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9 Ways to Save on Gas This Summer

Is anyone taking a road trip this summer? Has the price of gas curtailed that time honored summertime family activity? Maybe…

I know that on a daily commuting basis, the price of gas has not deterred people in my area, as traffic is seemingly worse than ever.

Regardless, one way or another, these high prices are affecting us all, so i thought I would take a break from the office supply stuff and bring you these gas saving tips from Smartmoney.com.

Two New Photo All-In-One Printers From Canon

I came across this press release today. These look like a couple of nice printers. Here are some pictures and a press release:

TWO NEW PHOTO ALL-IN-ONE PRINTERS FROM CANON U.S.A. SPORT A SLEEKER DESIGN AND ENHANCED PERFORMANCE New Printers Incorporate Stellar Printing, Scanning And Copying Functionality Into Two New Elegant Easy-to-Use Designs; Suitable for A Multitude of Environments

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., August 11, 2008 – Canon U.S.A., Inc., a
leader in digital imaging, has today introduced two new multifunction
models, the PIXMA MP480 and PIXMA MP190 Photo All-In-One (AIO)
printers, designed for simple operation and maximum performance, while
also providing new automatic features for enhanced scanning, copying
and photo printing. These two Canon models are ideal for any print
locale, from homes and businesses to college campuses.
“With each generation of All-In-One printers, Canon sets the bar higher
with convenient operation, speed and image quality. These new models
exemplify why Canon is the imaging expert in our industry,” said Yuichi
Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging
Group, Canon U.S.A. “In times when families are looking for the best
value, having an All-In-One device helps everyone do a little bit more,
right from home.”

CANON PIXMA MP480 PHOTO ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER
Equipped
with a 1.8-inch TFT color LCD display and easily navigated control
panel, the PIXMA MP480 Photo All-In-One combines elegant design with
easy operation. Canon has included Auto Photo Fix and Auto Scan Mode,
reducing the steps necessary to print a beautiful photo or capture a
great scan. Auto Photo Fix, with Easy-PhotoPrint EX software,
automatically detects the type of photo being printed – portrait or
scenery – and helps to correct red eye, facial tones, brightness,
contrast and color saturation to provide better looking photo output
without manual photo editing. The PIXMA MP480 AIO provides another
convenient feature, Auto Scan Mode, which, detects the type of document
being scanned – Photo, Post Card, Business Card, Magazine, Newspaper,
Document – and automatically crops and saves files to PDF or JPEG
format, based on image type. These automatic software features add one
more level of convenience that is sure to be a hit with the less
tech-savvy consumer.

The MP480 is capable of text print speeds
of up to 20 pages-per-minute (ppm) in black and up to 16 ppm in color,
and delivers outstanding 4 x 6 inch borderless lab-quality prints in
approximately 45-seconds.¹ The MP480 Photo All-In-One will also feature an optional Bluetooth wireless connection for sending images to the printer.² The estimated selling price for the PIXMA MP480 Photo All-In-One is $99.99,³ and the BU-30 Bluetooth adapter has an estimated selling price of $49.99.³

CANON PIXMA MP190 PHOTO ALL-IN-ONE PRINTER
Aimed
at the more economically minded consumer, the PIXMA MP190 Photo
All-In-One features a maximum of 4800 x 1200 dpi color resolution⁴,
and a minimum two-picoliter droplet size to deliver outstanding photo
quality. Text printing speeds are up to 19 ppm for black and up to 15
ppm for color¹, providing users with high speed to go along
with high quality. The printer also delivers 4 x 6 inch borderless
photo quality prints in approximately 70-seconds.¹
Additional features include the Advanced Z-Lid expansion top allowing
users to place bulkier books or small 3-D objects for scanning on the
platen glass and holds them down for a more clear copy or scan. The
estimated selling price for the Canon MP190 Photo All-In-One is $69.99.³

Canon’s New Photo Album 3″x 3″ Pocket Size
Perfect
for showing off pictures of the family, the wallet-sized photo has been
transformed with the new Photo Album 3″x 3″ Pocket Size. The ultimate
stocking stuffer or personalized party favor, the small pocket-sized
album holds 12 different photos, as well as a custom wraparound photo
hardcover. The hardcover wrapping can be customized and printed using
your own images for a truly unique photo album experience. The albums
print out on legal-sized perforated sheets which can then be folded and
assembled into the 3 x 3-inch album in just minutes. Twelve pictures
help tell the complete story of the family vacation, or give
grandparents a great pocket-sized brag book.

A Word About Paper Prices

This is the text of a flyer I gave out to my customers recently, explaining why the cost of copy paper has gone up so much recently.  I thought it was informative, so I want to post it here also:

Like so many other products, paper has experienced several recent price increases. Here are a few words about why that has happened, what we are doing about it, and what you can do about it.

