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How to Decide if an IT Assessment is Right for Your Business | eHow.com

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 23:20:00 +0000

How to Decide if an IT Assessment is Right for Your Business | eHow.com

The Shifting Role of the CIO

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:30:00 +0000

In the age of the cloud, a new CIO role has emerged

Just a few years ago, CIO Magazine asked several industry experts to share their thoughts on how the CIO’s role would evolve over time. A common prediction was that the CIO would begin focusing on two distinct responsibilities: strategically adopting technology as a value-add for his or her company and tactically ensuring that the “nuts and bolts” of the business’s IT processes ran smoothly.

Now, in the age of the cloud, it’s clear that the role of CIO has shifted again from high-level IT and vendor evaluation to highly collaborative and business-oriented decisions. Today’s CIOs don’t just select a platform that will guide decisions on operation systems, databases and applications—they are more deeply involved in relationships with cloud partners on every level. From reviewing Service Level Agreements to poring over business records with exacting detail, the CIO’s role is now at the heart of the enterprise (and the boardroom) as they ensure that IT decisions make a positive impact on bottom line of the company as well.

The Scarlett Group CIO Services
Success in IT requires leadership with both technological “know-how” and a strategic perspective. The Scarlett Group has proven the ability to deliver that rare combination of IT operations experience and innovative leadership, which drive desired results and solid returns on technology spend. Visit the Scarlett Group today to learn we can raise your IT Performance.

Security-As-a-Service Growing

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:44:00 +0000

Network World — When you ask IT professionals if they use cloud computing or software-as-a-service, most start by saying "no". But if you ask some follow up questions, you will quickly find out about "that one application" that is a SaaS application.

In security, this effect is even more pronounced. Companies don't think they use security-as-a-service or "cloud" security. Yet, many do, in the form of messaging security: e-mail antispam and antivirus. This type of security outsourcing, where security is delivered as a service from the cloud and without on-premise hardware, is growing 12% year-on-year. It's becoming a great outsourcing option for companies that lack the skills or do not want to retain and maintain the skills in some security function.

The Scarlett Group can now radically transform the economics of technology ownership, delivery and availability for Jacksonville based companies.

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Fri, 07 May 2010 16:50:00 +0000

The Scarlett Group The Scarlett Group can provide your business Managed Infrastructure Services on the New Jacksonville-Wide Fiber Optic Ring.

With this announcement Infrastructure Management services from the Scarlett Group can now radically transform the economics of technology ownership, delivery and availability for Jacksonville based companies.

Jacksonville's New Fiber Optic Network
The OC-192 connection is a robust fiber optic network transmission line that is an ideal source for those customers who seek redundant, self-healing local access at a substantially reduced cost.

Colo5's Jacksonville fiber optic metro ring connects its data centers to telecom carrier hotels in Jacksonville allowing access to more than 15 independent telecom network providers. These locations include 550 Water Street, 421 West Church Street, and 424 N. Pearl Street. This configuration will add significant value to Colo5's customers in the way of broader access to more carriers and more competitive pricing for access and bandwidth.

"We are extremely excited that our ring is up and that our clients are already benefiting from the enhanced access and attractive cost savings," said Colo5 CEO, Doug Recker. "Our ring differentiates Colo5 from other data centers locally, and we expect that many more Jacksonville customers will realize similar benefits from operating on it," he closed.

SenderOK – A Better Email Productivity For Outlook Users

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:51:00 +0000

For those of us who live in the inbox, email management is a 24×7 job. The email inbox becomes not only the historian, who faithfully records our online social trips, but the inbox becomes the clearing house for all information that pours in. Wouldn’t it be great if it could behave like a secretary we always wished we could have?

With a slew of free tools and add-ons, the email is heading that way. Maybe it won’t flash a charming smile just yet, but there are some email assistants that can help us live a more charmed life and enjoy greater personal productivity. One such free email software is SenderOK.

SenderOK comes with a quiver full of features but the basic idea of the software is that it focuses on the more important emails. SenderOK tries to distinguish between the good emails and the not so good ones. Picking the good ones and putting them ahead in the queue speeds up email productivity.
Email productivity (or any other) is about prioritizing. SenderOK is that, but on auto-pilot. How? Let’s see…

Taking A First Look At Our Email Assistant

SenderOK is a 9.52MB download and it is an add-in for Outlook (2003, 2007) and the browser (IE6+, FF2+). It is supported on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. After installation, a SenderOK user account has to be created. The SenderOK account is your calling card into the network of trusted senders.
On installation, the SenderOK Account Manager takes you through screens of a few configurations. One of the most important ones is where you give SenderOK the specific email accounts to handle:

The last step in the installation step-by-step is where SenderOK indexes all the emails. The nice touch is, SenderOK gives a tour of the features while the indexing is on.

Taking a Second, Deeper Look At Our Email Assistant

The first look was really slick, nice and fast. The indexing can carry on in the background and if you don’t want to view the introductory video, open up your Outlook. Here’s how the layout changes to reflect the work of SenderOK’s filtering.

SenderOK filters the emails into three priority rated folders: VIP, Important, and Routine. Also, taking each single email, the priority can be changed on a case by case basic if you feel that SenderOK has got it wrong on the first try. This action re-sorts the individual email into the matching folder.

SenderOK also helps you quickly identify senders thanks to the virtual business card displayed within the email message. The photo is plucked from Facebook and you can click the Facebook icon to take a look at the person’s profile. Obviously, not all senders will have a Facebook profile and this social information available for display.

