digiblade

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

PDF Conversions for EVERY Situation

Convert a Complex Word file to PDF
Keep this tip in mind to avoid ruining your links and bookmarks when converting.
Convert PDF to Microsoft Word
It's easy to convert a PDF document to a Word file for simple editing.
Convert Word Documents with Embedded Files to PDF
Use this workaround to keep your associated files intact and useable.
Convert Word Bookmarks to PDF
Keep those heading numbers and titles consistent between formats.
Convert RSS to PDF
Use free online services to convert your RSS feeds to PDF for easy archiving, annotation and redistribution of information.
Convert PDF to Audio Formats
Opinion: Who's got time to actually read documents these days? New software from ScanSoft lets you convert your PDFs to WAV or AIFF and listen to them on the go.
Convert to PDF Online Using Your Printer
How To: Windows' printer service can be used to send documents to Adobe's online PDF conversion utility, which will then e-mail the docs back.
Convert Java help sets from HTML to PDF
New utility replicates documents so staff can use the help systems.
Convert Crystal Reports 8.5 to PDF
Use activePDF to turn proprietary Crystal reports into shareable PDFs.
Convert TIFF-6 Files to PDF
Use Acrobat for the conversion, but trya different program to download TIFFs en masse.
Convert PDF to XML
A few companies offer this service.
Convert XML to PDF
A ERM platform can convert XML data to PDF.

Monday, August 29, 2005

News Picks

Intel's Path to Disruption 
No technology conference would be complete without a flashy presentation of the future, preferably featuring a smiling family immersed in a world of limitless digital content available at their fingertips.
This week's Intel Developer Conference, which wrapped up Thursday in San Francisco, was no exception. In the future -- a period generally defined as somewhere between the fourth quarter of 2006 and the next 10 years -- we will sit in our living rooms watching films as they premiere at local theaters, carry on video conferences across the globe and chat using VOIP services.
More at link

Java Joy in Coffee Study 
WASHINGTON -- When the Ink Spots sang "I love the java jive and it loves me" in 1940, they could not have known how right they were. Coffee not only helps clear the mind and perk up the energy, it also provides more healthful antioxidants than any other food or beverage in the American diet, according to a study released Sunday.
Of course, too much coffee can make people jittery and even raise cholesterol levels, so food experts stress moderation.
More at link

Breaking the Law with Technology:

Breaking the Law with Technology:

