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Project Management Powerhouse 0

Traditionally, project management software carries a steep learning curve, often has a clunky interface and many times requires you to purchase extra software to integrate things such as helpdesk tickets or inventory management. Comindware has a set of online collaboration tools to help you manage your business more effectively and I’ve recently been introduced to a piece of software that has the potential to revolutionize project management: Comindware Tracker™.

More than just issue tracking or simple project management, Comindware Tracker™ is a suite of tools to truly help you optimize and streamline your business or organization. It sets itself apart in three key areas: convenience, flexibility and scope. If I’m working on a project away from the office, how readily can I access the data for that project? If some aspect of the project needs to be changed or resources redistributed, how easily can those changes be made? If a project spans multiple departments, can those be seamlessly integrated into the overall project? Those are questions that any project management software worth its salt should be able to answer. Comindware Tracker™ not only handles each of these, but does so with a power and technology that I believe is unmatched in the industry.

Comindware Tracker Reports

Convenience

The first thing you’ll notice about Comindware Tracker™ is the user interface – it is both familiar and user-friendly. Tracker utilizes a Microsoft Office “ribbon” style menu system, giving you quick and easy access to various functions. You don’t have to sort through long menu lists; nearly everything that you would want to do with Comindware Tracker is just a couple of clicks away. It also integrates with Microsoft Outlook to enable task management directly from within Outlook.

No longer do you have to build workflow processes from scratch. Comindware Tracker™ makes use of templates, allowing you to quickly create workflows for any process in any line of business. You can also create your own templates to tailor workflows even further. You can add fields on the fly without disrupting your existing items and change or add attributes to your custom fields. All of this is accomplished inside any modern web browser.

Flexibility

Comindware Tracker’s™ flexibility lies in its Semantic Data Storage technology. Nearly every database in today’s businesses is a relational database. That means data is stored in tables, which contain rows of fields and the fields in turn contain data. A relational database stores collections of tables, some of which may be related by common fields. Queries on relational databases can take a long time – I’m talking “go make a cup of coffee” long, especially if the database is large.

In a semantic database, data is stored in the form of graphs rather than tables. This allows the data to be manipulated without affecting the entire process. For example, in a relational database, if two databases are connected by a certain value within a field and you change that value in one field, you’ve broken the relationship and your entire workflow comes to a halt. In a semantic database, you can change the data without disrupting the workflow, allowing you to make “course corrections” after a project starts without having to scrap your entire workflow and rebuild it. In short, Semantic Data Storage works more like real life and less like a robot.

Scope

Often with database solutions, you pay up front for the core system, but then if you want to add something like inventory management, accounting or helpdesk solutions, you have to pay extra or buy a completely different program. Comindware Tracker™ gives you the power to manage each sector of your business from a single, unified system. You can oversee and automate as much or as little as you’d like, making it an excellent solution for nearly any size business.

I’m extremely impressed with Comindware Tracker™ and believe it has the power to revolutionize project management across businesses and industries. To find out more or download a free trial, visit www.comindware.com. If you find that Comindware Tracker™ is too robust for your organization’s needs, Comindware also offers task management software made with the same attention to detail, design and flexibility for free.

Posted on: 10-29-2011
Posted in: News, Reviews

Has Apple Lost Its Mojo? 0

Today was Apple’s annual Worldwide Developer Conference, where they traditionally roll out new hardware and software to the salivating masses of tech junkies everywhere.  The WWDC has been the home of the unveiling of the iPhone, iPad, Macbook Air and other “magical” devices.  Today, there were lots of announcements, primarily centered around iOS 5, OS X Lion and iCloud.  I’m not going to cover these announcements because the remainder of the tech community does that with aplomb.  After watching the keynote today, I just had one question: Has Apple lost its mojo?

Don’t get me wrong, OS X, iOS and just about every piece of hardware has a polish to it that simply has no equal in the tech world.  I know lots of people who use and love their iPhone, I’ve purchased and configured iPads and Macs for my clients and, of course, I use a Mac myself.  For a tech guy, there is something “magical” about lifting a nice, shiny iPad 2 from its box, and when I first heard about iOS 5, I was eager to see what Apple had up its sleeve to wow the world with their next generation OS.  To be blunt, I was underwhelmed and I think that the only people that were really “wowed” were the folks that have had put up with iOS shortcomings (i.e. invasive notifications, no over-the-air updates, no tabbed browsing, etc.).

