Hello to my Windows Live friends. Some of you read my last blog about my quest for a contraption that would allow me to move about under my own power.

Due to my physical limitations (caused by lung disease) I can’t stand hardly at all, and can only walk a few steps before needing to sit down. I spend a lot of time sitting on the floor in stores.

My other option (until now) was being pushed around in a wheelchair by my hubby. But, my legs work perfectly fine (for legs over 50 years old, that is). I also can’t use my arms to wheel the chair around because the strain of my arms makes my lungs have to work too hard.

So, I never could go anywhere without my hubby pushing me around. I also don’t drive anymore because I never know when I’m going to feel light headed and dizzy because of lack of air. My body is two out of shape to get the blood and oxygen to any given part of body quickly enough.

During the time my lung disease was at its worse, I sat in my lazy boy chair a lot more than I do now. I can’t stand up without help. I’m really a mess.

My doctor told me last week that I really need to get some exercise. She said exercise would help me to feel better. Exercise? How? So as I said in my last blog entry, it came to me that an adult tricycle would be the perfect “wheelchair” for me.

So, over the weekend, I got a 24” Miami Sun Trike, pictured above. I only is a one-speed, but they are made for the weak and elderly, and the one gear is geared low for easier maneuverability. (I can’t believe I spelled that right on the first try) The store owner told me I wouldn’t need more than that one speed. (I love it when a shop owner would rather tell the truth than make more money!)

The three speeds, what I thought I needed, are only for going up hills, and are a lot more expensive. It was less than $400 including tax and assembly. Not expensive at all for a custom wheelchair! If I had been more patient, I could have ordered a PINK one (I love pink). But, I got one in blue. It’s just as functional, and I got it NOW.

For the last two days, I have been pedaling around my neighborhood for ten minutes at a time a couple of times a day! There is a great big seat, so I am sitting, but I get to move my legs. It’s the idea situation!

I can’t find the words to explain how exhilarating it is to be able to more around UNDER MY OWN POWER!! I have been totally helpless during the day while my hubby is at work for TWO YEARS. Two years of waiting for my husband to come and take me away from these four walls. (I have a nice backyard, but it does not always help the cabin fever).

I talked to my mother last night (in another state), and she was amazed at how happy I sounded. (how unlike me! tee hee).

So, what took me so long to blog about it? In my computer time the last two days, I’ve been trying to research rules and regulations about what a “wheelchair” is. This is my ONLY way of being independently mobile. So, what am I going to tell the security guard at the mall when he tells me bikes aren’t allowed? I want to be prepared with research.

Edited to add: Why didn’t I think of this before? I just called the Security Office of my local mall where I want to take my “wheelchair”. I told him the situation, that I can’t stand or walk easily, but I can sit on a tricycle seat and pedal my way around. He told me that was perfectly fine! He told me if anybody makes a fuss, just tell them I have permission from the mall security office. Now, wasn’t that easy?

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In the directions for posting a video in the Clubhouse, we are told to add a "special" hyperlink. I've just been adding a hyperlink with Windows Live Writer the normal way, but I just read the directions again:

http://clubhouse.microsoft.com/howto/include-video

and they give this code:

<a href="http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?vid=xxxxx" rel="clubhouse video">My Video</a>

What is the "rel="clubhouse video" code for? Is that necessary? Do I need to go back and change my posts? At first, I was following the special directions, but then I forgot and I’ve been putting in hyperlinks to the videos.

You will save me a lot of time if I don’t have to go revise all of my posts.

Thanks!

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Three days ago, I posted a blog called: A review of Windows 7 by a gentleman in Italy. I posted his video on YouTube video of him talking about Windows 7. I do not speak Italian, but I found it very interesting to hear so many words I did understand. I suppose that with Windows Live and computers, a lot of the terminology is the same.

Yesterday, the gentleman who recorded the video, Fabio Sena, posted on that blog entry! He offered to record the video again in English just for me! This morning, he commented again, and posted a YouTube.com link for the new video.

