Don’t you just hate it when, after you’ve spent quite a few hours on doing something, some smarty pipes up a suggestion which meant you’ve just lost those hours.

So it was with a 150+ page PDF to Microsoft Word conversion.  Finished it, and to be honest, it was fairly crappy as the Word document has complex tables like this:

which is hard to capture when you go from PDF –> Word.  And after 80 pages, my care factor was starting to get low.

The smarty suggested PDF to Word.  PDF to Word is a website where you upload your PDF, and your converted Word document is mailed back to you.  My 156 page document was converted in minutes.

Grrrrrrrrrr

Ok, the downsides, or faults if you like, in the converted document?

• the header and footers were not converted.
• heading styles were not created.

But for FREE, it is a great utility.

If it’s free, how do they make money?  They sell PDF software, such as Nitro PDF Professional, which is about a 1/5 the price of Adobe Acrobat Professional.

I’ve been accused of sitting at a computer for far too long.  “Get up and go for a walk”, I tell myself.  I never do, as I get too wrapped up in the current task I’m working on.  That’s why I so like the idea of ErgoMinder.

From a support perspective, I thought the personnel department were trying to impose their “touchy, feely” policy on the rest of us.  Now I’m older and wiser, I understand the importance of taking a break.  Shame Ergominder is no longer being sold.

The importance of a product like ErgoMinder, is for the recovery from, and the prevention of Repetitive Strain Injury.  RSI is a type of Musculoskeletal disorder.

… many MSD occur due to daily work involving the maintenance of static postures, which result in muscle fatigue, for example, holding the telephone, and repetitive work such as keyboard and mouse tasks. Conditions that have this type of gradual onset are probably more common in office work than sudden injuries.
- WorkSafe Victoria – Officewise: A guide to Health & Safety In The Office

So with ErgoMinder no longer being available, and no time to develop a clone of it*, I looked around for a replacement product.

I’ve started to use Workrave, and I’m beginning to like it.

My first impressions are that it does everything ErgoMinder does, but it has less exercises (9 vs. 15).  I’ll let you know what I think in two weeks time.

* – it would be fairly easy to clone ErgoMinder.  All the exercises and screenshots are easily extractable, I would just need to write the “timer” program.  Other priorities though.

ErgoMinder, from a support perspective, had it’s problems.  ErgoMinder described itself as:

ErgoMinder is a program with three cartoon characters – called Ergo-Dudes – who remind you in a light-hearted fashion to take micro-breaks from your computer work. Most people know that they need to take breaks from computer work, and that they need to move and stretch regularly. The problem is remembering to do this while your mind is on your work. ErgoMinder solves the problem by giving friendly reminders, at interval times of your choice, in which the Dudes suggest easy exercises that you can carry out on the spot in less than a minute.

It was a Visual Basic 4 program, and it was fairly simple, as all it needed to do was:

• at the time interval set by the user, remind the user to do an exercise.
• keep track of which exercises were displayed,
• but don’t display certain exercises, for the user who said “I have RSI” or “I have back issues”.

Now Ergominder had a couple of support issues:

• didn’t support Citrix or Microsoft Terminal Server
• the help file was expected to be in c:\windows\ergodata.
• wouldn’t run off a network share, had to be copied down to each users PC.

Even with those issues, I still like it, as it got people taking micro-breaks.  Which reduces fatigue, and the chance of RSI with it.

ErgoMinder is no longer sold, which is a great shame as it was a fun product, Ergo-Dudes and all.

You can Google for an alternate selection of micro-break software here.

The Pantone Matching System is a wonderful idea.  Imagine being able to say “I want that exact shade of red on my poster.”  And actually get it.

That, in a nutshell, is what the Pantone Matching System is about.  It’s a system of describing colors, so the color you ask for on your commercially printed page, is what you get.  That makes it very popular with the print industry.

The Pantone Matching System was first created in 1963, and Pantone have jealously guarded their intellectual property rights ever since.  They particularly dislike attempts to create conversion charts.  Not that I blame them, color charts are a big part of their business.