After listening to the keynote, I again went over the list of features in iOS 5 to make sure I didn’t miss some hidden wow.  Nope, I didn’t.  I kept looking at the list and thinking, these are all things that I can do with my two-year-old Android phone.  I mean, taking a picture and posting it directly to Twitter is a big deal in iOS 5?  Really?  Again, even now I’m looking at the list and thinking, “Gee, these features get the iPhone caught up.”  Granted that these features will all have that solid Apple fit-and-finish that has hitherto been lacking on Android, but still, the fact that these are considered huge improvements is telling.

Of course, iOS 5 wasn’t the only thing in the keynote today.  OS X Lion, with its built-in, system-wide multitouch support is impressive.  It boasts some other cool new interface features, such as Mission Control and Launchpad and lots of other less noteworthy improvements.  So far, however, its most impressive feature seems to be price: $30 for the upgrade.  Will I be upgrading?  Yes.  Can I wait?  Yep.  To me, iCloud is the big news of the day, but, again, it feels lackluster.  Perhaps it’s because we all knew the direction Apple was going, perhaps it’s because other companies (Amazon, Google) offer similar/competing services, but it feels…not revolutionary.

I don’t expect Apple to revolutionize an industry with every keynote, but today was so…meh…that it makes me wonder where the mojo was.  Of course, the folks at the WWDC gave roaring applause and Apple is secure in its place as innovator, trend setter and overall cultural icon…for now.  But it’s a fast-moving landscape and while Apple has been a driving force behind that pace, today’s keynote made me wonder if Apple is running low on juice.  For the sake of innovation and healthy competition, I hope not.

Posted on: 06-6-2011
Posted in: Editorial, News

Mystery Issues 0

This week seems to be the week of mystery issues.

Cutting Edge Saves the Day

It started off with a Macbook Pro from one of my clients that was unable to print to any printer.  It didn’t matter how many restarts, reset printing system or permissions repairs I did, it still wouldn’t print.  Reinstalling the drivers didn’t help, either.  The only clue I had was a message in the Console when Microsoft Word would try to print:

kCGErrorIllegalArgument: _CGSFindSharedWindow: WID 112

or

kCGErrorIllegalArgument: CGSGetWindowTags: Invalid window 0×70

Everything else worked fine and the MBP exhibited no other symptoms.  I even ran a virus scan just to cover all my bases.  Apple support had no idea what was wrong and finally we came down to the fact that we are just going to have to reinstall OS X.

As an aside: My client is running Snow Leopard, so – thankfully – we could just reinstall the OS without touching any of his personal files.  Snow Leopard has basically done away with the old Archive & Install feature that would allow you to preserve your files while reinstalling OS X.  Snow Leopard’s new system allows you to simply reinstall OS X on top of your existing install, preserving all your personal files and settings and replacing the system files.  This is such a smooth and painless way to repair an OS – no reformatting, no reinstalling programs, no migrating data.  Impressive.

So, long story short, we reinstalled OS X, which corrected the issue – printing ability restored!

Archaic Machines & Endless Reboots

The next issue involved a much older system: Windows XP Home.  I have a client who has several workstations running XP Home and one of them decided it didn’t want to open Powerpoint presentations correctly.  After trying to diagnose things, I rolled back the system to a point before they were having issues.  System Restore is one of the great utilities in Windows XP and has saved me a number of times.  Well, after rolling things back, Powerpoint (and the rest of Office) decided not to work at all.  More than that, the computer began exhibiting seriously strange behavior, random errors, etc.  I was unable to reinstall Office and the system was clearly in a state of meltdown.

