Hi gang!  First let me apologize for canceling last month's issue.  That's the first time I've ever had to do that in the three years I've been publishing ABC.  But, it was necessary in order to completely rebuild this site.  Read this for an explanation of why I had to do this.  I hope you like ABC's new look and format ... I worked really hard on it.

And to those of you who replied to my blog requests two months ago ... I have NOT forgotten you!  I will be building a blog index page for ABC subscribers where you can list and promote your blog.  But, this site rebuilding just took way too much out of me this month.  I PROMISE you I will revisit that topic next month!

My next set of online classes at Eclectic Academy start tomorrow (May 9, 2004), but late enrollments will be accepted throughout the first week, so get your butts over there and sign up!  I teach lots of classes on the different Microsoft Office programs, but there's also classes on lots of other software and even non-computer-related "eclectic" classes, so go check it out now.  Six weeks of personalized training for twenty bucks!  How can you beat that?

Keyboard Troubles?

I want to let you know that there was a slight problem with some of the Ideazon keyboards shipped last month.  Because I've been completely satisfied with the three keyboards I've purchased from them and find their tech support to be the best I've found, I immediately wrote to them when some of the letters on the keys on my newest keyset started to fade.  My purpose was simply to notify them of this because I recommend their keyboards all over my site and wanted to know if any other customers had this problem. (Note that my other two keysets, which are older, NEVER had this problem and work perfectly.)  Oren Kramer at Ideazon replied to me personally and told me

"We had a problem with our first batch of the IE keyset (where lettering wears off). It was fixed, yet unfortunately, when we first shipped products we didn’t have a tracking system in place so we can’t differentiate between who received good and not-so-good boards. Obviously you (and any other customer) will get a new keyset in exchange for the keyset you are using."

Now THAT'S the type of customer support I like!  I'm so used to companies telling me the problem is mine and they are not responsible and won't help me.  But, not these wonderful people ... they immediately owned up to the problem, explained why they hadn't alerted me to it, and replaced my keyset with a brand new one. 

Two thumbs up for Ideazon's great customer support!  And, if any of you have any problems with your keysets, I recommend you contact Ideazon and let them know.  This is a company that stands behind their product and offers quality service, so I'm sure you will be as pleased as I am.

Read my review of Ideazon's Excel keyboard here.

NOTE: This is the exact opposite of the experience I had with a program I reviewed here (and in TechTrax) called Email Saver XE. I had some problems with that software and contacted their tech support many times and received NO replies. So, that recommendation has been removed from my site (and the TechTrax site) and I no longer endorse their product. Remember that I only recommend products I use myself, and if they let me down, I will not include their product on my site.

FREE One-Year Magazine Subscriptions

A little while back I got an email from a guy named Daniel Frignito offering to help me keep ABC free.  He's got this website where eligible people can get FREE one-year subscriptions to trade magazines and he offered me a deal where I could put his link here and every person who subscribes to one of the freebies would earn ABC fifty cents.  And, being the cynic I am, I thought "Yeah right. What's the catch. What's in it for YOU, Dan?" and of course, I wrote and told him that.  He replied:

"The way we make money off of this, is the publishers of the magazines are looking for a certain target market and we provide them with the audience they are trying to reach. So they turn around and tell the advertisers in their magazine that they have a target audience and show them the proof. That way the advertisers are not wasting their money and know that they are reaching their target audience as well.  So when you offer these free magazine subscriptions, a user will fill out a short survey and if they qualify for the magazine subscription they will receive it for free. An example of someone not being qualified would be, if you worked in the pharmaceutical industry and you went to sign up for some construction magazine subscription for free you would not get it. They just try to weed out people from signing up for every possible magazine just because it is free. But a person can sign up for as many subscriptions as they want as long as they are qualified."

Of course, you know me, I still wasn't convinced.  I was afraid this would be just another spam-generating plot, so I then did some research on the net and found Dan's site discussed in a few tech forums and the consensus among those who actually applied for some of the magazines was that it is legit and they didn't see any spam coming to the email addies they used to subscribe.  Some complained that they weren't eligible for the magazines they wanted, but that's the breaks I guess.  Others complained that it took up to 6 weeks to get their first magazine, but the fact that they said that proves to me that they DID in fact receive the magazines.  So, in my book, this seems like a legitimate freebie so I agreed to put it here for you all.  In order for ABC to get the fifty cents, just click on the "Free 1-year magazine subscriptions" link you see in the sidebars and check out all that they offer.  Lots of good magazines there' in many different fields of interest.

Heck, if every subscriber took one free magazine for a year, I could guarantee ABC would be free forever...LOL

And thanks to Dan, for this great offer!

Another Fleet member gets MVP recognition! 

And this time, it's Kathy Jacobs.  Most of you know that Kathy is a Microsoft PowerPoint MVP, but did you know that she is now also a Microsoft OneNote MVP?  Yep.  She's so good at this stuff that the MS MVPs have awarded her twice.  Please join me in congratulating Kathy on this recognition of all she does to help people learn both PowerPoint and OneNote.  And now, along with her PowerPointAnswers website which we all love so much, she's added a OneNoteAnswers website too.  Kathy ... you are the greatest!

Vic Ferri gives his approval to Ink Blvd

Vic Ferri found and approved yet one more printer cartridge retailer.  With so many of them on the net and spamming us to death, Vic does the homework for you and finds the ones that are the most reputable and the best buys.  The new one he found is Ink Blvd and it's a goodie!  Learn more from Vic here.

FrontPage Professionals

Debbie Miller, who designed the covers for all my ebooks has a new service where she lists FrontPage Professionals, so you can find the FrontPage person you need for help, web design, etc.  I had the honor of being one of the first ones included and I see Tina Clarke is there now too (and of course, you KNOW Tina is way better at FrontPage than me.) Check out the listings ... there are more FrontPage people out there than you may be aware of.  Thanks Deb, for another great service you provide.  Deb is also one of my fellow teachers at Eclectic Academy where she teaches some great FrontPage classes.

Are you a newbie and scared of all these "security threats" you read about in ABC?  Well, have I found the perfect product for you!  My friends at The Newbie Club have put together a package that includes FULL, step-by-step details so you can understand how this stuff works PLUS they've included the tools you need to be safe, right inside the package.  And it's cheap!  I recommend you check out The Newbie Club's PC & Internet Security Kit now.

Well, that's about all that's new at my site this month, except, as usual, I've added some new links to my Favorite Links page which you might want to check out.  Just look for the revolving N's.  And, enjoy!

Oh... and, if you want to see something pretty funny (and somewhat aggravating LOL), check out this page.  This is the page you should send people to when they send you those annoying virus hoax emails.  This should teach 'em!
http://www.grossweb.com/no-hoaxes.htm

BE WARNED! Don't go here unless you have some time to stay awhile.  But, I highly recommend you bookmark it (once you get past the shenanigans) and send it to anyone who sends you a virus hoax email.

Have a wonderful month.  Here's hoping I continue to bring you an ezine you WANT to read.

Linda

Linda Johnson is a college instructor of all of the Microsoft Office Programs, as well as Adobe PhotoShop and Windows. She also teaches online distance learning classes in Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word at Eclectic Academy. She has worked helpdesk and teaches and lectures at many local businesses and tech schools in her area. Support this newsletter by checking out Linda's eBooks, MS Word MAGIC!, Book I: Fonts, Fun & Formats and Book II: Table Wizardry, How To Get Started As a Software Trainer, and her newest series of MSOffice eBook Tutorials and CD