NetWorthy Systems Blog

One of my favorite sites is Giveawayoftheday.com For those who've never heard of it, every day they feature a new software that the vendor has agreed to "give away" for a 24 hour period. This is not shareware or crippled software. It is the full-blown version of whatever product is being given away. Granted you won't find Microsoft Vista Business or anything like that here, but I have downloaded many usefull programs from the site. I've also downloaded some not so good programs. I like to look in mid-afternoon at the site after many have already downloaded whatever is being offered. Users will report back on the site with their findings and a running tally marked in percentages is kept as to whether the software is "good" or "bad" Check it out, you may just find what you're looking for. At least the price is right!

Microsoft released its entry into the smb telephone marketplace about 9 months ago. Responsepoint is the first affordable telephone system that runs on your own computer network, integrates with Microsoft Small Business Server, and has a simplified form of Unified Messaging. It also integrates with your Outlook Contacts, so when one of your contacts calls, it pops up on your screen with the contact's information.

Sometime in 2010 Microsoft is scheduled to release Office 2010 Starter Edition. This will be a free version that only includes Word and Excel. In exchange for receiving and using this edition of Office for free, you will have to put up with ads. Here is the quote from Microsoft:

The podcast on digital photography is now posted on  Geek Free Radio. This show originally aired on March 2, 2010. Tim interviews Danny Keffer of Keffer's Photography regarding digital photography and the advances made over the last few years. If you get you megapixels confused with your megabytes, then this show is for you!

According to an article in the Wall Street Journal, Barnes & Noble will announce a new e-book reader tomorrow. It's dubbed the "Nook" and this color reader will retail for $259

Some other sources on the internet are saying that B&N are partnering with Best Buy to boost sales of the new product. Sources are also saying it will be available in Best Buy stores on Thursday, which just happens to coincide with Windows 7 Launch Day. That's either incredibly smart, or incredibly stupid, if it's true.

One of the unique features touted is the ability to "lend" books to friends. I'm not sure exactly what this entails, but none of the other e-book readers on the market have this feature. If you want the details from the WSJ, click here.

To Your Success,

Tim

If you use T-Mobile and a SideKick for your mobile access, this announcement comes as no surprise to you. If you don't, then read on.

Apparently, all of the data for Sidekick users is stored "in the cloud" and not locally on the phone. What this means is that your data resides on a server somewhere in cyberspace. If the server crashes, your mobile data (contacts, emails, etc.) is gone.

Which is exactly what happened to T-Mobile Sidekick users last week. The kicker is that T-mobile is blaming Microsoft (in a subtle way) for the data loss. Apparently, T-mobile's data cloud is managed by Danger, a company purchased by Microsoft last year. The company was performing update maintenance to the systems, which caused a crash. And guess what? No usable backup! The information is gone forever. T-Mobile initially issued an initial message of hope Saturday, but then changed their mind and let its customers know their information is gone forever. They are offering a free months data service to affected customers, but that seems like too little, too late in my opinion.

How can this happen to a huge company you ask? Simple. We see it every day at Networthy Systems with small and large companies. A backup program is turned on, and everybody assumes it is working properly. Backups are not managed, or monitored. Test restores are never performed to make sure that backup you have is actually usable.

If you run a small business, or even a large business, you need a third party to monitor your networks for various issues, including this one. Most businesses never recover from catastrophic data loss, and end up going out of business. If the person/group responsible for your IT needs is not regularly monitoring and TESTING your backups routinely, you are a ticking timebomb.

To Your Success,

Tim

We talk a lot about business and technology and all of that good stuff here on the NetWorthy Systems blog, but believe it or not, there are (at least) a couple things in life that are more important that that. One of the big ones is personal health. This goes double for all you hard workers out there who put in long stressful hours trying to run and manage your business - it's easy to forget or skip over the routines for proper health maintenance. Unfortunately, we don't offer a flat-rate remote monitoring and maintenance service for humans, but here are a few tips you can do to keep yourself in tip-top shape while on the job.

