hi,

does anyone know where i can get a good and free inventory control managment software package?

thanks,

melanie

Hi there, I emailed this to support on February 19 but maybe someone can help me in case that communication fell thru the cracks. I am trying to purchase Ulead's VideoStudio 7 (item G-2423).
According to the checkout webpage, "Your organisation is restricted from purchasing Ulead Products", but we actually meet all the criteria (below).

An organization is limited to a maximum of three ULead products per fiscal year. (never ordered before)
This donation is available only to U.S. nonprofits with 501c3 designation, or Canadian charities with a Confirmation of Registration Letter from the Charities Directorate. (we are 501(c)(3) )
This donation is only available to organizations that do youth-related education and/or training. (we raise funds for sherpa children to attend school)
Ulead products may not be transferred or resold. (not an issue)

Thank you in advance for any advice,
Regards,
Alison

We recently published an article on ways to remove spyware, viruses, and other maleware from windows:

http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=539

What has your experience been with keeping this stuff from infecting your computer?

Hi. I'm a web developer, and I just noticed that your site is potentially vulnerable to SQL Insertion. I used the following URL to test it:

http://www.techsoup.org/howto/articlepage.cfm?ArticleId=a9999

If you enter that, you get a techie error message from ColdFusion about a SQL error. As I understand it, that type of message should never be displayed to the user, because it can help hackers figure out how to do bad things on your system.

I can send you further references on this if you want.

hi

I am a volunteer for healthwrights trying to implement a system where people from around the world can update a website with stories of helping people in developing countries. i need a content management system that is capable of letting a writer input a story, then an editor approve the story if the editor likes it. once the editor approves it, it is published to the website. this story can be associated to a particular category that is defined by the user.

Ultimately this is a good collaboration site that manages files, pictures, articles, etc. If you know of a good free open source solution, I would appreciate your experience with one.

Any help you could provide would be invaluable to our nonprofit.

Thank you
Manu

About HW:
HealthWrights is a non-profit organization committed to advancing the health, basic rights, social equality, and self-determination of disadvantaged persons and groups. Guided by David Werner, renowned author ('Where There Is No Doctor', 'Questioning the Solution') and social activist, the non-profit is developing a knowledge-sharing tool for an international audience. The online resource, titled Politics of Health Knowledge Network, aims to bring together voices from around the world, in a showcase of case studies, published data and reference materials to provide the 'big picture' on policy and health work.

Welcome to day three of TechSoup's discussion about the Digital Divide! Today's focus is women and girls and the Digital Divide, but you can certainly feel free to post to any of the folders regarding other aspects of the Digital Divide here on TechSoup. Discussions may continue long after the official "day" ends.

I encourage everyone to be generous with each other regarding trying to understand different points of view on this and other topics. There is not one of us who can speak on this topic with complete and utter authority -- you all have something to say, and I hope you feel comfortable saying it here, even if someone -- or even everyone -- doesn't agree with it.

My co-host for this discussion is Latifat Kadir, who lives in Lagos, Nigeria. She will post more information about herself here momentarily. I am in Bonn, Germany, and that means both Latifat and I are on very different time zones than the rest of you -- for those of you in North America, we probably won't be around for your afternoon discussions.

TOPIC INTRO

There are barriers that keep women and girls in particular away from computer and Internet-related classes and community technology centers. These barriers are even more pronounced in developing countries, but certainly still exist in the U.S.

What are the barriers? I'm going to speak generally, and with the knowledge that these are present in varying degrees, and that these are in no particular order of importance:

-- lack of childcare

-- reluctance by other women and girls, family members, tech-related class organizers and tech center staff to support women and girls in participating in tech classes or in using tech ("Why do YOU need computer training?")

-- class and tech center structures where "squeaky wheels get the grease", meaning that unless you know how to be very verbal and demonstrative about needs and opinions, you won't be attended to or supported much

-- cultural barriers, as in a woman may feel uncomfortable being the only one, or one of just a few women, in a computer class

For women in developing countries, there is also a lack of education/literacy that affects this issue more than women in "The North," as well as a profound lack of TIME. Women in these countries are engaged in childcare, income generating activities and managing the home -- unless they give up sleep, when would they be able to use a community tech center?

What are other barriers that keep women and girls away from computer and Internet-related classes and community technology centers? Or do you think there is no such digital divide and, if so, why?

SOME OF MY THOUGHTS

Actually, I've shared a lot of my thoughts already on this subject in the "Gender and the Digital Divide" folder already here on Tech Soup. But here they are in one fell swoop:

I have observed and experienced the reluctance of many woman -- not all women -- to attend workshops that have something to do with computers and the Internet, to ask questions if they do attend, and to experiment with these tools. Other trainers I have talked to, with rare exceptions, experience the same thing. When I have worked with women regarding computers and the Internet, the phrases I hear often (but never from men) are:
-- I am really stupid about computers/I cannot use computers well
-- I have a stupid question
-- I'm not a techie and I don't really understand the Internet
-- I don't think I can learn this.
-- I don't understand how a computer/the Internet are really going to make that much of a difference in my job/my life; it just seems like more work to me

There does seem to be insecurity issues for some women regarding technology that don't seem to be there for men, generally speaking. The "I'm stupid" comments break my heart -- how did so many women get the idea that they are stupid? As a result, when I do workshops, I always say early on that I believe non-techies and those who are great at working with people are the ones who do the most exciting, the most interesting things with technology, and there are absolutely no stupid questions. I also make sure everyone understands that I am not a techie either -- I don't know how my car works, but I sure take it to some really exciting, wonderful places.

