Ready-made Windows icons are hype of today, and not without a reason. Software developers need icons, Web designers need icons, and even you and I need icons to customize Windows desktop and folders. But where do these icons come from?
Most Windows icons are drawn by graphic designers by hand. The rest is converted from other image formats such as digital pictures. While you can often make your own icons by converting your favorite pictures with software like Any to Icon or ArtIcons Pro, sometimes you just need a toolbar icon or an application icon drawn perfectly smooth to the last bit. Is contracting a graphic designer your last and only resort? Not really!
Enter the realm of ready-made icons! Why pay per hour of work when you can get a huge collection of Windows icons in every imaginable format for a fraction of the price? Why waiting days and weeks to get something you haven’t seen while you can pick as many Windows icons from a huge icon library as you need? Finally, why paying before you can even see the result when you can choose among hundreds and hundreds of icons that are displayed right before your eyes?
All right, but where are those huge icon libraries? They’re right here, on the Internet! http://www.777icons.com/ lists hundreds of software icons, vista icons, Windows XP icons, desktop icons and toolbar icons. They’ve got icons for software development and icons for Web design, and even icons for customizing your Windows desktop and folders! At 777icons.com you always see what you get before you buy. If you know what you’re looking, just type a keyword in the search box, and you’ll see the many icons that were tagged with that word. Download individual icons or icon packs, or get the whole library at a discounted price!

777icons.com designs new icons 24×7, adding to a growing collection of Windows icons. Their icons are slick, professional and modern, matching Windows XP icon style and the new style of Vista icons.
The 777icons.com icon database is available from http://www.777icons.com/

Learn HTMLAre you feeling a bit lost when someone mentions those four letters, “HTML”? Well it is actually very easy to learn and understand. We will cover how to set up a simple page, how to format text, insert images, and insert links. Lets start by explaining what it is exactly.
When you visit a page, you see columns, images, links and different colours. This has all been written by someone (or someone used a program to write it). And it is written in HTML. All web pages are sent to your browser (such as “Internet Explorer” or “Firefox”) as HTML. HTML is the easiest “computer language” to learn. Now, when you write a formal letter to someone, there are things you add at the start and end aren’t there (such as at the start their address, the date, and at the end your name and signature). Between these items you write the body of the letter. Well, in some ways, the basics of HTML is very similar.
Let me just give you an example of a simple page. This would display the words “Welcome” in the browser (the numbers in bold are not part of the code – they are just line numbers so we know what we are talking about later on).

1]
2]
3]
4]
5]
6]
7] Welcome
8]
9] All tags start and end. A start tag looks like and and ending tag for it would look like . There are many tags – … for underline, … for bold etc.
If we go back to the letter example, you normally write your address, the date, their address etc at the top. Well this is what the first four lines are like. The first line, (note, in html, it doesn’t normally matter if it is upper or lower case. In some technologies such as xhtml it does, but for now it doesn’t matter) just declares that between that html “tag” as it is known, and the ending html tag on line 9 (notice the back slash, indicating it has ended) it has html within it.
The head contains information that isn’t directly displayed by your browser. The …
Your content goes here, such as Computer Techneek!
…
And replace the “…” bits with your content. Save it as a .htm or .html file (it makes no difference what you choose) and open it in your browser.
Here is an example simple web page using everything we have covererd so far: Hello! Welcome to my page! Click on the image to go to http://www.techneek.co.uk Now you are ready to go further. I recommend that you search for things on your favourite search engine, such as:paragraph HTML taghr html tagCenter html tagbasic CSS tutorialuploading webpage OR website tutorial serverHave fun!
Ashley Baker is the owner of TechNeek – a computer hardware component news and reviews site. If you need a review of a computer related matter, get down to http://www.techneek.co.uk!