After a number of efforts, I finally decided enough was enough and the system needed to be reformatted.  I wish it was a “Snow Leopard-like” process, but alas, it’s one of the most arduous tasks in computerdom.  After Windows XP Home was reinstalled, I installed all the missing drivers that XP doesn’t include, Microsoft Office and Avast! Antivirus.  I went to do Windows Update and got an error:

application failed to initialize properly 0×80000003

I rebooted and the system got stuck in an endless reboot cycle.  I was able to boot into Safe Mode and after disabling the automatic reboot function, was brought to a blue screen upon restart.  The error message was:

error
Stop c000021a (fatal system error)
Windows logon service system service failed unexpectedly
with status of 0×00000080 (0×00000000 0×00000000)

At this point, I’m already about to chuck the computer out the window, so I reinstall Windows…again (remember this all started from a “simple” Powerpoint issue?).  The install goes fine and I begin the process of reinstalling drivers and Office and Avast! Antivirus.  This time, I’m restarting after every install, whether I’m prompted to or not.  Lo and behold after installing Avast!, programs begin not working again and after I restart, the computer goes into an endless reboot cycle.  Learning from the past, I promptly go into Safe Mode, uninstall Avast! and reboot – voila!  It reboots just fine and all programs seem to work.  After examining the Event Viewer, I found nothing to indicate why Avast! was giving the system such issues and I’ve never had Avast! prompt such issues on the many machines on which I’ve installed it.

Those are two “mystery” issues from the week solved (sort of).  If you have any additional information on either of these issues, throw it in the comments below.

Posted on: 04-28-2011
Posted in: Editorial

Online Backup Reviews 0

I’m a big fan of data backup.  Back in “the day” we used tape drives to backup our data.  Tape drives are still extremely valuable and used by many organizations.  Most small businesses, however, do not want to invest in or deal with the hassle of a tape drive (although I’d love to hear your stories about the value of tape backups!).

Since most of us aren’t using tape drives and with the falling prices on external hard drives and network attached storage (NAS) devices, putting a backup system in place for your home network is easier – and cheaper – than ever.  And yet, most folks still are not backing up their precious pictures, important documents and vast music collections.  Perhaps the networking and setup are too complicated, or perhaps the up-front expense is too much to justify.  Whatever the reason, most families, organizations and small businesses are not backing up their data consistently.

This is where online backup services step up to the plate and, for the most part, hit homeruns.  Their up-front cost is minimal ($50/year on the high end), their storage capacity is significant, with many offering unlimited storage space and their setup is often just a few clicks.  The hardest part is deciding which service to go with, so I’ve decided to review five of the services that you should consider when looking at online backup.  Any of the services below would serve you well.  I have, however, ranked them specifically and intentionally from #5 to #1 based on my extensive usage of each of these programs as well as feedback from my clients.

5. Mozy

MozyHome – I mention Mozy primarily because it’s popular and they have good TV commercials.  I’ve had clients use it and have no problem with it at all – it’s worked well and been reliable.  On the Mac side of things, their client uploads are painfully slow.  The first time I had a MacBook with about 90 GB worth of stuff to be backed up.  After 8 weeks of an almost continuous broadband cable connection, Mozy was less than 50% complete in backing up.  More recently, on a MacBook Pro, Mozy was also extremely slow, backing up at a rate that would take it almost 6 months to complete the initial backup.  The other backup services here are much quicker.  Mozy also offers a business version – MozyPro – that is licensed-based for multiple computers and can also handle servers.  It’s cost is significantly more than it’s competition, however.  On all fronts, I have a hard time recommending Mozy products.

Pros:
  • Easy install
  • Multi-platform
  • Cheap MozyHome pricing ($4.95/mo./computer)
  • Unlimited backup
Cons:
  • Slow backup on Mac
  • Pricy business solutions
    • ($3.95/mo./computer + $0.50/GB/mo.)
    • ($6.95/mo./server + $0.50/GB/mo.)
  • Unable to backup external or network drives
  • No multiple computer option under MozyHome

4. Carbonite

Carbonite – Formerly my backup program of choice for a long time, Carbonite offers unlimited backup in a cross-platform solution.  Carbonite tags your files and folders with dots indicating the status of the backup across individual files.  This is a very cool solution.  If I’m in a folder on my hard drive, I can look and know immediately if the files in that folder are backed up, pending backup or not scheduled for backup.  I can also tell Carbonite to backup certain files ASAP, so that I’m sure to not lose that critically important presentation I spent the last fourteen days working on.

For both Mac and PC, Carbonite is almost fool-proof in it’s execution of backup and restore.  Restoring gives you the option to restore the file to its original location or somewhere else.  Versioning also gives you the ability to restore older versions of the same file.  For example, if you made some changes to an important presentation, Carbonite backs up that file.  Then you find out that your previous version of the presentation actually went over better with your audience than your current version.  No problem; Carbonite keeps previous versions of backed up files for three months, so you can choose which one to restore.  Mozy keeps your file versions for one month, by comparison.

