TMS Pain Free IT Technology Blog

Hard Drive Prices Rising

While the massive flooding in Thailand ravaged hundreds of thousands worth of property and infrastructure, it also has had an adverse effect on worldwide hard drive production. Since the majority of the world’s hard drive factories are located in Thailand, hard drives will be in short supply in the coming months.

In the same way the massive earthquake and tsunami damaged Japan's electronics industry, the flood crisis in Thailand is causing concern for companies that require hard drives for production.

The majority of the world's hard drives are produced in factories located in Thailand, where the flood crisis has put a damper on many industries, hard drive producers included.

According to reports, the shortage is already driving hard drive costs up and may just be the beginning of that trend. As companies like Hewlett Packard respond to the situation, the outlook remains unclear. PC sales could be affected well into 2012 and beyond. With flooding still an issue for some producers the shortage could expand.

As of now, there is still no concrete solution in sight for the problem with the supply of hard drives in the world, and while reconstruction efforts in Thailand are ongoing, getting the hard drive industry on its feet will take a while. As for the effects on the computing world as a whole, PC prices will likely rise as pre-flood inventories are sold out and replacement stock is delayed.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

25 Worst Passwords of All Time

Passwords are an integral part of securing both IT systems and online accounts. In order to keep your system and information safe, it is important to take the time to create strong passwords that hackers and online thieves won't easily figure out.

If you think using 'password' as your password is no big deal, then it's time to rethink.

Security experts have recently compiled a list of the worst passwords users can choose, and 'password' is at the very top of the list. Weak passwords make your information more vulnerable simply because hackers can guess them. It may be easier to pick a password that you don't have to think about, but it's a choice that you may come to regret.

To help you avoid common password choice mistakes that users make, management application provider SplashData has compiled a list of the 25 worst passwords to use:

1. password
2. 123456
3. 12345678
4. qwerty
5. abc123
6. monkey
7. 1234567
8. letmein
9. trustno1
10. dragon
11. baseball
12. 111111
13. iloveyou
14. master
15. sunshine
16. ashley
17. bailey
18. passw0rd
19. shadow
20. 123123
21. 654321
22. superman
23. qazwsx
24. michael
25. football

Make a smart password choice: Experts advise using a combination of letters and numbers when creating your passwords, and to avoid things that anyone might be able to guess, such as birthdays and anniversary dates. Passwords with eight characters or more are safer and it's best to use different passwords for different accounts and websites. Use a password manager to help you keep track of all of your passwords if you're finding it difficult to remember them all..

 

No matter how sophisticated your security system is, a weak password gives hackers and online thieves an advantage. Helping all the users in your organization understand the importance of password strength will help you secure the IT systems in your organization.

If you're interested in learning more, please contact us so we can develop a comprehensive and custom security blueprint that meets your specific needs.

Reference: Worst Internet Passwords

Balancing Freedom and Security

Security experts are predicting a rise in the use of personal gadgets to access company data – which means that you will have less control over what kind of data goes in and out of your IT system. The best way to rectify this is by having a concrete and comprehensive IT policy that secures your data – without compromising the freedom of your employees to use their mobile devices.
 
As technology continues to become more affordable and accessible to consumers, it's an inevitable fact that employers will see more and more of their employees using their own personal devices such as laptops and mobile phones to access the company's IT system.
 
This can be a dangerous thing. Since these devices aren't company owned and regulated, you have limited access and control over how they are used. Employees could download all sorts of malware and viruses on their devices and pass the infection along to your IT system when they access it.
 
The solution: a comprehensive IT security policy. It's important that you find a compromise between the freedom of the employee to use the device as desired and your need to keep your IT system safe from viruses and other threats to your data's security. Steps such as having employees run mobile device management (MDM) software on their devices is one of many actions you can take to lessen the risk of security breaches. You may also want to implement applications and software that check and screen for malware, both for laptops and mobile devices. And don't forget that while Android seems to have a bigger problem with malicious software, Apple isn't exactly virus-free, either.
 
Employees have a right to use their personal devices as they see fit, but not at the expense of important company information stored in your IT system. Running a tight ship in terms of security is an effective way to protect your business interests and your sensitive company data. If you are interested in knowing more about developing a concrete and effective IT security policy for personal device use as well as general system access, please don't hesitate to give us a call so we can sit down with you and discuss a custom security blueprint that's just right for you.

Bumb Performance in Windows 7 by trimming startup programs

 

Does you windows 7 Computer run Slow? well you can increase the amount of RAM/ Memory you are using, Windows 7 32 bit needs a minimum of 1Gig and the 64 bit version needs a minimum of 2Gb. Learn how to increase your speeds even if you cant upgrade your memory. Learn several methods for investigating startup programs and eliminating some of them to improve performance. Read More

5 Benefits of Managed Services

With IT's ever-changing and ever evolving demands, it's important that businesses, especially those with fewer resources, be able to keep themselves up to date – and there's no better, more efficient, and more cost-effective solution than Managed Services.

Many large businesses prefer the use of Managed Services to meet their IT needs, but many smaller organizations continue to be skeptical of this solution. Here are five reasons that will make you think twice about dismissing Managed Services:

Managed Services help control costs. In any kind of business, it's important to be as cost-effective as possible. Especially in IT, where unbridled or poorly managed systems cost way more that they're worth, it's essential to have a system that works with your budget but doesn't compromise on quality. Managed Services is the most feasible and practical way to accomplish that, especially in the long term.

