I will be updating Wordpress in the next 2 weeks.  There are a ton of great new features available with the new version plus bug fixes.  The biggest change you will experience is that the backend navigation is now on the left side versus to top, where you’re used to seeing it.

I am in the process of migrating your blogs and sites.  Once I’m ready to make the final switch, I will send out an email and the change will occur over the weekend.

Existing clients of Aden Networks will receive a free hour of training on Wordpress 2.7 and be invited to a future workshop for a feature tour of Wordpress 2.7.

If you want to get a head start, check out the new Wordpress.TV video library.

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2. About

Twitter is a worldwide phenomena.  People Tweet from home and work, from every continent and timezone including when they travel.

It’s important to target business hours if that’s your market as well as the weekends if you’re suggesting events for people.

I was checking my Twitter stream when I noticed a TON of tweets from the Hennepin County Library system come through all at the same time!  This is a common etiquette issue for people new to Twitter.

Many people on Twitter get turned off by “busy” Twitter accounts or ones that seem to be running on automatic.  People crave interaction.  They want their questions answered and their ideas acknowledged on Twitter.

There are web  based tools that will help you schedule your tweets in advance.

Tools for Tweet Scheduling

Twuffer

We designed Twuffer for anyone who has a need to schedule pre-written, post-dated tweets.

How is this at all useful?
We bet that you’ll invent creative uses for Twuffer. Here are a few off the top of our heads:

• tweet hourly/daily/monthly announcements
• appointment/milestone reminders
• run a time-based scavenger hunt
• notify subscribers about upcoming podcast or video episodes

TweetLater

Knowledge Is Power

Set up alerts and track keywords in the public Twitter stream. We will monitor the Twitter tweet stream and periodically email you a digest of the tweets that contain those keywords. You can also use this to track your @replies.

Don’t Miss A Tweet
Schedule tweets and keep your Twitter stream ticking over with new tweets even when you’re not in front of your computer. Publish tweets when your international followers are online and you’re asleep.

• Automatically autofollow new followers
• Use multiple Twitter accounts

Make Each Tweet Count!

Scheduling you tweets is a great start!  A few other things you can do:

Links in your tweet
When including events, a link to more information about the event.  Using a service like tinyurl.com to shorten website addresses will help as well.

Landing Page
Create a specific page for Twitter folks so they can get a “big picture” of your business or organization without having to click around.  Tell your whole story here.

Calendar of Events
A general calendar for the organization is a great way to help visitors plan.  It’s even better if they can add events directly to their email program (Major email clients are Outlook, Gmail, Apple Mail, Thunderbird)

RSS and Email Newsletter Updates
Make it easy for your visitors to stay up to date without the need to check your website page.  An RSS feed will do just this.  It’s often easy to combine RSS with newsletter notifications so do your research and find a tool that works for you!

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Recommended Home and Business Printer for 2009

Canon Pixma MX700 Office All-On-One Inkjet Printer - $119 with Free shipping at Amazon 1/7/2009

Solid printer with good reviews.  It is normally priced at $199. Best Buy (they are not a good place to purchase computer items from) had it for $170.00.

Print Speed (up to)
4″ x 6″ borderless photo: approximately 46 seconds
Black: Up to 30 ppm (as fast as 2.0 seconds per page)
Color: Up to 20 ppm (as fast as 3.0 seconds per page)

Support Media
CompactFlash, microSD, SD Memory , SDHC, Memory Stick PRO, MultiMediaCard, Microdrive, miniSD™ Card, Memory Stick Duo and Pro, RS-MMC and xD-Picture Card

Standard Interface
USB 2.0 Hi-Speed, Card Slots, Ethernet

Best Place to Buy Ink For Your Printer

Abacus 24/7 Private Store

Here is where I have purchased my ink for the last 2 years.  They sell both brand name and non OEM (generic) ink.  What I like about them is that their prices are very competitive, the ink quality is good, they ship fast, have good customer service and often offer a flat rate for shipping.  This link to their private store has prices lower than their public storefront and even better than their ebay auctions.  Check them out.

Getting the Most Out Of Your Printer

Finding an affordable and reliable printer that can print, scan, fax and copy is a challenge.  Often a printer will start out great and within a few month start to have quality issues with the ink, pulling paper or processing jobs.  Often the cost of the ink is a surprise and people end up paying upwards of $25 for each ink cartridge.

