It started small: You saved a document to your computer’s desktop and left it there instead of filing it properly. In small businesses, disorganization tends to quickly snowball. When a third friend just happened to loan you a copy of the popular workflow manual Getting Things Done, you took the hint. After spending a week cleaning your out-of-control workspace and organizing your data and files, you feel strangely calm.

For small business owners, maintaining their information structure is critical. The following four spring cleaning tasks can help keep your computers in top operating condition, protecting your technology investments as well as your most valuable business asset: your data. For the best results, be sure to set up calendar reminders to tackle these tasks on a regular basis.

1. Update your operating system and software: The only thing more annoying than updating your machines is the major headaches that result from not updating them. When it comes to upgrading legacy software that manufacturers are no longer supporting, such as Windows XP, you should complete these tasks on your own terms and time frame, rather than delay and be forced to do them after the company support expires.
2. Clean up your working files: Depending on your company’s internal policies and broader industry regulations, you may be able to delete or archive inactive documents currently clogging up your project folders. If you need to follow specific guidelines, adhere to them with no exceptions. Otherwise, you might try this rule of thumb: If you haven’t needed to access a file for a year, archive it. When storing digital archives, try splitting them up into manageable file sizes: It’s a lot easier to restore and run a 5 GB file than a 20 GB file.
3. Verify the status of your data backups: If you’re using an automatic cloud-based data backup, it’s quick and easy to periodically log in to your dashboard and review the status of your backups. Depending on your service, you may also be able to receive alerts in case a problem arises.
4. And don’t forget your smartphones and tablets: If you frequently use mobile devices for work, you can end up with a device that’s bursting with inactive files and barely used apps. Every three to six months take some time to review your apps, noting what you have and which ones you use frequently. The rest are probably safe to delete.

After a major cleaning like this, people often promise to keep their system organized, but quickly fall behind again. Organization is an ongoing process. It works best if you review your information weekly, or even daily, making sure to file what you need and discard what you don’t.

We’d love to hear your tips for cleaning out your devices and organizing your data. What strategies have you found most successful? Share your thoughts below in the comments section.

We now have before us the answer to one of life’s greatest mysteries: how to pronounce the word “GIF.” Creator Steven Wilhite gave his opinion on how to pronounce the word at this year’s Webbys. During his acceptance speech for the lifetime achievement award, he confirmed it is pronouced “JIF” not “GIF.”

Microsoft has revealed the new Xbox One, the company’s new flagship device. So what’s new and cool? The device boasts TV integration and voice control, and that’s big! Xbox One builds in Skype and streaming services, and even uses an HDMI pass-through to present your TV content. Plus it has a Blue Ray drive for movies and an improved connect censor so sensitive, it can actually track when your heart beat is faster!

In many ways, I/O 2013 felt extraordinarily philosophical and personal. Bypassing the wow factor of previous I/Os (the introduction of Ice Cream Sandwich, the Google Glass parachute trip), this year’s conference instead told a personal story about technology that minimized our tech dependency and allowed more time for personal connections.

A unified Google

The big news this year was not the release of a new Android OS, nor was it the release of Google Glass, but the introduction of Google as a unified service. From the personalized and voice recognized searches, to the simplified, exciting and vastly improved Maps, to the more human-interest based Google+ — the theme of this year’s I/O was more about the personal experience than it was about technology.

Google, for better or worse, has evolved into a company that predicts and adapts to its user, from remembering the last point of interest of a search inquiry, to the adaptive, helpful (if not somewhat overbearing) nature of Google Now. At several points during the keynote, Vic Gundotra, SVP of Engineering, made mention of “technology getting out of the way,” heralding Google’s intention to be an invaluable tool in the service of humanity.

Heading towards the end of fragmentation

Android’s open-source nature, while admirable, has led to an astonishing amount of device and OS fragmentation. With the announcement of Google’s treatment of the Samsung Galaxy, as well as various points made at the Android Fireside chat that happened later in the week, it’s clear that Google has become dedicated to reigning this in. While we might not see a unified Android in the near future, Android’s focus on narrowing down the OS permutations will increase the quality and satisfaction of the platform’s applications.

Increased interest in design

In the interest of a unified ecosystem, this year’s I/O featured a heavier emphasis on design. Previously, the openness of Google’s platforms were only understood by developers, as there has been little-to-no design cadence. After Jelly Bean, Android released their design guidelines, shedding some light on the process of designing for Android.

At this year’s I/O, they took their design messaging further, holding at-capacity sessions on Cognitive Science, UX Design for Developers and a Wonder dissertation on the roots and practical applications of Android’s newest design principles, led by Android UX Lead Rachel Garb and User Researcher Helena Roeber. During the keynote, Google also reintroduced Google+ with an intuitive masonry layout and the personalized intelligence of relevant threads. It’s clear that design is at the forefront of their solutions, and it gives me hope in how we’ll see it used the future, particularly on the Android platform.

A cautious approach to Google Glass

While Google’s newest, most futuristic device was this I/O’s most prominent fashion statement, Glass was not part of the lineup of major announcements seen in the keynote.

Google Glass presents a paradigm shift in how we use and experience technology. It’s appropriate that Google displayed patience and caution in underplaying Glass at this conference, as this is a device that demands a more disciplined approach to development and design. The panels regarding Glass were more directed to understanding the clear and stringent rules involved. Considering this is astonishing new territory and that the social and psychological impact of this technology is not quite fully understood, it’s appreciated that Google is displaying a steady temperance towards the awareness and deployment of this device.

Overall, Google surprises

This conference wasn’t device-heavy — we didn’t get to savor the features of a new Android OS, nor did we get to walk out of the Moscone Center with Google Glass. Instead, we were pleasantly subjected to the Google’s convergence into a powerful and integrated ecosystem. These integrated service announcements promise vast new user experiences, an exciting design development from an engineering-dominated company.

Even if your company never intended to break environmental regulations, it could find itself charged with doing so anyway. When you’re planning environmental policies and procedures, it’s not just your own company’s practices you need to worry about. If the vendors your company partners with don’t follow responsible and compliant environmental practices disposing of your company’s waste, your company could be liable. This is especially true when it comes to recycling IT assets.  You risk fines and potentially costly negative publicity.

You have a lot of choices for IT recycling and remarketing vendors. Some are more reputable than others, and many of them promise they’ll dispose of your material according to all federal and state regulations. But those promises are just words. What matters is what they have backing up their promises. This is where certification is important. You don’t have the time or the resources to thoroughly investigate your IT recycling partner’s entire process, especially when you take into account the downstream partners it uses. Leading certification organizations like e-Stewards handle that investigation process for you. When your partner for recycling IT assets holds the e-Stewards certification, it tells you that it follows all local and national regulations for recycling, that none of the material it handles ends up in landfills or illegally exported, and that it has a fully-documented process from collection to final disposition.