The little info panel can be extended to a more detailed view with a click. What you get are all the emails you have exchanged with the sender and listed attachments if any. Mouseover any of the conversations and you can catch the email in a pop-out.

SenderOK also ‘rescues’ email wrongly captured by spam filters and moves them from the spam folder back into the right folders. The accounts to act on can be specified during the installation.

SenderOK notifies you of new email and its priority status with a little taskbar icon. This icon is on display even if Outlook or webmail is closed. The type of notification display (tray icon, ticker, or sound alert) can be changed by clicking the tray icon and choosing Configure SenderOK Settings. Click the tray icon to get a more detailed display of your mail status.

SenderOK lets you exchange virtual business cards with your contacts. SenderOK’s Card Box is where you can create and manage your own cards as well as those of your contacts. It’s also a searchable database of all your contacts with filter sets and tags.

Is SenderOK A Good Email Assistant?

SenderOK does a good job of sorting through the mail and arranging them according to priority. Though the brain behind the sorting is not mentioned, SenderOK also takes into account global classification of the emails. If users classify a particular sender as high priority, then it apparently helps to fine tune the email classification. What’s helpful definitely is the grouping of the emails from a single sender in the info panel. Along with the photo, it speeds up email productivity.
The cons? I am not sure if webmail accounts also display virtual folders with sorted mails as in Outlook’s Inbox. I couldn’t get it to work and in all probability, there is this single distinction between webmail and Outlook. Though, webmail accounts display the priority for individual emails and any change in one gets reflected in all emails from that sender.
SenderOK can only get better at its job as we use it more. Just like a real assistant.

Top 7 Windows Search Tricks Used by Pro Users

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:36:00 +0000

With terabytes of space within easy reach these days, one tends to become a hoarder — accumulating lots of files, slowly getting a little complacent in organizing file and folders; and failing to get rid of unneeded files.
What this means is that more often than not, one will have a hard time finding the file when it’s needed the most. You can make use of some of the tips to keep your files and folders organized, or perhaps you can get really good at doing a Windows search. If you opt for the latter, here are some Windows search tips and trick that you should know about.

Use boolean operators to fine-tune your Windows search

You can use the three common boolean operators namely: AND, OR, NOT within your search queries. All you have to keep in mind is to use them in uppercase whenever you are planning to use them as boolean operators or else they will be considered as a search term too.
For example, make or use would return items which have all the three terms make or and use where as make OR use would return items with make, use or both make and use.

Use Wildcards

Wildcards are pretty much a regular feature when it comes to doing a Windows search. Yes I am referring to the stars and the question marks. However, did you know that you can combine wildcard searches with other search operators and queries to narrow your search? Let’s view an example:
Suppose you have an MP3 file and a Word document both named “vocabulary” and suppose you need to find the MP3. You can then use the query “*.mp3 vocabulary” to get to your file.

Search by file kind

The above can be useful when looking for specific file types. What if you want to search within all documents that is doc, docx, xls, pdf and the like? Well you use the kind: operator. Use kind:doc to search within documents, kind:contacts to search for contacts and kind:E-mail to search within emails. You can find the complete list by typing kind: in the search box.

Use quotes for exact matches

As you would do with a Google query, you enclose your query within quotes to find an exact match. As an example, if you search for make use of, the search will return items that contain make, use and of anywhere in any order. On the other hand, if you enclose these terms within quotes then search will return items having the exact phrase make use of.

Use the size operator to impose a condition on file size

You can use size: > 50 to search for files larger than size 50 KB, append a unit and you can search for file larger than 50 MB like so – size: >50MB. In addition to this, you can also use size: medium, size: large and other such operators to fine tune your search. As always, you can combine other criterias with size operator to narrow down the Windows search results.

Launch files using search

You most likely know and use the Start menu’s search to good effect. However, a lot of people use the arrow keys or the mouse after typing in a keyword. If you observe carefully, Windows automatically highlights the first entry in the search results, so if you hit enter at the point the first item is invoked. The key lies in coming up with clever queries that would allow you to launch applications or perform required actions. For example, if you want to launch Photoshop, you will do a lot better if you start with photo.. rather than Adobe.. So simply typing something like photo and hitting Enter would launch Photoshop. Same would be true for media – to launch Windows Media Player. The results would of course vary depending upon what programs you have installed

Search by file properties

You can also search by file properties like author, title, date, status, keywords, etc. from within the search box. Then there are special properties that are available for certain file types like the birthday: operator available for contacts, hasattachment: available for emails. You can find a complete list here.

Google Places: businesses get their own Google profiles

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:25:00 +0000

People have been able to create Google profiles since 2008, and now places are getting their own Google pages. As part of an effort to make things in the real world more searchable, Google has converted its blandly-named Local Business Center into the much sexier Google Places.

Places combines the 4 million pages that business owners have added to the Local Business Center with the 50 million Place Pages Google has already created. Google Places adds a bunch of new features to go along with the new name. Businesses can download custom QR codes that link directly to their Places page, they can buy top billing for keywords in local searches with a new advertising program, and they can even have Google do a photoshoot of their interiors for free.

Can you say "indoor Street View?" Awesome.

Facebook Docs: Facebook gets its own version of Microsoft Web Office

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:20:00 +0000

One of the big announcements at Facebook's f8 developer conference was Facebook Docs, a Facebook-powered version of Microsoft Web Office. Facebook Docs will let users create, upload and edit Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents, right on Facebook. It was created in collaboration with Microsoft's Fuse Labs, and the uploading system was based on Facebook's existing Photos app. Your docs are social objects on Facebook, so they can be shared and commented on.

