Thom on POP Mail

I think of POP like an old screwdriver - it served its purpose for a time - and for a while, it was the best screwdriver in the toolbox, but these days, it's just lost its edge and ends up causing people grief as much as anything else. RIP POP. 

Today Only - Kodak EasyShare 12MP Digital Camera for $39.99 + $5 shipping

I've had a few ppl ask me about cameras recently so I thought I'd pass this along.

Anyone needing a decent inexpensive camera, http://woot.com/ has a refurbished Kodak EasyShare 12MP Digital Camera for $39.99 + $5 shipping - comes w/ a 90 day warranty.

For those of you not familiar w/ Woot.com, they have 1 deal for 1 day. By 11:59pm CDT tonight, or sooner if they sell out, this product will not be available.

Pretty good deal if you are in the market for a really inexpensive digital camera that takes great color photos in a small point & click form factor and don't mind buying refurbished product (at $39.99, not much risk, especially w/ 90 day warranty.)

3 Types of Crap You Can Keep Off Your Computer

So, we are purchasing you a new laptop, and you want to make sure that all the "crap from the old one" doesn't get migrated to the new one, and you are looking for some suggestions.

Before you can keep crap off your PC, you have to have a clear idea of what is and isn't crap - and the PC needs to know what is and isn't crap so that it can protect you programmatically.

So - how does one define what is and isn't crap and do it in a way that the PC understands? It depends. I'll define 3 types of crap that we have the most problems with and I'll touch on some ways to keep it off your new PC.

1. There is junk or crap data - in other words data files that are no longer useful to you. Documents, PDFs, Spreadsheets, photos, videos, audio files - all these things will require you to make a decision on what is and isn't crap and to take action on the crap.
   
   For example, you could sift through all your files and put all the crap into a crap folder for composting. The better you are at keeping your files organized, the easier this will be.
   
   
2. There is malicious & trifling crap - such as spyware, malware, adware, et cetera. Most of this crap has to be "installed" or "executed." Such crap can actually sit as an executable file on your PC completely inert w/out doing any damage until it is executed (program ran). The good news here is that we will not be installing (or executing) any of that crap on your new PC. Even if we copy such a file to your new PC, it won't be executed.
   
   The other piece of good news is that there are programs & people out there that are cataloging tons of this kind of malicious crap and they've built software that will block & delete this kind of crap for you automatically. We use Microsoft Security Essentials for this and it does a decent job if your PC is type 2 crap-free to begin with.
   
   
3. The 3rd type of crap is the software that you seem very fond of - stuff like Outlook, Quickbooks, Internet Explorer, iTunes on Windows...
   
   In my professional opinion, the only solution here is to quit cold turkey and soldier through the withdraw pains. Some crap feels good but really just brings you (and others that you work with) pain in the long run.

Internet Explorer market share slipping amongst corporate users due to security issues, stagnant development, sluggish speed and resource bloat

Not only are business users abandoning IE, but the real browser battles (not being played out in the mobile space) are between Firefox & Chrome. Many assume that IE has become the Netscape of the 21st century - once a giant of web technology, now dying under its own bloat.

From Network World May 2010:

On the browser side, Microsoft's Internet Explorer corporate market share of 72.5% is considerably higher than the approximately 60% share Internet Explorer holds in the overall browser market, which includes both business and home users.

But IE usage is declining in the business world as well, with users abandoning [IE] for Firefox and Chrome, Forrester said. Total business market share for IE declined from 77.2% in April 2009 to 72.5% in March 2010, with IE6 going from 41% to 21.1%. IE7 has hit 34% market share and IE8 is up to 17.3% share, but those gains have not been enough to prevent the rise of Firefox and Chrome.

Firefox share has risen from 17% to 20% in the past year, while Chrome went from 2.29% to 6.88%. Apple's Safari has suffered, with market share declining from 1.24% to 0.44%. The "other" browsers category dropped from 2.1% to 0.28%, making it clear that the race for corporate browser users is coming down to Microsoft, Mozilla and Google.

Firefox has become a mainstay in the enterprise because of add-ons that "simplify and automate everyday life," according to Forrester, while Google Chrome is being adopted by the most tech savvy workers.

"Further adding to its Web-centric portfolio, Google's Chrome has experienced a slow but steady growth in the corporate browser market, thanks largely in part to tech-savvy, empowered workers clamoring for more control over the applications they run on their work computers," Forrester said.

Then there is this from 5 Reasons Why Google Chrome Will Crush IE In Browser War by Jeff Bertolucci, PC World:

It's very fast: Google's browser is a speed demon. PC World's performance tests have shown that Chrome has the fastest page-loading times versus leading competitors Internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, and Opera Software's Opera. Anecdotally, I've noticed that the speedy Chrome runs circles around slow, lumbering IE.

And

Better security: IE's security mishapsare well chronicled. To be fair, Microsoft has worked diligently to make its browser more secure, butnagging problems persist. By comparison, Chrome is a paradise of protection due in part to two factors: architecture and obscurity. Chrome's use of "sandboxing," isolating Internet commands from the operating system and other apps and data, makes it harder for hackers to load malware onto PCs.

Another reason that Jeff mentions in his PC World article on May 04, 2010, nails, for me, the single biggest reason Chrome will crush IE. Simply - Chrome leaves a lighter foot print on older PCs.

Firefox & IE both became too sluggish on my 5+ year old HP workstation. Chrome helped me eeik out a whole year of functionality from my nearly ancient tower. As the IT Director, I could have purchased a new PC for myself but I chose to practice what I preach.

My sermon? Throwing money at the newest hardware or the latest vendor product isn't always the answer. This message has been tested and is a personal pillar of my professional philosophy cultivated over 13 yrs in the industry. New hardware is not the fix-all magic weapon for tech support operations.

Obviously, hardware outlives its usefulness and at a certain point, the time & effort to keep old hardware running isn't worth it , but too often, I've seen support staff give up on hardware only 2 or 3 yrs old. I've seen new life breathed into products via firmware upgrades, a change of OS or OS refreshes among other things. In my case, while I should have replaced my PC a year or two ago, changing the way I use a web browser by using Chrome radically improved not only my PC's performance, but my productivity as well. Now when staff come to me complaining about year old hardware, I have a conversation starter.

When companies smartly select innovative software and make the effort to change old habits with new technology, not only do they find cost effective solutions, they keep employee performance sharp. As an added benefit, employers that smartly select innovation effectively lead their employees to stay mentally exercised, prepped to learn, adapt and excel as technology drives us all forward.

I am not surprised that corporate users are ditching IE for better browsers. Given the gains in worker productivity brought by Google Chrome to companies, I would be surprised if Microsoft could hold on to even 50% market share in 2011.

Exciting Google Apps news - Want more details

As a corporate admin for a Google Apps install w/ about 200-250 users, I am looking forward to these upcoming changes.

in reference to: http://www.google.com/support/a/bin/answer.py?answer=181171 (view on Google Sidewiki)