, your email notification/popup/desktop alert/toast will appear for 7 seconds. The minimum you can set this to is 3 seconds, the maximum is 30 seconds. As for transparency, the default is 20%. It can be solid (0%) or can go to a maximum of 80% transparency. Any more and you couldn’t see it...

Turn On or Off New Email Notifications
Some people like them… some people hate them. That’s right, we are talking about new email notifications. It doesn’t matter what you call them… the popup thing in the bottom right hand corner… the envelope down the bottom beside the time… the toast… some people love them, and some people hate them.

• In the menu, click on Tools, then Options
• On the preferences tab, in the E-mail section, click on the “E-mail Options…” button
• Click on the “Advanced E-mail Options…” button
• Look for the “When new items arrive in my Inbox” area
• Tick or untick all the notifications you want to receive

Note that there are four notifications that Outlook can give you when you receive an email in your Inbox. From the Advanced E-mail Options window, you can control each of these as you wish. Now you wont get distracted by email when you want to be productive.

• Play a sound
• Briefly change the mouse cursor
• Show an envelope icon in the notification area
• Display a New Mail Desktop Alert (default Inbox only)

Nudge Charts
You can nudge most PowerPoint shapes using the arrow keys, but not charts. If you select a chart and press the arrow keys, it selects different sub-shapes within the chart rather than moving the chart. Instead, press the Ctrl key, then select the chart. Instead of the usual chart selection frame, you'll see little circles at each corner of the chart, and you'll be able to nudge the chart with the arrow keys or use Ctrl+ArrowKey to nudge in 1 pixel increments.

Nudge Smart Art
To select an entire SmartArt diagram (so you can nudge or otherwise work with it) rather than one of its component shapes, click anywhere in the SmartArt diagram then press ESC.

Guides
To display the guides:

• Press Alt+F9
• Click Home | Arrange | Align | Grid Settings (or similar sequence on the Drawing Tools Format tab)
• Right-click off the slide, choose Grids and Guides from the popup menu, then put a check next to "Display drawing guides on screen
• Note: You can hold down the Control key and drag a guide to get additional guides.

Note of Interest:
Most of the rambling diatribe contained within this section is taken directly from Microsoft website or Wikipedia. Method of madness centers on; I fail to find anything remotely positive to write about Microsoft’s latest over-rated incarnation. Do I use this product? Yes. Is it worth the price and inconvenience to learn? No... My reasons for learning this latest nightmare are directly related to current job function. Basically stated and reduced to simplest terms, I am paid to answer computer questions for those better suited to use Crayola Crayons, and it’s inevitable my employer shall eventually support this product.