Lesson Learned All Over Again!!! I will never forget it now hopefully!
I will be extra careful while typing from this time on!! Will have to watch these fingers from wandering off to the wrong places on the keyboard namely Alt, Shift and Control keys. Accidentally changing things on the PC and then not figuring out what you did and how is indeed a mess to be in!!
This ain't the first time I am using MSN Messenger or creating confusion for myself but a first for others during a chat! Just that this time I couldn't recall what keyboard shortcut switches the text direction, or what changes your input language to Arabic! Just imagine that you are in the middle of a conversation and typing something, you suddenly notice that the text direction has changed, it is now Right-to-Left but you send your chat message anyway. Now at the next sentence you begin, all the letters are of the Arabic language! Needless to say, I was unable to express anything through words, the impulse initiative to show my concern through a sad emoticon such as ':(' also failed miserably and I ended up smiling instead! At first it seemed like a funny situation, where all I typed was
يةبىنانيساسنابن :)
يبانسيابنسابنتا
:) سةبانسابنشا
:( *
And my friend suddenly started laughing and I responded with a ÷ شؤؤهىيثىفشممغ :س :ح which corresponds to 'I accidentally :s :p' in English. While typing I had realized what I was doing, thus the emoticons, which obviously didn't come out right!
I could type in English everywhere except Messenger...Assuming that I have changed the text direction and the input language simultaneously, I tried everything possible to fix it using the Options available but there were none related to either of the two, I pressed all the keys and combinations I could think of, having in mind 'that's how I figured the solution last time!' But I couldn't recall it somehow, so I asked people on Facebook, looked up Microsoft Office Word, tried to Google it but couldn't narrow down the search because I wasn't sure what I had changed, the Language or the text direction.....and besides there were all sorts of search results, for changing the "Text Orientation" from Horizontal to Vertical, people discussing Graphic Design, HTML Formatting and what not!!! And then my brother started worrying me that I had created a problem for others who use the computer.
Yes, obviously by then the humour of it had all gone and I became anxious and wanted to end all the confusion, especially when I had just begun a conversation with my friend after such a long time and wanted to continue. It was a time when you would truly need your Arab friends, but they were nowhere to be found! Why is it that you can't find what you need at a time like this, a time when an easy task becomes a pain and a drag not to mention. I felt like an idiot, the only idiot who can ever be stuck in the same problem twice or more and can't recall how to get out of it. And not even Google seemed to be interested, giving all sorts of results that have answers to all Hi-tech questions from computer geniuses for Web Designing and HTML formatting. Initially having second thoughts, I knew Google was, after all, my only hope even if it took me all the time in the world. Although, I did think about Bing in between for maybe a second but instantaneously shrugged the idea off and rebuilt my trust on Google, out of helplessness. I tried to calm myself down and got myself to carefully look at the search results for 'switch text direction' and what do you know I spotted this:
Obviously I wasn't going to waste my time by clicking on the link, I instantly applied both the shortcuts but 'Alt+Shift' ended my worries.
Later on, I decided to read the blog where I came to know that the term used to refer to what I had done is 'Changing the Keyboard'. Meaning I switched between the input languages when I hit Alt+Shift by mistake.
Just so you know, the challenge only took me an hour.
I will be extra careful while typing from this time on!! Will have to watch these fingers from wandering off to the wrong places on the keyboard namely Alt, Shift and Control keys. Accidentally changing things on the PC and then not figuring out what you did and how is indeed a mess to be in!!
This ain't the first time I am using MSN Messenger or creating confusion for myself but a first for others during a chat! Just that this time I couldn't recall what keyboard shortcut switches the text direction, or what changes your input language to Arabic! Just imagine that you are in the middle of a conversation and typing something, you suddenly notice that the text direction has changed, it is now Right-to-Left but you send your chat message anyway. Now at the next sentence you begin, all the letters are of the Arabic language! Needless to say, I was unable to express anything through words, the impulse initiative to show my concern through a sad emoticon such as ':(' also failed miserably and I ended up smiling instead! At first it seemed like a funny situation, where all I typed was
يةبىنانيساسنابن :)
يبانسيابنسابنتا
:) سةبانسابنشا
:( *
And my friend suddenly started laughing and I responded with a ÷ شؤؤهىيثىفشممغ :س :ح which corresponds to 'I accidentally :s :p' in English. While typing I had realized what I was doing, thus the emoticons, which obviously didn't come out right!
I could type in English everywhere except Messenger...Assuming that I have changed the text direction and the input language simultaneously, I tried everything possible to fix it using the Options available but there were none related to either of the two, I pressed all the keys and combinations I could think of, having in mind 'that's how I figured the solution last time!' But I couldn't recall it somehow, so I asked people on Facebook, looked up Microsoft Office Word, tried to Google it but couldn't narrow down the search because I wasn't sure what I had changed, the Language or the text direction.....and besides there were all sorts of search results, for changing the "Text Orientation" from Horizontal to Vertical, people discussing Graphic Design, HTML Formatting and what not!!! And then my brother started worrying me that I had created a problem for others who use the computer.
Yes, obviously by then the humour of it had all gone and I became anxious and wanted to end all the confusion, especially when I had just begun a conversation with my friend after such a long time and wanted to continue. It was a time when you would truly need your Arab friends, but they were nowhere to be found! Why is it that you can't find what you need at a time like this, a time when an easy task becomes a pain and a drag not to mention. I felt like an idiot, the only idiot who can ever be stuck in the same problem twice or more and can't recall how to get out of it. And not even Google seemed to be interested, giving all sorts of results that have answers to all Hi-tech questions from computer geniuses for Web Designing and HTML formatting. Initially having second thoughts, I knew Google was, after all, my only hope even if it took me all the time in the world. Although, I did think about Bing in between for maybe a second but instantaneously shrugged the idea off and rebuilt my trust on Google, out of helplessness. I tried to calm myself down and got myself to carefully look at the search results for 'switch text direction' and what do you know I spotted this:
Useful tricks and shortcuts for users around the world - Office ...
blogs.technet.com › Office Global Experience - Cached
19 Feb 2010 – Ctrl + the right Shift key changes Text direction to Right-to-Left. ... Using Alt + Shift, a user can easily switch between the four ...
Obviously I wasn't going to waste my time by clicking on the link, I instantly applied both the shortcuts but 'Alt+Shift' ended my worries.
Later on, I decided to read the blog where I came to know that the term used to refer to what I had done is 'Changing the Keyboard'. Meaning I switched between the input languages when I hit Alt+Shift by mistake.
Just so you know, the challenge only took me an hour.