Carbonite does not backup external drives or network drives, which is a shame, because that is a key feature that is becoming increasingly essential.  Carbonite also provides straightforward pricing – especially for business users.  Carbonite Pro allows you to manage multiple computers under a single account with no per computer licensing fees – all you pay for is storage through a simple tiered plan where you could pay as little as $20/month or as much as $250/month.

Pros:
  • Quick backup
  • Easy-to-see backup status
  • Fool-proof restore & file versioning
  • Straightforward pricing
  • Can backup servers for the same price as workstations
Cons:
  • No external or network drive backups
  • No ability to specify the types of files you want backed up

3. SpiderOak

SpiderOak is not one you find in a lot of online backup reviews, but it is worth a look both for its combination of unique features and pricing.  It’s got a weird name, but SpiderOak is what I put many of my small business clients on for their remote backup.  SpiderOak allows you to backup as many computers as you want under a single account with no licensing fees and cheap tiered pricing.  For $10/mo (or $100 if you pay annually) you get 100 GB of space.  You can have as many computers as you want backing up to that 100 GB chunk, which is fantastic for lots of small businesses and organizations.  You can add another 100 GB of storage for just $10/month.  When you look at options like MozyHome, with its unlimited storage option, SpiderOak may look expensive.  But when you begin to factor in other computers in a business or organization, MozyPro can get very expensive fast.  Even with Carbonite Pro, 100 GB of storage will run you $75 per month – SpiderOak gives it to you for $10 per month ($8.33/mo if you pay annually).

In addition to online backup, you also get file sharing and synchronization similar to Dropbox.  They are also one of the very most secure backup solutions with a true “zero knowledge” system that makes sure the only thing SpiderOak knows about your data is how much space it occupies on their servers.  They also use the highest level of encryption of any backup provider I have found, which is why I trust my clients to it.

Pros:
  • Unlimited computers under a single account
  • Extremely competitive pricing for small businesses
  • “Zero knowledge” privacy & security system
  • Highest level of encryption
  • Ability to synchronize & share files across an organization
Cons:
  • Somewhat unintuitive interface
  • Not widely known (if this could be a con)

2. Backblaze

Backblaze is also one of those that doesn’t seem to get a lot of press from the typical corps of techno-bloggers and magazines, but it’s worth a look both for individuals and businesses.  Backblaze gives you unlimited storage for $5/mo./computer and $50/computer/year for business users.  Backup is quick (not the fastest, but pretty quick) and the interface is straightforward and intuitive.  You have lots of options (including the ability to throttle your backup speed), but it’s not overwhelming.  Backblaze also consumes very little in terms of resources while it is backing up, so you don’t feel bogged down while it’s working.  It can also backup external and network drives, uses very strong encryption and saves multiple versions of your files.

Restoring files from Backblaze is a simple process, but it can only be completed through the web interface – there’s no option to restore your files through the application.  This isn’t a big deal, but restoring your files right from within the application is a much more intuitive and streamlined process.  In addition, programs such as Carbonite and CrashPlan offer to restore your files to their original location or to a different location (such as your Desktop).  Backblaze allows you to download a zip file that will contain your restored files in a folder hierarchy identical to the one on your computer.  That means you have to dig down to that folder on your computer and drag-n-drop the restored file to that location.  That’s really cumbersome – especially if you are backing up lots of files at different locations.

Pros:
  • Excellent pricing for businesses & individuals
  • Super simple setup & backup
  • Lots of options for advanced users
  • Low resource overhead
Cons:
  • No ability to restore files from within the application
  • Cumbersome restore system

1. CrashPlan+

After my long-standing use of Carbonite, I switched to CrashPlan+.  Why?  CrashPlan+ supports external and networked drives and provides the ability to backup to my home server as well as CrashPlan’s own servers – but there were even more reasons that could have swayed me.  CrashPlan+ offers features similar to many other providers: easy setup, file versioning, unlimited backup, strong encryption, easy restore, cross-platform, intuitive interface and quick backup.  It took just over 30 days for my initial backup of 180 GB to complete on my MacBook Pro, which was not on all day every day – had I left my Mac on more, I think my initial backup could have been done in under 3 weeks.

