Directive Blogs

Many websites around the world are still suffering from the nasty little bug called Heartbleed that we covered last month. This prompted over 30,000 TLS/SSL certificates to be revoked and reissued, but many of them were reissued with the same keys. If this was going to happen, why revoke and reissue them in the first place? They're still just as vulnerable as before, since Heartbleed could have leaked those same keys weeks ago.

When it comes to productivity, the latest technology can be a huge boon. A proper word processor can increase your productivity drastically if you know how to use it. However, one of today's most ingenious writers - George R. R. Martin - is still stuck in the Stone Age of word processing technology!

eBay issued an official declaration on Wednesday, May 21, 2014 that one of its databases had been hacked. The worst part? This database, which housed users' passwords, was compromised. But, there is a silver lining to all of this - no information has been stolen.

None that they know of, anyway. The auctioning website is still cautioning users to change their passwords in light of the attack.

In light of all of the recent vulnerabilities found in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and Windows XP operating system, owners of XP are growing nervous about the upcoming "patch Tuesday," Microsoft's monthly patch release day. But, what if what Microsoft isn't patching in the newer operating systems is what needs to be patched the most in XP?

How much paper and ink does your company use every week? Every month? Every year? More importantly, how much does this wind up costing your company in the long run? According to a study by 14 year-old science fair wiz Suvir Mirchandani, it was discovered that his Pittsburgh-area school district could reduce ink consumption by 24 percent and save an average of $21,000 a year by simply switching fonts. That's half of what the average American's annual salary is!

In our previous blog article, we introduced you to Chris Dancy, aka "The Most Connected Human on Earth." We told you Chris' story, how the former IT manager lost his job due to corporate downsizing and then turned to quantitative technology to find relevance in an ever-changing work environment. Today, Chris utilizes hundreds of different technologies and systems as part of his "quantitative life existence." In part two of our interview with Chris, he explains how you too can be a connected human.

If your workplace is filled with computers, you likely experience a number of eye-straining problems related to your technology. According to All About Vision, symptoms of computer eye strain impair 50-to-90 percent of all computer workers. That's a pretty good-sized chunk of your employees, and they probably don't enjoy any of these symptoms, including physical fatigue, decreased productivity, and even increased error rate.

Think your data is safe when you lock your phone? Thanks to a newly discovered vulnerability with iOS 7.1.1 (the latest version), a hacker has the ability to bypass your lock screen and easily access your contact information.

Who's in charge of making the decisions in your business concerning technology? Ideally, you want an internal IT manager or a CIO with IT experience calling the tech shots. However, many businesses don't have this luxury. According to a CompTIA survey from last November, 48 percent of businesses have managers making decisions about technology implementation that don't have IT experience.

Microsoft stated weeks ago that they would no longer support Windows 8.1, unless the operating system was updated to Windows 8.1 Update by May 13th. But one day before the deadline, Microsoft announced they have pushed the deadline back substantially. This update is crucial if you desire to continue receiving patches and updates from the company. Which you should!

Let's face it, no matter how quickly you can type, there is only so much you can accomplish without the use of keyboard shortcuts. Perhaps you never cared to learn them, or maybe you never had the opportunity. Now that you own a small business, your productivity and efficiency is at stake. Thankfully, some of the most useful shortcuts utilize one common key: the Control key.

Most people think of Microsoft Word as a normal word processor, and to an extent, that's exactly what it is. But did you know that Word 2013 has a built-in citation mechanism for your research needs? Say you are writing a white paper for marketing use, and you took specific statistics from a website. You want to make sure you cite these facts. Why? Because if you cite them, it makes your business look professional, and it looks good when you know how to credit someone else's work.

You've just started your own small business, and your head is swimming with ideas that you want to share with the entire world. You create a blog and publish a few articles, but only get a few hits. You sigh, write another entry, and then shut down your computer for the night. This happens for a few days, which turn into weeks, and months, and something doesn't feel right to you. Why aren't you getting any viewers?

In today's connected home, Internet security needs to extend beyond the PC. Any device that's connected to the Internet needs to be password protected, secured with a firewall, and utilize available security apps. These precautions should be taken even with seemingly harmless devices like baby monitors. A family from Ohio recently learned this lesson the hard way.

Microsoft put out the fire from the zero-day bug affecting users of its popular web browser Internet Explorer by releasing a security patch. This IE bug is a bad one that allows hackers to take over a PC. The patch was released on May 1st and if you haven't yet applied it to your PC, then you should do so right away!

Due to the growing popularity of employees using their personal devices in the workplace (BYOD), many companies have created BYOD policies to handle the unique security threats brought about by these devices. Does the new trend of wearable technology mean that you need a separate WYOD policy?

Your mind is racing at a mile a minute, and you keep a to-do list for all of the things you are supposed to do. Unfortunately, that to-do list is often forgotten about. You save it as a .DOC text file on your computer, which has been making a strange clicking noise lately. But one day, the clicking sound gets worse, and worse, and worse, until your computer stops working completely. Just like that, all of your data is gone, and that's when it hits you.

On May 4th you may see more Star Wars T-shirts than normal. This is because May 4th is recognized around the galaxy as Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you). Thanks to the abundant use of technology throughout this science fiction franchise, you can bet your podracer that we can find an IT lesson from Star Wars that can help your business!

Across the galaxy, Star Wars fans will be celebrating their beloved science fiction franchise on May 4th (May the fourth be with you). One of the most fascinating aspects about Star Wars is its space technology. As cool as lightsabers and blasters are, Star Wars tech can break down just like our modern space technology. Concerning technology repair, we think troubleshooting space tech in our day can be just as exciting as repairing space technology "a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

If we told you that a battery's performance decreases as time goes on, how many of you would be surprised? The same goes for anything. Nothing lasts forever, and batteries are no different. However, there are ways you can increase the lifespan of your laptop's battery. Portable technology is important for your business, and a good, strong laptop battery is necessary.