For a while, PDF creation was controlled pretty exclusively by Adobe. Somewhat recently other programs have come about that will convert an existing file into a PDF. If you don’t need any of the bells and whistles that Adobe Acrobat offers and just want to convert a file, Neevia Technology has the answer.

The Document Converter eXPress is easy to use and requires nothing more than an internet connection and a file to be converted. You simply choose from a few settings options, browse for your file and upload it, and decide if you want the converted file to be sent to you via email or open up in a new browser window where you can read or save it. The image below shows the online converter interface.

As you can see converting to PDF has never been simpler. Not only that, but the converter will turn files into various other formats as well, so you’re not limited only to PDF’s. There’s a number of times when something like this can come in handy, even if you have Acrobat or another software program, so it might be a good idea to keep this site in mind.

There’s nothing more frustrating than trying to sign in to a website only to realize you don’t know the password. Well, I can think of one or two things that are worse than that, but I think you get my point.

The reason I bring this issue up is there’s an open source software program called KeePass that makes it easy to organize and access passwords for all your online accounts.

Of course, a big concern with the internet and especially personal accounts online is security. There is a great deal of sensitive information kept there and if it were to fall in the wrong hands could be a very big problem.

In order to keep your accounts as secure as possible, many experts suggest you don’t use the same password for all your accounts. Instead they recommend using different passwords for each. This is a difficult task when you start accumulating usernames and passwords for dozens of websites, so some sort of method is necessary to keep them all straight.

In the past I’ve used a couple different methods like writing them in a notebook or keeping them in a Microsoft OneNote file. Neither of these methods are very secure, so to counter that I made up a simple but effective coding system in case someone were to get ahold of the notebook or file.

My way works ok, but not great, which is why I thought I’d give KeePass a try. After downloading the software and setting up my account, I added a few passwords. There’s not a whole lot of flash to it, but there doesn’t need to be as long as your data is secure.

KeePass Mobility

The part I really like about KeePass is how mobile it is. There are two different kinds of downloads. Either you can install the software on your computer (not very mobile), download a .zip file and store it on a thumb drive (pretty mobile), or with the help of some user-contributed plugins, use it directly on your BlackBerry, iPhone, or PocketPC (extremely mobile).

Because I use passwords on both home and work computers, mobility is key for me. I don’t like the idea of bogging down my hard drive with many software applications, so storing one copy on a thumb drive and taking it with me works best. I do this already with some other open-source software programs.

To Use it or Not To Use it

I really like this software as an internet tool, however, I probably won’t be making it my primary password system (at least not anytime real soon) for a couple reasons. Actually they’re more like excuses, but who’s counting.

The first is the effort it will take to set up. If you’re like me and already have a ton of accounts and passwords, setting them all up in KeePass would be very time consuming.

I think it would be a great resource once they were all entered, assuming I’d stay on top of updating it each time that I created a new account somewhere, but that’s a big assumption and probably isn’t likely.

The second reason is my concern about security. I trust KeePass’s security policies and have faith in their efforts to keep my passwords safe from hackers and such.

What I don’t have faith in is myself remembering a super-secure password without writing it down somewhere. And then if it were to fall into the wrong hands, that person would have not only the passwords but a complete list of the sites that I have accounts on.

The KeePass Predicament

This is the predicament as I see it: The experts say use a different password for all accounts. KeePass says “Use our software and only have to remember one password.”

Ok, so far so good.

But what happens when your one password is found, stolen, hacked, etc.? Now they don’t have only one bank account, they’ve got them all. And your email, and your Twitter account.

It’s a real “chicken or the egg” dilemma and I’m not sure I have the answer.

I haven’t completely made up my mind on KeePass yet, but my initial thought is for it to be worth using I’d have to set aside some time to get it started initially and then come up with a very, very secure password, commit it to memory and throw away the key. Otherwise there’s just too much at stake.

I’d like to hear what you think about password management software. Have you used it before? How well has it worked for you? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

If you’re looking for fonts that will help you add some flair to your creations, I’ve listed some of my favorite font sites all of which offer FREE font downloads. Some are very, very cool and some are a little weird, but with thousands to choose from, I’m sure you’ll be able to find a few you like.

As always the comment section is open for you to share some of your favorites.

(Windows Users: to download and use the fonts you have to open and unzip the folder. Drag the font file into your ‘fonts’ folder (c:/ drive > WINDOWS > fonts) and you’re done! You can now use the font in any of the programs on your computer.

Mac Users: read these step-by-step instructions.)

DAFONT.com – this is my favorite free font site. At the time of this writing there are 8,200 fonts listed on their site. So far I haven’t found one that wasn’t free. They are easily categorized and have large examples so you can quickly browse through. The organization on this site is what I like best about it. If there’s a particular theme I’m going for, I can see what’s available right away.

They’ve got some pretty cool font management tools that they link to as well. Most of them cost some money, but there are a few that are free. Those seem to be a bit outdated, so use them at your own discretion. I haven’t tried any of them out yet.

1001FREEFONTS.com - I like the set-up of this site. It’s very similar to dafont.com in how it’s presented, and there are some fonts listed on both. However, there are enough unique fonts to make it worthwhile to check both out.

The cool thing about this site, which I thought was a pretty good idea, is that you can pay $19.95 (USD) and have all 10,000 fonts downloaded at one time. If you’re planning to download them all anyway, that may not be a bad thing to do. It will probably save you hours.

At the bottom of the homepage they list a number of font related articles and news. I know what you’re thinking. There’s news about fonts? Well aparently there is and 1001FreeFonts found them.

URBANFONTS.com – Don’t let the name fool you. This site isn’t only graffiti type fonts. There are over 8,000 different fonts here. They are broken down very carefully into similar types and themes and the choices are extensive. I have seen a few of the same fonts on this site as are on 1001 and dafont, but I guess that’s to be expected when you start dealing with that many styles.

The best part of this site is the selection of Dingbats they have available. For those who don’t know, dingbats are different shapes, symbols and pictures. Many of them are things we see routinely, like the symbol for recycling or a smiley face. You may not use them often, but when you do you’ll be amazed at how helpful they are.

There’s also an UrbanFonts Blog and Forum that you might find useful.

Another site that I think is pretty cool, but doesn’t offer free font downloads is the What The Font Forum. There you’ll find an open forum where you can enter images that contain a font you’re trying to identify. This can be very useful for a number of different reasons. It may take some time for your question to be answered, though, currently there are about 85,000 unsolved cases. Just in case, the site does have some other font-related content for you to check out while you wait.

New and exciting fonts are not only for graphic designers. Anyone who uses the computer for any type of word processing can enjoy the benefits of the look of a new font. They’re very easy to install and can give you so much creative flexibility. If you’re not currently using fonts that don’t come with Windows, I suggest to try it. If you already are, then I encourage you to use the sites I’ve listed. You won’t be disappointed.