What e-Stewards certification says about electronics recyclers

Building on the framework of ISO 14001, the global standard for environmental management, e-Stewards certification adds requirements specific to electronics recycling. Among them:

• A prohibition on the export of hazardous e-waste from developed to developing countries. This protects people and the environment in those countries.
• Safe practices for on-site handling of hazardous e-waste (such as no shredding of mercury). This protects the workers that are handling your retired assets.
• Full accountability for the downstream recycling chain to final disposition. This ensures compliance all the way through the process.
• Compliance with the NIST 800-88 standard for data sanitization and destruction. This ensures that your data is destroyed.
• Standards for refurbishing and remarketing equipment to ensure they’re functional and whole.
• Insurance requirements. This protects you, workers and the environment.
• Requirements for collecting and documenting data, including transparency of the entire chain of custody for toxic materials to any customer who requests it. This ensures you, and regulators, have access to information at all times.

Because it ensures all of these elements are in place, looking for e-Stewards certification is the best way for your company to avoid paying fines and suffering the public embarrassment the comes from being discovered contributing to environmental contamination and poor workplace conditions.

For the latest information about environmental best practices in IT asset disposition (ITAD), download our free white paper, “The 2013 Guide to Environmental Compliance in IT Asset Disposition.”

Unfortunately, this false impression can occur when a business first considers a data center consolidation or relocation. It sure would be nice if things were that easy, wouldn’t it?

Moving or consolidating a data center – whether to support a company’s expansion and/or acquisitions, reduce operating costs, or for some other situation – is no small feat. Regardless of the reason, a data center relocation always involves some risk, both operational and financial.

Without a clear understanding of each and every step required for a relocation project, companies run the risk of being offline for hours or days  while problems are slowly worked out and resolved. This situation could end up costing a company thousands, even millions of dollars.

Fortunately, for those hoping for a less stressful data center relocation, industry best practices do exist to help during the planning stages. Here are five essential factors to consider before your company initiates a data center move:

Project Management

Data center relocations are not very common for most businesses. As a result, a company’s internal staff may not have the proper skill set to manage a project of this magnitude. Even if your staff has the necessary skills, they likely do not have the time needed to properly plan and execute a move while working their normal, “day jobs.”

Selecting an experienced Project Manager (PM) can offer peace of mind for business leaders. And solid project management can help achieve ROI faster with minimal stress.

A good PM will ensure that every aspect of the pre-planning and execution process is carefully detailed, tested, and tested again. Appointing a current staff member, or hiring an independent contractor to act as PM is critical — it’s vital to the success of a relocation effort.

In addition to heading up the overall project, a PM also can provide knowledge transfer and training to a company’s internal IT team. This can be quite helpful down the road with future changes that may be required after the initial relocation has been completed.

Planning

Many hours are required during the planning stages prior to an actual data center move. Thorough planning can help ensure an incident-free move.

Many times, internal tech teams might have details about the transition “in their heads,” which can ultimately lead to failure. Keep in mind that during a data center move, critical information should be well documented and approved by both the technical team and the management team.

Logistics

Previously, during the planning phase, a company’s appointed PM will have already identified everything that is moving, from the start and end points, the planned changes to make along the way, as well as the official timeline for the move.

Assigning the right people, with the right skill sets, at the right place and the right time (and with the right equipment!) are all critical factors to consider as part of a data center relocation plan. This knowledge is not always found in the internal resources of many companies, so choosing an experienced logistics specialist to work alongside is an important part of this step.

Logistics professionals can help determine the size and composition of the de-installation team, the packing team, the transportation team, the unpacking team and the re-installation team. They also can help identify and supply skilled tech experts who can work alongside your team.

An experienced logistics team member also can help create a detailed “day-of-the-move” script. This proposal should be reviewed and refined during the planning process to ensure that each team member knows what he or she needs to do during every minute of the “move” window.

Appropriate Resources 

For many complex IT projects, one size does not necessarily fit all. Some companies can do much of the planning required to successfully move a data center in-house. In these instances, they may need a partner only to physically execute the move. In other cases, clients do not have resources with the time, the skills, and/or the knowledge required; they tend to need a partner to manage the planning process and then execute the plan. Most of the time, however, the requirements lie somewhere between the two extremes.

Proper resources for planning and execution of a data center relocation project should always be considered. In order to successfully relocate, there needs to be a healthy mix of resources: those participants who are familiar with the data center environment, and those experts who know how to plan and execute a successful data center move.

In some cases, a company might hire an outside partner to help augment in-house resources. The mix can vary —- sometimes its 25 percent vendor and 75 percent in-house (for example, where internal staff takes care of the project management and the vendor executes the move). Other times, it might be more like 90 percent partner and 10 percent in house (where the vendor, for instance, provides the project management and planning, and the company participates in the execution as directed).

Because every company’s data center move is different, resources need to be customized based on the specific organization’s needs, and the particular situation.

Management Support 

While this key factor may seem obvious to most people, it’s important to not overlook management support during a data center relocation. After all, management has to be completely supportive of the project, especially because it’s likely to impact a business’ overall daily operations and budget.

The management team must be supportive in order to deal with potential operational changes during an actual move. A data center that is constantly changing can be difficult to move versus one that’s been stabilized during the initial planning process.

Following the above tips, can help ensure that a company’s data center move runs smoothly, and without incident.

Remember: The right combination of skilled project management, planning, logistics, resourcing and leadership can help make a data center relocation a success.

And the selection of the right type of data center relocation partner could mean the difference between a successful move with minimal downtime or a chaotic move with broken-down equipment and missed deadlines.

These tips will teach you how to secure WordPress (self hosted blogs) without spending hundreds of dollars in tools and software.

WordPress has been downloaded 20,706,485 times (as of this moment) which means it’s a constant target for hackers and spammers.

Getting your website hacked is not a pretty sight.

In fact, it can cause loss of revenues, bad reputation for your business, and other headaches that could have been prevented if you simply took some preventive measures in securing your wordpress websites.

The Solution is quite simple. Implement preventive measures rather than cure the problem later on.

Learn How to Secure WordPress by following these Simple Steps

1. Never use the default “admin” username because it will be an easy target for hackers using brute-force technology.

Most of us are still guilty of using admin, administrator, etc as default usernames for our WordPress blogs, and this simply invites hackers to brute force and hack your website. Don’t use easy to guess passwords as well. Choosing your anniversary or birthday as passwords is not a wise thing to do.

If you need help in choosing a stronger password, you can use Lastpass.com’s password generator tool and use it as well to help store usernames and passwords for all the websites that you visit.

But if you’ve already created and used an admin password, WordPress allows us to easily change that by adding a new user name and transferring all posts from your old username to your new one.

*Before migrating this, I would recommend that you backup your website first because there’s a possibility that you might lose some or all of your existing content if this is not done properly.

Follow these steps to create a new “Administrator” user and transfer your old user content to this new one.

• Login to your wordpress Dashboard using your “default” account.
• Go to Users -> Add New -> Complete details. Use a Hard to guess username for your new user account. Don’t forget to choose Administrator in the Role Dropdown. Save.
• Go to Users -> Check the default admin username that you would like to delete. Change the Role of this account to Editor from the drop down menu. Delete account
• You will be asked to migrate all your posts to another user. Choose the NEW Administrator account that you’ve created.

