The Blinn Communications Newsletter

Every month for nearly 25 years, I published a newsletter for clients and friends. The topics ranged from data security to website design, from marketing techniques to photography tips — and everything in between.

Newsletters are all in Adobe portable document file (PDF) format. The free reader is available from Adobe's website. Prior to December 2002, the newsletter was called Dead Trees, but starting in December 2002, I changed the name to Random Thoughts. In Janaury 2011, the name and design changed again, this time to nLightened Thoughts. As of January 2019, it became BLINN.COMmunications. The final issue of the newsletter was sent on 1 December 2023.

December 2023: Start11 Improves the Windows Start Menu and Five Star Final: You are Viewing the Last Issue

November 2023: Customers & Clients Want Only One Thing from You

October 2023: Taming Windows 11’s Start Menu & Quick Settings

September 2023: Thinking About Buying a New Computer?

August 2023: Protecting Privacy with a Virtual Private Network

July 2023: What’s the Best Office Suite and Do You Need It?

June 2023: MacroExpress Improves Speed and Accuracy

May 2023: When the Windows Snipping Tool is Insufficient, There's ShareX

April 2023: These Two Thumb Drives Are Computer Savers

March 2023: A Single Computer Monitor is No Longer Sufficient

February 2023: A Word Processor Can Get in the Way of Good Writing

January 2023: Going to the Hospital? Take Your Smartphone!

No newsletter in November or December 2022 because of surgery resulting from a back injrury.

October 2022: Finding Treasures in the Windows System32 Directory

September 2022: Power Toys: Essential for any Windows Computer

August 2022: Annoyed by Microsoft Word? Here's How to Fix It

July 2022: How to Add Ethernet Ports to a Wi-Fi Router

June 2022: How to Fix Several Microsoft Word Annoyances

May 2022: Shop Carefully When Looking for a New Computer

April 2022: Reasons to Use (or Not to Use) a Virtual Private Network

March 2022: OneNote, the Hidden Powerhouse on Your Computer. Also, the importance of macros.

February 2022: Eliminating Tedious Searches for Essential Information. Agent Ransack will find what you're seeking.

January 2022: Writing business reports and marketing materials in a word processor can hurt the message. Sometimes simpler is better.

December 2021: Planning to Buy a New Computer? There's a lot to consider when buying or building a computer, and the CPU is a good place to start.

November 2021: Heat Is Your Computer’s Most Insidious Enemy.

October 2021: Ready for Windows 11? Big changes are coming for your computer and you.

September 2021: Fighting Back Against Spam and Scams with Software.

August 2021: If You Own A Computer, Expect Problems. No computer is perfect. Not Windows, not Macs, not Linux systems.

July 2021: Consider These Uses For a Retired Computer. The primary objective is keeping it out of a landfill.

June 2021: Will Super Fast 5G Live Up To The Hype? Great advantages are promised and Russia is doing everything to discourage development in the US.

May 2021: Finding the Right New Computer

April 2021: Business Plans, Customer Satisfaction, and Bourbon — What's the connection? Also, a look at trade shows.

March 2021: Clients & Prospects Expect Accuracy & Punctuality

February 2021: Percussive Maintenance Is Not A Viable Option — Creating useful thumb drives to deal with emergencies.

January 2021: Are You Ready for Workplace Changes Coming In 2021? We know the new "normal" will be different, but how different?

December 2020: The Demise of Free Air Isn’t a Result of Inflation. Also Good Website Hosting Services are Hard to Find

November 2020: Saving Money on a New Computer: There are good ways to save when you buy a new computer.

October 2020: Zoom and PowerPoint — How to Create Winning Meetings

September 2020: Are You Prepared for a Computer Disaster? It's more than just backup.

August 2020: Identifying the World’s Best Operating System: Windows? MacOS? Linux?

July 2020: Blue Light is Your Friend and Your Enemy

June 2020: Is Zoom’s Security Good Enough Yet?

