Archive: June 2005

June 30, 2005

Staples Confirms: Palm's PDA Problem Is Huge

I just came back from Staples and guess what? There ARE MAJOR problems with Palm's PDA's (I know for sure...

June 30, 2005

It's True Palm PDAs Have A Major Battery Charging Problem

Today I took some time to a) go through Palm's support forum and b) email a list of business professionals...

June 30, 2005

HP's Security Blanket (plus cookies and milk)

In May of this year HP launched the HP Business Protection Portfolio for small-medium sized businesses. This service offers...

June 30, 2005

Buy Used: Never Buy New Again (Save Money But Shop Smart)

Most of my technology has been refurbished, and bought from eBay as I see little need to buy something brand...

June 30, 2005

Smartphones: The Treo 650 Shines Some Say

On the train (NY region) it appears that RIM's Blackberry rule in the "smartphone" space of devices that enable...

June 30, 2005

Palm's PDAs are Junk. What Do You Think?

I've only gone Palm for my PDAs - since the Handspring Visor. I'm now using the Palm Tungsten E...

June 29, 2005

Book Review: A Hands-On Guide to Adopting Internet Telephony for IT Professionals

Switching from packet switched, "traditional" telephone service to Voice Over the Internet (VOIP) is not something to do just...

June 29, 2005

Is An Email Message Worth $1 Billion?

A few companies are learning the hard way that their email messages are VERY valuable. In court or other...

June 29, 2005

C3 Expo: Anti Virus, Spyware and Adware Tools from Panda

I don't go into depth on "commodity" tools like anti-virus software as it is WAY too hard to tell the...

June 29, 2005

C3 Expo: A Picture Is Worth More Than 1,000 Words

Yesterday at C3 Expo's Show Stoppers there was a company displaying rows and rows of spreadsheet data on a...

June 29, 2005

C3 Expo: Must Haves: Avanquest's Connection Manager Pro and Other Tools

Avanquest is one of those companies, that if your small-medium sized business was marooned on a deserted island and...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo Coverage Overview

Last night I attended Digital Expo (press only), today I am attending C3 Expo and tonight I'll be attending...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Get Online Information While You Type

It's 3:00am and you're starting a presentation about the dangers of municipal waste for a meeting in a few...

June 28, 2005

How Can You Possibly Protect Your Data?

With so many big companies falling prey to data security scams and their own problems with data loss, what can...

June 28, 2005

What is Gateway Up To? You Need To Know.

It is VERY important, that you know what is going on with the technology companies you buy technology from. You...

June 28, 2005

The Good Life: Working With Microsoft

Var Business Magazine has a very good story on the many consulting companies/developers that have chosen to work exclusively...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Back Couldn't Be Easier

Since 1983 CMS Products has been offering a range of mobile and desktop data backup and storage solutions since 1983....

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Nokia's 9300 - Too Much Of A Good Thing

No matter how hard I try, sometimes I just can't get excited about technology and rant and praise it...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: IBM Lenovo's X41 - It Really Is A Beautiful Thing

I finally touched and held IBM Lenovo's X41 - the notebook that can turn to a TabletPC. Indeed it is...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Targus - Bags and Stuff For the Mobile Life

I'm not going to go into all the products that Targus offers. But I will recommend that if you are...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Let Your Scanner Eat & Manage Your Receipts

When you come back from a two week trip all over the world, or just an 8 hour trip...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Kodak, So Much More Than Photos

For many of us Kodak is (well was) synonymous with the world of photography. It fell way behind when...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Power for Your Notebook. $ From Your Pocket.

What if you could use your notebook for 24 hours and never connect to an electrical circuit? Electrovaya's PowerPad...

June 28, 2005

C3 Expo: Server-Less Online Collaboration

New Jersey based TeleWriter Corporation offers a peer to peer collaboration solution, installed right on your computer, that can connect...

June 28, 2005

Cell Phones On Air Planes? Would It Bother You?

Cell phones are used all over the place. Some rude people even use them in theatres. The FAA is...

June 28, 2005

Coming Soon C3 Expo and Digital Experience Coverage

Yesterday I attended Digital Experience a "pre" C3 Expo show only for the media. About two dozen companies were there...

June 28, 2005

"Green Technology" - Two Sides to Every Story

The general public is often led to believe that just because a technology is "environmentally friendly" it means it must...

