Tools, Gadgets, Accessories

PPTools
Shape Styles brings the power of styles to PowerPoint. Apply complex formatting with a single click
Merge Excel, CSV or tab-delimited data into PowerPoint presentations to create certificates, awards presentations, personalized presentations and more
FixLinks prevents broken links when you distribute PowerPoint presentations
Optimizer saves disk space and bandwidth, shrinks your PowerPoint presentations to the right size for email, screenshow or printing
PPT2HTML gives you full control of PowerPoint HTML output, helps meet Section 508 accessibility requirements
Prep4PDF preserves interactivity in PowerPoint presentations when you convert to PDF
Image Export converts PowerPoint slides to JPG, PNG, GIF, WMF and more

Some things that make life with PowerPoint ... or just with a computer ... easier.

Keyboards

You spend hours a day, every day, at your computer. After the screen and (for some people) the mouse, the keyboard is one of the most heavily-used parts of your computer. It's also the one that has the most potential to damage your hands and arms if you use it a lot.

It's amazing, then, that most computer keyboards are junk. That sounds harsh, but until you've used a truly good keyboard, you don't know how bad you have it. Unfortunately, it's nearly impossible to find a good keyboard at any price.

This is going to sound like your typical geezer-rant, but it's true: They just don't make 'em like they used to.

Ask anyone who's ever used one of the original IBM PC/XT/AT keyboards. If I still had one, I wouldn't sell it to you at any price. There's nothing quite like them.

But there's something better: the now-legendary Northgate keyboards.

Too bad. They don't make those any more either, but I've got two that I bought back in the mid- or late 1980s. They're still going strong and they're stil the best keyboards I've ever in my life laid fingers to. And I wouldn't sell either for twice the price that I wouldn't sell the AT keyboard for if I had an AT keyboard that I wouldn't sell you.

Bob Tibbetts will, though. Bob owns Northgate Keyboard Repair, which refurbishes and sells Northgate keyboards, along with high-quality new and refurbished units from other manufacturers.

If you spend any amount of time at the keyboard, do yourself a big favor, treat yourself to one of these things and watch your typing comfort, speed and accuracy soar.

I'll leave you with this warning: You'll be spoiled. You will not want to go back to any other keyboard. Ever.

That's a risk I can live with. Happily. Ever. After.

Contents © 1995-2008 Stephen Rindsberg, Rindsberg Photography, Inc. and members of the MS PowerPoint MVP team. You may link to this page but any form of unauthorized reproduction of this page's contents is expressly forbidden.

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