2. Always have a Backup copy of your database and entire website content.

This is especially true if you have a large website and you’ve added years of content to your blog.

The last thing that you want to happen to your online business is to lose everything that you’ve worked for.

One site hack or database corruption can mean years of irrecoverable data. The best solution is prevention or at least have a backup copy of your entire site. There are tons of ways to backup your website, but I like solutions that actually make it a lot easier. It also allows me to “clone” websites easily, and the plugin that I use is Backupcreator or you can try a free plugin called “Duplicator”.

If you don’t want to use other WordPress plugins and paid solutions, WordPress has a basic backup functionality called “Export tool”. But this tool only allows you to backup posts and pages, and not your entire website, so use this option only as a last resort.

Use the Export tool to get an XML version of all the pages and content on your site.

3. Monitor your Website and get notified immediately if it’s not receiving any traffic

One of the easiest ways to check if your site got hacked is when your traffic suddenly drops to zero visits per day (this is only true if you were receiving traffic or visitors previously). There are many “uptime” monitoring tools out there, but I like to use Google Analytics to track traffic visits to my websites, and use Google Analytics’ custom alert to get notified by email or SMS.

Here’s how to setup Google Analytics to notify you immediately via email if your site’s traffic is down to zero.

a. Make sure you have Google analytics stored and working on your website.

b. Login to your Dashboard and Click Admin on the Upper Right Corner.

c. Navigate to the Profile that you’d like to track.

d. Click on Custom Alerts and set an alert that will notify you if traffic to your site went down to zero (0).

e. Copy these settings

f. Click Save alert. If your site dropped in traffic, Google Analytics will notify you via email.

5. Protect your .htaccess file

This is probably one of the easiest ways how to secure wordpress from hackers and spammers. Chances are you’re running wordpress hosting on an Apache server. Apache server has a configuration file called .htaccess which you can easily modify to secure and strengthen your website.

You’ll need FTP access using CPANEL or an FTP Software to access the .htaccess file from your domain’s root folder.

Get your CPANEL Username and Password. If you know how to setup FTP, you can use your FTP account, username and password to access the root folder of your site.

The Root Folder is the Main URL in your website. Usually it’s the public_html folder.

You can now edit .htaccess using a simple notepad

Here are the .htaccess codes that you can use

If you want to disable people from hotlinking to your images and files, add this code to your .htaccess. Hotlinking refers to people directly linking to your images and files and while they don’t cause any security issues, they slow down your server because it eats up on your server’s bandwidth

#disable hotlinking of images with forbidden or custom image option
 RewriteEngine on
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^$
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !^http://(www\.)?yourdomain.com/.*$ [NC]
 #RewriteRule \.(gif|jpg)$ – [F]
 RewriteRule \.(gif|jpg)$ http://www.yourdomain.com/stealingisbad.gif [R,L]

If you have a static IP Address (your ISP assigns only 1 IP address to your Internet Connection, you can configure .htaccess to only allow wordpress admin (wp-admin) access from your own IP and deny all other IP addresses.

order deny,allow
 allow from a.b.c.d # This is your static IP
 deny from all

If you’re constantly being bombarded by spammers and spam comments, try adding this code to your .htaccess file to prevent “bot comments”

RewriteEngine On
 RewriteCond %{REQUEST_METHOD} POST
 RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} .wp-comments-post\.php*
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_REFERER} !.*yourblog.com.* [OR]
 RewriteCond %{HTTP_USER_AGENT} ^$
 RewriteRule (.*) ^http://%{REMOTE_ADDR}/$ [R=301,L]

The most VULNERABLE file in wordpress is your wpconfig.php. Protect it by adding this line of code to your .htaccess

# protect wpconfig.php
 <Files wp-config.php>
 order allow,deny
 deny from all
 </Files>

WordPress Folders are vulnerable to spammers and hackers. It’s easy for someone to browse and see your files and folders if you haven’t disabled Directory Browsing for your wordpress websites.

# disable directory browsing
 Options All -Indexes

And last but not the least, protect .htaccess itself.

<Files ~ “^.*\.([Hh][Tt][Aa])”>
 order allow,deny
 deny from all
 satisfy all
 </Files>

Follow these simple steps to How to Secure WordPress immediately. Remember it’s better to prevent site hacks and downtimes than to cure the problem later on.

This article was originally posted on our trafficsalad.org blog

I was recently with a client who is looking for a new BPM solution and they have a very positive outlook towards Cloud. They love it, so much so that they weren’t interested in on-premise solutions. This represents a real shift in attitude, and the company is no slouch or tadpole in size either.

And this is where iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service) is really coming into the fore and has to rule as a first-thought strategy when entering the cumulonimbus worlds of Cloud and SaaS. In the last week both SoftwareAG (Integration LIVE) and TIBCO (Cloud Bus) have thrown down the gauntlet into the ring with IBM, Mulesoft and Informatica to name a scarce few who are already there.

But why has it taken everyone so long ?

iPaaS, without the vendor nonsense clouding the understanding (pun) is a solution provider’s service that allows cloud-cloud and cloud-premise integration for applications. It’s a step away from Cloud Brokerage which is essentially the development and maintenance of SaaS applications and their integration in the entirety. If iPaaS was a scarce offering Brokerage is even thinner on the ground (however take a look at Accenture’s play in this area recently announced in April.

But back to the client at the start of the post. Despite their pro-cloud stance tucked away in their enterprise architecture diagrams was that horrendous long box labelled ‘ESB’ and it just looked so out of place in a forward thinking strategy. And this is where iPaaS doesn’t go far enough for me. iPaaS is limited because it’s built primarily for Cloud based services. A Cloud based ESB strategy would be a welcome minimum requirement to any iPaaS solution simply because the Service Bus is one of the most overworked and overly relied on pieces of kit in an enterprise stack.

Removing that entire headache of routing messages between disparate systems into a Cloud solution makes more sense where a hybrid environment exists rather than retain that piece on-premise. It’s also a solid first step for companies in moving away from relying on IT to manage the biggest piece of the architecture puzzle. Most of these services will have already undergone SSAE 16, ISO27001, PCI compliance so they’ll be robust and secure and I see no reason not to ask a solution vendor whether they can provide a cloud ESB in its truest sense as part of their iPaas offering.

Cloud is really at a tipping point now. We have SaaS applications and companies willing to invest but in an unstructured and legacy heavy manner. We have vendors offering to integrate a multi-SaaS strategy with their own solution but still retain that on-premise bus. We have Brokers who will handle it fully end to end. But the key to real Cloud adoption is in how that ESB is treated. It’s the biggest prize to be had and the largest thorn to remove.

The iPaaS rush is on and every cloud has a golden lining, but without clearly including a Cloud-based ESB in that strategy you might just be panning for iron pyrites.

The engineering test preparation industry which is currently estimated at $2 Bn in revenues and growing at 15 – 20% CAGR (CLSA analyst report on Indian Education Sector) is going to witness an engaging experience from the LurnQ platform. The social learning platform that we have reviewed earlier stays away from being called as the Indian Quora. The platform’s simple features and its outcome driven learning model is going to help students. Subsequently, the adoption from the country for the online medium has been supportive. According to the latest facts, India is the second largest country participating in online courses offered by the likes of Coursera.