June 28, 2005

Tape? Yep - HP Gives It More Life + USB

Last week I wrote about the dangers of using tape as a backup media and why a hybrid solution...

June 27, 2005

What Cable TV Can Teach Us About Online Customer Personalization

The cable industry is always looking for ways to better target advertising to customers, as a way, of course, to...

June 27, 2005

eBay and QuickBooks Get Cozy for Businesses

Intuit enables developers, via it's Intuit Developers Network to create third party applications for QuickBooks and others Intuit software....

June 24, 2005

Microsoft and Intuit: Getting To Know Their Customers. Two Different Strategies.

The best part of this article, is the last four paragraphs, but read the entire article (don't skim) to...

June 24, 2005

eBay Selling - The Good and the Bad. This Book (and the WSJ) Says It All.

I recently received a copy of "How to Do Everything with Your eBay Business", second edition, by Greg Holden...

June 23, 2005

Students vs Consultants: Which One for Your Business Tech Needs?

Hiring a professional technology consultant is the best course of action when you need an experienced mind to guide...

June 23, 2005

More than WiFi...

With WiFi you must stay connected to a WiFi network, which although growing, are still quite limited to an...

June 23, 2005

Do You Know How Powerful Your Cell Phone Is?

Your cell phone is a powerful tool - and many of you might not know it. You probably purchased...

June 23, 2005

Pay Per Click and Pay Per Call

I've already covered this, but its worth repeating now that the The Washington Post has also picked up on it....

June 23, 2005

Microsoft Could Block Your Email Messages

Microsoft announced the release of its anticipated Sender ID technology which would be used to filter out some spam...

June 23, 2005

Three Lies About Search Engine Rankings

Having your web site indexed by search engines is IMPORTANT. Ensuring that your web site comes up high in relevant...

June 23, 2005

Creating Blogs Is Easier Than You Think

Creating a traditional web site, is not "easy" for those who know little about computers. However, creating a blog can...

June 22, 2005

Wireless Networks Expose Everything

If you are sitting in a public space using a wireless network, more often than not a tech savvy...

June 22, 2005

8 Tips for Customer Relationship Management Success!

Liz Wolfe, the ultimate DIVA on CRM implementation, gives you the steps you need to ensure that YOUR CRM implementation...

June 22, 2005

Email Marketing Is Still...Hot

I have used Constant Contact for several years to publish "Small Business Technology Report". In this age of buzz about...

June 22, 2005

$99 For A Laser Printer - Dell is Making HP and Lexmark Cringe

If any vendor could do it, it's Dell - launching a $99 laser printer. Sure, it's black and white,...

June 21, 2005

Porn, the 'Net and Your Business - Find Out What You Don't Know

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) 78% of companies surveyed, struggle with employees abusing the Internet by...

June 21, 2005

On The 'Net: Sell Local. Think Local.

Just another bit of evidence why EVERY business needs a local web site and needs to THINK local. News...

June 21, 2005

When Sending Email. Think. Think. Send

When writing an important memo that is going via fax or regular mail we often take the time to ensure...

June 20, 2005

Network Fax. When Will You Discover It?

I'm writing to all of you who STILL use fax machines. It's probably not your fault - but that's what...

June 20, 2005

Corporate Blogging - David Strom Delivers It Perfectly

By - David Strom, Editor of Tom's Hardware Blogs are everywhere, and you know they have reached the point of...

June 20, 2005

The Battle for SMB Content - SmartOnline and Allbusiness.com

SMB content/tool web sites SmartOnline and Allbusiness.com (and I guess a few others) appear to be in a battle...

June 20, 2005

How To Select A Web Conferencing Solution

Kolabora.com writes New conferencing and collaboration solutions are being announced at the pace of one or more new tools per...

June 20, 2005

Computer Associates Jumps On The SMB Security Wagon

Computer Associates has started selling computer security solutions specifically geared to the SMB market. I'll have a lot more on...

June 20, 2005

Visa, Data Security & Your Business

I was comforted to read in the NY Times today that credit card processing company, CardSystems, who reported that...

June 20, 2005

Different Customers - Different Prices

When the first retailers (500, 1000, 2000, 5000, etc years ago) started selling, they would haggle with their customers on...

June 20, 2005

PayPal Rival From Google

It's only rumor right now, but Associated Press is reporting that the WSJ is reporting that Google might launch an...

