Technology Tips for May 2010
Here are a few new tips I have seen on the Internet. Check them out and and see if you can use any of them.
Help With Newsletters: You don’t have to be a desktop publishing expert to impress your database. Even better, you can do it without software. All you need is your Web browser and a few photos to share. LetterPop is a new site that lets you create graphic newsletters in a short time. Just choose from several templates. There’s a mix of themes for personal or professional newsletters. Next, add your text. You can work with different fonts and add formatting, like headings and bulleted lists. Most templates provide space for photos. You can test drive LetterPop on its Web site. The demonstration includes a few templates and stock photos. A free membership is required to add your own photos and to access all the templates. http://www.letterpop.com/
Better Than Post Its’ Around Your Screen: Stickies is a powerful program. You can send notes without the aid of a separate e-mail program. You can also share notes directly through a network with others who have Stickies installed. When you do so, the notes will appear on the other computer’s screen. Recipients can edit the notes and post them back to your screen. You can opt to save logs of all sent and received notes automatically. Or, set notes as alarms, complete with sounds and visual cues. Stickies even supports Windows or Palm mobile devices. http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/
Trouble Shooting Your Computer: We have to do some troubleshooting from time to time. Maybe your DVD drive won’t read inserted discs. Or, the computer won’t send printing jobs to your printer. Microsoft’s Fix it Center automatically diagnoses and fixes many common problems. You can download individual tools for specific problems. Or, get them all in one package. Microsoft’s Fix it Center can sniff out the cause of most issues. It can find and remove conflicting startup programs and fix hard drive errors. It can adjust settings to provide optimal battery life. The package version will also anticipate Windows updates. This can help eliminate potential conflicts before they happen. Free http://support.microsoft.com/fixit#tab0
Uninstalling Unwanted Programs: Windows lets you do it with a few mouse clicks. An uninstalled program rarely disappears. You’re often left with unnecessary files, folders and registry entries. These things just junk up your hard drive. Removing this stuff manually isn’t so simple. Revo Uninstaller can completely remove those unwanted programs. It will clean out all the stuff normally left behind. That saves you precious hard drive space. This program can also clean other areas of your computer. Permanently delete specific files and folders. Clean out Web tracks from your browser. You can even remove recent document history from Microsoft Office. (Revo Uninstaller comes in free and pay versions. Be sure to download the free version.) http://www.revouninstaller.com/
Great Reminder Notes: What do you write your reminder notes on? Do you use Post-it notes or scraps of paper? This program is a better way. It lets you use almost anything as a reminder note. Write text notes. Save and annotate photos. Record audio reminders. You can even clip portions of Web sites you want to remember. http://www.evernote.com/
A Compact Calendar on Your Desktop: Maybe you just want something you can check at a glance. This compact calendar sits right on your desktop. It includes a to-do and upcoming events lists. You don’t have to open a program or search for a document. Just look at your desktop to see what you should be doing. http://www.rainlendar.net/cms/index.php?option=com_rny_download&Itemid=30
Maybe a More Powerful Calendar: Short notes and alarms are handy. But for serious scheduling, you need a more complex calendar program. Sunbird is a great option from the organization behind Firefox. You can schedule to-dos, tasks and appointments. Set up alarms and pop-up reminders. You can get an overview of everything you need to do. http://www.mozilla.org/projects/calendar/sunbird/download.html
Find The Program A Little Easier: You probably have quite a collection of programs. But getting to them isn’t always easy. You don’t want your desktop covered in shortcuts. Start>>All Programs can be a ridiculously long list. Tidy Start Menu offers a better way. It lets you group programs into sensible categories. They are Office, Utilities, Games, Entertainment, Internet, Programming, Graphics, Security and Other. Then you click Start>>All Programs. That huge list is now just nine folders. Tidy Start Menu comes in free and Pro versions. You’ll have to pay for the Pro version. But the free version works just fine. http://www.tidystartmenu.com/index.shtml
Hope you find this helpful and if you need anything please give me a call or email me. I am here to help.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Tips courtesy of Rick DeLuca and the Real Estate Idea Club. http://www.RealEstateIdeaClub.com
The Pacific
I just finished watching The Pacific series that tells some of the story of WWII in the Pacific. I am humbled by the sacrifice the men and women made to fight such a war. My vocabulary is crippled and all I can say to the people who served in that war and all the others we have fought is “Thank you”. And to the men and women still serving in places like Afghanistan and Iraq and everywhere else “Thank you”. Without your sacrifice we would not have the country we enjoy and prosper in. Our streets are paved with gold and we are a blessed people. Never forget that. There is no place like this on earth.