Basically, Facebook users get Microsoft web apps, and Microsoft gets ... a whole bunch of Facebook users. Since Microsoft's campaign to bring Office to the web means a head-to-head battle with Google Docs, I'm sure MS was thrilled to get a few hundred million extra users. Facebook users are valuable, too. Microsoft is doing fine in business environments, but the younger, student-heavy Facebook crowd offers an opportunity to snatch some users away from Google.

[via The Guardian]

Microsoft Office 2010 RTM Available for Download

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:17:00 +0000

Windows: Microsoft just released Office 2010 RTM today for their TechNet and MSDN subscribers. If you happen to have a MSDN or TechNet subscription, head on over to download what will be the last version of Office 2010 before it's officially released. (RTM stands for "Release to Manufacturing, meaning it's the version of the software they'll be stamping the installation CDs/DVDs with.) If you don't have a subscription, you can still download the beta release, which has been available since November. (We don't doubt that there are copies of the RTM floating elsewhere on the internet.) For the rest of us, the official release will be available in June. The Microsoft Office 2010 RTM is available for both 32- or 64-bit Windows systems, and is a free download for MSDN and TechNet subscribers only on Windows.

Google Moves to Put Printing In the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:11:00 +0000

Google hinted at their aspirations towards putting everything—including printing—in the cloud when they first announced Chrome OS last year. Today, they're taking the first steps with Google Cloud Print: a vision of a web, mobile, and desktop printing ecosystem without drivers. Presumably, you'll be able to print from any device to any printer in the world.

It's a project that's in the earliest days, but Google has announced an API to get things started. And it's not a far-fetched vision, given Google's cloud capabilities. The bigger question might be why they feel the need to do this, when the majority of the time you print something it's going to be to something in your home. Combine that with the inherent privacy concerns that come any time you ship something off to Google's (or anyone else's) servers, and this seems like a fun party trick that doesn't necessarily add up to much. But we'll see what happens once it's further along in development. [Google Chromium Blog

nVault the unified backup, disaster recovery service

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 02:06:00 +0000

Now there is a way to recover fast from any data loss or server outage and it’s all delivered as One Solution, from One Vendor, as A Service. The most reliable backup and business continuity service for your business makes it simple.

The Scarlett Group offers a complete data protection service for small and medium business (SMB) customers designed to ensure business continuity every day and protect your most important asset—data—in the event of loss or corruption. With just a simple click, nVault lets you restore lost data in minutes, not days, weeks or even months like other solutions.

With nVault, you are protected three ways: First, there’s a device that stays in your workplace for FAST backup and restores. Second, there is a copy of your data and server images are stored at secure, SAS 70 II certified data centers – automatically sent on a schedule that is preset. Third, all nVault Appliances are built with special chipsets to allow the operations of a failed server to failover to the nVault Appliance until a server replacement is found. That’s right, you can run your Microsoft Exchange server right on the Appliance in a pinch.

Visit our website to learn more

The benefits of managed services for SMB (small/medium businesses)

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:33:00 +0000

Businessmen, running small or medium scale businesses (SMBs), instead of managing their core business efficiently, frequently end up managing their computer related head-aches more and more. No business organization today can run without computers and no worthwhile computer operation is possible without a fool proof security system to guard against the increasingly sophisticated threats you face from viruses, worms, spyware, hackers, phishing and so on.

As business grows, the need for up-to-date IT support too becomes critical. IT facilities management, system integration and optimization of infrastructure too become complicated, in addition to managing the security issues.

But, for a medium scale Industrialist, would it be prudent to keep spending his productive hours in solving in-house computer problems, when the core business customer is breathing behind the neck for negotiating an order or for getting his deliveries on time? Definitely not.

Perhaps one can manage (or is already managing) one's business computers and their security issues by employing a dedicated IT professional or a team of them. But in a small/ medium business, can the businessman really afford to pay through his nose and have an exclusive set-up for them? Can one really afford to get the best of the talent in the field always? Even if done, is it possible to retain them?
Fortunately, for the benefit of Small and Medium Businesses (SMB), a workable alternative solution to manage computer systems is available now a days. “Managed IT Service Providers” are now offering their service and it is affordable, professional and scalable to suit individual needs.

Who are Managed Service Providers?
A Managed Service Provider (MSP) is a firm that serves its clients’ Information Technology related needs, either through deploying its own persons or by offering centralized service via Internet (or both). The MSP’s way of working is more proactive, through continuous monitoring of client systems with the intent of preventing occurrence of problems rather than fixing them after occurrence.

== Types Of Service Covered By MSPs ==
* Desktop, Server and network management and maintenance including VPN, protective systems against Virus, Spyware and other threats
* systematic data backup and recovery, Patch Management, IT asset management, software installation and distribution
* Managing of Laptops, notebooks, WAN and wireless network including Identification management, network storage

Virtualization Sets Desktops Free

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:22:00 +0000

In data centers, virtualization helps big companies save on servers and better protect their data. Now smaller companies can use the same technology to gain flexibility for desktops.

When is a desktop PC not a desktop PC? When it's running virtually on an Apple computer. Or loaded with a server's worth of database and applications to create an environment for software testing. Or sitting in someone's pocket, stored entirely on a USB flash drive.
Virtualization has been one of the hottest new technologies of the past few years, and it's easy to see why. In large companies' data centers, software that creates virtual "servers" has replaced actual, physical servers, allowing those companies to better protect their data. Fewer physical servers also mean less electricity and greener IT. But virtualization has its uses for small businesses too -- even those that don't have a single server of their own.

