Open Office
Don't want to pay outrageous prices for Microsoft Office? Don't want to use online tools like Google docs because you need to be able to work even when you aren't connected (like maybe lounging in the yard or at the beach)? There is an alternative! Its Open Office available at OpenOffice.org. Its a FREE - yes FREE - office suite that is compatible with MS Office. It has a word processor that reads and writes .doc documents just like Word. It has a spreadsheet program that reads and writes .xls documents just like Excel. It has a presentation program that reads and writes .ppt files just like Powerpoint and it has a database program that can connect to many popular database formats like JDBC, ODBC, MySQL - even the Mac OSX address book! PLUS it has a drawing program - something MS Office doesn't include!Omni Outliner
Linux
Linux? What's Linux? To understand what Linux is you have to understand a few other terms first.
Operating System aka OS. An operating system is the software that runs on your computer and talks to the machine and the programs you run on your computer. Operating systems are available in different version for different platforms. A platform is a family of opertaing systems. They usually run on specific types of hardware (computer systems). Windows is a platform. Macintosh is a platform. Linux is a platform. Unix is a platform. Of course its not really that simple. Linux and Macintosh are variations of Unix. And Linux has several variations as well. These are sort of like versions - but they may be by different companies or organizations.
So Linux is a platform. Linux is usually installed on PC software - the kind you run Windows on. There are many varieties of Linux. Some of the most popular are RedHat, Ubuntu, Debian, Fedora and Suse. These are operating systems. Why should you consider Linux? Here are a few good reasons why non-profits and churches should look at Linux:
Google Apps
We've all heard of Google. In fact, Google has become a verb which means "to search the internet." But did you know that Google offers a lot more than just searching - a LOT more. Want to see how much more - go to Google.com and click the "more link in the top menu. Then scroll to the bottom and click the "even more . . ." link. You will be presented with a whole page of tools and applications that Google offers. Today we will focus on the group known as "Google Apps."
Google offers several versions or editions of Google Apps: Premier, Education, Standard, Government & Non-Profit. Today we will focus on the Standard Version and next week we will look at the Non-Profit edition - which offers a bit more. We set all of our web customers up with a Standard Google Apps account when they become Pittsburgh Tech Ministries website customers.
The Standard Edition is available for free and includes Google Docs, Google Mail, Google Sites and Google Calendar. We all know we can get a free Gmail account but did you know you can use Gmail with your domain name? Google Apps Standard let you use Google mail for up to 50 users with your domain name for free. No need to move your email if you move your website. Its easy to add users and you can access your mail from you email program, the web or even your smart phone. Pgh Tech Ministries can help you set up your Gmail with your domain name - even if you aren't a subscriber (but we hope you will consider becoming one!)
Doodle - Easly Scheduling
No - its not for doodling — its for scheduling! A great free tool that lets your members ent
er their availability so you can find a good meeting time. Use it to assist in scheduling weekly service participants, board meetings, retreats and more. Best of all - its totally FREE! http://www.doodle.com
AddThis.com
Ever wonder how you get those neat little links to all your favorite social networking sites on your site?
The ones like this: 
and this: 
and this: 
Its easy - and its free. Go to Addthis.com and pick your button style, copy the code and paste it into your site editor. You can even sign up for an account that will track how much your widget is used.
Firefox
Many people use only the web browser that came with their computer. If you are a Windows user that browser is Internet Explorer. If you are a Mac user, that browser is Safari. (If you are a Linux user - you know all about alternate browsers and don't need this article!) But there are other browsers out there that many people prefer to the pre-installed browser for many reasons.
Project2Manage
You've probably heard of BaseCamp - the easy to use online Project Management Tool. But you may not have heard of its cheaper and equally easy to use cousin: Project2Manage. Prices range from FREE for one project to $3.95/mo for 12 Projects up to $74.95/mo for 150 Projects. Most of us can do just fine with the FREE or $3.95 version.
Survey Monkey
A great site for easily creating surveys and tabulating results. They have both free and Pro (paid) plans. Check them out at http://www.surveymonkey.com
There are 3 plans:
Free - limited to 10 questions and 100 responses per survey
$19.95/mo unlimited questions and up to 1000 responses per survey - .05 per overage. Billed monthly or quarterly.
$16.67/mo unlimited questions and responses. Billed annually ($200/yr)
