IT Software and Support for non-Techies

Easter Eggstra - IT Services Open Day

2011-03-07T09:49:00.006Z

Add caption

Open Day - Thursday 7 April 11am - 3pm

We are inviting clients into the our Acutec office on Thursday 7 April from 11am to 3pm.

Visit us to

Meet the team if you haven’t been here before
Collect an Easter egg
Find out about Facebook or Linkedin for business as a social media expert will show you how companies can use Facebook / LinkedIn to generate business. These mini masterclasses will take place at

o 11.15am – 12 noon

o 12.15pm – 1pm

o 1.30pm – 2.15pm

To book your place call or email Carole or Sue on 01675 469020 info@acutec.co.uk

Winning Websites

2011-02-14T08:06:00.002Z

We love websites and in fact we are pleased to showcase our winning websites.

The presentation below showcases some of the websites we've created recently. If we can help your company improve its website, let us know.

Acutec websites 2011

View more presentations from Acutec Limited.

If you need help with your website, you can read our whitepaper on tips to make your website a winning website.

The Daily iPad

2011-02-04T17:02:00.000Z

We are always reporting n new tech developments and although we’re mainly PC users, many of us have iPhones and there is at least one iPad in the building! We were pleased to see the introduction of a dedicated newspaper for the iPad – The Daily.

The difference with The Daily isn’t a traditional newspaper that’s been adapted for the iPad, but one that’s been designed around it. We’ve just downloaded our version and love the photography and how it’s so easy to use. An intuitive app but it’s dependent on WiFi for downloading.

We’d like to see more free WiFi access across the UK so it could be downloaded anywhere, any time.

All we need now is more news from the UK ;)

IT Security Threats

2011-01-21T15:45:00.000Z

Acutec protecting networks across the UK

Security threats increasing

Over the last decade, security has become a bigger issue for IT admins. It’s hard work staying up to date with real attacks and the occasional hoax. Whether you’re running windows or on a MAC OS, the threats are out there.

What does this mean to our business?
The key issues are resources. Time to manage the threats, time to sort out issues after viruses and malware have accidently been downloaded, time to recover lost data, time to do the day job and time to ensure the organisation is productive. Financially companies can struggle if key files or folders are corrupted, damaged or destroyed.

Remember downloading the Christmas e-Card that contained a Trojan horse and sent out masses of spam from your PC which meant the internet service providers blocked your email address which mean that you could no longer send emails to clients?

And what about the emails offering discounts on medications that looked like you sent them but were as a result of a colleague accidently launching an executable link in their email?

And did you find the critical files that you haven’t needed for 2 years that had become corrupted?

We have all heard different stories about how IT security has an impact on our businesses. Hacking was seen by some as fun but today these threats have become more sophisticated. It’s no longer just spyware, Trojans, worms, rootkits, bots and polymorphic viruses, but phishing scams seeking your personal and financial information, and the increased appearance of rogue malware protection (real people are paying real money for anti-virus and malware protection that does nothing) making programmers work harder on their code to evade security defences.

Chris Roche, Managing Director at Acutec Limited commented “it’s all very well ensuring the senior team are aware of the implications, in business today, all staff use a computer, all staff use email and the internet and all staff can download items that can critically damage the business.”

“The average cost in repairing a cyber attack is £5,000. Time is needed to identify the damage, repair the systems, reinstall uncorrupted software, reinstate the users and identify whether critical data has been leaked.”

Endpoint security
To protect your systems, Endpoint security has developed. This is software that includes

• Firewall
• Anti-virus
• Anti-spam
• Anti-spyware
• Anti-phishing
• Network Access Control

Many companies economise by selecting one element of endpoint security rather than a multilayered defence system which offers real protection. When selecting endpoint security systems, IT admins need to consider

• Holistic solution that protects the organisation against the very latest attacks
• System that performs and doesn’t slow the organisation down when managing issues
• Accurate catch rates so that any attacks are correctly and promptly managed
• Real time reporting to enable instant responses
• Solutions that integrate into your existing systems
• Easy to use system that requires minimal input from IT admins

In the last 31 days alone the Acutec virus system detected hundreds of viruses across all systems. Added to which, malware (malicious software) is a new tool used by organised crime worldwide. If you do one thing today, make sure your endpoint security is switched on and is protecting your organisation.

Acutec provides Endpoint Security Solutions that protect over 5,000 users from viruses, spam, spyware, phishing and Network Access Control. We help companies stay better protected from unwanted attacks.

Top 5 IT Predictions for 2011

2011-01-07T13:25:00.003Z

This New Year, we are making the following IT predictions:

1. Websites will evolve.
As sales improve for businesses we predict they will look at ways to ensure costs are kept down as well as seeking new channels. We’re gaining more and more evidence of websites saving companies time and generating sales and see 2011 as they year when brochure-only websites finally disappeared.

2. iPads for Business.
As the new iPad arrives towards the end of the first quarter in 2011, it is rumoured to have added a camera and tougher glass. We predict that businesses will start using these devices for presentations. What we really need is a USB port, but that may not happen for another year.

3. Security on Clouds will get tougher.

More companies are moving towards club computing, there are downsides such as losing the internet connection and all work stops. We predict that hacking into clouds will continue to increase and security will tighten up much more.>

4. Social Media still growing.

As social media moves into the work environment it will become the first place for companies to check out other companies. The key issues are having a good social media policy in place and ensuring staff understand its purpose at work.

5. Greater integration.

More companies will seek greater links between different computer programmes to save time and improve reporting. There will be more investment in software to connect different programmes and enable businesses to become more effective.

What are your IT predictions? Do tell.

VIRUS ALERT – THIS IS NOT A HOAX - 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK'

2010-12-02T15:12:00.002Z

We rarely comment on virus alerts as they are often hoaxes. This particular virus did concern us and toward Christmas the number of viruses increases, as does the number of eCards sent to friends and family.

We have verified the 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK’ virus with Norton Anti-Virus and Snopes, and they are gearing up for this. This is the worst virus announced by CNN. It has been classified by Microsoft as the most destructive virus ever.

This virus was discovered by McAfee yesterday, and there is no repair yet for this kind of virus.

What does it do?

This virus simply destroys the Zero Sector of the Hard Disc, where the vital information is kept.

What action can I take?
Do not open any message with an attachment entitled 'POSTCARD FROM HALLMARK,' regardless of who sent it to you. It is a virus which opens A POSTCARD IMAGE, which 'burns' the whole hard disc C of your computer.

If you receive a mail called' POSTCARD,' even though sent to you by a friend, do not open it! Shut down your computer immediately.

Be alert

This virus will be received from someone who has your e-mail address in his/her contact list. This is the reason why you need to share or forward this post with all your contacts.

Please share and forward this posting.

AWARD WINNING ACUTEC

2010-11-26T09:48:00.000Z

Acutec is delighted to announce that we won an award for Best Business Value at the ICT Excellent Awards in Birmingham last night.

