Recycling and Donating Electronics

April 16, 2013 By Leave a Comment
Recycling and donating electronics

Even if you have a consumption reducing program, your company will have electronics that are at the end of their useful life.  Moving is a time when companies purge the old and electronics are no exception.  Designing a new office is a great time to modernize and check the usefulness of computers and peripherals.  Monitors, printers and battery backups are a few of the devices that you should examine closely.  Upgrading monitors and printers can give you a real return-on-investment and too often our battery backups are overlooked or neglected. LAN System has a free recycling program.  You can drop off your equipment at our office or we will make arrangements for pickup during your normal on-site support.   If you know of a school or charity that accepts donated electronics, we can prepare your equipment for donation.  There is a charge for this service as we will clean up … [Read more...]

Filed Under: IT Tips and Trends, Tech Notes Tagged With: ,

Creating an 2007 Outlook Signature with Hyperlinks

June 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment
social-media-logos

Now that you have your LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook accounts all jazzed up, it’s time to add links to your email signature.  You can make a hyperlink to your social media sites and mail recipients can “click” right to them.  Follow these simple steps to add your signature. Get your logos.  You will need your company logo and logos for the social media sites to hyperlink.  There are many logos to choose from that are in the public domain.  If you want to use a logo that requires payment or special permission, make sure to satisfy all requirements before using. Get your hyperlinks.  Go to each of your social media sites and cut/copy the links to that site.  Be sure that you use the links that do not require login to the site.  For instance, when you login to Twitter your homepage is: http://twitter.com/home  For others to see you, use the link to your account.  For … [Read more...]

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The best offense is a good defense: Disaster preparedness essentials

January 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment
how to prepare for an IT disaster

Guest blog by Cindy Bates, Vice President of Microsoft’s US SMB Organization Planning for “the worst” isn’t quite as fun as refining a business plan or coming up with new ways to market your products or services, but doing so just might make the difference between the success or failure of your company. In fact, the U.S. Department of Labor estimates that more than 40 percent of businesses never reopen following a disaster; and, of the remaining companies, at least 25 percent will close in two years. Yet, small businesses that take time to develop a disaster preparedness plan that includes preventive measures as well as actions to be taken in the event of disaster greatly increase their odds of withstanding catastrophe. To get started with creating a disaster preparedness plan, I recommend small- business decision makers consider the following: Insurance plans and … [Read more...]

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Top IT Trends for 2012

January 6, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Top IT Trends for 2012

In keeping with our new year’s tradition, we have compiled our list of the top technology trends for 2012. We scanned the available data, reviewed our previous predictions and made some leaps of faith. We are optimistic about the economy and expect many delayed IT expenditures to be completed this year. Advances in business technology continue their steady progression with many smaller businesses adopting leading edge technologies.  This year will be interesting for consumer electronics.  Maybe Steve Jobs left his next great invention in the Apple pensieve. Local Data Centers – As Cloud Computing gains acceptance and market share, more business will move their equipment and applications to their own private cloud.  Companies will look for neighborhood data centers that are accessible and provide boutique services. This provides an opportunity for IT service providers and … [Read more...]

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Safe Computing for the Holidays

December 21, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Safe computing for the holidays

Taking time off to spend with family and friends is such a treat, but alas for many it is hard to stay away from the computer.  If you are going to do some online shopping, play a new game or check your work email, be sure to practice safe computing.  Your home computer may not have the same protection as work, so before you download that file or visit a new site make sure you are protected. Protecting your computer 1)  Make sure your operating system is updated and all security patches are installed.  If you are using Windows, go to Control Panel Home, then Windows Update. This page will show you if you are up to date or if you need an update.  If you are out of date, follow the instructions and consider turning on automatic updates.  If you have a Mac, the update is similar to Windows so just follow the instructions.  If you have Unix or Linux, you are probably an expert … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Security, Tech Notes Tagged With:
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