Smart Tech for Small Biz
by James Gaskin

James E. Gaskin writes books (16 so far), articles and jokes about technology and real life from his home office in the Dallas area. Gaskin has been helping small and medium sized businesses use technology intelligently since 1986.

This blog covers IT news, views, and product info with the small business angle in mind.

Write him at readers@gaskin.com.

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Less Paper Equals More Green

A CBS News program one Sunday not long ago dropped an interesting fact: 40 percent of all paper printed is discarded that very same day. Two of every five pages printed is glanced at and trashed. This is the wrong way to meet your office recycle quota. It's hard to wean some people from paper, but it will save you money. Here are some ideas.
Posted on 10/1/09 at 12:00 pm | Green, inkjet, LCD, paper, recycle
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The Well Equipped Mobile Professional

The more you leave the office and still work, the more you must plan ahead to make your work tools mobile. ComputerWorld's Office in a Bag lists many of the items some mobile professionals feel are musts for the modern digital nomad.
Posted on 9/28/09 at 12:35 am | ComputerWorld, digital nomad, Officejet H470, USB hard drive
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Video Support Key to Windows 7 Success on Netbooks

Windows 7 looms large on the horizon (I look forward to when I can reformat my Vista machine and start over with 7), and netbook users are as anxious as anyone. Will Windows 7 run on your netbook? It all depends on the graphic support chips inside your netbook.
Posted on 9/24/09 at 11:00 am | DirectX, Nvidia, Rob Enderle, Vista, Windows 7
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Chrome Netbook Operating System By Christmas?

One of the tidbits author Jerri Ledford told me during my interview to get information for the Daily Tip entry Chrome Tips and Tricks for Better Browsing was that she felt Google's Chrome operating system would be on netbooks by Christmas. Yes, that's Chrome the OS supporting Chrome the browser. A bit confusing, but if Chrome the OS is as good as Chrome the browser, we'll be happy.
Posted on 9/22/09 at 11:34 am | Chrome OS, Google, Linux, netbook, XP
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Another Roundup of Free Open Source Software for Windows

Marketing challenged though they may be, the Open Source groups make great software. Another good roundup of Free Open Source Software came from Linuxworld last month. Sorry to take so long to get the news to you, but here it is.
Posted on 9/17/09 at 9:59 am | Firefox, free, Open Office, open source, TrueCrypt
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Your Sales Management Software Should Always Be SaaS

Every small business sales team starts small, usually with the owner doing sales, often using spreadsheets to track prospect details. Companies like ACT! have made millions providing structure and organization to prospect and customer tracking. But today, I strongly recommend using a hosted sales management program for two reasons: cost and control.
Posted on 9/16/09 at 10:58 am | ACT!, BatchBook, Saas, sales, Salesforce.com
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Windows 7 Upgrade Mess Is Depressing

For an information company, Microsoft seems clueless on providing clear directions and upgrade paths. What upgrade option do you choose? How much does a Windows 7 upgrade cost? Anywhere from $60 to $300, depending on which of the many conflicting stories you believe. And if you want to upgrade from an XP system, your options range somewhere between “no way” and “plan to spend 20+ hours on the project.” Why can we not get a straight answer? What's with the dumb Windows 7 upgrade chart?
Posted on 9/15/09 at 10:19 am | Laplink, upgrade, Vista, Windows 7, XP
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Will Microsoft's Zombie XP Stagger On Forever?

Microsoft has said Windows XP will no longer be available a year after Windows 7 ships “We mean it this time, and no XP reprieves anymore. Unless they're really, really necessary,” allegedly said a Microsoft spokesperson. Will XP die a year or so from now, or will Microsoft allow the Zombie, or maybe Xombie, OS to keep roaming free?
Posted on 9/9/09 at 11:44 am | George Romero, Netbooks, Vista, Windows 7, Zombie XP
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Loan Officers Need Clean, Organized Financial Statements

I talked with my friend Marsha this weekend. While the focus wasn't loans and financial statements, since she's a bank vice president and loan officer I asked about the climate today, at least for Chase Bank where she works. Short answer: money's available, but only for the organized.
Posted on 9/8/09 at 12:11 pm | banks, financial statement, loan officers, loans, revenue
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Nokia Booklet 3G Far Too Expensive at $820

Give Nokia props for designing a good looking netbook, the new Booklet 3G. It's sleek, it runs on batteries a long time, and it has slightly higher video resolution than other netbooks. Too bad Nokia executives went brain dead when setting the price.
Posted on 9/3/09 at 10:23 am | idiot vice presidents, netbook, Nokia, Nokia Booklet 3G, Steve Jobs
peer-to-peer

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If the comments are ugly, the code is ugly

claird
SVG a graphics format for 21st century

pasmith
Take Chrome OS for a test spin

Sandra Henry-Stocker
Solaris Tip: Have Your Files Changed Since Installation?

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64-bits of protection?

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Android fragments vs. the iPhone monolith

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What Gizmodo missed about the Pro WX Wireless USB disk drive

 

Sidekick: The Good News & the Bad News
Either way you look at it Microsoft Data Center management did not follow standards or best practices in this failure. In which case it makes me wonder more about the outsourcing of corporate data much less personal data.
- mburton325

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