Articles written by: New Horizons

Mar 19, 2021

Microsoft Office 365 – get to the next level

With over 120 million active monthly users, it is hard to think of a world without Microsoft Office 365. It’s probably so common in practise that you don’t […]

Mar 16, 2021

Welcome to Oracle 18c

Where did Oracle 18c come from? Keen followers of the Oracle software might be surprised to hear the Oracle Database 18c is now available on the Oracle Cloud and […]

Mar 14, 2021

The Modern Age of Intranets

An intranet is a private and secure website within a company, with the traditional main purpose of sharing company information, computing resources and facilitating […]

Mar 07, 2021

Slow Connection is an Instant Deal Breaker

  Let`s be honest, if this page had taken more than 10 seconds to load you wouldn`t be here. Patience online is at an all time low, but that’s […]

Mar 05, 2021

The Scrum Project Management Framework

Scrum is an Agile framework for completing complex projects. Even though Scrum was initially intended for software development projects, Scrum has become recognized as […]

Feb 27, 2021

Cisco releases Annual Cybersecurity Report

With the development of ransomware, evolutions in Malware and encrypted web traffic becoming a vulnerability, 2017 was a dangerous time to be online. With the release of […]

Feb 20, 2021

VMware Certifications: Climbing the VMware certification ladder

Claiming a spot in the top 10 of 25 leaders in the Fortune Top 50, VMware is showing off its leadership. Coming in 6th just after great leaders such as Tesla, Facebook […]

Feb 19, 2021

Oracle Certifications: A visible way to demonstrate your knowledge

Many businesses are using Oracle software products. Oracle is the leading international supplier of enterprise software solutions for business information management. It […]

Feb 15, 2021

Microsoft Certifications: the why and the how

Certifications fuel new and valuable careers, they will help you get noticed and move forward in your career. Do you want to get the skills to get hired quickly or get […]

Feb 14, 2021

Comptia Certifications: Why you should get CompTIA certified

With projections of the global information technology industry growing at a rate of 5.0% in 2018, it leaves industry executives confident heading into 2018. Now, whether […]

Feb 12, 2021

Impress your boss with your data-driven Microsoft skills

  Nowadays, when it is all about data, it gives you an edge if you are a data-driven worker. We all know how extensive Excel is, and have probably, often […]

Feb 08, 2021

How to deal with Big Data

Is your company collecting and using Big Data for commercial opportunities? What happens when there is a data breach? Is your company ready to actively protect whilst […]

Feb 08, 2021

How to leverage on data-driven marketing strategies

It is all about data. In 2018 it is no longer an option to ignore data-driven marketing strategies. A lot of CMO’s are already aware of this and realise their […]

Feb 07, 2021

Do you really want to take innovation seriously in 2018?

The start of the new year is a time to reflect not only on your business but also on your personal life and on your career. It is the perfect opportunity to have a sit […]

Jan 31, 2021

Microsoft and Cisco team-up to fix Azure ExpressRoute Network Issues

The cloud world is full of benefits, it is a huge enabler of innovation for organisations, but it also increases complexity. A transition to the cloud also means […]

Jan 23, 2021

Certification News from Oracle

Upgrading to Oracle Database 12c R2 Administration Certified Professional with One Exam  Customers who are currently an Oracle Database 11g or 12c Administrator […]

Nov 28, 2020

The Skills Required for Tomorrow’s Technology Practitioners

The Skills Required for Tomorrow's Technology Practitioners We are all familiar with STEM subjects: Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths. But the notion of […]

Nov 22, 2020

Amazing Cities and Sites in Australia

Amazing Cities and Sites in Australia Blog by Kieran Howard – San Francisco, USA Australia is a big, beautiful country to explore. The large cities Sydney, […]

Nov 20, 2020

Project Management Careers in Australia

Project Management Careers in Australia Blog by K Howard – San Francisco, USA Project management is a great career; it is interesting and provides long-term […]

Oct 23, 2020

From Bulgaria to Australia

Blog by Hristo Hristov, Bulgaria Hristo Hristov, was the winner of the June 2017 New Horizons Sweepstakes competition. The prize was the opportunity to select 1 of 6 […]

Oct 03, 2020

The Most Amazing Trip In My Life!