Hugh Pearson who managed the project said “we were delighted to win this award. It is great to get recognition after the all hard work and effort that went in to delivering a complex system, on time and on budget.”

Acutec created a Fund Management and Monitoring System for a team in Africa. The technical team in Coleshill worked closely with a team in North Africa to develop the software.

The ICT Awards were announced at the National Motorcycle Museum last night at a gala dinner. There were over 350 people attending and the event was organised by AWM. Acutec’s award was a result of its service delivery, functionality and agility.

Apple iPhone 4 case - deadline coming to an end

2010-09-16T08:00:00.003+01:00

We mentioned in an earlier blog article that anyone experiencing issues with reception on their iPhone 4 could get a free case.

The case is to prevent the 'death grip' which is when the user holds the phone and it covers the antennae causing the signal to drop.

The free cases will stop for all phones purchased after 30 September 2010, however if you are experiencing antennae issues you can call AppleCare.

IT Downtime Costs £2bn a year for the UK.

2010-09-13T08:00:00.000+01:00

IT downtime costs an average of Euros 263,347 a year for European companies with 50+ employees.

The findings were from a survey commissioned by CA Technologies and carried out in August 2010. 1,808 organisations across 11 countries participated in the survey.

The report shows the departments most affected by downtime in Europe are finance and sales.

The full report can be downloaded here.

If you want help putting a disaster recovery plan into place, please do get in touch.

BT Wi-Fi Hotspot App

2010-09-08T08:00:00.000+01:00

BT has launched an app for iPhone and Android that will find and connect to a BT Wi-Fi hotspot. The app is called BT FON and is free for those that have a BT internet email username and password.

BT has 1.6 million Wi-Fi hotspots.

Details of the app can be found here.

UKtech50 list

2010-09-06T08:00:00.008+01:00

Computer Weekly needs your help.

In association with IBM, Computer Weekly is launching a list of the top 50 most influential leaders in IT in the UK.

To nominate someone to be in the list, email your suggestions along with why you are nominating them to computer.weekly@rbi.co.uk and include the words UKtech50 in the email subject line.

For more information, please click here.

Careers in IT - the hottest academic areas

2010-08-26T08:00:00.001+01:00

Did you know Microsoft looks to hire those with unique backgrounds. The blog post on the Microsoft Careers blog at http://microsoftjobblogs.com lists the three of the hottest academic areas that are expected to be in demand in the future

1. Data mining

2. Business intelligence / competitive intelligence

3. Analytics / Statistics such as web analytics and A/B testing

Read the full post at http://microsoftjobsblog.com/blog/top-three-new-tech-majors

Facebook Dislike Button

2010-08-19T08:00:00.000+01:00

There is an app available called the dislike button. This does not work as a 'dislike button' and is not an official button from Facebook. We recommend that you do not download this app.

According to a news article on the BBC the app encourages people to complete a survey and then posts as a status update "I just got the dislike button, so now I can dislike all your dumb posts lol!!!"

As Mashable points out, if Facebook introduced a dislike button it would automatically add it for you and you would not be required to download it!

Graduates expect flexible working hours

2010-08-16T08:00:00.001+01:00

A study by Orange shows that 53% of the 1,000 graduates interviewed expected to be offered the option to work flexibly either from their own chosen location or outside of traditional office working hours. Nearly half also expect to access emails outside of work and on the move.

69% of respondents said learning experiences were important in a first job. Followed by happiness 58%, flexible working 53%, a good salary 51% and great colleagues 43%.

http://newsroom.orange.co.uk/2010/07/28/orange-finds-2010-s-graduate-expect-a-flexible-working-life-from-future-employers

Social Networking costs £14 billion

2010-08-12T08:00:00.001+01:00

According to the results of a poll by myjobgroup.co.uk social networking is costing the UK £14 billion in lost working hours.

It shows that almost 2m people spend over an hour on Facebook each day at work.

MyJobGroup polled 1,000 workers and 10% claimed that social media made them more productive with 14% saying it made them less productive.

http://myjobgroup.co.uk/media-centre/press-releases/social-media-costing-uk-economy-up-to.shtml

Gartner's IT Spend Forecast

2010-08-10T08:00:00.000+01:00

Gartner's latest forecast of IT spend shows it predicts a growth of 2.9% this year to reach £1.5 trillion in 2010.

The forecast is down from its original forecast of a 4.1% growth.

Spoof Amazon emails

2010-08-06T08:00:00.000+01:00

I've received an email from Amazon confirming an order - I haven't ordered anything, what should I do?

There are a number of spoof emails around at the moment and many are the best advice that we give is. If it looks suspicious, never enter in your login details or credit card details. Contact Amazon to report the email.

You can always go to the official Amazon website and login to your account from there and view your order history.

For further advice see the Amazon website http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?ie=UTF8&nodeId=15340571

Free iPhone 4 case

2010-08-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

Are you experiencing signal drop-off issues with your iPhone 4?

If so, Apple are offering a free iPhone 4 'bumper' case to help.

To get the case you need to download the App http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/iphone-4-case-program/id383941000?mt=8 on your iPhone 4 before 30th September 2010 and you should receive your case within 6 weeks.

£20 Laptops?

2010-07-30T08:00:00.000+01:00

Students at the Indian Institute of Technology and the Indian Institute of Science have developed a laptop that could cost less than £20.

It has been designed as a touch screen for browsing the internet, word processing and holding video conferences.

It uses a memory card rather than a hard drive and can run on solar power.

A manufacturer for the device is now being sought.

See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-10740817

Police trialling crime software

2010-07-28T08:00:00.001+01:00

According to the Guardian newspaper, two Police forces in the UK are trialling a system called Crush - Criminal Reduction Utilising Statistical History which helps to identify where crimes are mostly likely to happen. It has been likened to the pre-crime units used in the film Minority Report.

Crush, developed by IBM, evaluates patterns of previous incidents and can help police to determine potential hot-spots and deploy resources to that area.

Browser Check

2010-07-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

Qualys has launched a free tool to "check your browser to identify any security issues" You need to install a plugin and it checks for security holes in your browser and its plugins.

The FAQs can be found here: https://browsercheck.qualys.com/support.php#s2

If you want to speak to someone about potential security threats, speak to your IT support team.

.co Domains

2010-07-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

The new .co domain was made publicly available to everyone yesterday. Anyone can now register a .co domain. It opens up many opportunities to buy a domain name that is not available as a .co.uk or .com.

Companies wanting to secure their trademarks could purchase .co domains first which ended on 10th June 2010 and was called the .co Sunrise Phase.

co could stand for company, corporate and commerce.

Blacklisted Email Address

2010-07-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Am I blacklisted?
Find out your IP address by searching on the internet for 'what is my ip address'. Enter this number into spamcop at http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml and it will tell you.

To find out if you have been blacklisted you can ask your ISP:
will need to find out what your IP address is.
Go to Google and type in “what is my ip address” and any of the websites listed will tell you if you click on them.
Then go to http://www.spamcop.net/bl.shtml
You will then need to request your IP address is removed.

