Free and Cheap Software for the SOHO Office, Part 4

Part 4: Thinkfree Office, the South Korean option


In our current theatrical production of alternatives to Microsoft office, we travel around the globe to South Korea, to take a quick look at ThinkFree Office. Unfortunately, with some visual display problems in my Windows version, I can only cast ThinkFree in the role of Helen Keller, in The Miracle Worker . With the patient tutorage of Anne Sullivan, our deaf/blind Helen learns sign language, and overcomes all obstacles to become an international software distributor and Cloud office application provider.


Seoul-based ThinkFree Office 4 emphasizes file compatibility with Word, Excel and PowerPoint (2003, 2007, 2010), with its three programs (Write, Calc and Show) plus a ThinkFree Manager for coordinating your files online (ThinkFree Online) and off. You can download the software (free for 30-days) or use the online version. The free online registration gives you online storage (up to 1 GB) plus online file-format translation, sharing and web embedding tools. Software is available for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. There are also versions for Android phones, Netbooks, Mobile Internet Devices, Servers (Standard and Enterprise), API apps, and conversion software. After 30 days, the cost is $49.95 for the basic suite (with different prices for other versions).


The program opens all Office Word, Excel and Powerpoint formats for 2003 and 2007/2010 Office suites, including templates (.dot), Rich Text Format (.rtf), and text (.txt). ThinkFree appears to use the same file formats as Microsoft for saving its files to preserve compatibility, and also saves PDF files. It is not compatible with Libre/OpenOffice formats.


The interface is similar to Office 2003. When using the font dialogue box, you have a choice of Asian as well as Latin fonts. Unfortunately, when testing on my PC, the font rendering on screen was terrible, even using larger sizes. Since displaying text and numbers legibly is a basic function of word processing or a spreadsheet, this is a severe limitation (at least in the Windows version). The fonts did print properly. (An email request asking for a solution went unanswered.)


Word files with graphics and text wrapping generally opened properly in Office 4 with only minor tweaks needed to adjust formatting (possibly because of the bad font rendering). To edit online, you need to download extra Java compatibility software. You can use your installed fonts even when online, but the fonts have the same display problems and the program feels a bit sluggish.


ThinkFree also offers a suite of server options from web-based file sharing and collaboration to full enterprise solutions.


If you use Asian languages (especially Korean), or you want to change file formats back and forth from Microsoft Office or create PDFs from another program, try it. (It might be interesting to compare features between the online ThinkFree Office and Microsoft’s Office online apps on their sites alongside Google Apps and Zoho.com.) If ThinkFree can solve their font display problems, this could be an interesting and frugal alternative to Office online.


Tags: ThinkFree, software, SOHO, office, webapps, HelenKeller, MiracleWorker

Free and Cheap Software for the SOHO Office, Part 3

Part 3: Ability Office


In Act 3 of our extended international software drama we present London's Ability Office in a re-creation of the role of John Steed in The Avengers  TV series. In today's episode, Steed is posing as a British international businessman, appropriately dressed in derby hat and bespoke suite, accessorized with the Londoner's ever-present bumbershoot. Using amazing tools from his extended collection of software, including accounting, human resources, appointments and, of course, security, he smoothly discovers and captures the enemy (in an acerbically British version of Getting Things Done) with the able assistance of Mrs. Peel, all in time for cocktails and dinner, of course.


London-based Ability (www.ability.com/) has a very reasonably-priced alternative to Microsoft Office and WordPerfect Office called Ability Office for Windows. Version 5, released in 2008 offers a suite of  programs. The Home version Includes: Write, Spreadsheet, Presentation, Photopaint (a bit-map graphics editor), Draw (vector graphics) and Photoalbum. You can download the US versions from http://www.asiability.us/ and try free for 30 days. The Home Edition costs $34.99. The Business Edition adds an Access-compatible relational Database and costs $44.99. (That's not a typo – that's a relational database for just $10 extra!) Each purchase offers two licenses.


Ability Office can import and export Microsoft Office 2007/2010 XML files, but not OpenOffice files. It also opens Office 2003 and earlier files plus, curiously, AmiPro files. (Anybody remember AmiPro?)


