Browser for the Better

Until August 8, for every download of Windows Internet Explorer 8 Microsoft will donate 8 meals to Feeding America to help accelerate an end to hunger in this country. IE 8 is completely free and has some new cool features. My favorite feature since the launch of IE 7 is tabs. I love having multiple sites up and only one browser window open. I know Microsoft "copied" FireFox, but who cares. I like IE and am comfortable with it...maybe it's that chicken thing again... I also like the idea that downloading the newest version is helping someone eat. It's a win-win for me. I get a cool new tool and someone hungry gets food.

Not managing my time well these days...

I realize it's been almost two weeks since I wrote a post, sorry! I have not been managing my time well these days. Work projects are taking more energy than expected during the day, selling and buying a house went from blissful to drama filled during my evenings, and my sleep has not been restful (probably because of the first two items!). I've been pushing myself to get re-organized and hopefully, I'll get back to posting on a regular basis starting next week. Until then, I read a great Outlook tip that I wanted to share with you.

Does your Outlook loading time drag on forever? You may be able to fix this! Well at least improve it a little. By turning off some extra add-ins you may improve your loading time. Many of your NON-MICROSOFT extras can be turned off. Go to HowToGeek.com and he'll walk you through the process. I turned off a few my add-ins and when I restarted my Outlook, it seemed to be a little quicker. Good luck!

PDF or PYT?!

I hear PDF and instantly think, P.Y.T.(Pretty Young Thing) by Michael Jackson. I know, it's a stretch, but its the whole acronym thing. I realize converting documents is an old technology to write about, but I feel it's still an issue with administrative professionals. I'm surprised that in today's world of freeware and constant software upgrades we [admins] still get requests to convert files to PDF. Okay, I'm not completely surprised, not everyone has the budget to buy Adode Acrobat. Fine, I understand. But I want to share with administrative professionals that you now give your co-workers an alternative option. Wait...go ahead, convert that one last document. Then inform your co-worker that they can now convert their own documents for FREE.

• If you have MS Office 2007, there is a free Microsoft Office Add-in Patch that will allow Access, Excel, InfoPath, OneNote, PowerPoint, Publisher, Visio and Word files to be saved as a PDF. *Note, fellow coworkers, this patch should already be on your computer. To confirm, open a file in one of the above programs, click on the Office button, select Save As and look under the Save As Type. If the patch has already been added (mine has) you'll see a *.PDF option.
• If you don’t have MS Office 2007 and are comfortable with downloading freeware, CutePDF™ Writer may be a good option for you. I am not comfortable downloading freeware, so I have not used this option. However I've seen it on my braver friends and coworkers computers and it seems to be a reliable option.
• If you're a chicken like me and don’t want to download freeware. It's okay. There is hope for you still! (well not about the chicken part.) The site, PDF Online, allows you to upload your file and covert it online. It's really easy and the site emails the converted file to your inbox. I'm much happier about this free option. Now, I wouldn’t convert my company’s secret R&D files through this site, but I’d be comfortable with converting general documents.