3 Free Alternatives to Microsoft Office

Free Microsoft Office Alternatives You Can Use Right Now

First Published Date: October 19, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

While Microsoft Office is considered the industry standard, especially if you work in an office environment or a writer or an editor, it does not mean everyone must use only Microsoft Office. And these days, there are more reasons for most of us not to use Microsoft than ever before, as Microsoft limits installing software only on one computer per product key. For example, I have three computers at home and I change my computers frequently. So there is no way I would keep buying Microsoft Office let’s say 1 to 2 times every year, year after year. This is where these free alternatives come handy and they do not fall short of Microsoft Office in terms of functionality. Better yet, some of these actually work better and offer more features than Microsoft Office for free.

OpenOffice.Org – This is the most famous Microsoft Office alternative that comes with its own word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and much more. It can open any other office package including Microsoft Office, it can open PDF files, and it’s even able to save as Microsoft Office files such Word, Excel, etc. OpenOffice offers lots of features that are not even available in Microsoft Office. This is my first pick as Microsoft Office replacement.

Kingsoft Office – If you are looking for an almost identical user interface or lookalike alternative like Microsoft Office, look no further than Kingsoft. Kingsoft is packed with features and customization options that will make spending money to buy Microsoft laughable. Some unique features make Kingsoft stands out better than other office suites, such as a PDF converter, multiple tabbed features, adding watermarks, and so on. Kingsoft also offers a mobile office suite for Android or IOS as well.

FreeOffice – Another free office suite by German company SoftMaker. It offers cleans interface and lots of features, yet it’s a light version of SoftMaker’s paid-version commercial office suite.

What I noticed was that the same program may not offer the best for everything. For example, for word processing I liked Kingsoft, but for presentation I liked OpenOffice better. There are many other alternatives available for free. Try a few of them to pick the one that best meets your needs. Because there is so much software with a wide array of features available these days for free, the days are over for most of us to pay for office suite software.

Alexandria Day Trip – Part 6 | Egypt Travel Blog: Day 1 (Part 11)

Pompey’s Pillar | The Temple of Serapeum

Egypt Travel Blog: 10 DAYS Egypt Explorer - Felucca Cruise & Red Sea

Pompey's Pillar, a massive 30m column made from red Aswan granite and 2.7m at its base, was originally part of the Temple of Serapeum, a temple dedicated to Serapis. Pompey’s Pillar rises out of the sparse ruins of the temple, which was also a magnificent structure in ancient times.

Pompey's Pillar is named after Pompey, a Roman general murdered by Cleopatra’s brother, but the pillar was not connected to Pompey.

Pompey's Pillar was built in 297 AD to celebrate the victory of Roman emperor Diocletian and to support a statue of the emperor. Diocletian ruled Rome between 284 to 305 AD.

Underneath the column lies the ruins of the temple of Serapis, now badly damaged. Serapis was the hybrid Greek and Egyptian god of Alexandria.

At the platform side, there was a basin, which was used for purification. Two galleries exist at the back of the temple. One is a black statue of basalt and the other is the Daughter Library, where scrolls and copies and overflow of texts found. The Daughter Library is also said to be a burial for the mummies of Anubis. 

Pompey’s Pillar on top is the only ancient monument surviving whole and standing in Alexandria today.

You will also see two other surviving monuments that are Roman copies of the Sphinx, but much smaller than the Great Sphinx at Giza.

Both Sphinxes, showing the body of a lion and the head of a man, are made from pink granite and of an earlier date than the pillar.

How To Talk An Enviroskeptic Around

How To Talk Green To Non-Green Folks

Firest Published Date: October 25, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

Many people in this day and age do not view the environment as a cause for concern at all. This does not just show itself in climate change skepticism, although that does seem to be the forefront issue that gets the most attention from the doubters. No, the attitude of people who do not view the environment to be an issue – enviroskepticism, for want of a better word – is gaining currency as a response to the growth of the green movement, and what is more, it seems to be gaining popularity in no small part from a tactic of blaming people who have Green concerns for trying to guilt-trip individuals into not enjoying themselves. The theory goes that people with an interest in Green issues have such boring lives themselves that they will do anything to spoil everyone else’s fun.

That, of course, is nonsense. But it is a simple enough message to digest and gets people off the hook for environmentally unfriendly behaviour, so it is a popular one. Those of us who genuinely care about environmental issues, therefore, have a tougher job on our hands, faced not only with the problems besetting our environment but also the twin fronts of apathy and antipathy which face the movement. People who say “oh yeah, I do worry about the environment, but there is so much else to worry about too” are understandable. Those who say “Green issues are unimportant – they are just a front for people who want to stop others doing what they want to” are the truly dangerous ones. Not only is their message destructive and entirely false – it’s also a seductive one for people who do not really want to live responsibly and welcome the chance to make their lack of concern a human rights issue.