Detaching software from hardware
Virtual personal computers can be difficult to conceptualize because as users we're accustomed to thinking of the hardware and the operating system as one unit. We say "PC," meaning a computer that runs a Windows operating system, regardless of whether it was made by Dell or IBM or Alienware. But virtualization can completely separate the hardware from the code, making a personal computer desktop into nothing more than a file. That file can be stored on a central server or a disk and loaded onto any other machine to recreate the desktop computer exactly as if you had carried the whole thing with you.

For executives and sales people at Elemental Security, an automated security and risk management platform, virtualization means the difference between shipping equipment ahead of time to set up a demo or bringing it with them on a USB drive. "Our platform is pretty complex. It requires an Oracle database, an Apache Tomcat Java environment and a lot of agents," explains CEO Marius Bratan. "We used to use several machines and put several appliances together. It was huge preparation work."

These days, Elemental Security representatives arrive with a virtual version of their environment, created with the virtualization app MokaFive and loaded on a four-gigabyte USB drive. They plug it in to one of the customer's computers or a laptop of their own, and the demo is ready to go. What's more, unlike the complicated appliance setup they used before, the virtual environment can easily be copied onto other laptops or USB drives. Reps can even leave the drives with potential customers to give them time to explore the software's features -- something that would have been impractical and too costly with larger appliances.

For love of Macs
Desktop virtualization software VMware Fusion also allows users to easily combine Mac and Windows environments without having to reboot their machines. "I love Outlook and some of the Windows applications, and I love some applications that only run on Macs," says Ziv Gillat, co-founder and vice president of business development for Eye-Fi, a device which automatically downloads images wirelessly from digital cameras. "This lets me have the best of both worlds."
Virtualization is also invaluable for testing Eye-Fi in different environments, he adds. "Our company is mostly running on Macs for various reasons," he says. "So if we want to test on several Windows operating systems, we load Fusion on a Unix machine and run Vista and XP on that."

Running a Mac and Windows computer combined requires extra memory, adds Timothy Childes, chief chocolate officer of chocolate maker TCHO. The company is a Mac shop but uses Fusion to run software, such as UPS WorldShip that only works in Windows. "Make sure your machines are maxed out on RAM," he says. "A Mac typically comes with one gigabyte. You want at least two, ideally three or four."

Simplifying laptop management
Virtualization has many uses even for companies that don't use multiple operating systems, says MokaFive CTO John Whaley. For one thing, it can vastly simplify managing your company's laptops. "If you give someone a laptop, there are all the headaches of dealing with that laptop," he says. If it becomes infected with malware or needs an update, your company's IT staff will need to do that. A virtual PC can be automatically updated or have new programs installed via the Internet, and it can easily be reset to its original state if it becomes corrupted or infected.

And, virtualization can help keep your data private, he says. "If someone loses a device or leaves the company, the central management console can kill that user," he explains. The next time that virtual desktop connects to the Internet, it will automatically check in with the server, download a "poison pill," and self-destruct.

"Managing desktops and laptops is a huge problem," Whaley says. With virtualization, though, you can manage their entire life cycle more easily, from setting them up, updating them, keeping them running smoothly -- to terminating them when the time comes.

Microsoft InTune: Another Step Into the Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 01:02:00 +0000

Microsoft on Monday launched the beta of a new cloud-based desktop-management service for midsize businesses running Windows. Windows Intune, as it's called, is designed to let businesses' IT technicians manage systems via the Web instead of complicated server tools.

Windows Intune is aimed at businesses between 25 and 500 employees, said Sandrine Skinner, Microsoft's director of product management for Windows Client Solutions. When it's officially released, it will have a business model similar to Microsoft's Business Productivity Online Suite – a cost per user per month.

"If we provide a cloud service that allows them to simplify the way they manage their PCs, we think that will help them immensely," Skinner told seattlepi.com.

Windows Intune is compatible with professional and higher versions of Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7. Intune requires a small piece of client software to be installed on each computer in a network, enabling Intune to manage it via the Internet, Skinner said.

Intune, hosted at Microsoft's data centers, allows IT professionals to manage software updates, thwart malware, manage software licenses and track software across all of a business' hardware. It offers many of the same features as on-premises System Center.

"It's empowering the IT managers to not just put out fires on a daily basis," Skinner said, "but they can also spend time looking at their environment and helping business users make good decisions."
The beta is limited to 1,000 on a first-come-first-served basis. When it's officially released, Intune will come with an upgrade package to Windows 7 Enterprise (without a Software Assurance agreement) and the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (without an Enterprise Agreement), Skinner said.
The beta launched at 9 a.m. Monday. More information is available on Microsoft's Web site here.

Courtesy of Microsoft

This screenshot shows the main dashboard for Windows Intune. It requires only a Web browser and Silverlight 3 – and an Internet connection, of course. Click to enlarge

32 Ways to Use Facebook for Business

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:54:00 +0000

Facebook’s not just for keeping tabs on friends and filling out quizzes — it can also be used as a highly effective business tool. It’s great for marketing your products, landing gigs and connecting with your customers.

