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Communicating Using Technology
Vol. 2 Issue 9 April 29, 2003
Published and Copyright by Dave Paradi
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In this issue:
Vol 2 Issue 9 April 29, 2003
1. Hotel Phone Charges Tip
2. Optical Mouse on Shiny Desk
3. Useful Resource - Utility to speed typing
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For more information, articles and resources about how
to Communicate Using Technology, visit
http://www.communicateusingtechnology.com.
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1. Hotel Phone Charges Tip
When you are travelling, the cost of dialing in to get
your e-mail can add up quickly as hotels now have
charges for local calls. At $0.75 to $1.25 per call
plus taxes, it is not hard to rack up charges very
quickly. One strategy for reducing your overall cost is
to investigate sometimes using your Internet provider's
toll-free number (if they offer one). Many Internet
providers offer a toll-free 1-800 number for use when
you can't access a local number. There is usually a
surcharge for using it, about $6.00/hr or so. If your
hotel allows 1-800 calls with no charge (as many do), it
may be cheaper to pay the surcharge from your Internet
provider than the hotel's local call charge. For
example, if you are just checking e-mail and are
connected for 4 minutes, the toll-free surcharge at
$6/hour is only $0.40, compared to the hotel charge of
almost double that amount. Check your situation to see
if this will save you money when travelling.
2. Optical Mouse on Shiny Desk
If you own an optical mouse (the ones that have a red
glowing light on the bottom instead of a ball), you may
want to pack a thin mouse pad when you travel. A couple
of times recently I have been in a hotel with a table
that has a glass top. Optical mice do not work with
glass surfaces because the glass does not reflect the
light properly for its purpose. This can also happen
with very shiny surfaces. So I travel with a mouse pad
in my laptop bag that I can pull out and solve the
problem. In a pinch, you can use any solid surface such
as a phone book or even a sheet of paper, but make sure
the surface does not move as you move the mouse. You
should be able to pick up a thin mouse pad at most
electronics or office supply stores for a few dollars.
Or, at your next conference or convention, see if one of
the exhibitors is giving away a mousepad for free!
3. Useful Resource - PCMag shortcut key utility
If you have to type the same words or phrases over and
over again, you will want to check out a free utility
from PC Magazine. PC Magazine offers a new utility
almost every issue that can be a real time saver and
this one is no exception. It is called Robotype and you
set it up to recognize a short word that represents a
longer phrase. When it sees you type that special word,
it automatically substitutes your longer phrase, saving
you a lot of typing. It can put in paragraphs of
information at a time! One use is if you have to send
similar e-mails or letters, you can set up standard
paragraphs and you could type a one page e-mail or
letter with under 10 special words. You can check out
Robotype and download it from this link:
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,958631,00.asp
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Do you want more articles on how to effectively
communicate when using technology? Visit the web site
for more articles and Dave's books, booklets and CD's.
http://www.communicateusingtechnology.com
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If you have a tip you want to share, we are always
looking for good ideas to share with our readers - we
always attribute the ideas to the source. If there is
an area of communicating with technology that you need
more information on, please let us know and we will try
to include it in a future issue. Send an e-mail to
dave@communicateusingtechnology.com with your ideas.
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