Useful Downloads

Okay, I admit it: I'm a software junkie. I sometimes spend hours finding, downloading, and playing with new programs that I think might increase my productivity. Here are a few of my recent finds:

Office Compatibility Pack for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint 2007 File Formats. If you have Word XP or 2003 and need to save documents in the new 2007 XML format, here's the answer:

http://tinyurl.com/y5w78r

The OpenXML/ODF Translator Add-in makes it possible to open and save in OpenDocument format (ODF)--the format used in OpenOffice.org's office suite (which is free and powerful). The add-in comes with a command line translator that provides batch conversions.

http://sourceforge.net/projects/odf-converter

Office Accounting Express is Microsoft's free accounting package. If you're running a small business, or if you're a freelancer, this may be just what you need to keep your books.

http://tinyurl.com/yyj89z

There's also a tax integration add-in.

http://tinyurl.com/3y29rx

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READERS WRITE

After reading "The Need for Speed" in the June 14 newsletter, Judy Stein wrote:

I seem to work most efficiently using a combination of keyboard and mouse. My main speed trick is the right-click edit menu: I've put my most frequently used menu items and macros on it (and gotten rid of the default items that I don't use often).

Many thanks to Judy.

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RESOURCES

Articles by Geoff Hart

Earlier, I mentioned Geoff Hart's new book Effective Onscreen Editing:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/home/onscreen-book.htm

But Geoff has also published numerous articles on editing, publishing, writing, and related topics, and they're all available here:

http://www.geoff-hart.com/resources/bibliography.html

Many thanks to Geoff for providing such a valuable resource.