Tarun Mitra, the CEO and one of the co-founders at LurnQ had expressed the desire for LurnQ to unify the learning experience on the Internet, while talking to us about the startup, that has been backed by SeedFund. Sharing his thoughts on the latest partnership, he stated that the social functionality of LurnQ which helps in engaging users with multiple options to learn collaboratively, will give students the classroom experience making it a success.

Even Nitesh Salvi, Director and co-founder, Plancess believes that video teaching could be boring at times. Video lectures have been one of the ways how the company has been interacting with students for quite some time now. Now Nitesh feels that the student community needs to be engaged in more interactive ways and LurnQ’s ability to integrate media types like text, videos, documents, images, etc. into a single platform, will provide learners a unified experience by offering learning in a personalized and structured format.

With this partnership, LurnQ, in the true sense, is evolving into a future-ready learning platform that is interactive, driven by community and makes learning fun.

Image courtesy: lindsayolson.com

Apple executives went before a US Senate panel Tuesday facing accusations of tax evasion. The California-based company’s CEO says they’ve done nothing wrong. Senators John McCain and Carl Levin have leveled claims of tax evasion at the tech giant, claiming they’ve used off-shore entities, mainly Ireland, to skip out on billions of dollars in taxes.

The Vodafone Fancam

The feature has been enabled on a dedicated website ‘Vodafone Fancam’ where you can revisit the match day experience on the next day. The page welcomes you with the matches that are available for ‘fancam-ing’. Right now you have the Mumbai Indians vs. Rajasthan Royals match that played out at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on the 15^th of May, and the other is the one between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on the 18^th of May.

The experience will continue for all further matches till the finals. Though the qualifier 1 match that was played yesterday between Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings at the Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in Delhi is not available as yet, while I’m writing this.

At top left, you have buttons to share and invite from Facebook, Twitter and email. Tag yourself enables you to find and tag yourself at the stadium, after you select a tag and authenticate with your Facebook, Twitter or email. Below is the navigation guide, you can pan across the entire stadium and zoom in or out wherever you wish.

At top right are more interactive stuff for fans who have not been at the match. ‘Wish you were here’ allows you to place your picture in a frame and add yourself to the crowd. Take a new picture from the webcam or upload one from your system. ‘Send a free postcard‘ enables you to send a postcard to your friends by capturing a piece of the view. Download the postcard or send it through email addresses. There is also a treasure hunt game ‘Find & Win’ where you need to find the hidden Zoozoos in the crowd and you could win Vodafone hampers. The volume is the key – the louder the song, the closer you are to the Zoozoos, find and click on him!

I found an empty seat after a long struggle and fixed myself there. Even made a postcard of it! But, finding the hidden Zoozoos is a matter of pure luck, I clicked on many Zoozoo caps worn by the spectators, but nothing happened. And, this is how close you can zoom in, the below is a picture taken right below the large screen:

Experience the stadium, relive the experience!

An amazing concept! The Vodafone Fancam not only helps create a memorable experience for the ones who were at the stadium, but also succeeds in engaging others. With the social tagging feature, you can share this event with your friends, and invite other Facebook friends to experience how the entire match was as seen from your eyes. The gamification by way of a Zoozoo hunt in the stadium with gift hampers as incentives, adds to the fan experience.

The experience left me absolutely in awe of the technology used, how could an entire stadium packed with nearly 40-45K people be brought alive digitally? Intrigued and amazed, I digged into the Fancam website to know more at the ‘How we do it’ page. Here’s a little text that explains how a panoramic view is built through Fancam:

“The FANCAM is a composite image, created by ‘stitching’ together hundreds of overlapping ‘zoomed in’ images. We use normal high-end DSLR cameras with telephoto lenses on very normal tri-pods. The magic lies in the method we’ve developed to use these instruments, as it finds the perfect balance between precision and speed .”

Cool stuff! And, it appears that this is the first time a brand has used this in India. Do tag yourself if you were at the said matches and let us know your experiences.

While texting may be an efficient means to deliver a quick message, allow multi-tasking, and is less of an intrusion when there really isn’t time for a phone call, it can leave you scratching your head, wondering what the sender is saying. This type of tech shorthand is expedient but studies have shown it has negatively changed our levels of personal communications, interactions and writing skills for some. Educators from the Janus project “worry that heavy use of electronic communications such as email, social networking, texting, instant messaging and networked video games has diminished kids’ and adults’ social skills.” Texting is an instant convenient form of communication but has the possibility to weaken our social and written skills, if we allow it to happen.

Debra Vargulish, is a training administrator at the Latrobe-based global tooling company and college recruiter for Kennametal Inc reported that the students she meets are often inarticulate and shy, “They seem to be way better at using technology than older people. It’s actually the content that is missing. A lot of them don’t know what to say at all, and that’s not good.” Influence on Texting on Communication Skills.

The potential impact of texting:

1. Reduce the in-depth conversations
2. Dumb down spelling and grammar
3. Distract people from being fully present

According to a Wall Street Journal article, people are becoming lazier about their grammar and spelling due to texting, instant messaging and social media.

Young students have turned in papers using text shorthand and emoticons.

The US Job Bank reports that many employers have expressed complaints and dissatisfaction with received employment applications that are written in text language. They noted that many applicants have a propensity to speak more informally and use abbreviated text messaging as though they are writing to a close friend.

There is now an online dictionary to explain the most used terminology.

You have just a few seconds to make a valued impression and if you aren’t clear, use proper spelling and grammar, this may present you in an unintended manner.

“Good grammar is credibility, especially on the internet. In blog posts, on Facebook statuses, in e-mails, and on company websites, your words are all you have. They are a projection of you in your physical absence. And, for better or worse, people judge you if you can’t tell the difference between their, there, and they’re.” Kyle Wiens.

While texting, shorthand “lingo” or social media communications may not directly impact you, it has influenced our communications and written word. Know when it is appropriate, who is your audience, become familiar with the common grammar mistakes, use spell-check but don’t depend on it 100%, proofread your documents, blog posts and emails two or three times and add in the email “To” field after you have taken the time to reread your message.

Your communications are a representation of you and your company. Make sure they are free of errors.

It is easy to think that your startup is too small or too new to face threats to your data security. But the simple fact is that in the current competitive climate of the biotech industry, when many companies of all sizes are rushing to develop innovations, the security of your data is more important than ever.

The best way to ensure that your data is secure from threats that come from both inside and outside of your company is to partner with an IT provider with expertise in both security and the unique needs of biotech startups. Such a partner can assist you in putting together the right mix of solutions now while thinking of where you company is going in the future so these solutions can be built on and used as your company grows. It is much simpler and cost effective to start with the right mentality around information security then trying to change these systems and procedures while your company is in growth mode. When developing the IT infrastructure for your biotech startup business, be sure that you keep the following security concerns in mind.

