This newsletter can also be found on our website here, along with all other newsletters.
If this page does not display correctly in your email program or there are restrictions in the functionality of this page then please view it online by going to martinshelpdesk.com and select Newsletter from the menu

Happy New Year, wishing you all a successful and prosperous 2008 !!

I am in the process of changing my company logo and the website will change accordingly. I would be grateful to pass any suggestions for design changes and ideas to my logo designer. Please take a look at some possibilities and complete the form below the samples with your suggestion and comments.
Logo Design Page

I am also moving the whole website to www.martinshelpdesk.com during this month. However all links to martinshelpdesk.com will still work for another year (until January 2009).

Calendar Sharing

Benefits of Calendar Sharing

• Checking the availability of a function venue, such as a conference room.
  e.g. You create a Calendar called Conference Room.
• A personal assistant can view an executive's schedule.
• Publish the itinerary of a touring team, vacation or business trip.
• Use as a time sheet for your supervisor.
• Create multiple calendars, open or close calendars, overlay them or view side by side.

We look at how you can share a calendar with...
A. Microsoft Outlook and
B. A Calendar embedded into a web site
.

I have investigated three different techniques:
Using...

1. Google Calendar
2. Microsoft Live ID
3. WebDav

1. Google Calendar. Share your online Google Calendar with Outlook users
   Requirements: The person sharing the calendar must have a Google Calendar already set up.
   The calendar is just one service offered to Google account holders. If you do not have an account, you can create one here, otherwise select the Calendar Service after you have logged into your Google Account here.
   Follow these steps
   1. Enter items in your calendar on the web page
   2. Click the drop down arrow next to the relevant calendar on the Google web page and select Calendar Settings.
   3. Unless this Calendar is for public viewing in the Share this Calendar tab, select Do not Share with everyone.
   4. In the Calendar Details tab, select the ICAL icon in the Private Address section.
      A link is then generated for you.
   5. Copy this link and send it to other Outlook users you wish to share the calendar with.
2. Microsoft Live ID. Share your own Outlook calendar using Office Online
   Requirements: The owner of the calendar has to have a Windows Live ID which is a free account. This is obtainable during the 'Publish to Office Online' procedure.
   With unrestricted viewing anybody can view your calendar at the level you choose.
   With restricted viewing you can invite other users with a Windows Live account to 1)View events, 2)Only show free/ busy times, 3)View edit and delete events, or be a 4)Co-owner.
3. WebDav. This is for web developers only. Share your own Outlook calendar using World Wide Web Distributed Authoring and Versioning (WebDAV)
   Requirements: A person with the relevant user rights must login into the Control Panel of your web hosting service and create a web disk.
   User access accounts are created on the server for the Outlook user or users who are going to share their calendar via their own Outlook program.

In options 2 and 3 above, an Outlook Calendar is then selected to 'Publish to Internet, Publish to Office Online or Publish to WebDav Server'.

You then select for how long before and after today and also how much you want to share:

• Availability only (shows only busy times)
• Limited Details (includes only the subject)
• Full details (includes everything except any calendar attachments)

After you have published your calendar to Office Online or your Web Disk, you are then offered to invite users to share your calendar. An email is generated with a link to your iCal calendar, which you can send to those who you wish to share your calendar with. The email recipient has to copy and paste that link into the address bar of an Internet browser. A message will appear about launching the relevant application and after clicking ‘Yes’ a new calendar is placed alongside their existing calendar.

Your calendar then regularly synchronises with this server (about once every 20 - 60 minutes) so that it is kept up to date.

Requirements: The owner of the calendar has to have a Google account.

To restrict the viewing of your online calendar page, a web developer can password restrict access to up to 20 users.

If you see a need to implement a calendar, itinerary, schedule or booking log for others to see, and need help, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Paint.Net - Free Image Editing Software

• Build it step by step allowing changes only in the currently selected layer so you don't mess up the rest of the image.
• Trial the look of your image with different possibilities by switching a layer on or off.
• Change the order of a layer and then set its transparency allowing lower layers to shine through, to give you the most amazing effects.
• Roll, Rotate, Pan or Zoom a layer to create distortion and 3D effects.
• Duplicate layers of text and images to create outlines, shadows, distortions and colour effects.

All of your standard drawing and tools are included to draw shapes, lines, text, paint bucket and a versatile gradient utility. Each with a range of options.
A full undo history is recorded while you work in Paint dot Net so to undo or redo any work simply use the Ctl + Z and Ctrl + Y keys on the keyboard.

1. YouTube Video sample
   
2. Sam's samples
3. My sample of an Icon on my website
   Click to see a screenshot of the program with the 6 layers that were used to make this icon.
   

Getting Paint Dot Net
You need to install two programs. Paint.Net needs to run with the Microsoft .Net Framework which you should install first (if you do not already have it), followed by the Paint.Net program itself.

1. Microsoft .Net Framework Ver 3.5
2. Paint.Net.

Tutorials and Resources
Paint dot Net Forum

Maps

• Street map views
• Aerial views
• Hybrid views (streets and names layered on top of the aerial view)
• Directions.
  Directions usually include a start map, an end map and a whole route map (overview) as well as written details of all turns and distances. Print versions are made for this information.
• Saved Maps.
  You need to login or create a free account in order to work with saved maps. Each website offers a different mixture of tools for your best mapping experience.

	Live Search Maps http://maps.live.com	This is Microsoft's offering. Maps at certain scale settings are not often as clear as Google's Maps. I have better luck using Google to find a street name. However the Bird's Eye View photography and Virtual Earth 3D components are fantastic. Only some towns are supported here. But you can literally identify cars in the street. I often use this before embarking on a journey to a destination I do not know, in order to recognize and identify features, buildings etc when I get to the area. Create your own collections of map locations with a Windows Live ID, which you automatically have if you have a Hotmail account otherwise you can sign up for one using any email address.
	Google Maps www.google.co.uk/maps	Google Maps is a faster website and tends to know street addresses better than Live Search Maps. Maps at all scales are the best I have seen. It is hit and miss when it comes to showing certain things such as railway stations, although it does this very well for London. Customize, store, annotate and share maps when you open a Google account using any email address.
	MultiMap www.multimap.com	Multimap has been around for a long time and often puts more information onto the maps such as hospitals and buildings. A useful information section enables you to select to display locations of wifi spots, parking, cash points etc.

Allocating Drive letters to attached USB storage devices