Triona's Tech Tips

Are you prepared for a disaster? This checklist will help you assess your plans for home and business.

1) Critical resources
What are your most important resources, and which ones can you do without in a crisis?

2) Backups
What is your backup strategy? Where are your off-site backups located? Do you test your backups to make sure they are valid?

3) Inventory
Do you have a complete and current list of all hardware and software, including serial numbers and documentation?

4) Network and Internet
Do you understand the layout of your network? What is the impact if your connection goes down? Consider alternate options for use in the event of an emergency.

5) Remote Access
Can you work from somewhere other than your primary location? What resources would you need to do so? Evaluate various options to find one that works best for you.

6) Security
What would you do if you had a security incident, such as a virus infection, loss of data, or identity theft? Develop a plan, including resources that can help you.

7) Fire Drills
Test your strategies to verify that they will work in a real-world situation.

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Microsoft has unveiled its latest version of Microsoft Office. But Office 2010 offers no upgrade path for previous users of the software suite.

In the past, users of Office were able to purchase upgrades instead of paying full price for new versions. In my opinion, discontinuing this option is a mistake, given the economy and the fact that many Office users see no reason to upgrade.

Microsoft faces competition from the free OpenOffice as well as from cloud-based services like Google Docs. Perhaps Microsoft’s reasoning behind the discontinuation of upgrade pricing is to lure people to the cloud-based version of Office 2010 (which is available free for consumers on Windows Live via an ad-supported service). If so, alienating previous customers is a gamble that may not pay off.

What do you think? Do you plan to upgrade to Office 2010 and if not, would upgrade pricing have altered your decision?

Don’t miss my upcoming seminars on social networking:

Marketing Your Business Through Blogs And Facebook (Beginner)
GLMV Chamber Of Commerce Munch & Learn
Wednesday, June 16, 2010, 12:00pm-1:00pm
GLMV Chamber Office, 1123 S. Milwaukee Ave, Libertyville, Illinois

See below for the advanced session of this class at the GLMV Chamber Best Practices B2B EXPO & Conference on June 23rd.

Discover how to market your business online by leveraging the power of blogs and Facebook. Learn how to set up your Facebook profile or fan page, how to create and maintain a business blog, and how to integrate the two to offer a comprehensive online presence. Computers are not required but you may bring a laptop for hands-on instruction. To register, contact the GLMV Chamber at (847) 680-0750.

Marketing Your Business Through Blogs And Facebook (Advanced)
GLMV Chamber Best Practices B2B EXPO & Conference
Wednesday, June 23, 2010, 2:15pm-3:00pm
Doubletree Hotel, 510 East IL Route 83, Mundelein, Illinois

This is a more advanced session and followup to the previous Munch & Learn seminar on June 16th.

Discover how to market your business online by leveraging the power of blogs and Facebook. Learn how to set up your Facebook profile or fan page, how to create and maintain a business blog, and how to integrate the two to offer a comprehensive online presence. Computers are not required but you may bring a laptop for hands-on instruction. To register, contact the GLMV Chamber at (847) 680-0750.

Basic Social Networking
Crystal Lake Chamber Of Commerce Business Builder Breakfast
Friday, July 16, 2010, 8:30am-10:00am
Crystal Lake Chamber, 427 W. Virginia St, Crystal Lake, Illinois

See below for the advanced session of this class.

Have you been asked to get LinkedIn? Can you make contacts through Facebook? Should you Twitter your business? Learn how to use social networking to market your business. We’ll talk about which sites are right for you, how to establish your profile and how to integrate social networking into your marketing strategy. To register, contact the Crystal Lake Chamber at (815) 459-1300.

Advanced Social Networking
Crystal Lake Chamber Of Commerce Business Builder Breakfast
Friday, August 6, 2010, 8:30am-10:00am
Crystal Lake Chamber, 427 W. Virginia St, Crystal Lake, Illinois

See above for the beginner session of this class.

Now that you understand the basics of social networking, let’s delve deeper into how this new technology can help your business. We’ll talk about the advanced features of social networking and how you can use integration tools to save time. To register, contact the Crystal Lake Chamber at (815) 459-1300.

My column in today’s Northwest Herald is Plenty Of Risks, Rewards With Cloud Computing. I’ve discussed cloud computing before here on Tech Tips, and today I’d like to give you some tips on how you can mitigate potential risks. These rules apply equally well to data that resides on a local server in your office.

