Writers need a word processor, but do you really need all the bells and whistles that become more complicated every time you upgrade MS Word? There have always been alternatives that were cheaper, even free. But, now your word processing options are becoming more varied and feature-packed. In fact, one techie says there are no [...]
Are you tired of upgrading your Microsoft Word software every couple of years? I know I am. Recently, I inherited a computer with Windows 7 operating system. Right away, I realized most of my XP software would not work with Windows 7. Not wanting to shell out the big bucks for Microsoft Office (again), I [...]
Do you need a quick way to backup your writing files? Do you use more than one computer in your writing? Do you have a backup plan that you often forget to use? If you said “yes” to any of these questions, please take a look at Dropbox. It’s free, downloadable, and easy to use. [...]
Yes, it’s that time of year. Time to clean the debris out of the writing cave and bring in some fresh material. Time to dust off your writing aspirations and get busy making them happen. Here’s my spring cleaning plan. Organize files (both computer and hard-copy). Dispose of duplicates and out-dated material. Clean equipment. See [...]
Earlier this month, while I was reworking my Web site and setting up this blog, my laptop computer experienced what my support person called a “hard crash.” I asked what that meant, and he said, “All of your data is lost. You must reformat your hard drive.” I followed instructions, but doing this on the [...]
Journaling is a great way to collect subject matter and organize your thoughts for your articles and stories. I still do most of my journaling on in notebooks, and I’ve tried to organize and index them as I complete a volume. However, over time, the sheer volume of my journal content has made it hard [...]
Usernames and passwords are a fact of life for anyone active online. From your e-mail account to your bank account, you have to deal with keeping your login information private. And how difficult is it to remember and manage all those usernames and passwords? Dedicated Address Book I keep my usernames and passwords in a [...]
Policemen have them. So do quarterbacks, astronauts, and lead actors. OK, so a writer’s need for backup is not as serious as for policemen and astronauts. But, writers do need to protect their life’s work from a computer crash, lightning strike, or just plain “operator failure.” Accept the fact that you should backup early and [...]
FeedDemon is still the best way to follow multiple blogs, in my opinion. I’ve written about it in previous blogs here and here. Just after I posted my last rave about FeedDemon, I got an e-mail from Newsgator saying there would be changes, effective August 31, 2009. Here’s my take on the changes. There’s an [...]
In my last post on social networking, I provided links to tutorials and evaluations of Twitter and Facebook. I said then that I wasn’t sure if it was worth the time involved to keep up with both. In the past week, I’ve had several experiences that make me lean toward Facebook as the better choice [...]