The words Productivity and Internet have been fit together in many different sentences, and usually in the sense that the Internet is a Productivity-killer. Take Facebook, for example; there are many arguments stating that Facebook is costing companies billions of dollars because employees are spending too much time on the social network while at work. Of course, Facebook (and the other social networks) are practically mandatory for businesses who want to market themselves. Other companies are clamoring that personal social media use greatly improves productivity and employee moral.

Last time, we blogged about whether or not social media and personal Internet use was a bottleneck for employee productivity. Let's not look at the Internet as a fundamental time-waster or a necessary evil. After all, the Internet has changed the way companies do business. This time we're going to investigate if your Internet is keeping up with your company.

Don't you hate it when you contact us for tech support with a strange issue, and then you can't recreate it? Don't feel bad. It happens all the time, even to us. Sometimes those rarely occurring issues can't be fixed unless you get some photographic evidence of what's going on. This quick guide will show you how to take screenshots of your desktop.

It's the start of the 2011 hurricane season, and with Hurricane Irene making contact with Atlantic coastlines this week, it certainly doesn't hurt to make sure your business is prepared for a disaster. Even if you are lucky enough to not be affected by these devastating storms, there are plenty of opportunities for nature to cause havoc on our way of life. It's never to late to put together a Disaster Recovery Plan (alternatively known as a Business Continuity Plan) in case a natural (or otherwise) disaster were to occur for you. Nobody wants to think a disaster might happen, but it isn't impossible. Here are a few steps small businesses can take to become better prepared.

Want to look like a PC Pro and get more done faster? With these simple tips, you'll have the skills to impress your co-workers with a few keystrokes. The Windows 7 Taskbar is the menu bar that stretches along (typically) the bottom of your screen. These are some lesser-known productivity tips to streamline your Windows 7 experience.

Virtualization isn't new for small businesses, some companies have been enjoying the benefits of server virtualization for many years. However, the concept is new to other growing organizations. Virtualization allows you to consolidate the number of servers you have in your company using one of several virtualization packages. Let's take a look at a few major reasons to consider server virtualization.

If you use email, you've probably seen spam. If you think we're talking about a canned meat product, and are wondering how it relates to email, then we envy you. For everyone else, saying your inbox probably has a little spam is a dramatic understatement.

Spam comes in several different flavors; ranging to inappropriate solicitations to unwanted gibberish to carefully coordinated scams. We're going to go over one of these tricky spoofs that is known to fool users.

Looking to increase your effectiveness by reducing the time it takes you to perform simple tasks on your computer? In today's Quick Tip, we're going to cover a couple ways to access the directories you need to access the most so you don't need to hunt for them to access your files.

Laptops and Netbooks boast portability, but many laptop users find that they need to take their power cables with them if they want their device to run for more than a couple hours. While older laptops are typically less efficient, it also isn't uncommon for the batteries to wear down over years of use. Sure, you can purchase a new (or bigger) battery, but let's go over a few ways you can improve the battery life on your laptop.

We've been talking a bit about the benefits of going mobile, especially for business owners who want to get more done. One of the best benefits of a laptop computer is portability, which leads into its greatest weakness; it's easy to steal.

According to the FBI, over 1 million laptops are stolen each year. If you are using your laptop for business, you'll want to take action ahead of time and employ some protective countermeasures to keep your business safe. We'll even go over some ways you can recover your stolen laptop.

For a small or midsize business, technology budgets are naturally fairly slim. It goes without saying that a company needs to get the best bang for their buck with their IT infrastructure, and it's not uncommon to see workstations and other devices still in play years after their prime. This leads to underperforming technology, which in turn, limits what your bottom line can accomplish (remember, your team is only as good as your worst player). Some small businesses are approaching technology in ways that would normally be reserved for HR's interactions with employees, but they are finding that this can improve performance.

Just in case you thought the government was taking care of your tax dollars in a fiscally responsible manner, along comes this story. 

I ran across an article about differences in cheap laser printers versus more expensive professional versions. As it turns out, for your business, it may just end up costing you more money over time. So the next time you think you might save some money and go on the cheap, you might want to think again. The link is below: