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You’re on vacation and you just lost your driver’s license and/or other important papers.  You no longer have the federal or state issued photo ID to expedite getting through security. What do you do?  
 
In today’s world you can save copies of important documents on the internet. Whether it be from your smartphone, iPad or another computer, you have the ability to get copies of important papers should a travel emergency occur. Note that should a situation arise at home as well, having this information on the internet can make life easier for you as well.

Evernote is one good place to put this information. You can store pictures as well as writing notes about important information. Need to keep a copy of your driver’s license and passport?  Evernote is a good option.    

Before I got my smartphone I found it to be a good idea to scan all except the credit cards and then save it to a Microsoft Word (MS Word) file.  As for credit cards, I make a list of that using MS Excel. I have the name of the card in one column, the card number in another column and a contact number in a third column. You can also do a list in MS Word.  Using MS Excel is a personal preference as I find it easier to work with this information using MS Excel. Today I would take a picture with my smartphone and upload it before saving it as an MS Word file.

When saving these files I make sure to password protect them. I then email the file to myself. What I am doing here is adding an extra layer of security to information that if it fell into the wrong hands would make me more susceptible to identity theft. One would need to know both my email password as well as the password I am using to protect the respective files that contain this sensitive data. I would suggest making the passwords for your email and files different.

One does not have to limit this to just credit cards, passport and drivers license. Scanning current drug prescriptions you are using and saving them to MS Word is another good idea where you have a copy of the prescription. If you were to lose the prescription drugs you had packed, you should have an easier time refilling it. You can also put the numbers of your travelers checks in a file as well. My contacts list in my email account is my phone book. Should I need a number I can get it wherever I have an internet connection which includes my smartphone. While we are on the subject of prescription drugs, it is a good idea to have a picture of the case, box, etc with the drug information on your phone. If you are seeing a doctor who is not familiar with you and asks for a list of the drugs you take, this will come in handy.

Doing all of these is not a magic bullet should you have a loss. It will however make it easier to travel and in the case of a passport get a replacement more easily. I would also suggest that you avoid using an unsecured public wireless network to obtain any of this.

Hopefully you will never need to access these files in an emergency.  However, having them should the need arise will make your life easier.

There is no one correct way to be proactive here.  I have just given 2 ways.  Please feel free to mention how you store this information online and if you would put any additional information out there.

If you have additional questions about storing information on the internet, I can be reached at (917) 572-3468 or email me at mike@computerconciergeny.com 


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Computer training and many types of computer repairs can be done remotely. If you or someone you know needs either training to better use your computer or repairs I am now doing it on a remote basis in addition to in person locally.

http://computerconciergeny.com/3/post/2012/10/joinme-how-to-use-to-allow-someone-to-remotely-view-and-control-your-computer.html takes you to a narrative to use Join.me. It is a very user friendly site and it is easy to temporarily allow control of your computer. I also did an online video as well which is on the following link. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AyRSqpYNVQY

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Microsoft recently announced that their new version of Microsoft Office likely to be named Microsoft Office 2013 will be released early next year.  As previous, there are likely to be different prices depending on which version purchased. Using the current prices of Microsoft Office 2010 at Staples you can pay as little as $119.99 or as much as $499.99. The price is influenced by whether you are purchasing a CD, the version being purchased and how many machines it is licensed for.

Microsoft Office is the best known and the best office suite software. It also is the most expensive. There are free alternatives to Microsoft Office that are compatible with Microsoft Office applications. The three main ones are Google Drive, Libre Office and Open Office.  Each has their own features and you would need to determine which is best for you if you choose to go the free route.

Google Drive formerly Google Docs is web based and requires you to have a Google account.  You can use it when you are not online but there are certain constraints that you need to follow.  For one you need to be using the Google Chrome browser. This should not be an issue because many (myself included) view Google Chrome as the best browser out there for accessing the internet. It is great for sharing files whether it is with selected people or with everyone.  You can choose whether people can only view the file or edit it as well. You can collaborate in real time with others who have editing privileges as they can change the file contents while you are also working on it.

Libre Office first launched in September 2010 is the new kid on the block.  When Open Office was purchased by Sun there was concern that Open Office would take a different path and perhaps not be free. This led to Libre Office.  While there are many similarities, you can edit files in a Portable Document Format (PDF) in Libre Office but not Open Office or even Microsoft Office.  It is not the most user friendly interface to do so but it can be done. Libre Office and Open Office have components for spreadsheets, presentations, graphics, word procession and database. Google Drive does not currently support a data base application among its components.

Open Office is in essence the predecessor to Libre Office.  As mentioned previous when Oracle purchased Open Office there was concern over the future direction of it.  In 2011 Oracle donated Open Office to the Apache Software Foundation. There are many similarities between Open Office and Libre Office as noted above. Open Office is easier to download but you cannot edit PDF files using it.  The interfaces for both are similar to Microsoft Office (MS Office). Open Office offers more Templates on its site than Libre Office but Libre Office offers more functionality by offering extensions. Per Wikipedia some notable users of Open Office are Singapore’s Ministry of Defense, and Banco do Brasil.
  
So do you continue to use Microsoft Office or do you switch and if so which do you use?  From a personal standpoint being a power user who also uses Microsoft Office in my line of work as I now am also creating customized Excel spreadsheets I will continue using Microsoft Office.  If you are not a power user of Microsoft Office and do not need to use it for work, using a free version is a viable alternative. The free versions offer approximately 75-90% of the features  offered by MS Office. The features not offered in the free versions tend to be more advanced.  I also find the three programs noted user friendly.  The more expensive versions of MS Office include Outlook, Publisher, Access and OneNote.  Access is a database program as Base in both Open Office and Libre Office are as well.  Draw is an alternative to Publisher again in both Open Office and Libre Office.  There are good free alternatives to OneNote and Outlook as well.

If you wish to know more about which Office Suite you should use or about saving time and even $$ from Microsoft Excel spreadsheets call me at (917) 572-3468 or email me at mike@computerconciergeny.com

 

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