Are You Being Tracked?

The answer to that question is yes. If you use a computer or a cell phone you are being tracked. For this article when I say "tracked" I mean your internet surfing habits, what site you visit, how long you stay on that site and what pages you look at and if you make a purchase. I will discuss location tracking in another article.

All of the major search engines track your movements on the internet. Some do this directly and some will contract with third party companies that specialize in internet tracking. Did you ever wonder why you just received an email from an on-line merchant offering you a deal on a pair of shorts, when yesterday you were on-line looking at a different site for a pair of shorts? Or maybe a deal on a pair of shoes or shirt that will go with those shorts. Without getting too technical, the tracking companies track your habits, then they sell that information to the search companies that will generate advertising that you will get either by email or the next time you are on the web you will see that ad for shorts.

So can you stop the search engines from tracking you? I think the short answer is NO, you can't stop all tracking. But you can do things that will dramatically cut down the tracking.

To stop companies and search engines from tracking, you can try either of the below companies:

• Ghostery - Their web site says that they will educate you as to who is tracking you, then you can make the decision to stop them or not.
• Abine's Do Not Track Me - They say that will stop all known trackers and show you who they are. They also have another program that will mask your email.

Most tracking happens when you use search engines to search for something. To stop that tracking try these search engines:

• DuckDuckGo - This search engine will not track or log any of your internet searches, they use a proxy that gathers search results from multiple search engines then displays them to you.
• Ixquick - This also is a non-tracking search engine who will not track or log your web searching.

Big internet Companies like Google®, Yahoo® and Microsoft® have to make money to stay in business so that they can provide you with a rich internet experience and help you find what you are looking for. Selling ads is one way they do this.

By George Uliano

Smart Watches Rise In Demand As 45 Million Expected To Be Shipped By 2017

The high-tech device set to witness a gigantic 350% growth by the end of 2014

Watches today have got a new term added to them-SMART. The evolution of smart watches changed the purpose of using watches vastly; the current users of these watches get everything updated just by clicking the screen on their wrist. Gone are days when watches were mere time showing devices; they are today highly upgraded technology devices which are expected to have a mammoth growth in sales from being the present small sector. The sales of these smart watches are expected to cross a whopping 350% by the end of this year and if the experts are to be trusted, this is just the start.

The smart watch industry recorded a shipment of 20,000 wearable branded devices by the first half of 2013. The same shipment numbers jumped by a brow raising 700% and recorded a shipment of 1.6 million devices including different brands. These devices are getting more famous among its users as the count of tech geeks using these wearable devices is increasing around the globe. The shipments are estimated to close at over 8 million by the end of 2014. The device is predicted to have an additional 15 million sales just within a year as the shipment units are bound to reach a massive 23 million by the close of 2015.

Fitness monitoring is the leading application used in these smart watch devices and though the number of users today is relatively low; it is sure to jump as health awareness and healthcare segment is developing fast thus making the utilization of such advanced technology for constant monitoring necessary. According to the market research, specialists from the segment indicate that the current year 2014 will be the game changer for these smart brands and place their demands to unprecedented rates for the years to come.

As stated before, fitness is the major concentrated segment for this smart watch market as personal self-health monitoring was first made a reality in early 2013. Fit-bit launched the first health tracker and holds a dominating share of 58% of the total market demand since its introduction in the year 2013. The company has its variants such as Flex and Force which had massive introductions in May and October respectively. The smart wearable maker is followed by Jawbone UP which holds a 21% market share and Nike's Fuel-band range of devices with a share of 13%.

As per the shipment records of these hi-tech devices; Samsung rules the industry with its Galaxy Gear product that held a share of 54% by the second half of 2013. The maker pushed this product with a nickname "Smart Band" which as expected turned into a craze among its users. The list is followed by Sony with a 19% share and Pebble which posted 16% sales for the year 2013. Other companies together displayed a notable performance with an 11% sale.

Licia Margarete has a passion for writing and has chosen it as her full time profession; she is a Content Analyst at Bharat Book Bureau; a market information aggregator. This organization provides vital data in the form of research reports, country reports and company profiles from across industries all around the world. Licia is an experience hand at drafting informative content as she is doing it since last 5 years. Lifestyle, Travel, Food and Drinks, Technology, Manufacturing are some of the topics that interest her the most.

By Licia Margarete

Microsoft Word: Changing Your Document View

I love looking at an online map and having the choice of a traditional view or a satellite one. It is easier for me to find my route on a traditional view, but I also have the ability to see what the building I am looking for and the area around it actually looks like.

Have you used different views in Microsoft Word? Just like online maps, Word has more than one option when it comes to viewing a document.

Microsoft Word provides us with five different ways to view our documents. The default one is called 'Print Layout.' This shows how the text will look on each printed page and is invaluable when you are getting ready to print. This is, however, one of the last steps of word processing. The first step is to get all your ideas onto the document. Type all your text before you worry about how it looks on the page.

I recommend using 'Draft' or 'Outline' for the early stages of document creation. You will be able to see more text on your screen and you won't get side tracked by page elements like images, headers, or footers.

To change to one of these views, go to the View ribbon and choose a command in the Document Views group, or go to the right side of the status bar. Your status bar runs along the bottom of your screen. The right side of it may contain information like the page you are on, or how many words your document contains. The right side of it has the View buttons and the Zoom bar. If you hover your mouse above the buttons, a screen tip will appear to tell you the name of each view. You can also add the view buttons to your Quick Access Tool bar or use keyboard shortcuts, such as:

Alt + Ctrl + p - Pint Layout view.

Alt + Ctrl + o - Outline view.

Alt + Ctrl + n - Draft view. The Draft view used to be called the Normal view, hence the use of the letter 'n.'

Open a document and change to the Draft view.