Microsoft Excel is a fantastic tool but one of its downfalls is the use of cell addresses especially when you are trying to sum a series of numbers; however Microsoft has a really cool tool that allows you to add up a series of cells simply using the labels around your data. In this article we will investigate the steps you need to follow to be able to use Labels to Sum cells in Microsoft Excel.Let us get started …To show you how using labels works, the first step we need to undertake is to simply create a new set of data, so open a new Microsoft Excel workbook and click on Sheet 1. First off we are going to build the worksheet so in cell A1 I want you to type – Years, in cell B1 type the word Values and in cell C1 type the word Values1 and in cell D1 type the word Total. These four values we have typed into cell A1, B1, C1, D1 are labels. We are now going to put into the worksheet three more labels. In cell A2 type the value 1999, in cell A3 type the value 2000 and in cell A4 type the value 2001. The last three values entered will in fact become labels but we will convert them to labels a little latter on. In the remaining cells simply put the following values: B2 – 29 C2 – 32
B3 – 54 C3 – 99
B4 – 62 C4 – 72
Now that we have built a very simple spreadsheet and we have a few values to work with we have to tell Microsoft Excel to actually accept labels in our formulas in our spreadsheet. We do this by first going to the Tools menu and then choosing the Options command from the drop down menu. The Options dialog box will now be open in front of you. Simply choose the Calculation tab and in the bottom right hand corner you will see a check box that says Accept Labels in Formulas and you need to click on the check box so that it has a tick in it. Then to complete the process simply press the OK button. Now we can use the labels we put in B1 and C1 to add up the values. Lets try it out…In cell B5, which is the Values column I want you to type the formula – = Sum(Values)The cell should return the total of 145. What you will notice though is that the formula looked up the column to where the label was and said everything in this column will be added together. We could have simply typed the following formula instead of using labels – = Sum(B2:B3)However, as I am sure you will agree, using labels makes your formulas a lot easier to read and much clearer to understand. Now it is your turn. In the cell C5 write the equivalent label formula for that cell. I will give you a hint if you are not sure – = Sum(Values1)How did that go?Alright, the next issue we are going to visit is using numbers as formula labels. Now if we simply typed in cell D2 the formula – = Sum(1999)All that would be returned is the value 1999 so this will not work at all. In fact what we need to do is to tell Microsoft Excel that we want the cells in A2, A3 and A4 to be treated as labels. The first step we must do is to select cells A2,A3 and A4, then go to the Insert menu, choose Name from the drop down menu and then choose the Label command from the expanded menu. The Label Ranges dialog box will now be visible in front of you. All you simply have to do, to have the cells we chose before defined as Labels is to press the Add button and then press the OK button. Click once on the cell D2. What we are going to do now is to type in the same formula I mentioned before and that is – = Sum(1999)By the way, press the Enter key if you have not done so already. As soon as you do that you should see that it adds up the values in cells B2 and C2 and you will see the value of 61 in your cell. Try creating the formulas for the other two cells – D3 = Sum(2000)
D4 = Sum(2001)
Finally, just to finish our spreadsheet off , we can total all of our total values in cells D2, D3 and D4 by typing the following formula in D4 – = Sum(Total)Using labels in Microsoft Excel is a very clean way of summing your values as it ensures that you do not miss a cell address and it makes the formulas a lot simpler. One issue that I do teach my students is not to put blank rows in your spreadsheets as I have seen cases where the blank rows actually affected the ability of the application to work out what was a label and what is not. By following the design process I outlined above you will find that you have absolutely no troubles in using Labels to sum cells in your spreadsheets.

