Showing results by author "Scott La Counte" in All Categories

★★★ Take your note taking to the next level with OneNote ★★★ Word? Of course you've heard of it! Excel? You betcha! PowerPoint? How'd you do a presentation without it! But Microsoft OneNote? If you are like most people, you probably have never tried Microsoft’s powerful note taking software. That’s a shame, because it’s one of the most powerful ways to collaborate on ideas and take projects to the next level. Microsoft OneNote was released in 2003—before things like Pinterest had taken the world by storm. Its intuitive software environment allows users to work either...

For 40-some-odd years, the world of spreadsheets has been ruled by one king: Microsoft Excel. Sure, there were far away challengers that tried to overtake the beast—I’m looking at you, Lotus 1-2-3—but none have come close to dethroning the powerful tool…until Google Sheets. So what is Google Sheets? It’s a cloud-based spreadsheet. Think Excel, but online. “But Excel is online,” you say. Yes! But Google was there first, and really has the advantage over Excel in this arena. It’s quicker and easier to use for collaboration. Google Sheets is also free; Excel has monthly/yearly ...

Times have certainly changed. It wasn’t that long ago when videoconferencing was cutting edge. It was something expensive companies did for board meetings with people who couldn’t make it in. This is still true today, but videoconferencing has evolved. Today it’s used both globally and regionally to connect remote workers. As more and more companies are switching to either partially remote or fully remote workplace environments, Like most software today, Zoom is pretty easy to get up and running, but it takes time to learn it’s most powerful features. This book will walk you ...

Say goodby to Word, and take your writing to the Cloud with Google Docs Like hundreds of millions of people, you probably lived your whole life using one-word processing tool: Microsoft Word. It's great software! Powerful software! Resourceful software! And...expensive software! Google Docs is the Google equivalent of Microsoft Word, but it's free. Free as in ad-supported, right? One paragraph in and you have to watch a 30 second video of some emoji game you would never play! Wrong! Free as in free. As in no ads. Nothing to pay later. Free! Who wouldn't want software like that? For the ...

Rethink communications It didn’t seem so long ago that instant messaging and texting in the workplace was not only frowned upon but outright banned. Times have changed. Chatting online is now not only part of workplace culture, but the preferred way teams communicate. When it comes to this type of communication, there is one service that rules them all: Slack. Slack lets you communicate with your company and teams within the company in a way that is private, secure, and fun! This book will teach you what you need to know to use the popular service. This book is not endorsed by Slack ...

Mac users love the Safari browser. It’s fast, privacy is front and centered, and new tab groups make browsing more efficient than ever. At its core, it’s pretty easy to work—just like any other browser. But there’s plenty of things built-in that you may not even know. Inside you will learn how to become a power-user; it will cover things like tab groups, privacy features, extensions, and much more! If you’re ready to make the switch and want to make sure you understand all of the features, then read on!

You just spent a good chunk of your life writing the book that you always knew you had in you, and now it’s time to publish it! But you’re an author, not a graphic designer, and you need an eye-catching book cover that will make readers say yes to buying your book. Some book distributors have tools to help you out, but they rely on templates that are less than de-sirable and scream, “This book has been self-published!” You can also find a professional to do it for you, but if you’re on a budget this isn’t necessarily ideal. There’s a third way: Canva! Canva is a cloud-based (...

★★★ Get started with Apple TV ★★★ Tired of paying too much for cable? Who can blame you? It’s time to get streaming! Apple TV is an investment, but can if you do it right, then you can make up that investment quickly by saving on cable costs. There are, of course, other media player options, but Apple TV is arguably one of the best. It’s slick. It’s fast. It’s everything you’d expect from Apple. But if you already know all this, but are confused about how it actually works, then this book can help. This book will guide you through all the features you should know...

★★★ Get started with Firefox ★★★ Surfing the Internet requires an Internet Browser. While some people use the browser that comes with their computer (typically Internet Explorer and Safari) others download a separate browser. Google Chrome is arguably the most popular, but Firefox is definitely a worthy contender in the browser wars. Developed by the non-profit organization "Mozilla Foundation" Firefox is open-source, fast, and offers top security. If you are tired of the browser that came with your computer and want to try something different, then this book will help you ...

Cut the Cable Cord! The streaming wars are here! If you want to watch the latest and greatest TV shows, put aside your cable box and plug in your streaming box! Apple TV is arguably the best streaming device out there; yes, there are cheaper ones—lots of them—but Apple TV feels like everything else Apple does: premium. You aren’t just paying for a device that can play movies; you’re paying for something that can play games, apps, and mirror your other Apple products. Even more, you are paying for a slick user interface that isn’t confusing, slow or buggy. It just works! This guide...

