Apple iPad being used more and more for business
My initial reaction to the iPad was that it was cute little toy, but then immediately after its release it became apparent that people wanted to use them for business as well as pleasure. First was the use of Remote Desktop (Terminal Services), which I wrote about and has been finding extreme popularity, then of course was Microsoft Exchange integration to get corporate mail and with that came ways to get connectivity without buying the 3G version of the iPad, using a MiFi from Verizon, and ultimately, hacking the iPad itself and putting a MiFi inside the iPad.
Now that some time has passed since the release of the iPad, we see that many companies and even government organizations have adopted them for real business use. Case in point, the Ontario, CA City Council has begun using the tablet computers and that alone shows how a new technology is changing the way we do business.
I’m seeing more and more interest in these highly portable devices from business users and as more manufacturers develop and release their products, we may see a tablet computing revolution, where the day planners, notebooks, notepads, and even post-it notes go in the trash in favor of this digital ink. And the SaaS (Software as a Service) model will make a lot of providers wealthy.
Businesses who want to get in on this phenomenon should talk to their IT provider to see how easily this technology can be integrated into their networks. Your computer service provider can help you get your pad /tablet computer linked to your corporate Microsoft Exchange mail, setup clients that allow you to remote to your Microsoft Server and much more!
If we can be of any assistance in the Greenville / Upstate area, please call us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
The Android Wars Are Coming
The tablet computer wars are coming… The awesome little Apple iPad will soon have serious competition from some big names in desktop, laptop and notebook computers….
Cisco, Lenovo, Toshiba, HP and LG, to name a few have either made plans to release pad / tablet computers, or have actually got a product to offer. And that is just the tip of the iceberg.
No longer will you have to choose an Apple iPad, you will be able to select tablets based on the Google Android operating system, which will instantly provide you with tons of apps from the Android scene, and when HP gets their WebOS based system out, which was really part of the Palm lineup, that will be yet another platform for the tablet market. We shouldn’t forget about Microsoft (which some of you would love to), as they have an OS that is working on tablets also.
So how will you decide which is the best solution for you? It may come down to dollars and cents for some, while others may select based upon devices they already own. I was sure that most Mac and iPhone users would opt for an iPad out of owner loyalty to the brand, but the Android offering seems to be getting a lot of attention among the current Apple owners, enough so that they are holding out for the Android pads to hit the market!
Only time will tell who will come out on top, but my money is on the consumer in the end, as they are going to get many choices and the competition between brands and platforms will help bring the prices down!
There may be a few of you who want to be early adopters of the Android tablet and purchase an imported product. Buyer beware here – they may not support the new Android OS due out later this year…
Homeland Secure IT offers tablet computers built on the proven Windows platform currently, and as soon as HP releases their WebOS based product, we will offer that as well as any other products which are suited to business use mainly, like the Android Powered Cisco Cius tablet. Please contact us at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for more information
Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010
One of the features of the latest version of Microsoft Office, Professional Plus 2010, is the ability share your information for collaboration / co-authoring without the need for a SharePoint server. Of course SharePoint is the king of collaboration, but for smaller organizations, the Microsoft Office Backstage can offer you a quick way to store and share your documents online.
Everyone in your group can review the files from virtually anywhere. You can even co-author a document and make edits with a colleague to make sure everyone’s ideas are expressed.
The Microsoft Office Word Backstage view offers a quick way to do just that! With SharePoint, you click on the File tab in the upper left hand corner to open Backstage view, then select Save & Send and Save to SharePoint…. Now everyone you have shared the file with has access via the SharePoint library.
But what if you don’t have SharePoint? That’s okay! Click the File tab in the upper left hand corner, then go to “Save & Send” and select “Save to Web”. This uses Microsoft’s FREE service called SkyDrive, and you can access it with your Windows Live account. No Windows Live account? You are given the option to create one!
Having this integrated into the new Microsoft Office Professional Plus 2010 is more handy than one might think at first. The ability to save a document to the SkyDrive, then allow others to have access to is nice, but you also have access to it from ANYWHERE. So you can save a document at work to the the web, access it at home, make changes and then access it again at work the next day in the modified form. No confusion of having multiple copies emailed back and forth.
