Some of my favorite technology

This week a client asked me to share some of my favorite technology.   Here are my top 5 pieces of technology that I use nearly everyday that make my life easier or more enjoyable:

 

Wagan EL2405 100-Watt Smart AC USB Invertor with DC socket 

 

 

My office is my car and this little device allows me to charge my laptop, cell phone and iPad at the same time by plugging into my cars cigarette lighter socket.  On those days when I have forgotten to charge my laptop at home, it gives me peace of mind to know that I can charge my laptop as I drive to a client's location.  I was able to purchase this on amazon for $23.

 

 

Q-See Surveillance System

 

 

I installed one of the Q-See systems in my house after a rash of break-ins in my neighborhood.  My system came with 8 cameras and a DVR to record activity.   The system can be set up so it will notify me via email when activity is recorded.  Also, I can watch a live video stream from the security cameras from my iPad or Computer via an internet connection.  Not only does this give me a little peace of mind, but it allowed my home insurance rates to be lowered.  The Q-See system starts $300 and can go as high as $2000 depending the number and type of cameras your purchase.

 

 

Western Digital TV Live Hub

 

Years ago, I started converting all my DVDs to a digital format and storing them on Network Accessible Storage devices in order to stream them to my TVs and computers.   At the time, I was using the original AppleTV to stream to my television.   The problem with the original and new AppleTVs was their inability accept video formats other than .m4v or .mov video files.   The conversion time for certain DVDs to these formats could take up to 12 hours depending on the processor my computer had.  

 

After becoming tired of the encoding processes, I found the Western Digital TV.  This device would play almost any video format, including VOB files.   I am now able to simply rip a DVD or BluRay and store it for playback without having to encode it into another format.  This save me time without losing any video quality that comes along with the encoding process.   The Western Digital TV Hub allows me to stream my content to other Western Digital TV devices, so now I can really store all my movies in one location and access them from any TV in my house.  Also, the devices will connect to services such as Netflix or Hulu.  The WDTV Live Hub costs around $200.

 

Airport Express

 

The airport express is a nifty little device.   It can function in one of three roles: network print server, wifi extender or wireless audio.   I use my airport express devices to stream audio throughout my house.   I can plug speakers into the airport express and then using an iPod, iPad or computer I can control the streaming of music from iTunes or other Apps such as Pandora or iHeartRadio that is configured to use the AirPlay technology from Apple.   This makes Saturday morning house cleaning much more enjoyable as my music easily follows me from room to room.  The Airport Express costs about $99.

 

iTouchless Bio-matic Fingerprint Door Lock

 

It is embarrassing how often my wife and I would lock ourselves out of our house.  It happened so often that I eventually broke down and spent the money on the iTouchless biometric door lock.  It was kind of pricey at $300, but it has more than paid for itself over the years.  The iTouchless was not necessarily easy to install, but it was worth the effort I had to put into the installation process.  It is powered by four double a batteries and  I found that those batteries would power this device for nearly two years.  The storing of fingerprints into the iTouchless is quite easy and I find the biometric reader does a fine job scanning my fingerprints.  It also has a keypad that I can use to program a numeric code that will allow access. This is by far my favorite piece of technology because I never have to worry about taking my house key with me.   My key is always with me now.

An inexpensive fix for a dead monitor.

[Nerd Scale: 2.5 out of 5 pocket protectors]

If your monitor has died, don't purchase a new one just yet.   There might be an inexpensive way to repair it.

Over the past week, I encountered 5 dead monitors.  The interesting thing I noticed common with each one of the bad monitors was their 2007 manufacturing date.   That got me thinking about an article I read a few years back discussing the flooding of the tech market with bad capacitors.  According to this Wikipedia post, the problem with bad capacitors has been occurring for the last decade.  I wondered if the problem with these dead monitors was just bad capacitors and so I decided to take a look.

I dismantled a client's dead Samsung SyncMaster 203B monitor.  When this monitor was new, it cost over $200.  Once I got the monitor apart, it did seem like the problem might be a capacitor issue.   On the circuit board that controlled the power supply, there were 4 capacitors that were visibly damaged.   You can tell when a capacitor has gone bad by taking a look at its head.  If the head is concave, you have a bad capacitor.  The head is supposed to be flat or convex.

