Hello everyone

Happy Valentine's Day everyone and welcome to another issue of the newsletter. Due to a medical emergency in the family, I was unable to publish last months newsletter. Not a good start for the new year, but hopefully we are back on track with this issue.

I have decided to start a new volume with the beginning of this year, and over the next few days I will make some changes to the volumes and issue numbers located in the archive (note I have started Volume 4 and Volume 3 will be created with the changes to the archive). Hopefully this will make navigation a bit easier as there are already 44 issues thus far.

Site Updates:

There are currently no site updates, but I am working on a few things to add to the website over the next few weeks. Among them will be a variety of new screensavers, a new wallpaper section, a few new desktop themes and some new greeting cards.

I have been getting a lot of email from people (IE/OE 6.x and/or Office XP users), asking me about various stationery problems they are experiencing. Overall I am unable to offer much assistance as I haven't nor plan on upgrading my Operating System (still Win 98 SE) or my Internet Explorer (still 5.5). However, I have looked into these problems and found a website that may offer some solutions to these problems. The Letterman Stationery site offers some help, suggestions and downloads that may fix these incompatibility issues. This site also offers pre-made stationery, lots Java scripts and tips for those who want to make their own stationery, and various useful Freeware programs.

Adorable Teddies in Print are on sale for US$ 10.- each! These poster prints are hand signed & numbered, varying in size from 15½x11¾ inches to 17½x12 inches and come on high-quality cardboard weight, acid-free paper. For a matching screensaver see Bear Living

Past Lives Revealed website offers original Inspirational & Angel Stationery for Outlook and/or Outlook Express users, free original Inspirational Greeting Cards, Mystical Desktop Themes & Wallpaper, Various Readings (Palms, Clairvoyant, Dreams, Past Lives, Missing Items/People, Tarot, Herbalists, and many more) or visit the website's own Chatroom.

The Gifts:

Some changes have been been made to the Stationery install directories. Choose a file to download and make sure to read the enclosed text files for install/uninstall directions and/or other important information. All graphics are best viewed in high color of at least 16--bit or higher (True Color). All images for Stationery, Wallpaper, Screensaver, Skins or Puzzles are original creations made with PSP 7 (tubes & filters for effects), watermarked and copyright © 2002.

* PLEASE NOTE: Gifts are only for actual subscribers (available for 5-7 days with each issue) and not for visitors to the newsletter archive at the website.

*** NOTE*   I use Zip Magic to compress Stationery and/or Desktop Theme files into EXE format. If you ever get a password prompt during installation... ignore it and proceed. They are not password protected! For more help with installation(s) visit the Help section at either Stationery, Theme Help, and the Hotbar Skin Tutorial sections.

*** PLEASE READ IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT LINKS ***

Various Software:

The following are various programs for the average computer user. Hope you will find the software, sites and information useful:

• IconUtils (Shareware) is a complete icon and cursor software that is really 5 programs in one (ArtIcons Pro, ArtCursors, Any to Icon, Icon to Any, and AhaView... also available individually). This software lets you create your own unique icons and cursors in standard or custom sizes with up to 32-bit colors or semi transparent for XP, manage icon and cursor libraries, convert existing images to cursor or icon format (excellent feature). Create and edit static and animated cursors, or make icons and cursors from various graphic formats, including BMP, JPG, GIF, PNG, WMF, WBMP and PSD. View images full screen, browse folders in thumbnail mode or extract them from existing Windows files (dll, ico, & exe files) and so much more! Very easy to use and definitely one of the best programs I have ever used for the creation of icons and cursors.

• The absolute easiest way to make your own WinAmp skins is to use a program called quickSkin (Funware... use it free of charge and have fun). This program lets you use one or several images in bitmap (BMP) format to create a skin in only three easy steps, and then saves your finished skin to the correct skin directory for WinAmp. Great little program. *smile*

• AudioEdit Deluxe 1.2 (Shareware) is an advanced visual audio editor and converter that supports many powerful operations and sound file formats. You can perform two-way conversions among CD, MP3, WAV, WMA, and OGG. It can also open, create, save, play, and record audio data; cut, paste and copy is supported; create silence; mix, amplify your track, put in a delay or echo. Other effects also include fade in/out, invert, normalize, reverse, shrink, stretch, vibrato, and filter. Easy to use program and nice interface too.

• SayIt by AnalogX (Freeware) is a neat little toy that lets you type in some text, which is then transformed it into synthesized speech (pitch, speed etc. are all adjustable). You can then save it as a wave file to share with friends or use it with the software above to mix with other sounds for a whole new effect, that could be used in desktop themes or to share with friends.

• ICQ has now a portable version called ICQ Lite. Just visit the website, click on the button "Start ICQ Lite", and this will open another small Java powered window with the actual lite version of ICQ that can be operated from any computer without installing the bulky software. Since this is only a substitute for the full version, it only supports the following: send/receive messages, SMS messages with Cell Phones, exchange URLs and contacts, see your friends Online Status, search & add new contacts, and view friends user details.

