Carputers News and Computer Tips

Reg Adkins writes:

When I lose productive time at work it is usually because of a problem I have encountered with my computer. And any time I have a computer problem it is usually related to one of the following items.  In order to be a little proactive I have built this little checklist.  I have automated as many of them as I can and if much of your livelihood depends on your technology functioning smoothly I suggest you consider doing the same.

Our real-world experience has taught us that it is always easier and cheaper to prevent problems ahead of time wherever possible than it is to fix problems after they occur.  If you need assistance implementing this checklist, or if you have any questions about maintenance or the proactive measures you should take to avoid potential computer problems, contact us! 

From the Online Education Database:

As a student, writer, author, journalist, poet, or screenwriter, you know that you probably spend more time on research, editing, and proofreading than you do on the actual writing.  Therefore, you might not have time to find resources to help you write better, faster, or more persuasively.  This is where our list comes to your rescue, as the following links focus on places where you can conduct research, software that is free and easy to use, and services that will remove that “extra work” monkey from your back.  This list focuses solely on those tools that can make your writing life easier. 

Even if you don’t write for a living, this is definitely a site to add to your bookmarks/favorites!  Those of you that are students or have students in your household should find this to be a valuable resource.

Edit 07/31/2007:

We’d also like to add Ten Things to Make Your Writing Life Easier courtesy of the Paperback Writer blog.  Yet more good resources!

Found at alt.comp.freeware - InsightPoint from http://icytec.com

“InsightPoint is not one of those programs with which you’ll have to spend hours before you’re getting comfortable. As it is understood that most users do not want to even look at the user manual, a lot of efforts have been put into designing a user interface that help ease your designing and drawing experience with the shortest learning curve possible. We’ve tried to make it easy for everyone to understand so that when you open InsightPoint for the first time you are able to work on your project.

InsightPoint is an Integrated Development Environment for graphic design, illustration, and presentation. It is engineered to solve such a long-existing dilemma: your favorite presentation tool is incapable of producing vivid graphics when you need it or the graphic design tool simply can’t help too much in presenting your brilliant ideas. Finally there is an application software that is able to seamlessly bring together the best of both worlds onto your desktop.”

InsightPoint is available for Windows (20 MB) and Linux (30 MB)

Screenshots are available on the InsightPoint website. 

Can you tell a fake Web site from a real one?  Do you always know which e-mails are legitimate?  Take the McAfee SiteAdvisor phishing quiz and the SonicWALL Phishing IQ Test to test your ability to detect dangerous phishing scams.

Each of these sites will show you example Web sites or e-mail messages and ask you to identify the authentic site or message.  They will also test your general knowledge about internet-related scams.

Be sure to read the results closely, as they point out telltale signs of phishing sites such as misspellings and suspicious Web addresses.

OnGuardOnline.gov provides practical tips from the federal government and the technology industry to help you be on guard against Internet fraud, secure your computer, and protect your personal information.

As always, if we can be of assistance in securing your computer, contact us!

Over the course of 20 days in May and June, the community of Webware.com users voted for its favorite Web applications. These are the results: the top 100 Web apps, 10 in each of 10 categories, determined by Webware readers and the fans of the sites that made the final cut.

Here are the 10 categories for the Webware 100:

• Browsing: Web browsers, extensions, widgets, and security
• Communications: e-mail, chat, VOIP
• Community: social networks, groups
• Data: search, storage, backup, sharing, and sync
• Entertainment: Games and contests
• Media: audio, video, photo
• Mobile: portable utilities and apps
• Productivity: apps, business tools, commerce
• Publishing: blogging, web content, design tools
• Reference: Mapping, reference works, and education

Not all of these are free, but there are a suprising number of very useful free applications and services out there.

HP (formerly known as Hewlett-Packard) is among the world’s largest IT companies.  Their Learning Center offers a variety of free, online classes for both the Home & Home office and Business customers.  Enjoy the self-paced lessons, expert instructors and active message boards.

Lifehacker’s Wendy Boswell writes:

“Overlooked and difficult to find, there are hundreds of thousands of U.S. government web sites that can help you accomplish a variety of tasks. At the right federal .gov destination you can locate historical documents, keep tabs on Congressional happenings, view presidential paperwork, and a whole lot more.”

Her recent post on Lifehacker gives tons of U. S. Government website links, as do the comments.  These are well worth adding to your Favorites/Bookmarks.

More from the Free Geekery blog:

“With all the pricey cameras and equipment, filmmaking isn’t exactly a hobby that screams ‘cheap.’  Here are a few freeware and shareware programs to help you save a few bucks and still make a film that can ‘wow’.”

In addition, we get questions all the time about movie making and copying.  For the best tools and tutorials on how to get your home digital movies to play on your video iPod, visit VideoHelp.com and AfterDawn.com.

Edit 07/31/2007:

JaypeeOnline has a list of Free Video Editing Software for Windows.  Mashable has a Video Toolbox: 150+ Online Video Tools and Resources list.  Both look to be good resources. 

Etan Horowitz writes for the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.  His column for Saturday, July 7 listed three free alternatives to Microsoft Office.

“OpenOffice.org is downloadable software that is nearly identical to Office.  The programs have catchy names “Writer” for word processing, “Calc” for spreadsheets, and “Impress” for presentations.  If everyone had to create PowerPoint-like presentations using a program called “Impress,” I think we’d all be better off.  I was able to do virtually everything I could do in Office, such as create pivot tables from spreadsheets and add animations to slides.  If you want free software that operates the most like Microsoft Office, this is it.”  

Mr. Horowitz is absolutely correct in his assessment, in our humble opinion.  OpenOffice.org is the ticket, and it can be downloaded for free by clicking this button:

Be sure to see our post on Configuring the OpenOffice.org suite for use in a Microsoft Office world for instructions on how to easily set OpenOffice.org up to save files in the default Microsoft formats.  This will make it much easier to exchange files with Microsoft Office users.

Office Depot offers free downloadable business forms for anyone to use or customize.  Form types include:

• Asset Protection
• Business Finance
• Compensation and Benefits
• Employee Management
• Firing and Termination
• Government Contracting Forms
• IRS Tax Forms
• Marketing
• Recruiting and Hiring
• Starting Your Business
• State Tax Forms
• Worker Safety
• Vehicles and Equipment

These can be handy for small business owners.  You certainly can’t beat the price.

If you own or manage a small business, let Carputers take care of your computer systems so you can concentrate on running your business!  We’d be happy to help!  Contact us for details. 

Edit 08/10/2007:

Here are over 300 free professional legal documents and forms available to download as Microsoft Word documents (.doc) ready for you to print.  They can be downloaded individually or as an entire archive.