1. Storing Data in the Cloud

Storing data on cloud based servers presents tremendous new opportunities for startup biotech companies. Cloud storage can offer an affordable and flexible way for your company to store and share the data in the early stages of your company. But with this opportunity comes new challenges and significant threats to the security of your information. Any time that you store data off-site and allow access from any type of device, you open up the possibility that it can be accessed by third parties. If their intent is malicious, you could be giving up valuable information to competitors and saboteurs. If it is due to theft of a device you still run the risk of someone accessing this data and doing who knows what with it, including deletion. It is incumbent on any biotech startup to carefully research their cloud service provider before they commit to any service. Also, consider letting your IT provider do the user and security management so mistakes are not overlooked, taking it on yourself or letting an employee manage this could create problems down the road. Any cloud storage company that manages your cloud storage could potentially have access to your data. Be sure that you are working with a company that will both respect and accommodate your security concerns

2. Restricting Administrative Privileges

Many biotech startups underestimate the risk that they face from internal threats—either from ill intent or sloppiness. When you start a company with a small team that you know well, you might think everyone is on the same page with data security. Unfortunately, as experience has shown, the greatest threat to your data security could be coming from within your own company. It is always a good policy to establish restrictive administrative access privileges from your first day in business. Preventing your employees from downloading and storing programs on your computers without permission ensures that you have better control over the way your IT infrastructure operates. It can also limit infections on your systems that could allow a hacker access to a computer thus, putting them right on your network. With the right support from your IT service provider, getting new applications or updates installed on locked down systems should be a simple task that can be done quickly. Taking this step from the start often proves easier than establishing a lax and open policy and then trying to change things later.

3. Securing Access on Mobile Devices

Mobile devices promise to encourage collaboration and increase efficiency for every company. There is often the tendency to embrace this technology wholeheartedly without considering the consequences of having widespread remote access to your data. Data security best practices dictate that limiting the number of access points to your data is always a good policy. Plus, the kind of complicated data that is being produced in your laboratory has a limited utility when it is viewed on miniaturized mobile devices. Keep as much of your data as possible in-house by restricting access to it on your employee’s smartphones and tablets. Should you allow access to email and data on employees personal devices consider implementing a Mobile Device Management (MDM) application and policy that allows you to enforce certain measures, like having to use a passcode to unlock the device, as well as allowing you to wipe your email and/or data off a stolen device or off the device of a terminated employee.

With diligence and initial preparation, and the right IT partner, you can have the peace of mind that comes from knowing that your laboratory data, internal reports, board presentations and financial information is safe from the minute you go into business. Making an initial investment in data security can protect your company from devastating security breaches down the road. Also, don’t forget to build this security mentality into your corporate culture and company handbooks, get everyone to buy into protecting this most valuable asset. To find out more about data security and the IT needs of your company, read our new white paper “After the Seed: Planning IT Investment for a Biotech Startup.”

Save time and enhance productivity with keyboard shortcuts

If you are like most entrepreneurs or solo-business owners you are always looking for ways to save time and learning a few keyboard shortcuts could be one of your time management tools. Reducing the amount of keystrokes and mouse clicks can add up to enhance your productivity and the are also easier than using your mouse especially when you are at the computer for extended hours. You may be surprised at how much time you lose because you are not using keyboard shortcuts. There are shortcuts for almost every action or application, even in GMail you can shave time. As a Virtual Assistant who lives on the computer in the digital world, saving time or creating time is essential for my productivity.

“Studies have found that moving your hand back and forth from the mouse to the keyboard is not only time consuming, it interrupts your typing rhythm – making you far less efficient, and leading to frustration (and mistakes!) when you have to constantly readjust hand placement.” Shortcut Library

Think about the multitude of actions it takes to highlight and copy text:

• Interrupt your typing workflow to grab the mouse
• Position your cursor
• Highlight
• Click copy
• Reposition
• Click again

Wouldn’t Ctrl + C and then V be so much simpler? One of my personal favorites is Alt + Tab to move between open windows. Here are just a few of the keyboard shortcuts (from Small Business Trends) we have compiled and there are many. If you would like the full PDF version, please email: info at aceconcierge dot net.

Keyboard Shortcuts | Productivity Enhancers

ESC – Current main function is to interrupt or cancel current process and/or program. (pressing Esc on websites that use jQuery to display photos is quicker than trying to click on the little ‘x’ in the top right hand corner.)

TAB – used to tab across the screen to the next tab stop. Provides a uniform/neat indentation.

SHIFT – shifts other keys into another mode. e.g. make letters capitals, use symbols above numbers

CTRL – performs special operations in conjunction with other keys.

Ctrl+A = Selects ALL texts/objects

Ctrl+B = Highlights all text in bold

Ctrl+C = Copies selected text/other object

Ctrl+V = Pastes text/image that has been copied

Ctrl+S = Saves document/file

Ctrl+Z = Undo previous action

Ctrl+Y = Redo any “Ctrl+Z” action

ALT – a modifier, this key alternates the functions of other pressed keys

Alt+F = Opens ‘file’ menu in an open program

Alt+F4 = Closes the open program

Alt+Spacebar = Opens the window menu of an opened program

Alt+Tab = Switches between open programs, from L to R

Alt+Shift+Tab = Will reverse the order of switching programs

Interacting with Text

Select text >> Press Shift+Right Arrow, Left Arrow, Up Arrow, or Down Arrow to highlight text

Ctrl+Shift+Arrow Keys do the same thing but more quickly, since the cursor is moving per new word now instead of per character

Shift+End to select the end of the line

Ctrl+C to copy selected text to the ‘clipboard’

Ctrl+X to cut selected text

Ctrl+V to paste copied text from the ‘clipboard’

Ctrl+Z to undo an action

Ctrl+Y to redo an action

Ctrl+Right Arrow (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next word)

Ctrl+Left Arrow (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous word)

Ctrl+Down Arrow (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the next paragraph)

Ctrl+Up Arrow (Move the insertion point to the beginning of the previous paragraph)

Ctrl+A (Select all)

Ctrl+Delete (Delete the rest of the word, or entire word if cursor is placed at beginning)

Keep in mind that this is just the shortlist of keyboard shortcuts! How many have you mastered?

A few weeks ago, I attended a PRSA Health Academy session on “serious games” led by Ben Sawyer, co-founder of game-consulting firm Digitalmill. In this session, Sawyer argued that games have enormous potential as motivational tools. “Because games require players to make frequent decisions, they can be can be used to develop smart habits and sustain motivation,” Sawyer said. Games can be particularly valuable in areas such as disease management and prevention, smoking cessation, exercise and retirement savings, where instant gratification and inertia can distort decision-making.

The older I get, the more convinced I become that our primary goal as PR professionals is behavior change. Whether we’re targeting b2b audiences, consumers or gatekeepers, most PR programs have a call-to-action. We want end-audiences to do something, think something, feel something or fix something.

Identifying a call-to-action is relatively easy. Motivating action is hard.

