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The Microsoft Office program suite basically runs the world. If you know what you are doing with Office, then you are ready to use computers more and more in your everyday life. Office contains all of the basics for computer use. Word lets you type up just about anything. Powerpoint gives you the ability to create presentations. Excel and Access give you the ability to build databases. These are all important stepping stones. If someone doesn’t know how to do this, then they should look into MS Office training.

This isn’t actually that tough. There are a number of training centers available that will walk you through the basics of Office so that you are ready and able to start using it often. This won’t work for everyone though. It used to be that you were just out of luck if you couldn’t go to a training session. Now you have new options. These take the form of Microsoft Office training videos.

The premise is simple. Most of Microsoft Office will be taught through a do-it-yourself approach anyway. The only way to get good at it is through figuring out the processes for yourself. They’ve now made it easy to just do the work through pre-recorded lectures viewed at your own leisure.

The simple truth about technology is that you will usually understand it best if you do the instruction yourself. It is really hard to just learn how to use a program. You need to do a lot of things by yourself or alongside an instructor. This used to mean expensive training sessions at a specific center, but it is now possible to do it in the comfort of your own home with MS Office training CD plans.

These are really simple in nature. You just put the CD in the computer and then follow the instructions that it gives. The beauty of it is that it can guide you through the real ways that you’d load up the relevant programs and put them into general use. This is a great way to start off and a good way to quickly get a great understanding of the simple things everyone has to learn at some point.

The lessons take a mixture of simulations and Office 2007 training videos. You can just work through the lessons at your leisure and gain your education when it fits your schedule. What more could you want. You can learn about the latest software without a major investment.

While most of the world scrimps during this period of economic turmoil, the underground economy of hackers, phishers, and scammers is alive and well. Internet security company Symantec reported that the nefarious world of cybercriminals has become a $275 million industry, and is most prevalent in the United States.

In a document that reads like a modernized episode of The Untouchables, Symantec details a year spent tracking IRC chat channels and Web-based forums to collect data on how cybercriminals interact and how much the desired information costs.

Credit card information predictably comes in as the number one most prevalent and requested form of stolen data: 31 percent of the underground economy lists these numbers for sale, and 24 percent of those involved request them. Symantec explains that buying items online using a credit card — stolen or not — is much easier than using bank accounts or full-blown identity theft.

After bank accounts, phishing and spam are the third most requested method of ripping people off. Most often these types of attacks seem harmless and easily ignorable, but according to the report, these invasions cost U.S. consumers and businesses $2.1 billion in 2007.

Forty-one percent of the underground economy comes from the United States, and the runner up, Romania, accounts for 13 percent. Those stolen credit cards and bank accounts garnered some $275 million for hackers in 2007, but if every stolen credit card and bank account had been emptied, the report estimates the number would reach upwards to $7 billion.

The most disturbing trend revealed has to do with the patience of contemporary online thieves. Instead of the crazy bandit method of breaking into huge businesses and draining accounts, many hackers simply find the payment-processing systems and leave everything else alone. This sneaky approach gives hackers the valuable information they need without setting off loud alarms.

The timing of the report is both scary and convenient. With the holidays right around the corner, online thieves are more likely to attack, as credit card fraud is more difficult to track during peak shopping times. It’s also good for Symantec — anyone looking for computer security software now has a name for a stocking stuffer.

Talks to put The Beatles’ catalog on Apple’s iTunes online music store have stalled, former Fab Four member Paul McCartney told the BBC.

The Beatles is one of the few big acts left whose music is not available on iTunes, but the settlement of a trademark dispute between Apple and The Beatles’ company Apple Corps Ltd last year was seen as finally clearing the way.

“We’d like to do it,” McCartney was quoted as telling the BBC on its website on Tuesday. “We are very for it, we’ve been pushing it. But there are a couple of sticking points, I understand.

“Last word I got back was it’s stalled at the moment,” McCartney added. “But I really hope it will happen because I think it should.”

McCartney said that EMI, which has acted as the distributor for the Beatles since the early 1960s, “want something we’re not prepared to give ‘em.

“It’s between EMI and The Beatles I think — what else is new?”

The solo catalogues of all four members of The Beatles are available digitally, and fans are keen for the group, the most successful in pop music history, to follow suit.

“We have been working hard to secure agreement with Apple Corps to make the Beatles’ legendary recording catalog available to fans in digital form,” said a spokeswoman for EMI.

“Unfortunately, the various parties involved have been unable to reach agreement, but we really hope everyone can make progress soon.”

Seeking to grab the top market position within a year in the Rs 20,000-crore market, Anil Ambani group announced its foray into the online retail business where it would sell everything that could be sold over the Internet.Under the banner of the group’s financial products distribution unit Reliance Money, the new venture would make available a wide variety of products for e-shopping, ranging from financial products like IPOs, mutual funds, insurance policies and gold coins to items like apparel, accessories, books, magazines, CDs, DVDs, home appliances and even flowers.

Announcing the launch, Reliance Money CEO Sudip Bandyopadhyay told PTI over the phone from Mumbai that the e-commerce web portal– RelianceMoneyMall.Com– would be like a big shopping mall in electronic format where consumers would be able to buy whatever that can be sold online.

Asserting that the company was targetting at least 20 per cent market share for the new venture, Bandyopadhyay said that the aim is to grab the top position in less than a year. “There are over 60 million Internet users in the country and this number would double in about two and a half years, all of whom we are looking to tap as our target market.Besides, there are already an estimated 10.8 million people shopping online,” Bandyopadhyay said.

“We are looking at a market share of at least 20 per cent in this market with business worth over Rs 20,000 crore a year,” he added.

The portal will also be a host of subscription-based financial products such as technical charts, stock and commodity alert SMS packs, newsletters and research reports.