January - February 2007 - Issue 55

• Intro
  
• Article - BackPack by Lanel Taylor
  
• The Office Corner
  
• Grammar Question of the Month - Capitalizing the compass points
  
• Tech Tips by Terence Kierans - Outlook and Publisher
  
• Writing Corner
  
• Word of the Month - Empathy
  
• Recommendations
  
• Judy's Corner
  
• Judy's Photo Gallery
  

* Acronis True Image. Amazing software. I bought a new computer in July, and by October, it began acting strangely. I ran some tests and they indicated my hard drive was bad. However it kept working, except for the strange way it started up.

I contacted my computer guru cousin, Evan Friedmann, and he recommended that I buy True Image and back up my entire system...not just data, but also XP Media Center Edition. I already had an external hard drive, so I bought the software, made the backup, while having contacted HP to get a replacement hard drive.

It took some doing to harmonize everything, but HP came through, True Image worked, and my brother was able to put everything on my new hard drive. I had to tweak QuickBooks, but it was nothing serious. All my email files were saved, and that was a big issue for me. True Image rocks.

* Gerry McGovern, one of my Internet heroes, discusses the need for good management in his December 11 newsletter: "Software does not manage. People manage. Software is a tool that can help you manage better, but it is not a manager. It is not strategic. Before you can manage customer relationships, you have to have relationships with your customers....Technology can support strategy. It can support managers as they do their jobs. But technology is not a strategy, and it is certainly not management." Read the entire article at: http://www.gerrymcgovern.com/nt/2006/nt-2006-12-11-management.htm

Have you ever heard of BackPack, (http://www.backpackit.com), an online program that allows you to create pages with to-do lists, notes, files, and images? I love BackPack. I keep it open all day and I'm back and forth and in and out of it all the time. It's a very stable program.

Let me explain some of its awesome uses. You can use it to store lists and files you want to be able to access from anywhere (work, home, a client's location, etc.) and you can use it to share information with others. I use the service mainly to share information with my clients. While there's a free version, many people upgrade.

I have one page set up for each client. That page I then share with the client and anyone else who will be working on that particular project. The people you share with need to register to get access to the page. But they don't have to be paying BackPack customers. They can use it with all the bells and whistles you've subscribed to. Think about it: you don't have to talk your clients/employees into committing to a service plan that they're not sold on (yet).

When you establish your first/home page, you're going to want to title it. Big tip: make sure to title your page something easy to find in your list of pages; eventually you'll probably have more than one page. I title my pages based on my clients' names. So, one page is "Client XYZ" another is "Client ABC." I also edit the body, which is really like a header section for your page. I use it to summarize what's on that page.

To customize your page, go to Settings and select your time zone and the color you want for your page. You can also choose from a 12-hour or 24-hour format. BackPack allows you to have Calendar and Reminder sections. You can enter tasks or things you need to remember into it and it will email or text message you reminders.

Now to the things that have me SOLD on BackPack: Lists, Notes, and Files. The lists and notes functions are available to any plan (even the free plan), while the file upload function is only available on a premium plan. The amount of storage space is based on the account you choose (there are three upgrade plans). The highest upgrade is $14/mo as of this writing.

List is just that, it's a to-do list. There are so many great ways to use the lists. Make a list of things a client needs to send you to and he can check them off as he puts them in the package to mail. Make a list of things for an employee or subcontractor to do. If you have a group of people working on a task with you, everyone can access the same list. As tasks are finished, they are crossed off: everyone involved knows the status of each task.

Notes are for everyone you're sharing the page with. I have a few companies that subcontract work to me. We use the Notes section regularly. We have numerous clients who I work with for each company. We set up a note for each company and keep track of the work that needs to be done or answers to questions we're waiting for. It's super easy to add, edit, or delete a note.

The file area is a great way to share files and images. My clients regularly upload PDF or Excel files onto their BackPack page and I can then download them, work with them, and upload the finished or updated files for their review. It's such a convenient way to send files back and forth.

One last aspect of BackPack is Writeboard. It's kind of like Notes in that you can write stuff out and the people you share the page with can read and edit it. Even better, Writeboard tracks changes. When you open up Writeboard you see the most recent version of each document, but you can click and compare each version that's been saved to see the changes.

Following are some ways to use BackPack:

PERSONAL

1.	Save files to transport to different computers
2.	Save lists of things to do
3.	Maintain your personal calendar
4.	Maintain notes that can be accessed anywhere

FAMILY

1.	Keep a grocery list that anyone can access from any computer (I've remembered something at work, then forgotten to add it to the list when I got home)
2.	Keep a running to-do list that can be accessed by the entire family
3.	Share pictures
4.	Share files
5.	Keep your holiday lists together
6.	Plan a party

EMPLOYER/EMPLOYEE

1.	Share files among departments
2.	Keep a department/company calendar
3.	Track tasks, notes, progress on current projects
4.	Keep to-do lists so the entire department can watch the progress

VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONS

1.	Share files
2.	Track project progress
3.	Keep a calendar for volunteers
4.	You can make your page public and allow the community to access it

VIRTUAL ASSISTANTS

1.	Use with your clients to share information
2.	Share your calendar with clients so they know your availability
3.	Transfer files between yourself and clients
4.	Enter notes on projects to-do and status that your clients can work with

Share. Track. Remind. Coordinate. Brainstorm. There are tons more uses for this service. Just use your imagination!

Lanel Taylor is the owner of Taylored Office Solutions, a virtual assistant company specializing in bookkeeping. She uses her 12+ years of experience to help her clients find custom-fit solutions for all their office needs. You can contact Lanel via her website at http://www.tayloredofficesolutions.com.