Blog by Raya Zaharieva, Bulgaria Raya Zaharieva, was the winner of the 2017 New Horizons Sweepstakes competition. The prize was the opportunity to select 1 of 6 […]

Sep 27, 2020

Disrupted Student Support

Are you a student affected by the closure of a college or cancellation of VET HELP contracts? Over the past few months more than 16,000 students in Australia have had […]

Aug 18, 2020

Study in Australia they said. No contest I said!

Blog by Erica Takoch, Pittsburgh, USA  I remember filling in the entry form. Win a trip to study abroad it said. When they called to tell me I'd won New […]

Feb 03, 2021

A good presentation is not about you

A good presentation is prepared, organised and, unlike Dilbert's, well-structured. As a presenter, however, this is not where your focus should be. The […]

Jan 23, 2021

What you need to know to conduct a job interview

Everyone knows that job interviews are stressful: often, however, the interviewer is under more pressure than the candidate! A hiring manager needs to ask the right […]

Jan 20, 2021

Tips to avoid creative burnout

Feeling burnt out is normal. Creative work takes a lot of energy – which get sapped for many reasons: a mental block, emotional barriers, work habits, personal […]

Jan 19, 2021

Can you trust Marketing with your Social Media play?

Before all my good friends and colleagues in the profession of Marketing get up in arms…I am not the enemy. Social Media has been the marketer’s baby ever since we all […]

Jan 17, 2021

Better together: Power BI and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) 2016

Microsoft’s unified Power BI/SSRS combination is rapidly becoming one of the best reporting toolkits available. Much is of this is thanks to the MS acquisition of […]

Jan 12, 2021

Is Social Selling anything more than just a buzzword?

Is Social for Sales…or is it a bunch of tall tales? If you are in the profession of sales…is Social merely a distraction from doing meaningful work? It only […]

Jan 10, 2021

What can we expect from Microsoft in 2017?

What happens when you stop being afraid? Ask Microsoft! The Redmond-based company that built its fortune on Windows seems willing to break more than a few digital eggs […]

Jan 09, 2021

Our most popular Office Applications blog posts of 2016

2016 was a diverse year for New Horizons. Our trainers worked on Office 365 productivity projects; taught dozens of advanced Excel classes; helped budding designers […]

Dec 16, 2020

How to have a safe, happy, and productive holiday season

New Horizons Australia would like to thank you for your support this year. We are grateful to have been a part of your organisation's learning and professional […]

Dec 13, 2020

Why focus on company culture?

Why should you care about “culture”? “Culture is how organisations ‘do things’.” — Robbie Katanga Culture is consistent, […]

Nov 30, 2020

Feel safe with Advanced Security Management for Office 365

Gain more security… with less risk! Advanced Security Management is a new Office 365 capability, which offers: Detection of high-risk and abnormal […]

Nov 28, 2020

Microsoft Planner: Work together effortlessly

Get more done…with less chaos! Planner is a new teamwork management platform in Office 365 that helps you: Organise work visually Collaborate around […]

Nov 25, 2020

How to: Create a company style guide

One of the most essential documents any business can have is a company style guide. Yet, not many do. A style guide ensures that all internal or external […]

Nov 21, 2020

Take control of your IT operations with System Center 2016

How simple and agile is the management of your IT operations? Microsoft System Center 2016 has substantial new capabilities to help you manage and monitor your […]

Nov 18, 2020

Skype for Business Server – As scalable as you need it to be!

