RAND function in Microsoft Word

Creating sample text in Word is easy if you know this somewhat obscure trick. And hold onto your hat: It still works in Word 2007!

Maybe you're experimenting with a particular Word feature or format and need to generate some dummy text to work with. Or maybe you need some placeholder text to use as you develop a page layout. Or maybe you're just bored to distraction. Whatever the case, the RAND function might be just what you need. Here's how to get this oddball function to work.
Click where you want to enter the sample text and type =RAND(). Put two numbers in the parentheses, separated by a comma. The numbers will tell Word to create a certain number of paragraphs (the first number) consisting of a certain number of sentences (the second number). So, for instance, the formula below will produce three paragraphs, each consisting of four sentences:
=RAND(3,4)
After you enter the formula, press Enter. Word will replace what you typed with the sample text, as shown in Figure A.

Figure A

Word 2007 supports this feature as well, but for some reason, Microsoft decided to change the text generated by the function. As you can see in Figure B, the verbiage now appears to have been extracted from a help document. Some sort of subliminal user education scheme, perhaps. I'd be just as happy to stick with the lazy dog, but hey -- you can't fight progress.

Figure B

Google Loses Nortel Patents to Apple, Microsoft, Others

Google Loses Nortel Patents to Apple, Microsoft, Others

Google this week lost its bid to acquire 6,000 wireless technology patents held by Nortel, as a consortium of tech rivals offered up $4.5 billion for the portfolio.

Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research in Motion, and Sony joined forces to purchase the patents, which cover wireless, wireless 4G, data networking, optical, voice, Internet, service provider, semiconductors, and other patent portfolios.

"Following a very robust auction, we are pleased at the outcome of the auction of this extensive patent portfolio", George Riedel, chief strategy officer at Nortel, said in a statement. "The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world."

Nortel filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2009, and started exploring the sale of its businesses and assets in June 2009. The company will presumably use the proceeds of the patent auction to pay off creditors.

In April, Google said it would make a "stalking horse" bid worth $900 million for all of Nortel's remaining patents and patent applications. In mid-June, the Justice Department said it had no objections to Google's bid, and allowed the auction, which started June 20, to proceed. This prompted objections from rivals like Microsoft, AT&T, and Verizon, who argued that the patents would give the search giant an unfair advantage.

In an April 4 blog post, Kent Walker, Google's senior vice president and general counsel, said that Google, as a "relatively young company," had not amassed the sort of patent portfolio owned by its competitors.