Tek Report July 2013

Have
you taken your vacation yet? I have been
using a neat travel application from
tripit.com. This application will
consolidate all of your air, hotel, shuttle
and car rental reservations into one
itinerary that you can share with others,
including your spouse. It is great when
traveling by air as it updates your flight
and gate status during your trip so finding
those departure boards in the terminal is
not as critical.

Speaking of travel, I have one of my people
attending the Microsoft World Wide Partner
conference this week in Houston TX.
Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was promoting, to
the 15,000 attendees, the new Windows 8 now
shipping, and the upcoming 8.1 due out this
fall. I have made the switch from Windows 7
to Windows 8 on my office computer and it
definitely takes some time to get used to.
For those of you who are upgrading from
Windows XP and are looking at Windows 7 or
Windows 8, please do not make the decision
without talking to us. We have firsthand
experience with both of these products and
can help you make the right decision for
your business.

Enjoy the sun!

Scott – President, Tekmanagement Inc.

Your comments are always welcome via email
at
scott@tekmanagement.com

Small businesses are the economic backbone of this country. Yet, in the aftermath of manmade or natural disasters, an astounding 40% of small businesses never reopen. It doesn’t have to be this way; with preparation, organization and practice, owners and employees of small businesses can secure their future, despite what may come their way. In this 50th year of National Small Business Week, it’s the right time to put your plan together and into practice. The tips and advice here and at the websites I link to are also terrific resources and ideas for your home life, to make sure your family is safe and your important personal information secured.

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Like most people at my company, I use Outlook Calendar to remind myself and everyone else (who cares to know) when I am and am not available. Outlook Calendar is an invaluable tool if you’re in the habit of checking if someone is available first before you call them or send them a meeting invite.

What are the basics of Outlook Calendar? What do you need to know to show if you’re free during that task reminder or busy during that two-hour webinar? Can you add your own reminders for personal events? If I can do it – so can you!

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Before we launched Windows 7, we envisioned what the next version of Windows would need to deliver. We made a bet that the PC landscape and industry would undergo a significant transformation driven by an increase in mobility. That bet underscores the changes we made with Windows 8 – it’s a generational leap forward. We built Windows 8 for a world where touch is a first class interaction model, the same as mouse and keyboard; and where there’s a proliferation of innovative and diverse devices that are highly mobile, always on the go and always connected. Windows 8 was built on the reality that the lines between our work and personal lives have blurred.

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Password Protection

While many organizations have these policies and procedures in place to protect themselves against hackers, the importance of using a strong password can easily be overlooked by executives and employees alike. To ensure compliance across the board, here are a few requirements you may want to consider adding to your network account settings.

• Password Complexity – Set rules that ensure passwords are complex (i.e. contain one upper case letter, one number and must be a minimum of eight characters).
  

• Lockout Policy – The ability to disable a user account if an incorrect password is entered a specified number of times (many organizations follow the ‘3 strikes and you’re out ‘ rule).
  

• Password Age – Set guidelines that require employees to change their passwords regularly (every 60 to 90 days is good rule).
  

• Reuse Limits – The ability to detect a certain number of old passwords preventing a user from reusing the same passwords over and over again.
  

Remember: You’re only as secure as your weakest password.

Is freedom anything else than the right to live
as we wish? Nothing else.

Epictetus