You’ve probably heard the success stories: au-thor self-publishes book and now they’ve quit their job and are living off the income. What author wouldn’t want to be that person? The fact is most authors are not. In fact, most self-published authors are probably earning less than $50 a year from their book. $50 a year! That’s depressing! People spend months—years even—writing their book. And all they have to show for it is $50? You probably didn’t write the book for money. Money would be nice, but what you really want is readers. You want to know someone out there is reading ...

Music has changed a lot since mobile phones were introduced. Today, most people don’t buy albums or songs—they buy streaming services. One of the biggest streaming subscriptions in the world is Apple Music. If you are considering subscribing to Apple Music, but want to know a little bit more about it, then this short guide will help; it will also help new users navigate their way around the app. Ready to get started? Read on!

★★★ Create documents like never before ★★★ Adobe InDesign is arguably one of Adobe’s more underappreciated programs. Many people have gotten used to creating brochures and books using Word and Pages. If you are a professional who cares about design, then there is no greater tool for creating a document than InDesign. This book is intended to get you started, so you can understand what all the important features are and how to use them. You’ll learn how to: Use menus Change colors Arrange images, shapes, and text Create spreads Create columns Perform wraps Export to ...

★★★ Get started with the HomePod Mini ★★★ When the HomePod launched in 2018, critics praised its sound quality while also questioning how it would ever compete in the competitive smart speaker market. Critics’ speculation was mostly correct for several years; the price of the stunning sounding speaker was too great for most consumers. Things changed in 2020. Apple had spent years perfecting the HomePod and was ready to power their knowledge into something smaller and cheaper: the HomePod mini. The HomePod mini lacks the multiple speakers of its larger companion but still ...

There’s a real good chance that you grew up in a Microsoft Word world. The first document you created were from the Office Suite. But if you are reading this, then you are ready to make the leap to cloud-based (and free) word processing with Google Docs. If you are thinking about making the switch to Google, or have already made the switch but want to make sure you are using it correctly, then this guide will walk you through it. It will show you all the basic features to make sure you can get up and running as quickly as possible. Let’s get started! Note: This book is the Google Docs...

★★★ Explore Ubuntu OS ★★★ You’ve probably used Windows OS; maybe you’ve used MacOS. But Linux? Linux has been around for years, but it’s still relatively unused by the masses. This isn’t to say it isn’t powerful. Some argue that it’s more powerful than any OS out there. This book will cover arguably the most popular version of Linux: Ubuntu. You’ll learn about: Installing Ubuntu Where things are An overview of the core features An overview of the software Using Ubuntu Utilities Using Ubuntu settings And more The book is intended for beginners who have never ...

How many times do you work on a presentation that you will get absolutely no feedback on and want no help? Maybe you’re the type that likes to whip something up and have no practice or feedback at all? Most of us are the former. Before we stand in front of a group of people, we want to make sure we’re as polished as possible. The problem is PowerPoint wasn’t built like that. It was built as a desktop program that one person would use at a time. Google realized the problem and seized the opportunity when they launched Google Slides over ten years ago. Google Slides is a cloud-based ...

For years, tracking keys, suitcases, and other valuables could be done with a small tracker—one most likely made by Tile. That’s all changed. Apple announced in Spring 2021 that it was entering the race to find the things you love with the Apple AirTag—a small, puck-shaped device that can help locate keys, bags, and much more. This short guide will tell you what you need to know about the powerful new tracker.

Take project management to the next level Working as a team can be challenging, but working remotely as a team can add a layer of complexity to the work; it can be difficult to monitor who is working on (or responsible for) different aspects of a project and where they are in terms of deliverables. Trello, which is a part of the enterprise software development company Atlassian, is a Kanban-style project management tool that can run natively on your computer or on the web. Trello lets you work collaboratively wherever you are and whatever you are working on. There are free and paid versions...

If you are like millions of people, then your first email was probably AOL, Juno, or Hotmail. Email as a communication tool, however, has been around since the 60s. Gmail is the most widely used provider today, and if you are using it (or considering using it) there’s probably a good reason: it does more than perhaps any other email provider out there. You can make phone calls with Gmail! You can make video calls with Gmail! You can send money to friends with Gmail! There’s so much you can do! But how?! This book will show you how. It will also walk you through all the basics. So, if ...