Newsletter - November 2015

Editorial

It has taken time to find a replacement for our outdated and un-upgradeable PBX.  A lot of searching around for a solution that would take us away from technology that is no longer relevant.  However, we finally found a Cloud-based solution and are now enjoying trying it.  Good sound quality on both landline and cellphone calls makes it easy to use.  We can handle up to 10 incoming calls through the one number as well.  We are currently setting up the finer features and will be connecting our cellphones to it as well.  Thus, if you ring 011 802 2685 in the future, you can access us wherever we are!

New direct numbers are: Judith 011 045 2401, Rick 011 045 2403.

Costs are far less than with the old outdated solutions plus we have also installed Wi-Fi for updating our cellphones as part of the solution.

Some valuable feedback from a reader on how to protect data

 

I recently had my hard drive fail, and lost my emails. Luckily I had my QuickBooks backed up on my external drive, My Documents backed up with file history, and my photos backed up on Google.

I have now found it to be a simple matter to have the QuickBooks data file stored in My Documents (and thus automatically backed up with file history)

And it is a simple matter to have my Outlook files also held in My Documents and synchronised with a backup on another drive with file history.

Stephen

When our businesses can be destroyed by data loss, please realise that an external drive can save you.  Backup onto the web is also vital

Microsoft Word Tip: Editing Text

Sick of how Word automatically creates clickable links, boldface words, indented bulleted or numbered lists and other formatting as you type? You can turn those off:

From Andy Lanning's Computer Super Secrets.

QuickBooks - 2016

It's launched and we are now testing.  some significant changes have been made by QuickBooks with this new launch.  QuickBooks 2015 options are no longer available as a new product.  You can still purchase additional keys for both 2014 and 2015 products.

Both 2015 and 2016 now have optional monthly support contracts available

Microsoft Office 365

Saves you time because you don't need to convert Google App Files!  There are 1 billion people using Office 365!

Why add that chore to your already busy work days? With Microsoft Office 365, you’ll save time not only getting work done, but also collaborating with your customers, partners, and suppliers. After all, many use Office. Did we mention one billion people?

Office 365 gives you the world’s leading productivity solution, with tools to help you look as professional as you are.

Get Office 365, the professional toolset without the hassle!

Try it free for 30 days: Ask Judith for the link to download.

Green Tip

The drought has now been acknowledged as a reality not just by Rand Water, but now by Joburg Water.  Sadly, we can report that drought is affecting most of South Africa and many of our SADC neighbours.  This is combined with extreme heat in most areas as well.  The advice to use boreholes is both good and bad.  If you own a borehole, please also be water wise.  Observe the requirement to water your garden between 6pm and 6am, as the watering will be of benefit.  Watering during the day results in high losses to evaporation.

Increase mulching of your garden with wood chips, leaves, lawn cuttings and other materials that can conserve the moisture.

Autodesk updates

It is still possible to buy permanent licences of new Autodesk products.  This is a benefit worth making use of, as, recently Judith noticed that a quarterly subscription for AutoCAD LT is the same as the annual maintenance subscription for two LTs!  The same would be true for the other Autodesk products!  So if you are on maintenance subscription - be sure to renew regularly and on time!  If you are buying new, and have the budget, take the opportunity to purchase your permanent licences with maintenance subscription before 20th January 2016.

From the 1st February 2016, the only way to buy Autodesk products will be either annual or quarterly desktops subscriptions.  These come in two flavours - with basic support or with advanced support.  The latter gives you access to storage in the Cloud through A360.

Please note that from 1st February 2016, all maintenance subscriptions must be renewed promptly!

Adobe Creative Cloud for Teams

The 2015 release of Creative Cloud for teams - including the brand new Adobe Stock service introduced today for the very first time - is here! This is an amazing new release, chock full of innovation, that ushers in a new era of creativity and collaboration. With the 2015 release of Creative Cloud, businesses and creative teams will be able to:

So we are already geared up and waiting to tell you far more about this exciting upgrade and the solutions.  Remember that, once you have had your subscription registered, you can update all your software to the very latest at once!  All your software licence details are located in the Cloud, so no more losing the so-easily-lost and -stolen packages!

Please go to the brand new Creative Cloud for teams pages on Adobe.com, which provide a rich set of content to help inform, impress and quickly convert you to this new way of working.  For pricing and more information please contact Judith for quotes

Excel Tip #138 - The Developer tab (V), Code Group

For several issues now, we have been looking at the Developer tab, which can be set to appear just to the right of the View tab. It looks like this:

As there was little interest in code, we continue with the Controls Group on the Developer tab:

That concludes our review of the Excel 2010 Ribbon.   A brand new topic next time!

Computius Say:

Elon Musk suspects that humanity may just be the organic bootloader for Artificial Intelligence.  Can we prove him wrong?

Remember:  We can make your business run better by:

All the Best from the team!
Judith and Rick

Members, Communication in Action cc trading as Software Africa
"Empowering African Business with standard and custom PC programs, databases, and templates using Microsoft technologies"
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