There are several things that make CrashPlan stand out from the crowd:

  • Backup external and network drives
  • Extensive options, including bandwidth throttling, CPU usage, frequency and versioning, file name exclusions, data de-duplication, data verification, advanced security and more (whew!)
  • The ability to create multiple backup sets with different destinations
  • The ability to backup to a folder on your computer, a different computer on your network or a friend’s computer – all free options
  • Seeded backup – CrashPlan will send you an encrypting external hard drive, you put your data on it and send it back to them, they load it on their servers and your backup picks up from where that external left off.

CrashPlan’s unique ability to backup to different destinations (or even to allow other people to backup to your computer) is awesome and it’s just as secure as backing up to CrashPlan’s own servers.  Creating different backup sets would allow you to backup certain files online, certain other files to a friend’s computer and a third set of files to CrashPlan’s own servers.  This type of redundancy is what data backup is all about.  The interface is straightforward and simple, yet it provides you with the most options (by far) and the most information of any backup service reviewed here.

Pricing is competitive with everyone else, coming in at $5/mo./computer or the option to backup up to 10 computers for $12/month (that drops to $10/mo. if you pay annually) – all with unlimited storage.

Pros:
  • External and network drive backup
  • Extensive options
  • Lots of information – they even provide you with a weekly email report of your backup progress
  • Ability to create backup sets
  • Backup to multiple destinations
  • Ability to serve as a backup destination
  • Seeded initial backup
  • File versioning & ability to restore from within application
Cons:
  • Not the cheapest backup solution
  • Extensive options could be confusing for novice users

So, there you have it, The I.T. Rangers top five online backup providers.  Put your input in the comments!

*Disclosure: Some of the links on this page are affiliate links; if you click on one and signup for that service, I get a small commission and you get a great product!  It’s a win/win!
Posted on: 04-6-2011
Posted in: Reviews, Top Five

Multiple Blogs on a Single WordPress Site 1

Blog Blowout

I recently completed a web development project for a client who wanted a site with multiple blogs.  The current version of WordPress supports multiple blogs in a single installation, but it requires setting up multiple directories or subdomains – essentially a multi-site setup requiring separate configuration of themes, plugins, etc.  While this is a fine setup for lots of folks, and brings a much-needed robustness to WordPress content management, it was not going to work for my client.  What I needed was a single site, with a single theme, single plugin set, single set of users and have multiple blogs, seamlessly integrated and centrally managed.  I’m betting that there are other folks out there wondering how to do this same setup, so I’m going to give a little “how-to” here.

This system is based on categories, permissions and templates.

Create Categories

The first thing you’ll need to do is create your categories.  Each blog is going to be its own category.  For example, if you run a business and you want to give your employees an opportunity to blog about their experiences, each employee name would be a category. While you are creating categories, make note of the category ID number that goes along with each category name – we’ll need this down below.  If you’ve already created your categories, you can find the ID easily by clicking the category name and looking in your browser’s address bar for a segment like this:

category&tag_ID=

Whatever number is after the “=” is your ID number for that category.

Create Users & Assign Permissions

You don’t want one employee (Sara, for example) to post on another employee’s blog (John, for example), so you’ll need to create users and restrict what categories they can see and use.  Depending on whether or not you want to moderate every post, you can assign your users to be Contributors or Authors.  The next key to separating the blogs utilizes the Restrict Categories plugin.  Once you install this plugin, you will be able to select using simple check boxes which categories each user can see and use.  In our example, each user would only be able to see and post to his or her own category.  Now that we have our users set up to only see their own category, we need to give visitors to the site a seamless way to view only posts from a particular employee.

Create Templates

Most WordPress themes have templates that can be used to change the layout of your pages.  Some themes will have a “Blog” template.  If that is available, use it, but the modifications below should work with any template.  Locate the template file in your WordPress installation.  It is usually in something like: /public_html/wp-content/themes/name-of-your-theme/page-Template.php.  If you don’t know how to use (or don’t have access to) the editor built into your webhost’s control panel, you’ll need to download the template file.  You can open the file in a regular text editor (such as Notepad or TextEdit) or in a web design program like Dreamweaver.

You’ll need to edit the template name within the PHP code so you can easily pick the correct template when you are creating pages.  It should be located in the header section of the file and look something like this:

Template Name: Blog Page

Replace “Blog Page” with something a little more descriptive (like Sara’s Blog).