Legally, it's been a gray week for me.
I took apart and repaired a 15-year-old, Freon-filled refridgerator without an EPA permit. I destroyed a wasp's nest with a makeshift flamethrower, using an aerosol can of cleaner "in a manner inconsistent with its labeling."
And then I went hardcore. Well, sort of.
I got myself a new Pocket PC PDA, and I had a Wi-Fi hotspot in my house.
As soon as I turned it on, the laptop found and connected to a Wi-Fi network. This was cool; I appreciate how easy it works. But it was also odd, because my Wi-Fi network is encrypted. You need a password to access it, and I hadn't entered one.
I pulled up the list of networks, and there was mine, locked down, along with a few others, also locked. There was also one unencrypted one and I was connecting through it. The computer is set to search for the strongest network it can access and use it.
As I wasn't  planning on using my PDA at home more than occasionally, it was easier to piggyback on this mysterious signal than to set up my own network.
There have been plenty of stories about how you should secure your wireless network, and doing so isn't difficult: a handful of clicks, really. Some neighbors had done so, but one had not, and now I was using his Internet connection.
Technically, this is theft. Sort of. (One reason it's not is that I figured out which neighbor it was, and I told him. He didn't mind.)
But it's a good example of how traditional definitions don't always fit in the brave new world. Was I stealing? I was depriving my neighbor of bandwidth. I was slowing his access. But what if he wasn't online? (In fact, he wasn't home at the time.)
More importantly, he was leaving his network unsecured, so any PC with a Wi-Fi card in the area would pick it up.
He doesn't pay for time on the network, so I'm not costing him anything. He wasn't using the network then, so I wasn't depriving him of anything. Free WiFi connections are all over, so I wasn't depriving an ISP of revenue.
Still, that hasn't stopped other people from getting arrested for "stealing" a signal.
Terrible twos
At three in the morning and a few cocktails later, my friends do not quite understand the concept of "don't scratch your DVDs." They’ve already ruined a few CDs, but DVDs are more expensive.
The smart thing to do is make a backup and keep the original safely put away. This way friends only risks a 50-cent disk, not a $20 one.
There are a bunch of programs out there for making backups of your DVDs with names like 1Click DVD Copy, DVD Wizard Pro, and DVD Cloner.
I use one called DVD Decrypter, which I like for two reasons: 1) It's free, and 2) it can remove UOPs from the DVD before making a copy.
If you have a DVD player, you've bumped into UOPs, or "user operation prohibitions." They stop you when you try to do something to the DVD you're not supposed to do.
For example, some of our disks come from a company that fills the first 10 minutes with commercials for its other products. The UOPs prohibit you from skipping them.
Can you imagine if you tried to read a book but couldn't start until you flipped through 20 pages of ads?
That's why, when I made a backup of these disks, I also removed the UOPs. Now we can be as rough as we like and we can skip the commercials, too. The original is safe, and we are spared from yet more advertising.
Is what I did against the law? Not yet, but the entertainment industry wants it to be.
Gray area
My friend sent me birthday greetings with a card that has a photo of a New York scene of Fort Washington Park with the George Washington Bridge in the background. I'm always happy to see scenes of New York, but this one made me stop.
From the angle the shot was taken, you could just see, under the bridge, the Little Red Lighthouse.
"Holy moly!" I said. Entirely by accident, he had sent me a card that brought back memories of one of my favorite childhood books. I scanned the card and sent it to a friend with a note, "Holy moly!"
Now that card was copyrighted art, yet here I was, scanning it and sending it to someone. Breaking the law or fair use? Obviously, fair use. I think. I wasn't profiting from it and wasn't depriving anyone of anything. It was in the context of a review.
Had it been a digital image I paid for, however, and not an analog one, that would have been exactly the kind of thing content creators want to prevent.
For now, though, I still have my copyrights — at least to some extent. (And let's not forget that the idea of copyright was to protect the rights of content consumers as much as those of creators. It's something the entertainment industry has paid Congress to ignore.)
I still can change my car's oil without a license, permit, or certification. I can still build a potato cannon and fix my refridgerator. I can still copy my CDs to my MP3 player and use my TiVo to watch last Friday's Battlestar Galactica again.
But as technology marches on, our laws don't always march with it. They're written by men with agendas that are different than ours — men who don't understand (or have the incentive to understand) what they're trying to legislate.
So chances are there will come a day when there won't be room for men to meddle with technology. The sad thing is that we'll think what they do is against the law in the first place.

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Microsoft Word 2003 tips !

Microsoft Word 2003 tips !
Hat’s off to Malektips  
I use all of these.