Don’t forget, if you subscribe to my Tech Tips email newsletter you’ll receive tips like these, plus tech support tricks and other ways you can get the most out of your PC or Mac computer. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

• As with any Internet account, use strong, unique passwords for every member of your group, and make sure those passwords are not shared with anyone.
• Evaluate your cloud computing options and look for one that not only meets your needs, but has clearly defined security policies.
• Establish rules for your employees or project partners. Are there certain kinds of data that should not go in the cloud?
• Configure your cloud computing environment so that access to data is limited to only what is needed for each person. For example, an employee working on a particular project may not need access to every file.
• Be sure to disable cloud computing accounts if a person leaves or is no longer needed on the project.

Those of us who have used computers for a long time remember the days when floppy diskettes offered the best in computer data storage. Then we graduated to hard drives, CDs, DVDs, flash drives.. and now, network attached storage (NAS).

A NAS is a unit containing one or more hard drives with a network jack. The biggest advantage of a NAS is that it is much less expensive than a server. Instead of spending thousands of dollars for the hardware and software needed to run, say, Window Server, you can spend mere hundreds for one terabyte (that’s 1,024GB, or about 728,000 floppy disks!) of storage capacity. And the device is barely the size of a shoebox.

The key to NAS is its redundancy. NAS writes your data across multiple hard drives using a technology called RAID. The drives are hot-swap, meaning you can replace them while the unit is running. You can also add additional storage capacity simply by sliding in a new drive.

NAS is cross-platform. If you work with both PCs and Macs, you can connect both easily and conveniently to the NAS. You can set up file shares, users and groups on a NAS, just as you would on a server. Some come with built-in backup software. Configuration is done through a simple web interface.

NAS is a terrific server replacement for any small business or home office in need of centralized storage at low cost.

Subscribe free to Tech Tips and receive bonus tips, tricks and product reviews. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

The FCC recently lost an important ruling on net neutrality. The case concerned Comcast’s throttling of high-traffic users, primarily those using the BitTorrent service to transfer large files. The ruling is a setback for the FCC’s goal of preventing Internet service providers from filtering or blocking Internet traffic or prioritizing some kinds of data over others.

On the surface the case seems relatively benign. After all, why shouldn’t an Internet provider like Comcast be able to prevent users from taking up the bulk of its bandwidth, or offer some premium services at faster rates than others? But net neutrality is important for anyone who runs a small business or uses a home computer.

Imagine you run Mom-N-Pop Widgets, and your biggest competitor is Real Big Widget Company. Without net neutrality, Real Big could use its real big budget and influence to prioritize its data traffic over yours. Your web site might load more slowly than Real Big’s, or might not be available at all to some visitors.

Or, imagine you are a home user trying to get information about a cause that interests you — let’s say breast cancer. But what if drug manufacturers pay your Internet provider so their content is prioritized? You would receive skewed results favoring the drug manufacturers’ solutions over other, perhaps lesser known but valuable options. In other words, whoever has the money will be able to pay to be seen, while smaller entities may be unable to compete.

How about censorship? The incident with Google in China shows how governments or other entities may try to assert control over the Internet. Net neutrality is about freedom of speech as well as fairness in business practices.

Previously, the FCC described the “Four Freedoms” upon which Internet communications law should be based. These were described by FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski in a speech last year:

Network operators cannot prevent users from accessing the lawful Internet content, applications, and services of their choice, nor can they prohibit users from attaching non-harmful devices to the network.

Genachowski added two more principles:

The fifth principle is one of non-discrimination — stating that broadband providers cannot discriminate against particular Internet content or applications.

The sixth principle is a transparency principle — stating that providers of broadband Internet access must be transparent about their network management practices.

If you read the speech you’ll find examples of how these principles have been violated in the past. Without codified rules preventing such abuse, the Internet would quickly devolve into a world of haves and have-nots, and the kind of innovation that resulted in eBay, FaceBook and Netscape could be curtailed.

Naturally, some Internet providers have criticized the FCC’s proposal, claiming such rules are not needed. But, as Genachowski states:

This is not about government regulation of the Internet. It’s about fair rules of the road for companies that control access to the Internet. We will do as much as we need to do, and no more, to ensure that the Internet remains an unfettered platform for competition, creativity, and entrepreneurial activity.

As a small business owner and a consumer, I want the Internet open and available to anyone regardless of how much clout or money they might have. The Internet is vital to global communications and the future of humanity. Let’s not see it reduced to a fraction of its potential.

Those glossy ads for inexpensive computers look good, don’t they? Imagine a brand new PC for less than $500! But there’s a catch: those computers may not last long enough for you to get your money’s worth.