Add an email address to a whitelist

2010-07-08T08:00:00.003+01:00

How do add someone onto my Whitelist?

You need to go to find out who your registrar is.

You can find this out by visiting www.names.co.uk and entering in the domain. This will tell you the name of your Registrar. Contact them and ask them for access to your control panel so that you can add people to your whitelist.
Alternatively, if you have webmail you may be able to add people to a whitelist under preferences or settings.

Online Egg Timer

2010-07-06T08:00:00.000+01:00

If you find that you are always getting carried away searching the internet you can use http://e.ggtimer.com/

Simply enter in the time you want the egg timer to set off an alarm and click go.

You can even use it for counting down years and months.

eps Viewer

2010-07-01T08:00:00.001+01:00

I have a file in eps format but I can’t open it as I don’t have the software – what can I do?
You can use the 3m Eps viewer

Find the file on your computer and click on the view button.

http://promote.3m.com/eps_viewer/index.jsp

How to add an Addthis button to your Blogger blog

2010-06-29T08:00:00.003+01:00

Visit www.addthis.com

Select Blogger

Choose a button style

Select whether you want analytics or not.

The code will appear. Copy this and login to your blog. Go to Layout, Edit HTML and tick the box to Expand Widget Templates. Paste the code after the

Gartner forecast for netbooks / tablet PCs

2010-06-24T08:00:00.000+01:00

A report by Gartner shows that netbooks (mini-notebooks) sales will not be affected by tablet PCs until 2013.

It forecasts sales to decline from 2010 onwards with sales for 2014 falling to 13.9% of the mobile PC market from 18.6% in 2010.

"Media tablets will not impact the mini-notebook segment this year," Mr. Vasquez [research analyst at Gartner] said. "However, media tablets, such as the iPad and similar devices, will significantly detract from mini-notebook shipments in 2013 and onward, when we expect their prices to be lower and, more importantly, their functionality to be more similar to mini-notebooks."

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1375313

Google SSL Search

2010-06-21T08:00:00.000+01:00

Google has introduced SSL to its search. You can access this at https://www.google.com and it is currently in Beta.

Using SSL means that ISPs are unable to see what search terms you have used (but can still see which sites you have visited).

It also means that analytics software will not show what search term was used to arrive at a website by those using Google SSL search .

Google SSL search is not currently available for images or maps.

Online Infringement of Copyright

2010-06-16T08:00:00.001+01:00

Ofcom has proposed a draft code of practice for dealing with those who illegally download films, TV programmes and music.

It proposes that ISPs start to collect details of customers who download illegally. A letter could then be posted to the customer with a warning. After three letters, details could be handed over to the copyright owner.

The Online Infringement of Copyright and the Digital Economy Act 2010 draft code can be downloaded here

Internet Explorer 9

2010-06-10T08:00:00.000+01:00

Microsoft is currently working on Internet Explorer 9 and Ryan Gavin at Microsoft has been given the task of getting IE6 users down to zero.

Microsoft will support IE6 until April 2014 on Windows XP Service Pack 3. IE9 will not work with Microsoft Windows XP.

ZDNet reported that some companies still use IE6 because some website such as Facebook do not work properly.
Other companies are phasing out support for IE6. Google reader will no longer work with IE6 from 1st June 2010 and it will suspend support for Gmail later this year.

BCS Information Pioneers

2010-06-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

The BCS has shared five stories of Information Pioneers at http://pioneers.bcs.org. It aims to show how they have helped to shape today's information society. The top 5 are:

1. Ada Lovelace
2. Alan Turing
3. Hedy Lamarr
4. Sir Clive Sinclair
5. Sir Tim Berners-Lee

For more information you can:
Watch the videos on the website
Follow on Twitter http://twitter.com/InfoPioneers
Like on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Information-Pioneers/119914224690501

A list of 150 people, voted by BCS members, who contributed to today's information society can be found here http://pioneers.bcs.org/2010/5/17/top-150

How to carry out a mail merge from BCM

2010-06-04T08:00:00.000+01:00

1. Find the contacts you want to send the letter to in Business Contact Manager and highlight them

2. Click Tools, Mail Merge

3. Choose either New Document or browse for Existing Document. You will now be directed to Word.

4. You will need to add in the date, address block and greeting plus any other fields you need.

5. After you have finished, save the letter that contains all the merge fields so that you can use it in the future quickly.

6. Preview your results

7. Merge

Race Online 2012

2010-06-01T08:00:00.001+01:00

The Race Online 2012 website http://raceonline2012.org/ is about helping those people who are not online of which there are 10 million people in the UK. Race Online 2012 wants companies to sign up by making a promise to help people get online. It asks 'what can you do to help people get online?' with the following options:

Spread the word
Events
Give
Train someone
Your ideas

The site also provides templates of press releases to help you spread the word, hold an event, etc.

Fake Amazon Emails

2010-05-28T08:00:00.001+01:00

Information is circulating about malware disguised as an order confirmation from Amazon.

According to sources, the email contains information to say that an order has been dispatched to the recipients address. There is an zip file attachment. Do not open this as it is a Trojan.

Open Day

2010-05-21T08:00:00.001+01:00

On Thursday 17th June ACUTEC will hold another Open Day. This is a chance for clients to pop in, meet the team and see where we work.

1.We have FREE on site parking

2.Open day from 11.30am to 3.30pm

3.Pop in for coffee, or lunch or a cup of tea

4.Contact Carole Doyle if you’re able to join us on 01675 469020 or carole.doyle@acutec.co.uk

5.Enter into the draw for a new NETBOOK

Recalling email messages

2010-05-20T08:00:00.000+01:00

If you send an email by mistake or from the wrong email address you can recall it. This means that it will be removed from a recipient's inbox if they have not yet read it or will appear as crossed out in a recipient's inbox if they have already read it.

To do this go to your Sent Items folder and find the email you want to recall. Open it up and click on Other Actions.

Choose Recall This Message.

Fined for a tweet

2010-05-17T08:00:00.002+01:00

Doncasterfreepress.co.uk has reported that a man was fined for an angry tweet he posted on Twitter in January when his flight at an airport was cancelled due to snow. The tweet was found to be too close to a threat and the man was fined.

The full article can be found here http://www.doncasterfreepress.co.uk/free-press-news/You-Tweet-Court--finds.6293520.jp

Acutec helps give Royce Lingerie a lift

2010-05-12T08:00:00.000+01:00

It’s a case of boom rather than bust for an Oxfordshire bra manufacturer.

Royce Lingerie, which is based at Canada House in Banbury, has seen sales flourish at home and abroad after improving its website to make it easier for its trade customers to order online.

The company, which was set up by husband and wife team Bob and Jane Fleming in 1992, has particularly seen its overseas market grow and now exports to a range of countries including Australia and the USA.

The site, which gives trade customers their own log-in access and allows them to place orders and check stock levels, was written and designed by Coleshill-based IT company Acutec.

The firm employs 23 staff from its Banbury base, which includes offices and a warehouse, selling a range of wire-free bras, including specialist products for sport, pregnancy and post-surgery.

