Secure Cloud Services in the Office

It depends on you if the cloud services that you use are safe. If you use software-as-a-service providers such as Salesforce.com, Office 365 or Dropbox to store your documents in the cloud, those companies take a certain amount of responsibility for the security of the data they maintain on your behalf. They are not responsible for how you choose who can access the data. You need to choose a cloud service that provides data protection both in transit and when data is at rest—including during backups. Make sure to ask your provider if they have had any past or recent breaches, and if they have, what they did to avoid a repeat. Lastly, know that your biggest threat may be from a malicious or disgruntled employee who is hellbent on stealing confidential or sensitive data and using the information against you. Your own in-house security and user account login and password management need to be tight and you need to know exactly who has access to what.

Getting the Most Out of Your Workday

The first thing to do when you want to make the most out of your time is to prioritize. Make a list of the things that need to be done either that day or that week in order of what is most important. Even though you might want to do the small easier things in the morning when you get to work, it is better if you just tackle those biggest and hardest projects because they are more important and more pressing. The video conference can wait until that certain time that you have allotted for it. This will require some planning ahead. While you are planning ahead, make sure that you leave some empty spaces in your calendar. It might be great to try to plan every minute of every day but things, such as a really slow day or a sick kid, come up and you need to have the ability to be flexible.

Soundtrack for Your Life

We could be closer to that. There is this nifty new mobile applications that takes your playlist to a whole new level. It will choose the music with a tempo that will match your exercise. The app called Spring will first want to know about your tastes of music based on the genre and it will pick songs from the library of 10,000 songs. Then it will ask you the number of steps you take per minutes. If you do not know, it will do an analysis. But the way apps are integrating with Apple’s movement-tracking guts, it’s only a matter of time before other music-streaming services will come out with real-time tempo-changing music in a bigger, better, and, perhaps, more motivational way. It might also keep track of your heartrate to better match your tempo. What do you think of these apps?

Slow Internet

What will you do if the internet slowed down? Do you remember the days when you had to wait to get online and it made that funny dialing noise? So far, net neutrality is going to equal very slow internet. If the Federal Communications Commission adopts its proposed rules, Internet service providers like Comcast or Verizon will be allowed to provide "fast lanes" to websites and services that pay, and slow lanes to the rest. This means that it will be harder for Americans to access those sites that can't afford to pay fees -- including those of new businesses, nonprofits, educators, artists, activists, and faith groups. The result? Startup innovation, free expression, and democratic discourse in America will suffer. One of the scariest things is that communication services will experience major slow downs. One of the greatest things about the internet is that there is open communication between businesses, customers, and many other people. It could be the end of that. Any thoughts?

Myths About Tech

One of the most common myths about tech is that you cannot take good photos unless you have lots of megapixels. There are other things that affect the quality of the picture such as the lens, circuitry, and sensor. Not to mention how good you are with the camera controls, lighting, and composition. Another myth that I find interesting is the notion that magnets will be able to erase your data. First of all, you need a really really strong magnet such as one that is used on NMR instruments and you will find those mostly in labs. Most data storage is fairly safe though. Besides many more people are using cloud services so we only have to be leery of magnet for other reasons. Have you ever heard someone saying that you should never put metal in the microwave? Well it has more to do with the shape of the metal object because sharper objects can collect the charge and result in sparking whereas a spoon will not cause any problems. Either way do your research because ignorance is a horrible thing.

Mobile Carriers

This time of the year is always ripe with deals from mobile carriers. This is Apple season, people. Mobile carriers are tripping over each other for your business because now is the perfect time to get a new phone and renew contracts. The question is, are you going stay with you current provider or take the jump and switch? The deal from Sprint is that they are offering up to $300 for a traded phone and a unique plan for iPhone customers. T-Mobile is matching an rival's trade-in plan and throwing in $50 on top of it. Verizon offers a $200 credit for a trade-in phone if the customer buys the new iPhone. AT&T is giving out at least $300 for a traded-in iPhone 5S and at least $200 for an iPhone 4, 4S, 5 and 5C. It's also shaving $100 off your bill if you buy a new iPhone and sign up for AT&T's "Next" program. Next lets you get the new iPhone for no money down and pay $32.50 each month over the course of a year (on top of your plan's price). Even though the software development and mobile applications are not new with this phone, it will test which deals customers like the best.

Keeping Healthy While at Your Desk

If you work in an office where you sit all day at a computer or on the internet phone service, you might want to pay attention. It can actually be hazardous for your health to sit for such long periods of time because you can development cardiovascular issues. One of the best things that you can do is stretch in your seat at least every hour. Set an alarm to remind you. It is a great way to release any built up stress and tension and get you right back on track. Another thing that is important to do is to just stand up. It will change your body posture and help alleviate some kinks or pains. You can also squeeze a stress ball, it is what it is made for. Typing all day can wreck havoc on your hands and fingers. Your feet will also thank you for taking your shoes off and rolling a ball under them. It will stretch out the soft tissues of your feet. Your body will thank you later for the good you give it now.