Dear Readers and Visitors:

This morning, I finally finished composing a free e-book that describes the basics of a fine utility program that is available as a free download from CNET’s website download dot com, called Advanced System Care v3.6.1. This remarkable program inspects and repairs your computer (desktop, laptop, netbook, etc.) system and works with the very latest in anti-virus, defrag, and other relevant technologies. It is clearly on par with giants like Microsoft Defender and Microsoft Security Essentials. Advanced System Care addresses sensitive issues like privacy, temporary files, and log files, all of which today need to be addressed, lest a spyware program gain new insights into your browsing or confidential information that you thought was safely stored on your local drive. Like AC/DC once sang “watch your back”. So, true, especially in the evolving Internet age.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD MY E-BOOK ABOUT ADVANCED SYSTEM CARE v3.6.

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD ADVANCED SYSTEM CARE 3.6.1 FROM CNET.

Regards and Best Wishes for a relaxing weekend,

Keith

I recently got off the phone (Skype) with my good friend Mr. Yuri Belous from Kiev, Ukraine and he informed me that he has finally uploaded to download dot com new updates to his tremendous Rapid Typing Program. The number of this release is 3.2.5. It is available for download and here are the new features you will enjoy with this release:

1. Added the control “Sound” in the main window.
2. Added new background music.
3. Added more than 30 sound effects.
4. Added the mode allowing for the random choosing of the sound effect.
5. Added additional support of the sound schemes.
6. Added Farsi interface language (special thanks to Ardeshir Abasi).
7. Added support for the program’s left-to-right interface.
8. Fixed a bug regarding the wait cursor on several of the dialog boxes.

Click here to download Rapid Typing Release 3.2.5

Have a great weekend, everyone

A good Internet friend of mine, Mr. Yuri Belous of Kiev, Ukraine has just finished programming version 3.0 of his well-known freeware application Rapid Typing. This great desktop application lets you systematically improve your typing skills. Over the past several weekends, I have helped Yuri by composing the User’s Guide to RT Version 3.0. It was fun creating the guide and I hope you all enjoy the program as much as I have.

CNET has formally placed this application on its Download Dot Com website.

Click here to download Rapid Typing 3.0 from Download Dot Com.

Click here to download the Rapid Typing 3.0 User’s Guide from Lulu Dot Com.

Note: There are unexpected changes that must be made to the program and sometimes interface, so Rapid Typing has decided to provide a link to Release Notes, which are updates to the existing Online Help (F1 key) and PDF Help file that have been composed.

Enjoy Rapid Typing 3.0!

All The Best,

Keith

A friend of mine (Mr. Dennis Chu) from the newly created Google Buzz is the webmaster and innovator of a new website called Goofy2 Dot Com. I recently joined this site, and it is definitely interesting.

Click here to check out Goofy2

This website is a social/open instant messenger that enables users to stay in real-time connection with groups, rather than individuals as they do with Microsoft Network (MSN). Goofy2 is a real-time network that allows people to get connected in real-time with each other, establish and grow their real-time network in an easy way. It also allows people to create robot users on Goofy2. The Goofy2 website provides an API and Robot API for independent developers to create applications.

What you can do with Goofy2:

You can use Goofy2 as a tool to have a group connected in real-time. The size of a group is unlimited if you can handle all the updates and messages. Anyone’s updates will be presented to all the rest in a connected group of people. The number of people may vary from two to two million (so, not really a limit there). You can share updates, conversations, messages on Goofy2 with the very simple-to-use and intuitive IM-like User Interface (UI).

Goofy2 API:

Finally, Goofy2 provides an Application Programming Interface (API), on which interesting developers can build apps that they find useful and fun. Here is the URL for developers:

http://code.google.com/p/goofy2-api/w/list

All The Best,

Keith

In the eighth chapter of Brad & Deb Schepp’s book “How to Find a Job on LinkedIn”, the website Twitter is presented. In fact, Brad & Deb tell us that “it is easy to dismiss Twitter as nothing more than just a way to fritter away your time to no good end. If you do this, you will make a mistake that could delay the successful end to your job search or cut off a steady stream of new business (p.169).”

This is so true.

Like mentioned in the previous chapter which presented Facebook, chapter eight reveals that Twitter is also a viable place to search for work and discover it. Remember, say Brad & Deb, that you are always asking the perennial Twitter question “what are you doing?” And, so, of course you can say “updating my resume and profile at Dice Dot Com” or “confirming a job interview for tomorrow morning”. So, when people read this, they will essentially “get your drift” that you are actively looking for employment or business opportunities.

Twitter describes itself as a service for friends, family, and co-workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: “what are you doing?”. So, in this microblogging platform, you do not need to write a whole blog post. Rather, you simply need to summarize your activities at that current moment. At one point last year, several actors and actresses had acquired more than one million Twitter subscribers. So, if actress Demi Moore tweeted to tell the world her plans for that day, instantly, all subscribers would be “in the know” as if they were right there with her. The same is true for you. As you build a subscriber base, you can tell these individuals what you are doing and more specifically, that you are actively pursuing work opportunities.