Skype for Business serves a wide range of purposes, from simple IM and Presence functionality up to Enterprise Voice and Video. You will choose the appropriate edition […]

Nov 16, 2020

How powerful are your presentations?

Microsoft PowerPoint can be your most powerful ally in a presentation (pun definitely intended). You can also make the fatal error of letting PowerPoint drag your […]

Nov 09, 2020

The power of creation at your fingertips

AngularJS has become a framework of choice for a very large community of developers – and designers – over the past six years.  Angular 2 is a fork in the road, […]

Nov 07, 2020

3 TED Talks on the importance of failure

What do you imagine the road to success to be? Is it a one-way road to the top – or a long journey over hills and valleys, full of twists and turns? Most probably you […]

Oct 25, 2020

OneDrive to rule them all

What could be more mundane than file storage? When we think OneDrive, we think of a place to save stuff, in the cloud – and that’s about it. But are we […]

Oct 19, 2020

Does good design sell itself?

You may be a great designer, but if you can't confidently present your work to clients (and set expectations when they get impatient!) you risk losing […]

Oct 13, 2020

Your essential guide to performance feedback

End of year performance reviews are not most people’s favourite conversations. Even if you don’t have formal reviews, you most probably have to deliver some feedback to […]

Oct 05, 2020

Why we all need Emotional Intelligence

We hear a lot about Emotional Intelligence, especially in publications focused on business and leadership. Which of the claims are true, and what is exaggerated? Is […]

Sep 29, 2020

Put your Photoshop skills into practice

Want to put your Photoshop knowledge into practice but don't know where to start? We've got the solution for you! We've found some creative tutorials […]

Sep 26, 2020

Unleash creativity in the workplace

Whether you work in a creative industry or field, or not – encouraging creativity in your workforce can have a lot of positive outcomes. In particular, a building […]

Sep 23, 2020

How to get the most out of Outlook

We are all aware that Microsoft Outlook is a powerful application, but most of us just use it to send and receive emails. Microsoft Outlook also allows you to manage […]

Sep 21, 2020

Convert imagination into art with Adobe Capture

Your smart phone is your sidekick, your passage into the world of social networking and, with Adobe Capture, it's your paint brush and canvas. Wherever you find […]

Sep 20, 2020

See the blue through the clouds with Microsoft Azure!

Microsoft Azure offers a plethora of services, some being software as a service (SaaS), others Platform as a service (PaaS), and the most well-known being Azure […]

Sep 14, 2020

Mastering InDesign

Adobe InDesign is an extremely powerful application that allows you to take page design to a whole new level with a combination of application features and creative […]

Sep 13, 2020

3 TED talks on habit

Habits – we all have them, be they positive or negative. Habits are behaviours that have become automatic because we’ve simply done them so many times. We have to be […]

Sep 12, 2020

Excelling in Excel

Microsoft Excel is packed with features, libraries of formulas, and comes with an increasing number of intuitive abilities. Excel is the most powerful spreadsheet […]

Sep 09, 2020

How to improve your business writing

Business communication is the foundation upon which an organisation can build itself up, and it can be the reason the organisation falls. Within communication, business […]

Sep 07, 2020

Float workloads into the cloud with Microsoft Azure

Most of us have applications in one or more public clouds. Microsoft’s Azure Cloud is one of the largest platforms, with a very competitive pricing model – and a growing […]

Sep 01, 2020

Are you using these features in Microsoft Word?

