In this
issue of Horse Sense:
-
Santa
Replaces Reindeer with Dog!
-
Get Your
Holiday Spirit Here
-
Keep
More of Your Money in Your Business
-
Shop
Local, Save Money
-
The
Internet is a Dangerous Place
-
Fix this
Critical Internet Explorer Flaw (and
others) Now!
-
The Best
Technologies You Still Aren't Using
(2)
-- Ergonomically Correct Devices
-- Pay Per Click Printing
Get Your Holiday Spirit Here
If you aren't on our
Horse Sense newsletter list, send a
message to horsesense-request@ih-online.com
(no subject or body is needed) and you
will be sent subscription instructions.
Subscribers get our informative
newsletters and our wildly popular
holiday dog cards.
We archive our old
newsletters. We write them so most of
the information will apply for years.
For example, see our article on the best
metric for determining whether something
is a good value or not, "Return on
Grief." You can see these articles by
going to
http://www.ih-online.com and
clicking on Newsletters/Sign Up. If you
want to see more dog pictures, click on
the graphic at the bottom of the page
that says "The Dogs of Iron Horse."
Keep More of Your Money in Your Business
Small to medium sized
businesses on a calendar tax year
thinking about delaying a purchase until
2009 could actually lose money by
waiting. First, there are some dynamite
sales going on as many firms try to
reach their yearly numbers. Even more
important, the Economic Stimulus Act of
2008 expires 12/31/08. Small to medium
sized businesses can take advantage of
significant incentives like an increase
in the amount a business can expense and
special depreciation allowances. So,
not only could you save on the purchase,
you can save money on your taxes as
well. It isn't what you make, it is
what you keep! These stimuli expire
12/31/08 and you may not get the same
chance next year!
Shop Local, Save Money
While there is a lot
of wailing about how bad the stock
market and large companies are doing,
most a large part of our economy is made
up of smaller businesses closer to
home. Some of them are banding together
to show that they want your business.
For example, Iron Horse belongs to the
Greater Springfield Chamber of
Commerce. They are offering a Shop
Local promotion:
Contact your local
chamber of commerce. They will
recommend local merchants and the deals
they are offering. [Iron Horse isn't
listed in the promotion because we
primarily serve businesspeople, not
holiday shoppers.]
The Internet is a Dangerous Place
In Horse Sense 74, I
referred to a severe security problem
involving DNS
http://www.ih-online.com/hs74.html.
This vulnerability was truly terrifying
in its scope and still remains an issue
since not all of the systems have been
fixed and the fix isn't all that good on
some systems. A friend pointed me to an
excellent article about this security
problem that reads like a spy novel but
is completely true. You don't have to
be all that technical to understand it.
[I was one of the
people involved in testing a solution on
the IPAD. The IPAD software provides
firewall, e mail, antispam, list, DHCP,
DNS, and other services securely to
business networks. The Iron Horse IPAD
is responsible for mailing this to you.]
Fix this Critical Internet Explorer Flaw
(and others) Now!
Microsoft publishes
patches to its Windows and Office family
software every second Tuesday of the
month, unless there is a critical
security issue that must be addressed.
December 17, such a security patch was
published. Hopefully, your business
network is monitored by someone who is
taking care of this for you. [If not,
call us.] But, you want to make sure
your home or laptop machine is protected
as well, especially if you use it to
work from home. If your system is set
up to receive automatic updates, you
will get the update. If not, set it so
that it does. In addition, you should
visit
http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com
using Internet Explorer every couple of
months. It may want you to update to
the latest version of their software
which verifies that all your software is
legal, but also allows you to check your
system for more relevant updates. Once
you have done that, select the custom
scanning option. When it finishes
scanning your system, you will be made
aware of not only critical updates to
your system, but also of product and
system enhancements and new drivers for
many of your peripherals. I've gotten
upgrades for my video drivers,
networking adapters, disk subsystems,
and printer drivers within the last year
from this site. It is a quick and easy
way to improve the reliability,
functionality, and performance of your
system. Not all updates are on this
site, so you may still want to check
manufacturer sites for recommended
updates, but this is EASY and will
improve the security, reliability,
performance, and functionality of your
system.
The Best Technologies You Still Aren't
Using (2)
Ergonomically Correct Devices
Working with
computers can quite literally be a pain
in the.... But, it may be possible to
eliminate this pain from your life. Now
you can feel better about your work and
be more productive at the same time.
The way you interact with your computer
determines how effective it can be.
Here are some tips:
-Change your
glasses. Glasses designed for computer
use cut out glare and make your monitor
easier to see. Don't forget to take
breaks and look out the window to rest
your eyes.
-Use a paper stand if
you need to refer to a document and your
screen so you can see both of them
without having to move your head or eyes
much.
-Don't skimp on your
monitor. Larger monitors have been
shown to increase productivity 20%.
Multiple monitors can also increase
productivity in some cases.
Productivity increases are a big deal.
A 5% productivity increase for a $15 per
hour worker works out to $1500 in
additional productivity per year!
-If you do a lot of
photo editing, graphics, computer aided
design, or other tasks that seem natural
for a pencil, pen, or brush, use a
digitizer instead of a mouse.
-Most computer
keyboards sold with systems are designed
to meet a price point, not to feel good
or help you type. Replace that keyboard
with a more ergonomic one that feels
better to you and you won't need to
visit the doctor for carpal tunnel
syndrome.
-If you type slowly,
consider a dictation system that allows
your computer to transcribe what you
say.
-Do you have to lay
your head on your shoulder to hold your
phone? Stop. Get a head set. Improve
your productivity and go home feeling
good at the end of the day.
-If you make a lot of
calls, why not let the computer dial for
you using a modem? It will save your
fingers, take less time, and be more
accurate as well.
-Is your computer too
slow? Any time your computer takes more
than 1/10th of a second to respond,
studies show your productivity
plummets. We can show you how to stay
productive.
For more ideas on how
to stay healthy and wealthy and feel
wise, call Iron Horse.
Pay
Per Click Printing
[While the following
doesn't sound like a "technology" item,
there are a lot of technologies needed
to make it work.] Producing printed
output is expensive for most
businesses. Would you like to decrease
your printing costs and lower your
management overhead? You can do this by
paying only for finished prints. So
called pay per click printing has long
been used in the copier business, but is
now available for Xerox and other
network based printers. Under the pay
per click system, you usually only pay
for each print you make and the paper to
print it on. You don't pay for
maintenance, supplies, service, and
other recurring costs. The pay per
click system is especially valuable to
you if your prints have high coverages,
since you pay the same amount per page
no matter how much toner you use. Pay
per click makes it easier to budget
since you know how much per month you
will be spending on printing. Your
purchasing and administrative costs can
go down because you don't have to buy
agreements and supplies, sometimes on an
emergency basis. If you would like to
know more about your options, contact
Iron Horse at 703-866-6413.