May 2020: Thoughts on recovering from a serious recession. Also, working from home exposes corporate networks to dangers.

April 2020: Office 10 Joins Windows 7 in Nowhere Land

March 2020: Coördinating multiple backup systems for better coverage. Also, Obtaining Windows 10 for free (maybe).

February 2020: Assuming that something you want to use is covered by Fair Use can be dangerous and expensive.

January 2020: Is This Finally the Year of Linux? (Spoiler: Nope.)

December 2019: Strong Security Enhances Website Trust. Also, Microsoft’s Edge Browser on Chromium.

November 2019: To Earn Customer Loyalty, Treat Employees Well.

October 2019: If You Want People to Buy, Remember to Ask.

September 2019: Portable and Dangerous to Your Data (Part Two).

August 2019: Portable and Dangerous to Your Data (Part One).

July 2019: Marketing in an Age Where CPM is Meaningless.

June 2019: Success is about more than just your brand.

May 2019: How to keep crooks from stealing your mobile data.

April 2019: Preparation means being able to smile at a catastrophe.

March 2019: If you must design your own logo, eliminate disasters with these guidelines.

February 2019: Ensure that customers and prospects receive a positive experience on your website.

January 2019: Developing a unique selling proposition and sticking with it.

December 2018: If your monitor is too high or too low, it can be a pain in the neck.

November 2018: OneNote makes storing (and finding) bits of information easy.

October 2018: Maybe you need a larger monitor and more than one.

September 2018: Many Options for Speeding a Slow Computer

August 2018: Should You Still Be Using Microsoft’s Office Suite?

July 2018: Backup is the only safeguard between your computer's data and disaster.

June 2018: Maybe You Should be Podcasting for Clients

May 2018: Internet Privacy Seems Like a Badly Told Joke. Also, The Most Important Gift.

April 2018: Why You Need a Password Management Stragegy.

March 2018: Battling Phone Spam and One Last Chance to Save Net Neutrality.

February 2018: Helping Prospects Navigate the Sales Funnel.

January 2018: Could Linux Be the Right Operating System for You?

December 2017: Saving Money by Not Marketing is an Expensive Mistake.

November 2017: Cultivating Word of Mouth and Word of Mouse Advertising.

October 2017: Business Cards: Do You Still Need One?

September 2017: The Changing Face of Websites in a Mobile Age.

August 2017: Avoiding Death by Powerpoint with Eye-Catching Visuals.

July 2017: Utilities to Make Your Computer Easier to Use.

June 2017: Managing your Brand. Could Linux Be in Your Future? A True and Personal Story.

May 2017: Windows, MacOS, Linux, or Something Else?

April 2017: Illiteracy, Fake News, Politics, and the Future

March 2017: Providing an Outstanding Experience for Clients and Email is Essential but also Dangerous

February 2017: Selling a Service on the Internet Differs from Selling a Product

January 2017: Crooks Want to Make You Pay Them for the Data on Your Computer

December 2016: Seven Key Components of Viral Marketing and How Email Scams Take Over Your Computer

November 2016: Notebook Computers Go Live on the Desktop and Why Backup Is Important.

October 2016: Satisfied Employees Hike Performance & Profitability (2) and A Website Taken Over by Malware.

September 2016: Satisfied Employees Hike Performance & Profitability (1) and Microsoft’s Public Relations Challenges.

August 2016: The Other Marketing Funnel; Somebody at the Washington Post is a Genius.

July 2016: Operating Systems: Similar but Different; The Weather Company and IBM.

June 2016: Some Advertising Can Harm Your Brand; Windows 10 Free No More; Malware on Macs.

May 2016: Delivering the Right Message to the Right Person; The "US Treasury" Has Filed Suit Against Me!

April 2016: Should You Consider a Podcast?

March 2016: Avoid Confusing Clients and Prospects; Watch Out for Malicious Messages

February 2016: Big and Powerful Doesn’t Always Carry the Day; Office 2016, Office 365, or Something Else?

