Howdy to all of you faithful readers who have waited eagerly for a new edition of the newsletter! I'm sure there are at least two of you out there... The rest of you never knew I was gone, did you? Come on, admit it...

Summer has come and gone here in Minnesota, where it will soon be renamed the land of 10,000 ice sheets. At the moment I'm waiting for the fog to burn off so I can finish shingling my roof before the snow flies, so what better time than now to dash off a new edition of the newsletter?

Last week I watched Apple's Big Announcement about its new Video iPod. Snore. I've been watching movies and episodes of Star Trek on my Pocket PC for six months. My Dell X50v offers two memory slots, one for CF and one for SD-format cards. I can fit four to five feature-length movies on one card, and carry the Beatles, Bob Marley, and Dire Straits on the other--up to about 120 songs--and still check my e-mail, view documents, and browse the Web via wireless. I admit that watching King Arthur on my PDA didn't have quite the same impact as it would on the big screen, but it sure made the time go by on a recent flight west to Seattle.

What did I find in the land of 10,000 Starbucks? Why, Office 12, of course! Because I'm under NDA, I can't offer any specifics not already mentioned in the press. What I can tell you, however, is that this will be the most significant Office release in almost 10 years. The Office development team is completely rewriting the user interface to expose all of those features that you've been wondering about but never could find or figure out (or simply didn't know about). This overhaul means you'll be able to easily harness each application's power to create better looking documents, find and organize data better, and in general, wring a lot more out of Office. I don't impress easily, but I was really taken with the early beta. Start saving up those dollars, dinars, rupees, yin, pesos, and rubles -- you're going to want this one when it comes out next fall. Naturally (here comes the shameless plug), you'll want to save a few beads or pukka shells to trade for a copy of the new edition of Outlook Inside Out or Outlook Plain and Simple when they are released along with Office.

Speaking of books, I recommend that you check out Jeri Ledford's new book, The Rational Guide to Preventing Identity Theft. Jeri has done a great job of explaining the risks and how to avoid them. Having had my credit card hacked on more than one occasion, I can tell you the book is worth a look.

Back on the PDA front, I've found some really cool applications for my Pocket PC. Frankly, I was amazed at the applications available for this handy little gadget. If I were so inclined (which I'm not), I could even turn the thing into a high-tech, programmable TV remote! Instead, I've contented myself so far with adding a GPS with Microsoft Streets and Trips 2006 (to find that ever-elusive Starbucks in Seattle, even though I don't drink coffee), and Pocket DVD Studio (to rip all those movies to Pocket PC format). I've also found a nice selection of ebooks at ebooks.com, handango.com, and microsoft.com. Alas, I wasn't able to find Larry Niven's Ringworld series or Phillip José Farmer's Riverworld series in ebook form, but I've enjoyed reading several old classics in the past few months. I particularly enjoyed A. Merritt's The Moon Pool and Grace Livingston Hill's City of Fire (although why this latter was included in a collection of Science Fiction classics is beyond me).

Well, the fog isn't showing any signs of burning off, so it looks like I'll be working on a wet roof. I just have to keep telling myself it isn't the fall that kills you, it's the sudden deceleration at the bottom...

Hasta luego,

Jim

Featured Windows Tip
Mimic CDs with Virtual CD

Although most programs install from CD to your hard drive and never require use again unless you add or remove program components or perform a reinstall, CDs nevertheless have a tendency to pile up. Also, some programs (typically games) require you to insert the CD each time you want to use the program.

Virtual CD, from www.virtualcd-online.com, can help you tuck away those CDs out of sight. Virtual CD creates copies of CDs on your system’s hard disk and enables you to mount and unmount these virtual CDs as if they were physical discs. This enables you to put away the CDs and not touch them again unless you need to recreate the virtual CD, and has the side benefit of creating a backup copy of the CD. This is a great solution for situations where you don’t want CDs to be damaged by careless users.

Virtual CD also simplifies the use of multiple CDs because you can mount virtual CDs in multiple virtual drives at one time, making it possible to have as many as 23 virtual drives available at one time. In addition, Virtual CD also makes it easy to move CDs from one computer to another--just move the virtual CD folders across the network to the new computer.

You can download a trial version of Virtual CD from www.virtualcd-online.com, purchase licenses, and obtain related products for server and multi-user environments.

Featured Office Tip
Use non-Outlook folders and shortcuts in the Outlook Bar

Outlook 2000 and Outlook 2002 both give users the capability to work with and manage folders and files within the Outlook interface. Although many users prefer to work with the file system through the Windows Explorer, those who work in Outlook a majority of the day might prefer Outlook.