I just finished watching it. He talks about me in the beginning of the video!

Windows Live is a wonderful community. I now know a gentleman in Italy, who I would never met any other way. Thank you, Windows Live!

Here is the new video that he just recorded:

Netbook for games , Ion and windows 7

Thank you very much, Fabio, for recording this for me!

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I have a situation. I am on oxygen 24 hours a day. I am recovering from a lung disease caused by mold in my house. (It has since been fixed) I can not walk very far at a time. Around the house, I’m pretty much OK. At home, I have a “concentrator” that gets oxygen out of the air, and I have a 50 foot hose from me it it. I can’t decide if it is my leash, or my umbilical cord. Either way, I have to haul it with me everywhere I go in the house.

But if we go out of the house, I have to pull around an oxygen tank on a cart. (the oxygen tanks are too expensive to use at home) The combined contraption, tank and wheeled cart, is like hauling around a upright vacuum cleaner. Besides, I can’t walk far, so my hubby usually has to push me every place in a wheel chair. Most big stores have “courtesy wheelchairs”, so we don’t have to haul one around with us.

So here’s the deal. I had a brainstorm last night when I was trying to fall asleep (with the oxygen hoses sticking up both nostrils, it’s hard to fall asleep sometimes.

I want an adult tricycle! The one in the picture is a Schwinn Meridian Adult 26-Inch 3-Wheel Bike.

When I was a kid, a Schwinn bike was the one thing every kid always wanted for Christmas. I never got one! It’s never too late to fulfill your childhood dreams!

I can walk just fine, so I don’t really NEED a wheelchair. I’d rather have an adult tricycle. That way, I can put my vacuum cleaner in the bike basket, when I get tired, I can just sit, and not worry about keeling over, as with walking.

I just had my birthday, and my hubby got me Candy, my lovebird for my birthday. Maybe he can get me this for an early anniversary present. Please, sweetie?

Now, all I have to do it convince the powers to be to let me and my tricycle into the mall…..

Wish me luck!

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Edited to add: Is anybody familiar with Disability law? I am on Social Security Disability. I’m trying to Google the laws to see if an adult tricycle would qualify as a “wheelchair”. There are lots of different looking wheelchairs, this is just a different type, in my humble opinion. I would want to pull a law out of my back pocket to show that my trike was allowed in the mall.

Thanks,

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Edited to add:

I just read this review about a trike on Walmart.com. Click here for the page.

5 out of 5

old hoosier gets lucky, 04/28/2009

this tricycle is great. had it assembled at store #2787 in indianapolis. joel put it together. great job joel. i ride the trike around the neighborhood with my little min. aus. shepard in the basket. (ROXIE) get stopped all the time , people love this trike . got two invites for homemade dinner by some good lookin widows. this trike is a chic magnet. or is it the dog or my good lookin mug. what ever it is my joints are limber and my stomach is full. thats not bad for an old fella!

Product Attributes:

Value:

5 out of 5

Meets Expectations:

5 out of 5

Edited to add: Well, it’s not going to work. It was nice thinking about, though. My hubby took me to a bicycle shop and I took a trike for a test drive. I got way too wore out in just a minute in the parking lot. To much exertion. It’s the wheelchair or nothing. Bummer.

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I discovered the “Freeway Off-ramp Rule” long ago. I have since found out that it applies to much of the communication in marriage. My hubby and I have a great relationship, so I don’t mind teasing him, after all in a minute you’ll see he deserves it….

Anyway, here’s the  “Freeway Off-ramp Rule”:

Let’s say a man and wife are going someplace. The freeway off-ramp is coming up soon, the hubby is in the wrong lane, and there’s not much time to change lanes:

Option one:

Wife says: “Sweetie, the off-ramp is coming up, better change lanes”.

Hubby says: “I know, I know! Don’t nag.” and then changes lanes.

Option two:

Wife says nothing because she has been told not to nag in that situation before.

Hubby misses off-ramp, and says: “Why didn’t you tell me the off-ramp was coming up!”