Ability's Write module will save in every Microsoft Word format from Office 2010 on backwards to Word 3.0 (which even Microsoft no longer supports), Ami Pro, text, Windows Write, HTML, plus it's own formats, and creates PDFs. Ability's Write does have a grammar checker and a form editor (which Libre/OpenOffice's Writer lacks). Otherwise, during a very brief tryout, the feature set appeared to be quite similar to OpenOffice's. The graphics programs, however, are light alternatives to PhotoShop and Illustrator which you can buy in a Graphics Photos and Presentations suite (combined with Presentation and Photoalbum) for $24.99, a good frugal price.


Ability also offers other software for businesses, including packages for security, accounting, appointments, business planning, and HR/staff files. If you need any of those packages for your business, adding Ability Office might create a very nice and frugal unified interface. 


All in all, Ability Office is a nice commercial alternative to Microsoft Office and Open/LibreOffice for not a lot of money. It adds three graphics modules (to OpenOffice's 1 and Microsoft's 0). In a trial run of the software, my biggest issue was slightly straining my older eyes with the smaller menus and icons. Like all the alternatives to Microsoft, Ability uses the menu and toolbar interface, not the ribbon interface which is strictly protected by Microsoft.


By office software standards, 2008 is only beginning to get long in the tooth. It will be interesting to see when Ability projects their next version's availability.


Tags: Ability, software, SOHO, office, Avengers, Steed

Free and Cheap Software for the SOHO Office, Part 2

thanks for visiting Frugal Guidance. This article has been rewritten and posted on our new website, Frugal Guidance 2 You can read it at http://andybrandt531.com/2012/12/640/

Free and Cheap Software for the SOHO Office, Pt. 1

Part 1: LibreOffice and OpenOffice.org

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Arts audiences, sports fans, nonprofit arts organizations, Bloomberg, and performers all meet now on SeatGeek.com

SeatGeek is a web-based ticket provider with a new venture they are calling Columbus, which should be of interest to our frugalistas.


The free service lets you tell SeatGeek the types of concerts, sports, theater, dance or other events you like to attend, and Columbus creates a suggested calendar of events for you. If you see an event you might like, click on it's calendar entry, check the seats available and the prices, and buy your ticket.


That alone would make SeatGeek a great frugal resource for entertainment and the arts. However, SeatGeek also has started a partnership with Bloomberg Philanthropies to create Discover New York Arts (DNyA) which uses SeatGeek's technology to promote and support over 30 organizations partnered with Bloomberg Philanthropies. According to yesterday's press release, the partnership "will provide a new platform for these organizations to market their performances to a broader audience than ever before possible."


The three-way partnership between the foundation, its arts organizations, and a high-tech startup is, if not unique, certainly unusual and might provide a model for other cities (and foundations) to create new partnerships for promoting The Arts and building audiences.


The organizations promoted in this program include cutting-edge experimental arts, traditional arts, performers, and presenters, currently listing: Abingdon Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Danspace Project, ETHEL, Evidence Dance, Film Forum, Harlem Stage, HERE, Irondale, Kaufman Center, Mark Morris Dance Group, MCC Theater, Mint Theater, New Victory Theater, New York Live Arts, New York Theatre Workshop, New York Youth Symphony, Playwrights Horizons, Poets House, Pregones Theater, Primary Stages, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, Second Stage Theatre, Signature Theatre Company, St. Ann's Warehouse, St. George Theatre, STREB, Symphony Space, Thalia Spanish Theatre, and The Joyce Theater.


Click here to read the press release, here to look at DNyA , and here to access SeatGeek and Columbus.


For the New York Daily News coverage on SeatGeek, click here.

Cost of Living Calculators & Comparisons

Thanks for visiting Frugal Guidance. The article you're looking for has been updated and posted on our new blog, Frugal Guidance 2 at http://andybrandt531.com.

The new title is: Essential Cost of Living Calculators (and more) for Job Hunters, which can be found at this link:
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Andy Brandt

HR Predictions for 2012 May Change Job Hunters’ Strategies

I recently ran across the ERE.net site for Human Resource Professionals and a Dec. 5^th post by Dr. John Sullivan , a frequent contributor to the site, a professor of management at San Francisco State University, and referred to by Fast Company as the "Michael Jordan of Hiring."