If you would like to purchase Microsoft Office 2010 for your Home or Business, please contact us. We provide single copies, and Microsoft Open Licensing for those needing more than 5 copies. No order is too big or too small for us. We can even license your pre-installed starter version that came with your new notebook or computer system.
Call us today at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com
Today, at “High Noon” in Falls Park, a group of people, made up of men & women of all ages and from all walks of life, and even children, met up at the first “Flash Mob” that I am aware of in Greenville… To shoot each other with water guns! To the casual observer, immediately before noon, there was very little sign of anything significant taking place, just a group of people, who happened to be wearing Google’s colors of Red, Blue (The best one of course), Yellow and Green, to represent the color they liked best, or maybe the color of the letter they were in during the #GoogleOnMain event….
At “high noon”, cooler lids opened, and a fountain of Mentos activated Coke sprayed high into the air… Suddenly, the group pulled out (water) guns and began firing on each other! Some people had modest little water guns, others had fully automatic hydration systems shooting 25+ft. Then the bombing began! Water ballons were launched and many participants were instantly drenched with the barrage of ballons, again in the colors of Google’s famous logo.
Until the video is released, I can’t say for sure who won, but I have a feeling the Blue beat out of the rest =) (They may feel otherwise, but that’s my story, and I’m sticking to it)
The brainchild of Susan Sebotnick / @BitTyrant and Aaron Von Frank / @AaronVonFrank – they thought it up on Friday, made it happen today by using social media to alert a couple thousand people… Due to the holiday, many were out of town though. Still, the turnout was terrific for Noon on a Monday!!!!
Some photos from James Akers Jr. / @JamesAkersJr are available here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187731&id=507966821#!/photo.php?pid=4889169&id=507966821
Homeland Secure IT is proud to be a Microsoft Small Business Specialist
When selecting a computer network service provider for your organization, a Microsoft Small Business Specialist can be of particular value by utilizing their training and expertise.
Microsoft Small Business Specialists receive training that is designed to help your small business to grow big! Every small business owner has to overcome the challenges of the technology they rely upon, and rather than making the same mistakes others have made before them, an SBS can guide them to avoid these hurdles.
A common mistake made by the start up venture is to attempt to get by with the minimum computer infrastructure, only to rapidly outgrow the capabilities of that system and have to reinvest much sooner than anticipated. Using the services of a computer service & support company that is involved in Microsoft’s Small Business Specialist program can help you avoid this.
Do you have an established small business already and want to grow larger? Make sure your IT professionals are able to grow with you. Quality service techs will know your systems inside and out and help you make that transition as painless as possible by anticipating the obsticalse ahead of you.
Homeland Secure IT is proud to be a Microsoft Small Business Specialist who offers computer, server & network support, service, repair, consultation and sales to Greenville & Upstate based businesses, large or small! Call us today at 864-990-4748 or email info@homelandsecureit.com for a free evaluation of your needs.
IRS Tax Code Section 179 can save your business lots of money!
Time to upgrade your server or servers? Need new computers for your business? How about upgrading all your firewalls to the latest technology? New VoIP phone system? CCTV Cameras? Notebooks for all your field reps?
Congress extended the amount that small businesses may write-off for capital expenditures in 2010 to $250,000, and that means this may be the best year ever to upgrade your infrastructure!
Business Equipment:
Business owners who acquire equipment for their business, such as computers, servers, network & security equipment and other tangible goods, usually prefer to deduct the cot in a a single tax year, rather than a little at a time over a number of years. This deduction is known by its section in the tax code, a Section 179 deduction.
Under Section 179, businesses that spend less than $800,000 a year on qualified equipment, may write-off up to $250,000 in 2010. The rules are designed for small companies so the $250,00 deduction phases out when a business purchases more than $800,000 in one year. (Companies cannot write off more than their taxable income).
