Using your Bluetooth-enabled cell phone as a modem for Internet access on your laptop is great in a pinch when there’s no Wi-Fi service available or your regular Internet service goes down.
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Foursquare encourages users to check in at different venues around the world by offering discounts and promotions. With 1.8 million users to date, the potential traffic for your business is too significant to ignore.
If you thought you’ve seen it all in the social networking world - Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and other wildly popular social networking websites - take a look at Foursquare. Foursquare is a new social networking application that brings networking closer to home - literally.
Foursquare encourages people to explore locations and businesses in exchange for points that can be used to earn ‘badges’ that mark achievements of the user. Users can check in at different venues, and the person with the most check-ins for a particular time period becomes the ‘Mayor’ of that particular venue. Think of it as something like Twitter + GPS.
What does this do for your business? In a nutshell, Foursquare allows you to get involved in the game by offering discounts and promotions that are specific to your business, which further encourage Foursquare enthusiasts to visit your business. And with 1.8 million users and growing as of mid-August, the potential traffic for your business is too significant to ignore. Since Foursquare is location based, businesses are bound to attract local (and potentially long-term) clients.
Here are some basic steps to help you get started on Foursquare:
While Foursquare is technically a game for consumer, dismissing it because of that fact is a big mistake. The potential for this location-based social networking service is vast.
SD cards can be tricky little gadgets. They sit in our cameras and cell phones, just waiting for us to take the picture of a lifetime. . .at which time, of course, they stop responding. While nothing can predict when or where an SD card will die, proper formatting can both lengthen the life of the card and provide the most available space possible.
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The main selling point of ink refilling services is the significantly lower price tag – however, they might actually cost more in the long run.
Throughout recent months, we’ve seen more and more outfits offering services such as ink refilling, re-manufactured toners, and the like. The main selling point of such services is the significantly reduced price compared to buying new ink cartridges, and naturally, many businesses are attracted to these services in order to save on operating costs.
However, when you look on a deeper level, using refilled ink cartridges, re-manufactured toners, generic printer cartridges, and other similar products actually costs more in the long run. Here’s why:
On the surface, going for these “cheaper” alternatives might seem to be a great idea to cut costs, but over time it’s much more trouble and expense than what it’s worth. So it’s best to stick with using genuine ink cartridges and toners – you’ll enjoy better quality prints and less trouble in the long run.
Follow these tips to find out how tools that track your location can benefit your business
GPS has lately become a near ubiquitous feature in many mobile devices such as car accessories and smart phones. GPS, which stands for Global Positioning Systems, is primarily a navigation system enabled by satellites in orbit around Earth that transmit positional information to devices with a GPS receiver. The system was originally set up by the US government for military or government purposes, but now has been opened up for private use as well.
Because GPS is so pervasive and inexpensive to use, there have been a host of applications providing innovative ways to use the system. Today, GPS is instrumental in activities such as navigation, tracking, mapping, surveying, communications, and recreation – as well as many other activities for business and commerce.
For many businesses, including small establishments, GPS can be used to boost the bottom line in a number of ways. Here are some of them:
Track key assets in the field. Businesses can use GPS to track the location of people and items in the field such as delivery trucks, important packages, field stations, personnel, and more. This allows businesses to more easily monitor movement – and to better control cost and security (such as routes taken and stops along the way) as well as provide key information in real time that may be of value to partners and customers (such as the location of their shipment).
Improve speed. By knowing where your people and assets are at any time, you can potentially improve the speed of decision making and response time – especially in areas such as product delivery or resource redeployment.
Increase efficiency and optimize resources. Businesses in industries such as logistics and distribution can use GPS to make sure that trucks and personnel are following the proper and best possible routes – optimizing fuel expenses, minimizing maintenance and repair costs, and eliminating idle time. Businesses can also use GPS to eliminate costs associated with maintaining paper logs and the back-and-forth communication expenses associated with them.
GPS has the potential to increase the productivity of your business in a big way by providing real-time, dynamic updates on the location and status of your key investments at any time. Contact us for ideas and help in implementing GPS in your operations today.
One method scammers and hackers use is to annoy people into doing what they want with persistent pop-up ads, but there are easy ways to thwart their efforts.