Manage Your Profile

Fill out your profile completely to earn trust.
Establish a business account if you don’t already have one.
Stay out of trouble by reading the Facebook rules regarding business accounts.
Install appropriate applications to integrate feeds from your blog and other social media accounts into your Facebook profile. (Although you should be careful before integrating your Twitter feed into your Faceboook profile, as a stream of tweets can seem overwhelming to your contacts.)
Keep any personal parts of your profile private through Settings.
Create friends lists such as “Work,” “Family” and “Limited Profile” for finer-grained control over your profile privacy.
Post a professional or business casual photos of yourself to reinforce your brand.
Limit business contacts’ access to personal photos.
Post your newsletter subscription information and archives somewhere in your profile.

Connect and share with others

Obtain a Facebook vanity URL so that people can find you easily.
Add your Facebok URL to your email signature and any marketing collateral (business cards, etc.) so prospects can learn more about you.
Post business updates on your wall. Focus on business activities, such as “Working with ABC Company on web site redesign.”
Share useful articles and links to presentation and valuable resources that interest customers and prospects on your wall, to establish credibility.
Combine Facebook with other social media tools like Twitter. For example, when someone asks question on Twitter, you can respond in detail in a blog post and link to it from Facebook.
Before traveling, check contacts locations so you can meet with those in the city where you’re heading.
Research prospects before meeting or contacting them.
Upload your contacts from your email client to find more connections.
Use Find Friends for suggestions of other people you may know to expand your network even further.
Look for mutual contacts on your contacts’ friends lists.
Find experts in your field and invite them as a guest blogger on your blog or speaker at your event.
Market your products by posting discounts and package deals.
Share survey or research data to gain credibility.
Use Facebook Connect to add social networking features to your web site.
Suggest Friends to clients and colleagues — by helping them, you establish trust.
Buy Facebook ads to target your exact audience.
Read up on Facebook Beacon to see if it might be useful for you.

Use Network, Group and Fan Pages

Start a group or fan page for product, brand or business. Unless you or your business is already a household name, a group is usually the better choice.
Add basic information to the group or fan page such as links to company site, newsletter subscription information and newsletter archives.
Post upcoming events including webinars, conferences and other programs where you or someone from your company will be present.
Update your group or fan page on a regular basis with helpful information and answers to questions.
Join network, industry and alumni groups related to your business.
Use search to find groups and fan pages related to your business by industry, location and career.

How do you use Facebook for business?

9 Ways To Get The Most From Twitter

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:48:00 +0000

There have been lots of negative comments in the press recently about Twitter and that’s a shame. What they don’t realize is Twitter is a not always a natural, instant thing; to get Twitter you need to hang around a little longer, pick up new followers and find people to follow. There are no set rules for how to use Twitter. If you want to Tweet about your every day tasks, then as far as I’m concerned, that’s fine. But if you really want to get the full benefit, then below are the things that work for me:

1. Tweet, often and honestly.
That doesn’t necessary mean you tell the truth it just means tweet things from the heart, things that you care about, things that amuse or entertain you or, if you must, things that will get a re-action.

2. Follow
Find people you like and follow them. It doesn’t have to be famous people, just ones that say things you can connect with. They might follow you back!
3. Don’t Tweet because you want more followers!
There are millions of Twitterers, they will follow you because they like what you say in 140 characters, not because you’re trying to sell yourself or other stuff.
4. Show people cool stuff.
Stupid photos, interesting links, things that make you smile or angry, music tracks (see blip.fm) and other peoples blogs!
5. Re-tweet.
Seen a Tweet you like? Make sure others know about it. That’s what makes the Twittersphere go round.
6. Respond
You don’t have to re-tweet everything, but letting people know you’re there and like what they say is always good, so hit reply. Don’t worry if they don’t answer back – it’s not about how they interact with you, but how you interact with them.
7. Block and move on
Don’t get sucked into a flame war. While it’s good to have people with different opinions on your follow list, there’s no need to put up with those you find offensive or annoying. That’s what blocks for.
8. Use hashtags (when necessary)
Hashtags are excellent for grouping comments together. Why is this important? It makes it easier to find items on similar themes; it also helps identify what are the most important issues on twitter (Trending topics).
And finally and most importantly:
9. Its not just about your blog.
When people follow me, I like to follow them back if, and only if, I like what they are tweeting. The number of times I’ve been to individual twitter pages to just find no other interaction, no re-tweets, no hashtags just a Tweets of “Hey, new post today!” Why would I want to read that?
I do, because of Twitter, read other people’s blogs when they post. Why? Because they interact, they communicate, they re-tweet, they hashtag; basically they get out there and are part of the community and I find what they have to say interesting.

In conclusion, Twitter is all about interaction. I only started to blog because of Twitter, I found I had more to say and 140 characters is not enough sometimes. I hope people read it, hey that’s surely the point of blogging, but that’s not why I Tweet. Yes it’s handy for letting people know I’ve blogged a new post (and it’s worth retweeting several times, such is the transitory nature of Twitter) but if that’s all it becomes about, then maybe Twitter isn’t for you.

19 Tips Every Windows 7 User Needs to Know

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:40:00 +0000

Your OS drives your whole PC experience, so it's your job as an enthusiast to keep it in a high state of tune

Twist cap carefully. Only pour into Maximum PC-approved computer tanks.

After installing a new OS, most people just jump right in and start driving it through all their favorite applications and games. Makes sense, right? The operating system, after all, should be a background player in the computing experience—a means to an end, with the end being web surfing, content editing, and wanton destruction in the first-person shooter of one’s choice.

The problem, however, is that most people, even a lot of self-described power users, never take the time to really tune the new OS, exploring its menus and setting up the interface for the fastest, most convenient operation based on personal preferences. And as operating systems offer more and more user controls, it’s the curious, performance-minded enthusiast who has the most to gain from tuning an OS to his or her liking.

