We help organizations improve and grow by more effectively using technology.
This video demonstrates drag and drop scheduling in Outlook 2010. I’ve been using the Outlook Calendar feature and stopped using tasks all together for the most part. If you’re looking to improve your scheduling efficiency check out this video.
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Being in IT is often akin to being a detective. You interview people, look at evidence and try to piece together a series of events to decide what occurred after the fact. This is an art, some people are simply amazing at it, it’s a gift they are born with. What about the rest of us? We now have an ally – PSR or Problem Steps Recorder included in Windows 7. You can now demonstrate an issue that is occurring with a very professionally documented reproduction with comments and screen captures. To re-create the output that this program seamlessly produces would require quite a bit of effort. Here is a video sample of this feature:
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Use the “from” and “subject” fields to sort Emails while you are cleaning up your inbox. You should find it easier to get through your back log of messages by addressing issues with certain individual(s)… or certain subjects all at once. Quite often the most recent Email of a certain subject contains all the prior information and the older ones can be deleted.
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There are few things more frustrating than very slow computer performance. You are typing away, or trying to anyway and the text is not even displaying properly on the screen it’s skipping and catching up like an inchworm. You immediately start to wonder, did I get a virus? So you do the universal solution, you reboot your computer only after a short while it comes back again. This story has played out in many a local Peet’s Coffee, an office, living room or dorm room. One common culprit is indexing software that was installed as a part of an update. To quickly find files on a computer the system needs a database or index that tells it where to find the files. This prevents the search function from having to check every directory, sub folder and file and quickly directs you to the location of the files. The unfortunate thing is, the solution is sometimes worse than the problem.
For years we have found machines that customers were very unhappy with the performance. “My computer was running fine this morning but now it’s slow as heck and I can’t get my work done.” The story often continues “I rebooted it and that helped for a little while but now it’s slow again”. The issue will often go away and come back, a so called “Intermittent” problem that is much more difficult to diagnose. Eventually when you connect with your IT person or learn how to use Task Manager yourself, you find that Searchfilterhost.exe is using a lot of your cpu and your hard drive or even your servers hard drives are working harder than they should be. Your computer is indexing all the content under the umbrella that you operate in including network drives and for one reason or another it has made your machine difficult to operate. There are plenty of things you can do, settings you can change folders you can exempt from this process but in reality in most cases you are better off removing the software and using the old style search utility. In this example we demonstrated what Microsoft Desktop Search does in some cases. In our experience Google Desktop and other indexing utilities have a similar impact on performance and can sometimes cause significant disruptions in performance. This leaves the operator with the choice of trying to ride it out or living with a search function that might take longer.
There is definitely need here and vendors are trying to fill it, but sometimes the solution is more of a problem than the original problem. I am confident both Google and Microsoft will have answers to this question that are optimistic and confident, but the reality is the indexing programs still have a ways to go. There are many things that can go wrong and often do with this role.
What if I really need to find my files more quickly?
I would suggest that you leave your computer on and logged in over a weekend after installing the program. The first indexing performed by these applications takes a lot longer than the maintenance runs. I would also suggest you make sure to only use one indexing program and disable/remove the others. This may not be easy for the average user so professional help could be involved. You could also try different programs if one of them does not seem to work well with your machine. Be advised there could be underlying reasons why your particular computer doesn’t handle these programs well, that would need to be addressed by a professional most likely.
Some additional tips for more effective/faster searches
Feedback requested – what file indexing solution do you use? What do you like about it?
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Visual of the shortcut command Ctrl+S
Develop a habit to save documents as you work on them, whereas not all programs come with an auto-save feature. A quick save can avoid the loss of valuable time in the event of a crash or failure. Your data is often reproducible or recoverable, but time is not!
Most programs reserve the hotkey Ctrl+S to save a file. If a hotkey is available for a program, it is usually displayed next to the “save” option on the program’s “file” menu.
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You may have read our primer on Virtualization technology where we detailed some compelling reasons to consider virtualizing some or all of your servers. At the time of writing that article we were not aware of a new program from PG&E that can give you up to $300 rebate per server that you virtualize. While the process is not without some invasive steps, such as before and after inspections, a large project would be well worth the work. Let’s say you were planning to consolidate 20 servers in your data center, that could mean up to $6,000 back from PG&E, not a paltry sum by any means. Even for a smaller business looking to consolidate a small server closet the savings could pay a portion of your installation and configuration costs. This is the sort of creative incentive that shows PG&E is a technically aware organization.
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With over 2 million tons of “e-waste” per year in the USA alone, it is apparent that high technology has an environmental impact. It is enough to make almost any environmentalist cringe, but there is hope. I have recently observed and read about several different positive improvements to high tech environmental impacts. They boil down to materials and efficiencies.
