Sorry to keep harping on the backup thing: if you haven’t tested your backups in the last 6 months, you can just assume they aren’t working. We just did a network audit for a company and found out that they didn’t have a backup of any of their data since March 14 (over three months). The business owner said that the loss of this data would cost him over $100K to reproduce. Talk about crippling!
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Did you know you can work tons faster if you never reach over and grab that little usually-ever-so-helpful-mouse? Let’s face it – every time you hold that silver-egg-shaped-piece of plastic in your hand, you are wasting a few seconds. These seconds become minutes and before you know it, you are stuck at work at 7:45 PM wishing you could make it home in time for Law and Order (Matlock, whatever).
Over the next few weeks we are going to share with you some quick and easy productivity enhancers. There are two today, so pay attention!
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Brian and Megan first locked eyes seven years ago under the fluorescent lights of VG’s Grocery, where both used to work, and where Megan continues to work while she earns her degree in teaching from the University of Michigan. Their love blossomed among the cereal and canned goods aisles, and three years later they decided to start dating. Now, Brian admits that he finds it bizarre how much they enjoy hanging out with each other, and how good they are at it (a plus when you’re getting married).
The couple kicked off pre-wedding season last Saturday with a bridal shower that was attended by (shock) both women and men. (Although the men did manage to skip out on half of it, escaping in an excursion on Brian’s friend’s boat—got to get every last pirate adventure in before the big day!) The shower was a huge success, with a crowd of over 60 partying people and a stack of gifts that included essentials for the bride and groom-to-be (a GRILL, toasters, silverware… the necessities).
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While working with a customer the other day, it hit me: people don’t really care about desktop computer support any more! Why invest $ in your current computer when you can just toss it out, and get a new one at a great price, right?
Wrong! After explaining why it took us about 5 1/2 to get the replacement computer (purchased from a local store) on to their network, set up with their business software, mapped to their printers, and secured, our customer wasn’t very happy with the bill. The problem; computers you buy off the shelf are not set up for your office, and when you buy one and then call us for the prep, we have to do a bunch of extra work to get you up and running.
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Just got off the phone with a company that lost 5 weeks of client bookkeeping data because they didn’t have good backups, they aren’t very happy.
Here’s the scoop: just because you are swapping tapes doesn’t mean that you are actually getting a backup. You need to test the backup to make sure it is working. We have seen cases where the actual logs say that the backup was successful, but the backup data was actually corrupted. Here’s how to test your backups and make sure they are good:
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The Emcee’s voice rang out, “Your word is “de-main” also pronounced “de-mean”. Nice; either way I didn’t have a clue. Maybe I should have passed on that second glass of wine. “Can you give us the definition?” I asked, trying to buy a little time. Speculating on the language of origin and root word I played out several possible variations in my head. His voice broke through my reverie….“an estate or part of an estate occupied and controlled by the owner or manor house…. blah blah blah……….” . I conferred with my Dream Team partners and it soon became evident that none of us could do more than guess at the spelling of the word. Hesitantly the guy on my right picked up the microphone and took a stab. “D-E, pause, (so far so good),…M-E-I-G-N? he ended somewhat desperately.” Ding”, (went the little bell) “I’m sorry” said the Emcee…..”that was a tough one” and our short lived hopes of becoming the 2009 Family Learning Institute Spelling Champs faded to the sound of good natured applause.
Last Friday night 19 teams took to the stage in a “spell-off” fundraiser, benefitting Family Learning Institute, an organization that provides a supplemental academic program to low income students in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti who are performing below grade level, at no cost to the students. Their program incorporates tools for becoming successful learners and their track record tells the story of their success. (www.familylearninginstitute.org)
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