The modus operandi is this: say you’re browsing a random website, and a message suddenly pops up warning that your computer is infected with a deadly virus and you need to go to their website and download the proper antivirus software. If you close the window, another appears, saying the same message, and this happens over and over again until you visit their site.
Naturally, the antivirus they want you to download is fake. The file is usually some sort of malware that doesn’t solve your problem, but compounds it.
The key is to address this without having to download anything or visit any suspicious sites. When the popup problem, well . . . pops up, simply press ALT+F4 on your keyboard to force your browser to close, or go to the Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL) and close your browser there. That usually does the trick. Of course, you will need to start a new browser session or else risk going back to the same site the popup attack came from in the first place
Another technique scammers use to deceive users into going to their websites is to use a hot news item or trending topic as a lure to get you there. To avoid this, just notice what website you’re going to before you click a link, and only go to websites and news websites that you trust.
It’s admittedly a bit of effort on your part to avoid getting scammed or hacked, but it’s a lot more inconvenient if your system becomes majorly messed up by malware. If you want to know more about staying safe from rogue antiviruses and other forms of malware, give us a call and we’ll be happy to discuss genuine antivirus protection with you.
Disasters, whether acts of nature or man-made mishaps, can strike unexpectedly at any organization. Recovering from a catastrophe can be very demanding, expensive, and time-consuming – especially for those who haven’t taken preventative measures and preparations.
Small to medium-sized businesses usually think that disaster plans are only important for large enterprises. However, these days even small businesses can’t afford to operate without a disaster plan. Plus, recent technology innovations make disaster planning reasonably priced for virtually every business, regardless of size.
For any business owner, three objectives exist for disaster planning: 1) the assurance of never losing critical information, 2) reducing downtime when emergencies happen, and 3) quick recovery after a loss of data.
These three objectives translate into three IT services:
Of these three tasks, Business Continuity is the most comprehensive since it entails much more than a simple discussion of IT matters—it’s a thorough, systematic action plan. And though you definitely need to consider protecting your IT infrastructure and data, you must also consider what you and your staff should do if a disaster occurs. Is there a meeting place where your staff could gather in the event of a building evacuation? Do you have a plan to get in touch with all your staff and their emergency contacts to relay important information? Is there a way for you to communicate with customers to advise when you’ll resume operations? What will you do if one of your main dealers experiences a disaster?
The significance of these three services should never be taken lightly, but unfortunately many small and medium-sized businesses ignore them. Why? Simply because when people think about disaster, the first things that pop in their minds are earthquakes, floods, and fires, and they figure there’s a low chance of those happening. But remember that there are also human-induced disasters such as hackers, unhappy employees who sabotage, and employees who thoughtlessly erase important data. Any of these could easily happen to you.
You may already have a backup system in place, and perhaps, you have all three—backup, disaster recovery, and a business continuity plan. However, since business goals and technical environments constantly change, your plan requires regular assessment to ensure it’s still accomplishing all your needs. We can assist you in evaluating your existing disaster preparedness or suggest options if you don’t have plans yet. Contact us now for more details on how we can help you.
The people behind MS Outlook have now integrated social networking into the system through the Outlook Social Connector.
Outlook has long been the staple in many business communications – it is truly one of Microsoft’s feats of genius given how prevalent it is in professional correspondence between businesses and organizations today.
In order for the platform to conform and adjust to current norms, the people behind MS Outlook have now integrated social networking into the entire system through what they call the Outlook Social Connector (OSC). What the Outlook Social Connector basically does is enable the user to connect his or her email account with his or her LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, and Windows Live accounts. You’ll be able to receive updates from these social networking websites through MS Outlook.
Outlook Social Connector is compatible with versions of MS Outlook beginning with 2003 and up, and boasts features such as adding friends into social networking websites through the new Outlook People Pane, as well as receiving updates from friends and contacts whose email address is also listed in their social network account. Also, like a social network, the OSC allows you to set privacy settings and select the kind of information you want made public.
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If you have ever asked how to change the default background color of the Calendar in Outlook 2007, read on.
If your PDF prints larger or smaller than you want, use Page Scaling to print at the size you’d prefer. Use Tiling to print banners and other large format items across multiple sheets of paper.