Customers include small independent shops to major stores such as Debenhams and John Lewis.

Pasting Text into Blogger

2010-05-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

If you are trying to Paste into Blogger from another program and it is not allowing you to do so, you need to upgrade your Blogger editor. To do this carry out the following steps:

Sign in to blogger
Go to Settings
Select Updated editor under the Global Settings / Select post editor options.

Acutec urges businesses to take up interest free loan

2010-05-04T08:00:00.001+01:00

A leading Midlands IT firm is urging small and medium-sized companies to act fast in taking advantage of an interest free loan to upgrade their IT equipment.

Chris Roche, the managing director of Coleshill-based Acutec, said there were no guarantees that a loan of up to £100,000 from the Carbon Trust would be available after the General Election on May 6.

So he believes firms should make the move now to overhaul their IT systems.

He said: “When upgrading your computer network, not only does it improve the efficiency of your business, it also cuts down on the amount of energy you use.

“That is why the Carbon Trust has made these interest free loans available to allow companies to invest and also save money on their energy bills.

“In the present economic and political climate – and with an election on the cards – there are no guarantee that this opportunity will remain in place. Businesses still working from older PCs, printers and screens would be wise to look into upgrading now.”

Older desktop PCs can use up to 1,000 KWH over the course of the year, which is dramatically reduced with newer equipment.

The loans from the Carbon Trust are available for companies with a turnover of less than around £43 million and assets of less than around £37 million.

Eligible businesses must have fewer than 250 employees but must operate 20 PCs or more.

The loans of between £3,000 and £100,000 are available now and businesses must go on to save 8,379 KWH per year through the scheme.

Chris added: “It’s an excellent scheme and one we believe more businesses can make us of. If they speak to us, we can help to provide evidence that they would make the necessary energy savings.”

For more information contact Acutec on 01675 469020.

Microsoft achieved Carbon Trust Standard

2010-04-30T08:00:00.002+01:00

Microsoft has achieved Carbon Trust standard after reducing its carbon footprint by 7% since 2007. It intends to reduce it in total by 30% by 2012.

It reduced its carbon footprint in many ways including:

Composing and recycling from its company cafes
Providing an employee bus service (The connector)
See the video mms://msstudios.wmod.llnwd.net/a2294/o21/presspass/1001394_Environment_Leadership_MBR.wmv

Microsoft is helping others to reduce their carbon footprints. Here are a few examples:

Windows 7 includes power saver features
Microsoft has developed Environmental Sustainability Dashboard for Microsoft Dynamics AX to show companies their own environmental impact
Microsoft Hohm (only available in the USA) http://www.microsoft-hohm.com/ is a free web service providing tips on energy saving.

Google Maps and 3D Imagery

2010-04-27T08:00:00.001+01:00

Google Maps now contains Earth View to show maps in 3D imagery. You might need to download a plug-in but it will prompt you.

It provides some 3D views to see such as Stonehenge, Sydney Opera House, Grand Canyon, Statue of Liberty.

Just go to www.maps.google.co.uk/earthview.

Bing Maps 3D also provides viewing in three dimensions http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=e9298080-50c4-4f2e-9fc4-4009074996ba.

3 Peaks Challenge

2010-04-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

Why not take part in an event for IT professionals - the 3 Peaks Challenge?

You will climb Ben Nevis in the Scottish highlands, Scafell Pike in the Lake District, Snowdon in Wales and then celebrate your achievements with a meal and awards ceremony afterwards.

The minimum fundraising per team is £6,0000 and the event is very demanding. The money raised will go towards helping people in poverty.

The event is for IT professionals and if you want to find out more, visit http://www.carechallenge.org.uk/IT

Floppy Disks

2010-04-20T08:00:00.000+01:00

Sony will stop manufacturing Floppy disks in March 2011.

Sales of floppy disks have gone from 47 million in 2000 to around 12 million in 2009.

To read the history of the floppy disk see Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Floppy_disk

Website Age Ratings

2010-04-14T08:00:00.000+01:00

Tibboh www.tibboh.co.uk, a broadband provider has developed age rating classifications for websites. It worked with the British Board of Film Classification to create age ratings of U, PG, 12, 15 and 18.

The service is available with Tibboh's £19.99 a month broadband package.

Digital Economy Act 2010

2010-04-09T08:00:00.000+01:00

The Digital Economy Bill became the Digital Economy Act 2010 on Friday 9th April 2010 after it was given Royal Assent.

It includes provisions relating to copyright, domain registries, security and safety online and more. Contents on the Act can be found in the press release here: http://nds.coi.gov.uk/content/Detail.aspx?ReleaseID=413002&NewsAreaID=2

50 pence Broadband Tax Update

2010-04-07T08:00:00.005+01:00

We wrote in a previous blog post that a 50 pence broadband tax was being introduced.

http://softwareandsupport.blogspot.com/2009/07/tax-for-broadband.html

This has now been put on hold - at least until after the General Election.

In Private Browsing

2010-04-01T08:00:00.000+01:00

You can carry out private browsing in Internet Explorer 8. This means that if you share your PC with someone they will not be able to view your browsing history.

To turn this on open Internet Explorer 8. Click Tools on the menu bar and InPrivate Browsing and an InPrivate icon will appear at the start of your browser bar.

Setting up an email marketing campaign in Business Contact Manager 2007

2010-03-30T08:00:00.000+01:00

How do I set up an email marketing campaign using Business Contact Manager?

Once you have opened Business Contact Manager here are the instructions to set up a marketing campaign:

1. Open your contacts database
2. Click on View on the menu bar at the top
3. Current View
4. Customize Current View
5. Click Filter and under the More Choices tab click on how you want to filter to leave just those you want to send the emarketing campaign to eg categories and select the category you require
6. Edit
7. Select All the contacts (Ctrl A)
8. Right click over those selected
9. Click on Create, New Marketing Campaigns Business (Contacts)
10. Complete the details eg Title, Start Date
11. Add in an email subject
12. Click on Create to enter in your email text and attach any documents
13. After you have finished click on Save and Close
14. Launch
15. The emails will be sent to your outbox and emailed out

Help for Heroes

2010-03-25T07:56:00.000Z

What a day, we started unloading the cakes at 08:15 on a gloriously sunny morning on Saturday 13th March 2010.

We had cakes donated from The Upper Crust in Coleshill as well as the Acutec team. Richard from Coleshill Social Club donated a handmade Mothers' Day Cake and a Help for Heroes Cake which we raffled and raised just for those alone £160.

Pastries were donated from Somerfield in Coleshill.

Asda in Minworth generiously donated all the ingredients for 20 cakes to be made by Carole Doyle who was leading the event!

Carole and her team strategically positioned themselves by the bus stop in Coleshill at the entrance of The Croft where dear James (who we lost in Afghanistan in October 2008) and the rest of the boys would play till their hearts content after school and during their holidays.