The Other Shortcuts group on the Outlook Bar contains shortcuts to My Computer, My Documents, and Favorites. When a user clicks one of these shortcuts, the associated folder opens in Outlook. Those users who work with specific folders or files frequently might prefer more direct access to those items from the Outlook Bar. The solution is to have them create additional shortcuts to the folders, files, and Web sites they use frequently.

It's easy to create folder shortcuts in the Outlook Bar. Click the Other Shortcuts group (or other group), right-click in the group, and choose Outlook Bar Shortcut to open the Add to Outlook Bar dialog box. Select File System from the Look In drop-down list, then browse to the desired folder and click OK to add the shortcut.

To add a document to the Outlook Bar, open the folder containing the document and position it and Outlook so you can view both. Drag the document to the Outlook Bar to add a shortcut to the document. To add a Web site to the Outlook Bar, drag an existing Web shortcut from the Favorites folder or other folder to the Outlook Bar. Or, right-click the desktop and choose New, Shortcut. Enter the URL and click Next, then specify a name for the shortcut. Drag the shortcut from the desktop to the Outlook Bar, then if needed, right-click the shortcut and choose Rename to change the description under the shortcut.

Featured Windows Server Tip
Configure folder redirection for users through group policy

Most users are lax in backing up their documents; many don’t really understand the concept of or need for backups. However, document backups are critical. Lost documents can mean lost business and lost jobs. In extreme situations, they can be the end for a company.

Although backup tools exist to enable administrators to pull backups from users’ computers, moving documents onto a server can simplify administration and backup alike. Folder redirection through group policy enables you to move users’ document folders to a server. The redirection is transparent to the user.

You configure folder redirection in group policy under the User Configuration\ Windows Settings\ Folder Redirection branch in the Group Policy Editor. You can redirect the users’ Application Data, Desktop, My Documents, and Start Menu folders to a server. You can redirect a folder to the same location for each user (such as to each user’s target home folder on a server), or redirect to different locations based on group membership. For example, you might redirect the Sales group to one server and the Engineering group to a different server.

Folder redirection is also a key aspect of a complete disaster recovery plan. If a user experiences a complete system failure, his documents are safe on the server and immediately available when he logs on from a new computer or new OS load.

In case you can't stand not reading about Apple's new SnorePod...I mean, Video iPod. Story.

Perhaps Yahoo and MSN will finally play nice? Story

Knock Office off the playing field? I think not. Story

A big band-aid for Windows 2000 . Story

Microsoft changes the way it licenses server products. Story

Google was recently sued by the Author's Guild. Will Microsoft be next? Story

Another preview of IE7 security features. Yes, it is getting better. Story

A taste of Office 12. Get a handle on your spreadsheets. Story

Go beyond Office basics. Lots of task- and job-specific tips for Office users. http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010931361033.aspx

Google is just too funny for words. Make sure you zoom all the way in. http://moon.google.com

Free Office tips. Check out the latest free edition of the Office Letter for some handy Office tips. www.officeletter.com

My corner of the world. I recently built a small web site for my community...come visit! http://www.rothsay.org

Help for configuring your firewall. (Or figuring out who or what is hacking your network.) http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers

Look up that puzzling technical term. I use this resource on a fairly regular basis to make sure all those stupid acronyms are correct. www.webopedia.com

Build your own Windows desktop? Why not? www.stardock.com

Recipe:
Carrot Cloverleaf Rolls

My mother used to make the best rolls on the planet. These are even better, and great for the holidays. Try them even if you don't like carrots...although the rolls are orange colored, you can't taste the carrots. But you can taste the yum!

Cook carrots, covered, in a small amount of boiling water until tender (about 25 minutes). Drain and transfer carrots to a pie plate or bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork.

Place 1 cup of the mashed carrots in a saucepan and refrigerate the remainder for the next batch (you will want more!) Add milk, brown sugar, six tablespoons butter, and salt to the pan. Heat, stirring constantly, until butter almost melts.

In a large mixing bowl, combine yeast and 1 1/2 cups flour. Add carrot mixture from pan and beat with mixer on low for about 30 seconds. Then, beat for 3 minutes on high. Stir as much remaining flour as you can with a spoon and mix well. Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead in remaining flour as needed to make a stiff dough. Place dough in a greased bowl and turn the dough in the bowl to grease the dough. Cover and let rise in a warm spot until doubled in size (approximately an hour) Punch down the dough and let rest for 10 minutes.

Roll dough into small portions about 3/4" (20mm) in diameter, dip in melted butter, and place three balls in each cup of a muffin pan (the balls will rise together to create a three-piece cloverleaf roll).

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. and bake rolls for 20 to 25 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and brush tops with melted butter (optional).

Eat in large quantities!