Tech Sessions

E-mail can become burden rather than time-saver

October 20, 2007 No Comments

Checking and responding to e-mail is one of the biggest time consumers in the modern office these days. How has one of the most successful leaps in technology and necessary components of the office become such a burden? The system is misused and abused. It is not just spammers causing harm, but also family, friends, co-workers, and sometimes even ourselves. Almost 70 percent of the e-mails sent in September were spam, according to Symantec’s State of Spam monthly report. If you are not using spam filters on your mail server or mail application, you are probably wasting time going through e-mails you do not need. If you are using Outlook, make sure you have the latest updates from Microsoft (http://office,microsoft.com). Whether using a Mac operating system or Windows, select the “Mark as Junk” feature, rather than just deleting junk messages. Those systems continuously learn. As you mark more things as

Once you go Mac, you may never go back

August 11, 2007 No Comments

Working at one of the very few Macintosh shops in town, my colleagues and I get many questions about “switching.” People have seen the ads on TV–”I’m a mac; I’m a P.C.”–and the iPhone spots. Some “switchers” are familiar with Apple products; they have iPods and have used iTunes. Others are shopping for new computers and want to see what the Mac has to offer. One thing potential switches have in common: misconceptions about how a Mac can help them. One misconception is that a Macintosh computer isn’t a “business machine.” But many companies in Columbia have discovered otherwise. Woodruff Sweitzer, an advertising agency, is an all Mac company, utilizing more than 30 Mac desktops and servers, with only a couple Microsoft Windows based servers. While advertising is a creative field in which Mac platforms are commonly used in design and production, at Woodruff Sweitzer, all departments of the office

Creativity of Programmers in Web 2.0 Allows use of Internet as Application Platform

July 28, 2007 No Comments

Meetings are a missive drain on valuable time, but what other options are there to keep everyone on the same page? E-mail? Inboxes quickly become filled with messages with the subject line reading “RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: july 10th meeting.” How can the modern office use technology to speed up productivity and keep employees out of the conference room? One possible answer is web 2.0 Web 2.0 is a buzzword tossed around increasingly these days to describe the shift toward using the internet as an application platform. Simply put, it is using sites on the internet as programs. The idea is: web 1.0 was a viewable resource; web 2.0 is interactive; publishing becomes participation. Web 2.0 is a new way of building websites. However, the technology behind these sites is old. The tools of web 2.0 sites are pre-existing standards that have been around for many years.

Despite flaws, iPhone lives up to hype

July 14, 2007 No Comments

Many reviewers have concluded that the iPhone is not a business tool, classifying it as nothing more than a fancy toy for people with deep pockets. Being an apple consultant and an “iPod aficionado,” I decided to put these claims to the test. Before getting my iPhone, I was using a Blackberry 8700. With a full keyboard, push email, web browser and computer sync, consumers can’t get much more in a business phone. The Blackberry is also more than two-and-a-half inches wide and eight tenths of an inch thick, and not easily slipped into a pocket. After using the iPhone for a week as my business and personal phone, I was satisfied with how well it functions. However I have found a few limitations that might prevent the iPhone from being suitable for everyone. After waiting in line for four hours and dropping $600, I became one of the estimated