PHOTO: Carole Doyle, Darilyn Buck (one of the boy's mums), Sue Witts and son Adam (who made some of the cakes ) and Keith Doyle.

It was the perfect location - next to a busy bus stop. So much so that as people came and went on the bus they bought CAKE and more CAKE, by 11:45am we had completely and I mean completely sold out!

WE RAISED an amazing £523.67 for Help for Heroes.

The Colossal Cake Sale will be an annual event and next year it will be bigger and better still.

Ada Lovelace Day

2010-03-24T08:00:00.002Z

Today is Ada Lovelace Day which is the international day of blogging to celebrate women in technology and science.

The idea is to write a blog post today about a woman that you admire in technology or science.

The Ada Lovelace website says that she wrote the world's first description of a computer and software, wrote the world's first computer programmes for the Analytical Engine.

To find out more about Ada Lovelace and the Ada Lovelace day, visit http://findingada.com

If you do write a blog post please do share the link to your post with us!

Automatic Resizing Windows in Windows 7

2010-03-22T08:00:00.000Z

To enable automatic resizing of Windows in Windows 7 you will need to change some settings in the Control Panel.

Click Start.

Choose Control Panel.

Click on the Ease of Access Center.

Then select Make the mouse easier to use.

Make sure the 'Prevent Windows from being automatically arranged when moved' to the edge of the screen is not ticked.

Click on OK

Now when you open a window you can drag it. Click on the toolbar of the window, hold down the left mouse button and drag the window to the edge of the screen. Release and it will resize to cover just half of the screen. Really useful if you are working with two documents at the same time.

The State of Spam and Phishing Report

2010-03-18T08:00:00.000Z

The State of Spam and Phishing Report by Symantec dated March 2010 shows a 16% rise in phishing attacks in February compared to the previous month.

The report also highlights that many phishing attacks happen when tragic events happen. Be wary of clicking on email messages claiming to be from charities. Do not complete forms, give out passwords or provide financial details.

http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/other_resources/b-state_of_spam_and_phishing_report_03-2010.en-us.pdf

Privacy Policies and Trust

2010-03-16T08:00:00.001Z

A survey of 1,000 internet users shows that half do not trust the privacy policies on websites.

Internet users surveyed were between 18 and 82 and the survey also included unsolicited phone calls, unsolicited emails and privacy invasion.

Many are worried about identity theft.

The press release can be viewed at http://www.isg.rhul.ac.uk/node/366

E-mail is making you stupid

2010-03-09T08:00:00.002Z

Joe Robinson, has written an article entitled "E-mail is Making You Stupid" and that constant e-mail interruptions could make you less productive and it could change the way our brains work. This is due to interruptions all the time and information overload.

In an article on www.entrepreneur.com, Basex, an IT research and consulting firm claims "the average information worker loses 2.1 hours or productivity every day from interruptions and distractions".

See the full article here http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2010/march/204980.htmljavascript:void(0)

IT Security Professionals are "recession-proof"

2010-03-04T09:00:00.000Z

A new survey shows that IT security professionals are 'recession-proof'.

The global survey of 3,000 IT security professionals by ISC2.org (2010 Career Impact Survey) shows that more 52.8% received a salary increase in 2009 and 4.8% lost their jobs.

13% said they would be hiring 3 or more new permanent or contact employees in 2010. Many that took part in the survey and were hiring said it was difficult to find candidates with the right skills and level of experience.

The press release can be found at http://www.isc2.org/PressReleaseDetails.aspx?id=6102

Office 2010 Price

2010-02-23T11:12:00.000Z

The Guardian reported the prices of Microsoft Office 2010 in an article on 17th February 2010.

Microsoft is offering Office 2010 as:

Starter version free with new PCs but this is a lightweight version without advanced features.

Office Home and Business version £239.99 or £189.99 for just a product key.

Office Home and Student version is £109.99 or £89.99 for the product key. This can be installed on three PCs.

Office Professional version £429.99

Browser Choices

2010-02-22T08:00:00.001Z

Microsoft has been forced by new competition rules to allow users to switch from Internet Explorer to their preferred browser including Firefox, Safari, Opera, Google Chrome.

The legal agreement between Microsoft and Europe's Competition Commission means that from 1st March 2010, Windows PC users will be able to install their preferred browser.

A Windows Update will automatically be installed or you will be asked to download it or need to check for updates.

After the update users will see a screen where they can choose a browser.

Microsoft Outlook Social Connector

2010-02-18T08:00:00.000Z

Downloading Microsoft Outlook Social Connector will create allow you to see those that are connected to you on LinkedIn, view all emails between you and a contact, see LinkedIn status updates.

To add the Microsoft Outlook Social Connector to your Outlook close all applications that are open.

1. Download the Microsoft Outlook Social Connector http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=c87e257c-d76f-4785-a09b-af36babd6e32&displaylang=en

2. Download the LinkedIn Outlook Connector http://www.linkedin.com/outlook

3. Open up Outlook and it will show a message which says

"You can now connect Outlook to your online social networks. View contacts from all your networks and automatically keep them up to date. See related information, such as attachments, email and pictures while reading your email.View news from your friends and colleagues"

4. When you open an email, it adds a viewing pane to the bottom of it and you can easily see emails between you and the contact, attachments received from them, a photo if they have included one on LinkedIn and their most recent LinkedIn status updates.

Microsoft to check for pirates

2010-02-16T10:41:00.000Z

Microsoft will check for pirated software of Windows 7 by releasing an updated every 90 days.

Any users found to be using pirated software will receive a watermark on their desktop warning them to only use genuine software.

These updates are for individuals only and are voluntary for companies to install.

Browser Upgrades

2010-02-11T08:00:00.000Z

As of 1st March 2010, Google will no longer support Internet Explorer 6 which means that is you are using Google Docs or other Google sites, new features may not be supported.

To upgrade your internet browser, follow these links:

Internet Explorer 8.0 http://www.microsoft.com/uk/windows/internet-explorer
Mozilla Firefox 3.0 http://www.mozilla-europe.org/en/firefox
Google Chrome 4.0 http://www.google.com/chrome
Safari 3.0 http://www.apple.com/safari

It is free to upgrade to the latest version of Internet Explorer, go to x

Microsoft is continuing to support Internet Explorer 6.0 until 8 April 2014 when it will no longer support Windows XP.

Masters in Information Leadership

2010-02-08T08:00:00.001Z

City University London is providing a new Masters courses for executive positions in IT. The course is Masters in Information Leadership. It is described as "those with responsibility for the IT function in industry and government, and their equivalents in the library and information services professions".

The modules include:

Modules:

The Information Leader in Organisations
The Information Leader in Society
Strategy and Governance
Service Management and Delivery
Portfolio, Programme and Project Delivery
Information Security and Risk
Information Law and Compliance
Information, Transformation and Change

For more information visit http://www.city.ac.uk/study/courses/interdisciplinary/information-leadersh.html

University of Leeds Excessive Internet

2010-02-04T08:00:00.001Z

According to new research, excessive internet use can cause depression.

