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TECH EXPERT

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR BUSINESS SOFTWARE
TO MAKE YOUR ADMINISTRATION TASKS A BREEZE

The following lists are some ideas that you can try to customized your business software. These are in no way complete lists. There are many more customizations that can be made.

Easier stuff that you can do yourself:
• Word Templates – create a blank document that you use a lot and save it as “.DOT”
• Word – use Mail Merge for letters, etc
• Learn shortcut keys: Try selecting a sentence in Word and hit Shift-F3 repeatedly
• Customize you Word/Outlook, etc. I have “Thesaurus” and “Grow Font 1 PT” on custom buttons in Word
• Customize you accounting package – you get to include specific terms and make your invoices/statements look more professional.
• Create Distribution Lists in Outlook
• Use Outlook’s Phone Dialler when phoning contacts
• Make use of TASKS in Outlook for your To Do’s
• Keep your contacts/prospects in anything - Notebook, Excel, Act, Maximizer, or Outlook Business Contact Manager
• Automate Backups/antivirus –I will always harp on people who don’t backup
• Excel Macros allow you to do steps repeatedly – learn using “Record New Macro”
• Access Databases – organize your information with databases from very simple to extremely elaborate

Custom stuff by a programmer:
• If you have any tedious repeated task done with a computer – automate it.
• One client spent 12 hours every month gathering Simply Accounting data into an Excel spreadsheet – now it takes a few seconds.
• CCS has created a utility to get information out of Simply Accounting quicker than SA can - SA-Utilities
• Interface any 2 business application systems together – One client has their POS interfaced with Simply Accounting
• One client has an extensive client database and had CCS create an “Artificial Intelligence” system to select prospects
• One client had branch offices that needed to send daily sales reports back to head office electronically – with minimal complexity
• Mass email created from databases outside of Outlook
• Most of these custom programs were inexpensive to develop

Many business users make use of only 5% of the capabilities of their software

This article was authored by Andy Butler of Compatible Computer Services; (902) 420-1212. CCS provides sales and service support for PCs and Restaurant & Retail Point of Sales systems and develops client-specific custom-built business software applications.

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SURFIN' SAFARI

Some Useful and Interesting Web Sites

WHAT DOES IT DO?

Blackberry

The BlackBerry is a wireless handheld device introduced in 1999 which supports push e-mail, mobile telephone, text messaging, internet faxing, web browsing and other wireless information services. Developed by the Canadian company Research In Motion (RIM), it delivers information over the wireless data networks of mobile phone service companies. BlackBerry first made headway in the marketplace by concentrating on e-mail. RIM currently offers BlackBerry e-mail service to non-BlackBerry devices, such as the Palm Treo, through the BlackBerry Connect software. The original BlackBerry device had a monochrome display, but all current models have color displays.

While including the usual PDA applications (address book, calendar, to-do lists, etc.) as well as telephone capabilities on newer models, the BlackBerry is primarily known for its ability to send and receive e-mail wherever it can access an atmosphere wireless network of certain cellular phone carriers. It has a built-in keyboard, optimized for "thumbing", the use of only the thumbs to type. System navigation is primarily accomplished by the trackwheel (or "thumbwheel"), a scrolling wheel with a "click" function, located on the right side of the device. Newer models are now utilizing a trackball in the middle of the device as Research In Motion has moved from the trackwheel to the trackball. Some models (currently, those manufactured for use with Nextel, TELUS, AT&T, and other iDEN networks) also incorporate a two-way radio. Some BlackBerry devices don't depend on mobile phone service coverage and are Wi-Fi compatible like similar handheld devices that are on the marketplace.

Read the full Wikipedia article here

SAY WHAT!?

Sound Like a Computer Wizard

HARDWARE HELPER

Top 5 GPS

If you can afford the hefty price tag, the Garmin Nuvi 660 is a solid-performing and versatile GPS device that offers all the navigation basics, tools for the world traveler, Bluetooth, and more.

Specs: GPS receiver, Automotive, 6.7 oz, Warnings, Navigation instructions, Street name announcement, Built-in

In addition to accurate driving directions, the high-end Garmin StreetPilot c580 provides a number of useful tools to the driver, such as real-time traffic data and local gas prices, thanks to the integration of MSN Direct services.

Specs: GPS receiver, Automotive, 9 oz, Navigation instructions, Street name announcement

TomTom GO 910

For early adopters, the TomTom GO 910 is the GPS gadget du jour, offering the latest and greatest in portable navigation systems. That said, we wish it had a better mounting system and a more up-to-date POI database.

Specs: GPS receiver, Automotive, 12 oz, Navigation instructions

Offering just the navigation essentials and accurate directions, the TomTom One is an affordable and easy-to-use in-car GPS device for first-time buyers or anyone who wants a no-frills nav system.

