Powerpoint File Size Does Not Reduce Even After Deleting Slides

Updated 10 Jul 2018 - After some testing, I find that those "extra" template slides appear when you try to copy some slides and paste to another deck with "Keep Source Formatting". So if you frequently encounter this problem, you could be like me, often having to take content from different decks and piece together a customized deck for the work on hand.

If you work with Powerpoint slides a lot, you may have seen some pretty big slide decks, especially if it contains lots of photo or video content. This presents an issue when sending over email with attachment size limits. Most of the time, deleting slides or compressing content will help to reduce the size. 

If you had came upon this article after googling, you probably had just encountered a similar frustrating experience as me. Even after removing most of the content, the Powerpoint file size essentially remains the same. Most online posts revolve around talking about how to compress the ppt files. Not many discuss why certain ppt decks remain stubbornly big even after deleting content. The only closest I could find was this Microsoft Community post which did not help much.

Quick tip - A simple workaround I found to reduce Powerpoint file size was to copy the slides into a new ppt and save the new file. Beware that even though I had Copy and Paste with "Keep Source Formatting", I still sometimes encounter funny results, for example shape sizes becoming distorted. So do check through your final slides before sending it out or using for presentation.

How to Add Borders Around Images or Photos in Microsoft OneNote

Updated 10 Jul 2018 - Another quick tip, the steps below can be reversed, you can copy an image into OneNote first, select the image, and then choose to insert a 1x1 table, which will achieve the same result.

Ever since I started using Microsoft OneNote in my work laptop, I have found it useful for taking quick notes or just jotting down random notes while working.

One peeve I have is why Microsoft does not allow me to put borders around images. Sometimes, you just need the border around a picture to make the note readable, especially if it has the same white background as OneNote.

You would have thought this is a simple and straight forward feature. Word has it, Powerpoint has it, Outlook has it. Even Excel has it. So it seems all the main buddies of OneNote in the Microsoft Office Suite have this, except OneNote itself.

If you are like me and need the border, fear not - Tables to the rescue!

How to Turn on HTTPS for Blogger Blog with Custom Domain

Updated 24 Jun 2018 - Bonus tip for setting up non-www to www redirection

Google has been offering HTTPS for subdomains under blogger (e.g. https://techrantz.blogspot.com). As for custom domains, for sometime, the only available methods were either to use alternative means like Cloudflare or an unannounced method involving Blogger in Draft mode. These methods, while working, were not so ideal. 

It took a while, but Google has now finally and properly extended HTTPS to blogger websites using custom domains too.

To turn on, simply go to Settings > Basic. Look for the "HTTPS" section, there will be two settings as shown below.

Resetting a Lenovo System to Factory State

I spent quite sometime figuring out how to reset a Lenovo S500 desktop to its initial, out of factory state. It was not a smooth experience due to inconsistent product terms and lack of an intuitive process. Most likely, you landed here because your system is having issues and resetting seems to be the last resort after having spent the last few hours trying every online advice and failing. Hence, I hope my experiences might help you shorten your troubleshooting time and avoid the complications I encountered. 

Do note this process is irreversible, you will lose all your data. So backup your important data if your system is still accessible, before starting the process.

The Lenovo S500 that I worked on is a small form factor (SFF) desktop, but I think the process I described below should work in general for Lenovo laptops. Do leave a comment if it works for you!

Beginner Tips and Hints to Playing Cities: Skylines

Steam recently offered a free weekend play of Cities: Skylines, so I gladly took up the offer. Long story short, a few nights of sleep deprivation later, I had some thoughts and tips on what to look out for as a new beginner to this game.


Shun Away From Walkthroughs/Guides/FAQs Until You Have A Few Hours Under Your Belt

Seriously, I mean it. Close this tip page and come back after you have tried the game. Cities: Skylines can be overwhelming and everything that you read beforehand will likely be forgotten or not make sense to you before your first game. I suggest getting your hands dirty, have a general feel of what is going on, before reading up on tips and guides to better understand some of the nuances and game play.


Resist The Urge To Restart Or Reload At The Beginning

At the beginning. you are likely going to stumble a lot while discovering the game. The urge to reload or restart is strong but I suggest to let it go, because you are likely going to redo most of your initial base anyway. The game ships with a few mods and unless you enable the all buildings unlocked mod, the game restricts your progression by limiting the starting structures, gradually releasing more upon reaching each population milestone. By the time your base has developed to a certain size and you have unlocked most of the important structures, you are likely going to revisit your initial section and redo the roads or relocate some structures.So there is no point in wasting time reloading/restarting, or redoing your structures early in the game. Speaking of which...