Do you have a customer e-mail list? If you have installed a quality jewelry store software program, the answer is probably yes.
But are you using your jewelry store software effectively? If not, you could be missing some important sales and profits.
Jewelry Store Software: An E-Mail Campaign Begins with Your Personnel.
A quality jewelry store software program makes it easy to create and maintain a customer e-mail list. But if your store personnel have not been trained to ask for e-mails, you are probably missing a lot of names. Both training and incentives can help change that.
When requesting an e-mail address, always ask permission to use it for promotional purposes. For example, you might say something like, “From time to time we send out exclusive sales offers and information to our e-mail customers. Would you like to be included?” Emphasizing the word ‘exclusive’ will make it extra appealing.
If the customer says no but will allow the e-mail address to be stored for personal contact use, your jewelry store software should create a separate file for such email addresses.
Jewelry Store Software Facilitates the Creation of E-Mails Worth Reading.
Every e-mail you send should earn readership for your next e-mail. Here are some ways to build value into your e-mails and make certain they are consistently read.
Use your jewelry store software to identify items in your inventory that have overstayed their welcome. Offer them to e-mail customers at a special clearance price, particularly if you have only a few in inventory. Or, give them as a gift for a purchase. Build in a note of urgency by commenting that only a limited number are available and when they are gone the offer will be withdrawn.
Your jewelry store software will also provide a comprehensive product sales history. When a holiday or gift-giving season is approaching, use your jewelry store software to pinpoint what items will probably be most popular. Promote one of these items as a loss leader in an e-mail mailing to draw traffic into your store.
Be Single-MindedConfine your e-mails to just one promotion or item. Trying to sell too much will result in your selling too little. Even if several items are pin-pointed by your jewelry store software as being popular for a certain promotion, use just one.
Be BriefThe attention span for e-mail is limited. So keep your e-mails brief. A few short paragraphs will do the job. And write them as you would to a friend. In fact, it often helps to visualize a customer and write the e-mail to that one person.
Incorporating e-mail into your promotional mix, with the help of a quality jewelry store software program, may well become one of your most effective advertising tools. If you don’t have a customer e-mail list, start one today. If you already have such a list sitting idle in your jewelry store software program, put it to frequent use. This form of advertising involves little outlay of cash and, when properly used, will add important dollars to your bottom line.

This spyware and adware removal tool detects and removes 1000′s of security threats such as spyware, adware, keyloggers, browser hijackers, tracking cookies, and trojans. Welcome to spyware removers.com, with reviews of spy removers and adware removal tools. For easily protecting yourself against such threats and to easily get rid of them, please download: free spyware adware removal tool – Spy Sweeper.
Consult their websites and especially the Help sections for details on how to use these spyware/adware removal tools to scan your computer. On completion it’s advisable to scan your system for adware and spyware using a spyware removal tool such as XoftSpy. Free adware download adware spyware removal tool. Download free adware and spyware removal software and use advanced tools to help prevent getting infected. The best way to get spyware and adware off of your computer is to run a reputable spyware removal tool. With automatic updates and real-time detection, Norton could prove to be the ultimate removal tool for viruses, adware, and spyware.
Adaware is another free spyware/adware detection and removal tool. Try to remove the adware or spyware with an automated removal tool. If you would rather not peruse endless folders or risk re-infection, a trusted tool such as Spyware Doctor should be used for adware removal. Privacy Defender 4.0, with its $39.99 retail price is the fourth, and most effective adware and spyware removal tool yet. If you haven’t used any spyware/adware removal tools before, you should install one of these. The first thing you must remember is that most adware/spyware tools are basically for removal after the fact. The removal tool will eliminate any adware or spyware that you have in your machine for good. If there are other spyware/adware removal tools that you think should be listed here, http://www.adware-removal-spyware-tool.com/adware-spyware-removal-tool/