And, yet, ultimately, from what I've experienced and what I've heard from others, women perform as well or even better with computers and the Internet once they have the confidence that they can do it. For me, the older the woman or the lower-the economic level of the woman, the more insecure she seems to be about her abilities to learn about computers and the Internet -- or anything "new", for that matter. And, yet, once we find that comfort zone, off they go, as well as anyone else and, often, even better.

OTHER QUESTIONS TO EXPLORE:

What does the gender-related digital divide look like to you?
How have you seen it or experienced it yourself?
What steps do individuals, nonprofit organizations/NGOs, instructors, and even governments need to take to address this gender digital divide?
Does the corporate world have a role to play?

And, finally, some resources:

ICT & Gender News and Resources
From the Development Gateway

Women's Net Organization
Offers an abundance of information and resources that are relevant for those interested in a wide variety of Gender and ICT issues.

Gender Information Technology, and Developing Countries: An Analytic Study
A paper about the information technology divide among women in developing countries. It opens up to the readers the current situation of gender information technology in developing countries, the issues concerning women's access to them and the possibility of women's political and economic empowerment through IT.

Be sure to view the the "Gender and the Digital Divide" folder already here on Tech Soup for more thoughts on this subject.

-- Jayne
http://www.coyotecommunications.com/aboutme.html

Does anyone know of a software program that keeps track of empoloyees
times - something like Time Slips (which is for Lawyers). We have a
very complicated way of meeting our funders time tracking requirements, which includes matching funds.

An 8 hour day would need to be tracked in many different categories.
We have different funders and need to keep track of the time we are spending doing work on specific projects, so that they get billed for
the time we worked. A simple time clock program would NOT work. We individually keep track of our time, but then we have to compile it
for the reports to the funders. It's a friggin nightmare.

I have just recently moved from a larger non-profit (over 100 employees) to a smaller non-profit (15 employees). I am used to using the Financial Edge 7 (Blackbaud) which is pretty sophisticated and also expensive. My new firm currently outsources all accounting work, but I will be doing it in-house as soon as I choose an appropriate accounting package.

I need to have 2 company databases (parent & subordinate) with the ability to do fund accounting for both. I need GL, AP, AR, reporting, and possibly check-writing packages. I also need to be able to cross fiscal years for reporting due to various contract year dates. I would also like to have a time-reporting package that can allocate employee costs to appropriate funds or programs.

Can anyone suggest a good package costing under $1,000? Thanks for any input.

I am totally fed up with the bugs and glitches and lack of flexibility in my current Volunteer database software. I would be interested in hearing from other users of various databases what they have, what their experiences are, and such. I am seriously thinking about designing my own database program.

Hello,

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with web-based employee payroll/time tracking, either ASP or in-house server based?

Our desire is to switch from our current system of paper time sheets (which the accountant then enters into Quickbooks 2002 for export to our direct deposit system), to a web-based interface where employees enter their info directly online, which dumps to a file importable directly to Quickbooks.

Any ideas?

-Jeff

Can anyone tell me the main differences between Adobe Photoshop and Photoshop Elements? (other than the price!). Thanx.

MaxT

Any idea why when I go to this page:<:LINEBREAK:>http://techsoup.coolboard.com/discussion/msgshow.cfm?msgboard=1660746635252283&msg=4206465700959395&page=1&returnURL=&idDispSub=1004396878302731<:LINEBREAK:>www.lungusa.org tries to set a cookie on my machine?<:LINEBREAK:>Is lungusa.org able to use a post at techsoup to track me?

The Foundation for the Global Advancement of Technology (FGAT) is a non-profit organization that donates complete websites, including design, hosting, domains, and email services to organizations throughout the world that provide assistance to those in need. From hunger to education to crisis support, organizations of all types have received services from FGAT. Contact us for more information on our free services.

This is a topic that arises on TechSoup periodically, and we have a resource list for recycling computers, but I was wondering if anyone in this discussion had a specific story to tell about buying a recycled computer. I am also interested in the environmental implications of computer recycling (both positive and negative).<:LINEBREAK:><:LINEBREAK:>Have any ideas on this?

Tom,<:LINEBREAK:>I'm finding the discussion pages are taking 6-8 secs to load (I'm on DSL). This at two different times -- Sunday evening and Monday morning.<:LINEBREAK:>Hilary

I'm glad to see techsoup.org has an article comparing Microsoft Access and FileMaker Pro, this is an important decision many nonprofits face. If I had to guess, I'd say the person who wrote that article has spent a lot more time using Access than FileMaker. The comparison seemed to focus on Access' strengths and to neglect the areas where FileMaker excels (such as cost, layout/report design, flexibility, user-friendly/intuitive). I find that FileMaker is especially well-suited to the needs of small- to medium-size nonprofits, but of course I know I am biased too. = Ruby {lotusmedia.org}

I was wondering if anyone could describe the principal differences between Quicken and QuickBooks, besides price. A small agency I work with uses Quicken right now, and I wondered if it would be worth it for them to think about switching in the future.<:LINEBREAK:><:LINEBREAK:>Thanks,<:LINEBREAK:>Steve