PR: New MimioStudio 8 is released and ready for download…

Announcing the next generation of MimioStudio™

We would like to officially announce that MimioStudio 8 has been released and can be downloaded  under "Keep your software up to date" and on mimio.dymo.com. We are launching all three platforms, Mac, Windows and Linux, at once!
In this updated MimioStudio release you will find:

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  • New design tools, including: Brush pen, shape recognition, line styles, and free-form screen clipping
  • Create and save custom color palette with new color picker
  • Design opinion and survey-based polls with enhancements to MimioVote
  • Develop and print a self-paced test without connecting to MimioVote

Currently, the English version of MimioStudio 8 is available to download now.  Once all languages for MimioStudio 8 have been loaded, in a few weeks, we will announce to all of our customers about this new software upgrade.

Upgrade here in minutes:

• MimioStudio for Windows
• MimioStudio for Macintosh
• MimioStudio for Linux

If you need a copy of the user guide for the new version 8 software you can download it here for:

• MimioClassroom User Guide Windows
• MimioClassroom User Guide Windows

AViiQ Portable Charging Station

This product really interested me when I saw it right after returning from a recent trip. One of the problems that I was constantly running into was enough power charging for all of the devices I had with me. Granted I travel a bit heavy with all of my toys but this setup would have easily accommodated me with everything that I would have needed. Priced at just $79.99 I think it is a real bargain.

Four Port Hub

3+1 USB charging hub can charge all your devices and get pass data through one.

The AViiQ Portable USB Charging Station can charge four USB devices simultaneously, including an iPad, as well as passing data through one specialized port. Rest assured that even your larger power-consuming products such as the Apple® iPad™, which requires a 10v charger, is supplied through one of our four ports.

Retractable USB Port

Syncing your device is a synch.

Sync to your computer with this retractable USB cable. No more unplugging between the wall and your computer just to charge your device, especially those that require more power than your laptop can provide. After you're done. pull and let it zip back into place and you're ready to go.

Bing ads lead to more malware; new Mac Trojan in the wild | ZDNet

No longer are you only subject to malware from email attacks. For quite a long time now perpetuators of malware have been using many different Social Engineering techniques to infect your computer. The latest method involves redirecting search pages like mentioned in this Ed Bott article though ads on the search page. Be aware of what you are choosing from these web pages and if you are presented with popups wanting to install software to be able to run on your system, be very wary. Read this article to see just how unscrupulous these guys are getting.

Bing ads lead to more malware; new Mac Trojan in the wild | ZDNet

PR: Astaro RED 10 Revision Now Available

New Astaro RED 10 Revision Now Shipping

The successful solution for branch office security, Astaro RED, has undergone an upgrade with major new enhancements. The new revision is now shipping.

We are pleased to announce that the revision 2 of our successful RED 10 appliance is now shipping from our warehouses.

The new revision offers the following major enhancements:

• USB port for connecting 3G/UMTS modems for WAN failover via mobile networks
• Dual firmware support, which keeps the unit alive - even if someone pulls the plug while the unit is downloading and flashing a new firmware
• Additional status LEDs allowing for easier diagnostics

Please note: The new revision is supported by all Astaro Security Gateway (ASG) software releases starting from V7.508. However, the USB port requires at least V8.200 running on your central ASG.

PR: Astaro Security Gateway V8.2 is Available!

With the release of Astaro Security Gateway Version 8.2, Astaro’s flagship product now includes more than 60 exciting new features.

The major ones include:

• A new web reporting engine
• Support for 3G/UMTS USB modems
• Web Application Security form hardening
• Next Generation Firewall/Application control features
• A technical preview of Astaro Log Management

You can find more information and a guide on how to install the up2date Package here.

V8.201 will be available via Astaro’s download servers shortly. This update fixes some smaller issues found in the new version. Both, Versions 8.200 and 8.201 will be available for direct installation via your WebAdmin interface by the end of the month.

