Biz Tech Talk

Windows 7, To Upgrade or Not To Upgrade

Windows 7 is here, and while anyone can go to a number of places to learn about the technical bells and whistles of the newest operating system from Microsoft, most business owners don't use bells and whistles as a business reason for upgrading. From a business perspective, why would anyone want to plan the move to Windows 7?

How Should We Be Communicating

In the "Olden Days", the list of communication vehicles was quite small. Face to face, Parcel Post or Telephone were pretty much the only normal modes of exchanging information. Then in the late 1980's the fax machine started its rise to power as the new "instant" form of 1-way communication, and the information race started.

20 years later we have so many ways to communicate, it's daunting. Land lines, VoIP, Cellular, Twitter, Texting, Facebook, LinkedIn, IM, "snail" mail, E-Mail, Fax, etc. Many of these technologies have huge overlaps so you can email, text, websurf, IM and twitter directly from your cell phones. The computing power in a plain old "Dumb" cellular phone far surpasses the computing power the Apollo 11 Astronauts had at their disposal while the "smart" phones, PDA's, iPhones and Blackberries are just phenomenally-complex and intricate devices that we take for granted.

PCA Group Launches PCA Programmers Web site

The PCA Group launches the PCA Programmers Web site, www.pcaprogrammers.com.

Corporate Computers vs Home Computers

Just about every company out there has some sort of computer system. Whether it's a single PC running Quickbooks, a peer-to-peer system in a small office or a full-fledged domain-controlled network in a large office, PC's are everywhere. A lot of times it is obvious as to what kind of PC or network you should have. The problems arise when a company starts with one kind of network or PC because that's all they can afford. Later, when they grow larger, the choices they made while small can cause problems, costing significant amounts of money to fix.

WOOT!

Ok, not all my posts are technical, informative or even coherent.  This is probably one of them, but I am excited about my bags of crap.

Let me back up a sec.  If you’ve never been to www.woot.com, you might want to take a gander.  They sell one thing a day.  It’s usually electronic in nature and at a very good price.  If it sells out, it says “Sold Out” until Midnight when another product comes on.  Sometimes the product doesn’t sell out, so there’s a few left over.

VIRAL VIDEOS, OR ARE THEY?

As an avid IBM supporter I am the first person to tell you that Microsoft trounces IBM when it comes to marketing their products.  This has bothered me for years.  Every time I go to Lotusphere in Orlando, FL I see all the cool new products that IBM is releasing and then I hear absolutely nothing for an entire year until the next Lotusphere.  IBM marketing just doesn’t seem to exist anywhere!

Memory leak found in final Microsoft Windows 7 version

As reported in the attached posting from InfoWorld, there is a massive memory leak that occurs when the chkdsk.exe utility of Microsoft Windows 7 is run.   The issue occurs when scanning a secondary disk and may cause the PC to stop operating.

 

For more read: http://www.infoworld.com/d/windows/infoworld-confirms-critical-windows-7-bug-397?source=IFWNLE_nlt_daily_2009-08-05

Microsoft Office 2010

Testing of Microsoft Office 2010 is in Beta and on track for release in early 2010.  Microsoft is adding ways to work simultaneously on documents, updating email organization and editing video and photos, with this new package.  Plus, for the first time, introducing a Web-based component, which is still under wraps.  Cost has not been released but there will be variations of the suite for big corporations, consumers and small businesses.

FREE Microsoft Tools

Did you know that Microsoft offers FREE tools?  Here is a list of some of what they have to offer that you might find useful:

"Get a free PC safety scan" from Microsoft is a tool that checks for viruses and overall PC health, plus a free Malicious Software Removal tool.  Go to www.microsoft.com, under "Using your computer" (bottom of the page) for these free tools.

Wall Street Journal Warns of Web Ad Viruses

In the June 15, 2009 Wall Street Journal, there was an article that warns of the potential threat of hidden viruses within Web ads.  This is why it is so critical to have anti-virus software installed on your machine and have it automatically update.  The software updates will help capture and quarantine the newer viruses that are unleashed daily through the Internet.