Windows 8 Upgrade

Now that we are in the holiday season, many people are looking for laptops for themselves, spouses, or kids, but this year, most new laptops will come installed with Windows 8. Microsoft has redesigned its user interface for desktops, laptops, tablets, and hybrid devices (smartphones were excluded from this redesign). You can upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for an introductory price of $40 through January 2013 and many Windows 7 users who have purchased a new system since June 2, 2012 are eligible for the upgrade for only $15.

Clocking in From the Couch

As technology advances, so have the number telecommuting positions available. Many companies are seeing the advantage of allowing employees to work from home to boost productivity while lowering their overhead on offices.

Numbers have increased over the last couple years and now 33% of companies allow some of their employees to work from home on a regular basis. The number of Americans telecommuting at least once every week has risen to 10% and will only increase. It appears that employees with a bachelor’s degree or higher are the largest demographic of telecommuters at 35.6%, with those having some college coming in at 20.1% telecommuters.

Mobile Shopping Trends

We know that the mobile age is here and each day more retail sites can be easily viewed from a mobile browser or app. What are the habits of people who shop using their mobile device? A recent Mashable article gives the following seven surprising mobile trends:

1. Mobile shopping doesn’t equal mobile purchasing.
2. Men are more likely to consult their phone.
3. Mobile devices often trump computers.
4. Mobile phones hardly impact shopping habits.
5. The mobile experience is good.
6. But it still needs some work.
7. Touchscreens are preferred.

Password Security

Online security has always been important, but many view their wireless connections, bank accounts, and health information as the items that need to be secured. While these items are clearly important, what about your career? When you think about securing your online accounts, would you have placed your social networks at the top of your list? Most people would not.

Are social media policies illegal?

An interesting article was recently published by Maximize about social media policies within the workplace. Many of us have been asked to sign these policies and most people don’t pay too much attention to what they are signing. Commonly, these policies contain language regarding what you cannot post to your social networks as it pertains to your place of employment. In other words, your company doesn’t want you to publicly post anything negative about your company or anything that could be negatively associated to your company. Non-compliance with these policies can result in disciplinary action and termination in some cases.

Top tips for Gmail power users

As we discussed in our previous article, keyboard shortcuts are a huge timesaver. We covered some general Windows shortcuts, but these shortcuts are tailored to Gmail. For power users, these can allow for much easier navigation as well as a better efficiency.

SMS or app: How do you message your contacts?

Informa Telecoms and Media is forecasting slower growth or a small decline in SMS (short messaging service) revenues over the next five years, but say that the compound annual growth rate will be 3%. Carriers are expected to generate $722.7 billion in SMS profits during this time. A report in February 2012 by analysis firm Ovum claims that network operators lost $13.9 billion in 2011 to mobile messaging apps.

Windows keyboard shortcuts

Keyboard shortcuts are a great way to save time. Shortcut keys are an easier and generally quicker method of navigating software programs. Shortcut keys are different depending on the operating system you are using. Windows access via the Alt key, Apple the command key, or the CTRL or Shift in conjunction with a single letter. The de facto standard for shortcuts is the modifier key, a plus symbol, and the single character. So "CTRL+V" is telling you to press the CTRL key and the V key simultaneously to perform the shortcut.

Optimizing your website without Google

Google's recent Penguin update has companies looking for different ways to optimize their site without using Google. While they are the most widely-used search engine by far and you should be optimizing your website to assist with your page rank, there are other ways you can optimize your website.

Maintain your system so it's ready to perform when you are

Although your computer may be working fine, that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t need regular maintenance. There are several items to address on different schedules. Regular maintenance can be scheduled on your system to run at night, avoiding any interruption while you are performing your computerized tasks. The first items are temporary files and cookies. These files are stored on your system and can slow it down if they are not removed regularly. Most people are using the Internet, some of us more than others, and the web is the place where you will rack up the largest amounts of these files. They are not harmful to your computer, but they do need to be maintained. Programs that are no longer being used can be uninstalled and others that are not used frequently can be removed from your system startup to optimize your processing speed.

How social networking is shaping society

For years, people have complained, and rightfully so, that the media only shows the public what they want it to know. We now that many times we don’t get an entire story and the information we do get may be inflammatory and used as a means to sell additional copies. In the age of social media, the voice of the public can be broadcast to many at the click of a mouse and we decide what is newsworthy. We are now able to relay information without being silenced as the media sometimes is. This has opened a door that can’t be closed and while freedom of speech is our right, we must remember that we are posting to the world and those words, photos, etc. cannot be taken back. It’s much easier to vent or post something negative on a social network than to say it out loud to someone. Just remember that the person you are posting about may see your comment. My parents told me never to put anything in writing; this is the same concept. We are in the early stages of social media still, but remember that a "filter" should be in place when posting anything to the world.