Prevent Data Loss When Saving Files Over Networks
SUMMARY: Help ensure network downtime does not result in data loss in your Microsoft Word 2003 documents. Do you save Microsoft Word 2003 documents over network file shares? Does the network frequently go offline, causing you to lose your changes? You can force Microsoft Word 2003 to save a local copy of all documents saved over the network. This way, when you save the local copy, the network copy is updated. However, if the network goes down, you can still save a local copy of the file to prevent losing your changes.BTW: This option also works for removable drives. In case you are forgetful and disconnect drives or remove rewritable CDs, ZIP disks, etc., you should not lose your changes.1. Click "Tools", selecting "Options".2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Save" tab.3. Check "Make local copy of files stored on network or removable drives".4. Click "OK" to save your changes. 
Speed up Document Opening by Not Updating Links
SUMMARY: Speed up slow document loads in Microsoft Word 2003 by preventing automatic link updating. Normally, when you open Microsoft Word 2003 documents, if you have any information linked to other objects or files, these links are updated whenever documents are open. If you have complex documents that link to various other files, this can slow down Microsoft Word 2003 as it has to go out and update all the links. Thus, if you would like to prevent this from happening:1. Click "Tools" - "Options".2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "General" tab.3. Uncheck "Update automatic links at Open".4. Click "OK" to save your settings. 
Compare Documents Side By Side
SUMMARY: Need to manually merge changes between two Microsoft Word 2003 documents? Compare them next to each other. Forget to use document change tracking? Stuck with two somewhat similar documents you need to compare and merge the differences? Luckily, Microsoft Word 2003 comes built-in with a document comparison tool where you can view two documents side-by-side.1. Open both documents in Microsoft Word 2003.2. Focus on one document. Select "Window" - "Compare Side by Side With". If you only have two documents open, this menu item will mention the second document's filename. If not, a dialog box will appear allowing you to choose the document to compare.3. The two documents will appear side-by-side. As you scroll through one document, the other will scroll as well.4. A "Compare Side" floating toolbar will appear. If you don't want one document to scroll while the other scrolls, click the left button (it looks like two documents side-by-side with an up and down arrow).5. View/edit your document as needed. When done, click "Close Side by Side". 
Print in Reverse Order
SUMMARY: Tired of having to re-collate documents printed backwards? Have Microsoft Word 2003 fix this for you. With many printers, when you print multi-page documents, as the paper comes out of the printer face-down, page one will be below page two, page two will be below page three, etc. This way, when you pick up the document, the first page will be up front, the second page behind the first page, etc.However, this isn't always the case. In some printers, especially portable printers, the documents may exit the printer face-up. When this happens, page 3 of a 3-page document will appear first, then page 2, and then page 1. You must manually flip the pages around.However, Microsoft Word 2003 comes with a reverse-printing mode that can flip the printouts so that the last page prints first and the first page last. This way, when you pick up the document it appears as intended.1. Click "Tools" - "Options".2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Print" tab.3. Underneath "Printing options", click "Reverse print order".4. Click "OK" to close the dialog box. 
Send Document to Fax, Exchange, PowerPoint
SUMMARY: Deliver Microsoft Word 2003 documents as faxes, e-mail attachments, and more. Need to send your Microsoft Word 2003 document as an e-mail attachment, fax, or as a basis for a Microsoft PowerPoint 2003 presentation? Save your Word 2003 document, then click "File" - "Send To". Depending on your computer configuration and installed software, you will have several options that may include:* Mail Recipient* Exchange Folder* Recipient using Internet Fax Service* Microsoft Office PowerPointChoose your desired destination then follow the on-screen instructions, if prompted. Print Preview Multiple Pages at Once
SUMMARY: Got a large monitor? Preview several pages of your Microsoft Word 2003 documents simultaneously. If you have a large monitor with a high resolution (1024x768 at a recommended minimum), you can preview multiple pages at once with Microsoft Word 2003. This might save you time during the proofreading process, plus it can give you a better idea of how the document flows from one page to the next.1. Open a document to preview.2. Select "File" - "Print Preview".3. To the left of the "zoom" pull-down you should see a button looking like a green square with four white squares in the middle. Click it. This is the "Multiple Pages" button.4. Select how many pages across and how many pages vertically you wish to view simultaneously. Note that the more pages you view, the smaller the text. Options include:* 1 x 1* 1 x 2* 1 x 3* 2 x 1* 2 x 2* 2 x 3If you wish to go back to only previewing one page at a time, click the button to the left, "One Page". 
Stop Accidentally Moving Text
SUMMARY: Keep Microsoft Word 2003 from jumbling text around your documents. While selecting text in a Microsoft Word 2003 document, have you ever had the text mysteriously move to another part of the document? This is because Microsoft Word 2003 supports drag-and-drop text editing. If you select text then drag it to a different section of the document, Word moves the text. If you drag text while holding down the CTRL key, the text is copied instead of moved to the new location.Many people find this feature useful. However, it can result in accidental moving of entire chunks of text within a document. Thus this feature can be disabled.1. Click "Tools", selecting "Options".2. When the "Options" multi-tabbed dialog box appears, click the "Edit" tab.3. Uncheck "Drag-and-drop text editing".4. Click "OK" to save your settings. 

Talking Headstones

Talking Headstones ?
VIDSTONE Serenity Panel
I don’t know… The web site even has a demo video
Here

Saturday, August 20, 2005

Get An SMS From Your Light Bulb when it Burns Out ?

Apparently some company is working on a light bulb that will send you an SMS message telling you when it burns out. I would think the dark room would be a pretty good indicator, but I guess for those of you that might find yourself sitting in the dark wondering why you can't see anything, an SMS message like this can be enlightening. Personally, I'd rather have my refrigerator SMS me when the last can of beer is gone, or my pantry SMS me when the coffee supply is critically low. And who could be more appreciative if your toilet paper holder pinged you before it ran out of paper? It would have to know when to SMS you though to be beneficial. Pulling off that last square is bad enough. You don't need your phone mocking you at that point telling you there is a problem.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Tech Hilights for 08/19/2005

Tech Hilights for 08/19/2005


Identity-Theft Keylogger Identified
Folks, Keep your antivirus\anti-spyware up to date !
It's Too Easy to Get Hacked, Infected, and Spammed
Sunbelt Software has identified the keylogging spyware that is feeding sensitive personal information to an identity-theft ring. The FBI confirms it has been in contact with Sunbelt and is looking into the company's findings. More at link .I use Zone Alarm .