His post, “10 Predictions for 2012: The Top Trends in Talent Management and Recruiting” can be read here.  (By all means, read the article. I’ll wait right here.)

I read the article with great interest, not as an HR professional, but as someone who is both looking for work and writes frequently about the process of job hunting. Here are some of the ideas from his article and my responses on how job hunters may adjust to some of these changes to their benefit.

“It’s clear that Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter will play a dominate role in recruiting and development best practices in years to come.”

No surprise or prediction here, just a reminder that if you aren’t on at least two of the three services here, you may be at a distinct disadvantage in the job market.

Another not-so-surprising prediction is that mobile phones and tablets will be even more important in both business interaction and in training as more applications are developed that take advantage of the mobile market. My conclusion (again, not very surprising): a frugal job hunter trying to save money by not using a smart phone may be making a false choice when competing for jobs in 2012. Just as there should be more apps for work, there should be more new apps for job hunting and hiring in 2012 as well.

Prediction: “Intense hiring competition will return in selected areas — global economic issues will persist for years to come, but the global war for talent will continue spiking in key regions an[d] industries... Australia and Southeast Asia — including India — continue to see dramatic demand for skilled talent.”

“In high tech inclusive of medical technologies, 2012 will see a significant escalation in the war for top talent…”

For some time, high tech and medical technologies have been the bright spots in the hiring market here in the states. Expect that trend to continue both here and around the globe. Those who speak two or more languages in these fields and are willing to relocate may be the most attractive in the international market.

Prediction: “Retention issues will increase dramatically — almost every survey shows that despite high engagement scores, more than a majority of employees are willing to quit their current job as soon as a better opportunity comes along.…”

Expect more churn in the job market next year. As the job market begins to loosen, more employed people will leave for advancement in other companies; HR pros will be scrambling to fill the vacated position as well as any newly created ones.

Prediction: “Remote work changes everything in talent management — the continued growth of technology, social media, and easy communications now makes it possible for most knowledge work and team activities to occur remotely. Allowing top talent to work “wherever they want to work” improves retention and makes recruiting dramatically easier.”

Although Dr. Sullivan anticipates more remote work with current employees, the last several years have seen a great increase in telecommuting for freelance workers and team projects. Self-motivated knowledge-workers may be able, therefore, to cast a wider net in their job search beyond local businesses.

Prediction: “The need for speed shifts the balance between development and recruiting — historically, best practice within corporations has been to build and develop primarily from within. However, as the speed of change in business continues to increase ... talent managers will need to rethink the “develop internally first” approach.”

“In many cases, recruiting becomes a more viable option because there simply isn’t time for current employees to develop completely new skills. As a result, the trend will be to continually shift the balance toward recruiting for immediate needs and the use of contingent labor for short-duration opportunities and problems.”

Job applicants will need to focus on the specific skills that HR is looking for in order to fill those temp jobs. Focused résumés and cover letters will be essential and experience will be in demand, even for temp positions.

Prediction (paraphrased): In the past, referral programs and social media efforts have occurred separately, without coordination. Now, talent managers are looking at tapping their employees’ social media and networking connections and relying less on outside recruiters.

Those social media and live networking connections will be even more valuable as more companies tap into this resource for recruiting talent.

Prediction: “Organizations have never treated candidates as well as they did their customers, but the high jobless rate has allowed corporations to essentially abuse some applicants.” [Italics are mine] “As competition for talent increases and as more applicants visit employer criticism sites like Glass door.com, talent leaders will be forced to modify their approach.”

“At the very least, firms will more closely monitor candidate experience metrics as they realize that treating applicants poorly can not only drive away other high-quality applicants but it can also lose them sales and customers.”

So that abusive and/or non-responsive treatment at the hands of hiring managers in the past wasn’t just in your imagination. Finally, something might be done about it. (And nonprofit employers may finally realize that they should be treating their prospective employees more like they do their donors.)

