Archive for the ‘Software’ Category
‘Post it’ notes for your PC
We have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the humble ‘post it’ note.
They are without doubt incredibly useful for quickly jotting stuff down… but if you don’t transfer your scribblings into some sort of system, you soon end up with a working area rather like the one pictured.
Wouldn’t it be nice (and more environmentally friendly) if there was a PC equivalent of ‘post its’… a system where you could type snippits on to your screen for retrieval at a later date?
Our ‘macs’ (computers, not raincoats!) have just that… a piece of built in software called ‘stickies‘. It’s one of those really useful things that you tend to take for granted (and struggle to do without).
We have never been able to figure why there was no equivalent program for Windows PCs. Clearly, we are not alone, as just such a program has been developed. It’s called ‘Hott Notes’, and you can find out more about it here
The latest version of ‘hot notes’ allows you to save your ‘notes’ to a USB memory stick or portable hard drive, so even if you change computers regularly, you can always have them to hand (nice!).
Oh yes… did we mention it’s free too?
Happy note taking!
via Lifehacker
Image by katiew
Save your Office 2007 files as a PDF
We’ve been using Office 2007 for some time now, and whilst we were not huge fans at first, we’ve grown to like the software (and now actually prefer it over it’s predecessor, Office 2003). One useful feature of Office 2007 is the option to save files (Word, PowerPoint, and Excel etc) as a PDF. There are number of benefits to this:-
- You can send documents to people who do not have Office software installed.
- It does not matter what version of Office your recipient is using, your document will still be displayed as you intended.
- File sizes tend to be smaller (better for e-mailing)
- Your file cannot be edited.
Surprisingly this functionality is not ‘built in’ to Office 2007, and you need to download and install something called an ‘add on’ from the Microsoft downloads site. This should only take a couple of minutes though, and (in our opinion) is well worth the effort.
If the above link does not work, then use your search engine to look for “2007 Microsoft Office Add-in Microsoft Save as PDF or XPS”
And in case you’re wondering… the ‘add on’ is available free of charge!
Safer surfing using SiteAdvisor
SiteAdvisor is a natty little piece of software designed for safer internet surfing. When you type into the Google search box for example, it places a small icon next to each link in the results page, advising you of any site that may be a security risk. It uses a ‘traffic light’ system. Green = ‘go for it’, amber = ‘approach with care’, and red = ‘a site likely to infect your machine with spam, viruses, or other nasties’. We won’t go into further detail here… as the McAffe website is pretty self explanatory. We will however recommend that you install SiteAdvisor today… it’s completely free, and takes just a few minutes… so what are you waiting for?
Health check your PC online… in just 5 minutes
Updating your software regularly will often help prevent problems rearing their head in the future
Some programs (such as iTunes) automatically check for updates and make these easy to install. Many programs don’t however (and the process for checking for the latest version is often inconsistent and time consuming). At this point you may be asking ‘Is it really worth the hassle?‘ and to be fair, if your PC is running just fine, then it might not be. There are some very good reasons for installing updates though, such as fixing security vulnerabilities, adding new features, or resolving bugs and system crashes.
Why don’t we update stuff more often?… partly because we’re too busy (and have much better things to do) but also because there’s no quick and easy way to find out which programs need updating. Enter the on-line health check from F-secure. Simply visit their website and (within a few minutes) you will be able to see which of your programs have later versions available. There’s even a ’solve’ button that will advise you what action you need to take, and direct you to the latest update (if one is available). The site is primarily designed with security in mind, but it’s also a great way of getting a snapshot of the status of your PC’s software. NB. the health check only works in Internet Explorer.
We recommend that you create a ’system restore point’ before installing or removing programs. This isn’t essential, but it’s a good safeguard (and we might even post on how to do this at a later date).
Via Lifehacker
Test drive ‘Vista’
Microsoft Vista has now been available for over a year. If you work for a large company, it’s highly likely that you will still be using a PC running Windows XP Professional, and you may be wondering ‘what is all the fuss about?’ Vista has had some pretty negative press over the last few months, but (whether you like it or not) it will probably be around for a few more years. If you are not familiar with the software, now might be a good time to keep one step ahead of your colleagues by seeing it in action (even if it’s just to say, ‘actually I prefer XP!‘). You can try an on-line demo on the Microsoft site.