June 20, 2005

Battery Life: Please Make it Last

Take heart, mobile vendors feel your pain and are working to maker batteries last longer. This is not one...

June 17, 2005

Video Conferencing Without the Jerkiness

Video conferencing using a regular PC, for many, still means jerky images. There are a few things you can...

June 17, 2005

PayPal Will Come To Your Web Site

Cnet is reporting that A new tool from PayPal is designed to give merchants the option of letting customers complete...

June 17, 2005

Gateway's Live Chat: Good Tool. Wrong Implementation

I was in the process of buying an extra adapter and a long life battery for my Gateway M320...

June 17, 2005

Share Files With No Network

I usually do not write about minor version updates but I'd like to give more visibility to peer-to-peer networking....

June 16, 2005

Technology Encourages Longer Hours: Is That Bad or Good?

The "family" is in decline, partly due to longer and longer hours by many people working way too long. One...

June 16, 2005

Data Protection Like Never Before: Onsite Data / Offsite Backup

Backing up your data, is old news. There's articles about data backup all over the place, so I'm not going...

June 16, 2005

Save Much $ On Your Printer Cartridge

Printers are like razors - the razors are cheap and bought from time to time but the blades can be...

June 15, 2005

Follow The Money And Outsource All (well most) IT

Think about your business. Keep thinking. Ok - now think about your IT operations. Printing, networking, wireless, internet, copier, telephone,...

June 15, 2005

Yahoo-ing Your Telecommunications

Yahoo! is now an official card carrying member of the "telecommunications club" with their purchase of DialPad. Isn't it getting...

June 15, 2005

Still Use Windows 2000? You Are Not Alone.

I've been using Microsoft Windows XP for some time but I know that MANY small businesses are still using Windows...

June 15, 2005

Everybody Loves A Reseller

Computer Reseller News writes about hard disk maker Maxtor's renewed push for SMB resellers for its One Touch II Small...

June 15, 2005

Comparing MSFT Office to Open Office

Real Tech News has a comparison between Open Office (free) and Microsoft Office (used by 90%+ businesses). If you are...

June 14, 2005

Radio Tags Will Save You $ and Time

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) is not "hot" quite yet, but it's getting their. For the many retailers, shippers and manufacturers...

June 14, 2005

Selling Online? Should You Charge State Tax?

Large brick and mortar retailers are worried that they will have to charge taxes to customers who buy goods from...

June 14, 2005

Do You Know the Health of Your PC Vendor

Did you know that everytime you spend money on technology you are also investing in the company that sold you...

June 13, 2005

Help IT Hiring Professionals Understand IT Professionals

QED National, a provider of consultants and teams for Information Technology projects, announced today it is conducting its first public...

June 13, 2005

Destroying Data Is Not Easy - But It Is Important

There are new rules from the FTC governing data destruction but destroy data the right way can be very hard...

June 11, 2005

Audio Interviews and "radio" Here We Come

Well, I'm addicted. Blogging hit me like a lightning bolt. Although I've been writing articles on smallbiztechnology.com since April...

June 11, 2005

The Do's and Don'ts of Launching a Small Business Website

SelfSEO.com writes Launching a new small business website is often a long and painstaking process. And for most small...

June 10, 2005

Should SMB's Blog

That's a question that many SMB must ask themselves. I answer the question in my article on SearchSMB.com here...

June 10, 2005

Dell-NFIB Small Business Excellence in Customer Experience Award Finalists

Dell and the National Federation of Independent Business teamed up to offer the Excellence in Customer Experience Award. Through the...

June 10, 2005

TabletPC's - Still Growing (Thanks Gateway)

Although TabletPC sales appear to be quiet Gateway keeps finding new customers. Lenovo recently released a new TabletPC but other...

June 10, 2005

More on IBM Bolstering Software As A Service Developers

I covered IBM's move to bolster "software as a service developers" and AMI Partners writes IBM has rightly-in our opinion-calculated...

June 10, 2005

Giving Your Affiliates Tools To Increase Sales

I've signed up with several affiliate programs over the years, where you put a link to a retailer's product on...

June 9, 2005

Dell Support Alerts - Annoying But Good

I just got a "pop-up" on my screen from a Dell Support tool that told me to "Increase your...

June 9, 2005

Event Wrap Up: Marketing to Small Businesses for Tech Consultants and VARs

Last Tuesday's (7 June) Marketing to Small Businesses for Tech Consultants and VARs went very well. Over 50 NYC area...

