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First of all, I apologize to those who were anxiously waiting for this month's
issue of TechTrax. I try to get it out right on the 1st of the month, but the
first of October suddenly exploded, just as I was about to finalize this issue
to get it online. I totally forgot the fact that October 1st is the annual renewal
date for Microsoft
MVPs and the new list of this
years members was released. So I suddenly had a flurry of emails and notices
to read.
I'm very proud to be an MVP for Microsoft. Greg became one in June 1995, and
I was recruited a few months later that year. In fact, Greg and I met thanks to the MVP program! For those of you not aware of
the Microsoft MVP program, Microsoft is always on the lookout in the Microsoft newsgroups for technically
sharp individuals who seem to enjoy helping others learn their products. Microsoft offers
the largest, best free technical support newsgroups in the industry. Sometimes
I hear people complain that they were told they'd have to pay a high cost to
get phone support from Microsoft. Unfortunately, those folks weren't aware that
there are now approximately 1,200 Microsoft supported MVPs available online to
provide free support just for the asking. Not to mention thousands of your
peers who frequent the newsgroups and also enjoy helping folks solve problems
they've already solved! So the next time you need some tech support and can't
find it through any of the regular user group support lists to which you might already
subscribe—jump over to the free Microsoft
newsgroups and post your question there. Or if you'd like to become an MVP, get in there and help out. Someday you might receive that email offering you MVP status. There are specific groups to support
every program and technology Microsoft creates. If you want to access
the entire list of MS newsgroups, in every language they support, you'll have
to access them through a newsreader by pointing to their server at: msnews.microsoft.com.
Besides receiving a few freebies in return for the time MVPs spend providing
volunteer support to MS users, Microsoft also provides us with a backdoor to
Microsoft, so we can get answers straight from the horse's mouth, as it were.
Microsoft support professionals and engineers provide MVPs with specific information
about issues so we can provide their users with topnotch support. And this month,
Word MVP, Bill
Coan, wrote the code to help squash a potential security problem with Word.
However, truth be told, although the potential was there to have your files
swiped, the real-life chances that all the bells and whistles would be in their
proper places to actually have it happen, were very low. Nevertheless, it caused
user concern when some newsletters talked up the problem. So Bill jumped on
the problem and wrote an addin you can use to allow you to make sure none of
your documents are being accessed from your computer. Be sure to read the article
in this month's issue, called Security
Flaw in Microsoft Word Documents Solved.
I'm also thrilled to tell you that we've been able to entice two more Microsoft
MVPs to our list of TechTrax writers. Word MVP and expert Word developer, Jonathan
West, has joined us from across The Pond. If you use Word VBA, be sure to
check out Jonathan's article this month providing details about how to manipulate
printers. And PowerPoint users will be happy to know that PPT MVP Geetesh
Bajaj has joined us, too. Check out his article on what the best presentation
colors are and cast your vote on his web site. Thanks for joining, Jonathan
and Geetesh, and welcome!
I also belong to Linda
Johnson's incredibly helpful Microsoft
Office support list. Through it, I've had the pleasure of getting to know
Paul
Traynor. And I was even more excited when he agreed to join the TechTrax
writers. Paul lost his eyesight to a sports accident about 10 years ago. He
credits his first sight dog for helping him to become as independent as he is
now. Paul also comes to us from across The Pond, although a little further north,
from Ireland. He loves learning new technology and in his first article about
scanning software for the blind, he provides you with details about his favorite
software. Thanks for joining, Paul, and welcome!
Remember, TechTrax is always looking for writers who would like to trade their knowledge for a little fame!
Another wonderful contribution that Paul has made to TechTrax is his
suggestion that TechTrax have home delivery. He explained to me that the task
of having to go to the web site each month to download the screen reader version
of TechTrax, could be made a lot easier for blind readers if the Word document
was emailed right to their inbasket each month. So thanks to Paul's insight
and suggestion, TechTrax now offers home delivery! However, you will have to
go sign up for it. If you've already added your email address to our subscribers
list, but would now prefer to have the imageless Word doc version of TechTrax
sent right to you each month, please take a moment to go back to our subscription
page, add your address again, but this time click the new option
requesting that the doc be attached in an email to you each month. The database
will be resorted and beginning next month, TechTrax will email the screen reader
Word document version to all who request it. And know that this version is not
just for blind subscribers. If you're sighted and would like to receive the
doc version, just sign up for it. Realize, however, that this version has had
all the eye candy (images) removed. It's just text. But TechTrax writers do
their best to write their articles in such a way that, in most cases, the images
are added value for sighted folks, but not always necessary to get the point
across. And the document still does include all hyperlinks which you can easily
use to zip back to the magazine online, if you want to view any particular images.
Well, all that said, I'll let you get on with reading all the great articles
we've provided for you this month. Enjoy and if you celebrate Halloween, have
fun and be safe!
Dian D. Chapman
Editor, TechTrax Ezine
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