Posted by Tom Krengel
on 07/23/09
The latest Windows incarnation beats Vista and XP, but don’t expect a smooth transition: upgrading from XP to Windows 7 is an ordeal, writes Walt Mossberg in the Wall Street Journal. “In fact, the process will be so painful that, for many XP users, the easiest solution may be to buy a new PC preloaded with Windows 7,” Mossberg notes. Installing the new operating system means wiping your hard disk, deleting everything except personal data files—and to keep those, you’ll likely need an external hard drive and face a “long, multi-step process.” Then you’ll need to reinstall your programs. Meanwhile, XP drivers won’t work on 7. Microsoft does offer some options to ease the process, however, and it should be smooth sailing for Vista users.
Posted by Tom Krengel
on 07/19/09
New tools are constantly being developed to make our lives and our businesses easier to run. The problem is that if you are in a routine, used to a particular tool, and not actively looking online to see what is new and innovative you have missed the introductions of a few fantastic applications.
Here's a list of five web-based replacements for traditional business software and services. Each is not only better-suited for today's entrepreneur, but also will save you time, money, and the stress that accompanies the loss of each.
Project Management
Any time you have to collaborate with others on a project, you need a way to manage that project.
Old way:Microsoft Project. The downside is that licenses are in the hundreds of dollars, and you're locked into your own machine. It's not web-based and can't be shared with other resources and contributors.
New way:Basecamp by 37 Signals. It's subscription-based, web-based and can be customized to your needs and budget. It is available anywhere, at any time and can be shared with anyone. Another plus: It's available if your computer crashes.
Secure File-Sharing
When you have important files that you need to share with others, you need to allow others to access them.
Old way: Build an FTP site. The drawbacks to FTP sites are that they can be expensive to build, and you also need a tech person on your team to build the site. They are not user-friendly, tend to be "buggy" and offer little user customization.
New way: Box.net. It's subscription-based, easy to set up and can be customized to your needs and budget. There's no software to purchase, and you have user permission controls to give you control over your files.
Website Creation and Design
A business without a website is almost as bad as a business without a phone. How else can a company get the word out to hundreds of thousands of potential customers without printing a single brochure?
Old way: Hire a web developer or web designer to create a website for you. The downside is that it can be expensive to hire someone who can create a top-notch, professional-looking site. It also can be expensive and inefficient to manage minor (or major) changes to your site.
New way: Hoping not to appear smug but our CMS360 content management system enables you to maintain a professional and polished-looking website using any Internet connected computer. Want to quickly change the look or content of your site? CMS360 makes it super easy to have an incredible-looking website with simplicity.
Word Processing
Who doesn't need word processing? We use it for letters, articles, research, reports and much more.
Old way: Microsoft Word. Microsoft is commonly used today, but unless your computer comes with the software, it's expensive to buy. Another disadvantage is that it's not web-based, and it can't be easily accessed by or shared with others.
New way: Google Docs. This free online tool lets you create a wide variety of documents, such as spreadsheets, presentations and forms. And what makes it even better is that you can share them with anyone who has internet access and the password for the document you want to share.
Telephony
Telephones have come a long way, too. Remember the first cell phones that had to be carried around in a briefcase? My older brother had one, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever.
Old way: A cell phone, an office phone, a conference-calling plan and maybe even a separate business line. How many phone lines do we need? The drawbacks are obvious: It's expensive to have all of these lines and features, and there's no integration. Not to mention, how many phone numbers do you want to give out?
New way: Google Voice. This is a free, customizable service that lets you integrate your services, have one phone number, send voice-to-text voice mails to your e-mail and more. Basically all your small business needs wrapped into one free account. At the moment, Google Voice is available only to GrandCentral users, but it will be open to new users.
Have you begun to substitute online applications for those formerly on your desktop computer or network?
Posted by Tom Krengel
on 07/15/09
Don’t worry about the jargon: at least we all recognize it when we hear it. The really nasty language in business are normal words with abnormal meanings. Twelve which should set off your "uh-oh detector" include:
- Just
This is used to make a huge request or error seem trivial as in: “Could you just do this (500 page) document by Monday?”, a request best made late on a Friday afternoon.
- But
Remember, whatever is said before “but” is overriden, as in, “That was a great presentation, but…”, or “I would like to help, but…”
- From
Much loved by advertisers, as in “Fly to Rome from $100″ excluding $100 of taxes and other “optional” extras for a flight leaving at 4am, going to an airport about 100 miles away from Rome and the ticket has to be booked one year in advance.
- Might (and any other conditional verb)
Might is used to achieve two things: first it sets up a negotiating position as in, “I might be able to do that if…” Second, it lays the ground work for excusing failure later on: “I would have done it, if only….”
- Only
Closely related to “Just”, it is an attempt to make a big request or problem seem small. “It was only a small error….we only dropped one nuclear bomb …”
- Strategic
Important, with bells on. See Strategic Human Capital division, formerly known as the Personnel Department. Alternatively used to justfiy something which has no financial justification at all: “This strategic IT investment…..(which costs $100 million and has no identifiable payback at all) is essential to the survival of the business”
- Rightsize, downsize, best shore, offshore, outsource, optimise, redeploy, downshift, re-engineer
How many ways are there of avoiding saying straight up: we are going to lay off staff?
- Thank you
Normally “Thank you” is good, except when used by automated voices at call centres saying, “Thank you for calling, we value your call…(and we have so much contempt for our customers that we can not be bothered to answer your call promptly, so we will put you on hold until you give up and try to use our impenetrable and useless online help instead).”
- Interesting
Fear this word. When your lawyer uses it, you are doomed. When your doctor uses it, check your will is up to date. The recession is certainly interesting. A slightly less interesting time would be preferable.
- Opportunity
Because the word “problem” has been banned in business speak, all problems have become opportunities. This means many opportunities are problems. There is a limit to how many opportunities I can solve. Interesting and strategic opportunities really scare me.
c7066316-2537-49fc-8272-64392a73f615|0|.0
Tags:
Subscribe