Photo: The Entech Family at our annual dinner looking forward to 2012.

We hope you had a great 2011, excellent Holidays, and are enjoying 2012 so far!

We’re really excited about 2012, and the biggest buzz in our industry has been, and continues to be, the exponential growth of Cloud Computing.

If you’ve been following our blog, you noticed we wrapped up a series on “7 Ways Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business” (also available as a free eBook) in October.

Over the last few months, we’ve been asked how businesses are actually switching to, and using Cloud Computing.  We’re extremely excited to say we’ve compiled 8 great examples for our new free eBook that will be debuting shortly, entitled:

“8 Ways to Use Cloud Computing in Your Business”

We’ll be reviewing how Cloud Computing helps businesses continue to grow and flourish through having centralized business document storage, secure online accounting & billing (allowing business owners the ability to more closely monitor cash flow!), and even enhance the relationships you have with your clients through online customer relationship management!

Be sure to get your free copy of our “7 Ways Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business” eBook and you’ll automatically be notified of when our new eBook debuts!

As always, if you have any technology questions, or need help with your computer systems, or network, please give us a call at (800) 573-0234, or contact us online.  We’re here for you!

Thank you, and Happy New Year!

-Martin

…that appeared in Southwest Florida’s “December 2011 – Gulfshore Business” publication.

Congratulations, Jake!

In the article, Jake talks about the most common questions he receives lately regarding cloud computing, and they are:

“What’s the cloud?  What’s cloud computing?”

In a nutshell, the latest buzz of “cloud computing” simply means doing & storing your work on the Internet (which is commonly referred to as the ‘cloud’) as opposed to your computer, or company file server.

One of the perks of cloud computing is not having to maintain your own file servers.  Another is “mobility”, since your work is stored securely online – you can generally work from anywhere you have an Internet connection and a mobile device (think Smartphone, such as the iPhone or Android, or Tablet, such as the iPad) or computer.

Generally, companies pay a monthly recurring fee to continually have access to their programs securely available in the cloud.

Jake mentioned that “in Southwest Florida, cloud computing is catching on, however, many are nervous about the switchover because they feel think they will lose control, however, that’s not necessarily the case”.

Be sure to get our free “7 Ways Cloud Computing Will Change Your Business” eBook that will help you understand what cloud computing is, and how it can help you!

Also, you can read the Gulfshore Business article online, too!

Enjoy,

Martin

but you aren’t really sure what you need or where to begin.

Luckily you’ve stumbled upon the only resource that you’ll need when it comes to Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

So without further adieu, here are the 15 Tips (plus a Bonus Tip) that will make your Mac OS X Snow Leopard experience a great one.

Tip 1 – Mac OS X Snow Leopard – Apple’s Newest Operating System

Tip 2 – Mac OS X Features – The Features You Need To Enable

Tip 3 - iLife ’09 – iPhoto, iMovie, GarageBand, iWeb, and iDVD.

Tip 4 - iWork ‘09 – Pages, Keynote, and Numbers.

Tip 5 – Microsoft Office for Mac!

Tip 6 – Mobile Me – The Amazing Benefits of Cloud Computing.

Tip 7 – Spotlight, Spaces and Quicklook. Speed Up Your Efficiency.

Tip 8 – Address Book, iCal and Mail – Your New email Client!

Tip 9 – Front Row: Your Quick, Easy Entertainment Center

Tip 10 – iChat: Video Chat on Your Computer

Tip 11 – Dashboard and Exposé, Information at the Touch of a Button

Tip 12 – Time Machine: Don’t Lose Anything Ever Again!

Tip 13 – Calculator, TextEdit, Stickies, and Photo Booth: Everyday Programs for Everyday Use.

Tip 14 – Mac Virus Protection, You Can Get Viruses and You Do Need To Protect Yourself.

Tip 15 – Running Windows on Your Mac, Get The Best of Both Worlds!

Bonus Tip – Bonus Tip – Mac Programs to Help Eliminate Your Minor Frustrations.

Hopefully these tips have saved you time and even increased your efficiency when using Mac OS X.

If you’d like, you can even download all these tips in our “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know” eBook and review it all at your convenience.

If you are experiencing any problems with Mac OS X Snow Leopard or you need any help with your computer – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

Quickly, the icons for their anti-virus software disappeared, and their anti-virus software was inoperable — worse, the virus was spreading throughout their network, doing similar damage to each machine it hit.

All in all, this computer virus outbreak affected most of this particular company’s 16 computer systems, including 2 production servers – resulting in days of downtime.