The word Tweaking simply means to fine tune.You want to fine tune your computer so that it will boot up faster.Tweaking your computer so that it will run at peek performance will cause you to enjoy your computer like you never imaged.
There are procedures you can perform that will speed up the operating system boot-up.When tweaking your startup process,take care not to allow your computer to boot up too fast.Too fast booting will cause your PC to miss valuable data and not check all peripherals it needs to allow the computer to run at its best.
Speeding up your booting process will reduce the waiting time you can use the computer.Here are some procedures you can perform that will help speed up your PC startup.Be sure to backup your hard drive in case you should make an error.Take your time and perform these tasks at your own risk.
Take notes of everything you do.Backup your BIOS with such utilities as Cmos14.zip.This file is just 5,569kbs zipped and You can download a copy from our site at the url www.ultimatepcrepair.com/files/cmos14.zipFIRST….Use Scandisk and Defragment on your hard drive if you are not performing these two maintenance steps regularly.Over time,your files become scattered all over your hard drive.This causes the computer to hunt for every piece of file fragments throughout the drive.
SECOND…..Clean Up Your Registry.The installing and uninstalling of applications cause your registry to have many files it does not use.Your system slows down at startup because these files are loaded into memory every time the PC is started.Registry Healer which is a trial ultility will scan your registry for problems.
And Registry Tuner allow you to view and remove unwanted software in your registry.Windows Reg Edit is a small ultility within Windows that will perform the same function. You may want to give Registry First Aid a try as well.
Visit the online version of this newsletter at http://www.ultimatepcrepair.com/news/35.html to download the trial versions of the above utilities.
THIRD…….Edit Your SysEdit Configuration by Clicking on Start,Run,and then type “sysedit” in the open block. You will be presented with your system files.Check and remove any files you know are not needed.You can type “REM” at the start of a line to disable it to see if your computer has need for it.
Take notes of any changes you make so that you can undo what you did should any problems arise.The ultility Bootvis is a good Windows XP ultilty that helps your boot process,We used it on our Windows Home XP computer and we noticed a difference.To learn much more visit www.microsoft.com/hwdev/platform/performance/fastboot /BootVis.asp and download your copy.
FOURTH….Remove unwanted programs that may be starting up in your Startup Folder.This folder as well as your Sysedit file may have programs slowing the PC down. Click on Start,Settings,Taskbar and Start Menu Tab, Start Menu Programs,Remove,and go down to the Startup Folder.There you can expand and remove any unwanted programs.
FIFTH…..Go to Start,Run,type “msconfig” in the open box and press enter.Click on Startup and here you can remove programs here as well.The thing to remember is to take notes of any program you remove just in case you find that program useful after all.Be sure to take the time and backup your system files so that you can restore these files should something go wrong.Take notes of files you remove from Sysedit or msconfig.
SIXTH….Enable your Quick Boot option in your BIOS.Access your Bios and locate this feature that bypasses some of the checks your computer makes at POST.The downside to enabling this feature is that it increases the chances of a hardware failure going undetected.You may want to use this feature from time to time and see if the difference in bootup speed is worth it.
We hate it when our computer creep alone when we turn on the power button,when we play our favorite Hi-Resolution star wars game,or when we decided to go on the internet,that is,if it doesn’t take a couple minutes to logon.Upgrading and tweaking your PC to run faster can be performed quick and easy,if we put to use the neat utilities Windows as well as many third party software has to offer.

India, China, and Russia are the three leading countries that currently control the offshore programming market.
Today the very promising competition of the offshore software development asks for the best of resources and innovative strategies with brilliant business intelligence. These companies into Off shoring try not to leave the smallest of the details which has been overlooked by other businesses to win client interest.
Huge cost savings, time optimization: there are several benefits but these opportunities and advantages in this nascent business are also accompanied by challenges. Though the software vendor has hi-tech professionals with the best of technical skills with delivering quality output, there are few challenges faced which cannot be overlooked. These challenges are communication gaps, non-clarity of the project status, improper estimation in terms of resources and budget therefore and of course cultural hindrances.
Cost cut without compromising on quality is the key objective for this business and to achieve this objective, there has to be a smooth coordination between offshore client and the software vendor. This should start with the best possible approach by both the parties the offshore client and the software vendor. The most important aspect in the offshore software development other than the required technical skills is the smooth communication between the two parties. Seamless communication oils the project speed. The communication in writing, video conferences along with and apart the verbal ones is more constructive. This is accomplished by implementing the work-schedules that intersect the time-frames for both the countries. Generally the offshore vendor works in accordance with the client for the later convenience but it is better if you as an offshore vendor also have a local presence for the client. This is like an added privilege, since this strengthens the client’s confidence into the offshore vendor. This helps the client to approach the vendor easily.
Another very important factor is the Resource and Budget forecast for the project. The Technical and Business Analysts should take the following points into consideration:
1. The risks involved in the undertaking the project and its measurement.