In the realm of materials there have been massive quantities of difficult to recycle (but not impossible, see resources at the bottom of this article) such as packing “peanuts” and bits of foam including Styrofoam which many recycling programs prohibit. So where did these materials end up most of the time? You guessed it, in the landfills. Recently I have noticed a number of raw components are being packed in easily recyclable products usually cardboard or other paper products. Recently I’ve received firewalls and computer cases that used these materials in very innovative ways. In these cases the packaging has been completely recyclable for the first time ever. The plastic bags are clearly marked with the correct 
numbering. The paper products are a slam dunk for the paper bin. Actually it gets even better. The distributors themselves have switched completely away from “peanuts” and use paper and air filled bags for the most part now. Again this is 100% recyclable goods. This is proof that more sustainable solutions are possible for the packaging but what of the components themselves? This poses more of a challenge. Fortunately the European Union has recently done something that will change the way computer parts are made in a very positive way. Effective July 2006 any electronic electronics shipped to EU countries will have to be lead free. Lead has been an essential component in solder that is used in just about every electronic device. We’ve removed lead from paint and gasoline and now with some help from the EU will remove it from electronics. What if you live outside of the EU, will you still have lead in your electronics? It is possible but it is very likely that rather than making parts unique for EU distribution and non EU distribution it will probably be cheaper for manufacturers to just make everything to EU specifications. This should have a huge impact on the lead levels that future generations will be exposed to in the environment.
On the subject of efficiencies there has been less progress except for a few recent developments. In recent years most new processors packed more power into a smaller space but also used more energy and generated more heat doing so. Recently Intel® introduced a range of server, workstation and mobile chips that changed that. Intel® claims that some of their latest processors create 40% more power and more than 40% more energy efficiency. This means to us that we can expect quieter, faster, more efficient PC’s in the present.
On October 3, 2006 Diskeeper® Corporation announced that they would move towards environmentally friendly packaging. How do the numbers work out? By using environmentally friendly paper on an order of say 20,000 DVD case inserts and boxes, Diskeeper will save 9 fully grown trees, 4,857 gallons of water, 458 pounds of solid waste, 6 million BTUs of energy and 1,081 pounds of greenhouse gases otherwise harmful to the environment. The idea was the brainchild of Kareen Vilnai, Diskeeper’s Creative Director. She suggested to management that while it might actually cost more to use recycled paper products, the right thing to do was more important than the bottom line and would favorably impact the environment. Management agreed.
In an age where bigger, faster, stronger is often the norm, it’s pleasing to know that many people are much more practical and desire sustainable, efficient solutions. I would personally like to see much more of an emphasis on smaller, cooler, quieter and more efficient. If you’ve walked around a crowded office lately the buzz of the computers can be almost deafening. Not to mention the cost to keep the work areas at a comfortable temperature level thanks to the added BTU load of all those PC’s buzzing away.
Resources:
Find Packing Peanut Recycling near you at www.loosefillpackaging.com
Diskeeper® Corporation www.diskeeper.com
Index of European Union Websites: www.eurunion.org
Intel®: www.intel.com
AMD® Sempron Mobile Processors Info: www.amd.com
Antec, Inc. (They now use paper packaging for their cases): www.antec.com
Zyxel, Inc. (Their UTM firewalls are packaged completely with paper): www.zyxel.com
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Simplicity and convenience have made Email the primary communication tool for many businesses. According to studies performed in recent years poorly worded emails could generate negative feelings by co-workers, customers or even your boss. Poorly organized Email communications can also cause delays or even hurt business relationships. Respondents in some of these studies acknowledged that confrontations with co-workers had taken place due to Email misunderstandings. To fully take advantage of Email in a business environment we suggest the following:
1. Organize Your Message
Not all email recipients have large desktop resolutions to view poorly organized emails. Organize your message by separating paragraphs and when applicable use bullet points or numbering to organize the main issues logically. This will help keep your readers from being discouraged by your message.
2. Get to the Point
It is a lot easier to misunderstand intentions in a written message. Face to face or phone based communications have many factors that influence how a message is perceived such as body language or tone. Written messages should be clear and direct. Be sure to proof read messages you author and re-read messages received to make sure you’re not misinterpreting the words.
3. Stick to One Subject
By lumping more than one issue in a message it makes it more difficult for the recipient to respond in an orderly fashion. By staying to one subject you make it easier for the respondent to communicate back effectively. Send multiple messages as necessary.
4. Meaningful Subjects
By utilizing subjects that summarize the focus of the message all parties in an Email correspondence will be able to more effectively identify and organize their messages. For example when responding to a faxed Request for Quote numbered RFQ1234 instead of saying “Proposal” try being specific “Proposal for new Gizmo RFQ#1234 6/20/2005″ using customer identity #’s whenever provided. Don’t hesitate to modify the subject if multiple responses lead to a change of the subject matter discussed in the message. By making it easier for your recipient you are more likely to get a favorable or prompt response.