Specs: GPS receiver, 20 channel, Automotive, 9.2 oz, Navigation instructions, Built-in

Sporting a sleeker design and interface, the affordable Magellan Maestro series offers drivers an accurate in-car GPS device with useful trip information, thanks to its partnership with AAA.

Specs: GPS receiver, 20 channel, Automotive, 8.5 oz, Navigation instructions, Built-in

SOFTWARE SEARCH

Alternatives to Microsoft Office

It's no secret that Microsoft dominates the productivity suite market, but that doesn't mean it's the only way to go. Corel, Sun Microsystems, Apple, IBM, and others offer alternatives at a fraction of the price of Microsoft Office 2007. Corel WordPerfect Office X3 sports interface improvements and one-click PDF, HTML, and XML publishing. The lesser-known StarOffice 8 provides basic productivity tools and throws in a couple of extras, such as a drawing program. OpenOffice 2 is Sun's free version of StarOffice. And IBM just rolled out a free test version of its Windows- and Linux-compatible Lotus Symphony suite.

If you need to take productivity tools wherever you go, then you can pick from online services including Google Docs & Spreadsheets -- now with Presentations too -- as well as from Zoho, or the ThinkFree blend of desktop and Web tools.

While most of these tools let you save work in Microsoft's file formats, the introduction of new file types in Office 2007 complicated matters. Microsoft does not support the Open Document Format that the open-source community favors. However, Sun offers a free plug-in for Microsoft Office that enables you to save ODF files.

The indie suites also provide unique benefits. For example, Corel WordPerfect is the tool of choice for writers and lawyers who need more control over long documents. ThinkFree 3 may be handy for business travelers who want to tweak a document using only a Java-enabled Web browser. Zoho is the only browser-based service that directly plugs into Microsoft Office apps to store work both on the user's hard drive and on Zoho's servers. Among the desktop programs, however, only iWork, Microsoft Office, ThinkFree, and OpenOffice work with Macs. Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac is expected to be released next year.

So which to choose? To help get you started, check out the comparison chart.

WEB WARY

All About Viruses

Part 3 - How Can Your Computer Catch a Virus?

There are only two ways for your computer to get a virus:

1. You load the virus onto your computer through an infected floppy, CD-ROM, or other storage medium.

2. The virus arrives by a downloaded file, email attachment, or other method from the Internet or a network.

At this point, an infected file is on your computer's hard drive. But remember, your computer will only become infected if you launch or view the file, or run the infected program.

So an important tip is to always scan new files for viruses before you use them.

Take these precautions when working with files and the Internet:

- Before you load a file or install software onto your computer from a floppy disk or CD-ROM, use your antivirus program to scan the floppy or CD.

- If you receive an email attachment from an unfamiliar email address, or an attachment you were not expecting, either scan it or delete it (preferred).

- If you receive an email attachment from someone you know, and your antivirus program does not automatically scan incoming emails, save the attachment to your hard drive and scan it with the antivirus program. Your friend or colleague's computer may be infected with a virus.

- When you download software from the Internet, be sure to download it from the software company's site or a recognized download site ( http://downloads-zdnet.com.com/ , http://www.download.com or http://www.tucows.com for example). Download the file to your hard drive and scan it using your antivirus program before you run or decompress it.

- If someone sends you a 'joke' file or electronic greeting card that you must launch to view, be very wary.

- Don't use Outlook or Outlook Express as your email program. More viruses are spread from the security holes in Outlook than any other email program.

Many experts now feel that the dangers of being infected by a virus are so great that it just isn't worth receiving email attachments. You can set your email program to stop accepting them.

To read more about viruses and scams, click here.

TIZZIE'S TIPS AND TRICKS

Create a Custom Toolbar in Word 2003

As you are customizing Word to reflect your working habits, there may be times when you want to create your own custom toolbar. You can create a toolbar by following these steps:

1. Choose Customize from the Tools menu. This displays the Customize dialog box.
2. Make sure the Toolbars tab is selected.
3. Click on New. This displays the New Toolbar dialog box.
4. Provide a name for your toolbar in the Toolbar Name box.
5. At the bottom of the dialog box, indicate the template to which your custom toolbar should be available. If you select Normal.dot, then the toolbar will be available at all times in Word.
6. Click on OK to close the New Toolbar dialog box. The toolbar appears at the bottom of the list of toolbars on the Toolbars tab of the Customize dialog box. The empty toolbar should also be visible on your screen.
7. Click on the Commands tab in the Customize dialog box.
8. In the list of Categories, select the major category that contains the command you want to add to the new toolbar.
9. In the list of Commands, select the command you want to add to the toolbar.
10. Use the mouse to drag the command from the Commands list to its new location on your toolbar. When you release the mouse button, the icon or wording for the command appears.
11. Repeat steps 8 through 10 to add more toolbar commands.
12. Click on Close to dismiss the Customize dialog box.

Send Tizzie YOUR Question!