tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-108375382011-07-07T13:04:52.150-07:00Useful information about Information Technology for managers, administrators and users in small business, nonprofit and professional organizations.TOBnoreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-28273574169082346022010-06-29T14:54:00.000-07:002010-06-29T14:54:23.076-07:00

Here's an example of "What are they thinking?" Why would a bank--repeat, BANK--continue to support a browser with poor security controls? Never mind the slight of Chrome, what's important here is Chase Bank's continued embrace of Internet Explorer 6. (By the way, if you use IE6, stop it.) Chase embraces dated IE6, shuns Chrome | Browsers - InfoWorld

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-10428458038821717132010-05-27T18:30:00.000-07:002010-05-27T18:30:00.553-07:00

Whenever possible, IDEOLITY encourages replacing desktop PCs with devices known as Thin Clients.  This is a particularly useful strategy for nonprofits, but works in many different office and manufacturing environments. First, a Thin Client is a computer that typically does not have an operating system or a hard drive.  As a result, it can be quite compact in size, and there is very little that

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-39117792120713291852010-05-19T13:02:00.000-07:002010-05-19T13:02:29.034-07:00

Below this post is a small slice of Advisory posts from the past. Many of the entries had to be removed because the links were no longer valid, or the topic had aged into obsolescence...or something. The Advisory blog on the IDEOLITY website is set aside to discuss useful information about Information Technology for managers, administrators and users in small business, nonprofit and

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-10799023072939571652007-10-22T20:26:00.000-07:002007-10-22T20:30:11.541-07:00

If your computer is part of a network at an organization—such as a school, government agency, or business—your organization's system administrator might have made certain settings unavailable or even removed them by using Group Policy. Group Policy is a feature of Windows that lets system administrators manage users' access to Windows features.If you think that Group Policy is preventing you from

TOBnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-80650059691345473712007-10-22T20:20:00.000-07:002007-10-22T20:26:09.005-07:00

From Windows Vista Blog (Dec. 2006):A typical Pentium 4 PC with a 17" LCD monitor draws about 102.6 watts of power (think about a 100 watt light bulb). That same PC and display in a sleep state draws only 5.6 watts, or 97 fewer watts. If you figure that a PC is used for active work for 10 hours a day, 5 days a week, 52 weeks per year, that is 2,600 operating hours. With 8,760 hours in a year (

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-29060450051720427132007-10-02T11:50:00.000-07:002007-10-02T12:53:08.538-07:00

Inevitably, when Microsoft publishes new versions of its dominant Office software application suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.), businesses and organizations end up with a mixture of old and new versions--at least for awhile.This time around, Microsoft's new version, Office 2007, is not backward compatible, but don't lose hope! Here are some words of wisdom from Carrie Sallee to help you cope

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-11270472800859070332007-08-15T13:29:00.000-07:002007-08-15T13:31:43.103-07:00

(This is a reprint from US-CERT, the federal government's Internet security agency.)Recognizing and Avoiding Spyware Because of its popularity, the internet has become an ideal target for advertising. As a result, spyware, or adware, has become increasingly prevalent. When troubleshooting problems with your computer, you may discover that the source of the problem is spyware software that

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1139945003013656612006-02-14T11:19:00.000-08:002006-02-14T11:23:23.030-08:00

This company has evolved over time and through numerous product cycles and the slow maturing process of our industry. Has our mission changed? No, it remains to support organizations using technology to increase productivity and, therefore, success.Working closely with profit-driven businesses and mission-driven nonprofits has allowed us to learn from both in order to select products and develop

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1126668091141498932005-09-13T19:55:00.000-07:002005-09-14T11:14:34.456-07:00

Does your phone system have an automated attendant and/or voice mail?Does your phone system allow out-of-the-country calls?If your answer is either "Yes" or "I don't know" to these questions, you should take a few minutes RIGHT NOW to check your phone system or you could someday be liable for thousands of dollars in long distance charges.Phone hackers systematically search for an automated phone

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1125972392528144262005-09-05T17:45:00.000-07:002005-09-07T13:24:57.836-07:00

For many organizations, September and October are the time to plan budgets for the upcoming year. If you are engaged in the budget process and your organization does not employ a full time Information Technology administrator with extensive business and technical credentials, you need outside assistance (to put it bluntly).Planning for I.T. involves much more than estimating how many new PCs to

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1117508652448547492005-05-30T19:30:00.000-07:002005-10-01T18:04:25.126-07:00

A few weeks ago, I discussed the perils of using a work computer for personal purposes. (Allow me to summarize: Don't do it!)Now, let's look at the converse situation: what issues surround the use of a personally-owned computer for work?Your employer may not look kindly at this practice, either. From the company's viewpoint, it loses control of business data when it moves from a company-owned

TOBnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1114703884457328222005-04-28T08:52:00.000-07:002005-05-21T10:29:29.236-07:00

The folks at NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) have produced a 24-page PDF booklet about power surges.It discusses how power surges happen and the options you have for protecting your computers, appliances, etc. in your home or office during thunderstorm season.Click here to download the PDF. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader.)

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1113149790818693472005-04-10T08:25:00.000-07:002005-04-10T09:16:30.820-07:00

I received a phone call from someone who found 21CCC in the SBC Yellow Pages. He said that he had worked for seven years at a "huge corporation" until being fired recently for having used a company laptop to view pornographic web sites.He said, "I never did that! I'm not so stupid as to use a company laptop for something like that!""Did you use it for business only?" I asked."No, I used it for

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1112367877105355262005-04-01T06:57:00.000-08:002005-04-01T07:04:37.106-08:00

Microsoft may be on to something with its Media Center PC version of Windows XP. In case you're not up to speed, check this out.Are you looking for a new PC at home? Do you also like the idea of surround sound, recording TV programs digitally (a la TiVo), as well as centrally distributing your photos and music?If so, a Media Center PC may be just the ticket.

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1109212954533096532005-02-23T18:35:00.000-08:002005-02-25T07:20:39.383-08:00

You spend a number of hours a day using your office computer. It's attached to a local network in your suite or building, which itself is attached to the Internet.You can't quite identify the cause, but your computer "seems slow." How can that be? It's practically new! Also, the slowness is intermittent--not all the time. What gives?There are several possible answers to your question,

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1108582372675815352005-02-20T16:26:00.000-08:002005-02-20T16:37:52.210-08:00

Go to the Microsoft web site and download the beta of Microsoft Windows AntiSpyware software.It's free! Bill Gates recently announced that the consumer version will remain free. There will be a fee for corporate users, but, at this time, it is unknown when or how that will occur.Microsoft acquired this software from GIANT AntiSpyware, a leading developer of anti-spyware software. In fact,

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10837538.post-1108668689293582932005-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:002005-02-17T11:31:29.296-08:00

We received a frantic call from a company that saw our Office Chaos? ad in the Yellow Pages. They had lost some files and discovered that the "automatic nightly backup" had not operated properly for over two months.Could we help?In this case, we could not. The backup wasn't writing to the tapes so there was nothing to recover. The files had been deleted from the server and were not

TOBnoreply@blogger.com0