Now, down to the meat of your editing.  In order to have that template pull posts from only a single category (Sara’s category, in this case), you will need to insert the following code (a big thanks to The Upstart Blogger for this little jewel):

<?php $paged = get_query_var('paged') ? get_query_var('paged') : 1;
    query_posts('cat=14&paged='.$paged.'&post_per_page=9'.get_option('posts_per_page')); ?>

Above the following line of code:

<?php while (have_posts()) : the_post(); ?>

In order for this code to work correctly, you’ll need to change the category id of the code above so it pulls the correct category (i.e. Sara) for this particular template (i.e. Sara).  The category ID is on the second line of the code above: cat=14.  You would change the 14 to whatever category ID belongs to Sara.

Once you have made the changes, save the file using a descriptive name (i.e. Sara Template) and upload (or save) it to the original directory.

You will need to create templates for each separate blog, so if you’ve got 50 people who want separate blogs, this process will take you a while, but for a few separate blogs, it takes almost no time at all and the benefit is significant (in my opinion).

Putting It All Together

Once you have uploaded your custom-made templates, it’s time to create the pages to display the individual user’s posts.  Simply create each page using the respective templates that should now be in the template drop-down menu.  You don’t need to insert any tags or content – the content will be dynamically generated through the PHP script we used above.

Once you are finished creating pages, you should organize your navigation menu appropriately (i.e. put all of your pages under a “Blog” menu) so that folks can find what they’re looking for fast.  Now, when someone clicks on a particular blog, only the entries from that category will be displayed on the page.  Pretty slick, eh?

Post a comment if this works for you, if you have questions or if you need more help.

 

Posted on: 03-28-2011
Posted in: How-To

Top Five Cloud Services 10

The Cloud.  No, it’s not the title to some low-budget horror movie.  The Cloud is the somewhat nebulous term for services that allow you to treat the World Wide Web as your personal information vault.  It allows you access to information, data and services from anywhere you have the Internet and it is quickly changing the way businesses and organizations operate.  Technology has gone a long way to enabling small businesses to compete with large ones.

Below are my top five Cloud services to really help you make the most of your business:

5. Skydrive

Yes, I’m a Mac guy at heart, but I still know when Microsoft churns out a good product.  Skydrive is a free online file sharing and storage service. There are lots of online storage services out there, but Skydrive sets itself apart for two reasons: it gives you 25 GB of space and it password-protects your files.  Skydrive allows you to create folders as public, private or shared and you control who has access and all connections are secured using industry standard SSL protocol.

4. Evernote

Put away the sticky notes!  Evernote is one of the finest tools for decluttering your workspace and keeping track of important information.  At its heart Evernote is a note-taking application that allows you to create and access those notes from your computer, smartphone or iPad.  Beyond simple note-taking, Evernote also allows you to create and share audio recordings, pictures, screenshots and clippings from web pages.  These can be tagged with descriptions and organized into notebooks so you can search and find information fast.  What’s more, all this information is synchronized across all your devices, so it’s always handy.

3. Zoho

When I first went into business, I searched extensively for a good Client Relationship Management program (CRM).  There are lots of options out there, but many of them are costly and/or run only on your local computer.  Enter Zoho.  Zoho provides a vast array of not only CRM tools, but also collaboration tools, business applications and productivity sofware, all of which can be run from any computer with Internet access.  It competes with services like Google Docs, but also offers so much more for businesses and organizations to manage customers, finances, resources and communications.

2. Carbonite

Almost everyone I know has important stuff on their computer and most of those people don’t back up their stuff.  In the days of tape drives and burning dozens of CDs, I can see why backup was a pain – but those days are gone.  Carbonite offers one of the finest backup services for Mac & PC.  Your data is encrypted, backed up to Carbonite’s servers, and then encrypted again.  Backup is in realtime as long as your computer is on and connected to the Internet, storage is unlimited and restoring files is a simple and straightforward process.  All of this for $55/year.

1. Dropbox

This list starts and ends with online file-sharing services, so why is Dropbox at the top?  The short answer is that it is in more widespread use and it’s available across Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS and Android.  Dropbox creates a folder on your computer and any time you drag and drop a file into it, it gets synced to a remote server that is accessible by everyone else who has access to your Dropbox folder.  For small businesses and organizations that need to do simple file sharing across remote locations or mobile workers and don’t want or need to invest in a server, Dropbox is the ideal solution.