Ten tips to keep you healthy and happy at work

This came to me from our Logitech Representative.

Whether you spend five minutes or five hours using your keyboard or mouse, these recommendations can help you stay comfortable and productive. So take a minute to read through these – and make sure you’re doing everything right!

Make sure that your workspace is set up properly.

1. Put keyboard and monitor directly in front of you with your mouse next to it.
2. Have your elbow next to your side.
3. Adjust the height of your chair and table so that the keyboard and mouse are at or below elbow height.
4. Place your mouse within easy reach so that your elbow can remain next to your side when using it.
5. Have your feet well supported and your shoulders relaxed.

Keep your shoulders, arms, wrists, and hands relaxed and comfortable as you work.

1. Let your arms hang loosely at your sides for a moment, allowing them to dangle toward the floor and to become relaxed.
2. Try to maintain this relaxed feeling while you work.
3. If you have a palm rest, use it between keying tasks, not while typing. Using it while typing may increase pressure against the hand and increase the chance of injury.
4. When you use your keyboard or mouse, avoid placing or supporting your wrists on sharp edges or on your desk.
5. As you use your mouse, make sure that your elbow is next to your side. Keep your wrist relaxed and straight – don’t bend it up, down, or to either side. Keep your shoulders relaxed, do not hunch or shrug.

For more recommendations, check out our complete set of comfort guidelines.

RouterSoft-Allows you to turn your notebook into a secure wireless router.

I recently spent a two week period in training in a Raleigh, NC where my hotel room only had a single “Wired” internet connection. While this was great for my notebook being directly tied to the cable connection, my other wireless devices would have been unusable if I hadn’t brought an Access Point with me on the trip. In this situation I could have used this software on one of the two notebooks I had brought with me and turned it into a router that would have provided a secure wireless connection for all of my wireless devices. Then I could have had one less device in my kit bag to drag along with me on the trip.

There are many other situations that this software product can help you with as well. Allows the wireless connection that you are using on your notebook to be shared with other devices. Why is this important? If the connection is a rented link like in a hotel, you could expand that link to multiple devices through the single interface. Share the Aircard you have in your notebook with multiple devices. Use your imagination I’m sure you can come up with other situations that may make this piece of software useful to you as well.

RouterSoft works on any machine running XP, Vista or Windows 7 operating systems. When setting up your network router it forces you to assign a password to access your network and it creates a secure, encrypted link between the machine that is running the software and your wireless devices. You can demo the software for free by downloading from their site. The demo has a time limit on it of 24 hours. They have two other pricing plans as well. If you want to buy the annual subscription it is $9.95 and they also have an unlimited version for $29.95. So it is very reasonable and much less expensive then purchasing a hardware access point or router.

Keep this product in mind when you get into a jam and need to expand your capabilities on the road. It may be a wonderful utility that will solve your wireless problem.

iPad-Paper Camera

Wow! It has been a while since last time I was so taken with a new program. I am really having a lot of fun with this application on my iPad taking different images with different filters to see what I can get out of them. So, what does this program do? This program will utilized the onboard cameras of your iPhone or iPad and create interesting “cartoon style images”. Priced at only $0.99 in the iTunes store, it is a great tool for adding another creative flair to your mobile equipment.

It is a bit tedious to do this after the fact in Photoshop but with a quick point and click you can create these fun images and share them from your device.

One of the uses that I am going to put the app through is to create images of people and products and give them a little flair by processing them through this application. The collection of filters include: cartoon/sketch/comic book/halfone/noir/neon and many other effects painted directly in your camera, no more boring post-effects, it's all real time, you simply won't stop wandering, wherever you are, having a look at things and cartoon-ize them!