That’s because action requires audiences to overcome barriers such as inertia, lack-of-understanding, habit, fear, impatience and conformism. As communicators, we make a real impact when we attack these barriers and motivate end-audiences to adopt new behaviors.

Serious games interest me because they have the potential to disrupt negative behavior patterns and create new habit loops. Imagine a personal finance game that rewards smart action steps such as budgeting and saving — or a wellness game that cues players to make smart eating and exercise choices.

Like other media (such as video and print), serious games educate and entertain. But unlike most other forms of communication, they also interrupt the status quo. They immerse players in an alternative reality where survival depends on smart, decisive action.

Consider, for example, the fitness game Zombies Run, which turns exercise into a fast-paced race to evade snarling zombies. Zombies Run makes players heroes in a story of their own making. As such, it motivates them to run faster and farther than they otherwise might.

I believe that serious games have the potential to motivate individual and group behavior change. I can imagine many applications for financial services and health care clients.

How about you?

Photo courtesy of Library of Congress on Flickr

In what The New York Times is calling a “a splashy move by Marissa Mayer to shake up her company,” the fairly new Yahoo! CEO led the charge to acquire social networking and microblogging site Tumblr this week for $1.1 billion.

In that same article, it describes the purchase as a significant shake up of the social media industry as a whole, representative of a shift toward original content creation rather than one of simply sharing tidbits of daily life with family and friends. “It also heralds a larger shift in social media. Facebook arguably invented modern social networking, and is still the king. But increasingly its approach is seen as passive and outdated as people flock to sites like Tumblr where they can be more actively engaged in creating personal, expressive content to share,” according to the article.

As mentioned, Facebook is still a social networking tour de force, but the current trend, as proven by the successes of sites and apps like Instagram, Vine, Tumblr, and others, increasingly involves a content creation element — be it the use of a photo filter, a quick video edit, or the creation of a GIF or other original content. And on Tumblr, while there still exists a social component through which users can share links, original works, photos, and other content with close friends and followers, there’s also an entirely different, outside component: the discoverability of content not connected to the user personally. Tumblr users spend hours at a time on the site to both publish their own and/or search for new and original content, often created by people they don’t know at all.

For that, this acquisition stands to benefit Tumblr’s functionality, as “Yahoo plans to deploy its personalization technology and search infrastructure to Tumblr, which should help users find relevant content more easily,” writes Mashable. And what does Yahoo! get in return? An avenue on which to tap into a younger, more hip Internet audience while increasing traffic and ad revenue (potentially) down the road, according to this article in Reuters.

Tumblr was founded by David Karp, a 26-year-old entrepreneur, and much of his user-base is that young or younger. So even while this acquisition is no doubt a risk for Yahoo! ( Tumblr is far from a proven money maker), the company views it as an important step forward in its social media efforts and as a way to increase traffic, relevance, and eventually, its revenue also. Tumblr’s growing, largely youthful community of more than 100 million blogs is now Yahoo!’s.

While the acquisition itself made headlines on Monday, so did Yahoo!’s coinciding promise “not to screw it up” – a knowing nod to its reputation for, at times, mishandling its assets. It promises to let Tumblr operate mostly as is, aiming to reassure fans and users of its stability as a favorite microblogging site. “Per the agreement and our promise not to screw it up, Tumblr will be independently operated as a separate business. David Karp will remain CEO. The product, service and brand will continue to be defined and developed separately with the same Tumblr irreverence, wit, and commitment to empower creators,” Yahoo! said in the release.

Any thoughts on Yahoo!’s purchase? Will it help the company? Do you think things will change at Tumblr? Let us know in the comments and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn.

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Every human being on the planet has one, and as an adult your spine is between 17 to 18 inches long. It’s a long thing tube comprised of nervous tissue and support cells extending from the brain. It’s also the main message delivery vehicle for the brain, transmitting neural signals from your mission control center to its final destination.

The spinal cord has three main purposes:

1. It carries motor information
2. It’s a conduit for sensory information in the reverse direction (AKA to the brain)
3. It is the hub for coordinating specific reflexes

Now, did you also know there are 250,000 Americans that with spinal cord injuries? And 11,000 new injuries happen each year? Spinal cord injuries are debilitating, not to mention expensive. The first year expenses for a person diagnosed as a paraplegic are over $150,000.

Medtronic, a medical technology company is offering innovative solutions to tackle some of the toughest spinal injuries and issues. They are also develop products and treatment for areas such as diabetes, heart problems, and many other debilitating diseases. And every year they help 7 million people like Kyle live a better quality of life.

However, in order to create the best device or therapy, it requires a co-innovation and constant on-going conversation between Medtronic and the patients. This leads to a real issue as Medtronic needs to always be capturing data, both structured and unstructured. Hear from Medtronic’s Senior BI Strategist Brian Raver and Steven Teichman, Director of BI, about how they use technology to create the best products in order to help their consumers run, walk, stand, and live better.

Within hours of the announcement of Yahoo!’s blockbuster purchase of Tumblr for $1.1 billion, they made another bold announcement that probably made a lot more users happy. Flickr, one of the most popular web services for sharing, storing and organizing photos, just got bigger and better.

What’s New

First, the entire site has received a beautiful overhaul. The new interface puts even more emphasis on great images and keeps the site controls and information in the trending flat colors and graphics. I expect that the new Yahoo design, when finally released, will be similar.

Second, every user has received an upgraded account to a full terabyte of storage space, and images are stored in full resolution. This, too, is a growing trend among web services, as smart phones become more prevalent and have improved built-in cameras, digital photographs are getting larger and larger. As a result, services that previously scaled back images for serving speed and storage, are now removing those restrictions. Google, for instance, recently increased Google Drive space to 15GB and also allows images uploaded to Google+ to be full resolution.

There are also some changes to paid accounts, namely, a new structure and pricing for Pro accounts. Existing Pro users do still have some additional benefits that might make it worthwhile, and it would appear that current Pro users will continue to renew at the same rate. Mashable breaks down the changes really well here.

Using Flickr

The new Flickr Home features the most recent images from your contacts in a large left column. To the right, you’ll see any groups you’re a member of, images to explore, and the Flickr blog. It’s nice to see Groups being made so prominent as it’s a great and underused feature of Flickr.

Click on You in the top menu, and you’ll see your new profile page and photostream. Following in the footsteps of Facebook, Google+ and Twitter, users can now set a custom cover photo to really customize their profile page. Mouse over the cover photo and click on Edit cover photo. The cover photo dimensions are 1154 x 235, and you can select one of your uploaded images or upload a new one.

Just above your photos, to the right, there is a Slideshow button that will automatically go into full screen mode for a beautiful presentation of your most recent images. To the right of that is a Share button.

Photo Search

For me at least, what I use Flickr for the most is for searching. Every blog that I write includes an image, and if I don’t have one of my own, I go to Flickr to find one that will work. I use Flickr because you can find great images that are free and appropriate to use. Fortunately, the process is mostly the same.