WHY PAPER COSTS ARE RISING

Increased operating costs by the paper mills.  These costs include natural gas (us as much as oil), fuel, labor and pulp.

Lower operating capacity.  For various reasons, paper mills have reduced operating capacity over the past several years, resulting in less ability to fill demand.

Low inventories.  Inventories are currently low, leading to higher prices.

Unfavorable exchange rates.  The paper business is global, and the weak US dollar has led to higher prices relative to foreign currencies.

WHAT’S WE ARE DOING ABOUT IT

In keeping with our consistent approach of searching for the best solutions for your business at the lowest cost, we are doing everything we can to find economical sources of paper supply, and also more economical ways of delivering paper to you.  And please keep in mind your lowest “delivered cost” when you buy paper;  with the current price of gasoline sometimes it’s not economical to pick it up yourself from a source claiming to have the “lowest price”.  Plus, be careful to match quality and paper grade to price claims.

WHAT YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT

Using paper more efficiently in your organization can save you money and help the environment too.  Here are a few ideas:

Instruct your employees not to unneccesarily print out emails and attachments.

When printing PowerPoint presentations, use the setting for ‘handouts’ and print several slides per page.

Use both sides of the page.

Use the right paper for the right application.  Higher grade papers can make a better impression, but are more costly and should be used sparingly.   Consider using lower grade papers for large print or copy runs.

There you have it, let me know if you have any questions in the comments section.

I’m Here Now…and so is ExecOfficeSolutions.com

Sorry folks….I have been down and out for a while. i am sure I was missed. Summer vacation, both mine and some employee’s, combined with final website preparations has kept my focus away from making my usual insightful blog posts. However, the good news is, as the title states, I am back to posting, and that the new website is up and running…so go check it out: www.execofficesolutions.com. Please let me know if you have any suggestions for it.

Now that the site is live, we are going to move it to a faster server, you won’t notice anything. I bring this up because once the site is moved, this blog is going to move to a hosted site. Again, not sure you will notice anything, other than increased functionality. I only say this to serve as an update.

Anyway, I have lots of interesting stuff to post over the next couple of days, so stay tuned for more.

What Happens to the Stuff You Recycle?

You drag your bins out to the curb the night before the designated pick up day. The truck comes and takes it away.

I am guessing that is about as much as any of us knows about the process. We probably do not even know where the recyclables get taken or what happens to them once they get wherever they are going.

The author of the post i am going to link you to had the same questions, and did some research. It’s very interesting information, and worth a look. In fact, the whole site is pretty informative for you environmentalists out there. Check it out here.

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Going Green at the Office

We know that this is a hot topic these days, and even I feel like I have covered it a lot.  i am also finding that there is no shortage of ‘lists’ and ‘guides’ out there on the internet to assist you in your ‘greenification’ efforts.   In other words, if I linked you to every list out there, I would do nothing else all day.

That said, when I find a good one, I want to pass it on.   And the post on this blog is not only a good guide about becoming more green at work, the blog itself has lots of good environmental links.  So rather than me reproducing the post here, hop over to Guidance Green and check it out.

9 Ways to Save on Gas This Summer

Is anyone taking a road trip this summer? Has the price of gas curtailed that time honored summertime family activity? Maybe…

I know that on a daily commuting basis, the price of gas has not deterred people in my area, as traffic is seemingly worse than ever.

Regardless, one way or another, these high prices are affecting us all, so i thought I would take a break from the office supply stuff and bring you these gas saving tips from Smartmoney.com.

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Is There Toner in your Water?

This is cool. Researchers have developed a low-energy water filtration device based on the physics of toner. This article from Technology Review details the process scientists have used to come up with this method of filtering water that could be a boon to those in developing countries who need or soon will need a inexpensive way to procure clean drinking water.

Check it out.

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Microsoft Office To Get PDF Option, Open Office Compatibility

Here is an item from the “It’s About Time” category. Not being a programmer I can only assume that integrating the capabilities mentioned in the title into the Office suite of programs is an immense task. A task that would take an army of programmers years to implement. Why else would we now, in 2008, just be getting this capability? And that statement is misleading actually, because these features are not going to be added until the next version of Office, scheduled for the “first half of 2009″.

I should say we are just getting this capability in terms of Office, because the capability to turn documents into pdf’s has existed elsewhere for a while.

Also, while you wait for Microsoft to bring this next version out, if you need to make a pdf from an office document, PrimoPDF is a nice little utility that sets itself up as a printer on your system and lets you output your documents as a PDF. I have been using it for a long time and it does a nice job.

I got my information in this post from this article in the New York Times.

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