January 2016: A Job is More than Just Work and Developing a Unique Selling Proposition for Success

December 2015: Planning for the Computer Disaster in Your Future

November 2015: Remembering to Seek Out New Clients

October 2015: Passwords Need Managers and How Many Screens are Enough?

September 2015: Viral Videos: Why Setting Out to Create One is Unwise and Bragging without Bragging

August 2015: The Importance of Thinking Things Through and Dealing with Annual Performance Evaluations (by A. J. Stinnett)

July 2015: Eliminating Repetitive Annoyances and "Should You Have a Podcast"?

June 2015: Performance, Profitability, and Satisfaction (by A. J. Stinnett)

May 2015: Speeding computers with more memory and solid-state disk drives and the current status of desktop publishing.

April 2015: Improving your Website with Useful Information and Communicating with Employees

March 2015: Understanding that Complaints are Gifts from Clients

February 2015: Why Responsive Web Design is Important

January 2015: Encryption Without Angst

December 2014: Building a Successful Website Begins with the Name / Data Security

November 2014: The Key to Happy Customer is Happy Employees

October 2014: Give Customers the Competence they Expect

September 2014: Nutruting Prospective Clients (Part 2) / Avoiding Identity Theft

August 2014: Nutruting Prospective Clients (Part 1) / Business Communications

July 2014: Lead Generation: Business to Business / WordPerfect Office Suite X7

June 2014: The All-in-One Computer at Last - Microsoft Surface Pro 3

May 2014: Improving your Brand; Confronting Underperforming Employees.

April 2014: Generating Leads to Grow Your Business

March 2014: How Dangerous Is Cloud-Based File Storage?

February 2014: Perfect Passwords are Impossible, But Keep Trying! / Net Neutrality

January 2014: It's Time to Replace Windows XP / Changes During the Year of the Tablet.

December 2013: Beware the Fraudsters / Planning for Success.

November 2013: The Delightful Odor of Frying Spam / Protecting Your Computer.

October 2013: Time to Upgrade Your Phone System / Motivating Employees.

September 2013: Danger in Your Pocket: Making Portable Devices Safer.

August 2013: Social Media: A Business-Booster or a Time Killer?

July 2013: Word-of-Mouth Marketing becomes Word-of-Mouse Marketing.

June 2013: Security is Important for All Websites. Here’s Why.

May 2013: Why Won't Linux Catch On? Speeding Older Computers with SSDs.

April 2013: In Front of the 8 Ball with Hybrid Computers & Windows 8

March 2013: How Big Data and the Cloud will Affect You

February 2013: Is Now the Time to Consider Direct Mail?

January 2013: Web-Based Dangers and Living on the Bleeding Edge

December 2012: Coming Soon: Microsoft Office 2013. Are You Ready?

November 2012: Old-Fashioned Direct-Mail Advertising Still Deserves Consideration

October 2012: Who Are You and Why Should I Buy Your Stuff?

September 2012: When Is 99.9% Not Quite Good Enough?

August 2012: Spear Phishing: The Same Old Threat at a New Level

July 2012: That’s Covered Under ‘Fair Use’ Isn’t It? (Probably Not.)

June 2012: 11 Ways to Avoid Looking Stupid Graphically

May 2012: Improving Your Search Engine Ranking is a Matter of Pages and Words

April 2012: 14 Tips for Writing a Successful News Release

March 2012: Worthwhile new technology for your website.

February 2012: Welcome to the Year of the Tablet

January 2012: How to increase the reach of your advertising budget.

December 2011: Protecting data and recovering a stolen computer.

November 2011: Want to improve your e-mail response rate? I have some ideas.

October 2011: Security through multi-phase backups.

September 2011: Planning for HTML5 and defragmenting Windows 7 disks.

August 2011: Magic Words for Marketers and How Not to Run a Website.

July 2011: How to Keep Website Visitors from Returning. Ever.

June 2011: A Hit for Carrots and a Miss for the HVAC Guy and Driving Traffic (4).