Buy your printer based on the cost of the cartridge
This means doing your homework before and saying no to printers the come bundled with new computer.  These printers are often low quality and contain some of the most expensive ink.  Compare the cost for ink from both the manufacturer and generic sources.

Purchase a warranty on your printer
Once you make the investment into a reliable printer, it’s best to protect it so you can get help and support when you need it.  Make sure you purchase your warranty directly from the manufacturer and not from a reseller like Best Buy.

Buy based on Quality, Reviews and Support
Canon is a great company for quality and support.  HP has good quality but poor support.  Avoid Lexmark printers at all costs.  Spend time reading reviews on the internet to find out what people thought after they bought the printer.  Amazon.com is a great place to do this research.

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1. Get a Dell Computer for $300 With 3 Year Warranty

I just landed a sweet deal for a client today on a new computer system for his office.

He is getting a Dell Optiplex 740 from the Dell Outlet with the following specs for $289.00 out the door:

• XP Professional, the Vista upgrade option
• 2.67 Ghz AMD processor
• 1 Gig of DDR2 memory
• 80 Gig hard drive 7200 RPM
• 16x DVD +/- RW burner
• Gigabit Ethernet 10/100/1000
• Dell Energy Smart Enable
• Keyboard and Mouse
• 3 year hardware warranty

Client Profile

Rapacki and Company
Location: Edina, MN
Business: Certified Public Accounting Firm
Why this is a good fit: My client is an accountant and most of the work is completed by connecting to files on the server.  They use Quickbooks and Creative Solution’s Virtual Office as their primary accounting product.  Staff work both in the office and remotely.  The current computer is a few years old and the network card just died.  Since the network card is attached to the motherboard, the computer doesn’t have much longer.  It is also freezing up and has a very slow boot up.

Good Time to Buy

Now is a great time to replace aging computer systems before Microsoft cuts the sales of Windows XP licensing to the the large computer providers like Dell, HP, Lenovo/IBM, etc.

Should You Get A Warranty?

Warranties on computers are a must.  If a piece of hardware fails and your warranty has expired, you are looking at 3 costs:

1. Cost to troubleshoot the problem
2. Cost of replacement hardware part
3. Cost to install the hardware part

I called Dell today after browsing through the refurbished section because most computers come with a 1 year warranty but the Dell Optiplex 740 had the 3 Year option selected!  Sure enough, Eric from Dell confirmed that the price of $289.00 included a 3 year parts and Next Business Day (NBD) service agreement.

Complete  Care is a must when purchasing a laptop as it will cover things like damage to the LCD screen and spills.  It’s not so necessary for a desktop.

Extending the warranty 4 years isn’t really a must but it’s nice to have as an option.

Technical Specs

Options and Upgrades

There were many systems ranging from $289-$329 with the main difference being memory (1GB vs 2GB) and the type of optical drive (CD-Rom vs DVD +/- RW).

From the Dell.com website:

Power Efficiency

Dell offers an approach to energy that others don’t. We think beyond the power supply to power management across the enterprise. That’s why the OptiPlex 740 not only gives you default Energy Smart Configurations but tools like an online energy calculator to help you choose configurations that best fit your needs. We believe that saving your resources should go hand in hand with saving the Earth’s resources.

* Dell Energy Smart power management settings enabled out of the Dell factory, consumes up to 54% less power than systems disabling power management.1
* Energy Star 4.0 and EPEAT Gold certifications , available on select configurations.
* Dell’s 80% efficient power supplies are up to 10 - 12% more efficient than previous generation power supplies.
* New processors with AMD Cool ‘n’ Quiet 2.0 technology help save energy without sacrificing performance.

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Q Is this email real or fake? How can we tell which emails are really from Paypal?

Sharee and Nancy in Ely

A The first place to start is with the facts. Often, people will receive emails from Paypal or banks when they don’t even have accounts. If You have never had a bank account at Washington Mutual (WAMU), it’s safe to ignore the email.

3 ways to tell if an email is a spoof or phishing email

1. Do you have an account with Paypal?
2. Did they send the email to the correct email address for Paypal?
3. Call Paypal directly at 1-888-221-1161

Never click on links in emails regarding your Paypal account. Always go type in the address yourself into your browser. This goes for bank alerts too.

Once you do sign in, look and see if there is a transaction actually pending.

Why do people send these emails?

