Chip Reading A Newspaper Need Computer Help? Newsletter
 Window2Mac2e-recycle
Houston, TX. April 2010
In This Issue
How can I make PDFs?
Open Office (The MS Office Alternative)
Beware of latest Facebook Virus
Quick Links
Greetings!
 
Please enjoy this month's newsletter, this month we will talk about how to create your own PDF files, take a look at Open Office an alternative to MS Office, and the Face Book Virus is examined.
 
Please feel free to forward this on to friends, family, and associates.
 
Great referrals are more than welcomed.
 
Thank you :-)

How can I make PDFs?

 
PDF what does that even stand for?  PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It is the world's file standard for documents that are easy to distribute and been around for over 15 years created by Adobe Systems.
 
Everyone usually has Adobe Reader which can read PDF documents. If you don't then you can go to www.adobe.com and select the 'Get Adobe Reader' link.
 
Macs actually have this ability built in them to also create PDFs. How would you like to be able to create a PDF on your PC?
 
I found a free PDF creator called "Cute PDF Writer" which can be found at their website http://www.cutepdf.com.  
Adobe PDF 
When you install Cute PDF Writer you may see an option after the License Agreement that asks if you want to install the Ask Toolbar and set your default search to Ask. Uncheck all three boxes. A little further on the Cute PDF writer installer will prompt you to allow access to download the PS2PDF converter. Go ahead and click on Yes. You won't find a PS2PDF application added to your program files, but you will have an additional printer installed on your computer called "CutePDF Writer".
 
To create a PDF follow these steps.
 
1. Open your original document such as a Word Document and select Print command in File menu of your application to bring up Print dialog box.
 
2. Then select CutePDF Writer as the Printer to print (DO NOT select "Print to file" option).
 
3. You will get a Save As dialog box prompted for saving created PDF file.
 
4. Select a folder to Save in and enter a File name, then click on Save.
 
5. Go to that folder to find your PDF file.
 
You can then attach the PDF to an e-mail and send it to a friend.  Anyone can now open the PDF even if they do not have the original program that was used to create the document like MS Word as long as they have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on their computer.
Open Office (The MS Office Alternative)
 

Have you ever wished you could open, edit, and create Word, Excel, and Power Point files?  Most home users do not need to purchase Microsoft Office for occasional document creation.

 

There is a little known FREE application out there called OpenOffice, which can be downloaded at http://www.openoffice.org/. Just visit the site and click on "I want to download OpenOffice"

OpenOffice 
OpenOffice is a free office software suite for word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, databases and more. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It stores all your data in an international open standard format and can also read and write files from other common office software packages.
 
Most of the menus and commands are very similar to Microsoft Office and if you are familiar with MS Office I'm sure you will be able to find your way around OpenOffice.  I have several clients who have been using OpenOffice and they love it.  The only issue that may arise is when working with complicated excel spreadsheets with custom macros.  I have heard of issues regarding macros not working 100 percent but I don't believe it applies to everyday home use. 
 
If you currently don't have an Office Suite you are a prime candidate to use OpenOffice.  If you have to transfer documents back and forth with others who use MS Office I would do some initial testing before ditching MS Office to make sure you don't have any issues.
Beware of latest Facebook Virus
 
Please be aware of an e-mail virus going around that appears to be from Facebook. The attachment asks you to click on is a password stealer that installs when clicked on.
 
Once installed, the password stealer can potentially access any username and password combination utilized on that computer, not just for your Facebook account.
 
Facebook would never send an email alerting a user that they changed his or her password. Another clue if you have received a fake email like this is the use of poor grammar and awkward phrases for example "Dear user of facebook."
There are similar fake e-mails going around routinely disguised as banks.  I often receive requests to change my online bank account password from a bank I don't even bank with.  Banks would never e-mail you to change your password. If you see an e-mail like this just delete it and Do Not open the attachment.  Also remember to have current anti-virus and firewall security in place along with their updates.
 
 
Face Book E-mail Virus
 
 
Thank You 
                     
Tom Limon
(713) 345-0144