A place to call home – a little more
Last post was about the item of value that helped us understand why we pick the home we did and how it affects resale values. This is a follow up item that talks about ‘walkability’. How close are the shops and eateries? Is it easy to get to entertainment? It is one of the primary attractions for Suwanee Town Center and some of the areas around historic Buford and Lawrenceville.
If you work from home and can walk to most of the places you want to go maybe you get rid of a car or use a bike to get around. It’s not for everyone but you just might enjoy it. Click here for the info and let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help and I am never too busy for any of your referrals.
Thanks,
Jerry Robertson
678-231-1578 Cell
A place to call home
Why did you pick the place you live in today?? Most of us have a choice of where we live so why did you choose this one? This month’s item of value helps answer that question. So….
Well, when we get ready to sell it is important to know what people are looking for. 50% choose the place based on access to work. 43% look at affordability. There is lots more to read so click here to get the report and check out the reasons for yourself.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Our Town
I heard the song for the first time the other day. I was in the car listening to Pandora on my phone and playing it through my car speakers. I like James Taylor and I have a channel just for his style of music. Yeah, I know the sentence I just wrote tells you I am a geek but if it’s true it ain’t braggin’, is it?
The song is ‘Our Town’. It comes from the ‘kid’s’ movie Cars. Maybe I am just getting old but the life it talks about appeals to me. Our Town is a place we build. It is hard work and maybe some long hours but in the end I think it is what we strive for. It is Community. We lack that these days but I think it might be making a come-back.
It is a place where we work together to help each other, build relationships and build a community that is worth all the work. It is a place where your word means something. It is a place where we grow, learn and teach. It is a place where children learn values like honesty, integrity, hope, forgiveness, grace and a bunch of others worth having. I want that again and I am going to work for it.
This will be the start. I have something I want to share with you. It is a directory of businesses and people who do a great job and work to live by those values I just mentioned. One by one I have added people to this list. They are the people I send my clients, family and friends to when they need help. It is not complete however. I need your help. If there is someone who you trust to do a great job then I need their name and phone number. Call me or email me and we’ll talk with them. See, I don’t really want this to be ‘my list’. I want it to be ‘our’ list. Our Town.
The website is www.OurTown.RealtyCaffeine.com if you want to go there. I have about 70 connections there right now ranging from a few places to eat to a handyman, plumber, painter and lots of others. I am looking forward to seeing this town grow into something we can all enjoy.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Do you like Rap??
This was shared with me and I am going to share it with you. I don’t know the church that did it but I really do like the message. Check it out.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Getting ahead
I learned a few things from my son as I was teaching him to drive.
1. We always want to ‘get ahead’. He probably got this from me but I want to be in the front of the pack. I want to be #1 at the stop light so I can get on my way without waiting for the ’stupid driver’ if front of me. (why is it that all the ’stupid drivers’ are in front of me anyway?)
2. When I am focused on getting ahead I sometimes do dumb things. Did you ever change lanes just to be in the front of the pack and almost cause an accident or just find out you were in the right lane to begin with? Changing lanes just to get ahead can be dangerous or can set you back unnecessarily. Focus on your destination and getting there in one piece and it works out better.
3. When I pull up to the next red light and look around I see the same people all the time so maybe I did not get ahead after all; it just felt like it so all I managed to do was confuse action and motion. Try this tomorrow on your way to work; pick out a car or two and see if they aren’t with you when you get to the red light. If you’re honest, I’ll bet you they are.