June 8, 2005

One Key To Linux Success - Applications:
Linspire Delivers

Microsoft is a smashing success because of the thousands of third party applications built for it by Microsoft and...

June 8, 2005

Internet Explorer - Tabbed Browsing Comes to Life

One of the great features in Firefox and other competing web browsers is tabbed browser - having one browser...

June 8, 2005

A Win for Off Brand Ink Cartrdiges

Printer manufacturer, Lexmark, took Static Control, maker of the "Smartek" chip which enables non-Lexmark ink cartridges to work in Lexmark...

June 8, 2005

Move to Digital Storage. Why? - UPS, FEDEX, DHL

UPS lost 3.9 million customer data records which they were taking from Citigroup to credit reporting agency Experian. We've...

June 8, 2005

Peachtree 2006 - New & Improved Usability and Features

Every year, many software vendors release new versions of their products and it's exciting to see what new features...

June 8, 2005

Corel and Yahoo! - Getting Closer

I recently reviewed Corel's Word Perfect Office 12 and I mentioned that there was little need for Corel to...

June 8, 2005

$3/month For Wireless Email

There's two things that are great about the evolution of technology 1) it gets better 2) it gets cheaper. Forbes...

June 8, 2005

SMB VOIP and Snail Mail Join Forces

I usually don't write about marketing deals, but I always think it's interesting and valuable when SMB focused companies join...

June 7, 2005

Portable Desktop Via the 'Net

Remote Computing using a VPN, Remote Control Software (like stomps) or some other tool or method is what most...

June 7, 2005

Email Is An Art. Not a Science

As we use email more and more let us keep in mind that it takes a bit of careful thought...

June 7, 2005

United Airlines - WiFi Here We Come

It's easy to get wireless internet access in an airplane - much harder (or impossible at this time) to...

June 6, 2005

Being Safe Online Starts With Self Education

Most of the people who are scammed online are NOT going to be computer literate techies who know about...

June 6, 2005

Top Ten Web Design Mistakes

By looking at my own web site you might not think I know much about web design. However, after visiting...

June 6, 2005

Skype: A Must Have Tool

If you have not tried Skype yet you are missing out. Skype, lets you make a phone call to any...

June 6, 2005

Are You Presence Aware?

The options for business communication are amazing. Think about it. You can chat. Email. Fax. Call. Blog. Collaborate. For...

June 4, 2005

Orlando Ayala, Microsoft Senior Vice President, Small and Midmarket Solutions & Partner Group speaks out...

The St. Petersburg Times had a chat with Orlando about a range of SMB issues. He says, One of...

June 4, 2005

Why Use Online Business Networking Sites?

I've used online networking site Linked In, Ryze, Company of Friends for various reasons over the years. The only...

June 3, 2005

Lenovo Debut's Its "first notebook"

Cnet reports that since first being spun off from IBM to Lenovo, IBMs former PC Group (now part of Lenovo)...

June 3, 2005

The Small Business Advocate Covers Blogs

Jim Blasingame, The Small Business Advocate and I discussed the pros and cons of blogs on his radio show on...

June 3, 2005

Tech Consultants Flock To Get Marketing Help

I'm pleased to announce that we are approaching close to 100 registrants at "Marketing to Small Businesses For Technology Consultants...

June 3, 2005

If Someone Had The Data On Your PDA Would You Be Worried?

I've been using a PDA for years and before that the famous Casio and Sharp electronic organizers. I often wonder,...

June 3, 2005

Storing Data Online Has Its Pros and Cons

There's so many options for carrying data with you - but you really must think and consider HOW the...

June 2, 2005

Microsoft Office's XML Moves: Too Much Too Fast

For corporations on the 'cutting' edge of technology, having Microsoft Office save files, by default to XML is fine I...

June 2, 2005

Defragmenting Your Hard Disk Speeds Up Anti-Virus Scans

According to Phil Pinto, Network Administrator at Icon Computing, "Daily defragmentation is the single most important thing that I can...

June 2, 2005

Book Review: Home Networking Simplified

At times the world of SMB/SOHO computing is quite boring - for those of us who know the technology...

June 1, 2005

Open Source Decision Making Helper

Using "open source" or free software (most times Linux) is something that will be frequently brought up as open...