5. Response Options
When responding to a message there are several methods to keep the message flowing logically. Sometimes “threading” or responding to specific points in line such as bullet points is highly effective. If for example you are given 8 numbered or bulleted questions about products your company offers, responding to each point in your reply underneath the original bullet or numbered question will likely be easier to understand by the reader. When appropriate you can also remove some or all of the text of the original message.
6. Carbon Copy Field
Only include recipients in the CC field that need to know about the topic. When an email with multiple recipients becomes a two way conversation do not cc all the original recipients. Use the TO field for recipients that may respond and use CC for people who are not active participants in the message.
7. Formality
Avoid use of slang, abbreviations and smileys 
or other emoticons.
8. Priority
Only tag truly urgent messages as high priority. Your respondents will be much more likely to treat your truly critical and appropriately tagged messages with much more urgency this way.
9. Slow Down to Speed Up
Take extra time reading, proofing and re-reading messages. The time saved from misunderstandings or confusion will be well worth the extra minutes spent on prevention.
10. Choose the Appropriate Medium
We have numerous electronic ways to communicate with one another but sometimes a phone call or a face to face meeting is more appropriate. Consider all mediums before deciding which is most effective for the issue at hand.
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The last few years many of us have worked hard to convince others of the merits of internet connectivity and the tools associated with it such as Email. The productivity benefits of the net and the associated communication and collaboration tools are desirable to any business. We even heard the fed chairman Alan Greenspan mention “productivity” as a factor in the prospering economy, perhaps largely due to these tools. Perhaps the time has come for us to reflect on the negative elements and potential pitfalls associated with access to this wonder of modern technology. A great place to start would be, well, productivity. Today I was briefly distracted by a neat flash soccer game a colleague had shared with me. Or what about that temptation to send those joke e-mails to hundreds of your closest friends and co-workers? Certainly some of the good with the bad is ok, right? How about those viruses? You know the ones that disguise themselves as one of those joke e-mails that your buddy in accounting always sends you. Or maybe like the one your cousin in the Midwest sent you yesterday. Another threat you could face is having someone shut your computer down if you happen to be running the wrong browser and visit the wrong site, or worse yet hitting the wrong site with the latest exploit that no patch exists for. Let me get on with my real point here. The internet and email are not toys; they are tools, at least for business purposes. Risks taken by a home user are acceptable to the degree that they are willing, but out of respect for your profession it is becoming more and more apparent to me that you should treat your work systems as a the valuable tool that it is. Even if you have expert IT professionals setting up and maintaining these systems, you can still be at risk. Why take the chance?
Now let’s break down what an IT professional or qualified organization like Managed Solutions can do to help you protect your business:
1. Implement antivirus systems and policies, particularly at the entry points such as email and internet gateways.
2. Increase security policies for web browsers and mail clients.
3. Lock down routers, firewalls, and machines to necessary and mission critical services only.
4. Implement an Acceptable Usage Policy or AUP that would hold employees accountable for placing the systems at risk, simple guidelines that are easy to understand are most effective.
5. Become “in tune” to the security issues that arise on a daily basis and dynamically adjust the approach to securing systems from these risks starting with the most significant threats and working down from there, working diligently to close any potential security hole that may exist.
6. Stay ahead of the curve by seeking the next problem and solution, it is a moving target most of the time.
Now let’s take a look at what the end user can do to help protect their employer and their productivity:
1. Follow any guidelines or AUP that your organization provides to their employees.
2. Avoid using business mail systems for personal use, if necessary use a web mail service like hotmail or one provided by your home ISP and avoid opening any attachments on your work system.
3. Verify the authenticity of any email you receive with attachments, particularly if they claim to contain patches or anti-virus solutions in them. Most IT professionals would limit such correspondences to warnings but avoid sending files.
4. Never intentionally disable or circumvent security or protective measures in place, when you do you are opening yourself and your companies systems to a plethora of threats.
5. Do not install any software on your work machine, unless explicitly advised to do so by an individual with the authorization to do so. Many innocuous programs can harbor Trojan horse viruses or spy ware.
6. Remind yourself that thing on your desk is a tool, it is intended to help you and your employer be successful. Don’t take risks with your livelihood.
I am not using Email or Internet access in my business but would like to, what should I do?
1. Get the advice of a respected IT professional in your area, be sure to ask for references and check them out before proceeding.
2. Focus initially on what you want to accomplish and why. Make sure that your expectations and needs are well presented.
3. Get a second opinion if you’re not comfortable with the provider you consult initially.
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