So as a side line to top up my nursing income, I build/upgrade PCs for friends and colleagues. Over the last few years found a good few hints/tips that I thought I'd share two with my biker brethren. Firstly, DON'T pay for office 365 anymore. A website called Kinguin.net (The amazon of PC software) lists genuine companies which resale official and legal licences direct. eg. MS office 2019 Home & Student is £39.99 instead of £119.99. No more subscriptions. If you are building or looking to upgrade, I can highly recommend PCpartpicker (https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/) which will help find the cheapest prices on parts but also has compatibility matrix and build guides. Stay Awesome. Judd
I think it's frelling sad that you have to top up your income! You shouldn't need to. But... Thanks for the pointers!
Actually... I have to admit, I don't have a pc any more. One day, I got so pissed off with it, I went outside and got a hammer. PCs don't react well to hammers. I will pass on the part picker link to my son though, he builds gaming computers. I got him a tee shirt, it says "I went outside once. The graphics weren't very good."
I was too mean even to pay for MS Office Home when I retired, so went for OpenOffice (free), which seemed OK until recently. I had to fill in a complex .docx form and OpenOffice couldn't cope with the table in the document. After hours of fighting with it and searching online for a solution, I discovered LibreOffice, also free. A close relative of OpenOffice, I believe, but way better. The compatibility with MS Word is very good and the spreadsheet is good too.
Currently, it is 3yrs at Uni, £27000 in fees plus living costs for those three years not to mention travelling costs to the 6 three month placements. Not to mention that it is a 46 week course, not 32 like in other degrees so no opportunity to earn some cash during the holidays. Then you have to pay £120 a year to have a pin (license to practice) as well as indemnity insurance before you start your first shift. Then its £24k a year, 13hr days, no breaks, no lunch oh and if you make a mistake..... someone can die. Its the same for my paramedic brothers and sisters too. And they wonder why there is a shortage. Still, not everyone can be a superhero *** picks up soapbox and puts in cupboard ***
My point exactly. It stinks. Nemmind, I think your a superhero. People don't value your profession like they should, until you are needed. Sorry, bit of a thread hijack! I salute you.
Thanks for the links. I have used Scan.co.uk for the same purposes. I think the development on the OpenOffice distro has reduced whereas LibreOffice is live and actively supported. That might explain the differences. Both apps provide most of what any home (and probably business) user needs unless you need collaboration tools etc. Another option is to buy a Mac and use Pages, Keynote and Numbers. Having got bored with PCs thats the route I’ve taken but accept there is an on going rift between Mac/PC lovers much as there is between followers of motorcycle brands You could also use the Google Apps if you feel you want everything you type to be read by a stranger and sold to marketing firms.
These are some of the free software tools that I use: https://www.libreoffice.org/ - LibreOffice (as already suggested by @Judd Dredd ) - I haven't used MS Office for years. https://inkscape.org/ - Excellent drawing package, loads of tutorials and how to videos on YouTube. https://about.draw.io/ - Online charting tool, with an installable download also available: https://draw-io.en.softonic.com/
