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Google Street View

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Google has been very busy over the past few years.  Covertly, they have sent cars all over the United States imaging everything they can see from the road.  It is really mind blowing.  You can look up your home or business address in Google Maps (maps.google.com) then click the Street View icon to see a street level image of the location.  Visit this URL to see an example of how it works:  http://tinyurl.com/9h9ekr

 

Ryan Williams

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7 Jan, 2009

Special Request

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This week I have a special request for those of you who live in Lowndes County, Georgia.  The Rotary Club of Valdosta is sponsoring the Second Annual Law Enforcement Appreciation Dinner on February 19, 2009.  You are invited to attend and show your support for our local law enforcement.  The dinner raises money to help officers in times of need.  If you stop and think what Valdosta would be like without law enforcement, you will quickly realize just how much you appreciate these men and women.  Dinner tickets are $100 per person and businesses can purchase a table of 10 for $1000.  I have scanned the event brochure, which you can view at this URL:  http://ncare.com/dinner.jpg.   It is a worthy cause and I hope you will make plans to attend.
 
If you would like more information, please call me or reply to this email.

Ryan Williams

 

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12 Dec, 2008

Common Website Mistakes

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Nexxtep does a lot of website development.  As part of the process we often evaluate a company’s existing website before planning the new one.  There are several common mistakes we see repeated over and over.  I have listed a few of these common mistakes below.  Scan the list and see how your website stacks up.
 
MISTAKE:  Displaying email addresses on a web page
WHY IT IS A MISTAKE:  There are programs on the Internet that do nothing but scan web pages to harvest email addresses.  Once found, these email addresses end up being targets for spammers.  A better idea is to use contact forms on the site so visitors can still contact you via email.  If done correctly, this method does not expose your email address.
 
MISTAKE:  Not considering browser compatibility when the website is developed
WHY IT IS A MISTAKE:  Not all web browsers interpret web pages

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12 Dec, 2008

Google's Book Search

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Google’s mission statement is "To organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful."  To that end, they have expanded their online search capabilities to include book and magazine content.  Click this link to see the search results for the term "Vince Lombardi."  If you scan the search results you will see books dating back to the 1960′s and 70′s.  I don’t know about you, but I’m impressed.
 
The standard URL for accessing the book and magazine search is http://books.google.com. 
 
Ryan Williams
 

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12 Dec, 2008

Christmas Party Season

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Has anyone else noticed that the older you get, the faster time seems to fly by?  It seems like Christmas was just a couple months ago.  Well, now that Christmas is here again, so is the office Christmas party.  Phyllis Diller once said that the thing she hates most about Christmas parties is having to look for a new job the next morning.  I concur.  This year I’m considering bringing a karaoke machine.  I’m also confiscating all cameras and video equipment at the door.  A special Christmas party non-disclosure agreement is also in the works.  It’s going to be great time!
 
- Ryan Williams
 

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8 Dec, 2008

I’m So Creative I Have To Wear Shades

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Wait, that title doesn’t even make sense.  O well, here’s the point; my creativity has taken a leap forward since I discovered mind mapping.  For those who do not know, mind mapping is a process whereby you put a topic in the center of a page or computer screen and then draw branches out from that central topic.  You then label the branches with other related topics.  The branching continues from the central topic and then from the sub-topics and then from the sub-topics’ sub-topics and so on.

Mind mapping can increase your creativity because you begin to visually see linkages between topics that never occurred to you before.  This prompts new ideas.

A lot of software applications exist that make mind mapping easy and fun.  I have listed a few that I have personally tried below.  I encourage you to try mind mapping the next time you need to

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8 Dec, 2008

Is Your Password Weak?

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One of our network engineers came to me this week and asked me to write a tech tip on the importance of using complex passwords.  He had recently had a few experiences where clients were reluctant to use suitable passwords.  I had already written on this subject several times, so I was reluctant to write yet another tip.  Then, I came across PasswordMeter.com.  If you think your password is “complex enough,” try testing it on this website.  You might be surprised.  (Just to be on the safe side, I suggest not testing your actual password but rather a very similar password.  You can never be too safe.)
- Ryan Williams

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8 Dec, 2008

Information Retention

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According to the consulting firm Sensei Enterprises, Inc., there are now over 14,000 federal and state laws pertaining to corporate information retention.  In 2004 that number was around 2,000.  The issue affects nearly every aspect of business including operations, administration, technology, legal, etc.  How much thought have you given to your company’s information retention strategy?

Generally, data retention is a trade-off between the costs of recovering data versus the costs of maintaining the data.  Put another way, the less you spend maintaining the data, the more you’ll spend to recover it.  For instance, tape backups are easy to maintain; however, data retrieval from tape is very labor intensive (expensive).  Real-time email archiving on the other hand is automated, and the information can be retrieved very easily; however, there are costs associated with these archiving solutions (although minimal, we happen to offer a few).

The two primary reasons for investing in

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21 Nov, 2008

Need A Way To Relax At Work?

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If you are looking for a way to relax at work, you might want to try iSerenity.com.  iSerenity offers 31 relaxing ambient sounds to keep you mellow.  Here are just a few of the choices: Waterfall Whisper, Roaring Ocean, Wailing Whales, Train Tracks, and Thunder and Lightning.  There is even one called Vibrating Vacuum.  I’m not too sure about that one but to each his own.  Or, her own.
 
- Ryan Williams
 

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21 Nov, 2008

The Holidays Cometh

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Well, the holidays cometh.  I am already looking forward to smoked turkey, dressing and sweet potatoes.  Hmmm.   I’m getting hungry just thinking about it.  But Thanksgiving is about much more than family and food.  Let’s all remember that despite the current economic climate and nearly constant negative news on television; we all have a lot to be thankful for.  We live in the greatest country on earth for starters.  In addition, those of us at Nexxtep are also thankful for you, our clients.  It is because of you that we can provide for our families and we never take that for granted.  So, in case we don’t have a chance to talk between now and next Thursday, Happy Thanksgiving from all of us here at Nexxtep.  
 
– Ryan Williams
 

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21 Nov, 2008
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