You can import your existing photos into the program and apply different filters to them as well to give them a slightly different look. I put some examples below. For $.99 it’s hard to go wrong

AVG Announces new product launch: AVG Premium Security

AVG Premium Security is their newest product within the AVG consumer portfolio. This suite seeks out identity theft, protects against the latest threats, and optimizes PC speed and performance. AVG advertises this product as:

AVG Premium Security is the only internet security solution that actively seeks out identity theft and speeds up your PC’s performance.  It protects people, not just PCs.

What is in this product:

• AVG Identity Alert secures your online identity with industry-leading technology that scours criminal web pages, chat rooms, and bulletin boards to identify the trading or selling of your personal information online.
• AVG Quick Tune defragments your hard drive, removes junk files, eliminates broken shortcuts and repairs your Windows Registry to boost your PC's speed and optimize its overall performance.
• AVG Social Networking Protection keeps you safe by checking the links in messages you post on sites like Facebook. Works automatically in real time—no setup required.
• AVG Protective Cloud Technology is an early warning system that identifies and stops new threats. The cloud, combined with the power of our community, blocks threats before they reach you.
  It also reduces false positives.

Download the Premium Security data sheet that highlights the key new features.

SKYPE Miscue Dashes Short-Term Euphoria over Native iPad App

In the time that it took me to drive to work, Skype has now become available again in the iTunes store. So, everything I wrote down below is for naught. I wonder how long it will be up before they take it down again?

I was looking at TNT's REDDIT List and I got real excited when I saw that one of the headlines listed the release of a Native iPad App for both the iPad1 & iPad2. So, what did I Immediately do but jumped out of my browser over to my App icon to immediately download it to my iPad. What to my surprise, there was none listed there! So, I jumped to my iPad2 to see if it was a version issue, you know, no camera on the iPad1, but no, no joy there either!

So I scurry over to the Skype Site and there was absolutely nothing over there either. It turns out that I must only see what I want to see because further up in the list was a headline announcing that Skype pulled this App shortly after being released stating that it wasn't ready for prime time yet. How disappointing! Skype promises to rerelease it soon but it isn't giving an exact date at this point.

Well Skype, here is one user that is anxiously waiting for this release so please hurry up!

The download only took a minute to acquire and when I logged in all of my contacts from my account automatically loaded. It has a simple interface and makes good use of the entire screen. My first use was to contact my niece who has just arrived in Chile this weekend as an Exchange Student. Tonight I will put to the test with video on my iPad2 when my wife and I give her a little call. This is going to be fun!

Here is the down and dirty:

1. You now have video calling over 3G and WiFi as well as IM and voice only calls.
2. If you have purchased a land line account you can even make phone calls to land lines for the cost of your subscription or use your Skype credits if you wish.
3. Calling a Contact in your list is simple, just tap the contact and pick how you wish to contact them.
4. The History Tab gives you access to your most recent conversations and if you are running multiple device like I do a lot, an IM is showing up instantly on all of them simultaneously. For example, I auto load Skype on all of my PC’s because it is one of the methods I use most in talking to my customers. When I was testing out the iPad App this morning using IM I noticed that all of the messaging was showing up there as well. This means that I can setup all of my mobile devices to use Skype off of the same account and I can have multiple people using the devices at the same time to facilitate group discussions.
5. Call Skype contacts on their iPhone, iPod touch, iPad, PC, Mac and even Skype enabled TVs.
6. Talk face-to-face or show what you’re seeing with front and back-facing cameras.
7. I have had a landline subscription for a long time that gives you free coast-to-coast telephone access as well as a callable landline for less than $100/year. This expands the personal and business use incredibly.

Astaro, bug fix 16593 is listed below

The updates went from 8.103 to 8.200, which will be released next week.  

We will see what happens after I get 8.200 installed for everyone. 