The fact of the matter is that with the global economy in the extremely poor shape it is in, the enviroskeptics have the perfect chance to spread their message. Don’t want to positively impact your carbon footprint? Blame the credit crunch for making it too expensive to try. Want to buy a gas-guzzling car? Well, the hybrid fuel cars are more expensive upfront, aren’t they? It is not your fault the cheaper cars are the ones that hurt the environment more.

The only way to counter this kind of message is to bring a message that addresses the same concerns, without sinking to the levels often inhabited by enviroskeptics. Yes, hybrid fuel cars are more expensive, but they will pay for themselves over time – you will spend less cash filling your car up with hybrid fuel than if you keep the pure gas one. And you will not have to do it as often because the fuel efficiency of a hybrid car is better. A lot of Green decisions, it is true, cost a little more up front. But in the long run they will save you money, and this is where the Green counter-attack on the enviroskeptic appeals to greed need to be addressed.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on Feb 6, 2009.

Save Our Dying Oceans

Oceans Threatened By Garbage Waves

First Published Date: November 2, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

With the news in recent weeks that global warming may be happening quicker than anyone had expected, it was only to be expected that further bad news would be on its way. And lo and behold, the latest news on the environment seems to show that things are getting worse on levels other than a climatological one. The latest news is that an increase in irresponsible trash dumping is likely to have a more profound effect than expected on seas already suffering, the effects, of global climate change – and worse yet, this is a worldwide trend. The revelations come from a report by the US-based group Ocean Conservancy that tracks and catalogues what they refer to as “a global snapshot of marine debris”.

The breadth of the action – nearly 400,000 volunteers set to the task, in 104 different locations – has revealed the extent of the problems of irresponsible dumping. On that one day alone last September, nearly seven million pounds of trash was collected from waterways from oceans to lakes, and from rivers to canals. That amounts to the weight of eighteen adult blue whales, and accounts for only what was found on that one day. What it demonstrates is a worrying tendency for humanity to put things where they cannot see them, and hope that they will go away. The only logical outcome of this attitude is a major pollution problem that will have results that so far can only be imagined.

On that single day in September 2008, 11.4 million items of garbage were collected. Included among these were cigarette butts, food containers and plastic bags. Although the latter of these has already come in for some scrutiny and has been targeted by conservation plans – with supermarkets now charging for plastic bags in some place, and offering stronger, re-usable canvas bags at a discount – the rest currently go unnoticed, and are providing a serious concern. The effects of toxins contained within the cigarette butts alone really do not bear thinking about. One other effect of the research was to show exactly which items are causing pollution off the coasts of which nations.

In the Philippines, 11,077 diapers were picked up. Off the coast of Britain, 19,504 fishing nets were found. Across Canada, the major offender appeared to be cigarettes and cigarette butts, with 323,706 showing up. As well as these, straws, beverage bottles and food receptacles were found to be a major source of the problem, which hints at beach parties and similar events carrying much of the burden of blame. The overall outcome of such polluted oceans is damaged marine ecosystems and polluted beaches – affecting more than one major industry very adversely indeed. In respect of this, another International Coastal Cleanup is being arranged by Ocean Conservancy for the 19th of September, 2009. Again, the focus will be worldwide, with a close eye being kept on what the figures are this time.

To streamline and minimize blog maintenance, I will be discontinuing maintaining the Thegreenlivingblog.com website (however, I will still hold the domain). I will gradually move all articles from this site to A Dawn Journal. This article originally published on the above website on March 14, 2009.

The World’s Top Richest People

The World’s Top Ten Billionaires

First Published Date: November 18, 2013 ADawnJournal.com

Bloomberg Market just came up with their list of the world’s top 100 billionaires. These billionaires are the rich of the richest on earth. Here are the top ten richest people from that list:

1.    Bill Gates – Unites States

2.    Carlos Slim – Mexico

3.    Amancio Ortega – Spain

4.    Warren Buffett – United States

5.    Ingvar Kamprad – Sweden

6.    Charles Koch – United States

7.    David Koch – United States

8.    Larry Ellison – United States

9.    Christy Walton – United States

10.    Jim Walton – United States

Source: Bloomberg

Here are some other interesting facts from the Bloomberg Market’s Richest of the Rich report:

– Canada’s David Thompson (of Thompson Reuters) is #22 on the top 100 list.

– U.S. (37) and Russia (11) have the most top 100 billionaires.

– Mark Zuckerberg (29) is the youngest billionaire among the top 100.

– Karl Albrecht (93) is the oldest.

– There are 11 women in the top 100 list.

– Median net worth is $15.7B of these top 100.

– Net worth is $2.1 Trillion of these top 100 billionaires.

The view the full report, visit Bloomberg Market’s Richest of the Rich