Honorable Mentions

These are just my top five based on experience and usage.  However, there are lots more worthy cloud services worth mentioning.

  • Sugarsync – another cross-platform file-sharing service (I actually use both Dropbox and Sugarsync)
  • MobileMe – Apples synchronization service.  I’ve never been a fan of the name or the price ($99/year), but if you’ve got a Mac and an iPhone (and/or iPad), the seamless synchronization of contacts, calendar and files is tough to beat.  The fact that you can locate a lost iPhone or iPad is pretty sweet, too.
  • Amazon S3 – Online file storage geared for enterprise users – near bullet-proof reliablility and lots of storage for a reasonable price.
  • Google Apps – Google Docs offers document creation and storage sans Microsoft Office.  With Gmail and Google Calendar, you’ve got some pretty decent contact and calendar synchronization and sharing.  Google Apps also offers a few collaboration apps to coordinate and communicate in your business.
  • Zamzar - Free online file converter for all kinds of files.   Will convert .flv (YouTube) videos straight from the YouTube URL or you can upload a file.  Handles just about every kind of audio and video file and will even convert Apple’s iWork format to something more compatible.

Got other recommendations for helping your business by using The Cloud?  Put ‘em in the comments.

Posted on: 02-22-2011
Posted in: Top Five

Don’t Let Your Mac be the Weak Link 4

For a number of years now, Mac users have been nigh invulnerable to the horde of viruses, spyware, trojans, rootkits and other forms of malware.  While it has been debated rather endlessly about the why of this fact, it has remained – in the minds of nearly every Mac users – a fact nonetheless.

Technology, as always, is changing – and fast.  The truth of this invulnerability has been overstated for quite some time now and it’s high time that Mac users ditch the security complacency and acknowledge the fact that they are vulnerable, too.  Just last week, I blogged about a Java vulnerability that affected OS X.  While there is malware out there that affects Mac, it is admittedly a tiny tiny fraction of all the malware out there.  In fact, John Dunn from TechWorld blogged earlier this year about the threats to Mac and even gives a list provided to him by BitDefender of all the Mac threats in the wild.  Admittedly, the list is not a long one.

However, as Apple continues to make inroads in both the consumer and enterprise markets, Mac users need to be aware that while the chance of their computer becoming infected may be small, they can easily pass on viruses to their PC using colleagues.  This, to me, is the most compelling reason for Mac anti-virus software.  But, it’s a tough sell for most folks to shell out money just to prevent a virus infection on someone else’s computer.

That’s where Sophos comes in.  Sophos has been making anti-virus software for a long time, providing outstanding protection for both consumer and enterprise markets.  Now, they’ve introduced free anti-virus software for Mac.  This is a great solution to both provide protection for your Mac and to make sure you’re not the weak link in the security chain among your colleagues.

Posted on: 11-2-2010
Posted in: Mac Tips, Security

The Venerable XP 1

In just a few short years, Android and iOS (Apple’s mobile operating system) have revolutionized the mobile segment.  Updates must be released in a matter of months, rather than years just to keep pace with the swift march of technology.  On the desktop end of things, Apple and Microsoft released all-new operating systems in 2001, Mac OS X and Windows XP, respectively.  Since that time, Apple has released significant updates to OS X incorporating new features and interface elements that have kept it current, fresh and modern.  XP has gotten an unprecedented three service packs, covering primarily security issues and bug fixes.  A few new features (such as USB 2 and SATA support) were added, but for the most part service packs simply keep XP from falling into oblivion.  For an OS to be nearly a decade old, is both a testament to the phenomenal adoption rate and the staggering fact that most people and companies are running an operating system that is sorely outdated.

I still have a lot of clients on XP and I understand because upgrading is a big deal and if you’ve got folks on your staff that don’t do learning curves well, staying on XP is convenient.  However, one of the things that the mobile segment has shown us is that a company can quickly fall off the map as new technology is developed and released.  Companies like RIM and Palm have suffered profoundly because they’ve not been able to keep pace.

