Microsoft Office 2010 Web Apps released. Microsoft’s response to Google Apps allows you to use Word, Excel and PowerPoint online for free. With Office 2010 you can save files online (Skydrive, using windows live) or locally and work with Office or Office Web. It uses the familiar toolbar, so working online is very similar.
http://office.live.com
http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_live/b/windowslive/archive/2010/06/07/office-is-now-live-on-skydrive.aspx
IPhone 4 coming June 24th. Better display, better camera, more flexible email support. Data service while talking. Existing IPhone 3GS/3G users can upgrade the software.
www.apple.com/iphone
ATT to end unlimited data plans. This could affect those with IPhones.
http://blogs.computerworld.com/16240/no_more_unlimited_data_with_at_t
Verizon likely to also end unlimited data plans.
www.channelinsider.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Verizon-Likely-to-Follow-ATTs-Move-to-End-Unlimited-Data-Pricing-544452
Verizon IPhone still rumor.
www.pcworld.com/article/192948/apples_iphone_on_verizon_4_reasons_to_think_twice.html
Clearwire to offer 4G (WiMax) service in Visalia starting in July, marketed as “Clear” wireless.
www.businesswire.com/portal/site/home/permalink/?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20100505005645&newsLang=en
http://gigaom.com/2010/05/05/more-4g-in-more-places-says-clearwire/
Sprint will offer phones and equipment that can roam using “Clear” wireless service.
http://now.sprint.com/nownetwork/4G
Coming
IPad alternatives.
http://content.techrepublic.com.com/2346-12847_11-429698-1.html?tag=content;leftCol
Accountants who have the MPAN subscription of the Microsoft Action Pack will be allowed to renew indefinitely, as long as the subscription is kept current.
http://msmvps.com/blogs/bradley/archive/2010/06/01/the-final-word-on-the-mpan-action-pack-rights.aspx
David Allen, author of
Getting Things Done, has added a lot of free content to his website, including some podcasts on time and task management:
www.davidco.com/podcast.php
Also check out
www.43folders.com/howto for productivity tips.
UTube video of his presentation at Google:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo7vUdKTlhk
Google TV coming to Best Buy
www.eweek.com/c/a/Web-Services-Web-20-and-SOA/Google-TV-Holds-Promise-But-Must-Lay-Web-TV-Ghosts-to-Rest-866956/
Microsoft Competencies for Education. A good list of
general work and learning skills, and how to evaluate them. This is a good tool for building staff skills criteria.
www.microsoft.com/education/competencies/allcompetencies.mspx
Nitro
PDF Reader is free, allows annotation.
www.nitroreader.com
www.Egnyte.com - another
file sharing tool. This integrates with a local server based share, so updates don’t slow down your desktop. Consider this for a group solution to sharing large files online. We also like DropBox:
www.dropbox.com
MediaMonkey is an alternative to ITunes and Windows media player for
managing music on your PC. It supports more formats and sync’s with more devices. It converts to and from nearly all audio formats, and burns CD’s. I like the folder based filing system with multiple indexing views- by artist, type etc.
www.mediamonkey.com
Other popular players are
www.winamp.com http://getsongbird.com and
www.foobar2000.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_audio_player_software
VLC is an audio and video player which supports nearly any format, including most streaming media:
www.videolan.org/vlc
www.imgburn.com Image files are an exact copy of a CD or DVD that can be used to easily
create a disk from an image file. This tool supports CD/DVD/HD DVD/Blue-Ray. It creates image files, and creates disks from an image file.
7-Zip is currently the best free choice for
Zip file management. It creates and reads password protected encrypted .Zip files, which the built-in windows zip functions cannot do.
www.7-zip.org/download.html
GadWin
Printscreen allows you to save an image of what is on your computer screen in multiple formats. Free:
www.gadwin.com/download
Phrase Express is a tool to
organize and use blocks of text. A super copy/paste with memory.
www.phraseexpress.com
EditPad Lite
replaces notepad as a basic text editor. If you use Notepad, use this instead:
www.editpadpro.com/editpadlite.html
Also consider Notepad++ if you write occasional program code:
http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/uk/site.htm
SECURITY
Google Chrome update addresses bugs. Update to version 5.0.375.55
http://googlechromereleases.blogspot.com/2010/05/stable-channel-update.html
Java current version is Version 6 update 20. Be sure to update if prompted.
Windows updates were released June 8
th. 10 patches will be released, 3 are critical.
If
.NET update 10-041 is offered, do not install – they may still have problems. Tips on fixing failed .NET updates:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/astebner/archive/2005/04/08/406671.aspx
Updates summary:
http://blogs.technet.com/b/msrc/archive/2010/06/08/june-2010-security-bulletin-release.aspx
If you have difficulty applying the
Excel update 10-038 in Vista or Windows 7, try disabling UAC temporarily.
Windows 2000 will receive no security updates after next month. Extended maintenance ends.
There is an
un-patched flaw in Adobe Acrobat/Acrobat Reader/Flash which could give control of your computer by opening a malicious document. Malicious software is exploiting this flaw now. The workaround is to disable Java within Acrobat. Be very careful what you open, or use an alternate tool such as Foxit PDF reader. A patch is scheduled to be released within a few days, so check the link below, and update if prompted.
www.adobe.com/support/security/advisories/apsa10-01.html www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/0-day-attack-wild-adobe-flash-reader-and-acrobat
www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/reader
Consider adding a section on social media to your computer use policy. Clearly define what activity is business related and what is personal. Examples:
http://socialmediagovernance.com/policies.php