All My Journals: Review

I’ve been looking for a journaling software program for quite some time now. To me it seemed awkward to use some of the office software I have installed on my computer. These programs did not quite fit right as a journaling software. I just wanted  to be able to open and start writing my thoughts and notes for the day without going through any formatting or anything.

Then I came across All My Journals by Bad Wolf Software. I downloaded and installed the free trial version of the program and started using it. This is the one I needed. It’s simple,clean and is not overloaded with features I will never use anyway.

The free trial version is just as it says…a trial. It doesn’t include all the features available in the licensed version and just one journal is available. The licensed version is the full version with all the features unlocked and you can have an unlimited number of journals.

Some may think, well, I never keep a diary so what would I need something like this for anyway? There was a time I thought this way too. Then I became disabled and had to start making regular visits to my doctors. They would ask questions and I didn’t have all the answers I should have. I would not think about asking the questions I should be asking…until I’d get home again. That’s when I realized that I needed something I could keep a journal with.

Let’s think for a moment what you might use All My Journals for. As I mentioned earlier, I use mine for notes to my doctor that I write right away when there is something she or he should be aware of. I’ve also been using it to keep a diary. I don’t write in it every day, but when there is something significant to write about. Perhaps you might want to use it to keep agenda notes for an upcoming meeting. Or keep minutes for your meetings. Maybe keep a diary of your golf games, fishing or hunting trips. Ladies can write about their ladies groups, knitting, book clubs or whatever. The ideas are endless, I could keep going on with more ideas, but I think you get my point. It’s for everyone, men, women, children, students and businessmen and businesswomen. You will find many uses that will be unique to your needs.

When you open All My Journals, it will open to today’s date and the last used journal. Just start writing, or chose the journal you want and start writing. You can choose from a list of fonts in preferences and you have all the basic formatting tools available to you. To make it easy to read your journal there is a reader built into it. You can print your journal and specify the range you want printed. It includes a search feature making searching for a particular entry easy. The Save As and Export allow you to export your journal that can be read by any word processing software. Backup does just as it says by backing up your journal for data recovery should you journal become corrupted or lost.

The program will always give you the choice to choose the current year or the next couple of years. But that does not mean future years are not available. As the years pass, future years will always be shown. It is a perpetual calendar so you’ll be able to use this for many years to come.

Do you have a need to take it with you to use on another computer? All My Journals can be installed on a thumb drive with the data saved there also so you can take it with you to use wherever you are.

One more thing I’d like to mention about Bad Wolf Software is their tech support. I’ve rarely had to use tech support with any software I use. I read their blog and they said they were working on a new feature and an update would be soon released. I thought I’d take a chance and contact them to find out if indeed it was on track to be released as planned. I received an immediate reply that it was expected to be released the following month. To my surprise, shortly after, I received an e-mail that the new version had been released that day and they included a link to go to their site to download the updated version! I was impressed! All to often I read of complaints about tech support. In this case I’m happy to report that their tech support is responsive to their customers. I put a lot of value in that.

In conclusion, All My Journals is a simple program that will do what you want, no more, no less. I highly recommend it and encourage all my readers to check it out for yourself.

Happy Journaling,

-Ed

Targeted Ads……Opt-Out?

 

We’ve all visited websites displaying numerous ads. These same ads seem to be popping up from places we’ve been around the internet. And yes, they are following us. Recently, this all came to a head when on my Facebook page the ads went way over the top with the flashing and the audio screaming at me. I couldn’t leave my Facebook page open any longer. I’d open it only to check it, then close again.

That’s what finally got me started investigating where these were all coming from. It seemed that some friends were not getting the same activity that I was. I started by clicking the link below one of the ads that read “about this ad”. Here is what I learned….

The link directed me to the website Pulse 360, an advertising agency who is a leader in content targeted advertising on the internet. Once here I first learned that I could opt-out of their tracking my movements around the web and they would no longer target ads at me when I visited any of the sites where they were posting ads. I opted out!.

While on their site they also had a link that would direct me to the Network Advertising Initiative website. The NIA helps protect our privacy online. When I clicked on their Opt-Out link I was directed to the Opt-Out page and was surprised to see the long list of active cookies that had been installed on my computer. I chose to ‘select all’ and then ‘submit’ to Opt-Out of all of them. However, there was one that is no longer with the NIA so I was provided a link to go to that site to opt-out. That one is Quantcast.

I then went to the Quantcast website and found they also had and active cookie on my computer. I opted out of that one too.

