CyberScribe Web News

In this issue...

Welcome

Best Free Tools

Making That Email Signature Work For You

What's Going On...

Did you know...?

You can instantly bring your Windows desktop to the front of your "stuff" by pressing
WinKey + D.

You can also minimize all open programs by pressing
Winkey + M.

I'm not sure what the difference is between the two (bring desktop to front, minimize all windows -- it's all the same), but I find this a pretty useful function.

Winkey, by the way, is not a Little Rascals character -- it's the key down there by your Alt key that has the flying Windows icon on it.

CyberScribe Web News
Hints & Tips to Make Your Web Stuff Better	January 2006

Sometimes the Best Things in Life Are Free

Starting the Year Off Right...

This year, my most cherished Christmas gift didn't cost a thing. On Christmas Eve, the Boyz and I spent the day stalking around the back yard with the BB guns, doing manly things that manly men like us like to do.

So we destroyed things, of course. We peppered an old GI Joe (with Kung Fu grip and real hair) with BBs till his Kung Fu grip fell off. A plastic version of RoboCop suddenly turned evil and became the target of four BB guns of terror. Toy soldiers and tanks were flying everywhere. And that Happy Meal chicken from 'Chicken Run' didn't stand a chance.

On Christmas morning, my sons presented me with a nicely wrapped box of parts and pieces from our previous day's adventure. It was a reminder of the special time we spent together, and it was the perfect gift.

With that in mind, I want to present a few freebie tools to you that I've found useful. Sure, these freebies will never match a box full of GI Joe fingers and plastic chicken feet, but I hope you'll find them useful nonetheless. Keep reading for the details.

Happy New Year -- may 2006 be safe and prosperous for you!

Rod Clayton

Top

Best Free Tools We've Found...

I prefer to call it 'thrifty', not 'cheap', thank you...

With software prices spiraling off the charts, how does a small business keep up with the market without spending all its profits on expensive software?

We've found a few solutions you might want to try...

Open Office (FREE) vs. Microsoft Office ($399)

Open Office is an open source productivity suite that features all the stuff you find in MS Office, like a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation program, database, and more.

The best news -- it's (mostly) compatible with files created using the much more expensive MS Office suite.

I'm testing Open Office now on one of our laptops, with hopes that we'll eventually implement it on all the CyberScribe computers. Think of the savings! Check it out...

CutePDF (FREE) vs. Adobe Acrobat ($299)

I finally grew tired of Adobe Acrobat crashing and decided to try CutePDF, a free tool that prints documents in Portable Document Format (PDF). PDF's are a great way to share documents -- many of my clients use them to post forms, schedules, and other pages that need to be neatly printed.

I really like this free tool -- and if you need more power, you can always upgrade to the full version for only fifty clams or so. But for most of us, the free version is all we'll ever need (and it doesn't slap the maker's logo or watermark on your PDF!). Check it out...

AVG AntiVirus (FREE for home use)

You do have antivirus protection, right? I installed AVG FREE on the kids' computers some time ago, and it seems to do a great job. Check it out...

ZONEALARM FIREWALL (FREE for home use)

I use the commercial version of Zone Alarm on the CyberScribe business computers, but my kids are sporting the free version. I wouldn't dare let a computer touch the Internet without a firewall in place, and this program is less likely to be attacked by anti-Microsoft hackers than the built in Windows XP firewall (or so they say). Check it out...

The small print...

I've used all of the applications highlighted above, but like all software applications, you use them at your own risk. I hope you find them useful!

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Making That Email Signature Work For You

Sometimes it's the easy stuff that works best...

You're probably familiar with e-mail signature (or "sig") files -- they're the few lines of contact information that many of us put at the bottom of every e-mail we send. Most e-mail software programs allow you to create and use sig files -- even AOL.

I've heard some people who don't use sig files defend their position by saying, "All my clients know my info -- I don't need to remind them with every e-mail." Stop! You're missing a perfect opportunity to promote your business, as well as do your clients and prospects a favor.