Unfortunately, we were called after the damage had been done – discovering that one of the first machines to get infected had expired anti-virus software.

But guess what?

After a few days of recovery, reinstallation, and integration back into their office environment — we were able to get them back on their feet, and rolling again!

It’s these kinds of incidents where having a Managed Anti-Virus solution, or even better, Managed IT Services for your business saves days of downtime.

Why?

The beauty of Managed Services are that they stop the problem from happening at all.

In this case, the computers on the network weren’t being kept up to date with the latest anti-virus updates, and the Sality Virus slipped in.  With Managed Services the computers on the network are automatically updated as soon as anti-virus updates are made available – with NO user intervention!

If you’d like to know more – be sure to learn more about our Managed Services, including:

• Managed Anti-Virus Protection,
• Managed Backup & Disaster Recovery,
• Managed Anti-Spam Protection, and
• Managed Voice-Over-IP Services (VOIP).

If you’re having a problem with your computer, network, or technology right now, be sure to visit YourComputerHelpDesk.com, or give us a call at (800) 573-0234.  We’re here for you!

PS – If you ever see the message “Your Anti-Virus software update has expired, would you like to renew?” — be sure to renew!

PPS – Here’s the symptoms of the Sality Virus:

• Disables antivirus software and prevents access to certain antivirus and security websites.
• Prevents booting into Safe Mode and may delete security-related files found on infected systems.
• Spreads via the autorun feature of Windows, generally drops a .cmd, .pif, and .exe to the root of discoverable drives, along with an autorun.inf file which contains instructions to load the dropped files when the drive is accessed.

The Sality Virus has keylogger and back door capabilities meaning that it:

• can monitor the keys you’re typing and send them to hackers on the Internet, and
• allow hackers to access your computer (think GoToMyPC) remotely.

As you can imagine, Sality opens the doors to online identity theft.

This is our 12th tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

Most computer users have, and when it happens you could lose all of your saved Data!

Apple has come up with a solution and it’s called Time Machine.

Backing up your computer is vital in today’s digital age. It’s also easier than ever before!

To use Time Machine you must have and external hard drive (sold separately).

Time Machine will back up

• System files,
• Applications
• Accounts,
• Preferences,
• Music,
• Photos,
• Movies, and
• Documents.

Time machine backs up your files hourly so that you have the most up-to-date back up of your system.

You won’t have to worry about a thing as, even while your working, Time Machine can back up your system.

If at any point you lose data on your Mac you can go “back in time” and retrieve any file that has been on your computer that was lost.

So save yourself from major frustration and pain by using Time Machine for Mac!

If you are experiencing any problems with Time Machine or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

This is our 6th tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

But really need to check an email or access a file?

Well Apple has a solution for you, and it’s called Mobile Me.

Mobile me allows you to access some of the more important things on your computer, such as

• Email,
• Contacts,
• Calendars,
• Photos (in an online Gallery),
• Important files (with iDisk).

You can even locate your iPhone or iPad and protect what’s on it with a remote wipe.

This means that if your iPhone gets stolen you can track it via GPS and get it back!

The benefits of “cloud computing” are astounding. Accessing data anywhere you can access the Internet, which is almost anywhere nowadays!

If you are interested in Mobile Me then go ahead and buy it.

If you are experiencing any problems with your Mobile Me or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

This is our 4th tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

Well Apple has just the thing you need to get all of these done!

Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll be able to do with iWork ’09.

Pages –

• Creating brochures, flyers, reports, resume or eBooks.
• Choose from over 180 templates,
• New full-screen view,
• Dynamic outlines,
• Use mail merge with Numbers, and
• Edit Microsoft Word files.

Keynote –

• Easily create complex animations with Magic Move,
• New visual effects,
• New styles and animations for 3D charts,
• Reduced file size without compromising quality,
• Create dynamic flowcharts and diagrams using connection lines,
• 44 Apple-designed themes, and
• Edit Microsoft PowerPoint files.

Numbers –

• Easily create formulas, using visual placeholders with plain language text,
• Perform calculations (over 250 functions),
• Organize your data using Table Categories,
• Check your calculations with Formula List view,
• Create two-axis charts and mixed charts,
• 30 Apple-designed templates,
• Edit Microsoft Excel files.

As you may have noticed, these programs are roughly equivalent to Microsoft’s Word, Excel and PowerPoint.

These programs are Apple’s solution to your day-to-day needs whether they are for work or for your own personal use.

iWork does not come standard on your Mac, so if you are in need of it go ahead and buy iWork ’09.