Benefits of a Non-Tax / Capital Lease:
The benefit of a Non-Tax/Capital Lease is that it can take advantage of Section 179: expense up to $250,000 if the equipment is put in use in 2010. In addition, you may depreciate any excess on the depreciation schedule for that asset. Examples of Non-Tax/Capital Leases include a $1.00 Buyout Lease, an Equipment Finance Agreement (EFA), and a 10% Purchase Upon Termination (PUT) Lease. Example: Assume you finance business equipment, put it in use in 2010, and take advantage of Section 179. Your tax savings could be significant:
An example of a typical server installation and how this applies might look something like this:
Cost of equipment: $9,500.oo
Section 179 reduction if expenditures are over $800k: —
Dollar for dollar phase out if over $800k: $9,500.oo
Section 179 write-off amount: $9,500.oo
Regular First Year Depreciation Deduction: -
Total First Year Deduction: $9500.oo
Cash Savings on your Equipment Purchase: $3,325.oo
(Assuming a 35% Tax Bracket, Deprecation 5 years)
Lowered Cost of Equipment after Tax Savings: $6, 175.oo
Tax Code Section 179 & Election to Expense Detail:
The election, which is made on Form 4562, is for the tax year the property was placed in service or an amended return filed within the time prescribed by law. The total cost of property that may be expensed for any tax year cannot exceed the total amount of taxable income during the tax year. Section 179 property is property that you acquire by purchase for use in the active conduct of your business. To ensure property qualifies, reference Publication 946.
This expense deduction is provided for taxpayers (other than estates, trusts or certain non-corporate lessors) who elect to treat the cost of qualifying property as an expense rather than a capital expenditure. Under Section 179, equipment purchases, up to the amount approved for a given year, can be expensed (deducted from taxable income) if installed by December 31st. Non-Tax leases qualify for this deduction in their year of inception. Any excess above the expensed amount can be depreciated depending on the equipment type. Not all states follow federal law. Contact your tax advisor for the specific impact to your business or visit www.irs.gov.
Further Detail:
Reminder: to take advantage of the tax incentives, your business equipment must be put in use by year-end. You should contact your tax advisor to learn about the specific impact to your business.
We can help you maximize this as we offer leasing and financing… Please email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864-990-4748 for additional information!
Save money on computer service and repair
Homeland Secure IT is looking forward to celebrating our Nation’s Independence Day in July, and to help you celebrate, we are still honoring our 75.oo an hour bench rate for computer service and repair on PCs you bring into our office!
So, stop worrying bout how much to fix that annoying problem, slow laptop, virus or malware infection, or to install some piece of software or upgrade current software. Heck, at this rate, you could have someone else handle putting all those Microsoft Windows or Microsoft Office updates on your computer for you!
Most viruses can be cleaned up in only one hour of time and Trend Micro anti-virus installed. Be sure to take advantage of our low bench rate through the month of July!
For more information, email info@homelandsecureit.com or call 864-990-4748. Most fixes can be accomplished the same day if brought in before lunch!
Network surveillance camera giveaway
I present to you: July’s freaky fun thing from Homeland Secure IT…
We are going to give away a cool color WiFi IP surveillance camera!
These network security cameras are pretty nifty! They feature wireless 802.11b/g connectivity, or wired CAT-5 to your network, as well as full color via a 1/4″ CMOS sensor, with 640×480 resolution at 30fps (full motion). They support WEP and WPA encryption.
These babies can automatically email you a snapshot at the first sign of activity, so you can get it on your smart phone, or you can log in and watch the video feed live with a web browser or some mobile smart phones… It comes with software to turn a computer into a DVR to record the video.
Oh, did I mention that it features infrared illumination so it can see it total darkness? Yep… pretty cool!
All you have to do is to attach the little mount it comes with to a wall and then attach the camera to that, connect the power supply and your network cable, or you can program it to connect wirelessly to your network.
What’s the catch? There is none… Absolutely no purchase, no obligation to enter our giveaway, other than to get connected to us via our mailing lists or this blog. On this blog you can look to the right, and enter your email address in the “Follow Me” section and then hit subscribe and you can sign up for our email mailing lists HERE.