Matt Shafer

Free United Airlines app turns iOS devices into mobile boarding passes | ZDNet

Here is yet another example of the world inching towards a paperless environment. I would love to see a lot more of  happening with other industries as well. Wouldn’t it be great to be able to use your phone as your primary money dispensing device? I would love to be at the checkout line and be able to use my phone without having to dig for my wallet and then the right card that the vendor will take. Just let me pass my phone through a device that will allow me to authenticate the payment and then continue on my merry way…

Free United Airlines app turns iOS devices into mobile boarding passes | ZDNet

Microsoft Word Tips: Save changes to all open Word documents at one time

This simple technique comes in handy when you're working in multiple documents and want to make sure you've saved your changes to all of them. I actually use it most often when I've made a change to a template and want a quick way to save that change on the fly (before I've had a chance to forget I made a change I want to keep).

In Word 2003 and earlier, just press the [Shift] key and pull down the File menu. Word will display the Save All command on the menu, above the Save As command. Choose Save All and Word will prompt you to save each document (or template) that has any unsaved changes. This is more efficient than having to navigate to each document individually and click Save.

If you use Word 2007/2010, this won't work. But you can add the Save All command to your Quick Access Toolbar:

1. Click the Office button (File in 2010) and click Word Options.
2. Click Customize in the left-hand column.
3. Select Commands Not In The Ribbon from the Choose Commands From drop-down list.
4. Scroll down and select Save All.
5. Click the Add button and then click OK.

Hello Raleigh, NC!

I am at the Allscripts/MyWay training center in Raleigh, NC for the next two weeks so I am mainly available via email and voicemail primarily. I am monitoring what is coming in so don’t be shy sending stuff over to me either by email of fax. I will be back in the office on 25th. See you then. I will be free most evening so I’ll still be posting things up to this site as well. Stay tuned for any information that I thing is pertinent on installation and training of the MyWay Product as I will be posting what I think you might be interested in.

Unlimited Space for Music–Limited Time Offer from Amazon Cloud Drive

You can get unlimited space for your music if you subscribe to Amazon’s Cloud Drive Storage Service at a cost of $20.00/year. You will also get 20 GB’s of unlimited storage for other types of files as well. In fact, if you subscribe to any of the storage levels you will receive unlimited space for any of your music, not just what you buy from Amazon.

The Small Print: Click on the image below to go to the site and get more information…

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Get Started with Cloud Drive and Cloud Player by Following These Steps

Buy music and save it to Cloud Drive
Purchase a song or album from the Amazon MP3 Store and click the Save to your Amazon Cloud Drive button when your purchase is complete. Your purchase will be stored for free and will not count against your storage quota.
Play your music in Cloud Player for Web
Click the Launch Amazon Cloud Player button to start listening to your purchase. Use Cloud Player to browse and search your library, create playlists, and download to your computer.
Add more music from your personal library
From the Cloud Player screen, click the Upload to your Cloud Drive button. All customers start with 5 GB of free Cloud Drive storage and all past Amazon MP3 purchases do no count against your storage space.
Enjoy your music on the go with the Amazon MP3 app featuring Cloud Player
Install the Amazon MP3 for Android app to use Cloud Player on your Android device. Shop the full Amazon MP3 store, save your purchases to Cloud Drive, stream your Cloud Player library, and download to your device right from your Android phone or tablet.

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Plan Pricing:

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If you go with the 5GB Free version, then only your music that you purchase and store from Amazon will not be counted in your total storage count. I have included links below to more information from Amazon about their Cloud Drive and Cloud Player. Let me know how it works for you.

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Learn More About Cloud Player and Cloud Drive

What is the cloud?
Who can access Cloud Player?
Who can access Cloud Drive?
Will all of my previous Amazon MP3 purchases already be in Cloud Drive?
Can I store all of my previous Amazon MP3 purchases in Cloud Drive for free?
Will I be charged for using Cloud Player or Cloud Drive?
Can I upload music from my phone?
How do I know how much Cloud Drive storage I've used?
I saved music to Cloud Drive but I wanted to download it. What do I do?