4. Even if I get ahead by risking life and limb will I use the saved time responsibly or would I just waste it somewhere else watching TV or gabbing at the water cooler or Facebook-ing anyway? Just sayin……
Here is the point; focus on your destination, stay in your lane unless something bad is happening that you can actually see and don’t watch what everyone else is doing. You will likely get where you are going safely and if you enjoy the ride on the way more you might enjoy the destination even more than you expected.
Life can be a ‘rat race’ or a ‘walk in the park’. You get to decide how you feel when you travel through this life and I hope you pick the right one.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act
George Orwell from 1984 said that. Universal Deceit. Do you feel like our politicians have lied to us. Republicans and Democrats alike. I do. I suppose there are exceptions but for the most part they are so busy spinning the facts to what they want them to be it is making me dizzy. Sort of the way you get dizzy on a kids merry go round in the playgrounds that used to be at my elementary school. Dizzy. So dizzy I finally threw up.
There are some numbers I want to share with you. You should have some concept of what $1 Million dollars looks like. I mean we have some idea of how much that is. If you had $1 Million dollars a day for 365 days that would be $365 Million dollars, right. Well, do that for 2731 years and you have $1 Trillion dollars. Did you get that? 2731 YEARS. That is about 700 years BEFORE CHRIST. I don’t know if that hurts or helps but it gave me a better perspective of what $1 Trillion dollars looks like.
That is the best case cost of our new and improved health care bill. Our deficit is about that much too just for 2009. I don’t think it matters how you feel about all those things. What matters is that you get some idea of how much money we are talking about. Think about it.
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
Bob Dylan on Hope
This is something my son shared with me in a paper he wrote for school. I will share his take on it later but wanted to get this out today to everyone. It is really a message about hope.
As recited by Bob Dylan, Town Hall, New York, NY, Apr 12, 1963,
released on “The Bootleg Series, Volumes 1-3,” 1991;
transcribed by Manfred Helfert.
Published lyrics © 1973 Special Rider Music
There’s this book comin’ out, an’ they asked me to write something about Woody…
Sort of like “What does Woody Guthrie mean to you?” in twenty-five words…And I couldn’t do it — I wrote out five pages and… I have it here, it’s…
Have it here by accident, actually… but I’d like to say this out loud…
So… if you can sort of roll along with this thing here, this is called
“Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie.”When your head gets twisted and your mind grows numb
When you think you’re too old, too young, too smart or too dumb
When you’re laggin’ behind an’ losin’ your pace
In the slow-motion crawl or life’s busy race
No matter whatcha doin’ if you start givin’ up
If the wine don’t come to the top of your cup
If the wind got you sideways it’s one hand holdin’ on
And the other starts slippin’ and the feelin’ is gone
And your train engine fire needs a new spark to catch it
And the wood’s easy findin’ but you’re lazy to fetch it
And your sidewalk starts curlin’ and the street gets too long
And you start walkin’ backwards though you know that it’s wrong
And lonesome comes up as down goes the day
And tomorrow’s mornin’ seems so far away
And you feel the reins from your pony are slippin’
And your rope is a-slidin’ ’cause your hands are a-drippin’
And your sun-decked desert and evergreen valleys
Turn to broken down slums and trash-can alleys
And your sky cries water and your drain pipe’s a-pourin’
And the lightnin’s a-flashin’ and the thunder’s a-crashin’
The windows are rattlin’ and breakin’ and the roof tops are shakin’
And your whole world’s a-slammin’ and bangin’
And your minutes of sun turn to hours of storm
An’ to yourself you sometimes say
“I never knew it was gonna be this way
Why didn’t they tell me the day I was born?”And you start gettin’ chills and you’re jumpin’ from sweat
And you’re lookin’ for somethin’ you ain’t quite found yet
And you’re knee-deep in dark water with your hands in the air
And the whole world’s watchin’ with a window peek stare
And your good gal leaves and she’s long gone a-flyin’
And your heart feels sick like fish when they’re fryin’
And your jackhammer falls from your hands to your feet