We combine the subscription lists from the blog and our two mailing lists into one list and draw randomly, which creates a loophole that can work to someone’s benefit – If you are subscribed to all 3 places, you have 3 chances to win…
Legal mumbo-jumbo: This offer is void where prohibited. Winner must pick up prize at our office in Greenville SC, or make arrangements for it to be shipped at his/her expense.
We will select the winner on July 31st 2010 and announce it the following week via a blog post, social media, etc!
In the meantime, if you want to purchase one of these snazzy cameras, we sell them as well as a full line of security and surveillance cameras and DVRs, so shoot us an email at info@homelandsecureit.com or call us at 864-990-4748….
Typical APC UPS Replacement Battery
As computer service technicians in the field, all to often we see an UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) in use at a client location which is simply not going to function when the time comes for it to do the job it was designed for.
Many times the “Replace Battery” indicator has been on for a while, and the alarm has been silenced because it was annoying to the workers in the office.
When should you replace your battery? Most UPS have a battery that is good for at least 2 years. In mission critical installations, such as for servers, data centers, T1 / cable / dsl & network gear, access control, alarm systems and VoIP phone systems, you may wish to replace the batteries every 2 years on a rotating schedule. For less important equipment, such as a single workstation, the “Replace Battery” indicator can be your guide. When you see that LED come on, or should the UPS be alarming, then replace the battery or battery pack at the first convenient moment.
Modern power protection systems like the APC and Eaton line of UPSs perform automatic tests, but you can check your manual for how to initiate a manual test. One way is to simply cut the power to the UPS and see if it has adequate backup time, but the best way is to use the software that will allow you to perform a calibration on the UPS and view a graph of power events. Performing the calibration will give you the best idea of how long the unit can provide power in an outage to the equipment attached.
Be friendly to our planet and replace the batteries instead of the entire unit, unless you have a very old UPS. You can save up to 50% over the cost of a new UPS by renewing the batteries! Also, be sure to dispose of the battery properly, and please do not just dump it in the dumpster. The supplier of the battery or battery pack will generally take your old battery and recycle for you.
Homeland Secure IT provides sales, service and support for UPS and power protection equipment in Greenville & the Upstate. Should you need a new UPS or a battery replaced, please call us at 864-990-4748 or email us at info@homelandsecureit.com for more information.
Homeland Secure IT has more fun giveaways coming! We are going to be giving some silly stuff and some spiffy stuff away to those who are on our mailing lists…
You have to play the game to win… To play, you need only sign up for our mailing lists and/or subscribe to this blog. While everyone in the USA is eligible (except where prohibited by law) our mailing lists are primarily of interest to computer and technology enthusiasts, business owners, entrepreneurs, our clients & future clients of course, friends, family and individuals, mostly in and around the Greenville and Upstate South Carolina area. If you live outside of the local area and cannot pick up the cool stuff you win from our office, then you will be responsible for the shipping and handling costs.
WHAT CAN YOU WIN? Just what are we planning to give away to those who subscribe? In no particular order: A wireless network / IP surveillance camera complete with night vision, Trend Micro Anti-Virus, APC & Eaton UPS, free computer service & support, gift cards to various places around the Upstate and more! (Who knows, maybe a cool Android device, or netbook, etc)
We will announce the giveaways as we start them. The next one will be for July 2010.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS? Because we want to increase awareness of our products and services, but we also want to have fun and to give something back to those who support us!
HOW TO ENTER: On our blog simply enter your email address & click on the subscribe button on the right-hand side where it says “Follow Me” to subscribe to this blog, which will be emailed to you each day there is new content, or you can sign up for either one or all of our mailing lists. There are currently two mailing lists, the “NewsBytes” ML which has minimal traffic, no more than once per week, and the “Secure IT Alerts” mailing list, which has only postings that regard to security, such as vulnerabilities and patches – traffic varies on that list. (There is a form below)
HOW WE SELECT A WINNER: At the time of the drawings, ALL lists are combined together and a name is selected randomly using a random number generator to get a number that corresponds to a name on that list.
LOOPHOLE ALERT: There is one flaw that can be used in your favor… If you are on multiple lists and subscribed to the blog, your name is going to be in the list multiple times, increasing your chances of winning.
Sign up now using this form:
