 |
|
 |
|||
 |
 |
Technology News You Can UseJune 2007 – Issue XXVIIIn This Newsletter
Letter from the Chair, Zandra Pulis, CPS EnergyGreetings The other day a colleague went for a business lunch at a small downtown eatery. Unfortunately, a power outage had thrown the restaurant staff into a whirlwind of confusion. “I’m sorry, sir, but we are not able to serve lunch because we have no electricity.” My colleague inquired whether they cooked with gas and the waiter replied affirmatively. “Then why can’t we have our lunch here?” The waiter replied that he was unable to input the lunch order on the computer because the computer was down and then would not be able to accept a credit card payment because the credit card machine was down. My colleague assured the waiter that payment would be in cash and that, given that, nothing more than a pen and a piece of paper were necessary to take the order. The waiter looked a little surprised and then realized his over dependence on the very tools meant to help us, not stymie us. David Beck‘s article speaks to that very point. Now that summertime is upon us, let’s not forget to periodically detach ourselves from the technology that is meant to help us, not control us, and take the time to smell the flowers and watch the sunset! Zandra Pulis CPS Energy Don't let Technology Take Over, David Beck, Frost BankAt the airport the other day, I spent some time looking around the terminal at my fellow passengers, most of whom never noticed me at all because they were busy text messaging, logging into their laptops, thumbing through their BlackBerrys or talking loudly on their cell phones. Everyone seemed stressed. And I bet it wasn't all from traveling. I find it interesting that the very technology we've developed to make life easier increasingly robs us of time and, especially, focus. I admit that while traveling, I'm also spending some time checking phone messages, returning calls and occasionally logging into the computer. I usually try to spend most of my airport downtime reading and thinking. In fact, on that particular day, I was reading an article in Time Magazine that provided some fascinating statistics on the amount of lost workplace productivity attributed to interruptions. The study of 1,000 office workers from management on down found interruptions consume an average of 2.1 hours a day, or 28 percent of the workday. More than half of those surveyed said they open e-mail immediately or soon after it arrives, no matter how busy they are. The two hours of lost productivity included not only unimportant interruptions and distractions, according to Time, but also the recovery time needed to get back on task. The study found that based on an average salary of $21 per hour for "knowledge workers" whose jobs involve information, workplace interruptions cost the
In another set of studies on information technology, researchers found employees spent an average of only 11 minutes on a project before they were interrupted, according to the article. Returning to the original task if they did at all, incredibly required 25 minutes. So it seems that time-saving technologies aren't raising productivity as much as they raise blood pressure. But I won't lay all the blame on technology. The real culprit is how we use that technology. And for most of us, myself included, technology has stolen our focus, creating tactical firefighters instead of long-range planners. Henry Ford once said, "It has been my observation that most people get ahead during the time that others waste time." One of the best ways to stop wasting time is to start budgeting it. Start by mastering the technology, instead of allowing it to master you. Work e-mail usage into your schedule. Set time aside on your calendar — once in the morning and once in the afternoon — to check e-mails and to respond. Resist all urges to check e-mails the minute a new one pops onto the screen or you hear that familiar beep that means a new e-mail has landed. In fact, turn off the e-mail alert beep or pop-up icon. Of course you can't turn off important thoughts that randomly enter your mind at odd hours. When that happens, I often dial into our office voice mail and leave messages, for myself and others, to make sure I remember my out-of-office ideas. Which brings me to my next point: know how to use the technology you have correctly. Get training if you need it. If you don't use what you have properly, you're wasting time and money. Some experts suggest handling e-mail before voice mail. The caller might reference content in an e-mail, and you'll be smarter before you start a conversation. But that's not always the case. It is important to understand how different people use various modes of communication. You need to know how the people within your circle of business associates and customers use technology to convey urgency. If an important client or senior executive in your company tends to leave voice mails, you probably should check them more often. Use your desk phone and your cell phone wisely. Don't give your cell phone number out lightly. Reserve it for those who really need to reach you and ask everyone else to call the office number. When you're at a work function, let your cell phone go to voice mail. Focus on the business at hand. Turn off your BlackBerry in meetings, and set it to delete the e-mail off your server, so you aren't duplicating work back at the office. Yes, you can do this, by taking the time to learn about all the functions on your BlackBerry and how to use them. Avoid instant messaging. It's a constant source of distraction. So is technology that doesn't add value or lead to productivity gains. Just because it works under water or glows in the dark doesn't mean the latest time-management device does the right job for you. So think seriously before you make the investment in the latest and greatest gadget tools and learn how to use them wisely. Finally, be where you are. This is my own version of something I once heard a motivational speaker say. His exact words were, "Wherever you are, be there." I find this advice so profound and so difficult to actually accomplish. I think it's especially difficult today when technology has trained us to become such proficient masters of multitasking. As the article in Time noted, to really take control of our productivity, we have to stop kidding ourselves about our capacities to juggle. We have to stop ourselves from obsessively checking every e-mail or responding Pavlov-style to the ringing or vibration of a cell phone. To be efficient and effective, we need time to focus. We need time to think and plan. We need personal connections with real people. We need to prioritize a written set of goals and constantly review them. We need to be in charge and run our days, or they will run us. The normal hours in a day are enough. We just need to work smarter by budgeting more efficient use of the time and the technology at our disposal. Because at the end of the day, the hours we put in don't count. It's what we put in them that does. The Bottom Line: Linux v. Windows, a Cost Comparison, Steve Weingart, HighTek Innovations
The PCs are getting old, equipment is starting to break down and it is time for a full office upgrade. Or maybe this is a new office and you are starting from scratch. We will review the bottom line for outfitting your office with a new set of IT tools. You already know Windows - it is here, it works. You’ve heard about Linux, it is suppose to be mature and reliable, but it is. So what will it be, Linux or Windows? The new version of Windows,
Regardless of which you choose, the networking components, printers, etc. can all be the same, and equipment purchases and hardware costs will be close to or equal to one another. Pretty much any peripheral that you choose will work with either
So, let’s look at the options. The plan is to outfit a ten user office with ten PC’s and one file server. The assumption is that most standard office users need an Office Suite, a web browser and an E-mail program. Other specialized programs, are either available to install on either Linux or Windows, or can be web browser based (which is the path for many new industry specific programs). For the purpose of this article and in the spirit of making an apples-to-apples comparison, the hardware platforms for each system will be identical unless noted. Everything chosen is first quality and comes ready to use, no do-it-yourself. The goal is to examine the difference in the cost of the operating system and software, so the hardware costs will be kept as equal as possible. The prices were all gathered at one time and any package deals or upgrades that were available were used in the pricing. That said, the next step was to browse over to
Both solutions come with several e-mail programs, so the user will have choices.
Now for the server: Again the same platform was chosen for both Windows and Linux. A Dell Power Edge 540 server with a basic configuration and a 250GB hard disk. Again, 1GB of RAM was chosen for the Linux server and 2GB for Windows (Windows really does need more memory). For the Linux Server the version is SUSE Enterprise Linux, and for the Windows server the choice is Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 Standard Edition. The Linux server priced at $638, the Windows server was $1450. However with 10 users, we need to add $150 to the Windows server for 5 additional licenses as the base version only comes with 5. The totals come to $8,278 for the Linux Office and $12,580 for Windows Office. This makes the Windows Office about 52% more expensive, but it doesn’t end there. If you want to output your documents in PDF form, you will need to buy Adobe Acrobat for Windows at $299 per copy. Open Office will save documents in PDF format and Linux will print to PDF directly. Other applications that you need, from graphics to accounting are available for both Linux and Windows, though they are typically Open Source for Linux, and usually free to use. For Windows applications there is usually a charge. However, the Open Source movement has been coming to Windows as well. Open Office is available for Windows at no cost, as well as CutePDF a PDF converter for Windows. While the exact numbers will vary daily with fluctuations in price, sales, etc; it's clear that going with an Open Source solution is less expensive. Take a 'test drive' and you will likely find that a Linux desktop will meet all of your business needs. You have choices, probably more than you realized, and some of them can save you a bundle. Talking to a Branch - Larry Lentz, Microsoft CRM MVP, Lentz Computer ServicesOne of the great features of Microsoft Small Business Server 2003 is its remote connectivity. Included with SBS is a built in VPN (Virtual Private Network) that allows remote users to connect to the server over the Internet. Once connected, the user can operate just as though they were in the office, albeit a bit slower. They can access their files, e-mail, and other stuff on the home network. There is a simple program that can be pushed out from the server to the remote computer that puts an icon on the desktop. Clicking this icon quickly establishes a stable remote VPN connection. Recently I set up a new client, a medical practice, that has a remote clinic. They have several workstations there and another server. Their line of business (LOB) application requires the remote server to communicate with another LOB server at the home office. Naturally the home office is running SBS so I installed the VPN icon on the second server and the connection worked great. The two servers happily exchanged info as required. The workstations also needed to communicate with another LOB application at the main office. So, VPN icons all around and the workstations were happily talking to the main office as well. One interesting feature however about the VPN is that while connected, all network traffic is routed through the VPN to the server at the home office. That means that for the branch office workstations to communicate with their local server, they end up going over the Internet to the home office and back. This actually works better than you might think, but unfortunately not quite well enough for the LOB application because it requires a lot of bandwidth. So, my simple VPN solution wasn’t going to work. I decided to install a VPN using two hardware VPN Firewall routers, one at each end. The two routers are configured to establish and maintain a network connection over the Internet between the two offices. I also had to configure each workstation and the server to know how to connect to the other network. Now each workstation at the branch office can communicate directly with the LOB server at the branch instead of connecting through the main office first. They can also connect to the other LOB application that is located at the main office. They have access to other services like the Exchange e-mail server and antivirus updates from the home server as well. These were also available using the VPN icon created by SBS, but now it’s a bit more transparent to the user.