But you need it badly an’ it lays on the street
And your bell’s bangin’ loudly but you can’t hear its beat
And you think your ears mighta been hurt
Your eyes’ve turned filthy from the sight-blindin’ dirt
And you figured you failed in yesterday’s rush
When you were faked out an’ fooled while facin’ a four flush
And all the time you were holdin’ three queens
It’s makin you mad, it’s makin’ you mean
Like in the middle of Life magazine
Bouncin’ around a pinball machine
And there’s something on your mind that you wanna be sayin’
That somebody someplace oughta be hearin’
But it’s trapped on your tongue, sealed in your head
And it bothers you badly when your layin’ in bed
And no matter how you try you just can’t say it
And you’re scared to your soul you just might forget it
And your eyes get swimmy from the tears in your head
An’ your pillows of feathers turn to blankets of lead
And the lion’s mouth opens and you’re starin’ at his teeth
And his jaws start closin’ with you underneath
And you’re flat on your belly with your hands tied behind
And you wish you’d never taken that last detour sign
You say to yourself just what am I doin’
On this road I’m walkin’, on this trail I’m turnin’
On this curve I’m hangin’
On this pathway I’m strollin’, this space I’m taking
And this air I’m inhaling?
Am I mixed up too much, am I mixed up too hard
Why am I walking, where am I running
What am I saying, what am I knowing
On this guitar I’m playing, on this banjo I’m frailing
On this mandolin I’m strumming, in the song I’m singing,
In the tune I’m humming, in the words that I’m thinking
In the words I’m writing
In this ocean of hours I’m all the time drinking
Who am I helping, what am I breaking
What am I giving, what am I taking?
But you try with your whole soul best
Never to think these thoughts and never to let
Them kind of thoughts gain ground
Or make your heart pound
But then again you know when they’re around
Just waiting for a chance to slip and drop down
‘Cause sometimes you hear ‘em when the night time come creeping
And you fear they might catch you sleeping
And you jump from your bed, from the last chapter of dreamin’
And you can’t remember for the best of your thinkin’
If that was you in the dream that was screaming
And you know that’s somethin’ special you’re needin’
And you know there’s no drug that’ll do for the healing
And no liquor in the land to stop your brain from bleedingYou need somethin’ special
You need somethin’ special, all right
You need a fast flyin’ train on a tornado track
To shoot you someplace and shoot you back
You need a cyclone wind on a stream engine howler
That’s been banging and booming and blowing forever
That knows your troubles a hundred times over
You need a Greyhound bus that don’t bar no race
That won’t laugh at your looks
Your voice or your face
And by any number of bets in the book
Will be rolling long after the bubblegum craze
You need something to open up a new door
To show you something you seen before
But overlooked a hundred times or more
You need something to open your eyes
You need something to make it known
That it’s you and no one else that owns
That spot that you’re standing, that space that you’re sitting
That the world ain’t got you beat
That it ain’t got you licked
It can’t get you crazy no matter how many times you might get kicked
You need something special, all right
You need something special to give you hope
But hope’s just a word
That maybe you said, maybe you heard
On some windy corner ’round a wide-angled curveBut that’s what you need man, and you need it bad
And your trouble is you know it too good
‘Cause you look an’ you start gettin’ the chills
‘Cause you can’t find it on a dollar bill
And it ain’t on Macy’s window sill
And it ain’t on no rich kid’s road map
And it ain’t in no fat kid’s fraternity house
And it ain’t made in no Hollywood wheat germ
And it ain’t on that dim-lit stage
With that half-wit comedian on it
Rantin’ and ravin’ and takin’ your money
And you thinks it’s funny
No, you can’t find it neither in no night club, no yacht club
And it ain’t in the seats of a supper club
And sure as hell you’re bound to tell
No matter how hard you rub
You just ain’t a-gonna find it on your ticket stub
No, it ain’t in the rumors people’re tellin’ you
And it ain’t in the pimple-lotion people are sellin’ you
And it ain’t in a cardboard-box house
Or down any movie star’s blouse
And you can’t find it on the golf course
And Uncle Remus can’t tell you and neither can Santa Claus
And it ain’t in the cream puff hairdo or cotton candy clothes