As you can see, the loving wife is always wrong.

This “Rule” has many forms and variations:

Hubby tells wife: “Don’t let me forget to clean the air filter once in a while.”

OK, you guessed it, when wife reminds hubby, she is told to quit nagging.

As you can see, being a loving wife is very hard work, and it is an underpaid position.

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I was surfing though the Windows Live world yesterday, and I came across a link to Microsoft Office Live Workspace. I have heard of it before, but since I can no longer work, I didn’t feel I had any need to check into it.

Well, just for kicks, I clicked on the link and made a workspace in my Windows Live user name. By golly, was I surprised! There is a bunch of cool stuff in there! It is not just for the office. You have the option of making several different work spaces, depending upon your needs: sports, school, meeting, travel, job search, etc. The one that struck me was “Household Workspace”. So, I now have a Household Workspace, and I comes with these pages automatically:

• Announcement Board
• Emergency Contact List
• Household To-do List
• Grocery List
• Household Event List

You can export these pages to the appropriate Microsoft Office program, (Excel, Word, etc) and start adding the appropriate information for your family. When you are finished, you save the program back to the Microsoft Office Live Workspace. Or, you might have similar files already for your family, or totally different files you use to keep your family organized. (If you do not have Microsoft Office, the files are editable right on the Workspace.)

The wonderful thing is that once you have revised your files, or added new files, you can “Share your workspace”. You enter your family members email addresses, and say whether they can also revise the page, or just view it. The invitations are sent out, and everybody you invite can see the documents.

The first thing I did was rename the “Household To-do List” to “Honey Do List” for “Honey, do this”, and “Honey, do that”. This is a list of tasks my hubby knows need to be done, but needs to be reminded (or nagged, as he calls it). He asks me to remind him, then tells me I’m nagging when I do. (Husbands!) But, if there is a LIST of things to do, he will do them as he sees fit, and I’m not “nagging”, so we are both happy.

So, yesterday, I put the “Honey Do List” on my Microsoft Office Live Workspace, and added my hubby as an editor. He can look at the list at work, if he is in the mood to do a necessary task after work.

Taking the good idea of the “Emergency Contact List” we will be adding all of our information to this list. Then, we can access it everywhere. Our Workspace is available in our Windows Live Toolbar (part of the Windows Live Essentials package) at work (my hubby) or home, plus at Office.Live.com anywhere else we go.

If you would like to get a Microsoft Office Live Workspace for your office, sports team, family, or any other reason, follow the steps below (pasted from Microsoft Office Live Workspace for your convenience) The videos give instructions for how to do each step :

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Use the Documents workspace to store your individual documents. To be more efficient, create workspaces for each project. Follow these easy steps:

Create

STEP 1:
Create separate workspaces for each of your projects.

• Create a workspace now
• Watch video

Add

STEP 2:
Add documents you want to store and share.

• Watch video

Share

STEP 3:
Share your workspace so friends and colleagues can view or edit its contents.

• Watch video

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I have two email addresses: one for my home office, and another, my Windows Live Hotmail address, for my dealings within the Windows Live community. I use Microsoft Outlook for my home office email address. Perhaps you have Microsoft Office at work (or home), too. Microsoft Outlook is the Microsoft Office email program.

I used to check my Hotmail account online. But, some time back, I found out about a nifty program called Microsoft Office Outlook® Connector. Once I installed it, I was able to receive and respond to mail from my Hotmail account while using Microsoft Outlook! It is really handy! If you use Outlook and Hotmail, you might like to try it. The download page says this:

Manage all your email accounts with ease

Outlook Connector provides a free solution for managing your Windows Live Hotmail e-mail and contacts from within Outlook. With the new release of the Outlook Connector, you can connect your Windows Live Hotmail account in Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 or Outlook 2003 free of charge.

If you decide to download Microsoft Office Outlook® Connector, be sure to close Outlook before you start. Once it downloads and installs, it will open up Outlook for you. You will notice that Outlook Connector is now on the Outlook menu between Actions and Help.