I went online and found a company that had these capacitors for sale.   I ordered the capacitors and a few days later the shipment arrived.   Using a soldering gun, I removed the old capacitors and soldered the new ones back onto the circuit board.

It's important to note when soldering capacitors to the circuit board, you must line up the negative pole to the negative hole on the circuit board.   Typically, the capacitor will have a wide stripe on one side of the capacitor that indicates the negative side.   Also, the circuit board usually has a bolded arc indicating where the negative side should be attached.

 

And wouldn't you know it?  After putting the monitor back together it worked like it was brand new.

For a couple of dollars' worth of capacitors, a tiny bit of solder and about 20 minutes of work, I was able to keep a $200 monitor working, which made for one happy client.

So far, I have had a chance to repair 2 of the 5 monitors, and both of them are working after replacing the bad capacitors.  I will keep my fingers crossed for the next three.

If you have a monitor that has died, maybe you should try replacing the capacitors before throwing it away and buying a new one.   If you need help, Binkley IT Consulting will be there for you.

Warning: capacitors store electrical energy and it is potentially dangerous to work inside a monitor.  If you do, make sure to take proper safety measures to avoid injury.

What kind of impression is your email address making?

[Nerd Scale: 0 out of 5 pocket protectors]

In business, it's important to make a good first impression.    And then it's important to make a

good second, third, and forth impression.   That first impression, though, is pivotal.  It's difficult to forget a good first impression and nearly impossible to forget a bad one.

People judge us quickly and for reasons that have nothing to do with what we offer as a business.  This is why we wake up in the morning, brush our teeth, comb our hair and put on a snazzy outfit.   It is important to impress.

When you walk into that business meeting or networking event, flash your million dollar smile, give a firm handshake and present your business card, are you making a great first impression?

 

I network with a lot of small business owners.  I pass out and accept a lot of business cards.  I am surprised at how many business owners do not use their Domain Name in their email addresses.  For example, this morning I was at a networking event where I met an independent Financial Planner I’ll call Bob. When Bob gave me his card, I took a look at his email address and sure enough it was listed as bob@aol.com.

Bob just made a bad first impression. And although he was dressed to the nines, had a great smile and an even better elevator pitch, I couldn't stop thinking, "Why doesn't Bob have a business email address?".  

Using a free email account is the fashion equivalent of wearing flip-flops with a business suit and gives the impression your business is not a real business. You never want to give the impression your business is a fly-by-night organization or even worse that you don't have a good IT Guy.

Migrating from a free email account to a corporate style account is a fairly easy process, and is surprisingly affordable. For the cost of double decaffeinated, two percent Americano, you can purchase a monthly subscription to Microsoft's Hosted Exchange or Google's Business Apps. That's about $4 per month per mailbox. With that, you get cool features such as Shared Calendars and a mailbox that will sync properly with all your devices.

As it turns out, Bob has hired Binkley IT Consulting to migrate his free account to a Hosted Microsoft Exchange account.  By this time tomorrow, he can purchase new business cards that display his email address as bob@fbnfinancials.com.

 

That's one less worry Bob will have as he tries to make a good impression.

Now if I could only get him to get that piece of lettuce out of his teeth...I'm sure there's an app for that.
 

Internet Explorer 10's Password Reveal

[Nerd Scale: 1.5 out of 5 pocket protectors]

Okay, I have been getting a lot of questions lately from clients wondering what the heck is this little eye icon in their password fields.   Well, in Internet Explorer 10, Microsoft has included this icon to help reveal what a user has typed into a password field.  

Here is what the icon looks like:

 

If you click on the icon and hold your mouse button down, the password you typed in will be revealed:

 

 

 

The password reveal appears to only be enabled right after you have typed in a password.   If you navigate away from password textbox and come back, you will not get the opportunity to reveal the password. 

 

This is what I would consider a minor security risk for company computers.  If you want to enable a group policy to disable this feature, you can do so by following these steps:

 

 

Navigate to this location in Group Policies: Local Computer Policy | Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | Windows Components | Internet Explorer | Security Features

 

Find the policy that reads "Do not Display the Reveal Password Button" and enable the policy.