May 2011: When It Absolutely, Positively Doesn’t Have To ... and Driving Traffic (3).

April 2011: Danger: Marketing Inflection Point Ahead and Driving Traffic (2).

March 2011: Social Media’s Bad Rap as a Time Waster and Driving Traffic to Your Site (1).

February 2011: It’s the Worst Virus Ever!!!! (silly e-mail warning) and Social Networking.

January 2011 (new format): New Year. New Name. New Design. New Capabilities.

December 2010: Complaints Should Delight You! Really.

November 2010: The Trouble with Really Smart People and Be Your Own Domain.

October 2010: Avoiding Your ISP’s Bottlenecks.

September 2010: 5 Steps to Profitable Search Engine Optimization (2) and Delete Doesn't.

August 2010: 5 Steps to Profitable Search Engine Optimization and Dual Monitors.

July 2010: The Powers of Microsoft OneNote.

June 2010: The new version of Microsoft Word is a worthwhile upgrade.

May 2010: Easy Photo Magic and The Spam Cram.

April 2010: Plague. Pestilence. Infestations. Microsoft is 35.

March 2010: Forcing Users into the Future (64-bit computing).

February 2010: Fighting the Growing Security Threat.

January 2010: Keeping Your Website Up to Date and the FTC Goes After Intel.

December 2009: The Spam King, Google Voice, and amazing commonplace events.

November 2009: Desktop publishing and inexpensive website development.

October 2009: Windows 7 Brings Many Changes and Most Are Good.

September 2009: Forgetting to Look for New Customers (Ideas from Ray Jutkins).

August 2009: Perception: Marketing Hits and Misses.

July 2009: May I Tweet in Your Facebook? All About Social Media.

June 2009: Reaching the right Audience with Targeted Marketing.

May 2009: Linux Can’t Win. Linux Must Win.

Apr 2009: Why Is the Internet So Slow in the U.S.? Browser vulnerabilities.

Mar 2009: Microsoft Remodels the Mac Office.

Feb 2009: The Importance of Being Up to Date; Sync or Swim.

Jan 2009: Open Office 3: Competition for Microsoft? The end of paper.

Dec 2008: Dealing With The Helpful Disaster.

Nov 2008: The Internet Is Changing; Windows 7 will replace Vista.

Oct 2008: Passwords to Keep Your Data Secure.

Sep 2008: Internet Threatened by Scams and Fraud.

Aug 2008: The FUD factor; lions on the Internet; the Gmail archive.

Jul 2008: Could You Live without Microsoft? Spam from legitimte companies!

Jun 2008: Books are Dead, But Literacy Remains; AT&T DSL: Not So Easy

May 2008: Podcasting for everyone (part 2)

Apr 2008: Podcasting for everyone (part 1)

Mar 2008: Zoho for Your SOHO: Restive in Redmond and voting in Ohio.

Feb 2008: Dirty-foot websites succeed; another IRS "refund"; missing data tapes.

Jan 2008: Finding the Never-Crash Operating System.

Dec 2007: Should your next computer run Linux?

Nov 2007: Update the changes to your modifications.

Oct 2007: The Vista vista: Is this vantage an advantage?

Sep 2007: Performance, profitability, and satisfaction. (by A.J. Stinnett)

Aug 2007: Office 2007 and Vista.

Jul 2007: A Vista calamity; the dropping cost of disk space; spam.

Jun 2007: Making repetitive tasks bearable; radio in a digital age.

May 2007: Insecure security.

Mar 2007: Customer loyalty depends on employee loyalty.

Feb 2007: Christmas day shopping; death of an Ipod; what's running and why?

Jan 2007: IT insecurity; Internet answers; frozen disk drives; dead record labels.

Dec 2006: DMCA annoyances; free phones from Google; faster browsing.

Nov 2006: Open Office; blasted spammers; believable blogs.

Oct 2006: Browser war heats up; Mars Rover; TypeIt4Me.

Sep 2006: Of schlimmbes and highly trained dogs.