The report by the University of Leeds claims that they have found evidence that some people are addicted to the internet and replacing real-life social interaction with online chat rooms and social networking sites. The University of Leeds says the results suggest this addiction can have a serious impact on mental health.

The full report, The relationship between excessive internet use and depression, can be downloaded for around USD 30.00 at http://content.karger.com/produktedb/produkte.asp?doi=277001

Copy and Paste problems with IE and Blogger

2010-02-01T08:00:00.000Z

I can't copy and paste from my notepad into Blogger?

This seems to be a problem with Internet Explorer.

If you are having trouble, open up a different browser such as Mozilla Firefox and try that.

Apple unveils iPad

2010-01-28T08:11:00.002Z

Apple has unveiled it's tablet device. Features include

View web pages.
Play music
Browse iTunes, download music / apps.
Read iBooks.
Watch YouTube.
9.7 inch LED backlit IPS display
Multi-touch
up to 10 hours battery life and lots more features!

Size:

242.8mm (height)
189.7mm (width)
13.4mm (depth)

For more information see www.apple.com/ipad

Worldwide IT Spending Forecast

2010-01-22T08:00:00.001Z

Worldwide spending in IT is set to grow by 4.6% in 2010.

The Worldwide spending forecast by Gartner can be viewed here http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=1284813.

Top 10 most commonly used passwords

2010-01-21T08:00:00.000Z

Imperva has released the top 10 most commonly used passwords. Its findings are from the Rockyou.com hack that occurred in 2009.

The top 10 passwords, including the word password are:

1. 123456
2. 12345
3. 123456789
4. Password
5. iloveyou
6. princess
7. rockyou
8. 1234567
9. 12345678
10. abc123
11. Nicole
12. Daniel
13. babygirl
14. monkey
15. Jessica
16. Lovely
17. michael
18. Ashley
19. 654321
10. Qwerty

The full report can be downloaded here http://www.imperva.com/docs/WP_Consumer_Password_Worst_Practices.pdf

See our advice on passwords http://softwareandsupport.blogspot.com/2008/09/passwords.html

Bill Gates is using Twitter

2010-01-20T08:00:00.001Z

Bill Gates is now using Twitter. He joined on 19th January 2010 and already has 300,000+ followers.

www.twitter.com/billgates

Acer's Environmentally Friendly Laptop

2010-01-19T08:00:00.000Z

Acer has launched an environmentally friendly notebook which is from its new Timeline series.
The Aspire 3811TZ/TZG It does not contain polyvinyl choride (PVC) or brominated flame retardants.

The laptop is also recyclable.

See http://www.acer.co.uk/timeline/

Google Phone - Nexus One

2010-01-07T08:00:00.000Z

The new Google Phone, Nexus One was launched on 5th January 2010.

It runs on the Android 2.1 operating system, has a 3.7" OLED display, Google applications and built in 5 megapixels camera.

For the full specs see www.google.com/phone.

See a video here http://www.youtube.com/googlenexusone?utm_source=nexusonesite&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=embed.

It costs $529 to buy the phone and insert your own SIM Card. It will also be available on Vodafone in the Spring.

Importing Bank Holidays into Microsoft Outlook

2010-01-05T08:00:00.000Z

As it's a new year, you may want to import the Bank Holidays into your Microsoft Outlook calendar.

To do this, open up Microsoft Outlook

1. Click Tools, Options, Calendar Options
2. Click the Add Holidays button.
3. Select your country and it will add in all the Bank Holidays for you.

Happy New Year

2010-01-01T08:00:00.000Z

Happy New Year to all our clients and readers of our blog!

Intel's Technology Wiki

2009-12-29T08:00:00.001Z

Intel has launched Technology Wiki. It is a timeline of technology. People can register and add articles, technologies and gadgets which will appear in the timeline. Some technology articles on the Technology Wiki are telephone, remote control, laser printer. An article has been put on their for 2050 which is Programmable Matter.

The website says “add personal anecdotes about the effects convergent technologies have had on your life. Add a completely new entry. It could be a technology that isn’t on here yet. It could be about a technology that hasn’t been invented yet”.

To add an article, you will need to register first.
You then enter the technology name.
Add the benefit this technology brought.
Add a summary.
Choose the year.
Add any references, eg URLs.
Select relevant categories.

Check it out here http://tech-wiki.intel.com/en-uk/home.aspx

FREE movie, song or iPhone app

2009-12-23T08:00:00.000Z

Get a FREE movie, song or iPhone app on iTunes every day from 26th December 2009 to 6th January 2010. Each download will be free for 24 hours only.

To receive daily updates become a fan on iTunes. Sign up for daily alerts or become a fan of iTunes on Facebook.

For more information see http://www.itunes12daysofchristmas.co.uk.

Use your iPhone as a mouse!

2009-12-22T08:00:00.001Z

There is an iPhone app available called Air Mouse. It’s by a company called RPA Technology based in Boston. The Air Mouse it used in the air and can be used as a mouse and keyboard for your Mac and PC:

You use it by pointing your iPhone at the screen using it similar to a laser pointer.

You can scroll and move windows around
It has a trackpad and works just like a laptop trackpad
It has a keyboard so whatever you type on your iPhone will appear on your computer
It has function keys eg Esc, Home

It’s only £1.19 from the App Store http://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/air-mouse-pro-remote-trackpad/id289616509?mt=8

Check out the video demo at http://www.mobileairmouse.com/ and click on demo.

Desktop Icon on Windows 7

2009-12-17T08:00:00.001Z

Where's the desktop icon in Windows 7?

If you have just installed Windows 7 on your computer, you are probably trying to find the desktop icon …..

It is in the bottom right hand corner of your screen next to the time and date display. Click this and you will be able to see your desktop.

Free Online Document Sharing

2009-12-15T08:00:00.003Z

Microsoft Office live allows users to share documents online and access them from anywhere with an internet connection (and Microsoft Office installed).

You will need to sign up to use Office Live (or log in using your hotmail account), but it is free.

You can not edit documents here but if you click on those stored in Microsoft Office Live, they will open up into the relevant software on your PC.

It provides 500MB of space.

http://www.officelive.com/en-GB/

Google Docs also provides web based documents, storing and sharing.http://docs.google.com.

Easter Eggs!

2009-12-10T08:00:00.002Z

What is an 'Easter Egg'?

An Easter Egg is a hidden message or game or extra something else within some software programs. It is revealed when the user carries out a series of commands or key strokes.

All Microsoft programs has Easter Eggs hidden within them prior to Windows XP.

Microsoft stopped adding these after it formed Trustworthy Computing in 2002 http://www.microsoft.com/mscorp/twc/overview.mspx

Anyone remember any?

Here’s one by Google. Go to Google Classic home page and click on the I’m Feeling Lucky button and it will display a countdown in seconds to 2010.

Scareware

2009-12-09T08:00:00.003Z

What is scareware?

This is a scam whereby a computer user receives a pop up telling them that their computer may be infected by a virus and scaring them into buying some software to remove it. The anti-virus software could be malware or not function.