2. Whether the rates quoted are in accordance with the requirements of the project.
3. The terms of payment/billing: whether it should be hourly, weekly, per month or on the project completion, etc.

4. Will the quality standards set by the vendor be able to meet in carrying out the project or quality would get compromised for quoting an attractive price.

5. Double-Check for the specifications of the Project sent by client. Check whether there are any milestones in the project which has dependency on the client end. Check whether there would be any re-works or change-requests from client side.
Once the project starts, both the offshore client and the software vendor should coordinate on regular basis on the project flow. The communication has to be transparent between the both.
The offshore vendor must see that the project flow is smooth and the status is well communicated to the offshore client time to time.
This gives client a kind of satisfaction and confidence in the vendor’s work. Also, the vendor should target to complete every deliverable in the project in 80% of time committed. A buffer time of 20% of the actually committed is always good to balance if any sudden problems faced.
Also, it is better to have a single point of contact at both the ends to have a smooth and proper communication throughout the project development. But at the same time, everyone associated in the project should be aware of the communication going on between the two parties.
If you as an offshore vendor feel that any milestone in the project that puts a dependency onto client is approaching, you should intimate that to client at least 3 working days before depending on the weight of that milestone.
Though how much the project team strives to put up an error-free product, some problems or unpredictable issues may turn up and thus slow-down the project process. But these should be handled and solved with mutual cooperation and proper coordination from both the software vendor and the offshore client to achieve the objective.
Hence forth, to bring success to any offshore software development projects, it is the joint effort from both the ends that ultimately works out. But the most important factors here would be transparent and clear communication, proper forecast on resources and budget and smooth coordination on deliverables.

Since the early days of young guitar player’s career it is clear that practice makes perfect. As simple as it may sound, it involves a lot of time, patience and devotion in order to achieve the desired results in a timely efficient manner. Guitar students are listening to a lot of songs, doing their best to train their ear by tuning their guitar by ear, listening for the notes or even singing the notes, while not mentioning the constant practice lessons required to fine-tune their guitar skills. Everybody loves to listen to guitar solos like the ones achieved by world-wide famous guitar players such as Jimi Hendrix or Joe Satriani but few can even dream of reproducing their songs at the early days of learning to play the guitar . For this reason, the requirement and method of properly slowing down music has attracted the attention of many.
Not just once has one listened to Joe Satriani – Surfing with the alien and tried to follow the amazingly fast guitar notes. Ever thought about Joe Satriani sitting next to you and singing riff after riff so that you could follow him? Hard to imagine but now this is almost possible. Even if the great guitar player will probably not be able to sing for you in particular you can now slow down music and learn note after note in order to be able to follow some of the world’s greatest guitar hits such as Purple Haze, Metallica’s “Fade to black”, A whole lotta love and Sweet Child of Mine.
The ability to slow down music and obtain the results mentioned above is now possible with your very own computer and of course some of the major songs mentioned above or practically any other complex guitar based song, according to which one you would like to study in more detail. Having this said it is clear that you can be a better guitarist from the first day of using Riff Master Pro, the Windows Vista compatible slow down music utility created by guitarists for guitarists. By considering this feature rich application you will be able to master guitar solos faster and at a much higher pace because of the instant functions which allow you to slow down music without damaging the song’s quality and without having to change the pitch, a very important aspect when applying such a process.
The magic of playing by ear is of course possible to just about anyone because of the extreme benefits brought to every PC user by quality software designed to fit exactly the most common guitar student’s requirements. While being a great utility for guitar students, Riff Master Pro has been since long time used even by some of the most veteran guitarists for testing purposes, all credentials being excellent, according to this product’s testimonials. Not only that we managed to learn to play the guitar faster, better, more but we are also now able to train our speed and ear at both beginner and advanced levels.
The benefits of a good slow down music product such as Riff Master Pro are crystal clear to both guitar players and listeners as differences in style and accuracy of musical performance have been observed in most cases.

