The mouse was a fantastic invention. Back in 1981, the first one was introduced for use with a Personal Computer; in fact, you can go as far back as 1964 to find the first prototypes, invented by Douglas Engelbart. Today, you can hardly get a computer without one and some features require a pointing device of some kind to access. But most features can still be accessed by keyboard alone, and many are more efficient when accessed via keyboard shortcuts. This month I share a few of my favorites with you.

Microsoft is listed as the #35 company in the world for 2013, according to the Fortune 500, but sometimes their product branding can be unclear. There are two different services that they offer and both are called Office 365, but the two are almost completely different from a feature set. In this article, I will describe each and what the appropriate uses are for them.

With the prevalence of mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and even convertible laptops that turn into tablets when needed, you may ask "Should I buy a desktop computer?". The answer depends on a number of things, but is mostly dependent on what you use your computer for. A few reasons why you might still want to have a desktop computer are business office use, gaming, specialized applications, or an interest in upgradable components.

In a recent survey by Wakefield Research commissioned by Citrix, one thousand Americans were asked about their understanding of Cloud Computing [1]. The end result showed that while more than half claim they never use it, 95 percent of that same group actually does use it, and on a regular basis. So I hope to clarify a few things about what exactly cloud computing is.

It's the first time in 7 years.  I got a new laptop - and it was no easy task trying to come up with an appropriate option.  You see, I'm pretty picky about the technology I use and I want it to last a long time.  After all, I DID have my last laptop for 7 years - and it still actually works quite well.

What I had before was a Lenovo Thinkpad X61 convertible tablet.  For its day, it was a quite capable little device.  Fairly lightweight, with the first generation of Core2 mobile chips, upgraded to 4gb of RAM and a 128gb SSD to make it quite fast - even running Windows 8.1 (update 1) with fast boot times and overall great performance.  So why did I replace it?  Well, the Thinkpad screens of this time period had issues with the adhesive that holds the screen cover on.  The glue strip that sits beneath the bezel on it breaks down over time and seeps out of every opening on the front of the device as well as allows air bubbles to get under the glass that covers the LCD screen.  There are a LOT of these bubbles on mine at this point, which is distracting.  Also, since I do a lot with websites and graphics, I need the screen to look good and translate colors well, which this screen was no longer doing.

If you get a new PC, odds are that it will have Windows 8 installed on it. Some have loved it and others have been critical. Here are 5 things that are really great about this new Operating System – things you can actually use in your daily routine.

When it comes to business, we often recommend (and setup/configure/support) Microsoft Office 365, but now Microsoft has officially announced the availability of Office 365 Home Premium.  This comes in conjunction with the newly announced Office 2013 Suite.  There is new pricing out for both choices, which includes the option of an online subscription for $9.99/month or $99/year.  For many households, this will be a good deal. 

When dealing with large amounts of data in an Excel worksheet, you often need to use the Split Screen item on the ribbon or menu. This option divides your screen into 4 sections and allows you to scroll through these sections while keeping other sections of your worksheet visible.

When dealing with large amounts of data in an Excel workbook, you often need to use the Freeze Panes item on the ribbon. This option allows you to keep a certain area visible as you scroll to other parts of your worksheet. You can freeze rows, columns or both rows and columns. Be sure to click on each video to view the tutorial!

Q: What is Joomla!? 
A: It's a Content Management System for your website - and the ! is part of the name.

Q: What is the 2.5 upgrade? 
A: An important "migration" from the old 1.5 version for security, continued support, and loads of new features.

I was given a copy of an article today out of the review section of the Wall Street Journal. I don't spend a lot of time reading the paper, but the nearly full page view of Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google's co-founders) on the front with the headline "Google: The Beginning" grabbed my attention. So I sat down and "read the paper".

Which AntiVirus Software Should I Use?

I often get the question "which AntiVirus or AntiMalware software should I use?".  It's a difficult one to answer because there are so many new threats introduced each day and none of the packages out there are going to catch everything.  There are a lot to choose from as well, and some of what's out there purporting to be antivirus programs are actually viruses themselves.

I did a short presentation this morning about Windows Small Business Server 2008. Whenever I talk about the number of things that this system brings to the table, I get really excited for the small business owner with whom I'm potentially going to be working because it's so common to come across offices that have a lot of technology investments but aren't utilizing them to improve their business processes and boost their overall productivity. Instead, they (and often their employees) feel unproductive, and sometimes even "beaten" by their computers. They believe "this is just the way it is with computers".

If you were at my presentation on April 21, 2010 and would like an electronic copy (pdf) of the document I handed out, here's a link to Microsoft's website where it came from:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/B/8/A/B8A6537E-A709-414C-9F5D-0EAE781A6F6D/SBS%202008_Datasheet.pdf

I have uploaded a new video showing an interesting new feature of Windows 7 and that is "pinning" windows to the sides of the display. This is a useful feature that allows you to quickly and easily place two windows on the screen side by side for comparison, copying and pasting data, or many other reasons.

Rather than write a bunch of text for something that is very visual in nature, I decided that I would capture some screen recordings of a few of the new features in Windows 7.