1. ADDRESSING ENVELOPES THE EASY WAY IN WORD
http://newbieclub.com/officetips/20010816.htm

2. BUSINESS ETIQUETTE
http://www.swlearning.com/web_resources/bus_etiquette.htm

3. CREATING A GREAT PRINT NEWSLETTER
http://www.crazycolour.com/os/motivate_04.shtml

4. EIGHT TOP TIPS FOR AN EFFICIENT HOME OFFICE
http://www.crazycolour.com/os/deskmgmt_02.shtml

Most style guides say that compass points and the terms derived from them are lowercased if they just mean direction or location. But you capitalize them when they're specific regions or an integral part of a proper name. For example, you'd say:

Out West
Back East
The western part of the state
Drive north three miles, then turn east (direction)
A northern winter
the West Coast (region)
west coast (shoreline)
west side of town (direction)

When all is said and done, variations are based on context and usage. Use these only as guidelines, not something cast in concrete! Information from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th Edition and The Gregg Reference Manual, Ninth Edition.

OUTLOOK
EASILY IDENTIFY CONTACTS WITH AUTOMATIC FORMATTING
Automatic formatting is a useful tool to help you organise items in your Outlook folders. Many users employ automatic formatting to flag and identify messages; automatic formatting is also useful for quickly identifying contacts.

You might want to shade all contacts for a particular company using a certain colour to be able to tell at a glance that a contact works for that company.

To do this, proceed as follows:

1.	Open the Contacts folder, and go to "View/Arrange By/Current View/Customise Current View".
2.	In the "View Summary" dialog box, click "Automatic Formatting".
3.	In the "Automatic Formatting" dialog box, click Add. Enter a suitable name for the formatting rule in the "Name field". Click "Condition".
4.	Use the "Filter" dialog box to specify a condition, for example a specific company name in the "Company" field. Click "OK", click "Font".
5.	Choose the colour and font characteristics that you want applied to contacts that match the condition you have just specified.

PUBLISHER
AUTOMATIC KERNING
We can adjust the space between letters by using the "Character Spacing" (Spacing Between Characters) command on Publisher's "Format" menu.

However, you don't have to do that much work. Try this instead:

*	Select the characters you want to adjust.
*	Press Ctrl+Shift+[ to bring them 0.25 point closer.
*	Press Ctrl+Shift+] to move them 0.25 point farther apart.

In most cases, this is all the character-spacing precision you will need.

Terence Kierans
Cyberspace Virtual Services
tkierans@virtualservices.com.au
http://www.virtualservices.com.au/
We keep your project on the boil, while you sleep

1. ENTER THE GATHER.COM FIRST CHAPTERS WRITING COMPETITION:
http://firstchapters.gather.com/

2. YALE BOOK OF QUOTATIONS
http://yalepress.yale.edu/yupbooks/qyd/index.asp

3. BOOKFINDER: BookFinder.com is a one-stop ecommerce search engine that searches over 100 million books for sale—new, used, rare, out-of-print, and textbooks.
http://www.bookfinder.com

4. WRITING AND EDITING AT WORK:
http://www.writingandeditingatwork.com/index.html

Main Entry:em*pa*thy
Pronunciation:*em-p*-th*
Function:noun
Etymology:Greek empatheia, literally, passion, from empath*s emotional, from em- + pathos feelings, emotion — more at PATHOS
Date:1850

1 : the imaginative projection of a subjective state into an object so that the object appears to be infused with it
2 : the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner; also : the capacity for this

*By permission. From Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary at www.m-w.com by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated.

1. MISATTRIBUTED QUOTES: WHAT MARK TWAIN DIDN'T SAY
http://www.boondocksnet.com/twaintexts/quotes_not_twain.html#N_5_

2. WHAT AMERICAN ACCENT DO YOU HAVE?
http://gotoquiz.com/what_american_accent_do_you_have

3. THE CIRCUS IN AMERICA: 1793 - 1940
http://www.circusinamerica.org/public/welcome

4. READY MECHS: free, flatpack toys for you to print and build. They are designed to fit on an 8.5"x11" page and printed with any printer. You'll need double-sided tape, thick matte paper, and 10-15 minutes for build time.
http://www.reachmech.com

5. GAS BUDDY: GasBuddy.com can help you find cheap gas prices in your city. You can even get prices on your mobile devices. Great for travelers.
http://www.gasbuddy.com/

A few days after Christmas I boarded a plane and headed for the Pacific Northwest to stay with my son, Ron, and daughter-in-law, Kerrie in the Seattle area. They have four dogs and a cat, and we had a great time.

Ron also drove me to Centralia where I had lunch with Carol, Audrey, and Ethel, my very longtime friends. We had an absolutely magic afternoon eating and catching up on close to 30 years.

The Simpsons later drove me to Bellingham to drop me off so I could spend a few days with my mother. My sister, Calamity Jan, drove up from Olympia, and we had a fantastic time. Saw my special Aunt Lois, cousin Doug, lots of dear friends, and the fact that it rained the entire time didn't even matter.

When I think how well Mom is doing not that many years after a severe stroke, I stand amazed. We are so blessed and treasure every moment we have her with us. I have a few photos of my visit in the Photo Gallery. See you in April!

The best latte in Seattle can be found at Caffe Zingaro.
It tastes as good as it looks!

Judy giving her mother a massage while she visits with cousin Doug Cruea.

Waimea, Hawaii. Lily pond at home of relatives David and Jo Ann Coon. 2005.

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