There is huge money to be made in theft and every day, thousands of people fall victim to these emails.

*Photo credit: Click! Originally uploaded by ok-59

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2. 3 Things You Should Do When You Setup A New Paypal Accounts
3. Attachment Limits For Popular Email Providers Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and MSN Email

SCORE is a free program that matches entrepreneurs with retired business excutives to provide one on one business mentoring.

People who have met me know I speak the praises of this program.  It definitly works and the only qualification is your desire to build a successful business.

The main website explains the program.  They also have a Minneapolis website where you fill out your business mentor request form.  Check out both to get the full picture.

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Why you should read this book
Quickly learn how to be effective with your online communication.  This book is filled with essential information to help you hit the ground running for website content and online communicaiton.

• Wondering how to get more traffic to your website? 
• Need to figure out how visitors experience your website? 
• Starting a newsletter and not sure what to include?

Buy from Amazon.com ($16.49 on 10/20/2008) or pick it up at the Minneapolis Library

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Why you should read this book
It will help to open doors to how you can cut down on routine and repetitive tasks.  I was able to better evaluate why I did things a certain way and Tim’s advice had me spending less time in front of the computer yet getting more done!

Buy from Amazon.com ($13.57 on 10/20/2008) or pick it up at the Minneapolis library

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Everyone wants to save the plant but how do you start? What changes can you make that are easy, affordable and lead to productivity (aka more revenue in less time)?

For my computer consulting business, it was a matter at looking how I did things, how the industry did things and evaluating if this was sustainable over the next 20 years. I decided it wasn’t and began to make changes.

Below are a few changes I’ve made and if you’re interested to know more, contact me.

What Aden Networks is Doing to Help the Planet

1. Reducing the amount of driving around in the car
2. Electronic invoicing with the option to pay online
3. Reducing the amount of paper used in my workspace
4. Showing clients how to work remotely to reduce driving
5. Sending organic gifts to clients during the holidays to raise awareness
6. Using refillable pens and buying supplies like paper clips and tape in bulk
7. Hardware like monitors and testing equipment are turned off at night
8. Use a PDA instead of a laptop when at a client site
9. Helping clients create online forms to reduce paper forms
10. Digital photography to reduce landfills with byproducts from photo processing
11. Encourage clients to make hardware purchases that will last 4 years

Future Goals
Training others how to work with less paper
Use digital paper with electronic notes
Ergonomic education to improve computer productivity

Photo Credit: Sunrise at the beach camp ground. Originally uploaded by Seamus Murray

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I’m a photographer and I would like to securely share photos online without giving access to the entire internet community. I also am not ready to start an entire website showcasing my work. I mainly do weddings by referral. What can you suggest?

Emmett in Minneapolis

A. Emmett,

Your question is a common one. People try emailing photos or burning them onto a CD; both of which have shortcomings. Emailing photos is a problem as most email providers have different attachment size limits and folks run into trouble when sending high quality photos by email. CD’s can get lost or damaged.

How to share photos online securely, easily and quickly?

A great solution is Drop.io

A newcomer to the online file sharing scene, Drop.io offers something unique; no sign up required to share or get files. Another bonus is you can be sharing your files in just minutes. How nice it would be to get off the phone, plug away at the keyboard for a few minutes and be done.

4 steps to using Drop.io

Step 1. Name your drop. It must be more than 7 characters. You can get a shorter name and increase the site to 1GB for $10 per year with their premium service.

Step 2. Add your media. Upload away. You can upload files, images, audio, video as long as the total is less than 100mb.

Step 3. Select your password and permissions. Here you can set a password and decide if others can only view your files or if you want them to add and modify the files. This sort of “shared folder” could replace the often clumsy FTP system used between graphic designers and clients.

Step 4. Create your drop! make sure you take note of the drop name and password. If you choose not to maintain the drop with an administrative account, you will be “up a creek, without a paddle”

From the Drop.io site

Using Drop.io is simple:

1) Go to: http://drop.io

2) Create a new drop by giving it a name and assigning it user permissions

3) Drop your files and get started

There are no accounts and no registration information required. Your drop is protected from search engines and your privacy is protected by your custom URL - share it with only with whom you want to know about it.

All free drops start at 100MB and you can create as many as you want. Purchase upgrade codes to expand your drop size up to 5GB and to assign your drop a custom URL under 7 characters.

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