Dear Computer Lady,I read your newsletter each week, like some folk do the Bible. I’m a “Newbie” at this game of computers and do not fully understand the e-mail system in Outlook Express. I save your column every week for references. But I’m stymied when I receive e-mail from someone I don’t know and to be honest I’m scared to open them because they might contain viruses. Is there some way to highlight the “strange” e-mail without it popping open and possibly contaminating my system. This way I can contain it, right click on my mouse and hit delete. Thanks for the educational newsletter you publish to us folk out here.
Bill Dear Bill,There are a couple of things you can do. First, check with your ISP and see if they offer any filtering for your e-mail. My ISP has this type of filter and I never get any infected e-mails from my e-mail account.
Second, make sure you have a good antivirus program installed and make sure you keep it updated! I use the free antivirus program, AVG and it has prevented my system from becoming infected with any viruses. In fact, most of the time, it removes the virus from the e-mail message before it allows meto read the e-mail. You can find a link to AVG on my website at www.computerlady.org.
The final thing you can do, is turn off the auto preview in Outlook Express. You can do this by clicking on “View” then on “Layout”. You will see the “Window Layout Properties” dialog. In the bottom half of the window, there is a section for “Preview Pane”. Just remove the check mark in front of “Show preview pane” and click “OK”. Now, you will have to double click on your messages to open them.
Elizabeth

Phishing is the practice of sending fraudulent email messages supposedly from a legitimate company or organization in order to trick someone into giving out personal and confidential information. This information could include a user ID, password, credit card number or even a Social Security number. At its most basic level, Phishing is a form of identity theft. It is one of the fastest growing cyber crimes, and there are estimates that 1 in 20 people who receive a Phishing email will respond to it with their personal information. Since the criminals who send out these Phishing messages are good at what they do, it’s important to be able to recognize a Phishing email so you won’t respond to their request and become a victim of identity theft. Here are a few signs that the message you have received might just be a Phishing expedition. • The email message is generic. Phishing emails are sent out in bulk to thousands of people, so you’ll see a generic greeting like ‘Dear Valued Customer’ and not directly addressed to you by name. • The message gives a false sense of urgency. Phishing emails are developed and designed specifically to push the recipient to immediate action. If there is no compelling reason to respond to the message, you won’t. But if there is a fear of some kind of consequence for not providing the requested information you might just be motivated to act quickly. This fear, urgency or even panic created by a Phishing email begins right with the subject line. Here are a few examples from actual Phishing messages: ‘Online Alert: Online Account is Blocked’’Fraud Report’’Credit Card Declined Notice’’Unauthorized Account Access’The text of the message builds upon the initial sense of urgency. A message may state that your account will be closed within 24 hours if you don t verify your information. Sometimes the messages state that there has been suspicious activity on your bank account, or your credit card has been charged by an undesirable web site.
The criminals who send out Phishing emails have taken their scam to a new level. Now people are getting Phishing messages that offer a reward for responding to the message. The newest Phishing scam is a message that states you ve won a gift card somewhere (JC Penney, Circuit City and The Sports Authority have been recent ones), and you need to click the link in the email to provide the information where the gift can be sent. Other Phishing emails offer free enrollment in a fraud protection program by clicking the link and providing the requested information. • The message states specifically “this is not a scam”. How does that saying go if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck. Legitimate messages don’t need to state the obvious. • A request is made to verify your information, and a link provided for you to do so. Phishing emails will use some tactic in order to trick the recipient into providing confidential information. This request is often tied in with the false sense of urgency created in the message. The link will take you to a very authentic looking site and ask you to fill in certain personal information. If you recognize you’ve made a mistake and you try to go back to a Phishing web site you probably won’t find it. The average lifespan of a Phishing web site in December 2004 was 6 days. The link that is included in the email message for you to click and provide information might look legitimate, but it isn’t. Often the criminals will create a web site that has almost the same name as the original web site. They might add the word “verify” or use some other word along with the company name. You should never click a hyperlink in an email, especially if you don’t know who sent it to you. Knowledge can be power when it comes to protecting yourself from identity theft and Phishing scams. Be aware of the tricks a criminal might do to steal your information, and don’t fall prey to them.