Back to School Software

Folks, its back to school time all across the country. In these first few days you or your kids will find out that the home computer will need to have Word or Excel or PowerPoint or Access (all from Microsoft) installed (if its not already). Then about a day or so later you get a great shock. STICKER SHOCK that is.

Over at Office Depot, you head over to, you find Microsoft® Office Home And Student 2007 edition for $149.99. For some of you that might just be a big chunk of change. So what are you to do?

Well you could spend the $149.99 or you could use OpenOffice v2.2.1 for a whopping sum of $000.00 (that's right FREE). Head on over to OpenOffice.org and download the latest version. This application has a word processing, spreadsheet, presentation, and database applications wrapped in a 97megabyte download.

OpenOffice is "a multiplatform and multilingual office suite and an open-source project. Compatible with all other major office suites, the product is free to download, use, and distribute." The program is easy to install and use. The best thing is that the user can save any word processing file as a Word document...and that my friends a whole lot cheaper than $150.  So give it a shot.

Tags: Dave Guerra, openoffice, word processing, spreadsheet, database, presentation

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Twitter Rants

If you have been following me along on Twitter, you have undoubtedly noticed my rantings about email and how long to wait for a response. Well here is the story.

Approximately, two months ago I stumbled across someone who wrote "Would you like some help...? Need an **** or a ********* ***** for your *******?" It sounded like a great offer so I thought I would take him up on his offer and request some info to use the service he is still providing.

In my email dated July 23, I wrote "I visited your website and read that if people were interested then to contact you, well I am interested." I even included a reference to paying him for his service "Also we would need to begin dialogue on the cost for the..." All in all, the email was about 100 words long, straight and to the point.

Well two months have now passed and I have yet to hear an response to my simple request to initiate in some internet commerce. So my question has been how long do I have to wait?

Do I stop waiting and move on?
You bet!!! That individual has ceased to be authentic (I think he and the company he works for is supposed to be that), he ceased to be genuine (I think that he and the company he works for are attempting to make the world see them that way), and lastly he failed to deliver, in a timely manner, on his promise (I bet he and the company he works for would NEVER tolerate that from anyone). So why would I? Should I tolerate it from him? I understand that he was attempting to provide a solo service but he still is an ambassador of his organization. Therefore, what he does is a direct reflection of his company. Gee, I wonder what his partners think about that?

Well what did I expect?
What I expected was a timely response saying one of two things: "Thanks for your email Dave. Let's make something happen and it will cost you this much" or "You know Dave, I am extremely busy right not and will be a long while before I can get to this." Instead, I got nothing.

So what will I do?
I will move on. This blog post will be the last word on this subject with this individual. I will, however, not forget and when the time comes, I will remember that in some cases there are people that demand nothing less than perfection from others, but when they deliver less than perfection, it would not be allowed to hold them accountable. And that my friends is a crying shame.

GET TO KNOW ME (version 1.1)

I was thumbing through Tom Peter's recent PowerPoint slides on his website and something caught my eye. In one slide he includes some personal information about who he is and what his likes are. So I got to thinking and thought that it was a great idea, to put himself out there like that. He showed those marketing folks exactly who he is and what he stands for. Taking that attitude, I decided to do the same thing. As I was making my entries I noticed that what is being marketed to me is not what I needed or want, with possibly a few exceptions, but for the most part there are a lot of gray areas that need to be addressed. Then I made another realization...

From a brand marketer's point of view, I would say that you don't know me, as well. You might think you know me because of my last name. You think you know me because I live in Texas. You think you know me because I am just another face in the 17 to 44 crowd. Face it dear Marketers, the plain and simple truth is: you don't know me at all.

So, here for the first time is your opportunity to get to know me and just maybe you can see that everyone IS DIFFERENT and even more important: I am not a stereotype, I am UNIQUE.

Beer: Bud to Berliner Kindl to German Bier to Michelob to Fat Tire to My HomeBrew
Car: Ford to Chevrolet to HMMWV to anything by Hyundai (love the warranty)
Biz Clothes: Levis to any thing Italian to Brooks
Biz: Big (U.S. Army) to Small (self-employed)
Sports clothes: Misc-cheap (EastBay) to Eddie Bauer to L.L. Bean
Spouse: “Sexy broad” (wife #1) to Best friend/Brainy (+sexy) (wife #1)
School: UT to UOP (Go Mighty Mousepads!)
Pens: Bic to Staedtler to Cross
Food: Safeway to Winn-Dixie to HEB
Music: Beatles to Duran Duran to Sir Simon Rattle's Brahms German Requiem
Home Furnishings: Broyhill to Lane to King Ranch to IKEA
Home: New York/New Jersey to Washington, D.C. to Alabama to Houston to Deep South Texas
Favorite sport: Football to Mountaineering to Mountain Biking to Hiking
Favorite MLB, NFL: Orioles-Cowboys to Astros-Seahawks
Favorite magazine: Stern to HBR to Foreign Affairs
Favorite media: Print to Radio to Web (and back again)
Favorite airline: Pan American to Lufthansa to Continental
Home: Old World to Wild West
Vacations: Poconos to Germany/Central Europe to New Orleans
Price: Cheap to Varied (Wal*Mart to KaDeWe)
Hotel: Holiday Inns to Hilton to InterContinental
Restaurants: Emerils’(Nah'leans) to Gus's Drive in & Restaurant(Columbus, Ga)
Stores: Sharper Image to Little shops (Le Petit' Soldier Shop 528 Royal Street, NOLA)
Loyalty: I will be the biggest PROPONENT you will ever have. However, the moment you discount me and take my loyalty for granted, I will be your biggest OPPONENT. IT DOES GOES BOTH WAYS!!!


P.S. Thank Tom Peters for the inspiration.

The Best Years of Our Lives

Tonight I saw that Post World War II classic "The Best Years of Our Lives" and in it was a scene where the sailor (Homer) has his moment of truth. His fiancé tells him that her parents want her to move away. He is not sure if he wants her to stay as his fiancé...he's sure that he does not want her to leave. See he thinks that his disability is everyone's disability: that of not looking at what is left instead of what is gone (in this case both his hands). So, thinking she is not going to like what he sees he puts her to the test. Well she doesn't flinch and needless to say his attitude changed.

At the end of the movie he married her. Also at the end we see that given a little time and a change of attitude as well as latitude even the most battle-hardened veteran can make a better life for himself and those that believe in him.