According to Symantec, 43 million people fell for these scareware scams between July 2008 and July 2009. The full report, Symantec Report on Rogue Security Software can be downloaded here http://eval.symantec.com/mktginfo/enterprise/white_papers/b-symc_report_on_rogue_security_software_WP_20100385.en-us.pdf

They are designed by criminals to look genuine. Symantec’s report lists the top reported rogue security software.

1. Spyware Guard 2008
2. AntiVirus 2008
3. AntiVirus 2009
4. Spyware Secure
5. XPAntivirus
6. WinFixer
7. SafeStrip
8. Error Repair
9. Internet Antivirus
10. DriveCleaner

If you are worried about scareware, virus, malware please contact your IT Support helpdesk.

Click Clever Click Safe

2009-12-03T08:00:00.000Z

By September 2011 all children from the age of 5 will be taught internet safety at school. Click Clever Click Safe is the first UK child internet safety strategy. It means that social networking websites, retailers, schools and charities must adhere to the Digital Code.

Full details of the strategy can be downloaded here http://publications.teachernet.gov.uk/eOrderingDownload/Click-Clever_Click-Safe.pdf

Survey by Computer People, IT Recruitment Specialists

2009-11-30T15:08:00.003Z

Research by Computer People, IT recruitment specialists found that 71% of technology workers are considering working overseas.

Of those surveyed:

92% said they were looking for a new job or watching the job market.
39% of permanent workers and 35% of contract workers are considering changing career.

The report also says that 77% of IT workers surveyed rate job security and career progression as extremely important or very important - this is up from 54% in 2008.

The full press release by Computer People can be read here.

Most Britons are not tech savvy

2009-11-27T08:00:00.000Z

According to BCS, most Britons are not tech savvy!

According to the report, only 20% of the population are IT savvy.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT has launched a new microsite called Savvy Citizens http://savvycitizens.bcs.org to help people become more savvy. It contains resources about

Safety
Communication
Commerce

and other topics.

Laptop Cases

2009-11-19T08:00:00.000Z

Where's the best place to buy a laptop case?

I-nique is a great online store to buy cases for laptops, mp3 players, iPhone and more! It sells a huge range of stylish laptop cases that keep the item protected, yet still provide easy access for quick use.

It's a great place to buy Christmas gifts from too. See http://www.i-nique.com/.

You can also buy laptop cases from high street stores such as PC World and many online stores such as Amazon.

Secure Shopping Online

2009-11-17T08:00:00.000Z

To ensure that shopping online is safe and secure, PayPal and RBS WorldPay have some tips:

PayPal - https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=xpt/Marketing/securitycenter/buy/OnlineShoppingTips-outside

RBS WorldPay - http://www.rbsworldpay.com/shopper/index.php?page=safety

Always ensure that you have anti-virus software on your computer.

Never give out your passwords and ...... if it looks too good to be true, it probably is!

IT Jobs on Twitter

2009-11-12T08:00:00.000Z

Looking for a job in IT?

Follow IT Jobs Tweet on Twitter at twitter.com/ITJobsTweet.

Let us know if you have found an IT job through Twitter.

How to clean a laptop screen

2009-11-10T08:00:00.000Z

How do I clean my laptop screen?

Turn off your computer so that you can see the dust and marks on your screen.

Use a micro fibre cloth and use distilled water. Apply a small amount of distilled water onto the cloth so that it is just moist.

Wipe the cloth across the screen gently.

DO NOT Scrub and apply pressure.
DO NOT wipe the screen with tissue, kitchen towel, etc because they contain wood fibres.
DO NOT use window cleaner as it contains ammonia which can degrade your screen.

Livescribe PulseTM Smartpen

2009-11-05T08:00:00.000Z

Livescribe PulseTM Smartpen

The Livescribe PulseTM Smartpen is a pen that records your writing and records sound – useful for meetings.

It needs to be used with specially designed paper that contains dots to map everything written.

Features:

Audio jack
Power button
Infrared camera that captures everything you write
Speaker
Microphone
USB Connector
Ink cartridge
OLED display
Comes with a USB cradle to sync with a Mac or PC and to recharge the pen
100 page ruled notebook
3 ink cartridges
Case
Upload notes to a Mac or PC

Livescribe pens can be purchased at around £170
Livescribe pads are between £10 - £20.

For more information see http://www.livescribe.com/media/pdf/Livescribe_Pulse_Specifications.pdf

2009-11-03T08:00:00.000Z

Where can I find information about viruses?

The Symantec website contains full details of all the viruses ever discovered. It provides a summary of the risk, the risk level and technical details. http://www.symantec.com/norton/security_response/threatexplorer/azlisting.jsp

The Kaspersky website contains the latest malware descriptions. http://www.viruslist.com/en/viruses/encyclopedia

You can sign up on Symantec to receive an email alert when there is a serious internet security threat. http://nct.symantecstore.com/0184/security_alert.html

Antivirus Software

2009-10-29T08:00:00.000Z

Is your anti-virus software working?

Some years back virus software suppliers offered 2 options as part of their services:

An annual licence where each year you were entitled to continual updates as viruses were found, plus an update of their Virus Engine Program itself.
Perpetual Licence where once you had purchased the software, you received just the updates to cope with the new viruses.

Unfortunately Perpetual Licences are less likely to pick up the newer viruses/ Spyware. If you are finding your PC and network slowing down, you may find there are viruses/spyware on your system that are not being picked up.

The test is, if you are not currently paying annually for updates, you are likely to be on the old Perpetual Licence system, which is clearly not desirable.

If you have any doubts get your system checked.

Windows 7

2009-10-27T08:00:00.000Z

Windows 7 is the latest operating system to be launched by Microsoft. There are various editions available including upgrades. Microsoft has produced a quick guide on the differences.

So what’s new?

One of the things I love the most is that you can use the Snap feature to quickly open two windows side by side quickly. I might use this for opening Word and then opening Internet Explorer at the same time to gather information.

Other new features include:

HomeGroup – connect 2+ PCs running Windows 7 to easily share you music, videos, etc. It’s password protected too.
Jump Lists – files and programs you use frequently eg recent documents, recent songs. You can add to the jump list by dragging a document to the jump list.
Windows Search – click the Start button and type in the search box. The documents that match your keywords will show above. You can also preview files before you open them.
Windows Taskbar – easier to see, can rearrange them in any order you want by clicking and dragging. If you hover over a taskbar icon it will shows you a preview of the file open.

To see a full list of new features, see http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/features.

Here's a comparison chart showing the differences between Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7 http://windows.microsoft.com/en-GB/windows7/products/compare.

Technology World 2009

2009-10-22T08:00:00.000+01:00

Technology World 2009 is being held in Ricoh Arena, Coventry between 23 and 24 November 2009.

It’s a meet the buyer event for companies wanting to expand their business internationally. It has been organised by UK Trade and Invest.