Some other trends to watch (excerpts):

• Expedited leadership development — as more baby-boom leaders and managers actually begin to retire, there will be increased pressure for expedited leadership development — specifically solutions that develop talent remotely using social media tools and within months rather than years. ...
• Contingent workers — as continuous business volatility becomes the “new normal,” the increased use and the improved management of contingent workers will become essential for agility and flexibility. ...
• Recruiting at industry events — as industry events return to popularity, recruiting at them will again become an effective tool for recruiting top and diverse talent.
• Location software — talent managers will begin to realize that software that allows you to check-in and see who is within close geographic proximity has great value and many still unidentified uses.
• Hire before they do — most firms will restrict their hiring until the turnaround actually begins. However, your firm must have a talent pool or pipeline developed, so that you can hire immediately and capture the top talent right before your competitors realize the downturn is over.

The Frugal Job Hunter’s Conclusions

These predictions, however well thought out and logical, are still only predictions. As we have seen in recent years, dramatic events can derail these trends. However, the thoughtful job hunter should watch for some changes:

Baby-boomer retirement should gradually accelerate in the near future, creating some leadership vacuums. Although businesses will be looking at new ways of developing current staff, they will look outside the organization when necessary. Contingency hiring (temp work) will only increase (as may temp-to-hire positions). Industry events and networking events will become even more important for job hunters to attend in 2012. Make it easy for local talent managers to find you. HR may be interviewing more people to help them build up talent pools for future contingencies rather than for immediate hiring.

Also, as pressure grows to promote talented employees to positions long-held by baby boomers, and the likelihood fewer workers will hold onto their jobs for security sake, and as internal training programs give way to outside hiring, prepare for more job opportunities (but just as much competition). However, in the short term, these trends may also boost temporary hiring with the use of telecommuting and off-site work, resulting in fewer benefits and less job security.

If you work in HR, prepare for more pressure to please your bosses, improve the interview experience for candidates, and build up a pool of potential candidates aided by your own fellow-workers’ networking connections.

The Top 13 E-card Sites forHoliday Greetings

“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

Frugalistas, if you need (or simply want) to cut back on spending for the holidays, first, look at your Holiday Cards. You don't need to spend a ton of money on full-color, gold-foil, embossed, musical, museum-art cards and matching envelopes. A simple hand-written note might be treasured and stand out in the stack of commercially produced product. 


However, if your handwriting is indecipherable, or you need to cut down on postage costs, ecards are the way to go. Here are 13 of the top e-card sites for the holidays. Some offer oodles of free cards, some just a few, some all-you-can-send for a reasonable fee.


Blue Mountain www.bluemountain.com/ Ecards and downloads, 7-days free membership


Care2 www.care2.com/ A nonprofit support site for activists, donations, and 25,000+ free ecards


123 Greetings www.123greetings.com/ Animated and musical ecards


Hallmark www.hallmark.com/ Ecards and print cards; unlimited ecards for $12/year


American Greetings www.americangreetings.com/ Ecards, some free, free trial before subscribing


E-Cards www.e-cards.com/ Just as the name says


Egreetings.com www.egreetings.com/ Free ecards


flyGreetings www.flygreetings.com/ Send ecards to up to 5 people at a time, free


cardfunk beta www.cardfunk.com/ Upload photos to add friend's/family's faces to customized cartoon cards, with sound and animation; free.


Pencake ecard.pencake.com/ Draw your own cards online with simple tools, or chose from other's creations; unfortunately drawing talent is not programmed in


Yahoo! Kids ecards kids.yahoo.com/ecards Free ecards for kids; plus thank you cards if Johnnie doesn't like writing them


Animated Cards by UpToTen.com www.animatedcards.org/ Specializes in cards for kids up to age ten


And for more adult and current news themes with a snarky sense of humor, you need to look at Someecards www.someecards.com/ .

If you know of another great ecard site, please share in the comments. 

Frugal Gifts for the Holidays

'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'tis the gift to come down where you ought to be
And when we find ourselves in the place just right
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight. 

When true simplicity is gained
To bow and to bend we shan't be ashamed
To turn, turn will be our delight
'Till by turning, turning we come round right.
-- From "Simple Gifts" by Aaron Copland, based on a traditional Shaker tune.

Whether you are frugal due to circumstance (unemployed), by nature (we won't say "cheap"), or by training, there are ways to find gifts for your family that may cost little or nothing. We also mention cheaper alternatives to more expensive gifts, and some creative tools for you and your family.