Social engineering in action: how web ads can lead to malware | ZDNet

This is definitely worth a the time to read. Ed Bott is one of the writers that I consistently read his columns. In this article he discusses how social engineering tricks is the new method of choice for Malware Producers.

Summary

One of the great myths of security is that if you’re infected with malware it’s your own fault, because you were visiting dangerous web sites. But these days, even a completely innocent link can lead to unwanted, potentially malicious software. Here’s what to watch out for. You need to watch very closely what you click on and what you accept to load. We are all a susceptible to this kind of attack.

Social engineering in action: how web ads can lead to malware | ZDNet

Microsoft Office 365 vs. Google Apps

Do you want a quick review of the difference between Microsoft’s newly released Office 365 and Google’s Offerings? I ran across a good feature showdown in Lifehacker that gives you a good overview between what the companies offer you. In summary, looking at the major differences includes a tiered cost system with Microsoft that allows you to choose the services that you want, Microsoft is more feature rich in many of their applications, you can incorporate office pro plus as part of your package for full featured document creation.

If your organization already makes heavy use of Microsoft Exchange for mail and Microsoft Office for productivity, Office 365 will appeal to those who want a familiar, robust tool. Google Apps, and specifically Google Docs, feels barren and plain by comparison, even if it's more accessible and open.

Lync, a feature rich communications program, in Office 365 incorporates a unified communications interface with desktop and whiteboard sharing.

Office 365 requires a little workstation setup to be used fully where Google just needs a compatible browser.

Microsoft centers it file storage around SharePoint. Depending on how you feel about this it is either a good thing or a bad thing. One benefit, Office 365 with Office on the desktop grants offline access whereas Google Apps with Google Docs does not. Google says that they will be turning this ability back on this summer but at the time of this writing it is not available.

I feel that Microsoft has made a good stab at being a solid competitor to Google with Office 365. I have signed up for the trial version and as I work my way through all of different offerings I will continue to write about what I find. Meanwhile, take a look at the Lifehacker article and at both Google’s and Microsoft's sites for more information.

How To: More Special Windows Keystroke Functions

Here are some more keyboard shortcuts that you may find useful.

Shift + Delete	If you want to delete the highlighted item and bypass the Trash Can, use this key combination. The downside is that you won’t get the opportunity to easily restore the file from the Recycle Bin if you later decide you want it back, but you also won’t have to bother emptying the Recycle Bin if you use this method to ditch unwanted files.
Windows + (+/-)	Want a closer look at whatever’s on your screen? Hit Windows and + to zoom in for a magnified view. While you’re magnified, moving the mouse around the screen will move you to the far corners and bring them into view. Windows and - zooms you back out again.
Windows + 1, 2, 3, etc.	Windows 7 introduced a new feature that lets you pin apps to your Taskbar for quick access. An even quicker way to access those apps is with this slick keyboard shortcut. Press Windows + 1 to launch the first pinned app in your Taskbar (from left to right). Windows + 2 launches the second one, Windows + 3 launches the third one, and so on.
Windows + T	Windows + number launches pinned apps in your Taskbar, but if your apps are already open, there’s a quick way to scroll through them. Press Windows + T and you’ll highlight the first open app in your Taskbar. Press it again and you’ll move to the second open app. As you scroll through them, you’ll get a preview box just as you would if you were hovering over the icon with your mouse. When you get to the app you want, hit Enter to bring it to the foreground. This shortcut only works with open apps, and ignores unopened apps that you’ve pinned to your Taskbar.
Windows + Spacebar	If you need to take a quick look at your desktop use this keyboard combo. All of your windows will clear and you will be able to see your desktop. Why might you want to do this? Maybe to see the file you just saved to the desktop… Press Windows + Spacebar, and all of your open windows will turn transparent so you can see right through them. This even works with maximized windows and full-screen views. To return your view to normal, simply let go of the keys.
Windows + Shift + Left or Right Arrow	If you use a dual-monitor setup to maximize your screen real estate, you might like to use one monitor as your primary working screen and the other as a holding pen for active windows. Or maybe you just need to move a window from one side to the other for some reason. In either case, hitting Windows + Shift + Left Arrow will move a current window to from the right display to the left, and using Right Arrow will move it from the left display to the right. If you only have one monitor, these commands will dock your window to the designated side of the screen.
Windows + Shift + Down Arrow	Do you want to minimize the current window to work on something underneath? Using this Keystroke combination will Minimize the current Window.
Windows Logo + L	Do you have sensitive information on your screen that you don’t want others to see when you walk to the coffee machine for a refill? Use this key combination to instantly bring you back to a login screen. You will need to have put in a login/password for you account for this to work this way.
Alt + F6	If you’ve got multiple windows open within a given app, this handy shortcut will let you quickly switch between them, so you don’t have to waste time clicking around in search of the right window. This doesn’t work inside an application like a browser where you have multiple tabs open to different sites. The application must be in separate windows.
Windows + M	We all have a tendency to leave program windows open as we move from application to application during the day. If you want to clear the screen to get back to your desktop this key combination will Minimize all your windows to get to your desktop quickly.
Shift + CTRL + N	Windows 7 Explorer window is easier to use to create new folders but using this keystroke combination will create a new untitled folder in the current folder location.The new folder will appear with the name ‘New folder’ already highlighted so you can type in your own name for it and hit Enter to move on to the next task.