Now the picture of the Elephant and the Mouse is from a site which did offer a PMS <->RGB lookup.  Pantone told them to stop.

And they did.

(Much to his regret, Dale has neither printer’s ink or graphic designers flair, coursing though his veins.  He is very grateful to have spent time working as the IT guy for a large printing company.)

When non-IT people ask me what they should buy, I say Dell.  They are hassle free and reliable.  My last personal Dell computer lasted me 5 years.

They are not the cheapest computers you can buy.  You can buy “no name” “white box” PCs.  But “white box” PCs are often they are made of unreliable/short-life components.

But wait! There is a way to get cheap Dell computers, often with a full warranty.  And you can do this by visiting the “Dell Outlet” sites.  Where they offer Refurbished (aka “Scratch & Dent” ) or Pre-configured systems.

The Dell Outlet websites can be found here:
Australia – Dell Outlet
USA – Dell Outlet
United Kingdom – Dell Outlet

“White box?” – generic PCs built by computer shops.  As it a competitive market, computer shops compete on price, often at the expense of reliability.

I hate shopping and loath factory outlets, can’t stand crowds.

“Do you want to go with me to the factory outlets in Fitzroy?”

A No, would see me in the doghouse.

‘Of course dear’

So we visited True-Blue Shoes in Fitzroy, and Gloweave in Smith St. Fitzroy.  Glo-weave was disappointing, no french-cuffs on offer.

‘Let’s repair to the cafe’, say I.

Cafe Entity do a roaring trade, as they are cheap and cheerful.  A cheese and spinach pida* was $7, and an ICE-COLD ice coffee, $5.50.  The ice-coffee was so good, I had two!

* a pastry, also known as a Spanish Crescent.

My current business card is far too busy:

The replacement:

“Platforms don’t mean crap.  It’s all about getting the customer working again, and they shouldn’t be thinking about IT at all.”

Other images which didn’t make the cut (I was tempted):

 
“A fact often forgotten by people who work in IT.”

“Often introduced by bungy bosses …”

 
“Outside of work, I don’t want to talk about tech either.”

The back?  I was going to run with this quote, but decided not:
I expect to pass through this world but once;
any good thing therefore that I can do, or
any kindness that I can show to any fellow-creature,
let me do it now; let me not defer or neglect it,
for I shall not pass this way again.

All the artwork here, apart from the first card, is by artiste extraordinaire Hugh Macleod, over at Gapingvoid.com.  You can buy his own designed business cards right here: Street Cards – Gapingvoid (bit expensive if you’re not in the UK).

If you are looking for Free Software and Online Services then this resource guide should help point you in the right direction.   …  You should refer to the appropriate licensing agreement, terms of use or contact Microsoft if you require further information or clarification.

As seen over here.

It’s amazing how much free stuff Microsoft has to offer.

USB Activated 6 Way Powerboard

At last we can offer an ideal solution for turning on all your computer’s powered accessories at the same time as your computer turns on. This powerboard connects to your computer’s USB port and once your computer powers on, it applies the mains power to the 6 way powerboard without you needing to flick a switch. Perfect for powered speakers, powered USB hubs, scanners, and powered docking stations.

In-Desk 4 Port USB 2.0 Hub

This unique USB hub is built into a 3″ desk grommet and provides an elegant solution for your desk top expansion. The hub has 4 x USB 2.0 ports and supports data transfer rates up to 480Mbps while the grommet section allows easy access to cable under your workstation.

Particularly if you’re in the IT industry.  And the main reason I like it:

Full-version software for evaluation – without time limits – including Microsoft operating systems, servers, and Office System software.

Now when I was working for a large IT company, I got that benefit for free, via our corporate Technet / MSDN / Enterprise licensing agreement.  But now I’m not, I had to find another way.

And that other way is: TechNet Plus.  One of the great "secret" deals from Microsoft.

Worth every cent, as Kevin Remde explains.
(if you visit via Kevin’s site, as a new subscriber you can get a 15% discount until June 2009)