Now maybe my Facebook page was cleaned up and I would no longer have all those obnoxious ads running on my page. I was wrong! They were still all there. I then thought that if I cleared my cookies they would go away. That turned out to be a mistake. You don’t want to clear your cookies after you opt-out, as what opt-out does is to install cookies on your computer that disables any active cookies placed there by the advertiser. And, the ads on Facebook were still there anyway. I had to go back  through the process to opt-out all over again.

I continued my research to find out why I was still getting those ads. I don’t recall how I came across this next site, but this one is Plural Media LLC. They are yet another one of those advertisers on the web. As I read to the bottom of the page I saw they had a link to disable Page Rage. An application that will put a neat wall paper background on your Facebook page. That’s right, I had it on mine. Having seen it on a friends computer I wanted it too. So maybe if I disabled it the ads would go away. I went to http://www.pagerage.com/disable/ and disabled Page Rage. When I went back to my Facebook page it was refreshingly clean. No more ads.

I can now go to any favorite sites and not be bombarded with a lot of targeted advertising. Yes, there are still a few, I didn’t get them all. But my web experience is a lot more pleasant now without the ads following me around.

If your having the experiences I was having, or if you just want to have a higher level of privacy while web surfing, you know one more step you can take, Opt-Out of targeted advertising. It’s easy to do once you know where to go.

One more thing I should mention is that if you’re using more than one browser, I have four installed, you will need to go though the opt-out process for each one of them as the cookies will be installed on each browser.

I hope this gives you, the reader, a greater sense of control over the internet and you have a greater degree of privacy when using it. I know I do.

-Ed

e-Sword Bible Study

When we want to do a bible study we get out our bible, our Strong’s reference and all the other reference books we may have, if we have any at all. Then we start searching the Bible from one Scripture to another to another. And we write notes in a notebook with scripture references that we have to look up later unless we copy it into our notes…….and we don’t do it because it’s too much like work. And we don’t study, just leave it on the shelf…..maybe later when there is more time.

Well, that’s why I want to write this. Because there is a better way and it’s free.

The Bible study program e-Sword, written my Rick Meyer, is distributed by him for all to download, share and use freely.

Besides the program itself, there is an enormous wealth of reference works that you can chose to download as well after installing the program.

The program has many useful features. For your note taking, there are Study Notes, Topic Notes and a Journal. Rick has made it easy to paste a selection into any of these notes with just the click of the mouse. Any notes that you write in your notes or journal, you can format just as you would in any word processor.

Searching the Bible is equally as easy. Just select the book and chapter you want to go to and your there. To search a specific scripture you can use the search tool.

There are many other features that you can benefit from, such as memory verses, daily Bible reading and prayer requests.

Many downloads are available directly through the program. There are many versions of the Bible that are free. Others are available at a small cost. There are books that are also free to download to e-Sword.

Besides books, Bibles and commentaries, there are also maps and such that you can download and view with the graphics viewer.

I hope this little review of e-Sword has stirred up your curiosity enough that you’ll click on a link and go there to investigate this more and download and install this wonderful software on your own computer.

Once installed, I’m confident you’ll find reading and studying your Bible will be a much more satisfying experience.

-Ed

Acer Iconia A500

Early in June, after researching and reading reviews on a number of different tablets, I finally bought myself a new tablet, an Acer Iconia A500.

Previously I’ve been using only my desktop and laptop computers for all my computing needs. Reading e-books on Kindle, Nook and other e-readers, internet as well as everything else we typically use our computers for. So did I really need a tablet too? I thought maybe not, I just wanted it; I could afford to buy it so why not?

I do enjoy reading and to sit at the computer and read for hours becomes uncomfortable so I haven’t been doing much reading lately. Now with my new tablet I find that’s not a problem at all. Whether it’s in my recliner, sitting on the couch or lying in bed, I can read until my eyes get too blurry to see anymore.

I have my Kindle and Nook apps installed and there is also LumiRead that was already preinstalled . It also came with an Adobe app which I activated with my Adobe account so I can download and read the ePub books also. These are available from the local library and other sources as well. Now I have no shortage of sources for books, magazines or newspapers to read on my tablet anytime I want something.

I have my tablet right by my bedside when I go to sleep at night so in the morning before I get up I can check my e-mails, read the NY Times or any other paper that I wish to read. How nice is that to not have to go out to get the paper!

I have to get up eventually to make my coffee, but then it’s nicer to sit with my tablet in my lap rather than sit at the computer.

I do use it for making notes, keeping a journal, writing e-mails and things like that. I haven’t found it that practical yet for any extensive word processing or spreadsheets, (at least for me) but then again I’m still exploring what I can do with it. I installed some apps, but I’m still researching what is out there before I make my choices as to what I want to install.