It’s been about six months since Windows 7 hit the market, so we figure most of our readers have made their upgrades. For those who’ve made that jump, we present a bottle of our favorite Windows 7 tips, each designed to help you extract the very last bits of convenience and GUI-navigating performance from your own personal dream machine. And if you haven’t yet upgraded to Win7, we trust you will after reading this article, as its core features—let alone its actual Lab-benchmarked performance—kicks Vista and XP ass.

We close out our tuning session with a tip designed to supercharge the process of installing the OS. By loading Windows 7 onto a USB key, and making that key a bootable drive, you can do an end-run around slow optical-drive technology and install your OS in (pardon the pun) a flash.

It’s time to get started. Park your computer, but don’t shut down. This is one PC tune-up that can only be done with your engine running.

Keyboard Shortcuts for Committed Mouse Abolitionists

Let’s kick off this power-user party with keyboard shortcuts—tricks every enthusiast should memorize when mastering a new OS. We’re confident the following time-saving keystrokes will save you precious neural processing cycles, and make your mouse jealous with neglect.

Alt + P

In Windows Explorer, this shortcut activates a preview pane of your selected file, be it an image, sound, or video document. This panel is great for previewing images in your photos directory, obviating the need for fancier third-party software.

Windows + Up and Windows + Down

If a window isn’t maximized, pressing the Windows + Up arrow key will make it fill your entire screen. Windows + Down arrow will minimize that active window.

Windows + Shift + Up and Windows + Shift + Down

Hitting these three keys will vertically stretch an active window to the maximum desktop height (the width of the window, however, will stay the same). Pressing Windows + Shift+ Down will restore the window to its previous dimensions.

Windows + + and Windows + -

Pressing the Windows button with either the plus or minus key activates the Magnifier, letting you zoom in on the entire desktop or open a rectangular magnifying lens to zoom in on (and out of) parts of your screen. You can also customize the Magnifier to follow your mouse pointer or keyboard cursor.

Windows + Left and Windows + Right

These two shortcuts will make your active window fill up exactly one half of your screen—depending on which arrow key you use. And once a window is fixed to one side of the screen, you can repeat the shortcut with the same arrow key to flip it to the other side.

Windows + Home

This shortcut minimizes every open window on your desktop except the active window. Pressing this shortcut again restores all the minimized windows.

Windows + T

Like Alt + Tab (still our all-time-favorite Windows shortcut), Windows + T cycles through thumbnails of your open programs via the Taskbar’s peek menu.

Windows + E

Automatically opens up a new Explorer window to show your Libraries folder.

Windows + P

Manage your multiple-monitor setup more efficiently with this handy shortcut. Windows + P opens a small overlay that lets you configure a second display or projector. You can switch from a single monitor to dual-display in either mirror or extend-desktop mode.

Windows + Shift + Left and Windows + Shift + Right

If you’re using two or more displays—and you are, aren’t you?—memorize this shortcut to easily move a window from one screen to the other. The window retains its size and relative position on the new screen, which is useful when working with multiple documents.

Windows + [Number]

Programs (and new instances) pinned to your Taskbar can be launched by hitting Windows and the appropriate number key. Windows + 1, for example, launches the first application in the taskbar, while Windows + 4 will launch the fourth.

Windows + Space

This combo performs the same function as moving your mouse to the bottom right of the Taskbar: It makes every active window transparent (save faint outlines) so you can view the desktop underneath.

Track Your Actions with Problem Step Recorder

To aid their development of Windows 7 beta versions, the Microsoft engineers built in a diagnostic tool called Problem Steps Recorder that combines screen captures with mouse tracking to record your actions. You can launch this program from the Start Menu by typing psr.exe in the search field. Hit the Record button and the applet tracks your mouse and keyboard input while taking screenshots that correspond with each new action. When you stop recording, your session is saved to an HTML slide show recreating your steps, to which you can add comments and annotations. This tool is insanely useful if you need to create a tutorial for a computer-illiterate relative. Hi Mom, hi Dad!

Master Your New Font Manager

Font management is much improved in Windows 7. The Add Fonts dialog is history, and in its place is new functionality within the Fonts folder itself. First, the folder now shows font previews via each font file’s icon (visible with Large or Extra Large icon views). Second, fonts from a single set will no longer show up as different fonts; they’re now combined as a single family, which can be expanded by double-clicking the icon. Third, you can now toggle fonts on and off by right-clicking a font icon and selecting the Hide option. This prevents applications from loading the font (thus saving memory), but still keeps the file retained in the Font folder. Finally, Windows 7 includes a new fancy, free-flowing font called Gabriola that shows off the advanced antialiasing, text rendering, and “stylistic alternate” font flourishes afforded by DirectWrite (Microsoft’s API for 2D text rendering) and OpenType.

Next Page: Windows 7 Tips continued >>

YouTube Opens Rental Store

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 16:11:00 +0000

The video site has quietly launched a streaming rental service, after some earlier experiments.

The streaming rental industry is getting ever more crowded, and now it's going to have to make room for at least one more. YouTube has seemingly launched an streaming rental service, offering movies and television shows for anywhere from 99 cents to $3.99. Content would be viewable in a 48-hour window following purchase.

While most of the content available appears to be from independent, small studio and Bollywood sources, I spotted several Lionsgate movies in the list. Recent hit Precious and Brothers are currently being featured, and the service had a few catalog titles, including the Saw movies and 3:10 to Yuma.