It also has seminars running:

Cambridge Wireless - Mobile Health, which will explore examples of the technology applicable to remote monitoring, telecare, the SMART House, wireless tracking and self- managed health. Speakers from Orange, Hidalgo, University of Birmingham & MiLife
Intellect – Software as a Service
Low Carbon South West – Green Technology
Digital Communications KTN – next generation access.
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) – Linking with Research: How to access the best of UK university innovation. Speakers from IBM, Microsoft & Universities of Bristol & Manchester.

It costs £100 for a day pass and £150 for a two day pass.

More details can be found here https://www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk/ukti/fileDownload/Technology_World_Invite.pdf?cid=434444

Netbooks vs Notebooks

2009-10-20T08:00:00.001+01:00

What is the difference between a netbook and a notebook?

Here are just a few obvious differences:

A netbook is smaller than a notebook.
A netbook is usually cheaper to buy than a notebook.
A netbook has really been designed to be very portable, inexpensive and efficient to run; it’s screen size is between 7 and 10 inches.
A notebook has a larger hard drive.
Netbooks do not have a DVD drive (they do have usb ports).
The battery life is usually longer on a netbook.

If any readers would like to share more detailed differences, please comment.

Deleting blank rows in Excel

2009-10-15T08:00:00.003+01:00

Can I delete blank rows in Excel?

Yes, highlight the cells that you want to remove the blank rows from.

Press F5 on your keyboard.
Choose Special
Select Blanks
OK - this will select all the blank rows
Select Edit, Delete Cells, Entire Row

Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail Phishing Problem

2009-10-07T08:00:00.000+01:00

Google, Yahoo! and Hotmail email accounts have all be the victims of phishing. Over the last few days there have been various reports about how lists of email accounts and passwords have been posted on Pastebin.

Change your passwords ASAP.

Best practice recommends that passwords must be changed every 120 days and they should not be reused.

We recommend using a pass phrase which is a combination of a memorable word mixed with some numbers, for example, 1dIwtl&e - one day i'll win the lottery and escape.

Best practice is to create a password that has:

at least 8 characters
at least 1 lower case letter
at least 1 upper case letter
at least 1 number
at least 1 special character (?, *, %, etc)

Passwords must not:

be all or part of your account ID
be all or part of your account name
be blank
contain dictionary words
contain more than 2 repetitive characters (Mmmmmm1, Ab77777, etc)
contain substituted numbers and symbols for letters (3 for E, $ for S, etc)

The Economic Impact of Innovation

2009-10-06T08:00:00.000+01:00

A white paper has been published by IDC and contains forecasts for the IT industry for 52 countries. To download the report in pdf format, click here.

Key points highlighted in the report include:

IT spending for 2009 for the 52 countries will be $1.414 trillion.
Employment in the IT industry and IT professionals will rise by 5.8m by the end of 2013.
51% of IT employment will be software-related.
75,000 new businesses will be created by the end of 2013.

The list of 52 countries and the study methodology can be found here.

Google Docs

2009-10-01T08:00:00.000+01:00

Google Docs has announced that it will make Google Docs documents, presentations and spreadsheets publicly available for search on the internet.

See the blog article for how to stop publishing if you do not wish your Google Docs to be made public.

Microsoft Security Essentials

2009-09-30T08:00:00.000+01:00

Microsoft has released Security Essentials which is its free anti-virus software for your home PCs.

System requirements are:

Operating System: Genuine Windows XP (Service Pack 2 or Service Pack 3); Windows Vista (Gold, Service Pack 1, or Service Pack 2); Windows 7
For Windows XP, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 500 MHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher.
For Windows Vista and Windows 7, a PC with a CPU clock speed of 1.0 GHz or higher, and 1 GB RAM or higher. VGA display of 800 × 600 or higher.
140 MB of available hard disk space.
An Internet connection is required for installation and to download the latest virus and spyware definitions for Microsoft Security Essentials.
Internet Browser: Windows Internet Explorer 6.0 or later.Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later.
Microsoft Security Essentials also supports Windows XP Mode in Windows 7.

Can be downloaded at http://www.microsoft.com/security_essentials/

Email etiquette

2009-09-22T08:00:00.001+01:00

Email etiquette.

Here are some tips on sending emails:

DO

Firstly, and most importantly, ensure that you have anti-virus software on your
computer.

To - use to send direct to recipients. Check that you have the correct recipient.
Sometimes as you type in the To box, a list of names pops up as you type. Please
make sure you send the email to the correct person. I would suggest that you add
the recipient in last to prevent accidentally sending half complete emails and to
ensure that you have addressed it to the correct person.

Be very careful if you are mentioning other people in emails - sometimes when
rushing people can email it to the person they are referring to which may cause
embarassment.

CC - use to send copies of the email to recipients - ie to those that need to know
what is going on but you are not directly addressing.

BCC - use to send a blind copy of the email to a recipient or to keep email
addresses anonymous to other recipients eg when sending an enewsletter (no one
wants everyone to see their email address).

Subject: ensure you complete the Subject box. It's important for recipients to see
quickly what the subject of the email is about. If you do not complete this, some
recipients may worry it is spam and not open it.

When forwarding emails - let the person you are forwarding to know why you believe
the email is of interest to them.

Include an email signature including your name and contact details.

Use punctuation. No one wants to read an email that has been put into one long
sentence.

If you are sending a large attachment, contact the recipient first to ask if it's
OK.

DO NOT

Do not use Reply to All if the email has been sent to you as a BCC otherwise you
will reveal yourself as a recipient of the original email.

Do not forward emails to others containing passwords, proposals, quotes for work
(unless you have obtained permission from the person providing the quote), the
email addresses of others who the original was sent to (these may be private to
others outside of your company).

Do not send 'chain emails'.

Do not type everything in capital letters (shouting) or lower case letters.

Before you send:

Take time to check that:

You are sending your email to the intended recipient(s). Sometimes when completing
the To box, it can provide a selection of recipients from your address book and you
could easily choose the wrong one!

You have no spelling errors in your emails - use a spell checker but also read
through the text as spell checkers do not pick up words that are correct but are
wrong within the context of what you have typed.

The National B2B Centre in Coventry.

2009-09-17T18:00:00.000+01:00

The B2B Centre is a publicly funded. It offers support to SMEs based in the West
Midlands. It holds a number of free events throughout the year. We've just attended
the 2nd E-Business Conference and the speakers were:

45 tips in 45 minutes - Susan Hallam, Hallam Internet Marketing
email marketing best practice - Dr Dave Chaffey, Marketing Insights
Social Media for business success - Malene Stanley, KSBKids
Using social plug-ins to share content - James Pennington, NB2BC

The National B2B Centre www.nb2bc.co.uk website contains guides, tools, fact sheets, news and details of events.

Dr Dave Chaffey, an emarketing guru and best selling author writes a monthly column
for the National B2B Centre containing tips on emarketing.

Eligible business can join the National B2B Centre for free. Visit
http://www.nb2bc.co.uk/become_a_member/ to sign up.

You can also follow the National B2B Centre on Twitter at www.twitter.com/b2b_centre.