Click on this new button, and select “Add New Account” from the pull-down menu. Enter your Hotmail account’s address and password and the name you will use with it. Click OK and you will see a dialog box saying to close and reopen Outlook. A “Please wait while we set up your mailbox for first use” message will appear.

When that message goes away, you will see a folder with your your Hotmail address listed below your other email folders. Your Hotmail inbox, outbox, etc, will all be in this folder.

Now, you can receive and respond to all of your email in one program. Here’s a piece of advice, though. Be sure to check your Junk mail folder of your Hotmail account online periodically, just in case.

Happy emailing!

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Every day when I check my Microsoft Outlook, I get several spam emails with a link to a Windows Live Space. I received this spam email when I turned on my computer just now:

From: jhnp23l@yahoo.com [mailto:jhnp23l@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, August 26, 2009 2:56 AM
To: msnyder5@cox.net
Subject: W_e cant% be beat

Simple solution to +your M$edications needs www.MUpRb1U23Y.spaces.live.com

This is typical of the several spam emails I get per day that link to their “store”, a Windows Live Space. There is still not a way in place to report these Space “stores”. They only exist so spammers have a link to give potential customers. I can not believe that Windows Live would approve such use of our Spaces community.

Every time I get one, I block the email address of the spammer. But, since multiple email addresses are so easily come by on the web, the spammers can easily keep getting new email addresses to send the spam from. So, the only thing that will stop it is an efficient reporting system for the Spaces that the spammers have set up.

I have tried reporting spammer's’ Spaces using the proper channels (as they exist), and over and over I get no result. At present, the only applicable option is “Other”, and abuse reports saying “other” are apparently routinely sent back for more information. Here’s  links to other posts I have made on this same topic:  

Windows Live: Please crack down on Spaces set up to sell Viagra and send spam.  

Windows Live: What is official policy on setting up a space for business and spamming in comments. Detailed question with copy of abuse report and response.

There is a problem in in Windows Live.com: People are setting up Spaces as businesses, and then posting spam in our comments.

In these posts I have detailed various times I have reported the offending Spaces through the proper channels (the ones in existence) and have not gotten a good result. Over and over I have given very detailed reports in the “Report Abuse” forms. Time and time again I have been asked for more information, putting the ball back in my court. Since I have already given ALL of the information, the abuse report dies there.

I love my Windows Live community. Please, Windows Live, add “Spamming” to the pull down menu for Spaces’ “Report Abuse”.

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Since I can’t participate in the current Clubhouse Challenge about Windows Live Movie Maker since it is not available for XP users, I looked at what other Challenges were still ongoing. So, I found this one: 

Challenge: Video Treasure Hunt for Windows 7.

I was just at YouTube.com, looking at videos about Windows 7, and I found this video interesting. It’s not really what he is talking about that is interesting to me. He is speaking in Italian, which I do not understand. But, what I found interesting was so many English words regarding Windows products and other technology that he says:

A review of Windows 7 by a gentleman in Italy

Please see my blog entry: The Sequel to: A review of Windows 7 by a gentleman in Italy

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I do not carry a purse. I am a blue jeans girl, and everything I need to carry fits in the pockets of my blue jeans….

UNTIL I got an iPod, and then a cell phone. I went years without needing an iPod or a cell phone, but then I found that I wanted both within a short time of each other:

iPod:

I have the entire NIV version of the Bible on CD. But, it was a zillion disks in an enormous notebook with a zillion pockets. It was a hassle to be listening to one book of the Bible, and then switch over to another book of the Bible. Take the CD out of the player, put it in the plastic pocket, find the CD for the other Bible book, and put that in the CD player, press play, and go back and sit down.

Finally, I decided that there had to be a way to make it into a “portable” audio Bible. I (finally) got the idea of getting a gizmo that could hold all of the CDs if i ripped them to mp3.