Television show content does not appear to come from any major American network. YouTube has not officially announced this service as of yet, and it may just be that the weak offering here could be a result of this merely not being ready for prime time.

YouTube had previously experimented at the beginning of the year with $5 rentals of Sundance titles. The offering did not do so well, likely making the site much more than $10,000 or so in rental fees.
As I mentioned earlier, any offering from YouTube runs into the reality of a small yet increasingly crowded market. If the service wants to be successful, it's going to have to ramp up its offerings quickly, as Netflix is currently king in this space. That said, the extreme popularity of YouTube itself works in the service's favor.

We'll have to watch this in the coming months to see the site's next moves, and if it begins to strike hardware deals to bring the service off the computer screen and into the living room. After all, who wants to sit in front of a computer screen for two hours to watch a movie?

While most of the content available appears to be from independent, small studio and Bollywood sources, I spotted several Lionsgate movies in the list. Recent hit Precious and Brothers are currently being featured, and the service had a few catalog titles, including the Saw movies and 3:10 to Yuma.

Social Media Helps Some Small Businesses Endure Bad Economy

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 15:54:00 +0000

Whether it's a 50-cent discount for knowing architecture trivia on Twitter or a Hawaiian pizza night aimed at college students on Facebook, many small businesses say that social media sites have been godsends for weathering the current recession. With a dash of creativity, these companies - including some start-ups - have leaned on Facebook and Twitter as low-cost options to communicate with customers who, in turn, have helped spread the word.

Take Coolhaus, an ice cream sandwich venture by real estate developer Freya Estreller and architect Natasha Case, the latter having become recently unemployed in her field. When they launched about 10 months ago in Los Angeles, the foodie entrepreneurs didn't rely only on their architecture-themed street vendor truck to market the brand. Instead, they took their handmade ice cream concoctions and figured out how to meld them into the local consciousness via social media.

Facebook and Twitter accounts were quickly established, and Case began experimenting with promotions. In one example, followers were provided a link to the work of well-known architectural photographer Julius Shulman. If a customer came to the truck and said his name, they got 50 cents off the "Orange Julius Shulman" ice cream sandwich (regularly priced at $3.50). Another example of a tweet: "today's password: 'he lives in a pineapple under the sea' for our AMAZING secret flavor AND 50 cents off." The password was good for a half-dollar off a SpongeBob SquarePants-themed cool treat.

Less than a year later, the small business has almost 8,000 Twitter "followers" (longtime ice cream giant Baskin-Robbins has 10,000, by comparison) and nearly 1,300 Facebook "fans." Better yet, it plans to launch another truck in the current locale as well as one in the Hamptons on Long Island, NY, and a fourth in Austin, Texas.

And recent research by Rice University suggests that Coolhaus's social media strategy will be just as effective with multiple locations as it has been with one. The university's three-month study found that Facebook "fans" for a chain of Houston-based cafés visited 20 percent more often and spent 33 percent more money when compared to non-fans.

While stating that social media has "absolutely" driven Coolhaus's growth, Case sounded like a marketer who has only begun to post and, more particularly, tweet. "Twitter is a self-marketing machine," she said. "People take pictures of the ice cream sandwiches and the truck and post them. Friends tell their friends. It's been an exponential source of growth for us. We didn't get into Facebook until later... I think there are a lot of non-Twitterers out there, so you have to make time for Facebook. For a mobile business like ours, both social media sites are totally required.

By Christopher Heine, ClickZ, Mar 1, 2010

Small Businesses Benefit From Managed Services

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:40:00 +0000

The economy is showing signs of recovery; however, many businesses are still reeling from the effects of the recession. From start-ups to multi-billion dollar businesses, everyone is looking for ways to cut costs while turning a profit. In fact, many companies are just trying to keep things in the black, however that does not eliminate the need for practices that will improve and grow these businesses.

Since few people have the expertise to manage much of today's technology, a certain percentage of their budgets should be allocated to IT and software applications maintenance. Here we will cover how managed services can benefit small and medium businesses.

Increased productivity- Businesses are established to fill the need for a product or service while providing a livelihood for the business owners and their employees. In order to do this, businesses have to ensure they are working at full capacity at all times. Downtime or work performed at reduced levels is time and money wasted. Managed Services can help businesses not only quickly repair problems when they occur but also act as a proactive measure to spot and treat potential problems before they have an impact on productivity.

Supports in-house IT- Many businesses do not want to relinquish all IT maintenance control to an outside party, and small businesses do not always have the resources to support the type of IT department needed to keep their business running at full speed. A majority of businesses can benefit from adding the expertise, tools and availability of a Managed Services Provider to help support in-house IT departments.

Remote services- Managed Services Providers work from a remote location, providing desktop, email and back-up and recovery support services without adding to the actual number of "employees" on site. The services provided are unobtrusive and in the majority of cases, have no impact in the day-to-day activities of current in-house employees.

Affordable- Generally when you bring on a Managed Services Provider, a consultant will perform an onsite assessment of the company, its workflows and processes and the current state of its supporting technology to determine what services are needed to meet organizational goals. Business owners often have a choice between several different levels of service, making it possible for a company with a limited budget to choose a package that best suits their needs.

Security is a big concern for business owners and individuals alike. In the past, business owners have been reluctant to entrust secure or private information to a third party, offsite vendor. As Managed Services Providers continue to prove their value, more companies are realizing the benefits and value of their services. Managed Services Providers continue to improve technology to provide secure, quality services for businesses of all sizes. As a result, smaller businesses which operate with leaner budgets find themselves in a position to reap the benefits of these services.