 

 

If you do not want to use group policy, you can make a registry entry by following these instructions:

 

 

- Open Notepad.exe

-  Add this to the notepad file:

 

 Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00       [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Internet Explorer\Main] "DisablePasswordReveal"=dword:00000001

 

- Save the notepad file as DisablePW.reg

- Double click the DisablePw.reg file

 

Remember, changing the registry or modifying a group policy setting can have undesired effects if you make a mistake.  Make sure you call Binkley IT Consulting to help you make these changes if you are not sure how to do make them safely.

 

 

 

 



 



 

 

 

10 Tips for Business Texting Etiquette

 [Nerd Scale: 0 out of 5 pocket protectors]

Over the last few months, the number of clients that choose to communicate with me via TEXT has sharply increased. 

This has caused me to pay attention to my client's behavior while onsite and what I have come to learn is that businesses are using text more than ever to communicate with employees, vendors and other businesses.

Now I will admit that if asked my opinion, I would let you know that I think TEXTING is the last method of communication that I would use in business...well maybe Smoke Signals would be the last, but TEXTING would be really close.   TEXTING is just not as reliable as e-mail and if personal texting attitude is adopted for workplace texting it could be really bad for business. 

If you are going to text in business, take a look at these etiquette tips:

(1) Don't TEXT if you can send an e-mail. Most texting platforms do not have methods to notify you if your message does not make it to the sender.  Before moving to my new phone system, my old business phone system did not have a way of forwarding a text message to my cell phone or email account. ( I am now using a system that allows me to do both )  It was very common to get an angry call from a client asking why I hadn't returned their text from the prior week.  I never received their message and they never received a notification that the message failed to arrive.  E-mail, however, will send you a non-delivery report if your message fails to get to the intended recipient. ( or at least it should if everything is working properly ) If your message is important or urgent, send it out on a technology that will ensure that you are notified if transmission fails.  

(2) Don't TEXT if a phone call will suffice.  As well as texting, most cell phones can make phone calls.   Sometimes it is more appropriate to make a phone call.  If you are conveying bad news or have something really important to share, maybe a phone call would be a better way to share that information.

(3) ALWAYS sign your name to your business texts.  Never assume that the person you are sending a text to knows who you are.   I have been getting a lot of texts lately from users that read "Help...my computer is broken."   Never leave your recipient guessing from whom the text has come.   Simply add your full name and if you want to be really helpful add your company's name as well.

(4) Proof read your text before sending.  Misspellings, bad grammar or omitted words can not only change the meaning of your communication, but can also reflect poorly on you and your business.  Take a moment before you hit send to read over your text and make sure the message your are conveying is the one you intend.  Also, turn off auto-correct or predictive typing to reduce embarrassing or offensive typos.

(5) Use proper punctuation and don't use acronyms.  Remember, this is a professional communication, so make sure you are treating the recipient with the proper respect.   Spell out all words and use punctuation to make your message easy to read and understand.   Using shorthand and acronyms may make the recipient feel as if you are too busy to properly communicate with them.

(6) Avoid CAPS LOCK.  No one likes to be yelled at.

(7) Don't text when your are angry, tired or distracted.  It is sometimes hard enough to convey the message you are intending when you are feeling 100%.   But if you are in a bad mood or tired or distracted, you should wait to send your message until you are mentally prepared to send the message in a way that ensures the recipient will not misunderstand your intentions.

(8) Don't text after business hours.  Unless there is an emergency, respect your recipient's personal time.  You probably don't want to be bombarded with business texts while spending time with your family or friends, and neither does anyone else.

(9) Manage your technology addiction.  Make sure to turn off your notifications or silence your phone when you are engaged with friends, family members, or business associates.  Otherwise, if you keep texting when you should be listening, you may find yourself short of friends and business associates.

(10) Avoid embarrassing or awkward texts.  Remember that texts and emails are forever.  Many companies archive email and text communications as a legal protection.   Make sure you aren't saying something that could cost you your job or good reputation.   Also remember that you have no control over your communication once it has been sent.   Your recipient can take a screenshot of your text and repost it on sites such as Facebook or LinkedIn.   Protect yourself by avoiding putting in writing what should stay in your head.