1. Start a search by typing in one or more words in the Search field
2. Once your initial results load, click on Advanced Search in the upper right corner, just below your account profile image.
3. Scroll down and select “Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content.” You may also choose to select to see content which can be used commercially (if you want to incorporate the image into an ad or graphic), and content that you have permission to edit and alter.
4. Click Search, and you will be returned to your result set, but now with the Creative Comments filter active. The filter is displayed at the top of the results and can be removed with a click.
5. Clicking on an image now opens it in a lightbox rather than it’s own page. If you want to use an image after taking a closer look, right mouse-click and select one of the available sizes.
6. Now you will see the familiar Image page where you can download the image in the selected size.

Make sure that you always give credit to the image owner. For most of my blog posts, I add a line at the bottom that looks like:

Image courtesy of Rocorocks, Flickr.

Notice that I kept the owner’s name and link intact. I simply copy and paste right from the Image page. If you filter your results to include only Creative Commons images, than there’s nothing else you need to do. If you don’t, and there’s an image you really want to use, you will need to contact the owner directly and request permission.

I am really impressed with the new Flickr layout, and I hope you are too. I am particularly hopeful that Yahoo will continue to develop the platform and that users will continue to upload fantastic images. What do you think of the new layout? Any questions so far?

Google Glass  – Our new PC, Not Frankenstein

When Google Glass started hitting the streets recently, the Internet responded as it often does. Fear, chiding and a slew of puns have already become some of the top searches for life’s little Heads-up-Display (HUD).  I won’t say Google Glass is perfect, but show me any pioneering technology that hits a homerun on the first pitch? It took a few Apollo flights to get to the moon. The PC didn’t make it to every desk until long after its inception, and despite the information sharing benefits of social media there is still a wide world of naysayers who simply find it a waste of time. Sure Google Glass has some problems in functionality and design, but that’s today. Instead of simply writing off this technology I would like to play an optimistic game of “what if” to imagine what Google Glass could be.

Data Hands Free, for Every Industry

No matter how slick the new iOS 7 interface looks or how gargantuan Samsung makes its next Android devices; there is still that persnickety problem of having to actually hold the device and avert your eye focus to look at the screen. This archaic way of getting information takes away a necessary appendage (possibly two depending on how small your hands are and how big your smartphone is) and can be a frustrating exercise in swipe sizing information so it can be seen clearly.

Yes, Google Glass has induced a few headaches, but it’s hard to deny that this perfect positioning of all life’s information will let you keep your hands free for say:

• Healthcare: Imagine a world where a surgeon can keep their eye on the insides of the patient, but with a quick glance up get all vitals and any research needed to make things run smoother. I’m not condoning that anyone should multi-task during pivotal life moments, but the “dual-screen” approach to information gathering has already proven beneficial.
• Manufacturing: Real-time information from Supply Chain Management systems have already replaced the human eye for inventory control and productivity efficiencies. With Google Glass though, a floor manager can keep their eyes on the actual floor and dashboards at the same time allowing for a perfect integration of real-time reaction to any data streaming in from information systems.
• Education: Teachers have always wanted eyes in the back of their heads, but with Google Glass you omit the need to turn around. Currently teachers are using iPads and Android tablets to obliterate the need for a chalkboard with Educational Apps that deliver problems directly to students’ devices. In the Google Glass world the teacher won’t even have to look down to distribute the geometric equation or administer a poll about the Presidents. Answers will come back in real-time and will ensure full participation – even from the kids trying to hide in the back of the room.

IT – Google Glass’ First Frontier

All of this prognosticating will take time. Not a lot of time, but certainly a few years since Glass is still in its Beta infancy. Short term usage and rewards are here though, and they seem to come from the most likely of places – the lovers of all things Bleeding Edge, IT.

Fiberlink, the leader in cloud-based enterprise mobility management (EMM), announced that its MaaS360 platform supports the ability to monitor a mobile IT environment and perform administrative actions directly through Google Glass. The leader in Mobile Device, app and doc management even has a pair on site.

“Google Glass is a great example of how IT can adopt innovative technology to enhance the management and enablement of the mobile workplace,” said Frank Schloendorn, Google Glass test driver and director of Android ecosystem at Fiberlink. He continued, “The freedom to take action on the go and help someone at any time, all by looking through Google Glass, is an amazing experience. It’s just plain cool.”

Google Glass isn’t an immediate problem solver, but rather a window of pure evolutionary potential that further breaks the barriers in human and machine interactions.

There is an endless array of computers to choose from, but when looking for the best computer technology for a family computer, there are a number of reasons why touchscreen computers make a lot of sense. When looking for the best technology for a family computer, touchscreen technology really needs to be considered. Listed below are some of the major benefits and drawbacks pertaining to touchscreen all in one computers.

Ease of Use

Those who have used a touchscreen realize how incredibly easy and intuitive this technology is to use. It makes navigation extremely easy for everyone including little children. Small kids are much less intimidated with a touchscreen. Even hardcore users of traditional computers that are used to dealing with a keyboard and mouse are pleasantly surprised how much easier it is to just touch the screen as one navigates. Touchscreen computers are often more accommodating to users with physical disabilities and other issues.

Less Space Is required

One of the advantages of touchscreen computer technology for family use is the fact that it requires less physical space to reside in. Since the traditional interfaces like a keyboard and mouse are no longer necessary, a touchscreen computer can fit in smaller available areas where space is at a premium. This is a huge advantage for homes that have space issues. There is also greater flexibility as to where the computer can be put. Since most touch screens can easily be wiped clean, the PC can go into the kitchen where the tribe is eating.

Increased Speed

Anytime a user needs to find the mouse, locate the cursor on the screen, and adjust to the speed and idiosyncrasies of the pointer, valuable time is lost. Touch screens eliminate the need for a mouse and therefore speed up how quickly tasks can be accomplished. Users can select icons directly without needing to employ the use of a mouse. Studies indicate that touchscreen technology results in 20 percent less response time.

All-in-one

All-in-one computer (AIO-PC) is a term that refers to desktop computers which incorporate the internal components of the computer into the monitor case. A tower and a keypad are now a thing of the past. This technology incorporates touch screen technology and appears to be the next big trend.

Disadvantages

Since all-in-one touchscreen computers represent a relatively new technology, they may cost a little more than traditional computers which is one factor that needs to be considered. Another thing to consider is that software options are still somewhat limited, although that is quickly being resolved as the popularity of the technology grows. Touchscreen technology opens up the kitchen as a new frontier for computer use which is a major selling point however, most of these screens are not water proof even though they can be wiped clean easily. Caution needs to be used when these devices are used in the kitchen. All things considered, many consumers feel that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages.

Final Things to Consider

When shopping for an all-in-one touchscreen for family use, a 10 point touchscreen should be considered to get the full use of Windows 8 touch capability. One needs to evaluate how the family will be using the device with regard to possible angles. Some devices can lie flat while others are used at an angle or in an upright model.

The size of the screen needs to be carefully considered. Typical specifications include an i5 processor with 6-8 GB memory. Storage is often 1TB. Interestingly, storage is becoming much less of an issue for families that are utilizing the cloud. By taking all of these issues into consideration one will be better prepared to make a decision about touchscreen computing for the family.

