 Buy One Website Get One Free!
When you order a website, we'll build you a second website for FREE! Do you know of a friend or another company who wants one as well as you? You could get them done together! There are some conditions you'll need to have a read through, and this offer is only open for a short time, so don't wait too long if it sounds like something you're interested in! You'll need a voucher to benefit from this great offer, available from here.
For full details of the offer click here. For full details of our website design services click here.
Cheap Software for Students! (including Microsoft Office & Kaspersky Security)
Software4Students is a programme designed with Microsoft to help students and parents access professional versions of software for home use. The licensee is required to be a school student in the UK. The software is therefore much much cheaper! Eg. Microsoft Office Professional is £45.95! (Amazon sells it for £349.98!).
The website is www.software4students.co.uk. To find out how it works click here. For FAQ's click here.
Don't want to pay for Microsoft Office? Use OpenOffice 3 for FREE
 Have you ever heard of OpenOffice? OpenOffice 3 was released on 13th October. Compared with Microsoft Office, it looks about the same, feels about the same, and it’s FREE!
OpenOffice 3 is a suite of programs including Writer (similar to MS Word), Calc (similar to MS Excel) and Impress (similar to MS PowerPoint) among others.
There are excellent formatting tools, mail merge, and macros; its word processor (Writer) can even export files to PDF format with the click of a button, useful for emailing letters, contracts or a CV.
A great new addition is the Start Centre (see picture) from which you can launch any of the OpenOffice applications. OpenOffice works with a wide variety of formats, including the recently introduced ODF 1.2 (OpenDocument Format), as well as documents created in MS Office 2007 and MS Office 2008 for the Mac. It can't save documents in the new MS Office 2007 formats but it can save them in MS Office 97-2003 formats (which can be opened in MS Office 2007).
This suite of programs is so similar to Microsoft's offering in its look, feel and functionality that it really is a viable alternative. Why pay, when there's a free version just waiting to be downloaded?! It runs on Windows 2000, XP, Vista, and Mac OSX (10.4-10.5) among others. Mac users might be please to hear that they can run OpenOffice 3 without having to go through the chore of installing X11, a Unix windowing environment.
OpenOffice 3 (and previous versions) can be downloaded from www.openoffice.org. The download is 142MB for the Windows version and installation is a breeze. Oh, and just so you know, these TechTips you are reading were written using OpenOffice Writer!
 Learn to Touch Type
Is touch typing becoming a lost skill? Most kids now learn how to build a website before they learn the basics of touch typing!
There's a great (free) website which tells you which fingers should press which keys and then gives you exercises to help you practice, starting with easy combinations of letters and getting progressively harder as you become more accomplished. That website is www.sense-lang.org.
Always Log Out
Imagine the situation: you're at work checking your Facebook page (where else would you do it?!) and doing a bit of online banking, then 5pm comes so you close the pages with the red cross, top right of the screen, and off you go for the evening.
Along comes the office cleaner (contractor, of course) who decides to check their own bank account on your computer, but when they go to the banking site (which happens to be the same bank as yours) they find they're already logged in. Then they realise they're not - you are! What happens next depends on the honesty of the cleaner, but it demonstrates a point - ALWAYS LOG OUT.
Don't just close the page; definitely don't just turn off the monitor, and preferably don't allow your web browser (ie. Internet Explorer, Firefox or Chrome) to save your passwords for such sites! Closing the page will log you out on most well-designed sites, and many also log you out after periods of inactivity (eg. 10 minutes), but why take the chance? Close the door on your way out!
 Google SketchUp - Free 3D Drawing Program
Google's own description says it all...
"Google SketchUp is software that you can use to create, modify and share 3D models. It's easier to learn than other 3D modeling programs, which is why so many people are already using it. We [Google] designed SketchUp's simplified toolset, guided drawing system and clean look-and-feel to help you concentrate on two things: getting your work done as efficiently as possible, and having fun while you're doing it."
Google SketchUp can be found here: http://sketchup.google.com
Microsoft Compatibility Pack
If you're having trouble opening Microsoft Office files you've received in an email the chances are they've been created using Microsoft Office 2007, and hence have been saved in one of the new Office 2007 formats which is incompatible with previous versions of Microsoft Office. Don't despair though - all you need to do is download the Microsoft Compatibility Pack, available from here (about 25MB - easy to install). Check out the 'System Requirements' before downloading, as it's not compatible with older systems (eg. MS Office 97).
Extended Tip: If you already have MS Office 2007 and wish to allow your documents to be opened by previous versions without the Compatibility Pack, then when you save each document, click 'Save as' and select 'Word 97-2003 Document'.
You can set each program to save in this format by default by going to the 'Office Button' in Word, Excel or PowerPoint 2007 (the round thing at the very top left), then click on 'Word Options' > 'Save' (or equivalent), then where it says 'Save files in this format:' use the drop-down menu to select the '97-2003 Document' format. |
Bonfire & Fireworks Night at Imber Court Sports Club
