Since I started working for a small company in Zagreb I was tasked with numerous assignments which included tedious repetitive tasks. Instead of wasting my time by doing them manually I wasted time by learning to write script so they could those tasks for me. In the following posts I will document my experiences with them and post some serious code.

Since the company in question is a major importer, distributor and retailer and different goods the tasks ranged from creating formatted price lists, product declarations,  database edits, catalogue creation, multiple pdf editing etc. Since the tasks involved different aspects, and products I had to learn a lot of scripting languages. So in this series I will present some of the following languages: C#, ExtendScript, VBA, VBScript, PHP, JavaScript and others.

With the 2003 version most users, as well as I, had that feeling. We didn’t need a new version. But 2007 version brought a new thing. It had a redesigned interface. Personally the redesigned interface increased my productivity at least 300%. And it did that not by adding cool new features, but just displaying old features in a better way.

I installed the Office 2010 just the other week. And like with version 2003 I had doubts on why to upgrade. Because besides some small changes in UI and some new functionality with online files it didn’t offer anything I need, at least not in the advertising I have seen.

Well, I was wrong.

The new Office brings many new improvements over old versions. For start the startup screen. Great stuff! It has some animation and has that little information about starting, processing… It reminded me on Sims startup screen. Cute. The other thing that totally amazed me is the Cancel button. With it you can stop program from opening. For me that is a big timesaver. Especially when I accidentally open documents.

Other great function is the new sidebar navigation in Word. Where from that sidebar I can easily search the document, go through bookmarks etc. It is a great improvement, especially if you are using Styles to format your document.

Other cool feature I’ve noticed is the ability to search for terms on the internet. You can quickly lookup any term on internet.

It seems that Office 2010 brings many new useful things that will increase my productivity. I’ve been using it for a week now and I am extremely happy with it. Therefore I recommend to everyone to download a Office 2010 Beta and give it a try.

But I had some serious trouble with it. Every time I connected it, or disconnected it from my computer Firefox and Explorer would crash. It also crashed when I tried to add file or folder to library. Event Viewer clearly showed me that the trouble was with iTunes .dll’s. It didn’t help reinstalling iTunes, only complete removing it. After searching through forums I found a solution. Remove any third-party software for accessing iPhone.

Third party software mentioned here is Xilisoft’s iPhone Transfer. A great application that you can use to transfer music, videos and picture from any iPhone/iPod without iTunes and bypass the iTunes “sync and erase”. A perfect software for sharing your music with your friends. I used on one occasion for backing up my cousin’s iPhone on my computer. Great stuff.

Alas, it caused problem with my iTunes so it had to go. Now all is great and I have to return iPhone tomorrow to my friend.

Maybe it is time for me get one.

unfortunatelly my website is down due to server problems. So until that problem is fixed this is the place where you will be getting information from me.

Luckily this coincides with the request from my colleagues to start writing the blog. So there.