You can find many more apps for the A500 on the Marketplace. There are apps for every category including business. So if your thinking it’s only to play with, you’ll be happy to know that it can be a great business tool as well.

Besides using it for reading, I can load any music that I want on it. I can use the built in speakers, or of course use headphones for a better quality sound. It will play video clips with Flash installed, unlike the iPad which doesn’t support Flash. I can connect it to an LCD TV (when I get one) with an HDMI cable, thus using the TV to watch videos.

It has both a front facing and a rear facing cameras. The cameras do take very nice stills and videos.

Here’s another fun thing to note. It has GPS capability. I can go outside and navigate anywhere I want to go with the GPS and Google Earth! I should never got lost now. I was surprised as to just how accurate it is.

Staying on the fun stuff, there are some games preinstalled also. You’ll also find a ton of stuff on the Marketplace. There are more apps than you could possibly imagine available there.

This tablet is a nice addition to by electronic toys. I’m enjoying it quite a lot and finding it very useful. If you bought one for yourself I think you’d find it worth the investment. There are many others out there and I found the one that I thought would be right for me. The one you choose for yourself should have the capabilities you need to do the things you want to use it for.

-Ed

Efficient To-Do List Review

I’ve been disappointed by the limitations of the typical to-do lists found in calendars, e-mail clients and such. So I went searching the internet the other day to try to find something better, yet a program that is also affordable. I found what I was looking for when I came across Efficient To-Do List by Efficient Software.
Efficient To-Do List is a stand alone software program that enables you to create to-do lists for any project at home, work or your small business. You can set start dates and due dates. It allows you to show the progress of the tasks also. You can set the priority of each task and you can also color code the task to define a category. There is also a window for writing your comments for each task that you add.
The free version does have some limitations. In the free version you cannot create groups with tasks, subtasks and siblings. If you want that option you’ll have to buy the Pro Version. That isn’t a problem though, as the program is very affordable. I would certainly recommend it.
If you’re like me, staying organized in your daily life is the only way to get things done and stay on top of it. By using Efficient To-Do List at home you can keep your daily life organized and teach your children how to do the same.
Use it for work and keep yourself organized to improve your on the job performance and impress your employer. If you run your own business, using Efficient To-Do List will increase your profitability.
Students also will find this application handy to organize their time and get their assignments and projects done in timely manner.
I found their help files to be informative and easy to understand. The software itself is intuitive, with a short learning curve. You’ll be up and running right away after you install it. The UI is that of a typical Windows UI and easy to navigate. Different skins are available also so you can customize the appearance of the window. By default Efficient To-Do List is set to open when you start your computer. When it starts, any reminders for tasks due will pop up. Any reminders are optional of course and if you didn’t want it opening on start up, that option can be changed also.
I’m running the program on my computer with Windows7, 64 bit. So far I’ve had no problems at all. I will be using this app for a long time and I’ll be looking at their other products as well.
Another thing I should mention, is that they also have a portable version available for free download. This one you can install on a flash drive to take with you to the office or home and use it on any computer. Now, how handy is that?
So go get your copy and get organized! You’ll be glad you did.
-Ed

Free Kindle

Yesterday, I just got my Kindle, for free! No, I'm not kidding, this is not a joke. I received an e-mail from Amazon announcing a new free Kindle application for the PC. That's right; Amazon has now offered the free Kindle application that you can download and install on your PC running XP, Vista, or Windows 7. Anyone with an Amazon account can now have the Kindle on their PC to download their books and have their library with them where ever they go.

 
I'm really excited about mine. I right away went to Amazon's Kindle store, searching the catalog for books that I may be interested in. To my surprise, I found hundreds of the great old classics that are totally free. Others that are in the catalog are greatly discounted for the Kindle. I quickly 'purchased' three of the free ones for my Kindle that I had read as a youngster. How nice it is to find these books and read them again. When you go to the Amazon Kindle store I think you'll be surprised at the selection of books you can purchase for your Kindle.
The Kindle for PC doesn't have all the features of the actual Kindle reader; but who cares? You won't be able to download magazines or newspapers, or be able to print out selections. But for reading your books, highlighting text, and bookmarking pages, I think this will serve you well. Although I don't own a Kindle reader, they say if you have one, you can even synchronize you Kindle reader with the PC one.
Now that you know it's there, if you have an Amazon account, get yours. If you don't have an Amazon account, I'd recommend that you open one and get yours too. Amazon is probably my favorite online store where I make many of my purchases. I've never been disappointed.
Now that I've got you to thinking, I have to go to my Kindle and continue reading an old classic that I hadn't read since childhood, 'Treasure Island'. It's still a good read.
-ED