Managed Services help you deal with increasingly complex IT solutions. With both hardware and software components of IT systems constantly evolving, businesses with limited resources may very well find themselves left behind after a while. But with Managed Services, you are able to enjoy the advantages of the latest IT solutions at a fraction of the cost – enabling you to provide the best possible service to your clients.

Managed Services give you a better, more dependable IT infrastructure. Especially for smaller businesses, it can be tedious to maintain an in-house IT arm; and you run the risk of stretching resources too thinly, which can compromise the quality and output of your IT department. Managed Services allow you to have a stable and dependable IT arm that's dedicated to meeting your specific needs in a cost-effective manner.

Managed Services offer more comprehensive and complete IT solutions. More often than not, small and undermanned IT departments are more of a burden to the organization they belong to – errors are more likely to occur, response and problem solving is a slow process, and staff members are probably overworked and underpaid, making them both unhappy and less productive. Managed Services, on the other hand, are completely the opposite, allowing you to utilize efficient and comprehensive solutions that are tailor-made to fit your specific requirements.

Managed Services help you maintain compliance. With the marketplace becoming more and more competitive, meeting different regulatory compliances has become a fundamental need. From Sarbanes-Oxley to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), smaller companies can often find themselves lost. It's Managed Services that helps these companies not only fully understand the requirements of these regulations, but also comply with them.

If you want to know more about how Managed Services can directly benefit your day to day operations, please do not hesitate to give us a call – we'd be happy to sit down and discuss a custom solution that works for you.

Published with permission from TechAdvisory.org. Source.

1st look at Windows 8 - What do you think

 

 

Here is the first look at Windows 8. please share your thoughts inthe comment section below!

If you want to see what Jason Hiner of Tech Republic had to say you can check out his article here

 

Conduct better online searches with these tips

Sometimes it may seem impossible to find what you’re looking for when you’re performing an online search. One keyword may result in thousands of irrelevant results. These simple strategies will help you perform better searches and get more relevant results.

Keep it simple

When you’re performing online searches it is typically best to use as few words and phrases as possible, while still communicating what you’re looking for. If you’re looking for a bookstore in your area, simply type in “bookstore” and add the name of your town or your zip code. This should give you accurate results that will likely be quite relevant.

Learn about Boolean

Boolean searches are something many of us know about, whether we know it or not. Basically, Boolean searches revolve around using the terms “and,” “not” and “or” in your searches. It lets you include or exclude several words and phrases from your search results.

You can also have the same effect by using simple pluses and minuses in your searches. If you would like to include a term in your search simply put a “ ” right before it in the search box. If you want to ensure that a certain term does not pop up in your results, place a “-“ before that word or phrase.

Be precise

When you’re performing a search, it’s best to be as exact as possible. If you know just what you’re looking for, use exact phrases instead of just keywords. When you use general phrases, they can often be misinterpreted by the search engine and leave you with results you don’t need.

Quotation marks are generally the international search engine symbol to search for an exact phrase. If you are looking for something specific, using quotation marks can help ensure that your results are more relevant.

These three tips can greatly affect the accuracy of your search results. You’ll spend less time sifting through website descriptions and pages of results, and more time getting the information you need.

If you’d like more advice on performing better online searches, check out this article.

Keep your employees inspired with these 4 ideas

Smartpens can help cause you to be more efficient – here’s how

Smartpens are a new office craze with ever-expanding possibilities. The capabilities of smartpens have grown a lot since the technology first came about, and they’re still increasing.

 

What the majority of smartpens do is capture the notes that you are writing down and convert them into a digital format. Additional possible capabilities, however, vary by brand and model.

 

IOGEAR Mobile Digital Scribe

This smartpen was the first on the scene. For that reason, it doesn’t have all of the bells and whistles that you may find in a newer model.

 

It does, however, do plenty of interesting things that make it a fantastic business tool. The Mobile Digital Scribe captures and stores all of your notes for later review. It doesn’t require you to write on a certain surface – a simple piece of paper will do. Also, if you link the smartpen to your computer, it can display your notes on the screen as you write them.

 

Logitech IO2 Digital Pen

The Logitech smartpen has a number of the basic functions that you may find in the Mobile Digital Scribe. It transcribes your notes and can save them in a range of different file types.

 

After you save them, you can search the files for words and phrases in order to help you scan notes more easily. You can search by date, file type and file name. Unlike the Mobile Digital Scribe, you cannot use any surface to record your notes with this smartpen – you must use Post-It notes or Franklin Covey’s iScribe software.

 

Livescribe Echo

 

The Livescribe Echo has far more functions than its counterparts. It not only transcribes your written notes into a PDF, it also records any audio and enables you to save that in a variety of different formats.

 

The Livescribe Echo now has a feature called Pencast, which plays back your audio and synchronizes it with the notes you took. You can play these Pencasts with your iPad, iPhone or iPod making the files super easy to share. This is great for anyone who wants to share the details of a meeting with their coworkers but doesn’t have the time to tell them about it or transcribe the entire thing.

 

Smartpens are a cool technology that is sure to keep becoming more popular in the office setting. They make it easier to become a more efficient worker with little effort.

 

If you’d like to take a look at a review of the Livescribe Echo, check out this Inc. article

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Security tools for on-the-go protection