Two years ago, I had no idea what that last sentence meant. But, with some research I finally decided on an iPod, and ripped the zillion of CDs into mp3 files. They fit nicely into my iPod and it makes it very convenient. I even have extra room for music. Now, I can “read” the Bible, any part of it that I want, everywhere I am. Neato.

Cell phone:

Some months back, I was waiting for my hubby in the car while he went shopping. I suddenly realized my oxygen tank was empty, and I was having trouble breathing. I needed to contact my hubby to tell him, but there was no way. That was the day we decided I should get a cell phone. As I’m not able to go anywhere without my hubby, it never seemed necessary to have one before, but now I am prepared for emergencies.

So anyway, suddenly this blue jeans girl, who does not carry a purse, suddenly had two contraptions to carry around. I did not feel comfortable having either of them in my jeans pocket for fear I would break them…….

So began my quest for the perfect cell phone/iPod case…

I decided the best thing would be a little holder I could wear around my neck to carry just these two things. I crocheted a bag, too bulky. I looked at camera cases, two expensive, finally got a “passport wallet”, too big.

THEN! Last Saturday, at a yard sale across the street from my house, I saw a brand new polyester case made especially for an mp3 player or a cell phone. They only wanted a dollar for it, and it was brand new!

So, I went back home and showed my hubby. He liked it. Oh, he REALLY liked it. He asked if he could have it. WHAT? My perfect iPod/cell phone case I’ve been looking for???

So, I gave it to him. Am I a loving wife, or what? His cell phone had fallen out of his case a few times. But, before I gave it to him, I looked inside for a label. There was just a label that said “Everest”. I started googling my little heart out, trying to find another one of these magic cases.

And then, jackpot. Amazon.com had a seller of them: Everest Bags MP3 Holder iPod/MP3 Player Cases Yippy. And, only six dollars! Mine is on the way VIA UPS right now. It’s not the most feminine cases I’ve ever seen, but I’m going to embroider on it to make it pretty.

It is really functional. It unzips all the way around the side so it opens flat, and it has lots of pockets. It is small, but a lot fits in it. It can clip onto a belt, and it has a place where a belt can slide through for more security. Plus, it has a loop at the top to wear it from the neck, like I will.

So, while I await the UPS carrier, I will have time to design my embroidery for the perfect iPod/mp3 case.

Click Here if you made it this far down.

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Several days ago, the Windows Live Team posted this blog entry: The new Windows Live Movie Maker – available today! In the article, it talks about some new features. It also talks about one particular old feature: The fact that Windows Live Movie Maker is (still) not supported on Windows XP. Of course, it adds that there IS a product, Windows Movie Maker 2.1, available for XP users.

I’m sure there are some really technical reasons which I would not understand. But, in this case, the fact that one of the programs in the Windows Live Essentials suite of programs is not available to me, an XP user, seems odd.

I spoke about this same topic back in February when I first tried to download Windows Live Movie Maker: Here. Now, it is clearly marked on the Windows Live Movie Maker download page:

*Note: Windows Live Movie Maker is not available for Windows XP or earlier versions of Windows.

Back, in February I found out that it was not available for XP by downloading it, and trying to find it on my computer. The disclaimer on the Windows Live Movie Maker download page will make less people confused this time, so that’s good.

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Edited to add Aug. 25. 2009: I wrote this post yesterday. Marcus has just posted a Clubhouse Challenge to write a Clubhouse post about Windows Live Movie Maker. I have added the Challenge-Movie tag below. Per Marcus’s suggestion to add challenge tags to previous posts about Movie Maker, this rant has now become my entry into the Challenge.

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The news is out:

Michael Jackson's death ruled a homicide by LA coroner

A sad end to a great entertainer.

Edited to add:

Apparently some news agencies jumped the gun. It was apparently leaked out, but it has not been “officially” named a homicide. Watch these two videos and use your own judgment.

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I used to have my digital photos in a big file, and I never could find which photo I wanted. They were grouped by the date they were uploaded to my computer, but that still made it difficult to find the photo I wanted.