If you just want to stick with what you’re used to, Microsoft Office 2008 Home and Student Edition or Business Edition are available for purchase for any Mac.

If you are experiencing any problems with iWork ‘09 or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

This is our 3rd tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

iLife is a suite of programs that will help you organize your photos, watch and create movies, create a website or create music.

Here is a basic overview of what you will get in each program.

iPhoto –

• Easily organize and search your photos,
• Use Faces to find pictures of specific people,
• Search your pictures based on location using Places,
• Create slideshows, and
• Publish photos directly to Facebook and Flickr™ with a click.

iMovie –

• Create or edit a movie in minutes,
• Use drag-and-drop to easily edit your projects,
• Smooth out shaky clips with auto video stabilization,
• Use themes so you can have matching titles and transitions, and
• Add animated maps to travel videos.

GarageBand –

• Learn to play and record your own songs,
• Interactive lessons combine video instruction with animated notation and instrument views,
• Play and record with new amps and effects, and
• Use virtual instruments in Magic GarageBand.

iWeb –

• Design, publish, and update your own websites – without having to learn HTML code,
• Easily add dynamic content to your web pages (YouTube videos and RSS feeds),
• Link your iWeb site to your Facebook account,
• Built in FTP service, and
• Easily manage multiple websites.

iDVD –

• Turn home movies into gorgeous Hollywood-style DVDs,
• Use Apple-designed themes with animated menus, and
• Combine video and photos to create slideshows.

iLife ’09 is very simple to use and will make managing your memories easier than ever! If you are using an older version of iLife upgrade to iLife ’09 and gain many new features!

If you are experiencing any problems with iLife ‘09 or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

This is our 2nd tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

get to work with your new computer.

So lets go through a few Mac OS X features that you are definitely going to want to enable.

Set your keyboard’s tab button to scroll through all boxes and buttons when filling out online forms by going to:

• System Preferences → Keyboard Shortcuts.
• Down at the bottom check the “All controls” button.

Setting up your Track Pad

• System Preferences → Trackpad.
• Under One Finger ensure that “Tap to Click” is enabled.
• Under 2 Fingers ensure that “Secondary Tap” is enabled.
  • If you don’t want to enable the 2-finger “secondary tap” you can still “secondary click” by holding command and clicking.

Turning on your Firewall – this will help protect your computer from viruses and hackers!

• System Preferences → Security → Firewall
• Click the start button.

If you wish to have a login screen (for security purposes)

• System Preferences → Security → General
• Check the box that says “disable automatic login”

If you are having trouble modifying any of the settings mentioned above, it’s possible that they are locked so that not just anyone can change them!

This is an added security measure apple has in place for your protection.

Don’t worry it’s really simple to unlock them, you may have noticed the small lock in the bottom left corner of the screens, if it’s locked simply

• Click it,
• Enter your password, and

You should be able to modify any setting you want!

If you want to lock it back simply click the lock again and it will lock.

There are many other cool and useful features located in System Preferences, and we encourage you to modify them, as you like, so that you can have the fastest and most efficient use of Mac OS X Snow Leopard possible.

If you are experiencing any problems or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.

This is our 1st tip in our series “Mac OS X Snow Leopard – 15 Tips You Need To Know”.

So it’s important that you know how to use one when you come into contact with one.

You will run into one sooner rather than later, and that’s a guarantee!

So here’s what the newest Mac OS X Snow Leopard promises to deliver, if you decide to upgrade to it.

• Simple and easy to use.
• Exposé easier to use.
• Stacks are now scrollable.
• Quicker Time Machine backup (up to 80% faster in comparison to OS X Leopard).
• Faster to wake up and shut down
• Faster, more reliable installation (up to 50% faster than OS X Leopard).
• Smaller footprint, 7GB freed space from previous installations.
• QuickTime X.
• Higher-resolution iChat.
• Automatic updates for printer drivers.
• Automatic time zone setup.
• Easy PDF text selection.
• Faster safari (Web Browser).
• More reliable disk eject
• More efficient file sharing.

Mac OS X Snow Leopard is a very easy to learn if you are converting from any Windows system.

You are going to notice a lot of differences but you will probably end up finding them to be far easier and faster than what you were used to using Windows.

Once you get past the learning curve, you’re going to love Mac OS X Snow Leopard.

Don’t forget that Entech offers Authorized Apple Sales & Services!

If you are experiencing any problems with Snow Leopard or you need any help with your Mac – feel free to visit www.YourComputerHelpDesk.com, contact us, or call us at (800) 573-0234.