What this means, of course, is that subscribers who empathize with your cause will contribute information that will be helpful, normally. This is the magic of social networking. People who know of specific opportunities will help you out and will become active participants as helpers. Isn’t that great. Perhaps if Twitter was around in 1990 when I went on more than 50 job interviews for an entry-level computer programming job in Boston, then that job search would have been easier! For sure. So, create a nice and professional looking page at Twitter using their basic templates and tweet away. Your chances of producing leads and helpful information is just as good at Twitter as it would be at Facebook, and could even be considered on par with LinkedIn.

All The Best,

Keith

Visit Brad & Deb Online
Visit Pinny Cohen Online
Visit Twitter Online

There is a new & cool website on the Internet called Voizle Dot Com. Essentially, this website has been created so that you don’t have to pass on lengthy URLs to your friends and family, regardless of whether you are chatting via IM (instant messenger) or simply exchanging e-mails. All you need to do is enter the original (and usually long) URL in the top text-box (see image above). Then click on the Create button and a new and shorter URL is created using the voizle domain.

Here is an example for you.

Original URL:

http://health.msn.com/blogs/defy-your-age-post.aspx?post=1641996

Voizle New and Shorter URL (you can pass on to others):

http://u.voizle.com/jx7me

All The Best,

Keith

Dear Visitors & Blog Subscribers:

Because I have received one-hundred-plus requests for this e-book, I have decided to publish it formally with Lulu Publishers where it now comes with a cover page and download page on the Lulu website. You don’t need to ask me anymore for this book, just click on the following link. As mentioned in the book, the writings in this work are merely reflective and their only purpose is to get you thinking about your career goals and determine which ones are best for you

Click here to download your free copy of The Seven Heavens of Success

All The Best,

Keith

I recently “Stumbled Upon” a great typing-skills-improvement program called the Rapid Typing Tutor. This website features all sorts of cool features, from actual typing programs to tutorials and arcades. So, no matter your age or temperament, you can take advantage of this website to “tweak” and improve your keyboard and typing skills. My son, who is in high-school now, once asked me “Dad, can you please type this paper for me?” Because I know he eventually needs to master the computer keyboard I said “Nope. You are going to type this yourself.” Now I know the perfect website where he can improve his typing skills, and no longer just type with two fingers (you know, one index finger from each hand).

The most recent version of this software (to be released in about one week) will feature Rapid Typing Tutor 3.0. This next version Rapid Typing Tutor will let you edit all lessons and create and remove any lessons and sections. You can also create any number of courses (once you are a “user”). Indeed, a great web resource that anyone can bookmark and begin using.

Click here to visit the Rapid Typing Tutor website.

Many thanks to Yuri (its developer and innovator) for such a great program!

All The Best,

Keith Johnson, M.S. Education
Technical Writer & Documentation Specialist
Hallandale Beach, Florida, USA

Recently, I was looking for a program that can seamlessly convert CHM (compiled Microsoft HTML Help) files into Word and PDF files without having to do this manually. With a little research on the Internet and after exchanging a few e-mails, I discovered a program called the ABC Amber CHM Converter, written by Mr. Yernar Shambayev (The Process Text Group). It is really cool!

All you need to do is download the trial version from the Process Text website (trial version is free for 30 days and paid version is only around 20 US dollars), and once it is running on your desktop, click on the Open button to select the CHM file you would like to convert to another format, such as PDF or Word. For example, let us imagine you want to convert a CHM file to PDF (portable data file) format. Click on this radio button in the right pane and then click the Save As button at the top of the window. You will be prompted with a dialog box where you decide the file name and then when you click the Save button, the program generates the new formatted file. It takes a few minutes and there is a GUI meter showing you the progress as the file is converted. When the file is converted, you may open it and see the final results. You should be impressed. The program does a really great job.

You will save immense amounts of time if you have CHM files and wish to convert them over to PDF or Word formats and do not want to spend all your time formatting individual pages within Microsoft Word. Believe me, that is no fun. It is better to use an automated tool like the ABC Amber CHM Converter.

Thanks, Yernar for writing such a great program

Here is the URL to Yernar’s website, called Process Text.

http://www.processtext.com

All The Best,

Keith Johnson, M.S. Education
Technical Writer & Documentation Specialist
Hallandale Beach, Florida, USA
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As a Technical Writer, I sometimes ask people (like at a social event) “so, do you really document your internal processes and procedures at your workplace?” Most people say “Oh, sure, I document these things.” But, the truth is, I believe, that people shy away from composing quality documentation because they don’t think it matters or they cannot justify the time spent on writing documentation manuals. It is a little bit like taking a long road trip and not first planning and documenting your trip with Map Quest. Yes, sure, you can get a GPS device for your car and wing it and trust the GPS, however, what if your GPS device fails you? Is it not better to have your trip already printed on paper from Map Quest?

That is my approach to documentation – better safe than sorry. It is better to spend at least SOME time on documentation than none. In business, like the saying goes “things happen”. Documentation can mean the difference between the continuance or demise of a company, especially if they get audited by some accounting company or standards committee, let alone need to consult old computer code for an old version of a program that actually works.

Documentation is an investment in the well-being and future of a company. Over time, it could become the source you consult when you need to make critical changes in your company’s products, internal processes and procedures, or even marketing strategy. My recommendation is that you not ignore the documentation aspect of your business. You will be glad you can say “Oh, yes, I document.”

Cheers,

Keith