THEN, I found out Windows Live Photo Gallery. It is one of the very handy suite of programs called Windows Live Essentials. When I opened Windows Live Photo Gallery, it was able to find all of my digital photos and other images in my computer. Rather than opening one dated folder and then another looking for a certain photo, I was just able to click on my “Digital Photos” folder and all the photos, no matter in what dated folder they were. At a glance, I could see all my photos!

I’m not going to talk about all the features of Windows Live Photo Gallery here. Frankly, it is a very clear cut program, and easy to use. I am going to concentrate here on my favorite feature:

• Tagging with Windows Live Photo Gallery’s “People Tags”

With People Tags, you can easily add a person’s name right under their face! Also, you can search for all photos of that person.

Once your photos are tagged, you just click the “People Tag” of that person’s name, and all their photo are displayed. Sounds great, huh?

Here’s how to start tagging your digital photos:

First off, to see just how wonderful Windows Live Photo Gallery is, find a photo with good, sharp faces of people, facing forward. Double click your photo so that it is full size. Then, click “Tag Someone” up in the top corner of the gallery. If you chose a sharp photo with faces, you will see that the faces have a square around them! The program recognizes faces!

On the right hand side of Photo Gallery, it will say “Identify”. You can click on that and the photo will grow dim, except for one face. An alternate way to tag (how I prefer) is to click on the person’s square that you want to tag.

Either way you do it, a pop up box will appear and you either select their name from your Live Network, or add it in the space provided in the popup, and click on “Add New Person”.

That’s all there is to People Tagging! If the face does not already have a square around it, simply click “Tag Someone”, and you can then drag a square around their face, and select their name as before.

Once you have your photo tagged, hover your mouse from face to face, and their names appear! It will take some time at first to get your photos tagged. But, once your photos are tagged, it is much easier to find the one you are looking for! Just type the person’s name in the “Find a Photo” search box near the top right of Photo Gallery. Isn’t that great?

In addition to “People Tags” there is also “Descriptive Tags” and “Caption”. These work very much the same as the “People Tags”.

Happy tagging!

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I use Windows Live Writer as a helpful tool for editing my websites. It is “WYSIWYG”, (what you see is what you get). You can see what the page formatting will look like as you create or edit webpage coding. This is as opposed to how I first learned html where you write the code in an html page, and then open the page with Internet Explorer to see what it looks like.

Windows Live Writer is not a replacement for knowing html, but it makes things quicker and easier. It is also not a replacement for webpage editors made especially for that purpose. (See bottom of page for a recommendation)

My website is not as complex as those by talented webmasters, so Windows Live Writer is suitable for my purposes. Windows Live Writer is available for free with Windows Live Essentials. I use Windows Live Writer primarily for small revisions, and for quick coding for things on the following list:

• Hyperlinks
• Tables
• Image Formatting
• General Formatting

These are just a few of the ways I used Windows Live Writer with my website. Writer is exceptionally helpful when creating tables, my least favorite task with html coding.

When I want to edit a webpage, I copy the source code from the html page into the “Source” view of Windows Live Writer (The tab is found on the bottom left of Writer). I then switch back to the “Edit” view tab, and start editing and adding to my page.

Once I get it the way I want, I click back to the “Source” tab of Writer, copy the code, and then paste it back into my html page. It is very handy! Then, finally, I can open it in Internet Explorer to give it a last look before putting it online and completing the process. I like finding ways of saving time. Getting more work done in less time leaves more time to play!

As I said, Windows Live Writer is not a replacement for knowing html, but it surly takes out the “tedious” factor of writing some of the coding. Writer does not take the place of a “real” website editor. But since I don’t have one, Windows Live Writer is helpful for me.

While I am on the subject, Windows Live Writer is also great for customizing your Windows Live Space! I use Writer to mock up what I want in my custom modules and html sandboxes for my space. One I get the look I want, I just copy the code into the text box. It’s a lot faster and easier than waiting to see what it looks like with the module’s preview button.