Microsoft Word Tip: Alternate Method of Moving Text

This tip is probably most useful when you're working in a table, although you can use it to reorder paragraphs outside a table, too. Let's say you decide you want the third row of a table to be the top row. Just click within the third row, hold down [Alt][Shift] and press the up arrow key twice. Each time you press the arrow key, Word will move the row up one. You can select multiple contiguous rows to move them as a block, and you can use the down arrow key if you want to move text down instead of up.

Using this shortcut gets a little tricky if you're moving big pieces of text outside a table. It's easy to lose track of what's being relocated where, and you might find it easier to take a standard cut-and-paste approach in those situations. But when the text is small and manageable, the shortcut is great. For example, if you need to move an item up or down within a bulleted or numbered list, you can just click in the item's paragraph and use the [Alt][Shift] and arrow key combo to move the item to the desired spot.

Another Source of Fraud: Urgent notice of Intellectual Property protection

Internet Scamming is rampant and here is yet another way these guys are trying to separate us from our hard earned money. A client of mine received an email stating that someone in the China/Asia are wants to file for a domain name that was already held by my customer. They wanted confirmation that my customer was the trademark owner. The message was as follows:

Subject: Urgent notice of Intellectual Property protection

Dear Manager:

This email is from China domain name registration center, which mainly deal with the domain name registration and dispute internationally in China and Asia.
On July 4th 2011, We received Tianhua Ltd's application that they are registering the name "[Customer’s Domain Name]" as their Internet Keyword and " [Customer’s Domain Name].cn "、" [Customer’s Domain Name].com.cn " 、" [Customer’s Domain Name].asia "domain names etc.., It is China and ASIA domain names. But after auditing we found the brand name been used by your company. As the domain name registrar in China, it is our duty to notice you, so I am sending you this Email to check. According to the principle in China, your company is the owner of the trademark, In our auditing time we can keep the domain names safe for you firstly, but our audit period is limited, if you object the third party application these domain names and need to protect the brand in china and Asia by yourself, please let the responsible officer contact us as soon as possible. Thank you!

Best regards,

John
Oversea marketing manager 
Shanghai Office (Head Office)
3002, Nanhai Building, No. 854 Nandan Road,
Xuhui District, Shanghai 200070, China
Tel: +86 216191 8696
Mobile: +86 136615 29704
Fax: +86 216191 8697
Web: www.ygnetworkltd.com

Here is a great article that goes through and picks out all of the pieces that may help you in the future to determine if email like the one above is real or a scam.