 We're
baack!
(You just knew I was gonna say that, right?)
For those of you in this hemisphere, I hope you enjoyed your summer. I can't
believe it's nearly over! Seems like only yesterday I was pulling my hair out
in frustration thinking about all the things I had to do this summer, while
trying to handle all the sudden, urgent requests that were piling up for my
time. There was clearly a need for a mental health break! TechTrax became one
of the victims of the chaos, as it was put on hold until we were able to get
the world back on its axis.
For now, <knock, knock, knock>, life at this end seems to be back on
track (the kids have moved out<evil snicker>) so it's time to get TechTrax
back on track, too. But just because we weren't writing regular articles didn't
mean we'd totally forgotten about this Ezine. We were busy not only promoting
the magazine, which has brought us over 600 new subscribers in the last few
months—but we were also busy convincing many wonderful new writers to
contribute.
New Writers
Microsoft Publisher users will be thrilled to know that we've snagged Publisher
MVP, David
Bartosik. The new version of Office (2003) will be available soon and David
joins us this month with his article that provides you with some insight on
the new version of Publisher.
Road warriors who use Map Point to plot out their data or prepare for the next
sales trip will be excited to know that Map Point MVP, Eric
Frost, has also come to our aid. Eric joins our TechTrax writing team this
month with his Map Point automation article.
One of the request we had in our TechTrax user survey was to provide more in-depth
web development articles. Well, how's this for satisfying that request? Adrian
Forbes, ASP (Active Server Page) MVP, has joined TechTrax and he's already
provided me with a pile of terrific web development articles to cover us for
the coming months! This month Adrian's focus is on ASP's Request.Redirect command.
Other Improvements
No sir! We weren't just sitting around the pool all summer. We were busy! If
you've taken a look at MouseTrax.com
(TechTrax's mothership) lately, you'll notice that it's been completely redesigned!
But not only does it have a new look, it also has a lot more, and readily available,
helpful links to support resources,
free tutorials,
tech book recommendations,
training
courses...including my new VBA
video course...MVP
support sites, and, of course, Greg's terrific, free
utilities!
And I'd like to personally thank all the great guys in the Yahoo ASP
User Support group (Shawn Hall, Adrian Forbes, Ray Costanzo (aka Ray at
home/Ray at work<g>), Chris...et al) who provided me with fantastic support
while I was working out [read: beating my head against the walls] ASP/ADO/SQL
issues while redesigning MouseTrax and a few other sites I created over the
summer. If you need help automating your web site, this forum is a terrific
place to hang out!
TechTrax has also added a new column—The Soapbox! Now our writers have
a place to step up and rant! But realize, this column is not open only
to regular TechTrax writers. If you, our readers, have personal comments you'd
like to convey, in a professional manner, to share either a gripe or kudo about
some aspect of technology, you can submit your article for consideration at
TechTrax@MouseTrax.com. This month,
Bill
Coan, Word developer extraordinare, Microsoft MVP and Office 2003 beta tester,
passes along some of his opinions on Office 2003.
Yo Excel users! Don't miss Jon
Peltier's incredible FAQ article on Excel. This article is not only a work
of art, but contains a wealth of info for you number geeks!
Other Issues
And speaking of Office 2003, it will be available in October. MSDN subscribers
should be able to download it after the first of the month. The official Launch
will be held October 30, 2003. You can check out the Microsoft
Events page for a city near you that will be hosting a free launch event.
(Check the October events—I'll be at the Chicago Launch.) We also hope
to have more details about the Launch and Office 2003 itself in the October
issue of TechTrax.
Another big issue that's hit everyone lately, no pun intended, has
been the rash of viruses and spoofs (virus email using forged, legit addresses).
Don't miss Greg
Chapman's Internet article this month. As Senior System's Engineer, responsible
for thousands of PCs, users and servers, Greg was recently, again, force-fed
more issues about viruses. His article contains vital information to help keep
you on the side of safe computing.
Welcome New Subscribers
And finally, before I let you loose to check out all the terrific articles we
have for you this month, I just want to formally welcome all our new subscribers,
as well as welcome back all our previous, faithful subscribers, who have been
patiently awaiting this return issue.
 Remember,
our writers are volunteers who share their time, skills, talents and knowledge.
So please honor them by not swiping any of their articles without requesting
their permission!
And since many of our writers are consultants, if you ever need to hire someone
to help you with a project, who better than the pros here at TechTrax? You can
click the Consulting
link above to find some of the brightest talent on the web—ready to
help you get the job done!
And don't forget that you can find all our past issues or search for specific
articles via the above Archives
link, as well as locate article series, code files, downloads and article
updates in our Library.
I hope you enjoy this return issue. I know there's a lot to read here. But
remember, there's a terrific little program you can get that will help you get
through all your daily reading, by reading it to you. See our previous My
New Assistant article to learn more about Text Aloud MP3. It's what
I use to help me read/proof all this stuff!
Cheers!
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