Hewie's Views and Reviews
By Hewie Poplock

Welcome to this issue of Hewie's Views & Reviews. Be sure to visit Hewie's Favorites at http://www.hewie.net/ .

In this issue:

++++ ABC Amber Outlook Converter
++++ ABF Outlook Backup
++++ Capture Streaming Media
++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

++++ ABC Amber Outlook Converter

I wanted a way to save my Outlook messages and do so in a way that I could easily search for information. I tried ABC Amber Outlook Converter http://www.thebeatlesforever.com/processtext/abcoutlk.html which allows you to pick any or all messages in Outlook and convert to another format. There are too many formats to list, but text, rtf, doc, and pdf files interested me. I thought Acrobat files would fit me, so I tried the program. The trial version was limited to the number of messages, so I jumped right in and purchased the product for $20. It worked as advertised. My messages were saved in a pdf file and were searchable. HTML messages are save as HTML code only, so you do not see the page as designed. Links are live in some messages, but not in others.

If you are not concerned about the security of information saved from e-mails, this is a great way to archive messages. You can password protect the file. There are many other settings, which makes the program usable in many ways. ABC Amber also have many other converter programs available, such as Outlook Express, Eudora, Acrobat PDF files, CHM Help files, and others. Most are in the $20 range and bundles are available.

++++ ABF Outlook Backup

When I wanted to move my Outlook information from my old computer to my new computer, I wanted all of the settings to be moved. I have 23 e-mail accounts, and other settings that are not transferred by simply running the export feature of Outlook. I tried ABF Outlook Backup from http://www.abf-soft.com was extremely happy with the results. It not only backed up the messages, calendar, and notes, but all of accounts, settings, and even my Favorites.

After installing and creating a backup on my old computer, I simply installed the program on my new computer. After installing Outlook, I ran the program and within minutes, my Outlook was identical and I was able to start using it. Even my e-mail rules were transferred. The website does say that the program is also a "functional synchronization tool" but I only experienced the complete overwrite and didn't find a way to synchronize 2 machines without overwriting.

Yes, there is also an Outlook Express version available. Each are $30 with limited trial versions. This is a good backup tool for any Outlook or Outlook Express user.

++++ Capture Streaming Media

I wanted to show one of my classes some information about a product and the publisher had some great videos showing how their program worked. I don't like presentations that rely on Internet connections, so I like to capture important web sites. Usually I can download the files that I need. This particular site used streaming videos, so I searched for software that captured streaming media. I downloaded and installed WM Recorder from http://www.wmrecorder.com and the files are to be saved on my PC automatically for playback anytime.

It worked, but not as "fun and easy" as advertised. I paid $30 for the program and it installed easily. The documents explained what to do, but not what was happening. For instance, I started one capture and it went on for hours. I never do start small, do I? Sometimes the recorder information indicated the file was complete and other times, it just looked like the file size was increasing. I never did figure out what caused the differences. I had played the files first and knew how long that they were. The recorder took much longer to capture the files on a 3.06Mhz P4. What should have taken me about an hour, took several.

I did record all of the files. There were a few spots where the recording missed some data, but I don't fault the program for that. While the program worked, I cannot recommend it.

++++ New additions to Hewie's Favorites

dropload
http://www.dropload.com/
Dropload is a place for you to drop your files off and have them picked up by someone else at a later time

Favlets.com
http://www.favlets.com/
Favlets and bookmarklets for power users. Favlets are small snippets of JavaScript embedded in a Bookmark URL that extend the capabilities of your web browser

Furl
http://www.furl.net/
Web page filing cabinet. Save and share web content

Trackle
http://trackle.com/
Web page tracking and monitoring. Retrieve only the text on a page that has changed since its last visit and in their entirety

YouSendIt
http://s11.yousendit.com/
Email large files up to 1GB quickly, securely, and easily

XMLSPY
http://www.altova.com/products_ide.html
XML Development Environment for building software applications based on eXtensible Markup Language (XML) technologies from Altova

AWesome
http://dutchisms.typepad.com/awesome/
Support for the growing ActiveWords Community from a user. Lots of help for Active Words

Short Courses on Digital Photography
http://www.shortcourses.com/
Complete guide to digital cameras, digital photography, and digital video

Voice-Over-Internet Protocol
http://www.fcc.gov/voip/
FCC info about Internet Voice, also known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

USDLA
http://www.usdla.org/
United States Distance Learning Association provides advocacy, information, networking and opportunity for the distance learning community

xmethods
http://www.xmethods.com/
Publicly available web services for emerging web services standards such as SOAP, WSDL and UDDI

Moodle
http://moodle.org/
Free, Open Source course management system (CMS) help educators create quality online courses

Proposal Writing and Government Contracting
http://www.proposalwriter.com/
Proposal Writing and Management Info as well as services for Organizations Bidding on Government Contracts

A.M. Best
http://www.ambest.com/
Insurance Information Source fo in-depth reports and financial-strength ratings about insurance organizations

Open Clip Art Projects
http://clipart.freedesktop.org/
Free archive of clip art that can be used with free software, closed software, distributed with various software distributions, or be used in graphic design compositions

Totally Off The Record
http://www.totallyofftherecord.com/
A place to share, read, and enjoy anonymous work-related stories from various occupations

Orlando City Beat
http://www.orlandocitybeat.com/citybeat/
Orlando entertainment

Seminole County Homeowner Association
http://scha.homestead.com/
Central Index page for all Seminole and Orange County (Florida) Homeowner Associations

VirusList
http://www.viruslist.com/eng/index.html
Viruses, anti-viruses, events, facts and commentary

Bink.nu
http://bink.nu
Latest Microsoft news, technology, and downloads from Steven Bink in the Netherlands

Black Viper
http://www.blackviper.com/WinXP/servicecfg.htm
Windows XP Home and Professional Service Configurations by Black Viper

Exuberant Software
http://exuberant.ms11.net/
Unofficial Service Packs for 98SE & ME. Uses updates and hot fixes Coskun collected from the Windows Update service site and Microsoft's Knowledge Base database