• I found this neat site called Safe Computing - The Risks, which explains various computer virus terms and gives some good tips on how to prevent damage to your computer system. The article is written in easy to understand language and should be well worth reading for anyone who would like to know more about viruses, trojans, and other terms like RAT (go read about it at this website *smile*).

• MS Word 2000 Tutorial is another good find for all MS Word users (not just the 2000 version). This website has step-by-step picture tutorials on everything that can be done with the MS Word program. The instructions are straight forward and very easy to follow for any beginner or intermediate user, or anyone else who needs to brush up.

Various Sites and Software:

I came across a few websites and software that ranging from searches to legal stuff, I hope you will find helpful:

• Writing legal documents (i.e. Wills, Insurance Claims, Trusts or Leases, etc.) can be quite a chore. Normally you would employ legal assistance, but this could get expensive, so why not try this website called Legal Docs that offers a large variety of legal forms for free (some are for purchase). Just pick the type of form your interested in, then pick the state that you live in, and fill out the required information. On completion it will give you a legal (state compliant) printable version of the form with your information included. It can't get any easier and cheaper than this. *smile*

• For searches on the Internet, most people use search engines like Yahoo, or Altavista. In my opinion these search engines no longer provide accurate results and produce too many non-related results. Others prefer programs like Copernic (basic version available free) or Web Ferret (Freeware) that can perform searches of multiple search engines all at once. The Google Bar is a small browser add-on bar (free and available in several languages) that gives detailed results on any search, even lets you search messages in discussion groups (newsgroups), dictionary, and keeps a list of your last 10 searches. This is by far the best tool for quick searches and will return results even if you are looking for drivers for your computer, missing files and/or research the meaning or fixes for error messages from your computer.

• Tax season is upon us again, and many of you either stand in line at the local tax office or stay at home and do it manually. If you do your own taxes, try a program called TaxAct. The Standard edition is available for free or you can use this site to file your taxes online for a small fee. Other tax software and services are also available at this website.

• The Emergency Email Network is a great service if you would like to stay informed about current weather in your local area (storm warnings, flood warnings, etc.), or even nation-wide news updates such as school closings due to weather, terrorist warnings, anthrax news, etc. These services are offered free and all you do is sign up for the type of alerts you are interested in receiving by email.

• There are a lot of sites available on the Internet called Job Banks (i.e. Home Jobs, Jobvertise, eWork, America's Job Bank, CareerMag or Job Database) that can assist you in finding a new job or career. Most offer job listings, help placing and/or writing your resume, tips & tricks for job searches, etc. A good resume is needed in most cases and the Resume Wizard is the perfect Freeware stand-alone program for writing resumes. It helps you create a resume by choosing from a variety of styles and color schemes, then lets you save the finished resume in either text format for email or publish it to the web in html format.

• Ever wonder how much your car is still worth if you would sell it today, or you are looking for a new car and wonder if it would be better to trade the old one in or sell it privately? The Edmunds site lets you search for the best deals on new or used cars on the Internet, look up the current market value of your car by model/year, find a dealer locally or anywhere in the US and many other services. Other services include financing quotes, insurance quotes, car reviews, safety tips, and much more.

• Parfums Raffy is a website that offers all kinds of brand name Perfume products for men and women, Perfume Gift Sets, bath and body oils, and Essential Oils (can be used for the making of potpourris), for up to 40% savings over retail. They also have a section that explains the history and making of Perfumes and Fragrance descriptions.

• Progressive Secretary is a website that sends letters of various current topics and/or issues (i.e. Afghanistan War, Government Budget 2002, etc.) to legistlators on your behalf. The website is operated with an all volunteer work force that does the necessary research, writing, editing, proof-reading, and sending. The letters are usually proposed to them by participants, and groups like Amnesty International, Friends Committee on National Legislation, National Organization for Women, and Working Assets, etc. This service is free, you may sign up and choose the letters you want to support, or edit and print them and send these letters yourself.

*** IMPORTANT NOTICE ABOUT URL's (LINKS), PRIVACY AND/OR MAINTENANCE ***
This Newsletter and/or its Author are not responsible for the Maintenance and/or the Privacy Policies of websites listed within the Newsletter Issue(s)! At the time of publication, all listed URL's (Links) for websites and/or programs are in working condition and are accessible. The sudden unaccessibility of a website and/or program may be due to sudden traffic increase and/or other temporary causes I have no control over. Try the URL (Link) for any given program and/or website again at a later time.    Thank you!

Back to Top

The Finishing Touches:

Hope you enjoyed this edition of the newsletter, and found lots of useful information. You may share this newsletter with your friends and family or visit the website for the current & all previous Issues: Kenja's Newsletter & Updates

Subscribe/Unsubscribe:

Copyright © 2002 Kenja's Newsletter & Updates   ISSN: 1530-700X   All Rights Reserved! Content written & edited by A. Way aka Kenja. The opinions expressed herein are my own. The reproduction, direct linking and/or unauthorized use of any part(s) of this Newsletter, it's content, layout and/or graphics is strictly forbidden!