I’m not at all saying that your organization is going to fall off the map if it is still using Windows XP – far from it.  But if you’re still using XP, you’re not simply behind the times, you’re robbing yourself of the significant benefits of an operating system that is prepared for today’s computing environment.  With Windows 7 now a year old and the debacle that was Windows Vista behind us, I would seriously take a look at upgrading to Windows 7.  The stability and security issues alone make compelling reasons to upgrade, to say nothing about hardware support, usability and interface upgrades.  The great strides that Microsoft made in “under-the-hood” improvements in Windows Vista can be appreciated in Windows 7 without dealing with an interface that makes you want to scream.

In short, if your organization is still running Windows XP and has compelling reasons to not upgrade (budget, for instance), don’t sweat it.  However, if you have the budget and don’t want to buy a Mac, please consider upgrading to Windows 7.  It really is a very good operating system and contains significant improvements in stability, security, usability and interface that are well worth the learning curve.

Posted on: 11-1-2010
Posted in: Editorial

Making the Most of Spotlight 11

Spotlight, introduced in Mac OS 10.4 (Tiger) has, in many ways revolutionized how to find files and folders on your Mac.  Microsoft incorporated a similar system in Vista and then Windows 7, although I don’t think either has ever been as fast as Spotlight.  Now you don’t have to store your files in expansive hierarchies, remembering where everything is in order to find it.  This was most recently evidenced to me by my lovely wife, whom I consider to be pretty tech savvy.   When her hard drive failed, corrupting OS X and causing it to not boot, I began pulling files from her drive, but there were particular ones she wanted to make sure were okay.  Our conversation went something like this:

Me: “Where did you save them?”

Her (after some silence): “Um…Spotlight?”

Exactly.  You don’t even have to know where files are in order to find them quickly and easily.  Spotlight has redefined how you can store and find your files on your Mac (although, I still maintain mine in anal hierarchies).  While Spotlight is great by default, there are some tweaks to make it even more powerful.

The first you’ll find in System Preferences > Spotlight.  Under the Search Results tab Spotlightyou can set the order in which categories of files and folders appear.  For example, I have lots of PDFs and it makes more sense to have those higher up on the list, which they are not by default.  Simple drag & drop can reorder them. You can also uncheck categories you do not use or do not wish to be displayed.  Another handy section of this dialog box is at the bottom where shortcut keys are displayed.  By simply hitting Command-Space, you can call up the Spotlight search box and start typing your query.  This is especially great as an application launcher – just make sure Applications is at the top of the list.  Now you can hit Command-Space, start typing the name of the application and hit enter when it pops up to launch it.

The second tip expands Spotlight’s abilities through the Finder.  If ySpotlight Commentsou look at the properties of a file or folder by hitting Command-I, you’ll find a Spotlight Comments section at the top.  You can fill in the description with what are essentially tags for your files.  Example: The content of PDF documents is not able to be indexed by Spotlight.  If I have a PDF containing descriptions of the top five restaurants in town, Spotlight will only be able to see the filename, but I can put the name of those restaurants in the Spotlight Comments for that file.  Now, when I go to search for one of those restaurants, Spotlight will be able to find the document even though the contents of the PDF is not indexed.  Think of it like x-ray vision for Spotlight.

Posted on: 10-29-2010
Posted in: Mac Tips

Java Security Alert 0

Today saw the discovery of a piece of malware that is able to change your computer’s network settings and use it to launch attacks on other elements of the Internet.  This is news for really only two reasons:

  1. It is cross platform, able to attack Windows, Mac & Linux.
  2. Many of my clients do not update Java regularly.

The exploit runs through a security hole in Java and is further evidence that Apple’s decision to deprecate Java was probably a good one.  The Mac version is poorly coded and OS X prompts users to give permissions to the malware – if users deny the access, no harm is done.  If granted, the trojan will download files onto your Mac and change DNS (network) settings to use it as a zombie to attack other computers on the Internet.  So, if you’re on a Mac, be really sure about to what you grant permission.

Windows users, be sure to update to the latest version of Java (it will give you a popup down in your system tray when an update is available).  This is also a reminder to simply keep your computer up-to-date with Microsoft’s latest patches as well as latest versions for utility programs such as Java.  And, for the well being of your computer and every other Windows machine out there, make sure your anti-virus software always has the latest updates and virus definitions.

Posted on: 10-28-2010
Posted in: Security
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