We are all familiar with Microsoft Word – and many of us use it every day of the working week. Despite our frequent use, many of us are yet to discover some really […]

Aug 30, 2020

Our most popular Excel blog posts

Microsoft Excel is an extremely powerful application that allows you to have meticulous control over your data and reporting. The first step to achieving control is […]

Aug 29, 2020

Beginner in design? Here is what you need to know

Have you just begun your Graphic Design journey? Thankfully, there are people here to help! Learn a few secrets that designers rarely admit to, what the 5 ingredients […]

Aug 26, 2020

Designer’s guide on the Golden Ratio – Why it matters

Maths and art – how are they related? The Golden Ratio is a special ratio that is used in many great works of art, as well as in contemporary designs. It’s also known […]

Aug 25, 2020

Win the next productivity award with Microsoft Project

Are you spending a lot of time in Microsoft Project? Do you want to cut down time updating your project schedule and spend more time on the actual project? Check out […]

Aug 24, 2020

Managing performance – The good and the bad

Performance management – a significant part of every manager’s job, and a highly resented one. Managers are constantly working to deliver high productivity by […]

Aug 23, 2020

Master the art of masking in Photoshop

Masking is one of the most important and powerful tools a user can learn to implement in Adobe Photoshop. It is also a process that can be tricky to learn. Why is […]

Aug 22, 2020

Learn to lead and inspire people with these TED Talks

“If you hire people just because they can do a job, they'll work for your money. But if they believe what you believe, they'll work for you with blood and sweat […]

Aug 17, 2020

Four ways you can create a better workplace

There are several factors such as office politics, abundance (or lack of) resources, leadership, and relationships with colleagues that have an impact on employee […]

Aug 16, 2020

Handling difficult conversations at work

No matter what position you are in at work, tough conversations are inevitable. Whether you are dealing with difficult people, are having to apologise for a mistake you […]

Aug 12, 2020

Your next presentation … nailed!

Being able to communicate effectively is an integral part of business success, and having the ability to confidently deliver a speech or presentation is an important […]

Aug 10, 2020

Excel Shortcuts you will thank us for

Excel is a powerful spreadsheet. Whether you’re an accountant, marketer, teacher, or engineer who uses Excel, there is no doubt that creating reports is time-consuming. […]

Aug 09, 2020

Don’t risk your confidential data – protect it with symmetric encryption

Rapid advances in technology are transforming the ability of every individual and organisation to better collect, analyse, and use its information. Despite the benefit […]

Aug 08, 2020

Automation control at your fingertips

We all know that Photoshop is a powerful hands-on image editing tool, but sometimes simple tasks can get repetitive and tedious. Fortunately, Adobe Photoshop has a host […]

Aug 05, 2020

Is your email inbox overloaded? Use these clever tips to manage it.

Trying to stay on top of emails does not have to be a losing battle. Take charge of your mailbox and efficiently manage your unread emails with below tips from New […]

Aug 04, 2020

Round and round again with Excel

When you work with numbers in Microsoft Excel you will often come across decimal numbers which need to be rounded off. Luckily, there are a variety of formulas to use to […]

Aug 03, 2020

Ready, set, goals

Goal setting is a powerful process for setting direction, whether it is within the work force or on a more personal level. Setting goals keeps you focused; it gives you […]

Aug 02, 2020

4 guides to help you become a PowerPoint pro

There is nothing more painfully boring than sitting through a presentation that is delivered alongside dozens of identically-themed PowerPoint slides filled with just […]

Aug 01, 2020

Tailoring your document with Styles

The process of applying direct formatting is tedious and can often result in a document that looks messy and inconsistent. A simple solution to this is to use Styles. […]

Jul 15, 2020

5 posts to help you become a better communicator

Whether it’s downwards, upwards, or across, ensuring your communication is clear, concise and strategic is the key to getting the wanted outcomes. New Horizons’ […]

Feb 11, 2021

Slugging it out, and the need to bleed

Adobe InDesign – Bleeds and Slugs Bleed and slugs are meant to be cut off after printing. Therefore you don't want them on the […]

Apr 03, 2021

Have a hot cross bun filled Easter!