Aug 2006: Is Linux an ankle-biter or a real threat? Google Earth improves.

Jul 2006: Customer support done right and too much disk space.

Jun 2006: Why is "customer support" an oxymoron for so many companies?

May 2006: Good and bad on the Internet; joke leads to jail; Google deletes itself.

Apr 2006: Make 50 cents and lose a customer; data security; telephone hard drives.

Mar 2006: Data security and GoToMyPC.

Feb 2006: Internet shopping; shrinking computers; Google News.

Jan 2006: Designing an effective ad campaign; Making HTML code compliant.

Dec 2005: How not to do PR; the FBI did not send you a message about websites.

Nov 2005: Spyware dangers; Open Office 2.0.

Oct 2005: Eyes open and missing the obvious; Your next computer.

Sep 2005: Network attached storage under $250; Saved (again) by backup.

Aug 2005: Advertising and deception; Deception on the Web.

Jul 2005: "You have 52 weeks to double the business."

Jun 2005: Ubiquitous WiFi; taking your identity on the road; Sober bites again.

May 2005: Valuable data; Adobe acquires Macromedia; moving big files.

Apr 2005: Websites are no longer optional; death on the Internet.

Mar 2005: Firefox; GMail; IBMicroApple; the FBI.

Feb 2005: The remarkable life of Ray Jutkins.

Jan 2005: More on identity theft; Securing your data.

Dec 2004: Are Mac & Linux systems safer?; Identity theft.

Nov 2004: Tracking website visitors; Comparing LCD and CRT monitors.

Oct 2004: Computer as friend or foe; "Cheap" Windows; backup!

Sep 2004: Reliability; performance reviews; Windows XP SP2.

Aug 2004: Correcting mistakes; undeleting files; boasting.

Jul 2004: A short, jaundiced history of desktop publishing.

Jun 2004: Is this the end of spam as we know it? (Hopeful, but naive)

May 2004: Do you need an SMTP server? (And why not.)

Apr 2004: Website re-design; medical technology

Mar 2004: Is the Internet's future CB radio's past?

Feb 2004: Spam solution may be worse than the problem.

Jan 2004: Is it time to switch to applications with less risk attached?

Dec 2003: My 3-part program for dealing with spam.

Nov 2003: Why computer "geeks" are looking at Macs these days.

Oct 2003: Tech-X New York report.

Sep 2003:Terrorism by e-mail?

Aug 2003: Are stupid people taking over the business world?

Jul 2003: Bourbon; business plans; talking to your customers.

Jun 2003: An explosion; a fire; the disappearing websites.

May 2003: Billing your time with TimeSlips.

Apr 2003: Things that cause website designers to lose their hair.

Mar 2003: Give me back my mailbox!

Feb 2003: Keeping a computer clean and up to date.

Jan 2003: Power to the pixel – why some websites don't print properly.

Dec 2002: Why Norton AntiVirus may not be the best choice.

Nov 2002: On gaining respect for the Mac.

Oct 2002: It's a website, not a beauty contest!

Sep 2002: Websites; Flash; why sans faces work better.

Aug 2002: Anxiously awaiting Corel Ventura 10.

Jul 2002: Is legislation the solution to the spam problem?

Jun 2002: E-mail – Why a "pretty" e-mail can get ugly.

May 2002: Viruses and worms, and how to avoid them.

Apr 2002: Browsers are better, but there's still craziness afoot.

Mar 2002: Is Red Hat Linux ready for your desktop?

Feb 2002: Why colors can be a problem on the Web.

Jan 2002: Should you be using Windows XP?

Dec 2001: Digital cameras change the face of photography.

Nov 2001: Which is better – Mac or Windows?

Oct 2001: We want it all, we want it now, and we want it delivered.

Sep 2001: Virtual phones for the virtual office.

Aug 2001: The Windows guy takes a look at the Mac.

Jul 2001: Tech-X New York

Jun 2001: New technology including Firewire and desktop video.