Let's get down to specific gifts:


For your job-hunting or just frugal significant other: 
Need a new planner, organizer, calendar for the New Year to organize that job search or work? Productive Flourishing  www.productiveflourishing.com/free-planners/ offers PDF pages for Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly and Annual planning guides. (Subscribe to the free newsletter to get access to all of them.) You can purchase a 12-month supply of guides for $12. Print them out and put them in a nice loose-leaf binder. You can also try it out yourself. Note, all the PDFs are for 8.5x11 inch sheets.


Another top-notch site for free PDF's of planner pages (in many sizes) is the D*I*Y Planner website www.diyplanner.com/templates/official. Even if your partner has a planner, you'll find many special pages you can add to it.

Need paper for a “classic” 5.5”x8.5” planner binder? Buy a ream of good quality printer paper and have the office store's copy shop cut the pages in half. (They usually charge $1-2 for the cut.)Want to use that paper with the common seven-ring binder? Go to the Franklin-Covey shop and buy an all-metal, polished 7-hole puncher for $25. franklinplanner.com/

Buying a computer for that job hunt (or upgrading an old one, or just need some software)? If you don't already own Microsoft Office, download and take the free LibreOffice suite for a test drive www.libreoffice.org/download/ (or the almost identical OpenOffice.org www.openoffice.org/ ).


Don't need an entire office suite, just a word processor? Try AbiWord www.abisource.com/. It's lightweight and will work on your college-student's netbook and Grandma's old PC, too.


Is Auntie Janie known for her organizing or creative writing? Freemind  freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page is a free mindmapping software program for brainstorming, organizing, outlining, and thinking.


Your daughter Susan is into journals/diaries and Uncle Ulysses likes fine pens? Rather than spend $550 on a good Mont Blanc, give a hard-bound notebook with good quality paper. The Moleskine notebooks www.moleskine.com/ are popular for writing, journaling,  organizing and sketching and are available with lined, graph, dotted or blank pages in several sizes.  If Ulysses writes with fountain pens or Suze is into painting, try the Moleskine with watercolor paper that doesn't bleed through; good for sketching, painting, and travel and artist journals. In spite of the marketing hype, the Moleskines are actually pretty good notebooks and have an entire Internet sub-culture devoted to using them for writing, getting things done, artwork, travel, making lists, meeting notes and much more.


Are the Moleskines too pricy? Check your office supply, art or book store for some of the other quality notebook options. Staples often offers a pocket-sized Moleskine-like notebook on sale for $3, about a quarter of the original's price. Some other quality notebook makers -- all available online, some in stores -- are: Rhodia, Clairfontaine, Ecosystem Life, Black n' Red, Exacompta, Global Art Handbook Journals, Piccadilly Journals, and Derwent.


Add a three-pack of Pentel EnerGel pens (I like the 0.5 mm tip) or some Pilot G-2 pens for economical and smooth writing.


Has Aunt Gertrude been bragging about her upcoming European excursion?  Check out the Moleskine City Guides (for major European and a few American cities) which are practical and a lot cheaper than a set of matched luggage (www.moleskine.com/moleskinecity/).


Is your nephew Bruce learning digital photography? Get some free high-quality photo editing software. Paint.net (Windows only) www.getpaint.net/ is a high-end photo editor and paint program. The GNU Image Manipulation Program, www.gimp.org/, with the marketing-challenged acronym GIMP, is actually a terrific, if complex, photo editing program (with lots of add-ons available), also free. 


Alternatively, printer ink cartridges and good photo paper are always appreciated by the photographer.

Cute little Timothy is grown and now texting on his Android phone or iPhone? A $25 gift card or check gets him some great software or games on the Android or Apple Marketplace.

And that computer geek in the household (you know who you are) will always appreciate a 16- or 32-Gigabyte USB flash drive (or a camera memory chip), usually reasonably priced and frequently on sale. Load it with free portable Windows software at pendriveapps.com/ or portableapps.com/ and techsupportalert.com/best-free-portable-programs.


And, for all my frugal friends, please accept these gift ideas as my holiday present with wishes for a happy and frugal holiday season and for a great job (or continued success) in the New Year!