It’s that time of the year where hot cross buns are plentiful and chocolate becomes an additional meal in our day! The team at New Horizons would like to wish you all a […]

Apr 02, 2021

Top 10 posts you may have missed from March

Indexed member initialisers in C# 6 By Newton Godoy | Mar 4th, 2015 The new C# 6 compiler was […]

Mar 03, 2021

Top 10 posts you may have missed from February

What is a Concordance File? By Liz French | Feb 26th, 2015 If you are doing long documents […]

Feb 03, 2021

Top 10 posts you may have missed from January

Windows 10 – Technical Preview By Barend Koekemoer| Jan 29th, 2015 So Windows 10 has arrived, at […]

Feb 02, 2021

DMOC: The evolution of Microsoft’s Official Courseware

I love reading books, especially when they are perfectly-bound. No one can dispute the feeling of opening a newly published book, the smell, the touch and feel of owning […]

Jan 26, 2021

Happy Australia Day!

The New Horizons would like to say “Happy Australia Day!” We are excited to fire up our barbie and cool off with a nice cold beer. After all,  isn’t that what every […]

Jan 20, 2021

New Horizons’ top 10 blog posts of 2014

Where did my Acrobat tab go in Microsoft Word? By Katherine Davis | March 14th, 2014 I recently […]

Jan 01, 2021

So long 2014, hello 2015!

Another year has come and gone, and now it’s time to welcome 2015 (already)! We hope that everyone has had an enjoyable and relaxing break thus far, and ready to […]

Dec 19, 2020

Happy Holidays from New Horizons!

This year, we had a great success with our annual Salvation Army Christmas Appeal fundraiser. The New Horizons team would like to thank all staff, students and […]

Oct 06, 2020

Enjoy the fruits of your labour this long weekend!

The New Horizons team would like to wish everyone (except those in Melbourne) a happy and safe Labour day long weekend! Stay safe, stay happy and make sure you enjoy […]

May 02, 2021

Turn the heat up on your text in Photoshop

With all the filters included in Adobe Photoshop, some pretty wild things can be done to text. To expand text options even further, you can play around with both layer […]

Apr 25, 2021

ANZAC Day – Lest We Forget

ANZAC Day is a day of commemoration and recognition of the men and women who once served Australia in the First World War, and the 11,000 ANZACs who died on the […]

Apr 18, 2021

Have an eggsellent Easter!

The New Horizons team would like to wish you all a happy and safe Easter long weekend – the only time it’s encouraged to put all your eggs in one basket! We hope your […]

Apr 02, 2021

Merge layers without flattening in Photoshop

Layers in Photoshop are an important feature in all Photoshop designs as they enable the user to work on a particular element of the design without disrupting the other […]

Mar 07, 2021

Make CSS3 animations stay put after they’ve performed

Animations, defined by the keyframe rule, are one of the most exciting features of CSS3. It allows you to display various moving pictures to the user without Flash, […]

Feb 06, 2021

Add flair to your artwork with Illustrator’s Live Trace tool

In a recent post, Give your line art the outline it’s missing in Photoshop, we demonstrated how to create a custom shape and refine its outline in Adobe Photoshop. […]

Jan 31, 2021

Mastering the Histogram in Photoshop

The Histogram is one of the most useful tools available in Photoshop for viewing and editing the exposure of images. A histogram is a graph which shows the ‘tonal […]

Jan 27, 2021

Happy Australia Day!

Australia Day is a day to celebrate Australia as a multicultural, diverse and tolerant nation. More often enough though, it’s a day where you’ll find many people […]

Jan 24, 2021

Give your line art the outline it’s missing in Photoshop

While line art works best in the stained glass technique, don’t let a good design slip by because it doesn’t have an adequate outline. If you have a design with a lot of […]

Jan 08, 2021

Cast out that colourcast in Photoshop

Have you ever noticed a coloured tint across your image and wish you could get rid of it? It might seem like the image is washed out and cause it to look dull. This is […]

Jan 01, 2021

Happy New Year!