Ain’t in the dime store dummies an’ bubblegum goons
And it ain’t in the marshmallow noises of the chocolate cake voices
That come knocking and tapping in Christmas wrapping
Sayin’ ain’t I pretty and ain’t I cute, look at my skin,
Look at my skin shine, look at my skin glow,
Look at my skin laugh, look at my skin cry,
When you can’t even sense if they got any insides
These people so pretty in their ribbons and bows
No, you’ll not now or no other day
Find it on the doorsteps made of paper maché
And inside of the people made of molasses
That every other day buy a new pair of sunglasses
And it ain’t in the fifty-star generals and flipped-out phonies
Who’d turn you in for a tenth of a penny
Who breathe and burp and bend and crack
And before you can count from one to ten
Do it all over again but this time behind your back, my friend,
The ones that wheel and deal and whirl and twirl
And play games with each other in their sand-box world
And you can’t find it either in the no-talent fools
That run around gallant
And make all the rules for the ones that got talent
And it ain’t in the ones that ain’t got any talent but think they do
And think they’re fooling you
The ones that jump on the wagon
Just for a while ’cause they know it’s in style
To get their kicks, get out of it quick
And make all kinds of rnoney and chicks
And you yell to yourself and you throw down your hat
Saying, “Christ, do I gotta be like that?
Ain’t there no one here that knows where I’m at
Ain’t there no one here that knows how I feel
Good God Almighty, that stuff ain’t real”:No, but that ain’t your game, it ain’t your race
You can’t hear your name, you can’t see your face
You gotta look some other place
And where do you look for this hope that you’re seekin’
Where do you look for this lamp that’s a-burnin’
Where do you look for this oil well gushin’
Where do you look for this candle that’s glowin’
Where do you look for this hope that you know is there
And out there somewhere
And your feet can only walk down two kinds of roads
Your eyes can only look through two kinds of windows
Your nose can only smell two kinds of hallways
You can touch and twist
And turn two kinds of doorknobs
You can either go to the church of your choice
Or you go to Brooklyn State HospitalYou find God in the church of your choice
You find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital
And though it’s only my opinion
I may be right or wrong
You’ll find them both
In Grand Canyon
Sundown
Technology Tips for March 1
How Much Influence Does Your Twitter Account Have: Klout allows you to track the impact of your opinions, links and recommendations across your social graph. They collect data about the content you create, how people interact with that content and the size and composition of your network. From there, they analyze the data to find indicators of influence and then provide you with innovative tools to interact and interpret data. http://klout.com
Communicating With Groups: On Wiggio, you can share and edit files, manage a group calendar, poll your group, post links, set up conference calls, chat online and send mass text, voice and email messages to your group members. Each group member can define how they want to keep informed of group activity. http://wiggio.com
More Usable Photo Editing Site: Photosynth creates a new experience with groups of photos. Creating a synth allows you to share the photos you value using the cinematic quality of a movie, the control fo a video game, and the detail of the real world. http://photosynth.net/default.aspx
Convert Email to Text Message: AwayFind is a web application that finds your most important emails. When you receive an urgent message, AwayFind will notify you with a cell phone call, SMS, IM, DM,(Twitter), or delegate the message to someone you specify. http://www.awayfind.com
Jot Down Notes: Your computer is a great place to jot down quick notes. You can copy a URL you want to remember. Windows comes with a handy program for taking notes. It’s Notepad. CloudPad is a good note-taking alternative. Write them up, give them a title and set their priority. You can also tag them with descriptive words and phrases. You can view them by priority level. You can search for both note titles and content. And you can easily locate common note tags through a tag cloud. http://sourceforge.net/projects/cloudpad/
Thanks for listening,
Jerry Robertson
678-561-4463 Direct
Technology tips courtesy of Rick DeLuca at www.RealEstateIdeaClub.com
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