In my experience, bargain-basement PCs are typically made with less-than-stellar components, so they break down faster and cost more to repair. They often come with minimal memory and hard drive space, meaning you’ll have to upgrade sooner than you would with a midrange model. That’s assuming you’re able to upgrade at all. Some of the low-end models don’t have the capacity to be upgraded, or use proprietary parts that cost a fortune.

Bear in mind that the practical lifespan of a computer is about 3 years. Yes, most of us use ours longer, but the manufacturers design computers with that lifespan in mind. You can buy a $1,200 PC that lasts you 3 years or longer, or you can buy a $500 PC that lasts you less than a year. The computer manufacturers love that because they can pretend they’re saving you money while locking you into a continual re-purchase cycle.

Consider your computer an investment. The more you spend up-front, the longer that investment will last.

Subscribe free to Tech Tips and receive bonus tips, tricks and product reviews. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

You’ve bitten the social networking bullet, and now you’re on sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Concerned about security? You should be.

Social networking sites are designed to share information, not keep it private. Even with changes such as the much-touted Facebook privacy settings, anything you put on the Internet can potentially be seen.

But this can be to your advantage, especially if you’re marketing your business. News about services or products is information you want to share. Be sure that your posts are timely, concise and above all, relevant. Nobody cares if you had cornflakes for breakfast or that you just put your socks on. The more topical and informative your message, the more followers (and business!) you’ll receive.

I strongly recommend that you avoid posting personal information, no matter what your security settings are. That includes pictures of your children or vacation plans. But by all means, post information that you want disseminated. Why not let the Internet’s viral tendencies work for you?

For more information, join me for my class on Social Networking on Wednesday, January 20th, 2010, from 9:30am-11:30am at the Cary Park District.

Your free email subscription to Tech Tips includes bonus tips, tricks and product reviews. Through January 31, 2010, new subscibers will also receive a special gift: my IT Business Continuity Checklist. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

This week Microsoft announced versions and pricing for Office 2010, slated to be released in June. But the big question is… will anyone buy it?

Interest in new versions of Office has waned over the years. Office 2007 disappointed businesses and consumers alike by replacing tried-and-true menus with the Ribbon Toolbar, a feature I have yet to hear anyone say they actually like.

Microsoft Office 2007 Ribbon Toolbar

Microsoft also changed the default Office file formats in version 2007, forcing users to scramble for compatibility filters in order to open .docx, .xlsx and .pptx files. Combined with the fact that most of Office 2007’s new features required a Windows Server environment, and you’ve got a recipe for Office ennui.

Perhaps we’ve hit a plateau in the number of features that can be included in a productivity suite like Office. How many more bells and whistles do we need? Unless Office 2010 offers some serious benefits, I don’t think many people are going to be interested. If you want to see what it offers, you can visit the Microsoft Office 2010 web site. Personally I don’t see anything that has me falling out of my chair.

And that creates another problem: security. As we’ve seen, the older a program is, the more likely its weaknesses can be exploited by viruses and other threats. For example, users of Office 2000 are compelled to upgrade, not because they need a bigger feature set, but because Microsoft no longer fixes security problems with old software versions. It becomes a non-choice: Upgrade, or have your computers rendered unusable by viruses.

The Web-based version of Office 2010 might get more takers, if only because of the popularity of Google Docs. But, as I’ve said before, I’m not so sure I’d trust my data to the cloud (e.g. the Internet).

Are you planning to evaluate Microsoft Office 2010? Do you intend to stick with your current version of Office, or are you using one of the free alternatives like OpenOffice? What do you think the success of Office 2010 will be?

Why get a generic geek when you can work with an award-winning computer professional for less? My rates for 2010 (pdf) are the same as 2009, and include brand-new options such as personalized advice on social networking and blogs.

Guidry Consulting, Inc. provides computer services for business and home. On-site service is available in the northwest Chicago suburbs.

• Tech support for PC and Mac
• Networks, servers, and security
• Web design (see my portfolio)
• Computer classes (see my schedule)
• Blogs
• Social networking including LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter
• …and much more!

But don’t take my word for it. Find out what my customers are saying, then learn how I can help with your computer needs.

Your free email subscription to Tech Tips includes bonus tips, tricks and product reviews. Through January 31, 2010, new subscibers will also receive a special gift: my IT Business Continuity Checklist. Click here to subscribe or send email to techtips-request-at-guidryconsulting-dot-com, subject “subscribe”.

Please let me know if there’s anything I can do to assist with your computer needs. I hope to work with you in the new year!