Business owners often have to make difficult decisions regarding how they will improve their business while sticking to the budget. As the market for Managed Services experiences continual growth in the next few years, this method of IT maintenance and service delivery will likely become the "norm" for small to mid size businesses looking to reduce costs and improve uptime and business continuity. Companies that recognize the benefits of Managed Services will have a jump on their competition.

Content by Managed Services Provider University

Cloud Computing - How Will it Affect You?

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:45:00 +0000

We are always on the watch for the 'next best thing' when it comes to technology and the Internet. Certainly no one can doubt that the next generation of the Internet (known as Web 2.0) has had a dramatic affect on how people interact and connect with each other - both from an individual standpoint and a business one.

Another emerging concept that has the power to change how we perform tasks is taking place before us as well, and it is called 'cloud computing.' Simply put, it is the ability to use resources and tools via the Internet without actually owning or being near them. The only requirement is to be able to access them.

The term 'cloud' is used to indicate the whole of computing services accessible via the Internet. It is an all-encompassing description of the complex internet-connected networks that exist in datacenters all over the world that power services and applications behind the scenes.

The concept of utilizing resources in these networks is being adopted by businesses both large and small. These resources are categorized to describe their function, and include:

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)
Platform as a Service (PaaS)
Software as a Service (SaaS)

Web 2.0

In the most general terms, Infrastructure as a Service means that companies may no longer need to own and house their own back-end servers and other network computing infrastructure besides an internet-connected PC or laptop in order to maintain business functionality. This capability can be purchased on a subscription basis from entities that market these services in a 'virtual' manner. This allows businesses to keep their costs low by not having to purchase, maintain and recycle their own equipment for this purpose, and also mitigates the possibility of business interruption due to the highly available nature of these solutions. This equates to increased uptime and profitability for Infrastructure as a Service customers.

Platform as a Service is also known as 'cloudware', and refers to the availability of development tools in creating web applications and services to the end user. Like IaaS, you never 'see' the inner-workings of this environment unless you are a computer programmer or IT resource, but it exists nonetheless and again affords those who use these tools the ability to reduce costs while running their businesses.

Sofware as a Service is defined as software applications that are subscribed to and accessed only through the Internet, and not installed on local PCs or laptops. Applications built by and accessed via Google fall into this category, as well as the many photo sites to which you can upload your pictures and videos, edit and share them with others. These solutions are gaining tremendous popularity, because end users do not need to install, update and maintain software locally - only connect to it and use it when the need arises.

Web 2.0 describes the whole of the social networking movement on the Internet, and includes but is not limited to destinations such as Facebook, MySpace, eHarmony, LinkedIn and Twitter. These sites offer the ability for people all over the world to share common interests, stay connected and learn more about each other - and these sites aren't just for the young. Statistics show that the over 50 generation is logging onto these sites in greater numbers than ever before. In fact, in one month alone, Facebook adds over 17,000 new members.

The next time you are on the Internet and upload a photograph and use the online tools to modify that picture, you are participating in 'cloud computing.' The picture is probably loaded to a site that uses IaaS for their servers, PaaS in order to provide the visual interface in which you modify the photograph, and SaaS applications you'll use to access your email program and social networking sites in order to send it to or post it for those with whom you would like to share the picture.

Content by Managed Services Provider University

Should You Hire Internal IT Staff Or Outsource to an External Service Provider?

noreply@blogger.com (The Scarlett Group) — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 22:36:00 +0000

Most small business owners handle all aspects of their businesses, including acting as the information technology department. This will work for as long as you remain a small business without employees. When you grow and start hiring staff, will it make sense to use your business-building time on IT issues?

Unless you are an information technology service provider yourself, chances are your time will be much better spent marketing your products and/or services, establishing relationships with your clients, providing exceptional customer service and just otherwise growing your business.

How do you know when it's time to get IT help? If the information technology demands are affecting your day and negatively impacting your actual business related activities - it's definitely time to consider finding an IT resource. If you start adding new employees and computers, it's probably a good time to look into adding IT help, as well.

Should You Hire Internal IT Staff or Outsource?

When you make the decision to find an IT resource, your first decision will be whether you need to hire one or more staff to fulfill the role, or if you're going to outsource IT services. Having dedicated IT staff means they are 100% committed to your business. They're not splitting their time among numerous clients the way a contracted company might. One of the benefits of having an IT department is that the staff develops a strong understanding of your unique business needs and should be in a good position to manage your short and long term IT requirements. With your own IT staff on payroll, you know you've always got someone available (unless they're out sick or on vacation!) should an emergency or urgent situation present itself.

The primary disadvantage of hiring IT staff is that you'll be paying for their benefits, their training, and a variety of other costs associated with hiring a new employee. Not to mention, you have to pay them the agreed upon salary regardless of how much IT work you end up having, which means you may be overpaying based on workload!

There are a variety of advantages of outsourcing to an IT service provider over hiring staff. You can choose to outsource your information technology needs to a flat rate IT service provider and reduce your monthly and overall costs. Having a virtual IT department lets you focus more on running your business rather than the technology that supports it. You aren't stuck paying employee benefits or other employee costs, and you aren't responsible for making sure the IT team remains up to date with their training and knowledge.

The Bottom Line

Finding the right information technology help for a growing business needs is challenging. When you think strategically about your business' unique IT requirements, you can make sound decisions that further promote its growth and profitability.

Content by Managed Services Provider University