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Edited to add: Greg Edwards, a swell guy, read this post and made a comment about it. He reiterates that a webpage editor is necessary for more complex webpage design. He shared that a good website editor, Microsoft Office SharePoint Designer 2007,  is available for free online. Click the link to download it.

Thanks, Greg!

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I have Candy’s cage near my favorite chair, with a chain hanging down so that she can go up and down from my chair as she pleased. Before today, she only went “Up” – If I got her on my finger, and brought her down to my chair, she would climb back up the chain soon. But! …

Just now, I was engrossed with what I was doing with the computer, and I suddenly realized there was a little bitty bird on my shoulder! Yippy! Candy is starting to like me.

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I just happened to notice a shared link that Marcus of the Clubhouse (Windows Community Manager) posted for this new book. It is not available for sale yet, but I thought you might want to know about it anyway so you may pre-order it. The price is less for pre-orders according to the Amazon.com page:

It seems like a great book, so I thought I’d help pass the word. Here is a description of the book from its Amazon.com page:

Product Description
A full-color, step-by-step guide for using the most popular free software and online offerings from Microsoft's new Windows Live Essentials

Microsoft’s new operating system – Windows 7 – isn’t including many applications you might be used to seeing.  Instead, those applications are being made available as set of free downloads called Windows Live Essentials, with the promise of more frequent updates independent of when the operating system releases happen.  Windows Live Essentials includes tools such as Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, and Movie Maker. This valuable guide shows you how to use these applications so that you accomplish everyday tasks successfully and smartly.

Step-by-step instructions show you how to use not only these applications, but also associated Windows Live on-line services.   As an example, you'll learn just how easy it is to create panoramic pictures in seconds or how to create movies from pictures in just a few minutes. Then you'll get the inside scoop on how to communicate and share using Messenger, SkyDrive, Spaces, and Groups.

• Windows Live Essentials are available as free downloads for the Windows 7, Windows Vista, and Windows XP operating systems
• Reviews what is included Windows Live products such as Messenger, Mail, Writer, Photo Gallery, Movie Maker as well as Windows Live services like Spaces, Groups, SkyDrive, Calendar, and Events
• Provides you with essential information on using the applications and services efficiently in order to accomplish everyday tasks.

With this book, you'll quickly be on your way to accessing these useful applications in an effort to making your life easier.

This seems like it would be a great book to give to a family member or friend who is getting a computer soon, or for somebody new to all of the features of Windows Live.

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Edited to add:

Marcus posted a comment to this blog entry with more information. I will quote it here in its entirety:

Thanks for your kind words, folks. I hope this has some good shelf life. We couldn't talk about each and every feature, but we tried to hit the highlights for someone who is relatively new to the world of Windows Live. You all are already Windows Live experts, so I'm not sure how much more you'll discover in this book, but thanks for ordering it if you do. :-)
Maybe they'll invite me back to help with the next "edition" when the next release of Windows Live comes out.
I've learned a lot from all of you and look forward to continuing to do so!

Good luck with the book, Marcus!

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My computer has been in the shop since Saturday. We took it in because Windows XP would not start.The computer guys said nothing was nothing wrong with it, that Windows started right up But, when we got it home and set it up, Windows STILL would not start. What the hey?

So, my hubby did diagnostics, plugging and unplugging things one at a time trying to find out what the deal was. We isolated that the problem was either with the mouse or the keyboard. So, he finally cannibalized his old, broken computer setup by stealing his mouse and keyboard and hooking it up to this one. Bingo. It works now!

Queue Twilight Zone music.

So, now I get to be attached to the world again, Plus, now I have a wireless mouse and keyboard, instead of wires from my computer to my lazy boy chair getting all tangled up with my oxygen hose. A little bit of Serendipity, that’s what that was!

Neither my hubby or I have ever heard of this happening. Has this ever happened to you, or to somebody you know? Next time your Windows does not start, try what my hubby did. It might save you a trip to the computer repair store. It only cost us $19 to learn this tip…

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