Small Office, Home Office Information

… at the keyboard

By Stuart Livesey

Further Update

Well the programme is finally uninstalled but it wasn’t an easy job and I had to go into the MSConfig file to encourage the programme to actually allow itself to be uninstalled.

Perhaps there was a conflict between PhraseExpress and some other piece of software that’s installed on my computer. Perhaps there was a glitch in the installation and it would have run perfectly if I’d reinstalled it but the fact is I really don’t have the time to find out.

So the programme has gone and the computer is back to running at it’s normal speed. PhraseExpress might work for you but it didn’t work for me.

UPDATE

Since installing this programme some hours ago the computer I installed it on began to run very slow … and I mean very slow. A little while ago I tried rebooting the computer - it is still running slow and Kaspersky wanted to take 14 hours to scan the start-up programmes.

So it’s time to uninstall the programme - just to see if that’s the problem - but the programme won’t uninstall. It has to be stopped before Windows will uninstall it and there is no way that I can see at the moment of uninstalling it.

My recommendation right now - DON’T INSTALL THE PROGRAMME!

I’ll keep you posted.

Despite my reasonable Nerdiness ranking (beaten only by my son - a soldier - who scored 93 (and now admits that he needs a life) and not even challenged by my daughter - a computer systems engineer - who scored somewhat less than I did) there are some aspects of computer use where I confess to being a total Luddite.

Data entry - otherwise known as typing on the keyboard - is one of them. Back in 1967 my first real paying job was with what is now known as Australia Post and they taught me to touch-type. At the time I never realised just how important that skill was going to be in the future but now it’s something that I use all day, every day. Today - even in emails and instant messages I still type every word and rarely resort to acronyms.

Keyboards last me, on average, around 12 months if they’re good quality and after 12 months the keys are sloppy and there is a noticeable indentation in the space bar where my thumb continually hits it. So for me typing is second nature and I’d sooner type a note to myself than write it out using pen and paper.

But I know there are a lot of small business people out there who have problems using a keyboard and type with two fingers. If you’re one of those people I understand that you need all the help you can get to increase your productivity when you need to use a keyboard. That’s why when Gunnar Bartels, from Bartelsmedia.com, emailed me and asked me to review PhraseExpress I was happy to take it for a spin.

PhraseExpress claims to speed up your typing time by saving you from repetitive typing of common phrases, expanding abbreviations while you type and correcting typos in any application. It also can launch programmess by entering short keywords.

So over the next few days I’m going to see just how good it is and I’ll give you my opinion around the end of the week.

By the way, PhraseExpress is free - although there is a pro version that will set you back a whole $19.95 - and I am receiving absolutely no payment for this review.

by Stuart Livesey

Have you ever wondered about how people from other ethnic backgrounds percieve you, your small business and your marketing? Do they see you in the same way that you, and others from your ethnic background see yourself?

Oddly enough  it’s something that is really beginning to get a lot of attention out in the world of marketing but it was something that Toni wrote about in another place some years ago when we were living in Tasmania. Back then she was talking about marketing and compared two shop windows that we saw quite regularly.

One was your typical Australian shop window; it was neatly set out and the eye was drawn to specific  items. It wasn’t overcrowded, it was almost colour co-ordinated and it was an invitation to stop and window-shop in visual comfort.

The other shop window belonged to a shop that catered for the local Chinese community. It sold all sorts of Chinese food and ingredients and other things that would appeal to the Chinese community too. It was a jumble; there appeared to be no order to the window at all, there was confusion, colour and ‘noise’ everywhere you looked. It was almost an assault on the eye.

Well guess what? That’s what appeals to many Chinese. Order and subtle marketing are just not going to keep people from that ethnic background interested for very long and only now are people beginning to realise that.

A Tale of Two Cultures is a relatively long but very interesting look at the difference between Western and Chinese culture when it comes to marketing. It may make you think about your business and how others see it.

And here is something else to think about. The person who wrote that article lumped all western countries into the one group when comparing them to China … but is that the way things really are? Do Australians see things differently and respond to stimuli differently than Americans? Does one size in marketing really fit all western cultures?

I wonder.