This has been a 30,000 foot overview. For a more technical article on how this was done, the pitfalls and such that were encountered, and how they were overcome, please check for the upcoming article on www.LentzComputer.net Adobe Captivate 2 by Robert Burdwell,
Captivate 2, developed by Adobe, is the successor of Macromedia Robo Demo. Captivate 2 captures mouse movement for creating interactive tutorials, simulations, branching scenarios, and quizzes. The application is used in both education and business environments for training. Overall the software is incredibly functional; generally the potential of Captivate 2 is limited only by the developer’s imagination. The application has a full operative range and supports enhancements to textboxes, animations, highlight boxes, rollovers, and audio. One caveat is the time it takes to perfect audio transitions from one screen to another. Demonstrations are imported into SWF file, allowing developers to make modifications and enhancements to professional demonstrations. Demonstrations can then be published to websites or viewed as a standalone application. The standalone application provides the ability for demonstrations to be sent and viewed by students, employees, vendors, suppliers, or customers without housing the demonstrations on a web server. The application is fairly easy to use, especially if the developer has previous experience with Rebo Demo. The developer simply opens the application and then begins recording the process by selecting a particular application. Captivate 2 automatically records these actions and inserts generic textboxes and labels as the developer selects links, command buttons, dropdown boxes, etc. The developer has the ability to modify these textboxes or create additional labels if the features are too general. In educational environments, Captivate 2 helps answer ordinary questions asked by students. Common questions from students are how to log into an online course, check grades, contact other students, and submit assignments. These common questions asked throughout a semester can be addressed early by providing demonstrations on specific software, website, or topic. Additionally, the developer can create quizzes for self checks throughout the demonstration. Interactive quizzes include fill in the blank, matching, multiple choice, and true/false questions. In business uses, organizations can develop training, simulations, and scenario branching demonstrations for their employees, customers, suppliers, and vendors. Influential factors with development time include complexity, number of screens, and the availability of audio. Organizations can create simulations, allowing their employees to develop skills through business scenarios. Branching scenarios are available to organize processes by providing a series of scenarios. This feature allows employees to learn and understand appropriate steps for addressing a particular situation, whether or not it goes as planned. Although it should be noted that the branching feature has a learning curve from the developer’s side, Adobe provides tutorials to assist with the feature. The cost for Captivate 2 is $599.00 for business users. If an organization has Robo Demo, then upgrade cost is a reduced $299.00. Educational discounts are provided for academic institutions through Adobe. The institution needs to contact an Adobe Service representative for an educational discount or purchase through its bookstore. Another option for screen capturing demonstrations is Camtasia 4 developed by TechSmith. Camtasia 4 costs less than Captivate 2, weighing in at $319 for a single license. Camtasia 4 is a superior product for producing videos with movements, as opposed to screen capturing. If the objective is to create a video as the end product, then Camtasia 4 is the product of choice. The purchase decision solely depends on the need. Ultimately, the need is dependent on the audience of the demonstrations.
Contact UsTechnology Chair, Zandra Pulis, CPS Energy Newsletter Editor, John Tomblin, DataTitan North Chamber Contact |
|