2013 has come and gone in the blink of an eye. We hope you and your families have had a great Christmas being spoiled by Santa, and wrapped up the year with a […]

Dec 20, 2020

The truth about Santa Claus

Christmas is creeping around the corner, and that means another year has come and gone. It also means our good friend, Santa Claus, will be paying all of us (well, only […]

Dec 02, 2020

Support the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal

Christmas is a warm and fuzzy season shared with loved ones over good food and drinks. While it’s fun to get into the festive spirit, there will be over 25,000 […]

Nov 27, 2020

Centre objects in Photoshop CS6 with precision

There may come a time when you need to centre objects in Photoshop. You could eyeball it, but that isn't very precise. You could use a mathematical equation to […]

Nov 19, 2020

Prevent Black and White Documents Separating to CMYK in InDesign

Are your black and white documents separating to CMYK in InDesign? If yes, then there must be colour in there somewhere. Perhaps you’re using a “rich” black (with CMYK […]

Nov 15, 2020

Why you should get a Microsoft Certification today

Are you thinking about earning a Microsoft Certification? Wondering about whether it’s worth the effort? Stop wondering and jump on the certification bandwagon! Today, […]

Nov 14, 2020

Understanding Airbrush in Photoshop

The Airbrush Typically, an airbrush is a tube connected by a hose to a source of compressed air. Located either on the bottom or top of the tube is a small attachment […]

Nov 13, 2020

How to insert a symbol in Excel without leaving your keyboard

Did you know there are multiple ways to insert a symbol in Excel without leaving your keyboard? They’re all faster than the usual “Insert > Symbol” command. Here are […]

Nov 11, 2020

What’s New in Excel 2013?

Are you considering upgrading to Microsoft Excel 2013? Are you interested in exploring its new, time-saving features? We have taken a closer look at the newest […]

Nov 08, 2020

Remove Stray Pixels in Photoshop

To create a smooth selection in Photoshop* with one of the many selection tools, such as the Magic Wand tool, you must first select the 'anti-aliased' check box […]

Nov 05, 2020

Happy Melbourne Cup Day!

It’s that time of the year again – Melbourne Cup. It’s the day where one race stops the nation. It’s the day where Victorians (and a handful of […]

Oct 28, 2020

Select layers without using the layers panel in Photoshop

Panels have their purpose, but they can also obstruct the view of your Photoshop canvas. Oftentimes, though, you don’t actually need to show a panel in order to use it. […]

Oct 25, 2020

6 keys to better IT customer service

No matter how good you are at setting up networks and fixing technical problems, you’ll often be judged more on the customer service you provide. For example, customers […]

Oct 24, 2020

2 tricks that make formatting text in Photoshop easier

When making changes to text in Photoshop, you first highlight the text. This is problematic because you can’t see the colour of your text while it’s highlighted. Rather […]

Sep 24, 2020

6 ways to make your leadership and workplace fun again

People desire a “leadership refresh” in their organisations. Employees want leaders that are likeable, understand their needs, can authentically motivate people and know […]

Sep 24, 2020

Enhance your colours by desaturating part of an image

There must be umpteenth ways to produce an image that features both grayscale and colour pixels. We've shown you several in the past and we're going to show you […]

Sep 20, 2020

Getting started with data mining in SQL Server

As database professionals, we typically work in a field of exact science. For example, a common practice in business intelligence (BI) solutions is creating duplicate […]

Aug 08, 2020

Seven ways new managers can shine

1. Manage those above you. Some of you may be thinking, “How the heck am I going to manage people above me when I haven’t even figured out how to do my job?” Trust […]

Jul 15, 2020

Don’t risk your confidential data – Protect it with Symmetric Encryption

Rapid advances in technology are transforming the ability of every individual and organisation to better collect, analyse, and use its information. Despite the benefit […]

Jul 05, 2020

Automation control at your fingertips

We all know that Photoshop is a powerful hands-on image editing tool, but sometimes simple tasks can get repetitive and tedious. Fortunately, Adobe Photoshop has a host […]

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