Useful Resources on the Web

COOLTEXT.COM is an online graphics generator that creates custom 3D text and buttons. There are 22 different text styles to choose from, including an animated burning font. There are six different button styles to choose from, including round cornered 3D buttons.

Just set the font and colors and your images are created online. This site is a little slow, yet extremely easy to use and fun to play with. It's also FREE. Give it a try!

MediaBuider 3D Text Maker is a quick - easy to use graphics application.

1. Select a font. There are hundreds to choose from.
2. Select a color. Just click on a color.
3. Set the dimensions. Set the size in pixels, or select standard 468 x 60 pixel banner size.
4. Select an effect. 11 different effects to choose from, for example "zoom".
5. Enter your text in the text box.
6. Click on the "Make 3D Text" button.
7. Right-click on the text and choose "Save Picture As..." in the popup menu, or click on the link to send the image to GIF Works www.gifworks.com.

I sent my image to GIF Works and then selected Effects... Buttonize in the menu. This provided me with a nice 3D animated banner. MediaBuider 3D Text Maker is a quick - easy to use application, and its FREE.

Microsoft's Design Gallery Live Microsoft provides an online gallery of clipart for Word users. The gallery has "New Clip of the Day", "Featured Clips", "Collections", "Select Styles", and "Tip of the Month." I clicked on the link for the "office" collection and find a 223 KB download with 17 highly stylized images. The images only come in .MPF and .CIL formats.

SiteSell's Free SpamCheck Tool. Spam is a serious problem, but the anti-spam measures taken by ISPs and free e-mail sites like Hotmail and Yahoo hurt legitimate newsletter publishers. SiteSell's free SpamCheck Tool is a way for newsletter publishers to make sure that their newsletters can make it through the spam filters.

To use SpamCheck: In the Subject text box of your email application, insert the word TEST in upper case in front of your subject. Then email your newsletter to:
makemy-spamcheck@sitesell.net

In a few minutes you'll receive a full report of all the corrections that you should make in order to keep your newsletter out of spam folders.

Webopedia Don't know the meaning of a technical term? Webopedia bills itself as "The only online dictionary and search engine you need for computer and Internet technology."

You can Search by keyword or by category. I did a search for "portal" and learned that it's "A Web site or service that offers a broad array of resources and services, such as e-mail, forums, search engines, and on-line shopping malls ..."

Plus Webopedia provided links to several recent articles about portals. Webopedia is quick and handy, give it a try.