Broadband And The American Dream

Most Americans, even those with little wealth, can't live these days without a car, a microwave, and cable TV. Now, add to that fast Internet access.
Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin is leading a five-year project to invest $1 billion to build rental homes with high-speed Internet access for some 100,000 people with low incomes. "You're not fully a member of our economy and our society without Internet access," Rubin said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
Rubin heads the Local Initiatives Support Corp., a nonprofit group that furnishes money and other resources to community groups. Its latest project, Access@Home, is aimed to help low-income Americans cross the digital divide by providing affordable housing with broadband, vouchers to buy computers, online training, and community Web sites.
How big is the digital divide? Americans earning less than $30,000 a year comprise only 18% of Internet users, despite comprising 28% of the population, Local Initiatives Support says. Especially hard hit are low-income youth; they're eight times less likely to use computers at home as children in families earning $75,000 or more.
Quoting government stats, the group says 95% of new jobs created will require significant computer skills. And, eight of the 10 fastest-growing jobs are computer related. Unfamiliarity with technology can bar people from the doors of their would-be workplaces: of the 92% of Fortune 500 companies that used corporate Web sites for active job recruitment in 2003, one-third didn't give job seekers the option of applying for jobs offline.
What's your take? Is broadband Internet access now the bare minimum for someone to find a quality job in today's workplace? Will initiatives like Rubin's help advance broadband access?

Thursday, August 18, 2005

Todays Tech News 08/18/2005

Todays Tech News 08-18-2005:

MICROSOFT RELATED

WARNING win2000 users !
A serious flaw in the aging Microsoft OS that could be easily exploited in a worm attack has been found. No patch is available and a work-around is not possible
A serious flaw has been discovered in a core component of Windows 2000, with no possible work-around until it gets fixed, a security company said.
The vulnerability in Microsoft's operating system could enable remote intruders to enter a PC via its IP address, Marc Maiffret, chief hacking officer at eEye Digital Security, said on Wednesday. As no action on the part of the computer user is required, the flaw could easily be exploited to create a worm attack, he noted.
What may be particularly problematic with this unpatched security hole is that a work-around is unlikely, he said.
"You can't turn this [vulnerable] component off," Maiffret said. "It's always on. You can't disable it. You can't uninstall."
eEye declined to give more details on the flaw or the Windows 2000 component in question. As part of company policy, it does not release technical details of the vulnerabilities it finds until the software's maker has released either a patch or an advisory.
A Microsoft representative said the software giant will issue a comment once it has had a chance to review the eEye advisory, which has yet to be posted on the security company's Web site.
The vulnerabilities affect Windows 2000, but Maiffret noted eEye is still conducting tests, and he anticipates other versions of Microsoft's OS is likely to be affected.
For Microsoft, this marks the second eEye advisory it's received this week. On Monday, eEye notified the software giant it had found critical vulnerabilities in Internet Explorer.
The IE vulnerabilities could allow malicious attackers to launch a remote buffer overflow attack should users click on a malicious Web site link.
The flaw, which is rated as a "high" risk, affects IE, Windows XP and SP1, Windows 2003 and Windows 2000.
Microsoft confirmed it received the eEye advisory regarding IE through its standard vulnerability reporting system.
"We are investigating the report and will take appropriate action to help protect customers as part of our normal security response process," a Microsoft representative said. Microsoft issues a monthly bulletin of patches and also has a program of security advisories with work-arounds for unpatched, reported flaws.


1 "Acrylic" (code name) is the professional design program that brings together the richness of pixel-based painting and the performance of editable vector graphics for a more fluid and flexible creative workflow. Create sophisticated  designs and graphic elements for your on-screen, Web, and print projects.
Download

2 Microsoft MCE Keyboard,  The Missing Link:
Click to see pic

3 The Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 Calendar Views Add-in makes it easy for you to view your Outlook Calendar appointments through a filter that is based on Outlook labels and categories. For example, you can create a view that shows you only the appointments on your calendar that are labeled Must Attend, or are categorized as Important.
You add filters by using the Calendar Views toolbar, which opens in your Outlook Calendar after you install the add-in.
Download

SyncToy is a free PowerToy for Microsoft Windows XP that provides is an easy to use, highly customizable program that helps users to do the heavy lifting involved with the copying, moving, and synchronization of different directories. Most common operations can be performed with just a few clicks of the mouse, and additional customization is available without adding complexity. SyncToy can manage multiple sets of directories at the same time; it can combine files from two folders in one case, and mimic renames and deletes in another. Unlike other applications, SyncToy keeps track of renames to files and will make sure those changes get carried over to the synchronized folder.
Download

Wednesday, August 17, 2005


me... Posted by Picasa

1st Post !

1st Post:
Well here goes: I’m going to make this 1st post using Microsoft Word and that new nifty plugin called ‘Blogger For Word’…Duh…