Are you on board the touchscreen revolution yet? Share your thoughts below.

Big news in the world of all things gaming. The war between Microsoft and Sony intensifies as they both prepare to debut their new consoles in the coming weeks. The new Xbox will allow you to stream music, movies and television. It will not be completely revealed on Tuesday, however. It will be the first part of a two part announcement, which stretches into mid-June according to NBC.

Take a look at what happens today when you do a search on Google Maps. The first thing you probably see is the listing of the top few results in the left hand column – complete with their name, address, and their review rating on Google. Then you notice the map with the inverted tear-drop pin points marking different business locations.

This is where the big change will happen, and this is where you need to look at your current strategy. With the new layout, the left column will not automatically appear. Instead you will see a map of several locations (which are now marked by red circles rather than the tear-drop shape we see today) that fit your search term. In the upper right hand corner you will have a few more filtering options before you get the more traditional listing of businesses. There are two options here that we should focus on – Top Reviewers and Your Circles.

The Top Reviewers will make your online reputation, specifically your reputation on Google, even more important. If you only have a handful of reviews and they are not stellar, you’re going to be pushed down in the results. The key here is focusing on building your base of reviews. Implementing a good reputation management strategy will be pivotal going forward. And it won’t be enough to set up a work station in your lobby and entice people to leave a quick review before they leave. After all, if your reviews just get filtered out, what good are they?

The Top Reviewers filter makes sense; Google wants to promote quality businesses who are active on their site. The more intriguing filter is Your Circles.

For the past few years, most of us were working with Google Plus as more of an after-thought. With their new filtering options, Google Plus will become even more important in the near future. No longer will it be enough to have a presence on the site and post occasionally, now you will have to be active. You will need to work to build a following, add people to your circles, and build up a loyal base of customers on the site.

Yes, the new layout is still being tested, but it’s available to some people today, which means it’s coming rather quickly. I highly recommend focusing on these two areas especially for local businesses.

As more and more retired IT equipment leaves the facilities of enterprises nationwide, reports of irresponsible, unsafe, and outright illegal environmental practices by IT recyclers continue to pile up. But companies continue to overlook IT asset disposition in their environmental policies and green initiatives. Organizations that do this may be exposing themselves to a significant amount of risk. What are the risks associated with non-compliance with environmental laws and standards?

• The risk of paying finds and legal fees when your company is found to be non-compliant.
• The risk of diverting company resources to avoidable remediation efforts.
• The risk of bad publicity and a loss of customer or investor confidence.

Because of the severity of these risks, your organization should not be satisfied with the “certificate of recycling” your ITAD vendor gives you. While it’s very possible your vendor does handle toxic material properly and provides a safe and healthy environment for its workers (and its downstream partners do the same), the news reports of very irresponsible behavior by a few American electronics recyclers and appalling working conditions at their partners overseas should tell you it’s worth looking deeper than the certificate of recycling. After all, all it takes to create a certificate of recycling is a computer, some software and a printer (if you are getting a hard copy).

Certifications give meaning to certificates of recycling

A certificate of recycling is just a document. Certification of a recycler by one of the two leading third-party standards organizations in the electronics recycling industry, on the other hand, tells you a lot about an IT recycling or remarketing vendor. It tells you your vendor and all of their downstream partners follow all state and federal laws for electronics recycling, they and their partners  provide safe and healthy workplace conditions, and they can document the entire disposition process for all types of equipment, ensuring none of the material ever ends up in a landfill or illegally exported. The two most respected and reliable certifications for compliant and responsible IT recycling are:

• e-Stewards
• R2/RIOS

While the two standards have significant overlap in their requirements, there are some differences. That’s why, to ensure they meet the highest standards possible, many organizations are choosing to work only with electronics recyclers that possess both certifications. Because it requires a significant investment of time and money to meet both standards on an ongoing basis, when a vendor has both, it shows that it is committed to doing electronics recycling—as well as remarketing and data destruction—the right way.

Our newest white paper, “The 2013 Guide to Environmental Compliance in IT Asset Disposition,” discusses the environmental risks associated it ITAD in depth. It also includes information on the benefits of partnering with an e-Stewards and/or R2/RIOS certified partner.

In the virtual world, the presence of spam is considered to be a big no-no. Aesthetically, it does not look good on any website or blog. Moreover, it leads to confusion from your followers, because they would then have to sort through which information is real and which one is the spam.

Spammers can use plenty of ways to attack your site, including JavaScripts and spambots. To keep your site spam-free, here are a handful of ways that you can do:

1.      Defend your site through anti-spam programs. There are a number of programs that can defend your site from spammers. Regardless of the price tag, the key here is finding out which one is most suitable for your needs.

A few categories you can look at include the ease of use, the capability to restore emails that were accidentally marked as spam, compatibility, and how powerful it is in filtering spam.

2.      Moderate comments. As the site owner, you can filter the comments posted by readers. Adjust your site’s settings and indicate that comments need to be reviewed before being posted. This would also work in establishing a good relationship with your followers, since it conveys to them that you are personally checking and reading each of their posts.

You can also regulate the links in the comments section by seeing first where they lead. Let your readers know that a link can only be included if it adds value to the conversation.

3.      Add a registration option. If moderating comments is not enough, you can customize your site in a way that only registered users are allowed to post comments and feedback.

4.      Put up a disclaimer. A well-informed visitor is a responsible visitor. Include a disclaimer, or even a set of rules, pertaining to spamming in your site. You might want to go as light as moderating comments or as far as banning a user.

5.      Make sure that advertisements are also screened from the comments. Since spam messages usually come as commercial messages, you can regulate or discourage posting ads on your site, especially in the comments section. As much as possible, encourage your visitors to use their names when leaving comments. This promotes a transparent relationship with them.

Remember that your website is like your virtual home. Defend and guard it as you would your physical house. Set rules and make sure that offenders are given a reprimand.

Do you have more tips to protect a website from spammers? Feel free to share your thoughts to your fellow readers by posting a comment below.

• Easy to log-in – This is a standard must. You should be able to access your site from any location via the internet. You never know when you have an opportunity to add a blog post, or edit a page, add a page to the site etc.
• It needs to be easy to use – Are you going to be the only one updating the site? Often times the people who search for content management systems or web developers know a lot about computers (in general). The only problem here is that often times there are multiple people who access the website. Bring in the person who has little computer experience. They should be able to use the content management system. At a minimum, make sure that the company you are looking to hire is willing to help out your staff on training how to use the content management system.
• Functionality – If your website requires specific functionality, make sure that the content management system can do it. Some are not as robust in service offerings when it comes to customization.
• SEO Tools – Make sure the content management system has search engine optimization tools in place to help your site get found online.
• Restricted access – Being able to decide who has access to your website is important. The goal is to grow your business to make more money. In that growth will be more employees. Make sure that your content management system allows for different levels of access (i.e. some people can blog, others can update the event calendar etc.).

These are a few of the items that you should have when you’re shopping for a content management system (CMS). We’re keen on the Drupal content management system, however there are many other alternatives available.

What CMS do you use?