• Law Firms
• Schools & Churches
• Non-Profits
• Engineers & Architects
• Local Legends

• Free Anti-Virus Software
• Free Anti-Malware Software
• Free Whitepapers
• Free Training Resources
• Free Backup Services
• Free Productivity Software

	Kim's 40 Essential IT Tips ittips.pbworks.com
	Kim's Blog: Promiscuous Curiosities
	Foxit Fastest PDF Reader www.foxitsoftware.com
	25 Free Programs for Students www.Education-Portal.com

Computer Experts Announces Unprecedented Server Trade-In Program
Sat, 05 Nov 2011 22:24:00 GMT

EVERYONE knows that the price of technology products depreciates once they are installed - like cars that leave the showroom floor.  In fact, unless you can find a non-profit agency or community organization that does eCycling for free, it might actually cost you something to have monitors, battery backup units and large electrical products hauled away!

Computer Experts has just changed all that by announcing an unprecedented program to actually PAY you for retiring your old server!

With the purchase of our innovative/award wining FileSafe Server new customers will receive a $500 TRADE-IN value on their old server.  That's right: even if your old server is a smouldering pile of digital detritus, it's worth $500 on the purchase of a new FileSafe server.  That's HALF OFF!  Car dealers would be proud!

FileSafe is the only server that includes backup (offsite and onsite,) unlimited users and a 100% NO WORRIES service guarantee.  And the FileSafe service contract starts at just $199/mo . . . and you may cancel the service contract ANYTIME!

It's no wonder that FileSafe is used by LOCAL LEGENDS OF BUSINESS like Sullivan Hardware, Indy Tire, Dr. Aziz Pharmacy and Keep Indianapolis Beautiful.  

Shouldn't YOUR business have a NO WORRIES server like FileSafe?

QR Codes automate mobile browsing
Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:44:00 GMT

You've probably seen these interesting square images on the sides of buildings and packages but wondered what they were.  They are QR codes; the QR stands for Quick Response.  They were invented by a subsidiary of Toyota in 1994 to help automate industrial data collection.  

Armed with a mobile phone with an app that scans and interprets their message, QR codes can link your mobile phone browser to web pages more efficiently than typing long URLs - and they can tell the web site how you got there.  It's a great way to collect markting information and streamline consumer interraction.

Locations can be tagged with QR codes and take you to web sites that give more information or allow you to check in.  Some uses of QR codes are more social . . . like the one on this T shirt you scan that takes you to the wearer's Facebook page where you can become Friends.  

I've used QR codes on a single page handout, together with URLs, to replace pages of material I know will only get lost or become obsolete.  

I've seen QR codes on business cards - that makes a lot of sense too . . . card scanning software can just interpret the text inside the code as data such as name, address, etc.  It makes the collection of contact information more reliable.  Highly dense QR codes can store hundreds of characters.

QR codes are evidence that mobile devices are quickly becoming the standard way we harvest information.  They are free and fun to use.  Just visit this link, type in whaterver you want, and then cut and past the resulting QR code image anywhere you like.  It works in Word, Open Office and most other graphics programs.

E-Mail Divorce
Sat, 03 Sep 2011 14:22:00 GMT

Recently, several of our clients and friends have endured the pain of 'E-Mail Divorce.'  They left their prior company and moved to a new one.  One of the key issues in this transition was e-mail.  It isn't pretty.

Your e-mail address is the principal means by which your friends, contacts and colleagues stay in touch.  Unlike a twitter handle or Facebook/Linkedin presence, your professional e-mail address almost alway includes your company's domain name.  What happens when you move?  Where does the e-mail go?

Domain names have become 'property' are are fought over and negotiated about like children in a divorce.  How, and if, your e-mail gets forwarded, the wording of the auto-responder and the status of the contents in your e-mail box are all subject to dispute.

In the case of one client, the status of e-mail was the subject of lengthy, expensive negotiation.  In another, the acquiring company insisted on every employee converting to a new e-mail system - that didn't work!  In another, messages sent to the former address were redirected to another employee for processing.  How would you like someone else reading your e-mail?  In an e-mail divorce, it is just one of the optons!

Our advice is to think long and hard about how the e-mail assets of your company are managed, protected and may be potentially divided in the event of a break up.  The digital age may have brought change to much that we do, but it hasn't changed our desire to fight over valuable assets be they virtual or physical.

Free E-Mail Overload Audio CD
Sat, 06 Aug 2011 14:32:00 GMT

Many of you have seen the sign in my office (facing Michigan Street) that says: E-Mail is Making You Stupid.  There is plenty of evidence that is true.  Check out this New York Times article that describes how people struggle to avoid the 'E-mail Tsunami.'  It cites the strategies of such notables as Mark Cuban and TechCruch founder/blogger Michael Arrington.  Even Edison is reported to have suffered from 'mail' overload!

As a service to our business customers (and prospects) we are offering a free audio CD with advice and tips on how to 'Beat the Rabbit Habbit.'  The author: Joe Robinson analogizes the way E-Mail seems to multiply (each email turns into six!) with the reproduction success of rabbits.  His entertaining and informative audio CD provides hope that e-mail need not control your life!

Best tips on avoiding e-mail overload:

• Deal with e-mail only once or twice a day.
• Keep messages short.  Wait a day if the subject is emotional - OR JUST CALL!
• Include: NO REPLY NECESSARY in the subject line to avoid replies like: OK, Got it, or Good.
• Keep your inbox empty: delete, move to a folder or delegate messages at once - don't 'think about it!'
• Observer the Ping-Pong rule: if you exchange messages twice on the same subject: JUST CALL!

Here are seven more from the productivity website: Getting Things Done.

For your free copy of How to Beat The Rabbit Habbit just call our office: 317-833-3000.  Note: This offer is reserved for our current customers or businesses that may become customers.  Feel free to visit Joe's site to buy a copy otherwise...they are $15.95 plus shipping.

P.S. Joe Robinson's Work Life Balance website has many other resources and tips to live a more balanced life.  Highly recommended! 

Microsoft creams OS market
Sat, 25 Jun 2011 13:29:00 GMT

Creaming is what you do to extract the best part of raw milk.  Creaming a market is intended to extract the most valuable part of a demand curve . . . the one that results from price elasticity.

A friend asked me about whether it was worth paying to upgrade his Windows 7 Home Premium to Pro.  I told him that outside a corporate network (like one controlled by a FileSafe or Windows Server,) it probably didn't matter much - UNLESS - that PC was going to be accessed remotely.  The Pro version of Microsoft's OS products include Terminal Services.  A very handy feature for remote access.  (But one you probably wouldn't need if the PC/Laptop in question was the only one you owned.)

A little research showed up this matrix from Microsoft describing their OS products.  Too many, too confusing and too expensive.  But that's what you get from a monopolist creaming the market.

Computer Experts launches new website!
Mon, 30 May 2011 20:18:00 GMT

There is an old saying that says the cobbler's children have no shoes!  That is certainly true on the case of our website.  We haven't published an updated site for over five years ;(  How did it take so long? 

We not only have the content to fill dozens of pages with valuable information that most (if not all) PC users would find useful, but my son: Adam Brand, is VP Creative & Client Services at Marketpath, a leading provider of web-based Content Management Systems.  That's what we're using to launch our new website!

I hope you benefit from our new website.  If you really like pics from our 2006 'Downtown Drivethrough' eCycling event, or my presentation to ITEC Dallas on Free Software from 2005 - let me know and we'll send you a link from the 'way-back' machine!

Thanks,

Kim Brand, President