To the left of your document you will see the style area. This does exactly what it suggests; it shows you the paragraph style that has been attached to each paragraph. If you want to change the style, double-click on the name of the current style to open the Style dialog box. From here you can select a different style or modify the existing one.

Applying a style to a paragraph is not really formatting. Once you have typed all your text and are ready to look at how it will present itself on each page, you may want to modify how the styles look. This would be formatting.

TIP: The width of the style area can be changed in the Word options.

1. File tab, Options

2. Advanced, Display group

3. Style area width in Draft and Outline views

4. Adjust the size

5. OK

If you are working with multiple heading levels, you may prefer to work in the Outline view. This also has the style area on the left, but has the added bonus of allowing you to collapse and expand the heading levels, so the text under each heading is hidden.

The Outline view allows you to easily rearrange your document by simply dragging paragraphs and headings to a new location in the document.

Choose the correct view to match your document creation needs.

Use the Print Layout view when you want to see what your document will look like when it is printed. You will see all the page elements like headers, footers and graphics.

Use the Draft View when you are concentrating on the text of a document. It will show you a single page with simple text format only. This not only helps you avoid being sidetracked by graphics and other page elements, it also lets you view more text on one screen.

As with anything new, using a different view may take a little while to get used to. Don't let this deter you. Saving the Print Layout view until you have created your text will help you work smart not hard.

Reen Rose is an empowerment expert who believes in aiding businesses of all sizes, by helping individuals and teams acquire the skills they need to be happy and successful in their work. She is an experienced Microsoft Certified Trainer, Microsoft Office Specialist Master and a Myers Briggs certified practitioner.

By Reen Rose

The Importance of CRM Support

Customer relationship management software has the ability to revolutionize the way you run your business. With the right program, you will be able to access customer information from anywhere you are because crucial data will be stored on the cloud. Additionally, you will be able to analyze data in a way that you were never able to do. CRM support can ensure you are maximizing your software.

When you purchase CRM software, you want to be sure you are installing it properly. The slightest error in the install can lead to double entry and all sorts of other problems. Since the goal is to be as productive as possible, you need to have CRM support available to you 24/7.

Regardless of whether you need help with installation, usage, or run into a data error, it's important to have a number that you can call. While some of the software providers offer customer support, you may need more individualized support than what they can provide. When you need onsite support or training, you should be able to turn to an expert in your community.

CRM support can help with:

• Installation
• Client communication
• Productivity
• Data analysis

Imagine if you could cut hours off the time you spend analyzing data and you can provide your customers with a higher level of service. This can have a positive impact to your bottom line - and this should always be a priority with your business.

If you are going to spend the money on CRM software, it's important to have the support. Otherwise you may be missing out on a lot of the features. More companies than ever before are managing customer relations with software and if you plan on being up with what your competition has to offer, you need to stay ahead of the learning curve.

CRM support can help you with upgrading your software, providing you with various plug-ins, and more. If you were to buy CRM software right out of the box, you may only tap into 10 or 20% of what the software is capable of doing. If, however, you work with a support company that can help you select the CRM software and support your business, you can tap into 100% of what the software is capable of doing - and this ensures you get what you pay for.

The support will help you get the most of your software and this is of the utmost importance. CRM, ERP, and other programs are designed to provide you with more data analysis and give you the upper hand in the market. However, if you do not utilize the programs to the best of their abilities, you miss out. If you are going to go through the expense of buying CRM software, then you have to be sure you get the CRM support so you can always benefit from all of the features provided in the program - and know when it is time to make an upgrade.

Houston-based CRMatic allows you to take control of your customers with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software system! CRMatic is Houston's premier CRM software provider because we offer a wide variety of CRM software solutions and provide the necessary consulting services to customize any system to match the way your company does business.

By Jeff Weigang

How to Decide If Scribe Is Right for You

When it's time to buy software for your company, you need to do the research. Regardless of whether you have one office or a hundred, you don't want to roll something out only to find out that it is not right. This means you have to figure out whether the various programs are going to be beneficial. Scribe is a great program that is designed for data migration and data integration. To ensure it is right for you, there are some ways to go about this.

One of the first things that you need to do is schedule a demonstration with a software provider. This ensures you get to see how the software works in person. While there may be websites where you can see a quick video or some screenshots, this only shows you what a company wants you to see. It is more advantageous to get into the program on your own to see how it works and what it is capable of.

During the demo, you can ask a lot of questions to find out how easy it will be to perform various tasks. You may want to find out how easy it is for Scribe to convert from one format to another - and the demonstrator can show you on the spot so you walk away from the demo with all of your questions answered.

You need to be honest about what features you desire out of your software. This means you should familiarize yourself with all of the potential features available and then check to see which ones are relevant to your company. You can then ensure you buy the right software without the need to upgrade a few years down the road.

Compare Scribe to some of the other programs that are out there as well. No matter how you feel about the software and how much you think it will change the way you run your business, it's important to make some comparisons. This will allow you to gain confidence with your decision knowing that you have already looked into the other ones out there.

It is also a good idea to invite others that you work with to check out the program. They may find flaws in a program that you don't. Remember that you are not the only one working with it, so it is important that everyone is on board with rolling out new software. Since everyone will be using it, it will only be fair to involve a few different departments in the decision.

Cost and features are going to be the main items to focus on. If you can afford Scribe and it has all the features you need, proceed. Before you buy from just anyone, be sure they will provide you with the support you need during the rollout phase as well as whenever you have a question. This will ensure you get the best software for your company - and you know who to turn to when there are issues.

Houston-based CRMatic allows you to take control of your customers with a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software system! CRMatic is Houston's premier CRM software provider because we offer a wide variety of CRM software solutions and provide the necessary consulting services to customize any system to match the way your company does business.

By Jeff Weigang